There has been a lot of activity in my Twitter feed today. Many big topics are floating around out there, including that awesome Star Wars: Rogue One trailer. There are also conversations about Rogue One and Mary Sues, which we’ve now addressed here on the site. But the biggest topic filling up my mentions:
“Did you see that Game of Thrones episode description?”
And:
“When is the next episode of A Storm of Spoilers?”
Two valid questions, dear reader. On the latter, I can say that we’re working on it. The listeners of A Storm of Spoilers are the best group of weirdos that I’ve ever encountered. Myself, Joanna and Dave can’t wait to pick up the conversation in anticipation of season 6. At the moment, everyone is a little busy with other things. Have you heard my excuse? Rest assured, Storm of Spoilers will be back to address this and many other topics before the season starts.
Now, let’s talk about the other question with some spoiler/speculative detail. You’re about to be warned.
The official description for season 6, episode 1 has been released. The episode, which will be titled “The Red Woman,” will premiere on April 24. Here’s HBO’s official synopsis:
“Jon Snow is dead. Daenerys meets a strong man. Cersei sees her daughter again.”
This is both epic trolling by HBO’s marketing team and nothing new. They’ve spent an entire year lying through their teeth — and through their extended marketing arm at Entertainment Weekly — about Jon Snow’s fate. Should we blame them? No. They believe there’s a secret worth keeping, even if it feels like the worst kept secret in television history. There’s no reason for HBO to spoil their own “surprise.” But can we laugh at them a little bit for being so overt? Yes. It’s funny.
It’s also nothing new. Let’s examine the plot description for season 5, episode 9, “The Dance of Dragons”: “Jon and the Wildlings return to Castle Black. Jamie meets with Doran Martell. Stannis makes a hard choice. Arya runs into Ser Meryn Trant. Daenerys attends the grand reopening of the fighting pits.”
There are two real zingers in this synopsis alone. “Stannis makes a hard choice” is particularly humorous, as said hard choice was burning his young daughter alive. “Daenerys attends the grand reopening of the fighting pits” is a thoroughly vague way to set up the season’s big dragon moment.
We also have to address the issue of semantics. Jon Snow is dead. Currently — or at least in those final moments of season 5 — he appears to have expired. Will he remain dead? That’s the better question, one that HBO, the show’s producers and every cast member have actively avoiding throughout the offseason. “It’s going to be so satisfying when you see it, and you realize that I was telling the truth the whole time,” Kit Harington explained in a recent TV interview. By saying “Jon Snow is dead” and going no further, everyone gets to be technically truthful. If Jon Snow is going to get up and walk down south to where he was seen filming a massive late-season battle scene involving the Boltons, he’s going to need to be resurrected.
And for that, he’s going to need “The Red Woman.”
Game of Thrones returns April 24 on HBO.
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