By Joshua Silverman
Photo credit: Watchers on the Wall
Five observations and five predictions after the Game of Thrones season 6 episode 5 premier.
Observations:
- Sansa’s Character is stronger than ever. When Sansa met up with Little Finger for the first time since he gave her away to Ramsey Bolton, she wanted revenge. She essentially made Little Finger, one of the most powerful earn in the entire series, beg for mercy. He came to Castle Black to help Sansa reclaim the north, but she made him pay his mistakes before accepting his help.
- Theon is back- this was the first time we have seen Theon stand up for him or something he believes in since the early seasons. He backed his sister when she made a claim for the Iron Islands, and helped her escape with a fleet once their Uncle became King. This story line is only getting started.
- For the first time since the first season, Khaleisi cried and showed real emotions. She broke down when she found out that Jorah Mormont, a knight that served her, had to leave because he was infected and didn’t want to get her sick. At first Jorah starts to walk away, but Khalesi stopped him. They have an emotional goodbye before she commands him to find a cure and come back to serve her.
- The.Door. Perhaps one of the saddest scenes in the entire series, or at least up there with the Red Wedding, we finally learned Hodor’s back-story. Hodor became Hodor in order to save Bran. While Bran was on the run from the White Walkers, they had to have Hodor save them by holding the door for them. They had to sacrifice him. Meanwhile, in a flashback, Bran was also controlling Hodor. He couldn’t do both, and hold-the-door became Hodor. Another beloved character fell.
- There were no scenes involving the High Sparrow or anyone in Westros in this episode. The Episode focused around Bran, Khaleisi, Arya and Sansa. Westros wasn’t shown, but the upcoming promo makes it seem like it will have a huge part in the upcoming episode.
Predictions:
- First, Theon and his sister have to be going somewhere. I believe that they’re going to meet up with Jon and Sansa and help them reclaim the North. Theon owes them one.
- At some point, Jorah Mormont will be back. Either somehow he will get a cure for his disease or he will come back and sacrifice himself or Khaleisi. This wasn’t the last of Jorah.
- Although I didn’t talk about Arya Stark above, she get a lot of screen time in this episode. Jaqen Hagar has given her the tough task of killing an innocent person, and Arya will have to decide if she is ready to do it. Will she truly become no one?
- Even though Hodor was able to contain the White Walkers for a little bit, in the upcoming trailer we saw that they were still on the run. I believe they will end up at Castle Black to meet up with Jon and Sansa, and then the Nights Watch will have to fight the White Walkers. Either that, or Bran will control the White Walkers.
- When the trial by combat finally takes place, I believe it will be the Mountain vs. the Hound. This is a big fan theory, and I believe that it will finally happen in the upcoming episode. If not this episode, then sometime before the season ends.
