‘Game of Thrones’ Trailer Sets Stage For A Game-Changing Season

The premiere of Game of Thrones Season 6 is more than four months away, but the hype surrounding the incredibly secretive production is already building. As production of Season 6 winds down, the promotional team at HBO is kicking into high gear. First, they released the now infamous teaser image of Jon Snow bloody, but apparently alive. Then HBO released the first official teaser trailer for Game of Thrones Season 6. While the teaser trailer didn’t feature any new footage, it features new dialogue, apparently read by veteran actor and new Game of Thrones cast member Max Von Sydow. Images of Jon Snow bookend short segments of some of the most intense and bloody images from all previous seasons of Game of Thrones. An image of Bran Stark warging serves as the final image of the teaser trailer, over new dialogue “They have no idea what’s going to happen.”

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Von Sydow joined the Game of Thrones cast as the Three-Eyed Raven. Fans of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels and other works set in Westeros know that the Three-Eyed Raven was once known as Brynden Rivers, a bastard of House Targaryen and former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Could the dialogue be a conversation between Brynden Rivers and Bran Stark? If so, the teaser trailer seems to highlight the fact that while the noble families of Westeros squabble over who holds the Iron Throne, most of them remain blissfully unaware that the winter is coming, and bringing the deadly White Walkers with it.

One man is fully aware of the threat posed to Westeros by the White Walkers, but while it’s an established fact that Kit Harington will return for Game of Thrones Season 6, the fate of Lord Commander Jon Snow remains ambiguous. There are many theories about how Jon Snow will survive his brush with death, but among the most popular is that Melisandre will somehow save him.

That theory got a boost this week when Carice Van Houten returned to set. Photographs shared to Van Houten’s Instagram account appear to resemble Magheramorne Quarry, the real life location of Castle Black. According to fan site Watchers on the Wall, Van Houten and actor Liam Cunningham, who portrays Davos Seaworth, recently shot a scene at the Castle Black set. In the scene, which reportedly occurs near the beginning of the season, Ser Davos and Melisandre are apparently arguing. So far, there is no word on what Melisandre and Davos are arguing about, but it could be anything from the death of Shireen Baratheon to the potential resurrection of Jon Snow.

Or could Bran Stark’s statement have multiple shades of meaning? In Game of Thrones Season 6, Littlefinger revealed that he planned to let Ramsay Bolton and Stannis Baratheon battle, then bring the army of the Vale to Winterfell to decimate whoever was left. As fans know, Ramsay prevailed in the Battle of Winterfell. Could Bran mean that the smallfolk in Winterfell have no idea what’s going to happen when Petyr Baelish becomes their lord? As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Kit Harington recently filmed a major scene in which Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, Ramsay Snow, and Littlefinger speak in the courtyard of Winterfell.

Winterfell won’t be the only Game of Thrones setting of a reckoning in Season 6. According to Winter is Coming, Tim Plester, who portrayed Black Walder Rivers in Game of Thrones Season 3, hinted that he will return to Westeros in Season 6. Fans may remember Black Walder as the man who delivered the fatal blow to Catelyn Stark during the Red Wedding. Black Walder will almost certainly appear during the Siege of Riverrun plot, but Game of Thrones has a well known history of swapping lesser known characters from the novels for major characters. Could Black Walder become the first Frey to succumb to the wrath of Lady Stoneheart?

Find out how all the pieces fit together when Game of Thrones returns in April, 2016.

[Image via HBO]