Warning: The following contains spoilers for season five of "Game of Thrones."
HBO's "Game of Thrones" is not a perfect television series, but it's still must-watch TV. From the unexpected dispatching of Ned Stark to the Red and Purple Weddings, "Thrones" has consistently shocked fans with groundbreaking emotional moments. However, for the most part, these moments occur toward the end of each season, as "Thrones" has long been a fan of the slow burn early on. Yet frequent series director Jeremy Podeswa is teasing a reversal of sorts in season six, promising viewers some major moments right in the premiere.
"Doing the first episode of a new season is always a bit tricky because they tend to lay down a lot of tracks for the season and check on where the characters are now," Podeswa told Forbes recently. "They're not usually the most dynamic episodes. Happily for me this year the producers tried to work against that. The season gets off to an amazing start, stuff of consequence happens and the first two episodes are really strong."
As Podeswa says himself, early season episodes of "Thrones" can sometimes feel a bit like throat clearing. That does not appear to be the case for season six, though, as the director promises it should be an "amazing" introduction.
Unfortunately, he would not reveal the specifics of what fans have to look forward to, but we can venture a guess. The biggest moment of the season five finale involved a mutiny among the Nights Watch and the fatal betrayal of Jon Snow. While no one ever thought the character would stay dead, we assume bringing him back to life will require some major mojo.
Season five also left things very much up in the air for Daenerys and Mereen. When last we saw the mother of dragons, Drogon had plopped her down in a field surrounded by hostile Dothraki. That's not an ideal scenario to be thrust into. Back in Mereen, Tyrion and Varys are tasked with ruling a city overrun with dissension and possible famine.
In addition, the divide between King's Landing and the Faith Militant, run by the High Sparrow, must be resolved. As things stand now, Cersei is back in the Red Keep after her Walk of Shame, but Margaery and Loras Tyrell are still prisoners of the sparrows. The conclusion to that storyline will have a lasting impact on the Iron Throne.
All in all, we can't wait to see what "Game of Thrones" has in store for us. The series will return to HBO in April.
