"Are you afraid? You should be," Peter Dinklage's Tyrion Lannister warns in the opening moments of the new teaser trailer for season six of HBO's "Game of Thrones." And he's right, every character should be afraid. It's a time of great chaos and danger both in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and beyond. Noble families war for power, religious zealots fight for beliefs and the undead rise against the living.
Every character should be afraid, as should every viewer. For the first time in the show's six-year run, audiences don't know what is about to happen. As the hit HBO series surpasses the narrative timeline of George R.R. Martin's novel series, we are all wading into uncharted territory together.
The new teaser touches upon that fear as several familiar faces find themselves in precarious positions.
Brienne can be seen in the woods of the North, perhaps searching for Sansa. When last we left them, Brienne had abandoned her station overlooking Winterfell's tower and, thus, missed Sansa's plea for help. Now, Sansa and Theon are on the run outside Winterfell with the sadistic Ramsay Bolton likely hot on their trail.
Jaime and Cersei appear to be reunited, a departure from the books. We don't know the context, but their reconciliation likely came in the face of grief. Their daughter Myrcella was killed on her way back from Dorne, the second of their children to die. Viewers should expect the Lannisters to be on the warpath after that.
Tyrion is left in Mereen to rule as Ser Jorah Mormont and Daario Naharis search for their Queen, Daenerys Targaryen. Dany concluded season five alone in the center of a hostile Dothraki horde after Drogon escaped the Fighting Pits with her on his back. We can't imagine her situation is a good one right now.
There's more to the trailer: Arya's blindness, The House of Black and White, Bran and the White Walkers.
We'd love to explore each brief element in more detail, but the truth is, we don't know what's going to happen. No one does.
So yes, you should be afraid.
"Game of Thrones" will return to HBO for a sixth season on Sunday, April 24, at 9 pm ET.
Follow Brandon Katz at @Great_Katzby
