‘Game of Thrones’ stuns fans with season six reveal

LOS ANGELES - Hit fantasy TV show “Game of Thrones” returned for its season six premiere Sunday appearing to answer to one of the most hotly debated questions in modern television history: “Is Jon Snow dead?” As well as revealing the fate of the brooding Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch — which Saudi Gazette will not spoil for fans who have not yet caught up — the writers hit viewers with a huge curve ball that had them rushing to social media to voice their shock. On Twitter #GameOfThrones was the top trending hashtag worldwide for several hours before and after the HBO premier Fans speculated whether the season opener’s title, “The Red Woman,” indicated that the Red Priestess Melisandre, played by Carice van Houten, would have a hand in bringing Snow back to life after he was stabbed by his mutinous underlings. Instead, the title was a reference to a big reveal in the final moments of the episode. “Almost that time!” tweeted Houston Texans offensive tackle and “Thrones” fans Duane Brown as the episode was about to begin, before adding around an hour later: “What. The. Hell?“ British conservative columnist and novelist James Delingpole complained that he was “slightly upset that there was nothing in #GameofThrones episode one that really upset me.” “Back to the good ol’ Sunday night ritual of sitting quietly for an hour and then suddenly yelling out ‘NOOOOOOOO,’” tweeted New York-based fan Alex Lauer. “Game of Thrones” tells the story of noble families vying for control of the Iron Throne, all the while keeping one eye on the “White Walkers” leading hordes of the undead toward an invasion from the North. The multiple Emmy-winning show and AMC’s “The Walking Dead” have been hailed by analysts as examples of how cliffhangers can elevate already hotly anticipated TV episodes into global media “events.” While “The Walking Dead” will still be working off Robert Kirkman’s comic when it returns in the autumn, season six of “Game of Thrones” has moved beyond George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels. “The Red Woman” picked up where the season five finale left off, with Sansa and Theon on the run from the Boltons, Snow’s body not yet cold, and Daenerys facing the Dothraki horde that picked her up at the end of season five. Everyone involved in the production had insisted Snow is definitely, irreversibly dead but conversation among fans has focused on how, rather than whether, he will be resurrected. Elsewhere in the fictional land of Westeros there was plenty of blood, with Ellaria Sand and co-conspirators killing Prince Doran and his heir Trystane and following a “Thrones” tradition of killing off major characters just as they are becoming established. “It’s gotta be such a letdown to get your #GameofThrones script for a new season, only to learn you’re out by 0:31 of Episode 1,” joked Toronto-based tweeter Asif Hossain. Back at the Wall, Castle Black was in disarray with members of the Night’s Watch still loyal to Snow preparing bloody vengeance. “Fans may have worried that the show might suffer by straying from Martin’s source material, but judging by the confidence of the premiere, those fears appear to be unfounded,” wrote Laura Prudom of weekly entertainment magazine Variety. - AFP