Game of Thrones season 6 recap: Everything that matters for season 8

A full recap of the sixth season of Game of Thrones focused on the moments and revelations that will tie in to Thrones’ final season.

The following post is full of Game of Thrones spoilers. We’re two weeks away. If you are an expert binge-watcher, get to work.  

ICYMI: You can read recaps of season 1, season 2, season 3, season 4 and season 5 through those links.

Season 6 featured some of the craziest, saddest and most shocking moments in Game of Thrones history. From Jon’s revival, to “Hold the Door,” to Daenerys burning the Khal leaders alive to the Battle of the Bastards, it was easily one of the best seasons of the show.

The sixth season also featured yet another crown-swap in King’s Landing. King Tommen tried his best to be a good king but the pressure was too much and his clinically insane mother pushed him over the edge, both literally and figuratively. Or, at least, a mixture of the two. Tommen jumped out of his penthouse apartment in the Red Keep after his mother blew his wife and friends to pieces. Here’s a rapid-fire recap of everything else that happened.

Keep in mind: The following points should serve as reminders as to what happened in the season, but focused in relation to season 8. Some key points will be glanced over in favor of what will come to be important this season.

What happened in Game of Thrones season 6

For lack of a better term, King’s Landing was a sh*t show in season 6. Cersei brought in a faith militant to arrest queen Margaery and Loras Tyrell but it backfired and she was arrested as well. She got out by walking the streets naked and shamed in her atonement and then decided she’d had enough of the faith militant and their leader, the High Sparrow. She used a cache of wildfire to blow them to pieces. In the end, Tommen couldn’t take the stress, killed himself and Cersei was named queen again. She got what she wanted, but holy hell did it come at a cost.

Jon Snow also had an eventful season. He was stabbed and killed by his fellow Night’s Watch brothers in season 5 then brought back to life by Melisandre and some Lord of Light magic in the early moments of season 6. He was reunited with his sister Sansa then gathered what he could to fight for their home from the ruthless, evil Ramsay Bolton who was holding it. Together, he and Sansa won and Stark banners waved in Winterfell again.

The Battle of the Bastards was an all-time Game of Thrones moment. When Jon is drowning in a sea of people, everyone watching actually felt the claustrophobia setting in. It’s as good an episode of television as any that has ever been produced. And despite young Rickon dying before the battle began, it actually ends in a very satisfying way, which is rare for the Starks.

On that note, Sansa Stark is kind of an a**hole during this whole thing. It’s completely understandable that she didn’t want to use Littlefinger’s Knights of the Vale because he’s the reason they were at war with Bolton in the first place. He’s awful. But the moment she decides to use them, it would have been nice for her to give Jon a heads up. Sansa plays up the drama, arriving with the Knights at the last minute and winning the battle, but had she just told Jon to wait an hour or so it might have saved a few lives. Anyway, she apologized to Jon after, so I guess we’re okay.

Arya completed her training in Braavos (in a slightly different way) and became a faceless man. She used her powers to murder Walder Frey’s two sons and feed them to him in an all-time amazing Game of Thrones revenge scene. North of the Wall, Bran also completed his training as the Three-Eyed Raven. Unfortunately for him, he was a little too eager in his greenseeing and let the Night King touch him. This had huge ramifications as the Night King could then locate Bran and the training was cut short. Bran lost his direwolf Summer, Hodor and nearly got himself and Meera killed before good old Uncle Benjen showed up and saved the day.

Queen Daenerys made an unwanted trip back to the Dothraki but she made it worthwhile as she recruited a new Dothraki army to join her in her travels to Westeros. She also now has a handle on her three dragons, as it seems they have exited their teenage years and have started listening to their mother. “Dracarys” means “dragon fire” and it’s a word you should get used to hearing. The season ends with Dany and her hundreds of ships traveling to Westeros.

What it means for season 8

Arya/The Waif: Okay. You’re going to hear a lot of Game of Thrones theorizers talking about how Arya is actually dead and The Waif took her place. They will justify it by saying this and that about being no one, faces containing memories and the training involved in being a faceless man. There are plenty of very convincing YouTube videos and Reddit threads about this online but chances are, it’s all nonsense.

First of all, there are only six episodes left. While we are all hoping for Jaqen H’Ghar to return to the fold at some point, in some capacity, having to explain how/why Arya died and the waif is off fighting a war in Westeros would simply take up too much time. Second, Arya’s wolf Nymeria recognized her in the Riverlands. As this person so aptly pointed out, dogs recognize based on scent, not look. There are plenty of other reasons as well, just know that you shouldn’t waste time with any of the Arya/Waif theories.

Lyanna Mormont: Lyanna Mormont is 10 years old. She’s the leading Lady of Bear Island and she is quite possibly the bravest, hardest most bad-ass person in Westeros. After asking some hard-hitting questions, she pledged 62 men to Jon Snow. Later, she convinced the houses in the North to unite under the new “King in the North.” She speaks when Jon doesn’t. SHE’S ONLY 10! I really, really hope there is a scene in which she comes at Dany in season 8 with the same intensity she brings to every other conversation she has. If the war is to be won at Winterfell, you can bet Lyanna Mormont will be one of the motivating forces behind the victory. She was also named after Jon’s mother Lyanna Stark, which in itself is pretty cool.

Bran/The Mad King: This potential theory is a little more interesting. In this season, we learned that Bran has the ability to go back in time and (somewhat) communicate with others. Hodor’s entire life was shaped by this unfortunate encounter with time-traveling Bran. Here’s where things get interesting.

Bran had visions early in the show that included the Mad King saying “Burn them all!” It was said that the Mad King was driven mad by the voices in his head saying “Burn them all” over and over. Kind of like “Hold the door,” right? But why would Bran use his warg-time travel to tell the Mad King to burn an entire city? There are two running theories to this at the moment. Both are very far-fetched, but interesting. I’ll link them here and here, to avoid potential spoilers. While unlikely, the potential is too juicy to post about in the open. Read at your own risk.

Tyrion touches a dragon: While there have been cases of non-Targaryens touching dragons in the past, they are few and far between. While Dany was off dealing with the Dothraki, Tyrion bravely went down to the dungeon in which Viserion and Rhaegal were chained up to unchain them and feed them. “Don’t eat the help” he said, as he gently pet one of the dragons. As of that moment, only he and Dany had touched them dragons (without being burned or eaten). This is a huuuge clue to the potential “Tyrion is a Targaryen” theory.

“Wait, what?”

If you forgot about that theory, here’s a refresher. The books hint that the Mad King might have had an affair with Joanna Lannister, Tyrion’s mother. It explains why Tywin always hated Tyrion and in his dying moments said “You’re no son of mine” before Tyrion shot the final bolt from his crossbow. If true, Tyrion would be Dany’s half-brother and Jon’s uncle. Given his relationship with both of them being very brotherly and uncle…ly, it makes total sense.

Queen Cersei Lannister: Cersei goes full-crazy in season 6 after her own plan backfired on her with the High Sparrow in charge. She was taken, humiliated, stripped and beaten. She took revenge and blew the Sept of Baelor to pieces with every one of her enemies inside it. In doing so, she alienated her last living child. There’s a very interesting correlation between the day Cersei blew up the Sept and what we’ve seen of her in the final season trailer. As the Sept was destroyed, Cersei wore the exact same black dress she does in the trailer for season 8. She showed the exact same smirk and sipped wine out of the exact same glass. This is something Cersei does when she is winning. Something she does when she is burning her enemies alive. This all but confirms that she’s going to be a full-blown psychopath in season 8 as well.

Cersei sits in King’s Landing, still in charge. We know she went behind Jon and Dany’s back and is not planning on helping whatsoever in the Great War. We also know she has the Golden Army coming to King’s Landing. I’d put money on her using another large cache of the wildfire hidden all throughout King’s Landing in the final season. The smirk and the wine almost confirms it. The big question is who will she be using it against? The Army of the Dead or the living folk who remain after the big fight at Winterfell?

We also have to wonder if she is still pregnant at this point, but that will come up in season 7. Most people covering Game of Thrones assume that because she’s having a glass of wine, she must have either lost or given birth to the baby, but no one is all that clear on Westerosi customs when it comes to pregnancy and science at the time probably hadn’t ruled out alcohol as having negative effects. She ends the season on the Iron Throne as the queen. (But at what cost!)

The king in the North: In season 6, Jon Snow goes from dead to king in the North. It’s a hell of a trip for him but what he doesn’t yet know is that he is technically the rightful heir to be the actual king of Westeros. We’ll touch on this in more detail during season 7’s recap but here’s a quick rundown:

Bran’s final vision of his father Ned and his aunt Lyanna at the Tower of Joy clarifies the R+L=J theory that had been speculated since day one. R = Rhaegar, L = Lyanna, J = Jon. It’s confirmed in the season 7 finale. In the vision, Lyanna whispers to Ned “His name is Aegon Targaryen.” Aegon, the son of Rhaegar who was the son of the Mad King Aerys is technically the rightful heir to the iron throne. Jon is the last person who would ever want this, though, so don’t expect him to settle down in King’s Landing after the war is won.

Other season 6 takeaways

• Before the Battle of the Bastards, Jon visits Melisandre’s tent and tells her not to revive him a second time. This wouldn’t be worth showing unless Jon is eventually going to die a second time, right?
  • Don’t worry. She says that it isn’t up to him, it’s up to the Lord of Light.
• Tyrion does a great job calming Dany when she shows shades of her father in wanting to kill every single master in Essos. He reminds her that this strategy didn’t go over well for her father. It’s guidance like this that has him named Hand of the Queen.
• Sam stole Heartsbane from his asshole father. It is one of few Valyrian steel swords capable of killing White Walkers. It’ll definitely come in handy at Winterfell.
• Jorah finally works his way back into Dany’s good graces and she sends him to Oldtown to find a cure for his Greyscale. If only he knew that the cure was just cutting it off before he let it get to half his body (season 7).
• The bulk of Arya’s combat training in season 6 comes while she is blind. Now that she has her sight back, she’s likely in the upper echelon of sword fighters in the Known World.
• Ser Davos finds out that Shireen was burned alive and has Jon banish Melisandre. Poor Davos…
• Theon makes his way back to the Iron Islands and supports his sister Yara’s bid as their queen. When Euron is chosen instead, Yara and Theon take off to meet Dany and pledge their ships to her. In return, she will give them the Iron Islands and kill Euron.
• Melisandre is like, a million years old.
• Tyrion enlists a “red witch” in Meereen to help sway the locals to Queen Dany’s side. Until now, we only knew of Melisandre and Thoros of Myr having these powers but it seems like the Lord of Light reaches far beyond those two. We could see more magic in season 8.
• Tormund Giantsbane lays eyes on Brienne of Tarth and it is most definitely love at first sight (for Tormund, anyway).
• A bunch of stuff happens in Dorne but no one really cares.

Two last, uplifting notes about a moment in Game of Thrones‘ sixth season. On the same thread of “why would they spend time mentioning it if it wasn’t going to happen,” we have a slight look into Arya and Tyrion’s potential futures.

When speaking to the actress in Braavos, Arya tells her new confidant that she wants to find out “what’s west of Westeros.” The currently undiscovered area on the map would be a perfect place for Arya the explorer to venture if she makes it through the final season (hopefully) and her kill list (hopefully).

In a similar foreshadow, Tyrion tells Missandei and Grey Worm that in a perfect world, he’d have his own vineyard. He’d make wine he called “The Imp’s Delight” and serve it to his friends. Dorne is home to some of the finest wines in the world and there really isn’t anyone in charge of Dorne at the moment. Bronn, Tyrion’s best friend, loves Dornish women and is still in line for a castle. The series ending with Bronn and Tyrion in Dorne, happy as can be until the end of time would be a very nice way for Game of Thrones to end.

Game of Thrones season 8 premieres on HBO on April 14.