‘Game of Thrones’ Season 6 Halftime Report : Who’s Alive, Who’s Dead
Bring on Beyoncé and Bruno Mars singing “The Rains of Castamere”: This year’s run of Game of Thrones is halfway over, and it’s time to sit back and take stock of Season Six’s stats. As of last night’s blistering climax, over a dozen major players have died; some of the biggest bastards in the Seven Kingdoms have seized power; and the White Walkers are advancing ever closer on the Wall and all that lies beyond. But it’s not all bad news for the home team: Jon Snow lives, Daenerys Targaryen rides, and Bran Stark’s third eye is wide open.
So where are we headed in the second half? With five episodes down and five to go, we’ve got the scorecard you need to keep track of every major character’s status: living and dead, prisoner and free agent. And we’ve got analysis to help sort out not just what happened, but why, and what it means for the future of the story. Crack open a cold bottle of premium Westeros Reserve mead and read on.
WHO’S DEAD
The first bodies fell before the season even began, and by the end credits of the first episode, we received confirmation of a pair of high-profile killings. For starters: Stannis Baratheon was indeed executed by Brienne of Tarth for the magical murder of his brother Renly way back in Season Two. And yes, his ersatz niece Myrcella was fatally poisoned by a vengeful Ellaria Sand as payback for the death of her husband Oberyn — and his sister and her children, back during Robert’s Rebellion — by Lannister enforcer/resident Walking Dead extra Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane.
From there, the carnage continued. In the North, Ramsay Bolton consolidated his hold on Winterfell and his leadership aspirations by stabbing his father Roose and feeding his stepmother Walda Frey and her newborn son to his hounds. He added the wildling woman Osha to the pile when she attempted to seduce and assassinate him in order to free his new prisoner, young Rickon Stark.
Similar coups d’état went down across the Seven Kingdoms and beyond. Unsated by one dead Lannister daughter, Ellaria and her commando offspring (known as the Sand Snakes) took out Prince Doran Martell, his bodyguard, and his son/heir Prince Trystane Martell to seize control of Dorne. In the Iron Islands, Balon Greyjoy — the last original monarch standing from the War of the Five Kings — met his demise at the hands of his crazy-talking pirate brother Euron, who tossed him off a bridge. (It’s all part of a power play to claim control of the seafaring Ironborn and their formidable fleet.) And far to the east, Daenerys Targaryen not only escaped captivity by the Dothraki, but became their new leader by burning Khal Moro and all his fellow horselords alive around her.
Up at Castle Black, the resurrected Jon Snow cemented his victory with a hanging, swinging the sword that hoisted his rival Ser Alliser Thorne, his young steward Olly, and the other mutineers to their deaths. And beyond the Wall, the Night King made his move, breaching the safety of Bran Stark’s cave hideaway to slaughter the psychic Three-Eyed Raven, the spokeswoman for elf-like Children of the Forest known as Leaf, and — saddest of all — his simple-minded assistant Hodor, who died to “hold the door” he’d been telepathically fixated on for decades in order to effect Stark’s escape.
WHO’S NOT
Jon Snow, that’s who. Thanks to the supernatural intervention of Melisandre, the Lord Commander lives again. However, he’s taking the legalistic loophole approach to his Night’s Watch vows, noting that his death frees him from his obligation to his brothers in black. He’s also making plans to reclaim his ancestral home from Ramsay and his fellow usurpers with the help of a motley crew of warriors: his friends on the Watch; his trusty direwolf Ghost; new Lord Commander “Dolorous” Edd Tollett; the aforementioned Red Priestess and her one-time rival Ser Davos Seaworth; Tormund Giantsbane and his fellow wildlings; and Brienne and her new liege, Snow’s half-sister Sansa Stark — who, along with Theon Greyjoy, survived the precarious plunge from the walls of Winterfell. A Wall attacked by White Walkers from the north and Boltons from the south cannot stand; only by rallying their father’s bannermen and taking back his home can Lord Snow and Lady Stark ensure a successful defense against the great war to come.