Game Of Thrones Season 6: 10 Things You Can Expect To Happen
...and a stack of reasons you'd be absolutely wrong to expect anything.
Winter may be leaving us in the real world, but it's approaching at a rapid pace in Westeros. Snow started to fall at the end of Season 5, but the flurry will quickly swirl into a blizzard once the show returns in April, with so many characters' fates hanging on a knife-edge.
There's no all-out war just yet, there's no tyrannical psychopath sitting atop the Iron Throne, there's no sign of Daenerys and her dragons journeying west, yet the world is in a more perilous situation than ever. Battle lines are being carved into the snow as the situation shifts from feuding families to a grand war between life and death, the world and the white walkers.
Everyone has their own idea how they'd like the series to progress, and the lack of source material has opened a window for all manner of insane theories ranging from resurrected heroes to repenting warriors, from flashes of the past to visions of the future. It's a mega season for the show as it begins to weigh up the prospect of drawing to a close within a couple of years, but there's no reason to doubt that it'll be sensational.
Here are the 10 most significant expectations for Season 6, along with some huge reasons why you should never be certain about anything in Thrones...
10. Tarly Family Reunion
So far we've only heard whisperings about Lord Randyll Tarly's persona, but the very fact that he sent his own son for a lifetime on the Wall speaks volumes. He sounds like an icy cold customer, almost Tywin-esque, though even the Lannister head-honcho tolerated his 'disappointment' of a son. Sam's heading south in Season 6, away from the Wall, and right near Horn Hill, while it has been all-but-confirmed that Randyll will feature at some point within the next 10 episodes.
It might not happen because... Sam and Gilly will be reaching Oldtown via the sea. This would take them around the east coast of Westeros before bending around the southern rim. This wouldn't take them immediately to Horn Hill, though it is close. Randyll may be spotted by Sam, though a reunion hasn't been 100% confirmed yet.