I’m Getting Back Together with Game of Thrones

Be Warned: This post is full of spoilers.

Last year, right around the time I wrote this post, I started falling out of love with Game of Thrones. I was angry with a lot of the creative choices the show had made, frustrated by the seemingly pointless plot in Dorne, and frankly, I had started to get bored with just how much it felt like the main story was treading water. The internet tells me that I’m not at all alone in this and I’m sure I’m not the only one who spent the off-season contemplating coming back to Game of Thrones at all. But, I’ve been a Song of Ice and Fire fangirl since the late 1990s, I’ve read every book a thousand times (OK, so I’ve only read A Dance With Dragons 3 times, but still), and I love the world of Westeros so much that I realized I couldn’t just walk away. So, I set my DVR this Sunday and on Tuesday morning, I pressed play. I felt cautious and vaguely unenthusiastic, but even still, the instant that music started, I felt myself pulled right back in to the wonderful world of Westeros. And guys, let me tell you, it’s won me back. I had my doubts, and in all fairness, I still have a few, but there were four major things the premiere accomplished that convinced me that Game of Thrones is still the show I love and that in the end, Season 5 might just be the one we all look back on and say “yeah, that season was weird”, clink our wine glasses and move on. Here’s what Game of Thrones showed me that has me bouncing up and down in excitement for the rest of Season 6.

1. Plot movement! Look, I get it. A lot of last season was, and had to be, about maneuvering pieces on the board, setting up the game for the coming big battles in the War for the Dawn. But, there’s only so much I can take of watching characters travel from one place to the next, getting into position. Even if that character is Tyrion, and he is bitter and drunk and hilarious. Now the pieces are in place and the whole premiere had the feel of someone setting a match to a carefully built pyre. This season looks like it might just be about all of that going up in flames. Or dragonfire.

2. Less pointless abuse! It looks like maybe HBO and their team really took the feedback and backlash about torturing the Westerosi women for titillation and shock value to heart. It’s only been one episode, and obviously things could change, but the premiere was entirely lacking in the sort of gratuitous, gendered violence that turned me (and thousands more) off. There was plenty of gore (hello Sand Snakes and your murdery rampage that seems to have accomplished nothing) and I’m sure there is plenty of sex still to come. And I’m all for both! I have no problem with a good spear through the head, and a great sex scene can drive the plot, build character and open totally not at all awkward conversations between parents and their teenage children that they allow to watch this show with them. Everyone wins! But this episode showed the badass ladies of Westeros taking power, and I for one am really looking forward to seeing what they can do with it.

3. Magic! Speaking of power, the show is really flexing its magical muscles now. The build up has been fun and slow, but I’m ready to see Melisandre and Bran and the dragons start to Bring It. The final scene of the premiere was just stunning. It showed us the depth of Melisandre’s power, but it also set up the potential for her to have even more skills and knowledge than we thought. The Red God is real and I cannot wait to see what he can do with the opportunity that’s laying on the table in Davos’ room. And Bran. Hey Bran! We’ve missed you. I hope, and assume, that Bran spent his year off-screen learning some amazing forest magic from the three eyed raven and is ready to warg into Summer and kick some major White Walker ass. And the dragons speak for themselves. I don’t think I have to explain why dragons are awesome and there should always be more of them, right? Though I will jump up and down and squeal REALLY LOUDLY when Tyrion gets up close and personal with them. Tyrion the Dragon Tamer? Yes please!

4. Everyone is ready to fight back! Last but not least, the producers appear to have taken a page from the master of ripping our hearts out, Joss Whedon, and made it clear that some of the characters don’t want to give up and die! Jaime looks ready for a fight with, whoever really. Brienne has found Sansa and almost certainly her true life’s purpose: protecting and serving the true Warden of the North. Tyrion and Varys are scheming, Dany is taking absolutely none of that ridiculous Khal’s nonsense and Arya is going to take a page out of Daredevil’s book because fighting while being able to see is just totally overrated. Of course, this being Westeros, Bad Things are definitely coming and they are coming for your favorite characters, so I have no intention of getting comfortable. But still, it’s nice to see something other than total despair on everyone’s faces all the time.

I still have concerns. About what the heck is going on in Dorne, because that plot is just awful. About whether the (presumed) resurrection of Jon Snow will be cheesy. About how in the name of all the gods, old and new, Margaery is going to get out of that tower and start being the Snarky Queen we all know she is. Cersei needs her as an adversary and I need her fabulous wardrobe. So, I hope Season 6 doesn’t lose its momentum by drowning in side plots and Sand Snakes. I hope Melisandre wakes up in the morning and shows everyone at the Wall what real power looks like. I hope Bran uncovers family secrets and finally learns to fly. I hope Dany goes to the crones of Vaes Dothrak and learns what a true leader is. The point is, I have hope. You won me back Game of Thrones. Now don’t screw it up.