At long last, winter is coming...back.
HBO debuted the long-awaited trailer for Game of Thrones Season 6, based on the popular fantasy saga "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin. Season 6 promises to adapt material from Martin's upcoming sixth novel, The Winds of Winter, along with some elements from the fourth, A Feast for Crows, and the fifth, A Dance with Dragons.
The one minute, forty second trailer opens at Castle Black, showing us the lifeless body of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), who was murdered by the men of the Night's Watch at the end of Season 5. A male voice tries to convince us that "He's gone."
As a cover of the Chris Isaak song "Wicked Game" by James Vincent McMorrow begins to play, we see Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) returning home to King's Landing to tell his sister Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) that their daughter Myrcella Baratheon is dead.
"We're the only ones who matter," Jaime reassures her, "and everything they've taken from us, we're going to take back and more."
We then see the red priestess, Melisandre (Carice van Houten) having a crisis of faith. "The great victory I saw in the flames," she says to Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham), "all of it was a lie."
Next, we see Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) on the hunt for Daenerys Targaryean (Emilia Clarke), now a prisoner of a huge Dothraki tribe.
"Every one of us is poor and powerless," says The High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce), "yet we can overthrow an empire."
"You're in the great game now," remarks Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), "and the great game is terrifying."
We see a confrontation between Lancel Lannister (Eugene Simon) and his cousin Cersei, who is accompanied by the resurrected The Mountain. "Order your man to step aside of there will be violence," Lancel says to Cersei.
"I choose violence," Cersei replies defiantly.
Next, we see a number of fleeting images, including a Targaryen knight with two swords fighting Stark soldiers in a desert that hints at the Tower of Joy showdown and perhaps the resurrection of Jon Snow.
The most intriguing image, however, is the return of Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright), last seen at the end of Season 4, who appears to be standing as he faces off against the Night's King.
This time, it's Davos who gets the final teasing line, remarking "I've never been much of a fighter. Apologies for what you're about to see."
If you'd like to view the trailer, you can check it out below thanks to JoBlo TV on YouTube...
Game of Thrones returns to HBO for Season 6 on Sunday, April 24, 2016.