Last week, HBO revealed that the penultimate Season 6 episode ofGame of Thronesis calledThe Battle of the Bastards, while the Season 6 finale will be calledThe Winds of Winter. After tonight’s episode, HBO released a new trailer forThe Battle of the Bastards, airing Sunday, July 19 at 9 PM ET. Thistrailerteases what may be the biggest battle in the show’s history.
When the episode title was released, most assumed thatThe Battle of the Bastardstitle refers to the impending showdown between Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Ramasy Bolton (Iwan Rheon), for control of Winterfell. We see in the trailer that this is most certainly the case, with both sides getting ready for battle. It’s possible that this is theepic battlethat was described by writer-producerBryan Cogmanin March as the biggest battle in TV history. While he wouldn’t offer specifics at the time, he did tease that this will be a “proper battle,” with a massive army on each side.
Tonight’s episode featured Edmure Tully (Tobias Menzies) taking back control of Riverrun, with Blackfish (Clive Russell) dying in battle, although his death wasn’t seen on screen. We also saw Brienne (Gwendoline Christie) and Podrick (Daniel Portman) make their escape as Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) watched them leave. What we don’t know is if Edmure Tully will help Jon Snow (Kit Harington) andSansa Stark(Sophie Turner) take back Winterfell from Ramsay, but it seems clear that Jon and Sansa’s army has grown significantly in this footage.
It’s also possible that this Battle of the Bastards could set up the war between the White Walkers, lead by theNight’s King, and the possibly-united armies of the North.Davos Seaworthpreviously told young Lyanna Mormont (Bella Ramsey) that the houses of the North need to unite, because an army of the dead are coming. There have been rumors that Jon Snow and Sansa do end up taking back Winterfell, with Jon Snow being named King of the North, perhaps after his true heritage is finally revealed, which has long been speculated to happen this season.
Of course, these theories could be way off, leading to anotherbig twist. Be sure to stay tuned for more onGame of Thronesas we get closer and closer to this epic season coming to a close. The Season 6 finaleThe Winds of Winterwill air on Sunday, June 26, spanning a whopping 69 minutes, nine minutes longer than the ninth episode,The Battle of the Bastards. The only two episodes that come close to the 69-minute runtime are the Season 2 finaleValar Morghulis(64 minutes) and the Season 4 finaleThe Children(65 minutes). Both episodes are directed byMiguel Sapochnik, who helmed the epic Season 5 episodeHardhome, which gave us our first real look at the powerful Night’s King. Take a look at this preview for next week’s episode ofGame of Thrones, and stay tuned for more details.
