The fifth episode of Game of Thrones, “Eastwatch,” ended with Jon Snow and his very own Westerosi Suicide Squad heading out to capture a wight to offer as physical proof to Cersei of the White Walker army’s existence. And photos released by HBO for the penultimate’s episode promises we’ll be spending a lot of time with them on their mission, in the aptly named sixth installment of the season, “Beyond the Wall.”
First up are a collection of portraits that make it look like they might be taking time out of their journey to shoot a “The Hottest Knights of Westeros Get Cold” calendar.
Ser Jorah/January
King in the North Jon Snow/March
Tormund/July
We even know which group shot they went with for the calendar’s cover, which includes Gendry being the only one smart enough to wear a hood.
Those are going to sell so well.
We also see the only two dead men to come back without the help of the Night King, Beric Dondarrion and Jon, speaking during a time of relative peace and tranquility during their trek.
But at some point things are going to take a turn for the worse for the Seven Kingdoms’ Magnificent Seven, as the kind of blinding storm that follows the army of the dead wherever they go overwhelms our heroes.
No, much worse than that.
We don’t like to drive in the snow, let alone be out hunting for a zombie when one hundred thousand of his friends show up. But then again we don’t have our very own FIRE SWORD.
We doubt that’s Lightbringer, since Beric lit his sword on fire before (against The Hound during his Trial by Combat), but we’ve been waiting for this moment since the pre-season trailers, and it is finally here.
But while the majority of the images released for this episode are about their potentially fatal mission, we also get a look at how things might be going at Winterfell and Dragonstone.
After Littlefinger laid a trap for Arya last week in an effort to make her doubt Sansa’s loyalty to House Stark, this icy photo has us worried about any potential enmity between the sisters.
After seeing that Arya is at the very least Brienne’s equal (if not her better) when it comes to fighting, we don’t think she’ll be able to keep Sansa safe if her sister deems her a traitor. Which is why whatever Sansa is reading here could be so important.
Is it a letter from Jon telling her about his shortsighted dead man hunt, or something else? With Baelish around and plotting against the Stark children it could be almost anything, and our bet is that the letter’s contents are not so good.
As for Dragonstone, we see what looks to be a heartfelt fireside chat between Tyrion and Daenerys.
He struggled with the devastation she wrought when she brought Drogon into battle, and failed to convince her to spare the lives of Randyll and Dickon Tarly. That led to Varys telling him he needs to make her listen to them so she doesn’t start burning all of her enemies. Is this his attempt to talk her out of melting foes in the future?
And does that conversation lead to this badass photo of the two of them marching out to the dragons together?
We have all kinds of theories about what might happen this week, so seeing Tyrion getting up close and personal with her dragons has us all a tingle.
Because if there is one thing that can warm up even the longest night, it’s dragonflame.
But what do you think these pictures tell us? What can we learn from them? Tell us your thoughts and predictions about what might happen in the comments section below.
Images: HBO