Attention, citizens of the Known Realm: there is a storm of spoilers in this post if you’re not caught up with the show. Proceed with caution and don’t say we didn’t warn you!

It’s far too easy to read into the teeny, tiny glimpses that we get from Game of Thrones heading into season six. Now that the HBO show has largely caught up with the dealings of George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire series, anything could unveil information about the future. With winter en route and several characters coming back into the fold—ahem, Bran and Hodor and a totally reanimated Jon Snow—the game’s about to change. And the ladies are apparently coming out on top.

At least that’s what Entertainment Weekly would have you believe, based on the several new covers (and a video) featuring the women gunning for control in Westeros and beyond. According to James Hibberd’s information from the set, this is no accident. And while Martin set the stage for a world run by men—Robert Baratheon, Ned Stark, Khal Drogo, Tywin Lannister—showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are making the well-worn and wiser women critical rungs on the show’s increasingly chaotic ladder. Guess it pays to learn from the guys’ mistakes, eh? (Or not, if you’re Cersei.)

Take a look at the covers in the gallery below, and be sure to head over to EW‘s site to learn more and watch the aforementioned video—those lucky so-and-so’s got to visit the set, while the rest of us plebes have to wait until the season premiere.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

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HT & Image Credits: Entertainment Weekly
Featured Image Credit: Inslee/deviantART

Alicia Lutes is the Managing Editor and resident khaleesi of Nerdist. Find her geeking out about S6 theories on Twitter (@alicialutes).