With just 21 days to go until the hotly anticipated season 6 of HBO’s Game of Thrones airs the rumour mill is rife with what fans are to expect this series.
Even if you have never watched a single day of the bloody, fantasy drama there’s barely a person in Northern Ireland who hasn’t heard of the show.
Apart from the hairy extras walking around every time GoT was filming across the country, it was hard to miss reports of whether or not one of the drama’s lead characters Jon Snow (played by actor Kit Harrington) had died or not.
Season 5 ended with Jon Snow being betrayed and brutally stabbed by his Brothers in the Night’s Watch.
And the rumours continue with Esquire.com’s commentator Jacob Hall claiming that it’s too early on for the popular Snow to be killed off: “Granted, Game of Thrones has brutally killed off popular characters before, but Jon still has so much to do. What will become of the storyline at the Wall without him?”
However, according to Kit Harington himself the death of the Lord Commander Snow is a sure thing.
He told BBC Breakfast in January this year: “All I can tell you is Jon Snow… is dead.
“He died at the end of last season.”
So far producers have only released a handful of images to coincide with the start of the new series on April 24 on Sky Atlantic.
In the pictures Theon Greyjoy and Sansa Stark (played by Alfie Allen and Sophie Turner) can be seen wandering through the snow sparking rumours that they survived the jump from the walls of Winterfell and managed to escape.
Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) is also depicted as looking a little worse for wear giving the impression that she has yet to make it back to Meereen with her dragon.
Teasers for the show released on YouTube only seem to have fans asking more questions than they answer.
In the first trailer released in December last year it seemed like the High Sparrow was forewarning us of a lot of death, blood and gut-spillage.
Not really a surprise, given that it’s Game of Thrones. It would seem that this season no one is safe and the not-so-little-anymore Bran Stark (played by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) is going to play a big part going forward.
The Hall Of Faces teaser trailer raises more questions than it answers and leaves fans believing most of the main character’s lives hang in the balance.
GoT fanatic Jason Edwards, 36, from Belfast said: “We’re not sure what this trailer means, could it be that everyone dies or we’re supposed to think they do, Daenerys, Tyrion, Cersai and Jaime all appear in this trailer so the fan forums are going mad with questions and the suspense is building.”
In the three banner teasers released one after the other producers took the battle for the Iron Throne to a whole new level. Although they leave all options open, there are a few giveaways.
In the Targaryen Battle Banner teaser a suggestion is made that lead character Queen Daenerys Targaryen is being taunted with the mystery voice claiming “you are nobody…queen of nothing”.
It’s fair to say though that she has just as much chance at taking the throne as anyone else given that she has maturing dragons…
The Lannister Battle Banner teaser confirms what we already know, the Lannisters have held the Iron Throne for too long. But the voice on the trailer suggests they aren’t going to let go without a fight.
It says: “Everyone of us is poor and powerless, yet together we can overthrow an empire”.
In previous series fans of the show saw the Lannister family being torn apart but holding on to their power and continuing to be a force to be reckoned with.
GoT fan Wendy Thompson, 41, from Antrim believes the “fight isn’t over”, adding: “we’re all desperate to see how Cersai’s revenge plays out after her treatment by the High Sparrow.”
And in the final banner trailer for the Stark house it would seem that all is not lost after Head of the family Ned’s head was was brutally chopped off and the family dispersed in the chaos.
Led by warg Bran, who can enter into the minds and bodies of both humans and animals, this trailer hints at the Starks potentially being key players in season 6.
With this season being the one that departs from the original books, bookmakers William Hill are even getting in on the act predicting a few twists and turns over the coming months.
Despite apparently meeting a grizzly end the bookies have Jon Snow at 1/33 chance of being confirmed alive in the first episode of the new series while it’s 5/1 that fans’ favourite Tyrion Lannister dies this season, 6/1 that Daenerys Targaryen dies with Cersei Lannister and Arya Stark 8/1 and 10/1 respectively to bite the bullet.
Fuelling the season 6 rumours is actress Maisie Williams who revealed her character Arya Stark could either regain sight or become a “real badass assassin”.
Maisie’s character Arya is best known for being the youngest daughter of the late Ned Stark, who was beheaded by the Lannisters.
In season 5 she lost her sight after going against the Many Faced God’s instructions and brutally murdering Meryn Trant .
But now the actress has sparked rumours of some possible big storylines for the quick-witted tomboy.
“Arya should kill more people in the new season. But I don’t know if they should be from her list,” she told HBO.com, adding: “She should be given a second chance and take this training more seriously.
“I hope that her sight comes back, but if not, I think she should become a real badass assassin without sight.
“She’d be one of those people where you think they’re the underdog and then all of a sudden they’re an amazing killer.”
The latest March Madness Promo trailer ramped up fans’ excitement and told us that the Game has well and truly begun. With the narrator telling viewers that death will come to every one, more faces are expected to be added to the Hall. The question in most forums is, whose?
According to many forums there’s some strong female leads emerging in season 6 with Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), Cersai (Lena Headey) and Ary (Maisia Williams) all playing major roles.
Last year the show was slammed for being “sexist” by many critics, but actress Emilia Clarke hit back telling Entertainment Weekly: “It pains me to hear people taking Thrones out of context with anti-feminist spin. It shows the range that happens to women, and ultimately shows women are not only equal, but have a lot of strength.”
Game of Thrones Season 6 begins April 24 on Sky Atlantic. For more Game of Thrones gossip check out Abby William’s Throne Watch on www.bamni.co.uk.