Five Reasons I'm Worried About the Best Show

Yes, for all the shit it got last year, Game of Thrones is still the best show on television. Even though some scorn was well-deserved, it still holds the title belt with its combination of quality drama, unabashed entertainment, and widespread viewership. But that doesn't mean last season's bumps in the road won't be a sign of further slippage. So with just ten days until the Season Six premiere, here are just a few things that have me slightly worried about where we could be headed.

 

1. Ugh the Dothraki Again?

Through all her dragon children teenage angst and her recurring slave liberation policies, Daenerys still manages to be one of the show's most compelling characters. She's come so far from where she began, as a puppet for her lunatic brother and the glorified property of the Dothraki horde. And now she begins Season Six as...glorified property of the Dothraki horde? Haven't we done this already?

And to add to that frustration, she won't be able to gain anywhere near the same status among the horse lovers that she did back in Season One. There's no Khal Drogo in her corner. And if you consider the reputation the Dothraki built up back in the show's early days, some unnecessarily terrible things could happen to her in these next few episodes. I personally hope Emilia Clarke has some of the real rapey stuff written out of her contract, because I've had just about enough of it. Also, don't eat a horse heart again.

Somehow still manages to be one of the most disgusting moments.

2. Bran

This has little to do with the plot for him, although I understand if it will for you. I've always had a soft spot for magical awesomeness, and it's looking like the heir to the Stark name is going to be capable of some amazing things. Where we're headed with him is going to be fantastic. The much bigger problem is the logistical road map we'll take to get there.

Bran wasn't part of Season Five; he sat on the sidelines to fine-tune his game with the Three-Eyed Raven. That's all well and good, but how is he supposed to fit in with the rest of GoT's timeline if the actor playing him has gone from this...

to this?

For all the aging kid actors have gone through on this show, Isaac Hempstead Wright's has been the most extreme by far. He's gone from pre-Bar Mitzvah to post-virginity quicker than Drake. He's a perfectly capable actor who should get plenty more opportunities once his run as Bran is over, but I wonder if the show runners should have considered recasting the character. I have a feeling some book people will complain about how unrealistically old he is. And if those complaints are loud enough, it will ruin things for everybody.

3. The House of Black and White

When Arya first reconnected with Jacquen early on in Season Five, I was absolutely amped. I had wanted Arya to become that cold-blooded assassin ever since she put that first name on her list. Then at the end of last season, she finally crossed one off by dispatching Meryn Trant. It was the seminal moment all Arya fans were waiting for. Until her teacher punished her by making her blind, and she now probably has to start learning a whole new set of rules.

To be fair, we don't know what exactly is going on there. It could have just been a temporary slap on the wrist, and a certain trailer has me very excited about what's hiding in the house's Hall of Faces. But it's becoming a common frustration with the show, where it seems a character takes one step forward and two steps back. Eventually we all want to see some progression, and I worry that we won't have as much progression from Arya as we're all pining for.

A girl is running in circles...

4. Please, no more Sand Sankes

This entire mission to Dorne was doomed from the beginning. But it was made exponentially worse by the pointlessness of Prince Oberyn's bastard daughters. For a show so heavily invested in complex and detailed character development, it was really frustrating to have these three important characters examined with the same amount of detail as the tertiary characters in an Iron Man movie.

It's incredibly disappointing too, because I was so excited to add Dorne to my Westerosi universe. The setting itself didn't disappoint, but the plot and dialogue with the Sand Snakes was without question the most blah thing GoT has ever created. And by the time a truly decent twist arrived in the Season Five finale, I was more annoyed than anything because I didn't want to go back. So please, no more of these jamokes. And if they have to be there, just make them better.

5. Jon Snow better be at least half-alive

It's obvious, but important to not dismiss. Jon Snow will play a role this season despite his demise. But it's still unclear what that role will be. We've had cryptic tweets, puzzling promotional posters, and confounding trailers. And through at all, we know nothing, (about) Jon Snow.

You can your King's Landing, you can take your Iron Islands, take your Essos, and take your Stormlands. The stuff happening north of the Wall is the show's most important plot thread right now. And Jon Snow has been at the center of it all. If he were suddenly off the board, who would be the lead character in that locale? Samwell Tarly? He fled. Stannis Baratheon? He gone. Melisandre, Davos? Great supporting characters, but not sure if they can carry the Castle Black story line by themselves. Ollie, Alliser Thorne? No Thanks.

I can settle for Jon Snow being some sort of zombie, but he can't be mindless like a wight or a white walker. Perhaps Melisandre's skills as a fire priestess can fully resurrect him, like Thoros of Myr did for Beric Dondarrion back in Season Three. To me that's the best conceivable outcome. Unlike the Dothraki, it would be a terrific example of bringing back an old story element from out of nowhere. So that's my dream scenario, but I'm willing to be proven wrong.

I'm willing to be proven wrong on all of this actually. I trust the people in charge of GoT a great deal, and I have faith in them to get this stuff right. But there were troubling signs in Season Five, and I hope those Blood Moon omens don't lead to more of a downward spiral.

On the real though, we're ten days away. I'm immensely excited, and you should be too. Just trying to warn you in case you're immensely disappointed instead.