Game of Thrones Season 6 – Will It Book?

We’re halfway through HBO’s Game of Thrones season 6 – the season that’s gotten ahead of the books. It seems like a good time to check in, about whether things happening are from the books, might be in the books, are totally different from what we think is going to happen in the books…

The way that made sense to me to organize a bit geographically. It feels like all the action is going to one day end up all in one place, but we’re not there yet. And people have moved all over the place from when they almost all started in Winterfell way back when.

Brace yourselves. Spoilers below!

Slaver’s Bay

There’s two veins of story going on across the sea, in Slaver’s Bay. One is what’s up with Dany, and one is what’s up in Meereen that she left behind.

• Daenerys. Things ended in the 5th book right where they got them in the show… Dany flies off with Drogon and is found by the Dothraki. And from there, I think things have gone in such a way like they might in the book. The Dothraki for sure would take her to live with the other widows, the other queens, the other Khaleesi. And I don’t like their odds once she’s there. Hey, army! Or maybe even her Slaver’s Bay solution: take out the slavers. Army. And then, fast track to Westeros to advance the plot!

Vaes Dothrak. http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Vaes_Dothrak

• Meereen. I don’t remember Tyrion getting nearly so much power in the books… and everything that’s happened in Meereen once Dany left has been post-book. And his bro Vaerys is there… not in King’s Landing…

In the end, I see them rushing things along, to get Dany to Westeros finally. Will she move as quickly in the books? I doubt it.

Dorne

There’s a whole lot that was supposed to happen in Dorne. There’s a lot of scheming, with Myrcella as the heir to the Iron Throne, with a long game and the Sand Snakes opposing it. With emissaries to Dany hoping to join her and the dragons.

They’ve closed off all of this.

I think their goal in the show is to basically be done with Dorne and drive the action North…

King’s Landing

North at the very least to King’s Landing. Here, the action seems to be the logical progression from where things leave off, with the Faith Militant and Cersei and all that. One of the biggest differences is just that Jaime is there – but maybe he’ll still leave sometime this season and head out to the Riverlands. There’s been mention of the Blackfish, so it’s possible…

I’m still interested to see where it all goes, and whether all of that will be in the book. They’ve brought us back to the prophecies surrounding Cersei from her childhood, and how all her children will die. We’re getting close – and when there’s no more King Tommen, who will rule the Seven Kingdoms then? It’s not going to go well.

It’s quite possible that she drinks and she knows things. Grabbed this from https://patricksponaugle.com/2016/04/05/prophecies-in-game-of-thrones/

Oh, and Kevan is alive… that’s awkward. That may change. And hey, there’s always Frankenstein’s Mountain, ready to cause some trouble in a trial by combat… There’s some interesting events coming together, but will they be anything like the book?

The North

And here’s where all the best action has been so far. As well it should be, since several of the big shocker ending parts of A Dance with Dragons – and with the fifth season. So the excitement had to pick up there.

Starting with one of them – I’m not sure I believe, in the books, that Stannis is dead. Ramsay claims that he is, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. Combine that with Sansa’s being there and there’s just a ton of stuff different in Winterfell.

However, I could totally see Littlefinger coming north with an army to try to claim the North for Sansa – but with Sansa in tow.

Meanwhile, another character that’s just shown up in Winterfell in the show is Rickon, who in the books Davos is looking for last we saw. So that whole storyline is totally different.

But hey, I could see Ramsay killing his father, and attacking the Wall, so there we go.

The Wall, meanwhile, is home of at least one possible answer to fans’ questions: is Jon Snow going to come back to life because of Melisandre? We can hope, but that’s post-book so it remains to be seen. However, I expect her to redefine her thoughts on who the chosen one is and to back Jon Snow.

I am intrigued by Jon’s attitude about how he has already completed his watch, because he died. That now he’s not sworn. If he does come back in the book – will he react like that?

And then, north of the Wall. The most recent episode. The Door. In the books, the most we’ve seen of Bran’s training has been that he can see around the world through the various Weirwood trees around the kingdoms. In the show, they have at the very least been pulling off some past scenes through his training, exploring the past. Stories that in the book you hear told by characters.

Well, they have Bran time and space traveling, because he is not only observing, he is partially there. He is seen and contacted by a White Walker, and, well.

Hodor.

Bonus round: Iron Islands, Braavos, Oldtown

Meanwhile, there’s a few storylines they have approached this season that they were behind on or had left out thus far and have dived into. Real quick:

• The Iron Islands. Finally, stuff from the third book has finally happened. And they’re moving forward into the content from the fifth book there, it seems. Of course, at some point I think they’re still going to pull ahead of the book, since they’re still at sea somewhere in the books. But so far, pretty close to the books out there – except that following the books is now a little weird in terms of the overall timeline (like where do Theon and his sister go now?)
• Braavos. Arya is training. The training might not be straight out of the book all the time, but she’s pretty much just spent books and books training. I love these scenes, but reflecting on them, not a lot happens there. Soon…
• Oldtown. Sam is on his way! We may finally catch up to where he got by the end of the fourth book – where he then fell off the page of the book, leaving us with the idea of the Maesters keeping big secrets and kind of conspiracy theorying it up against the Seven Kingdoms. I’d love to see some answers come out of this…

There’s also still plenty of storylines that have not even come up at all in the show – who knows if they’ll get to them ever or not? Lady Stoneheart may just not be coming. But there’s always a chance, as we look at them catching up on some of these storylines!

So what do you think – what’s going to be in the books? What’s show-only? Where do I have it wrong? Let me know in the comments below!