Who/what’s missing from the Game of Thrones Season 6 trailer?

Osha, Rickon, and Shaggydog

Although HBO hasn’t made a big to-do about it, Season 6 will see the return of a few old friends: both Osha the wildling and Rickon Stark will be returning, at least so far as filming spoilers are concerned. Neither of them show up in the trailer, perhaps because the average fan may not be expecting them to show up. After all, they’ve been absent since Season 3, and far be it for HBO to give away some of the coming surprises.

Still, Rickon could prove extremely important to the season. With Robb dead and Bran far away, he’s the oldest Stark male alive (non-bastard edition), meaning that Winterfell is technically his. If any Northern lords feel like taking the castle back in the name of the Starks, Rickon could be a vital tool.

Anyone from the Riverlands

The most conspicuous absence from the trailer is anyone from the Riverlands. We haven’t visited this reason since Season 4, when Arya and the Hound were wandering around, and we haven’t seen any Riverlands natives since Season 3, but on-set reports have it that they’ll be making a big comeback in Season 6. We’ll get reacquainted with characters like Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully and his nephew Edmure, and there’s even a chance those dastardly Freys could show back up.

This year, Jaime Lannister will travel to Riverrun, the seat of House Tully, and besiege the place. Presumably, he’ll have Bronn in tow, although the sellsword turned knight turned lord turned Jaime’s travel buddy is nowhere to be seen in the trailer. You’d figure the siege would yield some good footage, but perhaps HBO is keeping it under wraps because, as with Osha and Rickon, the casual fan who doesn’t pay attention to spoilers may not be expecting Riverlands characters to return.

Also absent from the trailer: Ian McShane, who it’s now all but certain will play the Elder Brother, a character from A Feast for Crows who presides over a quiet religious community in the Riverlands. He’s only in one episode, so there probably wasn’t a ton of footage to draw from.

And it goes without saying that the trailer doesn’t include a glimpse of the Hound, who will very likely return this year. You don’t have to use much imagination to see why the network isn’t including a shot of him: it wants people to be surprised.