The SxSWesteros Exhibit Returns to SxSW Beginning Today, plus a clip from Season 6

Since Game of Thrones arrived on the scene, HBO has brought a version of this traveling exhibition to the destination event in Austin, Texas known as SxSW. The music festival turned corporate branding and high profile opportunity for visibility is at this point such a major event that even President Obama is slated to attend. One wonders if the Fanboy In Chief will be visiting the Game of Thrones interactive display?

If he does, he’ll be stopping off at a completely revamped Exhibition experience. This year, instead of virtual trips to the top of The Wall or sword swinging, the Exhibition is tied into the detail-free promotional angle that HBO had been taking on Season 6 prior to this week’s trailer. Welcome to the Hall of Faces.

We’ve got a few vines and photos from attendees on Twitter who got a sneak peek at the exhibit prior to this morning’s debut. From Buzzzfeeed’s Adam Vary:

And from Endgaget:

It also looks like the “Add yourself to the Hall of Faces” game we’ve all been playing online will have a it’s own larger-scale version.

For those who haven’t attended before and want a crack at seeing just how uncomfortable the Iron Throne is, it’s back this year, too.

Personally, I want a picture of Obama testing it out. We were robbed a couple of years ago when a strict adherence to laws about British Monarchs not being allowed to sit on the thrones of other kingdoms was observed by Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the Game of Thrones set in Northern Ireland. Thankfully, we Americans are not nearly so uptight, and therefore there’s a chance we could get a glimpse of how the Obama family would look ruling Westeros once he get done with his second term.

AND NOW FOR SOME SPOILERS

Reddit user Milazzo has reported that select SxSW attendees got to see a short scene from Game of Thrones Season 6. It involves Melisandre and Davos. Again: SPOILERS.

Melisandre says that, when she looked into the flames, she saw Jon Snow at Winterfell. Davos tells her that he doesn’t see anything in the flames, but that Jon Snow is gone.

This sounds like it’s an extension of the scene glimpsed briefly in the trailer, when Melisandre breaks down and says that everything she saw in the flames was a lie. If I had to guess, I’d say that she figured Jon Snow was going to come to Stannis’ help at Winterfell, and her realization that this wasn’t going to happen probably played into her decision to hightail it out of there. I’m sure plenty of fans suspect that her vision may yet prove true.