HBO made a point of cracking down on spoilers ahead of the premiere of Game of Thrones Season 6, but the network’s enforcers can’t be everywhere at once. Now that the season is in full swing, a couple of actors are saying a bit more than HBO may want them to, although neither spills the beans completely. Still, just to be safe, please accept this SPOILER WARNING.
First up, Jonathan Pryce (the High Sparrow) gave an interview with Polish-language magazine Kawerna. He talks generally about the character, discussing how he doesn’t see the High Sparrow as a villain but rather as a man who sincerely believes he is doing good, and also mentions that not wearing shoes all the time is difficult on set. The most interesting part of the interview, however, is when he describes the set-up for Cersei’s trial, which she talked about in “Book of the Stranger.” Here’s what he said, translated:
"Everyone is waiting impatiently for Cersei’s trial in the Sept. Literally everybody is going to be there. My protagonist has let his guard down – he is absolutely certain that Cersei will show up (at his request). When the messengers inform him that she hasn’t left her home he still believes that she is going to show up at the trial because in his opinion she should be there."
"Meanwhile, behind his back — and in his closest environment — there is some scheming going on and everybody is plotting against everybody. The tension is gradually building as the huge Sept is filling up with people — High Sparrow is still happy with the turn of events and he is convinced that everything is going according to the plan. He does not suspect that something unpleasant is about to happen…"
We don’t know exactly what this unpleasant something entails, or when exactly it will fall during the season, but if Cersei is behind it, it will probably involve violence. Remember this moment from the first trailer for Season 6?
"Lancel: “Tell you man to step aside or there will be violence.”Cersei: “I choose violence.”"
This might have something to do with that. (That first trailer has been removed from the official Game of Thrones YouTube channel, by the way, but you can still see the exchange here.)
Next, James Campbell of the Hull Daily Mail has written up a story about hometown hero Robert Aramayo, who Game of Thrones fans now know as the actor who played Young Ned Stark during the fight at the Tower of Joy in “Oathbreaker,” the third episode of Season 6. The story mostly concerns how proud Aramayo’s family is about his success, but at one point, it tells us when we’ll see Young Ned Stark again:
"He will appear again briefly in episode six before another significant showing in episode ten."
The bit about him appearing in Episode 6, entitled “Blood of my Blood,” shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. After all, the Three-Eyed Raven pulled Bran out of the scene at the Tower of Joy before his curiosity was satiated. Odds are good that we’ll follow Young Ned up those steps at some point.
The part about Aramayo having a “significant showing” in Episode 10, which still has no title, is bigger news. Does this mean that Bran will still be in the Three-Eyed Raven’s cave by the end of the season, on his back and journeying into the past? And what will Ned be doing? Is there more to the scene at the Tower of Joy than even book-readers know, or are we going to see him doing something else entirely? Ah, such beautiful questions.