Game of Thrones Episode 609—”Battle of the Bastards”—Preview

Traditionally, the ninth episode of each Game of Thrones season is a big one, but the hype for “Battle of the Bastards” has taken things to another level. Cast members and producers have been talking the episode up for months, and HBO has foregone releasing a synopsis, the better to keep plot details secret.

But then it included a short description when it submitted the episode for Emmy consideration, so we have a little something to go on:

"Terms of surrender are rejected and accepted."

That description is less helpful than usual, but we don’t need a detailed synopsis to tell us what the episode is about. “Battle of the Bastards” will feature a showdown between Jon Snow, the Bastard of Winterfell, and Ramsay Bolton, the Bastard of the Dreadfort. And more importantly, it’ll feature a showdown between their armies. Showrunner Dan Weiss talked to Entertainment Weekly about what he and partner David Benioff were going for:

"Fully fleshed out medieval battles require a tremendous amount of resources and choreography to get them right. It feels like we’re doing something fresh that you don’t see on TV and movies very often."

It should be a good time. Here’s a quick factual breakdown of the episode:

• Start Time: June 19, 2016, 9 p.m. EST
• TV Info: HBO
• Episode: Season 6, Episode 9, “Battle of the Bastards”
• Writers: David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
• Director: Miguel Sapochnik
• Run time: 60 minutes
• Live Stream: Stream 1 – Stream 2

“Battle of the Bastards” was directed by Miguel Sapochnik, the guy who directed “Hardhome” last year. Benioff and Weiss brought him back because they needed someone who could handle major action scenes, and judging by the trailer for the episode, “Battle of the Bastards” has some major action scenes.

“Thousands of people don’t need to die,” Jon Snow says. “Only one of us.” Presumably, he’s talking to Ramsay here. That’s not a great negotiation tactic.

Previously, we thought that “Battle of the Bastards” would take place entirely in and around Winterfell, as Jon’s forces fought Ramsay’s forces for control of the North. But according to one article, we’ll see at least one scene in Meereen, as Yara and Daenerys finally meet up.

HBO’s cache of official images has lots of action shots and lots of images of people sitting on horses. Things should get intense.

Hey, Jon…MOVE!

There will be smaller moments, too. For example, it looks like Davos is going to make a discovery at the campsite…

Also, it doesn’t look like Jon and Sansa are done with their debate from “The Broken Man”:

We’ll be back tomorrow during and after the episode to break it all down.

Here we go.