Along with surprises, it’s certain that the next season of Game of Thrones will feature some pretty big deaths. Season 8 is being thrown around more and more as a prospective send-off for the series and we can only expect the bodycount to rise the closer we get to then.
With that in mind, here’s who we expect to bite the dust in Season 6.
Warning – Spoilers for both Season 5 of Game of Thrones and The Song of Ice and Fire books follow
Walder Frey
As the major architect of the heinous Red Wedding and a strong frontrunner for most-repulsive character on the show, Walder Frey (David Bradley) is pretty much the Ted Cruz of Westeros at this point. Everyone hates him and the only reason the North and Riverlands haven’t revolted is because they fear retaliation by the Lannisters. However, after Season 5, the Lannister name isn’t quite what it used to be and the promise of their support isn’t quite as intimidating. It may have been three seasons since the Red Wedding but “The North Remembers”, and Walder Frey will want to watch his back in Season 6.
The Sand Snakes
The campy Sand Snakes were one of the most disappointing and incongruous parts of Season 5 and while it’s possible that they could ‘fix’ this, it’s probably much easier to just kill them off. Game of Thrones has one of the biggest casts on television and it could certainly benefit from some trimming. It’s a miracle that their naive and immature approach to the politics of Westeros hasn’t gotten them killed already and It’ll almost be an even bigger miracle if they make it through to Season 7.
Tommen
Tommen (Dean Charles-Chapman) isn’t quite as reviled as some of the other characters on this list – but at the same time it’s hard to see him making it out of Kings Landing alive, let alone making it to Season 7. Last season saw tensions flare up between the Lannisters, Tyrells and the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) and this season will likely see at least one of those factions suffer consequences as a result. Tommen is an obvious target – and it doesn’t help that his death was foretold in Season 5.
Alliser Thorne
A foil for Jon (Kit Harrington) since the first season, Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale) had a few moments of redemption during Mance Rayder’s assault on The Wall in Season 4. However, after his role in the mutiny that closed out Season 5, it feels like his fate is sealed – though from whom, we don’t know. The death of Jon Snow has to have some sort of greater karmic retribution attached to it and if anyone is going to bear the brunt of that, it’ll be Ser Alliser.
Balon Greyjoy
In the Song of Ice and Fire books, Balon (Patrick Malahide) barely makes it to the third book before he dies in mysterious circumstances but in the show he’s still alive, well and a thorn in the side of the Boltons. While it’s not impossible that the writers could continue to diverge from the canon of the books with him in Season 6, it feels more likely that the Greyjoy plotline is about to snap back into shape – with Balon set to pay the price. Whether he ‘falls’ from one of the bridges on Pyke or is taken out of the pictures is unknown but it feels Season 6 is the right time for Balon to meet his god.
Game of Thrones returns to Foxtel on April 25th.
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