In this installment of Double Takes, Emerald writers Casey Miller and Chris Berg review the season six premiere of Game of Thrones.

Chris’s take

The clock is slowly creeping towards midnight in Game of Thrones. With less than 30 episodes left until the saga of Westeros is concluded, there’s little time left to close the book on the most ambitious fantasy story ever told on screen. Yet if you took the season six opener “The Red Woman” as any indication, we’re no closer to conclusion than where we were before.

After the shocking climax of season five left Jon Snow bleeding out in his own namesake, the fanbase has spent months eagerly awaiting his fate. When Cersei Lannister traversed the great walk of shame, they speculated on her plans for revenge. As Arya Stark found her eyes turning white, they asked how her transformation to a faceless assassin would conclude. The answers to all of these problems are nowhere to be found in “The Red Woman,” rather only further definition of said problems. Rather than take a leap forward and progress the development of characters, Game of Thrones seems content to just show off the next immediate moment. It’s a slow burn that certainly accents the show’s impeccable sense of atmosphere, but does little to satisfy those most desperate for closure.

There are some notable events, for sure. The Red Viper’s domination of Dorne made progress in bloody fashion, Sansa and Theon found safety in the company of Brienne of Tarth, and Melisandre stripped away her exterior. It’s all building to something, yet there’s a nagging sense that “something” isn’t close.

There’s a moment towards the middle of “The Red Woman”, where Varys and Tyrion walk the streets of Marin to find the Queen’s fleet decimated. Defeated, they proclaim, “Looks like we won’t be sailing to Westeros anytime soon,” and a horde of fans could only sigh and anticipate another season of small progress.

Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisBerg25

Casey’s take

Season six began how we all expected: checking in on Jon Snow. He may be dead, but he’s not buried yet. With the increasing presence of Melisandre in the show, he may not be dead for long – which, by the way, is a phrase that can only be said regarding Game of Thrones.

We know Melisandre as the Red Woman, who is a priestess of the Lord of Light and possesses unusual powers, which may or may not ultimately resurrect Snow.

One theory is that Snow is actually one of the last Targaryens, as his eyes flashed purple before his death, and he will be born again in flames à la Daenerys, but with the help of Lord of Light priestess Melisandre.

Otherwise, this season opener was essentially a check-in with all of the main characters. Sansa and Theon (goodbye Reek!) escape Ramsay’s clutches temporarily after everyone’s favorite knight Brienne and her squire Podrick come to the rescue. One of Ramsay’s men deliver one of the episode’s best lines when Brienne defends Sansa: “It’s a bloody woman!”

Thus, the theme for this season: powerful women.

But one of the more heartbreaking moments of the season opener is Jaime’s return from Dorne, but without his daughter Myrcella. Even though Cersei could not possibly be more depressed after her Walk of Shame last season, this break her even more. But her brother/lover Jaime, as always, is there for his sister and repeats their personal motto: “Fuck prophecy; fuck fate; fuck everyone who isn’t us.”

Now, Dany is expected to live with other Khal widows in the Dothraki capital, and Tyrion and Varys are struggling to keep her city afloat during riots. We didn’t see Bran or any of the characters in his storyline, and we caught up with blind Arya struggling on the streets as a beggar. Ultimately the biggest storyline of the episode was that of Melisandre, who – as per fan theory – may be much older than she appears, and the showrunners showed viewers the stripped-down version of Melisandre, literally. If you didn’t know what a five-century-old woman would look like naked, now you do. That’s Game of Thrones for you.