The Red Woman


 * This article is about the episode, for the red priestess see Melisandre.

"The Red Woman" is the first episode of the sixth season of Game of Thrones. It is the fifty-first episode of the series overall. It premiered on April 24, 2016. It was written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, and directed by Jeremy Podeswa.

Plot
At Castle Black, Thorne defends his treason while Edd and Davos defend themselves. Sansa and Theon race the cold and the hounds.

In the North
Theon and Sansa, having survived the fall from Winterfell's wall, run through the Wolfswood heading north for Jon and Castle Black. A group of Bolton men sent by Ramsay, with the Bastard's Girls, find them and prepare to bring them back to Winterfell. Brienne and Podrick arrive and kill the Bolton men. Sansa accepts Brienne into her service, where they go next is uncertain.

Ramsay and Maester Wolkan attend to the dead body of Myranda. Ramsay remembers the first time that he met her, stating that while other people were afraid of him, she wasn't. The Maester asks if they should bury her or construct a funeral pyre. Ramsay says it is good meat and they should feed it to the hounds.

Roose Bolton meets with Ramsay afterwards and asks if preemptively assaulting the struggling army of Stannis Baratheon makes him feel like a winner now that they've lost Sansa. A Lannister army marches north and could easily overwhelm the Bolton troops at Winterfell and the Dreadfort. Ramsay assures his father they will recapture Sansa and mentions he's sent his best men to find her. Roose continues that they need her to rally the north against the Lannisters, if need be, and subtly says now that she's gone Ramsay's unborn brother will be the next heir after Roose and Ramsay die.

In Braavos
Arya is blind and asks for money in the streets, when the Waif approaches her with two fighting sticks, and gives her one. Arya explains that she can't fight because she's blind, the Waif answers "that's not my problem" and starts beating her. Arya poorly tries to defend herself but fails miserably, until the Waif stops and says that they'll meet tomorrow.

In Meereen
Varys and Tyrion are seen walking through the city. After coming upon a woman and her baby, Tyrion tries to offer his help in feeding her baby, but his appearance and poor Valyrian frighten the woman, who thinks that he wants to eat her baby. Varys intercedes, apologizing to the woman and giving her money.

As they keep walking through the city, Tyrion states that they need to find the leader of the Sons of the Harpy in order to bring peace to Meereen. Varys said that his spies have been sent all over the city, and that soon they will bring him news. Their conversation is interrupted by a crowd of screaming people running from a huge cloud of smoke. The two make their way towards the origin of the smoke: all the ships in the harbor have been set aflame.

In the Dothraki Sea
Daario and Jorah are looking for Daenerys, and come upon the charred remains of a ram. They note numerous hoof prints on the ground, making Jorah realize that the Dothraki have been here. On the ground, he finds the ring that Daenerys intentionally dropped.

Daenerys is shown walking with her hands bound, and two Dothraki take her to Khal Moro as a gift. The Khal wants to rape her, but she explains who she is, Khal Drogo's widow. The Khal unbinds her and promises her that she will not be harmed. When Daenerys asks to be escorted back to Meereen in exchange for the promise of one thousand horses for her safe return, Moro's wife tells her that she has to remain in the temple of Vaes Dothrak with the other Khals' widows for the remainder of her days

In Dorne
Ellaria helps Doran get to his wheelchair, as they both reminisce about Oberyn, with Doran stating how he envied his late brother for the adventurous life he led. Ellaria states that Doran would have made a bad adventurer, while Oberyn would have been a bad ruler. After settling into his chair, Maester Calleote brings him a message that Myrcella has died. Before he can give an order, Tyene stabs Areo Hotah in the back, killing him, while Ellaria stabs Doran in the chest. As he lies on the floor, his guards doing nothing to aid him, Ellaria angrily states that Doran has remained passive since the brutal deaths of both his sister and brother, and that the people of Dorne are with her now. Doran dies on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

In King's Landing
Cersei is sitting alone in her room, when a servant enters and announces that a ship from Dorne has arrived. Realizing that Myrcella has come home, she joyfully runs down to the harbor, only to see a grim-faced Jaime alongside a shrouded body. She tearfully realizes that her daughter has died.

Later, in the Red Keep, Cersei asks Jaime when was the first time he saw a dead body, to which Jaime replies their mother's. Cersei tells of her memory of the horror she felt after first seeing her mother's corpse, and wishes not to see it happen to Myrcella.

Meanwhile, Margaery is still imprisoned by the faith, and the High Sparrow comes to visit her. She asks about her brother Loras, but he tells her that she has to confess first. When she admits that nobody is perfect without sins, he tells her that she is on the right path but still has a long way to go.

Obara and Nymeria arrive on Prince Trystane's ship, announcing their intention to kill him. Nymeria offers Trystane the choice of which one of the Sands he'd like to fight, and he chooses Nymeria, only for Obara to impale him through the back of his head with her spear as he turns his back on her.

At the Wall
Ser Davos finds Jon's dead body just before Edd and some other brothers arrive. They take the body inside. Davos asks if Edd trusts any of his brothers and he replies "the ones in this room". Davos convinces the loyalist black brothers to seek the assistance of the wildlings and Edd goes alone leaving Davos with the other five black brothers. Melisandre arrives, stating she saw Jon fighting in Winterfell in the flames. Davos and the black brothers doubt the dead Lord Commander could do such a thing and she returns to her room.

Alliser Thorne, Othell Yarwyck and Bowen Marsh hold a meeting with the remaining black brothers stationed at Castle Black and explain their reasoning for killing the Lord Commander. Most of the brothers come to understand them and side with the mutineers.

Several members of the Watch are shown with crossbows aimed at the room where Jon's body is being kept. Ser Alliser and the other senior members of the Watch knock on the door and ask to speak to Ser Davos. Ser Alliser promises amnesty for the members of the Watch in the room, and a horse for Ser Davos to ride south with. Ser Davos lightly asks if he will be given mutton, stating that he likes mutton. Thorne promises him food, and also adds that he can take Melisandre with him, as long as everyone in the room surrenders by sundown. Alone in her bedroom, Melisandre removes clothes in front of a mirror. She then takes off her necklace, which causes the gem upon it to lose its glow. Melisandre stands as a frail, naked, old woman with sagging skin and wispy white hair. She despondently climbs into bed.

Appearances

 * Main: The Red Woman/Appearances

First

 * Khal Moro
 * Maester Caleotte

Deaths

 * Areo Hotah
 * Prince Doran Martell
 * Maester Caleotte
 * Prince Trystane Martell

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Mother Cersei Lannister
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
 * Carice van Houten as Lady Melisandre
 * Natalie Dormer as Queen Margaery Tyrell
 * Indira Varma as Ellaria Sand
 * Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
 * Conleth Hill as Varys
 * Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
 * Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow
 * Michiel Huisman as Daario Naharis
 * Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton
 * Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton
 * Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont

Guest Starring
 * Owen Teale as Ser Alliser Thorne
 * Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett
 * Alexander Siddig as Prince Doran Martell
 * DeObia Oparei as Areo Hotah
 * Faye Marsay as The Waif
 * Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
 * Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand
 * Rosabell Laurenti Sellers as Tyene Sand
 * Jessica Henwick as Nymeria Sand
 * Hannah Waddingham as Septa Unella
 * Toby Sebastian as Trystane Martell
 * Brenock O'Connor as Olly
 * Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Ser Gregor Clegane
 * Charlotte Hope as Myranda
 * Joe Naufahu as Khal Moro
 * Chuku Modu as Ahko
 * Staz Nair as Qhono
 * Rubi Ali as a Khal Moro's wife
 * Fola Evans-Akingbola as a Khal Moro's wife
 * Gerald Lepkowski as a Red Priest
 * Richard Rycroft as Maester Wolkan
 * Diogo Sales as a Dothraki bloodrider
 * Junade Khan as a Dothraki bloodrider
 * Sara Dylan as handmaiden
 * Brian Fortune as First Builder Othell Yarwyck
 * Michael Condron as First Steward Bowen Marsh
 * Steve Cash as a loyal Night's Watch man
 * Robert Fawsitt as a loyal Night's Watch man
 * Michael Hayes as a Night's Watch man
 * Tony Flynn as a Night's Watch man
 * Andrew Bryan as a Bolton officer
 * Tristan Heanue as a Bolton soldier
 * Sabina Arthur as a Meereenese homeless mother
 * Colin Azzopardi as Maester Caleotte

Cast notes

 * 19 of 29 starring cast members appear in this episode.
 * Starring cast members Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish), Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen Baratheon), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark), Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane), Hannah Murray (Gilly), and Tom Wlaschiha (Jaqen H'ghar) are not credited and do not appear in this episode.
 * Jonathan Pryce is added to the main cast with his name appearing in the opening credits, starting with this episode. He previously appeared in a recurring role in the fifth season.

Mutiny at Castle Black - books versus TV series

 * This episode confirms that in the TV continuity, the victory of the Boltons over Stannis had nothing to do with the motivations for the mutiny against Jon Snow: it is presented as purely about the wildlings. No attempt is made to overtly explain why Thorne would have let the wildlings through the Wall in the first place if only to kill Jon for it later, when he simply could have barred the gate to them. In the episode itself, it's said that about 40 of the 50 men remaining in the garrison are loyal to Thorne at this point, and it is not presented as if he feared rebuke at the time if he didn't open the gate.
 * In the "Inside the Episode" featurette immediately following the episode, showrunners Benioff and Weiss outright give contradictory explanations for what Thorne's motivations were. Weiss begins by saying that Thorne has hated Jon since Season 1, the mutiny was a naked "power grab", and was made entirely for selfish reasons due to the older officers' grudge against the wildlings. Immediately following this the camera cuts to Benioff, who gives the explanation that the mutiny was actually like the assassination of Julius Caesar, explicitly in the sense that everyone who stabbed Jon did it for selfless reasons, Thorne wasn't making a power grab, he was doing what he honestly felt was best to save the Night's Watch.
 * Thorne's speech, in which he explains his motives, seems to resemble the one Brutus gives after the assassination in Julius Caesar, that he did it for what he believed to be the survival of their organization - which matches what Benioff said. Weiss apparently believes that Thorne is simply lying.

For more information see the sub-article "The Red Woman/Mutiny at Castle Black"

Dorne
The TV series has drastically altered the Dorne subplot of House Martell, and drastically altered it even more in this episode: neither Doran Martell, Trystane Martell, nor Areo Hotah have died in the novels.

In the books, after Oberyn Martell is killed, his daughters the Sand Snakes beg Prince Doran to allow them to take vengeance on the Lannisters (Obara suggests open war, Nymeria - targeted assassinations, Tyene - to crown Myrcella), but Doran refuses all of it. Moreover, Doran's eldest child and heir, his daughter Arianne Martell, sides with the Sand Snakes (under Dornish law women have equal inheritance rights - though the live-action TV episodes have never mentioned this). After Doran refuses them, Arianne attempts to execute Tyene's plan to actually crown Myrcella as a rival monarch to her brother Tommen - under the nominal pretext that under Donrish gender-blind inheritance law, she is ahead of her brother in line of succession.

Ellaria Sand is actually the strongest opponent of going to war against the Lannisters – fearful that the cycle of revenge will never end: they will avenge Oberyn, but then the Lannisters will avenge their dead, and ultimately years from now her younger daughters who are little more than 5 years old will eventually get killed as well.

Two major factors affected the Dorne storyline when it began in Season 5:


 * The writers explained in the Blu-ray commentary that for several years into the TV show, Benioff and Weiss never thought that the subplot in Dorne itself would ever appear, because it doesn’t involve any previously established major cast members. They did know Oberyn and Ellaria would appear in Season 4, but not that the narrative would ever go to Dorne. Belatedly, Bryan Cogman suggested that they invent the detail that Jaime and Bronn would be sent to Dorne in Season 5 to directly confront the Martells – thus the Dorne subplot wasn’t planned out several years in advance as other subplot were.
 * It was also explained in the Blu-ray commentary that after it was decided to actually take the narrative to Dorne, they greatly expanded Ellaria Sand’s role from what it had been in Season 4 – specifically because they enjoyed Indira Varma’s performance.

Thus, all of the drastic changes to Ellaria and the Dorne subplot as a whole were not really developed until after Season 4 was produced, as opposed to being carefully planned out years in advance.

In the novels, after Arianne’s attempt to crown Myrcella ends in failure, she is imprisoned by her father. When he later comes to visit her, Doran finally explains that all of his speeches about how Dorne must have peace at any cost were just an act – he has been plotting revenge against the Lannisters for nearly 20 years, he was simply very careful and patient about it, waiting for all of the pieces to come together. It is also revealed that he was a secret Targaryen loyalist the entire time, and is planning for Dorne to openly rise up to join Daenerys if and when she returns to Westeros. Arianne and the Sand Snakes reconcile with Doran now that they know the real plan.

In the TV version, instead of Ellaria arguing for peace, her role was somewhat combined with Arianne’s as the one pushing for revenge in Season 4 – the exact opposite of her actions in the novels. Doran’s eldest two children, Arianne and Quentyn, were never even introduced. Ultimately, Doran’s speeches about preserving peace at any cost were apparently meant at face value in the TV version – to the point that Ellaria kills him for not taking any more aggressive action. The Sand Snakes also have no need to kill Doran’s son Trystane in the novels because they realize that Doran was on their side the entire time. Trystane’s death in the series also raises other logical questions. Trystane left on the same ship Jaime and Myrcella did – which apparently stayed in the harbor at King’s Landing, given that Trystane is seen painting funeral stones for Myrcella in his cabin. Obara and Nymeria didn’t go on the ship with them – they were shown waiting on the shore as the ship departed. It is possible that they secretly got on the next boat to leave the port and were thus only an hour or two behind Trystane's ship the entire time, then upon arriving in King’s Landing’s harbor snuck onto Trystane's boat to kill him.

Areo Hotah's inattentiveness during the assassination is considerably out of character compared to the books, in which he is always on his guard when the Sand Snakes or anyone else are within the vicinity of Doran. He would not act so carelessly, turning his back on a potential threat. Particularly, in the novels Areo knows full well that Tyene is a master-poisoner like her father, often giving little pin-pricks to her enemies with small blades coated in lethal poisons, so he knows to always keep her in his sight and to keep a safe distance from her.

Also, changes to the Dorne subplot in Season 6 might not even have been intended in Season 5. When a dead viper with Myrcella's pendant in its mouth was sent to Cersei as a threat, the TV show never explicitly identified who sent it - Ellaria, one of the Sand Snakes, or all of them acting in concert. In the books, Prince Doran made a big show of arresting Arianne and the Sand Snakes after their failed attempt to crown Myrcella, to convince the Lannisters what a loyal ally he was. Combined with the fact that the TV series never identified who stole Myrcella's pendant and sent it to Cersei as a threat, this led to considerable speculation that it was actually Doran himself who sent it, to bait the Lannisters to try to "rescue" Myrcella, when in fact he was wise to the Sand Snakes' plan the entire time, and wanted to make a big show of "stopping" them, to convince the Lannisters he wanted to avoid a war at all costs when in fact he was secretly preparing for one. It would also have been odd for Ellara and the Sand Snakes to warn Cersei in advance by sending a threatening message implying they intended to harm her daughter - when they were having trouble enough as it was sneaking into the Water Gardens to assassinate her without Doran's permission. This might have actually been the screenwriters' intention early in Season 5, but the idea was later abandoned: note that while Doran keeps insisting he wants peace, right before both Jaime and the Sand Snakes make their move to take Myrcella in episode 5.6 "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken", he has a private conversation with Areo Hotah in which he gravely warns him that he will have to use his axe in combat before long - implying that he already knew that the Sand Snakes were going to attack Myrcella but were letting them do it in order to make a show of stopping them, and possibly that he was warning Areo that he intended to fully take Dorne to war. Doran's actions and statements in Season 5 are thus somewhat incongruent with how he is presented in Season 6.

It is also confusing that in this episode, Ellaria points out that not even one of Doran's guards (other than Areo) rush to his defense when she stabs him, because they all think he's weak and agree with her actions - when during the Sand Snakes' attack on Myrcella in Season 5, they all joined Areo to stop the Sand Snakes. It might be possible that the way he dealt with this incident, insisting that he still wouldn't fight the Lannisters, is what was meant to be what drove them over the edge to side with Ellaria: in which case, they wouldn't turn on Doran for taking no action to avenge his brother, but do turn against him for stopping his nieces from killing a political hostage (and young girl at that) who was a formal guest in his own castle - even though in Season 4, Oberyn himself insisted that he would never want to harm Myrcella because the thought of killing a little girl who was a non-combatant was abhorrent to Dornish honor.

With Doran dead and none of his other children established as existing in the TV show, House Martell is legally extinct. Ellaria cannot make any claim to rule because she was only Oberyn's paramour, not even his legal wife, and even if she as his wife she has no blood claim to House Martell. Oberyn's eldest daughter is Obara Sand - but by definition, all of the Sand Snakes are bastards and thus cannot lawfully inherit any of House Martell's lands and titles. How Ellaria intended to officially hold power after this is therefore unclear.

Catching up with the books
Though Season 6 has been widely described as the point when the TV series surpasses the novels, this is not exactly true, as storylines have been adapted at an uneven pace. The showrunners always said they felt they were adapting the story as a whole, not neatly matching up the endings of each book to each season. Indeed, Tyrion surpassed his current book material already by meeting Daenerys at the end of Season 5 - which was on the verge of happening at the end of the current, fifth novel. Broadly, preview chapters released for the as-yet unpublished sixth novel can be counted as "released" material. The point still stands that several of the storylines for some of the most central characters have now surpassed the novels - Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Tyrion Lannister - but many other subplots have not.

Characters and subplots that have caught up with their current material from the novels:
 * Daenerys Targaryen and Meereen, including Tyrion Lannister
 * Jon Snow and the Night's Watch
 * Roose Bolton and Ramsay Bolton
 * Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish
 * Sansa Stark's storyline was merged with Jeyne Poole's from the fifth novel, who is forced to marry Ramsay; her Vale storylines have now been diverted while she has reached the end of Jeyne Poole's material from the most recent novel.
 * Theon Greyjoy, except for his experiences after escaping Winterfell (in a preview chapter from book six)
 * Stannis Baratheon and Melisandre
 * Davos Seaworth was involved in other subplots in the North which were cut, but which may now have been merged with other subplots.
 * The entire Dorne subplot has so wildly diverged from its material in the novels that the Martells' original book material is being ignored at this point.

Characters and subplots that have not yet caught up with the books:


 * Arya Stark - Arya goes blind at the end of the fourth novel, in which her storyline was heavily focused on. Her storyline is revisted in book five, in which she has two full chapters. Moreover, an Arya preview chapter from book six was released in which she kills Raff the Sweetling (condensed to be Meryn Trant in the TV series). The majority of the chapter, however, involves a lengthy scene at a stage play in Braavos, which is confirmed to appear later in Season 6. Thus Arya still has a considerable amount of material from the novels which have not yet been adapted.
 * Bran Stark, Hodor, and Meera Reed - Bran's storyline had one chapter left in book five after he met the Three-eyed raven, in which he begins his training in Greensight and experiences several vivid visions of the past, including his father Eddard Stark in his youth.
 * Season 6 is apparently going to stretch out this one Bran chapter for some time in Season 6, using it as a framing device to show important flashback scenes - at least some of which were actually had by other characters earlier in the novels, recounted through vivid narration: in the first novel, Eddard himself mentally recalled his final confrontation at the end of Robert's Rebellion with the Targaryen Kingsguard in the showdown at the Tower of Joy - Season 6 will present this as a vision of the past that Bran experiences.
 * The King's Landing subplots are a mixed case, in that after Cersei's Walk of atonement only one more chapter is set in King's Landing; however, it is an extensive scene in which her uncle Kevan Lannister and the Small Council discuss large-scale events across Westeros. The TV series is apparently combining and moving around some of this, and extending elements of the chapter across Season 6: at the same time, Cersei's ongoing confrontation with the Faith Militant (seen in trailers) will certainly surpass the events of the last chapter focusing on the Small Council.
 * The Faith Militant itself and the confrontation with them to have Margaery released has fully caught up with the novels, and trailers for Season 6 show scenes which confirm that she will quickly move into unadapted material in Season 6.
 * Loras Tyrell wasn't imprisoned by the Faith Militant in the novels; indeed he had a rather prominent new subplot: given that the Tyrells' homeland in the Reach is on the west coast of the continent, it is under threat from the renewed ironborn attacks, and Loras has to command their forces to deal with it. This storyline sees Loras return to the forefront, as he was somewhat in the background from the third novel onward after Renly died. It is unclear if this subplot will be worked back into Season 6 or be omitted entirely.
 * Elements from the Slaver's Bay storyline were pushed back from prior novels, dealing with both internal politics within Meereen and a looming confrontation with Yunkai from without. The Yunkish diplomat Razdal mo Eraz is set to return in Season 6, organizing the slaver powers and their allies, while Daenerys's advisors left in Meereen try to deal with the mounting crisis. In the novels, these chapters after Daenerys's disappearance are told from Barristan Selmy's perspective, but with his death in the TV series, parts of them may have transferred to Tyrion.

Tyrion's storyline as he was heading east to Meereen in book five also introduced a new subplot involving a major political shakeup in the Free Cities, but this was cut completely from from Tyrion's storyline in Season 5. After he leaves for Meereen it subsequently intersects with several other subplots (not Arya's). This Free Cities subplot will probably be cut entirely from the TV series.