Season 6

Season 6 of Game of Thrones was formally commissioned by HBO on 8 April 2014, following a substantial increase in audience figures between the third and fourth seasons. The fifth and sixth seasons were commissioned simultaneously, the first time HBO has done so for a major drama series.

The season consists of ten episodes. It began filming in late July 2015 and concluded on December 17, 2015. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss returned as executive producers and showrunners for both seasons five and six, having signed a new two-year contract with HBO in early 2014.

The season premiered on April 24, 2016.

Season 6 is based on the hitherto unreleased sixth novel of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, The Winds of Winter, along with a significant amount of material from the fourth and fifth books, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, which run concurrently but follow different sets of characters.

Adaptation
While prior seasons followed a format of adapting roughly one book's worth of material per year (or one large book across two seasons, in the case of Season 3 and most of Season 4), Season 5 heavily condensed together most of the fourth and fifth novels in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons. The fourth and fifth novels did occur simultaneously, and were originally intended to be one massive novel (the fourth novel focuses on events in the Seven Kingdoms and the Free Cities, and the fifth on events at the Wall, in the North and in Slaver's Bay, with the last third outpacing the fourth novel). The result is that by the end of Season 5 most - though not all - storylines in the TV series caught up with the current novels, including:


 * Jon Snow and the Night's Watch
 * Daenerys Targaryen and Meereen, including Tyrion Lannister
 * King's Landing, including Cersei Lannister and Margaery Tyrell (except for one additional Small Council chapter)
 * Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish and The Vale
 * Sansa Stark's storyline in the Vale was merged with Jeyne Poole's from the fifth novel, who is forced to marry Ramsay; Sansa's Vale storylines have now been diverted while she has reached the end of Jeyne Poole's material from the most recent novel.
 * Stannis Baratheon and Melisandre
 * Davos Seaworth was involved in other subplots in the North which were cut, but with Stannis's defeat now it is unknown if these will be drawn on later.
 * Roose Bolton and Ramsay Bolton
 * Bran Stark, Hodor, and Meera Reed - already caught up at the end of Season 4, except for one chapter.
 * Theon Greyjoy, except for his experiences after escaping Winterfell.

Season 5 was heavily condensed, however, and two entire books worth of storylines simply could not fit into a single season. Therefore, several subplots were pushed back until Season 6, including:


 * Almost the entire House Greyjoy subplot since the second novel. The Greyjoys barely appear in the third novel (corresponding to Seasons 3 and 4), but then the narrative shifts to put a major focus on them in the fourth and fifth novels.  Yara Greyjoy (called Asha Greyjoy in the books) even becomes a POV narrator.  In contrast, the Greyjoys (as a faction, not including Theon) did not appear at all in Season 5.
 * Though the Dorne subplot was introduced in Season 5, it was extremely condensed, to the point that Doran Martell only briefly appeared in Season 5, and many other members of House Martell didn't appear at all. Two of Doran's children were omitted from the TV series and may not appear at all in the TV continuity - particularly including Doran's eldest child and heir, Arianne Martell, who is actually the POV narrator for much of the Dorne subplot.  Similar to the Greyjoys, the narrative widens to give focus on the Martells in the fourth and fifth novels, but ultimately very little of the Martell storyline appeared in Season 5.
 * Arya Stark in Braavos - two more chapters after she goes blind at the end of the fourth novel. Another Arya chapter from the upcoming sixth novel was released as a preview before Season 5:  the second half of it involved Arya killing a Lannister guard on her kill list who came to Braavos, and this was already adapted in Season 5; the first half of the chapter involved a lengthy scene at a stage play in Braavos, and screenshots confirm this will appear in Season 6.
 * Samwell Tarly and Gilly's long sea voyage to Oldtown, on the exact opposite side of Westeros, which takes them through Braavos and the Free Cities, and having to face the ironborn who are now ravaging the southwestern coasts.
 * The subplots in The Riverlands, centering around the Frey siege of the Tullys at Riverrun, the garrison commanded by Catelyn's uncle Brynden Tully. The Riverrun subplot involved Jaime Lannister in the novels, as he tries to negotiate with Brynden.
 * Also, Brienne of Tarth's wanderings in the Riverlands were omitted from Season 5. Much of this material wasn't directly relevant to overall plot threads, and several characters who were important to other plotlines now appear to have been reshuffled into other subplots in Season 6.  Given how much Jaime and Brienne's subplots were changed in Season 5, it is unclear how these will play out in Season 6.
 * Bran Stark has only one more chapter, in the Cave of the three-eyed raven, but as it plays out in live action it may stretch across a significant amount of time: training in his magical powers, Bran experiences several visions of the past.  When Bran returns in Season 6, the TV show will use this as a framing device to show various flashbacks from the novels, such as actually showing Bran's father Ned during Robert's Rebellion, and certain other key events, such as the Raid on the Tower of Joy.   Some of these flashbacks appeared in one form or another in prior novels, when other characters recounted them through vivid narration, but the TV series only started depicting flashback scenes in Season 5 (the Prologue scene when Cersei has a flashback to her youth when she was given a prophecy about her downfall).
 * Tyrion's storyline as he was heading east to Meereen introduced a major new subplot involving a major political shakeup in the Free Cities. This was cut completely from Tyrion's storyline in Season 5, but after he leaves for Meereen it subsequently intersects with several other subplots (not Arya's). This will probably be cut entirely from the TV series continuity.

Some of these subplots were not omitted entirely but pushed back to Season 6, however this will inevitably lead to some changes compared to the novels, because they were originally interlinked with events happening in the other storylines. Particularly, Cersei's decisions as regent directly affected the Greyjoy, Martell, and Riverrun storylines, and to an extent the Braavos subplot (due to the banking crisis). Given that Cersei has already been arrested in the TV series, some of these choices may be shifted to her uncle Kevan Lannister, the new Hand of the King, loosely drawing on the long Small Council chapter from late in the fifth novel which hasn't been adapted yet. It also isn't clear why Jaime would leave King's Landing again to deal with Riverrun now that Cersei is arrested.

Therefore, Season 6 isn't really "entirely new material" because many subplots were adapted at an uneven pace - though the TV series has always been speeding up or slowing down the rate of different storylines: Jaime's storyline from the third novel was moved up to the end of Season 2 (because he had little material in the second novel), and Bran Stark's storyline from the fifth novel was actually moved up to Season 4, when other characters were still on their material from the late third novel. Jon Snow's subplot was actually delayed for some time - in the third novel, the Battle of Castle Black occurred immediately after Jon returned to Castle Black, which was quickly followed by Jon's election as Lord Commander: due to the mechanics of splitting the third novel in half, Jon returned to Castle Black in the Season 3 finale but the battle didn't occur until the climax of the Season 4 finale, which necessitated pushing the Night's Watch election to the beginning of Season 5 (had this occurred at the pace it did in the novels, Jon's election would actually have happened in the middle of Season 4).

Nonetheless, Season 6 will mostly draw upon the as-yet-unpublished sixth novel, The Winds of Winter - certainly for Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen's storylines, as the final chapters of the fifth novel were the cliffhangers of Jon being stabbed by his own officers and Daenerys being surrounded by the Dothraki khalasar. George R.R. Martin did give the TV producers an outline of events that will happen in the final two unpublished novels - though at the same time, they don't have access to hundreds of pages of source material anymore (for pulling specific lines of dialogue, etc.)

Though Martin has released about half a dozen preview chapters from the sixth novel, it isn't clear how much of a basis they can be for any material in the TV series, due to existing differences between the book series and the adaptation. Also, until the book is released, there is no way of analyzing the adaptation process fully (e.g., if the actions of one character in Season 6 are actually a condensation of the actions of two different characters in the sixth novel).

Filming
In Northern Ireland, production ran from late July to late December 2015. Interior shooting returned to the show's headquarters, the Paint Hall Studios in Belfast. Meanwhile, location shooting took place at the following locations: Garron Point (previously Runestone), the Winterfell set in Moneyglass , Magilligan (reprising its part as the Dothraki sea) , the Castle Black set at the Magheramorne quarry , Ballintoy (returning as Pyke) , a rural sept set in Larne , Glenarm (previously the Vale) , Carnlough Harbour (as a Braavosi canal) , Shane's Castle (once more as the foundations of the Great Sept of Baelor) , Carncastle (previously the fields around Winterfell) , Aghanloo Wood , Saintfield (as the site for "The Battle of the Bastards" , a climactic Northern battle , which demanded the show's lengthiest shoot for a battle scene) , the Riverrun set in Corbet (newly built, since in the third season the castle was realized only with Gosford Castle's gardens, an interior hall set and a distant matte painting), the Knocklayd Mountain quarry , Ballycastle in County Antrim, and Murlough Bay.

Ever since Croatia was introduced into the production for the second season, it has been the main source of locations outside of Northern Ireland, yet this season only returned to the country for a brief shoot in Dubrovnik, which reappears as King's Landing. Previously, Dubrovnik had been both King's Landing and Qarth, while Klis, Split and Šibenik depicted Meereen and Braavos. This season turned to new Spanish locations instead.

In Spain, filming took place between late August and late October. In Girona, the locations were the Sant Pere de Galligants abbey's exterior (as a Braavosi bridge) , the Plaça dels Jurats (as a Braavosi theater stage) , the streets of Ferran el Catòlic, Sant Martí and l’Escola Pia (as Braavosi street markets) , another local street (as an alley in Oldtown) , and the Girona Cathedral's exterior (as the Great Sept in King's Landing). Still in Catalonia, they filmed in the Santa Florentina Castle (as Horn Hill), Montgrí Castle and Besalú. Later locations where the Bardenas natural park in Navarre (as the Dothraki Sea) and the Zafra Castle in Guadalajara (as the Tower of Joy). In Peñíscola, all filming spots posed as Meereen: the Portal Fosc (as a dilapidated street) , the Plaza de Santa María (as a granary) , the Parque de la Artillería (as a garden) and the Plaza de Armas. In Almería, filming took place at a new Vaes Dothrak set in Pechina , on the Tabernas Desert (as the Dothraki Sea) , on the Gypsum Karst of Sorbas , at the Mesa Roldán Tower (as Meereen) , and at the Alcazaba (as Sunspear). Finally, filming without any of the cast briefly took place at the Alcázar of Seville (returning as the Water Gardens) and at the Roman bridge of Córdoba (once more as the Long Bridge of Volantis).

When the TV series began in Season 1, there were two simultaneous filming units - which is unusual for most TV shows, which have only one filming unit - called Wolf Unit and Dragon Unit. In Season 3, production expanded to include three filming units, with the new third one called Raven Unit. Season 4, however, switched back to using only two filming units, and Raven Unit was disbanded. Wolf Unit and Dragon Unit continued to film through Seasons 4 and 5. For Season 6, however, the TV series once again expanded to employ three simultaneous filming units: the new third filming unit was now called "White Walker Unit".

According to David Benioff, speaking at the red carpet advanced screening of the Season 6 premiere two weeks before its broadcast:


 * "This season was a beast to make. We shot 680 hours of dailies, which translates to 3.7 million feet of film. We shot in five different countries – Northern Ireland, Spain, Croatia, Iceland, and Canada. We employed 900 crewmembers in Belfast; 400 in Spain. We issued 140 script revisions. We two shot units a day for 22 weeks straight, three units a day for 10 weeks straight, four units for two weeks straight. And none of that would be possible without the greatest producing team on the planet.

Thus they briefly switched to using four filming units for two weeks (it isn't clear if the fourth unit had a name), and apparently returned to film some scenes in Canada (possibly on a sound stage again as in Season 5, due to working with the actor-wolves).

In the ending credits for Season 6 episodes as they aired, the filming units were listed as "Wolf Unit", "Dragon Unit", "White Walker Unit", and the fourth one named simply "Spain Unit". It is unclear whether White Walker Unit or Spain Unit was the fourth one, which briefly filmed for two weeks - though it was probably White Walker Unit, if the name implies that it dealt with Bran Stark's scenes in the frozen north, while filming in Spain was drastically expanded in Season 6 to take over most of the southern-unit filming that used to be done in Croatia (for King's Landing, Braavos, Oldtown, and more).

The budget for the TV series was drastically increased yet again for Season 6, to about $10 million per episode (ten episodes, for a total of $100 million). Back in Season 2, the show averaged only about $6 million per episode. Benioff and Weiss even infamously had to beg HBO in an "awkward" conversation for an additional $2 million to film the climactic Battle of the Blackwater at the end of Season 2 (and thus episode 2.9 "Blackwater" totaled $8 million).

Cast

 * Main article: Season 6 cast

Starring cast

 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister (5 episodes)
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister (4 episodes)
 * Lena Headey as Queen Mother Cersei Lannister (4 episodes)
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen (4 episodes)
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow (5 episodes)
 * Aidan Gillen as Lord Petyr Baelish (2 episodes)
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth (5 episodes)
 * Carice van Houten as Lady Melisandre (5 episodes)
 * Natalie Dormer as Queen Margaery Tyrell (2 episodes)
 * Indira Varma as Ellaria Sand ("The Red Woman")
 * Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark (4 episodes)
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei (4 episodes)
 * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark (4 episodes)
 * Conleth Hill as Varys (5 episodes)
 * Alfie Allen as Prince Theon Greyjoy (4 episodes)
 * John Bradley as Samwell Tarly ("Oathbreaker")
 * Dean-Charles Chapman as King Tommen Baratheon (3 episodes)
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth (4 episodes)
 * Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark (3 episodes)
 * Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane (4 episodes)
 * Michiel Huisman as Daario Naharis (3 episodes)
 * Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton (2 episodes)
 * Hannah Murray as Gilly ("Oathbreaker")
 * Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow (4 episodes)
 * Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton (4 episodes)
 * Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar (3 episodes)
 * with Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont (3 episodes)

Selected guest starring cast

 * Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett (5 episodes)
 * Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm (4 episodes)
 * Faye Marsay as the Waif (4 episodes)
 * Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne (4 episodes)
 * Max von Sydow as the three-eyed raven (3 episodes)
 * Kae Alexander as Leaf (3 episodes)
 * Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson as Ser Gregor Clegane (3 episodes)
 * Joe Naufahu as Khal Moro (3 episodes)
 * Brenock O'Connor as Olly (3 episodes)
 * Owen Teale as Ser Alliser Thorne (3 episodes)
 * Gemma Whelan as Princess Yara Greyjoy (3 episodes)
 * Diana Rigg as Lady Olenna Tyrell (2 episodes)
 * Pilou Asbæk as Euron Greyjoy (2 episodes)
 * Michael Feast as Aeron Greyjoy (2 episodes)
 * Ian Gelder as Ser Kevan Lannister (2 episodes)
 * Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle (2 episodes)
 * Ellie Kendrick as Meera Reed (2 episodes)
 * Kristian Nairn as Hodor (2 episodes)
 * Natalia Tena as Osha (2 episodes)
 * Hannah Waddingham as Septa Unella (2 episodes)
 * Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Lord Mace Tyrell ("Oathbreaker")
 * Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand ("The Red Woman")
 * Lino Facioli as Lord Robin Arryn ("Book of the Stranger")
 * Richard E. Grant as Izembaro ("The Door")
 * Jessica Henwick as Nymeria Sand ("The Red Woman")
 * Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell ("Book of the Stranger")
 * Rosabell Laurenti Sellers as Tyene Sand ("The Red Woman")
 * Anton Lesser as Qyburn ("Oathbreaker")
 * Patrick Malahide as King Balon Greyjoy ("Home")
 * DeObia Oparei as Areo Hotah ("The Red Woman")
 * Art Parkinson as Prince Rickon Stark ("Oathbreaker")
 * Toby Sebastian as Prince Trystane Martell ("The Red Woman")
 * Alexander Siddig as Prince Doran Martell ("The Red Woman")
 * Rupert Vansittart as Lord Yohn Royce ("Book of the Stranger")

Yet to appear:

Returning starring cast
 * Jerome Flynn as Ser Bronn

Returning guest starring cast
 * David Bradley as Lord Walder Frey
 * Eugene Simon as Brother Lancel
 * Clive Russell as Ser Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully
 * Tobias Menzies as Lord Edmure Tully
 * Paul Kaye as Thoros of Myr
 * Tim Plester as Walder Rivers
 * Josephine Gillan as Marei

Returning former starring cast
 * Sibel Kekilli as Shae

New major cast members
 * Ricky Champ as Flynn. Announced July 23, 2015.
 * Ian McShane as a fusion of Septon Meribald and the Elder Brother. Announced March 3, 2016.
 * Freddie Stroma as Dickon Tarly. Announced September 4, 2015.
 * James Faulkner as Lord Randyll Tarly. Announced September 16, 2015.
 * Samantha Spiro as Lady Melessa Tarly. Announced September 16, 2015.
 * Rebecca Benson as Talla Tarly. Announced September 16, 2015.
 * Melanie Liburd as a Red Priestess. Announced October 3, 2015.
 * Daniel Tuite as Lothar Frey. Announced April 18, 2016.

New minor cast members
 * Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as TBA. Announced August 26, 2015.
 * Kevin Horsham as a Westerosi sea captain. Announced September 15, 2015.
 * Matt Faris as TBA. Announced September 16, 2015.
 * Raül Tortosa as a Tyrell bannerman. Announced September 17, 2015.
 * Dermot Ward as TBA. Announced November 2, 2015.
 * Aron Hegarty as TBA. Announced November 2, 2015.
 * Margaret Jackman as an old lady. Announced November 3, 2015.
 * Michael Patrick as a Wildling. Announced November 9, 2015.
 * Gary Wales as a Healtor troop. Announced December 16, 2015.
 * Adam Turns as a pale young man. Announced December 16, 2015.
 * Ian Davies as Morgan. Announced December 24, 2015.
 * Desmond Edwards as an Umber soldier. Announced January 8, 2016.
 * Mark Tankersley as a Bolton general. Announced February 2, 2016.
 * Jed Murray as TBA. Announced February 2, 2016.
 * Elynia Betts as a tavern girl. Announced March 6, 2016.
 * Brahm Gallagher as TBA. Announced April 2, 2016.

Reported new characters
 * Lady Lyanna Mormont.
 * Bower, a servant.
 * Lachlan, an outlaw leader.
 * Japeth, an outlaw.
 * A fat, old Northern nobleman who fits the description of Lord Wyman Manderly.
 * A callow Northern nobleman.
 * A wry, articulate Lord.
 * A hunter.
 * A sympathiser (1).
 * A sympathiser (2).
 * A sympathiser (3).
 * A young stunner.
 * A sublime courtesan.
 * An Oldtown maester.
 * Captain of the Tower.
 * A distinguished old man.

Crew
On March 27 2015, author George R.R. Martin said he would again not write a script for Season 6, as he wished to concentrate on finishing The Winds of Winter as soon as possible. On June 4, Miguel Sapochnik indicated he was already preparing to direct next season. Jeremy Podeswa made similar statements in June 12. On June 19, the showrunners confirmed that April Ferry would be the new costume designer for Season 6, replacing Michele Clapton, who decided to leave after five seasons. On June 22, newcomer Jack Bender announced he would direct two episodes for season six. The full list of directors and which episodes they would oversee was released in Entertainment Weekly on June 25. There are five directors, each doing two back to back episodes, as in Season 5. Jack Bender and Daniel Sackheim are working on the TV series for the first time, while the other three directors previously worked on the series in Season 5; none worked on the first four seasons.

Producers

 * David Benioff: executive producer & showrunner
 * D.B. Weiss: executive producer & showrunner
 * Bernadette Caulfield: executive producer
 * Frank Doelger: executive producer
 * Carolyn Strauss: executive producer
 * George R.R. Martin: co-executive producer
 * Vince Gerardis: co-executive producer
 * Guymon Casady: co-executive producer
 * Greg Spence: producer
 * Chris Newman: producer
 * Lisa McAtackney: producer
 * Bryan Cogman: supervising producer
 * April Ferry: costume designer
 * Deborah Riley: production designer
 * Ramin Djawadi: composer
 * Nina Gold: casting director
 * Robert Sterne: casting director

Writers

 * David Benioff & D.B. Weiss: episode 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 10
 * Dave Hill: episode 2
 * Bryan Cogman: episode 6 and 7

Directors

 * Jeremy Podeswa - episodes 1 and 2
 * Daniel Sackheim - episodes 3 and 4
 * Jack Bender - episodes 5 and 6
 * Mark Mylod - episodes 7 and 8
 * Miguel Sapochnik - episodes 9 and 10