My Review of "Game of Thrones: Season 6"

Game of Thrones: Season 6 came out back in 2016. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen after that great 5th season. It was such a game changing season because so much happened in that season. This season has a lot happening to it but it's starting to rush itself too. The series seems to be on a bit of a slide but not totally. I see some problems starting to arise but it's still pretty darn good.

The season starts off right after the events of the previous season. Cersei has finally come back to the Red Keep after her humiliating walk of shame. Ramsay Snow is now a Bolton. This is when Theon finally snaps back to Theon and saves Sansa from Ramsay's sadistic rule of tyranny. Only after they kill Myranda who was in their way. Brienne slays Stannis and gets her revenge for Renly. Which is a huge eye opener for Melisandre as she starts questioning her faith.

Meanwhile, Arya gets another murder victim in her kill list with Meryn Trant. She's gone full Arya and as a punishment loses her sense of vision. Tyrion finally meets up with Daenarys and soon becomes her trusted councilor. After Daenarys saves her people she flies off with her wounded dragon only to be captured by Dothraki warriors.

That leaves a ton of big questions for season 6. In a way they're all answered but there was a ton of weird things in this season that kind of start pushing the sense of logic. There are weird super heroic efforts that start coming into play that pushed my sense of believability. I understand that there was going to be a magic and fantasy element added to this series eventually. They teased it for a long time but now they're going full blown magic in this season. At times characters are are put into somewhat cartoonish situations and survive miraculously out of convenient timing.

Yes this did happen in season 5 as well but there was a sense of believability to it. There is a grander scale to some of the scenes in this season but in some ways it almost feels kind of like a Hollywood franchise disease. The battle of the bastards is the second last episode and this is probably one great example of what I mean. The episode was filmed quite cinematically. You could tell that there was a ton of production value in this episode but they did a lot of big budget movie things in this episode. You're to make me believe that the giant that they had had very little effect in this great war? This is weird because his brother fought much more valiantly in the fight for castle black. Jon and his army of wildlings shouldn't have been easily surrounded in the middle of the fight by Ramsay's troops either. You could see the overhead camera and they just casually and slowly march around Jon's troops like it's nothing. It's really weird but makes for some beautiful shots.

The dialogue in this season seems to have taken a nose dive as well. There isn't as much witty banter between characters anymore. We know the characters so well now that we know what they're trying to get at but there is not style or panache while they're doing it anymore. Things seem a little more cliche in this season than the others.

Consistency of characters has changed as well. Perhaps this is the element of lost innocence but having Arya and Sansa smile after they've gotten their revenge is a bit creepy. They're supposed to be the good ones and yet they don't even bat an eye when they coldly murder their victims. I guess it's part of their progression as characters of trauma and the mood of the whole environment.

One of the hidden gems in this season is Lady Mormont. She's a child that's taken over her house as everyone else has passed away. Lady Mormont is a heck of a character that I would like to see more of. Another interesting element in this season is that they're really emphasizing the female leads. It was kind of weird and almost too on the nose at times. They had this cringe conversation with Daenarys and Yara about women ruling their kingdoms. It kind of felt like some of those Marvel moments where they're trying to pander to the audience.

Overall, this season was still quite entertaining but they seem to be taking some shortcuts. It's either that or there is a lot of big studio intervention that prevented this season from continuing the stellar quality it was known for. It worries me a little as I go into the next season. I have to give this season a 7 out of 10.