Game of Thrones premiere recap: 'The Red Woman' 

Get behind-the-scenes insight each week during season 6

Yes, Jon Snow is still dead, but the episode is terrific. Expertly shot, crazily expensive-looking, each sequence totally effective at setting up the next, complete with surges of drama, action, horror and humor.

season premieres have never been the best episodes, often slow-moving and painstaking re-establishing all the various storylines. But after last year’s cliffhanger “The Red Woman” — and oh yes, we’ll get to that shocking Melisandre reveal — this hour just barreled forward. If, as in previous years,

tends to get stronger as the season progresses, then perhaps what the showrunners have declared will prove correct — that this is the best season yet. 

We open with an angle on Castle Black we haven’t exactly seen before, and swoop in as Ghost howls. Jon’s direwolf is like the collective

fandom wails given voice. The crying strikes a perfect balance between mournful and eerie. It’s unsettling, and it begins the slow stir of your emotions as we enter season 6.  

Ser Davos finds his body. Gah, Jon Snow looks even more dead than the last time we saw him. This leaves to several reverent moments, with Davos and Jon’s Night’s Watch supporters mourning and touching him. Has any dead body on

ever been treated with so much adoration? Melisandre enters. She’s confused: “I saw him in the flames fighting at Winterfell.” 

Hey Melisandre, everybody watching this scene has an idea. How about you–

Back in the Castle Black cafeteria, Ser Alliser Throne declares “Jon Snow is dead!” just totally rubbing it in. There’s some understandable outrage.

states his case: Jon Snow was a threat to the Night’s Watch as a whole, so

was protecting the Night’s Watch by killing its leader. Ideally he’d like to Make Westeros Great Again by deporting all the Wildlings north of their Wall. As always,

is adept at staying just shy of being an outright villain; he’s a pragmatist who could be a hero from a slightly different point of view.

Meanwhile Jon is still just …. laying there. Just dead on a table, like a piece of creaky Castle Black furniture, while all the drama just goes on around him.

MORE TO COME: Since there are no screeners this year, we’re once again doing live recapping – updates will be posted here throughout the night,

Also, we have an interview with Melisandre herself, Carice Van Houten giving some thoughts on that finale shocker (along with some observations of our own). Plus, we’ll have Gwendoline Christie talking briefly about her heroic scene a bit later. And tomorrow we’ll have the first proper episode of EW’s new

podcast where myself and Darren Franich will talk in detail about “The Red Woman.” For those who used to read Darren’s

popular book club column after each episode, the podcast is sort of taking the place of that since we’re going into a book-less story zone. Subscribe and listen to the podcast here. 

Monopoly and Risk games. beer steins, etc. Both the recap and the podcast will each contain a different trivia question each week and the first person to email us at GOTpodcast@ew.com gets the prize (you can only win once this season). The first question will be posted as soon as this recap is complete later tonight. 

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