HBO has finally spoken about Season 6 of the popular TV series “Game of Thrones.” And the network did the talking without uttering a single word.
Contrary to previous reports that came out late last month that Season 6 of “Game of Thrones” would premiere on May 1 at the earliest because of adjustments on the HBO Sunday night programming beginning in February next year, the network shunned the rumors by coming up with the first poster of the TV series.
The poster actually features the bloodied face of Jon Snow, played by Kit Harrington, which pretty much confirms the return of the character in Season 6.
Jon Snow looks bloodied and broken in the poster, but he is definitely going to be in Season 6. It could not be a ghost nor a cruel joke from the network because the leaks about the upcoming season have already revealed that the fan-favorite character is going to be back, details Wired.
It can be recalled that the life of Jon Snow was left hanging in the balance during the Season 5 finale of “Game of Thrones” when he got stabbed multiple times by his brothers in the Nightwatch, calling him a traitor for helping their sworn enemies – the Wildings.
However, the statement about the show’s premiere date from HBO came with the one-word caption of the poster which says ‘April,’ a clear reference to the Season 6 air date of “Game of Thrones,” details the Independent of UK.
Programming adjustments
HBO recently courted the ire of the millions of fans of the very popular “Game of Thrones” when reports started coming out that the premiere of the sixth season of the show will most likely be pushed back from its supposed early April release to May next year.
Over the past five seasons, “Game of Thrones” has either premiered in March or in April. This year, Season 5 premiered on HBO on April 12.
It seems unlikely that “Game of Thrones” will have an April premiere date next year because of some programming adjustments on HBO.
Apparently, HBO has two TV series premiering in February next year for its Sunday night programming. The two shows are “Vinyl” which will roll out on February 14 to be followed by “Girls and Togetherness” that will premiere a week later.
The two new series completes HBO Sunday night programming with “Show Me a Hero.” The three shows would finish out their seasons all at the same time on April 24. This means that “Game of Thrones” cannot premiere on HBO anytime from April 24 or earlier because its usual timeslot is well occupied on that dates.
By logical deduction, the earliest that “Game of Thrones” could air therefore is the next Sunday after April 24 which falls on May 1.
While HBO has not officially announced yet that the premiere date of Season 6 of “Games of Thrones” will be pushed back by nearly a month, the network simply does not want to add insult to injury by making a formal announcement about it.
Unless HBO does some creative adjustment to its Sunday night programming starting early next year, the push back in the premiere date of “Game of Thrones” Season 6 is very likely.
However, the new poster featuring Jon Snow has thrown previous notions out the window about the premiere date of Season 6 of “Game of Thrones.” It seems that HBO will pull some strings and make some programming adjustments to ensure that its flagship TV series will debut in April as usual.
A major spoiler
Meanwhile, a recent image leak from the ongoing filming of “Game of Thrones” seems to have given a major spoiler for the show’s upcoming season.
The image leak is being referred to as the ‘Reunion’ although it does not appear to be one. Accordingly, the image shows Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, played by Sophie Turner, Ramsay Bolton, played by Iwan Rheon, and Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish, played by Aidan Gillen, in one scene at Winterfell’s courtyard.