Over the past few days,Entertainment Weeklyhas been teasing plenty of new details about the secretiveSeason 6of HBO’sGame of Thrones, set to debut on Sunday, April 24 at 9 PM ET. While we’ll surely have plenty of more tidbits from this issue tomorrow when it debuts on newsstands, the publication has revealed its collectible magazine covers today, featuring six of the show’s female stars. The covers featureEmilia Clarke(Daenerys Targaryen),Lena Headey(Cersei Lannister),Maisie Williams(Arya Stark),Sophie Turner(Sansa Stark),Gwendoline Christie(Brienne of Tarth) andNatalie Dormer(Margaery Tyrell), all of whom play pivotal roles this season, according to HBO programming presidentMichael Lombardo.
“The women are rocking this season - and I’m not just saying that because they’re on your cover. Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) always does, but also Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), Arya (Maisie Williams),Sansa(Sophie Turner), Cersei (Lena Headey), Margaery (Natalie Dormer), and other characters too, like Yara (Gemma Whelan). They power this season. It’s organic to the storytelling, yet a radical shift. It’s the women that are the hope that we’re watching as the chess pieces move this season, and it’s very exciting.”
Gemma Whelan’s Yara Greyjoy, the sister of Alfie Allen’s Theon Greyjoy, was first rumored to return inSeason 6back in October, which was confirmed when she was featured innew photosthat debuted last month. Her character was last seen in theSeason 4episodeThe Laws of Gods and Men, but her return isn’t terribly surprising. A rumor from the set surfaced last month, claiming the actress was spotted alongside new cast memberPilou Asbæk, who is said to be playing Theon and Yara’s uncle, Euron Greyjoy.
As for the rest of the women, all of them were in quite precarious positions whenSeason 5came to an end last summer. Daenerys fled Meereen on the back of her dragon Drogon, after an assassination attempt by the Sons of the Harpy. We last saw her being surrounded by a horde of Dothraki soldiers in the season finale, and thetrailerthat debuted earlier this month revealed that she has been enslaved by these warriors. Cersei returned to the Red Keep in the finale, but not before suffering a humiliating walk of shame, where she was forced to walk naked through the streets of Kings Landing.
Brienne finally managed to get her vengeance by killingStannis Baratheon(Stephen Dillane), but in doing so, she missed the candle left out by Sansa, a sign that she was in trouble. Sansa ended up fleeing Winterfell with Theon (Alfie Allen), after he finally managed to stand up to Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), while Margaery remains imprisoned in King’s Landing, thanks to the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce), where she awaits trial with her brother Loras (Finn Jones). Arya may face the most challenges of all these women, though, after she was blinded by Jaquen H’gar (Tom Wlaschiha), after killing Meryn Trant (Ian Beattie), a life she was not meant to take. While we wait for new details about this upcoming season, take a look at the new EW covers below featuring the powerful ladies of Westeros.
