We Need To Talk About Game Of Thrones Season Six

Games of Thrones is finally back with the long-awaited season six, and there's one thing to say: there are a few things about it that are feeling pretty tired. But before you get all up in a bunch about grumpy internet commentators once again ruining your happy fun place, take a look at some of the reasons why Game of Thrones season six might not be all it's cracked up to be. Spoilers ahead!

Hey, remember when Daenerys was an interesting and engaging character, filled with agency and purpose? Those were the days. Six seasons in and we find Daenerys in exactly the same situation she was in way back in the show's very first episode. Look, as a metaphor for female empowerment, we really want to love Daenerys. But as an actual character, her meandering, pointless storyline is continually dragging down the show, pulling time and attention away from characters that are actually doing something and plots where things are actually happening. Enough already.

Holy crap, does anyone even care if Jon Snow is going to come back to life at this point? The Internet spent an entire year discussing whether he was alive or dead. You'd think that would be more than enough for anyone, but apparently not, because in the season six premiere his corpse is still being used as a major plot device. For the love of the old gods, could we please just bury Jon Snow already so we don't have to talk about his emo little dead face anymore?

Jon Snow isn't the only thing we're tired of talking about. How about, you know, everything else on the show? It's great that Game of Thrones has launched conversations about important topics from gender politics (Is Sansa's storyline exploitation?) to racial attitudes and privilege (why are all the "barbarian" races like the Dothraki played by people of color?). The problem is that we've been having these same conversations since season one without getting anywhere, just like Daenerys wandering the wilderness. At this point, it's all just so much noise. Will it ever be possible to just enjoy a little television without the crippling angst caused by knowing as soon as the show is over that social media will be bombed with a million complaints and arguments? It's no fun anymore, guys.

How is it that we're here in season six and we're still spending so much time an energy following the sadistic exploits of Ramsay Bolton? It's really hard to get excited about watching the newest episode of Game of Thrones when you know half of it is going to require intense throat exercises to control your gag reflex every time that jerk shows up on screen. Joffrey was fun to hate. Ramsay isn't. If the show wants to focus on Roose Bolton, sure. But Ramsay? Please, just give us our show back and kill this guy off already.

The season six premiere was essentially a long-form funeral dirge not just for Jon Snow, but for our ability as viewers to care anymore. Because at this point, pretty much everyone we ever cared about is dead. It feels like being a vampire in a dystopian sci-fi novel who has can no longer allow himself to feel after centuries of seeing his loved ones die. Except, you know, compressed into five seasons and with a subscription fee. Sure, there's still Tyrion and Arya. But...that's about it. Release us from this unending torment!

This season the show has finally outpaced the source novels by George R. R. Martin, and frankly, longtime fans are none too happy about it. Yeah, some book readers could be a little obnoxious about their not-so-secret knowledge, but half the fun of having read the novels was seeing how the show adapted the books and how the characters were brought to life (or death, more often). More importantly, it's still unclear how the show will proceed without Martin's vision to guide events. Maybe they'll pull it off, but one thing is certain: the first five seasons were great, and they all followed Martin's blueprint pretty closely. It'd be nice knowing for sure that season six could do the same.

Maybe the worst part about season six? We can't binge watch it. Whatever complaints we can muster about the show thus far, the real truth of the matter is that it's still a very engaging and addictive show. Honestly, one bad episode of Game of Thrones is still better than lots of other show's best. We still need to know what happens. If we could just watch all the episodes in a row and get them out of the way, that'd be preferable to being forced to slog through two and half months of viewer angst. Seriously, streaming networks like Netflix have changed how people consume content. These days, bingeing is the preferred way to watch television for most people. Wouldn't it be nice if HBO caught on and caught up with the times by allowing us to watch Game of Thrones all in one go?