Game of Thrones Season 6 | Stories of Redemption

"WHEN YOU PLAY THE GAME OF THRONES, YOU WIN OR YOU DIE. THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND."

In just a few hours, the season finale of HBO's most popular series, Game of Thrones, will be aired. The tenth episode is titled, "Winds of Winter", which coincidentally is the same title of the unpublished book six. George RR Martin is definitely putting some sweet time in writing the novel.

Some fans consider last week's episode as the anti-climactic one since it showed the epic Battle of the Bastards. And saw the demise of the much-hated character of Ramsay Bolton.

For me, I'm both excited and a little bit sad that the season will be drawing to a close and that we have to wait another year for the next one. Some rumors are spreading that the last two seasons will have fewer episodes since they've almost extinguished the book materials that they have on hand.

In season 6, we've seen a lot of stories of redemption from unlikely characters. Previous villains came out as unsung heroes as their stories intertwined with the lead characters. They proved to be integral to the whole enterprise but it doesn't mean that we can forgive them for their past wrongdoings. As we've seen in episode ten's trailer, some characters comeuppance might be coming.

If you haven't seen Season 6 of the series, I must warn you that this contains spoilers. Proceed with caution.

In this article, I'm also featuring the Funko Pop figurines of the characters. If you want to find out more about these vinyl toys, I've written an earlier post about how I love taking photos of them.

Anyway, back to Game of Thrones. Find out what these six characters have in common.

Melisandre - The Red Woman

Since her appearance in Season two, she has brought nothing but destruction and chaos to Stannis Baratheon and his quest for the Iron Throne. Stannis committed fratricide when he killed his brother, Renly, through dark magic. She put a curse on Joffrey, Robb Stark and Balon Greyjoy since they were contenders to the Iron Throne. 

She gave poor advice to Stannis and put a wedged in his relationships with his wife, daughter, and his loyal men like Ser Davos. But the ultimate evil that she perpetrated is when she forced Stannis to sacrifice his daughter, Shireen, to the Lord of the Light for a victory against the Boltons. Unfortunately, he lost the battle even after having his daughter burnt.

Jon Snow and Melisandre

But when Jon Snow was ambushed and killed by his Night Watch brothers, Ser Davos approached the defeated Melisandre and asked her to use her magic to bring Jon Snow back to life. 

Miracle of miracles, she was able to bring him back which even surprised her. She believes that there is a reason why the Lord of the Light wanted to bring Jon Snow back from the dead. But judging from the trailer of the Finale episode, Ser Davos might confront her regarding Shireen Baratheon's death.

Sandor Clegane - The Hound

The last that we saw of the Hound was during episode 10 of Season 4, when Arya left him for dead after his fight with Brienne of Tarth. He was badly wounded and wanted Arya to kill him to end his misery. But as Arya walked away from him, there was this question that was left to the viewers to ponder on, is he going to die or will he survive?

Sandor and Arya

Sandor Clegane was a killer, a fighter, an unscrupulous man. He followed orders without question. But in earlier episodes, he showed a little bit of mercy and compassion to Sansa Stark. Whether he pitied her or was a little bit fascinated with her, we're not clear on that.

He might have protected Arya because he was thinking of ransoming her to her relatives but all of his plans went awry in terms of that department. They ended up having this survivor-kind-of-relationship as they tried not being caught by the Realm's soldiers.

He was on Arya's revenge list and he knew about it. So, it wasn't a surprise when Arya left him to die on that rock.

It came as a shock for GOT viewers when the opening scene of episode 7 featured the much-alive Sandor Clegane. It was also the first time that the opening sequence was not shown until after that big reveal.

Sandor was a changed man because of Septon Ray's help. Unfortunately, it all was short-lived as Ray and the other villagers were killed by ruffians belonging to the Brotherhood Without Banners. He hunted the killers and met up with Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr who convinced him to join them as they prepare for battle against the Wight Walkers.

Sansa Stark - timid no more

When the Game of Thrones started, Sansa was shown as a girl who only fancies to be married to a prince and live happliy at King's Landing. But as the story unfolds, she was cruelly humiliated and abused by Joffrey. Forced to marry Tyrion Lannister who tried to protect her. Whisked to the Vale by dubious Petyr Baelish. And tricked in getting married to insane Ramsay Bolton as a way to get back Winterfell.

She was raped, beaten, forced to do unspeakable things, and finally with the help of Theon Greyjoy managed to escape Ramsay. She was born again when she met up with Jon Snow at Castle Black and vowed to exact revenge against Ramsay.

Sansa has proven her mettle

She showed that she had become a strong woman during the episodes leading to the "Battle of the Bastards". She appeared to be more level-headed and practical compared to Jon Snow when dealing with Ramsay. She accepted the fact that Rickon would not survive the day without Ramsay killing him, in order to safeguard his hold on Winterfell.

Sansa saved the day with the help of Petyr Baelish and the Vale troops. But, we all know, that with Baelish, nothing is free.

A great transformation happened with Sansa and when you see that tiny smile that she gave as she turned her back on Ramsay as he was being mauled by his dogs, you'll definitely know that she'll be a badass character moving forward.

With Robb and Rickon dead, Bran missing, and Jon being illegitimate; Sansa will most likely be the Lady of Winterfell.

Arya Stark of Winterfell

Arya's training with the Faceless Men made her realize that you have to be smart and have a plan when you're dealing with your enemies. 

After being blinded, and forced to assassinate people without reason, Arya has finally decided to accept who she is and travel back to Westeros. She went around reciting her list of people to take vengeance on but realized that revenge was a dish best served cold. 

Arya provided a lot of action sequences in this season, showing that she is one strong and determined girl. She bonded with her intended victim and discovered that she couldn't be an emotionless and heartless killer.

Where are you going, Arya?

She missed her family (what's left of it), her home, and her identity. We might see her again in the next season as she travels back to Winterfell. Hopefully, she'll have a happy reunion with Sansa and Jon. Enough hardship for the Starks, please.

P.S. after watching Episode 10, you know that Arya will be a deadly force come Season 7. 

Do you agree with my stories of redemption? Don't forget to watch Game of Thrones. If you haven't started watching the series, now is the time.