Winter is coming…

Not really, it’s still May. But the season six premiere of the HBO original series Game of Thrones aired last month, and the show is now in full swing.

(Note: if you don’t want to hear any spoilers, banish yourself from this article.)

Fans have been waiting to see what happens next for a whole year, especially to learn the fate of their favorite characters.

“My favorite character is gonna be… Bran [Stark]; he’s a freaking warlock. That’s cool,” biology teacher Matt Johnson said. “And I like [Daenerys Targaryen] because she’s the mother of dragons.”

“I love Daenerys Targaryen, the mother of dragons,” US history teacher Sandy Young added. “I like her whole thing of freeing people and freeing slaves wherever she went. But I [have] to say Jon snow [is my favorite character]… It’s hard to not love Jon Snow.”

The most anticipated storyline arcs are Jon Snow’s and Daenerys Targaryen’s. In the final scene of last season, Snow was killed by his comrades, leaving everyone anxious to see what would happen next.

In the third episode of the new season, the fans finally got what they were waiting for. Jon Snow was brought back to life by Melisandre (aka the Red Woman); some liked how he was brought back, others were hoping for a more exciting revival, and some saw it coming a mile away.

“I never read the books but the rumor… was that Jon Snow gets brought back by Melisandre, so… I figured that would happen,” Young said.

“I’m kind of apathetic to [Snow’s resurrection]. I’m happy it happened, but I guess they could’ve done better,” Johnson added.

One of the things that fans love most about the show is how it makes them love characters and not want to see them go, but also hate other characters from the bottom of their heart.

“[I really hate] Ramsay [Bolton] for obvious reasons,” freshman Charisse Warfield said.

Young had a mouthful to say in terms of characters she dislikes. “Joffrey was a sociopath, probably because his parents are brother and sister he was genetically messed up in the head. He just liked killing people and shooting things just to do it. Ramsay same thing, sociopath, he’s a lunatic. [But], I think Cersei is just the most manipulative person… She makes Dolores Umbridge look nice and I hate Dolores more than I hate Voldemort,” Young said.

Cersei is probably the most hated character in the show, alongside Ramsay Bolton. “I guess I’d have to say [I hate] Cersei [the most]. I’d cut off her head if I could,” Johnson said.

“[The character I hate the most] would definitely be Cersei because she’s evil and she’s manipulative. I just want her to die already. Like all the evil people have died except for her, it just doesn’t make sense,” senior Jakira Merriken added.

Although he is not seen as evil like his mother, Tommen Lannister is another character that fans heavily disapprove of. “I’m sick of their blood, but he’s okay, I guess better than [Joffrey],” Johnson said. “I like him. He’s really sweet, but I don’t know if he’s a good king because he’s so vulnerable and he listens to his mother too much, so I think he’ll be too influenced by her.”

Tommen is a Lannister, but some fans still have hope for him. “He’s like really weak not only as a character, but as a king. If he somehow goes through like some major character development, which I think would be awesome, then I can foresee him being a really [great] king for King’s Landing,” senior Kayla McGinn said.

From main character’s deaths and fire-breathing dragons, to an army of the undead assembling to take over the world, every episode leaves fans wondering what will happen next.  Daenerys’ rise to the throne is highly anticipated. “I think she will [reach the iron throne] because she has dragons, and nobody else has dragons and I think she’ll be a good ruler for the most part because her moral compass is pretty strong and I think a lot of people are intimidated by her so that’ll work in her favor,” Merriken said.

“I would be interested to see if and when the dragons finally get out of the cellar and be free,” McGinn said.  “The mother of dragons getting the iron throne, that’s all I want, that’s all I’m hoping for this season,” senior Liliana Ferrufino said.

A taste of the white walkers in season five has also piqued people’s’ curiosity. “In this season I’m actually hoping to see more of the white walkers… How did they come into existence? What’s the backstory there? And I’m interested to see some of the backstory that the book reader know… from before the first season,” Young said.

In the last episode Johnson finally got half of what he was waiting for. “I would finally just want a reunion finally between the Stark kids I’ve been waiting for that since they got split up i think everybody is. Or a wolf mauling someone’s face,” Johnson said.  Sansa Stark and Jon Snow reunited at the Castle Black after so many years in the last episode.

The George R.R. Martin and the writers of Game of Thrones really know how to tell a story and keep the suspense up and keep viewers interested. At the end of the episode like a fish on land with only a few drops of water and not in the sea.  “For the first fews seasons I was like maybe this will happen maybe this will happen, but like it never happens so like I never know what to expect, that’s why I love the show,” Ferrufino said.

“I really like how there’s just a wide story plot with different families like you can get connected to one different family, or all of them,” Ferrufino said.

While the fans are certainly invested in who lives and who dies, the one thing they have learned from the show so far is that, as Cersei said in season one, “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.”  And as the show has proven time and time again, no one is safe from being killed off.  Even though they might be resurrected a few episodes later.