'Game Of Thrones' Season 6 Trailer: "I Choose Violence"

After months of taunting us with images and posters and vague teasers that don't feature any actual footage from the show, HBO has finally released a full and proper Game of Thrones season 6 trailer. And it has everything you'd hope for: violence and battles and sex and dragons and mythical ice monsters and skinned men being burnt before giant crowds and shots of Jorah Mormont looking very sad and shots of Tyrion Lannister looking very despondent and, you know, everything else.

This trailer is fast, cutting from character to character and storyline to storyline like it's running out of time. This is a reminder of the show's breadth – it can't tell us any real story points because there is too much story to catch up on. After all, if you spend even five seconds explaining what's up with Daenerys now that she's wandering with a Dothraki Khalasar, you have to expect five seconds for the Ongoing Miserable Adventures of Sansa and Theon. And the ongoing trials at the Wall with Melisandre and Davos. And whatever evil shit Ramsay Bolton is up to. And the Lannister family's ongoing battle with the High Sparrow. And so on, because that's just the tip of the iceberg.

And while the trailer doesn't lean on any plot points, it does hint at a lot of very cool and very interesting stuff. If you're the kind of person who likes to avoid speculation and potential spoilers, feel free to skip the next paragraph.

Amidst the rest of the action, there are some very, very interesting shots. Like the shot of Jon Snow's dead body...with a hand that looks very much like Melisandre's touching his face (and her religion has resurrected dead men on this show before). There are also glimpses of a huge battle that looks like it's taking place in the north (possibly between Stark sympathizers and Bolton forces?), a few glimpses of the extended Greyjoy family (dirty rotten scoundrels, the lot of 'em), and even a shot of Bran having a close encounter with a White Walker. But the most intriguing moment, for this book reader anyway, is is the shot of Cerise's new bodyguard being put to use against the High Sparrow's men. Although neither show or book have 100% confirmed it, this guy is quite clearly Gergor Clegane resurrected through some mad science and that's just too bonkers to ignore.

Game of Thrones season 6 is set to arrive on April 24, 2016. It's going to be an event.