The sixth season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones premiered on HBO on April 24, 2016, and concluded on June 26.

Much of the season's storyline is derived from content not yet published in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, although a significant amount of material from A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons and the upcoming sixth novel The Winds of Winter, which Martin outlined to showrunners David Benioff and D.B.

The imprisoned Cersei avoids her trial by destroying the Great Sept with wildfire, killing the Sparrows, her uncle, and the Tyrells.

Game of Thrones features a large ensemble cast, including Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, and Kit Harington.

The season introduced new cast members, including Max von Sydow, Pilou Asbæk, and Essie Davis, and returned Isaac Hempstead Wright and David Bradley to the series.

Additionally, Rory McCann returned to the series after his character, Sandor Clegane, was presumably left for dead in the fourth season.

The season also marked the final appearances of Iwan Rheon, Michael McElhatton, Kristian Nairn, Natalie Dormer, Jonathan Pryce, and Finn Jones.

The Sparrows, a group of religious fanatics, impose their views upon the city, imprisoning Margaery, her brother Loras, and Cersei for committing various sins.

At the Wall, as the newly elected Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jon Snow forms an alliance with the Wildlings to save them from the White Walkers and their army of reanimated corpses.

Arya arrives in Braavos, where she finds Jaqen H'ghar whom she had previously helped escape and begins training with the Faceless Men, a guild of assassins.

[98] With the end of the fifth season, the plot has reached the most recent novel in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance with Dragons.

"[99] Actress Natalie Dormer, who plays Margaery Tyrell, later added that the show's writers "know where it's got to go and what [George Martin]'s intentions for the characters are.

[101] Material from an excerpt of The Winds of Winter, published online, regarding a traveling theater troupe located in Braavos that stages a play called "The Bloody Hand", about the events that have taken place in King's Landing since the beginning of the series, is included in the sixth season.

[105] Like the previous seasons, a large amount of production took place in Northern Ireland, mainly in Belfast and on the Causeway Coast, including film locations in the Binevenagh, Magilligan area, which was used to film scenes for the Dothraki Grasslands, and Larrybane Quarry and Ballintoy Harbour, both used for scenes in the Iron Islands.

[112] Only a very small portion of the season was filmed in Canada (north of Calgary, Alberta): the scenes featuring Jon Snow's wolf, Ghost (played by animal actor Quigly).

[113] However, some of the special effects were created at Montreal's Rodeo FX studios which has won Emmy Awards previously for its work on the series.

[41][42][44][51] Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow was added to the series main cast after appearing in a recurring role in the previous season.

[121] The sixth season also included a traveling theater troupe located in Braavos that stages a play called "The Bloody Hand", about the events that have taken place in King's Landing since the beginning of the series.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Bloody and captivating as always, Game of Thrones plunges back into the midst of a world touched by grief, dread, and precarious sexuality.

[138] Slate gave the premiere a positive review and stated, "Game of Thrones is finally off book, having lapped George R.R.

"[139] Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture gave the premiere positive review and stated, "The world the characters inhabit is still a hugely dangerous one, but at no point did I feel as though the writers were showing us beautiful butterflies in preparation of pulling their wings off.

"[140] Entertainment Weekly gave the premiere a score of 'B' and stated, "Few shows on television look better than this one, but it's coming up on great-drama retirement age.

[218] In November 2015, a teaser poster displaying Jon Snow was released on the official Game of Thrones Twitter account.

[220] The first footage from the season was revealed in a new promotional video released shortly afterward by HBO highlighting its new and returning original shows for the coming year, showcasing scenes involving Daenerys Targaryen, Ramsay Bolton, Cersei Lannister, and Tommen Baratheon.

[221] On December 28, 2015, Entertainment Weekly released its "Exclusive First Look" issue, featuring an image of Bran Stark, who had shorter hair and was noticeably older from his last appearance in season four.

[225] A behind-the-scenes video of the sixth season was released at the end of February, focusing on camera operators working on the show.