The Red Woman

"The Red Woman" is the sixth season premiere episode of HBO's fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 51st overall. The episode was written by series creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Jeremy Podeswa.

In the episode, the lifeless body of Jon Snow is discovered by Ser Davos Seaworth and loyal members of the Night's Watch protect it; Melisandre has begun to lose her faith in the Lord of Light; Sansa Stark and Theon Greyjoy flee Winterfell; Ellaria Sand and the Sand Snakes seize control of Dorne; Jaime Lannister returns to King's Landing with the body of his dead daughter; and Daenerys Targaryen is taken prisoner by the khalasar of Khal Moro.

For filming of the episode's closing reveal, the director used similar technique to the body double of Cersei Lannister in the previous episode. The episode title is an allusion to the epithet used to describe the Red Priestess Melisandre. This episode marks the final appearances of Alexander Siddig (Doran Martell), DeObia Oparei (Areo Hotah) and Toby Sebastian (Trystane Martell).

"The Red Woman" was positively received by critics, who found the episode to be a satisfactory launching point for the season, and praising the scenes involving Sansa and Brienne, as well as the closing reveal with Melisandre, although the Dorne storyline was criticized for feeling too abrupt and deviating greatly from the books. In the United States, the episode premiere achieved a viewership of 7.94 million in its initial broadcast, and a same-day total including the streaming services HBO Go and HBO Now of 10.7 million viewers, a record for the series.