Game of Thrones unleashed 16 teaser posters on Wednesday for the upcoming sixth season and the official new key art. All expand on that creepy video tease released last week that showed images of iconic characters, both alive and dead, from the show’s past and present. Each poster has the character as if their visage was entombed in the House of Black and White’s Hall of Faces (where Arya stole a face in season 5 only to be struck blind as punishment).
HBO has decided to not give the media any advance episodes of the Emmy-winning series for season 6. The upcoming season is on such a content lock-down that the press and Hollywood insiders will not receive any episodes in advance – either on DVD or via online screening – circumventing industry convention. “We’re not sending out press copies this year, anywhere in the world,” HBO programming president Michael Lombardo told EW. “There will be no copies for review.”
The move could be a first for a major series, though isn’t entirely surprising in the case of Thrones. This is the first season where the show has largely surpassed the narrative published in author George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire saga, so for the first time even hardcore fans of the books have no idea what’s coming next. Also, last year HBO sent the first four hours of season 5 to its usual media distribution list, and the content leaked onto BitTorrent before the show’s premiere – spoiling nearly half the season for some viewers as plot points gained coverage online. While HBO has since switched to a more secure online screening system for critics, the company has nonetheless opted against taking any chances with the intensely anticipated new season of its highest-rated series of all time. Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss advocated the no-screener strategy to protect season 6 content and, after some discussion, network executives agreed.
Game of Thrones returns to HBO on April 24