The five directors tapped to helm Game of Thrones season 6 have been announced, with a few familiar faces in the mix.
Kicking off Game of Thrones season 6 will be Jeremy Podeswa, who returns to the show from his freshman efforts in season 5. Podeswa directed the controversial episode 5, “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken,” and episode 6, “Kill the Boy.” Only time will tell whether or not Podeswa has been charged with similarly weighty material in the upcoming season.
The next four episodes will be helmed by directors who are new to the world of Westeros and beyond — though not to dense, complicated material. Daniel Sackheim, who has previously directed episodes of The X-Files and The Americans, will take charge of episodes 3 and 4 of Game of Thrones season 6.
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Up next for episodes 5 and 6 is none other than Jack Bender, whose direction made an indelible mark on ABC’s Lost. Bender directed 38 episodes of the cult-hit, bringing his vision to some of the show’s most famous — and shocking — episodes.
Still, Bender found himself on the receiving end of shock when he learned just how intense his two-episode commitment to Game of Thrones season 6 would be.
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“When my agent called and said, ‘These are the dates,’ I said ‘No, you are wrong. It’s not possible,'” the director told THR. “But that’s how long it takes. You’re overlapping with another director. There are two full units. You are there for a long time.”
Among the directors with whom Bender will overlap is Mark Mylar, who will handle episodes 7 and 8. Mylar is also returning to the epic fantasy series for his second year; he directed episode 3, “The High Sparrow,” and 4, “The Sons of the Harpy,” of this past season.
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Capping off the lineup of Game of Thrones season 6 is another returning director, Miguel Sapochnik. The final two episodes of the season will be the hands of the director of season 5’s “The Gift,” as well as the widely acclaimed episode, “Hardhome.”
What this means for the stories of Game of Thrones season 6 is hard to specifically predict. The storyline of the HBO series has now passed George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series in virtually every plot; unless Martin pulls out a miracle and delivers The Winds of Winter before next year, all fans of Game of Thrones will be approaching the show the same way.
That is, wide-eyed, excited, and more than a little bit terrified.
Game of Thrones season 6 will air in Spring 2016.