Everything You Need To Remember From 'Game Of Thrones' Season 6

After six seasons of political machinations, shockingly violent scenes, and more fur capes than you can shake a stick at, Game of Thrones is finally in the home stretch. Only two seasons remain of the immensely popular show, with the penultimate Season 7 of GoT set to premiere on July 16. Everything is finally beginning to fall into place as three contenders for the Iron Throne inch ever closer to ultimate power: either Daenerys, Cersei, or Jon Snow could end up as the ruler of Westeros. This Game of Thrones Season 6 recap recounts how they got so close to the throne.

Many of the major characters on the show began Season 6 at a disadvantage. Cersei was publicly humiliated after her Walk of Shame and could see her power slipping away as the High Sparrow's control grew stronger. Jon had been stabbed multiple times by his own men. Dany seemed in danger of losing everything as the city of Meereen rebelled against her. Sansa had barely escaped her brutal husband Ramsay and Arya was still embroiled with the Faceless Men.

But as the season went on, they all began to reassert their authority and in the process became ever closer to finally converging — which was just what fans had been hoping for ever since the show first flung its characters to the farthest corners of this fictional world. But how did they get from Point A to Point B? Let's take a little journey of our own, shall we?

Jon Snow Is Alive

It looked like it might be over for Jon Snow when he ended Season 5 bleeding out in the cold, but Season 6 saw him resurrected by Melisandre. Armed with a new lease on life and a kicky new hairdo, Jon left the Night's Watch and never looked back.

Cersei Blew Up The Sept

Cersei was not playing around in the sixth season. Utilizing the wildfire left all over King's Landing by the Mad King, Cersei blew up the Sept of Baelor. In one fell swoop, most of her enemies were gone and the path was clear for her to declare herself the queen. Now Westeros is in her hands.

Major Characters Met Their Maker

It's not Game of Thrones without beloved characters biting the dust. In Season 6, fans had to say goodbye to Rickon, Osha, Rickon's direwolf Shaggydog, Bran's direwolf Summer, Hodor, Tommen, Margaery, and Loras. R.I.P. Pour out a glass of mead for them.

Dany Is Bound For Westeros

Daenerys has been trying to get on a boat to Westeros for the last six years, so it's about time that she crossed the Narrow Sea. Her arrival is imminent, massive army in tow, so that she can finally make a claim on her birthright.

Arya Is Now A Chef... Of Sorts

Arya was not kidding about the revenge thing. She had a list, she was checking it twice, and everyone on it was definitely not nice. After choosing to leave the House of the Undying (or as I like to call it: School For Baby Assassins), Arya returned to Westeros where she decided to start her killing spree with some Freys. But before she offed Walder (who was responsible for killing her mother and brother, remember), she chopped up his own sons and fed them to him in a pie. Girl is hardcore.

Ramsay Tastes His Own Medicine

Ramsay needed to die and thankfully Season 6 finally took him off the map. After being defeated in battle by Jon Snow and beaten bloody, Ramsay was finished off by Sansa, who set his own dogs on him. It was a violent end, but one that he undeniably deserved.

Jon Snow Earned A Royal New Title

Jon had perhaps the biggest arc in the season: he went from corpse to king in just 10 episodes. After defeating Ramsay and taking back Winterfell, Jon was crowned King in the North by his people, putting him in a major position of power.

Oncoming Threats Were Set In Motion

Things are bound to get worse in Westeros before they get better, of course. Aside from the main players vying for the throne, a contender from the Iron Islands will also be joining the fray: Euron Greyjoy, murderous uncle to Yara and Theon. It's not clear how much impact he'll have on the story yet, but he's a wildcard who everyone should probably keep an eye on.

You're Not My Real Dad

There was one question that had spawned hours of speculation and countless theories: who were Jon Snow's real parents? He had been raised as Ned Stark's bastard son, but many suspected there was more to it than that. The sixth season revealed that his mother was actually Ned's sister Lyanna and his father was late crown prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Dany's older brother. It meant that Jon has an even stronger claim to the throne, if he ever finds out the truth himself. So far only Bran and the audience are in the know.

Hold The Door

The good news is that we finally learned after all this time what Hodor means. The bad news is that it came at a very high cost and resulted in Hodor's death when he held the White Walkers at bay so that Bran could escape. Suffice to say, it was one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the series.

And that's not even everything that happened in Season 6: the Hound was also revealed to be alive, Bran finally found his way out of the tree, and Lyanna Mormont cemented herself as the best character to ever appear on this show. The sixth season of Game of Thrones moved all the pieces on the board closer to checkmate. Season 7 will see what happens when the characters finally cross paths.