Speculation: The case for Lady Stoneheart appearing in Season 6 

, fans have been patiently waiting to see if Lady Stoneheart, a character who shows up at the end of George R.R. Martin’s 

, would appear on the show. It didn’t happen at the end of Season 3, but fans more or less shrugged that off. “She’ll show up next year,” they told themselves. “After all, Season 3 is only an adaptation of the first half of 

When she didn’t show up in Season 4, they began to get more anxious. I’ll admit that it was around this time that I made up my mind that she probably wasn’t going to appear. Executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss were talking about entering the endgame ahead of their seven-season hardline, and I figured there just wouldn’t be time to tell her story. When she didn’t show up in Season 5, my suspicions seemed confirmed.

will run for at least eight seasons, so timing isn’t quite as urgent an issue. Also, there are a few other pieces of (highly circumstantial) evidence that have given me pause. This is all very speculative, but I’ve lately become convinced that it’s not 

for Westeros’ most elusive Lady to make an appearance in Season 6.

First things first: for anyone who doesn’t know (

this is your last chance to turn back before being spoiled, incidentally

), Lady Stoneheart is the name given to Catelyn Stark after she’s resurrected by Beric Dondarrion following her death at the Red Wedding. Before Beric brought her back, Catelyn’s body spent three days in a river, so her skin is the color of curdled milk. Most of her hair is gone or turned white and brittle, and the throat wound that killed her is still hanging open. Essentially, she’s a walking corpse, and she isn’t pleased about it. She becomes the new leader of Beric’s brotherhood without banners and directs it to one purpose: vengeance. She and her men spend their time stalking the Riverlands and hanging anyone who was even tangentially connected with the Red Wedding, which mostly means members of the Frey family.

It’s that last bit that set off alarm bells in my head when a couple pieces of news surfaced recently. We haven’t seen Walder Frey, or any member of his vast brood, since Season 3, when the eldest Frey presided over the Red Wedding. That may be changing soon. David Bradley, who plays Walder Frey, recently admitted that he would be returning to the show at some point. That by itself isn’t surprising. People haven’t forgotten the Red Wedding, and they want to see Walder Frey get his comeuppance, whether it’s by Lady Stoneheart’s hand or someone else’s.

Walder Frey, killing the mood at parties since 2013.

If that was the only bit of news out there, I probably wouldn’t have thought too much of it. But there’s also this Season 6 casting call for “a son who is unable to live up to the demands of his savage father.” The son is in his late 30s, and is described as “hapless.”

Now, this could describe any number of characters*, but a lot of people have been assuming it describes Merrett Frey, one of Walder Frey’s many sons. Fleshy, a drunkard, and given to severe headaches, Merrett’s main purpose in 

is to run into Lady Stoneheart and be hanged, an unlucky end to an unlucky life. He could certainly be described as “hapless.”

Now, it’s possible, even probable, that this character isn’t Merrett Frey specifically but rather some kind of amalgamation of Frey sons. Still, my bet is that it’s a Frey, and one of the big things the Freys are up to around this point in the books is getting hunted by Lady Stoneheart.

There are other signs that we’ll be heading back to the Riverlands, aka Stoneheart territory, in Season 6. Another casting call suggests that the show will be casting the role of Septon Meribald, a rural priest who administers to the needs of the smallfolk in the Riverlands, for next year. Plus, it seems likely that Jaime will be heading this way after he returns from Dorne, since that’s what he does in 

. In short, the show seems to be setting us up for a story in the Riverlands, which means plenty of opportunities to bring in Stoneheart.

The final piece of evidence comes courtesy of the show’s special effects department. A couple of months ago, prosthetics supervisor Barrie Gower revealed that there was a special effects sequence originally planned for Season 4. It got pulled and pushed to Season 5, and then got pulled again. “But now, in Season 6, it looks like we’re going to do it. Fingers crossed they won’t chicken out,” Gower said.

What could this special effects sequence entail? Well, whatever it involves, it would have to be able to work in Seasons 4, 5, or 6. That eliminates something with the dragons, who’ve grown over that time. It could conceivably involve the White Walkers, but that doesn’t help my case, so forget I said it. It could also be our introduction to the decrepit Lady Stoneheart, a scene that would certainly require the services of a prosthetics expert like Gower.

Again, all of this is speculation. It could be that the mysterious special effects sequence has nothing to do with Stoneheart, that the hapless son isn’t one of Walder Frey’s, and that Jaime will hang out in Dorne for another season. But it could point toward something else, something sinister and merciless.

The other big theory is that this character will be D

ickon Tarly, brother to Sam and son of known hardass Randyll Tarly. I don’t think so, though. For one thing, Dickon is Sam’s younger brother, and since Sam isn’t in his late 30s, Dickon can’t be, either. Also, unlike Sam, Dickon actually lived up to his father’s expectations, so the description doesn’t seem to fit.

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Have you already read all the books and/or don\'t care about spoilers? You can reveal all the spoilers in the comments with the click of a link below.

If the show is indeed stretched beyond season 7, then it needs more characters.

You tend to forget more characters will die in season 6. Each season at least 3 to 4 important characters died, you need to replace them.

I didn’t forget, there are a ton of characters and more will be introduced (expect various Tarlys and Greyjoys), but it certainly doesn’t need more characters or story lines. The showrunners are already going to have a tough time tying everything together and giving us a satisfactory conclusion in 3 seasons.

Not too difficult, most of the characters will die at the end, only Tyrion, Jon and probably Dany and Sansa will make it to the end.

You said there are too many characters and the loose ends cannot be tied together? That’s because their plotlines have not merged, but eventually they will. When it happens, all these characters will be joined together in 2 to 3 major plotlines and everything will tie up.

So far, we have only seen one – Dany with Tyrion, which will eventually join Jon and Sansa. Ayra’s line will probably tie to Lannister, Tyrell, Martell, Bolton line. And to join these lines together, you need buffers, which usually involve new characters.

I agree that if there ever were a time, then this would be it.

However, I have hopped off the Stoneheart train after last season. I just refuse to believe it’s going to be in.

If anyone’s curious, the IMDB forums have some tidbits about Stoneheart this year…again, which I refuse to believe.

I want to believe as well. The evidence cited though specifies one event involving special effects that was pushed back from season 4 to 5 to 6. Why would they introduce lady stoneheart for only one scene? She is a character that is still alive in the books so it seems like they would need her for more than just one scene or episode involving special effects

Maybe the scene is specifically her resurrection? They could do some cool/gross/horrifying portrayal of that which could need some serious special effects. Or, getting nitpicky with language, they say it’s a “sequence”. LSH doesn’t have to show up in a ton of scenes to have her impact (she’s pretty sparsely sprinkled in the books), so maybe they would film one “sequence” and maybe that sequence could be split up?

The evidence is stacking up one after another, and the pressure is starting to build months before the premiere of the new season. If Walder Frey is going to make an appearance somewhere during Season 6, then it’d be a lot of pressure to show Lady Stoneheart. I really hope D&W did not absolutely decide on scratching that arc out.

Making an appearance at some point doesn’t mean in season 6.

A girl is tired of waiting for Lady Stoneheart’s Cameo appearance !!!

A girl is also given up hope on all the possible supernatural – magical events @ this tv show… 💔

I lost hope after a blue ice boogeyman raised the roof and brought hundreds of corpses to life and command with a gesture

Not a chance she’s coming onto the show sansa or blackfish will take her place

If they pushed back the Riverlands story to season 6 then it makes sense that LSH has not been revealed yet, right..?

Did not know this.. Kind of dissapointing to hear. Thought it was a cool end to his story.

Pod rick is hanged isn’t he? Brienne watches, unable to save him?

I still think the delayed special effects is for the Three Eyed Raven to look more like the book version.

Yea that would be awesome, he was pretty disappointing at the of season 4 in my opinion.

If they do the Lady Stoneheart airline, it won’t require special effects; it’s more practical to make Sansa into the character. The show runners have even costumed her to make her look more like her mother. Plus, it makes Sansa more dynamic as a character.

Oh please… the show will be just fine without the undead Pez Dispenser.

at the rate that characters are being killed off on this show if it goes 8+ seasons, the only person left to sit on the Iron Throne will be Hodor! HODOR! or maybe Gendry rows to King’s Landing and takes the throne

I think Gendry is going to be important to the endgame in the books. I think that he will rediscover how to make Valyrian Steel. Think about it, he’s an awesome Smith and apprenticed to those in service of the Red God (fire magic)

In reality GOT has most of its major characters left – Tyrion, Dany, Arya, Sansa, Bran, Cersei, Jamie. I’d say Ned, Cat, and maybe Robb are the only major characters to die (of course there’s the Jon mystery).

Stannis, the Hound, Tywin, etc. were supporting characters.

Season 5 was the most merciful season since season 2 with only one major death (Jon), one supporting (Stannis), and then a bunch of minor characters dying.

Merciful? Mance, barriston, aemond, wildlings, stannis’ entire army, shireen(brutal), massador, myranda, myrcella, traunt, hizdar, and of course Jon. Sounds pretty rough to me

I could see it being Lady Stoneheart, as we haven’t seen hide nor hair of the damn Freys since Season 3, and they need their comeuppance (along with the Boltons) soon. However, it may also be possible that it could be Beric Dondarrion and the rest of the Brotherhood Without Banners who start killing Freys possibly at the behest of Brynden Tully who has also not been seen since Season 3 and is likely none too pleased at the news of the Wedding. We shall see.

Where there’s life there’s hope. But in this case, there isn’t life. And there isn’t magic either. I think D&D have leached much of the books’ magic out of the series. While the developments and hints Dan summarised so well do point to the possibility of Lady S, I think the potentially negative narrative effect of a LS resurrection on a JS resurrection will prevent it. His resurrection will be less effective if the Lazarus effect seems more common.

They should have revived LS two years ago, or at least had echoes of mysterious accidents to Freys in the Riverlands. No direwolf-led wolf packs mentioned either. It would not surprise me if magic is given almost exclusively to Bran and Jon (and probably Melisandre). Personally, I think that’s unfair to the other Starks; book Arya and Rickon have shown signs of powers and deserve to keep them on the show.

It’s been suggested more than a few times that Sansa will take LS’s place. It is plausible, especially in light of D&D’s preference to conflate characters. But I don’t think Sansa has the fierceness, strategic ability, or leadership qualities to head the BWB. She has grown, yes, but mostly in her sense of purpose, powers of observation, willingness to persuade others to act (Theon). If Lady S had been so mistreated, SHE would have used that found corkscrew to corkscrew Ramsay or Myranda in the neck. Sansa’s greatest weapon IMO is gentleness and by being underestimated she can do something unexpected and dramatic. I hope that means killing Littlefinger. But Sansa as a leader of men? It doesn’t ring true.

True no leadership skills. Not very strategic to leave behind a weapon. She is a novice at using words to her advantage. But I think shes got the fierceness in her. It popped out when Joffrey was showing her the heads of her house. She went to push Joffrey off the walkway and kill him but was stopped by the hound.

Personally when I read the rumours of the Freys coming back I assumed it would be in the form of them trying to keep the Northern lords in check. Such as the Freys at White Harbour, or some may be with the Boltons as they try and fully control the North now. We already know we’ll be seeing a lot more of the North next season, so I’m willing to bet that’s where we will see Freys, not the Riverlands. If we see Freys at all that is.

You forgot to mention the casting call for several characters who will be part of an “outlaw band.” This, to me, suggests BWB and those names are actually stand-ins for Lem Lemoncloak, Tom O’Sevenstreams, etc…

The Freys’ are at Winterfell & don’t forget Lord Manderly’s scene. It seems like Walder Frey has enough kids to cover the Riverlands & the North, lol.

At first read – I thought (well, after catching my breath) that a mistake had been made. Cat being resurrected by Beric?! Not by Thoros of Myr?

So I searched Wikipedia and you are right ofc. Beric gives his life (if it can even be called that) for hers. Been several years since I read ASOIAF so I didn’t remember the details. Interesting.

Will it happen? I still hope it does and these speculations have renewed my belief in that possibility. Will have to wait and see like everyone.

Jon Snow is dead, and there will be no lady stoneheart.

I really think they won’t introduce her. And I think it’s because they have been saving the big resurrection for Jon.

They don’t want to be accused of repeating themselves.

That’s a point but they’d only be repeating the books, so the criticism is hardly warranted (the overuse of ressurection is one of the things that bummed me out big time though)

We don’t know that JS is rezzied in the books….only LSH and Dondarrion. The show already has had Dondarrion, and to rezzie JS in the same season…..I agree D&D won’t do both.

Just an FYI, Thoros of Myr does the resurrecting for the Brotherhood without Banners, not Beric Dondarrion.

True. But that is not what the article was referring to. Dondarrion rezzies LSH and gives his life to do so. Check your facts.

My theory would be: season 6 starts with a body being thrown in the river (Catelyn’s at the Twins) and a few days later they find her and bring her back to life. And she could appear again just on the finale.

Sad thing is: I don’t believe she’s coming. We all have hope year after year, and we never have her back.

I would also like to point out that Michelle Fairley’s other show, ironically titled

, was cancelled in May. So she’s conceivably available (or at least more available than before).

“First, we’ll get the girls back. And then, we’ll kill them all”. Foreshadowing?

Why include LS *now* when the show is well past the point at which she appeared in the books?

Also: How is putting a water zombie with a slit throat on screen a “huge” FX-challenge? People have been designing/filming that sort of creature since the 1970s. And lastly: Now that everyone is speculating about another resurrection (Jon’s), why throw in LS’? I mean: I could’ve seen her make an appearance back in S04 or even 05 (if only to remind people that resurrections are a thing in GoT), but right now, it would seem like fan-service to me.

Granted: I’m still wondering why they included the whole Thoros/Beric-thing if it takes them so long to show another Red-God-fueled-resurrection (if Jon does indeed come back), but Jon is way more important a character than Cat at this point. Let’s face it: Her story was pretty much over when she got her throat cut. Jon still has lots more stuff to do.

they said they’d break the internet. Lady Stoneheart putting in an appearence would do that.

Couple of ideas… Arya will eventually be set free upon Westeros and SHE could take the LSH role as she was involved with both the Red Wedding and the BWB. Plus that’s her dire wolf still roaming around the Riverlands and they will eventually be reunited. She can slit Walder Frey’s throat from his bedroom wearing the face of his wife du jour.

The special effects could come in with Bran’s transformation as he was last seen as normal Bran lying among the tree roots. Especially if they’re going to upgrade the three-eyed raven’s appearance also. As with LOTR, it’s difficult to make a character look tree-ish without making them look comical.

I continue to believe Sansa and Brienne will meet up, head south to the riverlands and through Sansa’s newly acquired Littlefinger Leadership Skills end up leading the brotherhood and exacting her revenge on the Bolton’s and Frey’s. To me it is the only course that makes sense for her character arc and Brienne and Pod too, that would still hit the same beats as the book.

Has anyone seen the new 2016 Calendar from Amazon?

I just hope at least they bring back blackfish, thoros and BWB, show what happened to Edmure, and Freys

They TOTALLY dropped the ball on post red wedding Riverlands! Its bad story telling IMO.

I have been thinking that they might merge the Lady Stoneheart story with Jon Snow. Now hang in there with me. We all know Melisandre returned to Castle Black. The big question is how might she bring back Jon, especially if she is doubting her powers (sorry Stanis). I suggest Melisandre keeps Jon Snow on ice and recruits a reluctant Davos Seaworth (Onion Knight also at Castle Black) to seek out the Brotherhood and specifically Beric Dondarrion and his priest Thorros. His goal is to have them return with him to Castle Black to help Melisandre bring back Jon Snow, especially since she knows they have the power to do this. As Beric Dondarrion sacrificed himself due to a promise to Ned Stark to bring back Lady Catelyn; why not sacrifice himself to bring back Jon Snow? The journey to find Dondarrion and Thorros could take a few episodes as Davos would have to search the countryside for them. This website has speculated that the Brotherhood will be an important element in Season Six and they might be terrorizing the countryside. As most of the story lines will be new, anything is possible.

“As Beric Dondarrion sacrificed himself due to a promise to Ned Stark to bring back Lady Catelyn; why not sacrifice himself to bring back Jon Snow? ”

This is where my thoughts are going also, and wondering if they’ll skip LSH completely and use Beric to bring back Jon instead. (Although part of me would like to see Catelyn make amends to the treatment she gave Jon as Ned’s bastard.)

I’m at the book point pre Red Wedding, where Arya & Gendry are about to meet Beric, so unaware of his promise to Ned re Catelyn.

Michelle Fairley has quite clearly stated in an interview with The Daily Telegraph (UK) that she is not under contract with HBO and isn’t returning. So. unless there is a recast…

Some people believe Talisa as Lady Stoneheart might be feasible. I think it might and could work this way. I also read that about Michelle not coming back. I guess we will just have to see.

You can’t just introduce someone with the ability to resurrect the dead and then drop them from the series!

They’re going to come back and do something, right? Yes, us book readers haven’t quite given up hope of seeing Lady Stoneheart.

A returning to the Riverlands it’s bound to happen because of the casting of Septon Meribald. The future return of Walder Frey points in the same direction.

It would seem unfitting to merge the characters of Sansa and LS since the first one already has other things to deal with.

For the casting part, LS seems the logical choice for a season cliffhanger and the producers would certainly keep the casting call or the return of Michelle Fairley secret. The return seems plausible considering the cancellation of the show Resurrection on which she was working. The casting call points to a return to BWB arc and it’s also a possibility that Blackfish will join them, along with LS. The actor Richard Dormer, who played Beric hasn’t firmly denied the possibility of returning to the show.

There is also the foreshadowing :”… Then we will kill them all !”.

“You can’t just introduce someone with the ability to resurrect the dead and then drop them from the series!”

I do agree that this would be a wasted setup. However: What if this was simply a setup for the Jon Snow resurrection? At this point, I do think that his return to the show is much more likely than Cat coming back. Remember: The show has deviated quite a bit from the book-story already and numerous other characters and whole subplots have been cut.

To me, LS would be pretty anticlimactic at this point. The ideal moment to bring her back would’ve been the start of season 4 – with a possible teaser-scene thrown in at the very end of season 3. But bringing her back three years after the RW aired? And for what? It’s not like she’s a truly pivotal character in the books.

ok so im asking u a question im asking everywhere but never got an answer

season 1 when catlyn stark enters the capital she says that its the second time she is coming to capital and she visited the capital 9 years ago too about wich no one knows

what was catlyn stark doing in capital during Robert rebellion? ??

The tv show, Ressurrection, is not being renewed so, maybe Michelle is free to become Lady Stoneheart. She had some practice being villain-type characters in 24, and Resurrection, so this could be an awesome role for Michelle. That being said, I think it might be a brief role, not as long as the books but long enough for her to get revenge, and maybe reunite with Sansa before LS is finally laid to rest.

Well, yes she was quite a bitch on that show, an undead bitch hahaha so…. Mmm… 😆

The LSH train has passed this depot and isn’t stopping. Too late for her and duplicate of production to bring back JS and CS. They showed that it was possible with the BWB so that the viewers would not be totally taken with a wide shot across the bow when it happens for JS.

The other “reasoning” is the Frey’s. In the books where we are up to. They are at Winterfell. I do see that Waldor will get “his” due as a part of taking back Winterfell from the Boltons. (I am holding out hope for some Frey Pie) This is a possible JS post-rezzie action. He won’t be a part of the WotW (see what I did there?) as he died and was no longer NW.

We don’t know that Jamie will go to the Riverlands….he has to get out of the mess he is in at the end of season 5 – he still has Trystane and a dead daughter on his hands and has to tell Cersie when he returns. NOW…Cersie may turn him out when he learns of her infidelity and/or he will want to leave. But wouldn’t she want revenge on Dorne? Maybe he goes to the Riverlands or not. I don’t know. Brienne would figure in that plot and she is pretty close to Sansa and Winterfell at the moment.

So all the pieces of the chess board do not align for LSH to me. And it is okay. I was never a fan of this arc in the book. Poor dear Lady Stark who had her throat slit at the Red Wedding….that is who I cared for, not some zombie LSH.

The reason we haven’t seen LS in the past seasons is because there simply isn’t enough material to work with : only two scenes. It would have been just another character the show put on stand by. Her part in the next 2 books remains to be seen.

But now we know there will be AT LEAST 8 seasons and ONLY 7 books. Since almost all the existing book material has been used by the end of season 5 they need to return to the plots they abandoned or cut out.

All evidence points to a returning to the Riverlands and to BWB so, also to a Lady Stoneheart cliffhanger of resurrection / vengeance. The presence of Melisandre, the smoke and salt point to a Jon Snow resurrection (or warg theory).

The present situation makes enough room for 2 resurrections. At least LS is the prosthetic scene that the producers have postponed for 2 seasons. It will happen climatic when we least expect it to ! That is the GOT way !

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