“Game of Thrones” has never been afraid of spilling blood, and the Season 6 premiere is no exception — even as Jon Snow lies dead in the courtyard of Castle Black, at the other end of Westeros the Sand Snakes are living up to their deadly legacy, with Ellaria Sand and the daughters of Prince Oberyn quickly dispatching the last of the Martells, murdering Prince Doran and his heir Trystane to assume power in Dorne for themselves.

The Dorne storyline often felt like an excuse for narrative wheel-spinning last season, with Jaime and Bronn’s expedition to retrieve Myrcella proving to be one of the rare deviations from George R. R. Martin’s books that didn’t quite land, so choosing to trim the fat from that plot seems like a savvy choice on David Benioff and Dan Weiss’ part, shifting the focus back to the potentially fascinating Sand Snakes and Ellaria, since the women still have an ax to grind against the Lannisters following the death of Oberyn.

In King’s Landing, one of the Sand Snakes’ other victims — Cersei and Jaime’s daughter, Myrcella — has been brought back home by her father, and it’s heartbreaking to see Cersei’s eagerness to see her daughter turn to despair when she realizes that she’s lost another child — bringing her one step closer to fulfilling the prophecy she received from fortuneteller Maggy the Frog as a child: that she will have three children and all will die (“gold will be their crowns, and gold their shrouds”). Cersei shares this portent of doom with Jaime, who dismisses the superstition and vows that from now on, they’ll stick together, as they should’ve from the beginning — and anyone who isn’t a Lannister had better beware. It’s certainly true that the family’s fortunes have reversed while Jaime has been away, and after her humiliation at the hands of the High Sparrow and the Faith Militant last season, Cersei may be more dangerous than ever, since she’s arguably already hit rock bottom. At least she’s out of custody following her walk of atonement, which is more than can be said for Margaery Tyrell, who’s still locked up with a particularly determined Septa who’s trying to guilt trip her, despite her pleas for news of her brother, Loras.

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