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The Mad Queen rules over ashes in Game of Thrones’ final episode photos

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Game of Thrones | Season 8 Episode 6 | Preview (HBO)

King’s Landing is ashes, and the Mad Queen has emerged victorious, but there’s still one episode remaining in the final season of HBO’s Game of Thrones.

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The fires are still burning in both the hit show and in fans’ debate over the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, and the network has now released a pair of photos and a preview of what’s to come when one of the most popular series of all time concludes its eight-season run. Titled The Bells, the most recent episode saw Daenerys Targaryen’s army — but mostly just her dragon — win the battle for the Iron Throne, but at what cost?

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After deciding to rain fiery death on a city full of innocent civilians despite the city’s surrender, the newly christened “Mad Queen” now looks poised to take the Iron Throne for herself, concluding a narrative that saw her rise to power, only to become a villain greater than the one she deposed. The first photo released by HBO shows her overlooking the ash-covered remnants of the city, while the second photo puts Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) front and center.

The trailer takes a brief look at the aftermath of Daenerys’ rage and features a brief shot of Arya Stark, one of the characters who saw firsthand the terrifying toll it took on the city’s most vulnerable inhabitants.

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Although the show’s series finale will air this upcoming weekend, that won’t be the end of the saga inspired by author George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels.

A Game of Thrones prequel series is currently in development and active casting with Kingsman: The Secret Service and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children screenwriter Jane Goldman attached as head writer and showrunner, and Martin himself also involved. The still-untitled series will be set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones and feature two-time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts in an unidentified lead role.

Episode 6 of Game of Thrones season 8 will air 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 18, on HBO.

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Rick Marshall
Rick Marshall
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