WHAT YOU NEED TO REMEMBER FROM GAME OF THRONES SEASON 6

HBO’s Game of Thrones premieres its seventh season Sunday (9 p.m.), which is great news for fans — if they can remember what happened last year. 1. Many, many characters were killed Was the sixth season the deadliest in the series’ history? It depends on how many nameless and faceless casualties you count, but the writers certainly dispensed with many of the antagonists over the 10 episodes, many in the deadly season ender. In that finale, Margaery, her brother Loras, fundamentalist leader the High Sparrow, Lannister relatives Kevan and Lancel, and more were killed in the explosion at the Sept; Septa Unella was contained for her long punishment from Cersei and King Tommen committed suicide. Jon and Sansa dealt with Ramsay in the Battle of the Bastards. 2. Jon, Cersei and Daenerys are left with the most power With all those players taken off the board, the game of thrones has gotten much smaller. Jon was declared King in the North after he successfully took Winterfell back from the Boltons. After the Sept explosion and Tommen’s suicide, Cersei was crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, unopposed. Dany managed to ally herself with the grieving Olenna Tyrell, the Sand Snakes of Dorne, and Yara and Theon Greyjoy, while gaining a new army after burning Vaes Dothrak to the ground. 3. Bran has time-travelling ability and already changed the past After a certain Season 6 episode, we were never able to think of the phrase “hold the door” in the same way again. We discovered Bran has more powers than we knew, such as vis- iting and even changing the past (after a fateful encounter with Hodor). 4. Some characters are MIA Brienne of Tarth and her trusty squire Podrick Payne have not been seen since the eighth episode of Season 6, when they rowed away from Riverrun after Jaime took the keep. Also missing is Melisandre, whom Jon banished from the North after her part in burning Shireen at the stake came to light, and the Hound, who got off the bench after his idyllic retirement with a community of do-gooder peasants was violently ripped away from him.