Game of Thrones Is About to Make Some Ice Zombies

Ever since the first season of Game of Thrones ended with Ned Stark’s head taking a permanent vacation from his body, one of the major pastimes that come with Game of Thrones fandom has been wondering which characters will die and when. And so from the Red Wedding to the Battle of the Bastards and every season finale, each of us have been on tenterhooks hoping that our faves would make it.

This week’s Battle of Winterfell episode promises to take eight seasons worth of worry and cram it all into one probable massacre where not only are our faves in danger of dying, but they’ll probably get turned into ice zombies as well. Given the events of the last two episodes, some characters seem more poised to bite the dust than others, but one thing's almost certain: tonight's GoT will be devastating, both on screen and off.

NEW EPISODE: Given the level of anticipation for tonight's episode of Game of Thrones, it's hard to imagine how the finale can top it.  Regardless, prepare to huddle with friends and loved ones for support afterwards. One wild prediction: Davos sacrifices himself to save a child (young Sam? Lyanna Mormont? Bran?) in order to make up for Shireen, the child he could not save. 9:00 PM ET on HBO

SERIES PREMIERE: The blockbuster-to-the-point-of-being-ridiculous producing pair of Ava DuVernay and Greg Berlanti team up to present The Red Line, a limited eight-episode  series about racial tension and violence in Chicago, starring Noah Wyle, Noel Fisher, and Emayatzy Corinealdi, who was so amazing in DuVernary’s underrated 2012 film Middle of Nowhere. Reviews are somewhat mixed, but the pedigree here is very strong. 8:00 PM ET on CBS

SEASON FINALE: The second season of Starz’s American Gods has come and gone with a LOT less fanfare than its first season did. Having returned without showrunner Bryan Fuller nor recurring star Gillian Anderson, things have felt not quite the same. Some have even noticed a lack of its former sexual energy. But different or not, the show has been renewed to return for a third season, so Neil Gaiman’s fantasy of gods among us will be told. 8:00 PM ET on Starz

NEW EPISODE: If the premise and already compelling starring cast of Barry hasn’t already gotten you onboard, the breakout star potential of Anthony Carrigan’s NoHo Hank should be what finally tips you over the edge. Just keep your TV on once Thrones is over! 10:00 PM ET on HBO

ALSO TONIGHT

• NCIS: Los Angeles moves to a new time slot with an episode where Callen and Hanna are hot on the trail of a pair of female escapees. 10:00 PM ET on CBS
• Veep follows the Selina Meyer campaign down, down, down into the hell where it’s always been destined to go. Potentially even more compelling is Amy Brookheimer’s descent into becoming Kellyanne Conway. 9:30 PM ET on HBO
• The Real Housewives of Atlanta: Porsha’s Having a Baby Against all odds, the one-time disaster Porsha Williams became the voice of reason at the most recent reunion. Now she’s rewarded for a season of (relative) level-headedness with a special spin-off series about her giving birth to baby PJ (Porsha Junior, obviously). 8:00 PM ET on Bravo

Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.