Game of Thrones' Bran returns in season 6, and here's a sneak peek

HBO's Game of Thrones will bring back an old friend in its sixth season — and no, we're not (necessarily) talking about a certain man of the Night's Watch. Brandon Stark, one of the younger ex-residents of Winterfell, will return to Game of Thrones after a one-season absence, and Entertainment Weekly has an image of his new look.

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Game of Thrones.]

We last saw Bran in the fourth-season finale of Game of Thrones. Bran, Hodor, Jojen Reed and Meera Reed were beyond the Wall, on their way to a Heart Tree that Jojen had seen in a vision, when a group of undead attacked them. Jojen was killed, but a Child of the Forest led the others to safety: a cave beneath the tree in which an old man tells Bran that while he will never walk again, he will fly. That man, it turns out, is the person who takes the form of the three-eyed raven in Bran and Jojen's dreams.

HBO has since recast the three-eyed raven — in season 6, the character will be played by Max von Sydow. Both Bran and the raven spoke in the season 6 teaser trailer that HBO released earlier this month.

Entertainment Weekly published a still image of Bran from season 6 today. As you can see below, Bran is now sporting a shorter haircut, and he appears to be riding not Hodor, but a horse. That's probably for the best — Isaac Hempstead Wright, the actor who plays Bran, is now 16, and Entertainment Weekly reports that he is "around six feet tall."

Season 6 of Game of Thrones is set to premiere on HBO in April.