Fans of Sky Atlantic's Game of Thrones were finally put out of their misery last night with the opening episode of series six, with many expressing shock at the ending.
The episode, called The Red Woman, was one of the most awaited TV shows in months and was shown at 2am in the UK, at the exact time as the series premiered on cable channel HBO on the east coast of the US.
It came after widespread speculation about whether one of the main characters - Jon Snow - was indeed dead, as the end of series five had suggested.
When it appeared the question had been answered, #GameOfThrones became the top trending hashtag on Twitter globally for hours after the airing of the show.
Many of those tweeting used an image from the episode's final moments to start a series of internet memes - the most popular of which is mentioned later in this article, so do not read on if you want to avoid a spoiler.
Some fans had been worried about the direction the show could go in, as series six is the first to deviate from the books of George RR Martin.
But the first reviews seemed to praise show creators Daniel Weiss and David Benioff for the direction they had taken.
Forbes said: "This was a strong, surprising return. As with most Game of Thrones season premieres, The Red Woman largely set the stage for what's to come. It was still a pretty eventful episode... I can't wait to see what happens next week!"
The Hollywood Reporter said: "HBO's Game of Thrones is back on solid footing with an episode that features a couple of true shockers."
Time magazine, while criticising the lack of excitement, praised attempts to redress the what many have seen as the show's tendency to exploit women.
Its review said: "Many of late season five's major shifts were addressed promptly, in a forward-looking manner, and with gratifying moments of strength for the show's too-often-abused and -misused women."
Fans appeared to love it, with many on both sides of the Atlantic saying they would have trouble waiting for episode two.
Tara Strong tweeted: "My biggest complaint about #GameofThrones tonight... It was FOUR HOURS TOO SHORT...."
Alex Lauer said: "Back to the good ol' Sunday night ritual of sitting quietly for an hour and then suddenly yelling out 'NOOOOOOOO'"
:: FINAL SPOILER ALERT!
Within minutes of the final scene appearing, pictures of a young Melisandre transformed into an ancient-looking woman were appearing on Twitter along with various jokes such as "how I look after the make-up comes off".
The first episode will be shown again today at 9pm on Sky Atlantic.
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