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Who will be upgraded to main cast for S4 (Book Spoilers)


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After Season 3 we have 5 spots (Robb, Cat, Talisa, Old Bear, Gendry) that become available. Which actors/characters do you think will be upgraded to main cast this season?

My thoughts:

Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) -Definitely

Ian McElhinney (Barristan Selmy) -Definitely

Gemma Whellan (Asha/Yara Greyjoy) -Probably

Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton) -Maybe (casting his wife makes it more likely)

Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Snow) -Maybe

Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell) - Unlikely, but I'd love to see this character take the spotlight

(Maester Pycelle) - Unlikely, Probable S5

(Kevan Lannister) - Unlikely, Probable S5

What do you think?

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There are at least 23 guaranteed returning regulars for Season 4 (versus 28 last season). The cast can’t get much bigger, and Benioff and Weiss have hinted that it’s time for some “negative population growth”. On the other hand, we know that four actors – Jack Gleeson (Joffrey), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), Sibel Kikelli (Shae), and Charles Dance (Tywin) – will definitely be leaving the cast during Season 4. A fifth – Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane) – may join them, depending on how the writers decide to handle the Hound’s fate and possible future storyline. And though Bronn remains alive and well, I also think that it’s very likely that Jerome Flynn will cease to be a regular cast member after Season 4 concludes (his King’s Landing story is essentially done after he refuses to fight for Tyrion, and I doubt that we’ll be seeing his happy home life in Stokeworth on screen). So there will be at least some room for new blood. There won’t be much to add, but I do think there will be some.

Michelle Fairley will probably return to the show, but I expect that she’ll be billed as ‘Also Starring’ or ‘Special Guest Star’ in the post-episode credits whenever she appears. Joe Dempsie’s status is more interesting. Obviously they needed to promote him this season in order to secure his involvement for the Dragonstone arc, but given the divergence from the books, Gendry’s fate going forward is uncertain. He got on a boat to King’s Landing in the season finale, and I can’t imagine that the show will continue to follow him regularly if he stays there. I also doubt that he’ll be returning to the BWB given how they sold him to Melisandre. So I would be inclined to say that he will not be a series regular for Season 4, but he still seems to be involved with the show, so they've probably found a way to keep him around. Maybe he’ll accompany Brienne and Pod on their journey to find Sansa? I don’t know.

Among the previously recurring characters the OP mentioned, there are several actors who could potentially be promoted to series regulars and appear in the opening credits. From the most likely to the extremely unlikely:

Almost Certain (at least as far as these things go)

Gwendoline Christie (Brienne): Frankly, I was stunned that she wasn’t promoted for Season 3, given how prominent her character was. I can only assume that they were able to secure her involvement without giving her regular status. Given that Brienne is likely to remain prominent going forward, however, I believe that she will be promoted eventually.

Strong Candidates (if not this season, then probably by Season 5)

Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton): This depends on how much Benioff and Weiss decide to dip into ADWD during Season 4. They’ve set up several potential stories that could keep Ramsay and the Boltons onscreen next season: conflict with Yara and the Ironborn, securing the loyalty of the surviving Northern lords, and possibly a ‘hunt’ for Rickon. As the series progresses, the Boltons and Ramsay in particular will become more and more prominent as villains, so they may want to lock Rheon down.

Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton): See above. I think McElhatton is less likely to be promoted than Rheon, but they may decide to make Roose more prominent in his new capacity as Warden of the North. There’s a popular theory floating around that he and his wife Fat Walda (who was recently cast) will attend the PW in King’s Landing, and that Roose will subsequently conspire with Tywin to set up the “fake Arya” plot that will help secure the North in the aftermath of Tyrion’s arrest and Sansa’s disappearance. Bolton also mention to Walder Frey in ‘Mhysa’ that he plans to move to Winterfell “at some point” – there’s an outside chance that happens in Season 4, though Season 5 is much more likely. Personally, I hope that he does become more prominent going forward, as I really enjoy both Roose Bolton as a character and McElhatton’s performance in the role.

Gemma Whalen (Yara Greyjoy): It seems clear based on her proposed rescue of Theon in ‘Mhysa’ that they’ll be writing some new material for Yara in Season 4. Furthermore, if the Kingsmoot hasn't been cut from the show, Yara is likely to serve as our ‘point-of-entry’ character for that Iron Islands storyline. I doubt that they would just throw us in with Euron and Victarion - new viewers would be much less likely to care if we're suddenly spending a large amount of time with characters they've never met before. Depending on how prominent this storyline is, a promotion may be necessary to secure Whalen's availability.

Ian McElhinney (Barristan Selmy): Barristan will eventually take the place of Dany’s most trusted advisor after Jorah is exiled, and that increase in prominence should warrant a promotion to series regular status. I don’t know if that will necessarily be this season, though. There should be enough conflict between Jorah and Daario in Season 4 that Barristan’s screentime might remain secondary, at least for now.

Possibilities (maybe Season 5, if not this year)

Michael Huisman (Daario Naharis): The recasting of this role raises the possibility that D&D weren’t satisfied with Ed Skrein’s performance and wanted a stronger actor to play Daario as his character continues to grow both in prominence and in Dany’s esteem. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the character’s screentime will increase so substantially that it warrants a promotion to regular status. If Huisman does become a regular, I think it will be in Season 5, and even then, it’s not a sure thing.

Ellie Kendrick (Meera Reed) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed): Benioff and Weiss will be dipping into Bran’s ADWD material this season, but that’s only four chapters (that may need to last two seasons). They’ll likely add a bunch of new material, expanding on an encounter with the Night’s Watch mutineers (the actors playing Rast and Karl are confirmed to be returning) and the introduction of Coldhands, saving the Children of the Forest for the very end of Season 4 and Bloodraven for Season 5. Given that arc, I don’t know if the Reeds will have that much more to do (they’re marginalized after Bran reaches the Three-Eyed Crow) but it’s a possibility.

Unlikely

Ciarán Hinds (Mance Rayder): Given that Hinds is a ‘bigger’ name than most of the actors in the cast, I had thought he might be a regular for Season 3, but in retrospect, it’s not surprising that he wasn’t, given that the character only appeared in three episodes. With the Battle of the Wall driving a large part of the Season 4 arc, I wouldn’t be shocked if he was promoted. However, if they keep Mance largely off-screen until the latter half of the season, this won’t happen.

Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell): While Olenna will continue to be awesome and important to the plot, I doubt that she’ll get substantially more screentime than she did this year. They'll just keep giving her lines, and those Guest Actress nominations at the Emmys should keep rolling in.

Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell): Finn Jones always seems to be popping up in all of the off-set photos that I see of the GOT cast, so clearly he’s sticking around. Unless they write a bunch of new material for him, however, I can’t see Loras being that prominent going forward, especially once the marriage to Cersei falls through. He’ll continue to recur.

Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell): We know that Oberyn is only going to be a one-season character, and while other HBO shows like Boardwalk Empire have a habit of promoting their prominent season-long guest stars to the main credits, Game of Thrones hasn’t really done this. When Pascal signed on to the role, he had to know upfront that it would only be a commitment of eight episodes or so, so securing his availability wouldn’t have been an issue. The only real reason to promote him to the main cast would be to throw viewers off about how soon he dies. I don’t think that the producers will play that game with us.

Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle): Pycelle probably won't die until Season 6 - maybe the very end of Season 5 - so he may score a promotion just based on his longevity. However, I don't see his character getting a substantial increase in screentime. As long as Glover is happy with his limited role, I expect he'll continue to recur.

Katie Dickie (Lysa Arryn): The recent casting of Yohn Royce hints that the Vale may be expanded this season, which suggests at a bigger role for Lysa. However, a promotion to the main cast should really only happen if it was necessary to secure her availability, because Lysa will be dead by the end of Season 4.

Natalie Tena (Osha): I have no clue how they will handle her. If they create a new subplot regarding Ramsay hunting for Rickon, Osha could get a bump (though he’s not central to the production, George R.R. Martin has mentioned how much he likes her). But there’s also an excellent chance that Osha and Rickon might not appear at all this season.

Ian Gelder (Kevan Lannister): There's a substantial contingent of fans who are convinced that Kevan is going to be recast. I don't know about that, but I also haven't heard anything about Gelder even being confirmed for this season, so a promotion to regular status is extremely unlikely.

Prediction

Tentatively, I would guess that Joe Dempsie keeps his regular status (but only appears in 4 episodes or so). Gwendoline Christie and Iwan Rheon are promoted to series regulars for Season 4. Gemma Whalen seems a likely possibility as well (so far, they’ve yet to focus heavily on a storyline that doesn’t include any series regulars). Michael McElhatton could go either way, but I'll lean towards them holding off for now (I hope that they do promote him – I’d like to see Roose Bolton get more to do). The rest of the actors listed here will continue to recur this season, will Ian McEhilhenny and possibly Michael Huisman getting promoted for Season 5.

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Ian Beattie (ser Meryn Trant) might get more screentime. So far the show hasn't provided a lot of information about the kingsguard, its role, it's history, its importance. Which is such pity, I've always found that stuff fascinating. Now that Jaime is back in King's Landing, (and we know in the books he spends a lot of time reading the White Book, trying to advice Loras,etc.) we might get scenes of him interacting with the other kingsuards. And I also think Trant might take upon the role of one or more Kettleblacks. He's already been established as a shady guy, maybe two or more kingsguards might be merged with him? Please, excuse my mistakes, english is not my mother tongue. ;-)

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  • 3 months later...

There are at least 23 guaranteed returning regulars for Season 4 (versus 28 last season). The cast can’t get much bigger, and Benioff and Weiss have hinted that it’s time for some “negative population growth”. On the other hand, we know that four actors – Jack Gleeson (Joffrey), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), Sibel Kikelli (Shae), and Charles Dance (Tywin) – will definitely be leaving the cast during Season 4.

Wait, how do you know thes characters will leave for certain? From book spoilers? I thougth they didn't follow the book 100%

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Wait, how do you know thes characters will leave for certain? From book spoilers? I thougth they didn't follow the book 100%

But any of them staying alive would be a major change from the books. I think it's save to say that those characters are going to die in season 4. (If you haven't read the books better stay off topics with book spoilers in the title and the spoiler forums.)

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After Season 3 we have 5 spots (Robb, Cat, Talisa, Old Bear, Gendry) that become available. Which actors/characters do you think will be upgraded to main cast this season?

My thoughts:

Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) -Definitely

Ian McElhinney (Barristan Selmy) -Definitely

Gemma Whellan (Asha/Yara Greyjoy) -Probably

Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton) -Maybe (casting his wife makes it more likely)

Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Snow) -Maybe

Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell) - Unlikely, but I'd love to see this character take the spotlight

(Maester Pycelle) - Unlikely, Probable S5

(Kevan Lannister) - Unlikely, Probable S5

What do you think?

Are you talking opening credits or HBO's GOT site.

I still can't make head nor tail of HBO's 'OFFICIAL SITE' ?

The listing now is CAST

and then

dot dot dot dot dot

................. (like this) for other characters and actors...

(the term 'Guest Actors' having been dropped.)

I don't know what that dot dot stuff means, except that HBO has a kind of ,shall we say, pedestrian web site.

Notice Roxanne McKee , like some others in the ...-category is not mentioned.... interesting since she had a bigger speaking part than Amrita Acharia.

People long gone are listed.

But not Sean Bean... odd.

Do the actors get and care if they are listed are not?

(Some minor characters missing , but that's ok.)

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Ian Beattie (ser Meryn Trant) might get more screentime. So far the show hasn't provided a lot of information about the kingsguard, its role, it's history, its importance. Which is such pity, I've always found that stuff fascinating. Now that Jaime is back in King's Landing, (and we know in the books he spends a lot of time reading the White Book, trying to advice Loras,etc.) we might get scenes of him interacting with the other kingsuards. And I also think Trant might take upon the role of one or more Kettleblacks. He's already been established as a shady guy, maybe two or more kingsguards might be merged with him? Please, excuse my mistakes, english is not my mother tongue. ;-)

Ian Beattie!

And he's even had a speaking part!

The 'face in the crowd that is not the face in the crowd'... been in all three seasons, and I guess?, season 4?

Poor guy gets no respect!

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Looks like Mance Rayder will have enough screen time to be main cast.

I thought the rumor was they shot Ciarán Hinds footage for season 4 during filming of season 4?

Or was it just 'saved' footage... heard the same for some other actors.

I guess they get paid for this in some manner?

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There are at least 23 guaranteed returning regulars for Season 4 (versus 28 last season). The cast can’t get much bigger, and Benioff and Weiss have hinted that it’s time for some “negative population growth”. On the other hand, we know that four actors – Jack Gleeson (Joffrey), Rose Leslie (Ygritte), Sibel Kikelli (Shae), and Charles Dance (Tywin) – will definitely be leaving the cast during Season 4. A fifth – Rory McCann (Sandor Clegane) – may join them, depending on how the writers decide to handle the Hound’s fate and possible future storyline. And though Bronn remains alive and well, I also think that it’s very likely that Jerome Flynn will cease to be a regular cast member after Season 4 concludes (his King’s Landing story is essentially done after he refuses to fight for Tyrion, and I doubt that we’ll be seeing his happy home life in Stokeworth on screen). So there will be at least some room for new blood. There won’t be much to add, but I do think there will be some.

Uh... Kate Dickie will be gone too.

So that's 6.

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