Too many new cast members for season 5?

[Onna Lewyys]

I'm guessing that by now the audience is used to being introduced to random characters every other episode or so. Season four will probably have the highest number of high-impact deaths so far in the series, so introducing another 5 major characters along with 10-15 minor ones every season won't be as difficult. As long as dialogue is used to explain who the new characters are it won't be a problem.

I agree. The end of S3 just saw the deaths of 3 notable characters, and S4 will see at least 6 more (all actors who are/will be listed in the opening credits). So there will surely be some room for new people by S5. Yes, the character lists people have posted are huge, but it's not like they all have to be major characters. Doran Martell, Aerys Oakheart, Euron Greyjoy, Jeyne Poole, Wyman Manderly, and lots of others only need to be supporting roles with brief and/or scattered appearances throughout the season, just like Roose, Beric, Locke, Orell, and a number of others were this last season. The only ones with enough story and personality to actually be added to the main cast, as far as I can tell for now, would be Arianne and Victarion. So I really think this issue is being blown out of proportion.

[Awake iron!]

Imo every main plotline (and I count the Ironborn and the Dornish amongst them) needs at least 5 episodes in S5, with the major plots - Meereen, Kings Landing and the Wall having more. And if we look at the plot lines, here's what we've got anyway:

S5:

• Kingslanding

Wall

Meereen

Tyrion

Braavos

The North

Beyond The Wall

The Vale

Riverlands

Dorne

Iron Islands

That's 11 plotlines, which is a lot for any television show but it's only one more than S3 which had 10 (KL, Jaime, Arya, Robb, Dragonstone, Theon, Sam, Jon, Bran and Dany.).

The North is more a group of plotlines than a single plotline: you have Davos in White Harbor, you have Theon, and at some point Stannis will leave the Wall, so that's another plotline.

The Riverlands are 2 different plotlines as well: you have Brienne's journey and Jaime's journey.

You must also count Sam & co.'s journey after they leave Braavos as another plotline.

And we could mention also Quentyn's plotline, although I think it'll be cut out, and they'll introduce him showing up in Meereen.

[Annara Snow]

I agree. The end of S3 just saw the deaths of 3 notable characters, and S4 will see at least 6 more (all actors who are/will be listed in the opening credits). So there will surely be some room for new people by S5. Yes, the character lists people have posted are huge, but it's not like they all have to be major characters. Doran Martell, Aerys Oakheart, Euron Greyjoy, Jeyne Poole, Wyman Manderly, and lots of others only need to be supporting roles with brief and/or scattered appearances throughout the season, just like Roose, Beric, Locke, Orell, and a number of others were this last season. The only ones with enough story and personality to actually be added to the main cast, as far as I can tell for now, would be Arianne and Victarion. So I really think this issue is being blown out of proportion.

Wait, what are the 6 characters you talk about? I can only think of 4 deaths + one "death" of characters whose actors are listed in the opening credits (Joffrey, Tywin, Ygritte, Shae + Sandor), who is the 6th?

[Lady Baela Targaryen]

Wait, what are the 6 characters you talk about? I can only think of 4 deaths + one "death" of characters whose actors are listed in the opening credits (Joffrey, Tywin, Ygritte, Shae + Sandor), who is the 6th?

Maybe Oberyn? Many people expect him to be a regular next season.

[Onna Lewyys]

Maybe Oberyn? Many people expect him to be a regular next season.

Yes, Oberyn is the sixth. He featured pretty well in the trailer. I'm assuming Pedro Pascal will be in the opening credits.

[Colonel Green]

Well it´s possible they wouldn’t know who the other guy wanted to frame. Speaking of which, how can LF possible know who is going to get accused when it´s Cersei doing the accusing?

Somewhat belatedly responding to this, but exactly, it's extremely dangerous for them to have different ideas about who the fall-guy is. That's why they would have discussed that extensively and agreed on it.

And Littlefinger can know who will be accused because Tyrion, having served the wine following a big fight with Joffrey (how he could predict that so perfectly is the more obvious question), is the blatantly obvious suspect.

[Annara Snow]

Somewhat belatedly responding to this, but exactly, it's extremely dangerous for them to have different ideas about who the fall-guy is. That's why they would have discussed that extensively and agreed on it.

And Littlefinger can know who will be accused because Tyrion, having served the wine following a big fight with Joffrey (how he could predict that so perfectly is the more obvious question), is the blatantly obvious suspect.

Maybe he just got lucky there, but he could predict that there would be some sort of a public conflict between Tyrion and Joffrey, because there is one every time (Joffrey loves to humiliate Tyrion and did that at the last wedding banquet - Tyrion's - so why wouldn't he do that on his own) and, just in case, LF supplied the dwarfs for entertainment, knowing that Joff wouldn't pass the chance to further provoke and insult Tyrion. Add to this Cersei's tendency to suspect Tyrion and her hatred for him, and it's not hard to make Tyrion the prime suspect, especially if you add his marriage to Sansa in the equation and accuse both of them - she has more reasons to hate Joffrey than anyone else in KL.

[DaveyJoe]

Even Oberyn says he'd be the suspect if it wasn't for Tyrion being even easier to convict.

[Awake iron!]

[Colonel Green]

Even Oberyn says he'd be the suspect if it wasn't for Tyrion being even easier to convict.

Well, yeah, but that's because Littlefinger and Olenna arranged the whole thing to frame Tyrion.

[DaveyJoe]

Well, yeah, but that's because Littlefinger and Olenna arranged the whole thing to frame Tyrion.

Yeah, it's obvious, and not the first time Littlefinger has set up Tyrion. Even if the Tyrell's didn't specifically setup Oberyn as a suspect, they had to know that was a strong possibility, and I'm sure they were okay with that. There was always the chance that Tyrion and Joffrey would actually behave themselves, however unlikely.

[sertravisredbeard]

I was including Gregor and Lysa a high-impact deaths too. I know Gregor comes back like Catelyn, but he'll officially "die" like Sandor also. Neither Lysa or Gregor are main characters now, but the way they go out will be pretty dramatic for the audience.

[Deadwood]

I mean Conan Stevens wanted back, but apparently a long story there...

For season 4 Natalia Tena , way way back, said she was waiting for a call, so I guess we will be surprised if she makes a cameo appearance. She seems like she is ready to arrange her schedule in order to come back at any time.

Impression is that , with the exception of Clive Mantel ... many actors want to be called back or on the show for show biz exposure reasons... or at least their agents do.

(What Ed Skrein's story is I would still like to know.)

What was Conan's story? This was after he left and shot the Hobbit?

I think a smart actor would at least want to come back and ensure availability

[Queen Ayras Lord Commander]

Sorry folks, but the Kettleblacks are not going to be in the show. They skipped every super easy chance to slide one or more in, and they are no longer LF pawns, so their value is diminished. Someone else can just as easily rat out Cersei.

[Good Guy Garlan]

The show already made the same mistake Martin did in the books: they left a lot of characters to introduce in S5, instead of spacing them out a bit.

For example, a lot of people don't agree with me on this, but I would have introduced the kingsmoot in aSoS, via Asha POV. I feel like the aftermath of Balon's death would make more sense in that book, with whole structure of kings falling and rising. And then Euron, Victarion and the like would have been properly introduced and set up. That could have happened this season, which is very light on new characters anyway

Now the show has to introduce the Greyjoy brothers, all the other Martells, Aegon's motley crew, whover Arya encounters in Braavos, and (I assume) at least some of Dany's opposition, be it the Yunkaii, sellswords or the other Meereenese nobles. Shit, and the Citadel (though that will most likely be in S6), but in any case, It's gonna be too much

[SerArthurHeath]

They might need double length episodes or seasons. What a shame

[rymerster]

I think they'll hold off on The Citadel until it can be seen through Sam's eyes, so probably S5 will have his storyline at The Wall then eventually setting off with Gilly and Maester Aemon towards the end of the season.

If Yara/Asha is heading back to the Iron Islands I think the death of Balon then the Kingsmoot would be the best way to introduce Victarian and Euron, probably very early in S5 and then perhaps not seen again until Victarian arrives at Mereen (WOW Barristan Selmy preview chapters have shown this).

Griff/Young Griff do not need to be major players in S5, just one episode interacting with Tyrion will be enough. Meeting them through such an important character will make the viewers remember them for S6. Their storyline can be shortened.

Dorne will definitely happen, there have been so many mentions of Prince Doran this season, and Oberyn mentioned his daughters plus Myrcella. It will open up the world a bit but as long as Ellaria is around it will seem straightforward to the viewer. I'd like to see Quentyn and his companions, I enjoyed their story and the parts when they get to Mereen open up the possibility for some light relief - they are so stupid! Viewers will want scenes with the dragons too, so having his journey end towards Ep 10 of S5 makes sense.

So, as in the books, the S5 Dany story will be more about her increasing importance in the eyes of Westerosi characters, and there's pretty much going to be a race to get to her. Meanwhile of course she has all of the local politics to deal with, culminating towards the end of the season with her leaving on Drogon.

Arya's journey is important, the show may decide to do something with the roles of her tutors (?)

I really like the character of Pennny and her interactions with Tyrion allow the exploration of what life is like for many little people who do not come from privileged backgrounds. A lot of fans are negative about the character, but with the right actress that part could be incredible. Fans will enjoy the idea of Tyrion and Penny working with Jorah as well.

As for the characters in the North, this is already being set up, and offers the possibility of good scenes with the well-established characters. Given the probable deaths in the battle at the wall there is room for a few new faces. The budget won't be a problem, nor will attracting great talent for the roles, it's more of a challenge for the storytelling. I'd like to see Wyman Manderley at least.

One thing the show is doing is introducing more famous actors in minor roles (e.g. Tycho Nestoris) - this makes them more memorable from the off and helps to mitigate viewer confusion. I think also roles with a smaller time commitment will be popular with busy actors - Thrones is something people want to be associated with now, if even for a short stint.

[Caerl Targaryen]

There's no way Dorne isn't happening. As others have said, there are far too many opportunities for nudity and sex scenes in Dorne. Arianne presents a great opportunity to introduce a highly attractive woman that's frequently naked. If they don't do that, I'll be incredibly shocked. And honestly, I'd much rather see them introduce a character like that than have random and ultimately pointless brothel scenes. At least Arianne is a fairly major character.

I'm more uncertain about the Ironborn storyline. They gave Dany 93 ships when she took Meereen this season. That's the number of ships Victarion sets off with after the Battle of the Shield Islands. That seems to indicate that the Iron Fleet won't be sent to Slaver's Bay as it gives Dany a convenient number of ships for the second Siege of Meereen. I expect that the Greyjoys will be cast but I'm uncertain what kind of role they'll actually end up playing.

I don't see the need to use Jaqen in the place of the Kindly Man. Nor is there a need to not include the Waif. Viewers will understand that the Kindly Man and the Waif are teaching Arya. All they have to do is make a few comments about Jaqen (as Arya does in AFFC) and viewers will connect the dots. They'll reintroduce the coin Jaqen gave her before introducing the House of Black and White as well. I don't see either character as being more than a guest starring role. They could easily recast both characters as needed given the nature of the Faceless Men. Arya needs people to interact with, though.

Thereby completely changing the story, doing the predictable thing and conforming to the "bad boy = danger!" stereotype GRRM was subverting? I hope not.

That's probably exactly what they're going to do. Daario is the captain of the Second Sons in the show. Why make him the captain of that particular sellsword company if they didn't intend to use him in place of Ben Plumm? There also aren't any other sellsword companies in Dany's service that can betray her. I suspect Daario and the Second Sons will betray Dany when she marries Hizdahr. It's cliched, goes against the spirit of what GRRM has been trying to achieve with his story, and I really don't like it, but it's exactly the sort of heavy handed thing I can see them doing.

If they do that, then that will mean Daario will be taking the place of book Daario, Strong Belwas, and Brown Ben Plumm. Now taking bets on who else he'll be replacing...

[SM4e]

If they do that, then that will mean Daario will be taking the place of book Daario, Strong Belwas, and Brown Ben Plumm. Now taking bets on who else he'll be replacing...

I think he'll also take the place of Penny and Jeyne Poole.

As Michael Huisman has confirmed he will be a main cast member in Season 5, so I assume your theory is right.

[Caerl Targaryen]

I think he'll also take the place of Penny and Jeyne Poole.

And he's probably Syrio Forel and the Kindly Man.

As Michael Huisman has confirmed he will be a main cast member in Season 5, so I assume your theory is right.

I hope I'm wrong because it'll be yet another change intended to drastically simplify Dany's story and her as a character. :( We can't have complexity outside of King's Landing apparently.