Casting calls for Game of Thrones season 6 — yes, already — reveal that serious trouble continues to percolate throughout Westeros.
The casting descriptions contain spoilers for the upcoming season of Game of Thrones, which will officially take the series past the material in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Still, several characters from the books may be recognizable to readers — along with new men and women who will join the sprawling (albeit rather reduced) cast of the epic fantasy series.
First up are hints about Daenerys’s storyline. Two non-white characters called Qhogo and Akra are being cast, and are described as “tall, confident, with swagger and linguistic bravado.” So hey, maybe Dany will make a few friends during her captivity with the Dothraki!
Back in Westeros, members of an “outlaw band” are also being cast. The members of this group will appear in about two episodes, and sound like really stand-up guys. The men have “turned on the land that they swore to protect” and now use religion to take what they need from “the poor and vulnerable.” Led by a “big” man called Lachlan, the band also includes violent-sounding characters named Flynn and Japeth.
A servant named Bower may also be connected to this band. Bower is described as a “powerless” man, who is “numb to the horror he serves.”
Other characters populating the Northern landscape will be the unnamed Lord of a Northern House. Described as “a savage warrior,” this lord must be “a massive bear of a man with a beard and temper to match, and hatred that run[s] deep.” The man, who appears in two episodes, has a capacity for violence, and will must have “a powerful physique who can tower over other cast members.”
This description sounds almost exactly like a recasting of Greatjon Umber. The Greatjon was played by Clive Mantel in season 1, but has not appeared since Mantel left to join another series.
Another Northern lord will also appear in Game of Thrones season 6. The ruler of a “vassal household with a castle stronghold” will appear in three episodes, and sounds like he will make an impression. This man will be “ruthless and calculating,” and is described as “frightening.”
Good luck scaring anyone who’s met Ramsay Bolton.
Other miscellaneous single-episode roles also appear to be clustered around the North. A “rough army officer” will turn up, as will a decent but “submissive” maester. A “motherly” but “tight-whip[ped]” woman is also being cast to attend to a “large household”; in addition, a “tough and old… alpha male patriarch” will feature in one episode.
A particularly intriguing note is the call for an unnamed “Legendary Fighter.” Described as “A man in his thirties or forties who is a great swordsman and a paragon of knighthood,” the character will wield “a famous sword” and is looking for “the best [swordsman] in Europe to film a week of fight scenes.
Our friends at Watchers on the Wall speculate that this character will be Ser Arthur Dayne, the renowned Kingsgard knight slain by Eddard Stark during Robert’s Rebellion. This seems like a fair option — but does it imply that Game of Thrones season 6 will include flashbacks to the lives of characters long dead?
Other roles have also been announced that suggest this may be the case. Three young boys are being cast — “a clever boy who seems too large for his age,” a 12-year-old boy whose role will involve sparring with a wooden sword, and a seven-year-old boy “with dark brown hair, a narrow face and green eyes.” As Watchers on the Wall points out, Eddard Stark and his brothers Brandon and Benjen would fit these descriptions very nicely indeed.
Either way, family will clearly be important in Game of Thrones season 6. Sam’s father Randyll Tarly is almost certainly being cast. This role is described as important to a central protagonist, and asks for “one of the greatest soldiers in Westeros… severe and intimidating. He demands martial discipline in the field and in his home.”
Other members of Sam’s family also appear to be on the list, including a “sweet” and “adoring mother,” a “friendly” sister. Perhaps most importantly — a brother who is described as “athletic, a good hunter, an excellent swordsman, manly, not particularly bright but the favourite child of the father” will also be joining up to fill out Sam’s adventures — which apparently do not immediately involve the Maester’s Citadel in Oldtown.
More nefarious family members will be showing up in the Iron Islands as well. One crucial part will be that of “an infamous pirate who has terrorized seas all around the world. Cunning, ruthless, with a touch of madness.” Almost without question, this refers to Euron Greyjoy, Theon’s uncle, and a man as terrifying as he is utterly unpredictable.
Rounding out the casting calls is a “gruff ex-soldier who found religion” and is “now a no-nonsense rural priest.” (Hopefully, he has nothing to do with the Sparrows!) There is also a “magnetic” priestess, the “elegant” and “charismatic” leading lady of a theater group, and another “fierce warrior.”
Whether or not our predictions for these roles are accurate, it certainly seems like Game of Thrones season 6 has plenty of drama ahead.
Game of Thrones season 6 will air in Spring 2016.
Source: Watchers on the Wall
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