The most anticipated new role coming to the fourth season of Game of Thrones has been filled.
Prince Oberyn Martell will be played by Chilean actor Pedro Pascal, who has previously had arcs on CBS’ The Good Wife, ABC’s Red Widow and USA’s Graceland.
Read the whole story at insidetv.ew.com
Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 10 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "Mhysa."
"Any man who has to say 'I am the king' is no true king." -- Tywin Lannister
The season's last episode, "Mhysa," leaves us, and the denizens of Westeros, in a delicate situation. As some readers may already know, the show's creators decided to split the third book into two seasons -- this season, and next season.
As a result, we get the feeling that there are a lot of unresolved issues -- people whose actions may yet destroy them, winners who have not tasted their victory spoils, and minor players who are waiting patiently for their moments. While Arya has truly embarked on her pilgrimage to the God of Death, Bran and Sam meet at the Nightfort, Jon finally returns home to Castle Black (full of an angry Ygritte's arrows), a handless Jaime returns to his sister, Yara sets off to rescue her gelded brother Theon, and in the east, Daenerys continues to conquer. Joffrey is still the King in name, but his advisors seem a little fed up with the scummy little sadist and meanwhile, Stannis begins his journey north to what Melisandre calls the true threat.
It's the end of the season, but read on to see how the power rankings stand:
The Power Rankings
Using a complex algorithm that takes into account each player's wealth, military might and dominion over lands, along with a "bonus" factor that adjusts for unquantifiable assets that could influence events, we've surveyed the lay of the land to figure out who is winning the game of thrones after the tenth episode of season three of "Game of Thrones," entitled "Mhysa."
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1. Tywin Lannister (Last Episode: 1) Without fighting a single battle, Tywin managed to kill Robb Stark and quash the northern rebellion in one fell swoop. All it required was some carefully orchestrated treachery -- in this case, with the help of Walder Frey and Roose Bolton and the violation of Guest Right (which, of course, we see referenced in Bran's tale of the Rat Cook at Nightfort).
2. Daenerys Targaryen (Last Episode: 2) Mhysa! Mhysa! Mhysa!
Daenerys caps this episode, in a brief, but important scene which establishes the primary difference between her and her opponents -- her subjects worship her. It's hard to imagine Joffrey, or Stannis, or even Robb (R.I.P.) surfing the mosh pit of former slaves quite so ecstatically as our dragon princess. And with her three pets only growing bigger, we expect there'll be more people out there calling her "mother" before this game is done.
3. Margaery & Olenna Tyrell (Last Episode: 3) No Margaery and Olenna in this episode, but as we've heard, the wedding's still a go.
4. Joffrey Baratheon (Last Episode: 4) Joffrey's idea of being king is having the power to serve his sister-in-law the head of her dead brother on a plate. But, as we saw in this episode, he doesn't really even have the power to do that, nor any say in the actual running of the kingdom. As his grandfather Tywin put it to Tyrion, "You're a fool if you think he's the most powerful man in Westeros." But his is the head that wears the crown, no matter how many people wish he were dead.
5. Stannis Baratheon (Last Episode: -) Davos can read now! Though that pesky "ni-ght" is still getting him all bollixed up. Still, he puts his newfound ability to good use, rushing over to bring Stannis news of troubles at the Wall. Good thing, too: Davos has just put our favorite bastard, Gendry, on a little boat to King's Landing. Gendry isn't much of a sailor, but Davos' actions mean that Gendry's kingblood is no longer available to Melisandre.
Stannis sentences Davos to die, but Melisandre, of all people, stops him when she reads the letter. Stannis has to head to the real war in the North -- and he's going to need his Onion Knight. This unconventional decision, combined with the impact Melisandre's blood magic had on affairs in Westeros, propels the King in the Narrow Sea back into our Power Rankings for the first time since his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Blackwater.
Wildcards
These characters are important, but don't make it to the top five in our Power Rankings -- yet.
Roose Bolton (Last Episode:5) Lord Bolton's tenure on the Power Rankings was brief. True, we found out this episode that Lord Tywin plans to make him Acting Warden of the North, allowing him to sit in Winterfell until Tyrion and Sansa's son (if any) comes of age. But we also got confirmation of our hunch that Tywin, not Roose or Walder, was the prime mover of the slaughter. More crucially, we finally learned that Theon's psychotic torturer was none other than Ramsay Snow, Roose Bolton's bastard son. That means that House Bolton holds Theon, an important bargaining chip, but it also means that Yara Greyjoy is going after them. Plus, with Stannis planning on riding toward the North, Roose could soon have a serious challenge to his wardenship.
Yara Greyjoy Yara and her father Balon get a profanity-laced letter from sicko Ramsay Snow -- explaining that he has been torturing Theon for months. Snow also sends King Greyjoy the gift of his son's genitalia, which must surely be an elaborate "dick in a box" joke by showrunners Daniel Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Balon renounces Theon, but learning about the mutilation has the opposite effect on Yara. She decides to lead 50 of her strongest men in the fastest ship she owns all the way around Westeros, up the Narrow Sea and into the Dreadfort to take her brother back. Strong lady!
Arya Stark While riding a horse away from the Twins with The Hound, Arya sees her brother's direwolf's head sown onto his body -- a gruesome thing for even a tough girl like her to witness. Later, when she overhears some Bolton goons bragging about their role in the slaughter, she gets her revenge. She tricks one of them into letting down his guard, then stabs him repeatedly in the back. Sandor Clegane kills the rest, then asks her to give him a heads up next time she wants to go postal. She then strokes her precious Faceless Man coin and whispers "Valar Morghulis," so it's pretty clear to everyone that there will be a next time. The Starks may get their revenge after all.
Bran Stark At the Nightfort, Bran tells his travel companions the spooky story of the Rat King, whom the gods punished for violating the Guest Right, which primes them all to be freaked out when they hear a rasping sound in the middle of the night. But it's just Samwell Tarly, wheezing as he climbs up out of the sally port beneath The Wall! He recognizes Bran by his direwolf, and promises to help him however he can. Bran rejects his offer of safe harbor at Castle Black, though, explaining that he needs to go north of The Wall to protect Westeros from the Others. Apparently, he's the only one who can! Sam gives him a couple obsidian blades to help, then points the way north for Bran, the Reeds and sweet, sweet Hodor.
Samwell Tarly After showing Bran et al. the way north of The Wall, Sam travels east to Castle Black, where he bashfully tries to explain his boo Gilly to Maester Aemon. He's dubious, but Sam manages to finagle a guest spot for her. Then Maester Aemon asks him to write letters to every major lord in Westeros, asking for help in the fight against the Others.
Jon Snow Jon encounters his Wildling boo at a stream somewhere on the path to Castle Black. As she aims her bow and arrow at him, he tells her he loves her and says there's no way she'll hurt him -- not realizing that his betrayal already hurt her more than he knew. She shoots him three times before he escapes, but apparently, that's not enough to kill him, as he manages to ride all the way to Castle Black. With three arrows sticking out of his body!
Cersei Lannister Caught between her spoiled vicious brat of a son and her tyrant of a father, Cersei isn't a very happy lady. But she tells Tyrion that she would have been even more unhappy had it not been for her children -- the sole source of joy in her life. Even Joff.
Tyrion Lannister Tyrion has a moment of happiness with his new bride Sansa as they commiserate about being laughed at while walking through a garden in King's Landing. But it's short-lived -- immediately afterwards, Tyrion finds out about the Red Wedding, which he knows will make him an enemy in Sansa's eyes forever. To make matters worse, his father commands him to make Sansa pregnant ASAP -- by any means necessary.
Brienne of Tarth & Jaime Lannister These two friends finally make it back to King's Landing. Their odyssey is over! But Jaime's handlessness makes it harder for Cersei to welcome him home than he expected. You can never go home again, not quite.
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Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Sibel Kekilli as Shae, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister
Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Richard Dormer as Beric Dondarrion
Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Sibel Kekilli as Shae
Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon, Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister
Dianna Rigg as Olenna Tyrell
Finn Jones as Loras Tyrell, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Hannah Murray as Gilly
Thomas Brodie Sangster as Jojen Reed
Joe Dempsie as Gendry
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister
Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon, Kerry Ingram as Shireen Baratheon
John Stahl as Rickard Karstark, Richard Madden as Robb Stark
Paul Kaye as Thoros, Richard Dormer as Beric Dondarrion.
Richard Madden as Robb Stark
Richard Madden as Robb Stark, Oona Chaplin as Talisa Maegyr
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Lannister, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
James Cosmo as Jeor Mormont, Luke McEwan as Rast
John Bradley as Samwell Tarley, Hannah Murray as Gilly
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Conleth Hill as Lord Varys, Diana Rigg as Olenna Redwyne
Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark
Clive Russell as Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Esme Bianco as Ros
Noah Taylor as Locke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
Aidan Gillen as Petyr Baelish, Conleith Hill as Lord Varys, Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle
John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lanniser, Jerome Flynn as Bronn, and Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell
Carice van Houten as Melisandre
Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon
Ciaran Hinds as Mance Rayder
Follow Joe Satran on Twitter: www.twitter.com/joe_satran
Get Alerts Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 10 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "Mhysa." "Any man who has to say 'I am the king' is no true king." -- Tywin Lannister The season's l... Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episode 10 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "Mhysa." "Any man who has to say 'I am the king' is no true king." -- Tywin Lannister The season's l...This Sunday marks the end of the truly heroic third season of HBO's Game of Thrones. One of the pleasures of following both the TV series and the books is trying to figure out what author George R.R. Martin is doing with these characters. The most engaging game in the whole Song of Ice and Fire saga is played between its cruel author and his traumatized fans. Martin sets us up with these fascinating and conflicted people. We fall in love with their misguided nobility and desperate struggles (or evil natures and selfish schemes) and then BAM! Out of the blue Martin kills them off and cuts them out of our lives. With each episode and chapter we fans struggle with whom to invest our emotions so that we're not left with that aching numbness in the pit of our collective stomachs when a favorite character dies.
One character that I'm especially worried about is Daenerys Targaryen. So far her storyline has survived all the obstacles Martin has put in her path: family members, assassins, marriage, childbirth, funeral pyres, slave traders, and warlocks. But with Martin we are like Jon Snow, in that we "know nothing" about what is really going on behind the scenes in the Game of Thrones. Are we safe in our emotional attachment to the Mother of Dragons? Will the next chapter bring a sudden and devastating end to our brave Khaleesi? It is our complacency that Martin is playing with, our faith in the idea that every story has a hero or at least a couple of main characters that make it to the final page.
Like Albert Einstein, "I am convinced that He (Martin) does not play dice" with Westeros. There is a message in buried in the Seven Kingdoms and once unearthed this message will enable us to understand what is really going on and who is going to win the Iron Throne. Martin's love of history is our best clue to that message.
Martin claims that his saga is strongly influenced by 15th century England's War of the Roses and the general milieu of medieval France. Recently Martin admitted that historical events in Scotland inspired scenes like the Red Wedding (The Black Dinner and Glencoe Massacre). Using this intelligence I've started scanning the annals of history looking for Game of Thrones-like figures hoping to discover the inspiration and perhaps even the ultimate fate of Daenerys Stormborn.
Northmen and Ironborn, Free Folk and Children of the Forest, allow me to personally introduce you to Zenobia, Queen of the Palmyrene Empire, Warrior Queen, descendent of Cleopatra, and a Roman Augusta. A better model for Daenerys in the historical record can not be found (at least by me).
It's likely that you have never heard of the 3rd-century's Queen Zenobia and yet she is exactly what the 21st-century looks for in a modern woman: She was a freedom fighter who revolved against the Roman Empire. She was a conquerer who expanded her empire into Egypt, Anatolia, and Syria. She was an excellent athlete and horse rider and would march alongside her soldiers into battle. She was an exemplary mother who insured that no one blocked her son's claim to the throne. She was a brilliant ruler of noble birth who played Roman politics like a champ and put the Palmyrene Empire on the map. Zenobia was also something of an ancient super model, "more beautiful than Cleopatra" and a member of the Greco-Roman intelligentsia, hanging out with the brightest poets and philosophers of her day.
The historical Zenobia's personal story has strong parallels with that of the fictional Daenerys: Both woman lived in a brutal hyper-masculine world where women were generally relegated to supporting roles. Both started on their journeys to queendom by marrying kings who ruled at the edges of a vast empire. Both had the guts and drive to assume command when their husbands were murdered and had to gain the trust and loyalty of an initially skeptical populace. Both personally led their armies into battle, chose their target wisely, and won major battles. Both Zenobia and Daenerys were descended from illustrious and politically powerful ancestors. These ancestors and their own ambitions gave both women a strong claim to the seat of power at the center of their respective worlds.
There are differences between our two queens: Zenobia had no dragons and her parents were probably not siblings. Daenerys seems to be meandering a bit on her way to claim the throne where as Zenobia wasted no time in directly disposing of the local Roman rulers, expanding her empire, and I bet she would have marched like Caesar into Rome had not the Roman Emperor Aurelian stopped her.
How Zenobia was defeated, captured, and brought back to Rome by Aurelian just might give us some hints as to what Martin has in mind for Daenerys. At the very least Zenobia's story should be a mini-series starring Scarlett Johansson. (The Black Widow's backstory does not hold a candle to Zenobia's.)
By 271 AD the Roman Empire had temporarily split into three mini-empires: The Gallic in the north, the Roman in the center, and the Palmyrene in south. This sounds like Westeros' three general factions: Starks and their bannermen in the north, the Lannisters and Tyrells in the center, and Daenerys the last confirmed Targaryen in the far south-west.
This was a era of chaotic change for a usually stable Roman Empire. Tribes of barbarians (the Goths, the Visigoths, and the Vandals) were streaming like Martin's Wildlings into Romanized provinces of Gaul. These Germanic tribes were not fleeing white walkers but winter was coming: There is evidence of a "cold period" that caused crops to fail and encouraged these barbarians to migrate into the warmer southern regions and bring with them the seeds of the eventual dark ages.
Zenobia took advantage of all this madness in the Roman Empire to carve out her own little sphere of influence and interrupt the flow of grain into Rome. The office of emperor in Rome had several contenders and Rome's generals and royal families, like those of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms, were too busy to fighting and poisoning each other to pay much attention to Daenerys, I mean Zenobia, and her growing empire until the bread stopped arriving from Egypt.
When Aurelian (Jon Snow or Jamie Lannister) finally took charge as emperor, he first put down the Gallic rebellion in the north and then headed south to deal with Zenobia. In the Battle of Immae (in modern Turkey) Aurelian's forces should have been debilitated by the desert heat and a lack of heavily armored Calvary. Zenobia should have enjoyed an easy victory on her home turf. But Aurelian turned the tables on the Zenobia by leading her forces on a long and fruitless chase in the hot sun. In a battle scene that could have been written on Martin's word processor the Palmyrene armored soldiers and horses were worn out and defeated by the more agile Roman legionnaires.
Usually Aurelian killed his defeated enemies and burned their homes to the ground. But in a move worthy of a Jon Snow (I'm not really a killer) or Jamie Lannister (I am really a killer but tired of it) Aurelian granted general amnesty and Zenobia lost the support of her people.
Aurelian's forces chased down and captured Zenobia and her son as they were fleeing on horseback. Zenobia was not killed but rather taken to Rome to answer for her crimes. Unfortunately we don't know exactly what happened to Zenobia but there are three versions that suggest three possibilities for Daenerys as well.
Spoiler Alert! (Don't read beyond this point unless you want to know what I think the ultimate fate of Daenerys will be.)
Version One
Zenobia kills herself and her son on the way to Rome. I can easily imagine Daenerys fighting to free herself and her dragons but she's not the suicidal type. It's totally out of character. Daernery's is no brooding Sansa.
Version Two
Upon Zenobia's arrival in Rome she is tried and convicted of treason and Aurelian has her and her son beheaded. This is a more plausible outcome in the Game of Thrones universe but we are late in the storyline and I pray to the old gods and the new that Daenerys didn't survive for five books to get the Ned Stark treatment.
Version Three
Zenobia is brought before Aurelian in "golden chains." Aurelian is so impressed by her beauty, intelligence, and dignity that he frees her to live to an old age as a respected philosopher and socialite. Zenobia even remarries and her descendants live well into the 4th-century.
I love a happy ending -- after the requisite amount of suffering and bloodshed! I can see this version as the final chapter in book seven where Jon Snow (or Jamie Lannister) pardons Daenerys and her dragons, they fall in love, and rule the Seven Kingdoms and fight the long winter from a shared Iron Throne.
(Until Arya Stark comes along in the night as a Faceless Man and kills them all...)
If this theory feels like it's too far fetched I leave you with one last piece of evidence: Zenobia means "Power of Zeus" in ancient Greek. Daenerys is composed of two Celtic words, "dae" (to shine) and "nerys" (lady). Could the "shining lady" of Martin's imagination and an historical queen infused with the glowing "power of Zeus" be one in the same?
Follow John Pavley on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jpavley
Get Alerts This Sunday marks the end of the truly heroic third season of HBO's Game of Thrones. One of the pleasures of following both the TV series and the books is trying to figure out what author George R.R. ... This Sunday marks the end of the truly heroic third season of HBO's Game of Thrones. One of the pleasures of following both the TV series and the books is trying to figure out what author George R.R. ...
Will Champion appeared on Sunday night's "Game of Thrones." "Game of Thrones" fans are still reeling from Sunday night's penultimate episode, "The Rains of Castamere," a.k.a. the Red Wedding episode, a.k.a. you crazy for this one George RR Martin. Despite the blood and tears (and blood and blood), Episode 9 did feature one brief moment of levity for those viewers paying close attention: a cameo appearance from Coldplay drummer Will Champion.
Champion played a drummer in the episode, casting that was first announced by EW.com back in November of 2012. He was the second musician to pop up in a Season 3 episode of "Game of Thrones": As NME noted, Snow Patrol lead singer (and part-time Taylor Swift duet partner) Gary Lightbody made a cameo appearance in April as a soldier.
Watch Champion's brief "Game of Thrones" scene at the 23-second mark in the video above. For more on the shocking episode, check out HuffPost TV coverage here and here. Warning: Major spoilers at those hyperlinks.
[via Metro]
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Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Sibel Kekilli as Shae, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister
Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Richard Dormer as Beric Dondarrion
Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Sibel Kekilli as Shae
Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy
Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon, Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister
Dianna Rigg as Olenna Tyrell
Finn Jones as Loras Tyrell, Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Hannah Murray as Gilly
Thomas Brodie Sangster as Jojen Reed
Joe Dempsie as Gendry
Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister
Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon, Kerry Ingram as Shireen Baratheon
John Stahl as Rickard Karstark, Richard Madden as Robb Stark
Paul Kaye as Thoros, Richard Dormer as Beric Dondarrion.
Richard Madden as Robb Stark
Richard Madden as Robb Stark, Oona Chaplin as Talisa Maegyr
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Lannister, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
James Cosmo as Jeor Mormont, Luke McEwan as Rast
John Bradley as Samwell Tarley, Hannah Murray as Gilly
Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Conleth Hill as Lord Varys, Diana Rigg as Olenna Redwyne
Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark
Clive Russell as Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen
Esme Bianco as Ros
Noah Taylor as Locke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
Aidan Gillen as Petyr Baelish, Conleith Hill as Lord Varys, Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle
John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lanniser, Jerome Flynn as Bronn, and Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon, Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell
Carice van Houten as Melisandre
Stephen Dillane as Stannis Baratheon
Ciaran Hinds as Mance Rayder
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