With a kind of half spoiler, we’re about to let slip a decision which has left some key players in the Game Of Thrones universe out of next year’s season 5, so if you don’t want to know what not to expect, stop reading now.
In a surprising turn, actor Kristian Nairn, better known as the loveable half-giant Hodor, has revealed both he and Isaac Hempstead-Wright (best known as the crippled Bran Stark) have got the year off from filming HBO’s sprawling drama; “we have a season off and a year’s hiatus; meaning Bran and Hodor will be left out of Game Of Thrones season 5 altogether.
Still, leaving Bran and Hodor (and more than likely the Three-Eyed Crow, and Child of the Forest we were introduced to last season) doesn’t mean the characters have been abandoned forever, as writer George RR Martin has left the pair for long periods in the books (HBO’s Game Of Thrones being based on Martin’s A Song Of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels), giving other character-arcs time to develop and catch up to what Bran’s doing in the North; their characters aren’t even in the fourth book, which is completely fitting with the show.
The abandonment will also give the show more time to introduce us to a new Westeros locale (as much of the fifth season will take place in Dorne), a develop a rather large number of important new characters; including High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce, G.I. Joe: Retaliation), Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig, Kingdom of Heaven), and Areo Hotah (Deobia Oparei, Dredd) to name but a few; when Game Of Thrones season 5 begins next spring.
Matt Wheeldon – @TheMattWheeldon.
Source: Entertainment Weekly.
