Although the battle for the throne is taking a brief hiatus, that doesn't mean there isn't plenty to dwell on while we wait for the return of "Game of Thrones." The season 3 finale ended on a rather dull note, leaving fans yearning for more, however, while looking ahead, they should be pleased to know that there's more of what they want on the way.
Season 4 of "Game of Thrones" will bring new drama, death, sorrow and triumph, and, of course, new characters. This time around, Indira Varma, from "Rome," will join the cast as Ellaria Sand, according to Entertainment Weekly. Ellaria is the sexual and flirty friend of Oberyn Martell, also known as the Red Viper. The pair have four daughters together, which collectively are known as the Sand Snakes.
The books on which the show is based, "A Song of Ice and Fire," introduce new characters left and right, and when translated into the television series, fans can become frustrated and discouraged. There are simply too many to keep track of. Therefore, in effort to keep fans interest, producer David Benioff plans to focused on what's most important in season 4.
"The series has already reached a point where there are so many characters, particularly in season 3 we're introducing so many new ones," Benioff said. "We run the risk of bursting at the seams as we try to cram every single subplot and all the various characters and it becomes impossible on a budgetary level and it becomes impossible on an episode-basis to jump around every few minutes to 30 different characters and locations."
With that in mind, fans will also be pleased to learn that season 4 is anticipated to be the show's best. At the San Diego Comic-Con last weekend, Benioff told fans, "we got more action, which is obviously more time consuming. It's a brutal shooting season ahead. But if we can make it through, yeah, I think it's going to surpass season three. The last three episodes, there's so many scenes we've been waiting for so long to do. And it just gets more and more fun to write with these characters."
"Game of Thrones" will return to HBO in the fall.