Given the rate at which author George R.R. Martin (and the producers of the show based on his books) likes to off characters, it’s only right that Game Of Thrones keeps adding to its ranks, lest the show end up as Peter Dinklage talking to a tree. Following on from Ian McShane’s casting in a mysterious role, Entertainment Weekly brings word that venerable thesping type Max von Sydow is also headed for Westeros.
Unlike his fellow new arrival, Sydow’s role is not so shrouded in secrecy. We’ll drop a **Spoiler Alert **here in case you don’t want to know, but he’s already at work as the character known for now as the Three-Eyed Raven, last glimpsed at the end of Season Four, and who will mentor Isaac Hempstead Wright’s Bran Stark in the ways of the warg.
With the show diverting further from the books and, as we enter the sixth season, overtaking the narrative from the printed page, we’ll have to wait to learn more about him. The series is expected to return as usual next spring and HBO chiefs revealed last week that we’re looking at eight seasons at least, up from seven as has been talked up before. For more on the show, check out our coverage of its Comic-Con panel.
Von Sydow, who was last seen on the big screen in the likes of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Branded, is part of the cast for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, though his role there is even more under tight security.