We’ve got two cool pieces of news for Game of Thrones fans today thanks to a comprehensive update from /Film. The first is that the Season 2 finale, “Valar Morghulis,” will run 64 minutes when it airs this Sunday evening, June 3rd. Given that Game of Thrones episodes usually run in the 54-minute range, that means the episode has been allotted an extra ten minutes.
That’s good to hear. As I noted in my review of last week’s episode, “Blackwater,” the show has a ton of plot threads to wrap up – or at least reach a satisfying pause point – in the finale, and while an extra ten minutes doesn’t completely alleviate my concerns, it does raise my confidence in the creative team’s ability to pull this off.
After those extra ten minutes, though, fans will have to wait ten whole months for Season 3. Prior to today, all we knew so far was that the season would adapt the first half of the third book in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, A Storm of Swords. Now, though, we also have a neat little guide to which characters we’ll be meeting when the show returns (courtesy Entertainment Weekly):
– Mance Rayder: We’ve heard about him all season. A former member of the Night’s Watch who became the “King Beyond the Wall,” the leader of the Wildlings.
– Daario Naharis: A confident and seductive warrior.
– Jojen Reed; Meera Reed: A teenage brother and sister duo with special insights.
– Edmure Tully: A brash young member of the Tully family.
– Ser Brynden Tully (The Blackfish): Catelyn Stark’s uncle.
– Lady Selyse Florent: Stannis Baratheon’s wife.
– Shireen: Stannis’ daughter.
– Olenna Redwyne (The Queen of Thorns): Margaery Tyrell’s sharp-witted grandmother.
– Beric Dondarrion: A skilled knight who is the leader of the outlaw group Brotherhood Without Banners.
– Thoros of Myr: A red priest who follows the same religion as Melisandre.
– Tormund Giantsbane: A Wildling raider.
Neat stuff. And if that’s not enough characters for you, don’t worry. Showrunner David Benioff assured EW there will be “…a few others…holy hell that’s a lot of new faces.” Indeed. But what would Game of Thrones be without its incomprehensibly large cast?
No casting news on those characters just yet, but for fans of the books, I’m sure the list will pique your curiosity. Personally, I’ve been holding off on the novels to experience the show as an ongoing TV series, and I’m just excited to see how all these new faces will be integrated with the already monumental cast.
Game of Thrones Season 3 begins Spring 2013.