The first publicity photos from season two!

Amazing pictures. Come on April 1st! Many thanks to Winter is Coming for posting these.

Michelle

Brienne is spot on.

*FLAILING*

Brienne looks awesome! Renly’s tent no doubt..

OMG Brienne is perfect!

Brienne looks like a dude~!
FUCKING AWESOME.
That’s one fear to cross off my list..

Steven Swanson:
Melisandre’s not looking so red, more of a “burnt umber”.

Gotta agree that they’ve done a terrible job on the hair colors overall, but Melisandre having red hair would be too “fantasy-ish” for the average tv-audience and maybe repel them. Frankly, I’m not quite sure she will be as “magical” as in the books either.

These are amazing. I’m so glad that I was wrong and Brienne looks as good as she does. I’m loving all the new characters in costume so far.

Damn, everyone is so lovely. Carice in particular is gorgeous. And the men…oh the men!

Brienne, finally! And wow, Maisie really does look like a boy there

Poor Sansa, that scene is going to be so hard to watch

This is so amazing!! I love you HBO! :D
Seriously, the second season looks crazy good. Melisandre is perfect.

wallpapers <3

My god, they all look AMAZING! Especially Brienne, Hodor/Bran, and Balon Greyjoy, PERFECT!

OMG *falls off chair*

Brienne OMFG Brienne…

I absolutely love the Sansa photo. Absolutely stunning.

And oh look. Bran still exists.

EvilPicnic:
Brienne OMFG Brienne…

I think that’s the best photo of the bunch… Simply perfect…

PHOTOS! Wow.
1. Mel looks smoking hot. Stannis looks great although…he could be balder… Kidding, I really don’t mind. As long as I hear some teeth grinding in the show.
2. Christie looks amazing as Brienne. Enough with all of this ‘not ugly enough’ stuff. She looks just like Brienne.
3.I just fell in love with Jon all over again.
4. Same goes for Robb.
5. HODOR! And Bran looks really sweet.
6. Theon…grrr. But Alfie Allen looks very kraken-esque.
7. Wow, Renly got HOT. And are those peaches I see in the fruit bowl behind him?
8. Balon…grr. But again, kraken-esque.
9.I’ve seen some claims that Headey isn’t beautiful enough for Cersei, which is insane. She looks incredible.
10. It is going to be another great year for Dinklage. So excited for the Tyrion/Cersei scenes.
11. Ah Sansa…you’re about to make us fall in love with you despite how annoying you were in S1… Turner is so pretty.
12.Gleeson is one of the best bits of casting for the whole show. He is just so good at making me hate Joff even more. Which I didn’t think possible.
13.I don’t like Dany that much in the books, but Emilia Clarke is winning me over. She’s fantastic.
14. Davos is going to be amazing.
15. Valar Morghulis! I love that girl.
16.The Red Waste don’t look fun.
17.I love Fairley as Cat. Again, seen some bizarre complaints about her looks. She looks perfect for Cat.
Well, that’s me done. Gonna go watch the trailer for the billionth time.

Awesome! Can not WAIT for April!!

Oh, and I love the fact that they seem to be putting people in House colours more. :)

Brienne is spot on for the safe, beautiful HBO version of ASoIaF. It’s a shame they couldn’t have had a genuinely ugly actress play the part, since that is a big part of the character.

Awesome. Jaime’s interest in Brienne will be very believable when he sees her without all that armor on and cleaned up after a bath.

Steven Swanson:
Melisandre’s not looking so red, more of a “burnt umber”.

Well this is outdoors. There was an earlier indoor preview shot of her, where both her clothes and her hair had a much stronger, more vibrant red, because of the warm candle/torch light (or whatever they use to fake that)

Brienne looks awesome! Perfect

And ohmygod Carice is so beautiful what the hell perfect

And how acan anyone say that Lena isn’t beautiful enough, what a vision!

Brad:
Brienne is spot on for the safe, beautiful HBO version of ASoIaF. It’s a shame they couldn’t have had a genuinely ugly actress play the part, since that is a big part of the character.

Hilarious trolling man.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I am really hoping that Tyrion loses the “Hand of the King” badge and gains a chain to mark the other chain.

SWWEEEEEEEEETTTTTT

Fantastic.

Have to agree with others saying Arya looks very boylike. We also see Hotpie, Greenhands and I think Gendry sleeping behind her.

Brienne, what can you say? As GRRM himself said Christie is Brienne.

Balon, not at all as I imagined him (took a moment to work out who he was) but looks good.

Joff looks totally evil on the Iron Throne.

Freaking amazing! The new characters looks so interesting, Stephen Dillane looks like such a badass, Brienne ( a character I’m not yet familiar with, as I’ve just finished the first novel only), as well as Melissandre…cool pics!

Just saw Liam Cunningham the other night while watching “Centurion”… Also happy to report that both Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glenn) and Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd) have starring roles in “The Iron Lady” with Merry Streep!

I must admit that I’m ashamed that after all these years, as I was watching “King Arthur” (Extended Cut), I just realized that Stephen Dillane was in the movie the whole time…gesshhhh…never occurred to me that he was Merlin…kind of unrecognizable with all the make-up and blue woad paint…Also our Ser Alisser Thorne, Owen Teale, is in the movie, the Extended Cut, as Pelagius, Arthur’s mentor in childhood…boy…I really am getting senile…

Oh yeah and the casting in “The Iron Lady” was done by one…Nina Gold…

Ingemar Svensson:
I love that Theon now has the kraken on his chest. Here’s hoping they do the same with many other characters. That was something that was lacking in season 1.

Agreed 100%, and I noticed the same thing. There seems to be a little more heraldry (I hope). Look at Stannis’s chest, he’s got the flaming heart!

Who is that blond man… OH MY GOD BRIENNE! Perfection.

Brienne looks perfect….except two complaints:
1. Her Armor should be blue, no?
2. I thought they found gold armor wouldn’t work well on TV, so they didn’t do it for the Kingsguard, but she has gold armor. Odd.

Deryn,

Presenting her as Yara Greyjoy would spoil the whole Yara/Theon scene. :p

Excellent! Bran gets his basket!

From that shot of Davos, I can totally imagine him giving that distrustful look to Mel as she talks with Stannis.

I didn’t think think Brienne’s hair would be that short, but she looks amazing! I can’t wait to see her in action!

And speaking of hair… it may just be the lighting, but I think Theon has had about 2 or 3 different shades of hair color up until this point. I remember it being slightly lighter (for the most part) in the first season

The Bran pic makes me suspicious: Doesnt´it show the fleeing from Winterfell? Then the Reeds are out, aren´t they? Give me hope!

Woooooowwww!!! Awesomness x infinity!

First remark: Brienne looks PERFECT! I’m already looking forward to season 3 with this!

Other thoughts in no particular order; I LOVED seeing Cersei in perfect Lannister colours, and doesn’t Tyrion’s outfit resemble one of those worn by Tywin in S1?
I think Theon’s Kraken-adorned armour looks fantastic, and I believe the Iron Islands will live up to the Lovecraftian Viking-age feel I get when reading the books!

Arya really looks like a boy, and I think she kind of resembles Bran in that picture. (loved seeing Bran and Hodor, too)

As for Melisandre’s hair; I’m quite certain some of the auburn-ness can be explained by the desaturation; I think it looks redder in the trailer if I remember it correctly.

Nothing much to say but those kick ass!

Flóra Ballabás,

I’m with you, not a fan of the Red Lady so I hope she’ll change my mind. I don’t like Dany in the books but lover her on the show….

Lise Bollum: As for Melisandre’s hair; I’m quite certain some of the auburn-ness can be explained by the desaturation; I think it looks redder in the trailer if I remember it correctly.

She looks like she is wearing an absurd wig in the Shadows trailer. I like her hair here. Please god don’t let them wig her or I shall be forced to resign my top ten fan spot and wallow to purgatori where the GoT unfans live the rest of eternity.

If that’s Lightbringer poking out from Stannis’s belt (which you know it is), I can already tell that the handle looks a bit different than those of other swords we’ve seen in the series so far.

I love how the armor now has the house sigils on them, including Stannis’s firey heart. Can’t wait for a better (color) view of that.

Brienne looks GORGEOUS in a manly way.. perfection! Exactly as I envisioned her and wow look at that outfit! To me, both Brienne and the Hound are quiet towers of strength.

JON.. black is your color… so in love right now..

I can’t get over the details and the colors. This is going to be an amazing season.

Very bland picture of Mel. I hope that’s not the best they could show of her. What a muted dress/shawl. Why is the show team so opposed to the vibrant colors of Martin’s books?

Adding my voice to everyone else, though. Brienne looks fantastic, and I dig that giant squid fireplace like nobody’s business.

Love all of these. But who is the strung out dothraki prostitute in the rags and bleach blonde wig? I’d say she’s a model for a heroin-chic perfume but her center of gravity is way too low for that.

I am not feeling Mel, she just isn’t as attractive of voluptuous as I imagined her. To me Melisandre is a slimmed down version of Christina Hendricks.

Brad,

Royalty agree.

Having recently re-watched John Adams I am more than confident Stephan will make a superb Stannis.

Wow, they nailed it once again! How lucky are we that our series is in such good hands!? I can’t be more excited for April!!!

I mean totaly agree. Brienne looks good and cinematic but in the books she is as ugly as they get.

Balon looks amazing. Blows my expectations.

Who is the character after Dany, before Arya?

Fire is getting stokes!!!

One more for the Brienne love. Perfect.

Jaqen is going to be iconic, I think they’ll try and keep him under wraps until the series starts.

surfKraken:

Who is the character after Dany, before Arya?

That, good ser, is Davos Seaworth.

Okay, seriously: Could anyone in the whole world have played Tyrion besides Peter?

I think not.

Brad: Brienne is spot on for the safe, beautiful HBO version of ASoIaF. It’s a shame they couldn’t have had a genuinely ugly actress play the part, since that is a big part of the character.

In this context she’s ugly enough.

And ugly women don’t make it as actresses, except in “character roles”, and those are generally reserved for older women. Feel free to bitch about our society at your leisure, but don’t blame HBO.

ASFDGILJASLDKFJWOEITULJVALKSDJVHLASBHA:LSFJLAKSJF

WOW!!!!!

Wow, great pics! Brienne looks amazing, just like i imagined her!

Love all the pictures, and all the Brienne praise is warranted.

The only one I don’t like is Balon. Sorry to say, but when I think of Balon, I think of him snapping back at Theon, “Give me!?!?!”. I know he is a minor role, but that scene has to work for everyone to get why Theon has to try so hard to impress.

Can’t wait.

Brienne looks just like she does in the AGOT card game from Fantasy Flight. It’s like that painting come to life.

I would like to emphasize on Cersei’s expression. It’s so very cerseiish.
Wonderful.
I think Lena Heady is going to shine next season and silence all the critics.
I can already see her advising Sansa that Payne is going to cut their heads of in case of a lost battle

Nothing to add about Brienne. I think Melisandre will look redder in the end, this is the well-known grayish preview tint.

Play this while looking at the photos – awesome
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foDgTn2CS-o&feature=related

Wow! And to think I used to say Renly wasn’t hot enough, And Gwendoline was too pretty for Brienne. They both look perfect!

The best pics in top to bottom order:

1) Theon: Allen depicts him spot on in this picture IMO. Back home, facing his family for the first time in years. Proud and arrogant, he’s bound to learn some rather harsh lessons. Hope they kept the humbling (and funny!) Asha/Yara scenes from the book, and hope they do them right. Theon will have quite a journey in season 2, and is very central for the plot!

2) Brienne: Kudos to everyone involved for pulling this off! I really like HBO-Brienne, even though I pictured her differently. And from the few clips I have glimpsed her in, she is really big (tall) in the series. Yay! Go Brienne!

3) Sansa: Although one of my least liked characters in the first couple of books, I can’t help but feel deeply for her in the series! This picture just made my heart reach out for the poor girl.

4) Renly: Looks goood. Looks kingly. Looks very comfy. Love the new Renly, and look at all the stuff and detail in his tent. He might be playing at being a king, but oh he plays it so well!

5) Balon Greyjoy: Hohohooo! Like him a lot! Makes Walder Frey look like Justin Bieber, or something. Badass.

6) Melisandre and Stannis: I am still unsure about Melisandre. I think the actor is great, but I never liked her story arc in the books. Something just … wrong about her. But looks good, a more somber version than in the books. Smart. And for those of you complaining about Stannis not looking kingly or tough enough: We’ll, if you read the books, he never was depicted or described as anything kingly-looking-ish. So I think hes perfect in this picture! :-)

7) Joffrey: The boy-monster we cant help but love hating. Hope Tyrion will smack him some in Season 2 as well.

8) Cersei: The mother of the Monster. Looks a real Predator here! She is also a great player of the Game, hope we will see some of that on screen in season 2. You can also see where Joffrey learned to glare. (Actually, they resemble each other a lot in these pictures!).

9) The Onion Knight: Looks very good. Love the costumes in general in the show, each one have their own distinct feel, like they actually have been worn and lived in by these characters. Actor looks promising also. Go get Melisandre!

10) Bran and Hodor: Creepy looking boy riding big man. Great casting on Bran IMO, even though he is a bit to old (and big) for the role. Bet Hodor will be having a hard time carrying him around in later seasons hehe. Whats with the weird/scary looks in this picture though?

11) Arya: Looks boyish, so that is all and well. Her story is fascinating, hope they pick the right moments from the book in Season 2.

12) Tyrion: Oh, he got himself a hand. Tyrion’s story of doing good and making all the right descisions, although never getting the credit is one of the story points I await eagerly! And I want more of that terrific bro(nn)mance in season 2. And some fantastic moments with Pod! Oh, I cant wait to see a picture of Pod! Give me some Pod!

13) Daenerys 1 and 2: I am certainly not the only guy out there who are in love with the Khaleesi, non? But in these pictures she looks a bit forlorn and worn out. But things will change, Mother of Dragons! Keep that chin up! :-)

14) Catelyn: Catelyn is strong, but this picture just didnt make me feel anything. To dark.

15) Jon Snow: Jon with wind in his hair. Guess we’ll se a lot of that in Season two. The highlight of Season 2 for me will probably be the battle with the Halfhand (so epic!), besides the Blackwater (over the top-epic! Hope they blew half their budget on that :-D).

16) Robb: Why so glum? There must be some better photos of him than this? Anyway. Robb is the coolest of the Kings.

omg, this must be the longest post ever, but I just got so damn inspired by these pictures!!!

maisie really looks like a boy there, that is great

Malahide, the squid behind him and Cunningham looks great. I didn´t want to see Brienne yet and Yes when I saw the picture I went “who´s he?” Now that I saw Brienne I want to see Jaqen (I doubt it) and Simon Armstrong…although he doesn´t need any kind of rags to look like Qorin.

I would make a sign with Bran´s face.

Knurk: What kind of pin

there´s a huge desert, blue mountains, a bright sunlight, a wig, a few rags and blood all over her and you saw that tiny pin? Eyes melting? really? you´re a tough cookie … c´mon!;)

Wow, Brienne looks like she could destroy most men. Perfect.

looking at both pictures I think Stannis´s authority will be strengthened by Davos´s obedience (due to Cunningham´s impressive physical presence). Makes sense?

Great pics! I think it’s time to update the cast page for season 2. ;-)

Is Quorin Halfhand cast for season two?

Re: Mel’s colors

I like the muted red. Here’s why: Mel is the most cliched person in the books (female succubus/sorceress? c’mon). Flaming red is just too showy and carnivalesque for her if we’re to believe she’s a real person and not a Disney villain. This color actually warms her up and humanizes her, with the brown-red looking much more earthy and authentic. She looks like a real “Gaelic priestess” that could live in ancient Ireland. Its much better to have her muted so that it’s a surprise when audiences learn that “it’s all a show,” making it up as she goes along.

“There’s such a dearth of sacking songs.”

Jenny:

I think Lena Heady is going to shine next season and silence all the critics.
I can already see her advising Sansa that Payne is going to cut their heads of in case of a lost battle

Just noticed that HUGE kraken fireplace in Balon’s picture! Awesome!

I want a kraken mantelpiece.

Steel_Wind,

I think your point about Davos and Stannis can actually play rather well. Stannis is not a man you would want to bend the knee, he’s always been described as not commanding the loyalties of men. He’s scary, not inspiring, and Dillane will hopefully pull that side off beautifully.

On the other hand, I think Davos’ constant dilemmas and doubts will downplay Cunningham’s natural authority.

Wonderful to see these pictures! It’s really noticeable how much effort has gone into the props and costumes too. Look at the detail on Tyrion’s top or Renly’s crown!

Speaking of Tyrion, no chain? This has an effect on later scenes.

Davos and Theon stand out to me as particularly good. But there’s something off about the picture of Stannis and Melisandre. Over photoshopped? Too much makeup? They don’t look real, it could be a still from a computer game. I can’t quite identify what it is, but it’s the same ‘not quite real’ effect you get with cgi people. Or maybe it’s me, the rest of the pictures look great though!

In the Arya picture you get some shots of Hot Pie, Lommy and….is that Gendry with a beard!? Anyways they all look great and I can’t wait to see the actors bounce off each other and bring he story to life! Agreed the Sansa scene will be tough to watch but I think when Tyrion comes and saves the day will be extremely epic

Speaking as a person who lives in a place where it gets cold…hasn’t the hat been invented in Westeros? Why do all the men of the Night’s Watch run around in Iceland without anything on their heads?

The costumes are magnificent! Such quality and detail! Absolutely award winning!

Brienne’s fine outfit is a layered masterpiece, beautifully designed and colored. We should appreciate it this season because she’ll be wearing the equivalent of a medieval dumpster by season 4. But whatever she wears, (or not) Gwendoline couldn’t be any more perfect!

Might be an Icelandic sheepskin that Jon is wearing. Appropriate for Beyond-the-Wall Wear.

Can’t figure out what dead animal Robb has around his shoulders. Too small for a wolf. Maybe a badger or a wolverine, but can’t make out the tail of the creature.

I’d wondered where all the beautiful furs in season 1, the ones in the costumes, on the beds, etc, came from. Maybe Canada where animals and trappers abound. Makes sense for a British production. Saw bear and wolf pelts on many of the Northmen and the Night Watch.

The costumes look warm, the actors chests and necks protected against the cold that must seep into their bones in that huge Paint Hall, or standing around waiting and waiting outdoors. Except poor Sansa who must wear breakaway costumes for her storyline. There must be someone waiting in the wings to throw a warm blanket over Sansa between shooting scenes.

And just think!! There are even MORE great thespians wandering around the planet who will fill the waiting shoes of the new players in future Game of Thrones seasons. So far, the casting has been brilliant and the whole production quality is sterling! A visual delight!!

And thanks to you, WIC and buds, for sharing all the great news!! You’ve improved the mood of hundreds of impatient folks.

Awesome Brienne!

But no Jaime – pouts.

It’s lookin’ good all around! And Cersei has a much nicer wig this time around, too. Less straw-like.

OH. MY. SEVEN. HELLS.

Jousting and crying!

Shinyteapot,

Yeah, I didn’t really think about it last year, but does this mean he’s gonna stab her to death?

Hot Pie screamed “Hot Pie!”

Brienne of Tarth!!!!

I really hope they expand her role from what’s in Book II. Would be great if they took the story from Book IV about the soldiers making a wager to sleep with her and moved it to Renly’s camp. Renly could step in and put an end to it. Would be a great way for them to show why she loves him so much.

Look behind Renly that tapestry looks almoust like Bayeux Tapestry. And Greyjoy’s kraken mantelpiece. OMG Awesome, awesome and again awesome, but nobody noticed that Stannis has his new coat of arms on his breastplate is different than that described in the story…

Re: Dany’s pin — I don’t know what it is, but I believe if you look in the first season, you can see it on her and Viserys a lot. (Maybe on Illyrio, too?) Never got a close look at it. Might just be a fashion statement, because it doesn’t look like any kind of symbol.

Anyway, everyone looks awesome and now I have to ramp up my Brienne cosplay for Comic-Con. :)

!!!!!

Thanks for this bounty, HBO. It is glorious.

Faves: 1.Bran/Hodor is an awesome shot. 2. Can someone kindly confirm if I’m seeing BALON between the shots of Renly and Cersei? If so, damn. He looks totally like Balon ought. Love it. 3. Got no complaints about Brienne. Seems to have been good casting after all.

I’m not wild about the Mel shot, but I’m sure that in motion she will be a proper Mel. Ijust don’t get much of an impression from that one.

I think it is about time I read through the books again, also.

Great pictures all around! So exciting!

Mel, Davos, Stannis and Brienne all look absolutely perfect.

Balon looks younger than I pictured him, for some reason. But I’m sure he’ll be great.

I want my Asha, though!

Wow! these pics are to much to handle at one time, its like HBO force feeding you. I almost prefer bite size portions, almost! Where to begin.

1A. Mel, perfection! Carice, thank you for taking the part. I like the fact that she will have a wardrobe, instead of just one outfit. Obviously this is her traveling garb, complete with braid (I likey).
1B. Stannis, not much new here but I love the burning heart on the armor.

2. OMG! Gwen is Brienne, period. I also like the slightly prettier HBO version. She is manly, yet still ever so femine too. Much better than Xena.

3. and 4. For those who need their Jon and Robb fix.

5. Nice shot of Bran finally as we pictured him on Hodor’s back, about time.

6. Meet Theon “Badass” Greyjoy, love this shot and the Kraken sigil.

7. Renly looks more the King than Robert or Stannis from this shot.

8. Balon! cannot wait for his scenes with Theon and Miss Kraken “warrior goddess”.

9. One of the best shots of Lena as Cersei, she is so damn beautiful in Lannister red or nothing at all.

10. “So will I need to clear more space on my mantle for future statues”?

11. Don’t look so sad and worried San, San will come to your rescue, or will he.

12. King J-erk-off himself, the actor we all love to hate, perhaps D&D will extend his storyline farther into their adaption so we can hate him even more than we already do.

13. “Wait! did we make a wrong turn? this doesn’t look like the red waste”.

14. Cannot wait for Ned 2.0, err I mean Davos, “pass the onions”, you can keep the fingers, well most of them, that is.

15. Ary is just so cute, looks like Bran, methinks I will have a crush on her in a couple of years, if not already. Can’t wait to see the woman Arya in 5-6 years.

16. God! Emilia looks hot even when she is starving and filthy (wag the tongue).

17. I have a crush on Michelle, I think I shall propose, older woman be damned, she is so beautiful in a mature way. Hopefully D&D will alter her storyline somewhat, cause I don’t think I could take it.

So cool! All that’s missing is Roose.

Felagund,

Thanks for the clue in. I shoulda known it was Davos! YOWZUM!!

Looking over everything again….I’m just stoked. The art directors on this show do an incredible job.

Have to say it again:

BALON LOOKS BADASS!!!!

Cersei_II: I suppose I can deal with a handsome Brienne. She is certainly striking.

Sarcasm? It looks like someone hit her in the face with a shovel.

cabins:
Marg, Roose, and Gilly next time?

Agreed! So want to see Gilly and/or Craster.

These are great. Ive been running the same 30 or so as screensaver since the summer, so it’ll be nice to add some new ones.

Some questions/thoughts

Who’s that dude polishing the knife with Lommy and Gendry?

Dany needs some sunblock and lip balm.

Could someone please get Joff some wine?

Love the Renly pick, if mostly for the awesome Antler Crown and the bucket o’ peaches in the background.

go-go

Hm… Davos looking more “kingly” than Stannis could also be attributed to the picture composition. Davos is positioned in front of the army, so he basically gets all the spotlight, while Stannis has to share his with Mel.
Also; if you think Stannis doesn’t look kingly… how would you describe Balon? Which I think is good, because by the end of the season we’ll find out that it’s not the looks that make you a king. :D
And besides… Stannis doesn’t need the looks. He has his claim – the throne belongs to him(haven’t you heard? a million times?).

Tywin? Roose? Jaime?

Regarding the color of Mel’s hair: Carice has uploaded a more saturated version of the image to her Twitter: http://yfrog.com/ocu72clj

(still not bright red of course)

“Robert was the true steel. Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong[…]And Renly, that one, he’s copper, bright and shiny[…].” (GRRM: ACOK)

Many notices, that Dillane don’t look kingly or Cunningham looks ‘kinglier’ than Dillane. My first expression was the same. But I think it’s a production trick. Minimal Spoiler: The Stormlords and the rest of the world don’t love Book-Stannis, because he is known for his hard and unyielding sense of justice, and don’t support his claim. Maybe in the show the audience should think that Renly or Robb are ‘better’ Kings than this ‘not-so-kingly-looking-Stannis’, because nobody will tell the audience every 2 minutes “Stannis is soooo evil grim, that’s why I fight for another king.”

Oh and… I like his Picture especially

I think the wigs have improved much for this season, especially Cerseis.

Mel looks cool for me, she has the right evil expression and nice outfit. I like the grey colour of the pictures it give the hole show some darker and more real feel, that maybe the reason why the rainbow guard was dropped, too.

Brienne looks so great, she will look even better in comparison to other knights. And I think she is ugly enough and more important she looks like a knight.

Love Bran, he looks a little bit creepy here. Arya is perfect like always, too.

Wow! Amazing images. Every single one of them. It looks like season 2 will be great.

One thing I’m nervous about, so far everything I see of Robb Stark is him without a Crown, he’s suppose to be wearing an Iron crown with spikes and runes of the first men. He’s king in the North, he needs to have his crown!

Arvin,

I don’t think it’s a hair colour issue itself, looks like a funny filter on the shot because the shadows and sunlight in the background are very muted too – maybe so they can emphasise the redness getting stronger when she’s indoors/near fire where they turn up the reds in the colour balance?

Winter Is Coming,

Seems like episode 4 is going to be a big one.

Episode 4 should definitely be a big one by the looks of it.
I really hope the peach scene is in there.

I fully hadn’t noticed Renly’s Crown in his pic until just now. Looks awesome.

Pepi,

I’m glad they don’t make Stannis look so Kingly, because in the books he always wears plain clothes. And the only jewelry he has is his crown. But I always imagined Davos a little shorter, Liam looks great and all but i think he is kind of tall.

Effing Fantastic!

But still no Ash… er Yara. And no Jaqen. A man is sad.

Ismael Isak,
Judging by this, Dillane is actually 1cm taller than Cunningham… but ye. I agree. The books describe Davos as shorter and more ordinary looking. That being said, both of them are awesome actors and I’m very confidant, that they’ll have no problem with convincing us, who’s a king and who’s an ex smuggler. And I’m very glad, that they didn’t just make another Tywin out of Balon Greyjoy(which i feared initially). Because the Iron Islands are by no means Casterly Rock. The living is tough there. But again… it will come down to acting.
And I’m very confidant that Mel will be awesome aswell. She looks sexy as she should. I get why Stannis doesn’t hesitate to make shadow babies with her. And she looks red… but I wouldn’t say she looks evil(which is good IMO). She does, however, look very misteryous(particulary on this picture), which is, I think, a very important aspect of her.

Steel_Wind,

I think a lot of comments about Stannis here are forgetting what a cowed and manipulated man is underneath his rigid exterior. As they say in the books: “Robert was the true steel. Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong, yes, but brittle, the way iron gets. He’ll break before he bends. And Renly, that one, he’s copper, bright and shiny, pretty to look at but not worth all that much at the end of the day.”

He’s tough and dutifully persistent, but he’s really an ineffectual puppet, for the most part.

Hey, does anyone have a link to that picture of Jack Gleeson flipping the camera off? I want to send it to my brother (who is just now watching Season 1 and hates, hates, hates, Joff already).
:D

Hopkins,

I think the emphasis is on the ‘break’ part. I take it as the appearance of toughness – his incredible willful determination is a front for his own lack of purpose. It’s why Robert sticks him in Dragonstone, why they keep saying ‘nobody has any love for Stannis,’ why he just goes along with the whole R’hllor thing, why Davos has to act as his conscience, etc. I’m not saying he’s being magically manipulated by Melisandre, but just that he’s so wrapped up in overcoming everything that you just need to point him in the direction you want and he’ll go until he’s dead, consequences be damned. It’s kinda why he’s so awesome – I laughed aloud when Roose Bolton said something like ‘Stannis will have turned back – nobody would march through this snow’ because he obviously doesn’t know Stannis like we know Stannis.

Hell yes! This is what I’ve been waiting for.

Brienne looks perfect.

Can’t wait for S2.

Morgan King,

The iron description is meant to say that Stannis only has one way to look at things. Because iron is not flexible it’s easy to break and because Stannis won’t budge from his strict view on what’s right he makes himself weak.

sorry i somehow missed it and scrolled past

Edit–the throne room floor–that’s not blood. That’s a lot of leaf litter/dirt. But why?

Some of these episodes are throwing me…

In my season/book breakdown, I did have the Stannis’ meeting in Storm’s End in Episode 4. I did have Balon popping up in Episode 2.

But I had Arry in the abandoned tower in Episode 2. Pic makes it Ep3
I had Sansa’s Throne Room abuse in Episode 5. Pic makes it Ep4

And the biggest shocker to me, Theon’s still on Pyke on Episode 5?!?

I had a feeling, but this confirms that the rainbow gaurd has been cut. Brienne is not wearing her Blue Armor, which she would have had by EP4.

Chris: One interesting aside. In the Theon picture, Pike doesn’t look like I imagined it, which was all shreiking winds, monstrous swells, pounding surf smashing the rocks, towering cliffs and pinnacle islands connected by precarious bridges that… you never know… SOMEONE MIGHT FALL OFF OF.Okay maybe a bit unrealistic, and actually near impossible to create a functioning society on, let alone a movie. But still. :-)

The other side of the Island where Castle Pyke is is like that. Theon is in Lordsport the small town and only harbour on Pyke.

SerCountryFriedSteak:
Some of these episodes are throwing me…

In my season/book breakdown, I did have the Stannis’ meeting in Storm’s End in Episode 4. I did have Balon popping up in Episode 2.

But I had Arry in the abandoned tower in Episode 2.Pic makes it Ep3
I had Sansa’s Throne Room abuse in Episode 5.Pic makes it Ep4

And the biggest shocker to me, Theon’s still on Pyke on Episode 5?!?

Meta says “Lordsport Harbor”..not Pyke. I’m not familiar with a Lordsport, I think D&D made it up. Since Moat Cailin wasn’t mentioned in S1, I don’t think there will be a Moat Cailin. Lordsport will be a town on the mainland I guess and a substitution.

Edit:–okay, Lordsport is an actual location on the Iron Islands. I imagine the series will still skip Moat Cailin and have Theon head directly to his ultimate objective–so maybe they can slow play his storyline early for a bit.

Season 2 really has me nervous and I fear some really big, major plot altering departures from the source material. Dany’s storyline I’m not worried about–it doesn’t touch upon other storylines nearly as much. But I’m really concerned about the direction the Winterfell storyline is going with no Reeds cast or Reek. And seeing Littlefinger and Caitlyn together in the trailer? Yikes.

and wow they really made Arya look like a boy, impressive

Arvin:
Deryn,

Presenting her as Yara Greyjoy would spoil the whole Yara/Theon scene. :p

I am wondering if that part will be in the show. I am hoping with fingers crossed it will be.

Convivial Edd:
I would totally make shadow babies with Melisandre.

Also, Brienne looks perfect.

Is it bad to say I already did? :-P

Tywin’s Bastard,

Sure – all I’m saying is that his depiction in Season 2 seems to be getting faulted (by some) for him not being totally stern looking, and that his more-confused here look isn’t exactly misplaced. For all his determination, he’s pretty wishy washy until someone actually pushes him in a direction under the auspice of ‘what’s right.’

My prediction of Theon’s story breakdown in Season 2:

Episode 1: leaves Robb’s camp.
Episode 2: arrives at Pyke. Talk with Balon.
Episode 3: no Theon.
Episode 4: meets Asha (this one can change with episode 3, since 4 seems packed).
Episode 5: leaves Pyke.
Episode 6: Moat Cailin.
Episode 7: arrives at Winterfell.
Episode 8: Asha visits Winterfell.
Episode 9: No Theon. Blackwater.
Episode 10: no idea where they’re gonna end his story. Reek arrives?

mikeintexas: so having a “rainbow” guard was more a reflection of his personal tastes in dress than his sexuality, but TV audiences won’t see that way.

UUuuuuhhhhhh, not so sure about that.

Andrew,

I don’t see how Roose can be the one to do that, he’s needed in Harrenhal. Wouldn’t it be fun if they just never told us that they had cast Reek?

I can totally picture Dany muttering “where do whores go?” in those two photographs.

Btw what’s going on here? Season 3 casting thread: bam 400+ comments. First official season 2 photos: bam 250+ comments.
I don’t think we had so many comments 6 months

Hopkins,

Andrew,

Not sure what you’re talking about, we definitely meet Ramsey in ACoK, he is pretending to be Reek. Of course, they could just get rid of the whole “Reek” thing (although that would totally suck balls), and maybe just mention that the Bastard of Bolton has kidnapped and married Lady Hornwood, then have Ramsey show up at the end/attack Rodrik/burn Winterfell like you mentioned. But it certainly won’t be Roose going back to Winterfell. Aside from the time/Moat Cailin issue, how would Tywin ever approach him about the RW?

wow. look at that. they finally took dany out of that stupid grass skirt from season one and put her in some damn pants … much better for a horse tribe queen.

maybe they’ll fix the rest of the artistic trainwreck that was the dothraki for season 2.

Wastrel:
“Sure – all I’m saying is that his depiction in Season 2 seems to be getting faulted (by some) for him not being totally stern looking, and that his more-confused here look isn’t exactly misplaced. For all his determination, he’s pretty wishy washy until someone actually pushes him in a direction under the auspice of ‘what’s right.’”

I really don’t get that impression from the books. Stannis isn’t wishy-washy, Stannis is iron. I don’t think he’s being manipulated, either – he knows fine well what everybody around him is trying to get, and he goes along with whatever will get him what HE needs (the throne). I’ve no doubt he’ll hang Mel in a heartbeat if he thinks it’s expedient.

I agree…give Stannis some credit , he’s knowbody’s fool !!!

Dreamlife: Game of Thrones has repeatedly turned up on Jeopardy, in fact it was referenced as an entire category yesterday.The category was called, “Game of Thrones,” and the questions were about various monarchies throughout history.Also there was a question earlier in the week about what the name of the fictional continent of the seven kingdoms is—Westeros.Pretty exciting.

Sean Connery: I’ll take The Rapists for $500, Alex.

Alex Trebek: That’s Therapists.

Sean Connery: I’ll get you, Trebek!

Langkard: The person or persons at Tribune Media Services who write the text for Time Warner Cable’s online show guide would have failed that second question. In a description of “The Kingsroad” episode repeat on HBO this week, it says that “Ned and his daughters leave Westeros” and head south when, of course it should say that they leave Winterfell.

That mistake was in the Episode synopsis when it first appeared last year.

melisandre looks nothing like how i pictured she was gonna look like! All the characters look great, I was excited before but now…i don’t know what I’m gonna do.
:)

To everyone else following this Theon plotting for Season 2 conversation.
The Balon pic is from Episode 2. The Theon pic is from Ep 5.
I think it’s CRAZY to keep Theon on the Iron Islands for FOUR EPISODES (Ep 2, Ep 3, Ep 4 & Ep 5) because you run out of time for the rest of his story to play out.

Combined with the “no Reek, no Reeds” casting makes me believe that Theon’s full ACOK story won’t be completed in Season 2.

In spoiler text, I’ll lay out my breakdown & my guess for how the season will actually play out.

MY VERSION
Episode 1: Early in episode: Robb & Theon explain their plan to attack Lannisport via Iron Island boats to dubious Cat. Robb & Theon have heartfelt goodbye — aka have to re-instablish their friendship so TV audience can feel the betrayal later
EP 2 - Near beginning of Ep, Theon arrives home, gets baptised by Drowned Priest. Ep ‘cliffhanger/shocking ending is Balon announcing plan to attack North.
EP 3 – Early ep, Theon meets his sister, near ends as Greyjoys plot out war
EP 4 – Theon plunders coastal towns, decides to attack Winterfell.
EP 5 – Theon & crew not seen until end of episode conquering Winterfell
EP 6 - Theon tries to be “just ruler” of Winterfell — fails
EP 7 – Theon gets help from new peon Reek. Ep ends as Bran & co. escape
EP 8 - Theon & Reek search for Bran. Ends with ‘dead’ Bran & Rickon
EP 9 – Because Blackwater takes up most episode, Theon only appears at beginning when his sis shows up to tell him “the jig is up. It’s over.”
EP 10 – We see that Theon has stayed at Winterfell, gets Reeked. Bran & co. leave as season ending cliffhanger (with Knight’s Watch being surrounded on the Fist as true cliffhanger)

Okay, my original breakdown won’t happen. No Reek or Reeds. Here’s my guess as to what will happen:
Same as mine, but Theon won’t appear in Episode 4. In Episode 5, they’ll have Theon decide to go straight from Pyke to seige Winterfell. He will conquer Winterfell at the end of Ep 6. Bran & co. still ‘escape’ in Ep 7. Dead Bran & Rickon show up in Ep 8. Episode 9, his sis tells him “it’s over”. Ep 10 ends with Theon trying to win over the people of Winterfell by going out to capture & kill this new yet-unseen menace of the North called Ramsey Snow. With Theon and most of Iron Men out, Bran & Rickon slip past the few remaining guards to escape.
This would leave the sacking/burning of Winterfell to season 3…. terrible, yet it gives Alfie Allen something to do in Season 3 aka keeps him busy until he’s needed again for Season 5. — kinda like how Jaime & Robb will get busy work this season to keep the actors attached to the series.

STsauga,

Balon Greyjoy.. Theon’s father.

Heck sometimes adaptations cull things that outright annoy you (read: Tom Bombadil).

John,
Sorry, you don’t get to decide who’s a true fan of the book.

Andrew:

the goat, Of course I know Reek is in ACOK. But he hasn’t been cast. So unless they’re playing things very close to the vest — and I very much doubt that — he’s not in this season. I doubt Lady Hornwood’s name will even be mentioned, as Bran’s limited screentime will likely focus on warging instead of Northern politics. Northern politics as a whole will probably be simplified into two characters, Bolton and Karstark. With that in mind it makes sense for Roose to go to Winterfell at Robb’s command to take out Theon, then we’ll see a big shocking betrayal at the end when Roose’s men burn the place. How Tywin will communicate with Roose about the RW is not a problem, he’ll send letters, as he does throughout ASOS.

And how does that fit into the events of Dance, exactly?

So does the picture of Theon in Lordsport Harbor being from episode 5 mean that they will be extending his time on Pyke with his family to at least half the season? Flesh him out a bit so they dont have to do his whole 2nd book story arc in this season and give him something to do in season 3.

I will be quite annoyed if they don’t have the whole Reek/Ramsay thing, I know it will probably come in next season, but Reek is around for ages before then, hunting Bran and Rickon wont be the same without him.

I wonder what are the chances of Theon being killed off for good at the end of this season are?

The Producers have said/implied that a character that still lives in the book will be killed off in Season 2, could this be Theon?

It gets rid of the problem of Theon not being seen for multiple seasons without delaying plotlines (Winterfells burning and the killing of “Bran/Rickon”) that affect other things.

While the Theon chapters in ADWD are great maybe D+D (knowing his ultimate fate) think he can be disposed of early.

Ramsey can then be mentioned in passing (as seizing Winterfell etc) but does not need to appear till any encounter with Stannis.

oh everyone looks so badass! i especially love the pics of brienne, theon, renly, joffery (he looks awesomely evil! jack gleeson’s expressions are great), and arya! can’t wait!!!

The 2 photos of Dany are from episode 203 and the photo of Jon is from episode 210. This comes from HBO press info on the photos. See screen capture detail of the press info below:

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/6179/danyphotosepisode203.jpg
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/6594/jonphotoepisode210.jpg

Hopkins,

Nitpicking? Really? Its the same fucking person.

Do you own horses? Is every single one of them smarter than you, or just most of them?

Andrew: the goat, Of course I know Reek is in ACOK. But he hasn’t been cast.

Sorry, I was replying to Hopkins at that point, I should’ve made my post more clear. Regardless, there is no way Roose can go to Winterfell. Cat only learns of Theon taking WF at Riverrun from Rodrik, who is already riding from Torren’s Square to retake WF. How the hell can Roose get from Harrenhall to WF before Rodrik?

Mormegil,

It rhymes with weak. I get your argument, but WILL NEVER HAPPEN. Sure, its possible they could write around it, but on top of everything else, we’d lose Theon saving Jeyne (“She has forgotten her name.”)

Also, flippin through Clash I found the perfect caption for Arya’s pic:

“A ship now, might have been wiser. No chance of findin men on the way, but still…clever man, he’d go by ship, but me…thirty years I been taking this kingsroad.” He sheathed his dirk. “Go to sleep, boy. Hear me?”

She did try. Yet as she lay under her thin blanket, she could hear the wolves howling…and another sound, fainter, no more than a whisper on the wind, that might have been screams.

Kevin,

Yes, it’s Balon, notice the Kraken on the wall behind him!

Liam Cunningham should have played Stannis right from the start…look at the picture…iron! plus he actually looks somewhat like he could share Robert’s and Renly’s features. Nonetheless, I’ll be interested to see how Dillane pulls it off.

Also, when I read the books I pictured Davos to look a lot more like this image:

http://www.asoiaf.org/galerie/data/media/59/Ser_Davos_Seaworth.jpg

My impression was a humble smuggler with a good heart – not the stern looking, short-haired warrior he looks in HBO’s picture.

Anyway, let’s see what the individual talents of the actors bring to the roles.

I imagined Davos looking a lot like that, but just a little more portly, actually like my dad’s Italian friend – if only I had a pic. Brienne looks really good, but she actually looks pretty badass and kind of attractive in a grizzled, butch way. Like Ripley after being dragged backwards through a hedge by several queen aliens. In the book, I imagined her being a lot more gangly and awkward looking, almost nerdy in the way she’s so incredibly uncomfortable in her own skin. Here she looks quite charismatic and self-assured, if a little worse for wear.

There are a few other nitpicks, like Mellisandre’s overbite looks a bit… well, not how I imagined her, anyway. But it’s nothing to worry about at all. The only more solid complaint I have is that Stannis kind of looks too nice, too mild. More reticent than frighteningly stoic. He looks like a dad or a postman. However, if I hadn’t seen the first series before reading the first book, I’d have a load more complaints, e.g. Tyrion being handsome, Catelyn being too old and unattractive (sorry, she’s a fantastic actress but visually almost looks more like those children’s grandmother than their mother), Sansa being more average than stunningly pretty, most of the younger characters being too old. I think the only season 1 character I’d have been like “YES, this is him/her from my very imagination!” would have been Joffrey, Jamie, Varys, Littlefinger, Ned and the maesters.

awesome!
these costumes are amazing, too /o/