The Game of Thrones production is currently hard at work shooting material in Almería, parts of which look to be standing in for everything from Meereen to the Dothraki Sea to…other areas, if this photo taken in the area is any indication.
That would be Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand), Rosabell Laurenti Sellers (Tyene Sand), Alexander Siddig (Doran Martell), and DeObia Oparei (Areo Hotah), plus a fan and a mystery guest, enjoying a meal together. There’s a similar photo here that names Almería as the location.
We’ve basically known that the Dornish characters would be returning for Season 6 for a while now. Oparei and Sellers both confirmed their returns, and if they were coming back, it wasn’t hard to make educated guesses about Siddig and Varma, no to mention Keisha Castle-Hughes (Obara Sand) and Jessica Henwick (Nymeria Sand). Still, seeing most of them together in a known filming area would seem to clinch things: we’re not sure how big their role will be, but the Dornish will return.
Now, let’s talk about that mystery guest. The eagle-eyed folks at Watchers on the Wall have identified him as George Georgio, the Yunkish gentleman who tried to bribe Daenerys to pass his city on by in Season 3’s “The Bear and the Maiden Fair.” (The character’s name is Razdal mo Eraz, per Georgio’s IMDb page.)
Remember this jackass? He’s coming back.
Per Georgio’s CV, he’s being directed by Daniel Sackheim & Miguel Sapochnik, which means that he’ll appear in episodes 3 and/or 4, as well as in episodes 9 and/or 10. If a high-ranking Yunkish official is involved in Season 6, it seems likely that the show will be adapting the storyline from A Dance with Dragons in which the Yunkish army besieges Meereen in the hope of toppling Daenerys’ anti-slavery regime. This would fit with the reports of famine and disease in Meereen—it looks like the citizens are going to be hurting during the siege. Tyrion and Varys will have their hands full.
One of those suffering citizens may be played by Sabina Arthur, who will reportedly be playing a starving mother who runs into Tyrion and/or Varys while the two take a tour of the streets in the first or second episode. Like I said, they’ll have their hands full.
Next: Jack Gleeson on the unique challenges of playing Joffrey Baratheon