'Game Of Thrones' Season 3 Gallery Revisits Familiar Faces And Highlights New Characters

The third season premiere of Game of Thrones is still two months away, but HBO is making sure fans have plenty of time to get acquainted with the show's new characters. The network has just revealed over twenty stills from the new season, showcasing the faces we'll be following for throughout the next ten episodes.

That includes characters we've been tracking since Season One, like the Starks and Lannisters, but also a slew of new figures including Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg), Jojen and Meera Reed (Thomas Brodie Sangster and Ellie Kendrick), Mance Rayder (Ciaran Hinds), Beric Dondadarrion (Richard Dormer), Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully (Clive Russell), and Thoros of Myr (Paul Kaye). If those names don't mean anything to you, don't worry — they will soon. Hit the jump to see the photos.

[via The Playlist]

The third season picks up not too long after the second left off, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that most of the returning characters look about the same. What's more exciting, then, is getting a peek at all the new characters. Here's a quick rundown of who we're looking at above:

  • Beric Dondadarrion: leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners
  • Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully: uncle of Catelyn Stark
  • Mance Rayder: the King Beyond the Wall
  • Jojen and Meera Reed: children of Stark bannerman Howland Reed
  • Olenna Tyrell: grandmother of Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer)
  • Thoros of Myr: a member of the Brotherhood Without Banners
  • And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Click here to read about some of the other new characters who aren't shown here.

    The new season will be based on the third volume of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Storm of Swords. Here's a synopsis of the book, though be warned that it contains major spoilers for Seasons / Books 1 and 2, and a few smaller ones for Season / Book 3:

    Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King's Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. . . .

    But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others–a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords. . .

    Game of Thrones Season 3 premieres March 31.