While there still isn’t much we know about Season 6 of Game of Thrones, the return of several characters has already been confirmed. After sitting out all of Season 5, Isaac Hempstead-Wright is back as Bran Stark, with other characters such as Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan) set to return after lengthy hiatuses. Today we have word that a character fans haven’t seen for many seasons is coming back, while series star Liam Cunningham revealed in an interview with IGN that a character from George R.R. Martin’s books will debut in Game of Thrones Season 6. There will be potential SPOILERS below, so read on at your own risk.
Earlier this month, the new Game of Thrones trailer showed Liam Cunningham’s Davos Seaworth issuing a stern warning to an unseen character that the “dead are coming.” Davos reveals that the real war in Westeros this season will be between the living and the dead, which makes the other conflicts brewing in this violent land pale in comparison. Liam Cunningham revealed in this new interview exactly who he’s talking to, Lyanna Mormont.
“Who I’m saying that to is a fabulous young actress who you haven’t met yet, who’s about to come in, who’s Lyanna Mormont. He’s explaining the situation to her because certain other individuals are making a mess of their parlay. He’s very good at lateral thinking and explaining the situation, as we know. The Night’s King is coming. You ain’t gonna kill him with a bow and arrow. We need to do something, rapidly, but they’ve all got their heads up their asses with their own little squabbles.”
In the novels by George R.R. Martin, Lyanna Mormont is the cousin of Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) and the niece of the deceased Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo), former Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. She was mentioned by name in the Season 5 episode The House of Black and White, when Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) tells Jon Snow that he asked her to pledge allegiance to his army, but she responded by saying that she supports the King of the North. She is known as The Lady of Bear Island, who is the head of House Mormont at just 10 years of age. Unfortunately, we don’t know who is playing this character quite yet.
In related news, the talent agency for actor Paul Kaye, who played Thoros of Myr in Season 3, will return to the show this season, although it isn’t clear how many episodes he will appear in. We last saw Thoros of Myr, one of the Red Priests, in the Riverlands of Westeros with the Brotherhood Without Banners, so it’s possible that the show could head into the Riverlands once again, but we don’t know for certain. It’s worth noting that Thoros also has a place on Arya Stark‘s (Maisie Williams) death list, so it’s possible that they could cross paths at some point this season, although Arya wouldn’t be able to see him since she was blinded by Jaquen H’gar (Tom Wlaschiha) in the Season 5 finale. What do you think about these new details?