Weddings are so much more than joyous celebrations of love in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” In some cases, such as last season’s bloody Red Wedding, they’re an easy way to slay all of your enemies at once under the guise of peace. In others, such as the quickie wedding between Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) and Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), they are opportunities to take power and position for yourself before your enemies can claim it.
And in still others, they’re a way to seal the deal between two kingdoms, as in this season’s pending wedding between King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) and Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer).
To say no wedding on “Game of Thrones” proceeds directly to the honeymoon is a vast understatement.
Still, the beginning of “Game of Thrones”’ fourth season finds everyone in King’s Landing prepping for the coming festivities, with guests arriving in from all over the fictional continent of Westeros’ Seven Kingdoms.
Meanwhile, the battle of the five kings for dominance over his or her realm has settled down, but everyone — except possibly the sadistic but not-very-bright Joffrey — knows this is just a respite.
Season 4 also introduces a few new characters to the show’s already enormous cast. Perhaps the most charismatic of these is Prince Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), otherwise known as the Red Viper. He’s arrived in King’s Landing ostensibly to attend the royal wedding, but he has another agenda.
Although he seems to spend most of his time in bed — and little of it sleeping — Oberyn seeks vengeance for the deaths of his sister, niece and nephew, all of whom were killed by Lannister liege lord and vicious warrior Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson in Season 4, although this role has been played by two other actors) on the behest of Lannister patriarch, Tywin (Charles Dance).
Joining Oberyn is his beautiful paramour, Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma), although monogamy is not a familiar concept for this pair.
Also joining the cast is Michiel Huisman, who will play Daario Naharis, a swashbuckling hero with a mermaid sword who has pledged his allegiance to Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), the Mother of Dragons. Dany — one of the show’s showier roles — is currently in the Southern city of Yunkai, raising an army and wondering how she’s going to contain her three dragons, who are growing ever bigger, fiercer and more destructive.
“When Daario meets Dany, she’s unlike any leader he’s ever fought for in terms of her compassion, heart and really caring for people,” says Huisman, a 32-year-old Dutch actor. “That’s something that touches him deeply and it’s a side of humanity he hasn’t seen before. She’s a true leader and she’s the most beautiful woman he’s ever met.”
Daario is given to extravagant acts of heroism, having entered the back gate of Yunkai at the end of Season 3 to take the city with two fellow Daenerys loyalists: her closest advisor, Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), and the leader of her army, Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson). To prepare for the very physical role, Huisman spent a lot of time in the gym.
“There’s a very cool moment this season when Daario really gets to show what he’s worth,” says Huisman. “I worked out like crazy to get closer to the physicality we thought was required to play a character like him.”
Huisman has been quite busy as of late, appearing on HBO’s “Treme,” ABC’s “Nashville” and now BBC’s “Orphan Black,” as well as on “Game of Thrones.” Huisman is taking over the part previously played by Ed Skrein, who’s been cast as the lead in “Transporter 4.”
While “Game of Thrones” gets off to a relatively sedate start this year, things pick up rather quickly, and by the end of Episode 2, everything is again plunged into chaos.
That’s all right by Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish (Aidan Gillen), who goes unseen in this season’s first two episodes, but whose presence will soon be strongly felt.
“He always has five plans going,” says Gillen, an Irish actor fans may recognize from HBO’s “The Wire,” where he played Mayor Tommy Carcetti. “He has backups to backups to backups because he knows well that things don’t always turn out according to plan. Chaos is something he relishes.”
Although often working behind the scenes and off-camera, Littlefinger is perhaps the most Machiavellian character in a world full of such people.
“He’s driven by rejection, humiliation, and desire to never be humiliated again,” says Gillen, 45. “He always wants to be close to ultimate power, but he thinks it would probably be dull to be the one actually holding that power.”
Who that will ultimately be is still very much an unanswered question, and will remain so until the series wraps at some undetermined date. In the meantime, “Game of Thrones” is meant to be enjoyed as TV’s biggest drama, with a huge cast, sprawling landscapes and vast battle scenes.
“At a very basic level, ‘Game of Thrones’ includes universal themes that people around the world relate to,” says Gillen. “It’s an epic story about power, love, war and revenge. The production values are high and the story lines are surprising. People have gotten very emotionally tied up in it.”
Where we left off: Who survived the Red Wedding
Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke)
The Queen of Dragons has just conquered the Southern city of Yunkai and freed its slaves, who raised her on their shoulders and called her “Mhysa,” or mother, in the Yunkai language. Now, she’s gathering resources while deciding her next move.
Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage)
Life is always rough for The Imp, who gets no credit from his family, even though it was his quick thinking that saved King’s Landing. He’s been forced to marry Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) — even though he loves the prostitute Shae (Sibel Kekilli) — and he’s trying to do honorably by her.
Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey)
While war rages all around, the Queen Regent concerns herself with petty things: her possible marriage to Loras Tyrell (Finn Jones); keeping her son Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) in power; and maintaining her power after Joffrey’s marriage. Meanwhile, her twin brother and lover, Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), has returned to King’s Landing, but Cersei has moved on.
Jamie Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau)
After being captured by Robb Stark (Richard Madden) during a battle with the North, Jaime has escaped and made his way back to King’s Landing with help from unlikely ally, Brienne (Gwendoline Christie), but only after losing his hand in the process. Unfortunately, his return isn’t greeted with as much joy as he hoped, and especially not from his sister, Cersei.
Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson)
With King’s Landing now secure, the sadistic Joffrey, who unfortunately happens to be sitting on the Iron Throne as the son of the late king, Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), can fully exert his merciless will. He’s preparing to marry Margaery Tyrell to secure an alliance with powerful House Tyrell.
Jon Snow (Kit Harington)
Snow, raised as the bastard son of the late Ned Stark (Sean Bean), finally escaped his Wildling captors and made his way back to Castle Black. He didn’t get away clean though: His Wildling lover Ygritte (Rose Leslie) shot him full of arrows. Even having sustained those injuries, his time spent beyond the Wall makes it hard for his brothers in black to trust him.
Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner)
Since her arrival at King’s Landing, poor Sansa has seen her father, Ned, get executed and her mother, Catelyn (Michelle Fairley) and brother, Robb (Richard Madden), the King in the North, slaughtered during the Red Wedding. Forced to marry Tyrion Lannister instead of Loras Tyrell, which would have been much her preference, the gorgeous Sansa is miserably biding her time.
Arya Stark (Maisie Williams)
Arya has been on the run since her father was executed. She narrowly missed being slaughtered herself at the Red Wedding but escaped with the help of her unwanted travel companion, Sandor “The Hound” Clegane (Rory McCann).
Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright)
After being paralyzed at the hands of Jamie Lannister, Bran and his younger brother Rickon fled their home at Winterfell. Bran — with the help of three Wildling women — is looking for the “three-eyed raven,” someone who can supposedly help him best learn about his supernatural gifts, which include “green-seeing” (or prophecy), and being able to warg into his direwolf, Summer.
Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish (Aidan Gillen)
Littlefinger is most dangerous when no one knows where he is or what he’s doing. Littlefinger, Robert Baratheon’s Master of Coin and now Lord of Harrenhal, has departed King’s Landing to woo the powerful widow Lysa Arryn (Kate Dickie) and expand his growing holdings. Have no fear, though: Littlefinger’s still very much got his hands on what’s happening at King’s Landing.
Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane)
Having been defeated at the Battle of the Blackwater by the Lannisters, would-be King Stannis is on his way to the Wall, where he’s been convinced the real war for Westeros will be waged.
Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen)
Nothing has gone well for Ned Stark’s ward since he tried to take the Northern castle of Winterfell for himself. Captured by the sadistic Ramsay Snow (Iwan Rhea), bastard son of neighboring lord, Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton), Greyjoy has been tortured into total submission. Meanwhile, Bolton’s making his own plays for power.