Game of Thrones, the HBO fantasy drama based on George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, returns to our screens for its fifth season this weekend. Having now been on the air for four years, the show has built up a vocal and passionate fanbase that has grown with each successive season. The recent third and fourth seasons were based on A Storm Of Swords, the third, longest and most critically acclaimed of the five novels that Martin has written in a nineteen year period thus far. The upcoming fifth will be based on A Feast For Crows, the fourth entry in the series (published in 2005), which focused on events in King's Landing, the Iron Islands, the Vale of Arryn and Dorne, as well as the beginning of A Dance With Dragons, the fifth and most recent (published in 2011), which focused on the areas omitted from its predecessor (such as the North, the Wall and the continent of Essos) before once again incorporating characters from other areas towards its end. As a result of this, a plethora of new characters, including the likes of Prince Doran Martell of Dorne, his son Trystane and the bastard daughters of his late brother Oberyn, will be introduced to viewers. Almost all of the casting announcements for said characters were made last summer, but several key characters from the novels were conspicuous by their absence. As the months have passed, no additional information has been revealed about their presence in the upcoming season, leading to fears that they have been cut from the show. Game of Thrones has been a reasonably faithful adaptation of its source material so far. Despite obviously-needed cuts from a novel cast of 1600, the most notable absentees thus far have only been secondary supporting characters such as Vargo Hoat (Sadly we'll never hear his infamous line of 'Sapphireth' on screen) or Strong Belwas, as all of the book's major storylines have been worked into the narrative, with a number of extras, some excellent (Tywin and Arya) and some atrocious (Talisa), added for effect. The loss of the individuals detailed on the following five pages would be a radical departure from this formula, given their importance. Book spoilers will follow.
