2. Mance Rayder
Cards on the table, I was thrilled when I heard that Ciaran Hinds had been cast as Mance Rayder. Hinds occupies that halfway house for actors hes a fairly big name in Hollywood but an absolute behemoth in TV circles. He was the star in one of HBOs most famous series he played Julius Caesar in Rome and I was confident he was going to add his stardust to a cast lacking a huge name since Sean Bean lost his head. But after sitting down and watching season three, I was distinctly underwhelmed by him. Not as an actor, as he appeared to be doing a sterling job in the part. Yet he barely lasted a quarter of a season before we never saw him again, and honestly, I felt slightly cheated. Season two had built up the threat of a massive wildling army desperately attempting to breach The Wall to escape the White Walkers with that sort of set-up, I thought he would have had a bigger role. Yet instead, we spent all our time with the vanguard as they discussed their relationships and fell out while Mances attack was put on ice. Obviously, well get to see giants, mammoths and wildlings assault the wall next season and thatll be all sorts of awesome, but I cant help but feel that Mance Ryder represented a bit of a false start this season.