3 News Faces to Watch on Game of Thrones Season 7

If you’re anything like us at AleHorn, you’ve been counting down the weeks, nay, the days, nay, the SECONDS until Game of Thrones is back on the air. Season Lucky Number 7 is shaping up to be BIG and our bodies couldn’t be more ready.

1. Jim Broadbent

Actor Jim Broadbent of the Harry Potter series, among a bajillion other films and shows

If you have seen Jim Broadbent in ANYTHING, you are probably dying to see him in Game of Thrones. It’s simple math. Anything + Jim Broadbent = amazing. This Academy Award-winning actor has been in everything from The Crying Game, to Moulin Rouge, to the Harry Potter series, to The Iron Lady. He can do wise, older man just as well as he can do crazy fuck.

Which is probably why we’re so looking forward to seeing him as the mysterious Maester Marwyn. Nicknamed Marwyn the Mage, he’s mentioned little up until he shows up, but whenever he is, it’s confusing and exciting. Here’s a list of the rumors we hear about Marywn the Mage throughout the series:
– He taught anatomy to the witch that killed Khal Drogo (Mirri Maz Duur)
– He hangs out with whores and hedge wizards, and all the other untouchables in Oldtown society
– He can speak, like, a thousand languages
– He makes sacrifices to strange gods?? (and we don’t know what those sacrifices or WHO those gods are)
– He has been to Asshai (the place everyone craps their pants about) and can confirm there are no living animals there)
– Qyburn, that creepy asshole who reanimated the Mountain that Rides, thinks he’s cool.
– He knows a lot about how to kill dragons

What does that mean for us? Samwell Tarly will be in for a treat when he meets Jim Broadbent this season.

2. Tom Hopper

Tom Hopper as Sir Percival in Merlin

Speaking of Sam, the role of his brother, Dickon, has been recast (the previous actor had other commitments). Which is good for him (because he’s getting work!) but even better for us because it means we get more Tom Hopper in our lives.

Tom is one of those faces you see all over the place, when you like medieval period dramas and British television. To the delight of fangirls everywhere, he played Sir Percival in the BBC’s Merlin and Jeff in Doctor Who. But the biggest role he’s known for, to date, is Billy Bones in Black Sails. The role is relatively small for someone of his chops, but maybe this means we’ll be seeing quite a bit more of Dickon. Who knows?

3. Some real cameos (and a fake one)

Ed Sheeran, the twee British rocker you’ve been hearing on the radio all summer, is confirmed to have a cameo in Season 7. Sheeran is reportedly good friends with Maise Williams (Arya), and will apparently share the screen with her.

Ed Sheeran was invited to guest star as a surprise for Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), who is a huge Sheeran fan.

Bastille, the band you heard on the radio all last summer, will also apparently be making an appearance. They join the ranks of other bands that have appeared on the show, including Of Monsters and Men, Mastadon, Sigur Ros, Snow Patrol, and Coldplay’s drummer, Will Champion.

Conor McGregor, however, will not be. There were rumors, yes, but it turns out they were unfounded. Said McGregor in a recent interview:

I don’t know where that came from, but I have never been in contact with nobody from Game of Thrones, about starring in Game of f—king Thrones! That’s that! Don’t believe everything you hear.

Sorry, UFC fans. Better luck in Season Eight.