Game of Thrones: Everything We Know About the Season 6 Cast 

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From left: by Ian Gavan/Getty Images; courtesy of HBO; by Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images

Get a jump-start on keeping track of all the white bearded guys on

may not have released an official casting reel for Season 6, but thanks to rumors, set sightings, and a slow trickle of casting announcements, we finally have a pretty good sense of the new faces joining the gang in Westeros this year. Below is a map to help you get to know the ladies and gentlemen of

Most of what you’ll find in this post is a (hopefully) organized rundown of all the Season 6 casting information that’s out there. But as far as

casting info goes, this latest report on the Season 6 Tower of Joy flashback is hot off the presses. We know from the books that this will be a showdown between a youngish Ned Stark and some other players. Deadline reports that young actor Robert Aramayo has been cast and given his resemblance (see him here!) to the dearly departed Jojen Reed, some

fans believe he’ll be playing Howland Reed—Ned Stark’s old friend and father to Jojen and Meera.

This theory is backed up by the fact that Aramayo has been spotted training with Luke Roberts (pictured above in the CW series

)—believed to be playing legendary fighter Arthur Dayne—and Eddie Eyre who will be playing the show-created role of Ser Alfred Hunrith. Eyre is filming at the Tower of Joy location in Spain at the moment so we suspect his training buddies (as well as some mystery women and Isaac Hempstead Wright a.k.a. Bran!) are on location with him. In the books, Reed, Dayne, and Ned were all at the Tower of Joy but no word yet on who is playing the twentysomething version of the Stark patriarch.

While we may not know who is playing the twentysomething Ned Stark who visits the Tower of Joy (please say Sean Bean in nine inches of makeup!), we do know that Sebastian Croft (pictured above) has been cast as the even younger version of Ned. We also know that actor Fergus Leathem has been cast and

will be playing a young Robert Baratheon. (He certainly looks like he could pass for a young Mark Addy.) There’s also Sam Coleman who looks like a perfect fit for young Hodor. (Rumor has it we get his backstory.) The flashbacks are all rumored to be part of Bran’s increasing psychic training and that’s why, presumably, Hempstead Wright was spotted at the Tower of Joy location.

Helping Bran with that training will be Max von Sydow who has replaced Struan Rodger as Bran’s supernatural mentor, the Three-Eyed Raven. It’s unclear exactly how large of a role he’s playing, but the Raven must be pretty significant this season for HBO to go after an actor of von Sydow’s caliber. The other big name joining the cast is

actor Ian McShane. Sadly, no information has yet to leak about which role he’s playing, though with most of the other parts snapped up, the smart money is on the show version of a book character named Septon Meribald described in the casting call as “a man in his 40s or 50s. A gruff ex-soldier who found religion. Now a no-nonsense rural priest who ministers to the poor of the countryside. He’s salt-of-the-earth man who has weathered many battles.” Sounds like McShane to me.

If McShane is Meribald, he will be interacting with an outlaw band menacing the countryside in Season 6 just as the Septon does in

. The casting call described the show version of the outlaws as “a group of renegades who have turned on the land that they swore to protect. They’re now extorting the poor and vulnerable.” HBO has cast stage actor Ricky Champ as an outlaw named Flynn. To get a sense of the trouble these guys might cause, take a look at Flynn’s not-too-cuddly headshot. Champ will likely also be joined by Icelandic actor Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson.

Many McShane fans had hoped he would play Euron Greyjoy, but that role has been snapped up by

actor Pilou Asbæk. The photo of him above on the left is quite recent so we can go ahead and envision that luxurious facial hair adorning Theon’s rakish uncle. Asbæk spoke recently about trying to keep his role under wraps but that “people can figure everything out. The only reason that it came out is because I was spotted on location in Ireland . . . We’re talking a telephoto lens that captures a scene where people stand and shout ‘Euron, Euron!’” Asbæk will be competing with returning

character Yara Greyjoy to take over control on the Iron Islands in the Book 4 plot referred to as the Kingsmoot. But unconfirmed rumors indicate that Euron has a far bigger role to play in the war for Westeros.

But it’s not just Theon who will be adding family members to the cast this year. Samwell Tarly was last seen hightailing it down south and will meet up with his father Randyll Tarly (

Freddie Stroma), his mother Melessa (Samantha Spiro), and sister Talla (Rebecca Benson). Sam is likely to bump up against his golden-child brother who is described as “athletic, a good hunter, an excellent swordsman, manly, not particularly bright but the favourite child of the father.” There were some hints in previous seasons about the abuse Samwell sustained at the hands of his uncompromising father. Maybe with all his experience up North, though, Sam will finally be able to take a stand.

We know that Arya will meet up with a theatrical troupe in Braavos led by Richard E. Grant and Essie Davis. The players are putting on a version of the previous events at King’s landing with Grant playing a version of Robert Baratheon and Davis playing a version of Cersei Lannister.

The troupe has several other players including Kevin Eldon as the play’s version of Ned Stark, Eline Powell as their Sansa, Eva Butterly as their Margaery, and Leigh Gill as their Tyrion. Between the flashbacks and this theater plot, the specter of Ned Stark is set to loom large in Season 6.

Ned’s legacy will also come into play for the rumored big Northern plot that involves a big rebellion against the Boltons from the houses that remain loyal to the Starks. Robert Render—who played an unnamed Northern bannerman in Season 1, Episode 2 of the series—is slated to return in a possibly expanded role. But the truth is we don’t know much yet about who will be playing the leaders of the Northern houses. The Season 6 casting sheet called for several juicy Northern roles, but no big actors have been linked to these parts yet. As for Team Bolton, well, actor Andrew Bryan will be playing one of their officers and rumor has it he and actor Tristan Heanue are in for a nasty encounter with Brienne and Pod.

Over in Essos, Daenerys will once again be hanging out with the Dothraki. The Season 6 casting called for several warriors, so eyes will be peeled for anyone who looks to match the majesty of Jason Momoa’s Khal Drogo. The HBO series has, however, cast actress Souad Faress in a role some fans are guessing ties into the dosh khaleen aspect of Dothraki society. The dosh khaleen are a powerful female ruling group within the Dothraki social hierarchy who preside over the holy city of Vaes Dothrak. They are made up of the widows of dead khals and act as seers for the horse-based society. Each member of the dosh khaleen was once a khaleesi. Hmmmm, do we have any former khaleesis kicking around the place?

With all the new faces to keep track of (and don’t worry, a lot of those roles are minor), there will be some familiar faces to fall back on. David Bradley (Walder Frey), Kristian Nairn (Hodor), Art Parkinson (Rickon), Natalia Tena (Osha), and Gemma Whelan (Yara) will all be back after taking off at least one season. There may be a few more familiar faces returning as well. As for Joe Dempsie a.k.a. Arya’s lost friend Gendry, well, we can keep dreaming, can’t we?

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