STACK #124 Feb 2016

future. To have an ambition and a goal at this stage is amazing. I can’t ask for anything else, I’m so grateful. What I can take away is that I’ve been given the chance to do what I love. I’ve got my foot in the door and I’m not going to back down on doing what I love. If Arya was living in today’s world, what would she be like? I’m going to put it in ‘mean girl’ terms. So, you know there’s always that girl who looks perfect and has perfect hair, and make-up stays on all day and wears a perfect handbag and has her nails done and they would never chip? Arya would not be that girl. She’d be the polar opposite and love it. She would be the ruler of the underdogs. She wouldn’t be popular and people would hate her but she wouldn’t care. That’s what I like about her, she wouldn’t care. Do you think Arya will ultimately get her revenge? Hell yeah! She’s realising

• Game of Thrones:

very quickly that just because you’re a good person doesn’t mean you’re going to survive. She’s proud of the actions that she takes.

The Complete Fourth Season is out Feb 18

A SNAKE IN THE SAND New Zealand star joins Game Of Thrones

“I am soooo excited to be on the show, I can hardly contain myself,” says Kiwi star Keisha Castle-Hughes about joining the cast of Game of Thrones, the fifth season of which will begin screening on Foxtel from April 13. She plays Obara Sand, who is the oldest of the bastard daughters of Oberyn Martell (aka the Red Viper), one of the major new characters introduced in Season Four. In George R.R. Martin’s books, Obara is the fiercest and most warrior-like of the siblings known as the Sand Snakes, a number of whom will be introduced in the fifth season. As usual, HBO is keeping tight-lipped as to which storylines will emerge in the new season, although the land of Dorne and its ruling family, House Martell, are expected to feature prominently this year. However, from now it’s going to be harder than ever to predict which direction the show will take, as the new series will draw on the last two books

to be published, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons . Unlike previous volumes, the action in these two books occur concurrently in the same time frame, but focus mainly on two different sets of characters. Further complicating matters is that a number of storylines are rapidly coming to their end; for example, HBO has already confirmed that Bran Stark will not be appearing in the fifth season as his current published story arc from the books is now largely complete. A publication date has not yet been announced for the sixth volume in the series, The Winds of Winter . It is unlikely to be delivered this year, and some believe it may not turn up until 2017. However, Martin has stated he won’t be writing any Season Five episodes so as to focus on completing the novel. And with the epic Song of Ice and Fire saga not due to be wrapped up until the seventh volume (provisionally titled A Dream of Spring ), sooner or later the TV series may have to go it alone.

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