News from the Bolton-controlled North
We have confirmation that the Bolton story line will get a decent chunk of next year’s screen time. Charlotte Hope, who plays the character Myranda, has confirmed she will be in four episodes next season, which is a big jump up from the one and two episodes she was in in Seasons 3 and 4 respectively.
We won’t be seeing her right away though. The directors she lists for her episodes include Mark Mylod and Jeremy Podeswa, who we know are directling episodes three through six. The other director she lists is David Nutter, who is doing the crucial final episodes. Thanks to Juego de Tronos for the tip!
A bit of spoilery speculation below.
The Myranda character is one of the show’s addition to the Boltons’ world. Benioff and Weiss didn’t make her from whole cloth, but instead borrowed a minor character for elsewhere in Westeros and repurposed her. A Myranda Royce we meet in the books is someone trying to get Sansa to blow her Alayne Stone cover. Since Sansa has done away with needing such a cover, clearly that’s no longer necessary.
But why re-purpose her to the Bolton family? Besides to give creepy Ramsey a girlfriend? The answer, I think, lies with the lack of Jeyne Poole. We only caught caught an unnamed glimpse of Sansa’s best friend way back in the first episode of Season 1. (So unnamed that it was only confirmed to be Jeyne by the directors in the audio commentary.) Said extra is not listed to come back this season and reprise the role. For those who have read the books, Jeyne’s part expands quite a bit in A Dance with Dragons, intersecting with Ramsey’s plans as a Fake Arya that he marries so as to have a claim to ruling Winterfell. Perhaps that’s the role Royce will be filling in for next season? My only issue is Myranda doesn’t look much like Arya…
Meanwhile, over at MakingGameofThrones, David Hill describes the production’s return to Murlough Bay. The bay has stood in for a couple of different sea side shots before, such as the Iron Islands, and where Davos was shipwrecked post Blackwater Bay. We know the Iron Islands aren’t in next season, and it’s doubtful anyone will be visiting Blackwater, so we’re not sure what this is standing in for this time. It’s interesting though that this is the second ship related post Hill has done in the last couple of weeks. His last post suggested that they were acting aboard the ship (with the advice to extras if they fell out of the boat to stay underwater lest they ruin the take. Now the boat seems to have landed. Could this be the end of the journey Arya started? Or are other traveling by boat plots going to take place this season?
If you have any news or pictures from filming in Ireland, we want to hear from you! Send us a raven.
Spoiler Alert!
Please take care to tag spoilers in your comments by wrapping them with <spoiler></spoiler>. Spoilers in comments are hidden by a gray overlay. To reveal, simply hover or tap on the text!