Game of Thrones Season 5: What characters are missing from the premiere?

The Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere was shown to a select few in the Tower of London yesterday. As you might expect, the reviews from the bloggers in attendance, including writers from Forbes and The Telegraph, have rolled in and left quite an impression.

Among the things those reviews made clear was that not all of the core cast appear in the premiere episode. Now, thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we know the names of those who will be sitting the episode out.

See who that is, after the jump.

According to EW, while characters like Tyrion, Varys, Jon Snow, Stannis, Melisandre, Brienne, Sansa, Dany, and Cersei all made their Season 5 debuts, everyone’s favorite soon-to-be-assassin-in-training, Arya Stark, was nowhere to be seen.

“But at least one fan favorite is absent—there’s no Arya (Maisie Williams)…Also, Theon/Reek (Alfie Allen) doesn’t show up quite yet either. And though we’re traveling to the kingdom of Dorne for the first time this season, don’t expect to get there the first week.”

While I expected Arya to make an appearance in the Season 5 premiere, her exclusion doesn’t necessarily surprise me. It’s worth noting that Maisie Williams was not present at the Tower of London premiere, although I doubt her absence from the episode was the reason.

Theon/Reek not showing up in Episode 1 is also nothing to worry about. With Sansa returning to Bolton-controlled Winterfell later this year, I expect Theon—currently a terrified ward of the Boltons—to get plenty of face time as the season moves forward.

As for Dorne, Jaime, and Bronn, we will get to see them and the infamous Sand Snakes soon enough. The Dorne storyline should be exciting, as the Sand Snakes, Prince Doran Martell, and Areo Hotah are some of my favorite characters from A Song of Ice and Fire.

• Published on 03/19/2015 at 4:00 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:06 PM CDT