Maybe we will get that sixth A Song of Ice and Fire book sometime this century (no rush, GRRM) after the notoriously patient creator announced that he would drop his screenwriting duties for a while to finish work on The Winds of Winter.

That might also explain why the character of Arienne Martell has been written out of the show entirely. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. So the Game of Thrones panel at Comic-Con happened and, as predicted, the full cast of season 5 was revealed.

Alexander Siddig
Alexander Siddig joins as Doran Martell for season 5. Yes, we approve.

More importantly though, Martin spoke to Zap2It about his one episode per season tradition. Here’s what he had to say about that: ‘I’m not actually writing an episode for season five. As you may know, there’s this book that people are getting kinda antsy about delivering…

‘It takes me roughly a month to do an episode so I decided given the realities I better skip this one this season and just concentrate on finishing the book.’

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Count on GRRM to know his audience. As for the new additions to the cast, they include Alexander Siddig as Doran Martell - aka the Oberyn’s big bro and the leader of House Martell apparently, since Arienne’s absence means that Dorne is no longer the only place in Westeros to let women inherit before men by order of birth. But we digress. Also joining the cast is Oscar-nominated New Zealand actress Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand, one of Oberyn’s (sob) illegitimate daughters, seeking revenge for his murder.

he 'London' star DeObia Operei will play Areo Hotah, the loyal protector of Doran Martell.

Probably the most recognised among the new inclusions is Jonathan Pryce - who will play High Sparrow, a religious figure.

Bring on season 5!

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Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce might be this year's most prominent addition.