9 Stars Of ‘Game Of Thrones’ Share Their Tips For Season 2 — War, Wildings & More

After what felt like the longest television wait ever, “Game of Thrones” finally roars back to HBO with its thrilling Season 2 premiere this Sunday at 9 PM.

Over the last two months, AccessHollywood.com has been counting down the wait with a weekly interview series. And now, with the show’s glorious return on its way (finally!), we’ve compiled the best need-to-know highlights from our chats with returning stars Kit Harington (Jon Snow) and Maisie Williams (Arya Stark), and newcomers like Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) and Carice van Houten (Melisandre), to help get you ready.

Liam Cunningham — There’s A New Ned Stark In Town

“[My character Davos Seaworth is] new to the show, however the guy I work for, who is Stannis Baratheon, has been talked about in Season 1. He’s the brother who has been pushed to one side and has kind of been forgotten about. Joffrey, that horrible king… shouldn’t be on the throne. We’re moving in and I’m kind of the equivalent of Ned Stark – Sean Bean’s character, to Stannis in this. I’m like Robert Duvall in ‘The Godfather.’

“And there’s somebody else here, in the mix — the red priestess – Melisandre. She’s using magic and all sorts of weird stuff and I’m trying to stop her!” Click HERE to watch our interview with Liam.

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Daniel Portman – Flying Under The Radar As Tyrion’s Squire, Podrick

“I’m just another squire… another piece of help or servantry that just ends up, by the end of the season, becoming Tyrion’s sort of personal squire. I think that’s just about all I can give away.

“Pod’s not exactly what he seems. Yeah, he’s going to play quite an important role towards the end of the series.” Read our interview with Daniel HERE.

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Alfie Allen – Theon Greyjoy’s Homecoming Will Be Trouble

“I go back to the Iron Islands to see my dad after people have decided to send me there… When he gets there… his dad doesn’t really give him the homecoming that he wants, so he feels like he has to prove more and more that he is a Greyjoy and not a Stark. It really kind of messes with his head. He’s just got a massive identity crisis…But it’s dark.” Read our Q&A with Alfie HERE.

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Rory McCann – King Joffrey Will Bully Sansa, Cause Trouble For The Hound

“I don’t think [my character], The Hound, likes Joffrey, but he’s doing his job looking after him. The power, as you can imagine, will be going to [Joffrey’s] head and the real bully will be coming out, and it will be raising all sorts of memories for The Hound — the way that he was bullied. And you’ll be seeing the relationship between Sansa and Joffrey deteriorate — seeing the bullying that’s going on.” Read our lively interview with Rory HERE.

POLL: Which ‘Game Of Thrones’ character are you most excited to see return Sunday? Click HERE to vote!

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Tom Wlaschiha – Jaqen H’ghar Is A Mysterious Figure Who’ll Enter Arya Stark’s Life

“The great thing about Jaqen is he’s very [ambiguous] as a character… [With] Jaqen… we don’t really know where he comes from or, if he has a secret agenda, what that is.

“At the beginning, Arya doesn’t trust him at all because he’s a convict, he’s being taken to The Wall as a prisoner and then something attracts her to him.” Read our Tom interview HERE.

PHOTOS: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 2’s Brand New Character Portraits

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Kit Harington – Jon Snow Will Encounter Wildings & More Beyond The Wall

“You will see more [wildlings]. They play a big part of my storyline in the second season. They’re basically free folk or free people who live beyond The Wall and don’t kind of abide [by] any sort of king or realm as it were. And they [are] cut off by The Wall, and so you don’t see much of them in the first season, but Jon interacts with them a lot in the second season.

“They live with the fear of these other things, which are The Others and the White Walkers. They know the dangers that lie beyond The Wall better than the people who live South, so that’s what Jon goes and learns.” Click HERE to watch our in studio interview with Kit.

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Maisie Williams – Arya Disguises Herself As A Boy, Grows Braver

“She’s not gonna be pushed around… She can now stand up for herself and people won’t sort of laugh at her because she’s a girl, because everyone think she’s a boy.” Click HERE to read our delightful chat with Maisie.

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Carice van Houten – Bewitching Melisandre Brings A New Religion & Manipulation

“She’s a priestess who comes to preach her religion, her faith… She’s very manipulative. She is the right hand of one of the people that could become king and she’s basically manipulating him… She’s very influential and she’s the opposite of Liam [Cunningham’s character, Davos Seaworth]. Liam is the left hand. Read our Q&A with Carice HERE.

PHOTOS: Carice Van Houten: The Ravishing Red Priestess From ‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 2

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Gethin Anthony – Dead King Robert’s Younger Brothers Get Into It, A Lady Knight Is Coming

“Stannis… he’s my older brother, but the younger brother of Robert, the now vanquished King…You’ll see… some kind of struggle… He’s got his claim to what he thinks –- how the kingdom should be governed, and I’ve got mine.”

“Lady Brienne… is this wonderful warrior who enters into the fray and you’ll sort of see how she becomes very important to my character and to other characters. She becomes very central. And it’s just this fantastic sort of heroine of Westeros.” Watch our fun interview with Gethin HERE.

“Game of Thrones” returns for Season 2 on Sunday at 9 PM on HBO.

— Jolie Lash