‘Game Of Thrones’ Season 2 — HBO Releases New Character Photos

“Game of Thrones” is coming back on April 1 and HBO is whetting the appetite of fans, by releasing a host of new character portrait photos.

From Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) in armor, to Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) in captivity, the photos offer an insight into the dramas that await in Season 2.

Additionally, there are new photos of Jon Snow’s pal Samwell Tarly (John Bradley), Melisandre (Carice van Houten), Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer), Ygritte (Rose Leslie) and Tyrion’s niece – Princess Myrcella (Aimee Richardson).

Click HERE to see the photos.

Additionally, HBO released a new Q&A with “Game of Thrones” bosses David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the latter of which said the death of Sean Bean’s Ned Stark, in Season 1 has grave repercussions as the drama resumes.

“This season is largely about how Ned Stark’s death leads to a series of events that ultimately culminate in a war, pulling all the different factions in this world into open-armed conflict with each other,” he said in the HBO Q&A. “Almost every character is directly affected by the war in some way or another – even Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, who are on far different corners of the world, feel the effects of the events that spring from Ned’s death.

“Ned Stark’s death had a profound effect – he was the moral center of the first season and he lingers on as that moral presence. For his son Robb, especially, Ned’s death is really a driving force. King Joffrey killed his father, and Robb isn’t going to stop until he has avenged his father’s death,” he continued. “This vengeance motive feeds into Robb’s larger desire to see the North rule itself, to see it freed and lifted out [from under] the thumb of a person who’s sure to be one of the worst kings in recorded memory. As the second season will make abundantly clear, Joffrey is not the guy you want sitting in the big chair.”

“Game of Thrones” Season 2 returns on April 1 at 9 PM on HBO.