Ten Things We’re Most Looking Forward To From Game of Thrones‘ Season Four

Power Grid

By Rebecca Pahle and Jill PantozziJan 10th, 2014, 4:28 pm

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Allow Us to Explain

Unless you live beyond the Wall you’ll have heard that the premiere date of season four of Game of Thrones has been announced: April 6th. To say we’re pumped is something of an understatement (types Rebecca, wearing her Stannis Baratheon shirt and necklace). Jill and I, being book readers, know what wonderful things we have to look forward to. And what horrible things, because Game of Thrones. But we're choosing to focusing on the positive. To that end, here are the ten things we're most excited to see in the upcoming season. Sprinkled throughout you'll find some clips from the trailer that's coming out this Sunday, because HBO's jumped on that trailer-of-a-trailer trend.

Feel free to share your own most-anticipated moments in the comments. Needless to say, past this point you'll find major spoilers.

Daenerys Being A Dragon Boss

It's safe to say we're always looking forward to Daenerys. Although there's a few times in the series we wished we could have skipped ahead, Season 4 is going to show the character coming even more into her own. But before she gets back to Westeros, she has a few more stops along the way, one of them being Meereen. It's another slave city she's bent on freeing but things won't be so easy for our Khaleesi. Expect a lot more lip-service, bigger dragons, and sexy times. —Jill

The Red Viper Doing Capoeira

Or just the Red Viper in general. But this Vine video has Oberyn Martell, played by Pedro Pascal, busting out some serious moves in his fight against Gregor Clegane. I'm going to go ahead and say that his flip-jump will be the highlight of the season, bar none. You're looking at this year's Cheese Boy. —Rebecca

Arya's Roaring Rampage of Revenge

We got a hint of what's to come from poor little Arya in the season finale and while we're not quite sure where she'll wind up for most of Season 4, we do know it will involve her growing into a fierce warrior. —Jill

Mama Sand Snake

Ellaria Sand, the “sexually adventurous paramour” of Oberyn Martell, is a pretty damn cool character herself. If memory serves she hasn’t actually done all that much in the books yet, though I’m hoping the choice of amazingly talented actress Indira Varma means the role will get the Margaery Tyrell treatment and be beefed up a little.

The reason I’m most excited about Ellaria is that she heralds the arrival of the Sand Snakes, Oberyn’s illegitimate daughters (three of them are also Ellaria’s). They give approximately no hoots about all the sexist nonsense taking place in the kingdom, and they’re here to mess you up. It’ll probably be season five before we see them—none have been cast yet, at least—but barring a major screw-up on behalf of showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff they should be more than worth the wait. —Rebecca

Lysa Taking A Vacation

Lysa Arryn was unfortunately cut from Season 3 but word is she'll be making her triumphant return in Season 4. Just in time for some special visitors from Westeros - Littlefinger and Sansa. Pretty much every time we've gone to the Eyrie something crazy has gone down. We're hoping this time won't let us down...down...down... —Jill

Brienne Teaching Podrick How to Knight

I know the Brienne of Tarth is the best Knight in all of Westeros. And you know Brienne of Tarth is the best Knight of all Westeros. But most of the people who actually get to bask in her glorious presence don’t know that, because they’re sexist jerkbags who think women shouldn’t be able swing a sword. In book four the Brienne of Tarth Fan Club (Catelyn Stark: Founder. Jaime Lannister: Treasurer) gets its newest member in Podrick Payne, currently Tyrion’s squire, who learns the knightly ropes from Brienne as they trek around the countryside looking for Sansa Stark. Their relationship isn’t the most important in the books, which leaves me worried that it might be cut. I’d understand—HBO has hundreds upon hundreds of pages to work with, and only 10 hours a season to put it in. But all I want is one instance of Pod being adorably confused over whether he should call Brienne “Ser.” Just one.—Rebecca

Tyrion Smelling Something Bad

Tyrion struts while in chains in his trailer preview clip on Vine but what we're really looking forward to is this underestimated character...shall we say...coming out from behind his father's shadow for the first time in his life? Thank god we don't have smell-o-vision because that scene is going to be nothing but sweet. —Jill

Asha Greyjoy. Just Asha Greyjoy.

Asha wasn’t in season three a lot, but the approximately three minutes she did have were the most wonderful, badass, Eye-of-the-Tiger-blaring-from-the-speakers-of-a-muscle-car-as-it-speeds-down-the-highway-through-a-tornado-filled-with-battle-axe-wielding-unicorns of the entire show up to this point. I don’t have high hopes for the Queensmoot plotline not being cut, which makes me sad, but I understand it. Limited time at all. But based on how season three left Asha we should be seeing at least a little bit of her BAMFing around trying to save her baby brother Theon from the sadistic clutches of Ramsay Bolton, and really, that’s all I need.—Rebecca

Stannis Taking Care of Business

Most of the other contenders for the throne will spend this season engaging in a massive, violent, penis-measuring contest. But Mr. Lobster Metaphor doesn’t have time for that BS when there are punk-ass ice zombies trying to invade his kingdom and kill his citizens. Sure, most of those citizens don’t want to be his citizens. It’s OK. They’ll come around. You’ll all come around. —Rebecca