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Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Exorcist actor Max von Sydow has boarded Game of Thones season 6, taking over from Struan Rodger as the Three-Eyed Raven.
The mysterious character was only seen briefly in season 4, but will return next season when Bran Stark’s story is picked back up.
The Three-Eyed Raven will teach the only surviving male Stark how to hone his ‘warging’ techniques - the ability to control the body of other creatures and humans.
According to Variety , von Sydow won’t have a huge amount of screen time in the role, but it will still be a pivotal one.
von Sydow will take over from Struan Rodger as Bran's teacher (Picture: HBO) Last week, we learned that Deadwood ’s Ian McShane will also be joining the cast of the HBO show for season 6 . His character hasn’t been disclosed, though he is rumoured to be playing either a Greyly or a Tarly.
GoT has repeatedly re-cast characters, having previously switched actors for Daarion Naharis, King Tommen, Myrcella Baratheon and The Mountain (several times in his case).
Shocking Game of Thrones scenesShow all 11 1 /11Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Sansa/Ramsey rape scene Season 5, episode 6: Fans were outraged as the episode ended with Sansa Stark being brutally raped by her new husband, Ramsey. The camera soon panned to Theon as he watched on, terrified.
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Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Shireen burns at the stake Season 5, episode 9: Stannis burns his daughter Shireen at the stake after Red Priestess Melisandre advises him to make a sacrifice to gain more power
Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Cercei/ Jamie rape scene Season 4, episode 3: As the two stood by their dead, insestual child Joffrey, Jamie began to sexually attack his sister. The scene became incredibly controversial leading to the directors and George R.R. Martin having to defend it.
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Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Theon gets his penis chopped off Season 3, episode 10: While being tortured by Ramsey, Theon Greyjoy goes through all sorts of pain. The most horrible though is when his penis is cut off and then sent to his family.
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Shocking Game of Thrones scenes George Bush’s head on spike Season 1, episode 10: According to the directors, they couldn’t get enough prosthetic heads made up for the show and ended up using the spare one’s lying around. One of those just happened to be the fake head of George Bush, which eventually ended up on a spike.
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Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Joffrey murders two prostitutes Season 2, episode 4: In one of his most violent moments, Joffrey finds himself with two prostitutes in his room and the most disgusting thing he can think to do with them, uses them as living targets.
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Shocking Game of Thrones scenes The Red Wedding Season 3, episode 9: It was the turning point for the entire show. Just as everyone thought it was going the Starks way, they nearly all end up murdered in one of the bloodiest episodes of any TV series ever.
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Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Lysa breast feeding Robin Season 1, episode 5: While sitting upon her throne in the Eyrie, Catelyn’s sister, Lysa, is seen breastfeeding her teenage son, Robin, causing some viewers to look away in disgust and post about it on the internet.
Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Rat torture Season 2, episode 4: Torture is a pretty common occurrence on Game of Thrones, but none were quite a bad as this. In the scene a bucket of rats is put to a man’s chest and then heated up with a flame so they must eat through the man to escape. Terrifying.
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Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Mountain head explosion Season 4, episode 8: Just as everything was going Oberyn Martell’s way, it all literally blew up in his face. The warrior ended up looking like a squashed watermelon in one of the most awful scenes in the entire series.
Shocking Game of Thrones scenes Theon botched beheading Season 2, episode 6: Beheadings: In one of the more gruesome beheadings, Theon strikes Ser Rodrick Cassel not just once but four times in the neck, finally taking it all the way off with a kick.
Von Sydow has a history of playing wizened and/or nefarious characters, and is expected to play a Sith lord in the upcoming Star Wars sequel.
HBO said recently that the current plan is for Game of Thrones to run for eight seasons , with a possibility of a prequel thereafter.
Season 6 is expected to arrive on HBO and Sky Atlantic in April 2016.
@christophhooton
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