‘Game Of Thrones’: Max Von Sydow Will Play The Three-Eyed Raven In Season 6

Max Von Sydow has joined the cast of Game Of Thrones. The 86-year-old actor has been cast as the Three-Eyed Raven for the sixth season of the show. Von Sydow will take over from Struan Rodger, who appeared in the role in the season 4 finale, which aired in 2014.

Max Von Sydow at the 84th Academy Awards Nominations Luncheon in 2012.

Von Sydow will not have much screen time, according to reports in Variety, but his role is pivotal to the plot. The Three-Eyed Raven is responsible (spoiler alert!) for teaching Bran Stark about his powers including his ‘warging’ abilities. Bran is able to inhabit the bodies of animals and control them.

We haven’t seen Bran, Hodor or Meera Reed since season 4 but the actor who plays Bran, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, confirmed he is returning for the upcoming series. Filming for the series is now underway.

Von Sydow is not the only new face to be joining the hit HBO series for its sixth season. Ian McShane, the actor best known for his role in HBO’s Deadwood, has also been cast in the series. McShane’s role is as yet unknown.

In other Game of Thrones news, the show will reportedly end after eight seasons. HBO’s Michael Lombardo confirmed the news in a press conference last week although he suggested there may be the opportunity to develop a prequel. The decision is down to the showrunner’s David Benioff and Dan Weiss, who feel “there’s probably two more years after [season] six.”

Von Sydow’s career spans over sixty years and he has appeared in hundreds of films in at least eight different languages. He has featured in such films as The Seventh Seal, Through a Glass Darkly, The Exorcist and Flash Gordon. He can next be seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, realised in cinemas in December.

Game of Thrones season 6 will air next year.