Game of Thrones photos tease second season

HBO recently posted a collection of high-res photographs depicting the principal characters of the second season of the hit television show, Game of Thrones.

It seems as if nearly all the images are grim and gritty, preparing for battle, whether emotionally or physically.

Most interesting are the characters we haven’t really gotten to see clearly before now. For example, there is a depiction of Brienne of Tarth, played by Gwendoline Christie.

As you may recall, when she was first cast, I worried the studio wouldn’t bother with making her look mannish and hardened, as she is described in the book, relying instead only on Chrtistie’s height to create the image they were going for. After all, that’s what they did with Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion.

However, it seems like HBO actually did it right. Her Amazonian form is easily covered by armor, of course, but her handsome face has been marked up with blemishes and scars, and her thick blonde hair looks as though it’s been hacked away by a careless military barber.

We also get a good look at Mellisandre – and her ruby gorget – along with Stannis Baratheon, played by Carice Van Houten and Stephen Dillane respectively. These two will become the most legitimate claim to the throne – Stanly is Robert’s eldest brother – but only the audience really knows that for sure. Yet, we’ll see that with Mellisandre and her strange magic guiding him astray, Stanly is perhaps the worst person to lead the Seven Kingdoms.

We’ve also got images of the fan favorites, Daenerys (Emilia Clark) Arya (Maisie Williams) and Tyrion (Dinklage).

I’ve posted a few of the more interesting photos below, you can check them all out in better resolution over on HBO’s Game of Thrones website.

Season 2 of Game of Thrones premiers on HBO on April 1, 2012. The first season is currently being replayed on Sunday evenings.