Treachery and nobility, family and honour, ambition and love, death and survival. A bona-fide worldwide phenomenon, and the most-watched series in Canadian Pay TV history, HBO’s Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning GAME OF THRONES returns for its 10-episode fifth season, Sunday, April 12 at 9 p.m. ET/MT on HBO Canada, day-and-date with HBO in the U.S. This year, for the first time ever, the series alsopremieres in 170 countries and territories across the globe, simultaneously with the U.S. airing. Based on George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series A Song Of Ice and Fire, GAME OF THRONES is set on the mythical continent of Westeros, where summers and winters can last years, and only the lust for power is eternal.
In anticipation of Season 5, Canadian fans can catch-up on all previous seasons of the series through various on demand platforms, and watch the half-hour behind-the-scenes special, GAME OF THRONES: A DAY IN THE LIFE. Viewers can marathon the past seasons starting with Season 1, episode 1 on Monday, March 30 at 9 p.m. ET/MT with additional episodes airing nightly through to April 11 on HBO Canada. In addition, HBO Canada’s social outlets have Canadians covered with the latest on everything GAME OF THRONES-related on Facebook, Twitter,Instagram, and Hubub.
To showcase the importance of music in GAME OF THRONES, HBO recently released the 15-track Catch the Throne: The Mixtape Vol. 2, featuring diverse artists representing GAME OF THRONES families, and leveraging themes and highlights from Season 4. Each song on the mixtape samples music from the series’ Season 4 soundtrack. The full list of artists includes: Anthrax, Estelle, Kap G, Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, Melanie Fiona,Method Man, MNDR, Mushroomhead, Raquel Sofia, Snoop Dogg, Stalley, Talib Kweli, Ty Dolla $ign, and Yandel.
In the new season, Jon Snow is struggling to balance the demands of the Night’s Watch with those of the newly arrived Stannis Baratheon, who styles himself the rightful king of Westeros. Meanwhile, Cersei scrambles to hold on to power in King’s Landing amidst the Tyrells and the rise of a religious group led by the enigmatic High Sparrow, while Jaime Lannister embarks on a secret mission. Across the Narrow Sea, Arya seeks an old friend and a fugitive Tyrion finds a new cause. And as danger mounts in Meereen, Daenerys Targaryen finds that her tenuous hold on the city requires some hard sacrifices.
Returning series regulars for Season 5 include: Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister); Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister); Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister); Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen); Aidan Gillen (Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish); Kit Harington (Jon Snow); Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna Tyrell); Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell); Maisie Williams (Arya Stark); and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark).
Additional returning series regulars this season include: Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy); John Bradley (Samwell Tarly); Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen); Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth); Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth); Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon); Nathalie Emmanuel ((Missandei); Jerome Flynn (Bronn); Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont); Conleth Hill (Varys); Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane); Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis); Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton); Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Snow); Carice van Houten (Melisandre); and Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand).
New cast members include: Alexander Siddig as Doran Martell, the ruling lord of Dorne and older brother to the late Prince Oberyn Martell; Toby Sebastian as Trystane Martell, Prince Doran’s son and heir to Dorne; Nell Tiger Free as Myrcella Baratheon, officially the eldest child of Cersei Lannister and the late King Robert Baratheon; DeObia Oparei as Areo Hotah, the long-serving captain of Doran Martell’s palace guard; Enzo Cilenti as Yezzan, an extremely wealthy slave trader before Daenerys Targaryen outlawed the slave trade; Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rosabell Laurenti Sellers, and Jessica Henwick as Oberyn’s daughters, the “Sand Snakes”; and Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow, a devout and pious man who came to King’s Landing to serve those forgotten by much of the world.
GAME OF THRONES is executive produced by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger, and Bernadette Caulfield. The series is co-executive produced by Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, and George R.R. Martin, produced by Chris Newman, Greg Spence, Lisa McAtackney, and Bryan Cogman.
HBO Canada subscribers can catch up on all previous seasons of GAME OF THRONES in Eastern Canada onTMN GO and HBO Canada OnDemand, and in Western Canada, on the go with Shaw Go Movie Central app, Bell TV app, Telus Optik on the go, and HBO Canada On Demand.
HBO Canada is a multiplex channel of Bell Media’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada).