HBO renews 'Game of Thrones' for second season

Long live the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros: HBO has renewed "Game of Thrones" for a second season, following gross premiere-night ratings of 4.2 million viewers on the main HBO channel.

Based on George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy book series "A Song of Ice and Fire," "Game of Thrones" follows the rivalries between kings and queens, knights and noblemen, and one very debauched dwarf.

"We are delighted by the way David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have brought George R.R. Martin's amazing book series to the screen, and thrilled by the support of the media and our viewers," Michael Lombardo, president of HBO programming, said in a statement. "This is the continuation of an exciting creative partnership."

Let the direwolves rejoice! And if you don't know what a direwolf is, you might want to catch up with all the excitement: Read our recap of the first episode, then test your Westeros knowledge here.

-- Melissa Maerz

Photo: Emilia Clarke and Iain Glen of "Game of Thrones." Credit: HBO

 

Comments

[Anarkii]

Awesome. So excited about this!!

[Alexander Law]

Maybe in the second season they could find some non-Caucasians for the cast. I've only watched the "making off" show so far, but I don't think I noticed any non-whites. I guess that's what happens when white people get to make up an imaginary world. I'm white, by the way, and I can't imagine how people would react if the situation were reversed.

[Pamela M]

Why is it that everything has to be about race. HBO has a winner here , the show is fantastic. I watched the premiere, it was awesome. Now I just hope they finish the series, and put the rest of the books on screen.

[Jen L.]

Actually, according to the books, there are a lot of non-Caucasians in Martin's world. The Dothraki are supposed to be brown-skinned. The Lamb Men and other peoples around the Dothraki sea are also non-Caucasian. The people from the Summer Islands are described as having ebony skinned and fond of wearing cloaks with bright colored feathers. Dorne, one of the Seven Kingdoms not yet introduced, have more racial diversity, olive skinned to a few with fair-hair.

So rest assurred, GRRM's world is not monochromatic.