HBO’s epic masterpiece Game of Thrones is back for Season 3, with bigger battles, devastating betrayals and more deaths, as everyone fights for control of the Iron Throne.  Now that magic is growing stronger and the dragons have been let loose, there’s no telling who might be in jeopardy or in power next.

At the show’s press day, co-stars Kit Harington (“Jon Snow”), John Bradley (“Samwell Tarly”) and Rose Leslie (“Ygritte”) talked about what’s it like to film with the conditions in Iceland, how isolating the location can feel from the rest of the cast, how Jon Snow will face his biggest struggle yet this season, what Samwell’s place in the Night’s Watch is, how Jon Snow’s relationship with Mance Rayder will develop and what it’s like to have Ciarán Hinds join the cast, how complicated things will become between Jon and Ygritte, whether Jon still wants to know who his mother is, how much deeper the fantasy aspect will get this season, how much of the books they’ve read, and their hopes for their characters, beyond this season.  Check out what they had to say, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

The highly anticipated return of HBO’s Game of Thrones is nigh, and the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly is celebrating all things GoT to mark the occasion.  The magazine has revealed a few character portraits featuring Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Richard Madden, and Rose Leslie, in addition to this week’s Jon Snow/Dany-fronted cover.  It’s great to see the characters back in action, and Leslie’s Ygritte looks to have cleaned up rather nicely.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images, and click here to watch the most recent trailer.  Season three of Game of Thrones begins on Sunday, March 31st at 9pm.

At last year’s Comic-Con, we couldn’t fathom why the programmers would stuff Game of Thrones into Ballroom 20, especially when there were so many sparsely-attended panels in Hall H.  This year, even though Hall H has plenty of good stuff, Game of Thrones is in the line-up and rightly so.  It’s easily one of the most popular geek properties currently on TV, and the show only got better in its second season.  While filming on Season 3 hasn’t begun, Season 2 is still fresh in the minds of fans, and Hall H was packed to see author George R.R. Martin and some of the cast to talk about the popular HBO series.

Hit the jump for the recap of the Game of Thrones panel, and click here for all of our Comic-Con coverage.

The two actors both were featured in the canceled NBC drama Boomtown awhile back, but now Neal McDonough and Mykelti Williamson are teaming with that shows executive producer Graham Yost on his current series Justified starring Timothy Olyphant. EW reports the two actors will play two villains on the third season of the FX drama with McDonough playing Quarles, a Detroit mobster in a sharp suit who comes to Kentucky with visions of becoming a crimelord and Williamson playing Limehouse, a man who lives in a small black town in Harlan County and who will do whatever it takes, legal or otherwise, to protect his holler. The two characters are said to show up pretty early in the season which is slated to begin sometime in January. The show has been praised with some Emmy love, including a nomination for Timothy Olyphant and win for Margo Martindale last month, so here’s hoping they keep the momentum in the new season.

Details on a new cast member for the second season of Game of Thrones after the jump.