Whether you're a Stark bannerman or a Lannister loyalist, winter is coming... in early spring, in fact!
"Game of Thrones," the HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin's epic "A Song of Ice and Fire" novel series, is returning for its second season on April 1, 2012, according to Variety. We've long known that "Thrones" would bow season two during the spring months, but now we've got a concrete date. I think it's safe to say that despite the season premiere airing on April Fool's Day, no one who tunes in to watch will walk away feeling like a chump. (In fact, you might feel like a chump if you miss the premiere, so mark it on your calendars now!)
The ten-episode second season takes its cues from "A Clash of Kings," the second book in Martin's "Ice and Fire" series. Picking up where "Thrones" last left off, Westeros is in the midst of a civil war with five different sides vying for the kingdom. The wicked Joffrey Baratheon currently sits on the Iron Throne, but whispers abound that he's secretly the bastard son of incestuous twins Jaime and Cersei Lannister -- not Robert Baratheon's trueborn heir, in other words, leading the late king's younger brothers, Stannis and Renly, to make their claims for the crown.
Elsewhere, Robb Stark has been named King in the North, with his heart set on avenging his father Ned, betrayed and executed by the Lannisters. None of this is to mention the fifth man who would name himself king, either. And don't forget about Dany and the Dothraki, too; she has dragons now, after all.
Tell us what you think of the "Game of Thrones" news in the comments section and on Twitter!
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