Do New ‘GOT’ Characters Hint A Big Season 8 Return?

Several great houses of fallen entirely on “Game of Thrones,” but a new announcement about the cast for the HBO series’ upcoming 8^th season might be a tease that at least in some capacity, one of them will return.

According to Watchers on the Wall, there is a slight chance that a character who has been added onto the show’s Season 8 roster is actually a surviving member of a family that was almost entirely wiped out during the show’s seventh season. The website notes that actress Danielle Galligan is portraying the role of a character named “Sarra” during one episode of the upcoming season. In George R.R. Martin’s books, the only character to show up with that name is Walder Frey’s (David Bradley) granddaughter. Though there is a chance that the name is simply being used and has no real significance, if she does turn up as Sarra Frey, it could mean some big consequences for Arya Stark (Maisie Williams).

During the Season 6 finale of the show, Arya got revenge for the events of the Red Wedding, which saw the murders of her brother, Robb (Richard Madden) and mother, Catelyn (Michelle Fairley). She managed her revenge by killing Walder Frey, the patriarch of House Frey, by slitting his throat. In the Season 7 premiere, she took her revenge one step further, by wearing his face and poisoning the entire male bloodline of his family. If “Sarra” is in fact a surviving member of House Frey, then she could be on a mission to get revenge of her own, against the younger Stark daughter.

However, there could be a chance that “Sarra” is simply a minor character with no major significance in the final season’s storyline, especially since so many great houses have been wiped out due to the ongoing battle for the Iron Throne on the show.

Among the families that have been fully wiped out on the show were House Bolton of the Dreadfort, House Tyrell of Highgarden and House Martell of Dorne. House Frey of The Twins was mostly wiped out after Arya’s assault except for the women, and House Tarly of Horn Hill is also predominately gone, with only Samwell (John Bradley-West) remaining who has the right to claim his family’s seat, though he renounced that ability when he initially joined the Night’s Watch. In addition, House Baratheon has been wiped out as well in terms of rightful heirs, with the exception being Robert’s (Mark Addy) bastard son Gendry (Joe Dempsie).

With the other houses that used to be more powerful than House Frey also gone, it would seem unlikely that there would be a focus on the Frey family again during the show’s concluding episodes. However, HBO will not confirm whether Galligan’s character is in fact a Frey anytime soon.

“Game of Thrones” Season 8 is expected to air sometime in 2019.