'Game Of Thrones' Season 4: HBO Show Casts Idira Varma As Elliara Sand

The fourth season of “Game of Thrones” is likely to be a big step up for the fantasy series. Based on the second half of George R. R. Martin’s novel “A Storm of Swords,” season 4 of the HBO blockbuster plans to introduce another major group of characters: House Martell, leaders of Dorne. And now, HBO does look to be a bit closer to realizing such a house after making a major casting announcement regarding season 4.

Entertainment Weekly reported that Indira Varma has been cast as Elliara Sand, described as “the sexually adventurous paramour” of Oberyn Martell, another recently cast character. For a couitus-heavy show like “Game of Thrones,” the phrase “sexually adventurous” is certainly saying something. Varma is a veteran of another HBO show, “Rome,” and so is Ciaran Hinds, who portrays the Wildling king Mance Rayder.

The news of Ellaria Sand’s casting comes only a few weeks after HBO announced that Pedro Pascal would play Sand’s lover, Dornish Prince Oberyn Martell.

“This was a tough one,” showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss told Entertainment Weekly. “The Red Viper is sexy and charming, yet believably dangerous; intensely likable, yet driven by hate. The boys love him, the girls love him, and he loves them all back. Unless your last name is Lannister. We found a fellow who can handle the job description and make it seem effortless. He wasn’t easy to find and he won’t be easy to stop.”

With the introduction of a whole new major house, “Game of Thrones” season 4 might get a little more complicated for viewers, but Benioff and Weiss are convinced that everything will pay off for viewers. And fans that have read “A Storm of Swords” know that season 4 could be the show’s best season ever.

“We got more action, which is obviously more time consuming,” Benioff told EW. “It’s a brutal shooting season ahead. But if we can make it through, yeah, I think it’s going to surpass season 3. The last three episodes, there’s so many scenes we’ve been waiting for so long to do. And it just gets more and more fun to write for these characters. After three years of doing it, we have that much more comfort to make everything uncomfortable for them. We’re very excited for it.”