'Game Of Thrones' Season Four: When Will HBO'S Hit Series Return?

"Game of Thrones" just concluded its third season, and fans are already speculating about season four. With plenty of new developments teased during "Mhysa," fans can go look forward to a year waiting for "Game of Thrones" season four.

The popular HBO series has been following George R.R. Martin's novels for the first two season, but the third and fourth season of "GoT" was going to tackle the massive "A Storm of Swords." With the first half of the book, which included the shocking "Red Wedding" scene being the focus of the third season, "Game of Thrones" season four will deal with the second half of the book and will give a clue as to how David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will integrate the last two novels of the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.

There are some concrete details about "GoT" season four that have reached the Internet thanks to Martin, Benioff and Weiss. In an interview with KCRW, Benioff and Weiss announced the fourth season of "GoT" will begin shooting on July. While HBO has yet to announce a premiere date for the new season, expect the show to air around the same time period as previous season. Fans should start getting ready for "GoT" around March, with a possible late March or early April premiere date.

With the fourth season of "GoT" dealing with the second half of "A Storm of Swords," there will be several new characters added to the series. Some of the characters will pave the way for the fifth and six seasons, which will adapt "A Feast for Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons." As the season finale revealed, Stannis Baratheon is heading north to the Wall, while Jon Snow and Sam Tarly have returned to Castle Black. With the Wall being a focal point, expect new members of the Night's Watch to be developed, which could lead to conflict at the Wall.

At King's Landing, the focus will be on the Lannisters, and "GoT" fans will get to see the reunion between Jaime and Cersei that was briefly alluded to in the season finale. There will be some interesting plot developments for the family that will have Tryion at the center of the action. For Daenerys, she freed Yunkai, but there are more slaver cities yet to conquer. Expect the young queen to learn how to do more than just free cities during the fourth season as she will have to make some difficult choices after her recent successes.

As for some possible new characters, during a recent Q&A panel at ConQuest 44, Martin discussed some open auditions that were being held. Martin said roles for Lord Oberyn Martell, from Dorne; Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden; and Styr, the Magnar of Thern, a wildling leader, were being cast. Mace Tyrell may make a cameo appearance to get fans acquainted with Margaery Tyrell's father, but expect Oberyn and Styr to have more prominent roles.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Benioff and Weiss are planning to combine the fourth and fifth books for the fifth and six seasons as Martin's novels follow the same time line but focused on different characters. The showrunners also have faith that Martin will be able to produce the sixth book, "The Winds of Winter," before the show catches up with him.