Game of Thrones Season Six has found its Euron Greyjoy… what could this mean given he’s not been part of the story so far?

When news on Game of Thrones comes out it seems to arrive all at once. A few months ago casting details came out and it gave Game of Thrones fans a small glimpse into what to expect next season. Well, new information on some cast members set to appear in season six has been released.

Ian McShane (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) is scheduled for an unspecified role (here) and Max von Sydow (Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon) is set to take over the role of ‘The Three Eyed Crow’ from Struan Rogers as Brandon Stark’s (Isaac Heampstead Wright) mentor (here), this we know already however, there is another very interesting casting to be released though; Danish actor Pilou Asbæk has now been cast as Euron Greyjoy, Theon Greyjoy’s uncle.

Euron is an important character in the books but in the TV series has not yet been mentioned.

So who is he and why does he matter so much?

 

SOME POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW AS WE SPECULATE WHAT THIS MAY MEAN FOR THE NEXT SEASON’S PLOT

Euron is a highly skilled warrior of the Iron Fleet and the commander of a ship named The Silence, named after its crew of mutes whose tongues were ripped out by Euron. He has an eye patch and is what you could consider to be a stereotypical cut throat pirate.

Here is a brief description: “Euron is a wildly unpredictable man, known for his delight in playing vicious mind games and waging psychological warfare on anyone around him. He is hated by his brothers for this reason. He is a skilled warrior and manipulator and is cunning, shrewd and ruthless.”

He is also the eldest younger brother of Lord Balon Greyjoy who is the father of Theon and Yara.

When last we saw Balon, he was opening a box with ‘Theon’s friend’ inside (you either know what this means or you don’t, but we haven’t the stomach to explain). However he was mentioned in later seasons, only briefly, to have died; the causes of this are unknown.

In the books, in order to prevent Euron from becoming lord of the Iron Islands, his brother Aeron holds a Kingsmoot so a vote can be held to for a new king. Euron unfortunately wins this, and subsequently kills anyone who does not see him as king. Very soon after, Euron begins raiding the Reach and the North, he also has some darker plans he wishes to accomplish.

What’s interesting about this is that it happened in The Feast of Crows, so approximately season three to four. Because of this, it is unclear where Euron’s story will start in season six, and how much backstory will actually be given as to what he’s been doing.

There is one storyline though that is likely to take place. In the books, he has the idea of conquering Westeros for the Ironborn using dragon fire; yes that’s right, dragon fire. To achieve this he sends his brother Victarion Greyjoy to Meereen to take control of the dragons.

It is highly likely this will be a main storylines of season six and could cause an interesting problem for the new steward of Meereen , the much loved Tyrion Lannister.

What is also likely to happen, given the ending events of season five, is that Theon and Sansa may depart to the Iron Islands. We saw the two jump from a tower in Winterfell into some deep snow. It is likely the two survived and season six is going to show what happens to them.

I theorised earlier in an article that Sansa could go off and see Lady Stoneheart. It’s perfectly possible though that she could also go to the Iron Islands, yet how long she would survive there is unclear; Northerners aren’t exactly liked by the Ironborn. This is a theory of course but one that does make some sense given the information we know of.

Whatever happens, Euron Greyjoy is likely to play a pivotal part in season six and return the Ironborn to our screens once more.

Season six of Game of Thrones looks set to be the best one yet but we still have to wait a little while for it.

Source: Variety