'Game of Thrones' Season 3: List of New Characters

There's just one more episode of "Game of Thrones" left before the season is over, which means that it's about time to start looking forward to season three. That makes this a perfect time for showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff to reveal some of the new characters for next season. After all, the war for the throne is far from over, and you're supposed to know thy enemy, right?

The simple answer to the question of who will appear next season could be found by picking up the third book in the series of novels by George R.R. Martin. The problem with that, though, is that there are so many characters in Martin's books that if all of them were to be included, it would chaos for the HBO show.

"It’s important to point out that that we have the largest cast on television right now," Benioff told E! in an interview. "We introduced dozens of new characters in season two. If you hurl 300 characters at an audience, the story collapses under the weight of too many faces, too many names, and too many subplots."

That's good news for those of us who struggle to remember the names of some of the characters already. I, as I shamefully admitted last year, am one of those people.

Here's the list of new characters that Benioff and Weiss have decided to include (thus far):

- Mance Rayder: Now known as "The King Beyond the Wall," Mance was once a member of the Night's Watch who took up a new life as a Wildling. He's the reason Jon Snow is out beyond the Wall right now, so we might actually meet Mance before the end of this season.

- Daario Naharis: A blue-haired mercenary (that's how they roll where he's from) who fights for the Stormcrows.

- Jojen and Meera Reed: These two siblings arrive at Winterfell, and might be the key to Bran finding out more about his dreams.

- Edmure Tully: A warrior and member of the Tully family who is involved in Robb Stark's war with the Lannisters.

- Ser Brynden Tully: Also known as the Blackfish, Brynden Tully is uncle to Catelyn Stark and a loyal member of House Tully.

- Lady Selyse Florent and Shireen: Stannis Baratheon's wife and daughter, respectively. We have briefly seen Lady Selyse in the current season.

- Olenna Redwyne: Olenna is an elder member of the Tyrell family through marriage, as she is the widow of Luthor Tyrell.

- Beric Dondarrion: The leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group that has been mentioned in the Harrenhal plotline this season but have not yet played as big a role as they do in the books. Looks like that's about to change.

- Thoros of Myr: A red priest and skilled fighter. His priesthood puts him in the same religion as Melisandre, who had some game-changing scenes in the current season (shadow babies!).

- Tormund Giantsbane: A large Wildling rider who meets Jon Snow.