Okay, I hope that "Game of Thrones" season 4 spoilers headline is sufficiently inscrutable for those of you who haven't discovered the magic of reading the "Game of Thrones" books, because the rest of this article has spoilers galore, so get out of here if you care about having the story ruined. Starting right now. So, there are two major characters we haven't met yet in "Game of Thrones," who we should, by all rights, already have met: Coldhands and Lady Stoneheart. So, what's the deal? Are they getting cut? Or are we going to meet them in the "Game of Thrones" season 4 premiere or thereafter?
"Game of Thrones" Season 4 Spoilers: Lady Stoneheart
Right around the "Game of Thrones" season 3 finale, inquiring minds wanted to know whether we'd see Lady Stoneheart in said finale. All signs pointed to no: it was just too soon, after all. UnCat shows up at the very end of "Storm of Swords," not halfway through it, even if the timeline is shuffled around a little bit for the it's-not-TV-it's-HBO show. The wound was too fresh.
More significantly, there were a whole ton of interviews with Michelle Fairley, who played Cat, around the time of the Red Wedding, and a few with Benioff and Weiss, the show creators... and, amongst the myriad interviews, Michelle sort of, sort of showed her hand, and suggested she would in fact be around the set every once in a while, most likely because of Reasons. Reasons like UnCat. It's a small part now, of course... basically a cameo. Her other commitments certainly don't interfere. But, because of those comments, I am very confident that Lady Stoneheart will be joining us sometime during "Game of Thrones" season 4.
The question is, when will that happen? I highly doubt that we'll get Lady Stoneheart during the "Game of Thrones" season 4 premiere tonight. At this point, they could really throw it in whenever they wanted... even up to the very end of the season, if the fourth season does end up sticking pretty closely to "Storm" without moving into "Feast." We'll just have to wait and see.
"Game of Thrones" Season 4 Spoilers: Coldhands
Coldhands is an entirely different story. We should have seen him by now. The strange figure, who is one of my favorite characters, should have showed up to help Sam and Gilly safely reach the Wall - something they now have done. In fact, there was even a perfect shot, a perfect scene, when we could have met Coldhands - right after Sam finally killed a white walker. But that scene should also remind you that Coldhands' absence so far isn't the end of the world. Sam killed that white walker way, way earlier in the books-they've played around more with the timeline up North. And the spectral figure's main role is to guide Bran to the three-eyed crow, which he can very much still do. Bran's journey north of the Wall has yet to begin, and there's no reason they can't meet up now.
Still, I'm doubtful about Coldhands. I still think we'll end up getting him, simply because the show really hasn't cut too many characters of such significance, especially strange, cool ones. But that's sheer guesswork. We also know that Weiss and Benioff have spent a great deal of time talking to George about where the story is going... so they know if Coldhands ends up actually being important, or if he's just a decoy to make the fans crazy wondering whether he is Benjen Stark (all signs point to no, and yet hope endures...).
On the plus side, though, if Coldhands is in "Game of Thrones" season 4, we'll get to find out pretty soon... probably in the first Bran scene after the "Game of Thrones" season 4 premiere. So the first or second episode, in all likelihood.
What do you think? Will we get UnCat and Coldhands? Do you want them both?
