Season 3 of Game of Thrones premiered tonight on HBO after a long year of waiting. What’s the latest in the Seven Kingdoms? Hit the jump to find out.

Game of Thrones
Season 3, Episode 1 – Valar Dohaeris
Directed by Daniel Minahan
Written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Starring: Mark Addy, Alfie Allen, Emilia Clarke, James Cosmo, Liam Cunningham, Charles Dance, Stephen Dillane, Peter Dinklage, Natalie Dormer, Michelle Fairley, Jerome Flynn, Aidan Gillen, Jack Gleeson, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Conleth Hill, Ciarán Hinds, Carice van Houten, Sibel Kekilli, Harry Lloyd, Richard Madden, Patrick Malahide, Rory McCann, Sophie Turner, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, and Issac Hempstead-Wright
HBO
Air Date: March 31, 2013

Due to the sheer number of characters and plots that Game of Thrones juggles at one time, it’s not entirely surprising that we didn’t check in with everyone in this premiere episode. And that’s fine, considering how strong the material was that we were shown tonight, I’m perfectly all right with the fact that next week’s episode will probably highlight some of my favorite plots and characters (Arya and Jamie storylines come specifically to mind).

That aside, tonight’s quieter season premiere was very, very strong.

Kiefer Sutherland is in final negotiations to join the cast of Pompeii, the disaster flick being directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.

The movie is set in Pompeii in the year 79 A.D., when Mount Vesuvius erupted and coated the city and many of its people in fire and ash. It follows a slave who’s sold to another owner by his master, but has to rush back when the volcano erupts in an attempt to save his love—the daughter of his former master—and his best friend, a gladiator who’s stuck in the coliseum.

Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season
Blu-ray | DVD
CREATORS: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R. R. Martin (author)
STARRING: Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Richard Madden, Emilia Clarke, Michelle Fairley, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Stephen Dillane, Conleth Hill, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams, Iain Glen, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Jack Gleeson, Sophie Turner, Alfie Allen, Liam Cunningham, James Cosmo, Rory McCann, Gethin Anthony, Gwendoline Christie, Carice van Houten, Joe Dempsie, Charles Dance, Donald Sumpter, Kristian Nairn, John Bradley, Sibel Kekilli, Natalia Tena, Finn Jones, Oona Chaplin, Natalie Dormer, Nonso Anozie, Rose Leslie
HBO
RELEASE DATE: February 19, 2013

I’ve developed something of a young tradition, one that I hope to continue for the next handful of years or so…if the old gods and the new see fit. As someone who was introduced to George R.R. Martin‘s “A Song of Ice and Fire” universe by HBO’s adaptation of the books (I read, but not nearly as much as others), Game of Thrones, I, like many others—much to the chagrin of readers who had been singing its praises for years—instantly found myself obsessed with this incredibly detailed world, its unique and complex characters, and a long, rich history that could force many aspiring writers to retire their quills for the rest of their days.

After the first season came and went and instantly became one of my favorite new shows, the next logical step was to jump into the books. A year is a tortuous amount of time to wait for something this good. And while most people already knew how brilliant the books were, I soon found out that reading through after seeing the season was an exciting way to add new layers to the story. As I was nearing the end of the first book, the first season was getting ready to arrive on Blu-ray and DVD and season two was nearing its premiere. And so it began. As I write this I near the end of book two, I’m rewatching season two (and all the wonderful special features) on Blu-ray, and season three of the show inches ever closer.

There’s nothing at all exciting or luxurious about the Night’s Watch, the men who protect Westeros from the dangers that lie beyond the Wall in George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series and the hit HBO series Game of Thrones. They leave their friends and families behind. They swear never to take another woman, father no children, and own any land. They live among constant ice and snow. And it will remain so until the day that they die. Only then will their service end.

Many think taking the Black comes with great honor, but they soon find out that most of the brothers of the Watch are thieves and murderers and rapists—a rather unpleasant wake-up call. Still, what they do is crucially important to the protection of Westeros from the White Walkers and Wildlings and various other dangers, and they’re always looking for new members to take the oath and swear fealty to the Night’s Watch.

Do YOU have what it takes to be a brother (or sister)…and perhaps someday even a ranger? Continue below now to find out how you can take the Night’s Watch oath online, and add your voice to the many others who will join!

Last May we found out that Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson was going to make a disaster movie with a love story at its core, a la Titanic. But instead of on a boat, this love story is to unfold while Mt. Vesuvius erupts, raining down fire and ash and death on everything around it, including the ancient city of Pompeii, Italy.

The movie, which is titled Pompeii, has found its first star. It’s being reported that Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, who plays the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark on the hit HBO series, Jon Snow, has entered into negotiations for the male lead.