Summers span decades. Winters can last a lifetime. And the struggle for the Iron Throne continues.

It stretches from the south, where heat breeds plots, lusts and intrigues, to the vast and savage eastern lands, where a young queen raises an army. All the while, in the frozen north, an 800-foot wall of ice precariously protects the war-ravaged kingdom from the dark forces that lie beyond. Kings and queens, knights and renegades, liars, lords and honest men…all play the ‘Game of Thrones.’

An original series based on George R.R. Martin’s best-selling ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series.

Stars: Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Aidan Gillen (Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish), Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna Tyrell), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark).

Additional returning series regulars this season: Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Conleth Hill (Varys), Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis), Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Snow), Carice van Houten (Melisandre) and Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand).

New cast this season includes: Jonathan Pryce (the High Sparrow), Alexander Siddig (Doran Martell), DeObia Oparei (Areo Hotah), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Obara Sand), Rosabell Laurenti Sellers (Tyene Sand), Jessica Henwick (Nym Sand), Nell Tiger Free (Myrcella Baratheon) and Toby Sebastian (Trystane Martell).

Series creators: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Season 5 is based on George R.R. Martin’s fourth and fifth books, “A Feast for Crows” and “A Dance with Dragons.”

‘Game of Thrones’ Season 5 airs on Sunday, April 12th at 9PM ET on HBO.