When "Game of Thrones" Season 3 premieres on March 31, it will be more: more intense, more action-packed, more emotional, more fire, and more ice.
"Once the season kicks into gear, we've already seen stuff that makes me think it will be the best one yet," co-showrunner David Benioff says in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly. "And it ought to be."
Season 3 is based on the first half of George R.R. Martin's third novel, "A Storm of Swords," and fans can expect "major massive events happening like I don't think we've ever had before," promises co-showrunner Dan Weiss.
[Related: Check Out the 'Game of Thrones' Season 3 Character Posters]
The magazine's cover reflects the theme of fire and ice, pairing Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) with Jon Snow (Kit Harington). The two characters will figure prominently in the upcoming season's storylines.
When last we saw them, Jon had killed a fellow Night's Watch rider in order to gain the trust of Ygritte (Rose Leslie) and her fellow wildlings. In Season 3, he'll journey with them to the camp of Mance Rayder (Ciaran Hinds), who is called "The King Beyond the Wall."
Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys rescued her baby dragons from the House of the Undying in Qarth. Now, she must raise an army and find ships to take her to Westeros, where she hopes to reclaim the throne for House Targaryen.
[Related: The Hold Steady Releasing 'Game of Thrones' Season 3 Song]
It won't be an easy task, with the realm already riven by civil war among the Lannisters, the Starks, and the Baratheons. Backstabbing and political intrigue rise to new levels, but a more sinister threat, a host of White Walkers, is approaching the Wall -- and threatening to destroy everything and everyone.
Watch the extended trailer below and pick up a copy of EW on stands Friday, March 15.
"Game of Thrones" returns Sunday, 3/31 at 9 PM on HBO.
