Season 2 of the epic fantasy TV show “Game of Thrones” returns to HBO on Sunday. The hit series is based on a sprawling best-selling book series by the author George R.R. Martin and involves an invented world, insider jargon, warring kingdoms, family trees, and a map. AndPeter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister, promises to play an even more prominent part in its sophomore year.

He’s a standout in “Game of Thrones.” The role, for which the handsome 4-foot-5-inch actor won a Golden Globe and an Emmy, will be major this season. His part is complex and what the New York Times calls “the closest thing to a hero.” In Season 2, Dinklage heads to King’s Landing to replace Sean Bean’s character as “hand to the king” — to advise the cruel King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), who had Bean’s character, Lord Eddard Stark, killed for treason.     [Read More...]