Game of Thrones prequel casting rumors: Twin sisters on the way?

Families have played a big part on Game of Thrones for seven seasons running, and it seems the upcoming prequel series might be the same way.

For all that the members of the houses of Game of Thrones don’t always like each other, there’s a tendency to go back to them when things go down — with some exceptions, of course, particularly among the Lannisters. In fact, most of Sansa and Arya’s reconciliation in recent seasons comes down to growing up and recognizing that though they don’t have each other’s skills, they are still part of the same pack as two of the last Starks.

We bring Sansa and Arya up specifically because of the latest Game of Thrones prequel series rumors, via both Watchers on the Wall and our sister site, Winter is Coming. Those rumors state that the prequel pilot on its way wants to add twin sisters to its cast. Both sites made the usual jokes about Game of Thrones‘ track record with twins, but it’s particularly noticeable that this isn’t a set of mixed-gender twins.

It’s unclear as of yet if these are major roles, per Watchers, but the fact that casting call asks for actual twin actresses suggests that it could be a good-sized role. After all, it’s easier to pass Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Lena Headey off as twins because they’re meant to be brother and sister; it’s much more difficult to cast two separate actors to play twins of the same gender and have that be believable on screen if we’re going to see them relatively frequently.

But beyond that, this is a pretty good indicator that women should have strong roles in the series, should it become an actual series. Not only was Naomi Watts the first cast member announced, but these twins are meant to be in their 20s, according to Watchers. That’s two different age ranges — and pointedly, there’s no specific ethnicity in the casting call for the sisters, which means there could be more diversity there as well.

Although Watchers semi-seriously asks for “a wholesome twin relationship,” we’d actually like there to be some tension. No one gets along with anyone else all the time, and twins don’t seem like they’d be that big of an exception. We’re just hoping that the sisters have better portrayals than the Sand Snakes ever did. Maybe with there only being two, there can actually be some thought put into them.

What do you make of these sisters? Any bets on who they could be?