It’s a very exciting time to be a ‘Game of Thrones’ fan. After the first official trailer hit the web last week and was played over 13 million times so far and many of the stars are out and about for various award season activities talking about what’s to come in the HBO fantasy drama’s upcoming fourth season. Winter Is Coming has assembled quite the collection of quotes from various places to let us know some of the things that we can come to expect for a number of different characters in the show when it returns in April.

First, there are big things happening for the Khalessi and her crew as Emilia Clarke said that things for Daenerys Targaryen are really “kicking off” in the new season. Now that she’s more confident and her dragons have gotten considerably larger since the last time we saw them, there are big things in store for one of the most popular characters on the show. Plus, there bound to be “a little something something” with Daario Naharis, who will now be played by Michiel Huisman.

Speaking of the Mother of Dragons, her translator/handmaiden/friend Missandei is “growing into her role” as well according to Nathalie Emmanuel. The actress said that we’d be able to “see the human side” of her character as things in season four “continue to surprise and shock.”

One of the newest additions to the cast is Pedro Pascal, who appeared on the red carpet at the SAG Awards to support his fellow cast members who were nominated for season three of the show based on George R.R. Martin’s popular book series. In between expressing how much of a fan he was of the show even before he landed the job, he talked about his character Oberyn Martell, the prince from Dorne known as the Red Viper:

At the Sundance Film Festival, Big Boi of OutKast threw a party to honor ‘Game of Thrones’ and Hannah Murray was on hand to talk about Gilly and how we’ll be finding her after she ran off with Sam to Castle Black:

“It’s really interesting to see her in a different environment. We’ve only really seen her…at Craster’s and on the run and when we pick her up in series 4 she’s actually kind of happy and relaxed almost for the first time, which was really interesting for me to play- that character not suffering or running away from anger. It was just interesting to see kind of, a more domestic, peaceful environment. Obviously it doesn’t necessarily last very long. She’s finding her strength, working out what she wants, and really standing up for herself as well so that was great.”

Finally, the remaining Stark children weigh in on where they are when the events of the fourth season kick off. Starting with Ned Stark’s bastard, Jon Snow actor Kit Harington shares that his character has a big season ahead of him as he becomes a leader:

Also, even though that some may accuse him of knowing nothing, Harington hopes that the audience will see that Snow knows that the decision to leave behind Ygritte wasn’t an easy one to make:

“He fell in love last season and had to betray the woman he loved. This season she’s constantly on his mind and you’ll see that hopefully. He’s not one to go and talk about his emotions or women or what he felt so he doesn’t, but hopefully you’ll see that he didn’t take it lightly. It’s not easy for him.”

As for the three younger members of the family, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, and Isaac Hempstead-Wright offered up small glimpses of where Sansa, Arya, and Bran Stark will all be come this spring:

That’s a whole lot to take in, but we definitely got some interesting insight on what to expect in the new season of ‘Game of Thrones’. What storylines are you most excited to see unfold? Which characters are you looking forward to catching up with? Let us know in the comment section.

‘Game of Thrones’ returns to HBO on Sunday, April 6, 2014 at 9:00pm.