Max von Sydow joins 'Game of Thrones'

Game of Thrones is adding another legendary actor to its sprawling cast.

Max von Sydow, whose prolific career spans a number of lauded films from The Exorcist to Minority Report to this year's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, will be joining in season six, the show announced on its official Facebook page.

Sydow will be taking over the role of the Three-Eyed Raven, who we met briefly in the show's season four finale (played at the time by a different actor). Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) met the mystical character in the episode and neither character was present in the show's fifth season. Fans expect the Three-Eyed Raven to play a role in training Bran as he masters more of the mystical powers he's been displaying since season one.

At the Television Critics Association summer press tour last week, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said that the show could run for eight seasons, contrary to statements showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had said in the past. Lombardo also confirmed that fan favorite character Jon Snow, played by Kit Harington, is indeed dead after being attacked in the season five finale, despite the many fan theories to the opposite.

Game of Thrones is expected to premiere its sixth season in the spring of 2016.