text: It is the show with an ever rising death count, where not even the most powerful man in the kingdom is safe on the toilet. Yet, for its female characters, Game of Thrones has some of the most powerful roles for actresses on television. The HBO drama, which is based on George RR Martin's fantasy novels, is about to begin its fifth series, which has seen many of the female characters take leading roles - mainly because the men have died in increasingly tragic circumstances. Scroll down for video . Emilia Clarke, left, who plays Daenerys Targaryen believes Game of Thrones has great female characters . Lena Headey, left, has hinted that scheming Cersei Lannister may survive the ten episodes of season five . Arya Stark (played by Maisie Williams) grows from feisty tomboy to child assassin and nomad . Emilia Clarke, who plays Daenerys Targaryen is set to bring her army, replete with dragons, to Westeros for the final showdown. She said: 'You start to see all of the women in the show accepting who they are and embodying that with such power that it's palpable. 'I think that's the beauty of the show: as women, we accept our femininity and take strength from it, as opposed to trying to hide it and behave in a masculine way.' As series five begins, other female characters are battling for survival - and vengeance. Arya Stark is an assassin and a nomad, her older sister Sansa is forced to rely on her feminine wiles and sinister queen Cersei Lannister clings  to power in King's Landing. The sorceress Melisandre has control over another claimant to the throne, Stannis Baratheon, and is bringing her magic to The Wall, where Jon Snow struggles against incipient rebellion among the Night's Watch. Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) must rely on her feminine wiles to survive, while Tyrion Lannister is a renegade, fleeing from his family who want to kill him for slaughtering his father Tywin while he was on the loo . Despite the massive death count, Kit Harington, pictured, who plays Jon Snow has survived into series five . The beheading of Ned Stark, played by Sean Bean, was the most shocking death of the first series and a signal to fans that none of their heroes were safe . Charles Dance put in a terrifying performance as the stern patriarch Tywin Lannister who meets his end on the loo, shot by his son Tyrion with a crossbow . After four seasons of torture and explicit sex scenes the show has been criticised for the levels of sexual violence, yet it is the male characters who tend to meet an unfortunate end. Tywin Lannister, played by Charles Dance was shot on the toilet by his son, while Ned Stark, played by Sean Bean, was beheaded. No family escapes the slaughter with Tywin's grandson, the young King Joffrey killed by poisoned wine at his wedding. And his son-in-law King Robert Baratheon dies after being mauled by a wild boar. A key death that helps set Daenerys on her path to female warlord, liberator and fearsome 'Mother of Dragons', is that of her manipulative brother Viserys, who is killed by having molten gold poured over his head. King Joffrey (left), played by Jack Gleeson, is poisoned during his wedding to Margaery Tyrell; Daenaerys's brother Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd),  is killed by having molten gold poured over his head . Khal Drogo, played by Jason Momoa, becomes ill from an infected wound and then the black magic his wife Daenerys employs to save him reduces him to a vegetative state, so she smothers him and burns his body . Daenerys's husband, the tribal leader Khal Drogo, then dies after a wise woman uses black magic to reduce him to a vegetative state - and his wife smothers him and burns his body. Despite the succession of ever more imaginative and shocking demises, Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark - the feisty child warrior who has yet to learn of her brother Robb's killing at the massacre dubbed the Red Wedding - has promised even bigger shocks in the new episodes. 'When I say, "There's a massive change in Game of Thrones", I think it's the first time I've actually meant it! People are going to think, "You go through a change every year!" Yet, according to the 17-year-old, viewers better brace themselves when the new series starts on Sky Atlantic in the UK. She said: 'But this year it's on a completely different level, and that's why it's so exciting. It sounds so broad, but actually "change" is really, really specific.' Richard Madden's Robb Stark (left), meets a grisly end during his own nuptials in a massacre dubbed the Red Wedding; Oberyn Martell, nicknamed The Viper (played by Pedro Pascal), is killed during a fight with man-mountain Gregor Clegane . The death of King Robert Baratheon, played by Mark Addy (left) kicks off the entire series, after he's mauled by a wild boar after his wife Cersei plied him with wine before a hunt; his brother Renly Baratheon, Gethin Anthony, (right) is assassinated by a shadow summoned by his own brother's sorceress adviser Melisandre . The fifth series also sees the introduction of three new female characters, known as the Sand Snakes. Part of a brood of eight illegitimate daughters of Prince Oberyn Martell, who is killed in a brutal fight with Gregor 'The Mountain' Clegane in Westeros at the end of season four, the women (Obara, Nymeria and Tyene), who are all trained in combat, seek revenge for the brutal death of their father. Meanwhile, Lena Headey, who plays the scheming Cersei Lannister, told the Radio Times that her character may survive the entire ten episodes of series five. One of the few left alive from  her family, with her father, husband and eldest son dead, and her twin brother (and former lover) roaming the land as a one-armed fighter, the former queen is fighting to remain in power. She told the magazine: 'Cersei's a woman born in the wrong time, to a terrible father, and raising her kids.' But she warns that the arch-manipulator is about to learn some 'really severe lessons'. Let the games begin.
target: Emilia Clarke who plays Daenerys Targaryen will be central to series five .
  Female characters seem to outlive their male counterparts on the show .
  Last season saw several of the main male characters murdered horribly .
  Despite the carnage, Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow is in series five .