Hugh Dancy (Hannibal) is set for a multi-episode arc opposite Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin on the eighth and final season of Showtime’s Homeland.

Dancy will recur as John Zabel, a savvy Washington consultant who joins the White House as a foreign-policy adviser to the president and a formidable opponent to Saul Berenson (Patinkin).

JoJo Whilden/Showtime

The final season finds Carrie Mathison (Danes) recovering from months of brutal confinement in a Russian gulag. Her body is healing, but her memory remains fractured – which is a problem for Saul, who now is National Security Advisor to the newly ascendant President Warner (Beau Bridges). The top priority of Warner’s young administration is an end to the “forever war” in Afghanistan, and Saul has been dispatched to engage the Taliban in peace negotiations. But Kabul teems with warlords and mercenaries, zealots and spies, and Saul needs the relationships and expertise that only his protégé can provide. Against medical advice, Saul asks Carrie to walk with him into the lion’s den – one last time.

The role marks a return to Showtime for Dancy following his recurring role on The Big C. He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his role as Earl of Essex in Elizabeth I and recently starred in The Path and Hannibal, earning two Critics’ Choice Television Award Best Actor nominations for the latter. Dancy’s other television credits include Daniel Deronda, David Copperfield and Madame Bovary. On the big screen, he will appear later this year Late Night with Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson.

Produced by Fox 21 Television Studios for Showtime, Homeland was developed for American television by Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon and is based on the original Israeli series Prisoners of War by Gideon Raff. Along with Gansa and Gordon, executive producers for season eight include Chip Johannessen, Deb Cahn, Lesli Linka Glatter, Patrick Harbinson, Danes, Michael Klick, Gideon Raff, Avi Nir and Ran Telem.