Casting/News

Another young actor is cast for Game of Thrones season 6

Posted on by Sue the Fury

Game of Thrones has added another young actor to its season 6 roster. According to a Facebook posting by the Belfast School of Performing Arts, their student Michael Nevin has “gained a substantial role” on the show.

Universal Youth Agency, who represents Nevin, also posted about his casting, confirming that he “will be shooting for two weeks on Game of Thrones.”

Nevin facebook

It’s not known at this time what part the young actor has on Game of Thrones. While there were casting breakdowns for boys earlier this year, the flashback scenes involving those characters were filmed in August.

With Game of Thrones moving mostly beyond the books in season 6, it’s wide open who this boy could be playing. With two weeks of filming, he could be in more than one episode, or it could be one episode with a few scenes. It all depends on the filming schedule and the type of scenes being shot at the time he’s working.

Thanks to WotW reader Matthew for the heads-up!

,
Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

266 Comments

  6. I’m going with Young Benjen.

    EDIT: Oh silly me! really need to read the entire article before posting!!

    Don’t really know then, could be anyone really.

  7. He really looks like a young Benjen, but maybe not if that’s already been filmed. Maybe a young member of the outlaws, in an Edric Dayne-ish role, since Riverrun is filming soon? Or probably just someone invented for the show.

  18. Unless it’s some *other* flashback scene. But the Stark flashback scene with the older generation did film already, I’ve heard.

  19. Selina,

    He looks significantly younger than Bran in S4. Even if we didn’t know that Isaac is back he wouldn’t be eligible to support a hypothetical recast…

  24. Mihnea,

    It seems that a Stark recast is highly improbable and this maybe was a decision that had be taken on at an early stage. Considering of course life’s circumstances. This is possibly why the casting work for the Stark clan was of exceptional quality.

  31. Selina,

    Proof for this? As far as I know there has been a consistency in that matter. In fact they have aged characters more often than the opposite (Thommen, Myrcella). The only exception is Baby Sam which is an entity of its own so far…

  35. dothrakian raven,

    It was I was saying. They do not care much for choosing an actor who would be the right age for the role, taking liberties as the case of the recast of Myrcella and Tommen.

  38. Gudvon,

    Yes but much elder than Myrcella in S2. The character didn’t age downwards. So to infer that this new cast who is a boy in the same age as Bran in S1 can be an Isaac recast could never be possible…

  43. dothrakian raven,

    Well even if Aimee Richardson were to came back,she still would have looked older. Have you seen her recently ? She looks much older than she looked when she last appeared in season 2 . I mean i get that they look different because well….they are different people,but in terms of age they are matching .

  44. Gee, it’s not possible that, like, you know, this is some character that we’ll first meet in Winter, is it?

    Selina: They do not care much for choosing an actor who would be the right age for the role, taking liberties as the case of the recast of Myrcella and Tommen.

    Um, shouldn’t Myrcella have been that age by now? Remember, they are not pretending that only a few months have elapsed over the show’s history (no matter how hard some people try to see this). They could not possible ignore the maturing of the Stark kids. Also, although people shout “jet pack!”, all of those distances are supposed to communicate long periods of time. And every time they reference time, they make it clear that years have elapsed on this show (despite the “they might just be saying that.”) The only screwup they have made so far is failing to age Gilly’s son. (And that is so weird: usually TV shows go from infant -> 5 over one season.)

  45. That kid is the spitting image of Bran but clearly can’t be a re-cast of him. Possibly Robert Arryn re-casting?

  46. Possible ideas…I haven’t seen anyone suggest this but…

    Maybe be Michael Nevin could be Edmure Tully in a flashback? I know we are getting flashbacks but may be Bran will see that fateful duel between Brandon Stark and Petry Baelish? So MN could be little Edmure acting as squire to Brandon?

    HBO has been lenient for characters’ original book description because in the book the Tullys are said to have “auburn hair” (i.e. reddish brown) Even show!Edmure has dark-brown hair http://assets.viewers-guide.hbo.com/larges3-ep1-people-profilepic-tully-edmure-800×800.jpg

    However, I’m leaning more on the possibility that MN may be young Benjen.

  49. Apollo,

    What would be the point when they brought that kid back 2 seasons in a row now(season4,5) unless it’s a major issue with the actor,but if it was it would have been reported . I know some people have this weird notion that they are recasting people for no reason,but it’s clear that every recast so far has been some behind the scenes problems that they can’t talk about but that doesn’t mean they are going to recast people left and right just because they can .

  50. Gudvon,

    So you agree with me. They wouldn’t recast a character (and especially a child character) with an actor/actress significantly younger than the one who played the character last time in GOT.

  52. Yeah, he definitely has a Stark look about him, Benjin in particular. That was my first thought when I saw him. I also kinda thought for a second that maybe he could be a young Jon in a Bran vision or flashback, but that’s unlikely.

  53. Pigeon:
    I have no idea who this kid is, or what role he’s playing, but I already don’t want him to die.

    He really reminds me of Bran, so even looking like a Stark means he’s sadly probably doomed, or at the very least will have a REALLY bad time 🙁

  56. Thank you Sue for the latest casting news.

    Congratulations to Michael Nevin. How exciting it must be for him to be on the world’s biggest TV show.

    Two weeks of shooting is significant. Given Michael is from the Belfast area, my guess is he might be involved in either the North or Riverlands storyline.

  59. WAIT. Wait. Hold up. Wasn’t there something somewhere about the origins of Hodor? Help me out here, Sue.

  64. Flashback to a younger Bran, six months ago, obviously. He grows three inches a day on the blood of Jojen.

  69. cute kid.. and how cool for him to get a big break like this!

    IMO much too young for Stark kid recast (the others have aged too much for us to still have a “baby” Rickon) but maybe Rickon’s friend ? or page/squire (or hostage for some lords good behavior) in Riverlands storyline?

  74. Hmmm, how about Rickon? I thought the original actor was working on something else and was not available. But I could be wrong.

  75. children are only allowed to shoot 5hours a day, so two weeks of shooting for a kid can only be for one or two episodes at the most.

    By the way he looks like he could play LF as a child

  78. Sue the Fury,

    yep I know it was the wrap party for the battle. Should have phrased it better.

    But now we see that Davos stays by Jon’s side. Survives until ep 9 at least and doesn’t go looking for Rickon (unless he does and shows up with him for the battle) or whatever.

  79. Pigeon,
    Probably not. I seem to remember something about Art Parkinson (Rickon) not having seen any of the show at all until very recently.

    On a train of thought side-note, does anyone know if any countries show cut versions? In the Day in the Life documentary it said something like GoT is shown in 170 countries, I can’t believe there are that many who would show the whole thing as it is, unless it was perhaps on encrypted channels only and not available as general viewing? Just did a quick Google and there are versions where individuals have edited out sex and bad language but apparently left the violence intact. And personally I fast forwarded Shireen’s most recent scene on x30 so as far as I’m concerned the last time we saw her she was chatting to dad and we haven’t seen her since and SHE IS FINE, NOTHING HAPPENED, LA LA LA CAN’T HEAR YOU! 😀

  81. phantomstrife,

    Liam talked about his future. Someone will have to earn his trust and it looks we know who it will be. It seems logical for him to follow Jon. Stannis liked Jon and believed in him. His resurrection or whatever will happen might be another reason to follow. He might even believe in magic.

  82. Not a Stark recast. Not Benjen because that must be shot already. The kid looks a bit like Aidan Gillen, but there is enough bookmaterial set in Riverrun to shoot that a flashback is unnecessary.
    Young Renly from Brienne’s memory was much older. Too small to be young Sam Tarly. Too big to be Gilly’s son.
    I hope they don’t give an Olly flashback, unless it is to show someone time travel to kill the pest before he ever met Jon.
    Too pale to be in Dany storyline. My bet is some random Riverlands kid who gets tortured by the outlaw band.

  83. It could be Jaime’s squire, or some hostage but we know riverrland’s story will be only 2-3 episodes (7,8,10) for both Arya and Jaime (9 is the 6 armies battle) , i don’t thnk we will get more than one story there, siege of riverrun and Jaime captured by BWB and that’s it….

    But what if they re-cast Robin Arryn? We don’t have news about Sansa…maybe back to Vale?

  84. aabe,

    Ah. Some people..

    Tywin of the Hill,

    We already know Bronn, is going with Jaime so I see little point in a squire. And even if there will be a squire, he certainly wouldn’t be filming for 2 weaks or described as a ”substantial role”.

  85. maggie,

    Sansa will not go back, not when all the Vale is coming North to her. It’s clear they moved the entire Vale plot into the North.

    And even if it is the siege from AFFC ( I’m still not 100% sure here.) I’m cerain we will see more of the aftermath, then what we saw in the books.

  86. spacechampion:
    Flashback to a younger Bran, six months ago, obviously.He grows three inches a day on the blood of Jojen.

    Agreed that he *could* be Bran in a flashback. Who wouldn’t watch themselves if they suddenly gained the ability to see the past?

    But, yeah, odds are this is a new character we just can’t predict.

  88. Judibatt:
    Finallyy! Gilly’s baby ages appropriately with the time-frame of the story.

    Oh Judi you are a caution – I did laugh at least inwardly when I read your comment though. I wonder if one of the sundry Northern Lords this coming season has a son?

  92. I’m not sure why so many people are suggesting a Rickon recast. Several people have pointed out the actor who plays Rickon was seen in Belfast with other cast members, and Sue even posted a link to the old article about it. Had he not been seen, I could understand the possibility, but since he has, I don’t. As for him being a young Benjen, that was my first thought when I saw his picture, too, but it appears the scene(s) in which young Benjen will appear have already been shot. It’s quite likely he’ll be playing a character we have yet to meet, because that character is introduced in TWOW. It’s inevitable we will meet at least a few characters with whom we are not familiar, since TWOW has not been published, yet. Yes, he could also be playing a show-only character. None of us will know until TWOW is published.

  95. Two weeks seems a bit too long to film a flashback. It’d be one scene. ToJ’s filming in Spain took only 3/4 days.

  98. Hodor’s Bastard: I do hope that there is a better CotF treatment in S6. Less fireballs, more insight.

    I never understood the uproar about the fireballs, and having just reread that scene in the books, I understand it even less. I’m not expecting anyone who disliked it to change their minds about it, I just…I just don’t get the big problem.

  99. Sue the Fury:
    Unless it’s some *other* flashback scene. But the Stark flashback scene with the older generation did film already, I’ve heard.

    Well, I know everyone was absolutely certain that was the scene (and to be honest, it was pretty damn obvious), but it is only now that you truly confirm it that I fully believe there will be a Stark-flashback scene ! 😉

  100. Nymeria Warrior Queen: I’m not expecting anyone who disliked it to change their minds about it, I just…I just don’t get the big problem.

    I wasn’t really complaining…but the CotF have so much more to offer. I’m sure we’ll get some interesting, if not disturbing, insight from them this season.

  102. I was much more disturbed by the too grounded and down to earth visual of the CotF than by the fireballs…

    I hope they’ll fix that as well in season 6… I know the show tries to downplay the most fantasy aspect of it all, but really, I think the CotF could do with some more imaginative and eerie look (the way I picture them would requite enhanced CGI but that may be too complex and expensive if they are supposed to have substantial appearances this season).

  106. Daemon Blackfyre,

    I started thinking along those lines after reading Sue’s comment that it wouldn’t be a flashback (as the Stark flashback has already been filmed), unless it was some “*other*” flashback scene. Are those asterisks around “other” a hidden clue?

    (I’m not sure I’ll still be mentally competent in April, 2016).

  108. Maybe a fake Rickon? Perhaps the Boltons, in the wake of losing Sansa, might claim to have Rickon to try garner support among the northern houses.. only to have the Umbers foil the plot as they have the real deal.

  109. Wasn’t Gendry

    holed up at the Inn at the Crossroads with a bunch of orphaned kids in AFFC?

    Probably just my wishful thinking though, I really want to see Gendry return haha. In any case, this kid being part of the action in the Riverlands somehow sounds like a pretty good guess to me.

  111. phantomstrife,

    I should think that Rickon will be found before episode 9, seeing as the Umbers are at the battle, so I would not say that Cunningham’s presence tells much about what Davos will be doing for most of the season.

    maggie,

    The kid who plays Robin was in Belfast back in July.

  112. Nymeria Warrior Queen: I’m not expecting anyone who disliked it to change their minds about it, I just…I just don’t get the big problem.

    Fantasy tropes at their worst are to blame. “It is known” that undead rapidly burst into flame with just a little fire. At least it is to genre fans. However, what everyone else knows is that cold wet things do not burn. It’s actually really tough to burn a corpse under good conditions: but a frozen one would be nigh-un-impossible to burn without a really strong accelerant. (Dousing the wight with the oil lamp in season 1 really would not be enough: but, hey, TV.)

    Now, Joe and Jane HBO-Viewer probably do not know that zombies are supposed to be more combustible than rock-drummers. However, they do know that if you are camping in winter, then putting a waterlogged piece of wood on a fire is a really good way to freeze to death.

    Hodor’s Bastard: I do hope that there is a better CotF treatment in S6. Less fireballs, more insight.

    Well, in the brief time we saw one of the Children, fireballs were needed a lot more urgently than was insight!

    (Of course, it would have been funny to see one rush a wight, slam a torch into it’s chest and… watch the torch fizzle out at any torch would when shoved into a cold water-logged anything. “But it always works in the stories….” could have been the last words….)

    All of that stated, I don’t think that too much insight from the Children will work on screen. We might get a bit in the books: but the TV series has to find a way to show us that information. Excess dialog rapidly becomes, well, excessive.

    Geralt of Rivia,
    eh, I would not say that Stannis “liked” Jon: that’s a bit too human for Stannis. He saw the use of Jon, that is for certain: but that is also a different statement.

    Davos, on the other hand, had a couple of important scenes with Jon last year. Not the least of these was the one where he argued that the NW vows argued in favor of Jon helping to fight the Boltons because the Boltons surely qualified as the enemy of men. (Good lawyering there!) And, of course, if you accept that Stannis is the true king, then the Boltons are not part of the realms politics, but instead enemies of the realm: and thus there should be no issues with the NW attacking them.

  113. Nymeria Warrior Queen: development of the CoF

    Since the show may include more than Bran’s PoV, I’m fascinated about the actual relationship between the CotF and BR. Who serves whom? Did the CotF give BR access to the weirnet? Is BR their “ambassador”, “human conduit” or “prisoner”? Are the CotF actually pulling many of the strings/spells behind the wall and northern history? What is their relationship to the old gods, giants and WWs (and Starks)? Just fun stuff to ponder before TWoW, and another potential spoiler included in S6.

  115. phantomstrife:
    Sue the Fury,

    yep I know it was the wrap party for the battle. Should have phrased it better.

    Looks like Carice Van Houten wasn’t at the wrap party. I really doubt Melisandre will survive that far into season 6.

  117. K Noelle,

    She could simply not be there at the fighting, Or Carice simply didn’t had the time/was in the mood for a party.

    Also I fully expect Mell too live this season, after all she has to meat Arya, and walk the walls of WF.

  118. Mihnea:
    K Noelle,

    She could simply not be there at the fighting, Or Carice simply didn’t had the time/was in the mood for a party.

    Also I fully expect Mell too live this season, after all she has to meat Arya, and walk the walls of WF.

    Mel probably gives Jon a kiss of life, sacrificing her own life for his, and therefor part of her spirit gets transferred into his body. When she has a vision of walking the battlements of WF and meeting Arya again, she’s seeing it through Jon’s eyes. Just my pet theory. I like to think it’s true because I really want Jon and Arya to meet again.

  119. Wimsey: Well, in the brief time we saw one of the Children, fireballs were needed a lot more urgently than was insight!

    Yes, and I realize that my fireball throwing criticism is/was silly and trite. However, as a student of spellcasting throughout the ages, I found the child-like “over-the-shoulder” pitch with which the CotF (indeed played by a child) hurled the fireball to be unacceptable. A fluid, directed movement of the arm from the gut outward would have been so much more convincing. 🙂

    (Minhea, I’m having a bit of fun!)

  123. Wimsey,

    Huh? I really have no idea what you’re talking about. I seriously doubt anyone was sitting there thinking, “well, cold, wet things are very difficult to ignite.” The issue people seemed to have was not that the wights were set on fire (given the same thing happened in the books) but the use of the fireballs to do so. I remember some thinking they looked cheap, some saying it reminded them of some movie, and some just not liking the use of fireballs…they seem to have wanted the wights to catch fire a different way.

  125. As others have pointed out, shooting for two weeks sounds like a more substantial role than that of a background character.

    Since we are moving past ADWD in S6, this could be a new book character (in TWOW) or a show only character. Either way, where/when he is filming will likely give clues as to his possible identity or purpose.

    I think that he may be connected to the story line in the Riverlands. With Bronn around, Jaime may or not need a squire but it shouldn’t be dismissed as a possibility. Or, this young man could be part of the “outlaw group” that we keep hearing about.

  126. Nymeria Warrior Queen:
    I’m not sure why so many people are suggesting a Rickon recast.Several people have pointed out the actor who plays Rickon was seen in Belfast with other cast members, and Sue even posted a link to the old article about it.Had he not been seen, I could understand the possibility, but since he has, I don’t.As for him being a young Benjen, that was my first thought when I saw his picture, too, but it appears the scene(s) in which young Benjen will appear have already been shot.It’s quite likely he’ll be playing a character we have yet to meet, because that character is introduced in TWOW.It’s inevitable we will meet at least a few characters with whom we are not familiar, since TWOW has not been published, yet.Yes, he could also be playing a show-only character.None of us will know until TWOW is published.

    Rickon recast seemed unlikely to me as well but I think it is possible that the original actor was not found good enough or too old looking and has now been replaced. However it seems that they would have made certain he was good for the role before filming begun. It is just that this actor looks similar to Rickon and young Bran in my opinion. Bun Benjen might be more likely and the filming is just do long because of child labor laws and some scheduling issues.

  127. Hodor’s Bastard,
    I, too, would welcome more CoF details, but acknowledge that that may not translate well. C’mon George! Get ‘r done!
    I’m intrigued by the possibility that this young boy could lead us back to Gendry at the Inn. His rowing needs to come to some satisfactory conclusion soon!
    So excited for this young boy! How awesome would that be? 🙂

  129. Pigeon:
    I have no idea who this kid is, or what role he’s playing, but I already don’t want him to die.

    Aw I feel the same! He looks like a sweetheart.

    phantomstrife,

    Hey, nice catch! I feel strangely comforted to know that

    Davos is alive and on team Jon up to ep 9.

  130. Lulus Mum,

    Yes they showed a cut version on german free tv, but it was minimal like cutting away when someone gets beheaded and the sex scenes almost stayed the same. German tv is way more easy going about nudity and sex then american.

  131. Wimsey,

    I get what you’re saying as far as things not catching fire instantly in real life. But as for the wight catching instantly, there also aren’t any real-life creatures that shatter into bits of ice when killed, and for that matter ice doesn’t shatter like safety glass. It just seems the interaction of fire and ice magics doesn’t follow our physical laws.

    The fireball wasn’t the worst thing. You’re right that it was better to just nuke Jojen’s corpse than have it light on fire instantly from a torch touch, as that would be pretty cheesy. But the fireball was still a little cheesy. Good to keep the narrative flowing, but probably not something to be logicked out.

  132. Wimsey,

    Stannis in fact showed signs of his human side while on the Wall. One beautiful scene with Shireen and interactions with Jon throughout the episodes. He’s not that kind of guy to admit it or plainly saying it to Jon. But he did liked and somehow respected him even though he needed him at that time. Tyrion, Jeor, Stannis, Davos, Mance, Tormund and so on. All of them liked him to certain extent and someone even said it. Jon is kinda of a guy that can impress strong people. That might work with his meeting with Daeny. At least that’s my perspective on that.

    Even Selyse noticed that he holds him highly while practicising with new recruits, but he will never admit that. Both puts duty over everything, they grew up as being the second. Jon with Robb and Stannis with Robert. They do share similarities.

    When we look back at those scenes. Plenty of foreshadowing for future. If Mel survives his resurrection or whatever that would be. I can see Davos making sure that Jon is not like Stannis or in other words not easily manipulated by Mel and her visions. Stannis trusted her visions for years and it lead him to disaster.

    Sean C.,

    I think it’s clear. Since Sansa is unlikely to made it to Castle Black. Davos has no reason to go and find Rickon on his own just like that. He will stay where he is. There is a reason why both of them are at Castle Black so that might be useful to Jon. Mel might die or not but I can think of them being his advisors for the time being.

  133. Hmm…that Instagram post linked by phantomstrife is interesting:

    “scarroll1988#GameOfThrones #Wrap #party from #Monday #Night! #Insane party…we thought it was only for #Starks then #everyone turned up. All the #actors for the scene and even the #Director turned up! #DAMN! ? #POTD #PicOfTheDay #Instagood #Beard #BeardGang #Me and fellow #Stark #Gang #GOT”

    “We thought it was only for Starks then everyone turned up” and “Me and fellow Stark gang” makes it sound as if there’s actually a Stark contingent as opposed to Stark supporters like the Umbers, unless team Stark is actually a gaggle made up of the different Stark-supporting factions.

  134. Squirrel,

    It never fails to fascinate me how many folks in the States can be so offended/scandalized/whatever by nudity and sex, yet seem to have little issue with brutal, graphic violence.

  136. Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    Probably because you can’t see a beheading on real life, but a rape or nudity yes.

    What about a flashforward? That was not still made…

    Lol about your crack answers: “Olly the 2nd”… “The Mountain”… It’s young Walder Frey, obviously!

  137. Pigeon:
    I have no idea who this kid is, or what role he’s playing, but I already don’t want him to die.

    That smells like a death warrant.

  139. Gayle:
    Extra Smalljon Umber? The Rickoning’s stalwart companion?

    It’s getting cold in the North…. Longjohns Umber?

  141. SlayerNina: Probably because you can’t see a beheading on real life, but a rape or nudity yes.

    Sadly, there are plenty of videos out there of recent beheadings. My statement had nothing to do with, nor did it mention rape. I was merely speaking of the cultural differences, as evidenced by the comment on what was shown and what was edited out on German television, between the States and many European countries. Nudity is not treated like a big deal in Europe (depictions of sex don’t seem to be, either). One can go to a pool or beach and see lots of topless women, and people there think nothing of it. I recall seeing a billboard in Paris (outside the Pompidou) of a topless woman. That would never, not in a million years, happen in the States. I understand the history of whence the differences come, but I still find it fascinating.

  142. I reckon this is a super young Bran. That just makes sense to me. If there’s going to be an emphasis on flashbacks this season, there should be a young Bran.

  143. Could he be playing Pate, aged down from the books? I don’t think we have any show-canon yet on what age boys can enter the Citadel for training. And so far I think we have only heard about one short Oldtown scene being shot, with Sam and a Maester.

  144. Firannion,

    Interesting possibility, but while I know things can certainly be changed from the books, I think it would change his character too much to age him down like that, as

    one of the defining characteristics of Pate, at least as I read it, was how he had been at the Citadel for 5 years, but had yet to have forged a single link of his Maesters chain.

  145. My first thought was Edric Dayne, but probably he will be just a random peasant kid like that farmer’s daughter in season 4.

  149. Maybe we’ll be checking back in with Craster’s sons? He does look a bit like Hannah Murray…

  150. Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    Yes, it has to do a lot with history, social and politics. In Spain, after Franco’s dictatorship (strong censorship on sexuality, specially on women, based on what Catholics said), there was a genre created for that (“el Destape” film movement). After that, there’s difficult to find a Spanish actress who didn’t a nude, is almost required. ¬¬

    What if this kid is just a random extra?

  151. Kilgore Tully: But as for the wight catching instantly, there also aren’t any real-life creatures that shatter into bits of ice when killed, and for that matter ice doesn’t shatter like safety glass.

    Frozen water-logged things are real. Lots of people camp, and one thing that everyone who does any camping in cool weather knows is that cold wet things don’t burn. Of course, bone does not burn well under any circumstances. If you want to burn a drained, room-temperature body, then you need a lot of heat. If you want to burn a frozen thing, then, well: good luck!

    And I would add that this is something that the people who watch this show know. The idea that corpses should easily burn is some sort of odd fantasy cliche. The excuse: “but this is a world with dragons…” does not cut it: yes, there are fantastic things here, but it seems that (in general) normal physical laws apply. So, unless they establish a good reason why they would not apply, the audience is going to assume that they will. (That’s why magic fireballs are good there: normal fire would not burn a wight, but magic fire is, well, magic.)

  152. It’s really unlikely, but Young Griff maybe? He probably is somebody we haven’t met in the books yet though.

  153. Rat Kook: If there’s going to be an emphasis on flashbacks this season, there should be a young Bran.

    Why? The flashbacks are going to be to important plot points from the past. Why would those involve Bran?

    What really makes the most sense is that it’s a character introduced in Winter. After all, Winter will introduce new characters. This casting does not seem to match any character of which we can think, as a casting for a Winter character might very well be.

  156. I really want him to be part of Bran’s storyline. So little news involving his story. I just hope that his screentime is not reduced as was in Season 4.

  159. Geralt of Rivia,

    Why is Sansa unlikely to make it to Castle Black? She has to go somewhere, and based on last season that would be her first destination.

    Regardless, I don’t know exactly how Rickon’s reintroduction is going to be handled, particularly with the only Umber we know of having such a small number of episodes; but regardless, if the Umbers are going to be at the battle, they’ll have to be brought onboard with Jon’s cause.

  160. phantomstrife:

    But now we see that Davos stays by Jon’s side. Survives until ep 9 at least and doesn’t go looking for Rickon (unless he does and shows up with him for the battle) or whatever.
    Davos will escort Jon to Last Hearth where the Prince will get new clothes.

    Geralt of Rivia: Liam talked about his future. Someone will have to earn his trust and it looks we know who it will be.

    Melly Sanders!

  164. JayQue,

    Theon didn’t have anybody like Wex at Winterfell in the show, and in any event, what purpose would that character serve? How would any of the main cast even meet him?

  165. Rygritte: jive skeletons!

    Ooooh! I’m dancin’ in my funky shoes! Where are the BeeGees and a dusky woman when you need them??!!

    JayQue:
    You, ser, need to be on GoT Jeopardy.

  166. Nymeria Warrior Queen:
    Firannion,

    Interesting possibility, but while I know things can certainly be changed from the books, I think it would change his character too much to age him down like that, as

    He could be a composite of Pate and some other generic Citadel students, and maybe just shown to be clumsy, inept, a daydreamer or otherwise not applying himself to his studies, without the full backstory. That would provide opportunities to interject a bit of Hogwartian humor into the early stages of a storyline that soon turns ominous when a Certain Someone shows up (and perhaps rounds out that Certain Someone’s character a bit toward the darker, more ruthless side, if they decide to relocate a fan-favorite actor).

    Hope I’m being vague enough here not to need spoiler coding!

  168. Selina,

    The idea that Nevin could be playing a Child of the Forest did cross my mind, so it’s possible! However, that wouldn’t be my first guess for where his character will appear. The one leaked casting call we’ve seen for such a character this year seemed to suggest they were looking for an older actress (18-22 years old, I believe) to take on that role. Octavia Alexandru did well during her lone appearance, but if the CoTF are going to be a bigger presence this season, they may be looking to cast more experienced actors in those roles.

    Like you, I’m eager to learn more about Bran’s storyline, but I’m not surprised that there’s been so little news about him. Most of Isaac’s scenes are likely being filmed in studio or on tightly guarded sets in Northern Ireland, so whatever leaks we get will likely be minimal.

    (The lone exception – Isaac and Max von Sydow were seen in Spain around the time that the Tower of Joy sequence was being filmed, and von Sydow was potentially spotted at Castillo de Zafra in one of the leaked videos).

    However, I expect Bran to have a fairly substantial role this year, in impact if not screentime. In addition to the flashbacks, Bran seems to be the most likely candidate to ties into our annual White Walker appearance, since he’s the only character who’s currently North of the Wall.

    (Despite some of the theories floating out there, I do not believe that the White Walkers will be breaking through the Wall in time to make a surprise entrance into the SnowBowl/Battle of the Bastards/Battle of Six Armies at the end of this season).

    In addition to shining a light on the grand mythology of the series, however, I’m hoping that Bran will get to have a few smaller-scale moments this year, particularly with Meera (since he’s going to see Howland Reed alongside his father in his visions). So far, I haven’t heard anything substantive about Ellie Kendrick returning to the show. I fully expect that she will be back, but while Wright and Nairn’s return has been confirmed by multiple outlets (including the actors themselves), there have been no definitive confirmation of Kendrick’s return – at least that I can remember.

  170. Will change my earlier prediction from him being ‘Fake Rickon’to him being ‘Fake Bran’. If the Umbers are parading around Rickon as the heir to Winterfell then it would make sense for the Boltons to claim they have Bran, and therefore the stronger claim.

  171. Pigeon,

    IIRC there was an post a while back with a picture of him celebrating his birthday, with the caption that he is now old enough to watch the show he was in!

  172. Sean C.,

    Ah, but Sansa was given two bits of information last year: Jon is at Castle Black, and Rickon & Bran are alive and well out there.

    Now, somebody is going to assume that Sansa went to Castle Black: but I doubt that Sansa will be going there herself! She might start that way: but I’m betting a little botanical divine intervention might steer her elsewhere.

    That written, I would not be surprised if the Book!Character searching for Rickon winds up there about the same time (as they certainly have set up alternative reasons for said character doing that from what he/she has in the books).

    Selina: So little news involving his story. I just hope that his screentime is not reduced as was in Season 4.

    Actually, Bran’s screen time was really inflated relative to what was really cinematic from the books. In part, that was because they accelerated things a bit and also because they turned a couple of “almost action” scenes and turned them into action scenes. (They also cut out some great cannibalism….)

    Although GRRM actually started these stories around Bran, Bran seems to have rapidly fallen to the wayside behind the other members of the “Big 5.” GRRM’s alteration of his original plotline probably improved Arya’s storyline substantially, butit does not seem to have done much for Bran’s. (“Are we there yet?” would be the running motif….)

    Firannion: He could be a composite of Pate and some other generic Citadel students, and maybe just shown to be clumsy, inept, a daydreamer or otherwise not applying himself to his studies, without the full backstory.

    But would any of that be necessary? I really doubt that we are going to see Sam in potions…..

  174. Wimsey,

    No one is questioning that damp, cold, or downright frozen things don’t burn easily. I agree the fireball was useful as far as quickly tying up the loose-end of Jojen’s corpse, and I agree that a torch would have been off-puttingly unrealistic with a fresh corpse. But I do think the story has established why Jon’s lantern or Mormont’s torch [in the season 3 opening scene] lit up wights instantly: they are powered by ice magic, and ice magic is particularly weak against fire. Hell, Pokemon established that this is super effective. It’s why the walkers are susceptible to “frozen fire” and “dragonsteel.”

    I thought the skeletal wights were the cheesiest part of the scene (though I do appreciate the logic that the walkers would have some really old wights stationed around the cave), but they definitely establish that wights aren’t moving according to physics, or even Walking Dead physics. If any scene in this show warrants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVgVB3qsySQ it’s this. Ideal? No. Hard to swallow? Also no.

    I’m not too keen on young Mr. Nevin being Wex. There would be no point. Both Jon and Sansa know that Theon didn’t kill Bran and Rickon, and besides that the only significant information Wex had was that Rickon and Osha set out for Skagos. I guess they could just give Davos a random squire and name him Wex?

  175. Jared,

    Yes, I’m not surprised with the lack of the news about him. I really expected that. But I want to see more about his story next season, we haven’t seen Bran for a long time. I miss him so much.

    While I’m happy with the

    flashbacks

    , I also want him to have his own storyline. I do not want to see Bran only as a support for other characters. He is the best character of the books (in my opinion) and my favorite in the show. He deserves more than he’s getting.

  176. HBO Asia gracefully censored nudity and too violent scenes. It got either blurred, shadowed, or minimally cutted. You won’t even feel that it actually censored until you see the original. Which is good for me so I can watch GoT with my dad and not cringe at it.

  177. Jared:

    the Tower of Joy sequence

    Well stated.

    I am almost more interested in how they depict the ToJ sequence (via weirnet, greensight, etc) rather than the what, unless there are more characters inside the ToJ than we suspect!

  178. Selina,

    I’m with you, Selina! I can’t think of another character in the books or show who has managed to maintain purity of soul (in the face of impressively horrible obstacles!) in the absolute way that Bran has. Of course, I am probably forgetting some unwise or un-empathetic act on his part. But, I am desperately hoping for a beautiful ‘happily ever after’ for him when it is all said and done!

  179. One of Davros kid’s or Robb’s Squire, the one that’s hiding in one of the castle’s Jaimie was refused from entering.

  180. Seriously:
    One of Davros kid’s or Robb’s Squire, the one that’s hiding in one of the castle’s Jaimie was refused from entering.

    EXTERMINATE ! EXTERMINATE !

  181. Wimsey: But would any of that be necessary? I really doubt that we are going to see Sam in potions…..

    I was responding to Nymeria Warrior Queen’s concern that casting a younger actor would contradict Pate’s known timeline in the books. As for necessary: maybe not, but perhaps fun, in a way that would make the twist in his arc more of a heart-tugger (presuming that the character is kept in the story in some form at all) because the audience comes to feel some sympathy for him as a bit of a schlemiel.

  184. Wimsey,

    Like I said, with the only Umber character we know of in only two episodes, it does not make any sense to assume that Last Hearth would be the first place Sansa goes (apart from which, I find the idea of Bran suddenly intervening in this plotline rather unlikely, from a dramatic standpoint, for several reasons). If anything, it would indicate the opposite, and that the Umbers most likely only come into the picture at the end of the season.

  185. Rygritte: They remind me of the skeleton in Scary Movie 2:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO4-AQTcAnQ

    Here’s the clip of the great Ray Harryhausen’s ‘Children of the Dragon’s Teeth’ segment from Jason and the Argonauts. This is the scene that many people were saying that the skeletal wights who attacked Bran's party reminded them of. It looks really crude now, but was considered incredibly sophisticated animation for its time (1963). I saw this movie at a drive-in when I was 10 years old and adored it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRrZXNNBMUY

  187. Sean C.,

    Let’s say Sansa could be in pretty bad shape from that fall and no doubt she would want to go to the Wall(they made a point for Sansa to notice Jon’s position), but when was GOT that simple. Since we can assume that it would take a lot of time getting there without horse, harsh conditions and possibly Ramsay hunters on their heels. There was casting news.

    Ramsay would expect that she went up there and will probably threaten Jon over this, but in fact Sophie only shoot scenes in Moneyglass around the time Aiden Gillen did. Kit wasn’t there. Wouldn’t they be together if WF was captured by Stark forces after 6×09 battle? It means it’s scenes probably from the first half of the season and she was captured or Vale will capture WF later in the season while Northerners will battle it out.

    Show kind introduce us to Davos/Jon dynamic last season with him advising Jon about North. New Jon seems to be more willing to do the dirty work and free them from Boltons. I expect Jon, Davos, Wildlings and maybe Mel to travel south and end up in Last Hearth or some other place loyal to House Stark meeting Rickon (Jon doesn’t know about him) and from that point Davos might be in his services or not, but Davos and Mel at the Wall are there for a reason to be useful to Jon. Mel mainly for Jon’s revival and Davos for advising him.

  189. Geralt of Rivia,

    As far as transportation, etc., I have no idea how Sansa and Theon are going to get out of their current predicament, but we know that Theon has to get on his way to the Iron Islands, so they’re going to have to get a move on, one way or another.

    We really don’t know how the Vale fits into anything else happening in the North, but there’s nothing to suggest that Sansa doesn’t go to Castle Black thus far. Going there doesn’t preclude her having to go elsewhere in the season — indeed, I expect she’ll have to, for any number of reasons, whether to find Rickon, gather allies, and/or approach Littlefinger and co.

    I don’t believe we have any idea whether Kit was at Winterfell or not. He wasn’t reported, but we didn’t get any sort of comprehensive breakdown of who was filming there (neither of the Bolton actors were sighted there either, and I somehow doubt they won’t have any scenes in Winterfell).

  190. Sean C.,

    As much as I like it in the books, I think the whole “let’s find Rickon” by Davos was cut and he will naturally be reintroduced to the story with most likely Umbers.

    Since Jon will need to get his new outfit somewhere and as much as I admire tailors at Castle Black, it’s not a stretch to assume that he will meet with loyal people to House Stark, Last Hearth being ideal place on the road to Winterfell. And thus meeting Rickon before battle with Boltons. It seems Jon is embracing Stark heritage and is probably fighting to put Rickon on the set in WF, freeing North from Boltons and hopefully gaining their support to fight WW. It would be pointless to send out Davos on mission to find out about Rickon and loyal houses like Umbers, Mormonts are good place to start and goig by this logic that’s where he could find him.Why waisting time with that when Davos could be end up there with Jon and co later on.

    Last Hearth seems to he most logical destination for him. He and Osha went there(last time we saw them) and not Skagos. Davos end up in White Harbour with Salladhor Saan and not going with Stannis on march to Winterfell. Liam was there at Saintfield along with Kit and is clear that he will participate in some form. Rickon can’t be there and risking losing him. If Davos was in his services he would be by his side and not with Jon.

  191. Sansa and Theon hobble towards the Wall while Brienne makes it back to her porta potty camp. Pod is all Ser! M’lady! The candle! Brienne looks out towards the broken tower and hears hounds barking in the distance. Sansa’s in trouble. We’ve got to find her before they do. Pod, get the horses! Meanwhile, Bolton’s dogs close in and Theon panics. He’s coming!

    Back at the Wall, Mel finds Jon in the snow & tells Davos he must smuggle Jon’s body out of Castle Black so she can attempt to revive him. They head towards the Gift to find safety among Tormund & the wildlings.

    In the Wolfswood, out of nowhere, Ghost suddenly appears and rips the Bolton hounds apart as Brienne and Pod come from behind and hack the Bolton hunters to bits. Sansa asks Ghost if he remembers her. He doesn’t speak, but he remembers.

    Team Davos runs into wildlings & they are taken to Tormund’s camp near Last Hearth where Mel kisses Jon erect.

    Brienne & Sansa and Pod & Theon ride towards the Wall as Ghost follows. They run into wildlings who demand their horses, weapons, & armor. Brienne says, I have no wish to harm you. We must go. A wildling asks, Where ya headin’ in this snow?
    The Wall.
    Nuthin’ but turncloaks at the Wall. Killed the Lord Commander.
    Sansa gasps. A look of sadness washes over Theon’s face.
    Why should I trust a wildling?
    You shouldn’t. What business you have at the Wall?
    Noneya!
    The wildlings, far outnumbering them, escort them back to camp to let Tormund decide what to do with them. Ghost does not object.

    Team Bripod eventually arrives at Tormund’s camp. Awkward reunion ensues. Jon decides the only place Sansa will be safe is at Last Hearth. When they arrive, Shaggydog greets Ghost. Inside, Rickon emerges as the King of the North. Sansa immediately sews the Prince new clothes made of the finest silk from tra-la-la-la-la-liday.

  192. Sean C.,

    Theon telling Sansa about Rickon was a gun hanging. And of course Bran will be getting involved. Remember, we are getting near the end: it is time for plotlines and storylines to start coalescing.

  193. Kilgore Tully,

    The show never established anything of the sort regarding “ice magic” or it being weak regarding fire. Indeed, the show established quite the opposite last year: fires die in the presence of Walkers, and all of those wildling bonfires did nada to the wights.

    But ultimately, it comes down to showing the audience something acceptable. They know that shoving a torch into a cold frozen thing gives you a burnt piece of cool wood to go with perhaps a cold frozen thing. Blast the cold frozen thing with a flame thrower? That is different. Hit it with an incendiary grenade? Ok, that is different, too. Douse it with burning oil (as Jon did to the wight in season 1): again, different. Dragonfire, fireballs, wildfire, even burning oil and/or pitch are all fine. And, no, they are not “cheesy.” But torches would be laughable.

  194. Wimsey,

    We’ve dug our trenches on this.

    I think the magical puppet-corpse-minions of ice demons in a story called the “Song of Ice and Fire” being super weak against fire makes a certain intuitive sense; you think that chemical reactions shown in live-action film must be beholden to real life or else the immersive element is lost.

    I’ll just say I’m flattered to have had a back-and-forth with you. Respect.

  195. So is this kid another one of them Dothraki?

    Boom Tish….

    Seriously though NI probably means he’s part of the northern storyline, a son of one of them Lords

    Or a commoner child, eg kike that farmer and his daughter

  198. Wimsey: Why?The flashbacks are going to be to important plot points from the past.Why would those involve Bran?

    Oh I just meant, if there’s going to be

    a whole arc about Bran learning to see through time, they may ease the viewer into that by having a simple vision just showing a past event from his own life, or something like that. Book readers who’ve been waiting for years might just want them to get straight to the big stuff like ToJ, but for everyone else it might make more sense to do a few “warm-ups” – and it just feels right to me for those to be Bran-centric at first.

  200. Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    Ahh yes the ”nudity”. Here in Romania you rarely see a movie in the cinema, that doesn’t have nude scenes. Well this also comes from the fact that our film industry is quite poor, so we can’t afford ”action” movies, so we ussually get romance movies or something based more on character development, rather then huge action scenes.
    And even so most of these movies are rated 15 at most, even if they contain quite a lot of nude scenes. Scenes wich would have been considered outright pornography, when I was that young.

    Alse yup it’s just like you said, even on the beaches, most women are topless, but no one really cares.

    This is really a culturale thing, more so here where I’m from. After 40 years of communism people are sick of censorship, especially when this is concerned.

  201. Recast of Sweet Robin? Also, Bran must be Hodor size by now, how will they reconcile his looming puberty?

  203. Stella:
    Lulus Mum,

    I always read the comments and I rarely post. Just want to say that I have missed you.

    I agree about Shireen. LA LA LA……

    Awww thank you 😀 I always worry my silly jokes and things will annoy people. I’m more of lurker in the off-season as being a spoiler-but-not-book reader a lot of the discussion is about parts of the story I’m not familiar enough with to join in. So I lurk beneath the surface like Jaws. But with fewer teeth and better grammar. Come April I’ll be blah, blah, blahing and posed to get wound up enough to kick in my tv screen. As for Shireen, didn’t see it so it didn’t happen and you are welcome to adopt Lulu’s Mum’s cannon as your own. Davos whisked her off to safety. It is known 🙂

  206. Blanche Holstein,

    Looming? It is long past loomed. He is 16! They dealt with it the same way that they dealt with Turner and Williams not magically aging only 2 years: whenever the show refers to time, events from the prior season are many months or even a year ago. (Gilly’s baby is the one anachronism here.)

  207. Sean C.,

    No, but it means that there is a high chance that paths will cross, particularly those that the show + book combined are pointing at each other.

  208. Nymeria Warrior Queen:
    None of us will know until TWOW is published.

    Hi Queenie *waves*
    Love your optimism, are you a glass half full kind of girl by any chance? 😉

    Thanks to those who answered my edited version question. My brother watched Towering Inferno in the afternoon once and they’d had to cut out huge chunks to make it suitable for all. Basically all the deaths and practically anything fire-related, so it didn’t really make proper sense. But not as good as an episode of Fame* where they had this massive build up to a song that had been written for someone who was leaving and then everyone enthusing over how fabulous the song was, crying at it’s poignancy etc. Except they’d cut the entire song out to avoid paying for using it.

    * He does watch some real rubbish and has never even tried GoT, I might try and swap him for another one 😉

  209. Mihnea:
    Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    And even so most of these movies are rated 15 at most, even if they contain quite a lot of nude scenes. Scenes wich would have been considered outright pornography, when I was that young.

    In Brazil, Game of Thrones is rated 16, but that is mainly for the extreme violence. Most of the sex scenes (other than the rapes) are tame enough to be rated 14.

  211. Firannion,

    There was a use of re-animated skeletons in the Beeb’s more family orientated “Merlin” (2008-12) too where Morgana did the re-animating. Possibly inspired by the scene from “Jason and the Argonauts” – seems quite likely but obviously I can’t get within the show-writers’ heads. I quite enjoyed the show (a lot less sophisticated than GoT but had a much smaller budget to be fair) despite some of the plot holes.

  212. Lulus Mum: * He does watch some real rubbish and has never even tried GoT, I might try and swap him for another one

    Really showing my age – one of the neighbours said that my brother (who is five years my junior) had been brought by the doctor in his bag. I liked having a new baby brother at first but when I heard some people (shows how daft people would be saying things in front of kids) saying “Oo I do think little boys are better than little girls” I asked my Mum “Can’t you get the doctor to take him away in his black bag”. Then when he was a toddler ladies saying “Oo han’t he got loovly golden ‘air” didn’t help. I used to make his hair spiky with my fingers – not that I was jealous or anything (ho-ho). My brother and his wife don’t live near me but we do get on when we see each other these days though….

  214. Hodor’s Bastard,

    Good questions here ! Also the connection with the old gods. Is the 3EyedRaven a sort of connector ? I was also wondering if they could be involved

    in Jon’s resurrection

    . Why should it only be Rhllor’s priestess Melisandre intervening ? After all, the old gods see it all, as well as BR, cotf and the 3EyedR through the ravens (“I have been watching you. All of you. All of your lives, with a thousand eyes and one.” – And I’ve always found Mormont’s raven suspicious). Could they also act ? In any manner ? Maybe conjunctvely with Mel ? Or just let Rhllor’s ambassador do the job by herself ?

    It also begs the question : what of Hodor and Meera Reed ?

    Are they staying there or going back to the Wall, on their way to Jon ? If Bran stays there forever, accepting it as his destiny, he would not want Hodor and Meera to waste their lives here in the weirwood cave with him. He would want them to have a life and send them back to his brother Jon, or Meera going back to Greywaterwatch with Hodor.

  216. The only ‘substantial’ role left for a boy is Griff. Much as I hate to think that silly storyline is going to show up in the TV show, he’s Griff.

  217. Rat Kook,

    Yeah they did a interview some time ago, before S5, where they said that Bran will be already trained, or at least partially trained.

    They said something like this: It will be like Luke in Return of the Jedi. Where he is already trained.

    So Bran won’t be clueless when we see him again, he will be well into his training, we will see only the results and beyond.

  218. Tootie,

    Way, way to young. If they would have added Griff, he would have been aged up for sure.

    So I think it’s safe to say he is not Griff.
    Substantial, can mean many things, we may think too much into that word. And he may end in a much smaller role then we expect.

  219. bijou156,

    Not a bad guess but for it to work there should also be a casting of young Baelish and young Brandon Stark. Is there ?
    Do we know if, when he’s shooting, the other kids that are already cast are shooting too ? Same locations, dates, tec ?

  220. Tootie,

    YG is supposed to be older than Jon and Dany. Since Jon and Dany were aged up and are more mature than their counterparts in the books. I don’t think they would reduced his age that significantly. Riverlands, North or Vale? Not Essos. Griff was left out of show and I can totally understand reasons for this.

    Hariette Tuttle,

    We were talking about this. Ned and his younger sibblings are supposed to be casted. That means Benjen and Lyanna not Brandon. Since I trust Sue and her sources and it’s unlikely that they would change Brandon from being the eldest of Rickard Stark. Two weeks of shooting might be flashbacks, but I’m going to say it’s something else.

  222. Kilgore Tully: Agreed that he *could* be Bran in a flashback. Who wouldn’t watch themselves if they suddenly gained the ability to see the past?

    But, yeah, odds are this is a new character we just can’t predict.

    I WAS KIDDING

  226. Kargaryen,

    Definitely burnt. The wood is now black, and it certainly wasn’t while it was being built. There’s also lots of rubble; that’s not a half-dissasembled building; that building was burnt down.

    Wow. That’s a big spoiler. Expected, but still a big spoiler.

    Mihnea,

    Yes, it was. WOTW’s report said exactly that, “his younger siblings.”

  227. Mihnea:
    Kargaryen,

    Hmm interesting? Drogon?

    2 days ago I talked with someone who was near the filming area and he said there was indeed fire there and they even got some fireman I assume for security reasons.

    So yeah, hopefully Drogon

  230. Mihnea,

    Confirmed by Sue and her sources. We talked about it in one of the articles this month and someone said that Sue mentioned the bit about younger siblings. I only saw casting call for three young boys and based on description: Ned, Benjen and last one unusual big boy for his age possibly Hodor.

  233. Greenjones,

    Wow.

    Drogon burns down the temple, and Daenerys comes out from the building while it is burning down, completely unharmed, and the Dothraki bow to her (exactly as prophesized in the book’s House of the Undying, by the way).

    There’s other stuff, though not as exciting:

    -The scenes filmed have been for episode 3 and 4, though some people claim to have seen clapperboards pointing to episode six also being filmed there.
    -There’s a scene with Jorah and Daario on a roof on Vaes Dothrak, looking at the Dothraki. They intend to rescue their Queen.
    -There’s a scene with 400 extras in which there seems to be some sort of quarrel, if not a battle, between the different khalesars.
    -Apparently, on the 17th they will film a scene with slavers, who will head to Meereen.
    -A great celebration was filmed (possibly a wedding.)
    -The khalesars are distinguished by the color of their war paint. If you remember, in season one Drogo’s khalesar was painted in blue. In here they had blue, green, red, yellow and a “neutral” color (??).
    -The Dothraki’s armor sets, while impressively manufactured and varied in styles, hurt the nipples of the extras. Really.

  234. Greenjones,

    Wow, that really helps snap the first part of Dany’s arc in Season 6 into clear focus, give or take a few details.

    So she’s captured and treated like a prisoner for the first two episodes as the Dothraki take her back to Vaes Dothrak. Drogon is nowhere to be seen. She arrives in Vaes Dothrak around Episode 3 and meets the Dosh Khaleen (including the old woman and the young Lhazarene widow). Meanwhile, Jorah and Daario are lingering around the edges of the camp, waiting for an opportunity to rescue her. A meeting of the Khals is called to determine Dany’s fate. During the meeting, Drogon shows up and torches the meeting hall. The surviving Dothraki bow to Daenerys and she assumes a position of power, if not leadership over all of the khalasaars (this strikes me as a killer ending for Episode 4, potentially). Then, starting in Episodes 5 and 6, Dany begins to rally the Dothraki and march them back towars Meereen (the scenes filmed in the Bardenes Desert by Jack Bender, presumably).

    It all sounds great, in my opinion! And the timetable is fast enough that it leaves a few episodes for Dany to get back to Meereen and hopefully settle all her business there for good.

  237. Jared: (this strikes me as a killer ending for Episode 4, potentially)

    Thought the same thing. They’re filming for episodes 3 and 4 after all.

    This great event will parallel Dany’s big episode fours in seasons two, three, four and five —all of them had “big shifts” in her arc, both in terms of character development and the plot, which divided her season’s arc cleanly in two: in Season 2, when she arrived at Qarth, did her speech and convinced Xaro to let her enter (the less impressive of them all, in my opinion); in Season 3, it was “Dracarys” and the sack of Astapor (the best!); in Season 4, the liberation of Meereen; and in Season 5, the Sons of the Harpy’s attack and death of Barristan. Seasons 1 had a similar moment, Viserys and his golden crown, though it was in episode six, not four. Though “the big shift” happened a few episodes later in the first season, it parallels throughout all the seasons,

  238. Luka Nieto,

    That’s a really cool parallel! And if they send out around four episodes to critics, as they usually do, this would fit with the pattern ending those episodes on a major setpiece that could double as a thrilling cliffhanger.

  239. ehh that’s doesn’t jibe with

    Targaryens not being immune to fire. And that Daenerys not burning on the pyre was a one-time thing triggered by magic and sacrifice. If they’re going with Daenerys is a unique, special Targaryen, hence her fire resistance, then I’m going to be pissed off. She’s already a special snowflake what with her being a Queen and having dragons/armies/followers. Now they’re going to elevate her even more by connecting her to the prophecy the Red Priestess will openly claim is about her and this ‘walking out of a burning temple like a boss and having the new khalasar bow to her like she’s the best thing ever. urgh Slap me with a fish.

  240. phantomstrife,

    “Survive a fire once, that’s all fine and good. Survive it twice, that just breaks my suspension of disbelief!” Come on…

    phantomstrife: Now they’re going to elevate her even more by connecting her to the prophecy the Red Priestess will openly claim is about her

    Is this somehow news to you?

  241. Luka Nieto,

    Besides Dany was portraied as fireproof long before the pyre in S1.

    So if anything, making Dany not fireproof would make 90% of the audiance wonder why is she suddenly no longer immune.

    Also agree on the Red priestess thing, of course they will connect her to that, especially when Stannis was proven not to be Azhor Ahai.
    It’s quite clear that Dany is AA, or a huge part of that prophecy.

  243. Hariette Tuttle: he would not want Hodor and Meera to waste their lives here in the weirwood cave with him. He would want them to have a life and send them back to his brother Jon, or Meera going back to Greywaterwatch with Hodor.

    Once Bran has seen what happens at the Tower of Joy, it makes sense that he would send Meera back to plead with her father to divulge what he knows – especially if Bran also sees what’s going on with Jon. (I’m picturing a resurrection scene in front of a weirwood in which the camera finally zooms right into the eyeholes and out again through the weirnet at Bran with a big Whoa!! look on his face.)

    Hodor and Summer could be Meera’s escorts, with a little guidance and protection from the CotF until they reach the Wall. I am also keeping my fingers crossed that we will eventually get to see what and who is on the Isle of Faces, and Meera seems the likeliest vector for that, en route to Greywater Watch or thereafter.

  244. phantomstrife,

    I’ll be right in that fish-slapping dance with you. Resorting to some shorthand for TV is good and necessary, but this change from canon feels to me like dumbing-down for the lowest-common-denominator audience. Magical fireproof Targaryen Mary Sue.

  246. Luka Nieto:
    Firannion,

    Dany is a Mary Sue now. Great.

    Learn your terms. How is Dany in any way shown as flawless?

    Mary Sues don’t have to be flawless. More often they have ‘minor’ flaws to overcome that are supposed to make them more admirable. Just having super-abilities that are inborn and didn’t requiring any tedious learning curve may be enough to qualify a character as such, from all that I’ve read about the trope.

  247. Seeing how this kid is from Belfast and will most likely be speaking with his own accent, maybe a wilding kid?

  248. Firannion,

    Ahh. Insulting people again because they may like different things then what you like.
    If you don’t like it, then no one should like it right?

    Give me a break.

  249. Mihnea,

    Whom did I insult? A hypothetical lowest-common-denominator audience? When I say dumbing-down, I’m talking questionable marketing strategies here, not any particular viewer. Stop looking for personal slights where none was intended.

    If anyone should be offended, it’s audiences whom TV and movie producers deem incapable of grasping such ‘subtle’ nuances as the difference between a one-time miracle and a permanent superpower. It happens in book publishing too, such as when the American publisher of the Harry Potter books changed the title of the first volume of Philosopher’s Stone to Sorceror’s Stone, on the assumption that American readers don’t know the least thing about alchemy. It comes off as condescension, in my view, and I don’t like it.

  250. phantomstrife: If they’re going with Daenerys is a unique, special Targaryen, hence her fire resistance, then I’m going to be pissed off.

    It’s setup for

    Jon surviving his funeral pyre.

    Luka Nieto: exactly as prophesized in the book’s House of the Undying,

    and in the S6 plot leak.

  251. Mihnea,

    Why must you start an argument with someone in each and every post?
    People have different opinions, that is one of the things that makes us unique.
    If someone does not agree you take it way to personal.
    People have a right to their own opinion, whether you like it or not.

    Don’t bother replying, I unsubscribed from this post as well.

  252. Firannion,

    I doubt that Bran will stay in that cave and his friends will leave him there. I see only two alternatives: either all remain and Meera and Hodor die there, or all of them go out and Bran will do whatever he needs to do.

  253. Tootie,

    The new Mountain is very younger than the Hound, his younger brother. The new Tommen is older than he should be. The actress who played Myrcella is younger than the actor who plays Tommen, her young brother.

  255. Lulus Mum,

    Hello, Lulu’s Mum! 🙂

    I see there’s yet another member of your fan club. Before you know it, we’ll be creating Lulu’s Mum’s fanclub member id’s and sending out secret decoder rings.

  256. Nymeria Warrior Queen,
    Hi honey *still waving*. I don’t know what a decoder ring is but I like the sound of it, I’m quite a decorative, jewellery wearing kind of gal. I also like to think of myself as a liberal, democratic person so perhaps we could form some kind of co-operative? I’d feel embarrassed to be the centre of attention/admiration so we could take it in turns for that. Everyone gets a go at being the special one. I was in a pub quiz team called Team Fabulous so maybe House Fabulous? And I think I inadvertently invented a motto with Cake or Die Trying a while back. Oooh I still need to do that white walker Ewwww Harmony photo shoot too. And need to stop talking about myself so much, there are about 57 “I”s in this post. Anyway, gotta go now, see y’all tomorrow 😀

  257. Nymeria Warrior Queen: Before you know it, we’ll be creating Lulu’s Mum’s fanclub member id’s and sending out secret decoder rings.

    You must be close to me in age. I’m still waiting for the Mighty Mouse Decoder Ring that I sent away for with a nickel and a cereal boxtop from when I was about 6. The ’60s hadn’t even happened yet.

  259. Lulus Mum,

    Isn’t your arm getting tired from all the waving? It is, however, as always, truly lovely to see you. Oh, and poor, poor Jim-Bob is getting rather lonely. 🙁

    Firannion,

    For all intents and purposes, the 60’s were over by the time I was born. I came into the world less than a month before Altamont.

  260. I notice it said the role was “substantial.” Immediately it made me think larger and perhaps more long-standing (as long-standing as a character can be in this series), which would rule out him being used in a visionary way.

  261. Hariette Tuttle: what of Hodor and Meera Reed ?

    Interesting… I honestly never thought the great and honorable Hodor would ever leave Bran’s side but maybe Bran will let him go…maybe the CotF have something for him to do. As for Meera, I always thought CH and her would make a good team. But maybe she has a role to play yet near or south of the wall, like others have stated.

    But BR and Bran should be fun and packed with interesting exposition. What a wonderful weirnet they will wander! That could be an astounding, disturbing, and traumatizing relationship. Like Dr. Strange showing Clea the secrets of the universe!

    As for Mel and BR…that would be a very odd pairing. I would love to know if Mel could communicate with him though…maybe some of her visions have been influenced by him…(the R’hllor / Red Priestess / Targ relationship is bizarre and mysterious). Still, plenty of craziness exists up north. Can’t wait to see!

  263. Hodor’s Bastard,

    I can’t find who CH is (but I’m sure my brain will work it out in the end). In any case, I can see Meera in the Northern storyline, at Sansa’s side, or Brienne. ^_^ Can you imagine a lineup with Asha Greyjoy, Brienne of Tarth, and Meera Reed ? Add Arya Stark to the lot and you have the Avengers of Westeros. I can see the poster already ^_^

    [SpEcUlAtiOn] Aside from the joke, concerning

    Jon Snow’s resurrection

    with Mel/Rhllor + OldGods/BR, I was not thinking of them working together in a concerted way, more likely, both want to intervene, and it just happens at the same time, as in, they realize it’s happening in the moment, aware of one another’s presence. To which BR could reply, if your powers are stronger, priestess of Rhllor, it’s because your are in Old Gods territory, weirwood network, thing… Anyways, it’s just speculation. Glad that the BF is back !

  264. Hariette Tuttle,

    Great lineup! Would make a great “What if?” story.

    As for CH, it stands for Coldhands, the great conscientious objector of the undead! Meera and CH would be quite the team, imho. She needs a horse and he needs another elk.

  265. Mihnea,

    Why? They haven’t stuck to the correct ages of really any of the characters. But I would say Young Griff would have to be at least the same age as Jon Snow because we know that Aegon existed before or at the same time that Jon was born since he died around the same time that Rhaegar died and Lyanna shortly after. Unless we don’t think Jon is Rheagar’s son, then Jon and Aegon could have very different ages.

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