Today we bring you a multimedia cocktail of Game of Thrones season eight filming news! Below the cut, you’ll see a new sword fight scene, the King’s Landing set being readied for imminent filming, and an exclusive in-depth look at the Winterfell set as it stands after filming ended — from the castle itself to its grounds that so recently saw battle. Though the spoilers are light, spoilers they remain, so if you don’t know anything about the last season of Game of Thrones and you want to keep it that way, do not read on!
The following photos, sent to us yesterday by one of our sources, offer the best look yet at Moneyglass. Filming at the all-new, bigger-than-ever Winterfell set concluded last month, but in these photos you can still the stronghold in detail, together with the surrounding grounds, which is where one of the season’s main battles will take place:
Now: more Magheramorne news! Since the crew appears to be on Easter break, GOTlikeLocations shared a video from last Wednesday, showing five cast members or stuntmen practicing a sword fight at the green screen set. Judging by the choreography, this is likely not part of a battle, but a small fight scene between a handful of characters:
As Easter break has begun, here is one more video from Wednesday (unfortunately a little shaky). pic.twitter.com/pgLiD5tFpP
— GoTlike Locations (@GoTlikeLocation) March 30, 2018
Can you tell who they are? If it helps in your speculation, here is a zoomed-in version:
Speaking of green screens, a few weeks ago we learned one such screen would be built outside the King’s Landing set at Titanic Studios, right to one side of the city walls. Now, thanks to A Red Priestess, we can see the green screen was completed. More than that, the set appears ready for filming soon, as it’s been closed off from view “with black plastic and with a new line of trucks” … unless you’re as resourceful as her, that is:
And that’s about it for this month, folks! With just three or four months of filming left, the Winterfell battlefield has been left behind; Magheramorne continues hosting all kinds of intriguing scenes (unless this isn’t a break and we see them dismantle or abandon the set, in which case that’s it!); and the King’s Landing set looks like the next big stop — for one of the largest sequences we’ve seen in Game of Thrones, no less. Or, at least, it’d better be huge, because they’ve spent half a year building the damn place!
I assume it’s AOTD vs GC on the new KL set, cause I don’t think Jon has any of his army left.
What are those big red bottles[look like bottles] in the photos 2,3,4 and 5?What they contain?Who is fighting who in the videos?Also in the videos what is that red thing[square shape…]? there are 4-5 people around it…Did anyone noticed the man in the horse whos going close to them who fighting?..The photos/videos are blurred again.
hodor
That’s a lot of blood OUTSIDE the walls of Winterfell.
The army of the Night King don’t bleed. I wonder if it was an attack by the Golden Company army?
Colin Armfield,
maybe its GC blood
I can say with certainty that the 5 characters are Blob 1, Blob 2, Blob 3, Blob 4, and…wait for it….Blob 5.
One of the fighters seems to be taller than the others – may be Brienne? Sandor?
in the video no2 someone is inside on that red stuff there
In video 2 a couple of the fighters including the tall one are wearing long flowing (superman) capes.
Like Jon wears!
Pigeon, you’ve christened this battle. It will forever be known as the Battle of the Blobs, or BoBl for short. 🙂
These red “bottles” perhaps are vessels for artficial snow or dry ice…?
Colin Armfield,
Unless it’s blood from those defending Winterfell. They may find that defending the walls is impossible against an army that can scramble along ceilings (like they did at the 3-eyed-raven’s cave) and instead went out to meet them in battle.
Just a possibility. I do think the GC battle will fall after the army of the dead battle and be the true final battle, but I would just be surprised if the NK is stoped before reaching Winterfell. Unless the GC attack, then the NK attacks as well.
cos alpha,
The red bottles are Propane gas, and a lot of it.
Lots of Propane means lots of fire.
Lots of fire means Dragons at Winterfell!
Che,
It has been theorised that the NK will bypass Winterfell and move on KL.
This could be the result of Euron and the golden company attacking Winterfell.
I honestly don’t think the GC will be the final climactic battle of the entire series. They’re being introduced in the very last season to bolster Cersei’s forces, whereas the WWs have been the impending threat since the very beginning. It would be a huge anticlimax otherwise.
Those sets really are something. It’s a shame to see them torn down.
I’m off to Girona tomorrow and will hopefully get to see Castillo di Zafra as well.. can’t wait to see these iconic GOT locations.
Ah, okay. In my country propane gas bottles look different.
And pitty-me isn’t as eagleeyed as You or Luka are ;o)
Artemisia,
They are the largest BoC 46.5Kg propane gas cylinders that you can get on the Irish market- so a pricey enough fire on set @ c. €125 per cyclinder when you see just how many there are on the set.
Left: Brienne, Daenerys, Sansa, Arya
Right: Bran, the Hound, wights
Stark Raven’ Rad,
Great! A year from now when I watch that scene, I’ll immediately think to myself: “Hey! This is the Battle of the Blobs!”
Colin Armfield,
All of that blood along the walls was not seen in photos of three weeks ago in photos that OakLeaf Photography posted. Also, note the snow line differs to what was posted three weeks ago, the snow line to the left wall underneath the two round towers also differs to what we have seen before – are they really finished filming on this set? Also on previous pictures we saw the stacked up charred remains after the big fire, they are now gone and the line where this digger is appears to have wooden fencing stacked in piles ready to assemble perhaps just all around the Front walls? Can the dead climb over spiked fences or just push up against them till they break, we saw something similar when Jon Snow went to try and ship out the Wildlings from the shoreline? If this set is now finished in terms of filming as of 2-3 weeks ago it doesn’t look like they are in any rush to clear away rented lighting, tents, etc….
I don’t think I can get on board with that idea.
Even if the NK avoided Winterfell, his army is still going to leave a vast wake of destruction, charred bodies and presumably dragonglassed wights, assuming other strongholds are getting some in preparation.
First, Euron and the GC would then either have to go through, around or cross the destruction path to go to Winterfell. Wouldn’t they probably assume Winterfell has fallen and not continue on? Wouldn’t they retreat to a defensive position themselves like KL, or flee entirely? Is there a reason to face death as a mercenary if there will be no payment, no reason to complete the job?
Secondly, I have to believe that J&D/Winterfell will be keeping tabs on the location of the NK’s army with the use of scouts and ravens. The North are Jon’s people. If the NK is swarming over and through the other strongholds and avoids Winterfell I don’t think they’ll just “*phew* that was close” and play some games. No, they’d set off after them – or – ride ’round them and try to beat them to KL to finally unify as one living force to defeat the NK.
So no, the only time I see the possibility of Euron attacking Winterfell would BEFORE the NK gets there or they leave to go get in his way. (Or like, way after the NK has been defeated. That would be a bit silly for the final battle.) IF they attack while the NK is on the way because they refuse to believe the danger, then I would guess the NK gets there during the siege and all of the GC die and are wighted as those inside Winterfell watch.
3 or 4 months filmimg left!! Just how long are each of S8s episodes gonna be?
boojam,
The honest answer is we don’t know. But we can guess. Personally, I imagine season eight will be about as long as season seven, which was 7 hours 20 minutes in total, more or less (so, about as long as 8 average episodes from any previous season.) If that’s the case, an average season eight episode should be about 70 to 75 minutes. That doesn’t seem unlikely to me. That’s my best guess.
This is a lengthy production partly because they’re going to be long episodes, sure, but that doesn’t explain why it’s taking twice as long as the average season, which used to be two hours longer overall. What does explain it is that we’ll be seeing more elaborate battle sequences (which take much longer to shoot than a normal scene; twice that, if horses are involved), and that they probably can’t film as many storylines at once as they used to, because there aren’t that many anymore, with most characters being in just two locations.
Luka Nieto,
One can hope for a big surprise that each episode will be “2 hours” (2-hr time slot). No, I don’t think that will happen but gee-dangit that would be sweEET!!
I wouldn’t be surprised if the finale isn’t the longest episode of the series though. That would obviously increase the season runtime and average.
It is stated that filming at Winterfell is over, but I don’t buy it. The propane bottles are likely used for fire from dragons, and it looks like there are bottles positioned for action. But the set has not been touched by fire, not even scorched. Surely if there were a dragon at the corner of the castle, those wooden turrets would be destroyed and the stone walls at least scorched? Maybe the gates would be destroyed?
I would posit that filming is not over at Winterfell, there is mayhem ahead.
Clob,
I imagine you mean episodes that actually run for one hour and a half or so? The longest episode yet, the season seven finale, was almost 80 minutes, so… I don’t know, maybe we’ll get one or two episodes over that record running time, but all of them? I don’t think so. I’m eager to be proven wrong, though!
————————–
(*Unwraps new digital tinfoil hat; cranks up dial to 11*)
May I offer an alternative scenario? I was going to weigh in on the debate in yesterday’s “The Blood of the Dragon” Comments section about the logic vs. stupidity of Jon’s decision to “bend the knee”, and went back to rewatch a few scenes with closed captioning. I thought back to a comment GRRM made in an interview about 7-8 years ago. in which he said he deliberately embedded important tidbits of information as bland details in otherwise flashy scenes.
Now, I could be giving the show’s writers’ too much credit.
However, if they’re using the same technique, I noticed a couple of what appeared to be “throwaway lines” in sequences like the Arya vs. Brienne sparring match and the scene right after it on Dragonstone in S7e4 when Dany emerges from the Dragonglass cave to learn the disastraous results of Tyrion’s “clever” invasion plans.
Anyway, a while back I speculated that a worsening food shortage would cause a few disgruntled Northern lords to raid WF’s stores. Now, I’m pretty sure of it. Sansa was commenting that some Northern houses hadn’t contributed enough grain, when she (and I) were distracted by Arya getting ready to spar against Brienne; in the next scene, Dany was reminding Tyrion that the intended food supply for the Dothrakis in the Reach was no longer available because Cersei had taken out the Tyrells.
When Northerners find out Jon sold out Northern sovereignty for his hot new girlfriend and is bringing tens of thousands of hungry foreign soldiers with him (the contents of the RavenGram he sent to Sansa), some of those Notthen lords will betray him and launch a preemptive attack on WF before his arrival. That’s why there will be fires and fighting in or around WF, and blood on the walls.
Though not at full strength, I expect WF’s Stark loyalists will repel the insurgents after bloody skirmishes on the battlements (probably just in time for Ol’ Blue Eyes to show up for induction of the Northerner oathbeakers – alive and dead – into the AotD).
Therefore, maybe it won’t be the Golden Co., the Lannister army. or the NK who will attack WF, but some of the “bloody weather vanes” Sansa was worried about.
( Ultra tinfoil wishful thinking fanfic scene: grateful, newly minted Stark loyalist Alys Karstark impales turncloak Lord Glover on a spear during skirmish on battlements, causing blood to run down walls.)
(*Takes off tinfoil hat*)
My little dream scenario there was suggesting like 1hr54m for each episode. 😛 I know that’s not going to happen either. I could see the finale approach that though, and hope it does. It would be a shame if they didn’t let it breathe a little at the end, set the pieces in their final positions and really give us a good foundation for imaginations to take over. I’m usually pretty down when my favorite shows end and it’s worse if the finales are bad or too abrupt.
Be sure to see the Arab baths (used in the 6.8 chase) and the cathedral And if you like art, Figueres is not far–the Salvador Dalí theatre/museum (and mausoleum–he’s buried there) is an absolute hoot. Y buen viaje.
Clob,
I don’t think the ending will be abrupt. I imagine most of the conflict will be wrapped up in episode five (which is the equivalent to a typical episode nine, where the big shit goes down,) so the series finale won’t have to spend more than its first half in resolving the remaining conflicts. This would allow the second half of the last episode to be be the long epilogue the story deserves.
I wouldn’t call that too tinfoil. It sounds quite plausible actually, especially with Mr. Selfish Glover holding the reins. He’s already been shown to become displeased with just about anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s able to talk several into thinking Jon and his NK stories are a bunch of bunk.
I have always felt that there has always been a bit of ‘blivit-int’ 100 pounds of story narrative pounded into a 10 lb visual narrative bag. This is it! There has been a focusing of the story , even seems that we have a proper cast of characters , maybe all the loose ends will actually be wrapped.
One thing intrigues me , a lot of drama seems happening in Westeros while much to story still has hooks in Essos. I still see Essos players pushing in and I don’t mean the Golden Company. R’hllor by way of the story and some Red-guys has been a running stratigraphy that I thing will be a player in the long run. I mean we do have the Unsullied and the Dothraki … may need all of both Westeros and Essos thrown at the Night’s King.
Ten Bears,
You bring up an excellent point about the food stores. Also Dany burnt the extra grain carts during the field of fire last year so food will be in short supply for the entire realm. One of the things that bothered me about the show is they’ve never addressed how Dany – who has no money unless I missed something about that – is going to feed her massive amount of troops and clothe them in the coming cold. I know it seems a pointless detail to some but they keep emphasizing Sansas administrative abilities with regards to feeding and clothing their army – so I”m thinking it has to be a factor at some point.
NK bypassing Winterfell doesn’t necessarily mean his army bypasses Winterfell. NK on Viserion can easily go anywhere he wants virtually unopposed, while his army is slower and faces more potential obstacles from defenders.
It seems to me that there are quite a few poorly defended population centers in the South that would provide the NK with good “recruiting” opportunities. Creating a new “Army of the Dead 2.0” might be easier than bringing the original one all the way down the King’s Road. I think that a simultaneous attack on the North and South actually makes the most sense from a strategic perspective. It’s what I’d do if I were the NK.
If the Golden Company attacks Winterfell, they’d probably get stuck in a siege because they don’t have a giant to just bash down the gate. If the Army of the Dead attacks while GC is sieging Winterfell, GC might get caught between the walls of Winterfell and a horde of wights. I can’t imagine that going well for them.
It could lead to some interesting dilemmas of the defenders considering trying to negotiate a truce with their living attackers to let them in to jointly defend against the dead, rather than leaving them to die outside the walls and increase the NK’s army.
It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to this show! It was hard for me to say goodbye to Lost and Breaking Bad, and I binge-watched those two in about 1.5 – 2 months. I started watching GoT just after season 2, so I will have been with it for 7 years when it ends next year! And not only will I miss the show itself, I will miss looking forward to new seasons. I will miss my season rituals of reading reviews, and watching discussions and reactions on YT. Not to get too corny, but it will really feel like the end of an era. I will definitely be pretty bummed out for a while.
I almost wish I had said ‘Bob’ instead – for some reason the thought of multiple men named Bob battling each other cracks me up (I never claimed to be normal). Battle of the Bobs. Hehehehehe.
Blobbles so.
I wrote something very similar here a while back. The massive population of unsuspecting and unprepared in the South could grow to outnumber his current army in no time. Oldtown seems ripe for the picking. I’m guessing the NK won’t do that so defeating him doesn’t become an unbelievable task. You know, kinda how they handcuffed Daenerys and had them make silly mistakes to even the playing field.
Ten Bears,
I can see that as a possibility, not sure if it will go that way.
And I believe Glover is on Sansa’s radar, he best do right.
kathy,
Jet packs and variable geography aside, I’ve been wondering which of the characters on their way to WF gets there first. Because one fanfic scenario of mine, based on a recent (3/27/18) WoW article, would be
If Winterfell’s first line of defense is anything like those two goofy guards who tried to give Arya a hard time in S7e4*, Northern infiltrators won’t have to worry about sieges or impregnable castle walls. They’ll just waltz right in. Maybe set a few fires as a distraction as they rummage through the grocery bins.
P.S. Isn’t Cersei’s plan to use the Golden Company to retake the south or to take on the remnants of whoever survives the living vs. dead up north? I didn’t recall her suggesting she’d send them north the WF as soon as they arrived.
* (Sansa: “You shouldn’t have run from the guards.”
Arya; “I didn’t run. You need better guards.” 👸🏻)
Ten Bears,
That’s a great theory, and would be a worthwhile plot development pulling together various important themes and a return to the politics of GoT. And it would certainly give Sansa a major plot line, hopefully with the Hound and Brienne at her side. It also calls back to the riots and the hardships of the small folk.
There was an idea floating around this site last year; Jaime would go to the Riverlands for the Lannister forces , maybe even joining up with Edmure & his Frey wife for their remaining forces, and bring them North.
That’s even more mouths to feed!
Northstar,
Ten Bears,
I like your idea better – Jaime, Brienne and Pod, travelling light get there first and save the day.
Meanwhile, Jorah continues his multi-season storyline….
https://i.redd.it/cjs9umgukejz.jpg
Artemisia,
Those are plastic “traffic barrels”, like you frequently see used in road construction to block off a lane . You can also see an orange backhoe.
Clob,
However large the NK army gets remember as Lord Beric Dondarrion said
“You only have to kill him.”
Dothraki Scum,
They’ve filmed there for ages and we already saw a clip of winterfell on fire, doesnt mean the actual set would burn down.
Pigeon,
Caption: “You’re not going to die today, Ser Jorah.”
And as Jon Show replied: “You don’t understand,”
(I have no f*cking clue what he meant.)
Ten Bears,
I’m with you.. I honestly can’t see the GC or Eurons forces making the long march across the Northern territories in the depths of winter (especially with low food reserves and no supply line and even less so now the WWs are on the march). It’d be utter suicide. There’s no way an army of sellswords would sign up to that.
“P.S. Isn’t Cersei’s plan to use the Golden Company to retake the south or to take on the remnants of whoever survives the living vs. dead up north? I didn’t recall her suggesting she’d send them north the WF as soon as they arrived.”
Stark Raven’ Rad,
Thanks for the advice.. they’re on my list! 🙂
Of course the set doesn’t have to burn down. The flames only need to last long enough to show “a warrior will draw a burning sword from the fire. And that sword shall be Lightbringer.”
Sandor Clegane, Warrior of Light, your sword awaits.
😁
If I ever make it to Spain the Dali museum would be one of the first places I would visit. That place looks like it would be an amazing experience.
Pigeon,
and Blob on a horse
“your bike won’t be stolen today, Ser Jorah.” two dragonglass bike locks. hell, didn’t he have two DG staggers beyond the wall? this could lure me into reddit for all the possible tinfoil. #thebikethatwaspromised
Rygritte,
Notice how everyone seems to be trying to take down one person? *preys to the Old Gods & the Lord of Light that The Hound doesn’t become a wight.
One of the weapons in the video looks more like an Arakh than a sword. Daario back with the GC perhaps.
What blood? I see dirty snow.
The tall swordfighter definitely strikes me as Houndish in his posture and movements.
It is hyper-surreal. Since Dalí himself created it and oversaw its construction, practically every detail drips with his personality. I was there for 2-3 hours with an art museum group, and I so want to go back and spend a day drinking it all in. No doubt it makes people tipsy. :=). If you’re in the States, Mr D, the comparatively staid Dali museum in St Petersburg FL has a wonderful collection of masterpieces from his long career. Hmm, Dalí was very involved with popular culture. I wonder what his take on GoT would be.
Yeah I can see potentially Jamie or the Hound from those figures, total speculation but they came to mind, wouldn’t rule out Brienne or Jon either.
I haven’t read the books yet. Azor Ahai doesn’t become a wight, does he? If not, then Sandor Clegane aka The Warrior of Light cannot become a wight. Even if he’s not a prophecied hero, the Hound’s interactions with wights have already been revealed: Bag ’em, beat ’em, belt ’em, box ’em up, and bisect ’em. And throw rocks at ’em.
Not apropos of this particular post, but I just encountered this on Neil Gaiman’s Twitter feed and thought it would be selfish not to share here:
https://thefantasyinn.wordpress.com/2018/04/01/ai-mash-ups-a-game-of-omens-grrm-vs-gaiman-pratchett/
Funny stuff.
So good! A little while ago, someone had an AI read all of ASOIAF and write an ending, and this was the result:
https://i.redd.it/xdhcyeyeq4k01.jpg
One of my favorite lines has to be, “All Bran had to do was nothing.” Genius! 🙂
I also love how Arya kills someone by throwing Needle into their eye. That made me think of her line to Sandor in 3×09: “Someday, I’m going to put a sword through your eye and out the back of your skull.” I think we need to see that kill from her before the series is over. Of course not on Sandor, but on someone else deserving.
Thank you! That’s one I hadn’t yet seen. Very silly indeed : )
Ten Bears,
I think what Jon meant was that to get to the NK, you will most likely have to get past the AotD and WW first. The NK is well insulated.
Mr Derp,
The Dali museum, in St. Pete, FL, is fantastic. The museum’s architecture is great too!
Well, as Tormund had observed (in “Eastwatch”), the wight hunt was a “stupid f*cking idea”” to begin with, so why not make a mad dash for the NK – or give Sandor dragonglass-tipped javelins to throw at him?
Seriously, if the NK is an On/Off switch for the entire AotD, that would be a rip off of countless sci-fi movies.
Enharmony1625,
Did I read somewhere that during one of those Targaryen “dances of dragons”, someone leapt from one dragon onto another and killed its rider by plunging Dark Sister into his skull?
Or, have I become so immersed in tinfoil that I’m subconsciously making this all up?
Ten Bears,
I agree in the hope that it isn’t just a matter of killing the NK. Maybe it is, but maybe he doesn’t shatter like the WWs do. I’d like to see Bran being more instrumental in the fall of the NK.
On a side note: Has it been confirmed that Bran can see the future; or, only speculated? I feel like he can only see past and present.
As I mentioned in the comments to Morgoth’s “From the Maester’s Desk – Endgame: The Blood of the Dragon”, I think the NK is, or was once, a greenseer, like Bran. I just think he’s had a thousand years to develop his skills. I think he may be able to see into the short-term future. That’s how he knew where/how to get a dragon. Maybe there is way for him to break the CotF’s spell that could turn him back into a man. Maybe that’s what he wants.
Step 1: Get south of the wall.
Step 2: ?????
No, you’re right. I can’t recall the exact details, but I believe it was plunged into the back of his skull and came out his throat. You know.. classic GoT stuff. 🙂
Fully agree with you here that the Nights King is likely a greenseeyer. It explains the whole dragon killing and the attack on the three eyed raven.
Haven’t we had already several spoiler posts around here confirming the blood-on-the-walls-of-Wintercell issue?
As for episode lengths, I would imagine 65-75 minutes for episodes 1-5, and around 90 minutes for the Finale…
That was Daemon Targaryen, the Rogue Prince, killing his nephew Aemond Targaryen in the Battle above the God’s Eye near the end of the Dance of the Dragons. (George’s Princess and the Queen novella) I’m sure we’ll hear a more detailed account on George’s upcoming Fire & Blood, which apparently George is working currently instead of That Other Book that Dares Not Speak its Name…
Jon Snowed,
NK has to be a greenseer. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to see and interact with AvatarBran, and by grabbing AvatarBran’s wrist, imprint RealBran’s wrist with a stamp to buy drinks at the NightClub.
I just wonder if the CotF gave him these powers, or they were unlucky enough to use a human who happened to be a greenseer for their science experiment.
I interpreted Jon’s meaning to be that they had to ensure the wight made it back to KL to demonstrate to the leaders of the Seven Kingdoms that the threat is real, rather than engage in an attempt to kill the Night King which could result in all of them dying (and therefore unable to take a wight back).
I agree with you and Tormund – the wight hunt is NOT a good idea. But, Jon asked Tyrion how he could convince everyone the threat was real and Tyrion gave him an answer. You need to show them. Like Dany says, You have to see it to know. Now I know. Yeah, it was a stupid idea on a lot of levels. But it was the only one they had.
George,
“I’m sure we’ll hear a more detailed account on George’s upcoming Fire & Blood, which apparently George is working currently instead of That Other Book that Dares Not Speak its Name.”
—————
• I get the sense there are a hundred other things he prefers doing.
• Semi off-topic: I think it was Charles Dickens who released some of his books in serialized form, i.e., one chapter at a time. At this juncture, GRRM’s publisher ought to consider doing that, instead of waiting in vain for the completed manuscript.
It’s my understanding that some or all of the prereleased TWOW chapters (which he posted on his website or read aloud) were actually written many years ago, or were originally intended to be included in the last book.
The “Mercy” chapter he posted online is the only ASOIAF chapter I’ve read. (I’ve read snippets of a few “classic” book passages like “Needle was Jon Snow’s Smile”, and “Harwin – You have to know me!”) Anyway, I really liked that “Mercy” chapter.
If what he’s written thus far – if anything – is anywhere near as good, I’d pay $2 – $3 each time a completed chapter is released.
Alba Stark,
Thank you! I believe you nay be right. Beric, as one of the BwoB freelancers and late additions to the Snow Patrol, would not have been privy to the mission priorities (i.e., bag and tag a wight and put him on display for the Queen(s)).
Plus, Beric was all Jake & Elwood Blues with his “We’re on a mission from God!” approach. (There was that lofty speech in the Eastwatch cell before Sandor shut him up…)
To me, Jon’s meaning is quite obvious. The way Beric states that ‘all’ they have to do is kill the NK makes it sound like it will be a simple task. Jon, who has seen what the NK is capable of and how he has never been able to get close to him, in his reply that Beric doesn’t understand, is responding that it isn’t that simple. It can’t be as simple as just taking out the NK, because it seems like an impossible task to get to him. I think Jon’s line is quite straight forward – there are very few who understand the nature of the NK and the army of the dead (at this point only Jon, Tormund and Edd have properly seen them all together in action right?) and Beric doesn’t understand what a challenge it would be to kill the NK.
Alba Stark,
(cont. from above)
Here’s an excerpt from S7e5 that suggests Beric’s reasons for the excursion to zombieland didn’t coincide entirely with Jon’s. That could reinforce your explanation of Jon’s “You don’t understand” line that perplexed me.
—————-
(S7e5 – in Eastwatch cells)
Tormund: “They want to go beyond the Wall too.”
Beric: “We don’t want to go beyond the Wall, we have to. Our Lord told us that the Great War is coming– “
****
Beric: “Here we all are at the edge of the world at the same moment, heading in the same direction for the same reason.”
Davos: “Our reasons aren’t your reasons.”
Beric: “It doesn’t matter what we think our reasons are. There’s a greater purpose at work.
And we serve it together, whether we know it or not. We may take the steps, but the Lord of Light–“
Sandor: “For f*ck’s sake, will you shut your hole!”
Sandor (to Jon): “Are we coming with you or not?”
Jon?: “Don’t you want to know what we’re doing?”
Thoros: “Is it worse than sitting in a freezing cell, waiting to die?”
Jon: “He’s right. We’re all on the same side.”
Gendry: “How can we be?”
Jon: “We’re all breathing.”
and then, he has this überbrilliant idea for the last few words of the books – and can’t bring them because they don’t go along with what has already been published?
btw, i’m a huge fan of the idea that the final book is already written. doesn’t it make sense by now to wait with publication until the ending of the tv-show dismisses millions of human beings on earth into a life without anything worth to live for? and THEN jump in and fill the gap?
he has spare time until 2019 for detail work on ASOIAF (as well as for other projects), and he may be proud enough of this giant piece of work to make sure his story ends even more spectacular and bittersweet.
Che,
Well, Beric didn’t care much about dying; he’d almost welcome it. He’d be okay with a Hail Mary play to try to take out NK, no matter the degree of difficulty.
(from S7e6)
Sandor: “Careful, Beric, you’ve lost your priest. This is your last life.”
Beric: “I’ve been waiting for the end for a long time. Maybe the Lord brought me here to find it.”
Sandor: “Every Lord I’ve ever met has been a c*nt. Can’t see why the Lord of Light should be any different.”
[I had to include Sandor’s retort.]
You can read this Sansa(Alayne) chapter and decide if it’s “anywhere near as good.” When I read it all I could think was “WTH was that!?” It is of course what I consider the ‘ballroom dancing, tummy flutter chapter.’
TWoW spoiler of course: http://archive.is/WPDo4
Ten Bears,
I don’t think Jon cares much about dying either at that point, but I think he means not that they’ll die doing it, but just that they would never get to him.
at 0:32 in the youtube video, the weapon of that tall person looks kinda dothrak to me. a few seconds before, the person’s move was also a bit too agile for a hound who once had his leg broken.
Whoever they are, at least one or two of them are wearing a cape, so, in order to narrow this down, I would assume we should be looking for characters that both wear capes and can sword fight.
Last time we left off in season 7, I believe Jon and Jorah would qualify, but not sure who else.
Although, if they’re outside in freezing weather, I suppose anyone could decide to wear a cape for extra layers, so I dunno.
death by chickenfire,
“….he has this überbrilliant idea for the last few words of the books – and can’t bring them because they don’t go along with what has already been published?”
————————
“Nothing f*cks you harder than time.” – Davos Seaworth
George Martin is going to be 70 in a few months. It’s my understanding “A Game of Thrones” came out in 1996, followed two years later by “A Clash of Kings” in 1998, “A Storm of Swords” in 2000, “A Feast for Crows” in 2005, and the latest book, “A Dance with Dragons” in 2011.
Maybe he has an “uberbrilliant idea for the last few words of the books.” Any concern that releasing serialized chapters of already-completed portions of TWOW might conflict with the last few words of “A Dream of Spring” should be weighed against the increasing likelihood that those hypothetical last few words will never make it to the printed page.
P.S. I don’t blame the guy. At this stage in his life he should be able to kick back and enjoy his success. He shouldn’t be stressing out about writing books he no longer has the enthusiasm to write. After more than 22 years, who would?
Che,
Here’s a replay of me watching that scene:
Jon Snow: “You don’t understand.”
Me: “I don’t understand.”
I believe the general idea behind your post, that it’s Northern vs. Northern conflicts, that will destroy Winterfell, very intriguing.
In addition to food shortage, may I point out another vital matter? When Jon’s true parentage comes out to all Northerners, will they be happy with a Targaryen (Aegon/Jon) as their Lord, especially when the AofD is marching from the North, and Cersei’s army is marching from the South? Through the recent seasons, we have had many a rousing scene where the North re-pledged itself to the STARKS. What happens when the North finds out that Jon is not a Stark? That he is not Ned’s son? I have a feeling they will not be happy. I think the outing of Jon’s Targaryen heritage will be at the heart of THE definitive conflict at Winterfell and could destroy Winterfell.
thorne garnet,
I thought it looked like Melisandre on the horse.
Kay,
I was presupposing that weasels like Lord Glover would “raid the cupboard” before Dany, her dragons, and hungry foreign hordes arrive at WF. If they also somehow find out in advance that Jon’s not Ned Stark’s son and is really a Targ — they’ll definitely riot and return to their homes with the looted groceries. I sure hope Bran doesn’t blurt out something inappropriate while some weasel is within earshot…
Kay,
I think you are on to something regarding how disagrements amongst themselves would lead to the protagonists losing up North.
But it is worth pointing out that Jon is as much a Stark as Sansa, Arya and Bran – 50% – and if are going to place everything on the last name he is as much of a Stark as any of Sansa’s or Arya’s kids would be.
House Monty,
Sure, WE know Jon is as much a Stark as his three cousins. But he is not Ned’s son, he is descended through a female Stark. On top of that, his father was a not a good, solid Northerner, but from way down in the South, the Mad King’s son. It’ll be interesting to see how the reveal of Jon’s real father affects Northern politics and the Starks.
Apollo,
I agree. I don’t know why they don’t leave them up for fans. Belfast is famous for the Titantic being built there but they could (probably already do) get tons of Fans to pay for seeing these area’s. GRRM world is going to be around for many years to come. They have an endless supply of stories. I don’t think they will stop until we quit watching. I know I’m not going to quit watching anytime soon. If not for the prequels the ending would be even more sad. At least we have something to look forward too. They hit gold with the story, casting and crew of Game of Thrones. I hope they hit gold again.
Kay,
Will be interesting. Arya will be team Jon no matter what. Sansa… is more of a wildcard given that she was resentful she was passed over for the Northern crown. Although would be somewhat hypocritical for her to argue Jon is less of a Stark because he is descended from the female line.
The politics should be interesting.
Too agile? Are we talking about the same Hound who sprinted across a frozen lake carrying a bagged zombie? Who fought off wights in all directions and pulled Tormund out of the clutches of wights dragging him underwater? Who bisected a wight with one sword stroke in the Dragonpit?
The Lord of Light’s rehab program is second to none. Especially for his Chosen One.
i thought he was a bit older. right, he’s having his 70th on september 20th. he will surely enjoy taking things easier. but i cannot imagine he will let this huge body of work end up unfinished. it’s the difference between “started a series of books” and “delivered the biggest story ever told”.
he started it, the TV adapted and passed him and he won’t finish his own way? i simply cannot believe this. on the other hand, this would be a milestone of “do i even care?”
a bit too agile. i haven’t seen it often enough, but this move had more of a waterdance to me. still, the elegant swinging of the cape may have distracted me from the actual body move…
I am sure we will see Winds of Winter but I seriously doubt we will ever see A Dream of Spring. The average male life expectancy is about 74 years right?
There is some hope: in USA 76,4 years.
cos alpha,
That’s not hope… that’s a shockingly depressing number for the richest country, well below not only the obvious at the top (Switzerland, Iceland, Australia, Sweden) but also Italy, Spain, Singapore, Malta, Austria, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Chile, Taiwan and many others. It’s not a good look.
What’s also not a good look, by the way, is speculating on the death of a person, so cut it out, Jon Snowed, please and thank you.
Jon Snowed,
Male life expectancy in New Mexico is 75.62, which is ranked 35th for the states.
(btw, my state is #1 (MN) at 78.67 – lucky me. I’ll consider myself lucky if I make it that long) 😛
Well, “we” do like our fast food. 😛
We do have Mississippi dragging down the average too. I believe theirs is like 27 or something (which in that state looks like 87). At that point they reincarnate as alligators to be hunted by the 26 year olds. 🙂
Jon Snowed,
I’ve read GRRM blog posts from 2010 or 2011 when they were first casting the show, and his excitement was palpable. He’d pose riddles for fans to guess which actors had been cast for which parts. He gave interviews in which he was gushing about the child actors they’d found. He wrote scripts for a couple of episodes.
For the past couple of years though, he seems stressed out and burdened by the task of finishing the books, as if it were a dreaded term paper. He’s enthused about other projects. But not, it seems, ASOIAF.
Like I said, I don’t blame him. After 22 years in the same fictional universe, anyone would find it tedious. And when a labor of love becomes sheer drudgery, why go on? It’s not like he can just flip a switch and the words flow onto the page.
Shouldn’t he be able to run a victory lap and bask in the glory of what he’s already accomplished?
I am fully with you on this, I read a Kim Renfro article a few months back suggesting that since the show surpassed the books GRRM lost a lot of motivation.
My opinion is that because a lot of Winds has been written this book will be published but I never expect to see the final book given his low motivation, time he normally takes to write and his present age.
You are completely right. I know this phenomenon all too well by myself :o(
cos alpha,
I’m trying to remember who performed this song about being pressured by music execs to write another hit just like their previous, commercially successful hits, instead of the satirical, socially conscious songs the band wanted to write. The lyrics went something like this:
“Write another song for the money,
Something they can sing, not so funny,
Money in the bank, to keep us warm.”
I honestly feel bad for GRRM. You can sense his distress (well, the “mood” barometer in his blog is a giveaway) whenever his blog posts touch on unmet deadlines, and sequestering himself to try to “finish the books.” If all he’s really written so far are the TWOW “sample chapters” that were actually written seven years ago, and the TV show is giving away the big “reveals”, it’s almost unfair to expect him to be able to muster the enthusiasm to shut himself away and write two lengthy books.
Back before season 6 aired GRRM met with his publishers in the Autumn after S5 in an effort to release Winds prior to the show releasing spoilers. At the time all parties felt this was possible but ultimately GEorge failed but this tells me quite a lot of the book must be done at least in draft. Sadly I suspect not meeting that deadline and the show spoiling a lot of the content GRRM has lost a significant amount of motivation.
Also when was the mercy chapter released wasn’t the during or after the s6 writing was complete? GRRM obviously shared it and presumably others with D&D.
I think that was Barry Manilow. Okay, no, probably not.
This is dated Jan. 27, 2013: http://archive.is/6UYCu
(the chapter if you haven’t read the book spoiler)
Five years ago!! It really did seem like he was really close to finishing a couple years ago. sigh
Clob,
That it was released over five years ago may have been what led me to assume “Mercy” was originally intended for inclusion in the last book; or maybe I read that somewhere; or maybe I’m just confused.
Either way, I liked it.
Clob,
And I think the show (last scene in S4e1, Arya with Polliver) adapted from “Mercy”
Ten Bears,
Perhaps some, but also…
Clob,
Thanks for that link. I just read “Mercy” again. I loved
One day, when I read the books, I hope I come across many more passages that are as well-written. Meanwhile…
I think the CG will do what Cersei has hired them to do… wait for the battle for the north to end and whichever is the victor, they are weakened and easier for her mercenaries to demolish. Problems for her is if Night King gets to Kings Landing first… her army defects to follow Jamie… a GC mutiny against her… those sorts of things.
I rather think GRRM has long since decided his books need to be freshly received separate from the series and that the end of the show is a more fruitful time for the ‘real ending’ to be revealed. He has recently stated in that Chinese Esquire that many things have impeded his progress, but he hasn’t lost motivation. My guess is by now he is eager to correct the pitfalls of a TV show (both the unavoidable and chosen paths)… but in the middle of the run, would truly make a confusing mess of it. No matter how much fans of both believe they can handle it… I disagree. Everyone would be in an uproar at him or the show or both and it would take away from the quality and pleasure of each. We will get his books, but I also suspect the Dan’s likely based some part of their decision to end the show’s run to allow the books to be completed properly. We will then be able to assess and analyze how each chose to narrate this amazing and brilliant fantasy.
Hey hey, we already saw that kill from her, it may not have been a sword but Arya put a dagger through Meryn Trant’s eye 🙂
Propane gas bottles. Probably to be used for pyrotechnics, but may be just for heating.