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According to Entertainment Weekly, Michael Lombardo is saying that Benioff and Weiss decided they need more time to tell the story.
The HBO President of Programming says they’re looking at 8 seasons for now:
The question is: How much beyond seven are we going to do? Obviously we’re shooting six now, hopefully discussing seven. [Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] feel like there’s two more years after six. I would always love for them to change their minds, but that’s what we’re looking at right now.
And are Benioff and Weiss open to doing a prequel somewhere in there? Lombardo says:
I would be open to anything that Dan and David wanted to do—about Game of Thrones, or any subject matter. […] It really would depend fully on what they wanted to do. I think you’re right, there’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel, if George and Dan and David decide they want to tackle that. At this point, all the focus is on the next few years of the show. We haven’t had any conversations about that at this point.
What do you think? What are the odds they’ll do the full ten episodes for those last two seasons? Might they do something like sixteen episodes, split in half for Seasons 7 and 8? Give us your thoughts.
GODDAMN IT YESSS!!!!!!!!!
Awesome news, thanks WotW!
LMAO. I’m sure that’s why David & Dan kept saying, over and over, that they wanted seven seasons.
Looks like HBO’s desire to keep milking the cow won out.
Holy crap on a cracker now that’s NEWS!
I just wish they didn’t rush so much this past season. I feel that if they were set on going past 7 then some of the content could have been better. Still a top notch show though (coming from a ASOIAF reader).
I hope a possible prequel isn’t contingent on D&D being involved, as I think they will want to move on to other projects. It’d be a shame if GOT was the only series/movie set in the world of Westeros and it’s vast history.
John M W,
They’d always previously said eight seasons actually and it was HBO who always came out and said 7 which made D and D change their tune to suit the official line in interviews.
I wouldn’t take this to exactly mean eight seasons though. Lombardo said “two more years” not “two more seasons” which could just mean a split s7.
This is really good news. I was afraid the last two seasons would be rushed, and pacing would be off. I thought that a lot of the great character moments would be lost. This gives me much more hope for a strong ending. Seven seemed like a perfect number to match the seven kingdoms, and seven books, but I am glad that the producers had the foresight to rethink things.
Now, if only they could add a Dunk and Egg prequel series, I would be thrilled.
They always said they wanted to do 80 hours of the show. GRRM must be popping champagne bottles right now
Did anyone at HBO actually use the word “eight”? I just see “two more years” past six, which still could (and likely will) mean that it will be a 20 episode 7th season split over two years.
Greenjones,
You’ve got it backwards. HBO has been pushing 8 or more seasons, while D&D have been firm on seven.
Hell, HBO and GRRM would love 20 seasons.
Huzzah!
This does not change all that much insofar that the last “two” books could be large/ complex enough that they require 3 seasons, but if they do not, maybe we could get more of the story details left out in the previous seasons.
Maybe we will get more Greyjoys than just Euron?
Assuming none of the new roles are Wyman Manderly, could he appear in Season 7?
Will that be enough time to allow the endgame to be released by the books and not the TV series?
Regardless of any of the answers I am happy we get at least 3 more seasons of Game of Thrones!
There is no possible way that there will be a split seventh season with twenty episodes. David and Dan have said repeatedly that it’s not possible to do more than ten episodes a season, so I think that it is likely it will be a true eight seasons.
Sadly, I think this will mean that there will be no movie ending, but time will tell on that score.
John M W,
No, if you look back to their interviews before s4 D and D did always used to talk about making an eighty hour epic. They’ve talked about going for seven seasons since then but for quite a few years they talked about eight seasons.
Give it to Cogman.
John M W,
It doesn’t matter what D&D or GRRM plan for; if the books or the show need more time to properly tell this story than what was previously planned then that’s what they need to do. And the show needs all the extra time it can get (within reason),considering how flat and rushed last season felt at certain times.
Alright!! This is the big news I have been aching for all week 😀
Sunfyre,
I like your thinking. Cogman has earned it.
Maceless Fan,
Agreed.
I know some felt that at least the first 5 or 6 episodes of the season were slow, but I have always felt the season moved way too fast. In fact as counter-intuitive as it sounds I think that rapid pace was the cause of things feeling slower. Without the time to let the stories unfold more naturally a lot of the emotional investment and drama was lost and I think that was the issue with Season 5.
I’m hopeful that the “extra” season will allow the story to breath more and things to progress at a less hectic pace!
Give us eight seasons with 10 episodes each = 80 episodes total! I think this is the perfect number because I don’t believe D&D could wrap up the series satisfactorily in two eight episode seasons after Season 6.
Sigh… they will just shoot it over an extended period… this is how it is always done when they do split seasons.
Darquemode,
But there wasn’t another way. WoS, Hardhome, Daznak, FTW, Battle for WF,.. were natural climaxes for these storylines.
Were would you end Cersei’s storyline? Jon’s? Dany’s?
Glad to see this as they actually have room now to fit more lore into the show. EURON CLEGANE BOWL LS 600% CONFIRMED.
But can’t help but be sad this happened now and not say in season 4, as season 5 rushed through all it’s plots way to quickly and just wasn’t satisfying.
This is great! My fear that these final seasons might be lacking in quality after being rushed has been largely put to rest. They could save themselves a lot of time spent on exposition if they work in a prequel of Robert’s Rebellion, which might improve the overall pacing and quality of the material. Part of me wonders if there is a significant plot point they overlooked or one that developed late that GRRM only just now fleshed out, but I think more than likely this is HBO.
What’s the betting we end up with eight books too? Assuming TWOW & ADOS are just too big for two books. What happened to A Time for Wolves?
Thrilled! I’m really surprised, as it seemed like D&D were fairly set on keeping it to seven years, but I’m glad that they see that’s not realistic. Obviously it’s hard to say, since we don’t know how much is or will be in the last two books, but since GRRM is having trouble finishing, I think there must be a lot of complex stuff that needs room to breathe. Hooray! I think it means we’ll be spoiled on fewer book details too, as GRRM will have more time.
If this means future seasons will have less of that rushed/crammed feeling that season 5 had, then this is certainly cause to celebrate. LOL plus, the off-chance that George R. R. Martin goes super saiyan and finishes A Dream of Spring inside of 2 years*! That would be fantastic.
*This is assuming he succeeds at getting TWOW released just ahead of season 6, obviously. He certainly seems to have regained some of his urgency lately; if he keeps that up for the entire 2 years, maybe ADOS beating season 8 isn’t as impossible as one might think?
edit: Actually it’d be 3 years in the quite-likely event that they “do a Breaking Bad” with the final season and split it up.
mau,
I basically agree with you that there was no other obvious or easy way to break up the two books, but that does not mean that Season 5 did not cover too much material to be as effective as previous seasons. I know some will disagree with me, but I think the faster the pace of the series the less effective it is.
That does not mean I think the show should have covered all the material in the books that GRRM used to work around his Meereenese Knot. In general I think that D&D did a fairly good job adapting the two books into one season,.. I just think ten episodes was not enough time do the material justice.
If they are considering a prequel the flashbacks to the Robert’s Rebellion period will likely be minimal
Ashara Dayne,
I thought, and I could be wrong, that A Time For Wolves was initially the title of book 7, which he changed to ADOS. This could possibly have been because he felt ATFW was too revealing or gave people predispositions towards the book. As far as 8 books goes, I don’t think it will happen but GRRM has expressed it as a possibility so you never know!
“You ever ‘Make the Eight’ Barristan?” C’mon people, it is known!
Contrary to what many (myself included) thought for a while, it became quite clear recently that HBO was really pushing for more than 7 seasons, and D&D really seemed like they wanted 7, but they started wavering on that recently.
But once it became an issue of 7.5 vs. 8, I came to think that 8 really makes more sense. The main argument for the split final season (aired over two years) was the notion that HBO would want to avoid renegotiating the main castmember contracts, but it’s clear they don’t care about that, given how hard they’ve been pushing on it. And if contracts aren’t a problem, doing 8 formal seasons avoids having to shift the series’ production and airing schedule around, which they would have had to do to produce more than 10 episodes of season 7 within the required contractual period.
For the remaining castmembers from the first two seasons, Season 8 should be a big payday — Sophie and Maisie, especially, will be renegotiating as adults with (hopefully) greater film career leverage (Sophie already has X-Men, and hopefully there’s more good stuff in store for Maisie). I have no idea what Isaac’s contractual status is, though.
The split final season thing was never a good fit for the show’s production schedule, so I highly doubt that happens. D&D have wavered on the 70-80 episodes thing, but they’ve been very consistent that they don’t want to go above 8 seasons, and a split final season is effectively a ninth season, just slightly shorter.
Is that distinction relevant in any way?
Oh, man. This actually disappoints me. Eight seasons or more opens the door to bloat and filler, and the possibility the show ends up turning into a slog, just like the source material.
GeekFurious,
Come on! Usually 6 season + 2 seasons make 8 seasons. Also 6 years (one for each corresponding season) + 2 years beyond the 6 already in the bag make 8 years. It’s not illogical that most would assume 8 seasons = 8 years. Your assumption is the exception to the rule, not the rule in TV television. For every one split last season I can give you dozens of no splits examples.
Why does it matter so much though if they say 8 seasons or 8 years? We are still talking of fitting the amount of TV hours to the story Martin writes (one can only hope!), of accommodating the books’ narrative as it were, while keeping a show that’s successful and profitable for them in their TV line up. For them it’s a win-win.
It is physically impossible to produce 20 episodes of GOT within the timespan they would need to count it as a single season for contractual purposes. Also, that’s functionally the same as 8 seasons.
The Dear Hunter,
GRRM’s “pitch” letter said that the three stories would be Game of Thrones, Dance of Dragons and Winds of Winter. The Hour of the Wolf title has been kicked around the fandom for 15+ years, but I honestly do not remember if GRRM actually considered changing the title or if this was an early example of something getting repeated so often in the Internet that people thought it was true.
Darquemode,
But they didn’t do AFFC and ADWD in one season.
So D&D did this:
Season 4
Theon – 25-30%
Dany – 15%
Bran
Brienne – their own version
Season 5
Cersei
Jon/Stannis
Dany
Brienne
Dorne
Theon
Tyrion
Arya
Season 6
Oldtown
Greyjoy
“The North remembers”
—————–
YG – cut
The Vale – cut
Riverlands(Jaime/Brienne) – cut (for now?)
Quentyn Martell – cut
Victarion – cut
Yes, it would have been great to see more politics in KL with Cersei, but we didn’t need more Arya in S5. And to speed up Tyrion’s arc was a great decision.
It would be better to see Boltons interaction with Stannis and Northen lords at the same time, but that wasn’t realistic.
Stannis maybe needed one or two more scenes.
I’m sure we will get invasion on Meereen in S6.
Maybe to give more moral dilemmas to Jon would be be interesting, but his storyline was very strong.
More scenes with Ellaria, to make her more sympathetic.
So basically, maybe 2 or max 3 more episodes would solve all problems, but those were problems when you consider book plots.
As long as the story has a proper ending, I will be happy.
There are very few shows that can go 8 seasons and still be great. Game of Thrones can probably buck that trend due to the number of characters they have.
Wimsey,
He didn’t change the title. A Time for Wolves was the original title of the would-be fourth book, once he decided there was going to be one (now the seventh book, and retitled A Dream of Spring).
LordDavos,
The problem with prequels is coming up with a story. After all, the plot is constrained heavily by plots written for a different story.
It would be very difficult to avoid something like the story-less messes that were the Star Wars prequels. As what has made this series both critically and commercially successful is the focus on story, a prequel would very probably be a huge letdown.
I hope this is really because the story doesn’t fit in 70 episodes and not because someone (HBO) wants to stretch it as long as possible.
But seriously, after GoT is done, give D&D a break. They already deserve it.
Wimsey,
That’s really only an issue for the oft-mooted Robert’s Rebellion prequel, which is immediate backstory for the main series (and, I’ve always thought, an unlikely candidate for a prequel series for precisely that reason).
GRRM’s world is full of fascinating periods and character (or character outlines) that could easily be made into a prequel. The Dance of the Dragons is the most well-developed, obviously, and I think you could do a pretty cool series set around that.
20 episodes wasn’t enough. It is obvious, when you look at the end of season 5. I hope that 80 episodes aren’t too much.
I think the same about the books. 2 more books are not enough to end this story.
It sounds like HBO would like 20 seasons if they could get it. However, they want to keep the integrity of the show intact and are allowing D&D to tell them how many seasons they need. The entire time they are hoping they say more and more.
Which to me is great for story telling purposes.
I agree. You could change the timeline and make DoD and Blackfire rebelion to happen one after another.
We heard so much about the Targaryen rule in GoT, it would be great to see it.
I can easily see 5 seasons of “Targaryen show”.
Wimsey,
That sounds reasonable, although I doubt I have much authority in the matter, having only been in the know for about 5 years. Kinda reminds me of that Winds of Winter dust jacket (the black one with the horn) thats been floating around for several years.
How is this a good thing? It basically just means that things will slow down and people will hate that it’s slow ( like Dany delayed from Westeros yet again), more fave characters will be killed off and people will cry foul (enough about JS already), and more characters will be introduced and people will say they suck (like the sand snakes). I am actually looking forward to the end, not to end it but to actually see it happen. I’d rather see it end and a prequel or sequel spin up. Ok, now you can hate on me. Lol.
Well, Theon’s stuff in Season 4 was not from Dragons: it was stuff that he remembers to himself in Dragons. They basically showed it when it was happening rather than when we got to read about it (if that makes sense). Brienne was basically doing what she did at the end of Swords, with an addition of encountering Arya.
As for Season 6, that is going to be Winter stuff and will not need these things. Oldtown is barely in Crows, and what we almost certainly will begin with Sam setting up there. That’s Winter material. Euron is going to be attacking the Reach in Winter, and that’s probably where we will pick him up. There is, after all, absolutely no reason to include the Kingsmoot as that was relevant to the story only if you are trying to make a protagonist of Asha/Yara and showing her failing to kill the girl and become the woman. Without that, it’s just stuff happening: and B&W have been assiduous about including things if and only if it feeds the story. If no protagonist is present, then the events cannot feed the story.
Similarly, there is no reason to expect a “North Remembers” angle beyond that which is going to be relevant to Winter. That was relevant only to what GRRM was trying to get Davos and Theon to contribute to the boy->man story, after all. Now, it might be relevant to stuff in Winter: but, if so, then it will be the “North Remembers” material from Winter.
God bless westeros! !
Maybe. I’m not really sure what story you could tell with that: it basically reads like simplified history in the Dangerous Women anthology, and without the other stories in that anthology, I am not sure that I would have picked up on a point
That written, they always could alter the plot to fit some story if they can think of a good one that uses many of the same plot elements. That’s often necessary just to stay faithful to a story anyway – a plot element that works on page might be completely ineffective on screen – and it certainly would be worth doing if it can create a story.
I have no memory of it being like this, but it was so long ago that it doesn’t mean much. My memory is that we were expecting two more books after Swords back in 2001; I’m not sure when we learned that Dragons was getting split. Indeed, a lot of people thought that Crows was being created to fill in the 5 year gap. Of course, we were not getting anywhere near the information that we are getting these days, and the Grimms’ Law was in fine form as a result!
Great news, but only if they can continue reaching the high water marks they’ve set for themselves. I dont want a watered down season 7 and 8 if it could’ve been condensed into one 16 episode season that takes 1.5-2 years to make.
I expected this, but it’s good to hear it confirmed. 2 seasons to cram in the ending seemed way too short a time imo. I can see it lasting 9 seasons probably, maybe even 10 if they decide not to cut so much of the book content out.
You would tell the story of the Dance of the Dragons, how the Blacks and the Greens’ ambitions and egos brought about a massive civil war that ended the golden age of the Seven Kingdoms and resulted in the deaths of almost all the major people on both sides.
Fantastic!
Sean C.,
That’s not a story, that’s a brief plot synopsis! Basically, what would be the common identity crises of the protagonists? That’s what the story is. Ideally, you’d want it to be the Faulkner-style story that GRRM likes to tell where the identity crisis involves someone realizing that he/she is trying to be two different people at once.
My concern with the Dance is that I do not see where any of the characters that you could turn into a protagonist have any of these issues. Without that, you just have a banal docudrama.
Well with the 2nd season of True Detective turning into a dud, of course they are going to push for more seasons from the cash cow that is GoT.
No, that’s one type of story.
It’s a political drama about the fall of a great dynasty, modeled on numerous such wars that occurred in history. Rhaenyra’s arc is a lot like Catelyn’s (or the book Catelyn’s, at least) with Stannis (or Dany, I guess), as she attempts to assert her claim to the throne and punish the people who have been trying to steal her birthright since she was a child. Along the way, she loses everything, from her reputation to her family to even her grip on sanity to an extent, culminating in her death.
Obviously most of the cast needs to be fleshed out more, but there are good starting points for a large cast of characters, with representatives from the marquee families (I expect they would have Lord Cregan be the leader of the Riverlands armies, and be a more consistent presence throughout, for instance).
Breee brurp Reeel Kaaaboodoo sddbbi aaapo s f h h hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh h hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
^ How my inner mind just exploded into nonsense. *Didn’t have the mental strength to type that previous sentence without at least twelve typo’s either.
Shocked. Happy. Back to usual critical self.
I’m not entering denial mode that this will give GRRM enough time to finish ADOS. In fact, it makes me fear that whatever he’s discussing with his agents/editors in New York will have something of a similar message.
Yeah, again you talk about stuff like you know, but make really bad assumptions: Theon’s stuff: Taking Moat Cailin, it’s all from Dance of Dragons – Reek II, not “remembering it happening to him”. Which happened in season 3.. And stuff that he remembers in his Dance-chapters, may not be from the Dance-timeline, but it is Dance material. So Theon’s stuff in S4, was most definitely, undeniably from Dance.
Considering how much tossing around they’ve done with a big number of storylines/timelines, I can’t honestly believe that you still insist on “Season 6 is Winter” and “There will be no introduction to Euron, as he’s not a character and Yara doesn’t have a plot”..
What books?
That was my first thought but Lombardo did say that D&D decided two season wasn’t enough time to tell the story. And since they know the ending, they’re in a position to know. I doubt they would milk it just to cash checks, since they’ve been adamant about not staying too late at the party. And its not like they’re going to be unemployable after GoT.
Awww shit lombardo wants to milk the cow…i’m sorry but i already have it well over my head of this in the video game industry so while i work in it i would like that some things stay intact even though i’m pretty sure they’ll milk it anyway.
If they do a prequel, I’d like to see an entire show about Valyria leading up to The Doom, unless it turns out to be just another Pompeii retread.
That would give him time to finish the books.
True Detective season 2 is lambasted — too much so. It’s not season 1, but as a detective show it’s still high end.
I would be blown away if Dany hits Westeros next season. Maybe she sets sail in episode 10. But even that seems a stretch. People have been expecting her to move along much sooner than was possible, given story dynamics, for some time.
Lombardo pretty much put that to rest last year when he said a movie finale would “be a betrayal to our subscriber base”. Also, it would be the most expensive R rated movie of all time. I know American Sniper and 50 Shades did well, but they didn’t cost that much to make, so were lower risks.
She spends way too much time in Essos. I don’t care if it is from the books. It is bad story telling. She needs to make it to Westeros soon.
I’m that one weird guy that started watching S2 of TD, after GoT ended – without having seen S1. I can tell you, I like both seasons for what they are. They’re definitely the same show, but completely different. S2 is getting a lot of hate, but it’s just as coherent as S1, if not more so. S1 takes you by the hand a bit more, leading you on that they’ll tell the story of how they got this guy, but you know they’re probably wrong any way considering the new case. S2 doesn’t do that, but you know they were looking in the wrong place as well. In both seasons, there are leads that border on inexplicability. How they suddenly went for Fontenot in S1 I found particularly weird, but the same could be said about lol, half the leads in S2.. Like the girl those guys who worked for Santos just happened to slice the throat in the last episode. In any case, I’m not even done yet with S1, but I’m expecting a bit more forward momentum – something that S2 is currently criticized for. When you look at it, S1 just had nice little catchy bits with Matt McC’s character. Dark characters aren’t really that refreshing though post-Dark Knight, but people do keep telling themselves. I find both to be very entertaining and being as far in both really keeps comparing their momentum a lot easier and makes it a lot easier to appreciate both.
Edit: I agree with the majority, Dany needs to haul herself to Westeros. She’s got the ships, she’s got the footsoldiers+cavalry. She’s got Varys there, and KL is internally wrecked. There’s no real reason to stop her from going to Westeros by the end of this coming season. Dragons will rise and Meereen will crumble.
GeekFurious,
I’d still be cool with that bc the maths the same. Now if the take a ten-episode season-seven and chop that in half like the did with madmen and stretch that out over two years, now that would be sum BS
Eight or more seasons are a terrible idea. When the novels are good, so is the show; think of how much it stuffed into the first three seasons, without sacrificing plot/character. Last two novels went off the rails, and the show went off the rails, too.
IF Martin has his act back together in Winds, the show should be able to return to form. If Martin is sadly still lost, giving the show an extra thirty seasons wouldn’t help.
Is there a substantial risk involved in adding an 8th season after the main cast deliberately signed on to 5 and 6 with the option of 7? Is it pushing it too far for these actors?
That’s not fair to Martin. Feast and Dance are still high quality books. Book 1-3 are just better. And that the last two got a structural problem is pretty much a fact, but they aren’t bad storywise if you know where to look.
Ravyn
That would be kind of like this world’s Silmarillion. I would love to see the rebellion, but they wouldn’t want to spoil it by showing too much imagery. Like in a flashback you could have anyone who looked the part play Aerys and Rhaegar but in a prequel you’d want good actors
I hope you’re right! It would be awful to watch GoT become one of those shows that lasted too long… (The X-Files, I’m watching at you)
GRRM must be really behind and still haven’t much of a clue about his plan then, forcing D+D to delay stuff for him. Thanks George.
Wimsey
There’s a chance of a prequel being a let down of course but there are interesting characters and events in the rebellion that could work if fleshed out by GRRM. At least there wouldn’t be the issue of the LOTR/Hobbit series of the prequel series being quite different in tone. It won’t be dragons v white walkers but it’s still the game of thrones.
who is complainig about that , i have bad News. YOU ARE CRAZY.
But that still is not a story: it’s just a life history. Story comes from people working out who they are, and Rhaenyra never does that. She has nothing like the arc that Catelyn has, who is stuck between doing what she’s always been taught women should do and doing what needs to be done for her family, and then caught between remaining loyal to her oldest son or loyal to her two daughters.
At any rate, the people watching these sorts of HBO, Showtime, etc., series watch these series for those types of stories. All of the big ones (Breaking Bad, Sopranos, Dexter, the Tudors, Mad-Men, Six Feet Under, even True Blood) were telling that general type of story.
Fleshing it out would not help. What it needs is the series of “damned if you do/damned if you don’t” soul searching moments that are the lifeblood of all of these sorts of series. I just do not see what those would be. OK, maybe Rhaegar had one before running off with Lyanna: but they would need lots more. The climax of the story would have to center around that. However, the main players are basically acting very unequivocally: based on what they think to be true, they all are doing “right” things that are not causing them any loss of sleep! The fact that Lyanna probably ran off with Rhaegar does not change the fact that Robert goes to his grave thinking that she was abducted, or that Ned fights the whole war under that supposition.
At some point, there has to be some element of “part of me is going to regret either choice” or “which type of person am I really”: and I just do not see how the existing plot would allow for that.
Dragons was pretty good. However, the six biggest characters in the story (who account for at least 75% of the chapters dedicated to characters that might be important in the end) get a grand total of six chapters in Crows. Moreover, three of those are just Sansa staying Sansa. So, there are three Arya chapters where we see some important dynamic development that could be relevant in the final story, but nothing for the other five characters that are going to be important in the end. Indeed, in the final analysis, it is almost certainly going to be the case that you could skip Crows save for Arya’s three chapters, and understand exactly why Jon, Daeny, Tyrion, Arya, Sansa and Brann are doing what they are doing. Basically, whatever GRRM’s over-arching story is, it’s going to be summarized by how those six are different (and what is in common about those changes) in Spring relative to Thrones.
Lulz.
Yer trolling, Good Ser, aren´t you ?
Or D&D read WINDS and collectively said, “Shiiiiittt, we need another season”. In all seriousness, the idea that they could wrap up WINDS and SPRING in twenty episodes seemed pretty far fetched. An extra 10 eps would allow them to do a STORM OF SWORDS type treatment and allow them to at least spread them over a season and a half.
Well hot damn!
Now I’ll actually go read the article.
Excellent. Part of me was starting to fear that Benioff and Weiss really were pushing for only 7 seasons.
I wonder if the fan theory that Season 5 was so condensed because of the actor contract negotiations had any truth behind it, or if they really wanted to go this fast voluntarily.
Oh and another thought before I read the article is that GURM isn’t anywhere near being done with that god damn book and they (D & D) are trying to give him time.
GRRRR…………..
Okay, now I’ll go read the article
Interesting. As recently as a few months ago, Benioff and Weiss had sounded pretty locked in on a 7-season plan for GOT. Obviously HBO wanted more, but those desires seemed couched more in nebulous hope than any concrete evidence beyond the fact that discussions were ongoing. Now, however, Lombardo sounds extremely confident they’ve secured verbal commitments for at least one more year, if not another full season (As others have noted, that additional year could cover either Season 8 or a split and extended Season 7 aired over two years). Things seem to have changed.
Early on, Benioff and Weiss talked about how they envisioned Game of Thrones as an 80-hour epic. Later, they revised that figure down to 70 hours. Many people thought that timetable sounded too rushed. Before Season 5 ended, however, I had felt very confident that Benioff and Weiss could indeed meet their stated goal and wrap up the story in only 7 seasons. I suppose that result is still possible, but my certainty level wavered after most of the major characters ended Season 5 in roughly the same place as their counterparts in ADWD ended theirs (with one or two notable exceptions, of course). If “7 seasons and out” was the ultimate goal that Benioff and Weiss were committed to meeting above all else, then I thought certain storylines needed to push further beyond where GRRM left them at the end of ADWD – namely, Dany’s.
If Season 7 was truly going to be the end, then I didn’t think Dany could afford to spend most of Season 6 wandering around the Dothraki Sea, isolated from most of the other significant characters. A seventh and final season that had to accommodate the long-awaited arrivals of both Dany AND the White Walkers in Westeros Proper sounded far too complicated to pull off. From what little we’ve seen and heard of the Essos storylines for this upcoming season, it doesn’t sound like she or Tyrion are getting to Westeros any time soon. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – there should be plenty of material to sustain both them and all of the characters in Westeros for 2-3 more years, especially if you set aside the last season almost exclusively for the invasion of the White Walkers. But if Dany and Tyrion are going to spend most of Season 6 in Essos, then I’m glad we’re getting additional episodes so that the ultimate endgame of the series – Ice and Fire – can have the time it needs to breathe.
No matter how many episodes of Game of Thrones ultimately remain, pacing is going to be the most important thing to get right going forward. Personally, I had no particular issue with how Season 5 was structured, but I did find it amusing how the audience was divided so stridently down the middle with respect to the speed of certain storylines. One group (many of them Unsullied) thought that the season moved too slowly in the beginning and only picked up towards the end. Another group (most of them book readers) complained that the season felt too rushed, especially towards the end. In theory, that could suggest that they split the difference appropriately. However, that bimodal distribution of opinions was one of the many examples of how the conversation surrounding Season 5 became so … polarizing.
Ideally, having additional episodes to play with should allow Benioff and Weiss to fit more significant plot points into the show and distribute them more evenly throughout each season, as well as to service all of the main characters’ storylines with appropriate depth. Of course, that luxury is contingent on using the extra time to develop the characters and storylines that they have already established rather than continuing to expand the world beyond its natural limits. I have to admit I’ll be annoyed if they use this extra time to retroactively shoehorn in characters like YG and LS, who have so far been successfully excised from the narrative and should remain that way. Fortunately, given their previous statements of intentions on that topic, I think we’re safe on that front.
Ultimately, it’s all about finding a balance – a reasonable length that does this epic story justice without stretching it too far and straining the patience of the audience. I am wary of stories that linger on too long, and I would like to know the ending of this particular tale within the next two or three years. But at the same time, I’m certainly not going to object to having more episodes of my favorite show to watch! With a bit of luck, hopefully 8 seasons will prove to be the right length for Game of Thrones after all.
John M W,
Yeah I’d love to se those bonus checks!
The Dragon Demands,
S5 was so condensed (and altered) because there isn’t a lot of TV friendly stuff in the last two books.
HBO says….. Does that mean D&D jump through HBO’s hoop? Is Lombardo playing D&D into committing to more than they’ve been saying all along they’d do?
If Lombardo is really saying GOT will continue but will go with prequels, why doesn’t he make that clear? The source material for a couple of prequels are there, in short story form. Dunk & Egg would be great TV, with a superb story too. The Dance With Dragons would require huge CGI work to make viable and tell-able. Would those require a full season each? I see made-for-TV movies for each of those stories.
Would HBO go right back to Aegon’s Conquest? Where’s the source material for that? That last book didn’t have full stories on which to base much. All we got was a basic form of outline without the deeper story detail or dialogue. A condensed text book like you have for school work, in a way. Who’s going to write the stories needed? GRRM does not work at that pace. He doesn’t dance to someone else’s tune. That guy isn’t going to change what is his own working pattern, no matter how much HBO cast across the table in his direction. GRRM can’t change because he’s so much into detail, and that’s what we enjoy in the books.
I’d like to see how D&D respond to Lombardo now. Also, I’d like to know how GRRM feels too as it is his ‘baby’ everyone’s talking about.
At this point, I’m not offering proposals for solutions. Let’s see how this game is played.
Well, I can see Dinklage and Emilia buying another home tomorrow, since they’re the two most guaranteed to be still around in S8. Negotiating that eighth season is going to be interesting, especially since only D&D really know who’s going to still be around. Regardless, its going to cost HBO some pretty serious bank. And if Mophie is still around, I also hope they negotiate a single title card deal, as well as A tier pay.
Ravyn,
Yep. Presumably TWOW and ADOS (or at least the outlines of them that GrrM’s relayed to D and D) are a little more TV friendly, hence their giving those two some more breathing room.
Wimsey
It’s difficult to be sure of motivations when the information is sketchy but I’d say Rhaegar and Lyanna would both have should-I shouldn’t-I moments. Rhaegar appears motivated by the prophesy and knows he’s offending his wife, great houses and risking war. Lyanna may be trying to get out of her betrothal but she knows she’s going against her family and ends up pretty much imprisoned in a tower. Good actors could turn Aerys, Tywin and Brandon into compelling figures. Ned and his secrets, the rise of Littlefinger. I think there’s alot there. The problem would be it would be based on a framework of info from GRRM rather than developed work since he will be busy on ASOIAF for years.
I’m not worried about there being enough material for 8 seasons. We have no idea what Winds or Spring could have in store, but David and Dan will.
Vastly prefer this to the idea of a movie, I just don’t think it could end it well.
Well they don’t have a choice do they?
Given how little plotting happens in AWOW its but obvious that GRRM will need to write 8 books.
Eight seasons of Game of Thrones. Can you imagine the possibilities with the storylines now? There’s lots of loose ends to tie up in S6 of course, Jon reborn, The North, at some point, total reference to the first 5 novels will end. The next 2 seasons could be all new material exclusively from the new books. I think GRRM is finish with both books! I said this before, 3 more seasons will age these characters, I know this sounds bleak, but just think, alot of characters we know now could die on the show. 30 episodes!! I think by adding another season, they will start introducing new characters for us to care about, because most of the characters we know won’t lived 3 more seasons! With the possibility of Jon reborn? Jon? Arya? Tyrion? After 8 seasons they could be the only ones remaing from S1! I hope it’s a great run, this show will go down as one of the greatest in history!
This is THE BEST piece of news in months, i always think about an eighth season myself you know for achieving a solid conclusion in all of storylines and also i HATE the idea of ending the series in big screen, why? mainly because with that plan you’ll have some blockbuster like rest of all the regular Hollywood blockbusters every year and we all know that GOT is FAR MORE than that.
They only need 5-7 main characters to agree for an eight season and beyond. True detective has flopped miserably so HBO will now milk this cash cow until every last drop is squeezed out. They have nothing to replace GoT with. It is the most popular show in the world now. 24 Emmys, 8 million viewers is fabulous. There is absolutely no reason to end it anytime soon. GoT – HBOs version of Star Wars/ Harry Potter / LOTR. They will always continue to milk it on & on.
Personally, i think even a ninth season is possible if ratings stay stable. Seinfeld/Friends both had 9 seasons. HBO initially wanted 9-10 seasons but D*D got burned out. HBO can easily replace them with Cogman and continue the show as long as it is financially viable. They only need the core cast, producers are replaceable.
I think in the end we will indeed have nine seasons.
S6 – Parts of AFFC+ ADWD & TWOW
S7 – TWOW CONCLUSION
S8 – PART I OF ADOS
S9 – PART II OF ADOS
The most crucial thing is getting the actors on board –
Peter Dinklage, Emilia, Sophie – these 3 are absolutely essential and irreplaceable. Throw money at them and keep them around at any cost.
Lena & NCW – disposable at any time. Doomed to die soon.
Kit , Isaac & Maisie – can be easily replaced [explained away by MAGIC – face-changed, tree-face, recast or enters another human body] – they have no negotiation power – will have to accept whatever HBO pays them
I think they got Emilia/Sophie/Peter all to agree to 7+ seasons. So full steam ahead for HBO.
I for one am happy because it will give our dear author 3-4 years to complete 2 books. Come on George, you can do it.
GeekFurious,
What’s the difference between 10 episode 2 seasons and 20 episodes 1 season? Only name.
I think its more than possible that D&D recently learned from GRRM a new wrinkle that they love, and felt it would take an extra season to do justice to. Not really a new ending, but a new way of getting there?
Remember Harry Potter films? For a long time it seemed there would be 7 films but they decided to make 8. It’s not surprising that they want to make one huge last season (with bigger budget, I hope). As far as we know season 6 contains the Winds of Winter storylines, I haven’t heard it contains A Dream of Spring storylines and that doesn’t make sense to tell the storylines of The Storm of Swords, A Feast For Crows and A Dance with Dragons in more than one season (but less than full 2) and tell the finale of the series in just one. That would be stupid.
I’m torn with this. I want as much GoT as possible, but I also want to find out the damn ending before I die! Preferably ASAP. I’d rather know the whole plot in advance and leisurely enjoy watching the telling than wait years on end. It’s not like Dallas where they just make new shit up all the time until they jump the shark with Pam waking up and it’s all a dream.
Glad there is no chance of a movie ending, I never did watch the Twin Peaks movie and can’t even remember if the show made sense without it.
I’d welcome further Planetos-based stories but not second-rate TV. I loved Aladdin but never watched the sequels or the TV show (although my kids did). Robin Williams made that movie.
Depends. I did read that his editor thought it might need 8 books but I do hope he doesn’t go quite so much on the long and winding road as he did in AFFC and ADWD. Don’t get me wrong I don’t hate those books and there were some gems in them but I did think some sub-plots (eg Brienne searching for Sansa) could have been more condensed. I suppose it would be correct to say that while not hating them I didn’t like the last two books as much as I did the first three.
The time it is taking Mr Martin to continue with the series though I’ll be glad to even see a sixth book. I’m in the same age bracket as him though slightly younger and I don’t want to have to wait till when and if I’m aged 103 for an ending. As for the series going an extra year – would that mean them having to renegotiate contracts with the leading actors?
Wow! Talk about good news!
My initial thoughts are this is great!
I honestly feared D&D were going to rush to the finish line and try to keep it to 70 episodes exact just because that’s what they have always said. It is great that they gave themselves a buffer now to write freely and let the story carry itself to the finish line rather then being pushed and shoved across. We definitely will not get that awful feeling of everything being rushed after a careful 6 years of putting the pieces in place.
Still hoping for a big budget, summer movie quality, 90-120min grand finale to cap the series off like no other series in TV history has been done before. *fingers crossed*
Also the news HBO is basically requesting for D&D or someone else to come and do a prequel is awesome! It would have to be ‘Robert’s Rebellion’ and it would have to start with the romance of Lyanna and Rhaegar and the actual rebellion part coming a little after mid-series I’d say, IMO anyway.
And my biggest hope is even if D&D decide to pass on the prequel, even though I can’t imagine they will, because although the work involved has got to be very time consuming and stressful, they do realize this is a dream job.
But even if D&D do pass on the prequel, all the have to do is hand over the reins to the next show runners/writers and keep the massive, fine tuned, epic making machine in place that delivers us this amazing show every Spring.
D&D have the best team in television that they hand their script to. HBO has everything in place to crank out another epic. If D&D leave it will suck but look what they will be leaving behind, how can they walk away from that?
I am betting they don’t, but if D&D do HBO will still have the best (and only) epic television making machine in tact, we just need to pray another passionate and talented group of show runners/writers come along to create an amazing script for them to turn into film.
How do you figure that Sophie is essential? Peter and Emilia, ok. Peter because he is everyone’s darling and Emilia because Dany is probably endgame. But I don’t see any reason why Sansa absolutely needs to be around for season 8.
Jon, on the other hand … – they (GRRM and the show) have been whacking us over the head with hints that Jon is super-duper-mega-important, I don’t see how you could consider him dispensible. And no, I don’t think wolf!Jon is going to cut it. If he is who they’ve made us believe he is, he is not going to do that mega-important stuff in wolf form or in some other body. Audiences wouldn’t buy it.
Long rant short: I would switch out Kit for Sophie in your estimation.
Great News!
It makes perfect sense and it could explain, why Jon could be out of season 6…8th season might not be the last one. GOT just keeps growing and HBO will push hard for more. They said at least and nothing is definitive.
GRRM,
Not really. Maisie and Kit are pretty important just like others at this point of story, because Arya and Jon are hugely popular. You know how hard it was to cast Arya’s role. D&D talked about this on Emmy panel 2013. For me Peter, Lena, Emilia, Kit, Maisie, Sophie, Lena and NCW are virtually irreplaceable.
I think all popular actors will reach final season. Because even the ones who will not make it to the final game in my opinion can be killed in final’s season first episodes. We already read from sources Peter, Lena, NCW,Kit , Emilia, Sophie and Maise have options for season 7…i am sure if they can they would love to make one more season as well.
It’s is hard to read isn’t it?
“The question is: How much beyond seven are we going to do?”
See how they say HOW MUCH BEYOND SEVEN. It means that there will be at least an 8 season, maybe more, but not less than 8 seasons.
I can’t rightly remember what conversations about how many seasons there were before season 4.
Seems GRRM had something to say and I can believe D&D did say something about 8.
The most definitive was when the question came up Red Carpet premiere season 4.
I remember explicitly Dan Weiss being asked (by Mr. Goofus) how many?
Weiss said “We are half way.”
David Benioff piped up “Seven”.
Weiss said “O yeah Seven.”
Frankly I don’t think they really knew at that point.
I can’t remember all comments about number of seasons between 4 and 5.
I think the success of season 4 was on HBO’s mind , so to speak.
Seems D&D started putting the down the limit to 7.
There is still that ‘sort of’ single panic interview with George where he implies that he thought he had more time for Winds (no comment) because and he implies he thought novels 4 and 5 would be two seasons. That’s when the ‘movie’ was floated.
Somewhere before and after season 4 I seem to remember Hibberd starts riding this issue.
Then before season 5 we have the Hibbered interview with Lombardo who says (not quoting exactly here) that HBO is interested in more than 7 but are deferring to D&D. This is where the ‘movie’ gets mentioned again.
Between season 4 and 5 there is a lot of GoT BUZZ, also the season 7 contract extensions.
Benioff waffles before season 5 with his 7.5.
HBO announces their ‘better’ tracking of viewers (apparently more than just the USA) numbers.
I think I see more GoT ‘merchandising’ , anyone else notice this?
I really think things were fluid during and after season 5.
A problem arises , GoT is busting HBO records, what’s on HBO’s horizon that can compete?
I don’t think it is Westworld.
I think HBO (and Time Warner) speculate that GoT will generate more revenue , not just the show’s, IMAX ? (maybe) and merchandising (Disney became a zillionaire off selling gewgaws, tho those were not associated with R rated visual narrative!)
Push came to shove with the success of season 5.
I think the possibility was discussed but the decision was not made until just recently. D&D probably got an offer they could not refuse.
I now would not rule out a movie!
Sansa is a pretty standard female character. She doesn’t have any special skillset that she needs to have.
A truckload of actresses could play the part if need be.
Hurray, another 3 seasons of slow and painfull butchery of book content… and of course of King Ramsey Snow-add titles at your own… Not to forget his 20 good men.
I hope they do not make a prequel series about Robert’s Rebellion. We don’t need to see it, by the end of the books, and presumably the TV show as well, we’ll know all there is to know. And anything we don’t know, isn’t worth knowing. They should leave it alone.
I’d far rather see a prequel series about a period in history that is unclear. We’re always going to know something about the time they pick, but I’d rather that much was left to speculation. The most obvious choices appear to be Aegon’s conquering, Dunk & Egg and Robert’s Rebellion, though. I’d rather the two former, personally.
Atleast 8 seasons . Sounds good( I feel bad for the readers who are long in the Tooth and are worried about not being around for the end of the story ). That sucks but now with atleast. 3 seasons left. , if they wanna tie up gendry , blackfish , edmure perhaps even lsh. The brotherhood , greyjoys , They have plenty of time to do it now . And threw brans green sight visions ” show watchers and book readers alike can get something new from it ,that’s exciting , it’s great to be able to not worry about spoilers anymore . I think we’re gonna get 9 seasons total plus 6 seasons of a prequel show . Meaning 10 more years of westeros !!!! This is huge . Thank the gods
D
Why do you even bother to come on this site and write a commenti if you think the show is such an awful and paonful thing to watch??
I can’t really understand some people behaviour.
Well, this is not place for just blind fanboys… in democracy it is perfectly normal to have opinion that is different… let me school you Boy if you dont know this.
AryaArya,
Perhaps. But none of them are the lovely Sophie. http://i.imgur.com/uU7zG0h.jpg
Looooooooool so were are all those nay-sayers now??
“There’s NO wway it’s gonna run more than 7 seasons, at MAX an extended 7th season, blablabla…”
At LEAST 8 seasons? This is too fucking funny!!!!!
They can’t use another body with jon. Even if he is a warg in tv show, which clearly he isn’t, but let’s say he is, than he won’t be able to stay in another body for more than a very short period(no need to explain why).
I’m both thrilled/excited and scared that eight seasons means even more character deaths (as they have to keep some average number of deaths each season). And this is mostly regarding supporting characters. I hoped some would survive at the end.
Woohoo! How exciting!!!
In retrospect I guess it was telling that, even after talking at the time about wanting seven seasons, that D and D still referred to s4 as the halfway point…
GET HYPE https://youtu.be/7FGT7NzqDRU
“Yeah man, that is, like, your opinion”. She will go to Westeros when Martin wants, obviously.
Re True Detective: I LOVED S1 (Except maybe the last scene). I read S2 was bad so I started watching it with low expectations. I’m halfway through and is definitely better than I expected after reading the reviews, although is not on par with S1, bot visually and performance-wise.
Yeah, I’m sure that’s the reason…another Martin hater making a fool of himself 😉
I don’t think they will. This is not a war. Even if they disagree (which doesn’t seem to be the case), they won’t do it in public.
As I said in the past years, D&D just wanted a raise, that’s why they changed their tune from 8 to 7, and seems that they just got it 😉
Boojam,
D&D never said anything about 7.5 season.
GeekFurious,
Why the hell would it be a “split season” then…was season 4-5 a “split season” 4?..ten more episodes is another season.
Darko,
There is Law and then there is what is right. Two things, sometimes happens to work with each other, sometimes no.
Anyway this is a site and democracy has nothing to do with it. You can speak your mind but within some limits. This is actually true even in democracy.
AFFC a high quality book? Sure. Couldn’t stand it, but it was still well-written and professionally put together.
ADWD, on the other hand …
8 seasons is good news! But as much as I love this show, I hope they won’t stretch this into 9 or more seasons… With 7 seasons we were expecting the endgame in two years from now, Dany back in Westeros and the finale battle with the white walkers. Now it’s in 3 years, and what if it’s 5 or 6 years? How much years Dany would stay in Meereen if they stretch the show into 9 or 10 seasons?? How depressing…
Some of you are happy because we could see the Greyjoy and Manderly and other subplots but that’s not the story. The main story is the Iron Throne and the White Walkers.
Some of you say that season 5 was “rushed”, where did you get that?? A lot of viewers complained about the slow pace, and about the fact that “nothing happened”.
I find your comments very disturbing.
In any case, what limit did Darko cross? I see none
Also, this site has always had everything to do with “democracy”, more precisely with free speech. You won’t find another one like it.
So let Darko say whatever he wants, as long as he doesn’t insult anyone.
PS: For the record I don’t agree with him. I love both the show and the books
So…how exactly do D&D make this work, while they have another project with HBO in the works –“Dirty White Boys”????? Seems like D&D have been firm on their commitment to seven seasons.
Give us 7 seasons of GoT and a 4th season of Deadwood.
Then I can have my Sunday nights back.
Seems right. Season 7 will be Dany invading. Season 8 will be the Others.
I myself had been wondering more and more if they could really resolve it all in just 20 more hours and so I figured they’d go extra episodes for season 7.
SeanC has convinced me that production wise this makes more sense. Though season 8 may have fewer episodes.
At this point, I’m also increasingly wondering whether 7 books will be enough for Martin to finish either but that’s a different story.
I guess my one really big concern is how much time Dany’s going to spend wandering around in the Dothraki sea before sailing West already, because traditionally the Essos storylines have often been a huge drag.
But I won’t mind having more time to go into the Iron Born invasion of the Reach and I definitely think we’re going to need time to explore the fallout from Jon’s resurrection, and the Big Reveal, (especially since we’re getting so many flashbacks,) and letting the White Walkers get past the Wall, and whatever the hell’s gonna happen with Sansa, so all in all it’s probably a good thing.
Seven and done. Talk if eight seasons and Additional material is about pleasing the share holders nothing to do with reality. The law of diminishing returns and increased costs means seven only! AMC wanted more than five seasons of Breaking Bad but the creator had the good sense to say no. The longer it lasts the more “blah” it becomes.
Now they should have Stannis back unharmed. Better story.
I cant speak for y’all but I have been waiting to see how this will all end since 2000. I was elated that D&D were going to finish in 2017. I am totally deflated now. I am exhausted. I just need closure. I need to know that spending every day since this show came out thinking about GoT (if you’re here you know you do) was worth the investment. Because life is moving by. And I have never been with a man before.
Hold me.
Rygar,
Wow .. Here’s a cyber hug . Off topic but does anyone else think gillys baby need to be a toddler next season . Lancel and bran aged like crazy since season. 2 , we need gillys baby to be a toddler or atleast walking and talking
You guys are too much to handle.
Praise for ASoIaF books on a GoT website = Trolling?
LMAO
Has anyone read this?
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/07/30/game-thrones-ice-wall-may-become-permanent-tourist-attraction-in-ireland/
“According to the Belfast Telegraph, local council members have requested that HBO leave the set behind once filming of the sixth season wraps.”
Why would they leave the set after the 6th season if there are going to be more?
Tried to post a message but it won’t let me post what I want. Second time this has happened recently that it says I’ve double-posted but there is nothing there!
Best GoT news since HBO announced they were picking up the pilot episode, and at LEAST eight seasons, damn, I guess HBO is willing to open up their wallet. Hopefully we can get proper closure to subplots (subplots must have closure or it’s bad story telling); BwB, BF, Edmure, Frey’s, Mr Row, row, row your boat, and Rickon/Osha. We knew we are getting Greyjoy’s, The Reach, OT, Tarley’s…
…sooooo…GET HYPE!
The red vendor,
I agree 110% with the above.
First, WOW! WOW!!
This helps a lot. A lot of people thought 8 would be the sweet spot, assuming that A) Winds of Winter/Dream of Spring were going to be long enough to encompass a total of 3 seasons for the two books. AFFC/ADwD both had a lot of filler, and to try to streamline, making them largely into one season probably made the most sense. (Besides, some of Brienne’s plot had already worked its way into Season 4, et al).
This probably means a fuller reading of the Greyjoys, and more stuff with the Northern Lords. It also means that in a lot of ways Season 5 is going to be seen as a transition one. Season 3 put a definite period on one plot – the Stark/Lannister war – and then Season 4 did a lot of other things, it puts a period on the Joffrey regime but more importantly, on three straight seasons of “rule” by Tywin Lannister (with Tyrion as his proxy in Season 2).
So in some ways, Season 5 served as a sign of the chaos to come. It went through the Cersei downfall and the death of Stannis. But it also, too, points to the possibility that several others may truly sit the Iron Throne in the coming 3 seasons.
I seriously doubt they’re bowing to HBO pressure on this. HBO has a cash cow and is well served being as nice to these guys as possible.
Either way, I’m stoked. I think it’s going to be 8 full seasons, none of this “split season” baloney.
Don,
If the Wall gets blown up, for instance, the show would obviously have no use for it.
Oh and THIS CONFIRMS DEEPWOOD MOTTE!!
Ok, with 8 seasons I’m a bit relieved. I was pretty irritated at the casting news re: tertiary characters like Euron (IMAEVILPIRATEYARRR!!) Greyjoy and Randyll (IMANASSHOLE!!) Tarly. It seems like way too much precious screen time devoted to characters that are only relavent to people like Theon and Sam.
But, I suppose if they are really doing 3 more seasons, that gives them some room to make these people relevant to the “core” characters (Daenerys, Jon, Tyrion, Sansa, Arya, and Bran).
NIMBLE DICK CRABB 9,001% CONFIRMED
Rygar,
Since you’re a Deadwood fan, I’ll just say that pain don’t end the world. Nor does despair, nor do fucking beatings. The world ends when you’re dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man (or woman), and give back some of your own.
The red vendor,
There’s a pretty practical reason they didn’t do this last season, and won’t next either.
Infants are easy. You can just use a doll for most shots.
Kids 4+ (3 for some special kids) have enough self-control to sit still for more than 5 minutes at a time.
Toddlers are a nightmare to film. They are happiest walking around, choosing their own activities, and interacting with and talking to people they trust. They hate being held by strangers. They can’t take direction, even from parents.
The way you deal with it is to offscreen the kid (and parent(s)) for a long enough time that an older kid is possible. Maybe they can write in someone to watch the kid for Gilly and just refer to that fact, and perhaps have a shot or two.
Greatjon of Slumber,
I bet you brought the cinnamon.
What??? Just, no. Know where to look? What is that? So you pick up the three books of Lord of the Rings and say well, that is one of the classic best fantasy stories ever written, IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK. What a bunch of nonsense. Either a book is good as it stands or you say it needed improvement. GRRM’s last two books rambled and went no where and also YES there was some good forward propelling information….that doesn’t make it “good” to have to look FOR the good.
Not happy with this at all. I want to see the different plots reach their conclusions, not get dragged out extra seasons.
That may be so…but “I” for one don’t want to SEE another actress play the part. I am five years invested with Sophie, why would I want to see another actor play Sansa?
So are they dragging out AFFC/DWD material or will the seasons 6,7 and 8 be on unpublished (and hopefully better material) material?
“school you Boy?” Really? What are you a thug now? Who died and made you the be all and end all of the planet. Crawl back where you came from. Geez, the nerve!!!
Fez,
Agreed.
This is great news! Seven seasons always seemed a little short to me.
Rygar,
I did. Even though I may have fucked up my life flatter than hammered shit.
LOL, D&D “feel like there are two more years after” Season 6? The same D&D who came out and said seven not too long ago? Whatever, HBO.
D&D have known what the story is for a while now. I very much doubt that they just woke up one morning and suddenly decided that two seasons weren’t enough, after previously being determined that they could tell the story in seven seasons. I have no doubt HBO pressured them into agreeing to the extra season. Very sad.
Too bad HBO’s other programming is so terrible–what happened, True Detective?–or with such low ratings–looking at you, Veep–or else they wouldn’t feel the need to milk GOT.
This news has left me to wonder about Season 6. I wonder if it won’t get nearly as far into spoiler territory as we’d hoped, and if there will be a considerable amount of backtracking into AFFC/ADWD material.
For the record, I don’t think this has anything to do with GRRM or finishing the books. I think it has everything to do with HBO keeping their cash cow for as long as possible.
Was it “8 years” or “8 seasons”? The quote above says years, so could it be that season 7 is split into two halves, like Breaking Bad or The Sopranos? Maybe 6 or 7 episodes for Season 7a and then another 6, 7 or 8 episodes for Season 7b?
Greatjon of Slumber,
In life you have to do a lot of things you don’t fucking want to do. Many times, that’s what the fuck life is…one vile fucking task after another. But don’t get aggravated…then the enemy has you by the short hairs.
NewJeffCT,
If they don’t care about contracts (and it appears they don’t), there’s no reason to try the “split season” thing.
LOL. ((hugs)) I am not a man, but I will do in a pinch. 😉 I pretty much agree with you, I was so looking forward to this being completed in 2017. I am no spring chicken, very close in age to GRRM and I am now just hoping that I live to see the end because otherwise I will go out of the body really pissed off if I don’t get to see the ending of the HBO shows. That is not the way I want to leave this world. 🙁
I’m losing interest with each death of a main character. Can’t imagine who is next.
TheTouchOfFrost,
That happened to me yesterday just before I clocked out of here and this morning it still didn’t show. So I am just guessing it is gone. Empty feeling to lose a well thought out comment, at least it is for me.
Pau,
It’s just one guy talking without the showrunners being around, sure it asks for some response. That’s nowhere near calling it a war. D&D know the journey they planned. They know the source material they have to work from. Does this guy know what’s going on in the minds of D&D, or the writers forming the screenplays and scripts?
If Lombardo was talking about prequels, why not say so? It’d be news plenty would like to hear. Perhaps D&D may move to executive roles for those, to maintain what they’ve started with GOT. I’ve seen Cogman mentioned as a possible to step up to the plate. Would he be working solo? I doubt that. It’s a team-effort that’s proven successful.
Hopefully, no one is talking about stretching material to extend the series. That feels wrong. Should the next book prove to be tougher to translate to TV, what then?
Does it sound correct to think D&D must respond? It is still not close to starting a war between anyone.
You’re a sweetie!!! Hang in there kiddo! Daily cardio and leafy green veggies!!!!!!
Linda & Elio must be killing puppies today.
JCDavis,
It’s just done the exact same thing again. Seems to be more than two paragraphs and it doesn’t let me post!
Can we take a look at it, Mods? It’s pretty annoying! 😛
Surprised this isn’t getting more attention here. It would be a curious way for a spoiler to be doled out if that’s what it ends up being. That is, if it’s specifically accurate enough.
I’ve thought that the Wall coming down was as much a given as Jon’s resurrection. It has to come down. And the main storytelling function of Jon’s actual death, in terms of moving pieces around, is that he’s released from his vows. I think they might have to say that his watch is/has (?) ended. It’s seemed convenient to me that the count of Lord Commanders swiftly approaches an even thousand. I think our ornery LC will be the last, the Wall comes down, and a structure of that size coming down brings everyone within a mile of it down too. No more NW. But with 8 seasons it almost seems too soon still.
I consider Jon’s resurrection and the Wall’s fall as more of a certainty than Dany ever stepping foot in Westeros. People talk about GRRM subverting expectations… It seems like everybody is so agreed that she’ll do so. I think her maturity might possibly rather dictate her staying in Essos to improve things there. Heck, Westeros could even be evacuated to a degree, and that would dramatically change her position. With 7 seasons it seemed more likely, however, that her staying would be the case. With 8 an ocean crossing seems possible. And I kind of expect Jon to be inside her at some point, which has to happen on the same continent.
GRRM is going to subvert expectations… by not giving us anything we’re expecting. A fight between the Night’s Watch and the Night’s King? Hell no. Never going to happen. Dany saving the day with her dragons? Nope. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Tyrion sitting on the Iron Throne? Fuck that. There will be no King’s Landing left. No Iron Throne.
It is going to come down to something most people haven’t considered much… the Children of the Forest finally taking their land back.
TheTouchOfFrost,
Stop spamming us naked pics of Kit.
I’m glad they don’t have to rush to finish the story. They will prolly do a hunger games tv show next. I know cuz my roommate works at HBO. This is confidential though and I don’t want my friend to get fired.
GeekFurious,
That would be pretty cool actually. And btw….please go back to your old photo. That face is disgusting!
GeekFurious,
Yeah, I think King’s Landing dies a flaming death sooner than later. Old Town established to take its place temporarily? Might there be neither KL nor Wall by the end of the season? Probably too quick for both.
What has this to do with democracy?? I was just wondering why a person who think the show is “a butchering painful bore” (your words) waste his/her time watching it, in first place, and then waste further time writing in a site like this about how bored he/she was about it.
This is something I can’t really understand, then you are certainly free to waste your time as you like.
I’m torn. I can totally relate to this. I was looking forward to seeing how things wrap up in 2 years. Having said that, I do enjoy the show so I like the idea of having more time in Westeros. Of course this wouldn’t be an issue if I could read how it ends now and watch the show for many more years. Sigh.
Does the set normally get left up between seasons? If not, I don’t know that there’s anything we can read into this. If so, then yes, the fact that they’re requesting that HBO leave it up is significant, as it suggests the Wall is not going to be used for the next season.
Queenofthrones,
The red vendor,
Well if Sam and Gilly stop by his home, then I would think Sam’s mother would be tickled pink to have her first grandchild and will swoop that baby off screen for lots of Grammy time…By the time Sam returns from Old Town IF Gilly comes back into the story, then toddler will be a child and voila, problem solved.
GeekFurious,
So it ends with Bran sitting on the weirwood non-Throne?
LOL the ones you mentioned are not replacable… just awful.
JCDavis,
TheTouchOfFrost,
If you are taking a long time to compose a comment (not sure how long but it happens to us Mods all the time), it will give you an error after you click Post Comment. This is some kind of inherent comment session time out that we don’t control. Here are some tips to help you avoid this problem.
If you get the error message after clicking the Post Comment button or it acts like you posted but you don’t see your comment, you should be able to click the browser’s back button and still see your comment in the comment box. Don’t continue typing at that point. Instead, select the entire comment and CTRL + C to copy the comment. Then refresh the page and put your cursor back in Comment box. CTRL + V to paste the comment back in and click Post Comment right away. It should submit fine.
A preemptive solution is to type long responses in Notepad and then copy and paste into the comment box when you are done with it. This is often how I compose long replies, particularly when I want to reply to several people in a single thread.
Sorry I can’t be of more help than that.
Maybe you’re right, we’ll see 😉
GRRM,
True Detective did not flop, their ratings are as strong as ever; actually beating the first season from what I see.
I just click back on the browser, submit again, and voilà!, it usually works
Dame Pasty,
Thanks. Actually I have lost too many comments to the “time out” thing, that now I always highlight, right click – copy before submitting.
What TouchofFrost and I were commenting on is that at least to me yesterday for the first time and him today…..I got that time out thing and when I came back and re-posted the comment it said that “it was a duplicate comment”. From that point, I couldn’t make any comment until this morning. That was frustrating.
I get the “time out” thing. But as long as the comment can be copied when one returns from the blank page, it is all good. Seeing as I didn’t (and I suspect TouchofFrost didn’t either) duplicate post…that was odd.
Pau,
The resubmit never works for me for some reason. But I always keep back ups of text before I submit anything (coder habit of mine). 🙂
GRRM,
C’mon mate. Just stop now.
People prefer the Sansa character instead of Arya character because Sophie’s prettier than Maisie? Because that’s the impression I’m having here.
I am torn about this news. I want a wrap up of the series. I have been waiting for the books just like the rest of the book readers. An eighth season would give them more breathing room.
Dany,
wut?
Say what? Where did you get that? I read all the comments and I didn’t see anything even beginning to come close to this evaluation. I want some of whatever you are smokin’!! 😉
taim,
D&D aren’t replaceable, they also write the majority of the screenplays, and are the mortar that binds the production together. If they get a little burned out, have BC and others write more, and act as editors, furthermore they could move to executive producer status, which would reduce some of their workload.
OT: I’d like to see Amanda Peet get a role as a minor character, perhaps Mrs Tarly.
Dany,
Um, no. Sophie is certainly pretty – in the tall, fair, classic way. Maisie is unique, petite, striking dark features. Nothing alike but both attractive. Sansa and Arya are such different characters that a comparison doesn’t really have a basis.
GREAT NEWS !!!!
Ravyn,
Aye but when are they not? 🙂
Pigeon,
New siggie photo….. 😮 Scary 😛
The final season will be be split into two IMO. It’s become a popular trend among big shows lately.
I just hope and pray that a Robert’s Rebellion prequels series has D & D no where near it. Give it to Bryan Cogman!
JCDavis,
I was feeling a little Oberyn-ish for Halloween last year. 😉
Is this the same HBO exec who insists that Jon Snow is dead? The same HBO exec who thought Jaime raped Cersei? The same HBO exec who prefered Tyrion as a blonde? The same HBO exec who hated the LF scene with the ass eaters? The same HBO exec who cried about Sansa’s marriage? The same HBO exec who bitched about the map route from Hardhome to Castle Black? The same HBO exec who talked shit about Ian Whyte’s Gregor? The same HBO exec who thinks that Yara’s escape from the Dreadfort was ridiculous?
GeekFurious,
What’s the difference between a 20 episode season 7 split or a 10 episode season 7 & 8?
Stan,
More $$ for the cast and crew, well,..maybe, depends on the wording of their current contracts.
I’ve been thinking (I know that’s dangerous) but with an extra season, the show has room to develop Dorne and flesh out the characters, which would be a good thing.
Cast Amanda Peet as Tarly’s mom.
It seems a bit late to tack on a whole nother season when they cut so many storylines from AFFC and ADWD. I hope this change wasn’t forced on D&D.
Either way, it won’t be more than eight. D&D have been quoted saying that nine or ten seasons would be too much.
Of course, eight seasons, for eight books. 😛
I’m usually pretty skeptical of extending stories because so often that has translated into poor story-telling, particularly with television.
However, given that this decision seems to be driven by D&D, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Anyone else been thinking about the implications of storyline pacing that adding a season has? An extra year is kind of a game changer for how different character’s arcs will progress. Perhaps the most obvious to me is that S6 now has adequate time to end with Dany’s arrival in Westeros. I’m also thinking that an extra year means extra time to develop the Oldtown/Reach, Iron Islands and how-the-heck-does-Dorne-factor-into-everything plots.
Edit: I’m also *hoping* that Sansa’s entire show arc will feel more balanced now that she isn’t quite in her Act III yet. That is, no rushed growth or sudden cop out character changes.
tyjon,
I DID see her (Amanda Peet) on one of the late night shows and she said she HAS been bugging her husband (David Benioff) for a part but so far he has not said yes. That would be fun.
Woohoo!!! This is awesome!
So happy!!!
Thats AMAZING news. Season 6 will be amazing.
i think we can tell how 3 episodes on season 6 will end.
1- With the vision of Bran seeing his Father and Reed defeat the kings guard and know about the real parents of Jon snow. (i think will be at episode 3 or 4)
2- With Varys coming back to kings landing and killing Pycelle and kevan. (i think will be at episode 6 or 7)
3- The war in oldtown between Randil and Euron. (I think will be episode 9)
7 seasons and one.
But NOT as Sam’s mother, as someone said. I envision Mrs. Tarly as a large, friendly matronly woman, with a big smile and big heart. Pretty Amanda is not large and matronly in the least. Perhaps as a lady of another household. Or as one of the mummer’s troupe that has been hinted at.
As for the arguments about Sophie and Masie, take a hike – all those that say the actresses are interchangeable with any other. Bull. They’ve each honed their parts to perfection.
From the very first episode, the differences between the girls was emphasized. Sophie/Sansa being the proper lady, Maisie/Arya being the tomboy. The story is how each of them uses their particular personality traits to survive all that befalls them, and what each has to learn about the world and people beyond Winterfell. To me it’s a compelling story, and I don’t want to see any other actresses playing them.
Benioff and Weiss are sellout like GURM. Dragging out the story just to make a few more bucks. What happened to the 7 season plan? If Harry Potter was able to make a whole movie about camping in the woods I doubt the ratings would drop.
Dame Pasty,
Had the time out thing quite a few times before and have gone back and reposted and it’s been fine.
This was a little different as there was no time out screen for me. It loaded up the standard screen it normally does after you’ve posted only minus my comment! I’ve started saving the texts before I post but the problem is when it doesn’t turn up and I try posting the comment again it says ‘duplicate comment’ or once even accused me of trying to spam!
So you suggest writing out the comment first then pasting it in and posting it? I don’t mind doing it once in a while for log posts but it is a bit of a faff! Is it something you guys will be looking at at any point?
Another idiot that knows nothing and can’t read. They said AT LEAST 8 seasons. Meaning that certainly no less than 8, but possibly more. Also they said that they will go for sure beyoned season 7…. meaning season 8.
Also, Producers and everyone else has stated thousands of times that it is IMPOSSIBLE to film more than 10 episodes of GOT and that even 10 episodes is incredible hard and they BARELY are able to film those 10.
Ciel,
Their plan was actually 8-9 seasons all this time. They only started to say 7 seasons a year ago because Hbo came in at the time and said that they only want 7 seasons. Read their interviews and you will see that 70% percent of them said 8-9 and only 30% 7 seasons.
This is wonderful news! I was starting to feel a bit sad that the next season – 6- would feel a bit sad to me because it was so close to the end. With this news, 6 will feel exactly like 5 did – 2 more to go! 😀 I just hope they maintain the second half of Season 5’s breakneck speed! Please do NOT slow down with endless Westerosi (especially Cersei) exposition, D&D!
As for a prequel, Aegon’s conquest, please, and the establishing of a unified kingdom in Westeros.
Now that would be great! Esp. if Sam’s brother takes after her. But only if Randyll is similar to looks and coloring as Sam, except the weight issue.
Well, I sure need a stiff one to process such wonderful news! Here’s to D&D royally fucking up the story for at least three more years! Whee!
Sean C.,
a-ha! thanks.