HBO has just released their plans for season seven of Game of Thrones. It is now official that the episode count for next year stands at seven episodes. The filming is slated for “later this summer.” We already knew that the beginning of the season 7 production will take place later than usual; now the new season is to premiere in “summer 2017”. No specific date has been given yet.
“Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing,” HBO programming president Casey Bloys says. “Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”
The press release confirms Spain and Iceland as overseas locations (with Northern Ireland as the base, naturally). More specifically for Spain, it lists the following sites: Sevilla, Caceres, Almodovar del Rio, Santiponce, Zumaia and Bermeo.
Sevilla most likely refers to the returning location of the Real Alcázar, which stands in for Dorne’s Water Gardens.
Almodovar del Rio is a small city located in Córdoba province; most likely Game of Thrones is headed for the 1300-year-old Muslim castle found in the city, pictured at the top. As we reported in early June, the show was scouting several locations for old castles for season 7 and the Castillo de Almodóvar del Río is a beautiful one.
As for Zumaia, Game of Thrones’ interest in the city and in its Itzurun Beach was noted in late June.
Santiponce is in Sevilla province. Most notably, the city contains the ruins of Italica, a preserved Roman settlement. There’s an amphitheater pit and mosaics among the ruins.
Among its attractions, Cáceres has an Old Town of its own, which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Old Town has a number of buildings, narrow streets, and plazas that would serve well as settings for Game of Thrones‘s inner cities.
Bermeo is more of a question mark. The coastal Basque city could serve a number of purposes for the show, with their own beaches, old quarters and structures that might do nicely as part of Game of Thrones.
Not so surprising to have confirmation the season 7 premiere is officially bumped to summer, but it’s good to have word from HBO! What do you all think of the new locations? What might they be for season 7?
Davos!
🙁 Who´s gonna watch if everybody is on vacation???
Bummed for the wait, but think it’s for a good reason, makes sense. At least we know when the show is coming back. Still have no idea when book 6 will be out.
They’re pretty much guaranteed to miss the 2017 Emmys, as a result. It’ll also be interesting to see what kind of knock-on effect this has on the scheduling of Season 8.
Iceland filming confirmed, then.
I’m with you!
Highgarden!
Good point, shame they will miss the Emmys that year. The competition will probably be happy!
Although there was a nice reduction in recurring characters in the last episode there are still some big names. See the math below showing that if the lengthen the episodes a bit there might not actually be much reduced air time. This could be a reaction to all the increased salaries per episode.
10×44 = 440
7×60 = 420
Seriously Castillo de Almodóvar del Río looks very much like Highgarden to me
AlexG,
True!
Don’t know about other countries, but here in the UK when you go to the beach as a kid you can get buckets to build sand castles with and that top picture is exactly what they look like when you have a few together. Even down to the tiny flags. Ok, they don’t have windows but I like to imagine the architect honed their art on a beach, while eating ice creams with flake bars in them, siting in a stripy deck chair and watching people take donkey rides 😀
Vyse,
They can always submit requests for exceptions, as certain comedies that have an hour-long slot have done to accommodate the newest set of Emmy rules.
I’m not sure D&D care that much for the Emmy season. They won Best Drama last year, so the monkey is off their back.
It seems a lot of the action is going to happen up North and thank fuck we might be done with Essos of Boring. It’s about fucking time.
On the other hand, a whole year of tracking down spoilers and reading speculation. …Thank god Mr. Robot is back.
The wait for summer 2017 wouldn’t be so bad if it were for a 10 episode season, but knowing it will only be 7 episodes makes this news even harder to take. At least everything is confirmed now. Sigh.
I totally understand the delay but for the fans, we are truly gonna miss it til then. That’s a long wait, but will be worth it I know. It just means it will be even more epic
Richard,
I don’t think it has anything to do with salaries. D&D have been pretty consistent that they don’t think there’s 20 episodes’ worth of story left, and also that the production is constantly straining to produce ten episodes a season, which would presumably only get more difficult as VFX proliferates in the final seasons.
Akash Singh,
Not the same. The drama/comedy classifications are default rules that can be overriden on appeal. The airing window is not subject to grants of exception, as far as I know.
Sean C.,
I don’t pay any attention at all to awards, hence the question, but wouldn’t that just mean it’s eligible for the 2018 awards instead? Or am I missing something here? ?
EDIT: This might be read as if I’m being rude, but it’s just a genuine query, no snark implied 😀
Yuck.
Didn’t know that, nice!
I don’t know what kind of jobs y’all have that afford the luxury of a 7 week vacation, but I won’t be on vacation all summer and will definitely be watching each episode live. And besides, there are so many ways to watch now, one doesn’t have to be at home to watch GOT. I was at a wedding when 6×04 aired and some of us still managed to gather around a phone and catch a few minutes of the episode.
With Seville being on location Dany might land her troops in Dorne?
Very bummed about the season being pushed back. But with the filming starting late I want them to take their time and deliver superb episodes.
Sooo, only seven episodes and not until Summer 2017.
Excuse me for a moment while I go scream into a pillow.
Sad they will miss the Emmys, but its nice to see D&D willing to let it go for the sake of the show.
I am sure HBO might not be happy about that, but if its the right thing to do, I’m glad they allow D&D to have the freedom they need.
Almodovar Del Rio looks a lot like how I’ve imagined Highgarden (but, why would we need to see this?) So maybe…… Casterly Rock?
Nooooooooooooooooooo
I swear to god if these episodes are 50 minutes long I’ll be so mad
I like your thinking! I could definitely handle fewer episodes if we don’t lose out on content. They don’t exactly sound like they’re rushing, either.
Sister Kisser,
That was my first thought. If Cersei is deposed by Dany, but not killed off, she may escape to Casterly Rock and plot her next move.
Oh you sweet summer child, just wait until you are out of college/university/school, and you’ll see that most people actually work during your summer break.
And even when on vacation, people still watch TV.
It looks like Casterly Rock, too, if they can CGI an ocean behind it. No?
AlexG,
Actually… when The Battle of the Bastards aired, my boyfriend and I were on vacation in St. Maarten and we watched it on the iPad lol.
No Emmys then for season 7. I don’t think a summer return is all that wise, but they’ll get the ratings anyway, though I don’t know if they top season 6 ratings with a summer return.
Noooooooooo
We knew this was coming. I’ve already made my peace with Game of Thrones coming to an end … it’s weird… like grieving!!
Based on the last season, and the last two episodes, I am 100% confident that D&D will make sure that the short seventh and eighth seasons will be spectacular and will leave us with a 73-75 hour epic saga for the ages, one that we will be able to enjoy forever.
Oh … and …. miniseries and spin-offs will come. Eventually.
Lulus Mum,
Yes, they’d be eligible the following year. It’s just noteworthy since it creates a gap; not unheard of, e.g., it happened with Breaking Bad.
Effectively, the show will have gone from the tail end of one eligibility period to the very beginning of the next.
Does this mean episode six will be the big battle? 😉
But if it’s as good as season six, I’ll be content.
You know, GRRM, this delay would be the perfect time to finally finish and release The Winds of Winter. I’m a show-fan-first but getting my hands on the book would sure help ease the year long wait for S7. Seize this opportunity, George.
Sean C.,
Aaah I see, thanks. People’s (in general, not just your’s) OMG missing the Emmys comments made me think there might be something else afoot 🙂
Great!! 🙂 Spain again!! South>>Sevilla, Almodóvar del Río, (Córdoba)
North>> Bermeo (amazing place!) and Cáceres (amazing people and city) I’m happy!!
Summer 2017, good for me!
I wouldn’t worry about people tuning in. True Blood was regularly a summer series, and that did pretty well.
NO EMMYS? wtf? I hope they maintain the quality of the show, with high budget, I hope have some battle in season 7 as well.
I do not want a calm season, or some construction to season 8, I want a 7epic season 7.
Zumaia AND Bermeo. Cannot believe my eyes!
The other locations are great as well, of course… But it’s great to learn they’re definitely going to film so close to where I live!
Richard,
Yeah, but episodes are typically 54 minutes long. The seasons so far have been approx. 550 minutes, so a 420 minutes season would be a lot less.
As long as HBO doesn’t have GoT airing on Sunday nights when there is football we will be okay.
I have a feeling if they push GoT to many weeks forward and they even have to compete with Sunday night preseason football that will hit the first view ratings hard.
My personal circle of family and friends do also gather for football picnics and stuff and there has always been a rule to watch your sports live and DVR the shows.
I am sure plenty of other American friends and families feel the same way so please HBO don’t fuck this up by making us chose between football and GoT!
Heh, pretty much how I feel.
At least most of us here will be following filming spoilers, but Dee I don’t know how you’ll do it for the next 12 months. Good luck!!
Really cool that they’re (apparently) filming in a roman settlement. Itálica is were emperor Hadrian was born.
But I’m especially happy they’re filming in Cáceres, an often overlooked destination in Spain that has a really rich cultural heritage. <3
It’s fine we can suffer two more months.Less episodes also means more budget for episode that’s good I guess.I also wouldn’t worry about the rating.It’s unstoppable at this point.Maybe first viewing rating will be a bit lower but overall viewing in all platforms will continue to grow.The emmys thing is also okay.They’ll miss next year but they can run in 2018.Breaking Bad missed one year I think also The Sopranos missed one too.
BunBunStark,
I know 🙁 it’s going to be sooooooo hard
But I will not cave hahaha
Arthur,
Summer 2017 means it’ll be done before football season
Unless they start late mid to late August
I’m thinking they’ll probably air in June
I wonder if this was done to allow Martin to release TWOW. Maybe he’s informed D&D that he will be publishing by then. I really don’t buy the cold weather excuse. They could find cold locales to film in if they really wanted to do so.
AlexG,
Everybody! ?
Hey! I´m so happy you guys think I´m a sweet summer child teenager that still has not graduated school but I´m not…Actually, Im a 50 year old mom and vacations are long and sacred in my family and where I come from…so yeah,hardly watch tv while on vacays
Sad news. 🙁
Sean C.,
So they will nominate S7 for the Emmy’s in 2018? Like if they would have nominated S5 for this years Emmy’s?
BunBunStark,
Oh you sweet summer child…..
Came in to say this.
It’d be spectacular if the seven episodes are all longer than average, and I’m holding out hope for a finale that’s like 90 minutes, lol. But 44 minutes is nowhere near the length of the average GoT episode; no matter what, we’re going to feel the reduction in airtime going forward.
Thrones has given me so many ideas for holiday spots ?
Funnily enough, it also seems to work in the reverse: my neighbours just spent two weeks in Croatia and they came back begging to borrow the DVDs. From the sounds of it, it’s impossible to visit Dubrovnik without hearing about Thrones. They’re certainly curious now!
What if our winter never comes?
Dee Stark,
Preseason football starts early August usually.
So for GoT to run 7 episodes and not run into the huge NFL/GoT Sunday night conflict the show would have to start at latest the 2nd weekend of June.
I am team Stark all the way but on Sunday nights if my team is playing I am team J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!
Been like that since I was 12 and even GoT can’t change that, just saying.
And I also know a lot of people in my circle feel the same way.
Sports live, DVR shows…
If it were that simple then maybe they could just fly to Antarctica. But there are other issues involved, like availability, suitability, and financials. They may have played the book game with Jon’s resurrection for GRRM, but its a reach to suggest they would rotate an entire giant production on the chance he might release that book.
Just looked at the calendar. With the spacing of July 4th and Labor Day, I’m predicting the debut date as July 9, 2017.
Ravyn,
This.
In my quest to find out which other shows have skipped a year of Emmys I fell into a YouTube void of watching Emmy clips and boy has television gotten way better in general in the last years.There is an embarrasment of riches now.At one point the competition was just between The sopranos and The West Wing in most of the categories which were both great shows but it seems a bit scarce that it was just those two lol
Omg.
Ravyn,
Yes this.They are based in Northern Ireland they are not going to change that.Plus it’s not like a month or two would help GRRM much.If it was a diference of month I’m sure his editors would just work faster and be in time.They have explained why they are doing this and it has nothing to do with George
Is season 8 confirmed to be a thing officially?
Arthur,
Is that a typo version of West Side Story, the Jets and the Starks? 😀
Sucks to be getting it later but with how long shooting takes, I’m happy believing they’ll use the time just as wisely. And with the season being shorter, it leaves 3 less episodes to write, direct, score, and shoot, meaning all of those things can be better focused on the 7 episodes they have. With Dany and the dragons coming as well as the Night King moving in, I imagine the SFX will be an immense undertaking.
Like someone else said, the stories are less spread out now as well. We have no High Sparrow plot to follow anymore, no “No One” to spend time explaining, no need for Tyrion to explain jokes, and everyone is slowly condensing into areas so we don’t need the why they are there so extrapolated.
So all in all I’m optimistic. If they use the sacrifice of time well, I’m happy to have had to wait.
the only difference is that you are retarded and the average episode didn’t have 44 minutes for the last 6 seasons, the average was 55.
It doesn’t matter to me when they air, it is what it is and crying about it won’t change a thing. Instead, brace for the long interval and get ready when the time comes. We managed this season and will again. Ain’t no mountain for a climber.
I have watched plenty of TV on vacations, especially at 9pm or later. Football? Not a priority over Game of Thrones for me. I can’t imagine that anything “new” is going to come along and capture my imagination like GoT’s has done. And there are plenty of other shows to watch ON DEMAND if I do feel the need to binge a different show.
I believe that they are going to kill it at the Emmy’s this year, like last year. The show has already had a ton of exposure, I just don’t think this is going to affect viewership.
Maybe it is like the stages of death….denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Everyone grieves differently. Maybe Sue and Co. have some new type of threads for us to help and keep it interesting.
Cáceres is amazing!! My guess is that it will be the new set for King’s Landing… well, at least for some scenes there.
During 10 episode seasons Benioff once said they shoot for 540 min. of screen time, tho it always comes up to more than that (it is never 600 min. , and I don’t know why). Interesting that HBO did not mention any episode length ,70 or 80 would be ok with me.
7×80 = 560.
I don’t know what it could be used for, but that San Juan de Gaztelugatxe in Bermeo is pretty impressive looking.
RIP Emmys
Highgarden! My theory confirmed! Randyll Tarly will betray Olenna and give Cersei control of the Reach
If there are less episodes this year, does that mean they have more money to spend on each episode? Or is the budget on a per episode basis?
I don’t know that average episode runtimes are ever mentioned in press releases. It’s not really a thing that studios sensationalize at all. To say nothing of the fact that before shooting, it’s impossible for the staff to predict the length of each episode.
I’m hoping the seven eps are longer, but 80 minutes per seems super-unlikely IMO.
He will seize it. New Wild Cards volume coming out in spring.
Hype train !!!
The good part of only seven episodes is that there is less chance of bad jokes scenes that I hate. I hope they take the time to review their scripts and make a really great season 7.
I was hoping this wouldn’t be the case, but after I heard Benioff and Weiss give that podcast interview a few weeks ago, I accepted that it was probably inevitable. So be it.
While it’s unfortunate that this schedule shift means that Game of Thrones will miss the eligibility window for the 2017 Emmys, that doesn’t mean that the Emmys will forget about the show. The Sopranos took over a full year off between Seasons 4 and 5, sat out the 2003 Emmys, and came back to win Outstanding Drama Series the following year. Between Seasons 3 and 4, Breaking Bad made exactly the same shift from a spring premiere to a summer premiere that Game of Thrones will be making. They sat out the 2011 Emmys, but returned stronger than ever the following year, and eventually went on to win the first of their two drama series trophies a year after that.
Game of Thrones will be just fine when it comes to awards recognition. I can’t promise the same for the fandom’s collective patience and sanity. 😉
I’m glad the series will continue filming in Spain, it’s such a beautiful country. I hope one of the locations will be for Casterly Rock.
The show airing during the summer could be fun – all the other major shows will have finished their seasons, so no distractions. GoT will have the summer all to itself.
44 is nowhere near the average runtime per episode. It’s much higher.
Correct. The Emmy eligibility season runs from June 1st to May 31st of the following year. GoT airing in the Summer will make it like Mr. Robot’s season 1 airing last Summer but is part of this coming Emmy’s. It gets weird because season 7 could/should be done airing by the time the 2017 Emmy Awards are on in mid-September but is basically ignored until 2018.
A series that has at least six episodes prior to May 31st is eligible for the current year and episodes after the 31st are “hanging episodes” included with the season. That’s what GoT managed to do for the first six seasons.
At the risk of prodding the “George-will-never-finish-the-books” trolls, I will be pleased to have The Winds of Winter to read (probably more than once) in the interim. It will be fun to compare and contrast, and be reminded why the movie on the screen can never be quite as wonderful as the movie in our heads.
Arthur,
Pre-season sucks. I understand not missing regular season games but pre-season? Besides, GOT plays at 9. Most games start at 7 in pre-season, don’t they? And honestly by the third quarter no one of importance is actually playing. Pre-season only exits to make the NFL more money than they already have.
How do you think people who have loved ones with developmental disabilities feel when you use that word as an insult? Kindly come up with a less offensive term if you really cannot stifle your urge to be rude to fellow posters here.
Isn’t Casterly Rock supposed to be literally carved into a gigantic rock outcropping, though? Not just perched atop a hill?
Way to keep it classy, dsadsa. *shakes head*
Almodovar del Rio must be Storm’s End. Why would they go to Highgarden???? I believe Danny will land at Dorne and afterwards they will take Storm’s End before going to King’s Landing.
If they keep the same budget (or more) and can produce 7 episodes like those last 2 of S6…I’m good with this.
Crappy that its in Summer, but I’m usually back from any weekend event Sunday anyways as work week begins again on Monday…for another 35 years till I can retire.
I wonder if being an Emmy-winner in the 2017 round will be forever tainted by this, like winning Olympic medals in one of the years when a lot of dominant countries boycotted, or like the asterisk permanently appended to poor ol’ Roger Maris’ breaking of Babe Ruth’s home run record because it took more games to do.
Boojam,
The reason we will get shorter seasons is because D&D won’t have the resources (time + money) to produce ~550 minutes of footage this year, given all the big events that are bound to happen.
So, no, they won’t produce extra long episodes for S7, because that would completely defeat the purpose of having shorter final seasons.
Arrgh! The wait will take forever!!!
It premieres in summer 2017? Does that mean June? I hope it doesn’t happen in the middle of my exam weeks.
I think so too. Tho HBO has variable time slots , after all they show movies that can range from 90 min. to nearly 3 hours. Not clear what determines the production time vs average season length. I do feel that some of the FLASH! visual narrative does hurt the story telling and that making each episode 60 min. would have helped , a little. Many , if not most of the less than 60 min. episodes seemed could have been helped with an extra 5 to 8 to 10 extra min.
Danny,
Be that as it may, I still guarantee you if GoT airs during any preseason game the GoT first viewership ratings will take a bigtime hit.
HBO has the money. Time Warner can make sure of that.
Bit worried this goes The Sopranos route. Their final two seasons were split and took forever to air. The Sopranos season 5 ended in 2004 and they split the final season 6, and it took 3 years for the series finale to air in 2007. I am worried this could happen with the final season 8. How delayed will the filming be for that season? First half of season 7 airing in the summer won’t end until September, perhaps October if it premiers in late August. You have to assume they’ll delay filming again for winter reasons for the final season. So, will those final season 8 episodes be in late 2018 again? Or pushed all the way to their normal spring release in 2019?
Jared,
Thank you Jared -always the voice of reason!
Great news!
Think about it, if the episode number is reduced and the budget remains the same or maybe even rises we can have 3-4 “big-battle” episodes next season.
The down side could be that the money saved from 3 missing episodes went on paying the main actors who had to be resigned this year on a bigger salary….
What’s another month or two of waiting compared to the decade that will have passed? What’s important to me is that this just feels right. They’re doing things to accommodate artistic integrity, and that’s laudable. With how season 6 ended I’m happy to give D&D the leeway they need to finish GoT as they’d want with they right amount of airtime and the weather they think is necessary.
Well, does “summer” mean May or July?
Santiponce- Dragonpit in KL, what is left of them?
All summer long 2k17 we will watch Game of Thrones…
Bit sad, but not surprised.
Already made peace with it that the season will air later. Figured it would happen at some point if they would need more winter weather when the story asks for it.
zod,
Yes, exactly. They are not gonna make the episodes longer. Maybe a little bit on a few episodes. But I wouldn’t hold my hopes up. We are simply gonna get more big sequences like BOB, which took 25 days to shoot and was really expensive.
I would be suprised if season 8 wasn’t released in 2018. They need to do about 6 or 7 episodes maximum. Even with longer production schedules, it would be a shock for them to miss an entire calendar year.
As for Bermeo, I could imagine them using Gaztelugatxe. It looks very impressive.
The Bastard,
Here was my thoughts on the final season 8, the problem is if it is indeed in 2018, do you want to release the ultimate final season in the summer again? I think they’ll still get good ratings, but it will be interesting to see how good with this season 7 in summer of 2017. If they decide against that and push the ultimate final season to the autumn of 2018 then it goes up against NFL Sunday Night Football and eventually the World Series as well. Do they really want that for their final season? So that’s why I’m wondering if they push the final season 8 all the way to their usual spring release, but this would be in 2019 if they did so.
When I read ASOIAF (actually when I used to read ASOIAF), I always imagined characters from the TV series, even those whose descriptions don’t match. There are couple of exceptions though: I imagined TV Yezzan as Nurse instead of book Yezzan and I imagined TV Karl as Dirk instead of Clubfoot Karl.
And there were a couple of scenes that TV versions of them felt more powerful to me than those, which existed in my head. Tyrion’s speech at the trial is one of them.
Fine. I guess I’ll just have to focus on real life instead of GOT. Bluh.
Boojam,
Just no. GOT has a big budget, sure.. but its budget isn’t infinite, and it will never be. Money IS a factor.
Probably an even bigger factor is time though (as mentionned in my first response). Filming 550 minutes of footage in less than 10 months isn’t realistic anymore when the production becomes as big as it’s bound to be in S7.
Sister Kisser,
Casterly Rock is built into a rock, hence the name. It’s not a free standing castle
I might be the only one who is happy with a seven episode season. I buy HBO Now specifically for Game of Thrones and cancel it when it is over so this saves me a bit of money-I can watch the season for $30.00. I’m pleased with the Spain shots – I get to see Margarey’s grandmother though I’m still sad they killed of Margarey. I hope it doesn’t center around the getting more boring by the day Sand Snakes. Varneys and Olena (how do you spell her name) will be good together.
Nobody’s going watch in the summer because of vacation? Of Fall because of football? Really? And the show will miss getting Emmy’s? Does this mean a lot of you aren’t going to watch next season? Unbelievable.
Johan Sporre,
Exactly! Well said!!
Firannion,
From what I see, San Juan de Gaztelugatxe would be perfect for the Casterly Rock, you just have to CGI a castle on top. Actually, if they are making a siege of the Casterly Rock, they can use Castillo de Almodóvar del Río for closer shots and San Juan de Gaztelugatxe for overall views/vicinity. Just a guess, of cause.
Summer officially starts June 21st next year, so it won’t be before that. They also won’t premiere 4th of July weekend so I’m thinking sometime in July or August.
For many this would be great news, I suppose. But for viewers like me who prefer the twisty interpersonal dynamics of the smaller scenes to the ‘epic’ set pieces, this likelihood is precisely what I dread most about the windup of the story in the War for the Dawn. I so do not want to sit through a couple of seasons – even short ones – of The Walking Dead in medieval garb!
Joey,
If that were the case they would probably use the Uchisar castle in Turkey which looks more like Casterly Rock
BunBunStark,
Heh, really.
Not a problem for me but it will be a long wait. Hope Sue and company have lots of plans for us during the year – we are going to need all the distraction we can get!
I’m really excited to hear they are going back to Dorne.
OK before you all think I’m nuts, my theory is that Tyrion will find out about Elaria’s murder of Myrcella and basically Dany has to choose between Tyrion and the Dornish and their army. Ultimately she’ll choose Tyrion, and Elaria will be fed to her dragons for murdering an innocent child in cold blood. 😀 Can’t wait.
This almost makes me wonder if D&D have not completed the plot arc/screenwriting for S8? I know they are usually done by now but they have very little (none?) source material to go to for S8. Either way the extra time should help with polishing the scripts.
Sister Kisser,
Exactly my thoughts. The castle looks a lot like this popular Highgarden depiction:
http://winteriscoming.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Tyrell-Highgarden.jpg
(It’s the same on the WOIAF app)
The worries I’m seeing about viewership suffering seem a bit silly to me. If we still lived in the 1980s, sure I’d worry about fewer people watching because of summer vacations and sporting events. But with DVRs and the all other ways of tuning in, I don’t believe true fans will miss an entire season just because it airs in summer instead of spring.
Hardly they are having more than one battle. They might need a naval battle between Dany and Euron to delay her coming to King’s Landing, but if she is landing in Dorne, that wouldn’t be necessary. Maybe, we are really going to get Casterly Rock and its siege after Cersey flees there. Or Euron may be attacking something – Highgarden? Anyway, the directors they chose are not really known for battle sequences. So, quitter episodes have a good chance to dominate the season.
Is it just me or do others out there hope they dont die before the show finishes? I was getting really paranoid before season 6 started. I had to find out what really happened to Jon Snow, and the thought that my life might end before I found out was agonizing.
Im like, I have to make sure I live long enough to see the conclusion of the series. After that Im good. Im in good health, but accidents happen. Anyone else put their mortality in terms of ensuring they live long enough to see the entire series to its completion?
thorne garnet,
Rather my reaction as well. Most people have some way of taping or watching later. Silly really.
While this is obviously not GREAT news, I applaud them taking whatever time is necessary to get everything right.
As others have mentioned, it would be AMAZING if we had The Winds of Winter to read and ponder over in the interim. Fingers crossed.
Having said that, at my local bookstore (Powell’s, in Portland, OR, for those who are curious), I always feel compelled to look at the GRRM section, as though there will just be a new volume out that I hadn’t heard of, and they frequently put little handwritten cards extolling the virtues of another book/series than one can read while enduring the interminable wait. A few years back, one of those cards told me to read “The Name of the Wind”, by Patrick Rothfuss. I did, and now I have another series that I am waiting with baited breath for each installment. So, yay..?
All that to say, even though GOT is tops in tv, as far as I’m concerned, there are so many awesome shows to watch in the meantime, and I’d love to get the rec’s of some of you folks, since I feel you’re probably of a similar mind as I.
One that I totally shat on when it first came out, mainly because most critics seemed to dismiss it, is Marco Polo. There are now 20 ep’s available on Netflix streaming, and it is incredible. I’ve no idea how much is history, how much is BS, or what, but I love the fact that you get to experience so many different cultures in one show. Mongolians, ancient Chinese aristocracy, Arabs, Muslims, Christians, Emperors, concubines, a blind monk named Hundred Eyes, the freaking POPE! It definitely cribs from the basic style of GOT, lots of violence and sex, backstabbing and betrayals galore, with some truly fantastic visuals, breathtaking landscape shots, and kung-fu choreography that doesn’t seem ridiculous.
The show certainly knows how to build up characters so that when two people finally get in a room together, you already know how crazy it’s going to be. At one point, an empress determined to get rid of a devious chancellor announces that he’s being replaced by someone who is “a farmer, a warrior, a man of the people…a hero, in other words,” I was like, well, if this was George, I know what would be happening to anyone described in such a way–death in a horrible manner. Suffice to say, they learned from the best, and studied well.
Anyway, it’s no GOT, but I watched one ep. on spec, and ended up watching two season’s worth in about 5 days. Sooooo…yeah.
Alright, that’s my contribution. Who’s got something for me to watch?
Surely they’re not filming in Bermeo but in San Juan de Gaztelugatxe… That is an impressive location indeed! I wonder what they’ll do there… On how coz access is really a though walk…
https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaztelugatxe
Iago,
The HBO press release says Bermeo. But the monastery, the island, are part of the municipality of Bermeo so I think it’s fair game as a possibility.
Matty C,
Watch the Americans it’s so good.
According HBO’s new press release, Season 6 of Game of Thrones surpassed 25.1 million viewers on average across all platforms, an increase of 5 million from the previous season. This is only counting legal viewers, of course.
https://medium.com/hbo-cinemax-pr/digital-platforms-drive-hbos-spring-shows-to-series-highs-e94d0bccf96b#.nfp85ej5s
I wouldn’t be concerned that airing in the summer will impact the show’s audience. People are strongly invested in the story at this point. Even if it levels off or takes a mild dip in the Live+SD ratings, those viewers will catch up quickly. Whenever it airs, GOT’s viewership totals will remain extremely high.
Matty C,
I love learning about this time period and all the different cultures of the time, and have always been fascinated by Marco Polo since I was a kid, so this sounds right up my alley! BTW if you are interested in a great book: The Journeyer by Gary Jennings. He has a very interesting take on the story, and gets the details of the eastern cultures so right (even if his history is well, fiction 🙂
Anyway thanks for the tip!
Matty C,
Hey not sure if you noticed, but Nina Gold did the casting for it. Cool!
Since both the books and the TV series made a point of playing up Tyrion’s expertise with Casterly Rock’s sewage and drainage systems, and included the infiltration of Meereen via the sewers, I think that it has been pretty heavily foreshadowed how Casterly Rock will fall to invaders. Dragonfire will likely be just a diversionary tactic while Tyrion’s muck-slogger squad worms its way in.
Matty C,
As a former (albeit brief) resident of Portland (long ago – I just realized I moved there 19 years ago and OMG I’m getting OLD!), I’m very jealous that you get to go to Powell’s at your leisure and peruse the aisles. Very jealous especially living in the desert. We got 1/24 of an inch of rain last night. Just enough to make the dust on everything adhere as if it were glued down.
Anyway, have you seen Wolf Hall? The only flaw with the show is the number of episodes – you’ll want much more. But as a fan of GOT, that won’t be anything new.
And if you want something of a different genre, and if you are a child of the ’80’s, or lived in that time, or want to live in that time, then get on Netflix RIGHT NOW and watch Stranger Things. Really brilliant. The acting, the story, the props, the set design, the casting…. I am a child of the 80’s and would spend many Friday nights at Blockbuster looking at the front of VHS boxes, trying to decide what to pick. I lost count at how many tributes were paid to these covers while watching the series. I’ve yet to see anything negative written/said about the series. Seriously, it’s King/Speilberg/your child self.
Hope you enjoy the Rose City.
The Dragon Demands,
Usually when they go through the trouble of using a specific term such as summer, they mean the legal definition. As in summer begins June 21.
With all those plainly visible gardens around it, yep, it sure does.
Yep. It would mean that the 2017 season would be eligible for the 2018 Emmys; likewise, if there’s a delay in season 8 (and given the amount of CGI work they are likely to need for the final season, I would think that is probable) then the 2018 season would potentially be eligible for the 2019 Emmys…
I think it would have been better to use this for Horn Hill. The massive Horn Hill on the show was closer to Highgarden than it was Horn Hill. Without major cgi additions this would look tiny in comparison, meaning the vast Tyrell wealth is outdone by the Tarlys.
I don’t think HBO will officially announce season 8 until they reach an agreement with D&D on exactly how many episodes the final season is going to have…
Firannion,
Why people with loved ones with developmental disabilities? Why not just people with developmental disabilities, themselves?
I imagine they will feel the same as the Kennedy’s do whenever they become aware of someone using events surrounding Jack’s death as a trolling tool, like you did. I imagine that anyone with a loved one who was murdered might feel that same way.
Can understand why we have to wait, was quite surprised at the lack of Wintery conditions in KL and RL tbh
Almodovar del Rio strikes me as being for Storms End
That Beach one will perhaps be for some of Dany’s Army landing in Westeros, eg making Unsullied the Golden Company but i expect a fair bit of scattering and it to be split up to allow for character development tangents featuring Euron etc
Looking forward to the Roman Ampitheatre etc in Sevilla. Given they seemed to strangely make Samwell Tarly’s home Romanesque, this may be a show Reach theme so I’m wondering if this will be internal Higharden shots?
MeeraReed,
Heh, really. I was in Portland several years ago and got to visit the store. In fact in the week I was there I went each day and felt like I’d died and gone to heaven. Miss it!
And yeah we got 1/16th of an inch, with thunder loud enough to wake us up at 3 in the morning and scare the cats. Ahhh life in the desert
BTW so agree about Wolf Hall. Incredible adaptation of the books A bit slow in spots but very well done nonetheless.
serum,
I NEED to see Highgarden! I’m with you on that!
Ser Broccoli McBroccoliface,
Er…I think it’s just you, Ser Broccoli! 😉 …still, I do love the show.
Starting the season later than I thought they would (I predicted mid-May) but not as late as some were speculating.
Sullied by Knight,
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe looks to me quite like Casterly Rock. I also look forward too Highgarden and any other castles we see.
Firannion,
I agree
I think Season 7 starts Father’s Day Sunday June 18th 2017…
Season 6 ended finding out who Jon Snow’s mother is …
Arthur,
I understand that you are into NFL but I think most of the people around the world dont care about American Football. I only care about GOT/ASOIAF.
Because people who personally know and care about someone with such a disability represent a much larger potential percentage of the readership here (perhaps even a majority of us?). That’s not to mention all the people who don’t, but who can still see that the use of that term is offensive.
It takes quite a bit of deliberate twisting to turn what I said into dissing people with disabilities! Sheesh.
The wait might kill me… But I don’t mind it airing in the summer. I might cry and whine but I will endure for some epic episodes. I wonder if they decided on the number 7 for some faith of The Seven reason. July 2017 airing date is my prediction.
One who waits,
I feel your pain.
I don’t mind the delay. Honestly, it’s a problem that seemingly every show I like airs in spring, with Mr. Robot being the only current exception.
The guaranteed locations we get are Castle Black, Winterfell, Oldtown, and King’s Landing. After that, I’d be confident of Land of Always Winter. I don’t think any of the new shooting spots are those (except Iceland obviously, but not really “new”). Scenes on the high seas seem like a given. I’m not sure there’s a reason to show Highgarden, though it’d be great to see it. Maybe Casterly Rock, but honestly I don’t see Cersei retreating. She’s resigned to the prophecy. She’s knows she’s dead. It’s just a matter of how many people and how much property she can take with her. Sunspear and Storm’s End are decent bets, and we could easily see Dragonstone again, being an ideal staging point for an invasion. I’d like to see Riverrun one last time, just to see it under Tully control like it should be.
Firannion,
You actually calculated that in your head before you commented? That’s astonishing! Of course, in that calculus, you left out the disabled themselves. I guess that’s the price of trolling false outrage.
Well if GOT misses the Emmy’s for season 7 then KIT had BETTER get the Emmy this year. He deserves it, not only for season 6 but his whole body of work on GOT. And what is with this ‘Best Supporting Actor stuff..Jon Snow isn’t a lead role?
Season 7 could use the Faith of the Seven as an outline for the 7 episodes
Episode 1 – Father – Shows on Father’s Day June 18th 2017
Littlefinger tells Sansa who Jon’s parents are.
Episode 2 – Mother – Will Jon’s mother Lyanna Stark be enough to keep the Starks allies loyal to Jon
Episode 3 – Warrior Euron Greyjoy battle with Dany’s fleet
Episode 4 – Maiden – Arya and Brienne and The Hound do something?
Episode 5 – Smith – Sam Tarry finds the secret to making Valyrian Steel
Episode 6 – Crone – Queen Daenery makes a Queen’s Landing in King’s Landing
Episode 7 – Stranger – ending the final Sunday of July – The White Walkers and the Wall comes tumbling down
I like this theory as well. We know HBO doesn’t care if a holiday occurs during the run of a series.
The finale would then be July 30. Basically a week and a half from today.
In my scenario, the season would begin on July 9, and end on August 20.
Either way, one year from now we will either be just under way with the new season, or will be discussing the 5th episode of season 7.
It seems like season 6 just finished, so it’s basically the same wait. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway. 🙂
Castillo de Almodóvar del Río could blatantly be Highgarden, especially with a bit of CGI accentuation.
Also, the Lannisters are at war with the Reach. Ellaria mentioned to Olenna that they needed to ally if they wanted to survive. So I expect Cersei to be sending the Lannister forces straight for the Reach to set it ablaze.
If she allies with Euron then the Ironborn could assault the Reach from the East too, especially with the Tyrell fleet absent.
Either way I expect to see some scenes in the Reach, perhaps with the Tyrell forces having fallen back to Highgarden in the face of the Lannister assault.
I’m still betting on Randyll Tarly being killed in battle fighting the Lannisters and Sam feeling guilt-ridden for having taken Heartsbane.
Ser Broccoli McBroccoliface,
Yes, I also had mortality fears. The only way i could control them would be to tell myself ”what will be, will be” My Dad died suddenly when I was 12 years old. That is when it hit me that we had a limited time on this planet. I struggled for some years at school, but I matured through those years without learning much. I finally understood that the world was a more diverse and complex place that I had ever known.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
Why did I write east instead of west? And why did I spell east with a capital letter?
Cersei doesn’t know she’s dead in the show, because the show left out the prophecy from the books that actually foretells her death. Maybe she’s resigned to the prophecy about her children dying (already all done) and perhaps still about the YMB(Q) casting her down (if she doesn’t believe it’s Margaery anymore), but neither one of those prophecies spell out HER death.
firstone,
Clever idea, but
No, just no.
So is this the LAST season then? Though they said only thr last season would be short?
If so, that REALLY sucks! 10 episodes per season was never enough and their answer is cutting it down to 7!? Really guys? This last season ended where shit was FINALLY getting good, and NOW Ur gonna cut it short? U shd have just skipped the bullshit vamping that was season 5/book 5, condensed it into 2-3 episodes, and moved on to the good shit earlier. The show FINALLY gets good after 2-4 seasons of sitting around and u wanna stop now!? Fucking amateurs.
Hopefully the last 2 books actually live up to the hype and don’t pull this shit – and also don’t spend 3/4 of the book with bullshit like the last 2.
I’m honestly extremely dissapointed. Fuck u, HBO and a big special FUCK YOU to D&D. Lazy fucking assholes.
I am unsure as to why so many people are upset about the Emmys and first viewing numbers?
I could see if the show was in its first or second season and there was a fear of it being cancelled, but GoT is a massive success and the finishing of the series is guaranteed at this point.
So, even if numbers are down due to a football conflict and they miss one year’s worth of Emmys, we’re all still going to get to enjoy a little less than 70 hours worth of how this story finally ends!
I can see being upset with waiting longer, but otherwise all is well. ?
Well this sucks donkey balls! But hell…after what I watched in Season Six…what can I say! Grin and bare it! LOL…
Please, just avoid what “Boardwalk Empire” did with its shortened final season. Still solid, good TV, but it felt rushed at times and could have allowed itself to breathe a little!
Don’t be too eager to end the show. Let it happen as it must…and if Martin finishes and publishes “The Winds Of Winter” in the meantime…then that’s a bonus, besides we are getting an early christmas present with the release of the DVD/blu-ray set in November!
In the meantime there are enough shows to carry me through the long wait, “Outcast”, “Westworld”, “Supernatural”, “The Strain”, “Quarry”, “The Expanse”, “Ray Donovan”, “The Night Of”…plus November will bring “Doctor Strange” and “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them” a December…”Rogue One”!
Nerds and geeks…always forward and onward!
firstone,
Yeah that’s what I was thinking.
John johnson,
Season 7 is definitely not the last season so maybe calm down a little. And season 7 having just seven episodes is not news. For months now D&D have been making comments implying that there would be 13 – 15 more episodes total after season 6. They just finally confirmed the number for next season. At the end of season 6 they deliberately contracted the cast and storylines so they can start the end game. They have been planning this for years so they know how much time they need to wrap the story up.
Good to have a confirmation…we knew this is inevitable..
But I do hope this means no major characters sits out of am episode and appears in all the episodes and episodes actually having 55 to 60 mins of screentime.
And iam also sure this season will be breaking viewing records and emmy records next year ..
Hope by ApRil or may we have TWOW in our hands.
Haaa – that’s a good question! Well, I’m 11 months older than GRRM (work that one out), but not his size! I hope he lives long enough to finish ALL the ASOIF books including ADOS.
Although I don’t write books, George’s reply to people who ask that question is along the lines of – ‘They can go and fuck themselves!’ So I have a similar outlook on things like that. I’d certainly hope I will live long enough to see out the TV series and hopefully many more years afterwards 🙂
Jenny,
I don’t remember exactly but was that you who referred west Wing to me ..
I actually finished episode 7 of season 1 last night and I am loving the series so far..
And since I have finished James Rollins sigma series ..I am going to finally start with Robert Ludlum’s covert one and bourne series and James Patterson’s Alex cross series..
And there is fantastic beasts and where to find them as well..
So I guess I can withstand this delay of GOT this year ..
And to people who are saying that they removed valanqor from prophecy ..
They will be showing it in next season when it will actually become relevant to cersei and story .
We saw YMBQ and fate of her children because it was relevant to why cersei goes against Margery in the last couple of seasons and death of her children and moving forward we will come to know why she hated tyrion so much and how she thinks him as valanqor just to end up wrong and realize its Jamie as it will dany not Margery or sansa.
MeeraReed,
ash,
I moved away from Portland, for a brief 2 year stay in the desert (Vegas). Never did I appreciate a cool rain as much as I did after moving back to the NW! I missed having Seasons! I started thinking of blue sky as oppressive! Anyway, now I’m back, but let’s not pretend like my days are all spent at Powell’s, lounging around and drinking Stumptown coffee. (Mostly, they’re spent on Netflix and this site!)
Stranger Things had me in the first 5 minutes, and now I’m on episode three. I’m already sad that season two won’t be out anytime soon, and that there are only episodes, and that, much like the Wet Hot American Summer prequel, even when there are more, they have clearly captured these kids at an amazing time in their lives that won’t be captured in quite the same way next year. It reminds me of someone mashing up Freaks and Geeks with Goonies and, like, Lucas, and Fright Night. LOVE! Excellent recommendation.
Peaky Blinders is an amazing show with 18 episodes, 3 6 ep seasons. Set in Ireland, early 1900’s, lots of guys in cool hats and clothes, constantly smoking and drinking whiskey, whilst planning to take over the whole city/county/country. Good stuff. A Hilarious guest-star turn from Tom Hardy that had me clapping and laughing several times.
Ash, thanks for the book recommendation, sounds great. I love historical fiction, and this area of the world, for me, is far less explored than Europe.
dragonbringer,
Yeah it was me I’m glad you like it gets even better in season 2.I agree that there is plenty to do until game of thrones starts.Tbh I’m not as fussed this year because they left it at a good place with no cliffhangers etc.I can wait.I agree about the valanqor.Even if they don’t show it and go for the shock the end result is going to be the same.Tbh I kind of wish George hadn’t put that prophecy there.Imagine what a twist that would be.I would have never guessed Jaime would be the one to do it until very late.Now it seems like such a forgone conclusion.
Jenny,
Oh glad I remembered correctly.. Thanks for reffering this beautiful show josh and Sam and Charlie and president already are my favorite..and I like how they shoot this walking conversationsconversations
I agree with you on valnqot prophecy ..while it gives the reason why cersei behaves the way she does it ..it took away lots of surprises
You know what?? Filming in Spain in July or in September, October won’t make that much difference… it will still be sunny, there won’t be snow in Northern Ireland… so what’s the point??? Delay the shooting for 6 months and do it all in winter or don’t postpone it at all… especially because they have fewer seasons. IMO.
OK, I will hate the wait, I will whine and silently protest- and I’m definitely counting on Sue and Co to help keep my sanity until season begins! I would hate the wait to April anyway… So, I guess I will be able to wait an additional couple of months. Especially since there is a good reason for this delay, and I can only respect that! 🙂
I guess that they can start filming on Iceland sometime in the Fall or late Fall, a bit later on Ireland and then go for Spain sometime January perhaps, which I guess is the main reason for the delay weather-wise, as we have the Southern parts of Westeros filmed there.
I think that the show may (or should) air sometime near the middle of June – late June, I believe that this is the most logical way to go. They will start filming a bit later than usual, so I think that a two month delay, should be enough to get the job done.
As for the runtime of episodes, I think they will be near to normal 50-60 min per episode. Perhaps a bit longer the 7th episode, or the two last ep.
I haven’t read the books, so my speculation is based solely on what I know from the show and wiki westeros sources.
I think we may see Casterly Rock – it would be a good move for Dany to take the Lannister lair.
Dany may be forced (or she may decide for some reason) to change course and not go straight for KL; perhaps to get more allies or supplies, so some of these locations in Spain may be used as her in-between camps.
It would also make sense to see Highgarden: that’s theoretically a safe place for Dany and Co as Lady Olenna has joined her.
It also makes sense strategically: Highgarden is the supplier of resources for KL (which is why daddy Lannister wanted the alliance with House Tyrell), so breaking the supply line to KL, is a good move for Dany (especially since the people at KL hate Cercei, and if they starve they will turn against her), while at the same time she needs to keep food on the table for her army.
We may also see Braavos, the Iron Bank specifically because: ‘the Iron Bank will have its due’; we have been given clues about that from the very start, and the timing now seems right! Lannisters couldn’t pay before, and they definitely can’t pay now. Suspect the Iron Bank would support Dany – Tyrion knows about that and Varys too and may seek that support for her.
Other than that, I think we may get another flash-back through Bran, and perhaps one of the Spain locations may be used for that reason. The tourney at Harrenhal perhaps? I would love to see that!
And I could be completely wrong of course- plans rarely work out the way one thinks when it comes to GOT! 😀
Time is a factor I agree.
As for money Time-Warner now takes an interest in GoT , last season’s budget broke 100 million but not 200 million. Warner made Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for 250 million , and that’s just one of the productions. Time Warner has the money.
I see having the money to buy the resources as a dilemma tho. There were big vista CGI composed scenes in season 6 that look sensational , I loved them. Still my eye told me these were begging for more elaboration on the IMAX screen. I hazard a hunch that could be where all this winds up. Season 8 seems to have GRRM’s great ragnarok in it. I could see this being aired as a season but also elaborated as a movie with expanded vista , we shall see.
Vlad,
Last year there was more snow in Northern Spain then there was in Romania.
Vlad,
I don my tin hat right now to say that I don’t believe the weather excuse, maybe in part but not in full. Most likely they are working around and accomodating some of the actors schedules?
Vlad,
I don my tin hat right now to say that I don’t believe the weather excuse, maybe in part but not in full. Most likely they are working around and accomodating some of the actors schedules?
Vlad,
You know what?? Filming in Spain in July or in September, October won’t make that much difference… it will still be sunny, there won’t be snow in Northern Ireland… so what’s the point??? Delay the shooting for 6 months and do it all in winter or don’t postpone it at all… especially because they have fewer seasons. IMO.
Snow isn’t going to engulf all of Westeros immediately. They still need to shoot plenty of outdoor scenes in good weather. But shooting in Spain in October instead of July means it won’t be screaming hot there and can be a more accurate reflection of ‘winter’ starting to arrive in a place like Dorne.
Producers Newman and Caulfield this morning in Zumaia 🙂
http://www.eitb.eus/es/cultura/videos/detalle/4251378/juego-de-tronosplaya-itzurun-san-juan-gaztelugatxe-seran-escenario/
George,
Thanks. I thought that was probably the case but had seen some rather (IMO) strong reactions which made me think there might be something else to it 🙂
Saw on the news this morning that HBO had announced it will air in August:( I understand the wait, but wow, it’s going to be a LONG time. Great they are releasing S6 early so we can watch our season while we wait…lol.
Lars,
What they mean is “If I’m not in school, how am I going to steal the stream”?
Elizabeth,
What??? August??
I am pretty sure the Sept of Balor going up in greenfire with the nominal head of House Tyrell and Margery was enough for Highgarden to stop all food shipments to Kingslanding. Cercei is going to be sitting on her pointy iron throne all alone with no support from any other houses and little even from her own house just waiting for Dany to arrive.
Here’s my take on the valonqar prophecy:
Anyway, that’s my two silver dragons worth.
Elizabeth,
Pretty sure I will lose a lot of interest by then. :/
Lulus Mum,
Hey. It’s been a long time since I was on a beach (esp. in south of England) building sandcastles. But, right on 🙂
Wall Builder,
Who knows how/whether this will be addressed in the show, (which makes speculation fun), but this is what I’ve read about the word “valonqar.” (A bit pedantic, perhaps, but please indulge me as it’s my birthday.)
David J. Peterson, the creator of Dothraki & the Valyrian languages, has said that GRRM had “input” on the 7 Valyrian words in ASoIaF, and that he “understood” that valonqar meant “little brother.” (“Haedar” means “little sister”). High Valyrian is gender-neutral (as in masculine/feminine) in the same way as English. For example, “the” book and “the” moon in English, rather than “le” livre and “la” lune as in French, although English also has gender-specific words such as “daughter,” “father,” etc. I do wonder if GRRM had any idea how much we’d be focusing on this one word.
(One of my birthday presents was a pencil drawing by my daughter which depicts the head of one of our cats as a Stark direwolf. Instant sigil for our house)!
LOL Richard!!! Yes, I imagine that more or less that’s what Cercei will end up doing!!!!!
Of course Highgarden has stopped shipping supplies to KL, but likely didn’t stop to supply other places, trading brings money – so there are other places where KL could get supplies from; let’s not forget that at least for now Cercei is the Queen of Westeros and subjects/cities, are forced to supply the capital. So, supply lines must be broken and they can only be broken when that contender takes control.
I was thinking lately, that the way the curtain fell on season 6, Dany and Co sailing to Westeros, created the expectation that she goes for a straight battle with Cercei. I think that this plan will probably change – and if so, I think for the best. If Dany conquers these other places (I’m sure most the Lords would happily side her, as they hate Cercei) , and manages to isolate KL, she can then just wait and watch Cercei fall – and maybe fall from the hands of the KL people. In which case Cercei may use wildfire again. And if so think Jamie… well you know how that goes.
If there’s anyone capable and willing to blow up and totally ruin an entire city instead of surrendering, is Cercei. 🙂
Many of you guys are too freaking positive, I mean even when faced with the mildly depressing news of only 7 episodes (can anyone really call that a “season”?) but mainly the very disappointing wait of over a year to see them…..screw this shiznit always trying to look on a bright side here.
I found and binged the first seasons and the 10 month wait was fine last year mostly because there was that titillating cliffhanger with Jon and the casting for the northern houses, Bran coming back and having cool visions, etc. but this off season probably doesn’t have the substance to sustain me. What surprises are in store really? Is there anyone to commiserate with about this? Wahhh. I guess the facebookers complaints I jsut spend time rerading have gotten to me lol.
ygritte,
LOL! It sucks. I am dreading this looong off-season. I chose to have me meltdown in private (screaming into a pillow).
I made one visit to the Facebook page after the news was posted and that just depressed me even more.
It is what it is, and now our watch begins.
Newbietothegame,
imagine me, the non spoiler reading gal.
When do we do the season awards. I AM BORED
The budget will never be infinite , but Time Warner could put up northward of 125 million a season and I could see season 8 running 150 million , if not more. Which is why I think movie making may be in the air when it gets there.
It is time to join the dark side,LOL!!
Most of the stuff posted last off-season except a couple (Kit filming battle scene and Kingsmoot ) was not that spoilery. Everything else was just stuff people could speculate about. Now that we seem to be completely off book it will be all speculations.
Newbietothegame,
hahaha I cant bring myself to doing that. It does sound fun and helps pass the time.
I prefer to know NOTHING! and be fully surprised you know?
Newbietothegame,
Thank you for validating my feelings Newbie 🙂
Ps I’ve been rewinding that scene to hear the name Lyanna whispers and I swear it sounds like “Archie” lol.
Newbietothegame,
It is time to join the dark side,LOL!!
Haha yes. There’s power in knowing, you resist it and that’s your mistake: embrace it. 🙂
Or…endure the long night with all its terrors and come out a stronger person than the rest of us 🙂
Dee Stark,
Sept. 18
ygritte,
I mean the WOTW awards
Dee Stark,
Since last year they began on July 24 (1 month and 10 days after Mother’s Mercy), I guess this year’s Awards are going to start around August 6.
spaewife,
Yay! We always used to go to the Isle of Wight. Aaaah just realised as I typed that. The Isle of WIGHT ? ? ? Fortunately, being an island (the clue’s in the name) they can’t escape! 😉
Tywin of the Hill,
ohhh im excited especially because I loved this season
I’ve written it before, but I don’t expect Daenerys to sail up to King’s Landing in a direct attack by bombarding it like the Masters did Meereen. Even if she were to take KL and the Red Keep in that fashion it’s the wrong way to do it if she wants to gain the throne with the loyalty of the people behind her.
I think there might be less active warfare or resistance through battle than we probably expect. After what Cersei did House Tyrell should have full support of its original bannermen which would mean all of The Reach along with Dorne would be behind Daenerys. The Stormlands are rather neutral on the show with the Baratheons essentially extinct (excluding Gendry). I really don’t expect a warring conflict between Dany and The North. Something will happen there but Jon isn’t going to back Cersei to face Dany and he has bigger concerns. He can’t deplete his forces any more battling the living. That would leave just the middle portion of Westeros and the Iron Islands a question. Even if all of them banded together they’d be facing a force so far greater, if the rest of that is true, one would think many would just give up.
It may sound more boring than all out warfare all over the South half of Westeros, but the biggest battling before the “Great War” could be just taking out Euron. I can see Daenerys traveling around earning the love and support of the people. This of course would lead to Cersei getting nuttier and madder as she hides in the Red Keep threatening to blow up the rest of KL if Daenerys approaches. Which may be the way she goes when she’s left with no other option. So yeah, essentially isolating KL and waiting for Cersei to fall as you wrote.
ygritte,
.
And what would be the point in screaming and whining? No Im not happy about it but it is what it is. Besides its a tv show. Right now in my world, I have enough that is keeping my blood pressure up as it is.
Clob,
I remember Jon saying about the Hardhome battle that he “lost”. They basically ran like hell to get away, and fought only to buy time to evacuate. The dead just kept coming! Every living man who falls is re-animated for the army of the dead. There has to be a math equation that shows that no matter how big the army of the living, they can’t defeat the dead, under these circumstances.
The show made a point of showing that the dead cannot go into water, or into fire: ‘Hardhome’ and ‘The Door’ episodes, respectively. The Night’s king and his crew walked right through the fire, however… but we’ve been shown that valyrian steel and dragonglass can shatter them. I’m guessing there won’t be any big battle there; instead, they’ll burn the dead safely from the air(dragons), and a group of warriors with valyrian steel will take on the wights in hand-to-hand combat. If they can get enough dragonglass arrow tips, they may use that too?
What if Deny dies before that fight? There was that cryptic message from Bloodraven that Bran would fly… He hasn’t flown yet.
I’ve been thinking along the same lines with regards to the final battle. They’ll take out the wights via dragonfire but the White Walkers will have to be dealt with via hand-to-hand combat. That’s where Jon, Tormund, Brienne, and a few others (Jaime? Sandor? the BwB?) will have to go into the mouth of the beast and risk it all to save Westeros. I think they’ll be victorious but some of our heroes & anti-heroes will die. And that’s where this show will finally and truly gut me. 🙁
I’m of the opinion that Dany will survive to sit the Iron Throne, so I think she’ll fly Drogon into battle. Since we’re still waiting for Bran to fly, I think he’ll do it by warging one of the dragons as he helps Dany with the airforce part of the battle. Maybe the wights will be so widespread that the dragons will need to spread out to be effective and hopefully that’s where Bran comes in (and Jon?). I hope the show hasn’t forgotten about Bloodraven’s line to Bran.
Except…where is this guy getting 44 minutes from?
What you write here makes perfect sense to me too 🙂 And this might be Tyrion’s approach as well so I think he would advise Dany along those lines.
As for the absense of all over warfare and if that might be boring, I believe that most of the dramatic, intense, moments we had in 6 seasons, was more the product of political schemes and secret alliances/agendas, or secrets in general (Ned’s death, Red Wedding, Jon’s arc, Cercei blowing up the Septa etc ), than solely of open all over warfare – though yes, there were some major battles through the seasons that were breathtaking! But it would be rather pointless to have major battles on each of the 7 episodes!
I think Euron will be the case indeed – it’s the only enemy that could create problems for Dany and might be the last major battle before the Great war on the last season. And I never forget Littlefinger – the master of mischief, I think he will play a major role next season: he’s dangerous for all other players! (and once again, I hope that his plans FINALLY backfire).
As for Dany’s future…. I think she makes it to the Iron Throne alive – I don’t know at what cost (I suspect that KL might end up a ruined city by then) or if she will be that pleased about it after all.
I also agree that Jon will likely not get involved in Westerosi matters, at least he won’t by choice – and I hope he’s not dragged into it!
I would like to see the story unfolding in relation to the WW matter instead personally, and I think this must start developing if we are heading for the end game.
There are some major questions to be answered to my view on that matter. 🙂
Alas, too late for Ser Loras, but English Heritage are trying to get jousting included as an Olympic sport. I thought they were joking but apparently there are competitions held all over the world and it’s the official state sport of Maryland, USA. It’s now a lot safer than the GoT version and injuries are “few and far between” 😀
BunBunStark,
Yep. It’ll be another high-stakes battle. Everyone will have at least one character they love fighting it out with the white walkers. Maybe Meera will be one of the warriors, too. I guess we’re meant to make hierarchical lists of who we’re willing to have die… and that will be gutting, as you say.
BunBunStark,
They’d be fighting wights on multiple fronts, the worst case scenario!
Yes, I know what you mean about the blue sky. I love it on the rare day when I wake up to cloudy skies. It’s gets me so pumped up, and gives me so much energy!
Well I love historical shows and men in hats, so I’ll check out Peaky Blinders for sure! I’m glad you are into Stranger Things. It’s just so good!
Have you ever read any of the Bryant & May mysteries? They take place in London, in the 1940’s & 1950’s I believe. I found the history of London to be fascinating.
In October 29, 2016 I visited the Castillo de Almodovar. I learned about this place from a Placido Domingo’s TV documentary in 1985. It surpassed all my expectations. Just Majestic!
Carlos ALMODOVAR-RIOS
San Juan, Puerto Rico (USA)
(PS. Despite my heritage, last name and good looks, it cost me 12 euros to get in ; )