Filming of various locations for Game of Thrones season 5 has been well-documented so far, giving us insight into King’s Landing, Meereen, Dorne and beyond. However, we now have clarification on the exclusion of one particular area/plotline: the Iron Islands.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the Iron Islands subplot as realised in A Feast for Crows will be omitted from season 5.
While the Dorne-based subplot will be in season five, producers have previously indicated the Iron Islands subplot has been omitted.
Future plot spoilers below the cut.
James Hibberd goes on to say that he
… asked the producers last season if they were doing Dorne and Iron Islands in season 5. They said they were doing one of them. Later they announced they were doing Dorne.
This suggests that of the two, the producers in fact chose to portray Dorne instead of the Iron Islands in the fifth season. Of course, this holds no confirmation for the future of the isles; we may well see them and their corresponding characters in season 6 and beyond.
For now, however, we can rest assured that there will be no Kingsmoot plot in the upcoming season – which also bodes ill for the Greyjoy brothers. On the other hand, whether we will see Yara post-Dreadfort escape, or even Balon’s delayed death, are still up for discussion.
In other news, new screenwriter Dave Hill continues to mete out official glimpses into the production of season 5. Today, he offered us our best view yet of the show’s iteration of the Shy Maid, upon which Tyrion and Jorah will no doubt become well acquainted.
Nooooooo-dor!
*sigh* Maybe there’s hope for S6.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger!
Oh maybe there’s still also hope for LS in Season 10. Oh wait
Not a good move. Would much rather have the Iron Born than the Martels.
Good. It wasn’t that interesting anyway, and theres enough plotlines as is.
Damn, I’ll miss the Crow’s Eye. Here’s hoping for Season 6, (I think Tywin’s using the example of a house with great wealth and fertile land asking for protection from a house with a powerful navy was foreshadowing,) and we will still in all likelihood get Balon’s death in Season 5.
It’s funny that the Iron Islands bit was THE ONLY piece of legit info in that Hibberd article.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see Pyke at least once though and see Yara get sent back to Deepwood Motte.
No surprise at all, but nice to have some official confirmation!
I would think this means they are cut from the series not just the season, right? If the Greyjoys do get some screen time next year I would think it would have to be extremely cut back from their role in the books…. Would they introduce important players in the second to last season? It does not feel right to me, but who knows….
Seeing as that article also states that Bran Stark will definitely not be in season 5, I’m not sure if i would trust the source. Isaac Hempstead-Wright himself confirmed he would be in season 5.
I think it’s the news Dorne was chosen instead of the Iron Islands which really grates on me. Disliked Dorne in the books, dislike the direction they’re going with it in the show and now I’m going to be constantly thinking “they dropped the Iron Islands for this?”. Jaime and Bronn are going to have to nail it nob on to make it watchable for me.
Season 6 Greyjoys? I can but hope.
This btw. https://twitter.com/TheDove_Stark/status/525363052502605825
IMDB says Emilia Clarke’s birthday’s in May though, so I wonder what the cake is for.
We pretty much knew this already. The Iron Islands plotline itself is gone, but Euron as a character will still be in (in season 6). He’s too juicy of a villain for them to pass up.
Just a thought, but it occurs to me that maybe D&D wanted to save the Greyjoy’s for Season 6, because they needed some big political/military issue for that particular season. After all they ain’t doing fAegon, and while Dany might start traveling to Westeros in Season 6 she wouldn’t get there right away, so there has to be *something* south of the Wall that’s helping to continue the state of chaos in Westeros as well as drive events in KL. That way if/when Dany gets to Westeros she and her dragons might be the only things that can take down Euron.
I wouldnt pay too much attention to it, the article also suggests that Bran wont be in Season 5 when he even Isaac has noted to the contrary. The writer is just reporting assumptions based on previous reports.
Noojan,
Good point. Another indicator that while the main storyline might not take place, they’ll still be doing set-up for events later down the line.
For those not convinced Hibberd clarified in the comments:
its got to be her post-taping wedding cake
Lol. Suck it, AFFC/ADWD apologists.
Unsullied are the luckiest people on the planet.
show watchers only don’t care at all about the Greyjoys (same for Bran and Stannis) that’s probably the reason why they omitted them 🙁
My friend hates Stannis and Theon, he’s going to love Season 5 😉
His favorite characters are Tyrion, Jon and Arya (OBVIOUSLY)
dizzy,
That’s your opinion. I think Dorne was more HBO friendly (but after hearing about all the changes they’re making to Dorne, I’m a bit worried).
Cumsprite,
They really are. Soon enough we will join them.
OtherAndrew,
I had meant to quote that in the post, since that was the basis of it in the first place.
Thanks for reminding me!
“That one. The writer. Slit his throat and throw him into the sea.”
The silliest thing that’s driving me bonkers is that the third leech isn’t being addressed. If they just tie up that one thread this season I’ll be happy… and they need to do a short reintroduction of the group in season 6….
Sensible decision. There are enough plotlines as i is and the show really is at breaking point with regards to that. I can only presume that Dorne will play a bigger part in the end game, so they chose it instead (which would make sense, but until George pulls his finger out we won’t know for sure). Oberyn’s populaity compared to the current Iron Islands characters probably contributed to this, but it also might be because
Despite this, I hope we see both Yara and Balon in Season 5. Something decent needs to happen to both this season.
I’m thinking Euron can still be in season 6 if he is more than a ship delivery man, but Victarion and Aeron are cut.
I tend to agree. It would be odd to bring in Euron and position him as a major threat so late in the story. Perhaps he will be introduced in a more benign way.
I figure we still have to see Balon and Yara this season.
After what they did with Yara last season, I’m glad they aren’t touching the rest of the ironborn. They are just Stannis-and-dragon fodder anyway, sadly.
But no Balon in S5? Odd.
NOOOOOOO!!! Why did they even bother setting up the Greyjoys as a faction in the show claining a crown and having a military force if they then do nothing. Not to mention the leeches. They have set up a huge hole in the plot and they’re just leaving it hanging. Like them or not, they were a credible threat in season 2 and now this will be the third season in a row where they don’t do anything. Sure Yara and Theon have had stuff, but the actual Greyjoy forces and king have done nothing. It needs to be resolved somehow and soon, not just forgotten about. Even if they change it completely from the book they need to tie up the loose threads.
You know what, seeing how crowded season 5 is going to be I was hoping that they leave out the Iron Islands story for season 6 where hopefully they will have enough time to tell it in its full glory. Now in the case that they have cut out the Iron Islands story from the show completely… we riot there is no way around that.
That does not mean that the Iron Islands are cut from the show, as some fans have interpreted this (which makes no sense – they’re already in the show, they can’t abandon the storyline from now on), just that they’re not a part of season 5, which was pretty obvious from the casting and filming news anyway.
Honestly, there are some stotylines we know of:
– Arya in Bravos
– The Wall
– Extended Dorne with Jamie and Bronn
– King’s Landing with the sparrows, Cersei’s Fall, and a little Loras trouble
– Tyrion’s Journey, probably Pentos
– Dany in Mereen
– a little Bran, a little Sansa, a little littlefinger…
Assuming that we still get some Yara and some Varys it seems to be already pretty packed in Season 5… Placing The iron Islands’ Plot somewhere would generate some confusion for non-readers… and I guess Even for readers it would bot be comfortable to watch The show hopping around wildly.
However, I am worried, that they are cutting all connections to Dany that are buildt up in ADWD: Vic, Young Griff, Quentyn… Will they have Dany going to Westeros just directly?
I don’t care if they have to turn Daario into Euron. Just make Euron happen please
Can I just say for the record that I think Isaac Hempstead Wright is, if not lying, giving deliberately misleading answers to the Bran question? James Hibberd and EW have posted two articles now that definitively say Bran won’t be in Season 5, and he’s standing by his story.
Let’s also remember that Hibberd posted a “No Lady Stoneheart is actually a good thing” op-Ed piece the second the Season 4 finale ended. The very definition of positive spin. He gets the exclusive casting news from time to time, and clearly carries Benioff & Weiss’s water in a major way. I’m inclined to think he has well-placed Deep Throats in the production to tell him if he’s off-base.
So yeah. I don’t think there will be any Bran at all next year, and for whatever reason Isaac has adopted the Christopher Nolan/JJ Abrams approach of misleading the press.
Lol bye Felicia.
Saw this coming a mile away; the Iron Islands just haven’t been developed in the show at all. For god’s sake we still haven’t even seen Balon’s banana peel-slip and I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t. Everything about Pyke introduced in S2 was to further Theon’s story, and his story is nowhere near Pyke now.
And let’s all be perfectly honest here.. aside from Euron, no other solid or even interesting character has came out of that gray, wet hell hole. Aeron, Victarion and even Asha are as replaceable as Belwas’ left nut.
I think Darkstar had more of an impact on the story. Wrap your noggins around that one.
Turncloak,
What do you mean.. “have to turn”?
Greenjones,
I would eat the shit out of that cake
Turncloak,
I’ve always thought that this would be great for the TV adaptation (regardless of whether it actually happens in book cannon). However, from the last couple months of news, it seems like Michiel has been present for Meereen filming both for early and late season episodes, so it isn’t looking good imo.
This is shaping up to be the first season I’m really having doubts about.
Euron, Manderly and “The Griffs” were characters I was really looking forward to seeing. Euron if he appears won’t be until next season, Manderly we would have heard of by now I think, and likewise The Griffs. And all to fit in some extra Dorne? Apart from Doran being the only genuine “good” lord since poor old Ned, it struggled to hold my interest. Well, apart from Darkstar, and he didn’t hold my interest for the reasons the author intended! Is it being focused on because of all the (in my opinion spurious) complaints about the lack of “diversity”?
It was very helpful that Hibberd responded to the comment I left about the basis for his saying the Iron Islands storyline isn’t in this season, though I asked if he could confirm if he has any more information confirming Bran’s absence apart from the Nairn interview cited in the post, to which he hasn’t said anything. But he seems quite certain on that latter point.
Of the Night,
Iron Islanders actually got a few mentions in conversation in season 4, so I think they’ll follow up on
but probably not much else.
The way I see it there are a few ways the show could have handled this differently.
1) Never bother with the Greyjoys in the first place. Probably wouldn’t work in hindsight because then Theon would never claim Winterfell and Bran would never leave.
2) Have Balon die as in the books, but then not introduce the uncles and get Yara to bow to either Stannis or the Lannisters. Puts us basically where we already are now but with a sense of resolution to the storyline. Kinda like when Renly died, his forces didn’t carry on without him. If they do need to cut the Greyjoys for time or because they are largely irrelevant in the end then this is heaps better than leaving it unresolved.
3) Do the kingsmoot back in season 4 when there weren’t that many new storylines yet, when the Greyjoys hadn’t been doing nothing for too long and when the storyline actually takes place chronologically within the books.
Essentially don’t start a storyline and then ignore it with no progression or conclusion.
Hibbard hasn’t provided any evidence that Bran won’t be in season 5, other than Nairn’s interview, and from his comments, it seems that Nairn’s interview is all that he’s basing his conclusion on.
TheTouchOfFrost,
What D&D said is “we’re doing one”, not “we can only do one” or “we chose to do one instead of the other”.
Honestly, I’m sorry that you hate Dorne so much but you need to stop acting as if it’s an unquestioned fact that Dorne is boring and the Iron Islands would have been better. That’s only an opinion. And in terms of the direction they’re taking it in the show (though admittedly, I agree that they are completely destroying what was in the book and building anew- and the new may well be terrible, it certainly isn’t looking to be amazing from the news we have so far in my opinion), who’s to say they wouldn’t have made changes to the Iron Islands arc as well? They would have made changes. A lot of them. The Kingsmoot might not have happened, just as thye Queenmaker plot won’t, Aeron and Victarion might have been cut just like Arianne and Quentyn, and for all we know Jaime and Bronn could have taken a trip to Pyke.
Basically, suck it up already. It’s happening. It’s been all but confirmed for a long, long time now. Same goes for the Griffs. Season 6 might allow a couple of new major castings, and I hope we get a Euron then. Otherwise, see ya Iron Islands.
4) Save Balon’s death and the introduction of Euron and possibly some other characters for season 6, when they wouldn’t have to introduce so many new characters.
… which is probably exactly what they’re doing
Ed,
I agree with this. My suspicion is that Euron has too big a role to play to cut him entirely. My theory is that he is going to get control of at least one of Rhaegal or Viseryion. Now, if he sticks around in Meereen to try and join forces with Dany or if he high tails it to Westeros with his new dragon(s) to wreak havoc, I’m not sure.
I think it has to be assumed that Victarion is cut at this point. I can’t see them having a S6 story arc where he loses the Kingsmoot and makes his way to Meereen. It would just take too long. If they aren’t going to show that, then what point is there in having him in the show at all?
One way they could pull this off is have Yara return to Pyke in S5 only to be told that Balon has died under suspicious circumstances and, while she was away, his brother Euron has claimed the Seastone Chair for himself and set sail (for Meereen). Then, he can show up at the beginning of S6 (maybe Episode 1 introduces him as he’s at sea on the Silence, goes through his back story and the legend of the dragon horn, etc.) and follows his TWOW arc from there.
The prophecy (I think from Quaithe–could be in the House of the Undying) that warned Dany of all of the dangers she would face indicated that Euron would be the most dangerous of them all. He has got to make an appearance. Plus, he seems like a total badass that would be a great addition. I think Vic and Damphair are probably out, though.
Hodor’s Bastard,
I find that extremely hard to believe, HB. Plus the writer says:
Technically Balon Greyjoy’s death is book 3 not 4, and he only refers to the big book 4 Ironborn plot. If they do put that off for a later season it will be a bad decision IMO. It won’t have the same impact, I think since the three leaches should come one season after another at least! They won’t make a liar out of Mel, would they?! LOL
Annara Snow,
I suppose a lot of the S6 theory comes down to what the ultimate end game for the Greyjoys is, which is difficult to predict. If the Ironborn are relevant for _____ down the road, then it’d make a lot of sense. If it turns out they aren’t all that important, I don’t see why D&D would try to add new major players in the penultimate season. We know they’re trying to start contracting the universe as we speed to the finish.
It will do my head in if they don’t at least address Balon and Yara in season 5. I cant stand bad continuity. Ignoring the third leech just comes across as amateurish.
Martin,
You didn’t actually read the article here, did you? The author confirmed that D&D told him (which happens often; EW and Hibberd get quite a lot of GoT exlusives) that only one of the two new storylines (Dorne and the Iron Islands) would be in season 5. Then Dorne was announced. So yes, this is true.
Also, none of this means Yara and Balon won’t be in Season 4. It just means that what’s generally refeered to as the Iron Islands plot is cut, that is: Euron declaring a Kingsmoot, Euron winning, the Shield Islands attack, Victarion going to Meereen, the Greyjoys raiding the Reach. Balon will have to die eventually and I assume Yara will have her latter ADWD material in the North adapted in some way this season. Just don’t expect any of Balon’s brothers, a Kingsmoot, an invasion of the Reach or a Greyjoy fleet at Meereen.
And who knows, maybe we get a small version of the plot in season 6, maybe just with Euron. We’ll see.
Lord of the Waters,
Maybe the leech sacrifice is limited to only one subsequent death per season? 🙂
Exactly. Just like they bothered to include the Brotherhood and Beric in s3, and the fact that he was resurrected by the lord of light, setting up LS.
The amount of good stuff that they have decided to cut from affc/adwd is simply astonishing. I just don’t understand the choice to focus so much on Dorne. In fact, I don’t understand the majority of their adaptation choices since halfway into season 4.
I’ll be honest, I’m not looking forward to season 5. I’ll watch it, because i’m a big fan of the original story. But I feel like a lot of book readers that liked affc&adwd, myself included, will not be very happy next year when it airs.
Oh and you can be sure you won’t get Balon’s death. In D&D’s mind, the average viewer probably doesn’t remember him anyway, or remember the fact that Stannis said the name of 3 kings when he tossed the leeches in the fire, and only two of them died. It’s ok though, instead we’ll get one extra scene of Jaime doing random funny stuff in Dorne. So much better.
Strider,
*leeches
I never thought they could do both with a 10 hour season and only 7 seasons.
I could deal with this. If Balon’s already dead and we just didn’t see it on screen, that’s fine. But if he survives through to season 6 then it is way too late for the leech to take effect.
Greg,
Yep. The moment they changed their minds from 8 seasons as a possibility to only 7 seasons, it was clear that some major cuts were coming. Now way in hell could D&D adapt the entirety of AFFC and ADWD, plus some TWOW stuff for Sansa and at the end of some of the other arcs, into one season. That would be closer to a season and a half of material. They’re better off cutting whole portions than cutting bits and pieces all around. At least the other arcs will be good by themselves, and not rushed.
It really is a bummer that they can’t do 8 seasons, but 7 is all we get.
the other guy,
Oh… so many assumptions in so few sentences. First, some storylines are storylines for their own sake, not just foreshadowing or setup. That’s a rather dry and mechanical way in which to view the story. People liked the Brotherhood without Banners and were none the wiser that it was setting up LSH, and if LSH is indeed cut they will still be. There’s not a problem with that at all. It served a function for the character of Arya, the Hound and for the worldbuilding of the show (resurrections, magic returning.)
Also, you assume that all the cuts are “to focus so much on Dorne.” We don’t even know how much of Dorne we’ll see, so what are you even talking about? Also, how would you yourself plan the season? I don’t think you’ve actually thought this through. Many people obviously haven’t. D&D have.
Please consider that at least most story lines must have a satisfying conclusion, a climax, an arc for the characters, so their stories must generally end with the climaxes of AFFC / ADWD; you can’t just cut them in half and stop there. It only worked for Season 3 because of the Red Wedding in the middle of ASOS; there’s nothing like that in AFFC or ADWD, and honestly, even the “S3 / S4” split of ASOS resulted in some characters suffering. Stannis, no doubt. Also, I love Arya and the Hound, and their character development was great, but in terms of plot they stretched out two chapters for a whole season.
So, without a split that would cripple the story arcs of pretty much every character, you now have to arrive at the end of each of those storylines in one season… but you must have enough time with each character so that the story is emotionally satisfying. There has to be some character development. So what do you do, without magically time traveling and producing another 10 episodes? You do what you gotta do: focus on the characters we’ve already known for 4 years and cut what can be disposed of. You know why Jaime is in Dorne, partly? To justify the time the show will spend in Dorne.
Also, the only other option is to literally follow the book structure: adapt AFFC in season 5 and then ADWD in season 6. But that’s completely out of the question, not only because it’d be a disaster in terms of storytelling and critically but also because it’s contractually impossible due to the actors. Just as impossible as producing 10 more episodes (or 5, or 2); there’s literally no more time, even if they had more money, unless we were willing to wait another year between seasons. And even if we were, HBO wouldn’t.
It’s a difficult decision that D&D have made, but it’s a decision I respect. I hope some of you actually think some more about this, because if you do, you’ll understand why they did so. I’d like to see some of you do any better, considering the main focus is creating a satisfying story with satisfying arcs for their characters, even if it means going against the books. In this case, following the books would damage the other storylines we all know and love, which some of you don’t seem to realize.
Also, Natalia Tena basically confirmed she’s back:
http://www.vertele.com/video-articulo/la-salvaje-osha-de-juego-de-tronos-al-natural-nos-lleva-por-su-refugio-en-la-nueva-serie-de-lasexta/
Didn’t know she spoke Spanish so well.
What Hibbard failed to say was the reason why they chose Dorne over the Ironborn.
Conan Stevens, who D&D both want to play Euron, was available to shoot this summer due to a prior obligation to portray a CGI shit stain in an upcoming German Scheisse video.
Mine is the Furry,
I thought Conan Stevens was under contract to play Daario in season 6… Does this confirm the Daario=Euron theory??
I just can’t understand, D&D being such fans of the books and do something like this, I think they’re just fans of the first 3 books, they say all the time that if they could get just to the red weading they would be fine. But I hope that it’s just like you guys are talking about, maybe they’ll build up the greyjoy storyline in season 6, but at least give us starter in this one, like balon dying at the end and a glimpse of Euron or even just talk about him would blow my mind
Mine is the Furry,
But he had played the Mountain already. Their affirmation was before season 1, right?
Also, he’s a much more Victarion than Euron.
Luka Nieto,
I agree that fans should not be so quick to condemn the assumed direction of S5 and the show in general. For three reasons:
1) We won’t even see S5 for nearly six months
2) B&W have done a great job so far
3) B&W are privy to where the story is going and we aren’t. This puts them in far better position than any of us to determine which story arcs are muscle, which are fat and what modifications can be made to still culminate the major points to where they align with the books when it’s all said and done.
There’s room to love both the books and show and still be confident (with what we know so far) that the show will continue to do the books justice.
jentario,
Let’s assume they get 8 seasons (or 9!), that there’s no issue. What is your suggestion here exactly? Because I’m yet to see one that makes any sense:
Adapt AFFC in Season 5 and ADWD in Season 6? They can’t. Contractually impossible because of the actors. Also it’d probably be a storytelling and critical disaster, but that’s besides the point.
Cut AFFC and ADWD in half, adapt the first halves in Season 5 and the second halves in Season 6? Well, yeah —if you want the story arc of pretty much every major character to be crippled and have absolutely no climax in Season 5. It only worked for Season 3 because of the Red Wedding right in the middle of ASOS, and even then there were some issues; Season 3 adapted more than half the book, and pretty much all of it for some storylines, so Season 4 had to resort to material book 4 and 5 for some characters, and reaaaaaly stretch it out for others, such as Arya and Jon. Also, some characters suffered greatly because of the split. Consider Stannis: in the beginning of ASOS he was down after the Battle of the Blackwater, but had his greatest comeback ever by the end of the book. The show had to stretch his depression out for two seasons and it indeed depressed most people.
The first option is ruled out because it’s literally, legally impossible and the second because it’d be a terrible idea and Season 5 would have the most disappointingly unfinished arcs ever. After that, we have another option:
Cram everything from AFFC & ADWD into Season 5? Well, they could, and they could be faithful as hell, but then you’d only get the major plotpoints from each character —a couple minutes of them per episode, and in each something major happening. Forget about character development. You think the characters’ motivations and inner desires and troubles and complexities have been simplified or whitewashed in the past? Well, imagine what would happen if Season 5 had to focus on every major plotpoint, instead of the emotional beats from the characters we already know.
Considering all of that, is it really a bad idea to adapt the whole of AFFC & ADWD into Season 5 but have some things cut or simplified, especially the new storylines? How exactly would any of you do it any better, even on paper? Because I’d like to see that. I honestly would. I’d rather have a satisfying season with rich story arcs for characters who we have cared about for years now than having a technically more faithful season in terms of the plot but which would actually be devoid of any spirit because it’d have no time for the characters; or two seasons, the first of which has literally no climax for pretty much any of these characters we care about so much.
BTW, on second thought, Tena’s “confirmation” is not so, not really. I was led to believe she had answered to “Will you be back?” with “Well… (coyly)… I hope so… Yes”, but it’s more like “Well, I hope so, yeah.”
Hodor’s Bastard,
Balon death is just swept under the rug like the Frey’s deserting Robb
Cumsprite,
AFFC/ADWD apologists? Lmao sorry for liking the book?
Pathetic.
Because the Orson Lannister monologue or the “Podrick the SexGod” were such milestones of character development
The Hound,
Show watchers don’t care about them cause the show producers don’t care about them. (Look at the Ironborn’s deadliest fighters fleeing from a shirtless Ramsay)
” he offered us our best view yet of the show’s iteration of the Shy Maid, upon which Tyrion and Jorah will no doubt become well acquainted.”… I’m sorry (not sorry); I choose to read this and think: This is Gendry!
#whereistheBull
arden,
Liking the books and being an apologist are different things. That you reacted so strongly to my post hints at where you fall on that scale.
Ren Snow,
Yes, I’m sure we could squeeze the whole Iron Islands storyline and everything else that’s missing if we just cut the beetles monologue, the Grey Worm / Missandei thing and whatever else you personally may find redundant. I’m sure those… 10 to 15 minutes will be more than enough to portray that storyline just as you imagined. These are whole new storylines we’re talking about; investing time in them is narratively more “expensive” than inventing what you consider filler for existing plotlines. No, cutting invented tertiary characters or these small scenes wouldn’t be nearly enough to add the things you want to be in.
I think a lot depends on how important the Euron/Ironborn/Oldtown/Citadel/Samwell/Jaqen storyline is to the overall end game.
If that whole storyline is cuttable, they could save a lot of time for other things by just killing off Balon and leaving the Ironborn leaderless and out of the game. The biggest problem with this (other than its potential, but unknown to us, endgame importance) is that it would mean they basically have to just make shit up for Sam, Gilly, and Aemon for the rest of the series.
If this storyline is important to the end game they could still get it in pretty easily. Here’s how:
The Kingsmoot itself is totally cuttable. Balon died. Euron showed up and claimed the crown. Damphair said, no, let’s have a vote first. They had a vote, and Euron won anyway. With Yara already off in a position to be captured by Stannis (and Daenerys already having ships), they can cut out the voting, and cut Damphair and Victarion. Balon dies. Euron shows up and claims the crown. End of story. You don’t even need to cast Euron for S5, just show Balon seeing Euron’s ship approaching Pyke, and deciding to go down to the shore to send him away/kill him, but then “slipping” as he crosses the bridge.
The conquest of the Shield Islands can (and should) happen off screen. Naval battles are very expensive to film. Naval battles involving a bunch of characters the audience doesn’t care about conquering a few islands the audience has never heard of would be a horrible waste of money and screen time. It can happen off screen during S5 and be reported to Cersei by the Tyrells, who want to send ships back home to defend their lands.
Likewise, the raiding along the Mander and near Oldtown can happen off screen, and perhaps we could see a bit of wreckage in the water, and Oldtown’s defenders on high alert when Sam & Gilly arrive there at the end of S5.
Sam’s actual visit to the citadel, and meeting new characters there can be held to season 6. In the book, it’s fine to introduce some new characters at the end of the book to tease the next book, but when you have to actually hire actors to play those roles, it makes sense to hold off a bit and introduce them at the beginning of the next season instead. Just end Sam’s arc for S5 with his ship approaching Oldtown.
This way, you can essentially cut the AFFC Iron Islands storyline from S5, but still have all the critical players in the right places to have whatever important stuff happens in TWOW/ADOS included in S6/S7. If gives them a bit of time to “build up” Euron’s reputation before actually introducing him to the viewers directly.
Mine is the Furry,
If you want to address the proud tradition of “German Scheisse” in film and television, in particular in television, please know your facts Mr.! It’s spelled “German Scheiße”, with a ß! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
Can’t say I’m surprised at all, honestly. As much as I would love to see Arianne and the other characters on screen, it became clear a while ago that they needed to be cut out to make the seven season storyline work. Even GRRM has been having trouble resolving all those plotlines, and he’s not working on a strict deadline like D&D. It makes sense they’d avoid introducing new storylines, not just to wrap it up in seven seasons, but to do it in such a way that Unsullied readers can get a coherent plot devoid of too many extraneous elements.
They’ve managed to keep Yara a part of S3 and S4 even though there was no narrative reason to do so (outside of giving her something to do until she re-enters the main story in later seasons). I’d be pretty surprised if she wasn’t a part of S5, even if it’s for just a scene or two. Since she’s headed back to Pyke, I imagine she’ll have a scene with Balon and I’d guess it would be to either set up or witness his death in order to set her S6 plot in motion. Probably a late season appearance.
I have never, for the life of me understood why so many fans are horny to see the Kingsmoot depicted on-screen. It’s a stale fish of a scene with a bunch of groups of characters we don’t give a shit about (outside of Yara) standing up and talking about how great they are and then being chosen by applause or whatever to be the new King of the shitty wasteland that is the Iron Islands. And Yara doesn’t even win it and goes off to sulk. That would make for some amazing television I tell’ya. Rivaled only by Victarion’s “adventures” at sea.
Casso,
This is exactly my best hope for Season 5: a mostly dialogue-based setup for a highly condensed version of AFFC’s Iron Islands storyline involving Euron, who would be delayed until Season 6. That’s as much as I’m willing to hope from Season 5, although I don’t actually expect all of it to be in. But it’d be nice, and then have Euron in season 6 fulfilling whatever his role will be in TWOW. What I do fully expect in Season 5 is Yara doing her latter ADWD stuff in Season 5 (which can be condensed to “getting kidnapped by Stannis”) and Balon dying.
King Tommen,
I’m constantly surprised by some people’s love of the ironborn. Is there any depth to them aside from “pirates are cool”? I’m sure there is for some people, and the latter Victarion stuff in ADWD was particularly enjoyable to me even though I don’t actually “like” the character, but… the Kingsmoot, really? When something is usually described as “badass” and little else is said about it by most people, I tend not to find it very entertaining.
Nessa,
I maintain that this is not a “seven seasons” issue. If you want to know what I think, read my previous ginormous post here. A TL;DR would be to say that, even with many other seasons ahead, AFFC & ADWD would have to be done in one season, or else lose in character development and/or fulfilling story arcs.
Mine is the Furry,
Meant “unavailable”.
I fucking love this show but I do love me some Iron Men. However, I actually don’t give a German Scheisse Shit that they confirmed what we already knew.
Redundant poop intentional.
Luka Nieto,
.
Your entire post was on the money. You have to consider how a good show is made, how it is able to succeed over several seasons. And they certainly didn’t want viewers to have the same difficulties that readers had in those two books.
When I first read the books I skipped much of the Iron men plot; I found it too long and really boring, when I’d much rather focus on my favorite characters Subsequent reading showed me that they did have a place in the story But I can’t say i am at all concerned about the omission. Maybe next season..They need to focus whats on their plate for this season and make sure its done well
I always imagined that they will end season 5 with
Damn! I was looking forward to Euron’s “Godless” speech.
I can’t say I’m sorry to have confirmation the Iron Islands plot(s) won’t be appearing in season 5. I wouldn’t mind getting a little bit in Season 6, but it was absolutely my least favorite part of the last two books.
Hi guys
I was expecting this news but I am still disappointed. There are parts of the Ironborn story I really love (especially Euron) so I think it’s a real shame we won’t get them yet and maybe not ever.
I actually wrote a post about this on my blog the other day. Perhaps it will interest a few people. http://mariefoxprice83.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/release-the-kraken/
I also wrote a post about the exclusion of Arianne Martell which I will link to just in case that’s of interest too.
http://mariefoxprice83.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/dorne-enters-the-game-of-thrones-spoiler-warnings/
Great, didn’t care about OSHA & this iron islands.
the only thing they’r good for is stealing what better men build
Strider,
Grrrrr. That 3rd impotent leech is starting to piss me off. They are just teasing the patient Sullied at this point. S5 MUST have something to close this topic out or expand upon it.
I like this attitude. They’re probably saving the Iron Islands for later in the series. What is dead may never die!!
I’m more sad about losing “Aegon” and Arianne. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like all of the major book characters to be in, but I realize there is a budget and a limit to what they can fit in. The Greyjoy uncles are my least favorite major storyline in the books. Euron is the only one worth a damn, so I hope he makes it on the show somehow, but I would not miss the dullard and drowned priest.
Now, bring me Wyman Manderly, right meow!
Ok I’m a wee bit drunk and a lot bit horny so why don’t we take over this thread and turn it into a “Who in ASoIaF would you Bang, Marry, and Kill” thread. I’ll start.
Bang: Mel. 1) I already do and 2) she seems like the kind of girl that wouldn’t care if you didn’t call her the day after. Am I right?
Marry: Lady Olenna. Bitch has got loot, yo.
Kill: Lady Olenna. See “Marry”.
OT, but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3jNasQ-oGk is a recent interview with Owen Teale by Flicks and the City . He mentions S5, and the role Alliser has (albeit vaguely)
I enjoyed your options. It does seem like the showrunners are teasing us with their endgame knowledge. I just want some closure for the fookin’ leech! I agree that they could condense the storyline significantly….Heck, why don’t they have some faceless dude whack Balon and then name Yara Queen? Anything! I just want something to happen to acknowledge it.
arden,
I don’t follow that analogy…
Casso,
The only events that you mention that seem connected to the final battle of ice and fire is Sam arriving in Oldtown to meet Maester Marwyn who studied with Mirri Mas Dur and understands the glass candle–and oh yeah Alleras (connection to Dorne). The rest is stuff that just moves tertiary characters around so that they in turn can move primary characters to action. D&D can use other existing tertiary characters for the same purpose and save money and time. It is the run down to the end game now, so only those events from the books that expediently move the major players in to position will make the show. I fully expect that the cast of characters and events in Oldtown (if it is even in) will be drastically cut despite the connections to both the Wall and Dorne, and only expect that line to continue if it contributes significantly to the end. Maybe none of it will be important or can be taken on by other characters. Thanks to a lack of source material, we just don’t know.
At this point, D&D must be planning backwards from the end to make it all work thanks to all of the lines being laid out without closure when they started. Remember, they didn’t get the end game from GRRM until just before last season, so much of what was included in earlier seasons may be left to twist in the wind or be summarily cut short to drive the story to its conclusion in the promised 7 seasons.
I never understood the Iron Islands love either. The only nugget I took from the whole plot was that Euron has seen the world and knows something of the magic that is re-entering the world. The rest of the characters had limited scope (except Yar-Asha and Theon of course). No loss to me without them.
I do want closure on the leech tho. Just one freaking line! Just tell us he’s dead and move along, for Pete’s sake! Sheesh!
Possibility: Cut their losses, and try to mop up as best they can. Yara returns and Balon is dead. No Euron. He just died, fell off a bridge. Woops. That happens. Happened to Robert, for instance. So. Yara becomes leader of the Iron Islands, decides to actually pursue her re-conciliatory strategy that she articulates in her Kingsmoot speech in the book, and goes north to negotiate some kind of deal with Stannis as he marches south to Winterfell. Anyways, somehow they get mucked together, just like ADWD, either as Stannis' prisoner or as a legit military ally.Mine is the Furry,
Septa Lemore, Val, and book!Asha….in no particular order.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Sexy. In EVERY order.
Interesting to see how Yara’s arc plays out with the cutting of the Feast plot.
Still confused over the Bran’s in/out/in/out…getting a headache!
Well they took a day off in Osuna, probably to install paparazzi proof screens, etc. around the plaza. Those pics were major spoilers and for once I wish they had never been taken, betcha the photographers made quite a bit of pesos for them though.
Appears that the fog machines were present to create an early morning mist and not a certain book event as many previously theorized.
I read somewhere that Ian McElhinney who was being interviewed for a play he’s directing, mentioned he had completed all his scenes for the show, I hope he meant season and not series.
Damn, Dogs beat me too it, while I was typing.
Ok next.
Mine is the Furry,
Bang: Darkstar
tyjon,
Barristan is an example of a wasted character on the show. Should have left him out all together if they weren’t going to make good use of him.
Mine is the Furry,
F: Melisandre
M: Val
K: Dany
That’s only 1/3
I likely. However, If I could bang Jorah’s Sweaty V Neck, I would.
Cmon Luka. What do you got?
We will see a lot of the Greyjoys, IMO.
Balon, he mysteriously falls of a bridge during a hellish storm. (tee hee!)
Yara tries to lead the Ironborn against Stannis but loses across the board.
Theon, he is all over the north as Stannis and the Boltons duke it out. He plays an integral role in the end of this season and the beginning of the next.
My contention is that the spoiler chapters for Winter were released when it became evident that the show would spoil them in Season 5 otherwise. We can even see the curtain closing on Season 5 with lots of cliffhanging; Battle of Meereen undecided, Dornish plot initiated, the Boltons apparently defeating Stannis off-screen, the pink letter, the death of Jon, the walk of shame.
The book comes out, then we get the book on screen in Season 6.
Season 7 spoils just a touch of Dreams as they save the conclusion for the cinema and the release of the Dreams.
It is known.
Ok. For WotW Mods I would:
Bang: Kenny, goes without saying.
Marry: Oz. Such a sweet heart.
Kill: Sue, but then only so I can give her the breath of life and resuscitate her.
Mine is the Furry,
If there was a cuddle option, Ser Jorah and his big furry body would be my choice. Gotta love the Old Pedo Bear.
That’s quite big,
can you post a translation?
Tyrion Pimpslap,
A fucking men
Only braindead morons would like the Greyjoy Nuncles. Good riddance D&D.
I know, but “marry” is tough. The only possibility I could think of is Doran (looking like Siddig, of course). Then I started thinking how problematic the gout could be (we’re talking marriage, after all). Now, if he allowed me to continue to bang Darkstar, if I felt like it, that could solve that. Jamie is another option, but he presents his own problems.
“Kill” is tough, too, because as much as I want Walder Frey, Roose, and Ramsay to die, I think killing Cersei may be best for the realm, and thus my life with either Doran or Jamie.
What is dead may never die….unless Benioff and Weiss get their hands on you and then you’re dead for good to never rise again, not harder or stronger.
Am I the only one who pictured the Shy Maid to be significantly bigger? I guess on the show it’ll only have 2 or 3 people traveling on it, compared to 8 in the books. It probably won’t even be named.
David Benioff said at Comic Con this is the final season for an influx of new characters, and starting season 6 is when they will begin to bring it all together and start to tie it up.
Although that’s not final confirmation, if he was telling the truth and that is the plan, this is essentially curtains for the Greyjoys in the TV adaptation.
Final season for an influx makes sense. I don’t think that that rules out Euron though.
Everything the Greyjoy uncles do in AFFC/ADWD can be explained in some brief exposition if they decide to include them in season 6. This doesn’t really bother me. Something had to go and this was the easiest cut. I’ve never understood the hard on people have for Euron and Vic and always thought they’re less important than people thought. If they can squeeze them in, great. If not, I understand.
One only needs to look at True Blood in its last few seasons to understand why constantly introducing new characters and subplots isn’t the best decision for TV.
ctid,
Yes, an influx is Doran,Obara,Nymeria,Tyene,Areo,Trystane,Kindly Man,Waif,High Sparrow, and Septon Unella. Several new recurring characters in multiple storylines. Euron is one character.
Bang: Jaime. He’s hot.
Marry: Jon. If he can get out of his vows. He’d make a good husband. He’s nice and sensitive, but without being a pushover. Plus, he’s potentially either lord of Winterfell or the king of Westeros. Hypergamy FTW!
Kill: Victarion. He’s an idiot. The Westeros equivalent of a douchey frat bro.
watch the videos
http://screamoutloudmotherfuckers.tumblr.com/tagged/gameofthrones
WeirwoodTreeHugger,
Then again, to balance the argument, BB’s 5th seasons (pts 1 and 2) introduced several new characters that led to the most stunning and crazy episode of all (Ozymandias). As long as the new characters’ arcs lead to dramatic interactions with the primary/known characters, interesting things can happen in good hands.
My assumption is that if whatever Vic and Euron do in Essos with regards to Dany is relevant to the endgame, the show will put Yara on that path instead of them. This gives us a POV of a character the audience understands and is familiar with as opposed to someone entirely new introduced late in the game.
I know it’s a popular thing here to hate on the Greyjoys, but according to Twitter and Facebook comments, most Sullied who use social media are pretty pissed.
And me too. Me and my subjectivity would like you to fuck off, D&D!
Some folks are even losing interest in S05 because of Arianne and the Greyjoys ommision. I’ll watch, but i certainly won’t be so excited about it.
The difference being of course that Breaking Bad didn’t have to service 30-40 other established characters before adding a couple new ones to the mix. GoT is bursting at the seams character and storyline-wise as it stands. That’s the main reason you can’t just add a whole new group into the mix unless it’s absolutely necessary (like Dorne almost assuredly is).
Well that sucks, but it’s not exactly a surprise.
Fjordgazer,
The thing is if you are annoyed by something you are more likely to comment than if you are nonplussed, or happy, on something like Facebook. Something had to give. Besides in HBO’s/ D&D’s minds unsullied are more important than sullied, which makes sense as they make up the majority of the audience. And unsullied will be overwhelmed by too many new characters.
King Tommen
Agree with this completely. BB had a tiny cast, whilst the new characters only replaced dead characters. The Greyjoys would only be adding to the already stretched cast.
Fjordgazer,
And there are millions of unsullied who are lucky they won’t be inflicted with Victardian the dullard and the other pirates who get their asses kicked literally every time they face quality adversaries. Give me brains over overrated brawn any day. Doran > Vic and Damphair.
I love your line above…it’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? What an experience this tale is. I just view GoT’s robust nature with enthusiasm rather than concern. When known PoV characters get blatantly omitted (or forgotten as is this case, it seems), one can’t help but think that the showrunners are truly spoiling the Sullied with their “budgetary” and containment concerns, directing our eager eyes to the main storylines. We know better than that…in ASoI&F, what goes on in the periphery is just as fascinating.
Does a “conservation of story” theory really apply with ASoI&F? Is every move that D&D make from now on a possible spoiler for us? Or are they picking and choosing from a bunch of fascinating tales, intentionally/contractually leaving some for the author to navigate prudently, to get to the endline? My soul wants to believe that the ironborn matter…but perhaps not in the visual story.
That’s, like, your opinion man. And i think your opinion sucks, but you’re entitled to it.
Fair enough. But I’m not sure the unsullied are an “ample” majority of the audience. After all, a lot of them have picked up the books, myself included.
Hodor’s Bastard,
I am inclined to believe most characters GRRM has introduced in ASOIAF “matter” it’s more a question of to what degree they matter. I think there are a number of characters who serve more as a narrative tool to perform a task in order to move the plot forward for the more important characters.
And if it’s the action or task that is important and not really the character themselves, then the question the producers will have to ask is, “can someone else who we’ve already introduced do this instead?”
Although I have no proof of this, my best guess is that the Ironborn uncles are in ASOIAF to service the bigger story of Dany coming to Westeros and probably not a whole lot more. I have serious doubts that the uncles will end up interacting with the important Greyjoys that the readers/audience actually care for (Theon/Asha). So if they’re more a means to an end, why would the show bother devoting precious time to establishing them? Whatever plot points need to be covered off, there can be a write-around to allow for other characters or circumstances to make that happen.
Again, I’m of the opinion that if a storyline has been omitted then it is because D&D already know where the story is going, so naturally they will remove anything that isn’t necessary. You can’t expect everything from the books to translate well to TV.
Spanish is her mother tongue. She grew up in England, but mostly always spoke Spanish with her parents. I’ve heard her interviewed multiple times where she will switch between the two languages essentially as a native in each.
On a side note, apparently she can also speak Basque (her father is a native Basque speaker). I haven’t heard that though – just from a Spanish interview, in which she was described as speaking all three (English, Spanish, Basque) “a la perfección”.
But…
What does she say about coming back into Game of Thrones?
Chickenduck,
What exactly is she saying in that interview? Is there a confirmation either way about Season 5 or is it more about how she’ll be back down the road?
King Tommen,
It’s so funny….I’ve gone from “fuck the ironborn” to “save the ironborn” in a span of a few WotW threads. Just give me a little leech love, please…?
Hodor’s Bastard,
I’d still hold out hope for that if only because they very much seem like they want to keep Yara involved in every season.
My read on the Hibbard quotes is when he says “major Ironborn story” he’s referring to the Kingsmoot and Victarion’s chapters. Yara and Balon are already established on the show and won’t be “cut” at this point.
ctid,
OK I’ve watched it now, it’s about 2 seconds of answer.
All she says is in answer to the question “Will we see you again in Game of Thrones?” and she says “Yes for sure”
Nothing else. No idea if she’s in season 5, and nothing new to report.
Damn.
Not cool. I enjoyed Iron Islands much more than Dorne on a reread. While they may not factor into the final outcome, they were conflicted tertiary characters with troubled family history and were blood thirsty warriors.
Euron was the key but he is intentionally left mysterious while vic and damphair showed promise of being involved in some potentially awesome scenes. Cmon that zealot aeron summoning a krakken and vic terrorizing the high seas all the way to mereen.
Oh well. Maybe in the asoiaf lego animated series. Fingers crossed
Holy fuck that’s a lot of comments. I just rewatched Barton Fink with a friend and enjoyed some rye and coke expecting maybe twenty more comments to have cropped up, not around seventy!
It seems people like AFFC more than you often hear. Hmm. I imagine Euron could show up eventually but if there are ways around him they may take them. Who knows. Come the dawn, we shall see.
Luka Nieto,
Well said.
WeirwoodTreeHugger,
If you’re using True Blood as a comparison, they strayed miles away from the source material which is why it went shite. Hopefully GoT will learn from that. Unfortunately they seem to be changing an awful lot for Season 5. Nothing wrong with a large cast if you know what you’re doing.
I like Dorne AND the Iron Islands.
But I lean towards liking the Iron Islands more.
I’m not surprised it’s been cut, but definitely somewhat disappointed. Here’s hoping it gets into Season 6 in some form at least.
My prediction:
Well, to go off the BB comparison, I thought it was a shame that (BB spoilers)the final season ended with a confrontation between Walt and the neo Nazis. Most of the season was building up to a confrontation between Hank and Walt, with Jesse vs Walt also being a major theme of the last season, and that felt appropriate, because those were characters that were there from the beginning, that we had invested a lot of time in. Walt vs Hank turning into Walt vs Uncle Jack in those last couple episodes was actually pretty damn disappointing. Even Todd, who was actually a really interesting villain, felt out of place as one of the major villains in the last episode of a series that he was in a relatively small portion of.
Relating that to Game of Thrones, we’ve been teased about the White Walkers since the first episode, the dragons can find their own roots in that same hour, and from the get go the Starks, Lannisters, and Targaryens were the families most important to the series. They should play a part in the endgame, they’ve earned it. If Euron were to play a significant role in the endgame, it would feel tacked on, like BB’s neo Nazis, and would be really disappointing for me. Characters like the Greyjoy uncles or the Griffs have no right to be introduced so late in the story and demand as much significance (or more) than the characters I’ve been following since the beginning.
I’m partly venting about BB here (recently finished it) but I think it’s interesting that you brought up BB’s new character introductions as an examole of how final-act-intros can work, when I actually think they’re a good example of what I DON’T want GoT to do. I’m glad they’re cutting the fat, and I hope that as the TV series continues, it focuses on the major characters of the story instead of pushing the spotlight to numerous other characters that will never matter as much as the ones that got us to love the show in the first place.
All i know for sure is one thing: if the show starts flopping in S05, not by sticking too closely to AFFC/ADWD (as somewhat discontented readers predicted a while ago) but rather by straying too much from them as it seems to be doing, i’ll be getting a good laught out of it, regardless of how much one considers the changes actually contribute to its flopping.
Only time will tell…
The third leech is what will become Lady Stoneheart. It is known.
Considering what D&D do, this is VERY possible.
Nobody gave a shit about The Iron Islands in AFFC, but now that it’s been cut… “What? I loved them.”
Well, I don’t believe you, they were all boring as fuck.
King DBC,
Speak for yourself buddy. Lots of us liked them from the beginning.
tyjon,
Pesos. Really? Because Spain is in South America now. Wow. Spain uses Euros, because, you know… it’s in Europe, and the EU and the eurozone. Before that, more than a decade ago, it used Pesetas. Pesos haven’t been used in Spain for centuries.
Calm down, peeps. I think it’s pretty obvious they just split the two story parts (Dorne & Iron Islands) for having one in each season (5&6).
Any new info from Patchface?
And this is why we could have used more episodes per season.
Well. they should at least kill Balon, through Asha’s eyes. It’s incredible that he’s still alive, when he should have died in season 3 at the latest. Well, at least this is one decision that makes some sense, if you had to choose between the Iron Islands and Dorne, then yeah, choose Dorne, they are far more important, not only through what they’re doing, but because of all the backstory: Arthur and Ashara Dayne, Tower of Joy, the Martell plan, the Martell-Targaryen unions in the past. So yes, I understand taking out the Iron Islands, especially because they will probably not be that important later on…. but the Griffs and Arianne???
Gravemaster,
There’s not been a peep from him since he was proved wrong about Volantis. This news here may also prove some of his Ironborn teases wrong too…
I second that.
And why the hell is this Daario = Euron theory still a thing? It’s the most ridiculous theory I have ever read. Well, apart from the Daario = Benjen theory.
OK, let’s stop freaking out for a moment.
They said they were doing “one of these two” in season 5. Not in the whole series.
The plot is already incredibly heavy with new arcs and characters, it makes sense to not lose the audience with the Iron Islands on top of that. AFFC was great, but we can’t leave half the characters out of the story like it did, so it needs some adaptation.
So far, D&D have dealt well with introducing new characters subtly enough to make the viewers acquainted with them, mostly using the “guy you already know gets involved in some stuff, meets new guy, goes away, actually now you like the new guy, he does stuff, repeat” pattern.
The only true links we have with the Iron islands are Theon and Asha (I’m leaving Balon out because too little screen time yet for the viewers to feel more than “oh yeah, that dude” towards him).
In a TV narrative logic, the only Iron Island introduction that would make sense would be Asha coming home and being the center of the plot, at least at the beginning.
So, two options :
-> Asha is in season 5 and somehow everything is solved in a fingersnap; I don’t like it, and it’s not likely;
-> The Iron Islands (most of it at least) are postponed to season 6 and we have an actual arc centered around Asha; I like it and it’s more likely because :
-Balon had his magic leech and he is still alive. There are never been continuity problems with this show, so they will have to deal with it at some point.
-“Show, don’t tell” TV logic. In AFFC, we learn of Balon’s death through Aeron; in a book, it’s gut-wrenching, but on TV, it doesn’t work. We need to see it happen, and for the viewers to understand the impact, we need some more Balon screen-time beforehand.
-We also need an aftermath for his death; therefore of course we will have Euron, he’s just central to the whole thing and to Asha escaping the Iron Islands. If we want the Iron-borns to wreck havoc on Westeros like they will probably do at some point, there is absolutely no way Asha just -tadaaaaam ! – becomes queen in a puff of smoke.
More reasons to keep the Iron Islands in ? There you go :
-Euron is hot. This is a real reason. Not kidding or fangirling here. He is completely screwed up, machiavelic, smart, darkly funny, AND handsome; he’s basically a gift for HBO material. We don’t have anyone as high on the hot-crazy diagram apart from Ramsay, and it is something that works very well on screen. It would be easy to bring him in the show, and it would bring a lot to the series (think of an actual Asha/Euron convo). I can’t see him being cut.
-Potential in epic scenes. Pirate ships, drowning men, reaving… The Iron Islands are a lot of things, but certainly not boring. D&D only need to take their pick in epicness; plus, since basically everyone is against them, they can use them as antagonists whatever direction they wish to take.
TL:DR : Continuity with magic leech + TV narrative logic + diversity and easy-to-use potential of Iron-borns + faith in D&D because YES, they are doing a great job = Iron Islands for the win.
Not included in above reasons because it’s more subjective : great characters.
Call me a braindead moron if you like, but I really like the Greyjoy uncles.
Aeron is gut-wrenching in his desperate clinging to religion to escape Euron’s torments, and if they managed to bring up their relationship on screen, it would be hair-rising, while touching the very dark issue of family abuse.
Victarion is also a favorite of mine because of his lack of confidence in his own manliness driving him to crazy decisions, which is also a very deep subject.
So yeah, the Greyjoys aren’t flamboyant, smart or chivalrous, they keep making terrible decisions, but that’s the whole point of them : they’re human beings trying to deal with their inner frailty in a world of toughness. They are touching, they are deep down the opposite of the cliché pirates they would like to be (friendly reminder that Victarion is just hoping for a family of his own), and I love them for that.
These: (not filming news, just about the economic benefits for Osuna. Still pleasant news though)
http://uproxx.com/tv/2014/10/more-than-86000-people-applied-for-600-game-of-thrones-extra-roles-in-spain/?utm_content=buffer6ecf7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
http://time.com/3534261/game-of-thrones-tourism/
At least we’ll get the most boring storyline in all of AFfC, which says a lot.
Yay, D&D.
One thing that I thought of which would be the ideal way of introducing Euron (I have no idea if someone already thought of this): making him first appear in the House of Black & White this or next season, while Arya is there, contracting the faceless men. It could initially shroud him in much-needed mystery if he’s a well-known actor, while linking him to character we know (Jaqen and Arya), and linking the Ironborn storyline into the overarching plot.
Lollius Palicanus,
I absolutely hadn’t thought of that but YES ! That would be great, and enough to introduce a potential “gasp-moment” if, say, Asha comes home to find him around… and only the viewers know. Yes, I could see that work ! 🙂
Lollius Palicanus,
I like it too!
Are the spoiler bars and the edit option gone for anybody else in firefox?
I remember when Euron wasnt in season 3 after all.
Fan rage even then.
Now everything is fine again. Strange…
Not to mention that many people really disliked that the BB endgame revolved around a bunch of characters we’d never met before. I read a bunch of reviews/opinions that were critical of the whole neo-Nazi plot.
He should apologize immediately for his extreme ignorance. That was a severe insult, mixing up the currency of Spain.
Also, sad to see Euron go.
For all we know, budget issues raised their ugly head. Hiring actors for two locations might have been cost prohibitive, so D&D went with the most important storyline. So don’t automatically blame them.
Tyrion Pimpslap:
That’s, like, your opinion man. And i think your opinion sucks, but you’re entitled to it.
Jeb:
Fair enough. But I’m not sure the unsullied are an “ample” majority of the audience. After all, a lot of them have picked up the books, myself included.
House Pineapple,
You tell them! Unfortunately, Greyjoy haters feel like simplifying them (rapist scum!) in a way they wouldn’t with other characters they like.
That feel when you will never see Asha talk sum mad shit to Lucas Codd.
House Pineapple,
You tell them! Unfortunately, Greyjoy haters feel like simplifying them (rapist scum!) in a way they wouldn’t with other characters they like.
Also, other than this site and Westeros.org, everywhere i look on the internet has turned “Jaime in Dorne” into a sort of joke a la Darkstar’s “I am of the night”.
You might want to call them a “vocal minority” if you want, but the evidence is there that a lot of people will stop watching, start hate-watching or even discouraging some Unsullied who aren’t even picking up the books in the first place (“Look, you don’t want to watch anymore, they’re ruining the story”; this is known to happen).
Of course, these were all risks D&D knew from long ago, i guess.
Fjordgazer,
I google searches “Jaime in Dorne” and did not find many sites with those “what a joke” comments you were suggesting. Other than in Game of Thrones and ASOIAF fan sites I don’t see anyone even talking about this
doing more episodes would be too physically taxing on D&D. Filming in separate countries at a time is only really done for movies. 10 episodes is like making a 10 hour movie
Turncloak,
Fjordgazer,
I didn’t google it, but I have heard some book-reader friends complain (mostly because they were expecting some Jaime in Riverrun action).
However, I think it’s mostly due to automatic-grumpy-mode whenever there’s a change (not blaming anyone, I was a bit pissed off with it at first, too; it’s normal when you loved something in the books and were looking forward to seeing it on screen).
Call me optimistic, but I think complaints will settle down pretty quickly when the season starts – it’s difficult to get a good idea of what they’re doing now, but so far everything went pretty well (Bran at Craster’s, for example, was total WTF at first, and turned out pretty cool because it allowed some quality Bran character development).
We’re just grouchy old people waiting to be proven wrong. 🙂
I always assumed they’d cut both Dorne and the I.I. so at least I’m half right.
I still don’t see the point of including only the irrelevant characters in Dorne, tho. Wish they’d just cut them all. And then we wouldn’t have to suffer through more Bronn + Jaime “lulz”.
BTW, If Jaime doesn’t punch someone and say “Her name is Brienne.” I am going to write a strongly worded letter to D&D. Maybe he’ll punch Bronn, that would make me happy.
Sad Frog,
“You still have your famous hand !”
Another reason to hope for an actual Asha arc : kraken sass is gold.
Fjordgazer,
The Unsullied audience for this show is far greater than the Sullied. That is who D&D are serving. In order to keep everyone’s interest, they need to make a coherent, exciting season out of 2 books that are frankly, very poorly structured and bloated with a ton of new characters and storylines that stray away from the great characters and storylines the audience and readers had invested much time in previously. GRRM actively ignores editor suggestions and these 2 books and their bloat are a direct consequence of that decision.
Cutting extraneous interactions and characters that aren’t really connected to the main story and having a beloved set of characters arrive in a new plot in order to hold the audience’s interest while integrating this new (important) group onto the show should in theory, help the audience enjoy this season more, not less.
You know how all those people whined and whined about the Jaime/Cersei sept scene and said a lot of things you mentioned in the paragraph above? The ratings for the show continued to increase throughout S4 so at the end of the day, just because a group of readers who don’t feel like they’re getting exactly what they want bitch and moan, it has zero affect on the popularity of the show.
If people stop watching the show, it will be because it has become uninteresting and unwieldy, not because it’s not including every new development from the books.
House Pineapple,
Unfortunately I have not been hired as a writer yet.
If BCog reads this, feel free to steal the idea.
😉
Hodor Targaryen,
Good counter punch, ser. I must admit that I am quite biased regarding BB and it is indeed a microcosm (much smaller scale) of what GoT’s challenge is. I just brought it up because the end of BB’s S4 signified the end of a great act (druglord Gus’s violent death), not unlike the end of GoT’s S4, which represents the end of ASoI&F’s first act. This is the perfect time to inject chaotic new characters/storylines to truly test the primary plot threads. And there is indeed good material to work with. I understand the need for “conservation of story” in this tale but I am more concerned about the spoilery nature of “picking and choosing” threads at this point. So many “What ifs” that could be explored….Yes, I am an insecure sullied who is still desperately holding onto the books-before-film fantasy. 🙂
Cheers for the 3rd leech! Maybe it needs some encouragement….
I am utterly disappointed.
Only three responses to Bang, Marry, Kill? I guess I thought more highly of you Greatjohn of Slumber.
Luka Nieto,
I think AFFC and ADWD could have made for a season and a half, with around the first third of TWOW (the battles, climaxes and the aftermath) to round it out. Season 5 would have been a bit slower and not as good as 4, but we would have gotten a fuller story with the Griffs and the Iron Born and probably Arianne as well.
That said, a tighter more explosive season 5 will be great (better than the hypothetical season 5), it’s just the show as a whole that may or may not suffer from these changes. We really don’t know what’s coming up in TWOW and if it’ll be any good, but what the show is doing in season 5 and on is very different.
Mine is the Furry,
Bang Euron, marry Victarion, cut Aeron
jentario,
You’ll already get a season and a half out of AFFC and ADWD. Remember, season 3 adapted about 60% of ASOS, more like 80% for a few storylines (Jon, Arya) and 100% for Bran. Season 4 had plenty of material from the fourth and fifth books. Everything but Jorah’s exile after Daenerys took Meereen in episode 5 was from ADWD; Bran’s whole story line as well; the first three “Reek” chapters were roughly adapted in-between Season 3 (the parts about Reek remembering his torture and training) and Season 4 (Roose chiding Ramsay, the Fall of Moat Cailin, and the Bolton army going to Winterfell); Brienne’s story roughly included most of her AFFC stuff, intelligently putting it earlier in the timeline so that she at least has a chance to find Sansa or Arya, as opposed to the books; Sansa’s entire plot from AFFC was in Season 4, but for the last half of her last chapter. And I’m sure I’m missing other things as well. They even succinctly took care of the ADWD/TWOW plot of Tycho going to Westeros to come to an agreement with Stannis.
I fully expect Season 5 to suffer as an adaptation of the books. Each season has been less faithful than the last, but the truth is that the ASOS split into Season 3 and Season 4 allowed them to have most of the book in there, and that won’t happen in Season 5. For many, it will fail as an adaptation.
However, I have high hopes for this incoming season as a television show on its own terms, which is what the show is for most people —and I do mean most, as in almost everyone. Season 3 and 4 suffered a bit from stretching out the ASOS story arcs of certain characters, such as Jon and Stannis. Arya, too —although I loved every minute of her with the Hound, I must admit the plot progression was next to null in season 4. Season 5 will not have this problem. Granted, Brienne’s, Sansa’s and Bran’s stories might meander a bit because they’ll have to invent stuff and in the case of Sansa and Bran maybe stretch out early TWOW material into a season. However, the rest of the characters have a season jam-packed full of thick plot, which hasn’t really happened in the show since Season 2. Season 1 (and book 1 as well) had the most cohesive, open-and-shut story; Season 2 didn’t get there, particularly for Dany, but the incoming threat of the Battle of Blackwater kept it together for most storylines. I believe Season 5 will be the first in a long time to feel this way, with characters starting a particular arc at the start of the season and ending it by the end. Matters of adaptation aside, combining the books is what provides them the opportunity to do this.
But that’s what we do best, ser, during the off-season…. 🙂
Nice writeup, but I feel if something isn’t done about the ironborn storyline in S5, then we should fuggettaboutit and save its nuances for our reading pleasure. As others have suggested upthread, the GoT i.i. will probably be dealt with passively (Yara as principle; maybe some valor yet for Theon ) and their storyline values/trinkets/lores amalgamated into other shit, if at all. I like how you mentioned that Euron is a character gift for HBO…but it doesn’t seem like they will exploit that opportunity, Veltigar’s passion for MadsM notwithstanding.
Group leech love, anyone?
At this point there really is little for me to get excited about for season 5. D & D are cutting out all the interesting characters from AFFC and ADWD that I like. And no introducing Euron or Victarion in S6 won’t work, it’ll just feel rushed. Plus they’re ruining Jaime’s arc 🙁
The show had a good run but True Detective and Fargo now have my attention. Season 1 will always hold a special place in my heart, it was perfect.
The funny thing is The Walking Dead seems to be getting better while GOT is regressing, D & D dun goofed.
Hodor’s Bastard,
I completely agree about the need of balance between “story conservation” of the characters we already have, and the introduction of new exciting material. Let’s not forget that there was a time when the Tyrells, Stannis team, the Boltons… were but secondary characters. The very strength of this show is the ability to turn them into central players and build up the audience interest in all the new storylines along with the former ones.
So saying “people only want to know what happens to the characters they loved at first” does not make a lot of sense since most of these characters started from scratch at some point… We all cared about Oberyn despite him being in only one season, so I don’t think that’s really an obstacle.
Mine is the Furry,
Bang : Theon. Perfect combination of the careless lover you can do anything with without being judged, and secretely wounded boy that you can force-cuddle.
Marry : Doran. Need I say more ? Smart, incredibly strong, deeply gentle. That’s a catch.
Kill : Roose. Freaks me out like nothing else. Also, “don’t make me rue the day I raped your mother.” Like… Nope. Nope nope nope nope.
Al Swearengen,
Where have you been?
I’m super hung over.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Yeah, that was rhetorical. I like freaking out too. My level of anxiety is directly proportional to the length of my posts (which says something about how much I care for the Iron Islands).
(jentario,
If we play that with only the Iron uncles, I would have to kill euron and bang Aeron. I don’t care about the crazy priest look, something tells me that dude would be 100% up for a doing-it-in-the-sea-fantasy.)
Wait. They are going to include the shy maid, but not the Griffs?? Why? Will they have Lemore? I really wanted to see the Tyrion-Lemore dialogue play out on screen.
I find it amusing how some folks are treating this as new. I also find that drinking excessive amounts make the god damn hammering gnomes inside my head work like a $5 Ho during Happy Hour.
Fjordgazer,
I don’t doubt that you’ve stumbled across people who feel that way. The problem is that no matter what forum you frequent on the Internet, there are unlikely to be more than a few hundred or a few thousand people commenting there at the most. That’s an absolutely microscopic fraction of the Game of Thrones audience, and it’s heavily biased towards the sort of active fan who will be inclined to seek out like-minded individuals. Even a generally well-informed and well-intentioned website like this one where a wide variety of opinions are welcomed and discussed rationally can run the risk of becoming an echo chamber if we’re not careful. And even if you peruse many different forums (Westeros.org, Tumblr, Facebook, various entertainment websites like EW, YouTube, etc.), there are an enormous number of people out there who have read the books and/or watch the show, but never discuss it online. We should all enjoy the discourse, but we should never assume that the opinions we encounter online represent a consensus among the show’s fandom as a whole
I’m just kidding about the Youtube comments, BTW. If you value your sanity, you should never, ever, EVER read YouTube comments.
Last year, we learned that over 18 million viewers watch this show every week on HBO’s various platforms, which makes it the most popular show in HBO’s history and one of the most popular shows in the world. And that number doesn’t even count the millions of viewers who pirate the show, the millions of viewers who watch it on other other outlets across the world, and the people who are still catching up or will discover it in the future. Sure, some disenchanted viewers may stop watching an tell their Unsullied friends not to watch, and those friends may listen. But I’ve seen people engaging in that kind of activism since Season 2, and both the numbers and acclaim for the show have gone up every single year. At this point, those who are angry enough to stop watching or campaign against the show online represent such a miniscule fraction of the Game of Thrones audience so as to be rendered statistically insignificant. That’s not to say that their opinions are worthless, just that they’re not going to make a dent in the overall numbers or turn the tide of overwhelmingly positive public opinion against the show. Only the show can do that by taking a significant, sustained dip in quality – and that’s not going to happen just because they’re cutting a few relatively minor characters who, as we can see from the diversity of opinions here, are quite polarizing themselves.
King Tommen,
This.
realitytripz,
There will be plenty of tits elsewhere and I’m sure a few muffs. May not be wet from skinny dipping, but dems the breaks.
Mine is the Furry,
I was just biding my time, and thinking this through a bit more, and waiting until I wasn’t so horny that I’d just eliminate “Marry” and “Kill” and go with “Bang, Bang, and Bang.”
So, ok then:
Marry: Osha. I mean, really – Wildling ladies, if anything, have your back if you’ve got theirs. Fierce, protective, with no illusions about their role in the world. In short, survivors. Plus, when you marry someone, you also get to bang them. And let’s be honest – there’s no way Osha doesn’t know her way around when in the sack.
Bang: Brienne. Someone’s gonna climb that tree, and it’s gonna be me.
Kill: Catelyn Stark. I mean, bad decision after bad decision. Nice person, good mother, long as she stays in Winterfell. Kidnaps the son of the most powerful man in the Kingdom on a whim, though? Sorry, but that’s a problem to be taken care of as soon as possible.
jentario,
Who’s Aeron?
Al Swearengen,
The Walking Dead getting better? lol
The Walking Dead is a whole nother league of suck (okay, I’ll be fair, mediocre fun), and I can also assure you that if you read the comics you’d hate it much much more than you hate GOT. TWD is a pretty loose adaption, with more changes than GOT ever had.
And these changes that GOT makes don’t really make it better or worse- that can only be determined when the show airs. Hell, season 5 might be the absolute worst and you would be right, but I think it’s way way early to decide. Season 5 could also be the best, but only if you have an open mind.
Also, True Detective is meh IMO, I honestly can’t believe the reaction to it. It was carried by Mcconifgcwyvsr’s performance and Rust’s writing (which were mostly plagerized from some book). Otherwise, it was a typical crime drama that took itself way too seriously and had the most disappointing villain ever. Hopefully season 2 of that will be better.
Greatjon of Slumber,
Bravo ser. Brah-vo.
On a quest to find the best ginger minge in Deadwood.
Renly’s Peach,
CT Wahoo,
Luka Nieto,
Wow everyone, I’m actually being comforted by everyone and their ideas instead of worrying so much. Thanks everyone! This isn’t the first time.
{spoiler] As some have suggested a couple of quick scenes really could do wonders. I don’t need a Baleron death onscreen – yup, that banana-peel description is spot on. I don’t need a Kingsmoot – sometimes I picture the horrible Pirates of the Caribbean pirate party… yeah don’t need to see that again. Some people seem to want want a Master and Commander movie with ship battles and pillaging and all the characters from the book… they picked Dorne. I like Greyjoys more than the Martells… but I woulda picked Dorne too. They’re prettier on screen, the Queenmaker plot is more important than the Queensmoot – and what main character that people really care about could have gone to the Kingsmoot realistically, like Jaime to Dorne to tie things together?
A scene where Asha gets captured by Stannis… and she givers a haughty “I’m the Queen of the Iron Islands” speech. Or Asha doesn’t know, get’s captured… and Mel tells her, as if Beleron has been dead for an indeterminate time in the show. Just give me a couple of Asha scenes (that will help flesh out Stannis and Mel, so not even any exclusive scenes) Maybe a reference to Baleron’s assassination at the House of B&W… wow , I’m back on track! [/spoiler}
jentario,
The first two TWD episodes of season 5 have been better than the majority of GOT’s S4 episodes.
The changes to Jaime’s arc are worse, believe me the character is going to be completely ruined. Fighting Sand Snakes smh D & D have lost the plot.
Mine is the Furry,
I think it’s a fluid
Mine is the Furry,
Thank you, thank you. We haven’t discussed how we’d handle three-ways, though.
Al Swearengen,
I agree that the early Dorne stuff sounds worrying, but I’m hoping Doran and Jaime can salvage it. And the first two TWD episodes are only good by TWD standards. I’m sure you would have loved every minute of GOT season 4 if you were Unsullied (which you are in TWD). There really is no comparison.
Please stop by FB. Lyanna and TW keep asking for you.
jentario,
Being a book walker really has nothing to do with it. D & D’s writing skills really aren’t that exemplary. 90% of the stand out moments and best lines from the show come from George’s work. They’re above average writers who struck oil with ASOIF. The fan fiction stuff D & D have introduced into the show has been pretty poor, I still can’t get over Asha’s preposterous attempt to break Theon out of the Dreadfort, it was so abysmally bad.
Mine is the Furry,
Only if they talk dirty to me and use copious amounts of wax!
Al Swearengen,
It’s so funny that, when discussing invented scenes written by D&D, all you people talk about is Yara’s attack on the Dreadfort (which, by the way, D&D may have devised in concept, but it was written by Bryan Cogman), or other similarly clunky additions; but you completely forget that some of the most critically celebrated scenes in the history of the show are invented moments between non-POV characters. Robert & Cersei; Robert, Barristan & Jaime; any scene —in fact the whole rivalry— between Varys and Littlefinger; most of Olenna’s scenes; Arya and Tywin; and I could go on and on. Whether you personally like these scenes or not, the fact is that they were critically celebrated by the press and many fans, plenty of whom were book readers. But yeah, I’m sure D&D are complete hacks.
TD S1 was an original work that referenced the philosophy of Thomas Ligotti and paid homage to a piece by Alan Moore. TD’s author, Nic Pizzolatto, has never denied that he used their works as inspiration for the Rust character. Characters in every work are amalgamations of previous ideas nurtured in an author’s mind. We are all standing on the shoulders of giants. Are we also going to discredit Quentin Tarantino for ripping off Kung-Fu movies? Tolkien for ripping off Wagner? Come on….TD was excellent entertainment, with phenomenal directing, and Rust was a great character. The plagiarism accusation was an easy diversion for simple minds before the Emmys.
I seem to recall a lot of Doctor Who fans insisting the same about Matt Smith lying about not regenerating in the 50th (he wasn’t) and all of the former Doctor Who actors lying about not being in the 50th (they weren’t). If Hempstead Wright says that he’s in the season, then he’s in the season.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Given that all his best quotes came from one book, it’s hard I give TD any credit for them. The directing was great, though.
Luka Nieto,
Don’t attempt to use Cogman as an escape goat for that scene, you know damn well D & D have the final say and map out the whole season before hand. They planted the inception of that idea in his head.
And the only interesting fan fiction stuff all happened in season 1. I have yet to see D & D equal the calibre of the Tywin skinning scene, they have regressed over the seasons.
They are fans of the stories. Being a fan of the story does not necessarily mean being a fan of all of the narrative and plot details. One of the problems with Crows in particular is that there are a lot of plot lines that contribute very little to the stories because they do not include principle protagonists. (Martin isn’t Tolkien: he relies entirely on protagonists to drive his stories.)
I find it amusing to see the “Dorne was worse” “No, the Iron Islands were worse!” arguments resurfacing: those were pretty big back in 2005 after Crows came out. The “why can’t we all get along” view among the fans was that both were pretty bad. Now, fans are only a fraction of the readers, and readers are only a fraction of the TV audience: but it seemed that the problem that even fans had was that the plot-lines lacking major protagonists felt somehow lacking. This is key: fans are much more tolerant of story less plot for the sake of plot than are readers or (especially!) viewers.
Now, D&D have partially rectified the Dorne situation by transplanting established characters into it. You don’t need the Riverlands to tell Jaime’s contribution to the story: you need Jaime to:
.
The Iron Islands were a much bigger challenge than Drone: what established protagonist could you transpose there and then communicate his/her story by trying to be someone she really wasn’t or trying to elevate him/herself to a higher level? Boosting Yara to a protagonist (as Martin did with Asha) would be a bad idea: the show has too many protagonists as it is. The single best thing to do with Yara would be to:
(In the interest of full disclosure, I actually greatly preferred the Iron Island segment to the Dorne segment, if only because Asha was at least an established character, and it was easier to follow her contribution to the story; however, I definitely fell in with the “Dorne was worse, but the Iron Islands were still bad” camp.)
Al Swearengen,
Oh jeez. I thought many fans and the press had found all of that “fan fiction stuff” I mentioned interesting, but I must have been wrong. I must have imagined all the positive comments about pairing Arya with Tywin, or the many characters who are developed much more in the show than in the books. I’ll reassess my opinion immediately to your objective standard. Phew. Glad I corrected that. I wouldn’t want to be wrong about a subjective piece of art —wait a sec…
Wimsey,
Completely agree. I’d like to elaborate on the Jaime thing: Jaime needs to try and fail at being Tywin (“Tyrion’s Tywin’s son, not you”); to not physically be at King’s Landing when all goes to shit for Cersei; and to refuse her from a distance. Honestly, in ADWD he considers going to Myrcella and telling her he’s her father, and in general he thinks much more warmly about his children in AFFC/ADWD than previously. Anyway, Jaime can do all of that wherever, including Dorne —no, especially Dorne, since putting a main character in a completely new storyline is a great idea, or else it could feel like a forced inclusion —especially by the fifth year of a seven or eight year show, when apparently all the pieces have already been set. Honestly, it’s not even completely off-canon: Jaime basically takes the role of Balon Swann, in the sense that he’s a kinsgsguard sent by Cersei to save Myrcella from Dorne, except he’s a main character so the role is expanded.
jentario,
Let’s bring the house down on GoT for blatantly plagiarizing Monty Python in Dothraki during the siege of Meereen. Blasphemy, I tell ya!
Al Swearengen,
Arya and Tywin had a bunch of great scenes in season 2, Cat’s scene about Jon in season 3, the Hizdahr scene in season 4, the White Walker baby making scene, Jaime trying to manipulate Tywin into helping Tyrion and realizing it’s Tywin manipulating him… And that’s off the top of my head. I’m sure I can come up with more.
EDIT: Brienne vs the Hound is largely loved too
Heh, one must understand that FanBoys will always believe that adaptations are not just hated by themselves, but by EVERYONE!!!! Many Harry Potter fans will insist (despite all evidence to the contrary) that the first two Harry Potter films were much more popular than the subsequent ones. Many Tolkien fans will insist that the Lord of the Rings movies actually were not that popular.
Here is the analogy that I often use but that still works. A good book is like a Great White Shark. Adapting a book to movie or TV is like adapting a marine animal for terrestrial life: a lot of things that are needed to work in the marine realm are irrelevant or even counter-productive on land, and you need things on land that are irrelevant or counter-productive in the sea. The goal of D&D (or Peter Jackson or David Heyman) is not to toss a shark onto land and watch it rot. Instead, the goal is to make a Tyrannosaurus rex out of it. Fins, gills, etc., have got to go; legs, lungs, etc., are not “inventions” but replacements for things that worked in one medium but not in another. Things like the feathers on a T. rex might seem gratuitous: but that is something that comes with the new medium. If you communicate a top-level predator with excellent senses of smell and vision that can rapidly traverse great distances in order to hunt, then you’ve told the same story.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Fuck, I got poop all over my keyboard. Really should have washed my hands…
Al Swearengen,
The Walking dead is so bad it is up there with smallville as being so bad that homeless people think its good.
jentario,
Sure, here’s more:
Tormund and Jon’s “She loved you…all she talked about was killing you” scene.
Sansa’s “I know what you want.”
Lady Olenna fondling Marge’s necklace.
Tywin and Tommen at Joff’s grave.
Theon burning the letter.
Cat Stark’s story of Jon Snow getting the pox.
The dying farmer.
The Hound and Brienne.
I agree that when D&D follow the books the scenes are a lot better. I dislike all the added scenes because they kind of take you out of the world and remind you its a tv show. Season 4 really went crazy with added scenes for no real reason. Arya shows up at the bloody gate and then they just let her go with no questions asked? Crasters keep, dreadfort, greyworm and missandei, etc. Season 1 was extremely faithful to the books and it is what got me hooked on the show and made me read the books and then season 2 came up with the stolen dragons house of the undying king of qarth bs. If game of thrones doesnt want to follow the books anymore then i wish it didnt start out so faithful i prefer the adaptation of walkin dead compared to the comics because it just seems to work as two parallel worlds or something but game of thrones is just becoming frustrating.
jentario,
Nope, still waiting for a scene that was even half as good as Tywin’s scene with Jaime in S1.
The baby making scene visually was stunning. You can’t really credit D & D there since there was virtually no dialogue and the look of the Wights are all down to George’s creation.
Hound vs. Brienne was alright. I got a kick out of seeing Sandor kick her in the snatch lel.
Greatjon of Slumber,
Arya laughing, Margery being a pedophile, Sansa becoming a player, the Hound’s chickens
Al Swearengen,
But that’s the thing. The Tywin scene in season 1 is beyond amazing. Impossible to top, almost. There are still many great “fan fiction” scenes
jentario,
If D & D were talented enough writers they’d at least be able to consistently deliver scenes that were in the same ball park. Their work from S2-S4 tells me they got lucky.
🙁 My krakens :,-( I’ll miss you :,,-(
Dornish plot/Martells <<<<<<< Ironborn plot/Greyjoys (at least IMO)
Well said! S5 will prove to be the tipping point for many of the Sullied. I agree that it may fail as an adaptation (of the books for some) but not as a show.
I’m not wild about the changes that are being made and the characters/story lines that are being omitted. However, none of that will cause me to stop watching GOT. It is high quality production on many levels and still better than much of what it currently on TV.
I will have to completely change my viewing perspective in S5. It will no longer be the books that I read and loved…and that will have to be acceptable. It will be a different experience. Presumably, these changes/omissions are moving us toward the end game of the story. (And who knows – this may be the only “end” that we get if GRRM doesn’t finish.)
Glad we’re getting the useless Dorne plot with the wholesomely uninteresting Sand Snakes instead of the plot-relevant Greyjoys.
jentario,
Poor Vic another wife dishonored by Euron
Luka Nieto,
Well said! I agree with all of your points here. Personally, I have extremely high hopes for Season 5 as a season of television, and I believe that when Game of Thrones has ended its run in three years, it will fit in very well as part of an adaptation of ASOIAF as a whole. However, there’s no question that when judged against a strict standard where fidelity to the novel is all that matters, many people are going to condemn Season 5 (and probably Seasons 6 and 7 as well) harshly and unequivocally. That’s fine – everyone is entitled to their own opinion – I just know that I’m going to find it immensely frustrating to wade through the comment sections on the Season 5 recaps every week. But that’s a personal issue, and trivial in the grand scheme of things. I have every confidence that the end product is going to be well worth it.
Wimsey,
That’s an exceptionally astute and visually memorable analogy. I never thought of the adaptive process in that exact way before, but I certainly will now! 🙂
Boby,
Plot driven greyjoy storyline? I read the first three books and there was never any mentions of a magic dragon horn used by the Targaryens to control the beasts. Out of nowhere a creepy pirate dude who sounds like the cliche guy you don’t trust turns up with a magic horn and gives it to his idiot brother to get rid of him so he can be a king in the iron islands. The other dumbest part of their story is how the cliche dumb viking brute happily accepts to go catch a dragon and claim the queen as his own. Most smart readers know the greyjoy storyline was just shoe horned in the books so Dany would have boats to get her army back to westeros.
I for one welcome all of this… if only so I don’t have to listen to book-reader friends tell people how much they are looking forward to something they can’t talk about, with a smug smile on their faces.
Welcome to reality, everyone. Game of Thrones adapted three novels, used parts of a fourth and fifth, and then finally got to stand on its own. We were never, and I mean NEVER, going to see a completely faithful adaptation of ASOIAF because (a) there is no hope of George finishing the next book in the next 12 months, (b) forget the seventh novel appearing any time soon and (c) this is television. You can’t bench your actors, as the article writer stated. No, this is where GOT has to go, and is going to go – to wrap things up in much the same way as the novels eventually *might*, but in their own way. George R.R. Martin sold them the rights to adapt his books, and that’s what they’ve done – because there are only 5 books to date.
Personally, I have my reasons for thinking we’ll see LS at the end of this season (there was no reason for the Beric-Thoros scenes in season 3 except to convey the death-rebirth angle, and I think we’ll be seeing scenes in the Riverlands this year with Brienne) and probably some Iron Islands stuff in season 6 – but only to tie up loose ends. The producers of GOT have already proven they’re willing to shift things around, and bring characters back as needed (Allister Thorne, Lysa Arryn, Mance Rayder – and Jaqen H’gar this coming year).
This is my favorite show. I trust the producers to know what they’re doing. GRRM gave them a fantastic world to play in and a lot of memorable story – but he’s not the only one who can tell that story, and GRRM has given them all the tools they need to build on it.
This topic and the posts within have become a mockery of itself and is in dire need of a colonic.
If you haven’t heard the “new” Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy album, I seriously recommend it. Sure it has reworkings of songs from his last album, but the fact that this guy can create cover versions of his own songs as stunning as the original versions is a true testament that he is one of the greatest songwriters of this generation.
And that, my fellow GoT nerds, is probably the best advice/comment in this whole thread.
In honor of Ros’ Merkin (who avoids this site due to all the book/show spoilers used freely in the comments), yes, I do spell narcissism as Adonis.
Cameryn,
All of this. People who guessed there was no way the show would stay faithful after it heads into AFFC and ADWD were absolutely right. It’s a fucking miracle that they survived the first three books without straying too far.
Cumsprite,
TYPO SHAMING?! It would be easier if you just skipped my posts altogether, Mr. Sprite on every site we bump into LOL. My typos have been my constant companions these last __ years. They won’t just go away, you know.
I must have missed it (obviously) where Al suggested or otherwise outright called Weiss and Benioff “complete hacks” as you seem to imply in your sarcastic comment.
Could you specify where he typed that upthread? I only see “above average writers” (his exact words) with which I agree since their show only plots/scenes are something of a hit and miss. They got some really good ones, and some horrible shit too. A bit above average on the whole until now.
Mine is the Furry,
Can we go back to talking about sex?
Mine is the Furry,
You look fucking beautiful today, Rygar
Boby,
lol at the Greyjoys being plot relevant.
“I’m Victarion, a ship delivery man. I killed my wife after she screwed around and frequently use a dusky woman as a blowup doll. I’m definitely not going to die in the first five pages of TWOW!”
“I’m Aeron Greyjoy! My gracious god has granted me the unmatched ability to bore my enemies to death, and with it I intend to do nothing at all that justifies me being a POV character!”
“I’m Euron Greyjoy, and I’m an evil pirate. Look, I even have an eyepatch! I’m attacking a region no one gives two shits about, and maybe later I’ll do something important! For now I plan to hang dong in front of my brother.”
I am truly sorry that you prefer the Iron Islands over Dorne. It seems like there was room for only one of them, and D&D chose the other one. Just FYI, Dorne fans exist- like mwah.
NOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! At least this further confirms that Patchface is a troll, and that still we have hopes for LS!
StandOzone,
I’d take LS over the Greyjoys any day of the week
Sex is best when its one on me.
We could, if you can get Sue or Kenny to return my calls.
Turncloak,
You’re not looking enough. And I’m definitely seeing it in non-English speaking sites, which you probably don’t access to.
King Tommen,
Jared,
What you say makes sense from D&D’s point of view, i suppose, but i’ve always said that we don’t know what the Unsullied want as much as we’d like to think, because… well, we’re not them, and they’re a fairly varied bunch. Whether they would’ve liked the cut parts better than what they eventually get, will be an unsolved mystery *if* the series starts to flop.
Mind you, when i say “flop”, i don’t mean “enormous drop in viewership”, but something like what happened to Dexter or True Blood: half the viewers hate-watching, lowering expectations to the minimum and dismal critic response.
Fjordgazer,
The Unsullied don’t know what they’re missing, those lucky little bastards. I think the true test of season 5 will be how much THEY like season 5 with their unbiased opinions, not how much book readers hate it.
I’ll use the Walking Dead example here. The show hasn’t been great since it’s first season (barring the first half of season 3), and that’s the general consensus of people who haven’t read the comic books. GOT has been a non-reader favorite since the start, and I think that trend will continue regardless of the changes. As of season 6, none of us will be book readers anyway- since the book won’t even be out yet (or it would have just gotten published).
Euron has to be on the show at some point, Victarion I can live without. Also Euron has to be James Purefoy/Mads Mikkelsen or both 🙂 Additionally how in seven hells will seven seasons be enough to cover everything of importance?
jentario,
But that’s exactly what i’m saying. S05 will definitely be hated by the book-reading section (despite folks like you, who are biased toward the Dornish, it must be added), and it remains to be seen how the show-only people will receive it. IMO a lot of Greyjoy scenes, as House Pinapple puts it very well, had the potential to be great TV and be much, much better that some of the D&D-invented stuff. Whether the Unsullied will love what they’re shown this season is up in the air.
Cameryn,
All the spoiling had to breed a strong sense of resentment among Unsullied, and now that book readers are on a loss about what to expect, it’s time for payback. On our defense, a lot, if not most, of the spoiling trolls were Unsullied themselves.
3waywithCersei,
Simple. A lot of cuts.
Fjordgazer,
I think that’s a big assumption. You’d need to do a survey. I think there are plenty book reading pricks out there.
For the first time, I have serious issues with this show / D&D. Not “OMG CANCEL THIS RIGHT NOW” kind of problems (because I’m a rational adult), but just confusion and skepticism about how this season will play out as it relates to the endgame of the series. I like Dorne just fine. They’re gonna make it awesome. But the Kingsmoot / Greyjoy Brothers / Victarion and the Iron Fleet sailing on Mereen could make for some excellent television. I’m not interested in people’s convoluted anti-AFFC/ADWD arguments because they’re amazing books with a lot to offer the show.
Thank the gods. I could barely get through those chapters in Feast. The show will be better without them.
Off Topic: Does anyone know what code words will send a comment into moderation and then into the void? I had no links in it. No spam, no advertising different GoT sites either LOL
I am just curious because this is the third time it happens to me specifically. One time comment showed up by next day. But it would be awesome to know so I can avoid it. I doubt it is directed at user name Strider though. I hope not.
Ser Bro of Kegstand Keep,
Budget and screentime and a seven season cap. Something had to go, and it’s easier to cut Victarion along with the naval aspect of the battle of Meereen for budget reasons than to cut Dorne. Other than that, the Iron Islands can be delayed, or if they don’t really have more impact in the story than the Dany related stuff then they don’t need it at all. This story is interesting enough without the extra Ironborn.
I’m sure you’ll understand that once the initial shock will die down
Strider,
Go away, spambot
Nope. Almost everyone, sullied and not so sullied, loved Oberyn and were given enough info about his family to continue that storyline and make sense of it all.
Isn’t it truly amazing how many times the word “endgame” has been used in the comments here……even though ASOIAF doesn’t have one yet.
jentario,
And i think that, as you give the show too much credit, you’re similarly assuming the show-only watchers are a better subset of people than we are.
It’s impossible to make a survey on this anyway…
Thats it!
I’ve taken enough of this crap.
If they don’t bring Stoneheart to the show next season, I’ll f****** riot. Riot!!!
Strider,
For me, a post always “awaits moderation” when I include 3 or more hyperlinks (which includes external and internal links)….or the word “whitewash”. 🙂
Sometimes responding to Jentario directly results in chaotic, explosive diarrhea.
Wimsey,
Your description of
Your shark metaphor was great. Well said.
Strider,
I’ve noticed that writing a comment that responds to more than one user, will send it directly to moderation.
didn’t care for the Greyjoy’s uncles to be honest, aside from
the only Greyjoy I care about is yara/asha. Victarion’s chapters were the worst imo.
I honestly don’t really care about this news. I bet we’ll get some daddy greyjoy and yara scenes, which is good enough for me.
Mine is the Furry,
But which of my points are you addressing? I don’t follow you…
TWD was never a great show. It was fairly interesting in season 1, drove itself into a ditch in Season 2, had a few moments in Season 3 which it didn’t resolve, then came back to resolve those moments after everyone stopped caring in Season 4. Two compelling characters in the entire show.
Fjordgazer,
They aren’t better or worse, but the percentage of spoiler knowers on our side is much bigger. Statistically, assuming what you just did makes no sense.
I’ll get working on this. Been emailing them all day to get this taken care of.
jentario,
I’m not assuming: some of the platforms i’ve frequented (forums, facebook pages, etc.) have been following the trolls for a while, and a lot of them turned out to be “spoiled” book readers who wanted in turn to share some of their misery.
Greatjon of Slumber,
Can I handle the camera?
This is just a series of short points about some of the criticisms in this thread. I’m not going to go into too much detail because you could probably write a book about it, but, yeah…
I often laugh at the people who say that D&D are only average writers. Yeah, because GRRM just accepted the first offer that was put to him.
People often praise people who work on the show (e.g. Cogman, Graves). When they make a mistake e.g. the Dreadfort) it is pretty much D&D’s fault. Can’t really have it both ways.
Iron Islands are essential to the plot? Really, I don’t know the endgame to the story, D&D do (reverse for Dorne).
All invented stuff is fanfiction. Maybe, but how does that make it bad, If George had made Bran’s storyline more exciting, and substantial we probably wouldn’t have had Crasters Keep.
Remember D&D have to take into account budget, Sullied’s understanding and logistis amongst many other things. In a way i think it would help if they wrote a couple fewer episodes, so they would have greater management, but their choice. I respect that.
The general viewer is more i.mportant than the hardcore fans. Do HBO really care if Sullied are complaining. Not at all if they are getting huge viewing numbers, like £18 million, Even if you lost third of that they would probabky be fine wih it (although obviously they wouldn’t want to). I’m sure D&D want their work to be loved by everyone, but they would also accept the majority, even if the majority are unsullied.
There is a lot more I was going to say, but the simple fact is haters are going to hate. Let’s just try to be optimisitic, and hope that Season 5 continues to be magnificent as have all previous seasons.
Fjordgazer,
I want a survey turned in by Monday.
jentario,
Tendrás que esperar sentado, amigo mío…
I am a student,I have some book reading friends but most people I know are show watchers only.They don’t care about the Greyjoys.Like at all.Theon himself was not verry intersting for them until Ramsey was in.Now everyone is a little bit involved in that plot.But noone cares about House Greyjoy.Well,if Balon dies in S5 they can talk about Euron this season,as others said,and have him in S6.If he is important later.If not…
Fjordgazer,
Tengo un dildo para tu si te hases lo que qiero. Es muy grande.
And sorry if my spelling sucks, it has been years
Ragnar,
Of course they don’t care for the Greyjoys. D&D seem to work partially under the light of their own personal preferences, and it’s evident they don’t like Stannis or the Greyjoys (except Theon) given their treatment of the characters, which reflects on viewers’ response.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Ok, that makes sense then! I was responding to one comment, quoted a user’s post and I was also putting Mr. Sprite in his place for trying to typo shame me. That’s probably two + links.
Thanks also to Fjordgazer 🙂 (I’m not linking your comment for obvious reasons hah!)
jentario,
Not interested. But i can help you stick it up your butt if you want… with gloves, of course.
This is all healthy dude banter, is it?
Fjordgazer,
I don’t think that’s fair. I mean, they obviously prefer Dorne over the Ironborn, but that doesn’t mean they hate the Greyjoys. They bothered to include them in seasons 3 and 4 when they were no shows in the books (from Theon to Yara to Balon) and that’s gotta mean something. I’m hoping that Yara and Balon will have a few scenes this year as well… And please please please Deepwood Motte.
Fjordgazer,
I’m a woman, lol
Greatjon of Slumber,
Seriously. The premise is pretty cool, and it’s got the production value, but it always kills me when shows display such terrible, terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE writing and storytelling. The story doesn’t know where it’s actually going so characters become abhorrently inconsistent and totally change their “roles” from season to season, and then also it’s running off this giant engine of blood so it needs to throw a character under the bus to the zombies every now and then, but the characters are so badly developed it’s just an archetyped figure they’ve let die, which they’ll replace with a another similarly characterless figure that takes up that dead character’s “role.” Besides, its floundering long-game storytelling really, really misses dramatic rhythm in plot events. Like Terminus: it’s in the fucking name guys, TERMINUS, dramatic end point, built up all of season 4 as a destination, to be blown up in the premiere of next season, just a chip off yer shoulder Rick. It’s like those two Cartel brothers from Breaking Bad that spent like half of the cold opens in season 3 redundantly building up towards their badassery, and then fucking Hank just kills them in a 2 minute fight and doesn’t even die.
jentario,
If we get Furry’s buy-in on that.
jentario,
Damn it! That explains your Dorne >>> Ironborn stance. But you’d be surprised (as i was) how many women dig Victarion.
Dogs,
I liked the cartel guys from Breaking Bad because it so brilliantly undercut the badassery (Justified is awesome at doing this). But with TWD, I’m with you all the way. The writing is just gawdawful.
My opinion is better than your opinion. What I say is fact. The Greyjoys blow, except for Euron, he can be on the show. I speak for all unsullied that I know of, they hate all Iron Islanders, except for a few liking Yarasha. All of them were head over heels in love with Oberyn and Ellaria. For many of them, Oberyn was their favorite character. They will love Doran and the Sand Snakes, much more than they would the Greyjoy nuncles. No need to question this, it is true, and that is all that matters.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
It’s settled then.
Greatjon of Slumber,
A lot of the criticism for Breaking Bad comes from Tuco’s cousins and Uncle Jack’s gang, but i just don’t get it. When you see the contrast between them and the other rivals of Walt (Gus and ultimately Hank), it’s no wonder that they last the “least”: strike hard, and die fast. It’s what happens with “rabid dog” kind of guys, they’re not afraid of death.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
“Poison is for cravens, women and Dornishmen”
– Victarion motherfucking Greyjoy.
Fjordgazer,
Victarion chapters turn me on. Especially the one with Euron’s dong.
I would love a spin off show with the Iron Island history , The creation of the Seastone chair, Harrenhall, tensions in the Greyjoy family,euron, the Kraken, etc., it has a BIG potential.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
And fuck you too 🙂
Have a cookie
Fjordgazer,
Quit lying no one likes the greyjoys.
Fjordgazer,
We’re in agreement there. We book readers like to make generalizations about what we think that the Unsullied will like and what they’ll hate, but we’re largely basing those assumptions on the reactions of our Unsullied friends and family members, the reactions that we read online from Unsullied critics and viewers, and our own biases about the complexity of certain storylines and viewers’ capacity to handle them. There are a few assumptions that are popular enough to be generalized; for example, characters like Tyrion, Daenerys, and Arya do seem to consistently rank as favorites among the Unsullied even if they’ve worn out their welcome with certain book readers. But obviously there are a wide variety of opinions out there.
As jentario notes, however, the absence of the Greyjoy uncles (or Arianne and the Griffs for that matter) from Season 5 shouldn’t have any effect on whether or not the Unsullied will enjoy Season 5. What will determine how successful Season 5 is how well the material that will be seen onscreen is presented and executed. Book readers might tell their Unsullied friends ahead of time that Dorne is going to suck because “it isn’t that good in the books” or “they’re changing too much and they left out the best characters”, but the Unsullied might not feel that way. They might think that the Sand Snakes are badass! They might like seeing Jaime trade veiled barbs with Doran! If they don’t, that’s unfortunate, and it probably will affect their opinion on Season 5. But the storyline will be judged on its own merits, and we’ll never know if they would have liked the Ironborn any better.
Going forward, Benioff and Weiss will be using Martin’s outline for the story as their guide, so at least part of how the next three seasons are received will depend on how satisfying Martin’s endgame is (If a certain percentage of the audience wants Character X to end up on the Iron Throne and Character X doesn’t, then that will obviously affect their opinion of the series. But that won’t be D&D’s fault). For the most part, however, Game of Thrones will have to stand on its own, and I think that it does that remarkably well. I’m confident that Game of Thrones will remain consistently strong until the end.
As for the examples that you cite, I never watched True Blood (though what I heard, especially towards the end, wasn’t positive). But I think that Dexter had almost the exact opposite problem than the one that Game of Thrones faces. Like Game of Thrones, it was the most popular show on its network by far. Unlike Game of Thrones, however, it had only 2-3 interesting, fully-developed characters and it lacked sufficient material to cover 7-8 seasons … only it kept getting renewed for financial reasons (it also changed showrunners several times, leading to inconsistencies in creative vision). By the end, both the writers and the cast members seemed almost tired of it, and oh boy did it show. I remember trying to be kind and reserved during the final season, and even in the immediate aftermath the finale, because I didn’t want my opinion to seem reactionary. Time and reflection have not been kind. That final season was indeed wretchedly, unequivocally bad.
Fjordgazer,
To be fair (and I don’t believe this in anyway) if D&D are doing things according to their own preferences then that is their perogative. They had GRRM’s and HBO’s blessing (and rights) to do the eries so they can do waht they like. You don’t like?. Well waht was stopping you becoming a professional writer, and adapting the series first.
Jeb,
I never said it wasn’t their prerogative. In fact i’ve stated that people shouldn’t curse the guys’ mothers and wish them death. That’s why i said “me and my subjectivity want you to go fuck off, D&D!”. I and only I am responsible for my own discontent.
Jared, good points all those.
SwagAhai Reborn,
All the major families are pussies compared to the Greyjoys.
Fjordgazer,
Greyjoys bent over like little bitches when Ned and Robert stormed their castle. They only fight fodder nights and haven’t come into contact with the Clegane brothers or Jaime Lannister.
SwagAhai Reborn,
Victarion would welcome the three of them and you know it. He’s not afraid of any man, only of Cthulhu.
Fjordgazer,
It should be noted that the internet fandom does not comprise the majority of book readers either. What you read online does not necessarily represent sullied opinion. I know a number of people who have read the books and I’m the only one I know who comments on fan sites. None of the book readers I know hate the show for making changes. It’s a very vocal minority that is up in arms.
WeirwoodTreeHugger,
You too owe me a survey
Fjordgazer,
Everyone knows Benjen will kill Victarion in Mereene because he’s been there the whole time pretending to be Daario.
WeirwoodTreeHugger,
Man, the “vocal minority” argument gets old after you see it brought up in any field you’re discussing. If you want to believe that is the case in this subject, fine. But i’m still waiting for an election, in any country, that defeats the odds presented by the “vocal minorities” on the streets and on the polls.
Not to mention the point I made with Jared about people making assumptions from their rather small pool of friends.
Cheers all!
I’ll only miss Euron, even if he is a caricature of a villain. Aeron is the worst and dullest POV ever and as to Victarion, the only thing interesting in his storyline is Moqorro. I’m happy to see them go.
I’m not a great fan of Dorne either (Arianne and the SS to be precise), the queensmaking failure looked a bit of a waste of book pages but I loved Doran so I very welcome this changes.
Fjordgazer,
“Where is this Dothraki Sea? I will sail the Iron Fleet across it and find the queen wherever she may be.”
– Victardian the Dullard
Since this subject has more or less been exhausted (especially since this isn’t really “new” news), I wanted to speculate a bit about the Northern story in S5.
Since the filming has yet to begin on whatever’s going on at Winterfell, there’s not a whole lot to go on at this point. Here’s a few things that I think will happen (with the caveat that I can choose to alter these theories when more info is revealed):
2. Mance either marches with Stannis or goes ahead secretly like in the books (no glamoring with Rattleshirt though).
3. A large group of Wildlings march with Stannis (effectively replacing the hill tribes). Tormund may or may not be part of this group (depends on Mance’s location probably) and it will include a diverse array of Wildlings, including Thenns.
4. Obviously Davos will not go to White Harbor but I believe he will be sent on the “Rickon mission” at the end of this season.
5. No Deepwood Motte and Yara will not encounter Stannis. She’ll be in Pyke dealing with whatever’s going on with Balon.
6. The Battle at Winterfell (or at least some kind of protracted portrayal of it) will occur late in the season.
7. I believe at this point that the Umbers will be the main antagonistic Northern group at Winterfell, not the Manderly’s. It would be great to see the Greatjon (and have a story about why he’s been off-screen this long) but it could just as easily be another Umber that’s there stirring up shit with the Boltons/Freys.
8. I think we’ll see the Umbers as part of this because it’s a previously established Northern group who are 100% loyal to the Starks. I also think that there is a specific reason that the show went off-book when it sent Rickon/Osha to the Last Hearth. This is probably so someone there can provide the info to Stannis/Davos about Rickon’s whereabouts (he may have moved on to Skaagos or somewhere else but the Umbers would know at least).
9. In the aftermath of the Battle of Winterfell, Davos will get his new marching orders from Stannis to retrieve Rickon so that he can be installed as the new lord of Winterfell and allow Stannis to garner their forces.
10. Still have no idea if they’re doing FArya, but even if they do, it will be significantly downplayed.
11. Still no idea if they’ll have Ramsay write the Pink Letter to involve Jon. It’s always been my assumption that the betrayal by his men can still be done without him getting that letter and reacting. We’ll see.
Ideally this season they will address Balon dying (spoilers appear to have gone out of the window in this thread) and position Yara/Asha for next season (Kingmoot, as much as it pains me can be cut and she can just discover her father has died and that Euron has taken over). Sprinkle in sightings of an ominous ship with a red hull and how Iron Islanders have been raiding the Reach etc, possibly Balon dying in the presence of a shadowy figure and you’re set for Euron and some Iron Island action in Season 6. Would barely take any time and would create some intrigue for the Euron character and the IRon Islands storyline when/if he/it debuts. Simples.
Onto a bigger issue this has raised for me. Despite them seemingly cutting and slashing left right and centre, I still can’t see this coming to a satisfying ending in seven seasons. I imagine Oldtown may well be going too.
Strider,
When it’s a case of quoting too many people in a post that gets it sent into moderation, I’ve found if I copy my post and repost it, it usually goes through. Then, I go back and delete the original post that’s awaiting moderation. That way my post goes through (’cause everything I have to say is soooooooooooo important 😉 ), and the mods don’t have to deal with fishing it out.
And to address the “all readers hate changes and will stop watching eventually” argument, here’s a Tumblr post from Joanna Robinson who writes for Vanity Fair and has a very well-known ASOIAF podcast. She is about as sullied as it comes and she likes all the S5 changes she’s heard about so far.
http://mirthandlaughter.tumblr.com/post/100845983883/10-reasons-why-im-looking-forward-to-not-being-called
Made perfect sense in my head.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Gotta love Vic
THIS
Mine is the Furry,
You make with the head? What a gentleman
The fact this has made 300 comments, and is one of thehighest commented articles on this site ever kind of makes me sad, especially as it has just been a vicious cirrcle. I blame this on the lack of filming information to come out since the early Pit photos. Please, we need more filming details, please…
King Tommen,
These are pretty good guesses.
As much as I hate to admit it, I agree that the Northern Lords plot will essentially be scrapped and replaced with the Wildlings Stannis takes with him.
My big question revolves more around Yara. That is, will she just chill out at Pyke and not do much, or will the Deepwood arc and Last Hearth be combined so as to simplify Yara and Rickon getting to Stannis?
Given D&D’s preference for using already established characters to introduce new ones (read: Jaime in Dorne), I feel like Yara must have more to do than just hang out and argue with Balon until he dies.
(***Alternatively: Balon could be kept alive just to show that Melisandre has a 2/3 success rate and is capable of misreading the signs. Of course, this is only relevant if we assume R+L=J, that J get’s revived by Melisandre and that she’s wrong about Azor***).
Always you with the Scheisse. I never make with my head. That’s just gross.
Gregorio,
And that is exactly why I tried to hijack this thread and make it fun with a Marry, Bang, Kill theme.
Mine is the Furry,
It’s also pretty fun. I know the back of my penis better than the back of my hand.
And if I stepped over a line, let me know
Now that’s a lot of comments. I was hoping there’d been more news but no matter what’s being discussed it’s lovely to see wotw flourishing like this!
Greenjones,
I’m having a lot of fun, to be honest
Fuck Marry or Kill?
Fuck Margaery
Kill Quentyn
Marry Fat Walda
Dolan,
Fuck Dany, marry Catelyn, kill Ygritte
King Tommen,
Ms. Robinson’s got no love for Penny, eh? May Ramsay’s fingernail remover forever invade her dreams. May a horde of White Walkers move next door to her. May Drogon’s breath permanently visit her crotch. May Mel find reason to torch her soul. I shall never read her blog again! SHAME!
Yeah, I never quite got the Penny hate. I found her innocence quite refreshing and cute. That said, I’m not crying about her omission from the show.
As for the Iron Islands stuff… I won’t miss the Kingsmoot, Aeron, or even Victarion.
I do hope Euron may appear somewhere down the line, as I thought he was a cool character, but if he doesn’t appear… oh well… 🙁
To be honest, I mainly just want to see closure on that final leech.
The reason I think most people who read the books won’t freak out about the changes is that most people read the books once, maybe twice and don’t even remember every single detail. Not everyone is a huge fan who analyzes everything in the books and everything in the show.
Mine is the Furry,
Some of us are trying to push it further into out-and-out porn, but you’re not biting. You can bite, if you want.
Greatjon of Slumber,
I certainly don’t mind a bit of biting in a BJ
Tyrion Pimpslap,
I’m sure your beloved brother Jaime failed geography as well with maester Volarik (the one who used to “touch” him). In fact, according to Tywin, he’s dyslexic.
At least show-canon has served me to prove a point this time 😀
King Tommen,
I’m not familiar with her, but is she one of those infamous podcasters who count show-Shae as one of her very favorite characters that i’ve heard about?
It’s one opinion man. Like yours, like mine.
Bang: Jorah
Marry: Jorah’s Sweaty V Neck
Kill: Shireen. Consider it payback.
Fjordgazer,
“Victarion is basically a brutal dullard.”
– George R.R. Martin
King Tommen,
Amazing post. Agree on all account. Despite what she says, she’s sometimes been nit-picky about changes in her podcast, and even she can see the potential of these changes and omissions. Kinda proud of her.
Fjordgazer,
You’re the king of arriving at definite conclusions based on absolutely ridiculous assumptions that you don’t even bother to check or back up in any way whatsoever, aren’t you? For your information, Joana doesn’t like Shae at all. Your assumptions about women in these comments are starting to create an appalling pattern. You basically said that the reason jentario likes Dorne more than the Iron Islands is because she’s a woman. Yes, I’m sure you that’s logical, since women are, after all, an homogeneous hive-minded group. I point you to this comic, which shows the silly fallacy you were committing.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
I would quote when GRRM called him “dumb as a stump” in an interview if I were you
Luka Nieto,
But i’ve been clear that i don’t know anything about her. I’d say i’ll check her out, but i’m kind of full of this discussion (It’s been 2 days), i’ll give this thing a rest until actual news surface again.
Jentario and Tyrion Pimpslap: those supposed quotes from GRRM have emerged by anonymous commenters on the web who *purportedly* heard them from him. Jenty, you ask for surveys, then I ask for video!
I see some folks here all too eager to trust certain journalists (their profession isn’t the most ethical these days: they’re known to lie to get ratings, you know) and anonymous people on the internet. Since this is a TV show, fine, but y’all should try to exercise a little more skepticism for other, more important information.
Cheers again!
A Victarion without monkeys is no true Victarion. Let’s face it, production could barely withstand Ser Pounce. Give him to the drowned god.
Kill Victarion.
Bang Anguy. Banguy.
Marry Jaime.
If there’s one thing on which almost everyone who has commented on this can agree, whether we like the Iron Islands plot, or not (and I’m strictly referring to the new characters), we want that bloody 3rd leech to do its thing. Balon needs to die.
Now, back to the truly pressing issue:
To bite, or not to bite…
Honestly, I can’t believe that anyone would find *any* of AFFC or ADWD boring in any way. I found both Dorne and the Iron Islands plots to be riveting, through and through, just as much as any of the other stories. I couldn’t care less if it’s “relevant” to the overall “narrative” or whatever – some of you seem to be far too concerned with just moving pieces, A-to-B, the destination rather than the journey – the characters are fascinating and unique and both offer territory previously unexplored in the series. I particularly enjoyed Aeron in his fanatical austerity and Areo, with his keen perceptive eye. Loved the whole thing through and through, and would gladly say that AFFC is my favourite book in the series thus far!
Disappointed that Aeron won’t be making an appearance, but ah well. I’m certain it’ll be another amazing season anyway.
I believe it’s the very pinnacle of self-deception to think of the “Unsullied” as anything other than “the VAST multitudes of people watching this series who have not read these books.” Book readers make up a tiny fraction of the viewers of this show.
And the viewers of this show HAVE spoken. The show is more popular than ever. It gains viewers every season; it’s HBO’s flagship series; it regularly outscores broadcast viewing numbers on Sunday nights; and it’s the most pirated series in the world.
Truth is truth: whatever D & D are doing, it’s working.
Well said!!
Joachim,
People who have read the books have respectable opinions that pertain to the books themselves, and I respect those. But by available evidence you’d think that book readers are somehow carrying with them a secret knowledge that the show is about to fail because the Ironborn are being left out (or any number of things that changed in previous seasons.) The simple fact is that the show works *despite* these issues, and would not be the HBO powerhouse it is today if the producers were making bad choices. This is HBO’s grand jewel, no matter what people think.
And I’m not disrespecting people’s views about great material in the books, believe me. I get it, and I celebrate people’s deep love for these novels. But we’re about 80 miles beyond the point where this was a straightforward adaptation.
Cameryn,
I’m pretty sure your argument will be accused of being a fallacious “appeal to the masses”, arguing that the majority is automatically right —so I’d like to point out that it’s not just “the masses” who have loved every season as much if not more than the previous one. In fact, every season has been more critically praised than the last.
If you want some rough (and I do mean rough) numbers on that, just look up the show’s Metacritic scores: Season 1 got 79; Season 2, 88; Season 3, 90; and Season 4, 94. I don’t agree that every season has been better than the last (my order from best to worst is 4, 3, 1, 2, although rewatching season 3 might bump it up to the top), but this does mean that the press has been giving an increasingly more positive assessment of the show. I see no reason why this should change for Season 5. I don’t think straying more or less from the source material will have an impact on how the show is widely received. Actually, if you wanted to correlate faithfulness with how well the show is received, it seems that the most faithful the season is the worst reception it receives. But of course, correlation does not actually imply causation, so that’d be silly.
These cuts give more time to the characters we already know and love, which is not only a matter of “blindly following the wishes of the masses” but also good TV storytelling.
Cameryn,
You copied me. What the actual fuck?
Anyway, I’d like to add that the show has a really high metascore and IMDB score in both critic and user votes so it really isn’t comparable to shows like TWD. People really like it, much more than your standard show.
So what D&D is doing isn’t just successful, it’s good- and that’s fact, not opinion (because isn’t fact just a summation of all the opinions in the world?).
Luka Nieto,
Beat me to it
Luka Nieto,
Totally agree, Luka.
More often than not, complaints about the series are content complaints, not technical ones, and content complaints are entirely about what is part of the story versus what isn’t.
The earlier comment that Fjordgazer made about how non-readers don’t know what they’re missing is absolutely true. Non-readers do not know what has been omitted.
I’m simply saying that that fact is also irrelevant. Game of Thrones is Game of Thrones. Whatever it might be is less important that what actually IS… and what IS, is a damn wonderful show. 🙂
Think the number of comments shows just how much the Iron Islands elicits emotions in people and that in itself should be cause for considering their inclusion.
Anyway to the more important stuff.
Marry – Val. Who wouldn’t want to tame their own beautiful wildling princess?!
Fuck – Margaery Tyrell. Would have married her but welll…we know what happens to her husbands! Cersei would be pretty interesting too.
Kill – Anyone with the second name Tully…except Blackfish if I was that way inclined…as I think he is.
I haven’t read every comment in the thread, but here’s to hoping the Iron Islands storyline will be present in some capacity in S6. I don’t think it’s implausible that it could be the “Dorne” of S6.
Mine is the Furry,
Bang bang and baang: show Jorah
Marry: Davos
Kill: Dario
Who thinks we can get to 400 comments? Or will there be news today as well…
Not to take away from a rousing game of marry-fuck-kill here… but this is less “the Iron Islands aren’t in Season 5” and more another rousing verse of “D&D have changed/omitted the XYZ book plot/character”. Every time they make a change, you’d think they shot someone’s dog.
Kyle,
Despite my defense of cutting the AFFC / ADWD Iron Islands plot in Season 5, I agree that we might get a extremely boiled-down version of it early in Season 6, directly followed by whatever these characters will do in TWOW. By the time Season 5 ends, we should know if they are going to introduce Yara’s uncles or not; if Euron is not even mentioned and if Yara and Balon roughly take the roles of Balon’s brothers in Season 5, well, we’ll know that they are definitely gone. Similarly, if they are going to be in Season 6, there’ll have to be some setup. So, at any rate, by June next year, and maybe even earlier, we’ll know what’s up with the Iron Islands in Season 6.
Greenjones,
The only reason I’m commenting now is to increase the total in the hope it gets to 400.
Cameryn,
Also, the number of comments often depends on how much news there is. It is been a little quiet the last two or three days, and there hasn’t been any news since this was posted. Once a new article is posted, the number of people commenting on older articles decreases. At one point it looked like this one might only just get to 100, and then exploded, but partly because there hasn’t been any more news since. Besides in this thread there has been a lot of to=ing and fro-ing from quite a few of the same people (which is fine, but it does contribute).
Cameryn,
Who could deny that whatever D&D are doing is working? Heck, i was an Unsullied first (but not foremost, that’s evident). Yet it remains to be seen whether they keep it up, we’re not psychics.
Also, the Sullied portion of the viewership being tiny… well, tiny is sort of a strong word. We’re the minority by a large margin, of course. But like i said, Unsullied are morphing into Sullied too (they’re getting their own pair of balls, so to speak), you can’t discount that. Some of this subset will be happy with the changes, some (like me) won’t. Also, what % of the Unsullied viewers actually buys GoT merchandise and DVD’s, and/or subscribes to HBO instead of pirating, and what % of the Sullied viewers do those same things? That would be an interesting survey to take. Jentario, demand it!
Cameryn,
Don’t think it’s a bad thing that people care about the direction the show is going in. Personally, I want people who haven’t read the books to enjoy them through another means. In that, I want as many aspects of the books as possible to be represented and represented as accurately as possible. This is a biggy. Other plots have been trimmed down or changed slightly but this is flat out writing characters out so it will elicit a lot of response. The Iron Islands does have a lot of followers. It’s an interesting part of Westeros and it’s a shame that it’s brutal , aggerssive, if you want it to be yours then take it culture isn’t in this season to contrast with the politically correct Dorne.
I like D&D.
(Drogon & Dany, that is). Give me another dance, chumbawamba!
TheTouchOfFrost,
“Politically correct Dorne.” What strange universe are you living in?
Bang – Taena of course. Myrish MUTHA F****N Swamp! Yes, thank you
Marry – The dusky woman because she cannot speak
Kill – Daenerys. I know emelia is smokin hot but the only cool about daenerys is her dragons. She definately has some dragon tendancies (not burnt by fire) so what does she do with that power? Chain her dragons and sit in a pyramid while her families land is raped and pillaged
Well, one thing is for sure: There won’t be any article on WiC.net which generates 300+ comments.
TheTouchOfFrost,
Where is the like button?
Also:
Bang: Arianne
Marry: Catelyn
Kill: Cersei
(I just wanted to be popular)
It is me, or this is the most commented post in WotW? The Ironfleet is strong.
Luka Nieto,
Westeros. Compared to the rest of it, Dorne is a lot more liberal.
jentario,
I’d offer Euron-Euron’s dong-Griffs-Arianne combo to the two-faced God (D&D) if he gives me LS, always, with no questions.
I think the problem people have is when others accuse D&D of being hacks, and not caring about the books, That is fundamentally wrong. They have (so far, at least) done a pretty incredible job for a series of books the author describes as unfilmable. You might not like some of the decisions they are making (which is fine and inenvitable), but reasoned discussion should be encouraged rather than insulting two writers who have done an amazing job and are trying their best. Luckily almost all of the discussion on WOTW is this sort of positive discussion, but for the very small minority who do criticise D&D so much I recommend following some of the other people who are criticising and try and be reasonable about your criticisms,
TheTouchOfFrost,
True.
First two things that came to mind is there openness to sexuality and that females can be in line for succession
To suggest that no new characters will be brought into season 6 or 7 is stupid. D&D probably meant not to the scale of 10-30 which has been happening in almost every season. They could definitely introduce a couple, minor or major. Howland Reed still has to appear!
StandOzone,
I’ll match your LS bet and I’ll raise you a Benjen.
I know it’s the “cool,” hipstery thing to hate on everything and be cool by claiming everything else is uncool, but seriously, do some of you even like these books? I like Dorne a whole heck of a lot less than the Iron Islands but I still think Dorne is cool. & I know it’s going to be on HBO TV because paying Sand Snaks to show their tits is cheaper than VFX fleets of ships.
& Yes, the overall quality of GoT took a noticeable dip last season. Ratings only mean so much. Lots of popular things are horrible (eg. McDonalds, pop music). D&D are not as good of writers as GRRM. The beetle smashing monologue that last 27 min. was THE WORST (ok maybe Dreadfort raid was worse).
& yes, strangley enough, The Walking Dead has gotten better. This season is much improved so far, w/ a tone closer to the comics. Imagine that?! Staying true to the essence of the source material can be beneficial. It’s why Marvel movies about their characters are good while Sony Spiderman & Fox Xmen suck.
I’ll feed you all to the sea!!! 😉
What’s Dead May Never Die
Hodor’s Bastard,
Haha… No! Benjen no!
arden,
Oddly enough, the Frey desertion was never mentioned in the show, was it? Didn’t one of the writers go on a website and say it happened between seasons 2 and 3?
There was no point in introducing the Brotherhood and Beric again, unless they were a precursor to LS. That looks like a plot cut off. It’s possible, unless the Iron Islands Kingsmoot is a season 6 plot, that either Balon doesn’t die on the show or he dies offscreen and they just leave Yara in charge and omit Euron and Victorian. I don’t expect D&D’s ending of the show to mirror GRRM’s. Especially since D&D’s ending will come first. They may know how GRRM plans on ending it but that doesn’t mean that’s what they will do.
Joachim,
It’s not that we just want to move from point A to point B, it’s that we are trying to view this through the TV show’s perspective. I have said before that I would be happy if all of the main characters from the books were included, but I realize that is just not possible for a TV show with a budget and a limited time to tell the story, as well as a deadline to produce. If D&D had $150-$200 million dollars per season,13 episodes, and 2 years between seasons, I guarantee the Greyjoy storyline would be in, as well as “Aegon”(which is a much greater loss than the Greyjoys).
So all that effort they put into Yara just goes out the window.
Nothing happens with the Dornish in the books! Bollocks!
Euron’s Blue Lips,
Agree with everything you said here and will add my 2 coppers
I am looking forward to sand snake tits
Naval battles will surely come at some point on a small scale. Hell if Black Sails can afford to do some impressive visual stuff at sea on Starz, why the hell wouldn’t HBO?
First 2 episodes of Walking Dead this season have been great entertainment. I haven’t read the graphic novels for Walking Dead nor do I conduct character studies like with ASOIAF but it was getting a little stale. Last 2 episodes got me re-invested in the show again.
Beetle smashing and Dreadfort were not good but I feel the Crasters Keep side mission was a waste of screen time even though it was somewhat redeemed by the Gin Alley legend
Nancy,
Showing Beric’s resurrection and Mel’s learning of it is greatly important for a much more important character than Cat. I maintain that Cat wasn’t resurrected because the show doesn’t want to make a habit out of it, once it happens with
Euron’s Blue Lips,
Speak for yourself. I don’t think Season 4 had a noticeable drop in quality. In fact the only Season where there was a noticeable drop was Season 2 after the sublime (and best) Season 1. Season 4 is probably the second best season, but then it did have some fantastic moment from the books, Metacritic would put Season 4 as the best to date. Besides, would you rather Game of Thrones had two unbelievably good seasons, with low ratings, or 7 very good seasons with high ratings. I know which I would prefer, and the books are always on the shelf if I want something more immersive.
GRRM is obviously a better writer than D&D, but he is older and more experienced. No one was lauding him that much when he write in TV, so who knows in the future. If GRRM wrote faster, he would have a greater input in the show, I’m sure, but the only person’s fault for this is himself. You can criticise D&D for some of the scenes they have included, but it should be stressed that a lot of GRRM’s work is also not thought to be as divine as some make out (Coinidentally, the two books D&D are now trying to clean up). But it is natural, people make mistakes, however good they are.
Edit: Rather than making another post I’ll add this…
Syrio Fo-real,
I agree with the Dreadfort, but Crasters was almost certainly not a waste as Bran needed something to do other than walking for yet another Season. Perhaps they could have trimmed down Jon’s part, but I never saw it as a great waste of time that some do.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
“Aegon” is not greater than Greyjoys… We met the Iron Islands since aCoK, and barely met “Aegon” in aDwD. Even in the TV show, we saw the ironborn raise since S2… so, the Ironbonr storyline is a greater lost than “Aegon”.
Euron’s Blue Lips,
Season 4 was great. Up there with season 1 as the best. It had the fewest clunker(1) episodes of any of the 4 seasons.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
I’d prefer not to kill Jon and just resurrect Catelyn. Catelyn was there since the first episode, so, she is the worst cut that they could make.
Thanks…I finally understand arden’s point. Your second question/observation ^ is hilarious. Maybe that is an actual show tactic? 🙂
Btw, we did see Frey goofball #1 and Frey goofball #2 meet with Robb in early S3 and be entrusted with the marriage proposal message for Walder. I guess that was after the desertion (Karstark aftermath?) and his msg turned out to be a fatally flawed olive branch.
StandOzone,
‘Aegon’ is an extension of Varys and Illyrio. Varys has been the most mysterious character since the first book. ‘Aegon’ is a Blackfyre, and not the son of Rhaegar. ‘Aegon’ will be king, unlike any of the Greyjoys. His existence will lead to another Dance of the Dragons/Blackfyre uprising. That is much more interesting than the ironborn.
To be fair, both storylines are great. And it’s a shame that they’re skipping them so as to have Dany breeze onto Westeros like a leaf when the time comes.
GOT is looking for 600 extras to film a battle scene in Spain. What do you think this battle will be and how do the numbers relate to other GOT battles?
86,000 Audition to Be Extras on Game of Thrones
http://m.ign.com/articles/2014/10/24/86000-audition-to-be-extras-on-game-of-thrones
The Greeks were absent from season 3 and 4 of The Wire, only to return for season 5 (the last season). Why can’t the same thing happen with the Greyjoys? No way that D&D would leave that plotline hanging completely, particularly as there’s still one more leech to account for.
OT: According to his twitter, Nicholas Boulton has been cast in GoT and is filming in Sevilla and Osuna:
https://twitter.com/EmCeeHammock
Heading home from Georgia 6 days early: Boo! Off to Seville to film Game Of Thrones: Hooray!
We are all firmly of the opinion that this is the best supporting crowd ever in the whole history of supporting crowds. Ever. #Osuna #GoT
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0099610/
For the video game geeks among us: He was Hawke’s male voice in Dragon age II
Probably just a small part, maybe a master or a slave in Meereen…
Dolorous Ned,
For what it’s worth, his Twitter bio does say that he’s a “Dragon wrangler” …
Turncloak,
I had always assumed it was for the carnage at Daznak’s Pit, but 600 seems too much for that, as much of the crowd will be CGI. The battle at the Wall had 400, if I remember correctly.
Turncloak,
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Since Griffs are MIA, maybe Dorne is attacking Storm’s End, Griffin’s Roost, and Stormlands?
Dolorous Ned,
Finally! Some news! Hallelujah!
Turncloak,
They are talking about what’s already been and being filmed at Daznak’s Pit. Calling it a “battle” is a simple misunderstanding.
Jared,
A reference to his role in Dragon Age II, I imagine.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
and ‘Aegon’ is boring 😛
All i got from these 400 comments is the jent is a woman, i always thought he was a dude for some reason… o_0
The bigger issue is that they shouldn’t bring her back until right before she’s going to be used. IF “UnCat” turns out to be important in WoW (= Season 6), then they should have her appear at the end of Season 5. However, it would have required a major rewrite to make her relevant in Season 5 given her absence from FfC & DwD.
People also should look at the Harry Potter movies for historical precedence. Every character that was cut was bemoaned by fans who were certain that, say, Ludo Bagman was going to be very important in the final book. However, all of the cut characters proved to be irrelevant in the larger plot. Every character that didn’t appear in Book X was lamented because the audiences certainly wouldn’t “know” them in Book X+1. However, when they introduce Cedric or Cho or Bellatrix, movie audiences had no problems figuring out what was up.
Now, Rowling worked a lot with Stephen Kloves and David Heymen; however, Martin has worked even more with Weiss & Benioff. People need to reverse their models: if the show is cutting it, then they need to abandon the idea that the thing is going to be important later.
(This should really tell us that Dorne is going to be important: they might be cutting the Dorne Storyline, but they are keeping the Dorne plot line; they probably need the viewers to know about it for Seasons 6 and 7.)
Turncloak,
EW says “key battle”, then says “large-scale fighting sequence”. I still think it is the Daznak’s Pit. It would be overload to have the Daznak’s Pit, The Winterfell Battle, the Battle of Meereen in 2 eps. Unless they want overload.
I think it’s Daznak’s Pit.
http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/10/23/game-of-thrones-spain-mania/
Insane that 86,000 people applied for the casting call of 600. I was absolutely sure they put an extra 0 there. Apparently not.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Or that will start in Season 6. Really, the only purpose the Griffs serve in Season 5 (
) was having Tyrion begin his rebound by figuring out on his own who’s company he is keeping. They can do that otherwise.
Indeed, the two Connington chapters in Dragons really felt like a trailer for Winter. I mean, I see how they fit the story (
), but it was setting up major plot threads rather than wrapping them up.
C’mon people. Every opinion here is just an opinion. Saying this character/plot line is better than that character/plotline as if it is fact/obvious/survey tested belief of the majority of fans just makes you sound like a chose. As an iron borne follower of the drowned God im used to many folks not understanding my culture or religion. It just makes me appreciate more those who feel the same as I, but telling someone their opinion is inferior to your opinion never won anybody aught but contempt.
Didn’t you hear? The decision to include Dorne over the Iron Islands this season was because it’s cheaper to film Sand Snake tits than it is to do VFX fleets. 😉
Dolorous Ned,
Interesting find. Could just be a small part but he does have quite an impressive resume for an extra. His bio also notes that he is “a highly skilled horseman and swordsman.” Also his Twitter has a reference to being a “dragon wrangler”.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0099610/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
Pretty confident he’s not got a major part but in this Greyjoy leaning thread, he could be a very passable Euron!
Edit: Looking through his photos, he was also in ‘Arn, the Knight Templar’ which was a really fun film!
Nymeria Warrior Queen,
It looks like it posted upthread, but I’ll keep the advice in mind! 😀
LukaNieto,
Ah, the part of Dolorous Ned‘s post that references his previous roles slipped my notice. Oh well. In my defense, when a comment thread reaches this length, I tend to do a bit more skimming than I would otherwise. 😉
Boulton probably is just playing a master or a slave in the crowd at Daznak’ Pit then, one that will be featured a bit more than than the background extras. Still a nice opportunity for him, though.
We’re almost at 400!
Strider,
I’d read in a previous article that I linked either on this thread or on a previous one that there was to be some fight scenes done in the olive groves outside of Osuna. That’s the only place I heard that bit of info though, so it’s most likely they just mean Daznak’s.
The jaded cynic within me agrees with you….but the cautious optimist who lurks behind my medulla oblongata believes that ASoI&F has an immense & growing number of storylines racing to the endline, and D&D have simply chosen to add a condensed Dorne storyline for their tactical and budgetary constraints for 7 seasons. Hopefully, all storylines will matter to the endgame and we are not spoiled by their storyline selection.
Regarding your fAegon response, his slight storyline in Act II is definitely setup for major activity in Act III.
Well it seems like everything possible about this has been said. I was personally not a huge fan of the Iron islands storyline (especially compared to Dorne), and we all understand for practical reasons cuts must be made, and D&D know the endgame, so, if this has to go, so be it.
Can I just be slightly annoying and say I wish we were trading the Iron Islands for a more complete Dorne story including Arianne, etc? But that ship has sailed..
for Mine is the Furry:
Bang: Season 4 show Daario, did you see that shit??? Take off your clothes, indeed! (book Daario can suck it, I’m not into yellow lace on my men…)
Marry: Jaime, my one and only. I love the fierceness… Until you and I are the only people left in this world. Shout out to all my fellow Jaime fans 😉
Kill: Walder Frey! The North Remembers!
He does look like he could be related to Theon.
I wonder how many of the cast have performed with the RSC.
To me, that’s always been as close as one can get to a guarantee that they’re exceptional at their craft.
Dolan,
This. Equally surprised:P
Well, he didn’t really have a storyline! He was a foil for Tyrion at first:
. After that, Aegon is a foil for Connington
. That written, I don’t expect that Aegon will ever be a protagonist himself: I’m betting that he’ll
.
All of that written, if they streamline Tyrion’s plot line in Season 5 (and they almost have to do so), then it obviates the need for the Griffs this year, unless they decide to end the season with some teasers for Season 6. Yes, Connington contributes a bit to the story: but because audiences don’t know him, the contribution will be pretty weak. (It wasn’t substantial in the book, but fortunately Dragons relied on well-establiswed characters, so it didn’t really hurt the book, either.)
Only 2 more.. let’s hit 400 comments for the win! 🙂
also, Tyrion Pimpslap, I second your cuddle option with Jorah…
400th Post!!!
Edit 1: Whoops posted too early. Swear I read that it said 399. Oh well…
Edit 2: Anyway I was also going to say that it is great to see so many comments on threads the last few weeks. There has definitely been a general increase in comments the past few weeks, and it is so good to see the site flourishing.
So, we have had 400 now, when will have an article get to 500? My best bet is the first Season 5 trailer, because I can’t see any further filming information being big enough. We shall see…
Jeb,
No it’s not. This is. Yei! Did we win something?
Wimsey,
Just a foil huh? Interesting fAegon approach. Would you say that as well for Stannis because of his lack of PoV? We need to really explore Doran, Varys and Illyrio’s heads regarding the fAegon issue to truly understand his role in this tale, but I don’t disagree that his appearance has “inspired” (and will inspire) many other major characters and their storylines.
Fun!
As others have inferred, it looks like Dorne may have its own fAegon, which will significantly alter the “foil” factor of your analysis. Hmmmmmm….
…..ever wonder how D & R & V are going to react to fAegon, if they ever get the chance? 🙂
Dolan,
That was the huge revelation.
Dolan,
Dude looks like a lady….but is definitely not a woman.
Syrio Fo-real,
You said it, Dany in Meereen was such a waste of a great character, all she did was revert back to the preteen we first glimpsed at the beginning of the saga. All she experienced and the wisdom she learned before Meereen was lost.
Furthermore, while Tyrion’s journey was fun in parts, the overall story did nothing to advance the character except for the location.
Arya was good at first but then I began losing interest, her mercy chapter though in WoW is awesome. Brienne (yawn).
Iron Born battle for power is so full of one dimensional stock characters, the characters in the Vikings show are Shakespearean thespians by comparison.
Dorne on the other hand is a rich and diverse land with interesting females and Prince Doran,with a strong tie to the happenings in KL. Which is why they are in the show.
GRRM should have compressed 4 and 5 into one book and then have the 5 year gap until book 5 (now 6). Roughly 60% of those books were filler.
After Dany deciding to stay in Meereen, GRRM could have shown the insurrection, Dany crushing it, then in Winds she departs after successfully ruling with the now grown dragons in tow. We get a few early chapters of Arya, then a five year gap and then the Mercy chapter. Concerning Tyrion, GRRM could have done what D&D are doing, have Tyrion get to Meereen fast and be involved in the insurrection crisis and then the 5 year gap.
The fans would have loved the 4th book more and the 5th would have been released by now.
Well, water under the bridge, lets hope D&D really nail the loose adaption GoT is becoming. The show needs to diverge from the books and create its own conclusions, mainly because I don’t want Winds and Spring spoiled.
Jeb,
Yeah, sorry. That was me. I made a post that just said “399”, but I thought it felt like cheating, so I deleted it.
tyjon,
I think the purpose of Dany’s Meereen storyline was to basically destroy her faith in peace. Until now, she has been determined to bring peace to Westeros, and wherever else she conquered. Now, having experienced it, she has decided that the price of peace is too high. My guess is she will not worry so much about the lives of innocent people in the future (not that she will TRY to kill them, but if they die, she’ll see it as just an unfortunate price she must pay), and will rule Westeros through fear.
This sucks. I’m hoping this writer is just making assumptions as there is always at least one minor ironborn subplot per season; i’m hoping season 5’s will wrap up balon’s storyline and maybe introduce euron. Still hopeful that we’ll get victarion next season.
400+
That must be a record for wotw, right?
Big Mac,
Hey, at least I know I wasn’t hallucinating now. And yes, that would have been cheating 😉
Josh,
Hibberd also adds “I’m not saying S5 won’t have any Iron Islands scenes, only that my understand is the big book 4 subplot isn’t a part of S5.”
I’m sure we will get Yara, and reasonably sure they will show Balon’s death.
Greenjones,
Yeah, it is definitely a record number. I know there was one with around 330 which is the highest I know of, but there definitely hasn’t been one over 400. The site does seem to have grown back up on people who gave up on WiC, and quite a number of new faces too. Here’s hoping that it continues to grow right up to Season 5 (and beyond)!
Yes, 400+ but a full 200 are posted by Jentario and Mine is the Furry
😉
a tad bit off topic, but is it confirmed we are getting the northern mountain clans? Want to see that Bolton blood speech on screen!
dayvJones,
No, but there was a rumor that the wildlings would replace them as part of Stannis’ army.
Nymeria Warrior Queen,
Your summation of the fact that Baleron needs to die to appease all is the best. Your Bang, Marry, Kill list is also the best, therefore I do not do one. Ah… Darkstar…
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0099610/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm
This guy SO looks like a Martell.. he’s Quentyn! He get’s roasted in episode 2 as a funny subplot! Common people, it’d be funny….
the sisters are soo cute
http://gallery.gameofthronesfan.org/displayimage.php?album=1087&pid=63673#top_display_media
http://www.gameofthronesfan.org/2014/10/24/better-look-at-tyrene-sands-weapons/
“Foil,” “secondary character” or whatever you wish to call a character like Stannis’. A minimum requirement of protagonists is that they be PoV: and even then, although all protagonists are POV characters at some point, not all POV characters need to be protagonists. (For example, Melisandre and Areo Hotah are POV characters, but they certainly are not protagonists.)
Moreover, there is no “shame” in being a secondary character that is a foil for one or more protagonists. Look at Ron and Hermione in Harry Potter: they were hugely important for plot and story by always getting Harry (figuratively and literally) where he needed to be for Rowling to tell her stories. However, they were secondary characters: they never are PoV, and the stories always completely concern Harry getting from Point A to Point B mentally.
Stannis is similar to Ron and Hermione in how he (Stannis) is used for Davos and (later) Jon. Davos, in particular, is so loyal to Stannis that he’s willing to be disloyal to Stannis. Davos also is capable of loving (worshipping, really!) the man so intently that he can hate Stannis’ actions that he (Davos) deems harmful.
As for Aegon, I think that it is going to be Dany’s thoughts that are most important. Martin revels in internal conflicts, and he’s going to present one in the same way that the other Lannisters did for Tyrion.
As for what Trystane is on the TV show, I am skeptical that he’s going to be some replacement for Aegon. For one thing, a replacement for Aegon would be interacting with the other Lannister brother, not Jaime! As it is Jaime in Dorne, I think that Trystane and the other Dornish are going to be replacements for the characters with whom Jaime deals with in Riverrun and surrounding areas in the books. At the same time, the viewers will learn (or be reminded) of the depth of Dorne’s hatred for House Lannister, which will serve as plot setup for Season 6. And, of course, this will be a big part of Cersei’s story line:
(I’m not sure exactly how this will be done: in part, the details of Jaime’s plot line in Crows entirely elude me just now! For some reason, the specifics in that book just slide off of my brain….)
Wow! It makes me pretty happy to see this many comments–just the fact that the GoT fanbase can have these sort of conversations (in all of its “getting OT” glory) is pretty cool.
Lady Wolfsbane,
Oddly enough, when I clicked the imdb link, an ad for Constantine expanded to cover Boulton’s head shot in the form of a firey blaze haha.
Lady Nym,
Some more legit news.
It is irritating how cynical folks are being about the Snakes especially when Rosabelle Laurenti Sellers is such a sweetypie! JUST LOOK AT HER IN THIS PHOTO! https://twitter.com/kecahumo/status/524541548256444416
Greenjones,
And here. http://gallery.gameofthronesfan.org/displayimage.php?pid=63690&fullsize=1
The point being she’s disarmingly innocent-looking and real purty which, though she isn’t blonde, makes her a good Tyene.
Ok, on my second cock tail. What fun shall we have tonight?
I’m afraid they will add some weird sex scene between Jaime and one of the snakes like what they did between Mel and Stannis .
and is there a possibility that they could kill one of them this season since they have 3 of them plus Ellaria + what do you think they will say and do about the other five snakes ? of course they’r not gonna bring them all but they already said he has 8 ! I think we will have a scene with Ellaria and the other five snakes and they will show us that all of them are babes and children so they don’t have to bring them or involve them in the story later like Ellia and Sarella
So I’m trying to think of a unique yet fun way of proposing to Sue the Fury. Any suggestions?
I can’t wait until she becomes Mrs Sue the Furry.
Lady Nym,
No, not with Jaime. Of them only Tyene will strip (and only once).
If they were to transfer AFFC Riverlands events to s5 Dorne they could have someone proposition Jaime as Pia did and him turn her down gently.
Keisha looks more… Obara-ish in those photos than I’ve seen in other photos.
Jessica looks almost exactly like how I pictured Nymeria.
Rosabell, as mentioned, is perfect for Tyene, as she looks so freakin’ cute and innocent.
I look forward to see them onscreen. Hopefully the Unsullied will like them too.
The Greyjoy sigil looks like a cock and balls.
really !! *_* strange ! I thought they will have lots of nude- sex scenes just like their father , you know how it’s in the show they never miss a chance (:
Lady Nym,
Got to say that I love the picture of Rosabell casually flipping Keisha off (Whatever did she say?) Their sisterly bond seems to be well-established.
Still fail to see why people lose their shit over anything related to the Sand Snakes?! Sure they’re very pleasant girls but a picture of them sat together does nothing to allay my fears that their characters have nothing more to them than being girls with weapons. Get a horrible ‘Sucker Punch’ feeling about them, that they’re going to go for style over substance (as the awful Zack Snyder always does).
TheTouchOfFrost,
Seriously. I don’t see why they couldn’t just have Arriane and 2 sand snakes. I seriously hope the sand snakes become intersting pieces of the show once they reach Kingslanding. I’ll give the actresses a chance before I crap on the storyline though.
Furry,
Kidnap her, wildling style.
FMK Fandom edition:
Fuck Furry
Marry Cumsprite
Kill Strider
Jeb,
We can get to 500 if we keep talking about sex.
Mine is the Furry,
You’re frisky tonight…
Turncloak,
Oh yeah. No disrespect to the actresses. Sure they’re great but they need something to work with and if they’re 2D in the books then I’m not sure the show adaption’s going to have much joy either.
No offense intended, but that’s horsepucky. And just one opinion.
I think Game of Thrones was better than ever last year, and that the quality of season four was the best of the four years.
A quick “I think” would have really helped your statement above. Just saying.
Wimsey,
Don’t compare those shit Harry Potter adaptations to this amazing adaptation
It appears to me that the character that’s going to take on much of Arianne’s actions from the books is Ellaria. My guess is that the producers still wanted that character dynamic as a female who opposes Doran’s views until he lets her in on his plan.
They spent some time in S4 establishing Ellaria and her connection to Oberyn. Why bother introducing a brand new character when you’ve got a ready-made Dornish lady with much of the same motivations as Arianne at your disposal? Better that then to let her rot in King’s Landing doing nothing as she does in the books.
She’s not Doran’s daughter and the heir but she’s still has a very close connection and just as Arianne, would be looking for some kind of action to be taken in retaliation. It’s something the audience would understand very clearly given what we’ve seen of her witnessing Oberyn’s horrible death. She also has a clearer line to interact with the Stonesnakes (even moreso with them making one of them her daughter).
The leaked footage they showed from late in the season with Jaime sitting down with Doran to presumably have him discuss his future plans has Ellaria front and centre as well. I imagine she’ll have a very similar character arc as Arianne does.
I’m not sure why this hasn’t been deduced to this point. I think it’s pretty clear and probably the best explanation as to why they didn’t bother casting Arianne. Like many of the adaptation decisions, they decided to use a pre-existing character that the audience was already familiar with as opposed to introducing someone brand new into the mix.
TheTouchOfFrost,
I think Ellaria is replacing Arianne, at least as being the main female Dornish character. I’m actually not that worried about the Sand Snakes being nothing more than cute chicks with weapons, although that is basically what Obara and Nymeria are in the books, except Obara isn’t hot.
Edit: King Tommen beat me to the Ellaria/Arianne comparison.
Hmmm, any sex that results in the Smoke Monster that Eats Your Brother probably should look a bit weird…..
🙂
King Tommen,
I wish they would have cast Arianne last season and have her travel to KL with Oberyn and Ellaria. I still don’t like Doran only having one child on the show. It makes little sense that he wouldn’t have any spare heirs.
And while we didn’t see all that much of her in season four, the actress who plays Ellaria, Indira Varma, has done some great work in the past (she was in the first season of Torchwood, and played Kevin McKidd’s tormented wife in the first season of Rome). It’d be a shame to waste such a talented actress with a few weepy oh-my-poor-Oberons.
Lady Nym,
They didn’t add the Stannis-Mel sex scene. That happened in the books too, but neither were POV characters.
The comparison is for contrast and, well, comparison. Now, I agree that the Harry Potter adaptations had problems: the first two in particular were (to use my analogy from above) a fish tossed onto land and left to rot. However, and this is key, the things that were wrong with the adaptations were not the things about which the Harry Potter fans complained. Indeed, the opposite was true: the HP movies (especially the first two) lost the forest for the trees by failing to tell any story, while fans complained about all the trees that were missing!
(That written, Prisoner was an excellent adaptation, and Order represents one of the best adaptations in terms of how well they got a very poorly written book into a relatively coherent movie.)
Ultimately, my point is: do NOT make the mistake of the early Harry Potter films! You have to know what’s critical to the story, and what’s just another Quidditch match….
Wimsey,
As an aside, ever notice that no official Westerosi leader has a PoV? The one actual leader who was a PoV (Ned) was discarded quite quickly in the ASoI&F tale. The two PoVs who may become true leaders in the tale (Jon & Dany) are in very precarious, cliff-hanger survival situations that may compromise their true leadership possibilities. All the other PoVs are supporting roles (Davos, Sansa, Hotah, Selmy, Vic), independent (Arya, Jaime, Brienne), or crazy (Cersei, Mel).
From a storytelling standpoint, Ned couldn’t live because he had all the answers to the big questions. 🙂 The other PoVs must maintain a keen insight regarding info dispersed by the leaders and adapt to their decisions in order to grow with their storyline, to include conflicts with their non-PoV counterparts/leaders. Dubious balance indeed, especially if they are aiming high for themselves.
Dorne as a replacement for Riverrun? Ok. Let’s see how this evolves, especially with a possible fAegon in the mix. I am a skeptic. One positive is that it will continue to support serious speculation for many moons. Although, like the Yara storyline anticipation for S4, our speculation may actually supersede the screenwriter’s ambitions. I’m treading water cautiously now, especially after this thread.
The show was more faithful to the first 3 books because the first 3 books were high quality material and stuck to the core characters. The latter 2 books was lackluster material that was dragged out to a tremendous degree and lacked any climax for most of the characters. It is perfectly reasonable to expect that they are going to stray more from the book material at this point.
I think anything anyone says here is just, like, their own opinion, man.
I think the quality of the show’s seasons from best to worst is: S3, S2, S1, S4.
I think the ironborn stories from the books are my favorite but I’ve come to terms w/ them getting shat on or outright ignored on the show. I’m happy if I get to hear Doltrice narate another Damphair pov on the TWOW audiobook.
Ironborn have one of the coolest musical themes on the show–wish I got to hear it for more than a few seconds.
If HBO really are only going 7 seasons it’s endgame time after S5 and only very brief parts or very essential new characters will make it on TV.
The books will end very differently in their own time.
Cameryn,
Same here. Season 4 didn’t have one clunker of an episode (its weakest episode was the result of one really badly done scene), and the actual process of adapting has become more seamless and assured.
King Tommen,
Really nicely stated. And it could even entail the same kind of conclusion – a conversation where Doran’s plans become clearer, first to Ellaria, later to the Snakes. Ellaria really does recede as a character in AFfC and ADwD, but instead the possibility of having Indira Varma – so great on Luther’s first season – with more to do (and looking as gorgeous as she does, holy moly) is important. Making her Tyene’s mom – as well as, presumably, the other 5 – is a mild alteration but also strengthens the relationships. I’m super excited for it, and I think the Snakes will be great too, especially if Obara is also invested with some of Arianne’s somewhat wistful nature, and because KCH carries herself with such grace already.
I get this too, however. I didn’t get why they don’t even allude to the idea of Davos having several kids, not just one; medieval societies like this always had big families.
Just please mention Euron in Season 5 or at least cast him in 6 GOT DAMMIT! What a waste of a total bad ass if he’s not cast! If there truly are only 7 seasons they have to wrap this thing up quickly…I just hope it’s not at the expense of Euron! The fact Euron is in the HBO Greyjoy family tree leaves me hopeful!
Everything is critical?…. And d&d are the quidditch match?… so confused.
I am SO disappointed that there will be no Iron Islands plotline shown!!!!!!!! Perhaps the happenings in the Iron Islands *will not* have a bearing on the future plotlines of GoT, but, for heaven’s sake, think about how amazing the Iron Islands visuals were for S2! The Drowned God deserves a plotline, no matter where everything else goes! Seriously, at least of the few players from there deserve a place on the show – and truly, the kingsmoot does. WTF?
Un0,
#NOONEUNDERSTAAAANDS!!!
Mine is the Furry,
How is the hangover?
Kill: Theon cuz… well, he seems better off dead.
Marry: Trystane (following your Olena loaded theory)
Bang: Ramsay; the man looks like he knows what to do and when… As long as he doesn’t kil me after.
Hell, why not shoot for 500 comments!
Forgot this earlier…
Marry: Dany
Bang: Myranda
Kill: Shae (I know Tyrion already did it, but I will happily do it again)
Greenjones,
Find an article that has an insider claiming that Selmy has been compromised or no Manderly and we’ll send this thing to da moon! (servers willing)
Euron’s Blue Lips,
Really? Season 2 is your 2nd favorite season? They cut weasel soup and gimped the house of the undying. If it weren’t for Stannis the Mannis being Mannisy they would be lucky to get a season 3 :p
I’m done 🙁
King Tommen,
Damn I think your right. Ellaria will be used to replace Arianne. I still think try could have kept both though. Keep Ellaria’s book reaction to Oberyn’s death (she doesn’t want revenge, she just wants an end to all of the violence). However, it looks like show Ellario will want justice
Pj,
Thanks for asking. The only cure for a bad hangover is more bourbon.
Right now it’s equal parts Makers Mark and equal parts Amaretto with ice.
Is that a proposition?
Mine is the Furry,
Damn! Well… that calls for another one of your drunk questions: GO!
(Lets hit 500 comments)
tyjon,
That you fail to notice any nuances and depth in the Greyjoy characters is more on you than on the books, if we’re honest. Especially if we compare them not to the Lannisters or the Starks, but to the bloody Martells (which are great, their own way).
Anyway, kind of tired of coming here with my “defend an Ironman” comments, but you people beat me to it 🙂
Wimsey,
Or, you know, they could just feel like giving Dany virtually a free pass to land on Westeros, with less factions to contend with, instead of wrapping their heads around making it work with Griffs and Greyjoys.
The comparison to the HP movies doesn’t seem too accurate to me because it’s a different medium. Also, did anyone in the HP production team ever stated something along the lines of “the movies are their own thing and the books another”, like we’ve had with GoT?
Ok. Here goes.
Top 5 hottest GoT actors and Top 5 hottest actresses (any season)
Actors
Jorah
Tyrion
Jaime
Benjen
Mero
Actresses
Doreah
Missandi
Mel
Sansa
Ros
Yes. Season 2. The amount of Ironborn stuff and the Kingslanding plotting pleased me mightily. Alfie Allen & Peter Dink were co-mvps. I though all around the acting & writing was really strong that year. Plus we got the intro of the whole Dragonstone cast/plot.
I think in season 4 the writing was generally poorer on the macro & micro level. & the acting was not stellar. Jon Snow actor is better. Imp had a couple stand out scenes. Oberyn was great but brief and gone. The Tywin privy scene was rushed and (how does this even happen!?) unemotional, but we did get a 14 min. diatribe between Tyrion&Jaime acting out mental retardation and bug squishing. Deep.
& if they wanted to do only a couple scenes to keep the Ironborn present they could. Just two. Show Balon xxxxx b/c why the heck waste show it? & then have the Kingsmoot.
The Kingsmoot could take 10 min of sceentime. Same as the Dragonstone intro, Oberyns intro, BwB intro, etc.
That’s it. One Kingsmoot scene, intro nuncles and the horn, then leave them offscreen and pick up in season 6. I think they are either out altogether or are “the new cast’ of S6. Or only Euron makes it as a rare new character intro’d in last 2 seasons.
Maybe I forgot about Mel and Stannis / but I know when I said Jaime and the Sand snakes most of you started to laugh and said no waaaay like I did when my friend first told be but how many things we thought they could never do and they suprised us and did ??! I don’t know what I’ll do if they did this thing to Jaime ): I’ll leap from a window 🙂
Mine is the Furry,
Actors
Ned Stark
Gendry (his last season)
Jorah
Daario (the new more manly one)
Ramsey (The shirtless scene? SOLD!)
Actresses
Cersei
Missandi
Sansa
Ros
Arya (Growing up to be a weird little alluring mix that one)
Mine is the Furry,
Men:
Jaime
Jorah
Jon
Tyrion
Jaqen
Ladies:
Melisandre
Margaery
Myranda
Ros
Missandei
Pj,
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Ned was my sixth choice, but only because he’s Boromir and could have kicked the shit out of Strider.
Ooh Myranda. Forgot about that ass. Damn. Now I’m in a quandary.
If anyone is getting it on with a Sandsnake, it’s Bronn. He has a semi-flirty scene with one of them in the script that’s already been leaked.
I’d put the chances of either Jaime or Bronn getting it on with any of them at close to zero but if they do go that way, it’ll be Bronn, not Jaime that gets his tip wet.
Euron’s Blue Lips,
The writing was stronger than any season so far, IMO. Two Swords and Mockingbird were particularly great. The Hound-Arya Inn scene was completely original dialogue, and arguably the best the show has done. Season 2 was the weakest overall season, with Theon,Dragonstone, and KL being strong, but featured way too much Robb and Talisa, while completely fucking up Jon and Dany’s storylines.
My ranking: Season 1 > Season 4 > Season 3 > Season 2
King Tommen,
Tyene and Bronn will go no further than that scene (and I’m glad of that ’cause that age difference is frightening).
Mine is the Furry,
Ladies (first):
Missandei*
Melisandre*
Sansa
Dany
Cersei
*I could write a thesis (and Pycelle would likely call it “a ponderous tome”) on these two. They are PERFECTION.
Gentlemen (afterwards):
Jaime
Roose
Tywin
Stannis
Davos
Mine is the Furry,
One does not just leave Sean Bean out! Boromir? 006? Hell, the King in that crappy Snow White movie? (Yup, I saw it SPOILER: He’s on screen like 16 minutes)
I also forgot Jaqen so Jorah is gonna have to go!
Another question GO!
Hodor’s Bastard,
Holy shit the comments exploded…
Just wanted to say that I agree that BB is an inreresting, smaller scale version Of the problems GoT will face soon. And I really oversimplified the issue of introducing new characters in my comparison of BB to Game of Thrones. There are plenty of interesting ways to introduce characters in satisfying ways, though I would be skeptical with any of the characters in FeastDance, since the abrupt importance of dozens of Dornish characters, three Greyjoy uncles, and the Griffs are examples of terrible introductions, and I hope the show is a bit more careful than GRRM was with handling the third act of the series.
Mine is the Furry,
I just checked this after a day and holy shit the comment section went off haha. I’m going to join in this game though.
Guys:
Jon
Daario (Michiel Huisman, I was not into Ed Skrein haha)
Oberyn
Gendry
Robb
**Jaime is a very close sixth.
Girls:
Margaery
Dany
Sansa
Missandei
Cersei
Euron’s Blue Lips,
Ratings and reviews are both getting better and better.
D&D aren’t as good writers as GRRM- well, the quality of their writing isn’t as good, but I’d argue that if D&D took the same “I’vs got no deadline and I can write as many fucking books as I want, fuck this- let’s add a whole nother storyline right now!” approach, it’s make them considerably worse writers. I mean, GRRM delivers good books don’t get me wrong, but I just know that if I turned in a paper in MY job 5 years late and not even finish what I planned to, it wouldn’t matter how good it is. Also, some people really liked the beetle scene.
Turncloak,
IGN is always so late on news that I expect this refers to the a Daznak Pit
I liked the beetle scene. There are so many ways it can be interpreted. I like how, in the end, neither of them have an answer.
Dolorous Ned,
He might be the Pit Announcer. The fact that he’s a voice actor kind of helps that, no?
Big Mac,
Which was the point of the scene. I liked it too, it gave Tyrion a Rust Cohle quality (if I may invoke another of 2014’s great shows). I think people’s main gripe is that it delayed the Trial by Combat scene but that was, again, the point of the scene. The moment where the bell rings leading into Jaime’s “good luck today” and Tyrion’s walking out with the epic music playing needed a scene to lead up to it for it to work.
Dolan,
Is that because I have a penis?
Greenjones,
Yes, she is definitely not a Kill.
Will try my best to help keep this juggernaut rolling!
Looking at it, pretty much all the major players have been cast/merged already (if we’re going with Ellaria = Arianne) with only Aegon and Euron missing at this point. If the Trystane = Aegon theory turns into a thing and Euron is hinted at this season and introduced next then I will be relatively satisfied with all aspects of the book getting some attention in the show. The only other character that may need to be introduced is Howland Reed…although I’m subscribed to the train of thought that he’s the High Sparrow so we’re all good there.
Hottest guys (not really my thing but…)
Jaime
Jorah
Gendry
Gren
Ned
Ladies
Margaery
Cersei
Ygritte
Edmures wife
Yara/Asha (Gemma Whelan is much cuter in the real world!)
jentario,
Now I’m transfixed with this picture again and regretting not putting her on the list Rygar suggested…Btw what do you mean a Kill?
Mine is the Furry,
Put the ring in your cockhole? It’d be pretty ballsy
Greenjones,
She’s either Bang or Marry
Pj,
Death brings THE BEST climax. Ask Robin Williams
Roslin Frey…that’s it!
Calm down, team Greyjoy! It’s perfectly possible that we’ll see at least Euron at some point – season 6 or 7 – though my guess is that GRRM primarily had the Greyjoy storyline in there to produce the Victarion fleet. As I mentioned above (for fans of The Wire) the Greeks were absent from season 3 and 4, only to return for season 5 (the last season). Something similar can occur with the Greyjoy plotline. And if you think a character cannot be effectively introduced so far along in the season, I give you Oberyn Martell as a counterpoint. His introduction was perfectly done, he made an enormous impact with just a few excellent scenes, and he became a fan favorite, despite being a completely new character that had nothing to do with the entirety of seasons 1-3.
Mine is the Furry,
Doreah
Myranda
Dany
Sansa
Varys
and I’m sure Tyene will get into this list next season
Jaime
Oberyn
Ramsay
Robb
Renly? Daario 1?
Ok so… apparently we’re going for 500?
Gentlemen:
Jaime (obviously)
Daario (season 4 only, I thought I made that clear in my Bang, Marry, Kill list)
then distantly behind those 2
Jorah
Robb
Petyr/Stannis (tie for the older man spot)
Ladies:
in no particular order
Melisandre/ Ros (tie for best boobs)
Ygritte/ Margaery (tie for fierceness)
Cersei
Sansa
Missandei
Jaime
Oberyn
Gendry
Daario (new)
Robb
Missandei
Miranda
Sansa
Dany
Margaery
This thread has now more than double the amount of posts (489) than the second in line (244). Holy shit, what’s happening here?! 😀
They should have cut the Dorne plot too … less filler the better.
Agreed – thread is full of hissy fit over-reaction – though to be fair I might be apoplectic too if Arya wasn’t in a whole season 😉
Abyss,
A) People love the Greyjoy nuncles more than I’d have guessed and B) Rygar and Jentario are being mischievous.
We’re almost at 500, then let’s hope there’s some news tomorrow!
Are we still doing the bang, marry, kill one? Cause I am gonna do that
Marry: Tywin (not sure he will love me as he loved Joanna, but whatever)
Bang: Ramsay
Kill: Ramsay
perfect
All I will say on the subject of D&D debate this time is, while they came up with some good original/half original stuff, I watched the show with Unsullied many times and almost all moments they didn’t like/thought made no sense were show’s inventions
As opposed to the rest of the time?
As long as its good news. “I like not this news! Bring me some other news!”
5 more
I couldn´t agree more.
Dorne and Ironborn plots are shameless filler.
I think it’s entirely possible to introduce the Greyjoy storyline in S6. If a Greyjoy has to be near Meereen for the battle, which most likely will be S06E09 (as usual by Neil Marshall), they can do the Kingsmoot and other stuff from E01 to E08. It won’t be in every episode of course, but 5 or 6 of them is enough to show all that is needed. Balon dies in E01 or E02, Kingsmoot in E03 or E04, some other stuff reminding the audience what the Ironborn are like for 2 more episodes and Euron arriving to Meereen in E09.
Ladies first: (not easy task to name only 5)
Missandei
Doreah
Ygritte
Myranda
Meera
Guys:
Dario II.
Jaquen
Jaime
Oberyn
Robb
Hoyti_Von_Totiy,
No offence (truly), but every time someone mentions the term “filler” in the context of GoT I can help but think that they do not know what it actually means…
500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now PLEASE some more news.
EDIT: Having surfed twitter using “game of thrones filming”, “game of thrones osuna”, “game of thrones sevilla” and even “game of thrones Belfast” as searches and finding nothing, I think this thread might just have to shoot for 600 comments…
Haven’t gotten to read them all yet, but…500 comments!?! Way to go, gang!!!
#Gimmetheleech
Yeah I don’t get it too. Lots of book readers here who seem to have enjoyed the sand snakes and the Dorne stuff in affc. Months after they were announced, the fact that so many people are ok with this is still baffling to me. They’re struggling to adapt a story that has too many “minor” characters and sideplots. They can’t put everything in. And yet they chose (yes, it was a choice) to cast 4 or 5 sand snakes AND aero hotah AND trystane martell.
Hey book readers, do you remember what these characters actually do in the books ? That’s right, nothing interesting or worth remembering. Meanwhile, characters that matters like, the Gryffs, are gone, LSH is gone, the Greyjoy bros are gone. Hurray for good adapatation choices ! Nice job D&D
the other guy,
Let me repeat the old mantra about the show not being the books and hasty assumptions before having seen one bit of the new season…
Jeb,
Some prediction this tuurned out to be. It has been too quiet in terms of recent news..
the other guy,
May I ask how you know which characters are important, and which are not. Also they are pretty much rewriting the Dorne plot so your critcism of that isn’t entorely valid.
I would’ve preferred to see Iron Islands plot and to see Dorne disappear, because Dorne is a pointless waste of time. Let’s hope D&D will do something interesting with it.
Alex Greyjoy,
I thought you were me
Gutted about this news. Even if it was pretty obvious already. The Greyjoys have been sorely neglected in this show and idk why. Besides the Theon arc (which has been great), Asha has been sold short and the bizarre delay in some important happenings just don’t make sense at all.
I’m looking forward to Season 5. But I’m looking forward to getting further on in my latest re-read more, where I can enjoy all the scenes that might not make it. *sigh*
I’d hope for Season 6, but with this (seemingly) stubborn march toward a seven season ending, I fear the weight of The Winds (and all the awesomeness that will be packed within) will swallow the Iron Islands whole.
Ladies and gentleman, I popped thee question and Sue the Fury said…..
Nothing. She hasn’t made a peep. Do I poke her? That’s poke, not pork Jentario. Actually, that’s same same.
the other guy,
Wow…you managed to insult GRRM and D&D in one fell swoop. I find it hard to believe that GRRM would create a throwaway storyline (although Quentyn comes close). All the storylines are there for a purpose. Given the history of Dorne and their complex Targ relations, they especially matter to the endgame. I must believe that D&D selected from book 4/5 storylines for economic/simplicity reasons and not because they are discarding throwaway storylines. I refuse to believe that they are spoiling the future books for us. For better or worse, they are simply choosing a feasibly adaptable path to follow…..although I will weep for MIA queenmaker Arianne and the Griffs.
I do like the Ellaria-Arianne amalgamation possibilities that some have speculated. She may not be the passive mourner we know from AFfC.
In my opinion the show runners should have grabbed a pair and just cut out all the subplot. I mean Victarion is just a glorified ship delivery guy, and Arianne still has no idea her father is pretty much finding a way to make her not the heir to dorne anymore. I would love to see Cerseis downfall into madness and an actual trial (Cleganebowl) by the finale. I would also like to see closure to the Roose/Ramsay vs Stannis, Sansa/Littlefinger, Dany/Tyrion and the circlejerk in essos but most important Jon and Arya really need to go out with a bang. If they want little sideplots just show Arya killing fodder salesman #1 or 2, or some Rickon/Osha scenes.
jentario,
Too soon Dude, too soon…
QUESTION: They can’t just eliminate a whole plot from the tv show without it affecting the end game of the books, GRR Martin works with the producers so I assume they are only cutting the Greyjoy plot from this season in order to let other stories shape up better. So naturally my question is: WHERE IS GENDRY?
There are no throwaway storylines in the books. All of them are important in moving the plot forward. If you can’t see that, it is a you problem, not a GRRM problem.
Agreed but it’s also far too late for David Carradine jokes….
As a fantasy show, GoT is groundbreaking and amazing. As an adaptation, it has gone from spot on to terrible. I can already tell I am not gonna enjoy most episodes of this season on my first viewing, but will appreciate them more on subsequent viewings. I despise D and D with a passion and hope they get farted on by a Rhino.
Mine is the Furry,
LOL You must have been more drunk that you thought last night! You put Boromir kicking the shit outta Strider.
Tsk, tsk… We don’t need to revisit that, do we, Ry?
GeekFurious,
Actually, it is clearly YOUR problem. You’re the one crying about it.
The Greyjoys were given more screen time in the show than the books. How have they been neglected?
Gravemaster,
You think they’d split then AFfC & ADwD then, just differently than Martin did? Greyjoys hit sixth season in force with Meereen extended all the way to ep 9?
I’m hoping for the Meereen Battle in S6 too but it is difficult for me to imagine it being pushed all the way to the end. They seem to do Daznak’s Pit at the end of season 5, so from there I’d think 2-3 eps afterwards is enough to set up that fight (considering the WoW Tryion released chapter is mid fight).
As for a Greyjoy being around Slaver’s Bay at the time, I think Daario’s capture of exactly 75 ships (event not in the books) will replace Vic’s.
That all depends upon whether or not Peter Jackson has removed himself from the Rhinos anus first.
Let’s not be so pessimistic about this- D&D are huge fans of the books and have done a great job overall so far, let’s not assume the worst and reserve judgement for when season 5 airs. I am personally not a fan of the opinion that Dorne is terrible as a complaint that the Iron Islands subplot is cut. For a few reasons. 1- I enjoyed the Dornish material in AFFC very much so that’s just my opinion. 2- Even if Dorne haters got their wish and Dorne was excluded, this does not guarantee Iron Islands are back. 3- I think many people believe the Dornish events have more relevance for the endgame (ship delivery to Meereen can be achieved a different way if this is important). The material we’ve seen from the Dorne casting and sets makes me think it is going to look great on-screen and there is great hope the characters who are left will at least be portrayed well (Trystane/Myrcella I have no clue but at least Doran and the Sand Snakes should be awesome given the choice of casting, Alexander Siddig for the win!).
I think the thing that is bothering me the most right now is fAegon. I just don’t know what to think about him- is he really who he and JonCon think he is? Is he going to be just killed off quickly now that he has landed in Westeros? Is he just a distraction in the end? What will happen with Arianne- will she actually meet and join with him or are we going to have some sort of near miss or disastrous dramatic death for both? If D&D know the answers to these and we don’t, maybe that’s part of the reason they made the choices they did. Perhaps making Trystane the heir is not so stupid. Same goes for the Iron Islanders, just get Dany the ships and the horn (if it’s relevant) through someone else if the actual Uncles are not important, why include all that material when you’re massively short on time and need things to cut?
So I guess I think we should reserve judgement, until the books are finished we will never truly know how devastating or smart their cuts to Season 5 have been.
Young Dragon,
Yes, 3 of them. And ofc the 50 strongest warriors who were scared of a handful of dogs.
Perhaps I should have said ‘misrepresented’.
So which characters will be dead by the end of S5? This is a lot harder to predict than in previous seasons just because of the uncertainty of the endpoints and the existence of some TWoW material.
Here’s the most probable:
Meryn Trant
Pycelle
Balon
Jon (sort of)
More shots in the dark:
Mace Tyrell
Roose
Mance
Bronn
Myrcella
Grey Worm
Jorah
Kevan
Aemon
Thorne
Olenna
Obviously most in the “shot in the dark” category won’t die but it’s probable that at least a couple of them do.
I think comparing the “death list” from here and comparing it to S3 and S4 shows you just how much Martin used AFFC/ADwD as the dreaded middle chapters with very little in the way of climatic action and a whole lot of delayed gratification. No wonder D&D described the construction of S5 as a nightmare.
Ser Lurk of House Turnip,
Yes, that was the only ironborn scene I disliked, but I loved them in season 2. They were one of the reasons that season is my second favorite.
Would we all agree that if they wanted to set up next season for the introduction of Euron then it could be done quite easily with subtle mentions of things relating to him and Balon’s death? To be honest, they could even leave his debut until the Siege of Mereen if they wanted him to replace Vic in that capacity. Just lots of references from other characters to Balon mysteriously dying and Euron taking over, a figure with an eye patch being seen in various places, raids on the Reach, a ship with a red hull (why it’s red) crewed by mutes who’ve had their tongues pulled out, etc , etc. There are enough locations now for characters to talk about Euron and build up interest/intrigue in him before he finally debuts. Very simple yet very effective considering they built for Stannis very well with barely two mentions of him. Well, for me anyway. As soon as I heard his name and about his claim to the throne that was enough for me to start wondering who this guy was!
King Tommen,
I’d go with;
Definites =
Meryn Trant
Janos Slynt
Possibilities =
Bronn
Greyworm
Obara
Aemon
Shireen
Loras
Olyver (here’s hoping!)
The rest I think should make it to the next season at least.
Strider,
Well, they combined two battles at the Wall and pushed them back to ep. 9 and it turned out really awesome. A full-episode battle can’t happen early in the season, because they will be still working on CGI stuff even when the season starts. 4×09 and 4×10 weren’t completed in April, when the first few episodes came out. And there’s dragons, so that’s a lot CGI work. I’m not saying it will be surely ep. 9. It may be 8 or 10, but that’s a huge and epic battle and I’m almost sure it will be a full-episode and directed by Marshall. As for what to do for Meereen for 8 episodes, they will think of something like they did with the Wall. Barristan and can do preparations for the battle, train people and if they include the locusts, he can be all Sherlock Holmes solving who tried to poison Dany.
Dany already has a fleet, so if Victarion’s only purpose is to provide her a fleet in the books, that might be out. But if there really needs to be a Greyjoy, at least Euron might be in. Maybe D&D haven’t figured out what they want to do with the ironborn plot, so they gave Dany a fleet just in case they cut them.
TheTouchOfFrost,
I think
Kevan and Pycelle r definite deaths if kevan appearsPlus whoever getsroasted by dragonThey will need to speed up a major characters death if they plan to cast greyjoys to not exceed the budget.King Tommen,
High Septon
Meryn Trant
Janos Slynt
Probable:
Pycelle
Kevan (if returning)
Balon (we need closure on his leech)
Possible:
Bronn
Podrick
Aemon
At most one Sand Snake
Whoever dies in the Battle of Winterfell
Gravemaster,
daario greyjoy,
I dunno, they offed a lot of people last season and they don’t have to break the bank to find a good actor for Euron. There’s plenty of talented actors who haven’t had their big break yet.
King Tommen,
I’m guessing about half of these are dead by the end of the season. Give or take.
Has anyone read GRRMs new ASOIAF book that came out today? (the world of ice and fire)
Is it worth a purchase ?
jentario,
Compare the S5 definites and probables to S3 deaths (Mormont, Robb, Cat, Talisa, Karstark, Orell, Craster, Kraznys etc) and S4 deaths (Tywin, Shae, Jojen, Joffrey, Locke, Rast, Styr, Ygritte, Grenn, Pyp, Oberyn, Lysa etc).
I would not go so far as to simply deaths=action, but it’s fairly telling that Martin wrote 2 massive volumes of his story after ASoS and he barely took any players off the chessboard and in fact, added a shit ton more that he has to juggle as the series winds down.
No wonder the show will almost assuredly kill off some characters who don’t buy it yet in the books just to propel the story forward. What a clusterf*ck.
Turncloak,
Today? I thought it was next Tuesday….at least that is when Amazon said it would be delivered. I always thought it was to be released on Oct 28. Of course it is worth a look and read, man! The artwork should be stunning.
I was hoping you only gave this advice to french MILF who were Nick Drake fans… So disappointed …
Oh and the same for Jent, guys, i assumed she was a he, don’t know why…
Turncloak,
I heard Cumsprite really doesn’t like it. Maybe he can chime in later.
Asha Karina,
It’s because of my penis
A little late to this particular party, but…
Men (in no particular order):
Jamie
Daario #2
The Titan’s Bastard
Oberyn
Doran
Women (in no particular order, either):
Cersei
Missandei
Dany
Ros
Can’t decide on a 5th
Well … Answering before reading all of the thread… My disease.
To make that post really enlightening, i have to add something really deep, really worldbuildinguesque, a gardener masterpiece :
Top 5 actors : Huisman Daario/ Beardy Jaime/ Jorah/ Tyrion/ Oberyn
Top 5 actresses : Ros/ Ellaria/ Missandei/ Mel/Shae
Lol. French Milf gets something better than just drink advice….
Hodor’s Bastard,
Angrygameofthronesfan has been bragging that he’s already read it so I thought it came out today. Maybe he just got early access
jentario,
Let’s hope not! R’hllor save us, the man thinks ADwD was a colon blockage and uses his book as doorstopper. I think he might be completely and utterly lost to ASoIaF fandom. (that won’t stop me from reading his review though LOL)
Turncloak,
Not only do I not purchase novelizations of popular HBO series, I also would not spend a dime on a freshman effort of fanfiction. The art is nice though. Check it out from the library when available and tear those pages out.
Cumsprite,
Have to agree. I’m slightly interested in the the prose, but why the fuck does George think we give a shit about the art. On his blog he keeps mentioning this “amazing” art. So what; If I wanted art I would buy a painting. All this does is increase the price, whicb is a very steep £30 on Amazon. If it was £5-£10 I would probably buy it, but I’m not interested otherwise, so I will wait until I get a chance to read it for free.
Jeb,
Interesting
Cumsprite,
My little sister has that book already for some reason. You are right there is some cool art in it but I am not buying it because this so called history book of ASOIAF has zero new information on the white walkers. I really don’t care about who married tywins uncle or how big of a penis bran the builder had.
SwagAhai Reborn,
Come on…who wouldn’t want to know some insightful revelations on how Shitmouth came to be associated with House Clegane or the masturbatory habits of Moon boy? However, I will not tolerate a list of all the optional ingredients for bowls of brown.
Actually, I would like to know why only the Targ sigil is on the cover? Hmmmmmmm….is GRRM perhaps a bit biased and showing his cards a bit? Or is the book simply concerning anecdotes of events and family histories during the Targ dynasty? We shall see…
I’ll gulp TWoI&F down just like everything else…
Honestly, it has some pretty pictures but all it is is a huge info dump on characters who died hundreds of years before the ones we actually cared about… And worst of all, if you buy it you’re directly paying Linda
Well shit, I think /r/asoiaf is leaking. Is complaining really all that nerds do well?
I’ve always said, and will say, that the show’s quality does not depend on it’s faithfulness to the source material.
People criticize D&D and blame them for everything. Honestly, get over yourself, salty nerds. Like you could have done any better, they’re working for HBO now on the most popular TV show in the world, while you’re jerking off in your parents house. If you’re not happy, then fuck off. What are you doing on a fansite dedicated to the show?
I’m interested in some of the historical info. it sounds like will be included, but you hit on the main reason I won’t be purchasing it. I’d known a bit about the Linda issues, but after reading through the link that was posted…what was it, last week, and looking more from there, I won’t be putting any of my money in that woman’s pocket. That doesn’t mean I won’t read someone else’s copy, or find it in a library, or sit down in a bookstore and read through it, but I won’t own it.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Well I think you will like it if you are that sort of person who likes backstories. I’m just going to check out the Dorne parts because my sister says there is some cool insight on house Dayne which I’m curious about.
Doubt we’re gonna make 600 here. People are flagging. Someone say something controversial!
SwagAhai Reborn,
Yes…House Dayne indeed! Perhaps a bit of insight on suicides and septas? 🙂
Something controversial!
Nymeria Warrior Queen,
Your joke deeply offends me on a personal level. I find it deeply controversial.
Ok let’s get to 600.
Here’s a spin on the Bang, Marry, Kill theme. Out of these three, who would you Bang, Marry, and Kill and WHY?
George RR Martin
Linda
Elio
Bang: Elio. A) he has bitch tits, so it’s a bit less homosexual. B) he’s had plenty of strapons up his ass from Linda so it should be easy peasy.
Marry: GRRM, on the condition that he tells me the end of ASoIaF and that he brushes his teeth at least once a day.
Kill: Linda, after she confesses to fucking Lancel, Osmund Kettleblack, and Moon Boy
TheTouchOfFrost,
Ok…during the Jaime & Cersei hook-up in the sept, I was hoping that Joff would fall on top of them so we could witness the first act of incestual necrophilia rape ever portrayed on television.
LukaNieto,
I found your response both profoundly offensive and profoundly controversial!
Mine is the Furry,
I wouldn’t bang any of them.
I’d marry GRRM, as long as there wasn’t a pre-nup required…or any banging, for that matter (I know, I know…I’m shallow).
Kill? I probably wouldn’t kill any of them, either. Elio has to put up with Linda which, if what I’ve read is any indication, is bound to be a fate worse than death. I want GRRM to finish the series, so I wouldn’t kill him. Linda wouldn’t be worth the jail time.
Some more pictures of the extras in Osuna. Nothing much but at least it’s something.
http://newzcard.com/event/qcd9F/esp-game-of-thrones-on-set-filming-in-spain-2014-10-24
Greenjones,
Thanks!
I love how much work and care seems to go into every aspect of this production. These are just extras, yet look how much care and attention to detail goes into their costumes and hair. It’s really impressive. It also reminds me why I didn’t understand all the complaining about the Sand Snakes costumes (as though the costumes we saw are what they’ll be wearing in all their scenes during their time on the show). If they’re going to put so much time and effort into how the extras look, they aren’t going to skimp on such featured characters.
Ready?
lol
Mine is the Furry,
This isn’t interesting. There is only one right answer.
Well I hope GRRM didn’t sign off on anything that would deviate from cannon. I do hope Elio & Linda did the ASOIAF verse justice with this…
Cumsprite,
I don’t think that many people getting the joke here. 😉 – And the ones that do get it are apparently dead anyway…
I’m not wearing any pants
I’d marry George,fuck Linda, and kill myself.
It appears merely the thought stunned almost everyone into silence.
Gravemaster,
They will never delay the battle of Meereen to late season 6 for the simple reason that Dany has already been away from Westeros far too long, there are excessive complaints about it, both for the books and the series, and delaying it that long is sheer absurdity. That means she doesn’t even head to Westeros until early season 7 (the likely final season) at the earliest. Even if this is how it goes down in the books (which I doubt), will D&D wait that long? I have a hard time seeing it.
Gravemaster,
You’re kind of forgetting that Daenerys’s TWOW storyline won’t just magically stop after the battle.
The Battle of Meereen is confirmed to happen quite early in TWOW —GRRM has said the book opens with two huge battles. So, if that’s the case and there really are only 7 seasons, what you are saying is you expect most of Daenerys’s TWOW material to fit in… 1 or 2 episodes? Or almost as ridiculous, cram her TWOW and ADOS material into season 7? That wouldn’t work at all, since by then it would have to be chronologically in line with what’s happening in Westeros. Also… why? Why delay the battle any longer?
I expect the Battle of Meeren to happen somewhere between episodes 2 and 5 of Season 6, depending on how much setup they are going for, and depending on whether we see anything post-Daznak’s Pit at Meereen in Season 5. If Season 6 has to deal with the coup and the whole setup, if could take a while. Maybe episode 10 of Season 5 will adapt that, or maybe it’ll be skipped or severely trimmed down. My personal stab in the dark would be episode 4, which gives more than enough time for setup and for whatever comes next, and also it parallels Daenerys’s big moments in the last two seasons —sacking Astapor and taking Meereen.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Dude… incest necro rape?! Interesting.
I was trying to think of what I was hoping for when watching season 4 which was controversial, besides waiting for Joffrey to die, and die he did! Maybe some weird sexual tension between Petyr and Sansa.. oh wait, mission accomplished. Petyr the pedo..
Quiddity,
Agreed! Battle of Meereen is either in season 5, or it’s cut, I’d imagine.
Hottest Guys:
Drogo
Jaime
Jory
Daario (Michiel Huisman)
Jorah
Gals:
Dany
Missandei
Cersei
Melisandre
Ros
FUCK D&D. they are screwing everything. first stoneheart now this? fuck you stupid fanboys
Mine is the Furry,
Let’s do this.
Marry: GRRM – because then I can nag him every day to finish TWoW, and it’ll just be part of the job description without being made to feel like I have unrealistic expectations.
Bang: Linda – because A) we can recreate, down to the smallest detail, key sexual passages in ASOIAF and I can enjoy getting berated if I get things wrong, B) the accent turns me on, and C) I subscribe to the “Naked Man” theory of “How I Met Your Mother,” in that in situations where you have nothing in common with the person and generally think they’re terrible, it’s best to just strip and see how it pans out.
Kill: Elio – There has never been anyone awesome named Elio, ever, so who cares.
Luka Nieto,
It would be nice indeed if those parallels worked out (someone recently suggested another cool parallel of having a leech victim per season, which I like as well).
I suspect the Meereen setup will be substantially simplified in some way. That’s not to say the adaptation won’t be successful, I’m sure it’ll be fine. However, I have a feeling that the tWoW plot points they’ll need to hit upon will take up enough of S6 to justify a streamlined battle setup. But D&D might already be thinking ahead on account of the probable
we’re gonna get this Spring.
I think we’ll get the Battle of Winterfell towards the end of this season (everyone seems to be in place) although it may be off screen or at least not on the scale of previous big battle (won’t take a whole episode like Blackwater or Castle Black) and the Siege of Mereen early-mid next season.
TheTouchOfFrost,
I think you’re right. We’ll get 10-20 minutes of the battle of Winterfell this season and around half an episode dedicated to the battle of Meereen (with or without the Yunkai involvement, the Slaver’s Bay arc still needs a climax).
Jaqen,
LOL!! this kid is a whiny little bitch fanboy
jentario,
The more I think about it ( depending on whether either of the Greyjoy uncles make it), I don’t think Yara is going to be going back to Pyke. She’ll either stay at Deepwood Motte and play a role in the North (like the books) or go over to Mereen as a proxy Victarion ( would kind of make sense as both her and Vic want to overthrow Euron) and play a part in the siege there. So much up in the air. It’s both worrying and fun to speculate.
Back to Meeren Spoilers: apparently the sons of the Harpy are in the bullring at the moment: https://twitter.com/JeyneWesterlin/status/526324011811479552
Cami,
Huh. Interesting…? Maybe the assassination attempt on Daenerys will be more knife-based than locust-based?
LukaNieto,
Could be… There is also smoke coming out of the plaza: http://instagram.com/p/unT8v7mKe4/
According to the same person who took the pic. She saw somebody with Great Masters clothes, and a bloody sword and mask.
TheTouchOfFrost,
I agree, Asha/Yara will stay in the North or possibly replace Victarion.
One question is, will she be proclaimed ruler of the Iron Islands or she and Theon have to battle it out, if they are told of their father’s death in the North? This would make either of them a more useful hostage to Stannis.
I also hope we will be seeing the Battle for Winterfell this season (good call it will be less than an episode long). I think Unsullied viewers are also curious what’s been going on with Winterfell- it’s one of the places they knew best, let’s check back in this season!
The more I think about it, the less faith I have that Manderly is going to happen 🙁 Perhaps the Blackfish or the Umbers can replace him as the leader of the Anti-Frey faction?
Also, guys we’re like 15 comments away from 600!!!!!
Cami,
Oh wow… maybe Dany is getting some revenge/ making a statement for all to see that the sons of the harpy are going down!
Jaime’s girl,
Hm, if Sons are being executed, wouldn’t they be unmasked?
OT:
No mind blowing news by any means, but apparently the first episode of Telltale’s GoT game is planed to premier before the year ends.
Luka Nieto,
True! I would think it would shame them further to unmask them! Are we sure these are actually sons of the harpy? The masks look like brazen beasts.
Seanzoz uploaded a new parody today, btw. – He might have slowed down a bit since season one, but the dude certainly has a lot of staying power. 😀
Respect the GreatJohn of Slumber. Except when he talks S3 of Boardwalk. Series finale tonight!!!!!!!
Only 10 more comments to 600.
Cami,
That’s it! Drogon on the loose!!!! They’ll probably get him on the screen in post production. Thanks Cami. You’re a doll 🙂
Abyss,
It’s a good one and I’m sure there’s a lot of us who get it 😉 WD would be proud.
Cami,
Smoke in the plaza !
I imagine they tried to shoot the scene with as much chronological order as possible, so yeah, closing the week on that is good signs of a truly epic scene !
Strider,
“Probably”? By any chance, was it remotely likely that they would bring in a real dragon? I’d like to see that! 😛
Arkash,
Why? The never shoot chronologically for the sake of it (nor for the sake of the actors.). If Drogon’s big moment is being shot last, there’s probably a production-related reason for it. Maybe they’ll destroy some props, who knows.
There’s a collection of pictures in Reddit of the actors with the extras and on the streets: http://imgur.com/a/t81ze
Mi favorite is the first one. The Dragon Queen stands out so much in that dress. There are other reasons too, of course.
Also, there’s Jorah on a bike.
Mine is the Furry,
Nooooo I don’t want it to end! Why only 8 episodes?! Damn you HBO…
And 5 more
Luka Nieto,
Emilia is such a cutie patutie 🙂
Luka Nieto,
Wow these photos are great, some I had seen before but some I hadn’t. It’s amazing how cool the entire cast is about posing with fans! I loved the ones of the couple on their wedding day! Emilia’s sunglasses are so stylish and Missandei is so cute! Obviously, Nikolaj looks amazing in every. single. photo. He’s just ridiculously good looking.
Nearly to 600!!!
Great to see how much time they’re spending in the Daznak Pit. They’ve been shooting there for 10 days I guess?
Luka Nieto,
The VFX for the Daznak’s Pit scene should be stunning. I bet they take until well after the season starts (maybe even into May 2015) to complete its integration. When I saw that massive green screen at Osuna, I smiled as wide as the Narrow Sea.
Those are really fun pics. Jorah on a bike! I could get lost in Nathalie’s hair.
Luka Nieto,
Still strange to see that Grey Worm and Barristan are not present at all for arguably the most important scene of that storyline.
EDIT: LOL 600’TH COMMENT??!! Impressive, WOTW!
It’s official. Mrs Sue is the Furry!
Luka Nieto,
I’ve used probably because I’m not sure when they actually start the whole Drogon CGI process. Do they wait until everything is filmed on location or do they start now? Seeing as it is a difficult and long process by all accounts. (I’m not knowledgeable about these things and I don’t pretend to be!)
But sure, maybe now we’ve discovered the Komodo Dragon and the Giant Squid, why not?! LOL #MythicalCreaturesFTW
Hodor’s Bastard,
I don’t know if that’s the case with you, but people seem to be a bit confused about what greenscreens are for. They are not necessary in any way to integrate a completely CGI element into the real world; that would make no sense. For example, the greenscreen at the bullring is probably being used for set extensions (many, many more seats above the existing ones, so that Daznak’s Pit looks enormous) —the dragon has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Strider,
The CGI studios should be working on the scene conceptually before shooting even starts, and I’m sure that’s the case here as well. Also, the visual effects department is on set to coordinate what’s being shot with whatever they are going to include digitally.
As for how much these things take, the CGI in “The Children”, the last episode of Season 4 (prominently, Stannis’s charge and the Whights outside the cave of the Three-eyed raven) was still being ironed out a couple weeks before the episode aired.
Dutch maester,
600 is easy, 1000 is the real challenge! Seriously though, we need some new information. They must be filming the North soon, so hopefully we get some news from that when it begins.
Luka Nieto,
Sure. I appreciate the clarification but I was cognitively associating the green screen with a whole bunch of special FX sequences needed for that scene.
Jeb,
Ask and you shall receive. Apparently they have just begun prepping stuff, but I imagine filming will start soon enough. Don’t fret.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Yeah, that’s why I opened with “I don’t know if this you as well.” 😉 Lots of people are under the misconception that the greenscreen has something to do with Drogon, so I wanted to clear it up.
Jaime’s girl,
I think her and Theon will be on pretty much the same page. She’s already lost the Kingsmoot so I think going to find Theon was perhaps part of a plan to move on the Iron Island Throne. Perhaps some sort of power share? Think Theon will get some sort of sense of belonging in the end after being an outcast all of his life. More interested to see what Euron has up his sleeve!
I think, for the first time, I’ll be watching this season with no idea of what is going to happen in the story. I don’t remember the events of the last two books. When everyone talks about subplots and this character and mo-zo-krazny and John Connaly and Gif? Griff? McGruff? I have no idea who they’re talking about.
Should certainly be interesting. I predict now that this season will be the most divisive for fans of the book.
II’m late to the party but wow, over 600 comments that’s impressive!
I can’t say I’ll miss the Greyjoy uncles and the kingsmot but I would like to see some closure on that third leech.
And since I really enjoyed her chapters in aDwD I hope some of it makes it into the show.
On a completely different note, I can`t wait to hear what Ramin Djawadi comes up with for our friends in Dorne and for the Daznak’s pit.
If there’s one thing to take away from these pictures, it’s that Nathalie Emmanuel represents a public health hazard: a definite increase in traffic accidents, heart palpitations, and the like whenever she’s on the scene.
agustin,
If she bent the knee then she’d be a complete sell out to the Ironborn ethos. It’s bad enough Balon did after taking on the rest of Westeros! This is why Euron and to a lesser extent Victarion are needed. They are complete loose cannons with no allegiance to anyone. I don’t feel as though the Ironborn culture has been very well represented since the second season. The Ironborn are finished with the north, only Theon and Yara/Asha are still up there and it wasa stupid move by Balon in the first place as he was never going to be able to hold the whole region. This is another reason why the switch to Euron was a good one. New leader, new plan and this guy has his sights set on nowhere but the top!
Just because you can’t think of a way to do it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. I’m pretty sure with an extra season the producers, smart as they are, would have found a way to fit in the ironborn storyline
Sad to see no Sandsnake love from the people of Seville, better correct that. Highlight of my recent trip.
https://martinregan.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/dsc_0303_1.jpg
https://martinregan.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/dsc_0305_1.jpg
To expand on my analogy from above, going from book to enactment is trying to make a T. rex out of a shark. Doing it for a movie is like trying to make a tyrannosaurid adapted to forests whereas doing it for a TV series is like trying to make a tyrannosaurid adapted to plains. Sure, there are a few small differences that will optimize things: but the primary requisite differences are the same.
The big reason for that is the fundamental difference in mediums: books (or spoken stories) can only tell: they are incapable of showing. TV and movies, on the other hand, work best when following the rule: show, don’t tell. Indeed, one of the biggest things for which critics hammer movies is too much talking about things that could have been enacted. (The “sexposition” that HBO used first for Sopranos and subsequently for shows like Thrones has been an innovative way to get more speech onto screen; but even that has limits.)
As for the comparisons with HP, they actually are very close. Harry Potter films were about 2.5 hours long: and that meant 2.5 hours per protagonist. (HP was a single protagonist story, after all!) Basically, the main protagonists get about 1.5 hours a book from the Thrones series. In both cases, the stories are told completely through the protagonists, so the general constraints are similar.
Repeatedly, and to no avail. Rowling herself chimed in on that on several occasions, particularly after she offended fans by pointing out that Prisoner came the closest to getting the story right despite having the biggest alterations from the book. (There was a rumor prior to Prisoner that after the “meh” critical and audience receptions to the first two films, Rowling pointed at the Lord of the Rings films and said “do that with my books.” It might be fanciful, but that’s basically what happened!)
This really came up for the last film(s), where Rowling was credited as an executive producer and script writer or editor. The HP fans assumed that she did this to make sure that they “got it right”: i.e., that the movie wouldn’t change anything from the books. Instead, the films were heavily adapted just like all of the ones were after the first two. Of course, the real problem was that so many HP fans didn’t understand the difference between story, plot and narrative, so this all fell on deaf ears! Ludo Bagman, SPEW, Quidditch, etc., all were VERY important to the story, right?!?!?
Probably not, or at least not entirely. B&W do seem enamored by the Martin’s stories, and those all hinge on internal conflict. Deed X is both right/wrong, etc. The Griffs offer a great potential for this because
B&W have revelled in those sorts of moral dilemmas (which are what drive Martin’s stories) throughout the series, and I cannot see them passing up one this juicy.
Now, I write “entirely” because I do think that it’s very possible that the Ironborn won’t be that important to this. They really seem like a plot foil that is comparable to Merry Brandybuck having a Numenorean blade that can undo the Witch-King. Now, Tolkien fans screamed that nobody could understand how the Witch King died in the film because this wasn’t explained: but they were lying to themselves; nobody had any problem understanding what Eowyn’s sword through the WK’s head meant.
The other thing to keep in mind (and that B&W have been setting up) is that Martin loves triangles. The battle for Westeros is Targaryean vs. Lannister vs. Baratheon. The battle for the World is R’Hllor vs. the Old Gods vs. the Others. The dragon has three heads: Dany and (likely):
. There are three contestants for ruling House Stark who will all think the other two to be dead or traitor: Sansa, Arya (who I am betting winds up working with Dany) and Bran (who is headed to be working with Stannis). Dorne looks like it will be key to at least one of those; I don’t see the Ironborn being anything other than a tool along the way.
Except that Asha/Yara does think that in the books: sometimes you bend the knee for now to rise again later. Also, there is some serious dynamic development happening with Asha/Yara late in Dragons:
(I don’t expect this to come up in the show because, well, I doubt that it is going to be too important in the overall story.)
Possibly. However, the thing that we fans have to keep in mind is that what divides us passes unnoticed by the general readership and general viewership. We worry about trees; they worry about forests.
Wimsey,
I worry about the pine beetles and ticks on the trees in the forests.
Strider,
WD? Who is that? – Seriously, I thought long and hard about it and I have absolutely no idea…
Looking forward to it!! And I liked Season 3 – just not the hammy Bobby Cannavale.
Wimsey,
That’s why I don’t think she’s going to walk into a queenship of the Iron Islands. There needs to be some conflict there with her and Euron with the clashing of their theologies. Not to mention the whole Ironborn culture is not going to change because she has. I think that it gives her more empathy towards Theon though in seeing why he enjoyed living in the north.
Wimsey,
I see you’ve already explained the HP movies vs books issue HAHA. It’s not unique to ASoIaF vs GoT or LOTR either.
Abyss,
I don’t suppose you’d know the gentleman. I wasn’t suggesting you do. Just giving credit to whom is due. WD is the username of the poster who made that joke initially. (exact quote: “I don’t read novelizations of movies/TV shows. They’re never any good.”)
You know that one subplot where a recently introduced lord of a Great House sends an heir on an overlong boat ride to bring Dany back from Meereen? Doing both would be redundant. Merge that shit and spare us the time for characters we already know and care about.
I just thought of a theory as to why no Manderlys have been cast: Pyke is the new White Harbor.
Strider,
I’m lost. What has the quality of novelizations of movies/TV shows to do with the controversy surrounding gamergate (movement of online harassment against woman in gaming vs. pro consumer movement against poor journalistic ethics in games media)?
*women.-.-
Heh, that’s fine! But remember, Martin uses a fanboy as an editor because he doesn’t pay that close attention to the pine beetles and ticks! (Rowling ran into the same problem: there are lots of “continuity” errors in her books because she simply didn’t keep track of lots of fine details; Tolkien once referred to his hardcore fans as a dreadful cult or some such because they kept badgering him about details that he considered utterly insignificant!)
Again, I don’t think that this is going to be an issue in the books, never mind the TV series. Euron is never going to become a true protagonist: I mean, does he even have a spoken line in the books? Whatever his theological views are, they are very much one of the pine beetles on the trees. At most, I think that the Iron Born are going to wind up being an analog of the Numenorian origin of the Barrow Downs sword: a detail that will get some emphasis in the books, but that can be bypassed on screen entirely without the Unsullied even noticing. (And, yes Tolkien fans, the “Unsullied” never noticed a thing about that in Return of the King….)
Martin has been coalescing his plot lines, and one probable outcome of this is that some of the “temporary” protagonists (such as Asha/Yara in Crows) will drop out of the story lines and just be part of the plot lines. Chekhov’s Rule works both ways: yes, you have to “fire” the guns that get emphasized early, but don’t fire metaphorical guns late if they didn’t get emphasis before hand. (And for us, don’t confuse the mountings and pictures on the wall for the guns being hung on it!)
Abyss,
Ooops! My bad. I thought you were referring to a different comment, when you were talking about “that joke”! LOL I need to pay attention to hyperlinks. But this thread is very long and loads very slow on the mobile so I got stuck with a different joke than the “gamergate”. (No idea what that was, but now I do!)
Kit, Iwan and Alfie in Belfast. http://instagram.com/p/uoYDqmweVV/?modal=true
Greenjones,
I cannot positively confirm what the article is saying, but it is probably true since I have no news on major developments and this is the type of thing I should have heard it by now. In any event, the ironbon plot is not ENTIRELY cut, there will be some raiding/battle scene involving the ironborn. It looks like the previously reported reavers refer to Yara’s lieutenants or some other minor characters as I have previously speculated.
Also, I stand by all my previous reports. I am aware of the Volantis news which is contrary to what I have reported earlier, I cannot explain the discrepancy, I have been assured by my sources that there are no references to Volantis in the materials they have access to, so I stand firmly by that as well. The only piece of inaccurate info that I have provided refers to Pentos: my sources have told me it will be shot “at some villa” which I assumed to be villa Dalmacjia, when in fact it was villa Sheherezade (as reported by this site); it was a mere error on my part to assume the name based on other reports, you know what they say “assumption is the mother of all f…ups”…
Finally, I can’t say I enjoy seeing my “nickname” thrashed by some commentators on this site…
Patchface,
We knew from the Sellsword casting call that Volantis was in s5 before Benioff’s recent official confirmation. As for your other point, pointing out that someone was wrong about something isn’t thrashing them, though I admit I am glad that my above comment rose your ire enough to return you to WOTW…
That Villa bit sounds like an understandable mistake though. Assuming you have more info on the subject, what have you heard about Roger Allam’s potential return?
Greenjones,
Saying that I am wrong does not bother me, but being called names, I can’t say I am thrilled by that (BTW, I was not referring to you, rather Jentario, StandOzone and others…)
I have no other news on Roger Allam…I am sitting on a major piece of info, which unfortunately I am not able to divulge it just now…sorry, I am not teasing, but it would really get someone in trouble since it would be obvious who has access to that bit of info…
Patchface,
I’ll bite. Just how major is it…? Is it a cut, a recast, some casting….
(Btw that not-tease totally was a tease. Just sayin’…)
Major departure from the books, spoiler even for the sullied. I’ll say no more…
Patchface,
I’ll bite again and edge this article closer to 700 comments (knowing full well that you said you’ll not answer)…is it a big death that hasn’t happened yet? Like a main cast member-sized death?
Greenjones,
See, this the reason I have stayed away from the site (I’ve been sitting on this info for some weeks now), being tempted to say things I should not say… I’ll say this though, it is “major major” stuff and it does NOT involve the Dornish plot…
Look, this sort of info is bound to surface at some point and then I’ll fill in the details… as much as I want to share stuff, it’s just not worth it at this point, please press no further…
Incidentally, I know it sounds ‘crazy’, but I remain skeptical about the Volantis news, I have definitely heard differently… and it would not be the first time when my info proved more accurate that contrary reports. On the other hand, one of my sources also mentioned (s)he believed Dagmar was back, but that character died in the series at Moat Caitlin…so I cannot rule out misunderstadings coming from my sources as well, so that’s that…
I meant Lorren not Damer…lol
Patchface,
Patchface,
Black Lorren wasn’t at Moat Caillin in the show; it was Ralf Kenning and Adrack Humble like in ADWD. Presumably both Lorren and Dagmer died at Winterfell, where according to Ramsay’s letter in ep. 310, he massacred and flayed all of Theon’s old crew. Do you mean to suggest that one of the IB from season 2 survived to serve the show version of Wex Pyke’s ADWD role? If so does that mean Manderly.
Yes folks, I’ve bitten YET AGAIN, just like any info-hungry bastard would at this ungodly hour!
Then don’t do that. Simple as that.
Anvil,
I can’t argue with that…sounds the most reasonable thing to do…
Patchface,
D&D said Cordoba’s Roman Bridge stands in for the Long Bridge of Volantis. Those are not “contrary reports” about which you can remain feasibly “skeptical” —the producers outright stated that fact. I’m gonna assume you don’t know about the circumstances in which we got the Volantis information, because if you’re honestly implying we should trust more in your unsourced (though understandably so) reports than in what the producers unambiguously confirm to an audience of thousands of people… well… sorry but no. No.
LukaNieto,
They did indeed say that. Plus there’s the Sellsword casting call to consider which flat-out says that he is in a brothel IN VOLANTIS.
Surely the return of Patchface can push this to 700!
I enjoy his little titbits of info as they create discussion if nothing else. Not sure why folks have become so aggressive towards people who have tried to offer some sort of information even if it’s not fully accurate.
.
I L00we the Greyjoy plot(z).
Seriuzly it´s like one million words of where and how Asha anchored her ship… EXCITING STUFF right there!
How could D&D leave out that jewel of writing out of the show? ??????????
HOW??? (thenk godz they ddidz)
#Greyjoyplotfiller
#Dorneplotfiller
#Brianneplotfiller
#Aryastorylinebelongsinsomestarwarsmovienotinasoiaf
#Mereenisboring
Martin,
Nice
Ser Dosser,
Kind of off-topic, but picking up on the “Brianne plot filler” part, I love a particular change in the TV show that is all about timeline. In the books, by the time Brienne starts her journey, Arya’s in her way to Braavos and Sansa’s secretly at the Eyrie, and Brienne does not intend to go there. In the show, when she starts her journey it’s still possible for her to find any of the Stark girls, since both of them are heading to the Eyrie (though Sansa arrives earlier by sea), and she knows that’s a likely destination for any of the Stark girls, so she just goes there. And in the show she’s right in both accounts, ’cause the Hound takes Arya to her aunt at the Eyrie, not to his uncle at Riverrun.
My point is, there is real tension there in the Unsullied’s mind, while in the books, when she hears about a fool, we know that cannot be Dontos; when she hears about a Stark girl being seen with the Hound (not by Hot Pie, but it did happen), we know Arya’s already on a completely different continent. So, Brienne’s quest is much better in the show, just because it’s not doomed from the very start. She even finds Arya, even though she escapes! And if the unconfirmed reports from Season 5 are accurate, she may find Sansa as well. These are the kind of changes I hope everyone can get behind.
Tru dat !
only showz how GRRMs writing went off to boredom in “A feast of porridges” and “Dance with turnips” after Storm of Swords.
Though I agree with your comment, I’ve seen some people argue that Martin fully intended Brienne’s journey to appear futile to the readers, that it was in fact the point: a holy and knightly quest, all about vows and purity and good intentions, yet doomed to fail from the start. It would fit with Martin’s overall aesthetic and his deconstruction of fantasy and romance tropes.
With all that said, and appreciating Martin’s intent (if that’s what it was), I think that it’s inelegant and superfluous to spend 8 chapters and countless dozens of pages on making a point that he’s arguably been making with his whole series. On a related note, I think Martin makes a similar mistake in Dance with Quentyn’s doomed quest that again regurgitates some of Martin’s favourite points that were in no need of reiterating. There’s only so much “deconstruction of tropes” you can engage in before it begins to feel obligatory and ham-fisted, not to mention that it takes away precious page count from more important things.
I’m rewatching season 4. In the first 4 episodes there are several mentions of the not-Theon-or-Yara-Greyjoys ( dwarf-Balon during the PW, Tywin telling Oberyn there was a fleet of Ironborn…). Then Yara goes to the dreadfort, then Moat Cailin…
The presence of the iron born is here during the whole season so they can’t ignore them during a whole season. There won’t be Euron and Vic but surely we’ll hear about them.
The only thing I’m not sure of is : OK, Jaime in Dorne why not, he can go to riverrun on season 6, and maybe meet brienne who will have maybe met LS (still believing because Sansa of Sansa’s “you know what they did to my mother?”). And maybe they can talk about Euron and the Shield Islands in season 6, and leave the attack of Storms End/Loras for later (even if to me it was to elevate the tension between the Tyrells and Cersei, so won’t be relevant later), and maybe Sam and Oldtown, Deepwood Motte could happen in S5. Maybe they’ll talk about Aegon and Griff later. And the Manderlys and Davos.
But there are all those plots they MIGHT put aside for later and STILL Cersei’s walk, Tyrion with Dany, Mercy..
TWoW is not out so we don’t know what will happen to them but all the main characters of the tv show will have join the end of ADWD. Maybe not Jon. Maybe not Stannis. So IF they really talk about all those “secondary” plots (from the tv show point of vue) later, what will happen to the main ones during that time ? if they’re still alive ? And given the fact that there are major events coming for them (battles in the north and meereen) how will that affect those plots ? Will it still be relevant to speak about this or that if bigger events happen ?
Greenjones,
Seven hells, Kit is wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers hat (American football)
this could be contentious!
He is doing it to fill the empty space caused by the writers block he has since the end of SOS.
Patchface,
Spank my ass and call me grandma
Sorry if I insulted you in some way, but I’ll say this: I don’t believe you anymore… If you’re for real, my bad
I don’t really understand why people still think LSH is going to happen in the show. Michelle Fairley has stated multiple times she is definitely never coming back to GoT. Who knows, maybe she’s lying. The riverlands situation or potentially Jaime and Brienne meeting up again can be handled without undead Catelyn. I would much rather hold out hope for Manderly and the Frey pies! 😉
Mr Fixit,
All of this. All of it.
jentario,
I agree as well, with everything —I do think that was Martin’s intent and I do appreciate it but it still didn’t work. In the show she also fails in her mission, and she’ll probably fail again in Season 5, but still, there’s a possibility that she might not. That’s what drama is. There was barely any drama in her book travels, except when she was in immediate danger.
Ser Dosser,
Gods be good, Ser Dosser! Whatever happened to you? You forgot #TyrionRhoyneFiller Not sure I believe it is really you now, you know…
All this site misses is Cosca. Where in Seven Hells is that one?
Strider,
Leave the lad alone, a man can get lost in the GRRM generated filler like a pubic hair in Three-Finger Hobb´s porridge.
#Daenerysdiarrheainthegrass
The only other last thought I have here – and glad to see you back, Patchface, even if you’re dribbling out no info for the moment (and honestly, sources can be confused and inconsistent, that’s why we don’t take them as gospel, nor do we discount them entirely) is that one casualty of seeing a bit less of the Ironborn is b/c D&D really do have the pulse of that culture down, very well, which is to say, a culture made up entirely of macho bullshit.
And the dude who played Kenning was so spot-on, with great writing, too. Calls Theon a woman, spits in his face…”Theon Greyjoy…or whoever the fuck you are.” Awesome. He was perfect.
Nicely stated. I’m good with it in certain areas – Septon Meribald, the Quiet Isle, things that really get at both the futility and the hell that follows war, which wasn’t as well demonstrated before this point even in the books. Dick Crabbe, on the other hand…
Mr Fixit,
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Patchface,
Oh, wow, leave for the weekend and we’re at over 600 posts AND Patchface is back. You’re probably gone at this point, and this is probably annoying to you, but I still believe so I’m going to try to wheedle more info out of you, lol.
You seem to think that whatever this change is, it’s big enough that people are going to find out before the season airs. Is that a safe assumption?
Also, could you point to a character it involves, or just what plot reason it’s occurring in? King’s Landing vs. North vs. Vale vs. Meereen vs. Braavos? I would guess North, since that’s where there seems to be the most outstanding filming still to go, but I don’t know.
And finally, is it a change you think would upset a lot of people, or something more neutral? Obviously there are people who would be upset by anything, but ignoring them, do you think most other people will be ok with it, or are they like killing off a fan-favorite or making someone do something really awful?
Greatjon of Slumber,
I really do hope to see some form of Septon Meribald’s monologue and maybe the Elder Brother’s conversation with Brienne. I don’t even need to see Meribald, the Elder Brother or the Quiet Isle —I just hope to have an adapted version of Meribald’s amazing speech, just because it’s a great piece and sort of an eulogy for the Hound.
I don’t even care who says any of this —it’s not like Meribald or the Elder brother are fascinating characters. From a TV point of view, maybe a main character should have this moment. It doesn’t even necessarily have to involve Brienne, though it would be nice. That means it doesn’t even need to happen in Season 5. It could happen whenever. Still, it’d be great if this season Brienne met a Septon Meribald on the road and she has some words with her.
The need for the Riverlands is largely (if not completely) obviated at this point. It’s only purpose in the book is the backdrop on which to tell Jaime’s and Brienne’s parts of the story. Jaime’s part of the story can be told just as well in Dorne. Indeed, Dorne obviously is not the backdrop for Arianne’s part of the story, so it’s got to be someone else’s backdrop!
Manderly also can be cut at this point. One big difference brought about by: 1) simple pragmatism and, 2) real time is that Rickon is much older in the TV series than in the book series. That gives them much more flexibility on his return. Moreover, characters in the TV show already suspect that he’s alive somewhere. (The show also went out of its way to debunk the fan-theory that Jeyne Westerling was pregnant with Robb’s child, who would then go on to become Aegon Stark! In addition to missing all of the important points, that idea completely forgot that Rickon basically is Aegon Stark at this point.) Finally, Manderly was basically a foil for Davos in Dragons, and then just a backdrop machination for Theon later. It would be much more pragmatic to continue telling Davos’ story in Stannis’ presence, and they don’t need Manderly for the stuff that Theon witnesses.
It also remains to be seen whether LSH is going to be important in the books at any point. If she turns out to not have consequences for any of the protagonists’ parts of the story, then there isn’t much need to bring her back. (We really won’t know until Winter comes out, unless she re-appears in Season 6 before the book is released!)
Point one: the Riverlands story I think still has a lot of life left in it; we know the Blackfish escaped (and they made that point clear).
Point two: If the producers have talked to GRRM about every character’s ultimate fate, they will know what the plans are with LS. I sincerely doubt George would create such a figure with such a passionate following if he didn’t intend to bring her story to fruition, which is why I still believe we are going to see LS… but not on the timetable everyone was so disappointedly expecting last season. (I believe it’ll be THIS year, so not as to go an entire season without another appearance.)
And the LS story coming back is why I think the Riverlands, and the Brotherhood, will make a return to prominence this year. Just because we haven’t heard anything about them, doesn’t mean they won’t be. (We only usually hear about NEW characters, or filming done in public venues.)
As a side note to Jaime’s Girl: No. Michelle Fairley has NOT stated she is ‘never coming back’. Michelle Fairley has refused to answer questions about it. That is an extremely important distinction, and actors who are placed under nondisclosure agreements are contractually bound from stating anything other than “no comment”. I think you should be looking away from the forest and toward the tree. 🙂
Which of their eyes, though? They tend to have ten.
D&D for the win! And not those D&D either 😉
Cameryn,
I actually reread some old articles with Michele Fairley about her return. He words are clear, Catelyn Stark – “that character” is dead. Too much stress on “that character is dead” instead of simply “No, she’s not resurrected”. It’s semantics, obviously. It might mean something or nothing at all.
But: “All I can say?” So is there something she can NOT say? That’s odd. This exclusive is the worst of all. LOL
http://hollywoodlife.com/2014/06/29/michelle-fairley-returning-to-game-of-thrones-truth-revealed/
Alex Graves did with LS the same they do with the Ironborn now. “It’s was never on the docket for this season” he says (referring to LS in season 4). Pfft apparently is not for next season either since D&D refuse to simply talk about it! It may be just teasing the fans so they can keep some hype going.
Also, I’m rehashing this stuff because it looks like 700 might be doable. Or I’m just bored and Jenatario is not doing his job. HIS ONLY JOB. To keep the thread alive.
Luka Nieto,
Totally with you on this. That passage is fantastic. And hell, I’ve argued you could combine the two characters – Elder Brother and Meribald – to do that. But either one would be awesome. It’s such an amazing bit of writing, and I love the reflective nature of it all. And the last bit, where he admits he was in the war of the Ninepenny Kings, was great. And I think they should cast Barry McGovern (the dying farmer), put a beard on him a la Garrett Dillahunt in Deadwood, and let him deliver that speech.
It’s television. Semantics are EVERYTHING. 🙂
(And this happens all the time… people who insist they are not returning to a show, only to return later so as to be a surprise. The TV industry has become so obsessed with spoilers that they’ll do anything to protect themselves. Meanwhile, actors and people associated with a show are so concerned over their contracts that they will do whatever it takes not to disclose anything – I have friends who work in TV, I know how difficult it can be to work under an NDA.)
Agreed in a lot of ways on the Manderly stuff. Just that the character is a lot of fun, and he can easily be introduced as a minor one-episode wonder who bellows at Davos – if, that is, the Rickon plot will eventually be important (which it may be). We also don’t know that anyone truly knows that he is or isn’t alive – Locke’s mission is unsuccessful, but nobody has seen Bran or Rickon in ages anyway. His presence becomes arguably MORE important, not less.
Plus its time to get BRIAN BLESSED ON BOARD! GIVE A DUMB OLD BIRD A SECOND CHANCE!
LS is in… That’s a fact. :3
Wimsey,
Well we shall see but I still think he has a part to play. GRRM doesn’t give PoV to a lot of pivotal characters (no kings or potential kings have ever had one and I think Dany only did because there was no one else over there!). This makes me think he has a significant part to play yet or else he wouldn’t have been introduced at all.
LukaNieto,
I think the quest itself and storyline in the show was ok ( I didn’t mind the wandering too much at first in the books as she genuinely didn’t have anything to go on) and worked in that fashion as the other way wouldn’t be good for TV (still wasn’t a massive fan of the Hound meet up though). The problem with Brienne is she has had no meaningful character development since she left Jaime. The books did a great job making her a sympathetic character by referencing her upbringing and focusing more on her commitment to cause and her complicated and changing attitudes towards honour. The TV show has just turned her into the chick who beats up guys which isn’t doing her justice.
No logical person would take Michelle Fairley’s post-season 4 finale interviews at face value. If Stoneheart had been cut, she would have admitted to it months prior to that. There would have been nothing to hide.
Something much closer to the truth can be found in Fairley’s initial interviews on the matter, like when EW asked her about Stoneheart and Fairley said (excitedly): “You’ll just have to keep watchiiiiing”.
But then again, people have short memories.
And that sounds *exactly* like an actress who’s signed a non-disclosure agreement.
I’m sticking to my guns here. I think the reason for giving such a strong berth to the actors who played Thoros and Beric and the Blackfish was because they’ll be back when the show shifts again to the Riverlands… and to LS being their leader. I honestly believe that, with Jaime in Dorne this coming season, we’ll see Brienne and Pod involved in that storyline, and a LS revelation at the end of the season. But maybe that’s just me. 🙂 I also think we’ll see some Iron Islands stuff in season 6.
(By the way… can you imagine someone who hasn’t read the books being shocked beyond shock at LS appearing at the end of Season 4 and not being seen again in most of Season 5, if at all? Neither can I. That’s not good television. It’s great fodder for a novel, but it’s bad for TV. GoT fans would have been anxiously awaiting the follow-up on LS, only to be disappointed — think about how everyone had to wait through just two episodes to find out of Tyrion escaped or not and multiply that by a season plus a full 9 month hiatus. You don’t make TV that way.)
Stoneheart’s gone. If the writers are as brutal about cutting storylines as they keep telling us they are, she’s gone. They already have a powerful and tragic end to Catelyn’s story with the Red Wedding, anything the Stoneheart Brotherhood does in future books can either be cut out or just given to the current Beric-led Brotherhood to do. It’s time to mive on from (or celebrate) LS being cut.
Hodor Targaryen,
Agreed, LS is long gone. Hey, if on the off-off-off chance she isn’t, and I think it’s, like, a .0001% chance, I’ll eat my words. I just hope there isn’t another freak out when, at the end of this season, she still hasn’t appeared.
I also think, like others, one of the reasons Thoros bringing Dondarian back to life was emphasized the way it was, especially in Mel’s presence, was to set up what many think will happen in the aftermath of “For the Watch.”
Sorry, but Arianne and possibly Victarion being cut isn’t brutal. It’s in fact pretty tame. None of the other major characters have been confirmed cut.
Young Griff as such may be gone, but so many of his story elements are likely to be given to Trystane that he’ll still be there in some shape or form. Euron and Stoneheart would be big omissions (bigger than Arianne, certainly) except we have no proof whatsoever that they are gone. Revealing Stoneheart at the end of season 5 and saving Euron as a final villain for season 6 seems like perfectly reasonable points at which to introduce them.
Patchface, does the news have anything to deal with Trystane? Im thinking he is only in disguise as Trystane and he really is Aegon Targaryen the 6th…..Doran takes Jon Conningtons role.
Are people still posting here? Slow news days indeed…
It came as a surprise to me because, for some reason, my email didn’t subscribe to the thread as it was supposed to do.
Nymeria Warrior Queen,
“For the Watch” could be skipped. LS is in.
Ed,
This.
Fjordgazer,
The discussion has pretty much moved on anyway.
It has been far too quite for almost a week now. Even this news wasn’t that much of a surprise. Also, as much as I want this thread to get to 700 comments it is now loading really slowly, so it would be good if we get some new news in order for some fresh discussion rather than this repetitive Ironborn, LS stuff.
In like Flynn?
So, that means Bronn is definitely involved in it, somehow.
Hmmm…after leaving Dorne, Bronn goes to the Riverlands, meets up with LS, who is pissed at him because he was hanging out with both Tyrion and Jamie, and so she kills him. 🙂
Nymeria Warrior Queen,
Flynn was cast as Hyle Hunt, who is the true identity of Bronn of Blackwater. It is known. He will be hanged after the cool opening of S6. Just can’t wait 😛
Here’s an interview with Gemma Whelan from a Con in Belfast. She doesn’t give a straight answer about s5 but since she’s there, I think we can safely say that’s she’ll be in in some capacity at least.
ctid,
Natalia Tena speaks well Spanish because both her parents are from Spain.
Elio and Linda have debunked some game of thrones theories in their latest twoiaf interview.
Not sure how I feel about his but I’m glad I can leave some false hope to rest
http://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/2kgfy7/spoilers_all_ama_with_authors_of_the_world_of_ice/
Turncloak,
I bet those neckbeards on reddit are losing their shit by now, “ZOMG must need look for more clues of secret Stargaryensz”. I don’t subscribe to a lot of theories but I do believe Cleganebowl will go down because of the intensity of both characters past, and that side plot needs closure be it epic. I also firmly believe Young Griff is the real deal, and all Blackfyre theorists should just stop it already.
SwagAhai Reborn,
No, most of the redditors are in denial and still believe in their theories. Since it’s coming from Elio and Linda it’s not 100% fact that the theories won’t happen but…these guys are basically ASOIAF PhDs.
Small update from CastingCallPro. Annika Hillbring as Wight/Sword-Fighting Zombie. Apparently she has a Spolight CV but I haven’t found a link to it yet. Hopefully that would name a director…
There is a chance that she was actually in ep. 410 as one of them skellingtons and it was only added to CastingCallPro now. Still, let’s hope this is a legit scoop so we can either get a new article to comment on or take this article’s comments to 700.
Turncloak,
None of those were theories I really believed i anyway
Hmmm … Cleganebowl confirmed? Just maybe not in the manner people are thinking.
Get hype.
Turncloak,
Debunked? What? They gave their opinion. Informed as much as any die-hard reader, and more in some respects, but it is —and they present it as— their opinion, not as something Martin has told them.
SwagAhai Reborn,
I’ve been rereading AFFC/ADWD, ‘Aegon’ is an imposter, I’d stake my reputation as the coolest poster on TWOW comment section on it. He is Illyrio’s son by his second wife, Serra, who was a Blackfyre descendant. The clues are there, even without the ‘Mummer’s Dragon’ prophecy. I’m as confident in this theory as I am in R+L=J.
Three points spring to mind. First, GRRM gives PoV [em]only[/em] to “pivotal” characters; a minimum requirement of a protagonist is that they be PoV at least part of the time, and only protagonists are pivotal in character-driven stories like SoI&F. After all, the real story is in the thoughts in their heads (which GRRM kindly italicizes for us).
Second, Dany has been from the start the single most important protagonist: one could say that she is the most principle of the principle protagonists! After all, the series is the Song of Ice and Fire: and she’s Fire. Jon Snow is #2: and I suspect that Martin put “Ice” first because: 1) Fire & Ice is too common a phrase, and 2) other members of the Stark family (Arya, Sansa and Bran) also are protagonists, whereas no other Targaryean is. (Tyrion obviously has crept up in narrative importance: but Martin has admitted that this is a by-product of Tyrion being such fun to write.)
Third, this isn’t Lord of the Rings: regions don’t have story lines here. Only protagonists have story lines. Thus, there isn’t a “Riverrun” storyline or an “Essos” storyline. Jaime’s and Brienne’s parts of the stories happen in the Riverlands; Dany’s (and now Tyrion’s and Arya’s) parts of the stories happen in Essos; Jon’s story happens at the Wall; etc. Martin didn’t need a “voice” in Essos: he needed a place removed from Westeros in which Dany’s character could dynamically evolve in a way that helped tell the stories that he was telling. Without protagonists present, areas just are not relevant to the story(ies).
As for Manderly’s importance (and I assume that you mean Manderly by “he,” although he never is a POV character, so maybe I am mistaken), sure, he is important, but only as a foil for Davos.
That’s plot, not story. The Blackfish isn’t a protagonist, and his purpose in Crows is only to illustrate that, try as he might, Jaime
. Again, take the protagonist out of the picture, and this is just detail.
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Young Griff is the real deal because there is so much textual evidence of people being snuck in and out of the red keep. I’m pretty sure sneaking an infant out of there was a cakewalk for Varys.
The other thing people have to ask is, why wouldn’t Varys have done exactly as he said that he did? Never mind the Lannisters: Varys had to understand the threat that Aerys II represented to the family and thus to the Realm. The daughter couldn’t be easily snuck out: she was old enough that she would have had distinct features. However, babies are easy to pass off for one another. Indeed, given that we now know that
It is quite clear that Varys is, for whatever reasons, motivated to put the good of the realm ahead of any particular individual. Indeed, unravelling his exact motives will be as interesting as unravelling Littlefinger’s!
Rickon won’t appear until season 7 according to Art Parkinson http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0944947/board/nest/236181611
Frank,
The info about Gemma Whelan this same poster said was false (I linked a video interview where she said she shoots only in N.I. this morning), so we shouldn’t be too quick to believe him about Art.
Three more posts until 700…
Luka Nieto,
I explained that it is not 100% debunked in my followup comment for those very same reasons. But their knowledge of the series is not to be underestimated. After all, this is basically their career
Also one has to wonder just how many clues GRRM has given them
Tyrion Pimpslap,
Turncloak,
So there WILL be a 3rd Blackfyre Rebellion! (and it has already begun!)
Only 300 left for the thousand.
Well, the same was true of the folks at MuggleNet. If you want a laugh, then dig up their predictions for what would happen in the last book!
Frank,
We need a new article, don’t we…
Wimsey,
The Ashara D = Q speculation threw me for a loop. I didn’t even know it was a theory. I always thought AD = SL.
Wimsey,
I don’t think you can claim ASoIF is purely character-driven. It has an intricate plot and storyline too and is driven just as much by that as it is the characters. So Rob Stark, Stannis,etc aren’t pivotal to the story?
Awful lot of assumptions there! Dany is without a main character but I’d say until the end game kicks in she is the least important character as she has barely any interaction with other major characters. For me , she has become exceedingly dull and I hope she doesn’t get the Iron Throne and the show and books don’t just give her the cakewalk they seem to be building up for her to the throne.
The different regions are very important to the story. Just because they’re told via the characters doesn’t mean the character is the focus all the time. The different cultures and position of different regions are one of the key factors in GoT. Each region and it’s people want something and this is what causes the majority of interaction between a lot of characters.
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/318/3/2/young_griff__asoiaf__by_yvyb13-d6u83ps.jpg
http://prokrik.tumblr.com/post/97565010829/young-griff-jon-connington-arrive-to-westeros
My baby lives in shades of blue , Blue eyes and hair and attitude
He lives in Volantis ,He drives a shy maid too
And when he calls He calls for Arianne and not for you
He lives for revenge , he loves his kingdom , He loves his fake father too
But I can’t fix him, D&D want to cut him ,And I can’t do nothing about their strange weather . ):
PS; no one understaaaaaaaaands !!
That one was around back in the 1990’s when I used to participate in the Usenet SoI&F discussion group. (Yeah, I’m that old….) There never was any evidence to support it, save that both Quaithe & AD are female.
The stories for SoI&F arise entirely out of the internal conflicts of the protagonists. The plots exist solely to put the protagonists into situations where Moral A says THIS IS RIGHT! while Moral B says THIS IS WRONG!, or to have the protagonists simultaneously try to be Person X while at the same time being Person Y. This is the way that almost all modern literature works: and despite the fantastic settings, SoI&F is modern literature. (It stands in stark contrast to, say, Lord of the Rings, which was a very atavistic tale even when written.)
Now, as for what you or I label “pivotal,” that obviously is subjective: unlike “protagonist,” there is no definition of pivotal where literature is concerned. Do you consider Hermione Granger to be “pivotal” in Harry Potter? If so, then you consider a non-protagonist to be pivotal. (Insofar as I’m concerned, she was not: it was convenient and economic to use her, but someone else could have been used; however, economic usage is good writing, not designation of someone as pivotal. Her knowledge and talents were important for getting the truly pivotal character, Harry, where he needed to be mentally or physically.)
Whether or not you choose to use a more expansive definition of “pivotal” than I do, it does not alter the fact that Robb Stark was not a protagonist. He was a foil, largely for Catelyn Stark and to some degree for Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy. Stannis Baratheon is not a protagonist. His is largely a foil for Davos Seaworth (although more recently for Jon). Neither Robb Stark nor Stannis Baratheon tell stories: instead, they let Catelyn, Jon, Davos, etc., tell stories by putting those people in contradictory positions.
The regions are simply backdrops. Essos does not need to be in the story: Martin is not writing a faux history in which he is determined to show us each and every land. Essos is a convenient backdrop for developing the #1 protagonist in the Series, Daenyrs. Martin crafted it to his own ends and entirely to develop Danny: he put in slavery and other issues in order to develop a character who could relate thralldom to her own life experiences, and who’s decisions would be heavily influenced by these factors. But it could have been another part of Westeros and it would have worked.
Now, if the stories really were plot-driven, then we’d see clearer definitions and diagnoses of “good” and “evil,” and other simplistic ideas. Class would really define personality and ability. There would be a “right” religion and all others would be wrong. Instead, what we get are people who pretend that these things are true for their own self-gain, just as in the real world. Who holds which values is there not to separate Hero from Villain, but instead to develop character. In a way, SoI&F is a rebuttal of the old Fairy Tales that worked like this: Sansa is sort of the Fan Girl discovering that the simplistic “truths” of those tales don’t fit in the real world.
So, yeah, these stories are entirely character-driven. The fact that the plots are intricate has absolutely zero bearing on that. The plots drive the character, but plots cannot have internal conflict, and thus they aren’t driving these sorts of stories. Now, we historically have seen the opposite: plot-driven stories with no character development (e.g., Lord of the Rings), but even some of the old plot-driven stories had some amount of character development. The difference was that they didn’t use that development to tell the tale, only as a device to engage reader/listener.
What a boring week this has been after the Dorne madness, 700+ comments just for this predictable Iron Islands news…..
c’mon WE NEED A NEW ARTICLE
I´m sadend there is no GNC.
But conspiracys was always a southern tactic to complex for simple minded northerners
Greenjones,
Deepwood Motte please, D&D. Need more Yara.
I agree!
Her escape from the Dreadfort last season was a jewl of screenwriting, need more of that.
#Yarateleport
#MercifulRamsey
#Iguessthatspeechofhersfromseason3wasfornothing
Wimsey,
I figured you were the same Wimsey from the old MuggleNet crowd. 🙂
Once you see Varys’ true motivation, the pieces fall into place. Right now he looks to be the height of hypocrisy. On the one hand, Barristan considers the arrival of Varys to be the starting point in King Aerys II’s madness. On the other, he is protecting Targaryen children.
Simon Toyne was leading the Kingswood Brotherhood at the same time Myles Toyne was leading the Golden Company. This resulted in the death of Simon and the Smiling Knight, and the knighting of Jaime Lannister. Ulmer was captured and sent to the wall, the rest just vanished. Jaime then visits his sister in Kings Landing and a month later an official invite to join the Kingsguard arrives unbeknownst to Tywin. There is no way Cersie has access to the king at this point to pull this off, it was Varys. Jaime joins the KG and Twyin resigns as hand of the king.
During the Battle of the Bells, Jon Connington walks into the trap, is easily defeated, and then by some miracle he escapes unharmed. Which leads to his exile and right into the service of Varys. This parallels how Varys gave Joffrey the idea to remove Barristan in order to promote the Hound to the KG. Barristan fell right into the service of Varys shortly thereafter.
Much in the same way Littlefinger was behind the War of the Five Kings, Varys was behind Roberts Rebellion. Right up to having the Mountain’s father killed after the Rebellion as payment for making sure the pisswater princes head was bashed in and unrecognizable.
If I had my guess on Quaithe’s identity, I’d say
712 responses?
712 RESPONSES!
I don’t have time to read all these. Leave me alone!
New image of the Osuna’s bullring filming: https://twitter.com/JuegoDeTronosTM/status/527068648541003776
I think it is interesting what we can see at the botton…
btw apparently this is going to be the most expensive scene in TV history…
Do you have a source for this?
Cami,
Ok, risking sounding like an idiot here, but what am I missing at the bottom? There’s a load of people who look like they’re holding hands (I think it’s the chains behind them).
Cami,
So they’ll be integrating the Sons of the Harpy plot into the Pit scene? Might very well be this will replace the poisoned fruits. More exciting TV for sure!
Hmm NO!
#needmorestannis
#needblackfish
Since there are no news (why cruel world, why?) I was wondering if any of you have bought The World of Ice and Fire yet. If so, is it any good? I’m not really into world books (the book(s) itself should capture the world imo), especially if the majority of it isn’t even written by the author of the core text, but I am really into aSoIaF so a haven’t quite decided yet…
Lulu’s Mum,
No big spoilers here, but just in case:
In the book no Sons are caught, let alone publicly executed in Daznak’s Pit, but, without going into many details, it makes sense that they would be, since this scene is the climax of everything Dany has been trying to accomplish.
BTW, this seems newsworthy, doesn’t it? New article?! Sons of the Harpy being executed at Daznak’s Pit, a change from the books… seems relevant 😉
Luka Nieto,
Ahhhh I see, thank you. Haven’t read the books, just things like this site with the spoilers showing, so I know some of what’s coming but not all the fine details. Although it sounds like it’s gonna be a bit of an anything-could-happen-free-for-all from S5 on anyway.
Abyss,
Just the same twitter account that uploaded the picture… https://twitter.com/JuegoDeTronosTM/status/526811213456744448
Luka Nieto,
Actually I’m not sure they are
Abyss,
Just the same twitter account that uploaded the picture…
Lulu’s Mum,
Actually I’m not sure they are
So Elio and Linda tweeted that they just got married. Wonder if they will have a GOT themed wedding
Telltales GOT game confirmed to be released this year 🙂
Telltale’s Game of Thrones Title Releasing This Year
http://m.ign.com/articles/2014/10/28/telltales-game-of-thrones-title-releasing-this-year
King Tommen,
You’re right, actually. I don’t know how I did not notice that. There are lot of freedmen and Unsullied playing dead, and if they were killed by Drogon there would be a lot of prosthetics and make up, so it must be a Harpy attack. May make more sense. Sort of like the attempted poisoning, but much less subtle. And, yeah, those are Sons. Doesn’t make any sense if they are Brazen Beasts, does it? Many weeks ago we saw pictures of them, with those exact masks, in a scene in which they slit the throat of an Unsullied soldier.
Anyway, am I the only one who thinks the scene may be a bit too busy? I’d have thought they would eliminate the poisoning altogether. There’s already a lot going on with the scene itself, and then Drogon appearing out of the blue —and Tyrion and Jorah’s presence in the show version, too. How does a Harpy attack fit in? And when, exactly? Still, I’ll make no rush judgement. I try not to worry based on assumptions. Some people arrive at the most ridiculous and dreadful conclusions based on the flimsiest of evidence, such as “D&D have destroyed the Sand Snakes; since we now know they’ll share the style of armor in one scene, it means they’ll share a personality as well.” So, I’ll try not to do the same. Still, it has to be a pretty busy scene.
Wimsey,
Thanks for the
.
Can someone clue me in on the
reference?
I was aware of a fair bit of speculation that
How is Rickon Aegon Stark?
Cameryn,
I thought this was fairly unambiguous. (obviously the article is crap but I looked at her quotes).
http://hollywoodlife.com/2014/06/25/lady-stoneheart-cut-from-game-of-thrones-michelle-fairley-catelyn-stark-character-dead/
I also saw a video interview (which I can’t find the link to) where I thought she stated she signed a 3 season contract only. Maybe I imagined this. While this all leaves some wiggle room, I agree, it is still possible, I don’t know if it’s likely. The only thing to do is wait and see! I personally wasn’t a huge fan of
but if they’re not essential going forward?? Why include it? I’d imagine it would be off-putting to some fans (as it was for me).
I’m all for less magic, not more! We have enough coming up with Bran and the White Walkers, and possibly having to
(But that’s just my opinion!)
Greatjon of Slumber,
I’m soo with you! Brian Blessed as Wyman WTF!!!! 😀
And yes, need more: Yara, Stannis, Blackfish and most importantly, NEWS!
No sign of any blood in that new pic either. Maybe somehow everyone there has been poisoned?
Abyss,
Yes….hardback delivered by FedEx this morning. It is good but I am biased. I actually like the process by which E & L performed their discovery of the info gaps within the ASoI&F text, then forwarded to GRRM their observations and ideas, then GRRM ran with it or completely rewrote it. Not “fanfic” at all, imho. The artwork by Simonetti and Naismith and others, directed by GRRM, makes me drool in delight.
Also got it on Kindle. The zoom feature for the pics is wonderful. Now if they could link the novel text to these pics, maps and supporting text as an X-ray feature, that would be awesome. 🙂
The alternating views between the maesters on various historical events is a unique treat.
Happy day.
So what’s the consensus? Now that the show is widely differing from the books, Are we hoping that the shows ending is vastly different from the books ending. I for one, wouldn’t of minded getting the book ending if the path was similar. But now that the path seems to be getting far off I don’t want to see the book ending.
I think the show ending is going to be very similar to the books, otherwise the producers would not have bothered meeting with Martin in order to have him tell them all of the character paths in detail and what the endgame was that he had planned.
Based on this info, they will continuously be cutting and making alterations to characters and storylines in order to best end their on-screen story. They aren’t going to bother with the large sideplots that may be interesting in the books but don’t contribute significantly to how ASOIAF finishes up. And even if these characters and sideplots do contribute in some way, D&D will find a way to take those specific elements and translate them into other storylines or established characters in order to achieve the same goal, just in a different way.
King Tommen,
At the risk of breaking the internet entirely, and certainly this thread which is creaking along, the $64,000 question – for anyone old enough to know what that means – is how will it end? Who, if anyone, will be left and will the iron throne (as an institution not the actual chair itself) even still exist? I have less than no idea btw, the final series might be set in space for all I know. *posts and ducks in case an avalanche of strongly held opinions suddenly follows*
Lulu’s Mum,
Never mind this thread, I just managed to break my own computer with that question. Had to force quit everything and restart. Perhaps some things are best left unknown!
Ser Dosser,
Sarcasm detector on high alert.
Lulu’s Mum,
That is certainly the $64,000 question and pretty much impossible to speculate on too accurately. If this were a straightforward fantasy series, all fingers would point at the 2 outsiders (Jon and Dany) coming from “Ice” and “Fire” finding a way to topple the internal (warring families) and external (White Walkers) threats to Westeros (aided by Tyrion in some fashion most likely) and sharing/deciding who rules on the Iron Throne. And the Stark children getting some measure of revenge and reclaiming the North in some fashion. And in true fantasy fashion, Bran’s new magical status would most likely involve him playing a role in this victory with some healthy deus ex machina.
But this is not a straightforward fantasy series and GRRM’s proclivity for eschewing fantasy tropes means that the ending will probably be more bittersweet than triumphant. I think you’ll see a portion of what’s described above occur but not in a neat and tidy fashion and some characters will surely not get the justice they are seeking. Based on what he’s said in the past, he has known for some time how he wants the story to end as far as the broad strokes and he surely has the main characters’ arcs more or less mapped, there will just be detours along the way that he will want to explore as well as complications he will throw into the mix.
If you want to know things like what will happen to the Lannister twins, Lady Stoneheart, the Citadel, the Dornishmen/Aegon’s role, the Ironborn’s part, Varys’ plan, Littlefinger’s ultimate plan and whether he achieves it, the fate of the Wildlings, what any of the Stark kids will actually do, whether Jon is actually dead or not, Stannis’ quest for the Iron Throne, Melisandre’s prophecies and their accuracy, etc. etc. your guess is as good as mine.
King Tommen,
Nice succinct reply, thank you :O) (that’s not sarcasm by the way, there’s no way anyone could summarise the story in less than a few paras unless it was bewbs, death, the end, which is a bit lacking in detail.)
As long as the ending is worthy of the rest of it I’ll be happy*. It would be a real let down if after all this amazing story telling it just comes to an abrupt halt and the ending is something really stupid and out of sync with all that’s gone before. Having so many characters will help, so even if unsatisfactory stuff happens to some of them there are still others to pin my hopes on.
* although there are obviously quite few people who I really hope get what’s coming to them. Once I found out Joffrey was toast I spent the whole of S3 shouting just get married and DIE!! at the telly, then had to wait another year until it happened. Mind you, must be so much worse for people who’ve liked the books since the beginning. Makes me glad to be a late comer!
Holy shit, today I found out that it was Littlefinger who
Thoughts!?
King Tommen,
I agree, I think the only thing we know is that GRRM likes breaking the typical fantasy mold (whatever that means) and that he himself has described the ending as “bittersweet” so.. anything goes.
My completely wild guesses? Just to break the internet for Lulu’s Mum?
-I like the idea as Jaime being the little brother who kills Cersei.
-Someone important will die at the end/sacrifice for all (Jon Snow?)
-Littlefinger is going to be around for a while. WTF is his plan?
-Dany cannot win. It would be too much what everyone was hoping for, too obvious. If she just comes to Westeros, second coming of Aegon the Conqueror, kills everything in her path with Dragonfire and claims the throne? Too predictable.
-Dorne will be more important as the endgame closes in, I hope.
-White walkers need to get destroyed but I hope by a restoring of balance, fighting them with old gods/COTF magic/Bran I hope.
-Sansa will survive. somehow. As queen? Or as Lady of the North? Maybe not. but alive.
Turncloak,
May the Old Gods help Sansa!
May I reintroduce you to my steadfast friend, SanSan?
(Let’s get a new thread already!)
Jaime’s girl,
Yay – do it for Lulu! :O) (my cat who was sadly one of S4’s off-screen deaths). Led a long and happy life and died peacefully aged 19, so did a lot better than many GOT characters.
Wimsey,
So you’re saying that outside factors have no effect on the characters whatsoever? The inner conflicts you say are great for building and exploring the characters but they need a framework (plot)to work within. Also some of the overarcing plotlines (the whitewalkers, the battle for the throne, etc) are a lot more important than individual characters.
I’ve purposely not said protagonist as that’s not what I was talking about. By pivotal I meant important and I stand by my original point that many important characters are not PoV. You could argue that all characters are important to some degree as they are needed to tell the story.Whether you think the show/book is character or plot-driven (personally I think it’s a mix of the two) many character who aren’t PoV are incredibly important to both plot and character development.
I wasn’t aware that there was a rule that plot had to operate in black and white thinking? Story-driven shows can be so without having to attach morality.
Jaime’s girl,
Late to the conversation, I know, but…
Maybe the appearance of magic and dragons in the world is ultimately the cause of the imbalance and the longer winters/Whitewalkers are simply reacting to that disturbance? Then we’d have a situation where understanding their motivations (whatever those may be) become more important than destroying them. Food for thought 🙂
Oh also, totally on board with the Jaime speculation. I’m convinced that’s how it will play out.
Turncloak,
That’s simultaneously a terrifying and really cool speculation hah.
Cami,
I hope WotW doesn’t create a post of that pic, it was for me an even bigger spoiler than the previous ones of Tyrion/Jorah. It is evidence of Dany’s arc steering even more from her story in book 5.
I’m not sure that’s necessarily true. The story for Dany is the same, it’s just some of the details that are going to be different. Are the Sons of the Harpy not trying to bring down Dany while the Pit fights are happening in the book? Pretty sure that’s what the locusts are all about. This is just them making the attack more overt, it’s going to have the same result.
King Tommen,
I wish to rephrase my wording from previous post, I meant pointing to a different story concerning her arc in the upcoming book. I realize the show will portray the SoH and insurgency in Meereen, but the pic gives a glimpse that the aftermath of the Pit will be different from that at the end of book 5.
tyjon,
Regardless of how the Sons of the Harpy are going about their business inside the Walls of Meereen (which is consistent with the events of ADwD), I’m not sure how you can interpret how the show is depicting the events of Daznak’s Pit and extrapolate that out to what’s happening with regards to Yunkai etc.
The show may or may not have a battle of Meereen in future seasons with the forces of Yunkai and others gathered outside the Wall in the form of a siege that needs to be broken. This picture gives absolutely no indication of whether that would be the case or not. It’s simply the Sons of the Harpy making their move on Dany during the pit fights, just as they do in the books, just in a more overt manner.
Trying to interpret any more from that picture isn’t going to yield you much IMO.
tyjon,
What are you even talking about? How does the forcefulness of the attack relate in any way to what may happen the rest of the season with Yunkai, presumably as a setup for early in season 6?
King Tommen,
From Selmy’s chapter in TWoW. I need this…. 🙂
(and they already did the trebuchets in the show for the passive shackle hurling…now for the real battle treatment…)
King Tommen,
Well…because the show has not the time to develop a major siege battle for season 6, have Dany go you know where from the end of book 5, then eventually work her way to Westeros after clearing up whatever mess is left from her arc in Winds and then interact with all the forces in Westeros upon arrival. The primary reasoning behind this is Time, with only two seasons (according to D&D) left after season 5, they have to condense, cut and adapt her arc to fit with the framework or timeline that they have set and make it believable (in other words not rushing through all the events from the books w/o cuts or changes). Unless they do eight seasons.
Luka Nieto,
Well for one, there are no indications from production filming that anything remotely related to Yunkai has taken place pertaining to exterior shooting. Though they could just incorporate it in dialogue exchanges between Daario, Hiz and Dany, without showing the actual events.
Honestly though, if the show goes only seven seasons, do you really think D&D can incorporate the Battle, Dany wilderness sojourn, her return and cleanup, then journey to Westeros and eventual interaction with the players there and finally the climactic moments, and do all those justice in only two seasons?
Hodor’s Bastard,
I want that and more…
“They are on our side!”
“Dragons wheeled overhead, their shadows sweeping across the upturned faces of friend and foe alike. “
“We have ironborn swarming ashore and Ser Barristan and his Unsullied pouring out the city gates, with us between them, fighting on the wrong bloody side. I am terrified myself. “
“We do not want to be fighting for the slavers when Daenerys returns… and she will, make no mistake. Strike now and strike hard, and the queen will not forget it. Find her hostages and free them. And I will swear on the honor of my house and home that this was Brown Ben’s plan from the beginning. “
Hmmm with Qarth featuring as one of the three sieging forces (with Yunkai and new Ghis) would it be a wise choice for the show to bring back Xaro Xhoan Daxos and the House of the Undying as antagonists?
tyjon,
Well, yes. You are assuming that you know what’s going to happen beyond the battle. You don’t. I don’t. Don’t presume that you know.
Maybe Daenerys has a big heroic moment during the Battle or in the aftermath. Maybe it’s just a frigging epic battle perfect for the visual medium of TV. What do you know? What do I know? We’ll have to wait and see, but just assuming such a major event is cut seems preposterous to me, just because we haven’t seen any filming of its setup. Filming of what, exactly? An army at the gates? You know that’d be CGI, right? Granted, some of it, with Tyrion at the slave camps (if they are going that route), wouldn’t be, obviously, but it may have been done (or may be done in the future) in enclosed sets. Or maybe it’ll be filmed in the open, and it just hasn’t been filmed yet. Again: how do you know? We also haven’t seen filming of maaaaany things, yet I imagine that you assume they’ll be included.
We haven’t heard or seen anything about Stannis, ergo Stannis will be killed early on and there will be no battle of Winterfell. See? Easy!
TheTouchOfFrost,
The book did. Daenerys met Xaro, who offered her ships. This led to Daenerys meeting with her council and debating whether to attack Westeros with said fleet or remain in Meereen, which already happened in the show because Daario saved the Meereenese fleet. However, there’s more to the scene than that. It’s a whole beautiful chapter from beginning to end, in my opinion.
I liked the idea so much that I wrote a TV script adaptation of the chapter. It was interesting to write, because I had to account for the much worse relationship between Dany and Xaro because of how differently things went in Qarth from the books to the show. In the show Daenerys basically left him for dead. It alters the scenario somewhat, but the bones of it remain. It was also interesting to turn the chapter, which amounts to five distinct scenes, into a single cohesive piece. It was a fascinating exercise.
I don’t know that the show will bring ‘Duck Sauce’ back, but I think it’d be a great, if only because it would lend retroactive relevance to the otherwise superfluous Qarth storyline. All of Dany’s journey would turn into a cohesive a piece in which every step matters. By the way, that’s also why I think they’ll bring Yunkai back. They already set up their renewed enmity, not only as a thematic reason for her to remain in Meereen —that plotpoint has to pay off. Hizdahr and Daario weren’t sent to Yunkai for nothing.
Also, generally, as I said bringing back every faction she’s dealt with, including the Dothraki right at the end, makes everything worth it. Also, it’d be great to see how they themselves adapted it, and see if they shared some of their choices with me.
Luka Nieto,
Nicely done!
Marry me. Really, I’m not being facetious; I’ve so enjoyed your posts. (Also, it’s been years since I’ve thought of narrative theory. I want to throw words like syuzhet around now. And read Peter Brooks again.)
My two cents: I’ve been sullied since 1999 and I love most of the changes D&D has made. I don’t give a rat’s ass about the Greyjoys, except Asha.
TheTouchOfFrost,
I caught a few of those from the Tyrion chapter…Love the Penny stuff in that chapter as well. The white cyvasse dragon!!!!!! Aaaahhhh!
Today, I’m giddy as a schoolgirl. Been rereading epilogues and prologues and upcoming chapters. I just wish GRRM had included the Meereen battle in ADwD. But it’s painfully obvious that he still needed to work a few things out to make it right. Qarth may be a factor but the arrival of the Volantis fleet is a mindblower. Don’t know how that will transpire.
Regarding show Qarth, I hope they leave that mistake far, far behind. Daxos better not have built a backdoor into his vault….
Finally, the real reason for my giddiness: TWoI&F is out and quite fun. A really well-done book. Someone needs to do an animation of The Doom. Nymeria (the original) is stunning. Omg, those amazing Starks! After the Dance, SheepStealer and the Cannibal were never seen again…..(gulp)…we’ll be talking about this stuff for years.
Luka Nieto,
Will have a read of that when it’s not 1 in the morning!
Would make perfect sense and be a sensible change. It’s not unreasonable that he made it out. I can see him killing and eating Doreah (to add a bit of character and ruthlessness to him!) to survive and there would be people in Qarth who would free him with Dany not there to supervise! A very simple yet effective change. Would give the other side in the Siege of Mereen a face.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Really would make epic TV with the dragons, trebuchets, Ironborn storming the beaches and sellswords changing their colours! Get it in early-mid season 6 then get Dany to Westeros…if that’s where she’s going!
King Tommen,
In my opinion, no, the Sons of the Harpy did not poison the locusts. Now, I did not originally feel this way, I was unable to really connect or care about any of the Meereenese story in the books. So with little thought paid to that storyline, I just assumed Hizdahr and the SOTH tried to kill Dany. That was until I read the blog ‘The Meereenese blot’. It changed my whole perspective on this particular storyline. I now believe it was the Shavepate and the Brazen Beasts who poisoned the locusts in order to break up the peace and frame Hizdahr and the SOTH. He was against the peace and was an enemy of Hizdahr and the other nobles that formed the SOTH. With the marriage to Dany and the peace delivered, it now looked like the alliance would last. So why would Hizdahr risk poisoning Dany, with the Unsullied still outnumbering the SOTH? To kill Dany is to start an all out war inside the city, and the numbers would be against them. The Shavepate had the most motivation to poison Dany, or at least someone in her party. By doing so, it breaks the peace and pits Barristan and the Unsullied against the SOTH.
Hodor’s Bastard,
Thanks for your input. 🙂
Turncloak,
Sophie Turner stated she would shoot only in Belfast. Yes, inner scenes. But what’s about the Heart Tree?
Mmmm… It is possible that D&D will put foreward events of tWoW and delay scenes of aDwD in order to set up the siege of Meereen for the last episodes of S6. If they introduce the Greyjoy force then, this will be make sense. A navy is expensive, but the chapter where Barristan noticed the krakens was awesome and I doubt that D&D will skip it. Yes, it is a excerpt from tWoW, but rooted by the conflict with Yunkai that happened in aDwD… IIRC D&D stated that they wouldn’t adapt aSoIaF chronologically anymore, so, Hizdahr can return to Meereen and say Dany that the Yunkish offered her peace if he marries her, so, slow down the Yunkai plot. Then, set up Euron offscreen.
This will be an excellent way by which they can develop Dorne in S5, with some juicy mentions of the Ironborn, and then integrate the Greyjoys in S6, not as major players, but as a badass Euron (one or two scenes) and their awesome arrival to Meereen. So, they (the Ironborn) can do whatever they will do in the books.
A man can dream.
But I insist, I don’t want Dany in Westeros until S7/ADoS.
By the way things l00k she really is going to come to Westeros in the last (7th) season of the series, and probably in the very last (10th) episode.
She is going to demount Drogon, only to slip on a babana peel and break her neck and thus fullfilling the prophecy of Queth-or-whats-her-name “to go foward you must go back”.
When you slip on a banana peel your initial motion is backwards and then you move forward to …. afterlife.
764 comments. This is getting ridiculous, in a good way.
StandOzone,
Hey! Another ridiculous thing. Except in a bad way. No, they ain’t delaying the Battle of Meereen until the climax of season 6. People who think that are assuming that, somehow, Daenerys doesn’t have many things to do after the battle in TWOW and ADOS… which I don’t think is a reasonable assumption at all. I’m not even going to argue this point further. By the time Season 5 ends, it’ll hopefully be clear that’s not the case.
My dear friend you are forgeting, Dany is not a part of the battle for Mereen.
She is walking in the Dothrakeee sea with a severe case of diarrhea.
THAT is what her character has become.
From Princess to –> Khalezzi –> MoD–> Quarthese beggar –> Sacker of cities and a theif (of unsulied) –> Braker of chains –> crazy woman shitting her ass of in the grass.
God i wish GRRM stoped writing ASOIAF after SOS and haded the job to some ghost writer ….
Ser Dosser,
Yeah… you’re making my point. They’re not going to spend almost a whole season with Daenerys on the Dothraki Sea. Also, you don’t know if she arrives during the battle of not. I don’t either, but it’s not like that’s what I implied. I said it’s safe to assume Daenerys will have plenty of storyline to adapt after the Battle of Meereen, whether she is involved in the fight or not.
LukaNieto,
If you don’t share my opinion doesn’t make it “ridiculous”. Some respect, please. Dany still have to deal with the Sons of the Harpy, the Pale Mare and a lot of things in tWoW. I keep reading comments that insist that Dany will return to Meereen just to flee to Westeros, in my opinion, that’s ridiculous, but still a possibility. GRRM said that we won’t see Asshai, so, that’s not an option. If Dany will return to solve the post-battle Meereenese conflict, D&D could rearrange the order of the events to put forward the events of tWoW (first-half of S6, second-half of S5) and keep the huge event teased by the released chapters of Barristan-Victarion-Tyrion as a climax (people use to forget that the battle of Meereen actually happens in tWoW, and S6 will be a vague adaptation of tWoW).
IN MY OPINION, see a huge battle, with numerous ships, is not a smart way to expend money for the begining of S6 but the end of the penultimate season. And this is actually an opportunity to give us Greyjoys in a great way, with a great battle that will justify they final inclusion in S7.
So, I don’t think that is ridiculous.
Think of the diarrhea as a “cleansing” metaphor. She is morphing into the Targ she was destined to be, not some passive ruler constrained by learning mundane politics in Meereen. She needs to get the past shit out of her system and assume her true destiny, Drogon and Khal Jhago willing….
Hopefully, she doesn’t follow the same deluded path as her father.
StandOzone,
The idea that the Battle of Meereen will occur at the end of Season 6 is highly, and I do mean Mt. Everest-highely, unlikely. The only way it could possibly happen is if the show gets an eighth season. With the current 7 season plan, I just can’t see it.
We know that the Battle takes places at the beginning of Winds; it’s the culmination of Dany’s Dance storyline that’s carried over for reasons that have nothing to do with narrative concerns, but with underlying logistics of writing and publishing. Are you suggesting that everything post-Meereen (close to two books-worth of material — ADoS + majority of TWoW), the entire endgame of the whole series, should be stuffed and packed into a single season? Less even. Because if the Battle of Meereen takes place at the end of Season 6, Dany can’t just teleport to Westeros in time for Season 7. She has to get there first, obviously.
And anyway, even if all of this is feasible, the question remains, why? Why would D&D have Daenerys spend 4(!) seasons in Slaver’s Bay and the surrounding area only to run out of time just as we get to the interesting stuff?
Another thing worth noting. In an old SSM, Martin revealed that the storyline of ADwD would revolve around Dany’s return to Westeros and conflicts it causes. Therefore, in his original plan, not only was the Battle of Meereen slated for ADwD, but a whole bunch of material after that. In other words, Martin planned to have two entire books with Dany in Westeros. Now, it’ll probably be closer to a book and a half, but each of these books will be much bigger than previously envisaged.
So much material in only one season? Even with some merciless hacking? Nah.
OK WE HAVE A WINNER! End this, mercy let it end!
p.s. WiC has a cool new post.
Hoyti Von Totiy,
Cool? It’s Castle Black and the abandoned Mudgate set from the episode “Blackwater”, which they wrongly report as a new set. You can even see clearly that the “state of disrepair” WiC mentions is not part of the set design —the old set is simply crumbling down, and you can see the hollow wooden interiors, which wouldn’t make any sense if the destruction was part of the set as intended. And anyway, as I said, it’s clearly the set from the “Blackwater” episode. Sigh… the new staff doesn’t get one right, do they?
Anyway, there’s one interesting picture, which shows more clearly those wooden walls already reported in WotW. Of course, WiC doesn’t even mention it, instead talking about a set that’s already been used and is abandoned.
Or maybe
Mr Fixit,
This is a good response. And I agree that I could be wrong about my speculation. What bother me is that somebody just say: “your point is ridiculous, in a bad way”. Otherwise, GRRM stated that Dany and Tyrion will met each other (in some way) in tWoW and will put an eye to Westeros. This could be or not in Meereen, so… the meereenese arc will be present in some degree through tWoW.
Next year, Cersei will have lasted in Kings Landing 5 seasons, and nobody complains about that because the stuff that happens there is interesting. The stuff in Meereen could be very exciting if a Battle is coming, and we got there (as we will) several characters that we care about (Tyrion, Jorah, Barristan, Dany… and some people still are interested in Missandei and Grey Worm, not me).
That said, the Battle of Meereen could be a mid season momentum, and Dany setting sail to Westeros will be the most exciting way to end her arc for S6 that I could imagine, and landing there could be an amazing way to begin her conquer of the Seven Kingdoms.
Flora Linden,
I can’t really argue with that. Will she pursue a more noble route by basically using the dragons as a WW deterrent or does she have more dragon-dance, mad-ruler, holier-than-thou ambitions? Which would be more fun and GRRM-like? I just want to see her and Jon meet someday, with unexpected results.
P.S….(Come on…Egg wasn’t so bad, was he?)
Oh, Jon and Dany will definitely meet, and it’ll be like when Brienne met the Hound – it won’t be what we ever expected. This is Martin and GoT, after all. 🙂
You’re right, Egg wasn’t bad. I like Dany, and Aemon (of the NW). I think Dany at heart is a decent person. There are good and bad Targaryens, as with every family.
Hodor’s Bastard,
I really don’t why fans think it would be cool if Dany turns out to be the villain. I also don’t get why people think Stannis is going to miraculously win a battle against the well fed and battle ready army of Boltons/Freys. If GRRM wants to off Dany he should make her go out like a boss fighting white walkers, but we all know she will slip on a banana pill and die because the magnificent tropes subverting expert just wants to do it for the shock value. I’m pretty sure Jon Snow has the most plot armor compared to the rest of the characters, and the whole fake out stabbing thing was really predictable.
Flora Linden,
I think GRRM likes to write about the Targs because they are prone to make ridiculous, apolitical and terrible decisions, which makes for great storytelling. The Princess & the Queen is full of self-absorbed totalitarian decision-making that one completes the read almost hating the very essence of the Targs. Is their awkwardness a result of inbreeding? Perhaps, but every once in a red moon, a good Targ leader comes along, which is quite a treat (I love the D&E tales). In any case, without their dragons to serve as violent deterrents, they eventually and predictably succumbed to defeat.
One thing to note from TWoI&F, the Targs (Valyrians) tried to invade Westeros before Aegon the Conqueror and the Doom but were resoundly defeated.
Also, there were at least 5 Blackfyre rebellions in the past, which surprised me but it really seems plausible….(there will be a 6th one in our immediate future…but maybe not in the show…..grrrrr)
SwagAhai Reborn,
Stannis won’t get past the Winterfell seige unscathed…but I totally believe that his efforts will have some positive effect. I like to play both sides of the coin with Dany and Stannis…they’re fun characters.
Doin’t think Dany really needs to return at the Battle of Mereen. Selmy, The Ironborn and the switching sellswords seem to have things in hand. Do it early-mid Season 6 then you can tidy things up with Dany and get her to Westeros for Season 7.
TheTouchOfFrost,
If D does get to Westeros, she’ll arrive early via a dragon sortie to check things out in each kingdom and cause some mayhem/instability from the skies, then her forces will arrive later. Or is that too predictable?
Hodor’s Bastard,
Thank you for the background info on the past Targ invasion and the Blackfyre rebellions. I only know the basic overall story of the books, nothing about the history or backstory details. So, the dragons did all the conquering – guess there isn’t anything that special about the Targaryens, after all.
Only 20+ more comments to reach 800. Amazing!
Where are all those Blackfyre Rebellions coming from? I have a vague feeling/recollection there’s only about three of those.
Hodor’s Bastard,
I don’t think the dragons will play as bigger role as people think. Can even see one of them dying before they even get to Westeros. I hope there is some sort of twist when she finally arrives. Personally I think she’ll die at the wall saving the kingdom from the whitewalkers and Jon Snow will sit on the Iron Throne completely flipping their expected final roles but to be honest there’s so much left to be tied up all bets are off!
Come on guys, we’re so close to 800!!!
Uhhh.
Winnie,
I agree about the foreshadowing. I noticed during Tywin’s little speech to Tommen that the houses he used as examples sounded a lot like the Greyjoys and the Tyrells.
Sad to hear the Ironborn plot line won’t be done, at least not yet, as it is a cool diversion in the books. But it seems to me that they need to finish to Dorne storyline, since they took all season 4 introducing Oberyn Martell and that whole backstory. To do the Greyjoy storyline justice, they’d need to do something very similar to establish THAT whole backstory, and that would just clutter up season 5.
Will they omit it completely, or do it later? Wouldn’t be surprised either way.
So, will they be in season 6, or is the iron islands, save for theon, yara, and getting closure on balon’s death, cut from the show entirely?