The Daily Mail has new photos from the set of Game of Thrones, giving us a glimpse of the magic in progress. Kit Harington, Gwendoline Christie, Liam Cunningham, Daniel Portman, and a body double for Sophie Turner are spotted in the pictures showing production underway recently at Banbridge’s Linen Mill Studios.
There was also an unknown young boy filming with them. We don’t know at this time who he is or if he has a named role in season 7.
The actors are likely on break or finished for the day- they look to only be partially in costume. These look like the underclothes of their usual costumes, and you can see Portman’s cooling system.
Aidan Gillen was photographed out of costume. Though The Daily Mail makes reference to a battle, there is no indication whatsoever that a battle scene was being filmed and it’s possible that they were simply guessing or making an assumption. They also misidentified Portman as Joe Dempsie, so take anything they write with a big grain of salt.
The filming took place at the Banbridge location (easy to spot with the large Riverrun facade still standing, you can see that photo at the source) but filming took place inside, so we don’t know for sure where the scene took place, Westeros-location-wise. Given that we have Sansa, Jon, Littlefinger, Davos, Brienne and Pod, there’s decent odds they’ve created some of Winterfell inside the studios.
Let the speculation begin! Why would Sophie need a body double?
THE KIT IN THE NOOORTH
Kit in the north!!
Why is Sansa dressed like a peasant?
Rhaenys Stark,
All actors have stand-ins I think. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything.
ghost of winterfell,
This. They all have stand-ins, for the most part. It’s pretty meaningless to see Sophie’s around.
is that means Brienne and Podd are back to Winterfell ?
I’m very curious about Sophie’s hair tbh. If she didn’t dye her hair already, wig is definitely coming. Waiting for new photos of her.
ghost of winterfell,
Sue the Fury,
Oh okay didn’t know that! 🙂
My in-depth thoughts about this are that Jon looks so hot and I want a scene where he is sleeping and then wakes up lol.
That’s what I want to know.
Can someone help me out: Is the Banbridge set located just behind Titanic studios? If so, could it be that the Daily Mail is assuming the cast is filming at Riverrun when they’re actually filming in studio? Or could it be the show has redressed the Riverrun courtyard to stand in for Winterfell’s?
Kargaryen,
These photos are said to be from shortly after the Emmys, so she’s already been filming.
Thank you for making sense of a pretty confusing article by DM, Sue. It seems Brienne and Pod have made it back to join the KITN at least.
The North remembers!! At first i thought it was rehearsal or something coz Kit is carrying a sheet. But absence of Sophie turner & presence of her double makes me think it might be some kind of action sequence with horse riding involved.
It’s likely that Winterfell has already fallen by the time these scenes take place. So Riverrun becomes the first line of defense against the white walkers.
The Irish throne reported this a while ago. I trino even before de Emmys
@Thrones_Fury we know this.Filming is currently focused in the courtyard area & its outdoors behind the ‘facade’ which hasn’t been used yet.
So not necessarily Riverrun.
The big spoiler here is Brienne and Pod back with Sansa! Does this means they don’t encounter the BwB?
Jenny,
Amen to that!
Rhaenys Stark,
It’s possible, no way of confirming though. Which girl are you speaking of , there is only a boy involved here?
That shirt is making me laugh. Is he about to quote Hamlet in it? 😛
Maybe the boy is a young Umber child.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Edith,
That’s an old tweet. It doesn’t concern this filming which seems to have taken place last week.
So we know Brienne and Pod link up with Team Stark, wherever that ends up eing, geographically. For all we know, there were other major castmembers present that weren’t photographed (since, e.g., we didn’t see Sophie herself),.
ghost of winterfell,
I was just wondering if the red haired girl in the photos is another actress and not a body double, as the DM article says. Maybe they’re wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time… Her clothes don’t seem very Sansa-like. I could be wrong of course.
If they go to the Riverlands and miss Bran’s arrival at Winterfell I might die lol
That’s pretty much what the Mail is doing, assuming they’re filming at Riverrun. Lots of people make that mistake. The Riverrun facade is on the Linen Mill property. Those studios are located in Banbridge, not in Belfast, not close to Titanic Studios. They can shoot multiple units within Linen Mill Studios, it’s quite big, and it causes confusion sometimes for us fans when they have two storylines filming there at once in different parts.
They film at Linen Mill regularly. They filmed the Theon-Yara scenes we reported on a while ago there.
I know it’s not, but that boy would be a shoo-in if they ever needed a young Ramsay Snow.
Aemon,
Nah…
lmao
Should he keep his shirt on?
Flayed Potatoes,
Imagine something like Bran meeting Jon just as he is about to go south and Jon says something like ‘We’ll speak when I return’ a la Benjen style. I’ll cry xD
I very much doubt they are filing scenes in the south.I bet it’s just winterfell and the north.The only news here is that we can infer that Brienne and Pod are back in the north.That’s great cause Brienne hates Lf lol.
I find it at least a little bit interesting that we’re seeing Gwendoline Christie and Daniel Portman apparently filming alongside Kit Harington, Liam Cunningham, and Sophie Turner’s stand-in. That would seem to suggest that Brienne and Pod make it back to Winterfell. That’s not much of a surprise – they departed Riverrun in Episode 8 of Season 6, so they could conceivably be back in the North by the first episode of Season 7 if need be.
However, it does seem to lessen the chances that they’ll get caught up in the cluster of characters who are currently traveling in the Riverlands (Sandor and the Brotherhood Without Banners, Melisandre, Arya). Brienne has a history with all of those characters, and could theoretically bounce off any or all of them for an episode or two. Granted, the Hound and the Brotherhood are heading North as well, and we don’t know about Arya. It will be interesting to see if Rory McCann, Paul Kaye, Richard Dormer, and/or Maisie Williams turn up in the orbit of the Northern storyline as well (I’d be surprised if Maisie did – as much as I want to see Arya reunite with her family, she seems to have more story possibilities in the south).
Also, Brienne making it back to the North seems to significantly reduce the chances that she will interact with Jaime again this season, assuming that Jaime will spend most of Season 7 in King’s Landing and on the southern front when Dany invades. Their goodbye in Episode 8 certainly had an air of finality to it – unless Jaime survives Cersei’s inevitable fall, it’s possible that the two of them will never meet again.
I’ll insert the necessary caveats here that they could be filming scenes for two separate locations, we don’t know exactly when in the season these scenes are taking place, and characters can travel as fast as necessary to get where the story needs them to go.
Flayed Potatoes,
Strangely enough yes.We have seen him naked but there is something about those smallclothes lol.And don’t worry we will have our Jon-Bran reunion.It’s just bound to happen.
Rhaenys Stark,
I’ll throw my shoe at the TV and defect to Team Faceless Men.
I wonder what Lyanna Mormont and Tormund will be up to lol.
Rhaenys Stark,
Jon told Bran, back in the day, that when he wakes up from his coma, they will go for a walk beyond the wall… I truly believe this will happen, I just don’t know when.
okay first why sophie not a ginger yet if they are shooting. 2nd why does she need a body double. I fear that she’d die. Sophie’s been hinting that like a lot a lot.
Damn, that blue-haired girl sure has a beautiful face !
(yeah, not very relevant, but still !)
Interesting that Kit and Gwen are wearing the same shirt and the rest of the cast is wearing the same color fabric. Is Pod going to be fighting this season? Why would he need a cooling vest? The little boy could be in a Bran flashback. Seeing photos like these is so much fun! Talk amongst ourselves
Sue the Fury,
Ah, so they were filming at Linen Mills studio. Thanks, Sue.
Okay, then these scenes are probably taking place in Winterfell. The most interesting nugget is that Brienne and Pod are back in the WF, and Brienne appears to have finally discarded her Lannister armor. Which is about time – she is Sansa’s sworn sword and she should wear Stark colors now.
BunBunStark,
is it possible that two different scenes were being filmed, and Bri and Pod were in a separate scene
Jared,
If the Hound goes north then Arya is going North too. Paraphrasing Brienne: he didn’t want to leave her, she didn’t want to leave him.
Whether he takes her back to her family or goes with her to take down his brother, like he said to her in season 3 or 4, the hound and Arya storyline is with each other.
I see Jon will keep rockin’ his man bun in S7… and I’m OK with it!
Stand ins literally just stand in an actor’s mark while lighting, etc is adjusted. The style of dress is somewhat irrelevant. They may be using a similar color, since GOT is all shot with filters. Mainly stand ins have similar measurements and hair color.
Brienne and Jon’s matching undershirts make me wonder if Brienne will be wearing Stark armor instead of the cool armor Jaime gave.
That’s very interesting!! Would Brienne at some point disclose to the Starks that “Oathkeeper” was made out of “Ice”?
I can think of reasons why Jon and crew may actually travel to Riverrun. The main being that they need to spread awareness of the NK and gain support. They may be calling Jon the KitN but he still feels responsible to do the duties of the LC of the Night’s Watch whether or not he considers himself such. The only duty that’s important now is getting as many fighters as possible.
Is just me or does Sophie’s body double really look like Joffrey?
Clob,
Good points. but:
The freys are wiped out.. so who are they going to? Edmure? hes useless as fuck
How often have they filmed Winterfell scenes at Linen?
lord of blogfell,
to get warm
hahaha
Daily Mail strikes again with their ignorance and inability to fact check.
They don’t know Edmure is useless. We also don’t know what kind of fallout occurs with the assassination of Walder and his sons. If Cersei calls all of the Lannister army to King’s Landing with news of Daenerys’ movements the Riverlands could become soft and perhaps retaken by Edmure with help from his Stark kin with a promise to assist them in return. Just a theory 🙂
Jaime seems to be a major wild card in this. Will he stay in King’s Landing until Dany invades, or will he have left on his own before then? Arya too – will she head north or south? It could go either way with them.
Maybe, maybe not. Arya definitely will cross paths with the Hound, BWB and Melisandre again.
Thanks to Dee Stark for finding the article. 🙂
Edith,
I agree that there’s a good chance that Arya and Sandor’s storylines will converge. It wasn’t for nothing that the Faceless Men kept invoking the Hound’s name until Arya was forced to admit that she had taken him off her list. As foreshadowing goes, those references aren’t quite as explicit as Melisandre prophesying that she and Arya will meet again, but it’s close. It would certainly make sense reunite the two traveling companions after they have both openly let go of their hatred – at least for one another.
As for where they might go if and when they reunite … as with Arya, I think I’d prefer to see the Hound go north. The possibility of him reuniting with Sansa and eventually fighting the White Walkers intrigues me more than stirring up the inevitable Cleganebowl hype yet again. But if I had to guess, I think that the southern road is more likely.
Nah, she isn’t giving her engagement sword to anyone.
Oathkeeper means a lot more for her and it’s really a sword with a huge lion on it. It will always be hers.
If Kit and Sophie have been filming in Banbridge, does it make it more likely that
What’s a cooling mechanism? Is it that hot in Ireland now?
Dee Stark,
The Frey’s are not wiped out, Walder Frey had about 40 kids, and that’s not just book canon, we’ve seen them in season 1 & 3
“Engagement sword”… LOVED it!! 😀
I’m not saying she should give it back… but I think it would be nice for the Starks to know that their family’s ancestral sword is somehow still protecting them… 🙂
The kid looks like a child version of Ramsay
BunBunStark,
I think it makes sense for Brienne and Pod to head straight to Winterfell. They went by boat, whereas the BwB and the Hound are in unspecified locations in the Riverlands.
I’m excited to see what Brienne and Jon will be wearing now.
Could this be the 10 year old Northern boy? Wonder who he is..
The presence of that young boy has me intrigued. He’s not dressed like a wildling nor a peasant. He looks like a little lord, so I dug up Sue’s post from June where there was this casting leak:
The second role is for a 10-year-old Northern boy. He appears to be a part of the same “high-stakes” scene as the teenage girl.
(Info added 6/18: ) These particular roles will be filming in September and October.
This kid and main cast’s presence seems to fit the bill, no? Could he be the new Lord Umber or Lord Karstark gone to WF to pledge fealty to KitN and House Stark? And is it possible the red-headed girl isn’t Sophie’s stand-in but the girl in the casting leak? The reason I think that is because that dress and the messy hair is not Sansa’s style.
The kid’s outfit is similar to what young Ned and Benjen were wearing in Bran’s vision. Maybe he’s a young Jon…
Damn. It just hit me. It makes complete sense that Jon Snow and team are down south, and by that I mean relative to Winterfell.
You guys must’ve spotted the Lannister lion in Dorne at 1:30 in the Season 7 production teaser. If you look more closely, you’ll see the tail of a Stark direwolf where Riverrun ought to be.. or somewhere close to Riverrun.
GET HYPE!
Jaemi,
what I meant was, theyre nothing without walder.
that was the idea of wacking him and his main sons last season
Flayed Potatoes,
I totally agree, Brienne and Pod were already leaving RR before Arya got to that area and that was nearly at the end of Ep 10. Based on these pictures it looks like they made it to Winterfell (which is super exciting). I’m happy there are two Valeryian swords in the North, I hope Oathkeeper is put to good use against the WW. I don’t think Jaime and Brienne will ever meet again… looking back that last goodbye was a good way to close their story together. Oh well, here’s hoping for another STark reunion! ARya? Bran? I just can’t take any more Starks dying….
Sansa body double could imply either of 2 things…Either some nude scene with her or she’s getting ready for some battle action…Not sure which one I would prefer…Who knows, JonSa might actually be happening this season after they find out that they are only cousins and not bro/sis
Rhaenys Stark,
BunBunStark,
Definitely possible. The age of the boy at least fits perfectly. The girl I cannot make out.
If that boy is the next Lord Umber, I wonder what will he be called, Smallerjon Umber?..
Clob,
That kid has blue eyes though.
NotGRRM,
Oh, more plot proof from the props painting guy months ago! Teasing. Good try though, but that shot of a map only shows a portion of Dorne and The Stormlands – nowhere near The Riverlands. No tail on the show version of the Stark sigil either 😉
She definitely won’t give it back and shouldn’t. It’s no longer Ice, even if it was forged from it. What she should do is have the pommel changed. Plenty of people have said this, myself included. I know Jaime is, to some, a changed man (the past 2 seasons would have me disagree) but after everything the Lannisters have put the Stark family through, out of respect I would think Brienne would change it. I hope the powers that be change it this season because that has always bothered me. The “Lannister gold” is one of the reasons Arya ran from her, you would think that it would draw way more attention from Stark loyalists. But I also think it shows, at the heart, where Brienne’s loyalties do lie. She will take a sword for Jaime before any Stark and I think this eats her up inside. I also think Sansa will realize this eventually. It is kind of obvious. The noble wanna-be Knight, isn’t really so noble. Instead, incredibly flawed. Makes it more interesting, even if I am not a big fan.
They are just assuming that’s a Sansa double because she has red hair. I’m skeptical. That is definitely not a Sansa dress. Even if she has to wear a peasant dress she’d spruce it up like she did with the wolf at Castle Black.
Also skeptical this is Riverrun.
Also skeptical this is a battle scene.
Also that’s not Gendry.
Otherwise they were spot on.
ghost of winterfell,
I believe his name would be Tinyjon lol
Maybe Jon’s eyes turned brown with all of the bullshit he’s been fed during his life. 😛
I didn’t catch the blue eyes part. 🙂
IF that is a Sansa double, it’d pretty much confirm Sophie Turner will be wearing a wig since the body double is red haired. So we can put that nonsense to rest.
The presence of Euron in Cersei storyline could bring in the equation of Jaime finally splitting with Cersei because of “other men”. I assumed the show was going to make their split be the result of Cersei blowing up the Sept and indirectly causing the death of Tommen (which, I feel, is a more profound way to make that split final), but if Cersei ends up marrying Euron and Jaime leaves as a result of that, you’d put him right back to where his book counterpart is. Also, free of Cersei Jaime could only go one of two places (*I assume*): Casterly Rock, or up North to join Brienne.
Old Nan’s Pie,
could be with LF
ewwwwwwwwwwwww
Did we see Karstark die?
I don’t know why there’s an insistance of putting the Northern characters South. Same thing happened last year with people assuming Sansa was going to the Riverlands, or back to the Vale. The Northern characters are staying North. Not a single one of them have any reason to be going south.
Also, the pictures look to me like they’ve all just been woken up in the middle of the night and threw something on. Kind of like when Karstark killed the Lannister boys and they woke up Robb, Catelyn, Talisa, etc. They seem sort of disheveled like that (at least to me). Perhaps a vistor in the night? Bran comes back? Or Arya? I’m just spitballing here.
Jack Bauer 24,
We don’t know for sure. Could well be that he fled the battle and ran off to Karhold.
Could it be Jon and company head South to recapture Riverrun?
Why wouldn’t she be wearing a wig? Do people think she was going to be blonde this season?
Jared,
I would love to see The Hound and Arya fight white walkers together. I’m really looking forward to the time when all the characters in the show realize the WW are coming for them and perhaps they should work together to fight. It’s bound to happen.
Flora Linden,
I shared something spoilery for once.. that’s a rarity! HAHA
There’s a very good reason for some(one) to go south. They know they don’t have the manpower to face the NK and nobody is going to do anything with notes from ravens. I do think/hope that the storylines of the north and below the Riverlands stay separate for most of the next season, but there will probably be some kind of an effort to build their defenses.
Sou,
It is definitely not hot in Ireland right now I can tell you that much! It’s probably worn under the heavy armour he has to wear and that together with being under loads of bright studio lights I’m guessing it gets far too hot without some kind of cooling device!
RosanaZugey,
If the boy in the pic is the same one from the casting call, it means they are filming a high stakes scene. Wonder what could that be. Of course all this is just speculation.
ghost of winterfell,
She’s not dressed like a peasant. She’s dressed like the Lady of Winterfell, Catelyn Stark 2.0:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/d3/f1/18/d3f118332903c4544b779cf139de5aa5.jpg
http://3g28wn33sno63ljjq514qr87.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Ned-and-Catelyn.png
http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/31100000/Catelyn-and-Eddard-catelyn-tully-stark-31147018-624-352.png
I can’t believe that no one has mentioned how stoked Tormund’s gonna be that Brienne is back. ?
Jack Bauer 24,
No I wouldn’t think so. But you’ve seen the questions about why her hair is still blonde, yes? She’s going to be wearing a wig, and if that wasn’t obvious enough before, it will be now.
Dee Stark,
I know, that’s cool! I love it. 🙂
No. But he gave the command for the cavalry to charge, and in a behind-the-scenes video he can be seen galloping at the head of said cavalry. I assume he was killed as a result of Ramsay’s arrows and ended up in the wall of bodies.
Oooh, I like that speculation. There is a certain pajama-quality to what the Northern gang is wearing. Maybe, like you suggest, it’s one of the missing Stark siblings arriving at WF in the middle of the night or it could be the Northern boy arriving with dire news. It’s anyone’s guess at this point, but it’s fun to speculate.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
SO very true!
BunBunStark,
Man, the wait is too long. Im so intrigued as to what is going to happen.
Since Gwen and Daniel both have cooling units on (you can see his shirt, and her tubing) it seems to me they went into the trailer to do something while not in full costume. Since it’s hot. They are only half-dressed because they aren’t going to wear the armor while they’re eating, in hair and makeup etc.
I suspect she’s still got her fabulous Tarth blue armor and he’ll be in something a little heavier than his squire costume.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
Hmm, so Sansa gives up on her mad embroidering skilsl lol?
First they had Jon look like Ned 2.0, now if Sansa is going to look even more like Catelyn 2.0, we can look forward to more shipping next season.
I think we have more info this year already than we did for last season.
this is OT: but gonna ask since lots of traffic in here today, has anyway read the “The Name of the Wind Novel by Patrick Rothfuss” ?? if so, is it worth a read?
Could be. But nobody ‘south’ has the manpower to fight the white walkers either. The largest and healthiest army (the Vale) is already North. The Lannisters have their own impending battle to deal with, and even if they didn’t, I don’t see anyone from up North asking for their help anyways, especially considering their Lady is still wanted by the crown for murder. Edmure doesn’t have an army, they were taken by the Lannisters. And House Tyrell has joined with House Targaryen to attack KL. Those cats aren’t worried about the North.
Plus, winter is here. Travelling is not going to be as easy. So, I’m skeptical that characters are just going to be “in and out” of the North like it was nothing.
Edith,
I hope you’re wrong. Arya’s story should be in the North with her family and the main story, not in the South with her kidnapper and the subplots. Since she said she was going home last season, Arya should be heading upward once she hopefully picks up Nymeria.
But as for the actress with the strawberry blonde hair, why is it assumed she’s a Sansa stand in? Her hair seems too light and her clothes are too plain. Couldn’t she be a commoner who is having scenes with them as a servant?
ghost of winterfell,
Tinyjon Umber 😛
Jared,
Notice that Isaac isn’t with them either.
The Northern storyline being a version of ‘the Wall falls, we need to abandon Winterfell/the North, escape over the Neck to Riverrun/the Riverlands’ would be pretty interesting, though. A huge massive migration, not just of wildings, but of all Northerners.
Also, book-based predictions are pretty unreliable right now, but doesn’t Dany dream in the books that
?
Westeros Pyjama Party – on
Also! I’ve just decided that it would be pretty cool if the resolution to the final battle was repeating the Children’s magic trick,
. Now *that* would be bittersweet to a lot of people!
I can see it in my head already. They’re all awakened in the middle of the night because someone yells “rider” or something. They all gather in the Winterfell Hall all tense and such, waiting to see who it is. And then
WALA! Bran or Arya. ?
Great thought. Makes me happy. ? Then again, it could also be as people are saying: they’re in-between takes and decided to shed some clothes. *Shrugs* That speculation is way less exciting though. ?
RosanaZugey,
We’ve only seen some of the Vale cavalry in the North. I doubt they would have sent their entire army, including infantry, north to Winterfell.
A few thousand cavalry would have been all that was necessary to sway the battle in the Starks’ favour.
The majority of the Vale’s forces likely remain in the south, especially if Lord Robin is still at the Eyrie. Also, the Lannisters (or more specifically, Cersei) are the biggest obstacle to uniting the entire Seven Kingdoms against the White Walkers.
Anything the North can do to weaken their position would be a smart move long-term. Taking the Riverlands would sandwich the Crown/Lannisters between enemies in the north and the south. Coming to the aid of the Reach and Dorne might also go some way to convincing them to ally with the North against the threat from beyond the Wall.
I’m not sure if this is the route the producers will go, but it does make some sense.
RosanaZugey,
All of that is true at the moment. However, as I wrote earlier, things are bound to change pretty quickly. As I mentioned, I don’t think or want to see them going outside/beyond of The Riverlands looking for assistance as it stands right now. It doesn’t make sense to look for it beyond there. The Lannister army could leave the area for the new Lord of the Crossing to hold if Cersei needs them against the incoming Daenerys. We know that Jon’s only thought is building a defense against the NK. I can’t see him sitting idle with the limited numbers he has. It makes a lot of sense for him to attempt to get all the men he can and The Riverlands is the nearest area.
Tobias Snow,
This is exactly what I thought
I see what you’re saying. I feel like that all might be a little too complicated for what’s left of the story (and would unnecessarily risk the precious few men they have), but its most definitely possible. Your post does remind me though…isn’t Petyr already the Lord Paramount of the Trident/Riverlands? When does that factor into the rest of the story(if it does at all)? With Walder Frey gone, and Edmure/the Tully army under Lannister control, wouldn’t the Riverlands be under Petyr’s command anyways?
Proof Jon Snow dies.
Is Kit hiding his right hand? I like his hobbit outfit and game face when exiting trailer.
Btw, good point about there being Vale troops still in the Vale. Of course there’d be Vale troops still there. The Lord of the Vale is still there after all. Didn’t even think about that. Good point.
RosanaZugey,
Littlefinger is just Lord of Harrenhal.
He was never made Lord Paramount of the Trident, although Tyrion did offer him that title as part of his ruse to discover which of Littlefinger, Varys and Pycelle was spying on him for Cersei.
But I imagine Cersei will have stripped him of Harrenhal anyway, let alone any other titles, if she considers he has betrayed her and the Crown.
RosanaZugey,
Walder Frey has a LONG list of heirs beyond Black Walder and Lame Lothar. The Freys are going to still be in control of Riverrun and the Twins unless there’s been another uprising of some sort. The Tully holdouts were defeated at Riverrun, so not sure who else is nearby to usurp the Frey control of the Riverlands. Unless Littlefinger senses opportunity and sics the Knights of the Vale on them.
Flora Linden,
Not sure what she could do with the face because she is so much smaller than the hound. Not a likely transformation.
Wow Jon has better cloathing while he was cleaning Jeorah Mormonts chamber pot then now when he is a king.
Why is he hiding his right hand?
I feel like the show is setting up a dynamic in which all of the relevant players seem to be going North anyways. The Riverlands (in the form of the BwB) are going TO Jon as of right now, which would seem to negate his need to go South to get them. Then again, I think I’m being way to quick to dismiss the Riverlands and its importance. You have a lot of players in the Riverlands right now (Arya, BwB, the Hound, Melisandre (I assume)) and if that area wasn’t important, those characters wouldn’t be there. *Thinks* How plausible is it that all of those character stay in the Riverlands and act as a barrier against the Lannister/Greyjoy forces and the North? If Mel convinces these people that Jon is Azor Ahai, can we assume they’d try to protect him by not allowing these people through the Riverlands to kill him? Or am I just thinking crazy right now?
Hoyti Von Totiy,
hes not going to look like that in the show.. this is clearly in between filming
BunBunStark,
I am not trying to be dark or creepy but remember when Lord Umber said to Karstark about how he liked boys. I hope the boy is an Umber instead of a karstark. I would hate to hear what Karstark may have done when still alive.
Dee Stark,
Hi Dee – Read Name of the Wind and loved it. My problem was when I got to the second book of the series. It bogged down so much in the middle that I couldn’t finish it. Now I know there are a lot of people that liked the second book but…. I would definitely recommend ‘Name’ but if you want to read the series, I don’t know-
Rhaenys Stark,
That was my thought as well ! For the boy at least ^^
CT Wahoo,
That may be the problem, actually.
Walder did not give much of a hoot as to what would happen to his family after his death. So, aside from Black Walder and Lame Lothar whom he had singled out as his heirs apparent, he never really distingued any of his incredibly numerous children, both legitimate and illegitimate, who could therefore all have some kind of claim over the House and the region.
The infighting among the… What’s the collective name for a group of Freys ? For wolves, it is a pack; for lions, it is a pride; for Freys, it is what ? A sh*tbag ? Yep, that’s it ! A sh*tbag of Freys ! So the infighting among the sh*itbag of Walder’s descendants could noticeably weaken the family, especially considering how disorganised, idiotic, militarily useless and unruly these people tend to be.
While they are busy kicking one another in the shin to decide who gets what from daddy’s inheritance, it would not be unthinkable for someone else to show up and take the lot.
PS I read the article on the Daily Mail’s site… Whose poor sod’s job is it to come up with those captions to go with the photographs ? They are unfathomably lame. Didn’t expect anything better from the Daily Mail, though.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
Catelyn Stark was also dressed like a peasant. That is a FACT.
Cersei’s Brain,
Oh thank you for responding! I will read NAME for sure… and I guess I can give the second one a shot like you did!
Hoyti Von Totiy,
the starks were humble beings.. it is known
What??
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
That first link is when Cat was trying to go incognito not something she’d normally wear. The other two are simple but far nicer and of better quality than the dress we see on the “body double.” You’ll note she has the over tunic over her simple dresses (much like Sansa’s grey dress in the first episode is supposed to come with the beautiful over tunic that got ruined while escaping in the snow.)
Sansa is emulating her mom. But, love her or hate her, she’s still Sansa. And Sansa has an aesthetic and eye toward fashion. She still had to embroider the addition of the wolf to her simple dress. Her furs are more elaborate than Cat’s were. (And, as implausible as it is, she did likely make her own fur just as she made Jon’s.)
Ah. I see. And yes, yes. Cersei will have stripped him of his titles anyways. That’s true. I think its going to be interesting to see when Cersei finds out that Daenerys is coming. I would imagine that if she finds out early enough, she probably won’t care about what’s going on in the North, she’ll have bigger fish to fry. Then again……she could have Euron attack Daenerys at sea, and send Jaime (if he’s still around) to attack the North. She’d be crazy enough to fight multiple wars on multiple fronts with limited men.
ghost of winterfell,
Hogwash, that’s what !
Do not pay attention. I repeat : do not pay attention 😉
Pigeon is right! I never thought about Brienne being back in the North means she’ll run into Tormund again! I love it!
Stargaryen,
True, just crackpot speculation, all in good fun. It’s not going to happen. 🙂
LMAO, he does look like he should be cleaning out the stables instead of ruling the North. But seeing as he too has the cooling tube sticking out of his hobbity blouse, I assume he’s just not wearing the quilted shirt and leather brigandine while they rehearse.
ACME,
Oh I don’t think he’s going to die, I was just wondering why he was saying that.
A Dornish Tyrell,
She’s extremely honest, so maybe? I wonder if all the ancestral valyrian swords will end back at their houses, or stay with whom they’ve been given. I imagine people grow attached to their weapons.
That boy. Could it be young Littlefinger? (dark hair, blue eyes, that particular way he’s standing that looks both rehearsed and slightly Baelish-like). Doesn’t really make sense though with the other actors present. Probably just a random kid.
Riverrun…
Would this possible by Edmure Tully’s son that he has never met?
Wow, I just had the hilarious image of Mini-Hound running around.
ghost of winterfell,
My guess would be : to attract attention. Which makes it unworthy of yours 😉
The young boy is Lyanna Mormont’s boyfriend no doubt.
That said, I think we can assume the spin-off is going to be Date of Thrones where we follow this couple around as they go through their courtship.
There was never any mention of Cersei/ Euron marrying, or having any romantic connections for that matter. The report indicated they’d be allies. Then folks here started making wild speculations and twisting the facts.
Cersei’s endgame is more than likely tied with Jaime.
Margo,
Edmure’s son is a baby. This one is too old.
Of course, silly me. Studio and lights… Of course. Thanks Daeryssa.
Guys Redbeard the reactor has gone missing – if you live near Banbury in the UK or maybe have seen him, please go to this link and tell the police! http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/newsevents/newsevents-pressreleases/newsevents-pressreleases-item.htm?id=341980
Judging by the tunics, it looks like my Brienne/Jon/Ser Davos threesome fanfic wasn’t fic after all. #SulliedSheets
If he has a son would he be Teenytinyjon? 😀
Dee Stark,
I also enjoyed the first book, despite some rough patches and the fact that the female characters are kind of weak (in their conceptualization and characterization, not in a literal sense.) But yeah, worth the read. The second book was okay.
Happy reading 🙂
Huh? The link is broken.
fierce as a wolverine,
Ah thank you for the response! I Look forward to it..
I just finished American Gods and thought it was awesome.
Hoyti Von Totiy:
Why is he hiding his right hand?
I was wondering the same thing.
Yara and Theon asked Dany their independence to join her. Euron doesn’t want just a place, he wants to be King of Westeros and Cersei is desperate. She has no gold, or power…why would Euron else join her?
I don’t know what Jaime will do..but if they have him accept Cersei after burning people alive or order rapes and tortures it will be like ignoring his number one trauma. Aerys Targaryen.
Jaime also said that he knows and admires (on the show) that Cersei will do anything for her children…but he now will see that Cersei did everything for herself causing the death of their son. She didn’t even had a proper “funeral” for him.
It’s too much. I know people want Jaime to be ok with her and die with Cersei because they have place only for one Lannister-Tyrion(who wish he is Targaryen) in the story but they have to ignore everything on his character to make him stay with her.
Jack Bauer 24,
Don’t know why… watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJKcEfBB_Co
The link in the description is the same to mine but for some reason mine is broken.
Jack Bauer 24,
For what’s it’s worth I don’t think he is hiding it on purpose. Looks to me like the sleeves are just too long. Look at his left hand, the sleeve is half way down it and isn’t pulled completely straight, so there’s some material still bunched up.
Oh the off season, we’re reduced to analysing sleeve lengths. Makes a change from his hair I guess, Hairwatch16 seems to have moved to Sophie 🙂
Clob,
As a brown-eyed person, your comment made me LOL.
I often say, “I’m so full of $%it my eyes are brown!” 😉
I have no idea if the ‘body double’ is Sansa but the dress is quiet simple. I have read somewhere, but for the life of me can’t remember where, that the women’s dresses this season will be quiet elaborate. Cersei and Dany but also Sansa will be having really nice dresses.
On another note, it would be awesome to see both Brienne and Pod in Stark armour.
Lil’ Jon
I was praying they would re-think the man bun….hate it!
True. But, to be fair, that’s the easiest mistake to make among the cast members.
Don´t you just love when everybody is just discussing everything happily and properly and not antagonizing each other? 🙂 🙂 🙂
KG,
I literally saw the article when they had just posted it, by chance, and they had said that girl with the red hair was sophie turner. it was like that for like a good hour. they suck! HAHA
Maggie,
My prediction is that Jamie will try to chock Cersey in Ep1, but the Mountain will protect her, and Jamie will be put into a cell where he will have a perfect chance to learn about his sister even more. Of cause, he will be free again by the end of the season and finish his job. I have a feeling that Arya may play a part in that (she knows some of the secret passages etc.)
AlexG,
Ssshhh!! Don’t break the spell!! 😛
I haven’t really read the wild speculation around here. I read the article but never came back to read the comments, so I’m not sure what others are saying on the matter. I’m just going by where I perceived the direction of the story to be going. Euron wanted to marry Daenerys so he could be King of Westeros. As soon as he finds out that ship has sailed (literally), it would seem logical that he would become King by marrying the current Queen. I’m going to go ahead and assume that if he’s going to attack Daenerys, its either to protect his current status as King, or because he was promised that title (by Cersei) if he got rid of that ‘problem’ for her. I don’t think he’d be risking his life/ships/men for nothing.
Couple things. To me, the outfits they’re wearing in the photos seem like they were getting fitted for costumes, and these were patterns with basic stitching on them & will probably be finalized after the fittings. They didn’t look like finished outfits to me.I could be wrong, of course.
Jaime has the remnants of the Martel army too doesn’t he? Or will Olenna lay claim to them? Maybe she already has sent word to them.
Interesting. Maybe Jaime will take the Lannister army and go back to Riverrun to secure it once he finds out Walder Frey is dead. At the same time, if Arya arrives at Winterfell, with the news that the Freys are dead, and Edmure has been restored, Jon may go back to Riverrun with Sansa to talk Edmure into alliance.
This could set up a clash between Jaime & Jon. Maybe Brienne can convince Jaime to fight with them to kill White Walkers, but if he feels Cersei is under threat from Dany, he will go back to King’s Landing to fight for her. They will probably die together. I think Dany & Yara will take care of Euron. I don’t see him getting near Cersei.
Bran is going to go to Castle Black and Edd will send word he has him. I can see a very tearful reunion. I think by the end of Season 7 if not sooner, all the Starks will be reunited. I wonder if Jon will ever see Uncle Benjen again. Benjen could tell Jon a lot about the White walkers.
As everyone is eagerly waiting for a stark reunion, for me the reunion i am totally.dying to see is Pod’s and tyrion!!! My two top best characters.
Jack Bauer 24,
Isn’t he just closing the trailer door behind him…? That’s what it looks like to me.
Tycho Nestoris,
Looks like it.
/puts tinfoil hat on
Calling it now: The magic that revived Jon links him to the others somehow and he’s going to start turning into a White Walker slowly the way Jorah will turn into a Stone Man. He’s hiding blue makeup.
/takes tinfoil hat off
NotGRRM,
I am also obsessed by the map from In Production teaser, but it’s not the Stark Direwolf on the far left in the Stormlands. It’s something else. I wonder could it be the Tarly Archer? Unfortunately, it’s very hard to say.
The boy could be anyone- but maybe it’s a flashback with Gendry? Most likely not, considering the costume, it’s just nice to have pics to throw random theories at. ?
What if the boy is young Benjen Stark? The casting for a young northern boy and a young norther girl fit with the casting for Lyanna and Benjen? Just a thought if we are going to see any flashbacks at Harrenhal then it would fit to have a young Benjen.
BunBunStark,
Titanic Studios is in Belfast. Banbridge is a town half an hour away
Nerwen Aldarion,
If they were doing Harrenhal, they would use the adult Lyanna they already cast.
Bergey,
Jon was revived by Mel’s fire god, not the WW. We’ve seen him eat and drink like any normal person. He’s not in the same situation as Benjen.
It scares me greatly that Brienne has a tube sticking out of her shirt- aren’t tubes used for fake blood to be pumped out? I remember Richard Madden (Robb Stark) talking about the tubing up his shirt…..
Pleeeease tell me it means something else. I’m not ready to lose Brienne!?!?!?
It seems Gwen and Daniel Portman are both wearing cooling shirts/units that keep them cool under their armor. So, in these photos, they are only wearing their underclothes.
It could be a blood squirter, but there’s no blood or tears on the undershirt she’s wearing and she looks pretty damn happy. So I doubt she’s filming a death scene. At least not her own.
I also suspect the Sansa stand-in is only wearing her underdress and will have a heavier, more ornate coat on top.
Kit’s definitely hiding his right hand. You can’t even see it in the first pic and the other pic it’s behind him.
A Dornish Tyrell,
😉
Had his hand on the door handle closing it in the one behind his back. It’s just a sleeve that’s too long. Why would he be hiding his hand when he doesn’t even know his picture is being taken?
Kit looks like he’d rather be shopping for scented candles with his girlfriend.
Looks like Sansa will be very busy next season sewing undergarments for the Stark crew.
Poor Kit…he looks as tormented in real life as his character Jon Snow 🙁
Sean C.,
Not necessarily. The Tourney is supposed to be about 18-24 months before the events of the Tower of Joy. Since the show has made Littlefinger present for this event and by his own words he “was a boy” I do think it entirely possible the 16 year old girl and 10 year old boy casting calls are for Lyanna and Littlefinger at this event. The ages do fit. Especially since they’ve slightly upped Lyanna’s age, her age at the time of this event (in the show) would be about 16-17.
orange,
Wouldn’t they just use the same boy that played Benjen last season?
The outfit is the same as young Ned & Benjen were wearing when sparring so it being a boy in/from Winterfell fits. I was already reminded that Jon’s eyes aren’t blue for it to be a vision of his youth. I’d think they could have an informative scene of that… as Jon sulks in the corner…
Eilidh,
You can see on Kit’s left hip that he too has those wires. And there appear to be a couple sticking out from under Liam’s tunic as well.
As HotPinkLipstick says, they seem to be wearing the same sort of cooling shirt that Daniel Portman is wearing, which (thank you google) pumps cold liquid around the wires in the shirt to keep the wearer cool.
So, either they’re working on a very hot and uncomfortable set or perhaps it’s intended to make them feel a chill, as if they’re actually stood in a wintery Winterfell.
Alternatively, they could be to do with sound or safety.
But since they all appear to be wearing them I don’t think you have to worry about it being to do with blood or deaths.
Thank you. I realize the timing is off (not that I can follow the timeline of this show half the time anyway) but I was wondering if I was the only one who saw that he was a dead ringer for a young Iwan Rheon.
I’m as up for a Clamorous Concussion Causing Cleganebowl as the next assassin, but I just don’t see Arya caring one wit about Jaime, excepting maybe for wanting to slit his throat while literally wearing Cersei’s face.
But your idea would open the door for Cleganbowl, so ＼（＾▽＾）／ Let’s do it!
AlexG,
shhhhh! don’t jinx it!
Aemon,
The Twins would be a line of defense before Riverrun.
Maybe we’re getting Ramsay flashbacks?
Or Robb flashbacks ?
Ramsay and the whole Bolton crew seem pretty done for, I believe; Robb’s (and Jon’s) early years may be more interesting to Bran… If those are visions, of course. The young boy could just as well be a new character.
I think he pictures seem to suggest that at some point in the season Brienne and Pod rejoin Jon, Sansa, LF and Davos.
Some actors have said in the past that scenes are not filmed in order so it coud very well be that if they meet again, they do so in episode 5 or 6, giving Brienne and Pod chance to have an encounter with the BwB and maybe Arya? and/or Melisandre? I don’t know if this ever happens, but as someone suggested, it would be great to have, since Brienne almost killed the Hound, has news about Arya’s family (including great uncle Black Fish) and knows that Melisandre brought Jon back from the dead. A gathering of all these people around a camp fire during the night would be really fun.
Bergey,
???? I can dig it
Did Jamie told her about this? Or was it known by everybody? I don’t remember…
The dress that the red haired girl is wearing looks A LOT like Catelyn’s. Perhaps the boy is a young LF or Edmure for a flashback to Brandon v LF?
Pigeon,
I didn’t say it… but I thought about it… 🙂
GhostCR,
Yes, Jaime told her about it. Which made the scene where she tried to give it back especially ridiculous, since that sword does not belong to the Lannisters, it is the rightful property of House Stark. It makes complete sense for Brienne to be using it, as she’s Sansa’s sworn woman and it’s not like Sansa herself can make any use of it (and Jon already has a Valyrian steel sword), but she sure as hell has no business giving it away.
What’s the most interesting part of this leak is why they are dressed as peasants. Snow is KOTN, Sansa always dresses up, even Davos looks dressed worse than usual.
Could they be on a mission? Infiltrate or spy on somebody without being recognised? Are they going to be concerned about the war for kings landing and scope out dany’ army? Sansa can’t be recognised as Tyrion will spot her from a mile away if not dressed as a peasant.
Just a theory.
I had to chuckle seeing ‘Pod’ fitted with a cooling vest! No wonder the budget spent on GOT is astronomical! Those are the sort of things NASA supplies to its astronauts 😉
I would hope it was for keeping the actors cool when wearing heavy suits of armour and working under studio lights and not to make them feel cold. The last thing HBO need are their cast suffering from hypothermia 😀
Margo,
Wow… what did they fed the kid????? If he was born 7 to 9 months after the Red Wedding, Edmure’s son could not be older than 2 years old.
Unless Bran is having a vision of the future. I mean, the kid is bit younger than Gilly’s son, isn’t he? And we all know how fast baby Sam grew…
Jongreen,
I would love to see them do something like that. I would love to see these characters doing some action scenes together. The Northern story sounds kind of boring this year from what they have said. The big conflict is Jon and Sansa? I had enough of that already.
orange,
Then, could the kid and the girl be young LF and young Catelyn?? (I don’t remember if she was at Harrenhall, can anyone confirm?), but it would match the red-headed girl?
Sean C.,
Thanks! I had totally forgotten that.
Just out of curiously I found this web page. Its the same type as Portman is wearing. At $169 guess is not so expensive – http://coolshirt.com/product/black-coolwater-shirt/ and this link
https://www.facebook.com/coolshirtsystems/photos/a.144247028911.111779.101017283911/10154945850693912/?type=3&theater
The question now is where does one ‘shove’ the pump circulating the ice water… All witty answers gratefully received 😀
orange,
Why not use Aisling Franciosi as Lyanna for the Tourney flashbacks?
GhostCR,
Why are people thinking flashbacks? Isaac is nowhere to be seen, but the northern crew is. It’s more likely that the boy shares a scene with Jon and co. . He would be some northern lord is my guess.
I think they’re all only half-dressed because it’s early morning at Winterfell. An alarm has been raised, perhaps because someone or something (Bran? Arya? A flying dragon? the BWB? an approaching army?) has been spotted by the lookouts.
About the Freys, by killing Walder and his two right-hand men, who are also probably his heirs apparent, Arya has set up an inter-family war among the Freys that will have them killing off each other. I hope Nymeria and her wolf-pack get to help. If she had also released Edmure, he’d owe Tully support to the Starks.
And finally, it’s always possible that the the boy or the 16-YO girl mentioned above is Arya in disguise. Since last year Maisie has hinted that Arya will be in more scenes than the audience realises thanks to her extra faces.
18-24 months is nowhere near the kind of age gap that would warrant recasting.
Particularly since were they to do those flashbacks, the reason would be to fill in the Rhaegar/Lyanna romance, and that would absolutely be something the show, based on past practices, would prefer using an adult actress for even when there’s no sex or nudity involved.
I’m all for speculating but some folks’ ideas are a little out there. Yes, the boy looks like Ramsay but what purpose would a Ramsay flashback serve? Yes, the age difference between the red-headed girl and the young boy could work if they were playing a young Catelyn and young Petyr but, again, what would be the point of a flashback involving those two? We’ve already been told the history between Petyr/Cat/Brandon, why waste precious minutes rehashing that story?
The casting leak called for a 10 year-old boy (check), to play a Northerner (check; the clothing), to film in September and October (check), with leading cast members (check). Chances are the boy in the photo is part of the Northern storyline and is filming scenes with the Northern cast. While there’s no way to be 100% certain, I say this scenario is more likely than overstuffing the show with needless flashbacks.
BunBunStark,
Yeah, and while it would be nice to see a Harrenhal flashback, we already know the entire story. Showing the events now would not really add anything new.
If they are going to do a Rhaegar flashback, I would much rather it be from a time after the elopement/ kidnapping of Lyanna, to show us why they did what they did, why did they remain hidden while a war raged around them and whether Rhaegar’s actions were motivated by his belief in prophecy.
Rich Stark,
More likely this was Sophie’s stand in, which is standard for any production to have one for the lead actors to be on set while its being lit and blocked. You really don’t want your talent being drained doing something that long and tedious. Occasionally, the stand in will even do offscreen stuff. I think Emilia’s old body double kinda became briefly internet famous for that a couple of years ago.
ash,
sorry!! sorry!! 😉
I think the Red hair girl could be the younger Catelyn Tully, the boy might be young Petyr Baelish
Catspaw Assassin,
Let me excplain how I see all that Cersey’s demise.
Arya comes to KL to assassinate Cersey (the Hound may be accompaning her too), but Cersey is not easy to access: the Mountain is by her side day and night and taking him out is complicated even for someone with FM skills. Arya will have to do something to distract him or make Cersey to send him somewhere where an immediat threat occurs. So, wrecking havoc in the Black Cells looks like a good idea: I bet they will be stuck with prisoners ready to kill Cersey with bare hands and releasing them would be a nice parallel to the Sept explosion. So, I imagine Arya and the Hound sneaking into the Red Keep through the secret passage she discovered in S1, taking off the guards, opening the cells, and accidently finding Jamie among other prisoners. And then they all go for Cersey (and set the Red Keep on fire in the process).
It’s just a fan fiction, of cause, but IMO something of that sort is totally possible taking into account that D&D were setting some kind of a public revolt in KL since S2.
Ravyn,
But they had 4 main cast members in the same scene (presumably). Kit, Liam, Gven, and Daniel were “waisting their talent” and Sophie was chilling out? I don’t know anything about filming but it looks weird.
Probably because Sansa does not have any dialogue in the scene. Remember the scene last season where Tormund and Jon convince the Wildlings to join them against the Boltons? Sansa was standing there behind Jon, but she had no dialogue. Could be something similar and hence they use a stand in for rehearsals until filming the actual scene. Maybe Sophie is filming another scene at the same time.
Inga,
There will be battles with the Lannister armies involved, and we need to see a familiar face in command on the Lannister side. That will be most likely Jaime’s (and Bronn’s) role this season.
I can’t wait for the actual shooting in Spain to start.
icequinn,
I think he’s just joking because he has that bow.
Unless he’s just joking about some got-inspired music video.
I really don’t see what all the fuss is about.. the cast members are clearly coming out of hair and makeup, so they would only be wearing the undergarments… as it’d be highly uncomfortable sitting for god knows how long in overcoats, tunics, suits of armour. Next comes wardrobe to fit them into their costumes, and a final touch up by hair/makeup on set.
No jousting at harrenhal, no Jon/ Sansa ship, no flashbacks with LF, no unnanounced riders at WF in the dead of night (these rumours become “fact” in no time), just the cast about to shoot a scene (probably an internal WF scene).
Yaga,
If I am right and Jamie indeed gets locked, the command of the Lannister army will be entrusted to Bronn (there was a bit of foreshadowing in Ep7 S6). Moreover, there was a kind of foreshadowing that Bronn can attack/take Eyrie in S1. So, it makes sense to assume that Bronn will sell his sword to Cersey and she sends him to take Eyrie which is vulnerable with all the best knights and commanders away in the North. Bronn might even volunteer for the job: in S1 he said he needed like a doesen of men to “impregnate the bitch” meening Eyrie. So, he may take it or kidnap Robin and the result will be the same: Jon will be forced to march south to rescue those who rescued him.
Maybe, the scene the photos come from has to do something with this scenario? Maybe, the boy and the girl bring the message and ask for help and Jon and Davos have to decide, whether they are going to help the Vale. That would be a high stake scene indeed.
SerNoName,
Everything is possible, but there was that casting call for a 10 year old boy and a 16 year old girl and they were supposed to act in the same scene. And we see a boy in costume and we see a girl in costume and everything fits. So, why should we stick to the version of Sansa’s double? Because of the hair? But there has been a lot of gingers on the show already and more can come.
Inga,
I don’t like a lot of the ideas you put here. I think they are… weak, simply speaking.
First, Bronn is not a character that can carry a storyline. He’s supporting – a foil for Jaime to get his quips off of. On his own, he’s a nice clown, but ultimately irrelevant.
And similarly, nobody cares about the Vale right now, because the only character there is Robin, who is just… he isn’t even supporting. He’s a recurring guest character, maybe.
There is a clear direction that the show delineated at the end of Season 6. A clear conflict. Cersei vs. Olenna/Ellaria/Varys (also Dany, Euron, …). That’s where the plot will go. That’s where the battles will be. Not in the Vale which nobody cares about. And to have this conflict, you have to have people and faces on both sides you care about. So, on the Lannister side, that’s Jaime.
I mean – there will be a lot of movement in the season. A lot of action. A lot of chickens coming home to roost. And to spend a part of the season on Bronn taking the Eyrie, where we could spend the same time on the Lannister armies under Jaime fighting the Tyrell ones under Olenna and Randyll near Highgarden or Casterly Rock? That would be weird, and boring. There have to be stakes in wars and battles. (Not to mention, what’s better: revisiting the Eyrie, or using this last chance to show us a part of Westeros we haven’t seen before?)
I have a question for all of you:
If the Night King can raise and control the actions of the dead and Jon was raised from the dead…will the NK be able to control Jon Snow.
Redxgod,
Nope, the Night’s King can control the actions of the people HE (or his kind?) raises from the dead. Jon was resurrected by Rahloo apparently. The NK wouldn’t be able to control Jon or Beric.
Of course, this hasn’t actually been put to question so far in either books or show, but I am pretty certain he won’t have any control over the people resurrected by an opposing force .
ghost of winterfell,
In the in production teaser (about one minute in) there were a bunch of shields and spears shown. Among the shields there was a Baratheon and a Whent one. I wouldn’t be surprised if they show the tourney and maybe some other scene with Rhaegar and Lyanna.
Redxgod,
No, because Jon’s resurrection had nothing to do with the Night’s King.
Redxgod,
You answered your own question the Night King can control the people he raises and he didn’t raise Jon.He is not a wight he should have died beyond the wall to be a wight.He is fully human.We have seen him eat and drink and everything.
El-Bobbie,
icequinn,
Yeah, considering he is being pretty open about this, I would say he’s just joking.
Have to say though, dude would make a perfect Rhaegar.
Flayed Potatoes,
Hmm I had not noticed that, I still don’t see the value of showing an event in which we already know the story. Maybe they will use Harrenhal as introduction to Rhaegar? Idk. I am much more interested in what happened after the elopement/ abduction.
Agree – Jon is now King in the North, and it is not implausible that not all of the Northern lords were present at the KiTN scene in 610; perhaps this boy is the son of one of those who did not turn up/a newly made lord following his father’s death in Ramsay’s army? Jon spoke in 605 of “two dozen more” houses in the North – the only ones mentioned in 610 besides the allies we already knew of were Glover, Manderly and Cerwyn.
That said, the costumes they are wearing could indicate that the boy is a messenger, bringing news from a castle from another part of the North, who wakes up the occupants of Winterfell in the middle of the night? In any case, I doubt he is related to flashbacks; the Winterfell flashbacks from season six were there to relay the story of Hodor’s origins and to introduce us to Lyanna, setting up the reveal that she is Jon’s mother in 610. If there are flashbacks relating to the Starks in season seven, I would guess that they are more likely to relate to either Rhaegar and Lyanna’s first meeting/disappearance or a scene confirming whether or not they were married. We have no real need for any other Stark flashbacks – unless it is to Brandon the Builder and the construction of the Wall.
As for Brienne and Podrick’s presence – we know that Sandor and the BwB were in the Riverlands in 608 (but not where) and that Arya was at the Twins in 610 – we do not know how far north Brienne and Pod reached prior to Arya’s arrival at the Twins; they could have been close to or past the Neck at that time. While I do think that there will be meet-ups in the Riverlands in the early part of season seven – we have Brienne and Pod; Arya; Sandor and the Brotherhood all in the Riverlands at the end of season six and Melisandre heading south. It is unlikely, though I admit not impossible, that they will all miss each other – but that does not mean that they will all meet up. Perhaps Brienne and Pod will escape notice of the other travelers (after all, unlike the others they began their journey by sea rather than by road) and the remaining characters will cross paths . A Brienne-Sandor reunion would be as interesting at Winterfell as it would in the Riverlands.
Yaga,
I do agree that there have to be stakes in wars and battles and any situations thet occur in the show, but stakes may be different, right? GoT is known for putting its charracters into contraversial situations and making them to face complicated moral dilemas, right? So, think of it once again.
Jon is concentrated on the Wall, but any threat to Sweetrobin (annoying as he is) would create a major moral dillema: should he stay at his post and leave the boy who sent his troops to help him to Cersey’s tortures or should he march to his aid?
BTW, it looks like Dany will be facing the similar dillema involving the Sand Snakes. If Euron captures one or all of them (and it looks like he will), what should she do: abandon them for the sake of the battleplan or abandon the battleplan for the sake of her allies.
And in both cases these would be the allies neither Jon, nor Dany knows in person and the viewers don’t care about. So, it woudn’t be even heart vs brain – it would be moral duty vs common sense in the purest way. And IMO it would be very much in line with the overall concept of GoT.
And in regard of screentime, I don’t think the setup would be time consuming. They can do it with 2 or 3 scenes like in S2, when Theon took over Winterfell. A bit more fighting probably, but nothing major. And if Dorne is done in the first half of the season, and Eyrie in the second, it will be a good balance.
And last but not the least regarding Bronn. I do agree than so far he has worked only as a plot device/comic relief, but you should take into account that GoT gives charracter development to secondary and tertiary characters too. Take Mel or Hodor – they were totally static for all these years, and then their stories bursted into major dramas. So, something similar may happen to Bronn, as well: he is a sellsword but deep inside he wants to be a knight; so far he served the people he liked; he may sell his sword to Cersey in the beginning, but eventually he would be conflicted more and more untill it ends with “f*** the queen” mirroring the Hound’s story.
So, a lot of these plots have a good dramatic potential, whereas Dany vs Cersey or Jon vs WW – not so much. Of cause, there will be battles etc. but they will serve character development, and you don’t do character development in 3 or 4 battles. You either have one big battle as a climatic victory, or two battles, the first of which is lost (or visa versa, if the story has to have a tragic ending, but that won’t be the case).
ghost of winterfell,
It would be a good introduction. Casual fans are probably still confused about the whole Rhaegar/Lyanna relationship and the show need to build it up. If they were actually in love we’d need some scenes to show it and we’d also need to see the reasons for the kidnapping (showing vs. telling).
Jack Bauer 24,
hes definitely not hiding his hand lol
I have been thinking about this lately, and wondering, Bran has visions and flashbacks that are important to saving the world (fighting and defeating the whitewalkers). His vision about Jon (TOJ), and any more to come, will be interesting to see because I mean, if Jon wasn’t the key to defeating the WW, then bran would not be having visions about him. I cant wait for bran to put two and two together that Jon is the key to defeating the WW.
It would have been nice for bran to see that Jon was murdered and rezed in one of his vision sequences.
To be honest all I can think of for this season is that
• The Hound was brought back to kill the Mountain – he is the only one who can;
• I believe Arya and Gendry will meet again and she will head to Winterfell with him;
• Brienne and Pod will go to Winterfell and then leave for the Riverlands with Davos and Jon, Winterfell will remain in Sansa’s hands temporarily
• Bran will reach Winterfell as well but not before the Wall comes tumbling down
• Lena Headey is still fighting custody battles for her son and she won’t be filming anytime soon which means we won’t see much of her this next month.
• The Greyjoys will take back the Iron Islands after Dany wins the war and settles (probably) at Dragonstone.
• I really hope and really don’t think she’ll take Kings Landing or the Throne this season. We need to see more of Cersei as Queen and Dany needs to learn the ropes of Westeros under Tyrion and Varys’ guidance.
• As for Melisandre and the other Red Priestess from the South, I see them meeting somehow now that Jon banished Melisandre south. The Lord Of Light is the most vague part of the story at this point, at least in my eyes. The priestesses and the Brotherhood Without Banners will play a huge part in the long night war.
Gwendoline said in an interview at the Emmys that this season “the fans will get what they’ve always wanted” and we all know Gwen can’t keep a secret so save her life which means one of three things:
• either a Stark children reunion which is most likely to happen – probability of 99%
• Jon and Daenerys meet 50%
• Dany takes KL and the Throne and Cersei dies which to me is close to 0% for me because Lena is signed for season 8 as well and she’s the single most important villain after the Night King.
So if I’m to bet on sth for season 7, the Wall is for sure coming down and all of the Stark children will meet again.
Inga,
I’ve seen this map mentioned here before. Is it in the 18 hours at Paint Hall video (which I haven’t watched yet) or is there another one? Any idea at what point it appears, time-wise? 🙂
Dee Stark,
Based on the fact that they don’t necessarily film scenes in the order they appear on the show, we could see Brienne and Pod meet up with BWOB, and then they head North. Let the speculation begin! It’s going to be a long, long, winter.
My favourite option is somewhere along those lines as well : as King, Jon will have to decide what to do with the heirs and lieges of the Houses who backed Ramsay.
We know Jon needs practice as a ruler and this would be a tremendous opportunity for him to navigate those murky waters for the first time, with conflicting opinions and “lobbying” efforts all around him :
– the Northern lords would, I believe, support harsh punishment and / or destitution for those Houses (many to overcompensate for their own lack of involvement on the Battle of the Bastards, maybe ?);
– Davos, ever the pragmatist, might focus on the practical implications;
– Sansa, having first-hand experience of the treatment reserved for traitors’ relatives, could be reluctant to see children pay the price for their fathers’ choices;
– Tormund would be… Too busy pursuing Brienne to care ? ^^
While I agree wholeheartedly that casual viewers may need a reminded about who Rhaegar was. After all, the last references to him were in season 5, I believe : Barristan Selmy’s “rose-tinted glasses” description of the musical prince and Littlefinger’s reminiscence of the Harrenhal tourney.
However, would it really matter whether he and Lyanna married or not ? Rhaegar already had a wife (Ellaria) anyway and Westeros is not big on bigamy. “Two’s company, three’s a crowd” was the one concession the Targaryens had to make to join and gain the support of the Faith of the Seven. So even if Rhaegar and Lyanna had celebrated their union with something resembling a wedding, from a purely “legal’ perspective it would be null and void, wouldn’t it ? Jon still wouldn’t be legitimate.
I believe what Bran (and the viewers ^^) needs more than anything is to find out that Jon is the “Song of Ice and Fire” and what said song is supposed to be able to accomplish.
So he should get confirmation Rhaegar (Fire) is Lyanna’s (Ice) “baby daddy” (Bran probably suspects but irrefutable proof is always nice) and some kind of info on what role the (dare I say “chosen” ?) one born of these two elements is intended to play in the Battle for the Dawn.
I don’t see how Brienne would know that Ice was melted down to create other swords. I don’t remember Jaime telling her that Oathkeeper was made from part of the Stark sword Ice. If I’m wrong, please someone correct me, but I don’t see her knowing, let alone saying anything. Again, correct me if I’m wrong.
Flayed Potatoes,
Besides that, there minght be something we don’t know yet about that tournament and R+L affair. You know, seeing something once is better than hearing about it a dozen of times and the devil is in the details.
I wonder if Jon would take hostages/wards? We saw in season one that Theon was at Winterfell as a result of his father’s failed rebellion – might Jon see this as a way forward that is both humane and in keeping with Northern tradition? It is, at least, an option already established in canon.
The casual audience may need a bit of a refresher on Rhaegar – perhaps someone on Team Dany suggesting that an alliance with the new King in the North might be a bit awkward for the Dornish element of their current alliance given that, according to Oberyn in 401, Rhaegar left Elia for another woman (Lyanna)?
I personally don’t think it matters whether Lyanna and Rhaegar were married, but some sort of ceremony could be used as an indicator that she went willingly without actually showing her escape. And Lyanna worshiped the Old Gods. IF, and it is a big if, she and Rhaegar ever had some sort of ceremony, I would place it at a weirwood tree rather than in a sept. This sort of scene would not, for me, be about establishing Jon’s legitimacy, but establishing that Lyanna was not kidnapped – she went with Rhaegar willingly.
But yes, we do need Bran to realize that he saw these visions of Jon’s origins for a reason; the Three-Eyed Raven was not simply showing him some family history for fun. Even the first vision at Winterfell in 602 was designed to reveal to Bran that Hodor had not always been Hodor – something that became important to Bran in his escape. And, of course, we don’t know anything about the visions Bran saw between his arrival in the cave in 410 and the next time we saw him in 602; Meera’s exchange with Leaf in 602 implied that these visions were a regular occurrence. Perhaps there was information that Bran was given in them that will enable him to tie things together?
I do wonder, though, if the his is the song of ice and fire thing might come out through Sam’s investigations at the Citadel? Bran isn’t fully in control of his abilities as yet, and Sam could give us some early hints of what is meant to happen.
Elizabeth,
He actually did. Back in S4, when he gave Brienne the sword, he told her where it came from… So yeah, she knows.
Inga,
I think you and I simply may have different ideas about what constitutes good, worthwhile and entertaining stories. I don’t care about Bronn – he’s a one-note character to me. In particular, if I had to pick one character I would want to undergo a dissolution from Cersei this season, I would pick Jaime, not him. What you are proposing essentially boils down to fridging Jaime in what’s potentially his most important season, in favour of Bronn. That’s really incomprehensible to me.
And also, I think that you are somewhat misled as to actually how much time there is in a single season in a single plot.
Let’s assume that things will go this season in the South broadly the way I think they will. That is, most of the season is spent fighting small battles in Dorne/the Reach/the Narrow Sea, with a climactic battle and Cersei and Jaime killing each other in E6, and Dany and Tyrion entering King’s Landing in E7 serving as a coda to the season.
If things happen broadly this way, you already have 2/7 episodes in the plot taken. E1 is the setup – Cersei learning about the Southern rebellion, conferring with Jaime, sending him out to command the armies sort of thing. So that’s 3/7 taken already. Nearly half! This leaves just 4 episodes for the actual skirmishes. Of these, an episode goes to Jaime going to Casterly Rock to gather the Lannister army; another to a minor battle, Jaime killing a Sand Snake to avenge Myrcella while Bronn meets Tyene again kind of thing; another to Jaime learning that Tyrion is coming with Daenerys and a much larger army, and digesting the implications of this. You leave one episode without his appearance, sprinkle some fluff about – and you’re done.
You shouldn’t think in terms of the absolute time the show has in the season. You should think in terms of episodes.
I mean, maybe you know this. But one thing I’ve learnt throughout the years I spent in this fandom is that people, especially people who started in it by reading the books, just load and load and load things into plots, without consideration that in, let’s say, 7 episodes, you just have – what? 15 scenes in which a character appears? And much of it is fluff and setup.
Lulus Mum,
If I understand correctly you ask about the map presumably depicting Dany’s naval battle scheme? It was in the teaser called Season 7: In-Production tease released some two months ago (you can find it on Youtube). The map appears at 1.30 and there are several badges with Lannister sigils and ships placed on it. The teaser is staged so, that at first it looks like some worker is just painting the badges and the map is here just to protect the table, but in reality no-one would use such a map as a table cover. I do recommend to check it – and the shot where they show painting eyestones too: eyestones are also placed on the map, but in this case I couldn’t identify the exact location.
icequinn,
He’s probably messing around, which is a pity as he pretty much looks almost exactly like how I pictured Rhaegar to look.
Daeryssa,
First post, long time book reader and show fan.
Do we know that’s a cooling device for sure? Looks more like a line to pump fake blood. And why do all the characters in peasant garb have the same wires?? Davos, Briene, and Podrick?? Looks like they are being marched off to a mass beheading???
Someone talk me down!
As already mentioned , she knows, maybe a bit of lines from season 4 will help:
Jamie to Brienne- You will be protecting Ned Stark’s daughter(s) with Ned Stark’s sword spoken to her in the LC of the KG room with a suit of armor for her also.
That is a definite possibility if the children’s fathers are still alive, as the hostage system is meant to operate as a sword of Damocles, keeping past and potential rebels docile.
Now, would it be a good idea for Jon to adopt this policy ? My take is : hell to the no ! ^^
As you rightly pointed out, Theon lived under that rule; an experience that proved to be disastrous. And how could it not be ?
For all of Theon’s failings and character flaws, the situation he was in was both unfathomably cruel and psychologically unsustainable : no matter how much he and the Starks played happy family and meant it, it could never hide the fact that ultimately, had Baelon rebelled again, Ned would have been obligated to behead the Greyjoy heir ! Theon knew that one false move from his birth father would result in his “adoptive” father or brother instantly turning into his executioner.
That policy is so inherently vicious it was no surprise Theon got so messed up by it he “easily” betrayed the Starks. Anyone would have their brains fried by such a dissonant and unfair system.
Hopefully, Jon will consider this option and dismiss it for the sadistic and counterproductive piece of garbage it is…
Anything that would spare Jon the unnecessarily cruel suffering of believing he is the product of rape is fine by me. The poor man really does not need that type of misery for the truth (as we can piece it together as of now) will be tough enough to digest :
– Ned, his hero, was not his real father and lied to him his entire life,
– one of his grandfathers killed the other one by burning him alive in front of his eldest son,
– his real father publicly humiliated his wife and abandoned her and their children to the mercy of a paranoid crazy person with a history of violence and cruelty towards women,
– Rhaegar did not intervene when his child-to-be’s maternal grandfather and uncle were getting imprisoned and murdered by Aerys,
– Lyanna could not find the time, energy or will to write a note to inform her family of her decision to run away so they would not worry…
That is more than enough for one person to cope with.
That is a definite maybe. While the maesters generally appear scientifically-minded enough not to be that keen on prophecies and legends, who knows what they have in their backpocket ?
The King in the Midwest,
That isn’t what blood pumps look like. That’s definitely a cooling vest.
And like we said in the post, those are the underclothes that go under their costume overcoats and armors. Those are not peasant clothes. They most likely are on break between filming scenes.
Yaga,
We don’t have different ideas about what constitutes a good story: we have different visions of the story itself. You have a vision of several small battles culminating with the big one and ending up with Dany in KL. You may be right: it’s possible. But there is another possibility too: ep 1-3 set up for the big battle, ep 4 – Dany loses, ep 5-6 – she is trying to work out a new plan, ep 7 – victory (or set up for the victory which will be in S8). Similar for Jon: ep 1-3 set up for his alliance with Dany (including the reveal of his true identity), ep 4 – all the hopes go crashing down, ep 5-6 – chaos in which Littlefinger thrives, ep 7 – some victory, but the Wall goes down.
And regarding Jamie I just don’t see Cersei entrusting him her army after the look he gave to her in Winds of Winter. And she was fully aware of that look, and she turned away. Something big has to happen next episode, I just feel it.
Littlefinger and his army pose a threat to Jon, and to the Lannisters. The “alliance” between LF & the Knights of the Vale, and Jon and the North, is very uneasy to say the least. Jon is in Littlefinger’s debt, and that’s not a good place to be. If Jon were to go South for any reason, would that leave Winterfell vulnerable to LF’s army? Especially if Jon leaves Sansa there?
One possible scenario: I can see Jaime taking the Lannister forces to go to the Riverlands to deal with the aftermath from Walder Frey & sons’ assassinations. Littlefinger will want control in the Riverlands. He go there to meet Jaime in battle, or maybe LF is already in the Riverlands and Jaime has to go there to fight him. By now Cersei would know LF betrayed them and would send Jaime.
I think as far as Arya goes, Brienne and Pod have maybe a day’s head start on Arya, traveling by boat. It’s possible Arya will meet up with them and get back to Winterfell, with The Hound, & BWB arriving sometime later. I think Beric’s destination was The Wall, but it’s most likely they will stop at Winterfell. Jon will also be preoccupied with preparing the families of the North and the Night’s Watch for the White Walkers and the Army of the Dead.
I still believe Dany and Yara will fight Euron and win, with Theon being a casualty.
She will then proceed towards King’s Landing. For me the dilemma is on the timing and how Jaime deals with two problems: subduing the Riverlands & dealing with Littlefinger which Cersei would probably want to do especially since LF betrayed them; and second, dealing with the approach of Dany and her allies, Tyrion, Olenna, and Ellaryia, who murdered his daughter.
It’s this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjue5j1JRaA
It shows a very quick flash of a map at 1:30 where a props guy is painting movable wooden pieces on top of it. Even though the video was done a couple months before filming some are trying to deduce plot points from it.
And I asked to be corrected and humbly accept. I kept straining my brain and couldn’t remember that happening. Now, will it happen? In that case, maybe? Though honestly I can’t see the point…lol. Consider me happily corrected!
Clob,
Crap, timed out for edit. I see Inga did reply but there’s the link anyway.
I personally don’t think we can read too much into it. I do think the map and pogs will be used in a scene or two but also think the pogs were probably just placed on there randomly for the video.
I just have one question… has there ever been an explanation given as to WHY there are only going to be SEVEN episodes the next two seasons? I mean, we’ve had ten all along. What’s the big deal with suddenly deciding, yup, we’re cutting the order down now. What gives?
JenniferH,
David and Dan have suggested that they only consider that they have 13 or so hours of story left to tell.
And the limitations of production have also been mentioned, with the increasingly complex scale and time-consuming material, such as battle scenes and CGI material, making producing 10 episodes too much to handle.
Those are a couple of the explanations offered up so far. There are probably more reasons on top of those.
Clob,
They probably weren’t placed randomly, but deliberately placed in order to encourage the sort of speculation over their placement that we’ve seen in this discussion.
They might reveal something, or they might not.
But we have absolutely no way of knowing, so I agree with you that it’s not worth reading too much into where they’re placed.
As it stands right now there are 13 episodes left (7 & 6). If you Google ’13 hours of game of thrones remaining’ there are a lot of articles. Basically D&D from the beginning thought they could adapt ASoIaF in 70-75 hours. When they finished season 6 they got to the point where they believe they have about 13 hours left without purposely stretching and dragging it out.
Seven episodes is not confirmed for Season 8 yet. There are fewer storylines now and they are starting to all converge, so that’s probably why.
Clob,
You are in phenomenal denial. We may be wrong with our interpretations, but stating that there were no clues in that teaser is ridiculous.
I’ve never looked at it as it’s all about Jon as you’re suggesting. That would leave out any major importance of anyone else. I’ve always believed that “A Song of Ice and Fire” is a metaphor or fancy title for “The Story of Jon and Daenerys.” For me the show is making it more and more obvious than even the books so far that those two ARE the headlining story. How those two elements combine is yet to be seen but I can’t believe anything other than those two being Ice and Fire.
ACME,
I think Jon absolutely could take hostages, if only for the duration of the war against the White Walkers.
What he needs is the immediate loyalty of as many Houses and as many fighting men as possible.
Long-term they could think up a more appropriate way to secure the Umbers’ and the Karstarks’ loyalty to House Stark.
But in the short-term they will need to secure their loyalty and their men and taking hostages is a good way to do that.
He could perhaps even promise that they would be returned home once the war is over and their Houses have proven their loyalty on the battlefield.
Once the White Walkers invade the Seven Kingdoms and everybody’s very existence is under threat, the question of loyalty will pretty much disappear until after the war anyway.
But Jon can’t afford to drag out the issue until they’re already under attack. He has to be ruthless.
Clob,
OK. Sorry for being too offensive. Maybe it’s indeed not worth to read too much into that teaser, but on the other hand it’s something to speculate about for those who love to. And I won’t minde, if my predictions are proved to be wrong when the season airs. Almost every time I tried to imagine some fan fiction, D&D gave me an even better story. So, I have faith in them.
Clob,
Cool, thanks. Got to dash off now but I’ll have a look later. I’ve got photoshop, perhaps we could make the map resemble the scene of fellow Watchers’ choosing (plant a Millenium Falcon in there, that sort of thing). There’s a looooooooong time to go before S7 so we’ve got to entertain ourselves until then 😀
* redacted *
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
Besides, Jon has already done this in the books, taken 100 wildling boys as hostages to ensure good behavior of the elders.
I would like to see show Jon faced with a similar situation, where he has to make some tough decisions as a ruler.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
I am all for Jon showing determination and decisiveness in this regard. But I have to admit I do not think taking hostages is the way to go, not even on a pragmatic standpoint
If the whole point is to ensure the immediate loyalty of formerly rebelious Northern Houses, then it would probably be more sound for him to go all out : send the traitors to the Wall as punishment, have them take the black so they will serve on the frontline when the Battle comes and leave their heirs in charge of whatever is left of their Houses, under the close supervision of trusted allies.
I believe it would work just as well if not better than taking hostages : it would add troops to the immediate response team (Night’s Watch), have a much less ambiguous longterm effect on the children (if there is a longterm ^^) and bridge gaps between formerly treasonous Houses and loyal Houses thereby reuniting and reconciling the North with itself. Furthermore, it would prevent Winterfell from turning into an orphanage/daycare centre for traitors’ kids. 😉
I agree with you on the broader point : ruthlessness should be used if and when absolutely necessary and Jon, as King, will have to come to terms with it. However, in this instance, there is another, more advantageous, solution.
Clob,
Oh, I do not think it is all about Jon. The “Song of Ice and Fire” has many incarnations throughout the series : be it the frozen Others and the fire-breathing dragons, the north and the south, Westeros and Essos, weirwood trees with their snowy white bark and red leaves and sap could themselves be representations of the duality… It is also symbolic, like in the Robert Frost poem George RR Martin was inspired by. Ice and fire can take many forms ^^
I am not in any way trying to dismiss Daenerys or her importance : she has been an essential protagonist since the very first book and her Targaryen identity, as well as her control over the last three dragons, make her the ultimate representative of the sizzling side of the equation.
However, were Jon to simply represent Ice to her Fire, the Yin to her Yang, then there would have been no point in making him half-Targaryen. His Stark identity, deep attachment to the North, early encounters with the Others and bastard surname would have been more than enough for him to check all the boxes on the Ice list of requirements. His Targaryen heritage does not compound this; if anything, it blurs it.
In my humble opinion, the only purpose his true, dual lineage serves, narratively speaking, is to make him, on his own, one of the incarnations of the Song. While Daenerys is 100% fire and therefore has to be paired with another, much colder element of the tale to form the symbiotic yet paradoxical title; Jon, just by virtue of his parentage, is already on both sides of the equation, all by himself.
It does not make Daenerys less important or Jon “better”, no matter what that may mean. This is just a case in which the often manifest parallelism between them does not work for they occupy quite different positions.
Elizabeth,
GrailKing has already mentioned it, but maybe this clip helps you remember. 🙂
And don’t fret about making mistakes… I’ve been wrong more often than not… But I keep on paddling. 😉
SNAP!
ACME,
Fair enough.
But I think the producers will go down the hostage route, with Jon probably managing to assure them that it’s for their own good / for the good of the North with the threat of the White Walkers on the horizon.
I don’t know who there is left within their Houses to send to the Wall as punishment for opposing the Starks that would have the necessary impact to demand a renewed oath of loyalty.
Assuming that these children are their Houses’ heirs, then the punishment should have some specific impact or threat toward them and the succession/control of their Houses in order for it to work as a guarantee of their loyalty. Offering an avenue for redemption would also act as an incentive.
Also, I remember back in Season 6 Sansa said that the Umbers “can hang” for giving Rickon to the Boltons. I wouldn’t be surprised if she played the bad cop, wishing to see the Umbers in particular harshly punished, while Jon offers the hostage scenario as a compromise.
Of course, there’s no reason why they couldn’t send a few people to the Wall as well.
The “young lord” from the casting calls who was supposed to film during the week of September 20th was speculated by some to be Rhaegar. This guy’s instagram post about having a role in GoT was 5 days ago matching that time frame so who knows.
GhostCR,
Yes he did… the same moment he gave her the sword. 🙂
A Dornish Tyrell,
Hey ! Don’t you dare sell yourself short ! We are all mostly wrong 😉
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned how few direct “traitors” are still around…
From what I gather and remember, the Bolton side was made up of three Houses : Bolton, Karstark and Umber.
The Boltons are “404 – Not Found”.
The Umbers Sansa wanted to see hanged for delivering Rickon to Ramsay were “beheaded” by Tormund who took out Smalljon, the culprit of the treason.
The Karstarks are a big question mark for Harald, Rickard’s youngest and last surviving son, seems to have gone AWOL after his stint as cavalry leader. Did he run back to his home when he saw the Battle take a turn in the Starks’ favour ? Karhold is pretty far away from Winterfell but I guess it is technically feasible. Was he captured ? Possibly.
So if we are dealing with traitors’ children, they are either Smalljon’s orphans or Harald’s kids.
If they are Umbers, there is no need to take them hostage for they have no older male relative left to intimidate into submission (Smalljon only had sisters). Could anyone advocate for Smalljon’s children to be executed as payback for Rickon’s death, thereby rendering House Umber extinct ? I suppose… But wow, that would be harsh.
If they are Karstarks, then we have ourselves a dilemma ! ^^
Should Jon behead Harald, like Robb did the previous Lord of Karhold ? From a military perspective, it is a justifiable decision and Stark men are army men. Furthermore, considering the whole “history repeating itself” theme, it is a distinct possibility. In which case we have to remember how disastrous this decision turned out to be for the Young Wolf.
Should Jon send him and his closest men, whoever they may be, to the Wall, like Catelyn and Talisa had advised Robb to do with Rickard (“déjà vu” all over again), and let his heirs rule over Karhold, under very close supervision ?
Should he take Harald’s heirs hostage in order to keep him in check ?
I find option number 2 to be the most sensible. Strategically, it adds a few men to the Night’s Watch (to replace, ironically, the dead mutineers); politically, it shows both toughness and moderation; ethically, it avoids punishing children for their father’s crimes.
I have to confess, I would really like to see the characters debate that matter. It would provide interesting insight into their respective mindsets and, as a general point, it would highlight the constant struggle rulers have to face.
Clob,
That’s exactly what I believe .. their stories have been so beautifully interwoven since the very beginning .. both outcasts, both lost their lover, both strong and brave, both experienced rebirth in some form or another, both great leaders, both compassionate and kind, they are similar in sooo many ways it’s getting ridiculous, especially in the TV series. GRRM said in an interview that the Ice is represented by the White Walkers and the Fire by Daenerys’ dragons but I’ve always felt this unbreakable bond between Jon and Daenerys since the very first episode and the beauty of the story is that this connection is so vivid and strong even if they were on opposite ends of the world.
I can’t wait until they meet.
It will be glorious.
ACME,
It could very much be the case… but at least if/when you are wrong, you are very eloquenlty so. In my case, I’m just bluntly wrong. 😛
This is hilarous!! 😀
ACME,
I’m wondering if our 16 year old girl is Alys Karstark and the 10 year old boy an Umber heir. Marry Alys to a wildling, that would ensure the Karstark’s are allies and take on the Umber heir as his hostage/ward/squire.
ACME,
I don’t think Harald Karstark is still alive. I think they didn’t show his death on screen because of filming complications, but they can simply mention that his corpse was found when they sorted out those body piles and be done with that. I don’t think he had a son: it was implied that he was homosexual. So D&D can have the Karstarks extinct.
Regarding the Umbers, it was mentioned that Greatjon Umber had daughters, but I assume they are alredy married women: when Mellisa Tary talked of them, it sounded like she met them a long time ago.
On the other hand D&D can adust the issue of the heirs and heiresses as they like. They may bring in grandchildren or cousins or whatever. I just hope that the role of Alys Karstark in terms of marrying a wildling will be given to lady Brienne of Tarth with will also establish some alliance with the South/Stormlands.
ACME,
Jon is not “ice” and fire. He’s Stark and fire. The reason for his parentage is to unite the North to the rest of Westeros and potentially sit the throne, with or without Dany due to his royal blood. Jon is not half-Other and the Starks have no control or power over the Others the way Targaryens have over dragons.
Sean C.,
They’ve done major recasting before. WE’ve had two Daario’s
Jared,
I watched that episode recently and was struck by that air of finality, that you mention. With how Brienne waved back, and the mistiness of the river, I got the feeling that those two characters wouldn’t see each other again, although the audience might see them again. In retrospect, it’s like the Bran and Rickon/Osha goodbye in the tower as they set off for the Last Hearth.
Did anyone else see this?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKtDmKYD0H2/
He’s a musician who says he is in season 7 of GoT and he does look a lot like Rhaegar…..
Might be a troll but then again…
Nerwen Aldarion,
Seems like a joke about the photo he’s posting- he’s holding a bow and arrow, and it’s an image from a photoshoot or music video he did.
ACME,
I don’t think we’re going to agree on this one. 🙂
Personally, I just don’t see how sending people to the Wall is going to guarantee these Houses’ loyalty.
Plus, having to be constantly watching over the Umbers and the Karstarks is not what Jon needs right now. He needs as much guarantee of their loyalty as possible, which I think he could achieve by taking the rightful heirs as hostages and leaving one of their relatives (mother, perhaps?) as steward until they are returned.
Or, vice versa, they could leave the young heirs in power and take their relatives as hostages.
As Inga says, the producers can adapt the line of succession and recognised members of these Houses pretty much at will, so could easily create circumstances where the hostage scenario works.
It might not be the best solution long-term but to secure the immediate loyalty of these Houses I think it’s the most practical course of action, and probably the one the producers would go with.
And it need only be temporary until the war is over and they can go about exerting their control in a different manner.
Roz’s Ghost,
I would love to see the opposite that is a Jon vs Jaimie battle for the RLs. I don’t see why LF will go to battle with the Lannisters putting his position in great danger. Leaving Jon to do all the dirty job it gives him the space to be a proper Machiavelli.
Nerwen Aldarion,
Er, yes, because the actor was unavailable. Unless Aisling Franciosi had some other commitment, they would use her. The argument being made was that they’d recast Lyanna with a younger actress.
Here are my current predictions:
-Jon, Sansa, Littlefinger, Brienne, Davos, Tormund, Lyanna Mormont and other usual northern characters start the season in Winterfell.
-Arya, Gendry, Edmure and Melisandre start the season in Riverlands.
-Jaime, Cersei and her zombie and zombie maker start the season in KL, shortly after Euron arrives too, offering alliance.
-Tyrion, Daenerys and her army start the season in the south of KL, meeting their allies first there-meaning all anti-Cersei people in the south.
-Bran is at the wall.
-Sam is still in library and will probably meet a wise man there who will give him hints.
-Sandor and the Brotherhood, and Jorah are the difficult ones to know where they start, at the moment…I have no idea about Jorah. Sandor and BWB will either start in Riverlands and meet Arya-Gendry there, or will arrive in Winterfell early, without meeting Arya and join Jon’s team.
So, for the first 2 or 3 episodes, the characters will stay in these places and there won’t be much action, it will be more about relationships, alliances, learning and discovering things etc. In Winterfell, there will be a Jon-Sansa-Littlefinger-Brienne tension…Tormund will make some advances on Brienne but eventually will be friendzoned (Tormund was given the role of Hyle Hunt in the books, who becomes interested in Brienne and proposes marriage to her, but he is rejected because Brienne starts understanding that she is in love with Jaime)…then Tormund will give his attention to Lyanna Mormont, because I think in the show she is Tormund’s daughter-bastard (this may not happen in the books, but I think the show is going there)…
I’m not sure about Bran…he can go to Winterfell after the first 3 episodes…But it is also possible that he contacts Jon in his own way and tells him he has to come to wall…It could be difficult for Bran to reach Winterfell, and Bran may discover that the fall of the wall is coming and he needs Jon urgently etc. Now, I don’t think there will be another battle in the north this season. The actors so far mentioned only one big battle and it’s supposed to be between Daenerys vs. Cersei-Euron. And I don’t thnk Jon will go south next season. So, I think after the first 3 or 4 episodes, Jon will go to Wall. There is nothing much to do in Winterfell for him at the moment I think. Same is true for Sansa-Brienne-Littlefinger as well.
And we had heard that 6 characters would be at the Wall next season. I think those 6 characters are Jon, Davos, Tormund (and wildlings), Bran, Sam…and either Gilly, or Benjen Stark, or Lyanna Mormont…I think in the second half of the season Jon, Davos and Tormund will definitely go to the Wall. If Bran goes to Winterfell before that, he can stay in Winterfell, if not they will meet him there. If Sam goes to Winterfell before that, after discovering things, he can leave Gilly and her son there and go to the Wall with the rest. Depending on these, I think the 6th person may be Benjen and-or Lyanna Mormont. There will be some revelations there and the wall will probably fall in the finale. Maybe there will be a small battle there and the rest of the wildlings will die, I think either Tormund or Davos will die too.
So, in the second half of the season, I think the rest of the Winterfell team will go south. That means Sansa, Littlefinger, Brienne, Podrick and probably Sandor too. If Bran is there he will stay in Winterfell.
In Riverlands, there will be Arya-Gendry reunion, and I don’t know what will happen between them but I think they will go to KL. Melisandre will meet Arya too, and I have no idea what will happen to her either. But I believe Arya will go to KL, to complete her death-list.
In KL, there will be a Jaime-Cersei tension in early episodes, and Jaime will start seeing her true face and start half-hating her, and reject her sexual advances for the first time. Then Euron will enter, and I’m pretty sure Cersei and Euron will start having fun together, and it can even go to marriage, because there were hints to it in a passage recently revealed by GRRM from his upcoming book. At this point Jaime will start double hating her, and hearing the news about Tyrion and Daenerys, I think he will go meet Tyrion, with Bronn.
And Tyrion and Daenerys, will start making alliances and preparations for taking KL. I think things will go well for them until the second part of the season. Again, the first part of the season will be about relationships, alliances, reunions, learning things from new characters etc. in the south, too.
In the second half, people in the north-the wall will deal with White Walkers situation and Jon’s parentage. All other people will eventually meet in the south-either in the big war or in KL, if the big war is away from KL.
There will be a tension between Jaime, Tyrion and Daenerys. At the same time I think Arya will attempt to kill Cersei and the Mountain in KL but she will fail and be captured, I think. At the same time Sansa-LF-Brienne-and probably Sandor too will arrive south. Littlefinger will play the last part of his Throne game, but I have no idea what it is. My guess is that Sansa will meet Arya in the south, and Jon will meet Bran in the north (Sansa can meet Bran too if he goes to Winterfell earlier). Sansa will have her own agenda too, but I don’t exactly know what it is either…she may seek alliance with Tyrion and Daenerys against Cersei and Euron, using her prior marriage to Tyrion. Or maybe Cersei captures Arya and demands Sansa to come etc. Or maybe Sansa becomes part of LF’s plans but eventually ruins them…I think Littlefinger will die next season, in the second part of the season.
I’m not sure if Jaime will be involved in the big battle in the south, but we had spoilers suggesting that Euron will win and capture one of Greyjoys etc. I’m pretty sure Daenerys will lose anyway. She won’t sit on that throne next season, and she may never seat on it either. She will lose her dragons somehow. In the books, it may be because of the horn Euron possesses. In the show there is no horn yet, so they may follow a different route? A zombie army? Qyburn could create more zombie soldiers. But they can’t do anything against the dragons, so I don’t know…
It’s difficult to guess the finale, but we heard from the actors that the scripts were shocking even to them. They all said there are surprises people don’t expect and are not ready for. Judging from their reactions, I expect really surprising-shocking things to happen in the south, though not so much in the north-wall (I may be wrong if Bran goes evil and becomes the Night’s King etc, as some people have kept suggesting for years)…
I am almost sure that Jaime and Brienne will meet in the south and there will be some action between Jaime-Cersei-Brienne-Sansa-and possibly Arya too…My guess is that, either Sansa or Arya will die. My bet is on Arya. And there may be something really shocking there, like Arya dying but warging into a wolf and keep living in her wolf etc, judging from the reactions of the actress who plays Arya…Perhaps Jon and Arya’s reunion will be heartbreaking that way. And I think Jaime will kill Cersei in the finale and will almost die there, but will be saved by Brienne (or Sandor, or Sandor plus Brienne) who will kill the Mountain, and Jaime and Brienne will finally become an item in season 7 finale (I think one or both will die in series finale, in season 8, leaving a child behind and the child will be raised by either Jon and Sansa or Tyrion and Sansa, that’s my prediction for the endgame).
I think Euron may die too, as well as one of Greyjoys, either Missandei or Grey Worm, and some sand snakes, and Lady Olenna…And I still think either Tyrion or Jaime and Cersei will be revealed as Targaryen bastard-s too, that may be revealed in season 7 finale as well, in parallel to Jon, and that may be one of the shocking surprises too. I think in the show Tyrion was presented as a candidate for that, but in the books it feels more like Jaime and Cersei to me…because besides obvious hints, since we now know that there will be a Euron-Cersei alliance, in the books that Dragon Horn which will probably be presented to Cersei by Euron, can only be used by a dragon blood…that may be a hint showing that Cersei is a dragon blood. That’s one of my wild theories. But I can see Tyrion as dragon blood as well, so it could be either of them.
The most mysterious thing to me at the moment is the fate of Daenerys…and Jorah. Like I said, I think she will lose but I have no idea what will happen to her after that. Will she fly north-to the wall by her last surviving (or the one still controlled by her) dragon? Maybe she will be the 6th person at the wall in the finale, after escaping with her dragon. I’m also not sure about Tyrion, I think he will survive, but I don’t know where he will end up…if he is the third Targaryen, he may start getting involved with dragons.
These are my predictions at the moment, based on both show and the books, some Norse Mythology and historical parallels, and all spoilers we have so far. I posted this here after reading the most recent Winterfell spoilers, and we will see if next months’ spoilers will be in accordance with these predictions..(if I’m right about this general outline, I think after seeing winterfell people filming together, in the second half of filming we should start seeing those 6 people filming in the north-the wall sets, and Sansa-Arya-Brienne-LF in some south sets, in KL etc.)
ghost of winterfell,
It could very well be what you say, but flashbacks do not need Isaac to be present though… He could be shot later or earlier and added digitally if he is just witnessing something (as was the case with the flashback about the creation of the first white walker).
innocence,
It’s not hard for Bran to make it from the Wall to Winterfell. It’s easier than his journey Beyond the Wall. All he needs is some horses from the Night’s Watch and Edd can send some brothers to escort him and Meera if needed.
It makes no sense for Jon to return to the Wall when he’s just left it for good. He has a lot of things to do in Winterfell since he’s….you know…. the king. He needs to rule. And those 6 characters are confirmed for scenes in the North in general if I remember correctly, not the Wall.
There’s no forshadowing for Lannisters being secret Targaryens on the show. I wish this theory would just die already.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Jaime ends up in the southern battle, as he’ll most likely have to command the Lannister armies. We need important characters on each side and there’s nothing left for Jaime to do now that he’s completed his arc in the Riverlands.
ghost of winterfell,
Exactly. We’re not getting useless Ramsay flashbacks or the trials and tribulations of tween Littlefinger. The actor is probably the 10 year old Northern boy from the casting call.
But do we trully know the story? Because all we have heard are the accounts of it by a few characters, some of which were not even present (Remember the meaningful look Littlefinger gave Sansa when she said that Rhaegar abducted and raped her aunt?)
The accounts of a powerless abducted girl do not match Lyanna’s portrail prior to the Harrenhall tournament. Ned says Arya reminds him a lot of his sister, and last season, when Lyanna enters the courtyard riding a horse alone in the flashback, she seems to be a girl with a strong will and certain degree of independence.
I don’t think it is a waste of time to show what really went on at Harrenhall, or at least, the other side of a story that set so many things in motion. Of course, that’s just an opinion…
And because at Harrenhall there were so many other characters we have never heard of, or whom we know but are not that invested in, it is not inconceivable that we have some familiar younger faces of characters we have a stronger knowledge of to make us pay attention. That’s why I mentioned Cat and LF (though I seriously don’t remember if they were there in the books, but that would not necessarily be an impediment, wouldn’t it, since D&D have changed things from the books… It is terrible to have so many memory lapses!).
It is entirely possible we are making a huge fuss out of nothing (some of the people in the pictures are standings and the main actors are in custom and make-up), it is fun to consider the possibilites while we wait for other news… 😛
But do we trully know the story? Because all we have heard are the accounts of it by a few characters, some of which were not even present (Remember the meaningful look Littlefinger gave Sansa when she said that Rhaegar abducted and raped her aunt?)
The accounts of a powerless abducted girl do not match Lyanna’s portrail prior to the Harrenhall tournament. Arya reminds Ned a lot of his sister, and last season, when Lyanna enters the courtyard riding a horse alone in the flashback, she seems to be a girl with a strong will and certain degree of independence.
I don’t think it is a waste of time to show what really went on at Harrenhall, or at least, the other side of a story that set so many things in motion. Of course, that’s just an opinion…
And because at Harrenhall there were so many other characters we have never heard of, or whom we know but are not that invested in, it is not inconceivable that we have some familiar younger faces of characters we have a stronger knowledge of to make us pay attention. That’s why I mentioned Cat and LF (though I seriously don’t remember if they were there in the books, but that would not necessarily be an impediment, wouldn’t it, since D&D have changed things from the books… It is terrible to have so many memory lapses!).
It is entirely possible we are making a huge fuss out of nothing (some of the people in the pictures are standings and the main actors are in custom and make-up or during a lunch break), it is fun to consider the possibilites while we wait for other news… 😛
Flayed Potatoes,
You may be right about 6 characters, I remembered like 6 characters would meet at the Wall, but maybe not. But I still think Jon will go to wall with his team, hoping to stop the fall etc. Why wouldn’t he go, when he learned that the Wall is about to fall?
What will he rule, really? I mean, what will he do in 7 episodes, just by being a king in the north and ruling things? I don’t see any action there, if there is no battle, and I don’t think there is, because like I said the actors only mentioned one big battle in the south. Everybody in the north is already loyal to him. So, do you mean that he will just sit behind a desk and talk about politics and problems next season? That would be a very boring season for him, even if Bran arrives in Winterfell and they get emotional and talk etc. for like one episode. And maybe a drama between him and Sansa and Littlefinger for another episode. Then what? I think it’s much more likely that he will go to the wall and see the wall falling with his own eyes in the finale, after trying to stop it.
Otherwise, if nobody is there, will we just see the wall falling with only some minor characters present there…and they just pass without any real action with major characters? It just doesn’t make sense to me, so I expect Jon to go there and witness it. Well, we’ll see.
Bran knows he can’t pass through the Wall. Maybe he camps outside and sends word for Jon.
Brienne & Pod can stay at Winterfell with Sansa.
Inga,
Thanks for taking my joking in stride and I love your plot ideas. Very clever. 😉
Hey is actually confirmed that is Sansa’s body double or could we be looking at a young Catelynn? The little boy could be a young Benjen too. Dark hair blue eyes.
Clob,
Eyes are blue and Jon’s are brown.
Tormund: I’d rather marry you.
Brienne: I love another.
Tormund: Does he love you back?
Brienne: He cares for me.
Tormund: Did he give you his sword?
Brienne: Yes.
Tormund: Lucky bastard.
Flayed Potatoes,
The 6 characters are confirmed to shoot in Iceland. Nothing else is confirmed beyond this. Iceland has also been used for some Vale / Riverlands scenes, if I am not mistaken. It was not specified which actors will be involved. Even though it will most likely be the North and Jon will probably be involved, nothing has really been confirmed.
Yeah, I don’t see why, after being made the king, he would go back to the Wall, instead of…being a king. What would make more sense is Jon sending people (maybe former Umber/ Bolton/ Karstark men) to the Wall, while he would concentrate on preparing the North to face the threat and also try to warn the rest of Westeros about what’s coming. I can’t imagine Jon would be fine with just the North being made aware, he would try to make the rest of Westeros aware of the threat they are facing as well. Which could be the incentive he needs to seek out Dany. This is just a guess, but I would much rather he do this than go back to the Wall
innocence,
Much of S6 has been building up the Jon-Sansa-LF conflict. They ended the season with the very ambiguous look by Sansa. Sophie has said we will not know where Sansa’s loyalties lie next season. This conflict is not going to go away in one episode. It will be a major part of next season’s arc for both of them and by my guess, will end with Sansa choosing Jon over LF at the end of the season.
dothrakian raven,
You’re right, of course about LF being Machiavellian, but here’s my thinking. For the time being, I believe LF will bide his time & allow Jon to run things in the North, unifying the lesser houses and dealing with the Night’s Watch. Remember, LF wants it all, he wants to be king of all Westeros. It may be in his mind, he sees Jon as a version of Ned, as Warden of the North. Jon owes hi that loyalty now.
But more important, he also knows Jon doesn’t have the strength of arms, nor would Jon see the necessity of conquering the Riverlands. Jon’s focus is the defense of the North from the White Walker.
If anything ,Jon & Sansa would probably see Edmure regaining the castle as a good thing, and attempt an alliance with him. But that would not work in LF’s favor if his goal is “ALL of it.” LF also knows that Edmure is no match for Jaime.
So, my thinking is, if Jamie takes the Lannister forces back to regain the Riverlands after the death of the three main Freys, he will face an army of opposition, in the person of LF who has the only other fresh, strong army around.
I see it playing out as LF “rescuing” Edmure, as he did Jon, and allowing Edmure’s smaller army and Jaime’s army to take the brunt of the battle, then coming in in the end to defeat Jaime the way he defeated the Boltons.
Except I would put my money on Jaime to win that fight, if it goes that way. So that’s my theory, in any case. Now of course Jaime may still believe LF is their ally who defeated the Boltons for them. (Cersei already promised him Winterfell.) But I think LF has to defeat Jaime and the Lannister armies in that scenario.
The alternative is LF & Jaime getting together to deal with Dany. No way does LF want to see Varys & Tyrion get the upper hand. They would have to work together to defeat the Martel army as well as Dany’s. Which would leave the Riverlands, Edmure, Jon & Sansa to forge an alliance.
Even though Sue already said they are cooling devices, if you need even more proof, go to the Daily Mail site, scroll through the pics down to the one of Daniel Portman/Pod. His black tee shirt has the logo “Cool Shirt” at the neck. I’m assuming that’s both the brand name and what the shirt does. It cools. Consider yourself talked down. 🙂
I dunno, I seem to recall a scene of Tyrion and two large Dragons…D&D didn’t do this scene just for kicks, you know, plenty expensive scene as it was…They even mentioned Tyrion’s childhood fixation with Dragons in his little speech to them…
Also, Tywin’s last words to Tyrion in the show are literally “you’re no son of mine.”
Tyrion as a Targaryen actually has potentially more textual support in the books than just about any out there, not to mention the shade that was thrown in the Tywin-Joanna-Mad King thing in the George-approved The World of Ice and Fire book…
Inga,
Actually, if you take a look, the plans we have drawn up are not that dissimilar… Both of us predict a small Lannister victory around episode 4 before a decisive Dany victory in the final episodes.
Where we differ, and what I find truly incomprehensible, is that where I suggest the Lannister armies fighting under Jaime in the Westerlands/Reach/Dorne, you advocate for this bizarre detour under Bronn to the Vale. Why would the Lannisters send their armies there? That’s not where the enemy is. And why develop Bronn as a character if there is Jaime and his character to be developed? He has yet to start expressing his unhappiness about Cersei openly.
Anon,
Yeah, when that scene happened – especially in conjunction with all the Bronn jokes about Jaime and Brienne having sex – I lost my hopes that they ever actually would do the deed. Ah well. That’s my ‘Brienne bags one of the prettiest men in Westeros, becomes awesome fighter single mom to a lion cub and Wardenness of the West’ theory out. Too bad.
icequinn, No effort needed for this guy to be Rhaegar …he looks quite the part 😉
As much as I’d like to see Jaime go North and fight alongside Jon and Brienne, I don’t think that’s happening. He’s going to stay South, with Cersei, to protect her, to protect her from herself and to protect their interests. For those of you who still believe they will somehow harm one another, I reiterate this year, as I did last year. NOT GONNA HAPPEN. Some people were sure Jaime would kill her because of Lancel. Pfffft. Now Lancel is a cinder under a bunch of rocks.
They also spent all their time together during Season 6 declaring their undying love for each other and how “We are the only two people in the world.” Jaime might be a bit annoyed about the Sept, but I think he will be more in admiration that Cersei had the guts to do what she did to their enemies. I don’t think there will be any fallout because of Tommen, either. Poor kid.
Cersei gave Jaime a pass on Myrcella, taking the blame on herself for ignoring Maggy’s prophecy. Jaime will give her a similar pass on Tommen, probably saying he should never have left her, even though she told him she’d be fine with the Mountain guarding her. Two people who declare to each other that they are the only two people in the world whose feelings and interests matter, aren’t going to be the least worried about the smoking mess she made in the middle of the city. Everyone who died there was an enemy to them. Most certainly the High Sparrow and the sparrow-ettes had it coming. Jaime won’t care what she did. They will not be choking each other. That doesn’t mean I think Tyrion will give her a pass, but they will not die at each other’s hand.
Jaime will make it his business to stay with her. He will feel it’s his kingdom, too. Remember he said “We are going to take everything there is.” He is going to face down the Dornish bitches, hopefully getting some revenge on Ellaria. He’s going to face down Euron, too, I think. I’m not too sure how Euron is going to fit in. Maybe he gets the same promise Bronn got, only on a much bigger scale, and Euron decides to bide his time. I don’t think there’s going to be a big Euron/Cersei love fest, much less marriage. This is all IMHO, and if I’m wrong, I will be the first to say that I messed up. But Jaime choking Cersei? Nope, that was left out of the prophecy by the writers for a reason. He’s staying close.
ghost of winterfell,
You have strange ideas about kinging. Medieval kings were battlefield commanders, and led their armies in person. So, yes – Jon has to move his seat to the Castle Black ASAP and coordinate defence from there. Jon knows that and plans to do that. He told Edd that he would be back, because manning the castles, organizing supplies, etc. would be a big work that woulds requre an immediate attention of the supreme commander.
However, I can see two major factors, which may prevent Jon from going to the Wall. First of all, it’s Bran. Bran will be Jon’s intelligence service due to his greenseeing, but the weirwood tree nearest to Castle Black is outside the Wall, whereas Winterfell has a weirwood tree within its walls. I assume that Bran will be doing his greenseeing reconnaissance from Winterfell godswood, which implies that Jon will have to stay around to get information from him (you can’t rely on ravens or mounted messangers in such a situation).
The other factor that may distract Jon from the Wall is Riverlands (and the Vale). Riverlands are of strategic importance for both Jon and Cersey, because in both cases they make the bridge between the territories under their control: for Jon it’s the North and the Vale, for Cersey it’s the Westerlands and the Crownlands. And there is a power vacuum in the Riverlands itself. So, Cersey will do averything she can to take the Riverlands under her direct control and I ecpect her army by the Blood Gates of the Vale in the second half of the season. On the other hand, Jon will be reluctant to engage into that conflict at first, but eventually he will have to march to help Sweetrobin and Edmure (probably, the initial loss of the momentum will have its price). It’s worth to mention that the Blood gates were filmed in Iceland, so filming in Iceland kind of fits this scenario. I assume Jon’s victory will be easy: if the Lannister army is trapped between Jon’s forces and the Blood Gates, it will have no other choice but to surrender and it may even decide that Cersey is not worth fighting for (f*** the queen, let’s go on the WW or similar). But in Jon’s absence something will nullify the spells protecting the Wall, and the Night’s King will break in.
That would be my preference/prediction (sorry, for being repetitive).
The outfit the little boy wears – is the same style the Stark kids wore in the Winterfell enclosure during Bran’s vision of Winterfell when his dad, Benjen, and Lyannah were just kids
Thronetender,
That is definitely going to happen. Jaime won’t stay with Cersei and won’t die with her and loving her, Jaime and Brienne will become an item in season 7 finale…I’m so sure of this that if there is a bet about it, I recommend you to put all your money on it 🙂 (On twitter, in one post Gwendoline Christie had already confirmed to her fans that based on her season 7 scripts, Jaime and Brienne are the endgame…That’s not even a debate anymore. That’s what she meant when she said “they will get what they have always wanted”) Jaime and Brienne are the warrior and the maiden in many mythological stories. Search for Sigurd and Brynhildr, Freyr and Geror in Norse mythology…In both stories, the warrior saves the maiden, gives away his magic sword for the maiden, in the first one they both die in the end, in the second one only warrior dies…In both, they leave a child behind who becomes a king or a queen in the future, being raised by foster parents…And oh, in Freyr’s story, Freyr has a twin sister named Freyja…and Freyja marries Odin…Odin is a one eyed God, an immoral God, and Euron loses one eye in the books and wears an eye patch…You are wrong if you think these are all coincidences 🙂 GRRM is a fan of mythology.
And one more mythological parallel: There are 7 Gods in the story, being represented by 7 characters:
Father- (justice) : Jon
Mother- (fertility, family, peace etc) : Sansa is my guess. I think Daenerys is red herring there. Sansa may already be pregnant with Ramsay’s child, and she will probably raise Jaime and Brienne’s child as well.
Warrior- (courage, strength) : Jaime
Maiden- (innocence, purity) : Brienne (There was even an iconic imagery in their bath scene, Brienne-the maiden holding naked Jaime, who was kind of reborn there)
Crone- (wisdom) : Tyrion
Stranger- (unknown and death) : Arya. Noone=stranger.
Smith- (creativity and craftsmanship) : Bran. “Bran the Builder”.
As you can see, these are the main characters and these will make it to season 8…These are 7 Gods who will walk on earth and fight against darkness-white walkers in Long Night. (Although I think Arya’s body may die but she can warg into a wolf or something like that).
Like I said, I would bet all my money on this 🙂
George,
I’m not sure about that one, I agree that one of them is red herring, that’s why I say “my guess” is Sansa at this point…I’m sure about the others but the mother is either Sansa or Daenerys, yes.
GhostCR,
If they’re going to show Harrenhall, we’ll get the tourney because it’s actually relevant to the plot. The boy in the picture is wearing Northern clothes, so it’s obviously not LF.
innocence,
That makes no sense. He left the Wall. The Wall will most likely fall (“Don’t knock it down while I’m gone”) and Jon can’t be there to witness it because he’ll die. He also doesn’t know it will fall, so why would he go there to prevent it if he doesn’t know about it? The show had Jon, Mel, Davos, Tormund, Sansa, Sam, Gilly etc. leave the Wall because it’s going to fall or get overrun with WW and they can’t kill off characters they still need in the story. Just like they had Lady Olenna leave KL suddenly so she won’t die in the explosion and ally her with Dorne. There’s a lot of things for Jon to do: ensure the loyalty of the Northern houses, deal with any Karstark and Umber heirs, integrate the Wildlings. It’s going to be similar in a way to his storyline in ADWD. Jon can have a storyline that doesn’t involve him swinging a sword (several Jon fans here would welcome it) and not to mention a Northern battle has not been confirmed.
George,
Missandei also mentioned how dragons are intelligent creatures and sense enemy from friend. They could’ve excluded this dialogue between them and just went straight to Tyrion freeing them but yet they didn’t.
“You’re no son of mine” was in spite of his demise thrown by Tywin. You need more than that. If Tywin was convinced that Tyrion is not his, he would find a wy to prove it or even make it seem that way to get rid of him. Although, I do acknowledge similarity it would cause Jon and Ned looking alike, Tyrion and Tywin looking alike but not being their sons. A bit more evidence because as things stand right now, it would be literally out of nowhere.
Jon’s reveal, what is supposed to be a big deal because otherwise no need to keep it secret since George planned it from original outline. We get another Targ reveal and then what? Is Dany going to marry them both like Aegon did even given her Hotu vision? Seems kinda cheesy and not rally in line with vision or characters.
innocence,
I’m pretty sure Dany is the mother … Mother of Dragons, the Mhysa … They’ve refered to her as the mother sooo many times. I think Sansa will die soon.
ghost of winterfell,
It seems like wishful thinking tbh. People don’t want him ruling anything. Let’s not forget everyone was screaming for years that Jon would never leave the Night’s Watch and look at him now lol.
George,
Tyrion as a Targaryen would ruin the “beauty” of his relationship with Tywin. Not to mention it would be overkill. Too many secret Targs. Tyrion said in the same episode that dragons are intelligent creatures and know when someone doesn’t want to harm them. He also asked Missandei if they had ever tried to hurt her and she said no. If we go by that logic, then Missandei is also a secret Targaryen (which we know is not true).
Inga,
In normal circumstances, maybe. But these are not normal times. A majority of the people do not even believe in the existential threat they are facing. Jon basically has 2 choices. Either take the men that he has to the Wall in the hope that they would be sufficient to defend it or try to warn the rest of Westeros about what’s coming (More ravens are not going to be of any use here).
In Hardhome, when Jon was trying to convince the Wildlings to leave with him, he mentioned that when the WWs come, the Wildlings and the NW will not be enough to defeat them, even all the southern kings will not be able to defeat them, only when every person in Westeros is willing to fight will they stand a chance. So for whatever reason, Jon does not believe that the Wall is enough to keep away the WWs and he seems to realize the importance of ensuring that all of Westeros is prepared to face them. And he is now finally in a position of power where people will actually listen to him and to what he has to say. So I definitely think it possible that while he may send men to the Wall, he himself will not accompany them.
Besides, even if Jon wants to focus exclusively on the WW threat, he will not be afforded the luxury of doing so, imo. He will have to deal with the Umbers/ Karstarks/ Vale men, including LF, not to mention however Cersei reacts to the news of the Starks being back in power (if she does so). That’s why I said that he will need to be a king IN the north and will not head off to the Wall. He himself told Sansa “we cannot fight a war among ourselves, there are enemies all around us now”. So he is aware that he cannot turn a blind eye to what’s happening in the seven kingdoms.
From storytelling point of view as well, it makes no sense to send him off to the Wall when they went through the whole death / resurrection route to get him away from it.
I wonder if Bran can cross the wall since he was marked. I definitely can see some of these theories as future possibilities. It’s definitely not wise to be so convinced one particular theory is “what will happen.” GRRM put a ton of clues regarding Jon’s mother in the books, but he later stated that he would have definitely changed Jon’s parentage if he could but the books were already out so he couldn’t. It doesn’t sound like the author is too happy when too many people are correct with predictions and if he could change things he will. We could insist, based on past interviews with George, that the “core 5 survive and that’ s that” so that means others definitely will die? In reality how do we really know. The last 2 books didn’t even come out yet. Were there deaths that he said were staying the same, of course. Are there people who make it to the end? I would say yes. I saw the interview from 2013 and I read the books too, and there are clues and red herrings all over the place. If we want something to happen, we can take a clue and insist it means what we want it to. Or we can say, I think this will happen. George did say once that Dany is the fire and the white walkers are the ice. It’s those 2 that are the adversaries. I’m not saying there aren’t others, but her destiny lies with the white walkers, not the iron throne, I think, but I could be wrong. Also, in the show Benjen told Bran that when the night king and his army advance it will be Bran who will have to face him. I’ve read predictions stating “Jon and Dany versus white walker.” What about Bran? He is so relevant it’s not even funny. Another reason I don’t get caught up with this fixation on the core 5 is then it narrows our other possibilities regarding future plots. Also, starting in book 2, Theon has so many point of view chapters that he’s right up there with our core 5. Just saying, but I know it doesn’t guarantee his survival. In book 5 a weirwood tree even speaks to Theon. As far as Sansa dying, I’m up in the air on that as well. D and D stated that she is still influenced by Petyr but they never said she will always be influenced by Petyr. In season 6, they were inferring she wasn’t a true Stark since she is keeping things from her brother. They never said that wouldn’t change. They said her relationship in season 7 with Jon was crucial. They are pretty ambiguous in their commentary. They were more worried about Arya’s survival but she is in the core 5 so does that mean she can’t die? She might warg into Nymeria so I guess then she does survive. Bottom line, keep an open mind with this stuff.
Flayed Potatoes,
Tyrion being a Targ would not ruin anything about his relationship with Tywin. Just like Jon being a Targ didn’t ruin his relationship with Ned.
Flayed Potatoes,
Omg this again.They literally killed him just to get him away from there.He is not going back.I can’t wait till’ that thing falls lol.
A Dornish Tyrell,
Ha ha ha ! Eloquent (in my case, I would say “exceedingly long winded” ^^) or blunt, wrong or right, the fun is in the conversation and the company 😉
mandzipop,
That’s a definite maybe, I believe.
It could be interesting to see the two ladies in Jon’s court, Lyanna and Sansa, react to the idea of marrying another young girl to some bloke she does not know for political expediency considering the latter has disastrous first-hand experience of such practice and the former comes from a land where matrilinear filiation is acknowledged and independent, unmarried, female heads of Houses exist… Unless hypothetical Show Alys exhibits signs of enthusiasm at the prospect, I sense possible trouble ahead for the wannabe matchmakers ! ^^
Inga,
Oh, at that point, the showrunners can pretty much make up whatever they want in relation to the Karstarks and the Umbers. We know so precious little about them, we would buy virtually anything 🙂
But if the kids are not direct heirs, then it weakens the hostage-taking strategy. As we saw during the Battle of the Five Kings, hostages do not guarantee surrender and, at times, even fail to work as a deterrent if they are not considered “valuable” enough.
Jenny,
Lol yes Bran needs to hurry and get through the Wall! I’m ready for that thing to fall as well.
El-Bobbie,
The Jon-Ned relationship is different from the Tyrion-Tywin one. If Tyrion had been a Targ, Tywin would not have let him live.
El-bobbie,
The Starks are fundamentally associated with ice, winter and the North : their ancestral sword was called “Ice” (I suppose, in that regard, on could say they used to control “ice” ^^); the House’s founder built a gigantic wall made of frozen H2O and the ancient title carried by the Starks who ruled over the region was not “King in the North” but “King of Winter”. Old Nan even identifies the original Night’s King, the one who befriended or possibly worshipped the Others, as a Stark of Winterfell in one of her tales.
So you are correct : unless ice dragons exist and the Starks have some kind of bond with them, they do not seem to have power over ice in the same way the Targaryens do over fire. Yet, the Direwolves demonstrate an essential affinity with the element which makes them the embodiment of it, I believe.
Being both Targaryen and Stark makes Jon, symbolically at least, both Fire and Ice.
That’s a big part of the fun, isn’t it ? 😉
There definitely is an argument in favour of taking hostages : you have put it forward marsterfully. It is a policy most Westerosis are familiar with, the short-term benefits are undeniable and, for a King who has an awful lot on his plate and not a lot of time ahead, it could absolutely be a solution to the loyalty problem.
I believe there also is a case to be made for Jon telling the traitors “I have the right to execute you but I won’t. I am entitled to threaten your children’s lives but I won’t. I will punish you for what you did, ensure your heirs’ safety and your Houses’ future as long as you and your lieges swear absolute fealty to me. If you don’t, I will crush you like bugs which should be easy since my army is five times larger than anything you can scramble together”. Calculated “mercy” (unlike the Ned brand ^^), when used as a demonstration of power, can be a ruthlessly potent political tool. Something Joffrey (with Ned), Robb (with Karstark) and Daenerys (with the slavers and Mossador) forgot.
Regardless, I will be happy with whatever the showrunners decide as long as we get to see the characters discuss it. That, to me, would be the most interesting aspect of it.
Jon has to learn how to be a ruler and he has to do it in extremely complex and adverse circumstances for, as he said, there are so many enemies everywhere. It would be quite fascinating to see him find his way amongst all the influences and pieces of advice coming from every corner of his council and witness him make his choices, emerge out of Ned and Robb’s shadows and, ultimately, surpass them.
Maisie Williams is currently promoting the children’s charity NSPCC in Bristol, and has just been interviewed by a local TV channel. While much of the interview is about the NSPCC, how she’s supporting its work, and what motivates her to do so, there is some discussion of Season 7 filming from around the 5 minute mark:
https://www.facebook.com/itv.westcountry.9/videos/989952607818124/
The interview as a whole is worth watching if you like Arya or Maisie.
Jon had a loving relationship with the man he thought was his father, who also happens to be his idol. To find out that he was not in fact his father and had lied to him all his life, there’s potential for good drama there.
Tyrion finding out that the man who loathed him all his life was not really his father, it’s not the same. It would not cause much distress or conflict within him.
The irony of Tyrion’s relationship with Tywin is that despite the latter’s best efforts to deny it, Tyrion is more like him than his other children.
Thronetender,
You know, I kind of agree with you that Jaime will stand by Cersei, he might not approve of her actions and it might sicken him, but I don’t see him changing alliances and tossing the whole being a “Lannister” out the window. The bottom line is no matter how much he cares for Brienne he and Cersei are connected and I don’t think that will ever change no matter how disheartened he is with her.
Bufferzone,
I would have to agree there especially with Tyrion and Tywin. But, I do think that Jon will be able to see that even though he is crushed that Ned isn’t his father, he lied all these years solely to protect Jon’s life.
Intresting….
It does point to GOT but im not sure its Emilia ….
http://blindgossip.com/?p=81065
I don’t think anyone is against him eventually being a ruler in some sense. However, you wrote that he won’t go to The Wall because he’s now KitN and has to rule… and in this post you said this about leaving the NW. I won’t argue whether or not he ever returns all the way to Castle Black. Events may make it unnecessary or impossible. What I will argue is that he isn’t concerned about the typical duties of a King that one would call “ruling.” He has one goal now and that is to bolster, organize and lead their defense/protection against the NK. Guess what… that’s the duty of the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. He can say he’s not LC all he wants but the Crows still see him as such and he’ll be doing what the LC should be doing with the knowledge of the danger they face.
Except GRRM said that Jaime and Cersei are completely estranged in his future books. Jaime in the books even thinks she might be already dead, and still goes after Brienne to save Sansa, and still people bet he will kill himself because of her.
Jaime is a Lannister, Cersei isn’t. She killed her uncle and cousin and left their house without heirs.
It’s just that people don’t want to see Jaime survive, but he already did so many things against her will.
Hey don’t post this stupid site here. Based on the previous blind item the handsome actor is gay and uses his former co-star as cover, now she cheats on her..and when?
Then another male star cheats his wife with a younger one?
People just make this up because GoT is popular.
Inga,
Hi Inga *waves*
Thanks for this. For some reason when I looked at the site yesterday only Clob‘s reply to my question was showing up and not your earlier one, so I’ve only just seen it.
Lovely clear picture on that video, great for pouring over!
Fave bits are at 13 secs when someone appears to be putting together the world’s largest self-assembly furniture and the sword head that looks a bit like a person at 29 secs. That map is crying out for a bit of photoshop, I have a feeling something unexpected is going to make an appearance on there quite soon courtesy of yours truly. Anyone got any requests? 😀
O/T On the BBC website there’s a clip of one of their programmes about the film/tv industry in Northern Ireland, which shows the GoT bus tour of filming locations. May not viewable outside the UK, but if you want to try and find the whole thing on You Tube it’s called The Arts Show and was broadcast on 30 Nov 2014.
Maggie,
Poster in question is a well-known low key troll, so pay no mind. And as for “when?”, that would be whenever he’s not candle shopping with the gf who is very much present rather than working on films, or whenever he and his costars are not wandering around in partial costume with cooling systems strapped to their bodies between takes. Obviously.
I honestly never understood the appeal of gossip mongering, mainly because I couldn’t care less about the personal lives of anyone who works on this show, but I figure that if consuming bullshit is your thing, at least have some standards. Any moron with a keyboard can contribute to Blind Gossip.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BK7sXqDgfWQ/
Looks like Alfie’s in London, so he isn’t filming. Interesting since Emilia, Jacob, and Nathalie are filming right now.
LOL!
And who are you to call me that?
Jaime could have redeemed himself for killing Aerys by showing Ned the wildfire hiding under the city. His chance to keep his honor was crushed by his family when Tywin sacked the city and had the Targaryens killed. At that point nothing he said was going to be heard he was guilty by association. Tyrion isn’t bad and neither is Jaime truly he was more forced into the role by circumstance and seemed to just take on that persona but you can see in his interactions (with Brienne in particular) who he really is inside. Tywin basically took over power from his father and made the Lannister name a fearsome one (when his father was anything but fearsome) and why can’t this generation break free of that and have some sort of redemption?! Jaime probably won’t have a happy ending but I don’t see him wanting to stick around her after the sept incident. I think he will really be messed up over this. Maybe he will even volunteer to take an army to Winterfell just to get the heck away from this crazy person. Or…maybe he has the other valyrian sword from Ice there and stabs Cersei through the heart. Although wouldn’t you have to be good hearted to have the sword your soul intertwined with be called Lightbringer?! Or maybe he is just as bat shit crazy as she is and they blow up the red keep with themselves inside and their last words are “let her be the Queen of ashes”.
Maggie,
My thoughts:
I agree with this. Haven’t we also been led to believe that Cersei never loved Jaime as much as he loved her? She was the stronger of the two and her own worse enemy. Jaime’s biggest sin is his almost unlimited loyalty to his family.
I think he may be getting over that, since his brother killed his father, and his sister killed everyone else including, indirectly, their son. I believe seeing Brienne again and being reminded of his better self, re-awakened that part of him that wants to be a honorable person.
And that better, nobler person would not approve of Cersei’s burning down the Sept of Baylor. He would not mourn the High Sparrow or Maester Pycell, but I don’t think he felt as strongly as she did about Margaery, Loras,their father or uncle Kevan. I wonder if either of them realizes how much power resides with Qyburn now?
Maybe Jaime would have chosen to get along with the Martels, because they have an army and treasure, and instead Cersei has pushed Olenna into the arms of Dany. I Also think Jaime grieves Tommen’s death.
For me, the two things I’m most curious about is what happens with LF and the Starks of Winterfell now, in terms of next steps. And of course we have Dany arriving in Westeros.
Clob,
Some of the duties of the LC are similar to that of a ruler, but there are many things which differ. If you look at Jon’s stint as LC in ADWD, you’ll see that he ends up taking on duties that a king or high lord would take (marrying off Alys Karstark, interfering in Northern politics even though the NW is supposed to be neutral, negotiating with the Iron Bank). He doesn’t have to be at Castle Black to prepare for the Long Night and on the show he’ll also have to deal with potential conflict between the Northern lords and the Wildlings, LF and the Vale, any surviving Karstaks/Umbers (most of which have nothing to do with a Lord Commander’s responsibilities).
P.S.: The show implies that Edd is the new Lord Commander. As KITN, Jon outranks everyone in the North, so while some of his priorities will be to help the Wall (which is something the Starks have always done even when they were Kings pre-Aegon btw), a lot of other responsibilities have nothing in common with those of a LC.
Jack Bauer 24,
They’re definitely getting separated imo. And it makes complete sense.
It’s not him, this guy has nothing to do with GoT. He obviously was making a joke, based on the Instagram, but I checked around anyway, and people tell me, no he’s not part of the show.
Yeah I figured that afterward for a number of reasons. Whether Rhaegar is appearing next season or not, the actor would not be that obvious. He’s not going to pull a McShane haha.
King of Winter,
Very few men have the balls to pull a McShane and the clout to get away with it. 🙂
Lulus Mum,
Hi, Lulus Mum! Sorry for not answering you earlier (had some work to do) – but finally someone to discuss that teaser with!!! So, shall we begin?
0.16 – It took me some time to identify that strange device they are showing, but then it hit me: it’s a version of the so called Spanish boot – a torturing device used to torment Theon in S3 right before Ramsay organized his fake escape. Might be relevant to the rumors that Euron is capturing one of the Greyjoys next season.
0.18 – Eyestones on some map. The mountain range is obvious, but those straight lines confuse me too. On the other hand, if the map depicts only a small area and is slightly simplified, some geographical features may look straight. I think that the dotted line (2 intersecting dotted lines in fact – there is another in the bottom too) may indicate roads/paths, and the black line with a wider greenish color beyond may indicate a river (?). I am not good at Westeros geography and I may be biased, but I thought of the Twins (or Riverlands). The eyestones could be for the Freys. Of cause, we have 4 pairs, not 3, but when you think of it, Arya could have easily poisoned out half of the Frey clan, when she was serving wine. The castle looked surprisingly empty, when she was dealing with Walder, but on the other hand this may be too crazy, so I don’t know. Other locations may also be possible.
0.42 – straightforward allusion to Jamie watching Cersey’s coronation from the gallery: her dresses and his armor.
0.53 – allusions to the Frankenmountai; the helmet looks deformed, as if someone tried bend the plates out to see the face behind them, but again it’s hard to say.
1.00 – spears and shields. Might hint to the Tournament of Harenhall.
1.03-1.05 – a new sword is being made and it looks to be Valyrian (they depict Valyrian blades as the so called Damascus blades forged from twisted bars which give them that pattern). However, my PC has a rather poor resolution, so I can’t say for sure.
1.16 – the stone curves form Ramsay’s face. Just shows how much creative effort went into this teaser.
1.28 – welding on the background of the heartwood tree at which the first man was converted into the Night’s King.
1.29 – Cersey’s cup with which she celebrated destruction of the Sept. Could it imply that Cersey will forge/weld an alliance with the WW? People laugh at such idea, but I can totally see her doing something like that, especially in the face of an inevitable defeat. The only thing she lacks is know-how. On the other hand, that cup – that symbol of victory – may be just a hint that her prospects are getting better (due to alliance with Euron).
1.30 – the map of the Sea of Dorne and its coast. First of all, they point to Cersey’s forces (the Lannister Lion) in Dorne, which correlates with the rumors that Euron will be taking out at least one of the Sand Snakes (I assume he will capture them and take control of the strategically important part of Dorne, before Dany arrives, but other versions are also possible). Cersey’s forces are also deployed in Stormsend and some other forces with an unidentified sigil (could it be Tarly’s) are further in the west. However, the ships are the most interesting. I think they indicated fleets, not sigils, and we see three of them: #1 by the southern coast of the Cape Wrath, #2 in the Narrow Sea turning towards the Sea of Dorne, and #3 further north. I had several different theories, but now, based on the filming rumors about the battle along the coastal line, I assume that #1 is Dany trying to land (I assume Cersey’s forces deployed in the Stormlands will come south and that will make the coastal battle). Ship #3 is definitely Cersey’s fleet coming from KL. #2 is the most complicated. It may be a part of Dany’s fleet led Yara going to meet Cersey’s fleet, or a part of Cersey’s fleet – namely Euron – going to attack Dany’s fleet from the rear in the middle of the landing operation. My bet is on the later, but even if the first one is true, Dany will be caught between land and sea anyway, cause Euron will beat Yara.
Where she’ll go from here, it’s hard to predict. She may break through to Stormsend and take it, but she will be immediately besieged by Cersey and risk running out of provisions before the Queen of Thorns comes to her rescue (if she will). Or Dany may sail to the North with her surviving ships, which I would prefer, cause I want her to meet with Jon.
1.31 – more welding on the same background.
1.33 – wolf-skins. May look bad for the Starks, but hopefully not.
1.35 – some cloak immersed into wildfire (?).
1.36 – pants. First I thought of the Ironborn wear and Euron, but Jon wears something very similar on those photos only cleaner and the ones on the teaser are being dirty. Anyway, girls’ power season is over – time for men (lol)!
1.37 – Jamie’s reflection; moreover, it’s his face from the time he was held captive. This, together with the shots of the cell where septa Unnella was tortured in 1.55-1.56 made me think that Jamie will be arrested and put in the dungeon, where he will hear a LOT of screaming and that will lead him to the endgame.
1.41 – can anyone tell me what’s that? Looks like some kind of a flower being made from metal.
1.42 – Stark seal (as if affirming the script).
That’s all so far. Clob will disagree, but I think there are a lot of hints in this teaser. We just have to solve the charade.
RosanaZugey,
In the book, he should be Lord Paramount of the Trident, but as far as I recall, that’s not made clear in the show.
Could what you saw as a metal flower be a pommel for a sword?
Arya Serious,
I do think the show should do Harrenhal and/or other Rhaegar and Lyanna flashbacks if their relationship is as important as it seems to be. For the more casual viewer, Rhaegar is not a character they remember or why he is important. My mother goes by visuals of characters- she may not remember a name but will describe a character by hair colour and storyline/relationships to other characters that she has seen on the screen. I’d also like to see Aisling Franciosi flesh out Lyanna as a character. From one brief scene, I found it difficult to separate her from her character in The Fall who is very different!
That instagram man looks so as I would imagine Rhaegar.
With the pieces on the map that they are painting the sigil that is on the piece to te left looks like it could be the head of a turtle. That is house estermont from the stormlands.
Arya serious,
Makes sense. Does that house play any role in the books?
I think you hear more of the name in the books but the Baratheon boys’ mom was an Estermont. I don’t know much about the house or who is left though.
Inga,
🙂 I only disagree on the map portion. I do believe we can glean certain things from the video, just not things that are really all that important or all that ‘spoilery.’ As I have said, I expect the map and the pogs will be used in a scene or two during filming. I just don’t think that the placement of those pogs so far in advance of filming were in any strategic plot-specific location for the video.
Clob,
There is no random placement of pogs (or anything else) in GoT.
Inga,
Hi again *still waving*. You certainly have studied that video very closely! I’m afraid anything I gleam from it will nothing like as insightful as your thoughts, although I’m fortunate to have a work Mac to view it on which has special something or other that means the picture is just about as sharp and clear as it’s possible to get.
Gonna go back and look at it more closely now based on your comments. Let you know if I spot anything remotely helpful. Oh and I’m loving the fact those thingies are called pogs, I had no idea. Someone on Reddit Freefolk (thread for GoT spoilers, and beware I really do mean very spoilery spoilers that most people on here would really want to avoid) said they could never remember Pod’s name and ended up calling him Pidge Podge, which I love and am going to call him that from now on. Pogs kind of goes with that, I demand Pidge Podge gets his own pog! 😀
The maybe-body double, maybe-actress is apparently pals with Kit, just like the actress she’s maybe-doubling:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3815868/Kit-Harington-shares-hug-star-Sophie-Turner-s-body-double-set-Game-Thrones-Northern-Ireland.html#comments
Inga,
0.18 Might be due to the fact I’m looking at a higher resolution version of the map than you but I can’t see anything green looking? The lines I see are the apparent mountains (solid black with smudgy grey which looks like it might be decoration, trying to give a more realistic effect rather than flat one dimensional); a solid black dotted line on the left, solid black on the right and the one at the bottom is a black dashed outline with a patchy dark red fill). Nothing that strikes me as particularly river like.
0.53 Aaah the advantages of having photoshop. When massively brighting the picture of the helmet the apparently bent bits look the same both sides, so either someone incredibly strong managed to bend them both by the same amount, or it was made like that.
1.00 I can’t find a picture of all the sigils and there are too may of them to go through each and everyone to work out which these are. It’s rather blurred but in case you can’t see them, the shields seem to be (l to r) black with white sun (Karstark); dark red with gold circle and bits coming off it (I assume Umber); green with gold circle(ish) (Tyrell); light orangy brown with 1 large and 3 small dark brown blobs (dunno); dark blue with white phoenix like bird (no idea but deffo not Arryn); dark brown, black stag (Barratheon); black with gold squid thingy (Greyjoy); dark brown with 1 large and 4 small black blobs (dunno but deffo different pattern and colours from the one with 4 blobs); black with white bird and crescent (Arryn); dark brown with 7 uniform darker brown blobs (?); white top half with black bird on it and black bottom half with something white (Swann); really not sure, could be medium green with 3 dark blobs on but picture not good enough to tell. There’s a Bolton shield at the bottom and something that might be a shield behind the spears which has a dark pink border.
This is getting very long, I’ll carry on in another comment……
Lulus Mum,
Hi again ant thank you. I think it would be worth to do the breakdown of that teaser shot by shot and maybe some of the hints will start make more sense when we get more filming rumors etc. Here is my e-mail in case you will want to contact me directly: [email protected]
Inga,
Comments cont…
1.29 Cersei and Euron are both crazy, nothing either of them does would surprise me. People complain that some characters do non-logical things, but lots of people do in real life too. Being outside a situation looking in allows you a detached logic that the person in the middle of it doesn’t have the luxury of.
1.30 Not sure what the pog (ooh get me and my newly acquired terminology!) at the top has on it, it’s too blurred. The ship on the left has three sails and the one on the right two. I don’t know anything about sailing but could that mean the three sailed ships are larger? We saw different shapes and sizes of ships in the final scene of ep 10. They would presumably be used for different things – larger could carry more/different cargo ie people, horses, equipment etc, than smaller but the latter might be faster or more maneuverable? Completely guessing here as you can probably tell.
1.33 Look like cloaks or rugs to me, although they do look very clean so might be quite new?
1.35 Again this may be due to my presumably-clearer-than-yours picture but that looks like normal water to me with a green reflection in it, rather than wildfire.
1.41 Sorry no idea. I can see it clearly but couldn’t begin to tell you what it is.
Bonus things noted by me: 0.19 Label on the box looks like it says Oleena’s (with two “e”s that’s not a typo by me) carriage. Well it looks like “carrure” but judging by the size of the box compared to the Lannister banner being draped over it I guess that’s what it means.
The writing on the scripts is just the do not copy text on the front page and copyright stuff on the second. Nothing revealing
Aaaand that’s it 😀
Inga,
Oh hello, you popped up in between my writing lengthy replies. I’m afraid I’m not the best person for analysing stuff. I didn’t even read the books (tried but they didn’t really do anything for me, I’m much more a visual person) and there are many others on here who are infinitely better at that sort of thing than I am.
However I am happy to chip in my poorly informed 50 cents’ worth, although I’m not a fantasy fan so my interest in dragons and prophecies and that sort of thing is really quite limited. On the plus side I do have a rather nicely high res computer screen, as I think I said about 637 times, and photoshop which is very useful for lightening things and zooming in, especially on HD stuff like this rather than fuzzy shot-from-a-distance-on-a-phone type pictures. Am happy to use those to help if anyone requires it.
Gotta go do non-GoT related stuff now, so will catch up with you later no doubt 😀
Lulus Mum,
You have definitely found something important at 0.19: label on the box saying Oleena’s (Ollena’s) carriage and the Lannister banner unfolding over it may be relevant to the recent filming rumors
1) Dany will be landing (it will take tame with such numbers); Ollena will go to her with food supplies. Cersey will attack the train; however her main goal will be to lure Dany into a trap. So, when Dany arrives to rescue Ollena’s train, Cersey will unleash her main forces equipped with catapults etc. Drogon will be shot (I hope not lethally) and drop Dany into the water. She will survive, but it will be to Tyrion to save what will be left from the battle and army.
2) Pretty much the same, only the entire wagon train and its ambush will be a decoy. Cersey will dress some of her men as Tyrell/Reach soldiers (or Randyl Tarly will overthrow Ollena); another group will pretend to ambush them, and when Dany arrives, we will see that the wagons were carrying catapults, not food.
Both of the scenarios would be very much in line with the hint of the Lannister banner unfolding over Ollena’s carriage box.
Regarding other things.
1) Ships on the pogs look to be of two different types (I noticed that too), so the most logical assumption would be that they signify two different fleets.
2) Eyestones on the map. Last night I had a dream that it was the map of Dorne, which would make sense: 4 pairs of eyestones for 4 Sand Snakes (including Ellaria). The only problem: I don’t see them getting a proper funeral, if their story unfolds the way I predict. So, we can keep in mind the Riverlands’ alternative too and look for more hints/filming spoilers.
Ant thank you for other clarifications. I think we are going to return to this teaser again and again.
Inga,
Oooh it’s like being in a real life Sherlock Holmes mystery (fortunately no real bodies though!) 😀 I tend not to develop any theories until we know much more about each situation because there are sooooooo many possibilities.
It may not be covered in the show, but the food supply in a real war would be a huge issue and they have mentioned more than once that the Tyrell’s and their allies have been providing King’s Landing with what sounds like basic necessities rather than luxuries. Having control of that supply would be strategically really important, but judging by the pace of S6 and the fact there are only 13 or so episodes to go, I think they’ll be zooming through the rest of the story and not have time to go into things in much depth.
If the red-haired lass is not a stand-in/double my thoughts are (1) [and I didn’t think of this, someone else did] young Cat in a flashback (2) a late casting of Mya Stone with different coloured hair to the books (this may be wishful thinking because she was one of the book characters I was sorry they cut) and (3) Bear Island women appear to be fearsome so maybe a vassal of Baby Bear’s (4) left field and totally tinfoil – one of the as yet unmet Sand Snakes though she doesn’t have the Dornish look or that she could be Ellaria and Oberyn’s daughter. I have come across Spanish and other Latino people who are not dark-haired. My sister-in-law (who is Columbian) has a quite fair-haired sister and I don’t think it comes out of a bottle. The as yet unknown personnage will probably turn out to be a non-book character though. The person (and I’m sorry that person I just can’t be ar**d to scroll back and see who it was) who said the dialogue in GoT seldom goes to waste so the mention of the Umber girls hunting was there for a reason may be on to something.
I think Jon absolutely could take hostages, if only for the duration of the war against the White Walkers.