In the new edition of Greek publication Athinorama, Owen Teale talks season 6 and killing Jon Snow.
Teale is in Greece to make a film called Nocturne with director Konstantinos Frangopoulos, whom he previously worked with on a short film called “A Meeting at Last.”
When asked if he’s in the sixth season of Game of Thrones, the actor answers yes though he’s unclear on when he’ll be filming.
Teale remarks that he’ ll “always be the man who killed Jon Snow.” Athinorama asks if Jon Snow is dead, of course and Teale says that he actually doesn’t know, and he’s relieved that he doesn’t have to tell any lies!
Teale tells Athinorama:
In a movie or fiction series you are free to do anything. In that way though you take out the drama, because there is no real life or death. This is what makes GoT different. The audience can really feel death and loss. I really miss Jon Snow and Kit who played him. But if he came back to life, the show would turn into a soap opera that wouldn’t know how to come to an end.
Thanks to WotW reader Sousanna for bringing the interview to our attention and for helping with the translation! Head on to Athinorama to check out the complete interview with Owen Teale.
Speaking of actors and their Jon Snow thoughts, the subject comes up in Jacob Anderson aka Raleigh Ritchie’s new interview with Gay Times.
Anderson talks about his blossoming music career, music festivals, hip hop and weighs in on everyone’s favorite topic (not Kanye at Glastonbury though he does talk about that as well).
Gay Times says: “We can’t speak to someone from Game of Thrones without asking this. Jon Snow – is he dead?”
Anderson/Ritchie: “I’m waiting for find out myself. If I had to put money on it then I’d say no. I think anything is possible but I promise you that’s not a hint.”
And in “Are you serious?” news, there’s a new Game of Thrones-related app forthcoming. As Entertainment Weekly says, “The app was designed after focus groups suggested to the publisher the need for a way to read A Song of Ice and Fire without actually reading A Song of Ice and Fire.”
Choose the gif that best applies to your ASOIAF book-reader reaction.
(Here’s the trailer if you’re really intrigued.)
Hodor!
What does Kit on the set if Owen Teale is not on the set?
Wow, I love how even the actors doubt Jon’s staying dead.
Owen hasn’t read the books, so he’s probably unaware of Mel’s purpose, and kinda why Jon staying dead would actually make a lot of stuff pointless.
Can’t wait for ToJ! Casting news has gotta come out soon. I really wanna see our Arthur and Euron.
miss,
Flashback scenes, maybe?
Kristy Gleason,
NO NO NO!
miss,
lol why not? I wouldn’t mind seeing some flashback scenes of Jon Snow pre-Night’s Watch.
Me saying flashback scenes, perhaps, has no bearing on whether or not I think Jon will be in Season 6, newly resurrected by Melisandre, or as Azor Ahai… I think he will be in the upcoming season, but I *do* think he’ll be featured in at least one flashback scene (preferably the one with Bran talking to him through a weirwood).
“The app was designed after focus groups suggested to the publisher the need for a way to read A Song of Ice and Fire without actually reading A Song of Ice and Fire.”
Is there a….um, what?
I think the GIF of Eddard doing the “palm meet forehead” is most appropriate for anyone who thinks they don’t have to read the books in order to understand what GRRM wrote vs what the show is all about. Not necessary if someone doesn’t care, but I suggest reading all the books. I HIGHLY suggest reading the books.
miss,
It’s kinda strange,isn’t it. Ben Crompton (Edd) was or still is in Belfast and he’s member of The Night’s Watch.
Carice is in Belfast (not sure about Liam). What about Mel/Jon’s body scene or perhaps some scenes later in the season(just guessing here)? They can shoot scenes for example 6×10 and then 6×01 later. Pedro talked about this, because his first scene was the famous one with Peter in 4×07 “I’m your champion” before the trial. The last one was with Lena.
It’s odd that Owen Teale doesn’t know his filming dates yet, or whether Jon is alive, unless he hadn’t read the scripts by the time of the interview.
I didn’t know Owen Teale won a Tony in 1997! I keep forgetting how deep the talent bench is on GOT.
Re the Gay Times interview…I never thought of Daenerys as a gay icon. I’m glad to see Jacob Anderson getting more exposure, though.
In terms of the second-tier players on GOT like Jacob Anderson, etc., I wonder how well they get paid.
Oh well, at least it’s free. Most GoT apps are complete rubbish.
JCDavis,
GoT Cliffnotes? I guess it serves some need somewhere, but for Seven’s sake, READ THE BOOKS!! Unless one wants to remain Unsullied, of course…
That app sounds so fucking stupid. Whether is ASOIAF or any other book, read the fucking book! Technology is a beautiful thing and all but this is not. An app like that only enables laziness and stupidity. Rant over lol.
When we will get a WotW app?
As a book wanker I find this this App hilarious. Probably because I “read” ASOIAF just like that the first time around too. 😛
Man, the amount of time people spend on apps and asking questions and wanting to know all the plots and theories but avoiding reading the books, should probably just read the effing books already. It’d take a lot less time.
Oh Owen! It was Olly who really killed Jon, you limelight stealing bastard. 😉 Love this guy.
It’s really unfortunate that Jon’s resurrection will seem cheap. I feel that if it wasn’t a cliffhanger, but his death and resurrection were in the same episode, it wouldn’t come across that way. It’s just tacky. It’s interesting to hear the take: “But if he came back to life, the show would turn into a soap opera that wouldn’t know how to come to an end.” I would have preferred him dying in the opening scene of the finale, and being resurrected at the end. Would have cast a pall over the episode with all its other deaths, and then provide a slight relief at the end. And the question wouldn’t be, Is J.R. dead? (oh, I mean Jon), but, What will new Jon be like? A more compelling question, and one that wouldn’t have an obvious answer like the one with which we’re left.
“and he’s relieved that he doesn’t have to tell any lies!”…
Well, well, well, thank you Owen Teale for confirming lies have indeed been told.
Now, which lies have been told… hmmm….
Thomas,
LOL! If TWoW is not published before GoT S6 (which I consider highly unlikely) I don’t think you’d need it. S6 would be pretty much IT.
I don’t think Alliser Torne will live that long at the wall, maybe he and Olly will be killed by the wildlings in the first or second episode. So he only has to film a few days. That could explain why he isn’t filming yet. Filming does not happen chronological.
I think the app is co-produced/sponsored/inspired by the guys over at WiC, so that might help explain things.
I’m doubting Jacob is even second tier. Maise, Sophie, Natalie, Aiden, and Conleth are considered HBO’s B tier. Jacob, Owen, Nathalie are probably in HBO’s C tier.
Off-Topic Otto,
I totally agree with this.
chilli,
I agree!
Great interview with Owen Teale, Anderson…
Can’t wait for season 6!
HouseMartellBitches,
*wipes coffee off monitor* 😀
Off-Topic Otto,
I agree!
This is a very good assessment. I totally agree here. The who Jon Snow will become is so much better than the IF he will return.
Off-Topic Otto,
I’m quoting something that our own Wimsey wrote on another thread the other day. I think it sums up the “pointless” idea better than anything else I’ve read:
(written by Wimsey)
“Tyrion has gotten more chapters than any other character. Basically, he is almost 19% of the narrative for the characters that realistically might be relevant in the end. Jon is #2 at almost 17%.
If those two are not hugely important at the end, then approximately one-third of the character development that is still relevant will be irrelevant. That would be an absolutely execrable bit of writing by GRRM. Now, GRRM has had lapses before: but “lapse” would not even begin to describe wasting that much character development!”
Completely agree that there’s a high risk of Jons resurrection seeming tacky if not handled correctly! Especially if he’s resurrected by Melisandre and becomes the new Stannis…being directed and manipulated by her. That would be pathetic. If he’s resurrected it has to be for something bigger than that!
Alister Thorne is my favorite character on the wall in the series, i wish he got more screen time.
If the idea of resurrection makes a story cheesy, then ASOIAF is already it and GOT as well given that it had introduced Beric. Seems like Owen Teale knows very little about the story (both in the books and the show).
The dude should admit that his character’s irrational actions and dumb ass (as well as the rest of the NW mutineers’) cheapened the show.
I’ll take soap opera over piss poor storytelling any day of the week.
Didn’t the App writers know that themes are only for grade school book reports?
I don’t see the problem with the app. Based on the EW story it’s from the book publisher. I doubt they want it to be a replacement for the books. It’s purpose appears to be to whet one’s appetite into buying the books. It’s not targeted to people like us, although it could come in handy as a quick reference guide.
Anyway if it’s free I might check it out. The EW story says it was released today but I can’t find it in the Google app store. Must be Apple only for now.
Interesting bit from Owen Teale. Given that there have been extremely thorough reporting of Kit sightings and his hair length lately, especially with EDD, it appears that there may be Jon Snow scenes with those who were NOT in on the assassination.
OK.. book weirdness comin’ at ya..
I’m not in the mainstream of book predictions on how Jon will come back, but I believe there is substantial evidence that he’s a berserker, and will get up and fight on (despite BOOK injuries, which are debatable) fueled by battle fury.. In the books, he has no consciousness of what he’s doing during these attacks,(perhaps explaining his consciousness fading out at the end of a certain chapter.)
Note: the show did not focus on these episodes . As they come up in the narrative, they are minor events. Together they represent a gradual reveal, and if this happens in the books the foreshadowing will be plain in hindsight. If this should be an important facet of Jon’s character, how would the show writers work around the fact that they haven’t developed it?
We may see a clue in their bizarre (from a book reader’s perspective) handling of Arya’s killing of Trant. This is really nothing like the parallel book killing, though on the show, it can be seen as a follow through from her earlier killing at the inn.
(In the books she remembers this well- what she did, how it felt – unlike Jon, who blanks out)
It’s possible the show will use Arya’s Trant frenzy to foreshadow Jon’s future frenzy ,trusting people to reason, Arya= warg , Jon= warg, both go wild.. OK it fits.
A lot of people have problems getting past the writing. Of course, that’s going to be true for most books, albeit for different people: there is no “universal” form of writing that works for everyone (save, perhaps, Hemingway’s style), and most forms seem to fail to click with most people.
I don’t think that there is any evidence of berserkers in this world.
I do agree with this. I think this is one place where the show was really in a position to improve upon the books. There are too many cliffhangers at the end of ADWD, I had hoped that the show will not follow all of these cliffhangers.
Jon’s cliffhanger already becomes somewhat suspicious when you compare it to the other big characters who have died. When Ned, Robb or Catelyn or even Joffrey were killed off, they showed us directly what the consequences or aftermath of their deaths were. So killing Jon at the very end of the season is already somewhat suspicious compared to how other big death scenes have been handled.
This is also a good point why LS would have been a bad idea, it would be too much for two main characters to be resurrected a season apart. There would have to be some consequences because this resurrection or for killing Jon, to make it more believable.
But on the other hand this whole event is certainly generating some interesting so I also cant say that the cliffhanger isn’t working for them in both mediums.
This season ended on a very dark note, leaving the season on Jon being resurrected would have given the season a bit of a different feeling, and people could still have speculated about who he would become.
It does not sound as if Owen Teale will have a lot of scenes this season, he could very likely be killed off quite early in the season. Or Jon will be leaving Castle Black quite quickly after being resurrected. It is strange that Brenock O’Connor has already been in Belfast and Owen Teale hasn’t, perhaps again it shows that he might end up dead quite early on.
hexonx,
I tried on my iPhone, and it says it’s not available in the US store so it must be a UK-only thing.
I would like to read the books, and I often look in the library to see if a copy of AGOT is free, but I think I would lose interest in the whole series if I had to wait years and years for all of it to be finished. I only got into to Game of Thrones around this Christmas just gone, so waiting a year or two for TWOW to come out would not be a problem for me, but how long would I have to wait for ADOS and any other books GRRM chooses to write? I enjoy the TV series and am happy that I will get a conclusion for these characters in a few years, but if I read the books, I would want a conclusion for the same characters in the books in that format as well. I commend people who, even if they have not been reading the books from the very beginning, have been (patiently) waiting for years for each book. It is a pity, because I do like the extra detail and thought put into books, but I do not want to get into something that I strongly believe I will not be as interested in when it is finished (if it is finished).
Wimsey,
I think you’re being generous, Wimsey. When it comes down to it, most of the people who will use an app like that will use it because they simply don’t want to take the time to read the books. There are certain books that I’ve read that were written well over a century ago that were kind of hard to get through because the manner of speaking was so different. For any faults of GRRM’s writing style, his books are not unreadable. If people don’t want to read because they just don’t want to read or they simply don’t have the time then that’s fine. But blaming the author is a fucking weak excuse
I disagree. Jon died at the very end of the season with no consequences shown because that’s how he died in ADWD: almost at the very end of the book with no further Wall chapters, with the last bit of the chapter depicting him getting stabbed (as in the show). There’s nothing suspicious about that aspect of it, any more than there’s anything suspicious about Dany’s last Season 5 scene being the cliffhanger of her being surrounded by Dothraki, just as she is in her last scene in ADWD.
I really like that assessment by Owen Teale:
Owen has a point about realism and death but Jon would only be an exception. There’s been major deaths on the show which have had impact. Doing one differently wouldn’t turn the show into a soap opera. Though I think the show was wise not to do LS
😉 But I do. At least four examples, growing in intensity from Jon’s waking life, and the imagery in in Jon’s “Azor Ahai” dream ,when the world dissolves into a red mist.
Who knows what George will call the phenomenon.. but it’s interesting that apparently only Starks bond with direwolves. In Norse tales Berserkers and their wolf counterparts were “Odin’s men”, there’s lots of Odin imagery associated with the old gods and Jon is increasingly clearly becoming the old gods’ man.
hexonx,
Heck, its not much difference than Cliff Notes, that was used by more than a few HS and College student a generation ago (and I suspect are now available online)….Im not worried. People who love to read will likely read the books. Those who aren’t into reading but want to know whats up can go to the GOT wiki for the chapter summaries, or go to the app.
There seems to be a ‘buy the book’ link on every page. Quel surprise.
Just as I was liking Ser Alliser… he goes and murders Jon. Damn…
8! 8! 8! 8! 8! 8! 8! 8! 8! 8!
http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/30/game-thrones-eight-seasons?hootPostID=92c9e903108ea893a3010b56adbabf52
I still think it will be an extended 7th split into two years. But I don’t think most people ever believed it was going to be 70 episodes. 80 was always most likely.
EIGHT IS ENUF
That’s a relief. It shouldn’t be rushed
HouseMartellBitches,
8 seasons it is… despite D&D, it seems. Don’t know how to feel about this. It’d be easier if we had TWOW and ADOS in our hands. Maybe the material deserves 3 seasons… but maybe it doesn’t.
I don’t want the last seasons in particular to feel rushed, but it may be even worse to have them feel padded and weirdly paced; “not with a bang, but with a wimper.” That’d be just sad.
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/game-of-thrones-at-least-two-more-seasons-but-theres-bad-news-too-20150731-gioen0.html
Anyone heard anything about this? I thought D&D were pretty firm on 7! The ‘two more seasons’ in the title refers to two BEYOND the one currently filming.
HouseMartellBitches,
I think 8 could be perfect. Enough time to wrap things up without rushing, but not so long as to lose quality. I think this is a good thing. 🙂
I did not express myself well enough. Yes the book does end with these cliffhangers. But the show did not have to end the same way as the books, they have already changed a few things, so this is something they could have changed and perhaps should have changed.
The show has not really done cliffhangers before, the books has a lot more cliffhangers. In the show it seemed like they have been careful to show the consequences of big characters dying. In my opinion they could have done the same with Jon Snow, they dont need all of these cliffhangers. Sometimes if there are too many cliffhangers it can feel a bit cheap, especially on a TV show.
Because Jon Snow has already taken his revenge
This just posted on Yahoo’s home page. In one way it is hopeful, in another, very distressing. See what you think:
‘Game Of Thrones’ Will Likely End After 8 Seasons; HBO Open To Prequel, Addresses Violence Criticism & Jon Snow’s Fate –
Nellie Andreeva
July 30, 2015
As Game Of Thrones films its sixth season, speculation continues about the end of the hit fantasy drama. Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss had been quoted as saying that they’d envisioned the series to run for seven seasons. “Seven seasons and out was never the case,” said Michael Lombardo, president of HBO Programming, in his first solo executive session today at TCA. “The question is how much beyond (seven seasons) it will go.”
“David and Dan are feeling there are two more years after Season 6, that’s what we’re looking at right now. We hope that they would change their mind, but for that’s how they are feeling now.”
Would HBO consider extending the franchise with a prequel series? “We would be open to anything [Benioff and Weiss] want to do, there is enormous amount of storytelling in that world,” Lombardo said. But at that point, “the focus is on figuring out the next season.”
Lombardo also was asked to address the controversy over graphic content on the show. “This show had violence is part of its many threads from Episode 1,” he said, adding that “there are no two showrunners who are more careful not to overstep the line (than Benioff and Weiss).
Lombardo also put an end to the rampant speculation that Jon Snow (Kit Harington), who died in the Season 5 finale, may not be dead.
“Dead is dead as dead as dead. He be dead. Yes. Everything I’ve seen, heard, read, Jon Snow is indeed dead,” he said.
miss,
Because Jon Snow has already taken his revenge
The speculation isn’t about whether Jon is dead it’s about whether he will be resurrected. I wish the right questions were asked.
That’s just being a warg. At any rate, there simply is not any evidence that there are berserkers in this world. We would have read about them in some capacity at this point. GRRM has hung a lot of guns and all of the big “firings” to date have been from previously hung guns; he has not hung the berserker gun and at this point it is too late.
Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions here, but does the fact that the cast has already done a table reading and that Owen doesn’t even know when he’s filming yet hint that maybe either:
1) Thorne dies relatively early in Season 6, or
2) In Season 6, we won’t be spending very much time at Castle Black?
Wimsey,
I’m quite content to wait and see, but I discern that he has positioned some clues along the way. There are obviously differences between the strength of the warg bond (and probably individual attributes) among the Stark siblings.. Jon’s bond has barely been developed yet.. and tales of Starks from the days when they were wargs with more regularity are patchy and vague.. How can it possibly be too late?
I think that’s up to GRRM.
The app is ok, it has a few (not enough) extracts from the books that are in the shows (some that aren’t but use different exposition), with a spoiler facility/feature.
There’s a map of Westeros, too. If you’ve got plenty of spare GB (it’s 50MB) it’s not bad.
Oh you are naughty….I did laugh when I read your comment though!
I don’t think Alliser will be killed by the Free Folk unless he and the conspirators attack them first, which would be stupid considering their number.