A Murder of Crows: Season eight

Almost exactly a month ago, HBO announced that Game of Thrones would be returning for at least one additional season, making its grand total eight years (with the possibility of even more seasons to come!). Four weeks is a lot of time – just enough, it turns out, to let the news sink and to properly discuss it when enough of us congregate together to be officially labeled a murder.

Santa is coming
HBO is giving all “Game of Thrones” fans a present (or three).

So, what’s the consensus at the Wall? Is this a welcome development – or a suspect one? Is the extra year(s) a money grab or an admission of error? And will we even be around in three years’ time to debate the outcome of the eighth season? Let’s find out.

Crows, ho!

Marc

Marc N. Kleinhenz:

I normally hate to say “I told you so,” but, this time, I think I’ll allow a little self-indulgence: I just knew that David and Dan wouldn’t be able to tell all of A Song of Ice and Fire in just seven seasons.

But now that we know Game of Thrones will be going for at least eight years, that brings up a whole host of assorted questions. Which books will seasons seven and eight cover (will it just be book seven, A Dream of Spring, or will book six, The Winds of Winter, also find its way in there)? How likely is it that the cast will return past season six (remember, all of their contracts end next year)? Do you think we’ll see a season nine, as well? And, in retrospect, is it now a mistake for the showrunners to have covered all of books four and five primarily in season five?

Petra

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Petra:

Personally, I’m quite happy that GOT will go on for at least eight seasons; it means it has time to get its shit back together. My main problem with the show recently (which, to be fair, comes directly from the books) is that it no longer has a sense of direction. There are a lot of advantages to subverting narrative formulas and killing off the expected heroes, but do it too much – as GOT and ASOIAF has – and the audience goes from, “Ooh, I have no idea what’s happening next!” to “Okay… where is this going, guys?” The War of the Five Kings is over… ish (all hail, King Balon), and, apart from some vague promises of winter and Daenerys coming to Westeros, the show has devolved into a series of subplots, only three of which I care about (Missandei and Grey Worm, Brienne and Pod, and Sansa and Theon). Were the show to only run for only one or two more seasons, I don’t think it could regain its sense of urgency. With three-plus more seasons, there’s at least hope. If a ninth season is necessary to accomplish this (and not to squeeze the GOT cash cow dry), then so be it.

Grey Worm's tongue

Which books will be covered? I’ve no idea. I mean, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring better be packed if they’re to tie up all the loose ends in the series (please refer to my complaints about pacing above). So, it’s more than possible that TWOW will be distributed between seasons six and seven, the way A Storm of Swords was between seasons three and four. And then, of course, there’s all the deviations the show has taken from the books. Perhaps it’s better to think of the books as guidelines rather than the source material at this point.

I think it was a wise decision to consolidate books four and five into season five simply because A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons were so fucking boring! Also, George Martin intended for AFFC and ADWD to be one book, so it makes sense to merge them into one season. The only thing I’m sad was omitted was the Kingsmoot, but since it looks like we’re getting that next season, I have no complaints.

I suspect the cast whose characters survive season six will renew their contracts. Some of them might be sick of the show by then, particularly the child actors, but this is still a dream gig for any performer. The only character I can imagine believably switching actors is Arya – you know, maybe the second face gets stuck or something.

Marc

Marc N. Kleinhenz:

Well, to be fair, the first three novels were supposed to be one book, too. =)

Petra

Petra:

True. The entire series was supposed to be a trilogy. The difference for me is that, whatever GRRM’s early plans were, the content that was originally intended for one book ended up warranting three giant novels (and four seasons). I don’t see that in AFFC and ADWD. When introducing or expanding upon new lands, like Dorne and the Iron Islands, I understand the need for detail, but Tyrion’s never-ending boat trip and Brienne’s fruitless wandering, for example, did not require the space they took up.

Marko

Hear Marko Roar:

I feel that is the right decision. Similar to Marc, I thought that just two more seasons is too little and may feel rushed; although we do not know the remaining story, the current situation at the end of season five is so complex that wrapping it up in 20 episodes would likely involve some cop-out solutions not worthy of the plot so far. My best guess was 7.5 seasons, but if the eight seasons they are now talking about means 80 episodes in total, I’m up for it.

There is little point in discussing which book(s) the next season will adapt – the books don’t exist yet. What the showrunners work with is the outline of the remaining narrative as a whole, and they will divide it into seasons as they see fit. GRRM may well choose a different strategy when dividing the same material into books.

William goddamn Shakespeare

Using most of the material from books four and five last season made sense. As any show, they aimed to keep the main characters on screen and have them play out well-rounded season-long character arcs (rather than ditching half the characters for a season, or telling just half the story of all the characters).

Geoffery

Geoffery:

While I am glad we’re getting the extra season, I only hope that they can hold up the quality over those extra years. I can’t (off the top of my head, although I’m sure someone will come along and enlighten me) think of a decent show that maintained a high standard of content over eight or more years. I’d rather a few seasons of an excellent show than multiple seasons of an average one. Of course, what they’ll do next remains to be seen, but, personally, I’d rather the show spin off in a different direction to the books so as not to spoil the endings, and I think the extra season will allow them to develop all-new plots and storylines which will be interesting and entertaining to watch. In hindsight, I do wish they’d paced the earlier seasons more slowly, not just so more plots from the books could have been incorporated, but so that characters such as the Freys, the Greyjoys, and the brotherhood without banners that were introduced weren’t unceremoniously dumped in favour of continuing the story arcs of the more popular main characters. If they bring them back for season six and onward, it’s going to seem a bit jarring!

Petra

Petra:

I kind of like the prospect of other characters like the Freys, Greyjoys, brotherhood without banners, and Boltons getting more focus from season six onwards. It will be a little jarring, but I prefer that to a thinner-spread or slower-paced show. I think the problem with most shows that decline in quality over time is that they run out of things for the characters to do, so they start making up stupid shit.

The benefit of Game of Thrones‘s… eh, high turnover rate is that it keeps things fresh. GOT has always had a cast of thousands, but I’d say from seasons one to three, it was the Lannister and Stark Show. It isn’t anymore, and I’m A-OK with the show turning into the Greyjoy and Bolton Show (or whatever) so long as it ends up amounting to some meaningful conclusion.

Nate

Nate:

I think I’m satisfied with eight seasons. I remember thinking seven might not be long enough to finish it when it was initially announced. I do hope they make season eight longer and maybe even do it in two parts (eight per year – like Breaking Bad did 16 eps total for its final season) just to savor what’s left.

Walker White

While I’m still hoping for a movie (long shot, I know. Safe to say we’ll probably get more IMAX features, however), I’m enjoying the pacing for what and where it is. I just finished watching season five again, back-to-back so it stays fresh, and I have to say I like it more than when it first aired.

I can safely say I trust David Benioff and Dan Weiss, Bryan Cogman, and the rest of the cast/crew to faithfully finish the rest of the series.

Oz of Thrones

Oz of Thrones:

With all sincerity, I’ve doubted the “seven season” plan for quite some time. Part of it was denial and the fact that I didn’t want to believe it. The other part stemmed from the reality that there remains an abundance of loose ends for someone to tie up, assuming, of course, that all ends will, indeed, be tied prior to conclusion (no lectures necessary regarding assumptions in GOT). And let’s be honest: season five untied more than it mended.

Yes, it’s a lofty goal, but I expect nothing less. If Gendry’s story simply ends with him heading gently down the stream, I’m going to shove an oar through the big screen while bellowing politically incorrect verbiage throughout the corridors of House Oz.

Gendry... shit

But my doubts on the seven plan were really cemented from my perspective at the conclusion of season five when Dany was encircled by the raging horde. Using past Dany travels as a gauge, this has to mean another season (or at least half of a season) of Essos meandering, which I am fine with, so long as the story is not dragging for the sake of allowing other story arcs to catch up.

This essentially means that if the seven-season plan had stuck, the well-advertised “Great Dany Invasion of Westeros” would have to be told in its entirety during the process of one final season, among other ongoing, presumably time-consuming, storylines. And while anything is possible, it seemed highly unlikely that the writers would rush what has been built up to be a monumental occurrence.

Axe

Axechucker:

Trite as it may sound, I honestly don’t know how I feel yet. Ask me when the whole thing’s said and done. I thought they were on schedule for a solid seven seasons, though this past one didn’t have as many proper character arcs as seasons past have had. Cliffhanger city!

So, initially? I’m skeptical of a money grab (and of course I should be – it’s a fucking business, after all), especially since David and Dan always seemed to have been aiming for seven.

But, hey – if eight seasons allows them to tell a better story? Then I’m down.

(Ask me in three years if they did it successfully.)

Marc

Marc N. Kleinhenz:

Calendars are marked. “A Murder of (Ex) Crows: Three Years Later…” =)

Previous Murders

The final word on season five

Should Game of Thrones be boycotted forever more?

“The Wars to Come,” season five, and you

What if season five sucks?

The year in review

Casting the recastings in a new light

Westerosi immersion

The best – and worst – season of Game of Thrones

94 Comments

  1. In a word, I’m relieved. Like Oz, I was always afraid to seriously entertain the notion of seven. It just doesn’t feel like enough time. Whatever the true story may be, I’m delighted for eight.

  2. I highly doubt they’re going to focus on the Boltons, Greyjoys, Freys etc. next season. They will have a certain focus, but because they will be tied to other main characters (I’m guessing Sansa/Rickon/Theon, Sam and Jaime/Brienne respectively), although I do think the Greyjoys will have a few scenes on their own in the first half of the season.
    The show isn’t going to turn into the Greyjoy and Bolton Show – it will remain the Lannister and Stark ft. Tyrell and Targaryen Show, because we’ve followed these characters from the beginning.
    God I sound like Wimsey here. 😛

  3. I also always thought that seven was going to be not enough. I was hoping for 74-76 episodes, so thrilled with 80!

  4. It was pretty obvious for some time now, that they’d need more than 70 hours to complete the whole thing. Originally I just assumed they’d do extra episodes in season 7, but instead they’ll do another season.

    I wouldn’t be surprised though if seasons 7 and/or 8 were shorter than the past 10 episode runs depending how much material/plot developments they really have to get through.

    The cast contract issue could get tricky, but I wager HBO will just cough up whatever they’re asking for since the show’s been such a cash cow for them.

    Overall, I think eight seasons could work just fine; provided of course that the quality of storytelling is high. While season 5 certainly had some pearls, its weaknesses were evident as well. I’m hoping though, that things are better in Season 6, because they won’t be stalling for more time to let Martin finish the series and maybe that they’ve learned something from past mistakes.

  5. D&D talked about having an eighty episode ideal in the first few years; around Season 4’s production there was a marked shift toward talking about seven seasons only, and then they started wavering on that earlier this year, before the announcement that there was definitely going to be more than seven. I’m sure that HBO pressure was part of it, but I agree that the ending of Dany’s story in Season 5 doesn’t especially suggest a plan for seven seasons while they were writing that year.

  6. 8 seasons can be perfect number, if it is done properly.

    I always trusted D&D far more than I trust GRRM in terms of focus. They have sense of momentum, that I really respect.

  7. Sean C.,

    Yeah, it does look like we’re looking at yet ANOTHER season of Dany wandering around the Dothraki sea on a spiritual journey. Oh joy. (Eye roll.) I’m not sure *why* Martin’s been dragging out Dany’s journey West but he’s clearly waiting for *something* to happen there, before she arrives with the dragons, (possibly related to Jon and fallout from his resurrection and the Big Reveal,) and D&D clearly feel compelled to honor that timeline as well.

    On the more optimistic side, next season we’re getting flashbacks and the Big Reveal, the North Remembers, Riverlands drama, whatever’s going to happen with Cersei and Margaery’s trials, Frankengregor, Oldtown, and hopefully some new insights into the White Walkers courtesy of Bran and Bloodraven.

  8. I’m happy with 8. While books 4 and 5 did need severe slicing and dicing it made for an uneven series 5. While some stories were well done others felt rushed and not properly explained. On the one hand there was the well thought out, choreographed, acted and directed Hardhome battle and then the confusing one outside Winterfell that raised more questions than it answered. I hope 8 series rather than 7 allows GoT to get back to more 1 to 3 pacing rather than 4 to 5 pacing where you are watching more a flowing drama rather than at times series of very tight scenes.

  9. The things HBO ought to do now is changing the show runners, so that they could change that trend spending too much money on exotic foreign locations and fancy cloths, hence left no money to hire real actors and good writers, otherwise it would be just another season of folly

  10. I suspected eight seasons ever since HBO greenlit five and six at the same time. HBO never renews two seasons ahead, and it seemed like a move poised to give them power at the negotiations for season seven, to push D&D to go 8 season.

  11. mau,

    I don’t think that was much of a choice, personally. The only reason to do the “Season X, Parts 1 & 2” gimmick is if you’re trying to do an end-run around contracts, and HBO has been aggressively willing to fork out for more seasons. Otherwise, trying to do the split season thing would just cause more problems, like seriously messing up the show’s already strained production and airing cycle.

    Winnie,

    Dany’s becoming the ruler of all Dothraki has been suggested from the beginning, so it’s a big moment for the character.

  12. Sean C.,

    Somehow that would seem more suitable than Dany as Queen of Westeros.

    But of course she *is* coming to Westeros at some point inevitably-possibly bringing the Dothraki with her.

    I do agree that seeing Tyrion and Varys running Mereen together should be fun.

  13. marsyao:
    The things HBO ought to do now is changing the show runners, so that they could change that trend spending too much money on exotic foreign locations and fancy cloths, hence left no money to hire real actors and good writers, otherwise it would be just another season of folly

    This is the most successful HBO show ever. There is no reason to change the showrunners.

  14. I think the main issue is quite simple. At one end of the multi season TV show continuum you have something like Lost where they’re basically making it up as they go along and which eventually degenerates into a mess once they lose the ability to keep all the balls in the air. Of course they should have quit while they were ahead but the acclaim of the early seasons makes them want to bleed the Golden Goose dry. At the other end of the continuum you have the adaptation of a completed series of books say, where you know the entire plot already and which has a defined and immovable end point, whether you like it or not. GoT started out with the intention of adhering to the latter, but because of GRRM’s multifarious interests, glacial writing speed and occasional prolixity on the one hand and HBO’s commercial imperatives on the other it begins to run the risk of morphing into the former.

  15. While I am very happy with the prospect of 8 seasons, I don’t want ANY more. I’m a show watcher only and I want to see storylines start wrapping, and the endgame to start. Which I think is about to start from the beginning of Season 6. Season 5 wrapped up the Baratheons. That sort of wrapping up needs to continue.

    Winnie: Yeah, it does look like we’re looking at yet ANOTHER season of Dany wandering around the Dothraki sea on a spiritual journey. Oh joy. (Eye roll.) I’m not sure *why* Martin’s been dragging out Dany’s journey West but he’s clearly waiting for *something* to happen there, before she arrives with the dragons, (possibly related to Jon and fallout from his resurrection and the Big Reveal,)

    Joy minus eyeroll from me. 🙂 I’m not in any hurry to see Daenerys rush off to Westeros without doing anything about the truckloads of problems in Essos. The Dothraki contribute a huge amount to those problems. I am of the belief that the show is not only about Westeros, but about both Westeros and Essos. Also, I very much doubt that her arrival in Westeros has been delayed because of some other character, but because she has to catch up with her own character arc. 🙂

  16. I’m with Axe here, we’ll see in a few years once the show is done and all the books our out how all of D&D’s “questionable” decisions stack up when you look at the whole picture. For now, let’s just enjoy the show.

  17. cosca,

    Oh, c’mon, cosca, you know as well as I and everyone else here he’s right about them not hiring real actors. They all suck. I mean, how many of them have come through the RSC? That, right there, tells you how badly they suck…and they rest of them are equally or even more abysmal!!!

    /sarcasm

  18. marsyao:
    The things HBO ought to do now is changing the show runners, so that they could change that trend spending too much money on exotic foreign locations and fancy cloths, hence left no money to hire real actors and good writers, otherwise it would be just another season of folly

    Nice. Too bad you didn’t put “in my opinion” about this. For one, I totally disagree most vehemently and have to wonder why you even watch if this is how you feel and why are you still on GoT’s websites? Hmmmm preciousssss?

  19. Not once has HBO said 8 seasons. They’ve said years… and that’s very telling. It means it will be an extended 7th season split over two years.

    “How much beyond seven are we going to do? Obviously we’re shooting six now, hopefully discussing seven. [Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] feel like there’s two more years after six

    It’s interesting to read even intelligent people just state, over and over and over, that they said 8 seasons… by quoting people paraphrasing what they actually said.

  20. I don’t want anymore after 8. Please finish this story and bring all the characters to their final conclusions. I was just now starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Please don’t add anymore length to the tunnel. Give us an ending and be done with it. And do it sooner rather than later.

  21. GeekFurious: hey’ve said years… and that’s very telling. It means it will be an extended 7th season split over two years.

    You’re welcome to interpret it your way, but please allow for others to interpret it their way.

    Regarding the content of the discussion, I’m happy to know it will be going longer than the at-one-time stated 7 seasons. As others have already mentioned, especially after this season ended, it seemed as though there was far too much story left to tell to wrap it up in 20 episodes, at least not without compressing things too much, at least for me.

  22. GeekFurious:
    Not once has HBO said 8 seasons. They’ve said years… and that’s very telling. It means it will be an extended 7th season split over two years.

    It’s interesting to read even intelligent people just state, over and over and over, that they said 8 seasons… by quoting people paraphrasing what they actually said.

    It’s interesting to read even intelligent people just state, over and over and over, that they said it means it will be an extended 7th season split over two years. Oh, wait, no one at HBO ever said anything of the kind. So you can scratch the word “intelligent” from this post and insert “pedantic”.

    It don’t take a rocket scientist to parse this completely not paraphrased sentence from an HBO mucky-muck:

    “The question is: How much beyond seven are we going to do?”

  23. My season breakdown guesses:

    I think S6 will be mostly WoW but with tying in Feast/Dance plots that weren’t covered in S5. I suspect the plots that got pushed back *were* pushed b/c there isn’t that much to cover and they become more relevant in WoW.

    S7 will be remaining WoW material and S8 will be DoS. I give S8 an entire book b/c at this point I’d guess it’s the most basic outline they’ve got, or at least not as detailed as the WoW material they know about.

  24. Brad,

    Does that change the fact that D&D’s lack of talent and the fact that they can not do their work without under GRRM’s guidance? And does it make my statement incorrect?

  25. Count me as someone looking forward to Dany in season/book 6. Dany’s returning to close out business with the Dothraki will take time, and it *should*; there’s no way she was ready to just hop on boats and head towards Westeros. But with a Dothraki horde, the Unsullied, and whoever follows her (mercenaries, soldiers, etc) from Essos with Tyrion as her chief of staff, she’s in a far stronger and experienced-at-coalition-building position. It’s going to take a whole season for her to do whatever it takes to head west*.

    7 seasons would have meant Dany’s invasion and whatever happens with the WWs would have had to happen in 10 episodes. 15 – 20…sure, I can see how that would work, especially with a few less characters after some more culling of the cast.

    * Also count me as someone who would completely get behind GRRM if Dany said, “screw all that, I’m never going to Westeros. It’s not worth the struggle” if done well. Not only could it be a really effective character arc, it could be another undercutting of tropes that few saw coming, and the deepest, best fan trolling in the history of the genre.

  26. Cumsprite,

    Beyond which, as I said before, the “season 7, part 2” thing is something that series do to avoid renegotiating contracts, if they can produce more episodes within their existing production cycle. For Game of Thrones, which is working on the last episodes of a given season until shortly before they air, that is not really possible.

    I also don’t get why people harp on that distinction because, other than contractual purposes, an eighth season is indistinct from “season 7, part 2”, except that an eighth season would be able to keep to the show’s regular schedule.

  27. Seven seasons seemed unrealistic at the end of S4 and 5 just confirmed it. I’m fine with 8 as long as the show continues to condense and being stories and characters together so that we feel like the end game is upon us, even at 3 years. Where shows start to suffer is that they run out of stuff to say and start chasing their own tails. Right now, D&D seem to have more than enough to fill 30 hours. Anymore than that I’d be skeptical.

  28. Sean C.,

    Entirely possible. Maybe even likely. I just think it’s a hoot for someone to cast shade on those who say “at least eight seasons” while making their own assumptions about what HBO might or might not do.

  29. Reader and Watcher: count me as someone who would completely get behind GRRM if Dany said, “screw all that, I’m never going to Westeros. It’s not worth the struggle” if done well. Not only could it be a really effective character arc, it could be another undercutting of tropes that few saw coming, and the deepest, best fan trolling in the history of the genre.

    It would go that one better if GRRM killed Dany off before she ever got to Westeros – preferably assassinated by one of her own most loyal followers after the Mad Targ gene becomes too obvious to ignore. I would find that much more gratifying than anything she could ever accomplish with an invasion.

  30. I don’t think there is any mystery here.
    Look at all the ‘original programming’ , NetFlix and Amazon , just two of many.
    HBO was starting to realize that the competition was getting tough , one reason they have been trying to solve their income from streaming, they are still working on it.
    Look HBO’s has a Big Daddy Time-Warner who have for the last few years been posting a better bottom line due to HBO.
    Now GoT is a Buzz-Phenomenon, heck HBO is even gotten into the MERCHANDISING biz something that made a zillionaire out of Geroge Lucas.
    Too HBO is doing a bit a thrashing looking for a new show a Buzz-Worthy as GoT, True Detective was not it, and i’ll bet you that Westworld is not going to be either. In fact have no idea what they might produce that would be ‘grabber’ like GoT. (Issac Asimov’s Foundation which they have perking on the back burner?)
    If the future does not look up before season 6 airs we may hear about a season 9!
    In fact this hippty-hop stuff with IMAX this year may really portend a movie!
    After all it is the Warner in Time-Warner that did distribute the Hobbit and also it is studio that could come up with 200 million or a single film if not 100’s of million more for more films.
    I don’t see this happening but GRRM’s world’s other stories lend themselves to big films, after all 200 million for a 1 billion dollar profit is a bet a lot of studios like to make these days.

  31. Boojam: Too HBO is doing a bit a thrashing looking for a new show a Buzz-Worthy as GoT, True Detective was not it, and i’ll bet you that Westworld is not going to be either. In fact have no idea what they might produce that would be ‘grabber’ like GoT. (Issac Asimov’s Foundation which they have perking on the back burner?)

    I wonder how long it will take before they start kicking themselves for letting go of their option on ‘American Gods.’ With such a strong showing with ‘Outlander,’ Starz is on its way to becoming a formidable rival. If they take as much care with AG (which looks likely, with Neil Gaiman deeply consulting on project development), it may well prove to be the next product to win millions of new converts to the fantasy genre on cable. The pressure will be on for HBO to step up their game – especially once GoT is over.

  32. marsyao,

    You claim that D&D have no talent, yet the best 30 min sequence from the entire series(IMO) is something that isn’t even in the books and was created by D&D.

  33. Sam the Slayer,

    What about your namesake, Samwell Tarley? I know he’s made some coin being heavy (Lost, GoT), but imagine a couple of things: Sam looses weight and with the flesh goes the insecurity. With heavy hitters like the new actors this season, you could develop the House of Tarley.

  34. marsyao:
    Just want to remind fans here, from now on, this show would be stories developed by D&D.

    Absolutely cannot agree with this! There is a certain twist to GRRM’s writing and ideas that sustains D&D. All The Railroad’s writing supports this notion.

  35. Sally:
    Sam the Slayer,

    Is everyone assuming that Bran is for sure going to replace the old man in the tree?

    I’ve always assumed it, but who knows at this point. *Shrugs* Do you think differently? Spill your theory. 🙂

  36. RosanaZugey,

    I agree. That would be total, dollar driven cash leeching by then. Not to mention audacity and ego. Please, go out with the chorus of thunder, not the sprinkle of rain.

    “When asked about the possibility of a prequel or spinoff of some kind at TCA, Lombardo admitted, “I would be open to anything David and Dan want to do … there’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel.”

    To be mined. That is a pretty telling choice of verbiage there.

  37. Firannion,

    Who bough the rights to Wild Cards? Was it SciFi network? That is also another richly detailed, crazy overlapping world from GRRM with a fairly large literary following.

  38. Judibatt:
    RosanaZugey,

    I agree. That would be total, dollar driven cash leeching by then. Not to mention audacity and ego. Please, go out with the chorus of thunder, not the sprinkle of rain.

    “When asked about the possibility of a prequel or spinoff of some kind at TCA, Lombardo admitted, “I would be open to anything David and Dan want to do … there’s enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel.”

    To be mined. That is a pretty telling choice of verbiage there.

    Very telling. The Devil’s in the details. I have no doubt HBO would love to keep the cash cow going to infinity, but I’m hoping D&D are smarter than that.

    I mean, don’t get me wrong. I still love the show, and come April I’ll be the conductor of the hype train. *Choot Choot!* But…I’m getting tired. I feel like this has been a flipping FANTASTIC party, but now…its like 1-2 in the morning and I’m starting to think I need to go home, cause bitches gotta work in the morning. 😉

    I want finality. I want to know that, “The End Is Near!” And all of this talk about seasons beyond 8 just…exhausts me.

  39. Brad:
    marsyao,

    You claim that D&D have no talent, yet the best 30 min sequence from the entire series(IMO) is something that isn’t even in the books and was created by D&D.

    HBO: “The show is more watched than ever. The global audience is into the hundreds of millions. They just scored 24 Emmy nominations. Critics are 97% positive on the new season. Hmmm…FIRE EVERYONE!!!!!”

  40. I wish they’d decided on 8 BEFORE this season, because then Dorne might have made more sense – the Queenmaker plot could have survived.

  41. LordDavos,

    YES!!!! I wish there was an upvote button for your comment.
    I have thought this for a long time. If not that, then give us a 2-hour season premiere or finale. AND, make each episode and actual hour, not 48 minutes.

  42. marsyao,

    Is there anything wrong with Hardhome? I read the books before I watched the show. You know it is possible to like the books AND the show.

  43. I’m very confused … On 1 hand I do want it to go on .. On the other hand I want to know how this ends … For me daznaks pit was the thing I was looking forward to the most from the start so these past 5 years have been like ” ok this is happening and it’s all working towards that scene that I really want to see and I know it’s coming so it’s fine let them take their time ” now that it’s over I’m like ” ok now what … What’s the end what’s the end ” it’s like if they had to do 10 years for books 1-5 I’d be fine cuz I knew where the story was going . Now if they do anymore than 3 years for books 6&7 I’m gonna lose my mind … Cuz now I don’t know where this is going

  44. I’m very happy with at least 8 seasons, 7 just didn’t seem long enough to me, there’s so much of the story left and to cram it all into just 2 more seasons seemed ludicrous.

  45. I think 8 seasons will work, 9 would be too much. It’s surely a partial money grab and a partial artistic decision. GoT has developed into HBO’s cash cow. Concurrently, D&D seem to have sincerely been working towards a 7-season duration. But when they had to improvise much of Season 5, they may have concluded that 1) it was too much work to condense and create at that pace, 2) some things omitted should have been included, and 3) some book things were rushed. They were probably aware that a lot of the (book-reading) critics AND fans were making those very complaints. And since HBO was pushing them to stretch the show out, that was an opportunity to address those problems. The fact that it gives George a chance to partially catch up doesn’t hurt, either.

  46. marsyao,

    It still amazes me how purists even manage to hate the massacre at Hardhome… it was absolutely amazing to watch, for several reasons. And since you hate the show so much, I take it you’ll stop watching now? Or will you do the typical purist thing and keep watching the show you hate?

  47. Judibatt:
    LordDavos,

    YES!!!! I wish there was an upvote button for your comment.
    I have thought this for a long time. If not that, then give us a 2-hour season premiere or finale. AND, make each episode and actual hour, not 48 minutes.

    They can’t physically do 12 episodes and maintain the quality they demand. D&D have said this over and over again: It’s not an HBO thing. It’s not a budget thing. It’s a TIME thing. The show runs all year round as it is and they apparently still barely make their air dates.

  48. Hey guys,
    I think it’s amazing how critical everyone is, you have like 7500 pages of manuscript to condense into 50 hours of TV and all most people do is complain it wasn’t done right. Oh, they left out the part where one guy farts or hate they condensed characters or left out this or that or made this too brutal and didn’t spell this out enough or left character blah blah out. Do you have any idea how hard they work to get it right it their in minds?
    This is the best Game of Thrones you are going to get, even with it’s weaknesses it still kicks dragon ass. After eight seasons you are still going to be sad it’s over and wish that someone will produce something as cool as this again. I hated the way LOST ended but I loved watching that show, just like this show it is something really cool to immerse yourself in. Nothing is perfect.

  49. It’s 8 seasons because season 6 is going to be filler while GRRM catches up with the books. They’re going to do flashbacks and tell back stories through Bran.

  50. Balon01: This is the most successful HBO show ever. There is no reason to change the showrunners.

    Balon, what marsyao is really hoping for is Patrick Stewart wearing blue jeans and a Superdry T shirt playing Euron. You heard it here first: lots of money on actors, little on clothes. 😛

  51. I’m definitely with everyone saying that 8 seasons (or 7 seasons with a split 7th one, the distinction is meaningless as far as I’m concerned) is enough and I want to see the show closing the story; culling the herd of characters and closing up and merging storylines. And I think D&D also have this in mind – they have already started in season 5, what with wrapping up Stannis and giving us Hardhome, for example. Season 6 will have only Arya isolated at the outset, and I expect her to be brought back into the fold by the end of it.

    I hope we’ll see some Tyrell, Bolton and Frey deaths this season. These camps are too strong, as far as I’m concerned, and need thinning out. I’d love none of the Tyrells to survive this season, for example. Also if Roose bit it.

  52. Boojam,

    Just out of interest, why do you think Westworld won’t be a hit for HBO? I’m pretty excited by it. Seems to me like it has real potential and an already impressive cast. I also think American Gods will make a great series. Really enjoyed the book, even if it did lose its way a bit towards the end in my opinion.

  53. 8 seasons? 9 seasons? Hmm.. This is going to get expensive for HBO. I doubt actors like Emilia or Peter Dinklage will work for the same amounts in season 8 or 9 as they did in season 1.
    But anyway: I’m not sure I ike this announcement. If they have enough story on their hands to justifiy this move: Fine. But part of me fears that we’ll be getting needlessly meandering storylines just to stretch out the total runtime and squeeze every last cent out of the franchise. I don’t think I want to see Dany running around Essos, doing nothing about what’s going on in Westeros for another 3 or 4 seasons. Or Ramsay Bolton being Ramsay Bolton – or Sansa turning into pseudo-badass-Sansa and back to helpless victim in need of saving again and again.
    Overall, the cynic in me can’t help thinking of that silly “last book/film”-move made popular by the Harry Potter franchise, when they split up the final installment just to maximize profits. And then you end up with two movies which barely have enough plot between them for one.

    Oh well.. we’ll see…

  54. I’m incredibly looking forward to Season 6 of Game of Thrones. There’s just so much that will be thrown in there that I just can’t see a way of it not being the best season of the show. You have the trials of the faith with the Queens. You have Tyrion and Varys managing a great city, you have Daenerys amassing major forces and if Tyrion is succesful, she’ll likely be set on her way to Westeros come the end of the season. You have the North collapsing on the most hated family in the North, heirs apparent returning with a Shaggy Dog. You have the “Big Reveal”. The return of several major characters. Greyjoys reaving! Interesting new directions for main characters such as Sam #spain and probably Jaime considering family drama and #iceland. Heck, perhaps even CleganeBowl. And that’s all things we can foresee, cause we have no clue what the Whitewalkers are going to go. And most importantly, we have confirmation through Emilia and Podeswa that there’s no slowstart but an immediate kick-off at the highest gear. Season six is “Endgame Pt1” of three.

    My hypelevel at current is already 11/10. That being said, my hypelevel for Arya’s storyline is around 4/10.. But if she starts warging into cats next season.. Than it will go up to 11 as well.

    As for yeah, 8 seasons/years (I hear you GeekFurious). That’s going to be needed. We can’t spend 60hrs of Dany getting Westeros for it to be some rushjob of 10hrs. Even if the story is about Westeros and Essos, as I do want to see her take something of her heritage with her, some deeper understanding of what it means to be of Valyria and the Doom. I’ve been hearing some quite interesting theories about nuclear winter=LongNight and some concepts GrrM has touched upon in his other more sci-fi-stories. Which if true would give GoT an a-typical fantasy-ending, but if it would be received as Lost’s “purgatory”ish ending for flipping the script at the end, than I’d rather have the typical fantasy ending. (See Preston Jacobs, Minds of Wolves and Robins on YouTube).

  55. marsyao:
    Brad,

    Does that change the fact that D&D’s lack of talent and the fact that they can not do their work without under GRRM’s guidance? And does it make my statement incorrect?

    Seeing as how Season 5 was considerably better than Books 4/5, yes it does make your statement incorrect.

  56. One of the people in the murder said how the show has become something entirely different and that they should just start making their own story. That’s bullshit! This story continues to be an extremely close adaptation, to the point where subplots we thought were omitted from s5 is now being included in s6. The plots that it looks like were getting by now is: dany with the khalazar, kingsmoot/ironborn, riverlands plot (potentially with jamie there even), northern houses plot and old town. Only one of those are from future novels, the rest is feast and dance. They’re clearly during what they Can to include the majority of story. Could we give them some appreciation please?

  57. Damphairintheshowplease!,

    Those people want the show, too diverge so they won’t get spoiled.(the irony!)
    When TWOW is released and will see how similar the storylines are, they will shut up. The trully desperate, will continue to argue, tough. (very much like some people, to this day, belive that the LOTR movies, did not do ”justice”, to the books)

  58. mau,

    In a more streamlined fashion, something the books needed too.

    Anyone who tought we would get, Brienne’s endless wandering, or Sansa taking 1 year to climb down a tower, was fooling himself.

    These changes are, in most instances, all but necessary. It’s easy for us to say: they should have done that, or that, but we rarely think of some mundane things, that many times are crucial. For example the budget, hiring 200 actors is not a option. Even time itself is a huge problem, you can, phisically, only do so much things, in the time given.

  59. Maester aEd,

    Kudos to you!! I agree wholeheartedly!

    But you are underestimating people’s need to piss and moan about everything under the sun that isn’t 100% exactly how they want it, and these boards is where they let their frustrations fester and wallow ….

  60. mau:
    Damphairintheshowplease!,

    Only YG storyline was cut. Evreything else is here.

    Everything they cut, such as YG, Quentyn Martell, LSH, Brienne’s endless wandering, and Sansa’s time in the Vale, were for the best. Talk about trimming the fat!

    And it looks like some of the stuff that we thought they cut will end up in S6 (The Greyjoys & the Kingsmoot, Sam’s travel to Oldtown, the Tower of Joy, etc.) Again, these makes sense, as those plot floundered in Feast/Dance. It would’ve been a waste of time to introduce them in S5 only for nothing to happen. Dorne and the Sand Snakes themselves were bad enough (and easily the weakest aspect of Season 5) for precisely that reason.

    Season 5 certainly ended on enough cliffhangers to last us for a while. There were no need to add even more incomplete storylines. Best to wait until S6 and the Winter material to introduce these stories.

  61. mau: We don’t want to do a 10-year adaptation of the books, we don’t want to do a nine-year adaptation.

    That’s the showrunner talking. Maybe the beancounters at HBO have other plans? In my experience, monetary considerations will often trump artistic considerations. Question is how HBO could even pull a move like that one on them? If D&D decide to write the eps to fit into a seven-season-arc, things will get messy should they have to “artificially” extend the overall run of the show.

    But hey.. maybe later season won’t be a continuation of the current story-line but will flash back to pre-season 1 events? Meaning they’ll let the ASOIAF-story conclude in season 7 and then produce a season covering Robert’s Rebellion as season 8? That way they could keep the GoT-label on TV for another year or two without having to stretch the “core material” over too many hours of TV.

  62. marsyao,

    I disagree about the actors being used being “fake”, though I suspect you have typed what you did at least in part to see what sort of reaction you would get. Even if I agreed with you that the existing actors were not much good (which I don’t) it would rankle with me to have a host of re-castings this late in the game. New(ish) Daario is (in my opinion) a good actor but when the character was re-cast the powers that be didn’t even replace Old Daario with a similar physical type of actor – or stick a blonde wig on New(ish) Daario.

    Josh L.: Dorne and the Sand Snakes themselves were bad enough (and easily the weakest aspect of Season 5) for precisely that reason.

    Well book Dorne and show Dorne were very different – it really was an example of a very loose adaptation from the books. Believe me, I think GRRM is a good writer although not above criticism but he did create a whale of a tale in ASOIAF and while book Dorne was not without its faults, I preferred it to the show version. Show “For the Watch” and “Walk of Atonement” were not that different (in my opinion at least) from their book counterparts (I’m thinking of those parts as two examples of adaptation which worked quite well).

  63. marsyao,

    Damn, even your trolling isn’t very good. Though he’s not precisely a troll, take some friggin’ lessons from Al Swearagen about how to throw shade.

    Stick to the day job, man. Please.

  64. marsyao: Nice, you fancy I am alone in this opinion?

    *looks around* Party of one, your table is ready. Um, yeah – that is what I am saying. You are on one of the premier fan sites for Game of Thrones. Mostly…MOSTLY people who post here like show and books pretty equally. Even if they think showrunners make mistakes, it is still the best show on the television. Even if GRRM may never finish the books, he is still the original author and that is respected. But bottom line is that for the largest part of the day people debate respectfully and even with disagreement, appreciation grows.

    My hope is that in time you will come to appreciate a website such as this and find a home here. Otherwise may I suggest that your energy could be more effectively used elsewhere. See? I think you just need a hug. 😉

  65. red viper,

    Thanks!!

    True they want to complain but what is really gonna happen?

    How do they get the dragons out?

    Are the wildlings gonna lay the smack down? There are less than 100 brothers at Castle Black.

    Does Theon break his leg?

    If Myranda would have defiled Sansa would that have gone as well as she thought?

    The whole season served as a tension builder and a reset, everyone in power had their power taken away or what they hoped to accomplish complicated. That will happen again soon and continue to happen thats why its called a game.

    Everyone wants Mel to revive Jon but do we really want Jonny Stoneheart?

    Three seasons left and so much to cover, Winter is here get ready for the storm.

  66. Eight are enough. I am still grateful to have had the show at all. I still have to pinch myself sometimes to remember how improbable and unlikely this whole enterprise looked years ago when rumours first started circulating about “Game Of Thrones”!

    I think that eight seasons will be the appropriate amount to do the show justice and conclude the story in a manner and way so as to make sense…

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