New pics of Maisie Williams, Mark Gatiss and more in Game of Thrones filming

MaceMeryn

The excitement in Kastel Gomilica continues, as Game of Thrones filming rolls on with Maisie Williams, Mark Gatiss, Ian Beattie and Roger Ashton-Griffiths.

The newest crop of photos provides an exciting hint of season five, as the presence of some characters in this location is a change from the books.

Spoilers below the cut!

(Now updated with more photos)

The Iron Banker Tycho Nestoris, played by Mark Gatiss, appears to be on the waterfront in Braavos, greeting Mace Tyrell (Roger Ashton-Griffiths), an envoy from Westeros. Tyrell is guarded by Ser Meryn Trant (Ian Beattie), a longstanding member of the Kingsguard.

Maisie Williams can be spotted in the photo below, chatting with executive producer Dan Weiss.

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It appears likely that Mace Tyrell is taking the role of Harys Swyft, as the man who works with the Iron Bank in the matter of the Westerosi Crown’s debts, and visits Braavos as part of that task. With that in mind, does this mean Meryn Trant is taking Raff the Sweetling’s place in the Braavos plot?

More photos from the day’s filming:

MaceMeryn2 MEryn2MerynTrant

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We have more photos of the Kastel Gomilica filming, courtesy of Goran Leš and Split.com.hr:

b1 b2 b3  b5 b6 b7 b8

There are more photos in Split.com.hr‘s gallery, so be sure to visit the site.

 

Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

238 Comments

  1. Meryn Trant…may I introduce you to this humble blind girl….? Or maybe we should go see this new play tonight written by this guy named Forel….
  2. Great pics! Exciting stuff too. Braavos is looking more and more amazing with each pic.
    Maisie’s new costume looks cool. Hope we get a more visible shot of it soon.

  3. Hearing from our Croatian friend that they may’ve been filming multiple scenes there in Gomilica that day. But either way- with Trant and Tyrell in the city, I think we are getting Mercy.

  4. Why does he not travel with Tyrell guards though? The Kingsguard is understandable since it is an official visit on behalf of the crown, but the Lannister guards?

    That is a minor detail, though. Still excited!

  5. Does anyone recognises any director ? We may know which episodes these scenes may be in since we already have the list for every episode direction .

  6. Meeercyyyyy mercyyyyyyy merccccccyyyyyyy !!!! omg omg omg !!!

    Its shame that Tycho will not come to

    the Wall and meet Jon

    but still happy to see Mark Gatis again

    So excidet to see “Mercy’s” chapter on the show and to see another

    name of the list go down “_*
  7. I wouldn’t rule out Mace Tyrell’s death either, as I have the feeling the iron bank might have more to this story then we are currently expecting and a declaration of war against the iron throne surely wouldn’t be too strange simply because they are supporting Stannis to some extent now and that might become full support later down the road.

    Besides that I think it’s also something that will happen soonish in the books, mace tyrell is a character that has to die in order of the Tyrell plot to start moving forwards so I certainly wouldn’t rule out that he dies so Loras can become lord of Highgarden.

  8. I really like this change, Mace replacing Harys Swyft (a character too insignificant for the show).

    It makes sense to have Mace out of KL when Margaery is arrested by the Faith.
  9. So excited we’re skipping the more uneventful Arya chapters 😀 Those weren’t GRRM’s best and wouldn’t make good TV. Straight to the good stuff I say! Though Mercy will probably be the culmination of the season right? Like episode 9 material?

    if they have to introduce the FM an all that
    I’m going to miss Meryn, the actor did a great job with only a minimum of things to work with.
  10. Yus!!! Mercy is coming!
    ! I new

    Arya would get a big name to kill. Though I expected it to be Balon Greyjoy.

    Im starting to wonder whether the old fart will ever get what’s coming to him

  11. Maginor:
    Why does he not travel with Tyrell guards though? The Kingsguard is understandable since it is an official visit on behalf of the crown, but the Lannister guards?

    That is a minor detail, though. Still excited!

    Cersei probably wanted Lannister guards there as a show of personal force, and Mace isn’t one to argue or be proactive in his own right.

  12. Wonderful 🙂

    Getting Mercy already this season, that is.

    Means theres more to do for Arya in season six.
  13. Obviously we can never definitively assume anything purely from set photos. But what we see here, I think that it’s fairly easy to infer that

    Mace Tyrell will be standing in for Harys Swyft as the Crown’s emissary to the Iron Bank. And with Meryn Trant accompanying him, I feel very confident in predicting that he will be taking Raff the Sweetling’s place as Arya’s victim. The exact method of his death will likely be different, of course, since the show already used that for Polliver in “Two Swords”. My best guess is that this whole sequence of events is moved up, and Arya’s murder of Meryn Trant will replace her murder of Daeron as the event which prompts Jaqen/The Kindly Man to give her the bitter milk, causing her to go blind. Unlike some, I don’t think that will be Arya’s season-ending event – I still think that will be her first “official” assignment to assassinate the ship insurance salesman. Still, this is very exciting. Another name crossed off of Arya’s list!

    Also, these photos appear to confirm that after three full seasons, Maisie Williams will finally get a new costume! I’m sure that she’s thrilled. I bet she’ll take special pleasure in filming the scene where Arya

    is forced to dispose of her old clothes.
  14. Mace taking Harys’s place dosen’t mean that he is going to

    die also

    And I prayyy so hard really that they will not cut

    when she becomes blind ,because it was something reall for Arya and developed her character and made learn new thing because she’s blind , like how to use her other senses // I’m thinking that maybe after she kills Trant the kindly man will make her blind for what she did instead of Dareon

    We really need more kings guard 🙂

  15. I can see “Mercy” taking place around episode 8.

    I think this means Arya wont kill the Watchman deserter since it would be redudant in the season to kill twice for personal reasons outside of her training… or not ?

    I wonder how many people she’ll kill this season. I hope she doesnt get her first contracts straight ahead and they skip her novice training.

    Her

    first contract

    should be around episode 6, imo.

  16. Great pics! Oh man such beautiful locations! And even seeing the filming crews there and all the other signs of modernity…it is soo easy to fall into back into the world of “A Song Of Ice And Fire” looking at the costumes, the extras and the cast members, and of course their surroundings!

    Great posting ! Thank you for this!

  17. Ooh, looks like my speculation of Mace replacing Harys Swyft and Meryn replacing Raff (the latter was an easy call, seeing as there’s nobody else on the show!list that could fit that role) was correct.

  18. Sue the Fury:
    Hearing from our Croatian friend that they may’ve been filming multiple scenes there in Gomilica that day. But either way- with Trant and Tyrell in the city, I think we are getting Mercy.

    I hate to be repetitive, but I confirmed having Mercy this season several days ago. There will be at least one more chapter (unreleased as of yet) from TWOW included this season.

    I know I know I know…

  19. Sean C.,

    The question is are they going to do that scene the same way it was done in the books ? Maisie is still a minor and besides a portion of that scene was already done in the last season’s premiere .

  20. Has Maisie shaved her head? Can’t really tell in that 2nd photo, where she’s facing the camera talking to Dan. But in the 6th photo, there’s a figure in the same part of the set, very similar clothing (brown jerkin, white cuffs, black gloves), back to the camera, really short hair, patchily shaved in places.

    ETA: Obviously, might not be shaved… might just be wig or whatever.

  21. Ser Florian:
    Has Maisie shaved her head? Can’t really tell in that 2nd photo, where she’s facing the camera talking to Dan. But in the 6th photo, there’s a figure in the same part of the set, very similar clothing (brown jerkin, white cuffs, black gloves), back to the camera, really short hair, patchily shaved in places.

    I noticed that but I thought no way she would do that and thete is no reason ! Even from the book

    And I don’t think she will do the same thing from

    mercy’s chapter because she is young ,it will be soo epic if she said to him” Remember Serio ? “
  22. You folks are jumping to some pretty big conclusions… reminds me of 2012… 2013… 2014… when most people were proven wrong.

    Granted, a handful of people did get their predictions right. But I suspect those people are not “predicting” anything. 🙂

  23. Patchface: I hate to be repetitive, but I confirmed having Mercy this season several days ago. There will be at least one more chapter (unreleased as of yet) from TWOW included this season.

    I know I know I know…

    You’re the real deal damn ya :p. good stuff

  24. GeekFurious:
    You folks are jumping to some pretty big conclusions… reminds me of 2012… 2013… 2014… when most people were proven wrong.

    Granted, a handful of people did get their predictions right. But I suspect those people are not “predicting” anything.

    Jumping the gun on what? It’s pretty obvious that this will serve as the Mercy sample chapter. It’s not like people are predicting the Purple Wedding to be in the season 3 finale

  25. GeekFurious,

    So what are you exactly referring when you say we are jumping to conclusion ? Oh you must be one of those people who thought her arc this season would be just her training and her going blind,what kinda arc is that ?
    Edit: Sorry for the spoilers but i have no idea how to use them on this site honestly .

  26. Im wondering when this scene(s) happen in Season 5? Arya is in a new costume so surely she must have been in Braavos for a while

    and already trained with Jaqen/Kindly Man.

    I really hope they actually show some of

    her training scenes (her learning to lie etc) instead of just immediately jumping into scenes with Mace Tyrell/Meryn Trant (obviously they are filming things out of order so i doubt this happens early in the season)
  27. Lady Nym: I noticed that but I thought no way she would do that and thete is no reason ! Even from the book

    And I don’t think she will do the same thing from mercy’s chapter

    because she is young ,it will be soo epic if she said to him” Remember Serio ? ”

    Well Arya was 11 and

    GRRM made that scene with her and Raff in the book. Still pretty disgusted by it
  28. Patchface: I hate to be repetitive, but I confirmed having Mercy this season several days ago. There will be at least one more chapter (unreleased as of yet) from TWOW included this season.

    Well, this one was no big leap, frankly- Arya doesn’t have a lot of material left.

    Please cover your spoilers, everyone.

  29. Turncloak,

    I have my theories about GRRM and his preferance of sexualising young children in the books but i would rather not get into that .
    Can someone please tell me how to use spoilers please ? There use to be some instructions before but they aren’t anymore .

  30. This is so exciting! That Mercy chapter was fantastic and it was definitely one of the best chapters out of the entire series.

    Ser Florian,

    I don’t think so. It could just be a wig. Also, the girls get their hair braided when they wear wigs so that may be what we’re seeing here and she just doesn’t have the wig on yet.

    Edit: Here’s an example of it. Carice van Houten posted this on her twitter.
    https://twitter.com/caricevhouten/status/502372720525709312

  31. TaviColen123: Can someone please tell me how to use spoilers please ? There use to be some instructions before but they aren’t anymore .

    They are still up there, Tavi.

    “Spoiler buttons are functional using shortcode [ spoiler ] Insert spoiler here [ / spoiler] to blur comments.” Use that code, without the extra spaces. It’s also in the FAQ.

  32. Haha I love how over-the-top Mace is dressed. Brilliant.

    And yeah Trant is replacing Raff fo sho.

  33. I love when our guesses are proved true. Even the Mace part.

    Mercy, Meryn, Mercy- and DO NOT BE LATE FOR THE RAPE!
  34. TaviColen123:
    The question is are they going to do that scene the same way it was done in the books ? Maisie is still a minor and besides a portion of that scene was already done in the last season’s premiere .

    They didn’t do “a portion” of it. Since Polliver took on Raff and the Ticker’s roles in the show, Arya appropriately used one of his lines in the callback. I doubt the writers even needed to see “Mercy” in order to reconceive the scene in that manner, it’s the obvious thing to do based on the changes they had already made.

    Arya fake-seducing Trant and killing him isn’t going to run afoul of any filming laws. There’s no need for nudity, etc.
  35. It’s a clever decision on their part … I gotta say, tho. It feels weird seeing stuff from an unpublished book being shot. In regards to the apparent changes made;

    I always saw the Iron bank and the Faceless men as two misteryous organizations that may (or may not) have a deal of sort going on between them. I’m not going to delve deeper into speculations right now, but I could see Mace being offed as well as ser Meryn (since I mentioned speculations, btw … I suppose this will be as good a time as any to see if ser Meryn Trant is in fact really Syrio Forel). Because at this point, I really don’t see Mace Tyrell (although the head of the second richest family) presenting good terms for the Iron bank … But if this indeed turns out to be the case, I gotta say I will probably miss some of the power dynamics in King’s landing. I hope he returns to King’s landing after the treaty only to see his daughter, the queen to be, in chains … and after that brings the might of the Reach to KL. This would add a dimension to his character, which I would welcome, because they pretty much turned him from an ambitious and proud (yet oafish) lord into a rug for everyone to walk upon.
  36. I’m really happy over the prospect of seeing

    Meryn Fucking Trant fucking dead.

    TaviColen123,

    Just use [s-p-o-i-l-e-r] place spoilery part here [/s-p-o-i-l-e-r] without the dashes.

    EDIT – Oops, Sue already covered that. It’s looks like I was too slow.

  37. What if Arya’s real target is going to be

    a certain banker

    rather than a ship insurance salesman! :O

  38. wizardeyes:
    Tiny nit-pic – Surely Mace would bring Tyrell guards rather than Lannister ones?

    Sure, but if he’s traveling as an emissary of the Crown then I guess it makes sense that he would have a Lannister contingent with him, as they’re technically the Royal family.

    And if Tommen and Margaery have been wed by the time that Mace departs, then he can claim affiliation with the Lannisters and would be entitled to their protection – which is probably why Meryn Trant is with him here.

    Of course, the real reason is probably just that we haven’t really seen Tyrell guards on the show – at the very least, they haven’t made much of an impression. Viewers are already familiar with what Lannister guards look like. They’re essentially Game of Thrones’ version of stormtroopers (and about as effective).

  39. If true, the changes make sense although I hope they don’t rush it through too quickly as going from feisty young girl to expert assassin wouldn’t be a short process I’d imagine. On a sidenote, Jaime is pretty much the Kingsguard on his own now? Still not sure why Loras hasn’t joined already as would make a lot of sense for his show character.
  40. Fascinating. Great change. Wondered what they were gonna do with Mace, and if Harys was gonna be cast. This is a great solution, as is

    using Meryn (Arya does have a beef against him, having killed Syrio, her first master.)

    By the way: if someone can pinpoint and recognize the director, we can pretty much know when this is gonna happen. Especially this season, the first in which the two episodes by each director are consecutive.

  41. Walter Harrow,

    Totally agree. There is “filler” they could pull straight from the book (

    Training

    ) before they jump into Mercy, though I expect it to happen pretty quickly. If Sansa’s “transformation” can happen in one episode, I am thinking the writers will go the exact same route with Arya/Mercy. I am cautiously hopeful, though, that the powers that be will take it a wee bit slower (come on, give us a few episodes) to make more impact.

  42. Sue the Fury,

    Thanks 🙂
    @SeanC Yes but imagine how controversial it would be regardless . If you thought this year was bad imagine how next year it’s going to be ,the shitstorm would be out of this world .

  43. thremnir:
    What if Arya’s

    real target is going to be

    If you mean

    “Tycho” , there is no need to kill him and they might need him in the future
  44. Blaire dug up a couple more photos from the source site, including one more with Maisie, so I added them to the bottom of the post.

  45. I could see

    Loras joining the Kingsguard, the potential death of Lord Mace, and the “WTF do we do with Highgarden” being an interesting twist.

    I am also liking the prospect of Arya getting in a little poetic justice with Trant, for killing? Syrio, and though she isn’t aware of it, his treatment of Sansa.

    STOKED

  46. Sue the Fury,

    HOLY SHIT, [s-p-o-i-l-e-r] she does have her head shaved [/s-p-o-i-l-e-r] !

    Edit: Yeah i did as the instructions told me but the spoilers are still appearing for me,anybody else have that problem ?

  47. TheTouchOfFrost,

    Loras not joining the Kingsguard is a consequence of him being Mace’s only son and heir in the show. He needs to remain theoretically available to marry and have children. I think that Tywin’s conversation with Olenna in Season 3, wherein he threatened to name Loras to the Kingsguard if Olenna did not agree to marry him to Cersei, was intended to serve both as an explanation of his status and a nod to book readers that was effectively saying “Yes, we know that Loras joins the Kingsguard in the books. Here’s why he won’t be doing that in the show.”

    If Willas truly has a bigger role to play in TWOW, as GRRM keeps insisting, then I expect that Loras will be taking on that role in Game of Thrones. If the Ironborn do wind up attacking the Reach, then Loras will probably lead the defense. There’s little reason for him to go to Dragonstone – we’ve seen no indication that Stannis even left a garrison there in the show, and like Jaime going to Riverrun, it’s essentially a mop-up campaign, so the stakes are lower. Loras can get injured in the Reach just as easily, if that’s what’s in the cards.

    The Kingsguard have been played down in the show, which is unfortunate,but absolutely understandable given time constraints. Having Loras join up now would limit how the show could use him going forward, and they’ll need that flexibility. The only reason that Meryn Trant has gotten as much screentime as he has was so that one member of the Kingsguard who was following Joffrey’s sadistic commands without question would have a recognizable face.

    Now that Joffrey’s dead, there’s little reason for him to maintain that prominence, because Tommen isn’t going to be ordering his Kingsguard to abuse anyone. Once Meryn dies, all members of the Kingsguard other than Jaime are likely to be treated as background players going forward.
  48. TheTouchOfFrost,

    On Loras… I dunno if they’ve written away the possibility of him joining the KG, with Tywin and Olenna’s conversation in season 3, and Loras being the heir and all. Or, maybe they’ve planned for whatever they’re going to do… maybe, now Cersei is in charge, and her betrothed has always been Loras (rather than numerous candidates in the books) she’ll get out of that by demanding he don a white cloak. Would make a nice contrast to Tywin’s approach… he used the threat to coax and coerce the Tyrells, she just forces it upon them.

    As for Arya, I’d always figured that her plot from start of Feast to the end of Dance would be about perfect for this coming season… I know it’s “only” 6 chapters, but there is a fair bit to those chapters… and her

    first hit for the Faceless men, or her first new face

    would be a good ending moment. If this is something that comes after that, in the books, I also hope they don’t rush it.

  49. Morgan,

    On the other hand you may be right, i dunno, kinda hard to see still .

    Does it work now ?

    Edit: Ok it works ,thanks for the help guys !

  50. The make up on Maisie looks kind of weird (like a clown/doll). That’s probably the point but i hope that look is just a one off for a certain part of her story and not her new costume

    Or it could just be the lighting/angle of the picture

  51. Mace Tyrell has Lannister guards?

    Edit: so I just saw that people have already been discussing this. I have read the possible justifications of this and thought of a few possibilities myself, but I still don’t like it. Although the show is the show and the books are the books….

  52. Is the scene’s director visible in the fifth and sixth pictures up from the break before the Split hr. photos? I see two familiar-ish faces (other than Weiss), one that may be Sapochnik and one that may be Mylod. I’ll do some sleuthing with postimg pics if anyone’s interested.

  53. Maybe he went there whit both Barratheon/lannister/Tyerl/Kings/ guard , but it happens to be the lannister guards who appeard in the pictures /:

  54. Sue the Fury,

    Sweet Pics!

    I’m excited that Mace is getting a larger role than he did last season (although the Ashton/Diana interactions from S4 were hysterical).

  55. Greenjones,

    In this newer batch from Split hr my face-spotting skills have been disproved, I think, so NVM this previous post. In the older batch I thought I’d spotted Mylod and then thought, “no, wait but that looks like Sapochnik.” Since the new batch has already made me go, “no wait, I think I see Podeswa…”, I think I’d best not try my hand at this today.

    BTW, Mace Tyrell is a well-dressed man!

  56. Abyss:
    This is Arya, right? Looks like she is wearing an archery glove. Interesting…

    That sure looks like her. I kept looking at the pics of the two girls wondering if I it were possible, but they in no way look like her. Wonder if they are the two sisters who are with her while she works at the docks.

  57. FNF:
    Wow! They are really speeding up Arya’s storyline (THANK GOD)!

    Remember they don’t shoot in sequence, this could be a for a scene in episode that does not happen until 9 or 10.
    Also they know they have season 6 , but shooting this early is not usually done.
    Tho , apparently, if I remember right, Kate Dickie shot short scenes during season 3 production which were not used, but not sure they were used in season 4?

  58. jentario,

    Has she already filmed in Northern Ireland?

    I know she tweeted about starting filing a few days ago (that was obviously for Kastel Gomilica) but dont remember he mentioning going to NI at any point

  59. Veltigar:
    So excited we’re skipping the more uneventful Arya chapters Those weren’t GRRM’s best and wouldn’t make good TV.Straight to the good stuff I say! Though Mercy will probably be the culmination of the season right? Like episode 9 material?

    Those were my favorite chapters in both Feast and Dance!

  60. I wonder why they don’t use real ships, there are plenty of 15, 16 and 17th century seagoing replicas in Croatia available…
    http://www.top-kreuzfahrt-in-kroatien.com/images/eventschiff_karaka_dubrovnik1.jpg

    http://dubrovacki.hr/datastore/imagestore/original/1249373179KAO_NEKAD_DAVNO___KARAKA_I_TIRENA_NA_KALAMOTI__by_Tonko.jpg

    This last one is even named as it should be, “Lav” (which in Croatian means “Lion”), I am sure some Lannister would use it 😀
    http://www.easternyachts.com/lav/images/lav.jpg

  61. Aww, little Arya

    is knocking people off her list. Ser Trant looks like candidate to supplant Raff.

    Awesome pics.

  62. Walter Harrow,

    We aren’t sure. There was a tweet where she mentioned removing her jewelry (nose rings and such) for GOT, but there was no other sign she filmed anything before last week.

  63. jentario,

    I think she did some Belfast studio stuff. Tom I-Can’t-Spell-His-Last-Name

    Jaqen

    was supposed to have shot/began shooting in August, I believe (presumably meaning earlier in the month than now when we’ve got hours left).

  64. btw who or what is Mercy? I thought at first it was referring to Arya somehow giving the Hound mercy, but then I realized it was a character. Have I missed something?

  65. I know it may speed up Arya’s story line, but I kind of want to see a training montage similar to Bruce Wayne’s training in Batman Begins.

  66. It’s amazing that Ian Beattie made it to season 5 !
    It might be the smallest speaking role to appear in 5 seasons.

  67. ash,

    Think of Mercy as a plot point rather than any one specific character. To say any more would be a spoiler for the unsullied.

  68. ash,

    “Mercy” is from a TWOW sample chapter. Read it if you want to know more. It should be on GRRM’s website.

  69. Turncloak: Well Arya was 11 and

    That scene was originally supposed to happen after the 5-year old jump, at which point Arya would have been 16.

  70. jentario:
    Walter Harrow,

    We aren’t sure. There was a tweet where she mentioned removing her jewelry (nose rings and such) for GOT, but there was no other sign she filmed anything before last week.

    This is just a guess, but I’d say there’s certainly been some filming in NI of which we are not aware. I say that, in part, because the only reason we found out about Denys Mallister being cast was because of the actor’s unfortunate passing. Moreover, it seems that Nell Tiger Free had been in NI shooting, and we only knew about that because of a tweet she made saying she was on her way home, and she was glad there was some sushi place in the airport. Of course, she could have been there rehearsing, not shooting, but my guess is she was shooting.

  71. Lady Nym: I noticed that but I thought no way she would do that and thete is no reason ! Even from the book

    And I don’t think she will do the same thing from

    She’s not younger than Sophie was while shooting season 4. Some people even thought that the show wouldn’t show LF macking on her, which was obviously incorrect.

  72. First time poster, well at least here.

    BTW, great pics, thanks for providing them.
    Love the costumes; concerning the Lannister guards, I believe they are there for intimidation purposes. As for season progression, the scene should be at the midway point, after all Cersei

    has to get rid of Mace before her KL machinations to remove Marg begin,

    therefore she sends him off before mid season, probably after

    she hears of the Iron Bank’s loaning of gold to Stannis.
    Hopefully Tycho travels to the Wall, either before or after his scenes with Mace.
    I believe one reason Maisie looks different is to go along with her new face, which we hopefully see in reflections off glass and/or water.
    Kudos to the set, prop and costume departments for doing an outstanding job with the Braavosi docks, especially the minutest details.

    oops, spoiler brackets don’t seem to be working, it did

  73. I take this to mean that Meryn won’t take the Kettleblacks role in Cersei’s storyline now. Hmm. Wonder how they’ll handle that?

  74. Does anyone know if they have/will cast someone to play

    Arya with a different face? Hopefully the idea of Arya looking like Arya/Maisie to the watcher but looking different to characters/her reflection is true. I dont really like the idea of a new actor playing Arya with different faces in certain episodes. It would feel weird having another girl acting out scenes instead of Maisie
  75. Annara Snow: She’s not younger than Sophie was while shooting season 4. Some people even thought that the show wouldn’t show LF macking on her, which was obviously incorrect.

    Nevertheless, there are certain elements of Mercy

    the nipple-tweaking, for example

    I don’t think there is any way they will keep in the show.

  76. Annara Snow,

    But Sophie being so tall looks more grown up than her,even Maisie herself admitted she has barely grown from how she was back in season 1 so it would appear more creepy for her doing that .

  77. Quiddity,

    I’ve been curious about the same thing for a while now. I thought he was a good option for taking the Kettleback role. Hmm who else is in KL that could take that role?

  78. Jared,

    I think you have it right with that. My thoughts would be:

    1 – it would make sense for Dareon to be replaced by someone the audience knows better. The killing of Dareon made sense in terms of poetic justice – a deserter of the Night’s Watch would lose his head anyway – but he held no personal connection to Arya Stark. Meryn Trant does. So I would also not be surprised to see the Mercy bit combined with that in terms of the reaction by the Quiet Man (i.e., Jaqen H’gar), in that it’s a personal vengeance killing that offends those of the House of Black & White, and necessitates Arya’s punishment. I do hope, however, that this does not mean Sam Tarly’s journey is altered – he can exist perfectly fine in his story without Dareon. (Even though there is a mention of Dareon in Season 1; he’s an extra named by Maester Aemon as he doles out jobs for the stewards.)

    2 – More Mark Gatiss is always a good thing. Always. And D&D really did get the long game right when they started mentioning the crown’s debts in Season 1 and particularly its debt to the Iron Bank of Braavos in Season 3. Well done, folks.

    3 – This does not necessarily mean Tycho Nestoris will not eventually head to the Wall, however. He may well still do that.

    4 – Mace Tyrell as the envoy to Braavos makes good sense. Gets more characters in the same place, takes a tertiary character and gives them more to do, and eliminates a useless character in Harys Swift, who is pointless.

    5 – It’s interesting – there are very few characters left who can say they’ve appeared in all five seasons. Meryn Trant is one of them! And he’s about the most minor of those that have survived five seasons. Crazy.

  79. thremnir,

    Doesn’t make logical sense. If the Iron Bank is going to remain an important part of the story for the next several seasons, it’s best to have one character represent the institution.

  80. So if Mace is taking the place of Harys Swyft – what does this tell us about who will be Hand of the King??

  81. Jared: The Kingsguard have been played down in the show, which is unfortunate,but absolutely understandable given time constraints.

    It makes sense. They’re meant to be considered more or less the King’s brute squad. So you need one recognizable one, and Meryn Trant fits well enough. The others are all just worth naming and nothing more. It’s not like they have a lot of personality in the books either.

  82. Pepi: This would add a dimension to his character, which I would welcome, because they pretty much turned him from an ambitious and proud (yet oafish) lord into a rug for everyone to walk upon.

    Yes, true, though some of that comes from his limited interaction in Season 4: Just about all of his scenes either involved his mother (the one who refers to him as the oaf in the first place) and Tywin Lannister (who didn’t take him seriously). So it may change a bit in the coming season, surely.

  83. Tyrion Pimpslap,

    That’s what I thought at first, but I’m not sure how well it would work, unless they plan on taking the show in a very different direction.

    Lancel would have to have relations with Cersei again, get arrested, tortured and then somehow join the Faith Militant as a way out? The main deterrent for me is that I think Lancel is a great candidate for the Faith’s champion in Cersei’s trial by combat. And I can’t see him filling both roles. But speculation on my part isn’t really a concrete reason. If they did find an effective way to pull it off though, I’d be so on board. Cersei’s reaction to seeing a tortured Lancel making the confession that ultimately does her in could indeed be powerful
  84. Nymeria Warrior Queen: Nevertheless, there are certain elements of Mercy

    I don’t think there is any way they will keep in the show.

    All they have to do is

    have her flirt with him/offer sex… they don’t have to go as far as in the chapter to get the idea across.
  85. Hey, can anyone spot Michael Slovis, Mark Mylod, Jeremy Podeswa, Miguel Sapochnik or David Nutter there? If we spot the director, we can know where this scene is placed in Season 5. My best guess is that the guy next to the cameraman in some of the pictures is David Nutter, which would place this in episode 9 or 10. Then again… I’m pretty bad at this. Is there anyone good with faces, who would be able to recognize these directors? I clearly see Dan Weiss, but not the director.

  86. Lion of Night,

    Lancel fucking lannister. That’s who.

    But since we have yet to hear any news of that actor…..
    maybe they cut to the chase and roll up with incest charges! (Not cousin fucking, but she was the wristed sister- she could just as easily be accused and tried as a brother-lover…
    The main problem with this scenario is the legitimacy of king Tommen.
    I wouldn’t put it past DnD though
  87. Annara Snow: All they have to do is

    Agreed. I wasn’t implying they wouldn’t keep the overall idea, just that, as I said, there were certain elements of it which would not be included.

  88. Lion of Night,

    Maybe Olyvar?

    The actor is returning. He’s a LF employee/spy, as was Kettleblack in the books and in S3 he was infiltrated in the Tyrell “party” (the episode where he seduced Loras). He’s prettier than Meryn Trant and more believable to seduce Margaery. Other than that, what will the actor do this season? We no longer have Oberyn to justify random brothel scenes.
  89. Sister Kisser,
    Well until she’s proven guilty

    Tommen doesn’t have to worry about anything

    also i wouldn’t have put it past GRRM to put a

    vengeful zombie

    in the books either but yet he did .

  90. Oh my – I didn’t realize the sample chapter was about Arya, if I’d known that I would have found the site earlier! I now know who Mercy is. I am also now relieved that after all this time Martin still knows how to write. I did not want that to end! I did not catch it that her character was playing Sansa – obviously the dwarf was a stand in for Tyrion, but I missed the Sansa connection. As for the ending – I had no trouble assuming that she changed her face and then went off to House of BW.
  91. Jared,

    Ser Florian

    I think you’re right and it will depend on how larger part WIllas could come to play. I quite liked the interaction between Loras and Jaime and how Jaime tried to mould him into a more honourable knight than he was and also having the similarity of joining the Kingsguard under false pretences. Show Loras has become a bit of a joke though so may be best if they just have him offed by Victarion or Euron if that storyline comes to pass as Jaime wouldn’t really be in KL much this season for him to interact with anyway. It’s a shame that more prominence hasn’t been given to how awesome the Kingsguard used to be and what they have degenerated into but I guess that could be done if they ever want to make a spin off/prequel.
    On the Kettleback replacement. It has to be Lancel surely?
  92. It makes sense now why they decided to make Mace Tyrell into a bumbling pushover. They’re giving him

    Harys Swyft’s

    role in the story! This works on so many levels for the purpose of adaptation.

    It removes the need for the Dareon subplot, devoting less time to Sam’s voyage and giving Arya’s first personal kill more impact-killing a kings guard would likely impress the kindly man enough to move her training forward (blind girl). It kills off a recognizable kings guard for Cersei to replace via Robert Strong. By placing the Mercy kill earlier in her story, you won’t have book fans complaining too much about not having the mummer troupe (which, regrettably, I do wish could have been part of the adaptation). And we get to keep Mark Gatiss around and probably get a glimpse at what may happen to Harys Swyft in TWoW.
  93. Boojam:
    It’s amazing that Ian Beattie made it to season 5 !
    It might be the smallest speaking role to appear in 5 seasons.

    It is. The only other non-starring cast members that appear(ed) in all five seasons are Julian Glover, Finn Jones and Kristian Nairn, and they had bigger roles for sure.

  94. Greatjon of Slumber,

    I hope they do keep the Sam/Dareon/Arya scenes basically the same as in the books. I seem to remember news a while ago about them casting some people who could be the two bravos threatening Sam, so I’m hopeful that at least that part is in, though there seems to be no sign of Sam at the Braavos set yet.

    My hope is that in the first few episodes, we have Arya arriving and beginning her training, while Sam deals with the election of the new LC. Mid season, we could have Sam’s journey to Braavos, betrayal by Dareon, assistance from Arya, and Arya’s killing of Dareon.

    Late season could be Arya’s first official assassination job (possibly introducing the face-swapping ability), and then the killing of Ser Meryn in place of Raff. I suspect that the Blind Beth phase will be eliminated or at least very compressed. The Faceless Men could take her killing of Dareon as an indication that she’s ready for her first job, and skip the blinding phase entirely.

    The blind training was interesting to me in the book, but in terms of plot, the major things it accomplished were:
    1) It helped her learn to control her warging abilities (which have not been revealed on the show yet at all)
    2) It revealed a bit of information about the situation at Hardhome, which may or may not make it into the show, and even if it is, it can be shown more directly because the show isn’t restricted by the POV structure.

    Potentially they could also merge the first killing job with the Mace/Trant situation, but I’m not sure exactly how they would pull that off.

    I always liked the scene of Arya killing Dareon, because Dareon was intended to be Yoren’s replacement as Night’s Watch recruiter, and he was a very poor replacement. It would be interesting if Sam mentioned to Arya that Dareon was supposed to be recruiting for the Night’s Watch because their previous recruiter never made it back from King’s Landing. That might give her a bit more personal reason to dislike Dareon, other than simply being a Night’s Watch deserter.

    Sam’s late season scenes could be his relationship with Gilly, and Aemon’s death, with his arrival at Oldtown at the end of the season (likely just seeing it in the distance, or arriving at a dock, to avoid casting various Citadel characters this season)

  95. ash:

    It’s not clear from the text who her character is supposed to be, but she definitely wasn’t playing Sansa. She has just one or two lines, she gets raped and murdered in the play, and her lines include “M’lord”, which means she’s playing a lowborn girl and “I’m still a maid!”, which no bride would tell to her husband in order to make him NOT have sex with her – for a Westerosi husband, it would only be an incentive, and a bride would be expected to be virgin. It’s possible that her friend Daena (if I remember her name correctly) was playing Sansa, if her role was bigger (Sansa would definitely be a bigger role in the play) while Lady Stork was probably playing Cersei. Mercy was playing a minor character, a lowborn girl who gets raped and murdered by Tyrion so the audience would see what a monster he is; she is either a made up character, or a character partially based on Shae – or rather, on what Shae claimed to be at Tyrion’s trial.
  96. Greenjones and Cian

    I’m somewhere between dancing a li’l jig and running around the house screaming, “wooo-hooo!!!”

    Back to Braavos, though, with each picture I’ve seen today, I’ve gotten more and more excited about the upcoming season! I’m not one who is against changes from the book, not if they work, and as I already said,

    I can’t wait for Trant to die.

    It’s

  97. Greenjones,

    erm yeah, if you see someone already tweeting it directly at me, feel free to not bring a lot of attention to that info in the future. 🙂

  98. gRiff,

    Saying it’s totally different than in the books is more than a stretch ,some details may be changed,some characters cut or merged but the overall journey will be the same and plus being different than the books at this point wouldn’t be a bad thing considering how full of filler the last two were,i know,i know,some people are tired of hearing me saying it but i just can’t help it .

  99. Greenjones:
    … if you think it will lead to another site snaking the scoop from under you.

    Well WiC is currently leading with an article about how Tyrion is still GRRM’s favourite character (exciting news huh?), so that’s one site at least that is unlikely to.

    Also YAY!

  100. Greatjon of Slumber,

    I actually found that element from ADWD pretty hokey to be honest, like let’s have this ramdom

    supernatural event with some weird stone men who can attack people for no reason

    not to mention the fact that they weren’t ever mentioned in the previous books which makes me think this is something Martin pulled from some of his ideas for a horror novel he never got to wrote(he has wrote a horror novel before as fas as i know) and he decided to put it in this book even though it makes no sense and he never explained what the hell was up with it .

  101. Annara Snow,

    Ah, ok thanks for the clarification I was just picking up from what others were thinking, and thought Id miss something

    I think the blinding needs to happen – aside from it being a perfect cliff hanger to end an episode with, the training she has during that time would be interesting to see (tho it could be shortned). And I really home we still have Daeron, and Sam and Gilly’s journey. I’d be really disappointed if they take that out.
  102. Can someone please explain to me how we’re all jumping to the conclusion that they’re speeding through Arya’s story line based off these photos? The only one I even see her in is the first one, where she’s talking to D.B. Weiss. Where are you guys getting this from? I don’t get it.

  103. They’re coming up with this based on increasingly reliable information from Patchface, a released chapter of TWOW and they way characters (Arya talking Trant, Mace being a bumbler and casting limitations) are being used so far in the series. It adds up pretty nicely if you have all the information and is not at all random leaps in logic.

  104. LukaNieto,

    Michael Slovis seems like he’d be the easiest to pick out, and I don’t see him in any of the photos. But I’m not sure where the director hangs out. Most of the photos are focused on a small section of set/actors.

    Auren,

    Olyvar makes a lot of sense to me. Perfect set up.

  105. Alejandro,

    I saw a couple/few people mentioning speeding through Arya’s storyline, but it didn’t seem to me to be more than that. Maybe they’re right, but I don’t necessarily that see it that way. We don’t know which episode they’re filing in the pictures, which would tell a lot. We can make educated, and I dare say probably correct guesses on

    who from the pictures she will be killing, and that does fit in with the Mercy chapter, insofar as it is an envoy from King’s Landing, but we don’t know which kill it will be…meaning whether it’s the first person she kills after her training begins, or what.
  106. With Mace Tyrell apparently taking Harys Swyft’s role, I’m a little more hopeful for Kevan Lannister’s return. However, as someone else stated, Mace could also be replacing Kevan as Hand of the King. I’m really going to be disappointed if this is the case.

  107. TaviColen123:
    Greatjon of Slumber,

    I actually found that element from ADWD pretty hokey to be honest, like let’s have this ramdom

    not to mention the fact that they weren’t ever mentioned in the previous books which makes me think this is something Martin pulled from some of his ideas for a horror novel he never got to wrote(he has wrote a horror novel before as fas as i know) and he decided to put it in this book even though it makes no sense and he never explained what the hell was up with it .

    I can see that opinion. And yet it felt to me just like a Herzog-style nightmare, and was really flipping out when reading it. Since Shireen had already been confirmed to have the affliction, albeit given as a child it doesn’t affect people the same way, I was good with it.

    Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    I’m with you folks here.

    To me it’s less a speeding through than it is a combination of that “Mercy” chapter and the likely excised killing of Dareon, who doesn’t feel like a necessary character in the scheme of things. So you have a similar, personalized situation with Arya/Trant, while another character tries to cope with the crown’s debts (which would happen anyway), and the whole thing (potentially) leads to her blinding. So it’s more combining chapters. You can still have her training, her unwillingness to let go of Needle, the Cat of the Canals stuff, and the rest.

    Either way, already super-excited for the Braavos storylines and anything related to Tyrion.

  108. They’re going for a very direct kind of poetic justice if

    Mercy happens to Meryn Trant at a Forel play…
  109. The comment system seems to be broken right now. Spoiler code doesn’t work, I can’t edit my posts, and I don’t see the comment tool bar with things like block quote. Anybody else has that problem?

  110. These are set pictures, so they sould be more “transparent” than Lena Heady’s “Stoneheart” pic which ended up being some heavy trolling by her. But how reliable are we in predicting plotlines based on pictures? How many of these predictions from past seasons turned out to be true? I’m new in this, but surely there were leaked photos during filming before…

  111. Fjordgazer,

    Fairly reliable. Of curse people get things wrong, but if you are really into the material and know all the information that is out there a picture can tell you a lot.
    The high time for that is when the first short scenes from real footage come out, of curse. We have people (like me) who make it their mission to analyse these tit bits frame by frame. 😉

  112. BTW, Mace Tyrell is a well-dressed man!

    Ha! In the books Tyrion once comments how Olenna’s golden dress (at the PW I think) must weigh as much as she does. I guess Mace is going for the same effect here.

  113. Kevin,

    Oooooh. So you guys think Meryn Trant will replace Raff the Sweetling? I think it is far more likely he will replace Daeron. They’ve got way too much Feast and Dance material to get through. No way they’re getting into TWOW stuff so quickly. They’ll give Feast and Dance the attention those books deserve. They won’t just gloss over them like that.

  114. Alright, this is making me really want to read the Mercy chapter now, even though I WAS going to wait till the book actually come out…

    Also, if they do have this in this season, what will she do next season? Even more rushing through the books too fast.

  115. Alejandro,

    He replaces Raff the Sweetling in that he’s guarding the envoy from King’s Landing and he’s actually on Arya’s kill list. He’s likely replacing Dareon in terms of the impact his death will have on Arya’s training
  116. Honestly, it’s a little too soon for this scene… they had a lot more material to do before. The chapter in the book was chilling, it seemed like a turning point for Arya, it was the first time I really felt there was no happy ending for her.

  117. wizardeyes:
    Tiny nit-pic – Surely Mace would bring Tyrell guards rather than Lannister ones?

    I have to admit – that was my first thought:
    What the hell are Lannister guards doing with Mace Tyrell – and where are the Tyrell ones.

    They did show Tyrell soldiers before in the show.

  118. TaviColen123:
    Alejandro,

    What too much chapters ? Arya has like 6 chapters combined from both books and those can be resolved in like 4 episodes .

    Not so sure about that.

    It’s a little bit like Bran’s last chapter, the Arya ones in Braavos cover a large timespan.

    Decomposing it on screen (Jaqen + Braavos streets + Iron Bank + training + assignments + new faces + personal killings + going blind… if we ever get all that) will take more than 4 episodes imo.

  119. Fedejru,

    Don’t start that Kreminology now, please. This kind of stuff had us all convinced that a “bong” note on a music score and an Instagram pic from Lena Headey were significant. 🙂 🙂 🙂

  120. Just ruminating on the timing thing and the fact that we’re already in TWOW material; a couple of thoughts.

    1. If I recall correctly, in one interview GRRM indicated that a couple of Arya chapters, at one point intended for ADWD, were ‘on the cutting room floor’ so to speak ie; they wouldn’t be shunted into TWOW and were just gone. Does anyone else recall that or am I misremembering? If that were the case, then presumably D&D could draw on them for the show.

    2. Is it beyond the realms of possibility that the whole Greyjoy arc, going back to the start of AFFC, could be shunted into S6?

  121. thremnir: 1. If I recall correctly, in one interview GRRM indicated that a couple of Arya chapters, at one point intended for ADWD, were ‘on the cutting room floor’ so to speak ie; they wouldn’t be shunted into TWOW and were just gone. Does anyone else recall that or am I misremembering? If that were the case, then presumably D&D could draw on them for the show.

    What I remember is George saying something about writing the Mercy chapter a long time ago , like before he had written Feast and Dance…
    Like any writer he has , he says, discarded and rewritten chapters many times for all his books.

    By the by, from elsewhere, GRRM gave the Mercy chapter to D&D before season 3, which is maybe why

    we see the Polliver scene structured as it is. Which makes me wonder is they will really repeat the kind of dialog, seems the only scene of Arya with Trant is in season one with Syrio there is one line there to repeat, but not much else.

    By the by, Mercy gave me the impression that Arya was older , after all GRRM had wanted that ‘5 year’ gap… she seemed to no only act differently but also think like a more mature person, as if she was 17. Then Maisie is 17! She is going to be a short person, but even last season , even dressed in that costume, she did not look like a child to me anymore.

  122. Arkash,

    I agree. There’s so much going on in Arya’s chapters in Feast and Dance. D&D could have made Arya sail to Braavos basically in the beginning of season 4, but they decided to prolong her adventures with the Hound. I liked those two together, but

    I really hope it didn’t cause them having to condense Arya’s FM training storyline too much.

    Awesome pics, Braavos looks amazing! 😀

    I’m hoping we’ll get some Tom Wlaschiha / Jaqen news soon, I *need* to know if he’s really coming back!
  123. Since we are not really big on deleting comments here, why is the number of comments dropping? IIRC it was up to 194 at on point and is now back to 188. Has it something to do with the ping back feature? I’m asking, because it seems to me that the ping back “comments” appear and disappear randomly in the thread.

  124. Im hoping and expecting Arya to feature heavily in Season 5. She appeared in 9 episodes in Season 1, 2 and 3 but only 6 in Season 4 (mainly because they obviously wanted her to leave for Braavos in the finale so they had to slow things down for her)

    Hopefully she is in 8-9 episodes next season which is possible. Episode 1 will be her arrival in Braavos and then they could easily spent plenty of time with her doing training, scenes with Jaqen, Waif, learning how to lie, and spy etc. Then they could end her season with her killing Meryn Trant and going blind

    It just dont want them to have her have one or two scenes with Jaqen and suddenly become a great assassin. Sansa’s transformation in Season 4 was pretty quick but this is completely different. We need to atually see her learning how to do certain things

  125. Alejandro,

    But they’ve said time and again – including AFTER they finished writing Season 5 – that they’re wrapping the show up in 7 seasons. Especially if they cut out major storylines from the books, as we already know they will be – such as Quentyn, Arianne (likely), the Griffs and the Greyjoys (seems more and more likely with each passing day), LSH, the siege of Riverrun – a lot of these things seem to be on the cutting room floor, for better or for worse. So Arya’s relatively thin storyline could easily move well into her TWOW material, and if they want to wrap up in 7 seasons, perhaps it should, especially if books 6 and 7 are massive, action-packed books like A Storm of Swords like we keep getting hinted they are.

  126. This affects Cersei’s storyline as well.

    If

    Meryn Trant dies, they need a new member of the Kingsguard – Robert Strong…
  127. outdoorcats: But they’ve said time and again – including AFTER they finished writing Season 5 – that they’re wrapping the show up in 7 seasons.

    However HBO has not green lighted season 7 yet, not that they should.
    One interesting thing, HBO announced , about a month ago, that the weekly viewing average was greater than 18 million (that seems to be only the US viewers, never know the world wide)… and HBO did so well that Time Warner’s stock climbed enough so that Rupert Murdoch proposed take over got not only a hostile reaction from TW but Murdock’s own stock holders pounded him so badly he aborted the bid.
    So GOT may have (at least HBO) saved TW’s bacon.
    So I wonder if GOT pushes over 20 million this year, what the heck TW might do?
    They may want 8 seasons of GOT? I think there is some flex there, it would mean offering a King’s Ransom [so to speak 🙂 ] to D&D and cast and production staff for new contracts , but they may have the war chest to do it.

  128. Boojam: However HBO has not green lighted season 7 yet, not that they should.

    So I wonder if GOT pushes over 20 million this year, what the heck TW might do?
    They may want 8 seasons of GOT? I think there is some flex there, it would mean offeringa King’s Ransom [so to speak ] toD&D and cast and production staff for new contracts , but they may have the war chest to do it.

    I’ve been wondering for a while what the rationale of HBO was to green light seasons 5 & 6, but not a 7th.

    I think it is to have some leeway with the final season(s). If season 5 flops badly (which I don’t think is likely, even if the show will probably start losing popularity at some point), the show runners will be given the opportunity to wrap the thing up in season 6. If the numbers continue to soar, they may further increase the budget for season 7 or have extra episodes for it, depending on whatever the story needs – even an 8th season.

  129. I’d still like to see a return of Kevan (recast or otherwise), but combining Mace Tyrell and Harys Swift is a great adaptation choice that hadn’t crossed my mind but makes a lot of sense.

    You have two characters with a similar “power level” who are both characterized as arrogant bumblers- why not combine them into one?

    I mean yes, it makes for some changes to Mace’s character (he was a bit more on the ball in the books and more suspicious of the Lannisters), but I still think the change is pretty organic.

  130. it is an alias used by Arya in Bravoos, and the title of one of her chapters in the upcoming ‘Winds of Winter’. Mercy is short for ‘Mercedene’.

  131. Even though he is the head of the Tyrell house, he didn’t actually bring any Tyrell guards with him- the Lannister men are there because they are the main men-at-arms in the Red Keep, owing to Cersei and Tywin having been stationed there. If there are any Tyrell guards they will be with Loras and Margarey, not Mace. Eddard Stark brought his own men with him when he was Hand, partly because it is a northern tradition to bring your own men with you, and because he had them for extra security during Robert’s tourney. As Meryn Trant is also a Lannister lackey, the Lannister guards are par for the courcse.

  132. bungofbungs,

    Yeah, that’s true and reflects something from the books that is a bit odd, but not coincidental.

    Although one would expect the royal guard to be neutral or else Baratheon sympathizers, they seem to overwhelmingly be Lannister lackeys (with the exception of Mandon Moore who is a probable Littlefinger lackey).

    It seems to symbolize Robert’s ineffectualness and the Lannister power coupled with the fact that all of the Baratheon-loyal knights were with Stannis and Renly.

    And in terms of the Tyrells, the reason why Loras joined the Kingsguard was in part so that Margaery would be able to trust at least one of the knights assigned to protect her.

  133. I want to see

    Mace Tyrell with the Black Pearl attending the Bloody Hand!!!

    that would be awesome…
    I will cross my fingers…

  134. Arkash,

    But even so,they resolved most of Sansa’s plotline from AFFC in one episode,what makes you think it’s going to take that long for Arya ?

  135. Boojam,

    I doubt it, HBO are not money whores like AMC where they keep milking something for the ratings cough*Better Caul Saul,Walking Dead spinoff cough*,even the Sopranos ended after six seasons,well technically it was 7 because the last one was split in two but either way if the showrunners tell them it’s time to hang the rope they are willing to do it .

  136. TaviColen123,

    Arya’s storyline involves a lot of training/lessons (lying, spying, learning Braavosi etc) , she is given a few assignments and has to develop into an assassin. That is not something that can happen in one or two episodes. Sansa’s transformation involved her telling a lie to someone and ‘manipulating’ Littlefinger which is a lot simplier

  137. I’m so excited with Arya storyline in S5. I really expected WoW material. Arya chapter in WoW is her best chapter in all the books, for me.

    And any Bran news yet? So sad.

  138. TheTouchOfFrost:

    I don’t think Arya is ever going to become some kind of expert assassin, either in the books or show. we’re probably looking at a smart killer, who knows tricks and feints, rather than some ninja-type.
  139. Hodorkovski,

    Greenlighting season 5 and 6 simultaniously was done most likely to secure budgets, contracts and salaries. S5 and 6 will probably have the same budget. Nothing for S7 yet because it will be very expensive, I can see HBO going all the way for the final season, increasing the budget quite a bit. Also, it could be that it will consist of more than 10 episodes to be split into 2 parts.

  140. Boojam: Remember they don’t shoot in sequence, this could be a for a scene in episode that does not happen until 9 or 10.
    Also they know they have season 6 , but shooting this early is not usually done.
    Tho , apparently, if I remember right, Kate Dickie shot short scenes during season 3 production which were not used, but not sure they were used in season 4?

    I don’t know that they are speeding it up that much either.

    Whereas most people might have guessed that Arya’s storyline would have ended this season on the assassination of the insurer, who says that is even happening? Perhaps the Meryn Trant / Mace Tyrell action replaces that? I doubt Arya ever goes to Izembaro, for example, etc. Things are likely to get moved around. Simply cutting most of her training would feel jilted and strange.
    Game of Thrones’ weakness already as a show is an ability to hit the small moments and character development. I sincerely hope they are accelerating even faster — it’s going to be like the Harry Potter movies. Hit the plot points but somehow miss the soul. But while they’ve moved fast so far, they haven’t done it too fast yet. So I’m hopeful they won’t botch this by skipping why Arya being at the House of Black and White is important to Arya just to race to a kill.
  141. Chloe:
    Could they be filming both S5 e S6 simultaniously?

    I think that’s extremely unlikely. Theoretically it might be more efficient, but Benioff and Weiss have repeatedly mentioned how producing just 10 episodes of Game of Thrones takes them almost 52 weeks per year, and taxes both them and their crew to their absolute limits. I don’t see them voluntarily creating more work for themselves when there’s no real need to do so. The only exception that I could envision would be if they knew that they were only going to need to shoot say, one scene in Sibenik for Season 6. Then they might decide to just shoot it alongside Season 5 rather than bring the entire production team back to that city for such a short period of time. But I doubt that’s the case.

  142. Shitmouth: Has anyone heard anything about whether or not a certain cheesemonger will make an appearance this season?

    George did such a good job with Braavos, as whacky and colorful as Naples (even if the setting is Venice). The Braavosi characters are something else, The Black Pearl,
    the show puts Salladhor Saan there, lots of weird and whacky things going on at the dock yards of Braavos. There is the loopy Sealord deal , while seem the Iron Bank and the Faceless Men are the real powers there. Much more fun than Kings Landing!

  143. OT: Since we’re all talking about Meryn Trant, it’s only fitting to use this thread to report a potential piece of news about perhaps his most famous victim. Our own Hear Marko Roar just retweeted this, but it looks like Syrio Forel has resurfaced! Unfortunately for Arya, he’s far away from both Westeros and Braavos. Far, far away as it turns out.

    http://www.movieweb.com/star-wars-7-cast-miltos-yerolemou

    First Gwendoline, now Miltos. I’m getting the sense that the people working on Star Wars might just be Game of Thrones fans 🙂 And to be fair, it isn’t that much of a leap to go from saying “What do we say to death? Not today.” to “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

  144. Chloe,

    Nothing yet.
    Isaac’s in Venice Film Festival and Kristian’s still DJing.
    Either they haven’t started yet or they’ve already finished.

  145. Considering how much their young actors are growing and aging, It would make a lot of sense to film some of season 6 at the same time with 5. But I can see how they can’t, timewise.

  146. ash,

    Filming two season at once will not happen. As you said, it’s just not possible with the time frame the show has. Besides, I don’t see the younger actors getting older as a problem. People get older and sometimes you can see them change physical doing that. The show is never very clear about the time that has past since season 1. I think it’s totally believable that real world time and show time are about the same. A lot has happen in the aired 40 episodes.

  147. outdoorcats,

    This idea that 7 seasons is a 100% set in stone for sure thing is a myth that’s gone out of control. Yes Dan and Dave have said in several interviews that they’re hoping for 7 seasons, (when pushed by the interviewer to spit out a number), but they have also said 7 or 8 seasons in certain interviews, and even 8 or 9 seasons once (though granted that was a while back). Nothing has been confirmed, no deal has been put into place, and the fact is they don’t actually know how many seasons they will really need yet. I would say based on the pace that the show has taken thus far, that the 7 seasons ship has already sailed. They could only pull it off if they short changed Feast and Dance, and I’ve seen no indication that they plan to do that. They have always given all the source material the attention it deserves even when they change a bunch of stuff. They will do Feast and Dance and maybe dabble a bit into TWOW in Season 5, and then see what material they have left and how many more seasons they’ll need, which I think will have to be at least 8.

  148. Alejandro,

    Wow, don’t be naive. They’ve said time and time again and CONFIRMED that it’s a 7 season plan. If they would say that after writing season 5, I’m pretty sure they KNOW.

  149. TaviColen123,

    Walter Harrow,

    I agree completely that they will need more than four episodes to do Arya’s story line, especially if they want to do it right. And since Arya will not appear in every episode (no one ever does) I could see them taking all of Season 5 just to do her Feast material alone. Remember, they can always add extra show invented filler to make it last longer. That is what they did for Arya last year with that whole story arc with the Hound. If they wanted to speed through her story, they could have sent her to Braavos after episode 1. But they chose instead to invent the Hound stuff in order to keep her from getting too ridiculously ahead of everyone else. So why would they bother doing that if they were just going to race through her Feast and Dance stuff in four episodes? It wouldn’t make any sense.

  150. Abyss,

    One of the things that was never clear to me in either the books or the show was how much time passed. I used to think that the time in the show met our real time, but there are too many scenes where someone mentions an incident that happened several seasons ago as if it were a few weeks ago. Sometimes in the book you could figure how much time passed by pregnancies and conversations that mention things like 18 years after the revolt, but its still confusing. Doesn’t take away from my enjoyment but I do wonder. And yeah, I do think people notice the age change, esp in Isaac. Its not just the bodies – their faces change form. But maybe most people don’t notice. After all, Mary Pickford played a little girl when she was well into her 20s. I wonder if there is a link that shows the time line and ages of characters.

  151. @ash:

    For book readers, the wiki is very useful on keeping track of time. The events of AGOT started on early/mid 298 after Aegon’s Conquest, Joffrey’s wedding is exactly at the turn of the century into 300 AC, and you can take it from there. All of AFFC and ADWD happens during 300 AC, and all the events of the series have covered roughly 3 years.

  152. ash,

    But that the age change is noticeable is exactly what people shouldn’t care about, imo. I’m sure they notice it, but the same thing can happen in real life. A few month go by and suddenly the little kid you met has become a teenager and looks the part. 😉

  153. In the Tv series’ case, i think we can assume that one season= one year is not a long shot. That would put to rest all of the jokes about LF’s jetpack or Yara’s seemingly turbine-propulsed ships.

  154. Hodorkovski: I think it is to have some leeway with the final season(s). If season 5 flops badly (which I don’t think is likely, even if the show will probably start losing popularity at some point), the show runners will be given the opportunity to wrap the thing up in season 6. If the numbers continue to soar, they may further increase the budget for season 7 or have extra episodes for it, depending on whatever the story needs – even an 8th season.

    The show has almost reached the point of being critic- and review-proof, to be honest. The condensation of two books into one season (largely) gives the writers lots to chew on – and the plotlines of the Wall/North, Braavos, Essos, King’s Landing, Dorne and whatever it is Sansa will be doing are more than enough to sustain Season 5. Its popularity continues to increase at a ridiculous degree.

    The reason they don’t tend to renew shows past a season is just as a way of managing costs and not looking too far into the future in terms of a budget. After Season 6, they’ll have greater clarity as to whether it will indeed wrap up in Season 7 or it will go to an 8th, or some sort of long season 7 with 12-14 episodes or something.

  155. Alejandro,

    They never said 9 seasons,stop lying or talking out of your ass ! Also they know how the series ends you don’t,they think they will be able to end it in 7 seasons,you don’t,who is right here ?

  156. Fjordgazer:
    In the Tv series’ case, i think we can assume that one season= one year is not a long shot. That would put to rest all of the jokes about LF’s jetpack or Yara’s seemingly turbine-propulsed ships.

    My estimate for the TV series was one season = 6 months. So by Season 4 about 2 years have passed. If the series does end at 7 seasons, the story timeframe would be between three-and-a-half and four years.

    I’m not sure why the show insists Jaime and Cersei are 40 years of age. Back in Season 2, Tyrion mentioned Cersei becoming queen at 19, so when the show begins she’s about 36. After Season 4 she and Jaime are technically 38, yet “Two Swords” makes them 2 years older. Eh, who knows.
  157. Flora Linden: My estimate for the TV series was one season = 6 months. So by Season 4 about 2 years have passed. If the series does end at 7 seasons, the story timeframe would be between three-and-a-half and four years.

    I’m not sure why the show insists Jaime and Cersei are 40 years of age. Back in Season 2, Tyrion mentioned Cersei becoming queen at 19, so when the show begins she’s about 36. After Season 4 she and Jaime are technically 38, yet “Two Swords” makes them 2 years older. Eh, who knows.

    Two years does sound like a good estimate for how much time has passed since the show started. There have only been a few indicators of how much time has passed in the show, and while they’re helpful, they’re not definitive. In “Winter is Coming”, Cersei asks Sansa how old she is, and Sansa says that she’s 13. By the time that she’s married to Tyrion in “Second Sons”, she’s 14, so presumably around a year has passed. When discussing his captivity with Brienne in Season 3 , Jaime claims that he was chained to a post for “nearly a year” (when discussing it with Tyrion in Season 4, he claims it was “months”). When Daenerys is treating with the Masters from Yunkai in Season 3, she claims that “a year ago I had no dragons”. So, most likely, at least a year elapsed between the start of the series and the events of Season 3, and probably a bit more. Add on however long the events of Season 4 took (probably a few weeks for King’s Landing – less certain for other storylines) and you get a bit less than two years, but given the ambiguity, I have no problems with rounding up.

    As you say, Jaime and Cersei being 40 seems like it could be inconsistent with Tyrion’s assertion that Cersei became Queen at 19. By show canon, it’s confirmed that 17 years passed between the end of Robert’s Rebellion and the death of Jon Arryn, so if we take your estimate that the four Seasons of Game of Thrones took place over 2 years, Jaime and Cersei would indeed be 38. So it could be a continuity error. However, the only evidence via dialogue that I can recall us being given that Jaime is 40 came when Joffrey mocked him for being “a 40 year-old knight with one hand”. Given that Joffrey’s intent was to insult his uncle/father, it’s possible that he rounded Jaime’s age up for effect, or else he just doesn’t care enough to remember Jaime’s exact age (which would certainly be consistent with what we know of Joffrey’s character).

    But yeah, while it’s interesting to think about, it’s ultimately kind of silly to be debating the passage of time by conventional standards in a world where seasons can last for years. It really doesn’t matter too much for the show’s purposes. 😉

  158. Jared,

    The Jaime/Cersei age thing just struck me because in Season 1 Tywin tells Jaime he still has his youth, then in “Two Swords” he says he’s forty and implying he’s becoming over-the-hill, even though not that much time has passed. After reading your analysis, Tywin’s seeming change in attitude probably has more to do with Tywin feeling the pressure to establish the Lannister legacy (and maybe Tywin was facing his own sense of mortality?) before the crap hits the fan.

    Really good point about Joffrey – those gaffes and insults would definitely be expected of his character, wouldn’t it?

    But you’re right, two years is not a big deal. No problem and doesn’t get in the way of my enjoying the show.

    🙂

  159. Flora Linden,

    I would guess somewhere between 2 and 3 years for the whole series (so far), with season 1 being the longest season.

    At the beginning of episode 1, Cersei & Jaime were in King’s Landing for Jon Arryn’s funeral, and a bit later in the episode, they were in Winterfell after a month long journey. They stayed in Winterfell for a while after Bran’s fall, then traveled (presumably another month) back to King’s Landing, arriving at the beginning of episode 3.

    Daenerys got married, got pregnant and had a (stillborn) baby all within season 1 as well. I would guess about a year for season 1 in total.

    Jaime was supposedly imprisoned for “months” or “nearly a year”. I’ll guess maybe 8-9 months of imprisonment would probably seem like “nearly a year”, given the conditions he was in.

    I would guess maybe 4-5 months for season 3, though I can’t really remember any specific time references to judge it by.

    I would guess about 3 months total for season 4. Probably 1 to 1.5 months in the first 2 episodes, and 1.5 to 2 months for the rest, since I can’t really see them dragging out Tyrion’s trial much longer than that. Tywin seemed quite impatient about holding more weddings, though adding a trial by combat after Tyrion’s original court trial probably delayed things a bit, to summon Gregor to King’s Landing.

    That would put it at about 2 years 4 months total by my rough guess.

  160. Casso,

    I think it is close to 2 years total (maybe a little under) so far in the TV series.
    Season 1 being longest like you said since we can use Daenerys’s pregnancy as a time marker.

    Then another marker we can use is Lollys’s pregnancy with Tyrion Waters. That takes us from Episode 2×01 when Lollys was raped at Joffrey’s 13th Name Day and Tyrion was born just after Tywin’s funeral (even if the events surrounding her pregnancy have not been mentioned on the show yet) which will take place next season.. So something less than 9 months for the last 3 seasons. I’m not sure how much time passed between Season 1 and Season 2 though.

  161. Darquemode:
    Casso,

    Then another marker we can use is Lollys’s pregnancy with Tyrion Waters. That takes us from Episode 2×01 when Lollys was raped at Joffrey’s 13th Name Day and Tyrion was born just after Tywin’s funeral (even if the events surrounding her pregnancy have not been mentioned on the showyet) which will take place next season.. So something less than 9 months for the last 3 seasons. I’m not sure how much time passed between Season 1 and Season 2 though.

    Lollys wasn’t raped on Joffrey’s Name Day, it was during the King’s Landing riots (after Myrcella was sent to Dorne), which happened in 2×06. The Battle of the Blackwater was very soon after the riot (Sansa’s nightmare about the riot was in the next episode, and according to her conversation with Cersei during the battle, her “red flower” was still blooming), so almost all of the time spend during Season 2 was in the first half of the season (Catelyn’s travels, Littlefinger’s travels, etc). This means that Lollys’ pregnancy (if the show includes it at all) would have started very near the end of season 2’s time line, which seems to fit with a 7-8 month time span for seasons 3 & 4 combined.

  162. IMHO, it’s totally pointless to count the time Show-wise, because the showrunners don’t seem to care all that much about time continuity. That’s partly why i said “1 year = 1 season is not a long shot”, i meant to say it’s best to shrug off the issue. Anyway, Casso’s estimations seem very well thought.

    Darquemode:
    Then another marker we can use is Lollys’s pregnancy with Tyrion Waters.

    Not for the sake of correcting you, because “Waters” would seem logical & i had imagined the same, but Lollys’ bastard is actually named Tyrion Tanner: it’s in AFFC appendix. Apparently “Tanner” implies further shame, and reflects that the boy is a bastard born of rape in King’s Landing’s Tanner street (is such street ever mentioned?).

    I hadn’t known that bit of info at the time of airing , so it stroke me as odd that some baseborn Kingslander scum like show-only character Karl “the fookin’ legend” Tanner had some sort of surname. Now i know where the writers chose it from.

  163. Casso,

    That’s what I get for not looking up events and going by memory! XD
    In my mind I combined Joff’s nameday and the riots I guess.. Ooops.

    I’m not sure the show will use the pregnancy and rape either, but it can still help form a timeline for the Series. Even if the show does rearrange some events I think the overall timeline has been fairly consistent with the books. My guess would be more vague somewhere over 2 years but under 2.5 years for sure. It’s so hard to narrow things down sine GRRM avoids timeline information, but I’m good with the estimate of yours (2 years and 4 months could be accurate for all I know).

    Fjordgazer,

    Thanks!
    I forgot that he was a Tanner… If I recall Didn’t Bronn name him that since Lollys was raped by a tannery? Maybe I read that somewhere other than in the books….

    I need a re-read of the last two books, but was planning on waiting until after this season of GOT. Trying to avoid recalling more book details I can contrast to the series etc…

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