GAME OF THRONES

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[Jay 46,244]

Right.... so I guess an 8 season plan ultimately makes sense after all. 4 seasons for the original 3 bloat-free books, and 4 seasons for the 4 post-success bloaty books

[Brónach 1,330]

These days I find the saga far too extensive to get into it, not to mention unfinished. I have a fondness for self-contained novels. Or even self-contained stories feauturing one or several of the same characters.

[A24 5,156]

Episode six (S2) was not very good. I don't know his name but he has to kill a ginger Wildling but, of course, he can't find it in his heart to kill a woman (meh!). The problem for me was, while everyone else has that Fantasy, parallel world, medieval thing going for them, the actress that played the ginger Wildling felt way too contemporary and thus not belonging in that fantasy era.

Rest me to say that the dragon girl (believable appearance) really has a nice face. Did anyone notice that already? ( )

Alex

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[Quintus 6,496]

Jon Snow is a total pussy in season 2. He irritated me; a shame since he was a firm favourite in the first season. Hopefully he's less of a soft touch in the third.

[A24 5,156]

True. But I'm not sure if it's due to the way the actress plays the character, or the way the character is written. Might be a bit of both.

Maybe ... but she felt wrong from the very first frame. I think I remember her from a film I recently watched and maybe that's the reason. On the other hand, Chris Finch from The Office is not someone of whom you think he'll make a convinceable GOT character and yet it took me a while before I recognized the man.

[Quintus 6,496]

Finch is actually a prominent ad voice over artist as well here.

Lee - who just realised this is isn't the tv thread.

[Brónach 1,330]

I'm thinking I wish they'd made Dany lose her hair at the end of the first season.

(lose or loose? dammit)

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[oierem 248]

Thinking more pragmatically now... You know, it's entirely possibly that when reading Book 3, the producers saw many areas they would want to expand for the television show, such as more elaborate battles and such, and it made sense to them that splitting it into 2 seasons made the most sense.

Conversely, maybe when they read books 4 and 5 they thought there was a lot of filler that wouldn't need to be included in the show at all, so they won't have to be split like Book 3 was.

So maybe their 8 season plan is:

2011, Season 1 = Book 1, A Game Of Thrones (704 pages)

2012. Season 2 = Book 2, A Clash Of Kings (768 pages)

2013. Season 3 = First half of Book 3, A Storm Of Swords (992/2 = 496 pages)

2014, Season 4 = Second half of Book 3, A Storm Of Swords (992/2 = 496 pages)

2015, Season 5 = Bouncing between Book 4, A Feast For Crows and Book 5, A Dance With Dragons ([753+1056]/2 = 905 pages)

2016, Season 6 = Bouncing between Book 4, A Feast For Crows and Book 5, A Dance With Dragons ([753+1056]/2 = 905 pages)

2017, Season 7 = Hopefully Book 6, The Winds Of Winter is published by then!

2018, Season 8 = Hopefully Book 7, A Dream Of Spring is published by then!

I guess luckily for them, the show is a big enough hit that if GRRMartin can't seem to finish Book 6 in time, they can expand the Book4/5 adaptation into Season 7 if they need to while waiting for him to finish it.

Let's clarify some aspects here:

-They will no longer be adapting one book into one or two seasons: they're treating the series as a big adaptation of the whole "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. If you read the books you'd see that they're are all closely related and you could split them differently (Martin's original plan was to make a trilogy! Which became a 4-part series, and later a 6-part series...)

-This season will NOT be one episode longer in lenght, that's something that was taken out of context. The first season episodes were about 56-58 minutes long. Season 2 episodes were more like 51-53 minutes. This year they will be again more like 56-58, no more. (and btw, the premier episode has been reported to be actually 54 minutes long).

-Season 3, therefore, is a flexible adaptation including some elements/characters from books 1-2 that were not introduced in the show. The basis of the season will be the first 2/3 of book 3, ASOS (we know pretty much where it will end). And actually, you will see something from book 5 this season as well. So it's a similar page number as in previous seasons.

-Season 4 will cover the rest of book 3 AND parts of the next two books, which happen simultaneously . The last third of book 3 focuses heavily on some of the storylines while missing anothers. Therefore, some storylines will need material from future books.

-As you say, the books are getting more bloated (and many fans believe that at this pace it will be impossible to end the saga in two more books!). However, the overall structure of the series goes like this: Act 1 (books 1-3), Act 2 or the transitional act (slower moving, less action pacted, books 4-5 and the beginning of 6), Act 3 (books 6-7-?).

-It's not known what will the producers do in the future. If they want to be realistic, they cannot expect a series which lasts for more than 8 seasons, and they should think about the overall structure of the series.There are A LOT of things that are still unwritten, the whole last act, which will need several seasons. On the other hand, books 4 and 5 have a very slow pacing and are not TV friendly AT ALL (which is not a criticism to the books): the logical thing to do would be to combine and compress those two books into a tight season. (and remember that season 4 will already contain some parts of both books).

So, my prediction:

Season 1: book 1

Season 2: book 2 (roughly)

Season 3: 2/3 of book 3.

Season 4: last third of book 3 +1/3 from books 4 and 5.

Season 5: the rest of books 4 and 5 (and even still, it will be a difficult season: some of the material from book 6 is needed to give the season a proper conclussion)

At that point, the series will probably catch up Martin and will have to go on without the books.

[Jay 46,244]

Well hopefully the show catching up to the novels will light a fire under his ass to finish books 6 and 7 and get them published.

Though realistically, even if he can get Book 6 out in 2014, his publisher probably wouldn't let Book 7 be published any time sooner than 2017..... and if they are truly only doing 8 seasons, that would mean season 8 would be written/filmed in 2017 and air in 2018..... so there MIGHT be JUST enough time for it all to work..... (The producers might have to work on a rough draft version of Book 7, though)

And pssst, I totally called earlier that Season 3 would be the first 2/3s of Book 3, and not the first 1/2 of book 3

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[Brónach 1,330]

Or GRRM could try not imitating Peter Jackson.

[Jay 46,244]

So maybe more like this, then?

2011, Season 1 = Book 1, A Game Of Thrones (704 pages)

2012. Season 2 = Book 2, A Clash Of Kings (768 pages)

2013. Season 3 = First two-thirds of Book 3, A Storm Of Swords (661 pages)

2014, Season 4 = Last third of Book 3, then first half of Book 4, A Feast For Crows mixed with first third of Book 5, A Dance With Dragons (331 + 377 + 352 = 1060 pages)

2015, Season 5 = The second half of Book 4, A Feast For Crows mixed with the middle third of Book 5, A Dance With Dragons (377 + 352 = 729 pages)

2016, Season 6 = The last third of Book 5 mixed with the beginning of Book 6, The Winds of Winter (??? pages)

2017, Season 7 = The rest of Book 6, The Winds Of Winter (??? pages)

2018, Season 8 = Book 7, A Dream Of Spring, assuming it's published by then.... otherwise, perhaps a unique non-GRRM approved ending to the story?

[oierem 248]

So maybe more like this, then?

2011, Season 1 = Book 1, A Game Of Thrones (704 pages)

2012. Season 2 = Book 2, A Clash Of Kings (768 pages)

2013. Season 3 = First two-thirds of Book 3, A Storm Of Swords (661 pages)

2014, Season 4 = Last third of Book 3, then first half of Book 4, A Feast For Crows mixed with first third of Book 5, A Dance With Dragons (331 + 377 + 352 = 1060 pages)

2015, Season 5 = The second half of Book 4, A Feast For Crows mixed with the middle third of Book 5, A Dance With Dragons (377 + 352 = 729 pages)

2016, Season 6 = The last third of Book 5 mixed with the beginning of Book 6, The Winds of Winter (??? pages)

2017, Season 7 = The rest of Book 6, The Winds Of Winter (??? pages)

2018, Season 8 = Book 7, A Dream Of Spring, assuming it's published by then.... otherwise, perhaps a unique non-GRRM approved ending to the story?

Yeah, that's more like it. However, I still see problems with that. As I said the last two novels (IF they are only two) will be as fast-paced as the first three

-they HAVE to be if Martin wants to finish the story in 7 books. It's impossible to predict how many seasons will they need, but for a balanced TV series, they cannot be compressed much.

-if you haven't read the books I don't want to spoil it for you... but I will tell you that your season 5 will be really boring and without any payoff. I would really put everything remining from books 4 and 5 into season 5 and it would still require some stuff from book 6 already.

-8 seasons may be too much? it's already longer than the lenght of the average HBO show.

I'm confident Book 6 will be released before the show catches up on the novels.

As for Book 7, well, that's when things are gonna get messy...

The show IS catching up on the novels. As we speak, season 4 is being written, and season 4 is already using parts of boks 4 and 5. A year from now they'll be hopefully working on season 5 and... they will already have a problem.

[Jay 46,244]

A year from now I'd imagine GRRM will have enough of Book 6 finalized that he can give a rough draft to the show makers and they can use that and while the show might end up having more details different than the books than usual, the major plot points should all be fine i'd imagine.

TWO years from now when they are trying to plan out season 6 is when they will have serious problems, I'd think

[Brónach 1,330]

GRRM isn't much of a planner but he has a rough idea, I guess.

[Jay 46,244]

I'm sure when he starting writing all this, he had a firm idea in mind who would finally end up king and what it would be like.

He's getting carried away in the details to get to that point, not going on longer than he should.

At least that's my understanding.

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[Incanus 5,890]

I hope he'll play a character who looks like an old bearded crusty fat and retired sailor, who sits in his chair with his cap on and rambles on about some grand epic in a slightly annoying voice.

Oh wait...

[Quintus 6,496]

George on piracy: http://mobile.theverge.com/2013/3/21/4131644/game-of-thrones-author-george-r-r-martin-on-piracy-video-games-new-shows-hbo

[paleo 78]

A year from now I'd imagine GRRM will have enough of Book 6 finalized that he can give a rough draft to the show makers and they can use that and while the show might end up having more details different than the books than usual, the major plot points should all be fine i'd imagine.

TWO years from now when they are trying to plan out season 6 is when they will have serious problems, I'd think

You do realize that they have more time than this, given that they have started to only include half a book per season? Season 3 is only half of Storm of Swords, and given how huge book 5 looks on my nightsatnd, they will likely continue that way.

EDIT:

Nevermind, you talked about this above.

[A24 5,156]

With episodes 6 and 7, the series is losing my attention. The soapy element is getting too strong and things feel stalled.

[Quintus 6,496]

Season 2 had some really weak episodes which by the end of it had greatly reduced my interest in the show. Too many bullshit irritations, the whole Quarth thing in particular being completely useless imo. I'm hoping S3 is better focused.

[Jay 46,244]

Game of Thrones Star Gets His Ear Bitten Off

[Incanus 5,890]

The weirdos of this world...

I mean to bite off an ear because someone tells you to keep the volume down in your hotel room.

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[A24 5,156]

Finished S2 on Blu-ray and I just want to say that the most impressive image to me is when the dragon mother walks around whilst her children are sitting on her arm and shoulders.

Was very glad to see they knocked that Theon fella on the head. What a boring guy that was! Too bad they didn't kill that ginger Wildling girl too. She is so totally unconvincing.

The dwarf without power? Will be fun to see how he regains it.

Episode 9 must have been expensive!

Zombies? Come and see next year! (for that's when the Blu-ray of S3 is released in my region)

Alex

[Jay 46,244]

There was already zombies in season 1, Jon Snow fought one when they brought bodies in from north of the wall, and one of them came back to life in the middle of the night. I was kinda disappointed that the White Walker's basically ended up being zombies but maybe there will be more of an explanation later.

PS the "dragon lady" is Daenerys Targaryan.

[Incanus 5,890]

The White Walkers and the wights (zombies) are two different things. I do not know if this is made clear enough in the tv-series to a person who hasn't read the books but in the novel they are always clearly set apart.

[Jay 46,244]

Oh wow no, I've never heard the term "wights" before. I assumed from the show that if you are touched by a white walker north of the wall, and you die, you come back to life as a white walker. But now that you mention it, the zombie that Jon Snow fought was kind of dumb and slow, and in the prologue of the very first episode, the white walkers were very fast and liked to cut off heads.

(FYI I haven't seen season 2 yet)

[Quintus 6,496]

The White Walkers and the wights (zombies) are two different things. I do not know if this is made clear enough in the tv-series

It is. It is communicated and actually verbally explained between characters if you read between the lines.

Reading the first book afterwards, I also learned that the White Walkers aren't really referred to much as that at all in the book, the folk of the North tending to term them as "The Others", instead.

[Incanus 5,890]

Referring them as Others might have been viewed as copying Lost perhaps so they use the name White Walkers prominently in the show.

[Quintus 6,496]

Yeah that's actually the official explanation.

[Jay 46,244]

I like the name White Walkers much better anyway

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[Quintus 6,496]

I like the name White Walkers much better anyway

Definitely. The Others is generic interchangeable language.

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[Incanus 5,890]

Obviously we now have to kidnap some producers for some morsels of news on the plot of the upcoming parts of the novel series. They were foolish enough to let that slip.

[Jay 46,244]

Kinda weird at the point they are now (just staring to write season 4, which apparently mostly covers the second half of Book 3) that it would be THAT important what happens in Books 6 and 7.

I mean I get it - they don't want to skip over something that is only briefly mentioned in books 3-5 but is a huge factor in book 6 or 7 - but it seems to me like they are still a year or two away from the danger of that happening, and I imagine Book 6 will be out by then unless GRRMartin is so focused on the show and other things that he isn't even really writing much at all right now.

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[oierem 248]

Kinda weird at the point they are now (just staring to write season 4, which apparently mostly covers the second half of Book 3) that it would be THAT important what happens in Books 6 and 7.

They can say whatever they want, but the truth is that season 4 will have to use material from books 4-5, at least for some characters. And some characters have much less material than others in those books.

And here are all the episode titles of Season 3! Maybe that will give an idea of how much of the book is covered to people who read it.

Ep. 301 – Valar Dohaeris

Ep. 302 – Dark Wings, Dark Words

Ep. 303 – Walk of Punishment

Ep. 304 – And Now His Watch is Ended

Ep. 305 – Kissed by Fire

Ep. 306 – The Climb

Ep. 307 – The Bear and the Maiden Fair

Ep. 308 – Second Sons

Ep. 309 – The Rains of Castamere

Ep. 310 – Mhysa

I hope the last one isn't a reference to a Jar-Jar kind-of character...

Lol, it isn't a characters, it's a word in High Valyrian!

[Incanus 5,890]

Ahem I believe it is Low Valyrian actually...

[BloodBoal 8,711]

[oierem 248]

Ahem I believe it is Low Valyrian actually...

Sorry, Valyrian is not my first language...

[Brónach 1,330]

What if Europe was the world of Game of Thrones?

Funny, two friends of mine who read the books keep telling me that the Kingdom of Granada is just like Dorne. The joke has gone so far that now we constantly refer to all of Andalusia as "Dorne".

[Jay 46,244]

Wow. 24 hours since the season premiere and not a single post about it.... None of you guys has HBO?

[Incanus 5,890]

Nope, no HBO. And I completely forgot about this in the Easter holiday madness.

Ah well. Time to watch it tonight.