Season 5 Casting, News and Speculation V 10 [Spoilers]

[Konradsmith]

Boy! We really need some news or a new trailer.

We are reduced to a mêlée about past trailers!

There'll be at least one this month, so we should be fine.

[JonSnowed]

A 'big' death refers to a character of high importance... I can't see Sam qualifying as that. It's clearly Jon.

If Jon dies I'm going to be pretty peeved to be honest, in my mind he is crucial to the overal end of the story and I have never thought of him to be actually dead with his ADWD cliff hanger.

[Konradsmith]

If Jon dies I'm going to be pretty peeved to be honest, in my mind he is crucial to the overal end of the story and I have never thought of him to be actually dead with his ADWD cliff hanger.

People don't mean he'll die for good. They just mean For the Watch/Ides of Marsh.

[ADanceWithCats]

And what better way to translate that to the screen than depicting the complex relationship between Doran and Arianne?

Well, personally, I think that the relationship between Doran and Arianne is pretty atrocious, not complicated. He tells her nothing, she rebels, he gets brownie points for a big revelation, 'teaches her a lesson' and puts her in her place.

Jaime with the Sand Snakes could potentially have Jaime recognising that *he* failed as his daughter's father, especially next to Oberyn. If that happens, that'd be much more interesting, I think - I can't remember a single example of something like that happening in the books. Possibly because Martin himself is not a parent?

[Poète Lauréat]

If Jon dies I'm going to be pretty peeved to be honest, in my mind he is crucial to the overal end of the story and I have never thought of him to be actually dead with his ADWD cliff hanger.

Well he is Azor Ahai, unless George put clues that exactly fit the requirements for no reason.

[AdmiralKyrd]

I'll need to revise this later. A lot of these times are going to be real close.

1.Jon
2.Cersei
3.Tyrion
4.Daenerys
5.Jaime
6.Theon
7.Jorah
8.Arya
9.Stannis
10.Sansa

Of Note:

Jorah gets a substantial time boost if he's with Tyrion.

Theon had the second most screentime in S2 when he was last in Winterfell.

[Mingolla]

The problem is we don't know if aegon is out.

Its not just sexy....its the vengeance part, the fact that they are very physical about their revenge which makes them good for TV, its what the show runners prefer to actual internal conflicts like Doran/Arianne. As evidenced by Jon actually going to crasters and hardhome as well as Jorah actually fighting in the pits rather than drowning in his own misery eetc

The fact that they've completely changed Tyene means she will most likely serve as an Arianne type of figure. She is no longer the daughter of a septa who looks innocent. Which points to her NOT going to KL and infiltrating the Faith like her book counterpart is likely to do. I think only Nymeria will go. I doubt Trystane will take over KL as well, Myrcella may like Dorne, but she would never do that to her mother. Plus Jaime is with them now, how is that supposed to work?

I agree they are so much more easy to do on screen then Arianne. Arianne would need ton of screentime to explain her backstory and motivation and it would not be easy at all. Sand Snakes do not require any explanation, their backstory and motivation is very straithforward. But Aegon is obviously getting cut, which is another significant if not the main reason why Arianne is out.

Tyene will go to KL, missing septa education is not reason enough to cut this story, both Dorne and The Faith will clearly play significant role in the next seasons. She can go there as a novice, it is not problem at all. She is not completely changed, she still look innocent enough and have her poison knowledge, hopenfully she will be wicked as her book counterpart, the change of her parentage is just for Ellaria to have more to do then in the books.

[AryaNymeriaVisenya]

What makes you think Arya will be so low? She has to set up an entire city, new supporting cast as well as make her journey worthwhile. She'll be back in Westeros between mid S6 and the end of S6 I would think. And Sophie has been very complimentary about Arya's story this year. I think Assassin academy will be great this year.

Also, if Jon is top of the time slots, I would think that would bump Stannis up a bit. I see Dany having a similar screentime to last year.

[naseridrl]

I think Jon and Cersei will be one and two in whichever order Jon has lots of material left, and Cersei has quite a few chapters as well as the show loving KL and the Lannisters. I think Tyrion will take a hit this year because he's not in KL anymore.

I also think Arya might have quite a bit because she's got to show off a new places, plus she does sort of have a decent amount of material left with her training and various guises.

Stannis/Mal/Davos will probably get a boost because they're now at the wall and there will be a lot going on there this year, maybe Shireen as well, not sure about Selyse.

[AryaNymeriaVisenya]

I think Jon and Cersei will be one and two in whichever order Jon has lots of material left, and Cersei has quite a few chapters as well as the show loving KL and the Lannisters. I think Tyrion will take a hit this year because he's not in KL anymore.

I also think Arya might have quite a bit because she's got to show off a new places, plus she does sort of have a decent amount of material left with her training and various guises.

Stannis/Mal/Davos will probably get a boost because they're now at the wall and there will be a lot going on there this year, maybe Shireen as well, not sure about Selyse.

They aren't adapting them straight. I think we know about a father who goes to the house to request the gift for his sick kid which is completely new. Arya's chapters in Braavos focus on not only her identity but her growing warging skills, Maisie seemed to me disappointed about that, like her warging has been completely cut. Take out the warging bits and you have less material but like I said, they need to show the journey was worth it. So they will add more moral dilemmas exploring the nature of death and whether it is truly a gift or a curse.

[Le Cygne]

I think they will focus on Arya's story a lot...

[AdmiralKyrd]

What makes you think Arya will be so low? She has to set up an entire city, new supporting cast as well as make her journey worthwhile. She'll be back in Westeros between mid S6 and the end of S6 I would think. And Sophie has been very complimentary about Arya's story this year. I think Assassin academy will be great this year.

Also, if Jon is top of the time slots, I would think that would bump Stannis up a bit. I see Dany having a similar screentime to last year.

Arya:

Because it's an ancillary storyline that is disjointed from the major movers. She was #10 in screentime last year, although it might not have felt like it. The issue here is not that Arya's storyline isn't good, it's that there is so much going on that they have to get more time into the other plots that have all these moving pieces. Arya's has some good moments where the audience learns a lot with her, but her storyline isn't that complex whereas the others need to be more fleshed out.

If it were me, I'd spend more time on Arya than Tyrion's journey, but I don't know if the show will do that to their major actor. I hope they do, not in disrespect towards Peter Dinklage, but because his material just isn't that strong, especially with the Griffs likely being cut. I just don't know.

Stannis:

Stannis would only be at the Wall for the first half of the season, after that it's a marching action in the North with some sporadic scenes. If they do the Battle of Ice this season he might jump up, but that's why he isn't higher. I think Stannis gets quite a bit in 1-4 then 9-10, but he's roughly a black hole from around 5-8, except for a few moments, like leaving the Wall or DWM.

Dany:

Is anyone's guess. She was #3 in S1 and 2, but then dropped to 4th and 8th in S3 and S4. She'll get a boost back up, especially with Daznak being half her show, but Meereen is probably going to be played very straightforward this season just to get to Daznak. Dany has enemies outside her walls, Dany has enemies inside her Walls. Things are bad, she has to execute a slave, she gets too punishment thirsty, she's losing the city. An offer is presented to her to wed Hizdahr for Peace. She accepts, the day comes, Daznak. Boom.

[naseridrl]

They aren't adapting them straight. I think we know about a father who goes to the house to request the gift for his sick kid which is completely new. Arya's chapters in Braavos focus on not only her identity but her growing warging skills, Maisie seemed to me disappointed about that, like her warging has been completely cut. Take out the warging bits and you have less material but like I said, they need to show the journey was worth it. So they will add more moral dilemmas exploring the nature of death and whether it is truly a gift or a curse.

The no warging for Arya really frustrates me. It's a huge part of her keeping her identity and its going to play a part in later books with that huge pack.

What I meant abut Arya having a decent amount of material left was that unlike some people she still ha published material left to explore. How they explore it is another matter but she's not going into completely new territory yet like some characters are going to start to. It's one reason guessing screentime this year is harder because some people are veering off into their future material and some are still plodding through published stuff.

[Jack Bauer 24]

Boy! We really need some news or a new trailer.

We are reduced to a mêlée about past trailers!

38 days to the premiere still no character portraits, episode titles, only 1 trailer.

Get this...at this time last year there were 3 trailers already! Well Trailer 3 was released on March 11th, which is next week so yeah it's getting weird.

[AdmiralKyrd]

Yeah its very weird. HBO realizes this show is coming to an end and it's not the network's future, and they also hate it because of its budget. They might not even want it to have 7 seasons.

[Dany's Golden Fleece]

Was talking to a friend who is a Stannis extra in Belfast. Hey says....

Stannis will march on Winterfell this season, he was telling me the pain of the make-up to make him look starving looking.

The Night's Watch extras told him that the White Walkers will be attacking the wall this season as well!!

[koitos kavala]

Did he mention if Davos is with Stan? And does he meet with Theon, Asha?

[AdmiralKyrd]

This is a very good sign. I was wondering if they might have totally cut the hardships of Stannis' army due to time constraints.

[boojam]

38 days to the premiere still no character portraits, episode titles, only 1 trailer.

Get this...at this time last year there were 3 trailers already! Well Trailer 3 was released on March 11th, which is next week so yeah it's getting weird.

Hold your potato Jack!

To repeat:

March 18 : London: 'Tower of London' Red Carpet: seems will be world premiere. Are they showing S5E1 or what?

March 23 : Los Angeles: The Not?-World-Premiere-Red_Carpet - what episodes shown there?

So now less than 2 weeks before you score some info.

Am guess some preview skinny before then.

[AryaNymeriaVisenya]

Arya:

Because it's an ancillary storyline that is disjointed from the major movers. She was #10 in screentime last year, although it might not have felt like it. The issue here is not that Arya's storyline isn't good, it's that there is so much going on that they have to get more time into the other plots that have all these moving pieces. Arya's has some good moments where the audience learns a lot with her, but her storyline isn't that complex whereas the others need to be more fleshed out.

If it were me, I'd spend more time on Arya than Tyrion's journey, but I don't know if the show will do that to their major actor. I hope they do, not in disrespect towards Peter Dinklage, but because his material just isn't that strong, especially with the Griffs likely being cut. I just don't know.

Stannis:

Stannis would only be at the Wall for the first half of the season, after that it's a marching action in the North with some sporadic scenes. If they do the Battle of Ice this season he might jump up, but that's why he isn't higher. I think Stannis gets quite a bit in 1-4 then 9-10, but he's roughly a black hole from around 5-8, except for a few moments, like leaving the Wall or DWM.

Dany:

Is anyone's guess. She was #3 in S1 and 2, but then dropped to 4th and 8th in S3 and S4. She'll get a boost back up, especially with Daznak being half her show, but Meereen is probably going to be played very straightforward this season just to get to Daznak. Dany has enemies outside her walls, Dany has enemies inside her Walls. Things are bad, she has to execute a slave, she gets too punishment thirsty, she's losing the city. An offer is presented to her to wed Hizdahr for Peace. She accepts, the day comes, Daznak. Boom.

Arya definitely felt last season like a side character, she had no story. She travelled Westeros and sassed the Hound. The scenes were great but it wasn't much. They cut out loads of her story to get to the Red Wedding on time and she had nothing to do after it. Despite having the huge chapter counts in Clash and Storm, the show has never given her that much focus. Likely because Maisie couldn't work full hours prior to her 16th Birthday as well. That is why I feel that this storyline is going to be done in a very meaningful way, despite the lack of pages to back it up, she had so much cut before this. Viewers need to know that she is a lead character and I don't think they have done that yet. Cersei has gotten more focus and press than Arya, that is ridiculous. I feel the tide is turning this year, signalled by the character getting that big moment at the end of last season.

Dany this year needs to be a lesson in absolute failure. Bad decisions all over the place. But other than that, like Arya last year there isn't much plot. How many times can you cut to Mereen imploding while Dany gets it on with Daario?

I can see that reasoning for Stannis, I think that the Battle of Ice will be at least set up by the end of this season. He has to intercept Theon and Asha before any battle which adds more potential scenes. I don't know when Theon escapes though. We also need scenes establishing Stannis' army melting away because they cannot handle the cold and scenes of him rounding up Northmen to bump up the numbers. Hopefully the writers will do it well.

The no warging for Arya really frustrates me. It's a huge part of her keeping her identity and its going to play a part in later books with that huge pack.

What I meant abut Arya having a decent amount of material left was that unlike some people she still ha published material left to explore. How they explore it is another matter but she's not going into completely new territory yet like some characters are going to start to. It's one reason guessing screentime this year is harder because some people are veering off into their future material and some are still plodding through published stuff.

Well there are 6 chapters left published. One of which will be adapted twice by the show by the end of this season! The only Arya spoilers we'll get will be where she is left in episode 10. I hope one of the episode endings is Arya going blind where the picture just goes black at the end. I think 'Cat of the Canals' and 'Mercy' are being merged from the looks of the set pics.