Season 2 arc endings? SPOILERS

[ICE CROW]

Hey guys i have been reading through this, i noticed alot of you have been actually talking about stuff that won't happen till a third season happens. Im just saying don't forget alot of people in this forum have no idea whats coming so be careful not to spoil things from the third book. i realize the name of this thread is season 2 spoilers, so anyone coming in here has to be prepared for that. Just try not to go too far, trust me you will get banned for making that mistake.

And believe me the CROW know something about bannings HAR HAR HAR.

[Gillio]

Has a third season been approved?

[Arrogant Bastard]

Has a third season been approved?

Not yet. Won't be until sometime during the 2nd season's run, if it is at all.

[The Lost Lord]

I think they must have thought about how S3 works already in broad terms.

This was the quote from last week's interview:

Weiss: Season two is a 100-hour-a-week job. It doesn’t leave a lot of time to think about seasons three and beyond. But yes, Storm of Swords … very long, dense book.

Benioff: A Storm of Swords will not be a single season. Beyond that, we’d rather not speculate...

My impression of that is that they know instinctually it can't fit in 10 episodes but they haven't sat down yet to try to figure out how it could work.

Filming GoT is such a huge production that it seems very difficult to find time to film more episodes between green light in late Apr (after the first episode airs) and finishing before year end.

Other HBO series like the Sopranos and The Wire have often taken 1.5 to 2 years in between seasons.

[Arrogant Bastard]

Other HBO series like the Sopranos and The Wire have often taken 1.5 to 2 years in between seasons.

I think HBO really wants to have Game of Thrones out in April 2012, probably for scheduling reasons (and extra costs). For their upcoming schedule, it looks like they have Boardwalk Empire season 2 for September through December, then David Milch's premiere of Luck for January, then they can have Game of Thrones for April once Luck ends, and likely another season of True Blood in June and so on. I remember reading an interview with an HBO higher up where he pretty much said filming more than ten episodes would mean they couldn't get the show out in time for Spring 2012. Personally I would rather wait a few months or whatever for them to add two or three episodes to teh season, but I guess that's not what they're going for.

[Padraig]

Hey guys i have been reading through this, i noticed alot of you have been actually talking about stuff that won't happen till a third season happens.

Fair question. I may be mistake but I assumed that if somebody says "Spoilers", they mean spoilers all the way to at least the end of aFfC. The title of this thread may be a little confusing in this regard? It's only if somebody says "Book 2 Spoilers", that they mean we shouldn't give away anything in aSoS IMO.

For their upcoming schedule, it looks like they have Boardwalk Empire season 2 for September through December, then David Milch's premiere of Luck for January, then they can have Game of Thrones for April once Luck ends, and likely another season of True Blood in June and so on. I remember reading an interview with an HBO higher up where he pretty much said filming more than ten episodes would mean they couldn't get the show out in time for Spring 2012.

Yes. This is my understanding also.

My impression of that is that they know instinctually it can't fit in 10 episodes but they haven't sat down yet to try to figure out how it could work.

You could be right. IMO, they don't want to sound like they are pre-judging HBO's decision. So they are refusing to talk about S3 (i.e. "we'd rather not speculate"). But i'd be very surprised if they haven't drafted out an outline for S3. Actually, doing 1.5 seasons for aSoS has some other advantages. For example, I think it may actually make it easier to adapt books 4 and 5 since it gives them a lot more flexibility about where to stop at the end of S4. And they'll need all the help they can get to adapt those books.

[mpbarnes]

I think some of this discussion about ASOS could be misinterpretation of their quote. The entire book won't be one season, this seems clear. What's also clear is that elements of ASOS will be in Season 2, how much, we don't know. What's also unclear is how much of Robb's story is beefed up for Season 2, since Robb is barely in ACOK. People are mainly just talking about what he's doing, but they have to figure out a way to bring that out on camera.

I still think that because of the lack of narrative movement for several main characters, Jaime, Dany and Jon primarily, we'll have quite a bit of material poached from ASOS into Season 2. That combined with greater popularity that season 2 will garner might allow for Season 3 to get 12 episodes, which will push back it's start date perhaps, but allow for the remainder of ASOS to be in Season 3. If you move up aspects of Jaime (up to being caught, befoe hand is cut off), Dany (freeing of the Unsullied) and Jon's (meeting with Mance) chapters into Season 2, what's left of ASOS is more compact and fits perfectly into 1 epic season.

[Padraig]

I still think that because of the lack of narrative movement for several main characters, Jaime, Dany and Jon primarily, we'll have quite a bit of material poached from ASOS into Season 2.

For that to work, you have to assume that D&D are been purposely misleading. They have never hinted that they will make serious inroads into aSoS in S2. Quite the opposite. Furthermore, I really would hate if they did that. The pace would have to be very very fast to cover all of aCoK, some of aSoS, new Jaime stuff, new Robb stuff and new Tyrell stuff.

Pushing that much Jaime stuff into S2 would leave him with little to do in S3 also.

[MyDogIsNamedDanerys]

For that to work, you have to assume that D&D are been purposely misleading. They have never hinted that they will make serious inroads into aSoS in S2. Quite the opposite. Furthermore, I really would hate if they did that. The pace would have to be very very fast to cover all of aCoK, some of aSoS, new Jaime stuff, new Robb stuff and new Tyrell stuff.

Pushing that much Jaime stuff into S2 would leave him with little to do in S3 also.

For all the discussion about it on this board, I think it's clear by now that to go as far as the Unsullied in season 2 isn't gonna happen. They are like 1/3 of the way through filming already. There would have to be a casting that hasn't occurred (at least the merchant guy and Missandei). And they'd have to find another location to be Astapor - it has to be a city, and it can't look just like Quarth or there would be a lot of confusion.

[Padraig]

For all the discussion about it on this board, I think it's clear by now that to go as far as the Unsullied in season 2 isn't gonna happen.

Very good point. I'm glad that they are avoiding those scenes. I've always thought that the first chapter in aSoS was the limit that they should look at in S2. And it keeps S2 a lot neater at the end, rather than throwing themselves into the middle of a new storyline.

[mpbarnes]

For that to work, you have to assume that D&D are been purposely misleading. They have never hinted that they will make serious inroads into aSoS in S2. Quite the opposite. Furthermore, I really would hate if they did that. The pace would have to be very very fast to cover all of aCoK, some of aSoS, new Jaime stuff, new Robb stuff and new Tyrell stuff.

Pushing that much Jaime stuff into S2 would leave him with little to do in S3 also.

Why would that be purposely misleading, they've mentioned on multiple occassions that ASOS storylines will be in Season 2. I haven't seen anything where they've said "We're only going up to this point..." Bringing in some of Jaime & Brienne's journey at most up to their capture leaves quite a lot of Jaime for Season 3. As little as Rob is in ACOK, Jaime isn't in it much more. There's not a whole lot for them to do over 10 episodes with the story that's in ACOK for Jaime. Same goes for Dany. If you lay it out, her story arc in ACOK isn't much more than 3 or 4 episodes (in the desert, find a city, 3 riders come [1 episode], go to qarth, meet the pure born, [1 episode] go to the house of the undying, [1 episode] go to the pier and on a boat [1 episode or same as undying]). Adding the unsullied gives her a fuller storyline for Season 2, for Season 3, It's much easier to draw out Dany's story post Astapor for a full season.

For all the discussion about it on this board, I think it's clear by now that to go as far as the Unsullied in season 2 isn't gonna happen. They are like 1/3 of the way through filming already. There would have to be a casting that hasn't occurred (at least the merchant guy and Missandei). And they'd have to find another location to be Astapor - it has to be a city, and it can't look just like Quarth or there would be a lot of confusion.

Missandei might be important casting long term, but that scene doesn't require a missandei, she can be added in Season 3 as Dany liberates many slaves in two more cities. The trader isn't really that important, and like a number of characters that are cast it's not going to be difficult to cast someone who is in 2 scenes and could have a total of 10 lines on screen. In terms of location, they have a location that already is standing in for King's Landing and Qarth, Astapor doesn't need to have a totally different location, just a different part of the city. If you've seen what they did with SFX they don't need much to give a sense of a cityscape. Besides for Astapor they don't need much more than the place where the Unsullied are trained.

I'm hopeful that it will happen because it shows Dany as a true badass, and as a scene it works REALLY nicely in a season finale. There's just not a lot of action for Dany in ACOK.

[Padraig]

Why would that be purposely misleading, they've mentioned on multiple occassions that ASOS storylines will be in Season 2

Not to the degree you are suggesting. And specifically, they have said that aSoS will take more than 1 season. That means S3 plus some of S4. Suggesting they actually meant some of S2 and S3 doesn't tally with what they have said. (E.g. Not been able to go into details on how aSoS will be adapted because its too early. Clearly, it wouldn't be too early if they have already adapted a significant number of chapters). So if your suggestion is right, they have mislead us up to now.

When people talk about Jaime and Robb, they seem to suggest that they must be in nearly every episode of S2. But both didn't appear in many episodes of S1, so I don't see why S2 would differ. That still means they can have enlarged roles compared to the books. They just wouldn't be in 8 or 9 episodes.

(in the desert, find a city, 3 riders come [1 episode], go to qarth, meet the pure born, [1 episode] go to the house of the undying, [1 episode] go to the pier and on a boat [1 episode or same as undying]).

And you can easily stretch that material over way more episodes. (1, Decide to go into the desert to finding a city and sending out riders. 2. Riders come and they head off. 3 Arrive in Qarth. 4 Hang in Qarth. 5. House of Undying. 6 Pier. 7 Decide to go after slaves). And they can stretch hanging in Qarth into a couple episodes if they want. (Death of Robert, Talking to Quaithe etc). I accept its not going to be as dramatic as S1 but their will be lulls and peaks for some characters in every season.

I'm hopeful that it will happen because it shows Dany as a true badass, and as a scene it works REALLY nicely in a season finale. There's just not a lot of action for Dany in ACOK

They can show it in S3, so we are not losing anything. In fact, quite the converse, since including those scenes would mean we are rushing even faster through the books than required. Why would anyone want that? And I don't like the idea that they must squeeze in a certain amount of activity for some characters. I don't mind adding a little bit but the Astapor storyline will take a few episodes to cover. As I said before, aCoK has a ton of material already. (If Dany is your favourite character, I can understand you wanting to see more of her but the Astapor scene will be shown in some form eventually). Never mind that the Blackwater will be a big enough drain on their budget, without trying Astapor also.

And (IMO) it is a fair point that we have heard no hint that they are casting for Astapor or filming in a place to stand in for Astapor. We have got some info on what Croatia would be used for after all.

[Saturn Girl]

I think there's a lot of "off screen" material from ACOK for Jaime that can make up half the season - like his incarceration and unsuccessful escape attempt. Jaime didn't appear in every episode of GoT, so he doesn't necessarily need to have something to do in every episode of season 2.

I would think his imprisonment and escape could cover five or six episodes, and the last four episodes of the season could feature the meeting with Cat and Brienne, the subsequent jail break, and the chase sequences down the river. The final episode could be Jaime and Brienne being recaptured by Vargo Hoat and the gang, possibly even the maiming which would make for a dramatic cliffhanger.

There is still plenty of ASOS material after the maiming to fill out his story arc in season 3, especially considering the injury occurs early on in the book.

[Padraig]

There is still plenty of ASOS material after the maiming to fill out his story arc in season 3, especially considering the injury occurs early on in the book.

There is an ok amount of material if you assume that S3 will cover all of aSoS, which isn't what has been suggested. If it was cut at the RW or Joff's wedding then Jaime would be left with little (maybe even less than aCoK material).

[irith]

I think the conclusions that make the most sense are these:

Tyrion- His conversation with Tywin in the aftermath of Blackwater. This is a scene that really, really needs to be in there rather than next season- it actually turns his arc to look forward. Plus I just really want to hear Tywin deliver the line where he says Tyrion will never have the Rock.

Arya- Escape from Harrenhall is the only logical choice.

Cat/Jaime/Brienne- Releasing Jaime, which sets up the next season nicely.

Dany- Conquering Astapor. This would be very dramatic and conclusive for her.

Jon Snow- Joining the wildings, perhaps even getting as far as meeting Mance, depending on time constraints. The more of Storm they can get in this season, the better.

Bran- Parting ways with Rickon, just as in the book.

Robb- Marrying Jeyne, most likely. His confrontation with Cat about Jaime will wait until the first episode of S3.

Davos- Probably getting rescued by the ship, but leaving the question of which King it serves up in the air. The fake dead Davos gimmick won't work due to casting, but we can at least be left in suspense as to where his story is going to go.

[King Bread]

I agree with most suggested endings. If I think about the endings they choose in seasons 1, back then all these endings had something like a theme with all moving forward and letting old losses behind (Starks = Ned, Dany = Drogo, Jon = his former life), and most endings in season 2 have a similar setting.

I don't think they will move much Jaime stuff forward from ASOS, I think the escape of the Tully ship at most. Dany conquering Astapor doesn't make much sense to me. Mostly because I think they will have a specific filming location for Slaver's Bay and it would be easier (and probably cheaper) if they do the Slaver's Bay stuff at once. I think deciding to go to Astapor for the Unsullied might be a better choice here. Davos on the island however is a good choice, I doubt they will let the cliffhanger remain if he died in Blackwater or not.

[MyDogIsNamedDanerys]

Dany conquering Astapor doesn't make much sense to me. Mostly because I think they will have a specific filming location for Slaver's Bay and it would be easier (and probably cheaper) if they do the Slaver's Bay stuff at once. I think deciding to go to Astapor for the Unsullied might be a better choice here.

Indeed! Boats + Dragons flying + Kissing = Win!

[JagLover]

I think the conclusions that make the most sense are these:

Tyrion- His conversation with Tywin in the aftermath of Blackwater. This is a scene that really, really needs to be in there rather than next season- it actually turns his arc to look forward. Plus I just really want to hear Tywin deliver the line where he says Tyrion will never have the Rock.

Arya- Escape from Harrenhall is the only logical choice.

Cat/Jaime/Brienne- Releasing Jaime, which sets up the next season nicely.

Dany- Conquering Astapor. This would be very dramatic and conclusive for her.

Jon Snow- Joining the wildings, perhaps even getting as far as meeting Mance, depending on time constraints. The more of Storm they can get in this season, the better.

Bran- Parting ways with Rickon, just as in the book.

Robb- Marrying Jeyne, most likely. His confrontation with Cat about Jaime will wait until the first episode of S3.

Davos- Probably getting rescued by the ship, but leaving the question of which King it serves up in the air. The fake dead Davos gimmick won't work due to casting, but we can at least be left in suspense as to where his story is going to go.

I agree with virtually all of this. ASOS is too big for one season, but I would deal with that by bringing some of it forward, particularly the Dany storyline, rather than split ASOS over two seasons.

[Tyrionthebest]

I agree with virtually all of this. ASOS is too big for one season, but I would deal with that by bringing some of it forward, particularly the Dany storyline, rather than split ASOS over two seasons.

The writers have already confirmed that it will be split into two seasons so that's out already .

[JagLover]

The writers have already confirmed that it will be split into two seasons so that's out already .

The writers have said it is too big for one season, beyond that they haven't speculated because it hasn't even been confirmed yet that there is going to be a third season.