how many seasons will GoT go on for?

[YouSnowNothing]

EDIT: Ignore, I realised I was wrong and am writing a longer analysis.

[oierem]

Why are you all assuming that TWOW and ADOS will be covered in two seasons? It seems to me that, considering all the things that have to happen, they'll be really huge books (and maybe there will be an aditional book) and they'll need more seaons.

[sirKarlofHouseBlackDog]

I fear that if the hype dies even a little, the show won't be able to justify its massive budget and will killed. Happened to the immensely popular Rome and Deadwood.

My hope is eight to ten seasons.

[YouSnowNothing]

Why are you all assuming that TWOW and ADOS will be covered in two seasons? It seems to me that, considering all the things that have to happen, they'll be really huge books (and maybe there will be an aditional book) and they'll need more seaons.

Reading through this forum got me thinking about this. I'm in the middle of an in-depth analysis/theory, but basically, I think that the two books will end up spread over 2 and a half, or maybe 3 and a half seasons.

Put shortly (I'll post a longer explanation later), I think that S4 will contain a fair bit of material from AFFC/ADWD as well as ASOS, and then S5 will complete AFFC/ADWD, and also contain a large chunk of TWOW, taking us up to the Battle of Winterfell. S6 will complete TWOW, but I don't think ADOS will be written by then, so it'll likely only take a season for D&D to finish off the series in what will be a hastier and less detailed way than the book eventually will)

[Tori Targaryen]

I hope they are preparing for this. The fact they know they will catch up with the books soon enough, they should pace themselves. There is more than enough content in the books to do this. I just hope they can do it well. Books 3 and 4 could easily stretch 3 seasons, maybe four, and book five could be two seasons. It just depends on what they are willing to do. I hope it works out

[YouSnowNothing]

So I posted this in the "Splitting Feast and Dance" thread, but it's kinda relevant to this discussion too, so I'm gonna quote it.

I've been thinking about this, and I've come to the conclusion that it would definitely be sensible to condense AFFC/ADWD into a single season, as they do contain a lot of filler, and extending it over two seasons would have almost all characters stuck in the same arc, which would have no pay-off in the first of the seasons. In fact, Due to the fact that AFFC/ADWD have no real climax and leave a lot of threads open-ended, you could push some of it back into S3/4 and finish all the AFFC/ADWD material before the end of S5, which lets us put the early parts of Winds of Winter into S5 (in particular, the Battle of Winterfell) and finish with a more natural and epic climax.

2013: Season 3 (First 2/3 of ASoS - most of this we already know for sure, some is just speculation)

Catelyn+Robb - Introduction of the Tullys, then everything the same, up until the RW. Final scene of the season is Cat's ressurection by Beric&co.

Bran - Meeting Reeds, splitting up with Osha/Rickon, end with meeting Coldhands at Queenscrown.

Jon - Everything pretty much the same as books, up until leaving the wildlings at Queenscrown. Possibly also including the first skirmish at the Wall and Ygritte's death.

Tyrion - Everything same as book, up until their wedding, some interactions afterwards and then immediate reactions to RW.

Sansa - Mostly same as book, but with added scenes with Littlefinger (and, apparently, Ros, who will fill the Dontos role).

Arya - All book material up to RW and immediate aftermath.

Jaime+Brienne - All material up to Jaime rescuing Brienne from the bear pit, and starting their journey to KL.

Davos(+Stannis) - Rescue from Blackwater, all Dragonstone material up until he sends away Edric (or whoever replaces him in that plot).

Dany - Meeting Barristan, travelling to Slaver's Bay, getting the Unsullied, ending with freeing the slaves and the "Mother" chants.

Sam - Killing the Other, Craster's Keep, Coldhands, meeting Bran at Queenscrown.

Theon - Introduction of Ramsay, explanation of who burned Winterfell, capture and imprisonment at Dreadfort.

So, added Theon apart, pretty much a direct copy of everything in ASoS up to the RW and its immediate aftermath.

2014: Season 4 (Rest of ASoS with some AFFC/ADWD mixed in)

UnCat+BWB - Alluded to but kept off-screen mostly. Frey-hanging scene, possibly in episode 10, to remind us what they're up to.

Bran - Journey beyond the Wall, ending with meeting BR and his promise that Bran will fly.

Jon+Sam - Battles at the Wall, with Stannis probably showing up and winning it around ep 6. Lord Commander elections for the last few episodes, ending with Jon being elected LC.

Tyrion - Introduction of Oberyn and other Martells, Joffrey's wedding around episode 3/4, rest of season dealing with the trial, ending with his murder of Tywin.

Sansa - Escape from KL in episode 3/4, scenes in the Vale, ending with snow-winterfell and LF killing Lysa.

Arya - Killing Polliver(?) at the Inn, Sandor's "death" in midseason. Taking the boat to Braavos, ending with her reaching the HoBaW and meeting the kindly man.

Jaime+Brienne - Arrive back in KL episode after Joffrey's death. Shift some of the AFFC materials up to show more of Jaime/Cersei's relationship deteriorating and Jaime dealing with being LC of the Kingsguard. Jaime gives Brienne Oathkeeper and sends her to find Sansa near the end of the season.

Davos+Stannis - Aftermath of Edric. Davos finds the letter and tells Stannis to go defend the Wall, left open-ended whether he decides to go or not, until we actually see him appear a few episodes later. Davos comes to the Wall with Stannis, then is sent to treat with Manderly near the end of the season (so he isn't off-screen for a ridiculous amount of time, as per the books). Obvious overlap with Jon+Sam in the last few episodes (offering Jon Winterfell, etc.)

Dany - Capture of Meereen, reveal of Jorah's betrayal, plans to head to Westeros interrupted by news of Astapor's ruin, end with her decision to stay and rule in Meereen.

Theon - Torture at hands of Ramsay, early ADWD scenes including the introduction of fake!Arya. End with them all heading to Winterfell.

Asha+Iron Islands - Introduction of all the Greyjoys and then Balon's on-screen death, establishing Euron as a suspicious character. Kingsmoot. Episode 10 includes Euron's promise to conquer Westeros with dragons.

2015: Season 5 (Rest of AFFC/ADWD, ending with scenes from WoW, which will hopefully be published by this point)

Tough to predict given that we don't know the exact details of Winds of Winter, but the main thing I would add is the Battle of Winterfell. It's the perfect end to a season - it provides a big epic battle to offset the aimless wandering that will inevitably permeate the season, it provides closure to the arc, and nicely sets up the next main events in the North (presumably the return of Sansa and Rickon). So, this plan is all with the intent to include AFFC, ADWD and the Battle of Winterfell.

Bran - Background on the Children, training with BR. Admittedly there's not a lot of material to work with here, but there's a lot else going on, so he can just stay in the background until S6.

Jon - All of his DwD material, including the letter and his stabbing, ending the season with this ressurection(or whatever happens to him). The stabbing can't be at the end of the season, he has to get the letter earlier if the Battle of Winterfell is happening at the end of this season.

Sam - Leaving the Wall, journey to Oldtown, meeting Arya, ending with extended explanation of the Maesters' plans.

Dany - Her struggles ruling Meereen, her marriage, etc. Have her escape on Drogon at the end of episode 8, then end with the Dothraki cliffhanger.

Barristan+Meereen - Unless the Battle of Meereen is in fact important to Dany's, Tyrion's or Victarion's storylines, just drop the city completely after Dany leaves. Maybe have Barristan set out to find Dany instead. Nobody really cares what Meereen's doing, even less when no major characters are there. If it is important, it'll still have to be left until next season, else Dany/Tyrion/Victarion plots will have to be sped up a lot, and we'll already have two big battles near the end of the season (Winterfell and Storm's End).

Tyrion - Pentos/Illyrio scenes in first episode, travelling with Griff, Aegon reveal in episode 5, capture by Jorah soon after and capture by slavers soon after that. Then Meereen slave pit/Drogon's return in episode 8, and Tyrion buying the sellswords in the final episode. (or see Victarion a bit below for an alternative suggestion).

"Aegon"+JonCon - As said, reveal YG as Aegon in episode 5, then Tyrion can convince him to head straight for Westeros in ep6, then the closing episodes can deal with him meeting up with Arianne and taking Storm's End.

Arianne+Dorne - Early episodes deal with the plot to crown Myrcella. Then the Vengance/Justice/Fire and Blood speech can come in episode 5, right before the Aegon reveal. Have her meet up with Aegon later in the season, before the Storm's end battle.

Quentyn - Cut him out completely. I like the guy, but tough decisions have to be made, and at the end of the day, his storyline is not important and goes nowhere. Just erase him from existence and have Aegon/Arianne marriage as Doran's Plan A.

Victarion+Iron Islanders - Cut out a good amount. Show that the Ironmen are raiding the Reach, then have Euron send him off with the Magic Dragon Horn early on, then he can disappear until his arrival in Slaver's Bay at the end of the season. Or, alternatively, change Tyrion's arc so that instead of being captured by slavers, he and Jorah are captured by Victarion, and these storylines then overlap. It cuts down on the amount of scenes needed, and the presence of audience-favourite Tyrion make this storyline a little more interesting. It can end in the same way, with all of them in Slaver's Bay.

Sansa - All the scenes in the Vale from AFFC. End with LF revealing his plans for Sansa claiming Winterfell.

Arya - Training with the Faceless Men, meeting Sam, killing Dareon. End with her getting her first new face and becoming a fully-fledged assassin.

Brienne - Condense her search for Sansa greatly. Most of it is filler, but we can include Pod, Hyle Hunt and that backstory, showdown with Brave Companions, and the Quiet Isle (and that's assuming that the gravedigger is actually Sandor - if not, cut it out). Then have her meeting Lady Stoneheart about 2/3 of the way through the season, with her hanging as the cliffhanger. Then she can disappear for a few episodes before she appears to Jaime in the finale. First I wrote out a plan to include the Jaime/Brienne/LS showdown, but realised that there would probably be too much going on in the last few episodes already. But perhaps include a scene from WoW (J/B travelling towards UnCat/BWB that hints at whatever's to come a bit, just so that it doesn't feel like this plot just suddenly stops quite so much.

Jaime - A few episodes of him in KL, then 4-5 of his adventures in the Riverlands. Then he can burn Cersei's letter and rejoin Brienne (see above).

Cersei - As in the books, but slim it down, move it around - show her rivalry with Margaery building in S3/4, show her increased paranoia in late S4. Have her imprisoned near the end of the season (~episode 8). Conclude with the walk of shame, and set up her trial/FrankenGregor for next season.

Davos - Travelling to White Harbour and meeting with Lord Manderly. Then show some WoW chapters with him travelling. End with his arrival in Skagos.

Stannis - Leaves the Wall early in the series with his army. They take Deepwood Motte and capture Asha. Journey to Winterfell, taking Theon captive. Conclude the series with the great epic Battle for Winterfell (will probably be the obligatory "epic ninth episode").

Theon - Include his DwD material from the march to Winterfell onwards, until of course he's captured by Stannis and becomes part of that storyline.

Asha - Will probably have the bulk of her DwD material removed, but the bare bones - fight at Deepwood, capture by Stannis, reuniting with Theon - remains the same. Again, her storyline then ties directly into the Battle of Winterfell.

So... yeah. It's not perfect maybe, but I think I've lined up everyone's timeline correctly, and this way ensures that every season has a genuine arc within it, with a conclusion, and no character disappears for massive amounts of time with nothing to do. Everyone's kept nice and busy and Season 6 is set up nicely, and with part of the book already done, will have time to complete the rest of WoW in S6.

Thoughts? Feelings? Any timeline errors I've overlooked?

So if all of the above happens, we'll end up with the climax of Winds of Winter at the end of S6. Then, depending on how secure the show is, they can do as many seasons as they need for Dream of Spring. Two seasons will probably be preferable, but by then, who knows, the ratings could have tanked and the show might be lucky to get just a seventh season. But the likelihood is that DoS won't have been published by then anyway, so the show will simply conclude the main storylines with the information GRRM gives them. It won't be as detailed as the book will, but it'll do as an ending.

tl;dr - ideally, 8 seasons. 7 is do-able. Any less and the show will either finish without a conclusion, or will have to divert from the books massively. But most of the ASoS material deals with splitting characters and moving them all to different, far-off locations, while the last books seem set up to bring them all back to mainland Westeros. That would be the thing to cut if the show diverged massively to the books and needed to finish in fewer seasons. That would need to be planned way in advance (like, right now - which is unreasonable), or we could end up in the middle of my hypothetic season five, with all the characters split up, when the ratings drop and the show is only given one more season. No way could one season be enough to bring all those characters back and have a satisying climax and resolution. To conclude successfully, I think the show needs at least 7 seasons.

[oierem]

The fact is that, even afer all the published material, the show/seires needs quite a bit of time to finish all the storylines and provide satisfying resolutions. It won't work if Dany has been alone for who knows how many seasons and she gets to Westeros when the series is about to be over. That's not satisfying. Same for all the others: the reunion and the interactions of the main characters is what we all are hoping for.

Therefore, we have to assume that an ideal series (based on the books or not) needs two or three seasons to cover the unpublished/unwritten material (the "third act" where the characters converge). If we assume that we won't get more than 7 or 8 seasons, we have to start thinking about this "third act", because it has to start around season 6 at the latest.

In other words: i see ASOIAF as a three-act work: act one is formed by the first three books. The middle-act (transition-trainning-preparation to the final stand) is formed by AFFC-ADWD. The third and final act is yet to be written.

If we translate that to the TV series, we have act one covered in about four seasons.

The third act needs to be at least 2 or 3 seasons to keep the balance.

And so, it's the second/transitional act that has to be shortened. With season 5, we have to start thinking about the ending of the series.

[oierem]

So, the ideal number of seasons? 7 or 8 at the most.

Seasons 1-4: AGOT; ACOK; ASOS (first act)

Season 5: AFFC; ADWD (second act)

Seasons 6-8: third act (based on the books or not).

[Tori Targaryen]

I am curious what will happen when the series catches up with the books. I'm assuming George RR Martin has had to set aside his outline of what he intends to write about in the coming books. It just means that the TV series will have to go ahead of him based on the slight information he provides. Which of course is going to upset a lot of people waiting for the books. And may weaken the series. :uhoh:

[The Anti-Targ]

4 seasons is certain. Season 5 is likely, but it's at season 5 that we hit a bit of a qualitative snag in the books. Some people love Feast, but the general readership believe it's a considerable drop in quality over the first 3 books. So Season 5 could be the make or break season in terms of whether the TV series will continue through to the conclusion of the books, or it will end with Season 5 (or maybe 6 to round things out). Dance has also been met with somewhat mixed reactions. I believe Feast and Dance suffered in perception because they arr one book split in two with an exceedingly long gap between publication. Bringing them both together and being told simultaneously over 2 seasons could overcome some of the negativity experienced with the books.

I just wonder how they are going to deal with ageing teenage actors who are playing characters who are meant to only age by a couple of years through the entire story. As At Dance Bran is still only, what, 12? byt eh time Season 6 finishes Isaac Hempsted-Wright will be a lot older than book Bran.

[Tori Targaryen]

Well, in my opinion, if HBO can justify making the drivel that True Blood has become, then Game of Thrones will easily continue.

[The Dragon has three heads]

I am curious what will happen when the series catches up with the books. I'm assuming George RR Martin has had to set aside his outline of what he intends to write about in the coming books. It just means that the TV series will have to go ahead of him based on the slight information he provides. Which of course is going to upset a lot of people waiting for the books. And may weaken the series. :uhoh:

If this happens you can kiss the show good bye, I'm very concerned as a fan that Martin won't have time or will not be able to finish both WOW and ADOS (assuming he can wrap it in two books) by the time the shows catches up to the unpublished material.

It would also be a major concern for the network and also D&D.

They will have a basic outline of how they wish to wrap things up but having a tv show spoil the books will just be totally fucked-GRRM has to realize this.

They have to slow the overall arcs of all the major characters substantially and ADD their own scenes to fill out and put the brakes on the show, and they need to start that this season-the above quoted outline is not a bad guide at all, except the BWB wil be this season and uncat will be mid to late S4, but given GRRMs output and the extra work he's taken on, to me there is just no way known he'll knock over both books by the time they are needed for filming in late 2015.

Splitting WOW like SOS MAY give him enough time, but i'm skeptical.

[Nezzer]

If this happens you can kiss the show good bye, I'm very concerned as a fan that Martin won't have time or will not be able to finish both WOW and ADOS (assuming he can wrap it in two books) by the time the shows catches up to the unpublished material.

It would also be a major concern for the network and also D&D.

They will have a basic outline of how they wish to wrap things up but having a tv show spoil the books will just be totally fucked-GRRM has to realize this.

They have to slow the overall arcs of all the major characters substantially and ADD their own scenes to fill out and put the brakes on the show, and they need to start that this season-the above quoted outline is not a bad guide at all, except the BWB wil be this season and uncat will be mid to late S4, but given GRRMs output and the extra work he's taken on, to me there is just no way known he'll knock over both books by the time they are needed for filming in late 2015.

Splitting WOW like SOS MAY give him enough time, but i'm skeptical.

I believe there will be plenty of time for GRRM. I think AFfC and ADwD combined will take three seasons and TWoW, at least two. In my prediction the show would catch up with the end of TWoW in 2019, and at that point, I think GRRM will have already released ADoS. The problem is ASOIAF requiring another book after ADoS to end the story, Anyway, I think it's very unlikely that the show will catch up with the books. I think the show will need twelve seasons to complete the story.

[Pellaeon]

Well, in my opinion, if HBO can justify making the drivel that True Blood has become, then Game of Thrones will easily continue.

ut true blood isnt that expensive and they can use productpacement to lower the costs, as soon as they drink cola in westeros it will be easier

[PatrickStormborn]

I believe there will be plenty of time for GRRM. I think AFfC and ADwD combined will take three seasons and TWoW, at least two. In my prediction the show would catch up with the end of TWoW in 2019, and at that point, I think GRRM will have already released ADoS. The problem is ASOIAF requiring another book after ADoS to end the story, Anyway, I think it's very unlikely that the show will catch up with the books. I think the show will need twelve seasons to complete the story.

Please, please, PLEASE explain to me how this is possible.

[Nezzer]

Please, please, PLEASE explain to me how this is possible.

You're right, they will probably cut a lot of useless long chapters, like Dany's and Tyrion's. ADwD is the longest book of the saga IIRC, but there are a lot of chapters where nothing happens. Still, I believe ADoS is being released by 2017/2018. There might still be enough time.

[ambi76]

For a full run it could be 10 or 11 seasons.

AGOT: 2011

ACOK: 2012

ASOS: 2013/2014

AFFC+ADWD: 2015/2016

TWOW: 2017/2018 (+ 2019 for good measure because GRRM is a slacker :hat: )

ADOS: 2020/2021

[Tori Targaryen]

If this happens you can kiss the show good bye, I'm very concerned as a fan that Martin won't have time or will not be able to finish both WOW and ADOS (assuming he can wrap it in two books) by the time the shows catches up to the unpublished material.

It would also be a major concern for the network and also D&D.

They will have a basic outline of how they wish to wrap things up but having a tv show spoil the books will just be totally fucked-GRRM has to realize this.

They have to slow the overall arcs of all the major characters substantially and ADD their own scenes to fill out and put the brakes on the show, and they need to start that this season-the above quoted outline is not a bad guide at all, except the BWB wil be this season and uncat will be mid to late S4, but given GRRMs output and the extra work he's taken on, to me there is just no way known he'll knock over both books by the time they are needed for filming in late 2015.

Splitting WOW like SOS MAY give him enough time, but i'm skeptical.

I agree with you. Especially concerning them preparing in the coming season. I saw some people discussing season 3 and the RW on here a few days ago, but I could not help but think really? That soon? I just naturally assumed that it would not be seen until season 4. It's worrying if they truly place one book for one season. It just won't work that way. Even if they do extend things, it's still going to be tight. And that's not including the final book (if it is indeed the final one).

[Stannis the Wight]

The show will need at least 8 seasons. And yes they may arrive at the point where they are ahead of GRRM but hey that's too bad for him for trying to tackle so many side projects. I think at some point as well they would NEED to make each season 12-13 episodes. This show is HBO's biggest show right now and will only continue to be until something else comes along, but viewers of this show aren't going anywhere until the series is over and they have closure.

It would be a very bad decision on HBOs part to cancel this show.

[Khal-a-bunga]

Something tells me that we'll see a delayed fifth season for the show in order to accommodate filming for two extra episodes. It'd be difficult to have AFfC & ADwD combined into one season with only ten episodes, and that delay (likely a few months, where Game of Thrones will then air in the late summer/early fall) would also allow D&D more time to script the following season that'll cover TWoW. Hopefully TWoW will be more akin to ASoS, so that they're able to get two seasons worth of material out of it. I can also see a legitimate break being taken to allow Martin to finish the final book, but that's something I can only see happening if the series will actually finish in seven books.

So, theoretically, it'd look something like this:

- ASoS pt. 1 airs in 2013; ASoS pt. 2 + portions of AFfC & ADwD films

- ASoS pt. 2 airs in 2014; AFfC @ ADwD with some early portions of TWoW films

- AFfC & ADwD air later than usual in 2015; TWoW pt. 1 films

- TWoW pt. 1 airs in 2016; TWoW pt. 2 films

- TWoW pt. 2 airs in 2017; a break is taken while ADoS is finished

- series in concluded in 2019 after filming final season in 2018 (the final book may also require two seasons, or simply an extended season scenario similar to what I think could happen with season five)

Seems unlikely, but I don't think HBO is interested in not seeing this story finish, given how successful it has been for them.