how many seasons will GoT go on for?

[DaveSumm]

Joffreys birthday happens, Sansa too is it by AFFC? And Danny has an early bday, can't recall a second one though? And Marj and Joff marry on the first day of thw new year, 300 AL i think? It would be easy enough to work out with good references...

We should ask the maesters, they would never inaccurately record history, that would be wrong.

It's been worked out fairly accurately, but my point is that nothing hinges on any of these things. Especially considering the ages are all raised in the show anyway.

The only thing that could spoil this is if there was anything implausible about dragging out the events. Season 1 you can simply say that Dany was travelling for longer, Eddard was Hand for longer doing day to day hand stuff, Jon was training for longer.......I think Catelyn's arc might be the most tenuous as she's on the move a lot. Season 2 we have Dany hanging around in Qarth longer, Robb haranguing the Lannister lands longer......Arya might be tricky as again, she's travelling and you can only stall that so much. Maybe she's in Harrenhal for longer?

I can't really think of anyone who couldn't plausibly be just hanging around a bit longer between episodes. But I haven't thought about it in detail, there may well be a snag somewhere.

[Real Heir of Bear Island]

I don't see why it can't go 10 plus if its popular enough. They can drag out some seasons to give Martin time to write if they needed to. They could have stretched AGOT for way more than 10 episodes. They can probably squeez three from AFFC and ADWD if they show it chronologically.

2013 - Season 3 - ASoS part 1

2014 - Season 4 - ASoS part 2

2015, 2016, 2017 - Seasons 5,6 and 7 - AFFC and ADWD (Hopefully WoW book comes out in 2015 )

2018 - Season 8- WoW part 1

2019 - Season 9 - WoW part 2 (we need ADoS to drop rigth about now)

2020 - Season 10 - ADoS

Also, I am assuming we need a season every year on the dot. We know with HBO that is not necessary (See The Sopranos). They can delay production by 6 months, it would be reaosnable and allow for a book to come out before the show spoils it. Hey maybe we get a Dunk and Egg mini series to pass the time. Comon be optimistic, just because the books never have ahppy endings doesn't mean we will be disapointed. As long as the show remains popular and most importantly, contiues to make money we are in good shape. Even if you have them on HBO GO or Demand, BUY THE DVDS!

[Arya Stalka]

I doubt this series will get cancelled, if they havent cancelled True Blood, easily the worst show on TV, then how could they cancel a popular well written show. All of the popular shows on HBO end because the production team, writers, creators, etc want to end the show. I think this one will go the long haul.

GoT got Camelot canceled IMO. I was watching Camelot and liked it, but it had nothing on GoT. The fanbase keeps growing for GoT.

I love TruBlood! Lol. It's hilarious and so many hotties!

I'm guessing GoT (will) last 8 seasons.

[One of Three]

2015, 2016, 2017 - Seasons 5,6 and 7 - AFFC and ADWD (Hopefully WoW book comes out in 2015 )

I also think that it would take 2/3 seasons to do AFfC and ADwD. I'd try for 3 to give GRRM some time to finish TWoW/make progress of ADoS.

[Mr Fixit]

As much as i like affc and adwd (and i do quite a bit), gods save us if they take 3 seasons.

It won't happen.

[YouSnowNothing]

There absolutely will not be 3 seasons for AFFC/ADWD. Consider the page count for a start:

- S3 is dealing with ASoS all the way up to the RW and the aftermath. The RW finishes around 700 pages in. ASoS is around 1100 pages total.

- A good rule of thumb is 80 pages an episode (S1 was totally and completely AGoT; AGoT was 800 pages, ACoK is 900 but S2 left some material for S3 (e.g. Reeds, Ramsay).

- So if RW is episode 9, with ep 10 being the aftermath, that brings them up to just under 800 pages in S3, and we're left with just under 350 pages of ASoS for S4. So it's inevitable that a lot of AFFC/ADWD material is going to be in S4 - about 450 pages worth probably (this is very rule-of-thumb, obviously stuff is moved around and the seasons aren't lifted directly from the pages, but ~800-per-season is a pattern clearly repeated in the first three seasons).

- Good candidates for moving include all the Iron Islands/Kingsmoot plot, a good bit of Theon's story (his torture, a lot of which is told through flashbacks in ADWD, and probably up to meeting "Arya"(/Talisa/whoever fills that role in the show) and getting to Winterfell, and possibly some of Arya's, Sansa's, Dany's, Bran's, Davos' and/or Brienne's later arcs (who, from the start of the PW onwards, have a total of 5 chapters between them - the final third of ASoS focuses almost exclusively on KL and the Wall)

- Basically, once you've sorted that out, there's less than 1500 pages left from AFFC/ADWD. Maybe enough to stretch to two seasons, if you include all the irrelevant waffle, but never in a million years could it cover 3 seasons.

I think I might have answered the OP question already, but in case I haven't:

S1: A Game of Thrones

S2: A Clash of Kings

S3: A Storm of Swords 1

S4: A Storm of Swords 2 + A Feast For Crows 1 + A Dance With Dragons 1

S5: A Feast For Crows 2 + A Dance With Dragons 2

S6: The Winds of Winter 1 + A Dance With Dragons 3

S7: The Winds of Winter 2

S8: A Dream of Spring (abridged, book won't be written yet)

[Littlefingers In The Air]

Well, breaking it down to what we already know and my predictions, Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings were both covered in a season. So that's 2. Storm of Swords will take two seasons, so that's 4 total. I'm expecting Feast for Crows to take one season, DwD to take one season, and the final two to take two seasons each. So I'd guess 10 seasons if the show goes uninterrupted.

[Real Heir of Bear Island]

There absolutely will not be 3 seasons for AFFC/ADWD. Consider the page count for a start:

- S3 is dealing with ASoS all the way up to the RW and the aftermath. The RW finishes around 700 pages in. ASoS is around 1100 pages total.

- A good rule of thumb is 80 pages an episode (S1 was totally and completely AGoT; AGoT was 800 pages, ACoK is 900 but S2 left some material for S3 (e.g. Reeds, Ramsay).

- So if RW is episode 9, with ep 10 being the aftermath, that brings them up to just under 800 pages in S3, and we're left with just under 350 pages of ASoS for S4. So it's inevitable that a lot of AFFC/ADWD material is going to be in S4 - about 450 pages worth probably (this is very rule-of-thumb, obviously stuff is moved around and the seasons aren't lifted directly from the pages, but ~800-per-season is a pattern clearly repeated in the first three seasons).

- Good candidates for moving include all the Iron Islands/Kingsmoot plot, a good bit of Theon's story (his torture, a lot of which is told through flashbacks in ADWD, and probably up to meeting "Arya"(/Talisa/whoever fills that role in the show) and getting to Winterfell, and possibly some of Arya's, Sansa's, Dany's, Bran's, Davos' and/or Brienne's later arcs (who, from the start of the PW onwards, have a total of 5 chapters between them - the final third of ASoS focuses almost exclusively on KL and the Wall)

- Basically, once you've sorted that out, there's less than 1500 pages left from AFFC/ADWD. Maybe enough to stretch to two seasons, if you include all the irrelevant waffle, but never in a million years could it cover 3 seasons.

I think I might have answered the OP question already, but in case I haven't:

S1: A Game of Thrones

S2: A Clash of Kings

S3: A Storm of Swords 1

S4: A Storm of Swords 2 + A Feast For Crows 1 + A Dance With Dragons 1

S5: A Feast For Crows 2 + A Dance With Dragons 2

S6: The Winds of Winter 1 + A Dance With Dragons 3

S7: The Winds of Winter 2

S8: A Dream of Spring (abridged, book won't be written yet)

Don't get me wrong, I would love for your scenario to be true and for GRRM to burn through the next 2-3 books and finish the series in time for the show. I don'tlike having a season 8 without the book out. I don't care if it comes out a month before the show. In the event that he gets caught up, I don't think it is impossible to get 3 seasons out of the two books, especially if one of the seasons is a bit shorter, maybe 8 eps instead of 10.

Think of all that was cut out or shortened in the first two seasons. The Tywin/Harrenhall shortcut with Arya, The Jon and Ygritte short cut, Mel's one shadow baby instead of two, cutting out Stannis' family and patchface until now, etc. I think they could have easily gotten three seasons out of the first two books, I might even be so bold as to say they could have done two each. Would it have been as good or ideal? Maybe not, but my point is if the show is popular and making money, lots can be done to give Martin enough time to finish. Hell I'd take a preequal season of Dunk and Egg if it came down to it. Unless it takes Martin another 10 plus years from now to finish the series, we should be able to get the whole book series on TV, provided the show stays popular and more importantly makes money.

[Tormund Giant*****]

I would think that Season 4 brings us up to the end of ASOS,

Then in Season 5 some aspects of Feast and Dance, with some doing the entire storylines almost, such as Dorne and Samwell.

Season 6 would be the rest of Feast, Dance and part of WOW culminating in the battles of Ice and Fire. So much of this season could be done without the next book, on the latter episodes would need it since we know some of WOW already from little releases.

I wouldnt want to speculate any further than that, who knows how long these next books will be and if George will even settle for two more.

[oierem]

Think of all that was cut out or shortened in the first two seasons. The Tywin/Harrenhall shortcut with Arya, The Jon and Ygritte short cut, Mel's one shadow baby instead of two, cutting out Stannis' family and patchface until now, etc. I think they could have easily gotten three seasons out of the first two books, I might even be so bold as to say they could have done two each.

A lot of the things were cut or condensed because of TV-pacing issues; even having more episodes a lot of the things would never work on TV. Bloating a season with irrelevant filler "just because it's on the book" is not a good thing, IMO. I prefer a tight adaptation with a relatively quick pace (the pace of the books is VERY slow for TV standards).

And don't forget that each season must work as a cmoplete story: it needs character arcs and climaxes to work. One 20-episode season and two 10-episode seasons don't work the same way! What I mean is, once season 4 is done, the rest of AFFC+ADWD could work on a 20-episode season perhaps, but won't work on two separated 10-episode seasons.

[Mr Fixit]

Okay, let's say AFFC/ADWD (+ beginning of WOW) take 2 seasons and change. I would maybe prefer it took 1 extra large season with 13-16 episodes, but since that's unlikely, let's see what we can get from bi-seasonal approach.

In S4, chronologically relevant material from those books (primarily AFFC methinks) will be brought forward - Ironborn kingsmoot most likely, possibly some Dornish scheming, some Bran chapters maybe beyond the Wall, etc. As mentioned, S4 has less than a third of ASOS left, so it's bound to go beyond the third book.

Since D&D explicitly stated that each season has to have a beginning and an end, plotwise and characterwise presumably, what would be the best stopping points for Season 5 that would make for a satisfactory season of television?

Let's speculate, 'cause it's fun and geeky.

• more or less all King's Landing material from AFFC - essentially, Cersei's rise and fall, ending with her imprisonment
  
• various Riverlands traveloguing - Jaime, Brienne, possibly rearranged/shortened in some way.
  
• Tyrion with Illyrio, JonCon and Young Griff, up to getting taken by Jorah or slavers.
  
• Daenerys struggling to rule Meereen, dealing with Sons of the Harpy, ending with marrying Hizdahr, "compromising" her values.
  
• Jon... I don't know about Jon, actually. I can't seem to find a natural and satisfactory stopping point for his story.
  
• Arya, Sansa and Bran are going to be a bitch, honestly. They just don't have enough material for a single season, let alone two.
  

Opinions, thoughts, proposals? :cheers:

[oierem]

Opinions, thoughts, proposals? :cheers:

-Tyrion: if the finale of season 4 established that he's going to meet Dany, he cannot spend more than one season travelling! I don't think you can break his arc at any point: he has not enough (interesting or relevant) material for two seasons.

-Dany: more than in the books, Dany's story can be the "make it or break it" of the show. She's one of the fan-favourites and she's been set up as one of the big players; there is a great risk that the viewers will end up hating her storyline and therefore, the show.

First of all, what's going to be Dany's arc in season 4? Cannot be just her taking Meereen, can it?

-KL: as you said, all Cersei's storyline should and can be covered in one season. And I think that same season should end with Varys killing Pycelle and Kevan.

-Jaime: enought material for one season, no more.

-Bran/Sansa/Arya: neither of them have enough material for one season, let alone two (and again, at the very least Bran need his ADWD material in season 4 already).

-Theon: again, part of his ADWD storyline will end up in season 4. Barely enough for another season.

-Davos: not enough for even one season. Actually, he doesn't even have material for season 4 if they follow the books.

No, none of the storylines need more than one season to cover all their (relevant) material from AFFC+ADWD, and even that season will lack a satisfactory climax for most of the storylines.

This is how I see it:

Season 4

-KL: PW (?), Tyrion's trials, escape and meets Illyrio (1 Tyrion chapter from ADWD, maybe 1 Cersei chapter from AFFC).

-Wall: the battle, Stannis, Jon's election. Sam leaves? Execution of Slynt? (beginning of AFFC-ADWD).

-Dany: takes Meereen, rules Meereen, ends with ther Wedding? (a significant part of ther ADWD material)

-Iron Islands: Kingsmoot. Victarion leaves to get Dany. (all AFFCmaterial)

-North: Theon, "Arya"'s wedding as a finale?. (ADWD)

-Dorne: Arianne, maybe Quentyn? (depends on how they portray him; the could skip his journey and reveal him towards the end of the season, just before Dany's wedding).

-Sansa: goes to the Eerye, stays in the Eerye, Lysa's death.

-Arya: travels with the Hound, travells a bit more, leaves for Braavos.

-Bran: goes north of the Wall, gets to the Three-Eyed Crow.

There you have a full season, with a few big storylines and a few secondary storylines. I fail to see how they can avoid including that much material from AFFC+ADWD (about a third).

Season 5

-KW: Cersei's storyline, ends with her imprisonment and Kevan and Pycelle's deaths.

-Wall: Jon rules,talks with Stannis and Melissandre, rules a bit more and "dies"

-Dany: still in Meereen, flies Drogon, and.... what? we need something big to end her season! Something that will conect her with the rest of the story.

-Victarion: assuming that he's still in it, his journey to Dany. Again, we need an ending for him.

-Tyrion: his journey to Dany. Again, we need and ending.

-Jaime at the Riverlands. Brienne travels. Ending?

-North: Yara captured by Stannis.Theon at Winterfell, escapes. Battle?

-Sansa: not enough material. She just stays at the Eerye.

-Arya: Braavos. Difficult material to adapt.

-Sam: travels, travels and more travels.

-Davos?

-Bran: ????

[Mr Fixit]

A bitch, right?

I am all for a single fifth season covering affc/adwd (plus a part of fourth), but unless extended, i can't see it working, especially considering we'll need wow material to tie it up (meereen, wf)

[oierem]

A bitch, right?

I am all for a single fifth season covering affc/adwd (plus a part of fourth), but unless extended, i can't see it working, especially considering we'll need wow material to tie it up (meereen, wf)

A bitch? Three bitches and a bastards! :)

I garee with you, but what other option do they have? They have to choose between:

-one season (season 5) with all the material from AFFC+ADWD plus some missing climaxes: a lot of material eliminated or condensed, but a compelling season.

-two seasons (seasons 5-6): more material included,but without any actual progression, arc or sense of climax, at least in season 5. How do you convince the viewers that "season 5 is going to be incredibly exciting?". You can't tell them that "next season is going to be a slow one, not much will happen, but, you know, it's in the books, so... you should see it anyways".

And of course, the usual problems remain: Dany still in Essos after 6 seasons, White Walkers still haven't attacked after 6 seasons, main characters haven't seen each other for 6 seasons, no significant character dies... It's not what the viewers are expecting, and not in a good way.

I'm totally convinced that option 1 is the best option: we will loose some filler from the books (which were interesting in the books, for me at least, but wouldn't work on screen) and we get a more streamlined, condensed and quick-paced story. A story that feels that it's going somewhere (the climatic material of WOW and ADOS is what viewers are expecting already!).

[White Harbors Wrath]

Looking for some sage knowledge here. On another forum I frequent (not show related) someone had posted that it looks like season 3 is going to be Storm in it's entirety, not two parts...that things would be cut.

When I asked for a source, since nowhere have I seen that prior to his mention. He states his source is him because he "works for HBO". I know he's not making that up because I remember him mentioning getting hired there a ways back (though I believe it was somewhere in the merchandising dept...so I dont know how that's credible for show info) but has anyone EVER heard anything related to this.

I dismissed it as water cooler gossip, since theres been several stories published online with GRRM and D&D already stating otherwise.

[miguel sanchez]

Looking for some sage knowledge here. On another forum I frequent (not show related) someone had posted that it looks like season 3 is going to be Storm in it's entirety, not two parts...that things would be cut.

When I asked for a source, since nowhere have I seen that prior to his mention. He states his source is him because he "works for HBO". I know he's not making that up because I remember him mentioning getting hired there a ways back (though I believe it was somewhere in the merchandising dept...so I dont know how that's credible for show info) but has anyone EVER heard anything related to this.

I dismissed it as water cooler gossip, since theres been several stories published online with GRRM and D&D already stating otherwise.

hmmm... agree with bolded.

[Nezzer]

Looking for some sage knowledge here. On another forum I frequent (not show related) someone had posted that it looks like season 3 is going to be Storm in it's entirety, not two parts...that things would be cut.

When I asked for a source, since nowhere have I seen that prior to his mention. He states his source is him because he "works for HBO". I know he's not making that up because I remember him mentioning getting hired there a ways back (though I believe it was somewhere in the merchandising dept...so I dont know how that's credible for show info) but has anyone EVER heard anything related to this.

I dismissed it as water cooler gossip, since theres been several stories published online with GRRM and D&D already stating otherwise.

Like you said, GRRM and D&D have already said several times that they are splitting ASoS in two seasons. I think Bryan Cogman also said they are not going to make a season for each book anymore.

[YouSnowNothing]

I don't think the battles (Meereen, WF) have to be in S5 for that season to work. The battles can be in early S6, just as it will be with the books. Just as long as there's an emotional, personal climax for the character's involved, it'll be fine.

S3/4 already sets the precedent for this. S3 is going to contain a lot of build-up for Mance's attack on the Wall, but we know (or can assume, from what we know about the timeline of various events already) that this battle will not happen in S3, but in early S4. Rather it seems inevitable that it will end with Ygritte's death. So while we lack the plot resolution, there's still a clear emotional climax for Jon when he loses the woman he loves. It'll be the same in S5 - Stannis may not reach WF, but we get an emotional climax in Theon's escape with Jeyne and reunion with Asha.

A bitch? Three bitches and a bastards! :)

I garee with you, but what other option do they have? They have to choose between:

-one season (season 5) with all the material from AFFC+ADWD plus some missing climaxes: a lot of material eliminated or condensed, but a compelling season.

-two seasons (seasons 5-6): more material included,but without any actual progression, arc or sense of climax, at least in season 5. How do you convince the viewers that "season 5 is going to be incredibly exciting?". You can't tell them that "next season is going to be a slow one, not much will happen, but, you know, it's in the books, so... you should see it anyways".

And of course, the usual problems remain: Dany still in Essos after 6 seasons, White Walkers still haven't attacked after 6 seasons, main characters haven't seen each other for 6 seasons, no significant character dies... It's not what the viewers are expecting, and not in a good way.

I'm totally convinced that option 1 is the best option: we will loose some filler from the books (which were interesting in the books, for me at least, but wouldn't work on screen) and we get a more streamlined, condensed and quick-paced story. A story that feels that it's going somewhere (the climatic material of WOW and ADOS is what viewers are expecting already!).

I agree with this. The problem with a S5/6 split for AFFC/ADWD is that there is no way to split it at a point where at least most of the characters will end S5 with a good climax, emotional or plot-wise. The only ones that could maybe are Jaime/Cersei when Jaime leaves KL (though this is really just extra build-up, with Jaime continuing to distance himself from his family and Cersei's isolation and paranoia increasing) and Tyrion, when he saves Aegon and realises he doesn't want to die. But Dany, Jon, Brienne, Theon... these are characters that have plenty of material in these books, but none of them have any sort of climax until the very end, when something happens to change their situation. They'd just be trudging around doing stuff until the end of the season, nothing happens, then they continue to do the same stuff for the whole of the next season.

I believe that once the filler is cut out and parts of the books are pushed into S4 and S6, the bulk of AFFC/ADWD and all its climaxes can be fit into S5, even without an extended season.

[Peasant Rebel Leader]

Water cooler gossip, definately ;)

I see AFFC/ADWD as two seasons, spanning Season 4, 5 and 6! Tyrion's trial and everything revolving around that provides very interesting television, I doubt that they will want to miss that. Similarly, you can put the climaxes of the ADWD-season not at the end of the book, but a few pages before it. This leads to a "slower" (time-wise) season 4 in which we have the Purple Wedding, Tyrion's Trial and Tywin's Death while in the Stark kids "get to their respective teacher"/Jon becomes LC. I'd introduce the Dornish via Oberyn/Arianne in Kings Landing and have Season 5 about creating War for them (AFFC plot) culminating in the reveal of Quentyn in front of Daenerys. Season 5 ends there with the pit scene. To reach this, Tyrion needs to "teleport" a bit: Meet Griff at Illyrio -> Volantis/GC -> Jorah/Penny -> Ship -> Slave Market -> Pit. It does fit in 10 episodes, but it's a helluva ride. And I'm not a television producer that knows if the logistics of the other storylines work...

I can see Bran getting cut after season 4 though, or rather reduced to a voice from a tree.

[Javi Marcos]

I can only buy 2 seasons (S5 and S6) and a bit (some stuff in S4, like Kingsmoot at least, maybe Brienne and Arianne) of ADWD+AFFC if in Season 6 we have the full resolution of the Battles of Ice and Fire, totally TWOW material.

Each season has to have an arc with beginning and end for each character. The problem is where to split AFFC/ADWD to get a great arc for all the characters

This is my guess

Season 5

New characters: Taena,one Kettleback, Kindly Man, singer of Night's Watch, Darkstar, Arys Oakheart, Areo, Arianne and Doran if they don't appear in S4,2 or 3 Mereen nobles, Bloodraven, Lord Manderly, Aegon and co.

King's Landing: Full AFFC. One of the 3 main focus of the season.

Riverlands (Jaime and Brienne): Full AFFC, with Brienne travels pretty condensed (only 4-5 episodes of her, same for Jaime, 2 in KL and 2 or 3 in the Riverlands)

The Wall: finishes when Jon lets the wildlings pass The Wall. They can beef the relationship with Mel, Val, Bowen Marsh...Full Bran of ADWD. One of 3 focus of the season

The North: Finishes with Arya's/Talisa's Wedding and Stannis taking Deepwood Motte, Full Davos of ADWD

Braavos: Full AFFC

Dorne: Full AFFC

Vale: Sansa finishes with her becoming Alayne. Not too much screentime.

Sam: With Maester Aemon dying in Braavos.

Victarion: Considering that the Kingsmoot has appeared in S4, we'll see his only AFFC chapter beefed a bit.

Mereen: Finishes with Dany getting married. One of the 3 focus of the season

Tyrion: Tyrion gets captured by Jorah

We see a lot threads here, but there are in fact only 3 main focus (Mereen, The Wall, KL), and 3 other characters we care (Tyrion, Arya,Sansa). Riverlands ( and Vale, Sam, Dorne, will only appear in 4 or 5 episodes.

Season 6

New characters: Quentyn and co, Marwyn, Moqorro, Sand Snakes, Pate, Yunkai Commanders, Washerwomen

King's Landing: ADWD, not too much here. Finishes with Varys pro-Aegon reveal (absent the full S5)

Riverlands (Jaime and Brienne): ADWD, expanding a bit Jaime's adventures. Only 2 or 3 episodes.

The Wall: The rest of ADWD, finishing with Jon's death. One of the 3 main focus of the season.

The North: Finishes with the Battle of Ice solved. One of the 3 main focus of the season.

Braavos: ADWD, expanding Arya's adventure.

Dorne: Arianne's chapter and full Quentyn trip, from Dorne to Mereen.

Sam: Finishes talking with Marwyn.

Vale: End of AFFC

Mereen: Full Battle of Fire solved. One of the 3 main focus of the season.

Again, 3 main focus: Mereen and The North (Battles of Ice and Fire) and The Wall. Only other 3 characters we care (Cersei, Arya, Sansa) and Dorne, Sam, Vale, and Riverlands will appear even less then S5, only in 2-3 episodes.