Casso, King of the Seals

That makes sense. Someone on Reddit even made an analysis of the sounds from that video to prove that George doesn't say "hundreds". Anyway, likely he just misspoke and the "steady progress" that he spoke of in July reflects rewriting and polishing.

I'm curious about others' input here. When I play the clip, I hear George saying "I have like eleven hundred pages written but I still have hundred more pages to... to go", hence my hypothesis about him talking about printed pages as opposed to manuscript pages and actually demonstrating significant progress over the last year. Now, an IGN article interprets the same as him not making any progress at all since last December, and quoting him as saying he has "hundreds" more pages to go. On the one hand I don't hear him say "a hundred" but I definitely don't hear "hundreds". Any opinions?

Interesting. He says 1,100 done and a hundred to go. Could he be describing printed pages as opposed to manuscript pages? Last December it was 400-500 to go but he said overall the book would be 1,800 manuscript pages because it was getting very long. First US hardback editions: ASOS - 973 pages; ADWD - 1,016, this is including the appendices. If it's the case that he is talking printed pages instead of manuscript, then it is good news and would be in line with his earlier mention of making steady progress (late July). It would also be in line with TWOW being longer than ASOS and ADWD, coming in at around 1,200 printed pages. If this holds true, we can compare the two states of the estimated finished pages (1,300-1,400 / 1,800 from last December vs 1,100 / 1,200 now), George made progress from 72-78% done last year to about 92% done now. Also good to hear this is his major project at the moment taking up the majority of his time. I do believe George is committed to finishing the series but wants to put out a very high quality book that will hold up as one of his best works over the long term.

George is signing a book. I think the paper might be a letter from a fan. When you look on the bottom of the text, you can see the last two paragraphs being very short, which could be a sign-off at the end of a fan letter.

It would probably be strange for Jeyne, who at this point is half-frozen to death and was tortured by Ramsay for a long time, to go explaining the origin of the lemons in Winterfell. It is irrelevant to Mors Umber who is questioning her. This is from Theon's chapter, by the way. I would assume the lemons were just delivered from the south with other goods that are traded between kingdoms. Could have been grown in Dorne with its hot climate or maybe King's Landing.

Total bait but let's go. They rose in rebellion against a Targaryen king who enjoyed burning people alive, among them Rickard and Brandon. After Eddard wrote a letter to Robert's rightful heir, Stannis, he was beheaded by Joffrey on a whim after being promised he would be allowed to take the black, they declared independence from the Iron Throne, which is a questionable move, maybe they could have backed Stannis more but a similar reaction would come from any other House if faced by the same situation. Lyanna was supposedly abducted by Rhaeghar to the knowledge of most people. She was young and following what her genes were telling her to do. Same for Brandon and Robb. These are teenagers who would surely like to keep their vows, but when they are faced with more attractive options in the moment, they don't do what their parents or strangers (bannermen) want them to. Despite this, Lyanna is remembered as a kind-hearted person, Brandon rode with his father south to retrieve his sister, which is an act of bravery and commitment to own family, and Robb does everything he can to fix the situation with Walder Frey. Being made a fool of after being promised that your daughter will be a Queen in the North is not great but killing half the Northern force in a bloody show while they are your guests is not an appropriate reaction. Sansa was unknowingly used by Petyr Baelish to bring poison to the wedding feast so that Olenna could conveniently poison Joffrey. Totally unfair to imply that the Starks were involved in Joffrey's assassination. Which crown princes did they threaten? How did the Starks betray the Night's Watch? Arya is training with the Faceless Men, a high-level assassination force, which no one knows about. Not sure what cannibals you have in mind that the Starks are allied with. In general their reputation is definitely not worse than that of the Lannisters or the Greyjoys. Also, it seems that most who do decide to ally themselves with the Starks do so for selfish reasons, e.g. Northern lords swore fealty and are loyal by default because otherwise would be ostracized by other lords and punished, there are family and property ties in between these Houses, kids are taken as hostages to ensure no rebellion or double-crossing happens, etc. There is not really anyone who "trusts the Starks" because: Eddard, Catelyn, Robb are dead. Brandon and Rickon are believed dead by mostly everyone. Manderly, who wants them back, is a Stark loyalist for above reasons, they were friends with the parents, plus are driven by revenge after their young king is slaughtered at the Red Wedding. Sansa is gone missing and no one at King's Landing "trusted" her, she was under close guard, married to Tyrion in order for the Lannisters to be able to claim Winterfell once an heir is produced. Not exactly a nice situation to be in. Arya is believed dead by everyone. No one knows she is with the Faceless Men, therefore no one "trusts" her. Jon, if you consider him a Stark, was just killed by his own men mostly because of his own poor communication and a lack of negotiation skills. The key officers who he did not get on his side about the wildling issues have valid concerns but maybe killing Jon in the middle of a wildling host and Jon loyalists within the Watch was also not a smart move, we shall see. The wildlings, led by Tormund, trust him because they have no other choice than to deal with the one person who is willing to save them from starvation, cannibalism and being killed by wights and the Others. Stannis makes pragmatic deals with him (getting the Nightfort, being given provisions, intel on how to get to the mountain clans) - this is partially because he helped save the Watch from the attacking Mance's host, partially because he has now got his own army at the Watch, and partially because he develops a level of trust with Jon, who aids him despite his vows, being fueled by hatred of the Lannisters for killing his parents and brother, as well as marrying his favorite sister to a sadistic monster (as far as he knows). Maybe he should have been more impartial but then he has an excuse of Stannis's army being able to overwhelm the Watch so he complies to an extent. I like the Starks.

I only found out that people think AFFC and ADWD were "slow" and "boring" after I read them and found them as engaging and entertaining as the previous books. Following up on what Tyrosh Lannister said, the word "headcanon" should also be abolished.

Just noticed that the pre-order page of the upcoming ASOIAF calendar for 2024 has some preview images. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0593359739?tag=westeros-21&keywords=2024 a song of ice and fire calendar&geniuslink=true One is an image of Daenerys with Drogon from the end of A Dance with Dragons. The other two seem to be from Winds. The front cover image seems to depict Lyanna balancing on the weirwood tree's roots while Rhaeagar looks on. The other is one I haven't seen discussed yet, one of a bearded warrior standing on a snowy mountain side fighting off the Others mounted on ice spiders with a double-handed sword. Any thoughts about the two images supposedly from Winds?

I think that he might be polishing the material at sentence and word-level. If you re-read the first three books, and especially AGOT, there are things there that probably would have been re-written now, like Tyrion doing cartwheels, etc. His prose also seems to have gotten more attention as he progressed. Still, 11+ years is a lot. But it's important to remember that now he does have around 20 different POVs, some primary, some secondary, all over Westeros and Essos, with big plot arcs opened during AFFC/ADWD. In the first book there were 8 POVs (plus a prologue), the second book added Davos and Theon, and the third book added Jaime and Sam (taking out Theon). It's also a place in the story to start wrapping things up and this is likely harder than throwing the balls into the air. He needs to make sure to finish this book in a way that he can finish the whole story in ADOS if he wants to keep to 7 books. Plus he is aging, has multiple projects on the side (developing TV shows, editing Wild Cards, owning a book store, cinema and part of a railway line) and sometimes travels. All of this combined is probably why it is taking so long, and why the book will be the longest in the series so far once completed. I'm fairly confident that TWOW will be published in the next few years, maybe late next year or in 2025. Less optimistic about ADOS, especially if the writing-time of a book continues in the same trend as it's been since AFFC.

I have found that the most energy-saving approach is to just accept that the story might not be finished and then appreciate the books for what they are if they do come out. I think that some people will hype themselves up so much about Winds that once it comes out they might be disappointed about how it doesn't move at a rapid pace and will be just as novel-like as the other books (which I like). Bear in mind that each of these books covers about half a year of real time in the story-world. Anyway, he restated the 3/4 done thing on the Stephen Colbert show and mentions that he is done with several POVs with some still to go. So if he considers to have roughly 1,300 manuscript pages done and polished, he has about 500 pages to go, considering he thinks the book will be 300 pages longer than ASOS and ADWD. Lately he seems optimistic and in the flow, even with these little trips away from home. So I would say that Winds could be published maybe 2024 if all things go well. I do think we will get that book. I personally think they will either manage to cram the whole thing into one book by making it physically taller or making the text slightly smaller. Splitting the book in two and releasing it on two different release dates could be tempting for the publishers if they seek profit, but I think at the end it will be released as one huge book or at most as two volumes sold as a package. Whether he is gonna be able to deliver Dream is a function of how complex it will be, how much groundwork is gonna be done in Winds in terms of cutting POVs and bringing them together and wrapping up certain storylines, and also whether his writing speed remains the same. I am cautiously optimistic about the series, he certainly seems energetic and committed to finishing it, despite it going slowly and people complaining.

It seems like you didn't like AFFC/ADWD. :D Well, it is your opinion and you are entitled to it. One of my Unsullied friends almost stopped caring for GoT and he hasn't read the books. Seems like Obvious Olly and simple Dorne weren't an ideal replacement for actual storylines from the books. (Also, there is more to the Ironborn and Quentyn than the fact that the Ironborn provide Dany with ships and that Quentyn gets burned but that should be discussed in another topic.)

I didn't mean Gendry, I meant relevant storylines such as Dorne, Iron Islands, Griff and Young Griff, a more complex Meereen, and this could easily be solved by cutting countless pointless scenes in this season (Grey Worm and Missandei; Olly; Sand Snakes). I do not aim to look for the bad things in the show, nor do I expect a 100% adaptation of the books, but there is no doubt the show has had a drop in quality compared to season 1's almost cinematic quality. What made the show so popular - complexity and heavy characters' moments - is so sparse now. I understand that there are much more people watching the show now, but is it a reason to drop the quality? Truly, can Loras be more than a generic gay knight? (I hope you get my point.) This is what I meant when I mentioned the quality of writing.

I meant that in my opinion the show has gotten to a point where dialogues could be better, characters consistent and some story arcs more logical and complex (e.g. Dorne). When I compare the quality of writing from season 1 and this season, I see a considerable decrease in quality. It is not like people aren't intelligent enough to understand complex story development and character motivations or even remember a few more characters (I am talking about cutting storylines). The show, at this point, seems oversimplified to me. I realise that everything is written before being shot and I wasn't talking about Shireen's scene, that one was perfect and a highlight of the episode in my opinion. I am sorry if I wasn't clear enough/caused confusion. :)

This was quite well-done. The strongest scene for me was the sacrifice of Shireen - everybody's acting was perfect and the scene before it with Stannis and his daughter was really intense as well. Stephen Dillane was absolutely amazing. This might be the most horrifying scene on GoT in a long while, for me even more tragic than Red Wedding. There were some illogical moments as well (Dorne and Ellaria in particular) and I think the writing definitely needs improvement. Daenerys's big scene was a little bit underwhelming. Even though the start was perfect and Jorah's bits were amazing, I (once again) got the feeling of a B-movie towards the very end of the episode. I did not like the Hollywood "Drogon, can't you recognize me?" moment. Overall, it was pretty solid and I liked it more than last week's episode. 9/10.

This was a well-done episode compared to the previous one. I admired the directing by Miguel Sapochnik which transformed some passive and dialogue-based scenes into atmospheric and movie-like scenes that did not feel boring at all. If they had decided to adapt AFFC/ADWD material like this, it would have definitely been better for the show. It is a shame that they can't write an episode properly, without logical errors and facepalm moments. 7/10.