[Book spoilers] Too many storylines in season 5?

[JagLover]

Arya will get less screen time albei being a fan favorite. Even though they can invent some stuff, most of her story is going inside her head (especially when she's blind). I expect her to be featured in 3-4 episodes, yet with reduced screentime.

I am biased as these are some of my favourite chapters from AFFC/ADWD and easily provide enough material for a full season, if, as seems likely she doesn't leave for Bravoos until the end of S4. It is not merely some training montage but the moral judgements she makes in these books. It is the possibility of short changing characters like Arya that make me opposed to bringing in new characters purely because they appear in the books and regardless of their importance to the overall story.

[SM4e]

I am biased as these are some of my favourite chapters from AFFC/ADWD and easily provide enough material for a full season, if, as seems likely she doesn't leave for Bravoos until the end of S4. It is not merely some training montage but the moral judgements she makes in these books. It is the possibility of short changing characters like Arya that make me opposed to bringing in new characters purely because they appear in the books and regardless of their importance to the overall story.

She won't be in Braavos before Season 5. The Braavosi captain that was cast, will appear in 4x10, if I recall correctly.

I also liked Arya's chapters, but there is like no talking and so we wouldn't know what goes on inside her head and how these decisions affect her as a person.

[Hath4]

the storylines I see being cut are Quentin and Vic's a dance with dragons storylines . The iron islands subplot will end with euron sending Vic to meet dany. I also see aegon and griffs post Tyrion storyline being moved to season 6.

[Joyful Union]

Realistically, they're probably going to have to cut Dorne and the Iron Islands story lines. We might get a few introduction scenes, but outside of that, I think that characters from those story lines will pop up when they're needed in other story lines, but won't get their own.

I can see a truncated version of the Kingsmoot in Episode 1, and with Victarion being sent to Dany soon after, travelling largely offscreen until he turns up for the Battle of Mereen. Aeron is probably out. Victarion being merged with Euron is another possibility. my prediction for Season 4 is that Stannis will capture Yara on his way to the Wall, and that would be an efficient way to pare down the number of story lines.

Arianne is travelling to Aegon in her tWoW preview chapter, so I my guess is that the entire Myrcella plot will be cut, along with Arys Oakheart, and we'll just have Doran hearing the news of Oberyn's death, then telling Arianne about his plan and Quentyn when she confronts him about his inaction. A few episodes later when Aegon lands in Westeros, Arianne will be sent off. Quentyn's travels will almost certainly be cut, he'll just turn up, make his plea, then get roasted. One scene showing him getting on a boat to Essos is possibility.

There's some story lines that I think might be cut (Sam in Oldtown, Aegon and the GC), but without tWoW it's really impossible to know.

[oprahnoodlemantra]

Let' s see...we have (I'll just count the POV characters with chapters in AFFC/ADWD):

The North/The Wall/Beyond the Wall

1. Bran (stuff from TWOW? Flashbacks? Training as a greenseer? Made up stuff?)

2. Jon/Melisandre

3.Theon

4. Asha (Yara) [after she returns to the North (?), will maybe join with Theons storyline in S5]

5. Davos

The Iron Islands

6. Victarion/ Aeron/ Asha(Yara) [=Kingsmoot, hopefully]

The Riverlands/The Crownlands

7. Brienne

8. Jaime [starting after he leaves KL]

The Vale of Arryn

9. Sansa

King's Landing

10. Cersei

Dorne

11. Arianne/Areo Hotah/Arys Oakheart

Braavos

12. Arya, probably Sam

Meereen

13. Daenerys (Barristan's chapters will probably be used in season 6]

On a journey

14. Tyrion

15. Quentin

16. Victarion

17. Sam

So, a maximum of 17 storylines for one season. Much more than in S 1-3 and considerably more than season 4 (probably 10 storylines). How are the writers going to master this task without turning the episodes into clipshows? Which storylines need to be condensed or maybe even cut?

The North/The Wall/Beyond the Wall

1. Bran - won't be in every episode.

2. Jon/Melisandre - probably one of the main storylines of season 5 in addition to KL and Essos.

3.Theon - probably won't be a main storyline but will have a good amount of screentime.

4. Asha - depends what they do with her in season 4. She'll probably be with Stannis for a lot of the season before joining up again with Theon.

5. Davos - probably won't be in every episode unless they decide to bring back Rickon and Osha for season 5.

The Iron Islands

6. Victarion/ Aeron/ Asha - If they do the Kingsmoot it won't be a multi-episode arch. Victarion will probably have the most screentime of the Iron Islanders and it'll mostly be him going to/fighting in Meereen.

The Riverlands/The Crownlands

7. Brienne - won't be in every episode but will eventually be the viewers eyes into what will have become of Catelyn.

8. Jaime - probably won't be in every episode but he'll also cross paths with other characters like the Blackfish, Edmure, Anguy, and eventually Brienne

The Vale of Arryn

9. Sansa - will probably be in a lot of episodes but without too much screentime.

King's Landing

10. Cersei - probably one of the major storylines in addition to the Wall and Essos.

Dorne

11. Arianne/Areo Hotah/Arys Oakheart - a lot will probably be cut but they'll still get a good amount of screentime so the viewers know they're important.

Braavos

12. Arya, probably Sam - Sam will only be in Braavos for about one episode. He probably won't be every one anyway. Arya too.

Meereen

13. Daenerys - definitely one of the main storylines. I think the upcoming battle will be concluded and it'll be the episode that GRRM writes.

On a journey

14. Tyrion - Tyion's journey will be streamlined. He'll introduce viewers to the Griffs and then meet up with Jorah before getting to Meereen for the battle.

15. Quentyn - his journey will surely be cut and the viewers will be introduced to him at the same time that Dany is.

16. Victarion - will probably have a battle or two at sea, then some scenes with Moqorro, then the battle in Meereen.

17. Sam - as I said, he probably won't be in every episode.

So, yes 17 storylines but only a few will take up a lot of screentime. This will probably only last for one season as D&D will want to get through AFFC/ADWD as fast as possible so they have more room for TWOW/ADOS.

[Seneti]

Well, so you assume that they put 2 books of a huge size into 9 episodes? I am pretty sure the battle of Meereen and the battle of Winterfell will not be sooner than Season 6x02.

As already mentioned in another thread, I think it is more likely to see Quentyn freeing the dragons and Daenerys flying of in episode 5x09. They can dramatize Tyrion's fight against the lion, so it would actually feel like a dramatic episode 9 as viewers got used to.

I don't think that this is going to work. At least not all of it. Not unless they do to the battles of Mereen and Winterfell what they did to the Fist of the First Men. I think one of these (probably Winterfell) is going to happen at the end of season 5, see as they seem to be going with one major battle per season. Also, AFFC and ADWD are strangely void of great "end of season" material, which - I guess - is one of the things that pissed so many people off - you get lots of build up and not enough satisfaction. I don't think that would work on TV.

Let' s see...we have (I'll just count the POV characters with chapters in AFFC/ADWD):

The North/The Wall/Beyond the Wall

1. Bran (stuff from TWOW? Flashbacks? Training as a greenseer? Made up stuff?)

2. Jon/Melisandre

3.Theon

4. Asha (Yara) [after she returns to the North (?), will maybe join with Theons storyline in S5]

5. Davos

The Iron Islands

6. Victarion/ Aeron/ Asha(Yara) [=Kingsmoot, hopefully]

The Riverlands/The Crownlands

7. Brienne

8. Jaime [starting after he leaves KL]

The Vale of Arryn

9. Sansa

King's Landing

10. Cersei

Dorne

11. Arianne/Areo Hotah/Arys Oakheart

Braavos

12. Arya, probably Sam

Meereen

13. Daenerys (Barristan's chapters will probably be used in season 6]

On a journey

14. Tyrion

15. Quentin

16. Victarion

17. Sam

So, a maximum of 17 storylines for one season. Much more than in S 1-3 and considerably more than season 4 (probably 10 storylines). How are the writers going to master this task without turning the episodes into clipshows? Which storylines need to be condensed or maybe even cut?

1. Bran: I expect them to use all of his ADWD material, plus TWOW material (potentially Bran discovering the truth about Ned's promise and Jon's heritage. That said, he doesn't have to be in every episode and even if he will be, short scenes of 2 - 3 minutes tops would suffice.

2. Jon/Melisandre: I fully expect season 5 to cover all of Jon's material from his election to his downfall. I doubt Melisandre will be a POV character on TV.

3. + 4. Theon and Asha: I expect these two to meet up at the end of season 5, potentially in episode 8, right before the battle of Winterfell.

5. Davos: I expect his journey to be included fully, but it will take up 5 episodes tops.

6. Victarion/ Aeron/ Asha(Yara) [=Kingsmoot, hopefully]: I don't think we will get Aeron per se. His role is not so singularly important that no nameless priest could take his place. I don't think Asha will be around for the Kingsmoot either, but I do think that we will get a shortened Kingsmoot with Victarion and Euron, plus Victarion's journey and his arrival at Mereen.

7. Brienne: I expect to see the rest of her AFFC material here, assuming season 4 ends with her giving up searching for Sansa in exchange for searching for Arya.

8. Jaime [starting after he leaves KL]: Season 5 will most likely include all of his remaining AFFC material, potentially even a bit of TWOW.

9. Sansa: I think we'll definitely see all her AFFC material, potentially a bit of TWOW as well.

10. Cersei: I think Cersei's walk of shame would make for a great episode 10 moment.

11. Arianne/Areo Hotah/Arys Oakheart: This is a little more difficult. I think Areo Hotah will be cut and Arianne will be taking over Arys' POV moments. I'm fairly certain that they will include the Queenmaker, if only to make sense of Quentyn in Dorne. Will probably include all of Arianne's material until the battle of Mereen.

12. Arya, probably Sam: I think Arya will be around for about 5 episodes, potentially with a little bit of TWOW material. Sam will be in there two, first of all because he (and Dareon) are crucial to Arya's plot and secondly because the producers won't miss up on the bittersweet taste on having him meet another of Jon's siblings, yet not being able to tell Jon (the first time because he promised, the second because he was half a world away and didn't realize whom he was talking to). Sam will end up exactly where he was at the end of AFFC.

13. Daenerys + Barristan: I expect Dany' taming Drogon to be in episode 9, her meeting with the Dothraki in episode 10. Barristan will be in there, too, preparing for the siege of Mereen. The actual siege will probably be at the beginning of season 6.

14. Tyrion: I fully expect all of his ADWD material to be in there, except maybe for his travelogue with Illyrio. The named cast of Griff's ship will probably be reduced to Griff, young griff, the maester and Septa Lemore.

15. Quentin: I expect him to be in season 5, but only briefly: one episode to show Dany laughing him out of her court, one to show how horribly wrong his dragon theft ends (potentially in episode 9). The first scene will probably coincide with Doran explaining his plan to Arianne, in which he'll mention having send Quentyn off to Mereen. Cut to entrance of Quentyn at Daenerys' court.

16. Victarion: see 6.

17. Sam: see 12.

---

I don't think it will be too packed. On the contrary, season 5 will set a brisk pace, which will be expected after an action packed season 4. Dany's arc in particularly will have to be condensed, unless they want to bore their viewership to death. Most storylines will converge by the end of season 5, so even if there'll be confusion at first, many thinks will become clearer at the end of the season.

Oh, and one more thing: I think they'll reserve FAegon's arrival in Westeros for season 6.

[jbent87]

I just hope they don't slight Vic\Euron\any iron island stuff, really. I find the greyjoy house\uncles so intriguing. If they cut Euron\Vic ill be fucking distraught.

[Ser Tahu]

I love these sorts of threads!

Just a few notes/assumptions before I get to the storylines:

- I think Stannis will capture YarAsha in S4, so that removes her solo storyline. I think we will still get the Kingsmoot, but it will just be without her.

- I think Euron sending Victarion to Meereen will be in the finale as a cliffhanger for S6, so his solo stuff won't be until S6.

- Sam will likely be part of Jon's storyline in the first part of S5, and part of the Arya/Braavos storyline in the second half. So I don't think he will be a separate storyline until S6.

- we may get some Rickon scenes, bringing the storyline total to 15 over the season.

So, now that I have that out of the way, here is my breakdown of how I think they will manage the 15 storylines in S5:

Cersei/King's Landing - 9/10 episodes. I think the natural climax in 5x09 would be her arrest, with her sending the letter to Jaime in the finale. It will be one of the pillars of the season.

Jon/The Wall - 9/10 episodes. I think that, after the election in episode 2 or 3, the season will cover Janos' scheming, dealing with Stannis and dealing with the Karstarks. The wildlings, Hardhome and Bowen Marsh (or the show equivalent) could then be covered in the first half of S6. Assuming Melisandre revives him, Jon could die mid S6 and be revived in the finale. It will be another of the main focuses of the season.

Daenerys/Meereen - 9/10 episodes. Since it seems that Jorah won't be banished in S4, so Daenerys has plenty of stuff to cover with the fighting pits in 5x09. Meereen will likely be the third main focus of S5.

Tyrion - 7/8 episodes. I think they will have him in most episodes because he is a fan favourite, but for the most part I think he will only have a single scene in each episode. I think he will be absent from the fighting pits (which I think will be 5x09), and will get captured by Jorah in either 5x08 or 5x10 (I would lean towards the former).

Arya - like Tyrion, I think she will be in most episodes, but only for a single scene in most cases. I think that, simply because of how Sam's story is likely to work out, her story will end with killing the deserter (who I think will be Pyp) and returning to the House of Black and White, while Sam boards Xhondo's ship.

Theon - 7 episodes, I think ending with him jumping off the Wall. He would only need a single scene in most of his episodes.

Sansa - 6/7 episodes. I think it will just be an expanded version of the Lords Declarant, and wouldn't really need more than a single scene in each episode.

Brienne - 5/6 episodes. I think that it will just be the stuff with Randyll Tarly an septon Meribald. The more compressed the better.

Bran - 5/6 episodes. I think it will be a rather light season when it comes to Bran.

The important thing to note is that the rest of the storylines wouldn't span the entire season, so ultimately there would only be ~12 storylines, give or take, at any time in the season, and not all of them would appear in every episode.

Jaime - his solo arc would only be in the second half of the season, however I think it will be at main storyline in those episodes

Davos - he would only need 3 scenes; arriving in White Harbour, being brought before Wyman an sentenced to 'death' and then (after a gap of at least a few episode) being brought from prison and sent after Rickon. The main question here would be the question of how they plan to time it with Wyman arriving at Winterfell.

Rickon - They need to get him from the Last Hearth to Skagos somehow. But that would only need two or three scenes.

Iron Islands - 7 episodes. I think it will be a relatively major storyline in the first half of the season for the introduction of the Greyjoy brothers and the Kingsmoot (and maybe the death of Balon in the premiere), but in the second half of the season it would mostly be a non-entity with only 3/4 scenes.

Dorne - 7 episodes. Like the Iron Islands, I think it will be a major storyline in the first half of the season, but after the Queenmaker (which I think will be in episode 5) they would really only need 3 scenes: a short one of Arianne in prison, Doran's speech and Balon Swan arriving with Gregor's head/him being sent after the Darkstar (which I think will be in episodes 6, 7 and 10 respectively)

Quentyn - 3/4 episodes (not including his Meereen stuff). I think we will see his journey, and that he will meet Daenerys at the start of episode 8. Before that they really only need 3 or 4 scenes: Doran sending him off in the premiere, being attacked by pirates in episode 3 (optional. It would be a nice way to add action to the first half of the season, and drama to Quentyn's story), signing with the Windblown in episode 4 or 5 and arriving in Meereen and getting his infiltration mission from Tatters in episode 7.

Overall, although there will be more storylines than ever before (and probably more than at any other time in the entire series), I don't think it is impossible for them to show every storyline. There will obviously be a lot of subplots cut (like Nimble Dick and the Stokeworths, for example), but I doubt that they will cut out entire storylines.

[cade]

I think most people continue overestimating how much of books 4 & 5 will be adapted for the tv show.

"Season 3 is probably the biggest in terms of the number of new characters, number of new stories overall," Benioff explained. "The universe has expanded as much as it's going to, and now it's going to contract... As pieces start to get removed from the chessboard, we'll have fewer on there. We're nearly to the midpoint (of the story), and it'll be interesting to see what's going forward with the endgame." link

[Damp Hair - The Prophet]

What I find troublesome is how the default thinking of so many ASOIAF "fans" hereabouts is that storylines and characters should be cut or merged? Don't you like the books, the story, these chacters. With the POV chapters these books are all about Characters. Merging Greyjoy bros (who are nothing alike!) or Quent/fAegon is nonsensical & blasphemous. I love every moment of the books and would rather figure away to include as much as possible rather than some here who automatically poopoo anytyhing after ASOS and take it as a given that 75% of the last two books should be cut. Casual viewers may only be able to remember Imp & Dragon girl but things need not be dumbed down to just focus on them.

[Colonel Green]

What I find troublesome is how the default thinking of so many ASOIAF "fans" hereabouts is that storylines and characters should be cut or merged? Don't you like the books, the story, these chacters.

Well, there's quite a few fans who think that AFFC/ADWD are a significant drop in quality from the first two. I'm not that down on them, by any means; but it's obvious to me that the TV series cannot expend much more than a season on them, within the framework the show's producers have most commonly talked about. So some things have got to give.

[Damp Hair - The Prophet]

Yes there is room to cut. Things don't much advance the plot, things that GRRM included that bloat AFFC/ADWD. Brienne ambling & Dany dithering chapter after chapter are most egregious. What we need to pay heed to imo is the end game.

Two "new" storylines that must needs be introduced for the end game are: The threat of Euron/dragonhorn/Victarion&theIronFleet in Mereen. & the JonCon/fAegon/Dorne alliance.

[Hagen of Tronje]

nonsensical & blasphemous. I love every moment of the books and would rather figure away to include as much as possible

Well, I want a good adaption of the books, as I'm also a fan of the HBO show. And a good adaption is not necessarily the most faithful adaption. Plus, there are a lot of things which simply can't find their way on the screen, no matter how much you'd like it. Not enough time, not enough budget, another medium with different requirements etc. If you want to include every minor character and if you want every storyline to progress exactly like in the books, than you'd soon find out that this would be in many cases simply impossible and more often than not bad TV.

And "blasphemous"... seriously? If "fan" means I can't have any sort of critical approach towards the book and/or it's author anymore, than no thanks, I don't want to be a fan. Because in that case I'd be nothing more than a moron who treats the books like religious fundamentalists treat the Bible or the Quran.

[Blutrabe]

You cannot put AFFC and ADWD into Season 5, it's just too much of important stuff happening there. I think they will need around 15 episodes to adapt AFFC/ADWD+Battles of Meereen and Winterfell.

Right. They should move most of the latter half/third of ADWD to S6 and merge it with the beginning of TWOW, including both battles and Cersei's trial by combat. Of course this is all conjecture since we haven't read TWOW, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had good season-ending events for some characters early on.

After reading what the producers thought about the show going 9 seasons, I think that the producers would just take creative license and end the series at 8 seasons even if it became evident that Martin was going to do a 9th book.

Considering that the last two books are going to be ASOS-sized and probably full of exciting events, I can't see how they would think that the show would get stale after about seven seasons. Why would they want to cut it short if it's still exciting and successful? Without having read the last books, I think the most feasible way to arrange the seasons is this:

S1: AGOT

S2: ACOK

S3: ASOS

S4: ASOS + bits and pieces of AFFC/ADWD

S5: AFFC/ADWD

S6: ADWD + TWOW

S7: TWOW

S8: ADOS

S9: ADOS

Realistically, they're probably going to have to cut Dorne and the Iron Islands story lines. We might get a few introduction scenes, but outside of that, I think that characters from those story lines will pop up when they're needed in other story lines, but won't get their own.

I can see a truncated version of the Kingsmoot in Episode 1, and with Victarion being sent to Dany soon after, travelling largely offscreen until he turns up for the Battle of Mereen. Aeron is probably out. Victarion being merged with Euron is another possibility. my prediction for Season 4 is that Stannis will capture Yara on his way to the Wall, and that would be an efficient way to pare down the number of story lines.

Arianne is travelling to Aegon in her tWoW preview chapter, so I my guess is that the entire Myrcella plot will be cut, along with Arys Oakheart, and we'll just have Doran hearing the news of Oberyn's death, then telling Arianne about his plan and Quentyn when she confronts him about his inaction. A few episodes later when Aegon lands in Westeros, Arianne will be sent off. Quentyn's travels will almost certainly be cut, he'll just turn up, make his plea, then get roasted. One scene showing him getting on a boat to Essos is possibility.

There's some story lines that I think might be cut (Sam in Oldtown, Aegon and the GC), but without tWoW it's really impossible to know.

You're probably right by and large. I think the Kingsmoot is going to be cut, because it wouldn't make much sense to not have it in S4 already. Euron simply declares himself king and wins over the people the way he does at the Kingsmoot, then sends off Victarion.

The Myrcella plot is probably cut, because it feels like foreign matter among the other storylines. Myrcella needs to be addressed at some point, but they can probably work around to whatever will happen to her. Depending on the role Arianne/Doran/Dorne will play in the last books they need to be cast, but I think their storyline will be somewhat different to the books. Whether Quentyn will be included depends on said Dorne storyline.

Sam in Oldtown and Aegon are two storylines that I personally think can't be cut because they seem to be very important later on.

-----

I have said much about S5 and 6 in other threads. Please take a look at this post:

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/87904-book-spoilers-season-5-episode-9-event/page-26#entry5287413

[JagLover]

Well, I want a good adaption of the books, as I'm also a fan of the HBO show. And a good adaption is not necessarily the most faithful adaption.

Indeed

Many bash AFFC/ADWD but I feel there wasn't a drop in the quality of the writing, just the focus in the plot. Many characters have some of their best chapters in AFFC/ADWD, like Jon, Arya Cersei. That does not mean that nothing should be cut from them, as there are three fundamental constraints

1. many of the key characters only have one seasons worth of plot progression (as they do after all only have one book)

2. If this is a 8 season show, AFFC/ADWD needs to be finished by the end of S5.

3. There are simply too many characters and locations for a TV show.

A good adaption would not follow the source material blindly as these books are basically un-filmable as they are.

[Damp Hair - The Prophet]

Blasphemers! I'll feed you to the sea! Geesh, GoT is not a religious text and I am not a fundamentalist, rather I know ASOIAF very well & love it lots. A little levity around here is not so bad a thing. Imagine if I let Shitmouth write my posts.

Look for the Kingsmoot & Dorne/JonCon/fAegon to be introduced much like Dragonstone, Tullys, Brotherhood etc were. These intro scenes can be done in 10 min. There's room for them. They are not a waste.

Here's must hit story notes:
Brienne- shown traveling in S4. Mostly she needs just get to Brotherhood & prob fight with Rorge/Biter, who have been established, meet Gendry.
Jaime- it shows him left handed training in S4 footage, so S5 mostly he'll confront Freys & Blackfish outside Riverrun & get to Brotherhood w/ Brienne.
Dany- ugh, only thing in Mereen is marry harpy dude, lose control of dragons(both in S4) dragonpit and fly away. Tons of superfluous politics to cut. Vic will tie in here. Moqorro should be cast.
Bran- He meets Leaf&3EC so it looks like his ADWD storyline is mostly done in S4.
Sam- He'll go to Braavos (soon established as location in S4 scene w/ Stannis&Davos bank visit), Aemon dies, he meets Arya.
Cersi- her & Marg are all that's left in Kingslanding. Show them & TheFaithofthe7 conflict. Season 5 Cercei walk of shame.
Tyrion- hook him up with JonCon/fAegon soon & then Moqorro & then Jorah. Tyrion ties all the Essos stories together before battle of Mereen.

[ChozenOne]

I really don't think any pov characters will be cut, aside from Aeron. Hotah will be nothing more than a featured extra. I look at it this way. Most of AFFC and ADWD is inside a person's thoughts. There is also copious amounts of description of the surroundings, food, ect, that can be shown rather than needing to be described like in the books. When you boil the 2 books down to plot progression and action taking place I don't think there is any doubt that they can fit most of it into a single season. Tyrion, Brienne, Sam, and Victarion's travel can be trimmed, Cersei's and Dany's crazy musings can be trimmed. Quentyn's travel will be cut. Aegon won't reach Westeros until s6. Deepening on which battle will take place at the end of the season (I'm thinking Mereen) Dany or Jon's material at the end of Dance will carry over to the start of s6. And merging Vic and Euron is impossible. Not happening.

[Mr Fixit]

The underlying problem in season 5, apart from the volume of material that they're going to have to get through, is how unevenly distributed it is amongst the cast. The earlier books managed a decent equilibrium, with some characters getting chapter counts in the low teens, and everybody else in the mid-high single digits. AFFC/ADWD completely loses this, the result being some people have huge chapter counts, and other people have next to none. But TV structuring is going to require them to work the major castmembers into at least a majority of the episodes -- Sansa and Arya shouldn't have a problem there, for instance; Bran, I have no idea what they're going to do. Davos is either going to outright vanish halfway through season 5, or else they're going to have to dip into the sixth book for some kind of ending scene.

For Arya I agree as she has 5 or 6 chapters and an engaging storyline in Feast/Dance; there should be enough meat to carry her through Season 5.

Sansa however... She only has 3 introductory chapters that don't amount to much.

[Draco_Dracul]

Put me down for Quentyn getting cut entirely. His primary roles are releasing the dragons and in death denying Dany an alliance with Dorne. Literally anyone can do the former and not including Quentyn acomplishes the latter as Aegon will appear to be the superior candidate as Doran will have a way to marry into the throne, Aegon is of his nephew, and most importantly Aegon is in Westeros while Dany is on the other side of the world.

[Colonel Green]

Sansa however... She only has 3 introductory chapters that don't amount to much.

I think you could get 6 episodes or so out of her material without requiring major additions, which is probably about what the Stark kids would get this year (Arya might get a bit more than that). The initial investigation of Lysa's death in the premiere, the Lords Declarant show up and lay siege soon after, in the meantime she interacts with Littlefinger and Robin, the big meeting with the Lords, traveling to whatever's standing in for the Gates of the Moon and meeting whichever of Mya and Myranda will be appearing in the show, the final scene with Littlefinger to tease the next season. It's not the most propulsive story arc, by any means, but it's viable.