EW Reveals 7 Season Plan

[titanx5]

We are already getting to battles this season, obviously the battle of the wall, and the siege of Meeren. So it is not to hard to believe that we may get 2 battles in s5, the battle of ice wont be that much as they just need to show the beginning by showing the Freys falling into the frozen lake and some fighting, and leave the ending in suspense when Jon gets the pink letter that the unsullied actually believe Stannis lost. The battle of Meeren will be expensive, but will be doable as the budget will increase especially after the success s4 will be

[Beric175]

I like the fact that the show cannot overindulge in meaningless details and will get right to the point much faster, something I found to be a problem with the meandering of AFFC and ADWD.

[briantw]

The fat is very good in my opinion, especially if they trim it. They can go back to picking up dialogue from unadapted scenes and place it all over. I think it will increase the quality of the writting, if nothing else.

For the record, I don't have a problem with most of the content in either Feast or Dance. I think both are great books, but Feast is definitely the worst book in the series thus far, which I think most people would agree on. I also think that adapting Feast and Dance directly is impossible, because too much of each is spent on people wandering from place to place with no significant story advancement.

It's entertaining to read, of course, because I think we're all enthralled with the world Martin has created and don't mind seeing more of it, but ultimately a lot of the two books feels like treading water rather than recklessly pushing forward like the first three books were prone to do. Since so much of the two books is spent on traveling and world-building, they can easily be cut down and combined to create a pretty great season of television, especially if they include a few of the climaxes that are sure to come in Winds that were held out of Dance.

In essence, it's not that material is being cut because of quality, but rather because adapting it as-is just wouldn't work.

I do agree that a lot of the dialogue could be re-purposed in other scenes or in later seasons, though.

I've floated this before but nobody seemed to care for it, anyway; I say alter things slightly so that Drogon barges in on Dany's wedding, not the pits. Go through everything else in S4; invade Meereen, struggle to rule, Drogon leaves, Dany realises she had to marry, then end with her wedding, she flies off on Drogon. S5; tear through Tyrion getting to Meereen, he gets chucked in the pits with a lion, then Dany shows up and flame grills aforementioned lion. All kicks off, Battle of Meereen, Dany finally heads home, end of S5.

I think they'll do the fighting pits simply because Feast and Dance lack the regular action and signature scenes of the first three books, and it will be an excellent excuse to show something exciting.

[Claudiu Gherganu]

titanx5, on 02 Apr 2014 - 11:18 AM, said:

We are already getting to battles this season, obviously the battle of the wall, and the siege of Meeren. So it is not to hard to believe that we may get 2 battles in s5, the battle of ice wont be that much as they just need to show the beginning by showing the Freys falling into the frozen lake and some fighting, and leave the ending in suspense when Jon gets the pink letter that the unsullied actually believe Stannis lost. The battle of Meeren will be expensive, but will be doable as the budget will increase especially after the success s4 will be

The siege of Meeren is not really a battle, there are some cool catapults shots but that doesnt necessarily means there is going to be a big battle like Blackwater or the Wall, its more like the burning of Astapor if anything .

[Juan_Snow]

Yeah, I stopped watching Breaking Bad around season 3. He's a scumbag and gets away with it, wow, so groundbreaking. Pff. Plus, Breaking Bad did not have to invest in medieval-style costuming, locations and they also did not have as many actors on the show. Plus, no ice demons and dragons or epic-style battles on Breaking Bad either. GOT actually has to invest a lot more money just for the set-up of the show and I actually like it more than Breaking Bad because I'm so tired of rooting for the Republican's idea of a hero: it's just about you and screw everybody else. Don't worry breaking the law and stabbing people in the back, in the end all those plans you want to put into place are going to succeed, even if it's atthe expense of other poeople, in the end who cares about them, no all that matters is if WW is gonna make it out ok. No thanks, i'm tired of antiheroes. You wanna watch despicable people who are not glorified? Watch Boardwalk Empire instead. I'm with Sean T. Collins on this one.

Glad to know I'm not the only person that hated Breaking Bad. That show sucked. Soooooo boring.

[TheWhiteRabbit]

The fat is very good in my opinion, especially if they trim it. They can go back to picking up dialogue from unadapted scenes and place it all over. I think it will increase the quality of the writting, if nothing else.

This is a great idea, but I'm sure the show runners will also look at some of the new characters introduced in books 4 and 5 as fat. I'll say this again D&D have already stated that the show is done expanding and it's now time to contract, so it's easy to expect that we'll see more combining/excluding of characters than we've ever seen in the past. The important question is what characters from Feast and Dance are essential to the end game and therefore cannot be cut?

[P. frontalis chiripepe]

Are you kidding?

What is more believable:

1) The main story is about the White Walkers, while we see only a few of them (2 if I'm not mistaken) during the 5 books.

2) The main story is about the game of thrones (which is, coincidently, also the title of the TV series), and the White Walkers is only a subplot to characterize characters like the Starks, Jon and the R'hllor followers/priests.

I think the answer is quite clear...

Now if you prefer to believe that the author doesn't know what he's doing, rather than admitting you are mistaken... I'm sorry.

I think this is an oversimplification, and the truth actually lies somewhere in between. While the bulk of the prose does lie with the game of thrones, the white walkers are more than just a subplot to give life to certain characters. They serve as a device that gives the entire plot a sense of urgency. They provide meat to the backdrop, and will ultimately tie in and become one with the entire game of thrones story, helping to alter the outcome. Without the white walker aspect, this would be a different and less interesting journey.

[The Human Abstract]

You know what might a cool thing to have in season 5 to throw a bone to people thinking The Others need to do something?

Show Hardhome. It happens "offscreen" in the books, but so what? Would be a cool scene.

[JagLover]

Is it?

I find the notion that people get intrigued by ASoIaF/GoT by the non-standard approach to things (for fantasy) and then for some reason assume that everything that happens from this point out is going to be traditional cheesy fantasy by the numbers rather bizarre. We have no idea if the Others are going to invade Westeros and lay waste to the continent. We have no idea what their goals or objectives are, and if they can be met by less corny means. We have no idea if Dany ever makes it back to Westeros (though I agree it's been set up that way) or if she will win the Iron Throne if she does.

True enough to some extent

But we do have the past history of the Others and we know that they were regarded in the past as so serious a threat that a wall seven hundred feet high was built to keep them out. We also know that a very deep winter is coming which is what they need, presumably, to go deep into the South.

Perhaps GRRM is playing a trick on us and the story is really a mixed travelogue and the foods of westeros critique, but I would hazard a guess that this is the reason the story is set in this time.

You will note I did not say it is a battle between good and evil. I'm sure the Others have their reasons and people are burned alive as offerings to the lord of light.

[Sun]

All this discussion proves is that thousands of pages into this story and we still don't know what it's all really about. lol

[Tall Tyrion Lannister!]

You know what might a cool thing to have in season 5 to throw a bone to people thinking The Others need to do something?

Show Hardhome. It happens "offscreen" in the books, but so what? Would be a cool scene.

Hardhome being shown would be cool. would love to see what the "dead things in the water" actually are

[aFeastForDragons]

^YES!! Its so vague in the letters that it could be anything from wights to undead Krakens.

[TheWhiteRabbit]

Hardhome being shown would be cool. would love to see what the "dead things in the water" actually are

Yes it would be cool, but I wouldn't count on it. If I have one ongoing grievance with this show (although I love 99% of it) it has to be the continual butchery of what goes on at the wall. I can somewhat understand not showing the battle at the Fist of the First Men (although there were no major battles last season) for budgetary reasons. However, I absolutely loved the chapter in ASOS where the brothers are fleeing for their lives in the forrest and the walkers are pursuing them from behind. It was such a spooky and eerie chapter. This would have translated amazing on screen and would have given some action to an otherwise uneventful episode. But hey, maybe things will change this year. I'm always optimistic going into each season and on most counts the show meets or exceeds my expectations. The only other time I've been disappointed with the show was when they completely destroyed the House of the Undying, but lets not get into that I don't want to give myself a headache.

[WTFSalami]

Yeah the North of the Wall stuff has been sort of disappointing. Things are horrifying and fantastical up there, moreso than any other place in this world, and it just doesn't feel like that on the show. The absence of spooky ass Coldhands is a bummer.

[Rashtibram]

The siege of Meeren is not really a battle, there are some cool catapults shots but that doesnt necessarily means there is going to be a big battle like Blackwater or the Wall, its more like the burning of Astapor if anything .

Yeah, I don't think the siege of Meereen is going to be some big-budget affair. The catapults, we have it on good authority, are not part of the actual battle: rather, they precede it (see the Q&A session we had over at the first 'Little Questions' thread for more details). The only other Meereen shots we've seen have been a couple of quick glimpses of archers preparing to fire and a short segment depicting freed slaves swarming their masters in the alleyways of the city. Given what we know so far, I'm pretty sure that Meereen will be taken in a similar manner to Yunkai on the show, albeit with more of the actual fighting shown.

[The Human Abstract]

Yeah the North of the Wall stuff has been sort of disappointing. Things are horrifying and fantastical up there, moreso than any other place in this world, and it just doesn't feel like that on the show. The absence of spooky ass Coldhands is a bummer.

Also, in the books it's forested and creepy whereas in the show it's stony and open and ... well... Iceland. Iceland doesn't fit to me. It's the wrong atmosphere.

/WhiteWalkerWhine

[The Human Abstract]

Yeah, I don't think the siege of Meereen is going to be some big-budget affair. The catapults, we have it on good authority, are not part of the actual battle: rather, they precede it (see the Q&A session we had over at the first 'Little Questions' thread for more details). The only other Meereen shots we've seen have been a couple of quick glimpses of archers preparing to fire and a short segment depicting freed slaves swarming their masters in the alleyways of the city. Given what we know so far, I'm pretty sure that Meereen will be taken in a similar manner to Yunkai on the show, albeit with more of the actual fighting shown.

What they'll do is have distant shots with heavy CGI and close-up shots that show you very little.

All I gotta say is Barristan better charge into battle without a helmet on.

[Claudiu Gherganu]

Occasional Anarchist, on 03 Apr 2014 - 12:30 AM, said:

Yeah the North of the Wall stuff has been sort of disappointing. Things are horrifying and fantastical up there, moreso than any other place in this world, and it just doesn't feel like that on the show. The absence of spooky ass Coldhands is a bummer.

I think Bloodraven and a child of the forest being cast this season doensnt really matter if useless Coldhands is not there .

[aFeastForDragons]

All I gotta say is Barristan better charge into battle without a helmet on.

+1

Barristan has to go Blackwater Stannis on Mereen.

[P. frontalis chiripepe]

Also, in the books it's forested and creepy whereas in the show it's stony and open and ... well... Iceland. Iceland doesn't fit to me. It's the wrong atmosphere.

/WhiteWalkerWhine

I don't know, I thought it the books there were forested sections and stony open sections. I always felt that Craster was in a forest, yet the scenes were Jon and his small group climbed the cliff face to get to Ygritte's camp I pictured largely the same open background that has been shown on the show.