Two More Trailers

[The Dragon has three heads]

He's a cool character, but like strong belwas must be ultimately unimportant to the overall plot to cast an actor and throw them dialogue that could be spent on other characters.

I think the most interesting thing about brans crew in the trailer is what jojen says, it's seems like they may part ways...or die, sooner rather than later...

[Tall Tyrion Lannister!]

He's a cool character, but like strong belwas must be ultimately unimportant to the overall plot to cast an actor and throw them dialogue that could be spent on other characters.

I think the most interesting thing about brans crew in the trailer is what jojen says, it's seems like they may part ways...or die, sooner rather than later...

yeah, Belwas provides the comedy, but i don't feel like anything is really missing when I watch the show and he's not there.

I'm looking forward to the meeting with Bloodraven and the COTF. I assume that Bloodraven won't be half tree though.

[The Dragon has three heads]

yeah, Belwas provides the comedy, but i don't feel like anything is really missing when I watch the show and he's not there.

I'm looking forward to the meeting with Bloodraven and the COTF. I assume that Bloodraven won't be half tree though.

Hmmm, I'm not so sure, it's very important that we see the greenseer tapped in to the weirnet and Weirwoods to explain his long life...or maybe I just want it that way...

[PhoenixFlame]

If Belwas was in the show, there'd be even more "ZOMG the show is racist!!!" comments. Plus, Belwas was a more combat-inclined Scrappy. No tears at his omission.

[Rhaegar I Targaryen]

Another great glimpse of Coldhands at the end :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

[protar]

The thing that baffles me at Coldhand's (now sadly very likely I must admit) exclusion is that Bran has barely any material. Why cut out one of the main features of his travel's through the Haunted Forest? It makes no sense. Why not have someone guiding Bran to BR, rather than rather cheaply using his powers to allow him to just know where he's going? And lastly, D+D have just implicitly confirmed through cutting him that he'll have no role in the last two books. I know they've got to put the needs of the show first, but I can't help but feel it's rather disrespectful towards the fanbase to shut down avenues of speculation which have been going for over a decade simply because they don't feel their audience is smart enough to handle one more character.

[Teren_Kanan]

Spoiler-ish shot of Cersei there…anybody else see the hairline?

Also, Jon fighting Karl is going to be pretty badass from what we've seen.

These videos just give further evidence to my prediction that this is going to be the best season yet.

Yeah at 10 seconds of the "Awaken" Trailer I was like.. wtf why even risk that shot being in a trailer.

[aFeastForDragons]

The thing that baffles me at Coldhand's (now sadly very likely I must admit) exclusion is that Bran has barely any material. Why cut out one of the main features of his travel's through the Haunted Forest? It makes no sense. Why not have someone guiding Bran to BR, rather than rather cheaply using his powers to allow him to just know where he's going? And lastly, D+D have just implicitly confirmed through cutting him that he'll have no role in the last two books. I know they've got to put the needs of the show first, but I can't help but feel it's rather disrespectful towards the fanbase to shut down avenues of speculation which have been going for over a decade simply because they don't feel their audience is smart enough to handle one more character.

+1

Half way through next season and they will be fully caught up with his ADWD plot. Where do they go from then?

[Rashtibram]

The thing that baffles me at Coldhand's (now sadly very likely I must admit) exclusion is that Bran has barely any material. Why cut out one of the main features of his travel's through the Haunted Forest? It makes no sense. Why not have someone guiding Bran to BR, rather than rather cheaply using his powers to allow him to just know where he's going? And lastly, D+D have just implicitly confirmed through cutting him that he'll have no role in the last two books. I know they've got to put the needs of the show first, but I can't help but feel it's rather disrespectful towards the fanbase to shut down avenues of speculation which have been going for over a decade simply because they don't feel their audience is smart enough to handle one more character.

It does seem rather counterintuitive, I agree...but the addition of unnecessary characters is something the show is constantly trying to avoid doing, the cast is huge and unwieldy enough without adding an irrelevant but mysterious CG-wight riding an elk.

And I can't stress this enough: D&D have no obligation to appease the book readers. The show is not marketed to fans of the books; I'd even say it's intended primarily for people who've never read them. If they want to reveal that R+L=J is true via a Bran scene next season, they can, and we'll just have to accept it.

[Le Cygne]

I don't think it necessarily follows that a change in the show = not important in the books. Maybe whatever it is Coldhands did, that plot point could be introduced some other way.

[protar]

It does seem rather counterintuitive, I agree...but the addition of unnecessary characters is something the show is constantly trying to avoid doing, the cast is huge and unwieldy enough without adding an irrelevant but mysterious CG-wight riding an elk.

And I can't stress this enough: D&D have no obligation to appease the book readers. The show is not marketed to fans of the books; I'd even say it's intended primarily for people who've never read them. If they want to reveal that R+L=J is true via a Bran scene next season, they can, and we'll just have to accept it.

There's no obligation but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice, and it doesn't mean my respect doesn't drop a notch for them every time they make such a change. As Le Cygne says though I suppose it is perfectly possible for him to have some future relevance which the show will tackle in some other manner. Or even that he could be introduced at a later date I suppose. Maybe they elect to bring Benjen back at some point rather than Coldhands. though tbh I find all that rather unlikely.

[The Dragon has three heads]

This will start to happen more and more.

He may still has a role in the books but it won't be the same as the show.

Cold hands might be a vehicle to reveal information about the nights watch that isn't needed in the show and can be fulfilled by another character. Eg Sam.

[acco da buhn]

Well I have to admit my first thought when I saw the trailer was "Yeaahh, Coldhands!!". But all stated points in this thread are valid, so I guess we won't get him. Which I think is sad, he is one of the things I liked most in ADWD.

One thing though: If it's an Other, where are the bright blue eyes? The shot is not to far away from his face and the eyes where always something the show emphasized IMHO.

[aFeastForDragons]

It does seem rather counterintuitive, I agree...but the addition of unnecessary characters is something the show is constantly trying to avoid doing, the cast is huge and unwieldy enough without adding an irrelevant but mysterious CG-wight riding an elk.

And I can't stress this enough: D&D have no obligation to appease the book readers. The show is not marketed to fans of the books; I'd even say it's intended primarily for people who've never read them. If they want to reveal that R+L=J is true via a Bran scene next season, they can, and we'll just have to accept it.

I'm interested to see how many characters are cut next season. The show can't have 20 new actors(some with very similar names) pop up and expect the audience to keep track.

D & D have always said they want to appease book readers as much as possible since they are the ones who are going to pull out the pitchforks and torches when something goes wrong. We all just have to accept that they are now a major influence in the future of ASOIAF. If they finish before the books then their ending will be a big influence on George.

[King Tommen]

The thing that baffles me at Coldhand's (now sadly very likely I must admit) exclusion is that Bran has barely any material. Why cut out one of the main features of his travel's through the Haunted Forest? It makes no sense. Why not have someone guiding Bran to BR, rather than rather cheaply using his powers to allow him to just know where he's going? And lastly, D+D have just implicitly confirmed through cutting him that he'll have no role in the last two books. I know they've got to put the needs of the show first, but I can't help but feel it's rather disrespectful towards the fanbase to shut down avenues of speculation which have been going for over a decade simply because they don't feel their audience is smart enough to handle one more character.

What appears to be the case on the show is that Bran will be guided to BR by BR himself. Bran gets visions in the weirwoods with BR telling him to come to him. I would guess that he'll get similar visions along the way. And really, what was Coldhands in the books but a vehicle used by BR to bring the group to him? I'm not even sure how after ADwD, Coldhands plays any kind of role. BR more or less tells Bran that Coldhands played his part and is no longer necessary. I think the ravens that we saw in S3 and will see again in S4 are controlled by BR and they'll help Bran get where he needs to go.

I think the decision to cut a character like Coldhands comes down to him not being necessary to the overall plot and them being able to save money by not casting someone as well as apply all the practical and special effects that accompany him. I don't think it has anything to do with not confusing the audience.

Your final argument, I'm not really understanding. If the character isn't as big of a deal as some readers thought he was and plays no real significant role, then the show has a responsibility to pretend like he does so readers can continue to speculate about him? That's kind of silly, no?

[Mel_Rose]

I'm interested to see how many characters are cut next season. The show can't have 20 new actors(some with very similar names) pop up and expect the audience to keep track.

The vast majority of my friends who watch the show haven't read the books, and they already have trouble remembering everyone's names, esp the latter additions. They spent an hour a week watching the show and some of the characters appear for only a few minutes. If Coldhands ends up playng an important role in the future (facilitates something, reveals info), but not a crucial role (saves the day), then he'll be cut. There's already 3 more people with Bran.

[King Tommen]

Don't forget that on the show (unlike the books), Bran and crew are armed to the teeth with Dragonglass (courtesy of Sam) which will surely come into play. This makes them less in need of protection from the Walkers.

[Ty K]

There's no obligation but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice, and it doesn't mean my respect doesn't drop a notch for them every time they make such a change.

That is reasonable. It is a series whose own author describes it as "unadaptable" due to the number of characters and complexity of the plot, so lets blame it on the showrunners when they inevitably have to cut characters and simplify the plot. :bang:

Everything that makes Coldhands cool is in his appearance and the mystery regarding his back-story. He has no major impact on the plot so far; he is nothing more than a tour guide for Bran and apparently D&D think nothing he does in the future couldn't be excluded or done by someone else. Keeping him in does not add to Bran's story as some of you seem to think; all it does is force Bran's story to cover material that is ultimately tangential to his main arc when his screen-time could be better used.

I think Bran should have plenty of material for next season. I've been of the opinion for a while now that Bran is going to be our window into all the prophecies we have missed up until this point. We need to see some of this material eventually and besides one or two isolated exceptions, Bran has been the only characters with visions / dreams so far.

[Ty K]

Well I have to admit my first thought when I saw the trailer was "Yeaahh, Coldhands!!". But all stated points in this thread are valid, so I guess we won't get him. Which I think is sad, he is one of the things I liked most in ADWD.

One thing though: If it's an Other, where are the bright blue eyes? The shot is not to far away from his face and the eyes where always something the show emphasized IMHO.

Maybe they add the eyes in later when doing CGI, or maybe they even forgot it. If its Coldhands, where are his crows? Where are his black clothes? Why isn't his face covered? Why isn't he riding an elk? What seems more reasonable, its a White Walker with one thing different or its Coldhands with almost everything different? Not trying to be a jerk with the Coldhands stuff but it does come across to me as the height of book-reader delusion.

Did anyone catch this video yet? It covers the fight scenes this season and has some interesting shots / info..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-28xunfJAk0

It looks like Jon is going head-to-head with the Magnar of Thenn during the Battle of Castle Black (apparently the Thenns all fight with some badass axes in the show). Alliser Thorne and Tormund are also going to have a duel. I have no idea how that is going to end but I'm excited for it based on the bits we got of it. We also get glimpses of a messed up looking Hound (possibly his new "death" as the scene at the Inn will now be in S4E01). One thing I'm confused about is a woman that looks for sure to be Ygritte's stunt double is practicing getting hit by one of Stannis' cavalrymen. I am assuming they use the same stunt personnel for general stunts as well as stunt doubling, but if that isn't the case here then I am awfully confused about how this battle and Ygritte's death is going to play out.

[Shitmouth the Wise]

Maybe Coldhands is Benjen, and having the original actor play him (even with his face covered) would give away the identity before the audience should know. Similar reason why Barristan's actor wasn't cast as Arstan Whitebeard, but whereas then they moved the reveal up to an earlier point in the story, they're delaying Coldhands' appearance altogether since he's not necessary (yet).