Episode Predictions (Book Spoilers)?

[King Tommen]

I agree. Do you think the election will be in episode 10? And will it end with Slynt's beheading?

I have to say I'm liking Alister Thorne's portrayal in the show and in this season a lot. You can see he doesn't like Jon but he's closer to him that he wants to admit, and he knows that Jon's right about a lot of things. He's playing the "evil but smart" guy (whereas Slynt is the "evil and stupid" guy).

And how Jon said "someone has to train them" to Throne, as that was (is?) his duty and it seems that nobody is taking care about it.

I imagine the election will be in the finale but there's nothing to prove it at the moment. Whenver they do have the election, I'm sure it will be much more simplified and truncated than the books (i.e. no Cotter Pyke, Denys Mallister, no multiple votes etc). Slynt will be positioned as the front runner with the necessary backing and Sam will find a way to get Jon on the ballot and elected.

I guess I could see them doing Slynt's beheading that early but I tend to think they'll wait on that until S5. They've got a lot of ground to cover in the finale from all of the storylines. Better to set up Slynt as an early season adversary in S5 before dispatching him IMO.

Thorne on the show is a much more heroic character than in the books. He's got (a somewhat irrational) hatred for Jon but otherwise, he's a pretty stellar NW representative. He looks and acts like he should be the next LC which is why they'll have to kill him off. Also, as far as character arcs go, him finally begrudgingly giving Jon his respect after all this time is just too good of a development to pass up in favour of him simply to be a sniveling lackey with Slynt.

It's actually smart what they've done this season with the Slynt/Thorne pairing as they can allow Thorne to be a smart, strong commander but Slynt whispering in his ear about Jon justifies his actions with respect to keeping Jon down because it plays on his previous hate for Jon. They aren't playing him as a true adversary to Jon but as someone who Jon will eventually win over with his actions.

[Arkash]

Damn, if Thorne's dying words are "The Wall is yours, Jon Snow." I would explode ! That would be really amazing !

I'd love for Locke to get some nice development. Maybe starting to "like" the Watch and finally be the one to stab Jon "For the Watch", but that is too long of a long-shot and I think that if he's ever the one to stab Jon, it will be "For the Fun" or "For the Bolton", which would be disapointing.

[Deadwood]

Roose Bolton Warden of the North sends his regards!

[King Tommen]

i have a hard time believing that the dynamic of Jon's assassination would be changed to that degree. I love Locke as a character and want to see him remain around but because of his existence as a show-only addition, he's basically a wildcard at this point. It's very hard to predict what he's going to do.

In terms of who would play the Bowen Marsh role next season, I think there's probably better candidates from existing NW guys like either Pyp or Edd who, while not longtime NW men, could be elevated into more senior positions by Jon once he becomes LC. The evolution of a one-time friend gradually losing trust in Jon and eventually being driven to do this over a fundamental philosophical difference in how they feel about the Wildlings would be more dramatic.

You're never going to have the audience fully on board with Locke being a Jon confidant based on what they know about his history. And I don't understand how they'd ever be able to effectively show a legitimate motivation change for Locke to completely abandon his Bolton mission. And if he's still "working undercover" for all this time, it's a completely unnecessary long con by him as there's no good reason to wait to take Jon out if that's what he wants to do.

I think I'd rather him eventually desert the NW in order to go after Rickon and then bring Osha/Rickon back into the story since Rickon being retrieved by Davos back into the North would appear to be a pretty important future development.

[King Tommen]

Damn, if Thorne's dying words are "The Wall is yours, Jon Snow." I would explode ! That would be really amazing !

I'd love for Locke to get some nice development. Maybe starting to "like" the Watch and finally be the one to stab Jon "For the Watch", but that is too long of a long-shot and I think that if he's ever the one to stab Jon, it will be "For the Fun" or "For the Bolton", which would be disapointing.

Aliser Thorne saying "The Wall is yours, Jon Snow" with his dying breath is just too good of a dramatic beat to omit. I can't see why you wouldn't do that as it makes far too much sense.

[~No One~]

I think they've got Slynt positioned as the slimy, evil guy (which he is) that's playing Thorne at this point but as the season goes on and the battle occurs, Thorne will realize that Jon is probably the one best suited to lead and as he's dying, he'll finally tell Jon that he's the one who should take the reigns.

If this happens, I'll be satisfied. I agree that they've juggled the roles around a little, so this could work. Thanks for the reply. Cheers!

I do think that we'll see the election in ep. 10, and agree with an above poster that it'll be a truncated version. I'm guessing ep. 9 ends with a "Wall is yours Jon Snow" moment (if not those words exactly), then in ep. 10, we see Sam observing Slynt being a douche, or overhearing how he's the front runner, so he sneakily puts forth Jon's name. Then I'd guess we only see the actual counting and results, because ep. 10 is gonna be so jam-packed that there won't be any time for filler :)

[Dany's Silver]

Personally I'd prefer they had a more seasoned NW guy for their Bowen figure, not Bolton's catspaw. But I'd also like Noah Taylor to stick around, so I'm conflicted.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Locke should end up dead, but if the make-up team wants to transform Noah Taylor into the Old Pomegranate, I am cool with that.

I agree. Do you think the election will be in episode 10? And will it end with Slynt's beheading?

I have to say I'm liking Alister Thorne's portrayal in the show and in this season a lot. You can see he doesn't like Jon but he's closer to him that he wants to admit, and he knows that Jon's right about a lot of things. He's playing the "evil but smart" guy (whereas Slynt is the "evil and stupid" guy).

And how Jon said "someone has to train them" to Throne, as that was (is?) his duty and it seems that nobody is taking care about it.

Jon needs to be more established as LC before this happens. I think the rest of the NW needs to see Jon not immediately off one of the guys who brought Joffrey his father's (really, uncle's) head. Otherwise it looks too much like retribution, rather than meting out justice to someone ignoring the LC's orders.

[Addam of Hull]

i have a hard time believing that the dynamic of Jon's assassination would be changed to that degree. I love Locke as a character and want to see him remain around but because of his existence as a show-only addition, he's basically a wildcard at this point. It's very hard to predict what he's going to do.

In terms of who would play the Bowen Marsh role next season, I think there's probably better candidates from existing NW guys like either Pyp or Edd who, while not longtime NW men, could be elevated into more senior positions by Jon once he becomes LC. The evolution of a one-time friend gradually losing trust in Jon and eventually being driven to do this over a fundamental philosophical difference in how they feel about the Wildlings would be more dramatic.

You're never going to have the audience fully on board with Locke being a Jon confidant based on what they know about his history. And I don't understand how they'd ever be able to effectively show a legitimate motivation change for Locke to completely abandon his Bolton mission. And if he's still "working undercover" for all this time, it's a completely unnecessary long con by him as there's no good reason to wait to take Jon out if that's what he wants to do.

I think I'd rather him eventually desert the NW in order to go after Rickon and then bring Osha/Rickon back into the story since Rickon being retrieved by Davos back into the North would appear to be a pretty important future development.

If it's going to be one of the established NW characters that comes to odds with Jon about his Wildling policies, I have a feeling it'll likely be Pyp. Pyp's reluctance to join in with Jon's ranging seems like it could be the beginning of a fracture between them. Or, at least, retrospectively.

[Vaelya of Asshai]

The episode will take place entirely at the Wall for the Battle of Castle Black, just like the Blackwater episode. Tywin's death will be in episode ten.

I enjoy that prediction. However, I'm unsure about it. The only characters at the wall are Jon and Sam, what would the episode consist of? 50 minutes of the Wall would bore me unless it was very eventful. Unsure whether I will love it or hate it.

[King Tommen]

I enjoy that prediction. However, I'm unsure about it. The only characters at the wall are Jon and Sam, what would the episode consist of? 50 minutes of the Wall would bore me unless it was very eventful. Unsure whether I will love it or hate it.

Jon, Sam, Aliser, Locke, Pyp, Grenn, Edd, Ghost, Gilly, Styr, Tormund, Ygritte, Mance all joined by Team Dragonstone + Giants, Mammooths, wargs etc. I think there will be more than enough to keep everyone entertained in the episode. It's like Blackwater except characters you know and like actually die and there are real stakes.

[Konradsmith]

^This. Though I don't think we'll get mammoths.

[Vaelya of Asshai]

Jon, Sam, Aliser, Locke, Pyp, Grenn, Edd, Ghost, Gilly, Styr, Tormund, Ygritte, Mance all joined by Team Dragonstone + Giants, Mammooths, wargs etc. I think there will be more than enough to keep everyone entertained in the episode. It's like Blackwater except characters you know and like actually die and there are real stakes.

They are all characters, yes but I meant main characters. There were stakes in Blackwater, and people did die, it's just we weren't familiar with them on the show or books as POV characters. If it is all The Wall, I will be disappointed because the Wall chapters and scenes are the most boring, but I still love them of course. There were so many characters in Blackwater to look for, and the same with the Wall, but I'm not connected to the people on the Wall like Grenn, and Edd, Pyp, etc. We haven't really gotten to know them that well so I don't care. I was connected to Cersei, Sansa, Tyrion, Joffrey, Shae, The Hound, etc as we have gotten to know them personally.

[Vaelya of Asshai]

^This. Though I don't think we'll get mammoths.

Disappointing. I love the idea of the mammoths and the giants. If the episode pulls these strange aspects off the episode will be great!

[Vaelya of Asshai]

I have looked at everyone's comment, I'd like to reply to them all but then there would be a pile of replies which would be pointless. Hmm. I am wondering what people's opinions are on Stannis? I see that "Stan the Man Baratheon" is in favour of Stannis, but I have mixed opinions about him. I feel he would be best for the people, but I think there are better characters for the Iron Throne? What do others think? I never knew there were Stannis fanatics and I'm just curious.

[Bran Snow]

It has been confirmed that this episode takes place at the wall. Its just like the Blackwater episode in season 2

[Vaelya of Asshai]

It has been confirmed that this episode takes place at the wall. Its just like the Blackwater episode in season 2

Then they better fill it with interesting things, like Blackwater. I hope I don't find myself waiting for conflict. I want mammoths and giants and lots of conflict. I especially want to see the Thenns fighting, they intrigue me more in the TV series because of their cannibalism. Ygritte's death I feel will be sad, and I'm not looking forward to it, I feel sor for her.

[Carne]

Regarding mammoths, I do remember someone replying to someone else on Extras NI's Facebook page. It went something like "We played the best mammoth legs ever! Looking forward to season 5". Impying that they might have had some people operate some fake legs that would later be replaced by CGI or something.

[Konradsmith]

I do hope that's the case. That would be awesome, I just don't see how they'd do them. I guess they could do them fully CG or they could put some hair on an elephant and film it separately and impose it. That's all I can think of.

[Carne]

I do hope that's the case. That would be awesome, I just don't see how they'd do them. I guess they could do them fully CG or they could put some hair on an elephant and film it separately and impose it. That's all I can think of.

I mixed up some of the comments, but his exact one goes:

wait until you see the mammoth.....best looking CGI leg ever I was?

He also posted this pic of him on location in November: http://i.imgur.com/DXKhvO9.jpg. Although nothing revealing, the green outfit further points to him being a stand in for a mammoth leg.

[Konradsmith]

Maybe that's why they've shown the dragons less, they're saving up for the mammoths.