Is the show really going to finish in 8 seasons?

[Faint]

2 minutes ago, farerb said:

so they are basically ripping off Buffy. A lot of shows do that recently.

More than ever I suspect that, in the books, Shireen is sacrificed to bring Jon back to life but Benioff and Weiss -- as ever never wanting to "taint" their hero characters -- went for something much more bland.

[239JMFL34109]

54 minutes ago, Faint said:

More than ever I suspect that, in the books, Shireen is sacrificed to bring Jon back to life but Benioff and Weiss -- as ever never wanting to "taint" their hero characters -- went for something much more bland.

how would that taint the hero character?  

also yeah the creators have talked about wanting to do only 7 season for a while. I think they will just decide to not do a season 8 but a part 2 of season 7. It would also save them money as you don't have to open negotiations for actors that are not under contract for season 8 

[Stannis is the man....nis]

1 hour ago, Faint said:

More than ever I suspect that, in the books, Shireen is sacrificed to bring Jon back to life but Benioff and Weiss -- as ever never wanting to "taint" their hero characters -- went for something much more bland.

I dunno Stannis burning her does have foreshadowing in the books but it does have to be WW related

[Lord Friendzone]

22 hours ago, Faint said:

That is a pretty terrible translation of what he said.

  Reveal hidden contents

For one, Melisandre's resurrection attempt was successful but she left the room with Davos and Tormund before Jon woke up.

 

So what was exactly said besides what you already described? Especially the bit about Thorne is interesting.

As to Mel bringing him back. It lacks Ice element but maybe Ghost being present is the Ice element. Anyway ,she resurrects, him...probably thinks it doesn't work and leave the room with Davos and Tormund. Ghost sniffs him and he starts to move. This happens in episode 2 right?

[Anthony Pirtle]

Good lord, I hope so. For all its merits, the slow unraveling of complex plots hasn't ever been this show's cup 'o tea.

[Stag_legion]

23 hours ago, Stannis is the man....nis said:

I dunno Stannis burning her does have foreshadowing in the books but it does have to be WW related

nah there is no forehadowing that stannis will burn shireen. There is foreshadowing that stannis' campaign for the throne will cost him and his family, but not that he would be the one to make it happen.

[Ben H'gahr]

I cannot other than agree with you guys. Yesterday I saw the YT-Vid and read a reddit thread (which seems to be gone) on it kinda was clear to me that the show will not only end up in 8 seasons, but also do this in a very hurried way. It will definitely feel rushed.

D&D are adamant on finishing GOT asap. They seem to have vaild reasons (I mean, the have proven themselves to the TV business and have demonstrated their skills at showrunners to HBO), but unfortunately them skimping through telling the story will leave an unsatisfied taste in the mouth of ASOIF-Fans. 

Makes me kinda sad to witness how this great saga will come to an end. Being pessimistic about GRRM ever finishing the book version, I fear D&D's skimpy version of ASOIF will be the only ending we'll ever get. 

[Faint]

2 hours ago, Lord Friendzone said:

So what was exactly said besides what you already described? Especially the bit about Thorne is interesting.

 

  Hide contents

As to Mel bringing him back. It lacks Ice element but maybe Ghost being present is the Ice element. Anyway ,she resurrects, him...probably thinks it doesn't work and leave the room with Davos and Tormund. Ghost sniffs him and he starts to move. This happens in episode 2 right?

 

Well . . .

Spoiler

Ghost does not factor at all. He just perks up to hear when Jon starts gasping for air.

 

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

19 minutes ago, Stag_legion said:

nah there is no forehadowing that stannis will burn shireen.

In the books? Yes, actually, there is. In huge letters. Not really ambiguous.

Stannis ground his teeth again. “I never asked for this crown. Gold is cold and heavy on the head, but so long as I am the king, I have a duty . . . If I must sacrifice one child to the flames to save a million from the dark . . . Sacrifice . . . is never easy, Davos. Or it is no true sacrifice. Tell him, my lady.”

Does that description apply to killing his bastard nephew, whom Stannis doesn't know well and doesn't like much? No, not really, that sacrifice would be easy enough. His only daughter, on the other hand...

Sure, Stannis might have been bluffing with his "me king, me man of duty, me save world, me make real sacrifice, is not easy" boast. But the gods, or GRRM (same thing, at the end of the day) might one day call his bluff. And if they do, then yeah, it has been foreshadowed.

[Ser Maverick]

If they keep up this trend of killing off important characters every episode they'll have to end it by then because there won't be anyone left.

[JagLover]

On 30/04/2016 at 5:22 PM, Ferocious Veldt Roarer said:

I think D&D are much more likely to wrap their shit up in 7-8 seasons, than GRRM wrapping his up in seven books. For one, they actually cut stuff out, and finish story lines. Doran Martell (and whatever his plan was) - gone. Stannis Baratheon - gone. Young Griff - never was. Lady Stoneheart - maybe. 

Yeah, they can wrap it up. And dragging the show for too long will turn GOT into a soap opera.

This

Wouldn't surprise me if after seven books GRRM has only just finally wrapped up all the plot elements he introduced in AFFC/ADWD and is ready to start writing the end game.

 

 

 

[UnmaskedLurker]

Here is why I don't think it will be rushed to get it done in 8 seasons. This season will end with all the story line in the North more or less done -- other than the coming of the WW. Dany likely will have kicked ass in Meereen with the Dothraki and the dragons -- so they can come to Westeros at the beginning of Season 7. I am not sure what happens in KL, but I think that the Faith might be taken down by the end of season 6 with the Lannisters back in power (not really sure about that issue).

So what is left to do in Season 7 -- Dany needs to take over KL and the Lannisters need to be taken down for good. Jon -- presumably with Sansa and maybe Arya by then -- need to move South to hook up with Dany in retreat from the WW. The story lines will all start to merge and will more or less be merged by the end of season 7, most likely.

That leaves Season 8 for Jon, Dany, Tyrion and the rest to form an alliance to take down the WW. But the WW are too powerful, so there cannot be very many battles with main characters -- as the main characters would simply die a boring death. The WW simply are going to roll through and cause devastation until the final battle when they are defeated -- somehow. 

I don't see why these story lines need more than 2 more seasons after this season to wrap up. Basically, given how unstoppable the WW are -- and given that they likely break through the Wall at the end of Ep 10 of Season 6 (this season), I don't know how the story could be dragged on more than two more seasons. Once the WW are on the march S of the Wall, time is running out rather quickly for the endgame to occur.

[Lord_Ravenstone]

On April 25, 2016 at 3:05 AM, ThePrinceThatKnewNothing said:

I have trouble believing the show can be finished in 8 seasons without it feeling rushed. Are they trying to throw us off? 

If you look at what plots season 6 has they've thrown in parts of AFFC and ADWD. They've given Yara Victarions role, Sam is off to the citadel, Arya is training in Braavos. Jaime heading to the riverlands for the siege of riverun. These could arguably be story fillers. 

Jon's story will be the aftermath of his death at castle black, then getting resurrected. And battle of winterfell.

Dany - in Vaes Dothrak, rescued by Drogon, heads back to Meereen with a khalasar, then meets Yara. 

Tyrion - preparing for the battle of Meereen.

Bran - greenseer training and potentially the cave getting attacked by white walkers. 

Is this seriously the whole story from TWoW? Let's bare it in mind theres ADoS yet. I understand they're diverging from books but  I feel like D&D are taking a huge gamble diverging from the novels. It's okay to do it in bits but they need to be careful trying to rush it. I understand that there's no more novels to refer to but I don't believe Grrm didn't offer a brief outline of how TWoW would go. Surely they're going to be sticking to an outline based around the books?

They've missed a trick in not allowing Doran to be a master schemer in this season it could have erased the damage of the sandsnakes from last season. 

They've got to be careful because diverging too much could mean diverging from what GoT is all about.

 

I think you're overestimating how close season 6 will be to TWOW

D & D have already gone on record saying that season 6 won't spoil TWOW besides a few key elements 

those elements being Jon's parentage, that Jon gets resurrected and some stuff that happens to Daenerys and Bran's story.

Sansa and Tyrion are on completely different arcs.

Dorne's story is completely different

The Citadel plot isn't getting adapted, I don't think.

Jaime and Brienne's storyline is not even close to their book counterpart's yet 

Stannis will most likely take out the Boltons 

Theon isn't heading to the Iron Islands any time soon 

Asha is Stannis' prisoner

Areo Hotah is chasing Darkstar with Obara and Balon Swann

Cersei is facing a trial 

Loras is dying 

Mace is about to fight Aegon 

 

etc.

[Newstar]

I definitely got the sense from the events of the first two episodes that D&D are barreling towards the finish line. The pace is definitely picking up, and the body count is higher than usual. On average, between one and two named characters die per episode (as opposed to redshirts), and 18 or so named characters die per season. In 6x01 and 6x02, three named characters died per episode. Shit is going down. I do not get the sense from the first two episodes of D&D stalling for time or trying to draw things out.

Frankly, I'm glad D&D are determined to push through to the end ASAP. At least SOMEONE is. 

[Lord_Ravenstone]

1 hour ago, Newstar said:

I definitely got the sense from the events of the first two episodes that D&D are barreling towards the finish line. The pace is definitely picking up, and the body count is higher than usual. On average, between one and two named characters die per episode (as opposed to redshirts), and 18 or so named characters die per season. In 6x01 and 6x02, three named characters died per episode. Shit is going down. I do not get the sense from the first two episodes of D&D stalling for time or trying to draw things out.

Frankly, I'm glad D&D are determined to push through to the end ASAP. At least SOMEONE is. 

The downside is that you sacrifice good story telling to do it.

[Ser Wun Wun]

The show seems to be skipping the 2nd Dance of the Dragons war entirely.  They are basically doing a cliff notes version of Martin's ending.  That's all they've got to work with though since Martin doesn't do detailed outlines, so I suppose it makes sense in a way.  Still disappointing.  They easily could of done 9-10 seasons with this story.    

[Ser Gareth]

On 02/05/2016 at 10:28 AM, JagLover said:

This

Wouldn't surprise me if after seven books GRRM has only just finally wrapped up all the plot elements he introduced in AFFC/ADWD and is ready to start writing the end game.

 

 

 

GRRM isn't finishing the series.  I've made my peace with that.  And whilst the series has its faults it's not any worse than AFFC or ADWD and if the series was working against a completed series of books then maybe it could've been better and D&D wouldn't have had to go off on so many tangents for the minor characters.  I actually feel sorry for the minority (although majority on this forum!) who hate the show.  Because it's the only closure and canon they're ever going to get.

ASOS came out in 2000.  It's now 2016.  GRRM has published only two books from the series in the last 16 years.  I can't feasibly see, unless he rushes it massively, how he is going to finish in the next two books.  So if there are three books remaining and he writes at current speed?  We are looking at another 16 to 20 years before the series is complete.  Yeah, not going to happen.

[Ser Gareth]

2 hours ago, Lord_Ravenstone said:

The downside is that you sacrifice good story telling to do it.

I'd rather it be short and sweet to be honest, than long and rambling like the books have become.  There is very little good storytelling in AFFC & ADWD.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

It was unrealistic to ever expect the show to keep going for 9-10 years or longer. We have to understand that there are people who have committed parts of their lives to getting this show made. The main cast are basically locked in, for however long the show goes on for, the same for the writers and producers. Thats a very long time for anyone, I wouldn't want to be doing the same job for 10 years.

So the show always had to be far more condensed and pacey. I think the real mistake came in that it was taking its time so early on when really it should have been less reverential to the books and making far more risky decisions. The 'crossover' seasons of 5 and 6 are likely to be full of problems, although 6 seems to have corrected itself. 

Maybe D&D didn't realise quite how snail like GRRM is in his writing, or that he was essentially ballooning up the story and dragging it all out. If they did they they should have just said 'thanks but not thanks' and ignored everything he wrote and do whatever they want. I think partly thats what they are doing now, and I think its an improvement. 

I also agree that I don't think Martin is EVER going to finish his books. I don't think he even wants to that much, his love for the story is fading and it feels like he's desperately trying to sprinkle in elements and stories that he actually likes and maintains his attention. It also seems those elements can easily be ommitted without directly affecting the main story. Which says a lot.

[Ser Gareth]

3 minutes ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

It was unrealistic to ever expect the show to keep going for 9-10 years or longer. We have to understand that there are people who have committed parts of their lives to getting this show made. The main cast are basically locked in, for however long the show goes on for, the same for the writers and producers. Thats a very long time for anyone, I wouldn't want to be doing the same job for 10 years.

So the show always had to be far more condensed and pacey. I think the real mistake came in that it was taking its time so early on when really it should have been less reverential to the books and making far more risky decisions. The 'crossover' seasons of 5 and 6 are likely to be full of problems, although 6 seems to have corrected itself. 

Maybe D&D didn't realise quite how snail like GRRM is in his writing, or that he was essentially ballooning up the story and dragging it all out. If they did they they should have just said 'thanks but not thanks' and ignored everything he wrote and do whatever they want. I think partly thats what they are doing now, and I think its an improvement. 

I also agree that I don't think Martin is EVER going to finish his books. I don't think he even wants to that much, his love for the story is fading and it feels like he's desperately trying to sprinkle in elements and stories that he actually likes and maintains his attention. It also seems those elements can easily be ommitted without directly affecting the main story. Which says a lot.

I agree 100% with all of this.  Not many shows last 10 years with the same cast.  You may get one or two stalwarts from the beginning but most people move on.

I also genuinely believe that there is a real danger GRRM will rewrite a lot of his story now, to make it different from the show.  It was clear years ago that GRRM gets a real kick out of fans speculating on what is going to happen.  His big reveals are now being revealed by another medium.  That's got to be frustrating for him.  So to make the story his own again he may need to change it significantly.  I am not sure we will see TWOW before the TV series completes.