how many seasons will GoT go on for?

[ogremage]

I hope so. But if they catch up then following the same route will be difficult, if GRRM hasn't made up his mind about some things yet in the books, while having two different disjoint plots will be quite confusing and everyone on these forums will be going crazy about "omg they changed this and that completely".

[protar]

I hope so. But if they catch up then following the same route will be difficult, if GRRM hasn't made up his mind about some things yet in the books, while having two different disjoint plots will be quite confusing and everyone on these forums will be going crazy about "omg they changed this and that completely".

Well it's a worst case scenario so hopefully it won't come to pass.

[tws1978]

I hope so. But if they catch up then following the same route will be difficult, if GRRM hasn't made up his mind about some things yet in the books, while having two different disjoint plots will be quite confusing and everyone on these forums will be going crazy about "omg they changed this and that completely".

GRRM has no veto over the series. Not even D&D. If HBO and Warner Bros. stops liking where the show is going they can demand changes as with any other shows they finance OR hire a completely different set of producers and writers to take over. Very unlikely now when the show is on top, the source material strong and everybody involved makes a tons of money. But if the mainstream audience eventually starts to complain about the lack of progress HBO will much rather have a successfull show than a faithfull adaptation. I think that´s basically what happened with True Blood, atleast according to fans of the original books.

The notion that they will stop the show just because GRRM isn´t yet finished with the next part is very naive. At best they will ask him about the basic guidlines and then fill the gaps with original stuff. At worst the audience will start to be unhappy with the direction much sooner and the cable will push D&D to make more and more changes until it loses any chance to ever be reconcilled with GRRM´s original again. Sad truth is, the second the ratings starts to waver and some big HBO head starts to question why a bunch of popular lead characters is isolated who knows where while some others wandering aimlessly, all eating into the budget with an expensive on location shooting, the show is screwed.

[ogremage]

Good points, tws1978.

[ghost23]

It would have made much more sense to adapt the books after they'd all been published, but I guess D&D didn't want to wait that long?

I think its got more to do with the fact that D&D realised that at that point in time, they had a really unique opportunity with HBO to adapt the series and if they had waited however many years for Martin to finish the books, the opportunity with HBO may no longer be there for them.

[The hairy bear]

There's also the fact that everyone involved in the deal (GRRM, D&D, HBO,...) probably didn't want to wait ten years to earn a huge amount of money. Who would? :P

[oierem]

There's also the fact that everyone involved in the deal (GRRM, D&D, HBO,...) probably didn't want to wait ten years to earn a huge amount of money. Who would? :P

And the fact that, back then, the idea of making a 7-8 season series was daydreaming.

[Nezzer]

Man, I'd be SO pissed if they cancelled the show. It'd also be a dumb decision and I doubt the show will lose many fans in the future. It's already a pop icon of this generation. It's become so popular in my country that it made all five books be on the top 10 books on sales here, where before the show very few people knew about them. Also, after season 4 it will probably require a much smaller budget. So I'm kinda positive about it. I believe we can have 10 seasons.

[Stannis the Wight]

Seasons 3 & 4 will be based on SOS while season 5 will be based on AFFC + ADWD. I'd say at least 7 seasons. 8 being the ideal number to finish the story. They know some major plot lines and twists that we don't know, so they could conceivably finish the story before GRRM finishes the books. As long as the money for the budget is there, the show will go on.

[Eradallion]

In VG, Norway's biggest newspaper, they wrote that the show had been signed on for another 8 seasons which would put the number up to 10. Don't know what their source was, though

[Eradallion]

Really hope it keeps going for a long time

[Aegnor]

I don't think there is any way that aFfC and aDwD can be chopped down to a single season. This is my best guess for how it plays out.

Airs Written/Filmed

2012: S2 (book 2) S3 (book 3 pt1)

2013: S3 (book 3 pt1) S4 (book 3 pt2)

2014: S4 (book 3 pt2) S5 (book 4/5 pt1)

2015: S5 (book 4/5 pt1) S6 (book 4/5 pt2)

2016: S6 (book 4/5 pt2) S7 (book 6)

2017: S7 (book 6) S8 (book 7)

2018: S8 (book 7)

GRRM has estimated that WoW will be published in 2014. I think it is pretty likely that there'll be no issue with getting Book 6 in time for writing/filming season 7 in 2016. It is book 7 that may be an issue. If he is able to actually finish WoW by 2014, that gives him 3 years for DoS. That would be how long it took him to finish WoW, but it give no buffer room. If things went on schedule, the book would be finished just in time to start writing the last season.

[Ewan]

Man, I'd be SO pissed if they cancelled the show. It'd also be a dumb decision and I doubt the show will lose many fans in the future. It's already a pop icon of this generation. It's become so popular in my country that it made all five books be on the top 10 books on sales here, where before the show very few people knew about them. Also, after season 4 it will probably require a much smaller budget. So I'm kinda positive about it. I believe we can have 10 seasons.

I'd hope for 10 but something tells me it won't last that long. Shows like that rarely go on past 5.

[PatrickStormborn]

The problem is simple: how can you split a combined AFfC and ADwD into two seasons, if GRRM decided that splitting the book in half was a bad idea? There was a reason he split the story by location -- because there is very little plot progression until the end. Chopping the material in half would not provide two satisfactory seasons of television.

[dansnow]

I also worry that the tv audience may get lost with the huge cast of characters in AFFC and ADWD. A lot of my tv watching only friends were getting lost and frustrated this season when the martells/most tyrells/most greyjoys/massive meereen cast/young griff group/BwB all haven't been introduced. Plus known groups gain new characters, for example the North gains Reeds/Ramsay/Karstarks/manderlys. Combine that with the slow pace and I simply don't see the show surviving that with the tv crowd.

[oierem]

I also worry that the tv audience may get lost with the huge cast of characters in AFFC and ADWD. A lot of my tv watching only friends were getting lost and frustrated this season when the martells/most tyrells/most greyjoys/massive meereen cast/young griff group/BwB all haven't been introduced. Plus known groups gain new characters, for example the North gains Reeds/Ramsay/Karstarks/manderlys. Combine that with the slow pace and I simply don't see the show surviving that with the tv crowd.

And while huge numbers of new people are added (entire groups of new people), the "original" main cast, the characters whose storylines the audience is invested in, are tossed aside, left with barely any material, and just kept in the corners of the world, going through a "trainning/growing" process. Not good. The audience will want to see the progression and climax of the storylines of Arya, Bran, Sansa, Dany, Jon, Sam, Tyion... What do we have for them in seasons 4, 5 and 6?

[Cliche Guevara]

The problem is simple: how can you split a combined AFfC and ADwD into two seasons, if GRRM decided that splitting the book in half was a bad idea? There was a reason he split the story by location -- because there is very little plot progression until the end. Chopping the material in half would not provide two satisfactory seasons of television.

There are tons of plotting and pacing problems with feast and dance as books, anyways. The characters and settings make up for it for most diehard book fans (myself included) but the fact remains that the meereen and northern story arcs never really reached conclusion. If you include those two battles, which grrm pretty much already has written, at the end of the 2nd season of feast/dance material, and jigger with the timelines of a few characters, i think they could come up with good conclusios or cliffhangers for the first season

ETA: that being said, two affc/adwd seasons would require focusing more on the dorne/iron islands plotlines, and I could see the decreased focus on the main characters of the first 4 seasons driving enough viewers away to cause hbo to not renew the show for a 7th season, even if by some miracle wow is done by then.

[Jolene Brown]

I think the reality is that they'll be somewhat faithful through the end of ASOS, and with AFFC/ADWD, the changes will increase exponentially. At that point, they won't really have any choice.

[Gorubahn]

Obviously everyone on this site seriously wants to see the show completed in line with the books, following aDoS's publication... but, I just don't see it. The show requires too many seasons and is too expensive. The Sopranos cost a fraction of what this show costs, was incredibly successful and only made it six (and a half) seasons.

I'm just not seeing it, y'all, especially since GRRM can't be bothered to work exclusively on this project. The idea of them "holding" the show and waiting for further books to be published doesn't hold water, in my eyes. What are the actors and crew supposed to do during that time? Will HBO pay them not to work? No frickin way. And if they are working, what are the chances that everyone will be finished with their respective projects in time for GoT to resume? Not bloody likely. So what then... replace the actors and confuse the audience with all new faces, even though the audience is already having to deal with a massive cast? Not gonna happen.

As someone else said, enjoy the show while you can.

[areacode201]

Many of you are forgetting that D+D have confirmed that GRRM has disclosed to them many pieces of information about the story and how it all ends. Specifically they have stated they know who Jon's mother is and where all the major characters end up at the end. That being said, they are not bound to follow GRRM exactly as we have seen in both Seasons 1 and 2. The dilemma I fear is this... say GRRM takes his time with the books as he has been doing since ASOS, and the show catches up to him. If HBO approves the show for more air time then D+D can go ahead and "finish" the story. I can't begin to explain how torn I would be to resist watching "the end" when the books aren't out yet. I know the TV show does not mirror the books 100% but the main plot points will match up, who Jon's mother is, who ends up on the throne, are the white walkers defeated, etc.

The scenario where HBO rushes ahead of GRRM is the one I am scared of.