[BOOK SPOILERS] How will the TV series divide up book 4 and 5?

[Ordos]

I'm really curious how many seasons Book 4 and Book 5 will take up. We know that Book 3 is divided into two seasons due to length.

The events Book 4 alone can fit into just one season of that I'm sure. But Book 5 is only marginally shorter than Book 3 so Book 5 would certainly require two seasons. However since the events of books 4 and 5 happen at the same time, it complicates things. Book 4 and 5 put together is almost twice as long as Book 3 alone. So how many seasons will all the events of Book 4 and 5 put together take? Everything starting from Pate's assasination to Varys killing Kevan Lannister.

There are some who say Season 4 will have parts of Books 4 and 5 in it after the latter events of Book 3. That certainly helps the story move along faster. So will Books 4 and 5 take a total of 4 seasons to air (including the latter of season 4) or more? Or less if they can speed up some of the slow scenes from uneventful chapters in Books 4 and 5? (I personally doubt this because I think GRRM would not approve of leaving out a lot of what he wrote).

[juanml82]

IIRC they were mixing books 4 and 5 (which makes sense), so I'd guess that's two more seasons. That leaves 2017 for TWOW which may or may not require two seasons, and 2018-19 for the finale, when the TV series will surely come before the actual book.

I wonder how they'll deal with Danny's arc - I can't really see the Mereenese arc stretched across three or more years and people still caring for it.

Bran might get extra scenes/adventures before reaching the cave, but it will come a point where certain characters simply don't do much.

[The Snowman]

They will likely skim through a lot of material like Brienne's adventures, Greyjoy escapades and perhaps focus and embellish such POVs that don't have a lot of screen time like Bran and Rickon

[J. Stargaryen]

There is also the possibility of flashbacks in later seasons, if they need some 'filler'. Maybe they would cast a certain dragon prince and his wolf maid. I would looooooove to see the Tournament at Harrenhal in the Year of the False Spring all the way up through Ned leaving the ToJ with a baby in hand.

[redviper9]

Both books will be told concurrently. I wouldn't be surprised if there were elements of AFfC -- particularly the Kingsmoot, since Balon dies prior to the RW and the moot coincides chronologically with the final part of ASoS -- in season four. I'm thinking Doran, Arianne, and the Sand Snakes will be introduced in season five (a lot of it will depend on when in season four the Oberyn-Gregor duel takes place, and if D&D feel like introducing both the larger Greyjoy family and the Martells in the same season). It'll be really interesting to see how they handle Pate and the Alchemist.

As for number of seasons, two should do it. There is quite a bit in AFfC and ADwD that can be edited out or condensed without adversely affecting the narrative too much.

[Lord Damian]

If they do it right, they should mix them and get events down chronologically, otherwise it would be too confusing for viewers.

[Ordos]

So does two and a half seasons sound reasonable? Editing out and condensing some parts of the books and a few later episodes of season 4 to feature some early events of books 4 and 5.

For the editing out and condensing: fans would not object to that but will GRRM himself approve?

[DExit]

IIRC they were mixing books 4 and 5 (which makes sense), so I'd guess that's two more seasons. That leaves 2017 for TWOW which may or may not require two seasons, and 2018-19 for the finale, when the TV series will surely come before the actual book.

What!?Who said that and where can I find it? would certainly kill the tension about ADOS but is that what Martin wants?

[juanml82]

It's not official, but do you really see Martin finishing ADOS before 2017-2018?

[DExit]

It's not official, but do you really see Martin finishing ADOS before 2017-2018?

Nope, but that doesn't mean we are going to see the series finals before ADOS in my opinion. The series are good for HBO, we have multiple interesting story lines, it would not hurt them to make a split where we do not expect it to give Martin extra time. I mean you need only watch a season and read the corresponding book to see what I mean, every word spoken in the series are five words in the books.

Maybe if ADOS is published in two parts, so HBO can publish part one while martin still works on the absolute finale(part 2), but that seems unlikely.

[TalalOfDorne]

IIRC they were mixing books 4 and 5 (which makes sense), so I'd guess that's two more seasons. That leaves 2017 for TWOW which may or may not require two seasons, and 2018-19 for the finale, when the TV series will surely come before the actual book.

I wonder how they'll deal with Danny's arc - I can't really see the Mereenese arc stretched across three or more years and people still caring for it.

Bran might get extra scenes/adventures before reaching the cave, but it will come a point where certain characters simply don't do much.

They can also show Theon being Reek-ified to add more.

[Miryana]

I agree that it's probably two seasons for AFFC and ADWD, with the early bits combined with late ASOS material in season 4 and perhaps some TWOW in late season 6. If they used filler and were terribly faithful to the books they could get four seasons of show-wreckingly slow and disjointed material, but then they'd already be at a massive (for HBO) 7 seasons with no end in sight and risking greater viewer boredom and profit loss with every year that left Dany in Meereen, the Others north of the Wall, and main character storylines continuing not to intersect.

ASOS will take two seasons (or one and a half, since season 4 could well have material from the next books) because, unlike AFFC and ADWD, it's huge and full of one major game-changing event after another.

Nope, but that doesn't mean we are going to see the series finals before ADOS in my opinion. The series are good for HBO, we have multiple interesting story lines, it would not hurt them to make a split where we do not expect it to give Martin extra time. I mean you need only watch a season and read the corresponding book to see what I mean, every word spoken in the series are five words in the books.

If the show gets to a point where it has to wait for Martin, GOT is over unless it chooses to move forward with book 6/7 plots based on GRRM's summaries rather than book material. The cast and crew are going to find other jobs instead of sitting around waiting for years for the next book/season; HBO has already been screwed by this happening with Rome and Deadwood, which had smaller casts and they still couldn't make the scheduling work. Spartacus, a smaller show, had one prequel season in its usual timeslot employing the existing cast, crew and sets (unlike the 90% new Robert's Rebellion prequel that gets mentioned by fans) due the extraordinary misfortune of Spartacus himself being diagnosed with cancer and the network giving him a chance to recover and return, but when his cancer came back they had to recast him or abandon the show since it was no longer realistic to wait or come up with delaying tactics.

[Mladen]

I actually see FFC and DWD done in three seasons, so Martin would have a chance to finish WOW somewhere around 2017. But, then we have the problem of growing-up. All the kids would be much older than their counterparts, and that`ll create several problems. Can you imagine 14, 15 year old boy such as Callum Wharry in 2017(he plays Tommen) playing with kittens? Or Rickon, who`s supposed to be 4, 5 in the books, and is 7, 8 now in the show? That`ll be the biggest problem

Second, I believe they`ll use Spartacus recipe and do TV movie or something like that, so they could give Martin a year extra for his writing. But, RR is going to be problematic to see unless we know the real consequences of that war (Ashara`s fate, Aegon`s legitimacy, Jon`s parentage). So, unless Martin starts writing faster, they`ll face real problem.

[SimonSez]

On the subject of having material for the show, I suspect that Martin will simply make copies of his notes on how the story will end and give them to the show's writers (if the show can stay on the air).

[Mladen]

On the subject of having material for the show, I suspect that Martin will simply make copies of his notes on how the story will end and give them to the show's writers (if the show can stay on the air).

Before he ends the series? No way, no one is such fool. Martin did gave them notes in case of his death, not in case of overpassing the books.

[juanml82]

I guess the likely eventuality of the series overtaking the books was negotiated when HBO and Martin signed whatever contract they did. I just don't think they can put the series finale on hold so Martin can finish his books. OTOH, it doesn't seem like Martin is feeling the pressure to finish the books as if he has a deadline - Otherwise we would put his other works on hold.

Regarding Tommen, I guess they might be able to recast him and, depending how much time on screen Rickon has this season, maybe him as well. IMHO, Bran and Sansa are the ones where they're more likely to run into the age problem

[houseHB]

Not sure where they will end in season 5, but season 6 could end with all hell breaking loose at Castle Black ending with Jon's stabbing.

[Angeli]

The final scene of the HBO series will go down like this:

Jon Snow enters a humble inn on his way south down the Kingsroad before dusk on a ominous spring evening. A smell of wild boar is drifting out the windows. He is joined shortly after by Daenerys. "We would like some slices off your boar and two tankards of your good brown ale" Jon asks the innkeep. The room is crowded with smallfolk Perhaps these people are just other weary travelers (or perhaps assassins). Jon requests the minstrel play "Don't Stop Believinn'" by Journey. Hodor enters next and joins the table. Sansa is outside, but is having trouble parallel parking her horse. A grim looking sellsword is seated at a nearby table. Sansa is still struggling to park. Hodor reminds Jon of something he once told him back at Winterfell: "always remember the times that were good my lord.... oh, and Hodor". The sellsword rises from his seat and approaches the group.....but walks past wordlessly. Sansa finally enters, and..........

The screen goes black leaving our dear viewers to wonder.

[Believe in Stannis]

they need to start filming sooner cant wait so long in between, dont have to release right away but they should be filming season 4 couple months after wrap on 3....

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Toss them into a blender, spit out two seasons, with elements of each book in both seasons. That's always how I figured it'd be done.