[All 5 book spoilers] Can we make guesses about books 6 & 7 from the TV show storylines?

[Dervisss]

He said that Mago will be a pain in the ass.

I think that he is going to capture Dany.

[jobmartell]

I posted a thread on my past comment a while back, once the series was possibly getting ahead of known knowledge and it was never approved. So, Really, at what point do we stop watching?

[Winter In My Heart]

GRRM never said Mago was important in book six. Only that Mago still lived and would be a returning character in book 6.

The point is he was supposed to live and play a part in the sixth book but instead of keeping true they had to have some cool killing scene for season one. It still shows that Martin doesn't have nearly as much influence as people keep insisting he does.

[Ser Pounce FTW]

The point is he was supposed to live and play a part in the sixth book but instead of keeping true they had to have some cool killing scene for season one. It still shows that Martin doesn't have nearly as much influence as people keep insisting he does.

Martin said Mago had a role to play but why can't it be filled by any "khal-du-jour"? I think the show is wary of making changes that will alter the show but they've been fine with giving roles and responsibilities to other characters. They are drastically cutting down the number of characters (can anyone blame them!) and are working with as long as the important stuff gets done by someone logical, it's all good.

[Winter In My Heart]

Martin said Mago had a role to play but why can't it be filled by any "khal-du-jour"? I think the show is wary of making changes that will alter the show but they've been fine with giving roles and responsibilities to other characters. They are drastically cutting down the number of characters (can anyone blame them!) and are working with as long as the important stuff gets done by someone logical, it's all good.

Then why not keep him? Why pay another actor and have to establish who they are? That just takes more time, money, and screen time. We'll see how the end of this season how well they do because I still think the Talisa change was horrible. And even more so if she's a spy. I think at this point it's a wait and see because I've heard the changes will just be more drastic as time goes on so who knows. Maybe they'll stay true or maybe they'll just have took on to much and have to make changes that aren't so true to the story.

[Brewmaster]

Then why not keep him? Why pay another actor and have to establish who they are? That just takes more time, money, and screen time.

What? How would keeping Mago cost less than having a new actor/character play his role in book 6. Mago disappears for multiple books anyway, so you'd have to pay to keep an actor around that isn't going to be in any scenes for 3 years. And/or then hope that he's still available. You very well may end up having to change the actor anyway after that layoff and, assuming there is nothing critical about that character being Mago rather than some other Khal, why bother with him being Mago at that point.

No. Replacing him is cheaper, with less screen time. When he shows up at the end of ADWD he's just Khal Mago. It very likely doesn't make a difference if he's Khal Mago or Khal Whomever.

[Winter In My Heart]

What? How would keeping Mago cost less than having a new actor/character play his role in book 6. Mago disappears for multiple books anyway, so you'd have to pay to keep an actor around that isn't going to be in any scenes for 3 years. And/or then hope that he's still available. You very well may end up having to change the actor anyway after that layoff and, assuming there is nothing critical about that character being Mago rather than some other Khal, why bother with him being Mago at that point.

No. Replacing him is cheaper, with less screen time. When he shows up at the end of ADWD he's just Khal Mago. It very likely doesn't make a difference if he's Khal Mago or Khal Whomever.

What I'm saying is why kill off the character? They could easily just have him have taken off with the others once Drogo was dead and then replace the actor for book 6. They could just have dialogue about how he was in s

Drogo's army. Because they killed him that still takes more screen time and effort to make an entirely new character. That's all I meant. I agree it would be stupid to keep the actor that many seasons when they won't be in it for multiple years. They could've done the same thing they did with the Mountain and just replace the actor, not kill the character.

[YouSnowNothing]

They killed him because it was awesome. Dude got his tongue ripped out. You have to show, not tell, when it comes to TV, and if anything showed what a badass Drogo was, it was that. Which, for that matter, ups the stakes for Drogo's possible invasion of Westeros.

[Khal Porno]

It will hardly take any time at all to set up his character. The dude will just show up and say he is one of Drogo's bloodriders who left when he died, or Daenerys will say "hey I remember you, you're one of Drogo's bloodriders who left when he died." BOOM problem solved.

[Winter In My Heart]

They killed him because it was awesome. Dude got his tongue ripped out. You have to show, not tell, when it comes to TV, and if anything showed what a badass Drogo was, it was that. Which, for that matter, ups the stakes for Drogo's possible invasion of Westeros.

Okay but why did they have to pick Mago in particular? They could have used another bloodrider. I'm sure most weren't fond of Dany.

It will hardly take any time at all to set up his character. The dude will just show up and say he is one of Drogo's bloodriders who left when he died, or Daenerys will say "hey I remember you, you're one of Drogo's bloodriders who left when he died." BOOM problem solved.

That would be the cheesiest thing ever. The bloodriders are supposed to die when their Khal does. Not tha it's ever mentioned in show..

Eh D&D have done some pretty cheesy things so yeah they'll probably do what you said.

[Khal Porno]

Okay but why did they have to pick Mago in particular? They could have used another bloodrider. I'm sure most weren't fond of Dany.

That would be the cheesiest thing ever. The bloodriders are supposed to die when their Khal does. Not tha it's ever mentioned in show..

Eh D&D have done some pretty cheesy things so yeah they'll probably do what you said.

Dude, you know what I mean. They left when he was no longer able to be the big kahuna.

[Winter In My Heart]

Dude, you know what I mean. They left when he was no longer able to be the big kahuna.

Yeah I understand, I just think it's dumb to keep changing things like that. But I guess it's a somewhat small change in comparison to others.

What I meant was they'll probably do something cheesy to bring in this new Dothraki person. (At least that's what I'm envisioning after reading your post.) But in all fairness I wouldn't put it past them. They've had some hits and misses with bringing in new characters so it could go either way.

[AGV]

Given the scale of the shows production, I think the producers just have to keep paring off characters. I mean in the books its no big deal that characters can just be not around for long periods of time and then suddenly return after two or three books. But that would prove harder for TV. I mean if Mago were in Season 1 then suddenly returned in say Season 7, people would be like, "who the hell is that?" As much as readers of the book hate it, there are many non-readers watching the show and they aren't as particular with details. There are other Khals out there anyway wanting to destroy Dany, as Jorah had repeatedly stated. Many of the strong Dothraki form Drogo's khalasar did abandon Dany, so it can just be any of those.

[Winter In My Heart]

Given the scale of the shows production, I think the producers just have to keep paring off characters. I mean in the books its no big deal that characters can just be not around for long periods of time and then suddenly return after two or three books. But that would prove harder for TV. I mean if Mago were in Season 1 then suddenly returned in say Season 7, people would be like, "who the hell is that?" As much as readers of the book hate it, there are many non-readers watching the show and they aren't as particular with details. There are other Khals out there anyway wanting to destroy Dany, as Jorah had repeatedly stated. Many of the strong Dothraki form Drogo's khalasar did abandon Dany, so it can just be any of those.

Honestly I would just prefer this rather than some random guy coming in and some dialogue about how he was part of Drogo's Khalasar. (Most dialogue I envision would come out cheesy. But I'm sure they could possibly find a way to make it work.) My only thing is, why kill him? They could have killed some other member giving his Khal problems. Why did it have to particularly be a character playing a part in a future book? Sure fine it makes sense using a new character but why purposely kill a character that's in future books just because your using someone new? It makes me seriously question some changes. All I know is ill be extremely annoyed if Blackfish dies at the RW, when he isn't even supposed to be there. (While he may not play a huge part in the last two books, I think Martin had him escape Riverrun for a reason and still has some sort of importance.)

[Peasant Rebel Leader]

There are many more factors beside writing that is influencing these things. For that situation in particular, it was decided that Drogo needs a badass fighting scene (and something to set up how he gets wounded), so they took the actors that were around and were suitable for that stunt scene and made it happen. They certainly weren't thinking of the long-term here since, as pointed out before, you can just bring in another Dothraki. As a Tv show, they need to use what they have available right now and you need to make the best decisions for the show now. Game of Thrones is already groundbreaking with how much it sets up (seasons) ahead of time and with no further relevance in that season. Take this season Mance, Qyburn, Davos reading (I assume) or last year the cache at the Fist of the First men, the whole Craster's Camp, and so much more.

The Blackfish in the show is very clearly a combination of the Greatjon and the Blackfish characters in the books. That's where his character changes come from. I certainly wouldn't read too much into it if he happens to be at the RW for the books. The two are different beasts.

[callmedodge]

Someone needs to work on a "My precious books! My precious, precious books!" emoticon.

As for predicting things in the book from the show? I wouldn`t bother. The show mostly only sticks to the books for the big events and while some foreshadowing might be for big events later on they could just as easily be for a somewhat made up event from a book we already know but they`ve made their decision on how they`re approaching it.

[AGV]

It does seem that the Blackfish still has an important role in the future books. I'm thinking it has something to do with the Jeyne Westerling pregnancy theory. This is why I was so surprised with Talisa's pregnancy announcement because that just seems to fuel that theory some more. But it would really depend if they are killed off in the RW. I'm guessing the writers are gonna leave that one open-ended, not really showing if they get killed or not. I'm still convinced that GRRM is putting clues in the show for future books. But that's all speculation on my part, which is fun.

[Boromir_Stark]

One thing that I've really noticed over the seasons is an emphasis on the Catelyn-Jon Snow relationship.

Obviously mountains of dialogue have been cut from the book, but the few times Catelyn has talked about Jon have seemed to make it in.

One of note is the scene where she tells Talisa about staying up all night with a sick Jon. It really stood out for me.

It is especially odd if you have read the books and know that:

Catelyn and Jon, up until the end of DWD, do not see or hear from each other again.

Which leads to some interesting possibilities, given their respective "states" as of DWD. I think the obvious thing this would foreshadow would be Catelyn giving up her "unlife" to save Jon, but it could go all sorts of ways.

Either way, the show seems to be setting up some sort of Cat-Jon scene in the far future. Thoughts?

[The Wolf In Winterfell]

One thing that I've really noticed over the seasons is an emphasis on the Catelyn-Jon Snow relationship.

Obviously mountains of dialogue have been cut from the book, but the few times Catelyn has talked about Jon have seemed to make it in.

One of note is the scene where she tells Talisa about staying up all night with a sick Jon. It really stood out for me.

It is especially odd if you have read the books and know that:

Catelyn and Jon, up until the end of DWD, do not see or hear from each other again.

Which leads to some interesting possibilities, given their respective "states" as of DWD. I think the obvious thing this would foreshadow would be Catelyn giving up her "unlife" to save Jon, but it could go all sorts of ways.

Either way, the show seems to be setting up some sort of Cat-Jon scene in the far future. Thoughts?

Totally agree. I would love to see a scene in the future books between Cat and Jon and if that means Cat giving her "Unlife" to Jon then thats fine by me! But what gets me is that, Is the Brotherhood Without Banners going to march from the Riverlands to the Wall??? I personally cannot see that happening. Unless there is another tie between Thoros of Myr and Melisandre like in the TV show.

[Anarchosaurus Rex]

Umm.. ..she killed the stable boy in Season One. Mind you that was more of an instinctive reaction. But she also killed a Harrenhal guard in Season Two and that one was planned and deliberate. She has already gone all murderous on the TV show.

Besides, seeing your own father beheaded and all the other death she's seen (Lommy for instance - his throat casually slit just out of convenience) it's pretty understandable that she have a pretty strong streak of revenge going on.

You are confusing the book with the show. In the show, Arya did not kill a guard while escaping Harrenhal, as she did in the book.

It does seem that the Blackfish still has an important role in the future books. I'm thinking it has something to do with the Jeyne Westerling pregnancy theory. This is why I was so surprised with Talisa's pregnancy announcement because that just seems to fuel that theory some more. But it would really depend if they are killed off in the RW. I'm guessing the writers are gonna leave that one open-ended, not really showing if they get killed or not. I'm still convinced that GRRM is putting clues in the show for future books. But that's all speculation on my part, which is fun.

I really hope they do not botch the Red Wedding with needless cliffhangers, as they did with Ramsay's razing of Winterfell. Instead of suspenseful, it was just confusing (almost a whole season later, viewers still have no idea what happened there, and many whom I know have actually forgotten that it ever happened). Leaving the audience in the dark about what happened at the Twins would really rob the Red Wedding of its impact.