[BOOK SPOILERS] Predictions for TV series: Season by Season

[leviathan800]

Season 4

Bran: Travels with Jojen and co. beyond the wall, meets Bloodraven towards the end. Since dont think we are going see Coldhands

Arya: She spends most of the season in the riverlands trying to get to the Eyrie, Episode 8, she leaves the Hound to die. Episode 9, she at the harbor trying find a ship. Episode 10, she is off to Braavos

Sansa: Escapes from PW on Episode 2, then meets her Aunt. Up at the Eyrie in the middle of the season. Lysa dies in episode 10

Jon: Has to prepare the NW for the Wilding raiding party probably happen episode 4 or so. Episode 9, being called "Castle Black" is without doubt Battle at the wall. Becomes LC in episode 10

Iron Islands: Balon dies dont think we get to see it. No Kingsmoot since no one has been cast as Euron,Vic. Think they are bringing Yara being captured forward by Stannis when she passes Dragonstone, but dont know how they going make her a prisoner for 2 seasons at least

Theon: Getting a litle more tortured then released as Reek, dont think they will go to Moat Cailin, so rather they will show him and Ramsay doing stuff in the North like perhaps trying to find the Stark boys. Could also perhaps meet Roose

Stannis: Leaves Dragonstone to Eastwatch,in episode 1. Yara along the way and captures her perhaps mid season. comes towards end of episode 9.

Davos: With Stannis for entire trip, Stannis tells him after the battle at the wall to leave to White Harbor for Lord Manderley's support

Jaime: At PW,sees Joffrey die, tries to prevent Loras from killing Brienne. In midseason he sends Brienne off. He spends most of the season trying to organise the KG and his relationship with his father gets worse as well as his relationship with Cersei. Helps Tyyrion escape in episode 9

Brienne: Her and Loras dont see eye to eye, She gets sent out by Jamie around mid season maybe meeting Gendry in KL, and both leave in episode 5, with Podrick

Tyrion: Episode 2 PW, Episode 4 trial, Epidsode 8 Trial by combat, Episode 9 kills Tywin,recon the they wont make him kill Shae cause Tyrion is the good guy on the show and wouldnt do anything like that(hope im wrong), On ship in episode 10

Daenerys: Takes Meereen about mid season, learns she has created chaos in the region so decides to stay there for a while. Jorah will get more jealous of her and Daario's little romance. Jorah gets thrown out.

Rest:

Roose Bolton:Will see him at the PW with his wife Walda, may see him latter in the Dreadfort, with Ramsay

Freys: At PW, and finale when they meet Lady Stoneheart

Martells: Oberyn dies episode 7 or 8, meet his paramour

Tyrells: Meet Mace, Tyrells larger presence

[Colonel Green]

Stannis: Yara along the way and captures her perhaps mid season.

This is a popular prediction, but I really don't get the logic behind it. What would the point of that be? It seems to be based solely on Yara sailing up the eastern coast of Westeros. It seems far more logical that Yara's plot is meant to give Theon and Ramsay something to do in season 4, rather than to be toted around by Stannis for a couple of seasons.

Tyrion: Episode 4 trial

That seems a bit early.

[Credar]

I don't have a season by season per plot outline, but I have an interesting idea that might please everyone.

Season 4: Rest of ASoS plus parts of AFFC like the beginning of Brienne, Jaime etc.

Season 5: Rest of AFFC as well as the first have of ADWD (Ending ADWD plots around Jaime I/Jon X/Dany's Wedding

TWOW hopefully released here for my plan to work

Season 6: Rest of ADWD, Some of the smaller plots like Arya, Sansa, Sam. Bran etc. getting a bit of filler to strech out their TWOW stories with the season ending around the quarter/halfway mark of TWOW

Season 7: Rest of TWOW/intros to ADOS

Now here is my idea that will help George, the show and everyone possible be happy.

Make ADOS into a film trilogy.

We can be 100% sure that ADOS is going to be filled with epic battles, emotional moments and fast paced plots. A film trilogy will give the ending to ASOIAF the way it should end, big and budgets galore. Imagine the Battle of Blackwater in your mind. Now imagine it from the books. Imagine if THAT had come to life. We can GET that. Plus, a new film could come out every 1 year, with only the first coming around 2 years after season 7. This gives George the time to finish ADOS as well as give the writers the time to adapt it and make it the best it can be.

We know Game of Thrones has popularity and I think that it would be able to do at least reasonably well in theatres, great if the budget is "low" (Maybe half a season or a full season budget)

While fans will be a bit cranky at waiting 2 years for more of the story, I feel like with them knowing a movie adaptation of the finale happening that they would be patient. Bookies get ADOS first, the way it should be, and the show gets a big send off.

Now there is the fear that much will be lost, but that's why we have the trilogy. If each one is around 2 hours and 30 minutes to 3 hours, we can get around a full season's worth of stuff with none of the filler the show sometimes creates, like King's Landing this season. There is also the fear it might not do well in theatres. This is solved by the fact that even though the budget of the movies are a full season's worth, around 60 million per movie, that's still MUCH less than many blockbuster films. We know that they can do epic battles with 6 million per episode, so I'm sure 60 million for a 3 hour movie is more than enough. If they only hit 200 million or 300 million it would still be a "success" for HBO. We know the average viewer numbers are around 14.2 million once all viewers eventually watch the episodes. With tickets at 20 bucks a pop, they already have 280 million or so.

Now I doubt they will even remotely think about doing this, but if they did, I think this would make for a wonderful turn of events.

TL;DR: Make a movie trilogy for ADOS after Season 7.

[oierem]

I don't like that at all. To begin with, is very unlikely that they will spend so much money on a trilogy of films only fans of the series will watch (because if you haven't seen the series you just CAN'T understand the conclussion of such a huge story alone).

But most importantly, no matter how big ADOS is, it is the climax of a single huge story and doesn't warrant three films: it would just kill the narrative momentum, and bloat the story unnecessarily. Sometimes, less is more.Same as I don't think the series should last 12 seasons (because the story doesn't warrant it), it doesn't need three movies to tell a climax.

Each movie needs a coherent story, a beginning and ending, a reasonable amount of characters. Because of its nature, ASOS couldn't be adapted for a film series, and for the same reason, its conclussion cannot be addapted for a film series. You still have too many characters, plots and no clear story for each part.

[Credar]

I don't like that at all. To begin with, is very unlikely that they will spend so much money on a trilogy of films only fans of the series will watch (because if you haven't seen the series you just CAN'T understand the conclussion of such a huge story alone).

But most importantly, no matter how big ADOS is, it is the climax of a single huge story and doesn't warrant three films: it would just kill the narrative momentum, and bloat the story unnecessarily. Sometimes, less is more.Same as I don't think the series should last 12 seasons (because the story doesn't warrant it), it doesn't need three movies to tell a climax.

Each movie needs a coherent story, a beginning and ending, a reasonable amount of characters. Because of its nature, ASOS couldn't be adapted for a film series, and for the same reason, its conclussion cannot be addapted for a film series. You still have too many characters, plots and no clear story for each part.

Hmmm....I guess I didn't think about that whole part :P. Just trying to find ways to give GRRM some time to write ADOS....I just hope that the show doesn't overlap the books.

[Ser Tahu]

TL;DR: Make a movie trilogy for ADOS after Season 7.

Unless each movie is 4 hours, then that sounds horrible.

3 movies = 6-9 hours.

1 season = 9-10 hours.

And if they end up needing a 9th season that is 18-20 hours. Movies would require greater cuts as far as plot points and characters are concerned.

[oierem]

Hmmm....I guess I didn't think about that whole part :P. Just trying to find ways to give GRRM some time to write ADOS....I just hope that the show doesn't overlap the books.

And that's the whole point!! There aren't any narrative/artistic reasons to do that.... (or having more than 8 seasons for that matter). The only reason is a practical one: to give Martin more time. Time which may or may not be enough. Time that he might spend touring and going to conventions. Which is not a good reason: the show has to do what is good for the show.

And, as it's been said repeatedly, the show WILL surely overlap the books (the only question is: will the last book come out before the last season airs? but the book won't be finished for the time they need to write the final season for sure - late 2016)

Btw, I guess right now Martin is not writing TWOW but his script for season 5, right?

[cmill216]

How the hell are they going to do AFFC and ADDW in one season? We are talking about 2000 pages. They needed 2 seasons for ASOS.

Jaime's Hand

The Red Wedding

The Purple Wedding

Tyrion killing Tywin

Dany acquiring her army

Battle of Castle Black...

SoS is absolutely loaded with game- changing/series defining moments. There's no way you could pack that much plot into a single season.

AFFC and ADWD combined don't have nearly the same amount of hugely significant advancements in the story for each to have their own season. But if you were to combine the two, taking the most compelling moments and storylines from each, THEN you might have a pretty great season.

[protar]

This is a popular prediction, but I really don't get the logic behind it. What would the point of that be? It seems to be based solely on Yara sailing up the eastern coast of Westeros. It seems far more logical that Yara's plot is meant to give Theon and Ramsay something to do in season 4, rather than to be toted around by Stannis for a couple of seasons.

Well she's captured by Stannis in the books, so it simply achieves that a little earlier without the need to film the Battle of Deepwood Motte. Also, seeing as Stannis isn't arriving at the Wall until episode 9 there's nothing stopping Asha from appearing in Theon's arc prior to this.

[Lord of the Twins]

I think it likely that Asha's crew, but not her, will take the place of the 63 Flayed Ironborn from Moat Cailin, since there are no Ironborn there in the show. Asha will somehow escape and eventually end up captured by Stannis, possibly in Season 5. 4x08 or 4x10 should have the scene with Theon getting rid of the Ironborn, allowing Roose to return to the Dreadfort with fArya, even if fArya is not actually seen until season 5, or they pull off a Jaqen H'ghar in 1x10 thing, hiding the actress.

[King Tommen]

Season 4 Episodes 1/2

With the recent revelation that E2 will devote roughly half of its running time in King's Landing for the PW, I thought it would be interesting to see just how much time we'll probably be spending there in the first 2 episodes given how much needs to happen there prior to Joffrey biting it.

First off, the number of settings/storylines the show needs to cover off (at the start of the season anyways):

1) King's Landing (obviously)

2) Dragonstone

3) Arya/Hound

4) The Wall

5) Bran and co

6) Theon/Ramsay

7) Dany

There are possibly a few minor characters outside of this that we could check in with for a quick scene in the first 2 episodes (Balon in Pyke, Yara on a boat, Mountain/Rorge/Biter causing shit in an Inn, LF/Lysa, Roose/Walder at the Twins, Tormund/Ygritte/Styr meet up) but I think they'll either be delayed until after the PW (Yara, Vale) or just quick little reintroductions that don't take more than a minute or so (Balon, Mountain, Roose,Wildlings) so they aren't going to affect the episode runtimes in any real way.

I also think that as in previous years, we won't necessarily check in with all 7 of the storylines in both episodes, we may just hit say Bran and co in E1 and they'll skip E2. I'd put Arya, Bran, Dragonstone and probably Theon in this category with Jon and Dany appearing in both episodes.

But in terms of King's Landing, the sheer number of characters old and new that have converged there, you need to devote serious screentime there. I'd say that not only does E2 spend half its time there, but E1 as well (or close to it).

A quick rundown of characters in KL: Tyrion, Tywin, Cersei, Joffrey, Tommen, Shae, Sansa, Jaime, Brienne, Meryn, Bronn, Pod, Loras, Margaery, Olenna, Varys, Pycelle, Qyburn and introduction/reintroduction of Oberyn, Ellaria, Dontos and Mace. That's 22!!! characters to service in various ways in 2 episodes.

1)E1 will definitely take time to introduce Oberyn and Ellaria and we know there's the scene from the book where Tyrion is the one to greet them (bringing Pod and Bronn along). Oberyn will also I assume have a handful of scenes with other characters prior to and during the wedding reception.

2)Mace won't need much of an intro but he'll still be in some scenes with both the Tyrells and the Lannisters presumably.

3)Jaime and Brienne will both need to be integrated into KL right away. Tywin showing Jaime the forging of Oathkeeper will be in E1 and I'd guess this is also where Jaime brings up following through on his vow to return Sansa. Tywin will of course shoot him down. We have also seen a shot of Margaery walking and talking with Brienne so my guess is that this is to smooth a previous or future Loras interaction and also to have Brienne appeal to her re: Sansa's release. I think the show will probably have Margaery be sympathetic but put Brienne off until after the wedding since she knows she'll need Sansa there for the plot to work.

4)Olenna and Margaery will also share a subtle (or not-so-subtle) strategy session re: the wedding reception.

5)Tyrion will have a scene with Jaime which should be fun (Sansa's fate will again be discussed I'm sure). And Jaime and Cersei will share a scene (although they probably won't do sexy time until after Joffrey dies, like in the books.

6)Jaime also has his Kingsguard scene with Joffrey and Ser Meryn that we see in the trailer where Joff's being a dick.

7) Jaime will also get his golden hand from Qyburn somewhere in there too

8)Tyrion and Shae will need to have their final scene(s) to set up her betrayal and we'll probably get a good idea how faithful this will be to the books based on the way she acts here.

9)There's the breakfast scene (which could be early in E2 I suppose) where Tyrion gives Joff his book as a present and Joff chops it up and makes fun of him. That's also where Tyrion is trying to console Sansa and she presumably steals away to meet with Dontos. This means there will have to be another scene with her and Dontos prior where the escape plan is suggested.

10) I really don't know how much we'll get of Tommen in these first couple episodes but they'll have to reference him here at some point so the audience gets that this new actor is Joff's brother. Maybe just a quick aside in a Cersei scene and in the background of other larger scenes at the wedding

11) In E2, they may have a couple of lead-up scenes but it's mainly going to be an extended "Second Sons" structure with the big ceremony in the Sept and then the big reception outside where the leaked callsheet has many different character combo conversations taking place (Oberyn, Loras, Brienne, Olenna, Cersei, Tywin etc) before the main event and the episode presumably ending with Cersei calling for Tyrion's arrest. I would imagine the immediate aftermath with the Sansa escape with Dontos from King's Landing will be delayed until the start of E3.

12) With all this stuff going on, you can see why they wouldn't bother trying to ram Kevan (or Lancel) in. Just too much to deal with and Jaime being there early is the perfect excuse to have him be the one to share scenes with Tyrion after his arrest. I also thought at one point that they may have Roose (or even Walder) down there for the wedding as Tywin's guests with their new important titles. Mostly this was because I thought it was a way to keep these characters in the mix for S4 and because we know that Fat Walda has confirmed to be in only 1 episode this year and it's E2 and a Royal Wedding seemed like a good reason for her to be seen with Roose. But now, based on the fact that there's no trace of him in any footage of the wedding and just the overall crush of characters, that seems unlikely. I do think that in E2, Roose and Walder will share a final scene at the Twins (to give David Bradley a nice cameo after last season) and Fat Walda can be handed off to Roose before he heads back up North. Probably a way to transition a scene back to Ramsay and set up what Roose's plan is for the season.

13)As far as the other storylines that will be addressed in E1/.E2, Dany should arrive at Meereen by that time but I don't think we'll get to Daario taking on the champion outside the gates until the next couple episodes. More just setting up what her next conquest goal is going to be. Some Jorah angst as well.

14) Jon's stuff will be more getting him up to speed after being gone for so long (should get a RW reaction which would be interesting). We may or may not get Grenn and Edd coming back to let him know what's up at Craster's. He won't go there yet though. I'm guessing we'll also see Tormund and Ygritte regrouping with the introduction of Styr to tell them what Mance wants them to do next.

15) Dragonstone will only be in there for one of these episodes and I'm certain they'll simply cover off the burning of the people there. Probably no more.

16) Bran and co. will only be in 1 of the 2 episodes and it's hard to say what's going to happen there. Probably just more a check-in at this point.

17) Arya/Hound should be interesting because it looks like in most of the footage we see of them, she's got Needle so they may move up the confrontation at the Inn to happen right away and just have the Hound be wounded in some other way closer to the end of the season. Wouldn't be surprised to see her ice Polliver in E1.

18) There seems to be indications that there will be some kind of nasty scene at an Inn with the Mountain and his men laying waste to some poor souls to re-establish what a monster the Mountain is. My best guess is that the Mountain will have Rorge, Biter, Polliver and others there, they'll cause their mayhem, the Mountain will leave and only Polliver and a couple nameless guys and not long after Arya and the Hound will make their way to the same Inn and have the Needle scene.

19) Theon and Ramsay will have a scene or two to establish Theon's new Reek persona and maybe they'll start the hunt of the nameless random girl but more likely that happens a little later in the season. I also don't think we'll see Yara at all yet (she's got a long trip ahead of her).

20) Although it's possible it happens way later, I still maintain that the leech order on the show was done purposely to have Balon die before Joffrey so I will maintain that he has a short scene at the end of E1 where he will die mysteriously and that will end off the episode making it clear to the audience that Joff's next (we just won't know when). I could see the Dragonstone scene with Davos/Stannis/Mel discussing the power of king's blood again to remind us of the leeches which then transitions to Balon at Pyke. If they wanted to make Joff's death even more of a surprise, I suppose they could hold off but then Balon's death is incredibly anticlimatic and I think it's a fun reminder for the audience that they're going to get what they want eventually (but probably won't expect it to happen in the very next episode).

[Shaldun]

....

Long post, interesting and when I see all that, I wonder why not have put the PW in episode 3 or 4. It's really weird considering the big gap after that in KL storyline where there is only the trial of Tyrion. Spreading it on all these episodes (6 if we have the Oberyn/Mountain duel in episode 8) is a lot, we could easily have the PW in episode 3 to enjoy more the KL with all the characters and enjoy some new interactions (Brienne/Sansa, Jaime/Joffrey, free Tyrion/Jaime...). Seems a little rushed like that. We'll certainly advance a lot more the non-KL plots after it but even, I just wonder what will be the pace of this season and why they haven't put the PW later. Also, now we really are in a time where each plot has its own pace and progress compared to the books. Arya's plot will be really slow this season if she don't leave for Braavos and some others plots as the Northern one (Theon, Roose, Ramsay, Asha). In the other way, it's really interesting because we don't really know what will going on. One of my main questions is the Asha/Ironborn storylines and how it will go in this season and the following.

[Colonel Green]

Brienne/Sansa

It's 100% for the best that those two don't interact at all (how exactly the writers will handle that remains to be seen, but I'm leaning toward the Tyrells running interference).

[Shaldun]

It's 100% for the best that those two don't interact at all (how exactly the writers will handle that remains to be seen, but I'm leaning toward the Tyrells running interference).

Yes it changes from the books but Brienne will want to do that ASAP as she's in KL. She's not the kind of person to forget her vow (even if there is no more Catelyn Stark from what she knows). Could be interesting to see that. Obviously, they can't leave before the PW (Sansa is married to Tyrion she can't leave easily) but plan to do it during as Dontos. And Sansa doesn't trust Brienne as she had come in KL with a Lannister so she decide to leave with Dontos. From there, Brienne search the missing Sansa. Could work IMO.

Why do you want the Tyrells to run interference ? They don't want that Sansa stays with Tyrion I suppose (must be something like cancelling the marriage as it hasn't been consumed, Sansa could tell to Margeary or Olenna that). So Brienne is perfect for that as their bannerman (bannerwoman ?), they can plan to send her to Highgarden to protect her. Sansa would trust Marg, except if she doesn't want to be politically used anymore (which would be the case with the Dontos side but she don't know it). I want to see what Brienne and Marg are talking about, I'm sure Sansa is in the conversation, Brienne won't forget that anytime soon

[King Tommen]

Yes it changes from the books but Brienne will want to do that ASAP as she's in KL. She's not the kind of person to forget her vow (even if there is no more Catelyn Stark from what she knows). Could be interesting to see that. Obviously, they can't leave before the PW (Sansa is married to Tyrion she can't leave easily) but plan to do it during as Dontos. And Sansa doesn't trust Brienne as she had come in KL with a Lannister so she decide to leave with Dontos. From there, Brienne search the missing Sansa. Could work IMO.

Why do you want the Tyrells to run interference ? They don't want that Sansa stays with Tyrion I suppose (must be something like cancelling the marriage as it hasn't been consumed, Sansa could tell to Margeary or Olenna that). So Brienne is perfect for that as their bannerman (bannerwoman ?), they can plan to send her to Highgarden to protect her. Sansa would trust Marg, except if she doesn't want to be politically used anymore (which would be the case with the Dontos side but she don't know it). I want to see what Brienne and Marg are talking about, I'm sure Sansa is in the conversation, Brienne won't forget that anytime soon

The Tyrell's would run interference because they need to use Sansa at the PW. They'd put Brienne off until afterwards knowing that it will be too late by then.

[Lord of the Twins]

So Brienne is perfect for that as their bannerman (bannerwoman ?), they can plan to send her to Highgarden to protect her.

Tarth is sworn to Storm's End and House Baratheon, heh.

[Colonel Green]

And Sansa doesn't trust Brienne as she had come in KL with a Lannister so she decide to leave with Dontos.

No, that would be an awful change and lead to people calling Sansa stupid yet again.

[Hagen of Tronje]

...

I guess we'll have some sort of confrontation between the Tyrells and the Martells (Mace and Olenna, maybe Margaery and Loras versus Oberyn and Ellaria) in episode 1 or 2. They need to establish the enmity between both houses. I guess the QoT will call Ellaria "the serpent's whore" like she did in the books. ;)

[DaveyJoe]

They might do away with the enmity so they can have Oberyn and Loras do the horizontal rumba.

[Hagen of Tronje]

They might. But the Tyrell-Martell hate plays a significant role, I doubt they'll drop it just for a gay sex scene.

...

On second thoughts, I fear that's excactly what is going to happen. This is Game of Thrones after all.