Game of Thrones [SPOILERS]

[Merusk]

If they don't introduce the Iron Islands then we know that entire thread is useless in the books, and the drama of their rush to the Eastern kingdoms is equally useless in the same vein as Prince Meltsalot of Dorne.  TV show spoiling the book once more but in a really significant way.

[Khaldun]

Look back--in the books so far, are there people you thought would be important who weren't? Yes. Are there plotlines that more or less just end in something awful and pointless, because Martin wants to suggest that sometimes that's what happens, except in epic fantasies where every destiny is fulfilled? Yes. Are there plots and characters that the show has paradoxically made more important or interesting because they've decided not to create Yet Another Character and just re-used one who was already there? Oh my yes.

So calm down.

[Threash]

The only plot that would really bother me if it was cut would be lady stoneheart, and so far it looks like it might be out.

[Setanta]

Or they are keeping quiet on it to as a shock factor for viewers

[Tannhauser]

Too late for that, thanks to this thread.

[Samwise]

Too late for that, thanks to this thread.

Game of Thrones, Illiterate Edition

[eldaec]

If they don't introduce the Iron Islands then we know that entire thread is useless in the books, and the drama of their rush to the Eastern kingdoms is equally useless in the same vein as Prince Meltsalot of Dorne.  TV show spoiling the book once more but in a really significant way.

Not so much, they don't need the kingsmoot for obvious reasons, and if they skip that, the existing iron born characters and easily do the things that the new cast would have done. Or the new characters could show up in season 6 - since I can't think of anything that has to happen straight away.

Or Victaron could just show up where he is the books at the end of dance, and you could cover it with 40 seconds of dialog.

[Surlyboi]

Random aside. Sean Bean just sang, "I will survive" to me at the Ritz Carlton.

[Riggswolfe]

Random aside. Sean Bean just sang, "I will survive" to me at the Ritz Carlton.

That's a terribly ironic song choice and I'm quite jealous assuming his voice isn't nails on chalkboard bad.

[Surlyboi]

It was in reference to his new show, Legends and the hashtag the studio's been pushing, #dontkillseanbean.

[Tale]

It has always seemed that the storyline is building the winning team for humanity's winter stand against the white walkers.

Anyone who is dropped for the moment can be brought back. Yara Greyjoy can turn up to someone's aid with an Iron Islands army. Lady Stoneheart can turn up at any convenient point.

[Lantyssa]

Random aside. Sean Bean just sang, "I will survive" to me at the Ritz Carlton.

Just you, or an audience?  Pretty cool either way, but the former is jealousy territory.

[Khaldun]

Martin has said, by the way, that at least some fans have guessed fairly accurately what his outline for the series conclusion says.

[Surlyboi]

Random aside. Sean Bean just sang, "I will survive" to me at the Ritz Carlton.

Just you, or an audience?  Pretty cool either way, but the former is jealousy territory.

Just me. He sat next to me at the bar. I was commenting on the hashtag and told him that he needed to make clear in his contract that if they killed him it had to be with something on par with a nuke.

[K9]

Martin has said, by the way, that at least some fans have guessed fairly accurately what his outline for the series conclusion says.

Sounds like the million monkeys finally bashed out a bit of Hamlet

[Phildo]

I had the exact same reaction when I heard about it.

[eldaec]

Also he was talking things that aren't that hard to predict given 10 years to think about it.

Jon Snow's parentage for instance. I'm fairly sure that 90% of the monkeys have that right.

If you re-read GoT one thing that really stands out is how direct and unsubtle the prophecies are. They get a little more open to misinterpretation as the series goes on.

[Threash]

They are direct and unsubtle after the fact though.

[calapine]

*redacted*

[DraconianOne]

*redacted*

Too late!

 

[Teleku]

Did Snape kill Dumbledore or something?

[Riggswolfe]

Martin has said, by the way, that at least some fans have guessed fairly accurately what his outline for the series conclusion says.

If I had to guess:

[Merusk]

Ice and Fire were always obvious. The third head eluded me until I read the theory then it was, "Oh, DUH."

[Khaldun]

I saw a really interesting thread at Reddit where the guy said, "Look, Martin has said he doesn't like one-dimensional EEEVIL races, so he's not going to make the White Walkers into motiveless zombies who just want to kill the living." Then he goes from there and offers a really ingenious reading of the Night's King story and some other stuff. The general conclusions he comes to strike me as pretty sound--and they don't lead to a simple, "Fire beats Ice with lots of dragons", and they also lead to a rather different reading of Jon Snow's future and the fate of the Starks. And not a simple defeat for the White Walkers either.


It struck me that he might be the guy Martin is thinking about when he says a few people have guessed most of the important stuff.

[MrHat]

I saw a really interesting thread at Reddit where the guy said, "Look, Martin has said he doesn't like one-dimensional EEEVIL races, so he's not going to make the White Walkers into motiveless zombies who just want to kill the living." Then he goes from there and offers a really ingenious reading of the Night's King story and some other stuff. The general conclusions he comes to strike me as pretty sound--and they don't lead to a simple, "Fire beats Ice with lots of dragons", and they also lead to a rather different reading of Jon Snow's future and the fate of the Starks. And not a simple defeat for the White Walkers either.


It struck me that he might be the guy Martin is thinking about when he says a few people have guessed most of the important stuff.

Link?

[Merusk]

Think I found it.
http://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/23p48r/the_true_nature_and_purpose_of_the_others_and_the/

[Khaldun]

That's the one.

[Samwise]

Think I found it.
http://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/23p48r/the_true_nature_and_purpose_of_the_others_and_the/

I enjoyed that.  Seems a bit of a stretch just because it leaves a LOT of ground to cover in books to come, but I suppose GRRM can cover ground quickly when he wants to.

[Ingmar]

That was pretty interesting. (But goddamn I cannot get used to Reddit as a platform.)

[Khaldun]

I can see some ways he can get to it pretty quickly. Might also be a way to unload an absolutely savage beating on the Boltons, etc.--that the Starks have a reason for being Kings in the North that goes way beyond, "This is our castle and these guys are our bannermen".

[Cyrrex]

(But goddamn I cannot get used to Reddit as a platform.)

Glad I'm not the only one.

[K9]

Season 5 of GoT will not feature Bran or Hodor

Until TWoW comes out the showrunners don't seem inclined to extend the storyline (which is more or less done to the extent present in the books)

[Khaldun]

I am not at all surprised by this. They really can't, since Bran almost certainly is going to be Mr. Infodump for the next part of his story in the books--Martin is almost certainly going to use him to let us see things that none of the viewpoint characters have seen or could see, including in the past, in order to set up the rising action of the series climax.

[satael]

I for one am happy that there's no Bran in the next season. I think his storyline inserts too much "magic and fantasy" in to the story without being that interwoven into the other stuff (after they go north of the wall).

[HaemishM]

That's a very good move. As it is, he would have had maybe one or two more scenes from the book and then he's done. Let Martin get another book out.