NEW inside information on Season 5 

 showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss, along HBO programming president Michael Lombardo, discussed the circumstances surrounding the inevitable end of HBO’s flagship show.

With the show about to begin its fifth season, character storylines are beginning to combine and condense, and plot threads will soon gear up to enter their final phase. With this in mind, the manner of the show’s conclusion will undoubtedly be a point of contention among various parties.

THE MAJORITY OF THIS POST IS SPOILER FREE, EXCEPT FOR THE LAST PARAGRAPH.

Benioff and Weiss have gone on the record numerous times in saying that they are aiming for a solid seven seasons. HBO has augmented this objective by signing on a number of cast members for a seventh season well ahead of time. Following the current format, this would place the finale of the show midway through 2017. On the prospect of the show’s impending conclusion, Lombardo had the following to say:

This is the hard part of what we do. We started this journey with David and Dan. It’s their vision. Would I love the show to go 10 years as both a fan and a network executive? Absolutely.

So, from HBO’s perspective as a business and provider of quality entertainment, they’d obviously love for the show to continue as long as possible. However, the executives clearly harbour the wisdom to respect the whims of the showrunners in deciding upon the ultimate end nature of the show, as evidenced by Lombardo’s following statements:

If [David and Dan] weren’t comfortable going beyond seven seasons, I trust them implicitly and trust that’s the right decision—as horrifying as that is to me. What I’m not going to do is have a show continue past where the creators believe where they feel they’ve finished with the story.

Conversely, the prospect of a feature length movie or two to finish out the series has consistently been raised by George R. R. Martin. While Benioff and Weiss would not comment on the matter to EW, HBO executives are openly not fond of the idea. They feel that it has the potential to be perceived a snub to loyal subscribers and fans who have supported the show this far. Lombardo opens up:

Certainly there have been conversations where it’s been said, “Wouldn’t it be cool to do that?” But when you start a series with our subscribers, the promise is that for your HBO fee that we’re going to take you to the end of this. I feel that on some level [a movie would be] changing the rules: Now you have to pay $16 to see how your show ends.

At this point, the most likely outcome on all fronts looks to be that of an AMC-esque split seventh season. This would involve HBO ordering more than the usual run of ten episodes for the final season – airing one block one year and a second block the next.

According to Benioff and Weiss, their number one priority is providing the strongest possible ending for the show, and from what Lombardo’s comments lead us to believe, the final decision on the manner of that ending rests firmly with the two showrunners.

We want to go out on our absolute highest note. We don’t want people to finally see the end and say, “Thank god that’s over.” We know basically how many hours are left in this story. We don’t want to add 10 hours to that. It’s about finding that sweet spot so it works for us and for HBO and, most of all, it works for the audience.

Rory McCann does not appear in Season 5, but the producers won’t confirm whether The Hound is dead or not.

There is some sexual tension between Jon and Melisandre, as Mel attempts to seduce Jon.

“Dorne” appears in the opening credits, rather than “Sunspear”.

There is a character portrait of Theon with well-groomed hair and fancy clothes resembling those worn by Yohn Royce and Vance Corbray in Season 4.

An unnamed cast member is interviewed after just filming their death scene, after “several years” of involvement with the show. This character has not yet died in the books. The actor was surprised upon learning of the character’s death and limited screen time, as he/she has read the books and was expecting to have more material than usual to film this year.

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Ian McElhinney fits the bill perfectly for the death scene, which means the rumors and speculation are true. Selmy had a big part in ADWD, and McElhinney

is one of the few cast members who has really read all the books. This sucks.

I’m afraid you may be right. I hope that’s not the case but… it seems to be the character who fits the most.

I didn’t spot Theon in Vale clothing by the way. Must have missed it.

Revelations. Basically the Hound will return eventually. Sansa is LS in essence. Interesting note about Theon in Vale clothing? We now know for sure who will cross paths in WF. Finally, I am intrigued about the death, Loras??

Bronn is another option though, I am not sure if he read the books however. Outside of that I do expect Barristan to die at the very beginning of twow, it’s 100% certain that that is going to happen in my opinion

I don’t see how D&D could do a split season on their current schedule, but stranger things have happened..

Hmm, established characters dies in Season 5, but is still alive in the books…

Brienne? She had a journey in the books so maybe she expected more screen time?

Tormund? If Hardhome rumors are true he could have a hero’s death…

has a lot to do in season 5, and his role in the books is minimal at this point.

Where is this picture of Theon from? I’ve seen the scans of the article and saw it nowhere?

Great news imo for Rory McCann/Sandor. He has been fantastic through S4, and leaving it open is hopeful.

Ditto. That’s the only thing that confused me here.

That would be even more devastating than the current popular alternative.

“He/she has read the books and was expecting to have more material than usual to film this year” is the key, though.

so I don’t think it’s him. Barristan was my first thought as well, he seems to fit perfectly. And with

D&D might have thought her inner circle was getting too big.

I didn’t see anything in the article that pointed to Sansa being “LS in essence”. There’s only the tidbit about her relationship with LF being a “journey which takes a dark turn this year” (which begs the question, what’s new about that to make it a “turn”? It’s not like it was light and wholesome to begin with). That could mean a lot of things.

What does “LS in essence” mean, anyway? Killing a bunch of Freys and Lannisters and their allies? Being a monstrous, tragic wreck obsessed with revenge and little else?

Also I’m not inclined to take Hibberd’s LSH info entirely at his word without him citing a new interview or to the think that the Ironborn plot not being in s5 doesn’t mean that aspects of it won’t show up later.

If the Sons of the Harpy kill Barristan, D&D better make sure he kills a whole lot of them and goes out like a champ. The actor did say he had a fantastic fight scene at last…

But the more I think about it the more I’m thinking

. They’ve been around for ‘several’ seasons and their story definitely expands in book 4 so you’d think they’d feature a lot more. Not sure storywise why they’d have to die early though.. Perhaps

That bit about the map saying “Dorne”, rather than “Sunspear”, struck me as odd when I was reading the issue. Kind of a weird choice.

On a side note, just so you all know, the issue has actual pictures from the opening credits showing Dorne.

I was thinking it could be Brienne as the character that dies in the show but not yet in ASOIAF. Gwendolyn Christie also read the books and she had a ton of action in AFFC.

Huh I’m not sure how to do spoilers so I’m just replacing my original post with one asking how to do spoilers.. Haven’t posted on here since the switch to WiC

Doesn’t Mel seducing Jon definitely mean he has king’s blood? RUN JON RUN!!!! I think this will begin our slow reveal to ar plus ell equals jay.

Reek in fancy clothes could mean anything. A court hearing in Winterfell, a greeting, his master’s wedding? Sansa’s dark turn is towards Winterfell.

Doesn’t Barristan do fuck-all in the books? He’s a charismatic character, but other than throw out some exposition, he doesn’t do a ton, especially since the TV show doesn’t rely on a POV system. A heroic death could be the best thing they can do with Barristan.

I saw the Theon pic online. Hope it’s ok to post this:

The more time they get to tell the story the better.

If Selmy dies I will be incredibly pissed off. His character has nowhere near been done justice (the amount of events he’s been a key part of in the history of Westeros and the fact he is probably the most accompllished knight who’s ever lived) and it would leave Dany surrounded by complete non-event characters where they should have Barristan playing his key role in the Siege of Mereen and giving Dany more information about her father and brother to shape her as a ruler. Hopefully it isn’t him. I think Bronn may be a cnadidate but he’s not really critical in the books which makes it less surprising. Loras could be another candidate as he potentially has more of a part to play depending on what actually happened at Dragonstone. Other candidates could be Sam ( If Oldtown isn’t happening), Yara or Theon (yet more Greyjoy neglect) , Brienne or Pod (who knows what they’re going to do) , Tormund or Mance, Jorah or a real wild card , Jaime ( think I’d stop watching the show).

Why on earth is Theon dressing as a Vale person. The worry is rising again!

I’m afraid I think you’re right. I’ve spent the last 20 minutes breaking it down cast member by cast member and he’s the strongest contender.

Wha? My attempt to edit away my original post has turned into a brand new post and now I can’t edit either of them..

Apologies to anyone who read the above, please ignore me just embarrassing myself on the internet

Where is this picture of Theon from? I’ve seen the scans of the article and saw it nowhere?

The character portraits under “Where We Left Them..”

I’ve been saying this since pretty much season 3… that they would order more episodes for the final season and split it. And it would be easy to do since they could finish shooting the second half after they finish the first half. It would essentially be season 8… but called season 7. Because that’s how executives get around paying the talent extra for a new contract.

I’m not through the books yet…but I feel as though they royally effed up with Barriston he could have been the most bad ass old guy ever…..and the stuff that guy has heard and witnessed in his life….damn shame…I wonder if he plans to cut through D &D like cake!

i’m pretty sure Bronn will die in Dorne.. maybe both him and Barry will say goodbye this season. I honestly don’t give a f**k about Barristan, but i will cry buckets for Bronn. About Barry, i just hope he’ll have ONE good action scene before dying.. but i won’t bet on that

Even if they kill him, he’s still has a season left. For example, the leaked script summary confirmed he’d reveal everything about the Mad King to the Queen, as he did in the books.

Any information on whether the show will cover material beyond ADWD? I wish they would finally clear this out, would be a bummer if the show were to spoil the books

But the more I think about it the more I’m thinking

. They’ve been around for ‘several’ seasons and their story definitely expands in book 4 so you’d think they’d feature a lot more. Not sure storywise why they’d have to die early though.. Perhaps

Loras’ interactions with Jaime are mostly in ASOS. Jaime leaves early in AFFC, and if anything, going by set reports and pictures, Loras’ role in season 5 is larger than in AFFC.

Any information on whether the show will cover material beyond ADWD? I wish they would finally clear this out, would be a bummer ifthe show were to spoil the books

My updated list of people I think will/could die in Season 5 (I may be forgetting some):

Seeing as there now seem to be about 5 other people who are likely to die, who are alive in the books, I am a bit less convinced Bronn will die. Of course, it’s still possible he (and maybe a SS (most likely Obara)) will die.

I’m not that convinced it’s him, but even if it is…

..If he dies in the beginning of TWOW, which is likely, and the show skips a major battle in Meereen, why not kill him this season?

Also, I’m sure we’ll get to see a lot more of him this season because of that, though not as much as the actor had hoped. Besides, the majority of

Barristan’s scenes in ADWD happen after Daznak, talking to Quentyn (cut) and plotting to conquer from characters with difficult names (also cut or given to Jorah/Tyrion).

Would still blow. He’s been criminally neglected in the show. Would also leave us with the dullfest which is sleazeball Daario and MissandGrey for Dany to interact with. Jorah and Tyrion could plug the gap but I’d rather them off the other three and keep Selmy who actually has a purpose/character.

Knowing my luck, Sansa will live forever. :/

The show has missed opportunity after opportunity to do justice to the character. Such a shame really, because they got of to a good start

with the scene where he resigned from the KG. I really liked McElheny’s take on him, but he never really got anything to do. He should have fought the Meerenese champion at the very least.

I do think the character we’re talking about is on the choppingblock. They just tick off every box. This is very sad news imo. So far I thought season five was looking pretty good, but this is really worrying.

Well, I’m still hopeful that TWOW will be published by year’s end, and that D&D will not cover anything beyond ADWD before season 6, or make up the story. But any official statement would be nice.

I just meant she’s on a collision course with characters LS encountered in the books, and is subsequently taking bits of her arc albeit in totally different circumstances for totally different reasons. And that she might be enacting some a plan of revenge against Stark enemies, the first Stark to do so after the RW. Of course she’s not going to be some crazy, vengeful hack, but that doesn’t mean she won’t avenge them in her own way. This is all conjecture, nothing I post about Sansa is sacred, and I will refrain from vague speculation hereto forth, so forgive me Annara, Queen of the Sansa brigade.

The problem with keeping this show going past 7 or 8 seasons = Daenerys storyline

Im sorry but the moment they introduced that character they Painted themselves into a corner

people are not going to wait around 10 years just to see Dany finally get to Westors and D&D are smart enough to know that.

Better to quit while your on top than to become what Dexter turned into lol

the death are Loras, Roose, Barristan, Grey Worm, Asha, and possibly, possibly Team Dragonstone (aside from the Greyjoy plot they have the least screentime among major subplots). I don’t know which of these actors has read the books, but they all seem to fit the bill of long-standing characters who haven’t had tons of screen time till now. That’s the clue that I think edges out people like Jorah, Brienne, Theon, or Bronn, who have had considerable screen time. They were expecting more than usual to do, and didn’t get it, so it has to be someone who hasn’t yet had lots to do.

Which doesn’t mean some of those people might not die, just that I don’t think this interview refers to them. Bronn dying in Dorne is something I very much suspect.

Would still blow. He’s been criminally neglected in the show. Would also leave us with the dullfest which is sleazeball Daario and MissandGrey for Dany to interact with. Jorah and Tyrion could plug the gap but I’d rather them off the other three and keep Selmy who actually has a purpose/character.

Missandei’s death at the very least will have some very strong reprecutions in tWoW (snapping Dany into full on Fire and Blood mode and burning Meereen like her ancestor Nymeria burned her ships). I’m also firmly in the camp of Daario = betrayal for gold, so he to has an important role to play still

DomCosmos: Well, I’m still hopeful that TWOW will be published by year’s end, and that D&D will not cover anything beyond ADWD, or make up the story. But any official statement would be nice.

That still leaves the seventh book. The series is wrapping up in 2017. They’re not waiting for George. They know the ending, character paths, etc. The show

This makes me SO sad. About Ian McElhinney, I mean. I hope it’s not true but I think you’re right.

Why does everyone jump to barristan instead of Mance???

I think it has to be Ser Loras. It really looks like some type of trial by the faith in the trailer where it shows him lunging at Littlefinger’s “proprietor.” My guess is that he will be killed by the faith somewhere between episodes 6 and 8 this season.

Because Ciarin Hinds hasn’t read the books and wasn’t in the show from the beginning.

The thing that annoys me the most is Daario ( a character I strongly dislike and that is incredibly poorly constructed in both book and TV) will most likely get his parts/duties. This after he’s already seemingly put paid to Victarion ( against popular opinion but another character I enjoyed in the books) appearing in the show. When he dies I hope it’s f*cking painful!

Not excited at the prospect of ol’ whitebeard leaving so soon. I’m gonna remain hopeful and look to Grey Worm or Loras for the untimely death. Really wanna get some Barriston/Tyrion scenes eventually……….. sigh. Fuck!

Barristan hardly did anything before the end of ADWD in Essos anyway. He was basically the exposition guy, and occasionally he hit people with a stick. This is the time to start culling the supporting cast.

I’ve always thought that the surprised actor was Ian Beattie. Is this the same person who hadn’t read their script and was surprised by their death from earlier? Because if it is the same person, Ian definitely fits the bill. In fact, he even says in the ‘A Day in the Life’ special that his role is mostly posing and looking mean. Hence not looking at scripts. Or maybe I’m just in denial about Selmy! (I hope not though)

Because Ciarin Hinds hasn’t read the books and wasn’t in the show from the beginning.

Well technically the quote says “a number of years” and not since the beginning. And I remember reading an interview where Mance’s actor talks about he knows his arc from DwD. That said i think you’ve swayed me thinking barristan is more likely.

because that actor has read the books and that was part of the description.

There could be multiple unexpected deaths this year. Hibberd was just describing one person.

Why would he expect his character to have more screen time based on the books? It’s the same thing that rules out Loras. Or Stannis, whose actor hasn’t read the books, I think.

Just as a general comment, this week has been amazing. Barely 5 days ago people (including me) were lamenting the seeming lack of and/or quality of S5 promo material. Now we’ve been whipped into a frenzy. It’s awesome!

, folks. Read the description. It is an actor who has read the books,been a part of the cast for several seasons, and whose character has a bigger role in either AFFC or ADWD, which the actor was looking forward to portraying. We know for a fact that the actor who plays

has read the books. He becomes a POV character in ADWD and has an increased role. No other character fits that bill.

Has John Bradley read the books? If so, I think he is the most likely candidate. The showrunners said that they killed off Grenn and Pip cause they didn’t think they could film such a big battle and then have none of the Night’s Watch characters you cared about die. Since they are filming the battle at Hardhome this year they may need their sacrificial lamb and Sam would be the one that would hit people the hardest and be easiest to write around.

If the actor has read the books. I’m not sure about that.

it does seem like you guys might end up being right. Barristan is conspicuously absent at Daznak’s Pit.

While I can see this being dramatically a good choice

(it leaves Dany without either of her advisors, placing her in more danger than ever before),

Barristan. Ian’s been so great in the role, and I wanted him to get some meatier material.

I think we can strongly predict that it’s Barristan. He is my number one prediction for a death in TWOW, as Samwell still has things to do.

flat out confirm or deny LSH has been cut from the show altogether

. That was my most anticipated scene for years and they passed it over for 2 really lame season-ending scenes. Like, stop teasing/torturing the people who really want to see

on screen, I’m just getting a little sick of this.

Sam has been a semi-main character almost from the start. He was a POV from the 3rd book onward. Barristan only became a POV character in the 5th book, which the show reached in season 5. It is Barristan or Mance.

I will be so angry if they kill of Barristan. I have a feeling it will be Loras though.

Dorne on the map this season. Might be more logical, since Dorne has both the Water Gardens and Sunspear, so Dorne might be more clear.

Also of note is the detail in the area north of Dorne that is part of the Stormlands. Usually that much detail is reserved for areas we actually visit.

The EW article is, on itself quite revealing in terms of Varys his motives. No mention of Illyrio at all btw.

Could someone who cares please get this guy a cookie?

Actually, they kinda did for s5. They just do not want to burn the bridge, leaving open the vague possibility to introduce LS in later seasons if necessary, but it is very unlikely as I reported a long time ago.

First, Sir Terry Pratchett dies and now it looks like Ser Barristen is following him!

Feel as though I should take the time to pay tribute to Pratchett properly as he is probably my favourite author of all time. Great writer. Great human being. Will be sadly missed. Anyone who enjoys fantasy and/or parody and satire and whom hasn’t already should really give his books a go.

“DON’T THINK OF IT AS DYING, said Death. JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”

Uh-oh, Patchface won’t be pleased by the snake coiled around the spear.

It’s possible he’s read the books since his debut in Season 3, when he hadn’t. And also, it didn’t say “since season 1″: just “several years” of involvement. Several is anything more than one, which would qualify.

Can you give me a link to where you found that picture?

The actor playing him is a really nice guy, but I just prefer

Barristan by a mile. In showverse even more than that

Uh-oh, Patchface won’t be pleased by the snake coiled around the spear.

LOL, I have not noticed that! Dang you have good eyes! I am scaling back my criticism about the snakes, Afeastfordances and Hodor’s Bastard made me see some sense, I still don’t like it much, but I can live with it (yes, even with leather armor in the desert).

There is a shot in the new trailer where the Sons of the Harpy look as though they are cornering someone. One tilts his head to the side as though he’s enjoying whatever they are doing…. I think it’s going to be that moment for old Barristan

Uh, sorry, clicked the wrong code but for some reason I can’t edit it?

I have always said that 7 seasons wouldn’t be possible. If the last two books are as big and dense as they are assumed to be, then they’ll have to make at least 2 seasons out of each like they did for the third one. I could see it lasting 9/10 seasons, but who knows?

If Barristan dies, they might have cut the Battle of Fire as well. It doesn’t look like Victarion and the Iron Fleet will show up, Selmys death in S5 could be the last nail in the coffin.

After reading the exact wording of the character death, I am now unfortunately quite sure it is indeed

Things like “that doesn’t tally”, “I find myself being quite emotional about it” and “they’re very nice people” all sound like things I could hear

What battle is left to show? The Iron Fleet is cut.

Tyrion and Jorah are with Dany at the end of season 5. It’s basically Dany vs the Sons Of The Harpy. She will be in Westeros at some point during season 6.

For such a legend to go like that at the hands of a bunch of faceless nobodies is not a fitting death (honestly can’t see a master swordsman going down that easily to a bunch of untrained street punks either) . He should go down fighting or in battle as befits such a man. If they want to stoke up an emotional response then kill off Grey Worm. He’d be more likely to have a confrontation with them anyway whereas Selmy ( as was made clear last season) always stays by Dany’s side. Eugh just when I think I’ve come to terms with the changes they’re making something like this pops up!

I just think it’s a dumb move to change Sunspear into Dorne, It’s like “North” instead of “Winterfell” it doesn’t make any sense, Dorne is a vast region just like the other kingdoms. But then again they always try to dumb down things a bit for the regular show viewer, who most of the times doesn’t know what the fuck is going on, doesn’t even know the names of the houses neither the characters, only watch it for bewbs and violence. Maybe I’m making a big deal out of this but as a big fan like most you guys here, I’m not cool with this

That Varys supports Dany and wants Tyrion to do the same. That is, what Illyrio revealed in ‘Tyrion I’ of ADWD (though in the book canon, he wasn’t telling the whole truth —the Griffs and all.)

Loras is a goner, if for nothing but that scene between him and Sansa in S3. In the books, however, I am rooting for him to return in a surprising fashion.

I just meant she’s on a collision course with characters LS encountered in the books, and is subsequently taking bits of her arc albeit in totally different circumstances for totally different reasons. And that she might be enacting some a plan of revenge against Stark enemies, the first Stark to do so after the RW. Of course she’s not going to be some crazy, vengeful hack, but that doesn’t mean she won’t avenge them in her own way.

This is all conjecture, nothing I post about Sansa is sacred, and I will refrain from vague speculation hereto forth, so forgive me Annara, Queen of the Sansa brigade.

any time soon, while it doesn’t look like her encounter with

is nearly as dramatic or constitutes a big conflict. If anything, going by the characters she’s likely to end up in collision with, considering where she seems to be going, she’d be

Lord Manderly sans (sic) pies/Mance and the spearwives

LOL Thanks for that lofty title, but I’m sure there are many others who would dispute it and claim if for themselves, though they’re probably not on WOTW much.

Strongly recommend you read it, and the entire article, yourself at emilia-clarke.net/gallery

If you’re thinking about the last shot in the second trailer, she’s not wearing the same dress as she does at Daznak’s Pit (both are white, but one is scaly and the other is smooth.) Drogon doesn’t leave her atop the Pyramid instead of taking her to the Dothraki sea. That shot has to be from earlier in the season; Drogon comes and visits her Mother, Dany approaches, but he refuses and goes away again.

As for the fleet, there’s a reason the Meereenese navy has exactly the same number of ships as Victarion’s Iron Fleet —because it’s probably gonna be used for the same purpose. And where does anyone get the idea that Meereen’s conflict will only be internal? Yunkai’s renewed belligerence was set up last season, and the leaked script summary confirms this thread will be followed through —the Good Masters intend to attack Meereen.

I don’t know why people think D&D will simply get rid of the Battle of Fire. I find the theory baffling. Yes, yeees, only two seasons left, I know. But we don’t know Dany’s arc in TWOW; probably she doesn’t come back to Westeros until the end, and when she does it will make an impact. They can’t simply advance it by a whole season without having to also delete everyone else’s arc pre-Dany’s arrival. It also assumes Season 6 and 7 will not bother with adapting Dany’s (and those in Meereen and Essos) TWOW story at all and jump directly into ADOS, which makes no sense. Just because we don’t know what’s coming up doesn’t mean that nothing is coming up.

I just think it’s a dumb move to change Sunspear into Dorne,

They talked about Sunspear in Season 4. I don’t understand whats the problem. Sunspear is show-canon.

I have to agree it is quite weird, given that they’ve always had cities, not regions. But perhaps this isn’t the final version, we’ll see.

will liveat least until the late midseason since

he’s seen in this shot walking with Dany in her wedding dress. The only other scenes we know of her wearing this dress are 1) when she’s with Hizzy watching a helmeted Jorah fighting at a smaller fighting pit and 2) at Daznak’s. So Barry will alive at least until around ep. 507.

Yeah but correct me if I’m wrong, I can only recall hearing Sunspear once in 4 seasons, but Dorne they’ve said like a hundred times, now putting “Dorne” writen by the model of the city of Sunspear seems to me that dumbing it down it’s what they’re doing

It depends, if the entire region is labeled ‘Dorne’, and they simply don’t name any of the cities on the map, then it should be okay. But if ‘Dorne’ only appears where the town of Sunspear is, then it won’t make sense.

Not really true. The text at Castle Black reads “The Wall” instead of “Castle Black.” Always felt weird to me, no less than this.

Also, maybe the text says “Dorne” because the show itself won’t amalgamate the Water Gardens and Sunspear, but the intro sequence does (because they are so close), yet calling it “Sunspear” wouldn’t technically be correct, so they’re calling it “Dorne.”

Or it may be an error they’ll fix. Or maybe they won’t. We’ll see!

I’m afraid it is, but yeah let’s just wait and see

am i the only one thinking this death could be Sam, im hoping its not

Having read the article, I have to conclude that it is the same one that everyone fears. That is too bad, he really needed more to do. I understand the need to trim the cast down… but even within that storyline I can think of several other side characters that could go and I’d care less.

Balon01: They talked about Sunspear in Season 4. I don’t understand whats the problem. Sunspear is show-canon.

I’m thinking it’s mostly it’s because “Dorne” is already how it’s thought of popularly. Just think about how message boards, fan sites, etc have discussed it. Everyone says “I’m really looking forward to seeing Braavos, Volantis, and Dorne,” no one says “I’m looking forward to Braavos, Volantis, Sunspear, and Yronwood”

I’ll be ok if that’s the case, like Luka meantioned also castle black is labled as “The wall” which can be considered as also a vast region with 19 castles in which the main story is in castle black, and they meantion the name everytime, so if they do the same with Dorne it might work I guess, but I’ll be pissed of if they don’t talk about the different areas within

Jofrey’s Cunt: if they do the same with Dorne it might work I guess, but I’ll be pissed of if they don’t talk about the different areas within

that´s why he isn´t in any of Daznek´s Pit photos, I thought he was changing roles with Daario as a hostage. I enjoyed so much the Kingbreaker chapters

Sorry for Ian if true. I admit I’m attached to the character first and foremost because of his outstanding performance, even though he wasn’t given much to do. He’s one of those actors who IS the character. I appreciate how enthusiastic he is about his role, the show, and the books. He’s always glad to talk and engage with the fans. (Also one of the reasons I love Liam Cunningham!) Ian really seems to enjoy this gig. I hope they give him a worthy send-off and a few memorable moments to boot. Most of all, I hope it isn’t him!

As for the number of seasons, I agree, a split season seems likely. I’m actually a bit surprised HBO is willing to give the show all the time in the world. I know that many fans, me included, speculated here and on other fan sites about how the growing costs and realities of actor contracts and renegotiations make such a commitment on the part of HBO unrealistic. It seems the show and tie-ins are so INCREDIBLY over-the-top lucrative that they are ready, willing, and able to throw whatever it takes at it.

Now I wonder if there’s anything to those stories of supposed D&D burnout that have been circulating from time to time. I never paid them any attention, but with this new info… HBO wants more seasons, D&D themselves wanted 8 (even 9 at one point) seasons. Why not take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

It’s official now. I want my 8 seasons. With the eighth being split into two, of course. Make it happen, D&D!

I think Barry will die by being poisoned at least I hope thats how he dies. Show him as unstoppable in a fight scene and then have him be assassinated because he will clearly be a problem when the harpies are trying to get to Dany during the pit.

I’m pretty sure it’s already known that

a sand snake (don’t know which, probably Obara)

dies and if I had to guess at the hands of who, I’d say Bronn.

I’m afraid speculation with absolutely no evidence does not equal “it’s already known.” I’m not saying it’s not happening, but it’s a guess, not something that’s known in any way.

wow. more info from entertainment weekly.

Episodes with daznaks and hardhome cost nearly 15mill.

Yeah but correct me if I’m wrong, I can only recall hearing Sunspear once in 4 seasons, but Dorne they’ve said like a hundred times, now putting “Dorne” writen by the model of the city of Sunspear seems to me that dumbing it down it’s what they’re doing

Omg….. They ruined it…. I don’t know the location now….. They don’t say it. -You

I want my Batman movies to specifically say they are in “Gotham” otherwise I’m going to be pissed

You knew what? Have you actually read the interview? The HBO exec says that, whatever his wishes, D&D have the power to decide in the end; and D&D say in this very interview they don’t want to stretch beyond what they’re planning, which is 7 seasons.

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