There is a separate book thread. I'd suggest posting this question there because it's going to be almost impossible for them to answer here without setting off a spoiler ****storm.

[This message has been edited by DannyDuberstein (edited 4/17/2012 1:20p).]

Stive, check your PMs.

The Non Spoiler answer to the "Knights of Summer" is simply that they are doing a tournament while there is a real war on. It was followed up with the "my son has been fighting a war and not playing at one" comment.

The Non Spoiler answer to the "trueness of the books" is that the spirit of the books is there but there are changes as there would have to be. There are simply too many storylines to tell the details of the books, the biggest issue being to tell all the history and backstory of the different Houses, religions, and prophecies along with the number of things going on. For instance if they devoted equal time to Bran, Sansa, Robb and Jaime, Jon, LIttlefinger, Tyrion, Cersei, Dany, Renly, Theon, Stannis, and Arya you would have about 5 minutes or less of screen time per episode to tell what is going on and it would be incredibly confusing to someone who hasn't read the books. A few characters are omitted and some are combined but the storyline has been fairly consistent.

The easy answer of course is just read the books if you are intrigued by the story, it makes the show far more interesting when you see the characters come to life.

With regards to the books and the series, are they covering one book per season or are they broken up differently?

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There is a separate book thread. I'd suggest posting this question there because it's going to be almost impossible for them to answer here without setting off a spoiler ****storm

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As an obvious "non-book reader" why on earth would I click on that thread if I wanted to protect myself from exposure to spoilers? It wasn't a spoiler related question...

Thanks for the PM MW03. That helped.


I took the comment from Catelyn to be an underhanded shot at Renley as well. Kind of a "your nights are weak and used to having it easy but tough times are ahead". I was mainly asking if that was accurate or if there was another meaning for "Knights of Summer" that I had either missed...would probably be revealed later...etc.

The 1st Season and 1st Book were very close. They have said that this season will have parts of Book 3 in it and that Book 3 will actually be broken up into 2 seasons.

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The 1st Season and 1st Book were very close. They have said that this season will have parts of Book 3 in it and that Book 3 will actually be broken up into 2 seasons.

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Good plan. Lord knows we wouldn't want to rush GRRM into finishing the next book too soon. He needs all the extra time he can get.

G Martin,
So when WILL your dad be finished writing Winds of Winter?

re: knights of summer

in my opinion she's referring to the fact that many of the knights are very young and not battle hardened, and haven't really been through the trials and of winter that temper a man.

No Spoliers but an excerpt from A Clash of Kings.










Lord Rowan beside her did not join the merriment. "They are all so young," he said.
It was true. The Knight of Flowers could not have reached his second name day when Robert slew Prince Rhaegar on the Trident. Few of the others were very much older. They had been babes during the Sack of King's Landing, and no more than boys when Balon Greyjoy raised the Iron Islands in rebellion.

They are still unblooded, Catelyn thought as she watched Lord Bryce goad Ser Robar into juggling a brace of daggers. It is all a game to them still, a tourney writ large, and all they see is the chance for glory and honor and spoils. They are boys drunk on song and story, and like all boys, they think themselves
immortal.

"War will make them old," Catelyn said, "as it did us." She had been a girl when Robert and Ned and Jon Arryn raised their banners against Aerys Targaryen, a woman by the time the fighting was done. "I pity them."

"Why?" Lord Rowan asked her. "Look at them. They're young and strong, full of life and laughter. And lust, aye, more lust than they know what to do with. There will be many a ******* bred this night, I promise you. Why pity?"

"Because it will not last," Catelyn answered, sadly. "Because they are the knights of summer, and winter is coming."













END exerpt.

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G Martin,
So when WILL your dad be finished writing Winds of Winter?

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He's JRM, I'm GRM. And it'll be done when I'm damn well ready. And you'd better not give me any grief about taking too long. Fans should be better behaved, truth be told. So there.

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The 1st Season and 1st Book were very close. They have said that this season will have parts of Book 3 in it and that Book 3 will actually be broken up into 2 seasons.

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Got it, thanks.

RIP Yoren:
"That's what I hate about crossbows...take to long to load"

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He's JRM, I'm GRM. And it'll be done when I'm damn well ready. And you'd better not give me any grief about taking too long. Fans should be better behaved, truth be told. So there

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Now I KNOW you're GRRM!

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The 1st Season and 1st Book were very close. They have said that this season will have parts of Book 3 in it and that Book 3 will actually be broken up into 2 seasons.

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Again, I am fearful HBO will not stay committed to the show. Hope I am wrong and we get all 7 books.

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Again, I am fearful HBO will not stay committed to the show. Hope I am wrong and we get all 7 books

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Why wouldn't they? Ratings have been awesome haven't they?

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My aunt is friends with Peter Dinklage's mother, and when her husband finally succumbed to cancer, both Peter and his mother came to the memorial.

My aunt and uncle were together for a long time, about 40 years. When my aunt came into the hall (after everyone else was seated) and saw the shrine/altar thing, she broke down crying and my cousin, who's 6'6" and played semipro football had to hold her up and basically carry her to her seat, where she sobbed heartbreakingly the whole time. I've been to some tough funerals in my time, but that moment is going to stick with me for the rest of my life; I understood then what true loss was.

This is all to set the scene for later, when my other cousin's kids (who, in their defense were like 8 and 10 at the time) went up to Peter Dinklage and wanted to talk to him about how he was in Elf. He was total ice to them: the phrase "totally inappropriate" featured prominently in the conversation. I was incredibly happy he didn't coddle them or give them any slack at all. So that's pure Dinklage right there.

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It is impossible to predict that far out but the ratings are rock solid and improving. More than that though, it brings a very dedicated fanbase with crossover appeal. HBO is all about selling subscriptions and there is no way a lot of folks would drop it because of GoT. It also is a strong "male" show to complement their other large "female" hit in True Blood. The show is also going to continue to likely win a ton of Emmy's for HBO in the future, there simply is nothing else like it out there.

On top of all of that the scripts are basically written for them and many of the locations and sets are built now. The costs can be managed with the only big concern of keeping so many actors engaged. If they had to they could even cut some budget. For instance the big money is always for the battle sequences but they can pare those down if need be such as in last season where they never actually showed a battle but rather showed the buildup (such as last season with Tyrion) or go straight to the aftermath (like when they captured Jaime). The writing and characters drive the show, not the pageantry (though it is certainly cool).

Unless something drastic happens where they greatly diverge from the books or lose a couple of key people I doubt the show is in danger. The real risk is that Martin himself dies and never finishes the series but he has said he has told the show creators how it will end so they could finish it out.

i just hope we get all 7 books at all

Knights of Summer comment also means that the kinghts are so young they have never seen a winter.

It's not official but I'm told they're greenlit for season 4 as well.

They will wait till the first episode of season three. Just like they did with season 3.

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They will wait till the first episode of season three. Just like they did with season 3.

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I'm going to guess you meant "season 2" at the end of that second sentence or else I'm really confused

If you're referring to them announcing there will be a 4th season at the beginning of season 3, I agree. Just telling you what I've heard.

They didn't greenlight the 3rd season until after the 2nd seasons 1st episode and ratings/viewership came back from it.

It was like Tuesday or Wednesday after the Sunday permiere.

They know how popular it is, but they will wait till the last second to commit to another season. This way they can also drag it out longer.


Hell how long was Sapranos on?

The Sopranos ran for 6 seasons, The Wire ran for 5

Wouldn't surprise me if they filmed Season 3 and 4 concurrently as they are both going to be primarily on Book 3. Also, if they know they are going to have a Season 4 then it is much more cost effective just to do them both at the same time since most of the same sets and actors are going to be used.

The Sopranos had no where else to go, they wouldnt go to war with anyone, the Chrissy story was played out. They just needed to stop. GoTs has an end and its a slow crescendo with major twists to get there.

Bill. I completely agree. Lots of ups and downs.

Meaning things I thought would end up being the chatartic middle climax turned into just another ride up the hill.

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They didn't greenlight the 3rd season until after the 2nd seasons 1st episode and ratings/viewership came back from it.

It was like Tuesday or Wednesday after the Sunday permiere.

They know how popular it is, but they will wait till the last second to commit to another season. This way they can also drag it out longer.

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That may be the official word. I'm telling you what I've heard

For season 2 to season 3 some caution was warranted. GoT is a crazy expensive series. They needed to make sure that Season 1 wasn't a fluke and that the demand was there and growing. It is. Since there is virtually no doubt they will have a Season 4 it would make sense to do it as inexpensively as possible and that would be filming it concurrently.

aggie93, if they were to show all 7 books it would be in no less than 8 seasons, maybe as many as 10 seasons.

A story that long they have issues of filming that are ridiculous. Bran starts out at 8yos (the actor is probably a few years older than that and they play younger roles, its for stage maturity etc) You really cant have an 18yo at the end of the series look even "13" but especially cannot look younger than that.

Bran doesnt even get 45mins of screen time per season (10 eps). Why cant they film his complete story while he is young? If we assume 8 seasons, that means they need 6 more seasons @ 45m = 270m or 4.5 hours of content for Bran. Sure thats like filming another half season, but as you mentioned if they film it together, it reduces the costs.

*****not really a spoiler*****
Bran's story doesnt have a lot of human actors surrounding him compared to other characters. King Robb will always be surrounded by 10 people in full attire with horses and CG and plenty of extras in the background. Sansa's always indoors with set dressing and maidens in full attire. (these are many of the costs that make this show so expensive). Extras may be relatively cheap, but Tyrions interaction with named characters is more expensive.
***********

So we will see how they overcome it. GRRM always complained that he wish his story had longer time elapsed from beginning to end, but I dont think he meant an entire Earth decade.

They are in for some big challenges ahead that is for certain. Let's just leave it there so we don't go spoiler.

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Why cant they film his complete story while he is young?

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Any worries about being locked into certain things with the story that they want to tell on TV if they have to revolve around something filmed 6 years prior?

I know that might sound ridiculous, being that the source material is already written...

Not being a book reader (but my wife is), I have heard that some things have been modified from the books slightly for this season (i.e. Yoren being a much more prominent character on TV vs. the books)...or even in the 1st season a bit to help with the story on the screen.

Maybe it's not that big of a deal...but it seems that it might paint the screenwriters into a corner a bit down the line.

Not the right thread for this discussion, but I think what Martin wrote so far is enhanced if the characters age and the timeline lasts longer, honestly.

I realized something recently that I don't think has been discussed yet. They have mentioned twice now that Sansa hasn't "bled". How old is she now? I think at the beginning of season one she was 13? Is she now 14 or 15? It's hard to tell how much time has passed. Anyway, being a guy with no sisters and no daughters, I'm not totally familiar with female mechanics, but that seems awfully old to have not hit puberty. Usually stories like this don't mention random useless facts twice, so I'm wondering if that is some foreshadowing of problems later? How ticked will the little ***** king be if she turns out to be sterile?