GoT - Is Over, Post Your Drogon Sightings

Slaythe_sl said:

I really feel like the success of Spartacus caused GoT to be a little more raunchy than it would have been otherwise. The over the top Renly/Loras stuff is there because its controversial. Littlefinger continues to voice his inner monologue to apparently trusthworthy whores in the middle of DP every episode. This stuff is my biggest complaint with the show.

That's not to say I don't enjoy some nice titties now and again. That's always available elsewhere though.

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Yeah the shit with Littlefingers and his whores really annoys me. In the books the brothels were just one of his many investments, he was a businessman, and he didn't visit and hang out in them (unless he needed a convenient place to hide someone or shit like that) any more than a franchise owner hangs out in a restaurant they own, giving grand , rambling speeches about his lives and hopes and dreams to the waiters.

And I wouldn't mind if it had some purpose, but it's an obvious ploy so they can add titillating (heh) and controversial sexual content to the show which adds nothing to the storyline or presentation.

I haven't had much time to finish book 3, but it's all I hear from my fiance about how great it is. She wanted to show me something in the back of the book (where it shows the characters in each family, etc) and she showed me this one person's part. So naturally I read up or down one line and received a major spoiler. I absolutely hate that shit.

Can't wait for this season.

The one part of season two that still confuses me is the ransacking of Winterfell. How did that happen? I assumed the deal was all the Iron Islanders could leave with their lives if they gave up Theon. If the Iron Islanders were the ones to burn down Winterfell and kill everyone, wouldn't they all just be killed by the Winterfell men? Did the Winterfell men pillage the city anyway? I don't understand why Winterfell was destroyed.

i am thinking it will be a flashback type scenario from Theon's point of view while he is on the road, most likely in the first episode

Etoille_sl said:

I don't know. Its reported that as part of his contract with HBO Martin's supposed to have this shit wrapping up in time for shooting schedules of future seasons and we're already on 3 at this point.

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Martin also said recently I think that he has at least another couple of years on book 6 before it gets released. That puts us in season 5 of the show. I don't see how it is possible that a wall won't be hit.

That wall being a completely blocked artery in Martin's heart.

Probably. No way that dude lives to complete the books at even his current pace. But you have to consider that his current pace is probably the best case scenario. More likely, the next books will take longer or there will be another extension past book 7.

has JRRM ever said how many books he has outlined for this series? because, goddamn it feels like 8 to 10

It was supposed to be 5 originally I think, then he pushed it to 7. I don't see how he could possibly wrap shit up in two books, though.

Two years from now season 4 (book 3) will just be ending, because book 3 is two seasons. Book 4 is also likely to be two seasons, as is book 5, so we are something like six years away from catching up.

Originally the series was supposed to be seven books. George had the idea for the climax of the series, decided there were to many characters and it was too complicated a book to just write, people wouldn't read it, so he wrote the back story. So far all we've read is back story to his original one book idea. Given that it was supposed to be 7 and book 4 got split into two, that means a minimum of 8 books (three more). Given the expansion of each book I'd peg it as more likely that what was supposed to be book 5, 6, and 7 will also become two books each (if not more), so we are looking at 11 books minimum as being more likely.

Assumes his current pace/style of course. One of the many delays in the writing was caused by his contractual obligation to finish his Wildcards books and he powered those suckers out to get back to ASoIaF. If the HBO series put a contractual obligation on him to keep ahead of the series with the published books, there may be hope yet.

chaos_sl said:

It was supposed to be 5 originally I think, then he pushed it to 7. I don't see how he could possibly wrap shit up in two books, though.

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Agreed. Theres way too much going on in the story for the series to be wrapped up in 2 books. Dany getting to westeros and the white walkers especially. The Others is what concerns me the most, theyre supposed to be this great evil lurking in the background - for 5 books now - and it can be wrapped up in 2 books? Not so sure about that. Heres my theory on how the series has progressed:

Martin originally intended the series to be 3 books. A Game of Thrones, Winds of Winter, and A Dream of Spring. Now, Game of Thrones essentially took 3 books to finish. We're now on the road to The Winds of Winter.

BUT

Martin originally wanted a 5 year time span to take place after GoT, so the characters can age, Dany can build an army, ect. He scrapped this idea because he didn't think it would be good reading or whatever. So he decided to just pretty much write two books of exposition, the time inbetween, or whatever you want to call it. Thats why these two books are considered low points of the series (I enjoyed ADwD almost as much as ASoS personally), because they're meant to take care of that 5 year time lapse. Around the time of AFFC being written, GRRM realized it would be more like 7 books. Theres large amount of sources indicating that he wanted to publish AFFC/ADwD as a single volume, but it wasnt physically feasible to cram that many pages (~1800 after said and done) into one book. He didnt like publishing the two seperately according to how time progressed in the series, but by character location. Hence the preface in ADwD.

So...for all intents and purposes AFFC/ADwD is a single volume, published in halves. Consider it book 4. That means 3 more to go.



TLDR: I think the series will (if finished, doubtful) be 8 volumes. The number is typically said to be 7 volumes, but Martin intended AFFC/ADwD to be a single book, so these two together may be considered as a single.

In my perfect world, where the series gets finished, I have a dream of an epic single volume ASoIAF.

Think of it as a tome. Those epic encyclopedias you see in the library that are so fucking big theyre on an altar. The cover would have runes, maybe even the pages would be printed to have an aged look. When stood up, it would be about 2 feet in height, and maybe 18 inches wide.

The Master_sl said:

Two years from now season 4 (book 3) will just be ending, because book 3 is two seasons. Book 4 is also likely to be two seasons, as is book 5, so we are something like six years away from catching up.

Originally the series was supposed to be seven books. George had the idea for the climax of the series, decided there were to many characters and it was too complicated a book to just write, people wouldn't read it, so he wrote the back story. So far all we've read is back story to his original one book idea. Given that it was supposed to be 7 and book 4 got split into two, that means a minimum of 8 books (three more). Given the expansion of each book I'd peg it as more likely that what was supposed to be book 5, 6, and 7 will also become two books each (if not more), so we are looking at 11 books minimum as being more likely.

Assumes his current pace/style of course. One of the many delays in the writing was caused by his contractual obligation to finish his Wildcards books and he powered those suckers out to get back to ASoIaF. If the HBO series put a contractual obligation on him to keep ahead of the series with the published books, there may be hope yet.

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If that were true, you think HBO would produce what, 15 seasons of this show? No way in hell. 7-8 is a stretch. No way book 4 and 5 get split into two seasons. That would be silly and hugely expensive, and HBO is going to be looking at cutting costs going forward, not adding them.

I've also never read anything about GRRM originally planning a 7 book series. Everything I have read claims he wanted a relatively short series and the story got away from him and it expanded to what we have now. 11 books is such a pipe dream, he'll be dead before 7 gets published, nevermind 11.

At the pace GRRM is writing and where we are in the story at the end of ADwD, two more books to wrap the whole thing up seems silly.

The whole deal with CENSORED need thorough exposition to have an gravity equal to the other major threads.

Color me skeptical whether or not GRRM both finishes AND creates a compelling narrative when the whole thing is said and done (written). If it ends up being Lancasters V Yorks with some light fantasy and Mongols, then I'ma be a sad panda.

Sorry bro I had to edit your post for slight spoilers. At this point in the show, the thing you mentioned hasn't really been touched on in the show.

That's cool. Wasn't sure if I was vague enough. Now I know.

Anyway though, it appears GRRM has set expectations for his opus rather high. With his age and writing obligations, he doesn't seem capable of finishing the series "the right way". Who knows though. He could "Dallas" the whole thing and end it with one more book. Or he could be bastard and retroactively retcon it with deft word-play. /yaomingface.jpg

Beef Supreme_sl said:

At the pace GRRM is writing and where we are in the story at the end of ADwD, two more books to wrap the whole thing up seems silly.

The whole deal with CENSORED need thorough exposition to have an gravity equal to the other major threads.

Color me skeptical whether or not GRRM both finishes AND creates a compelling narrative when the whole thing is said and done (written). If it ends up being Lancasters V Yorks with some light fantasy and Mongols, then I'ma be a sad panda.

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I haven't really read much of GRRM musing on what his inspirations are or any of the spoiler sites.

His fantasy world reminds me some what of Roman era Britain with the warring factions and "the wall" spanning the entire stretch of the kingdom.

Why an intelligent invading force of white walkers wouldn't just sail around the wall though idk. Probably one of those mysteries I'll have to read eventually when I get around to it (or maybe it does happen). Might just pick up the latest book soon and catch up. Probably have to reread the series after having been so long since I read the last book.

If I had to guess is ultimate fate of the world without guessing which particular faction "wins" the realm I'd say these white walkers invade in force and all the warring factions are forced to cooperate to drive them off. It seems the simplest way to resolve the series. Possibly make the accepted ruler of the realm marry Daenerys and the kingdom lives happily ever after. I'd hazard a guess it will end up being Jon Snow as ruler because it would be "unexpected" and people like stories of going from rags to riches.

edit, I guess Daenerys wouldn't have to marry anybody though. Empires have had co-emperors before like the Byzantine Empire. That would give some material for GRRM to base any power structure on.