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[Morrigan Stark]

Wait what? Didn't he recently say these rumours were not true and he was in?

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

The problem isn't really with his content. Not for me, anyway. It's just going to be incredibly weird not having one of the main storylines around at all.

It was fine in the books because it wasn't just Bran. It was Tyrion, Jon, Dany, and all the rest that were affected. It didn't really feel out of place.

 

[gutshot]

How can you tell?

The position of the avatars is off compared to the actual Twitter website plus they aren't even lined up with each other. The horizontal rule separating the tweets doesn't go all the way across. The profile lists 158 tweets instead of 159. The Oct 18 retweet is missing the "Tim Plester retweeted" text above it.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Good, it will make the tree talking to Theon better

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

It's strange that the show would take out one of the main characters for a whole season. I always thought that was sort of exactly what they they wanted to avoid, what with beefing up other characters roles/storylines in past seasons to give them something to do onscreen instead of taking them out for a year (Theon being tortured for a season; Yara showing up for a scene or 2 last year).

Its like they're sort of making the same mistake of AFfC by hacking out a whole character and their plotline because they sort of screwed up with the pacing. Granted, it makes sense that they don't want to have Bran get too far ahead but at the same time, it seems kind of lame to just have him disappear for a whole year instead of doing any Weirwood Internet stuff.

Maybe this will give them time to fix how lame Bloodraven looks though.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

It's strange that the show would take out one of the main characters for a whole season. I always thought that was sort of exactly what they they wanted to avoid, what with beefing up other characters roles/storylines in past seasons to give them something to do onscreen instead of taking them out for a year (Theon being tortured for a season; Yara showing up for a scene or 2 last year).

Its like they're sort of making the same mistake of AFfC by hacking out a whole character and their plotline because they sort of screwed up with the pacing.

If they had to give one storyline a break, I'm glad it was his, at least. They obviously can't do it with anyone else, really.

The only drawback here is that the audience will now probably miss the explanation behind the tree internet, if all of his training is indeed going to happen off screen. With something like this, it would be better to explain it as it's happening, as opposed to going, "Oh, yeah! I remember when you taught me that!" It won't feel natural now.

 

[Incandenza]

It's probably the best way to handle the situation, but if I were a show-only fan I'd be a bit miffed that a shot of an old guy sitting in a tree is all we get for two years. Like I said when this was rumored before, they should've spent some more dough on Bloodraven's makeup/effects if they don't intend to have him on screen much.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

I'd honestly prefer a filler arc as opposed to not having him in season 5 at all.

So, let's see:

• Arianne cut
• Greyjoys cut (sorry guys)
• Bran gets a vacation
• Stoneheart cut
• Jaime's arc change

This season is going to be seriously weird for book readers.

 

[Real Hero]

I love the Greyjoys and would like to see them however I can see why it makes sense to cut them. But I think including Dorne and cutting the whole female heir aspect is such a shame, like a really bad change.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

I love the Greyjoys and would like to see them however I can see why it makes sense to cut them. But I think including Dorne and cutting the whole female heir aspect is such a shame, like a really bad change.

I seriously think they did that in order to combine Trystane and Aegon. It makes it easier to understand if there's only one plot floating around in Dorne, as opposed to Arianne's Queenmaker stuff.

She's an awesome character; there's no doubt about it. She would have been great on the show. But if they're trying to streamline things as much as possible from here on out in order to get to the end, I can see why she was cut.

 

[BobTheFork]

I'd honestly prefer a filler arc as opposed to not having him in season 5 at all.

So, let's see:

• Arianne cut
• Greyjoys cut (sorry guys)
• Bran gets a vacation
• Stoneheart cut
• Jaime's arc change

This season is going to be seriously weird for book readers.

The Greyjoy's being cut is the only thing that bothers me. I really thought the only reason Balon lived this long in the show was to move their arc back to this season.

It's a shame if they don't do anything and Theon remains the only Greyjoy with any screen time. At this point, I keep getting the feeling that anything cut form the show won't have meaningful weight on the end of the books. I know that's not a fair assumption but I still expect (for some reason) that at least the ending of both will be similar.

 

[Iksenpets]

I'd honestly prefer a filler arc as opposed to not having him in season 5 at all.

So, let's see:

• Arianne cut
• Greyjoys cut (sorry guys)
• Bran gets a vacation
• Stoneheart cut
• Jaime's arc change

This season is going to be seriously weird for book readers.

You know, I never really thought they'd be able to hold to their claims that things would never get more spread out than they are in season 4, but this kind of does it. Season 4 had about 9 separate plots with King's Landing, Meereen, the Wall, Arya+Hound, Bran, Sansa+Littlefinger, Boltons+Greyjoy siblings, Brienne+Pod, and Stannis. Maybe 10 if you count the Wildling raid stuff as its own plot.

Season five manages to hold steady at 9 as well with King's Landing, Meereen, Braavos, Dorne, Tyrion, Winterfell, the Wall, Sansa, and Brienne. Might even be down to 8 if Brienne is going to the Vale and going to interact heavily with Sansa. That's kind of crazy they managed to get it that streamlined.

 

[Steelyuhas]

I seriously think they did that in order to combine Trystane and Aegon. It makes it easier to understand if there's only one plot floating around in Dorne, as opposed to Arianne's Queenmaker stuff.

She's an awesome character; there's no doubt about it. She would have been great on the show. But if they're trying to streamline things as much as possible from here on out in order to get to the end, I can see why she was cut.

Yeah that's pretty much how I assume it is, which is understandable I think. Obviously, it's a shame to lose a character like that though.

 

[Real Hero]

I seriously think they did that in order to combine Trystane and Aegon. It makes it easier to understand if there's only one plot floating around in Dorne, as opposed to Arianne's Queenmaker stuff.

She's an awesome character; there's no doubt about it. She would have been great on the show. But if they're trying to streamline things as much as possible from here on out in order to get to the end, I can see why she was cut.

I think it makes Dorne stand out less and just generally less interesting. There's still the stand Sand Snakes I suppose but they might not even amount to much.

 

[BobTheFork]

You know, I never really thought they'd be able to hold to their claims that things would never get more spread out than they are in season 4, but this kind of does it. Season 4 had about 9 separate plots with King's Landing, Meereen, the Wall, Arya+Hound, Bran, Sansa+Littlefinger, Boltons+Greyjoy siblings, Brienne+Pod, and Stannis. Maybe 10 if you count the Wildling raid stuff as its own plot.

Season five manages to hold steady at 9 as well with King's Landing, Meereen, Braavos, Dorne, Tyrion, Winterfell, the Wall, Sansa, and Brienne. Might even be down to 8 if Brienne is going to the Vale and going to interact heavily with Sansa. That's kind of crazy they managed to get it that streamlined.

Well I have been impressed that they have been able to juggle as many plots as they have with making seem to horribly bloated. I think the show has always been good about that. I remember season 1 and many viewer new to ASOIAF were getting a bit overwhelmed with all the different families and characters and locations but they have done a great job of making it watchable.

I want to see some of these plots in the show but I also remember feeling like books 3, 4 and 5 started to get really bloated and more difficult to approach

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

The Greyjoy's being cut is the only thing that bothers me. I really thought the only reason Balon lived this long in the show was to move their arc back to this season.

It's a shame if they don't do anything and Theon remains the only Greyjoy with any screen time. At this point, I keep getting the feeling that anything cut form the show won't have meaningful weight on the end of the books. I know that's not a fair assumption but I still expect (for some reason) that at least the ending of both will be similar.

I seriously believe that the ending that the show will get will be very light compared to the ending we'll get in the books. It doesn't necessarily mean that a certain plot isn't important, or that it doesn't go anywhere. It just means that maybe it has a different outcome than what was originally theorized. If that's the case, then the show is able to get to that same supposed outcome in a wide variety of ways. The books are limited to what GRRM has already written; the show isn't.

As such, from here on out, they're going to make changes that has the same outcome as the books, but by going about it a different way. They need to cut corners due to screentime limitations and trying to cram so much into one season.

You know, I never really thought they'd be able to hold to their claims that things would never get more spread out than they are in season 4, but this kind of does it. Season 4 had about 9 separate plots with King's Landing, Meereen, the Wall, Arya+Hound, Bran, Sansa+Littlefinger, Boltons+Greyjoy siblings, Brienne+Pod, and Stannis. Maybe 10 if you count the Wildling raid stuff as its own plot.

Season five manages to hold steady at 9 as well with King's Landing, Meereen, Braavos, Dorne, Tyrion, Winterfell, the Wall, Sansa, and Brienne. Might even be down to 8 if Brienne is going to the Vale and going to interact heavily with Sansa. That's kind of crazy they managed to get it that streamlined.

I don't think Brienne is going to meet Sansa (she'd definitely recognize her and take her home), but you're right. It's pretty impressive with what they've managed to do, even if they have bothered the fans slightly along the way.

 

[Moff]

mhmm, so with bran out, we will have next to no TWOW material in season 5, I guess some people will be happy about that

 

[Real Hero]

I think like the very end of the show will be the same (Jon Snow and Dany having sex or something) but everything around it will be very altered.

 

[Moff]

I think like the very end of the show will be the same (Jon Snow and Dany having sex or something) but everything around it will be very altered.

I dont think there is any way around it, even if GRRM actually has all the details already planned out, which I doubt very much, what would stop him from just changing it as he actually writes it down? I am not a writer, but I imagine that's how this works. a lot is changed as you write it down.
ADOS at least will be quite different from the show, simply because it's not there yet.

 

[BobTheFork]

I seriously believe that the ending that the show will get will be very light compared to the ending we'll get in the books. It doesn't necessarily mean that a certain plot isn't important, or that it doesn't go anywhere. It just means that maybe it has a different outcome than what was originally theorized. If that's the case, then the show is able to get to that same supposed outcome in a wide variety of ways. The books are limited to what GRRM has already written; the show isn't.

As such, from here on out, they're going to make changes that has the same outcome as the books, but by going about it a different way. They need to cut corners due to screentime limitations and trying to cram so much into one season.

That's what I hope. I honestly want the show to have the same general resolution but with book readers getting a much more details and interesting version. That leads us to the idea that watching the show may spoil book readers but maybe give some people more incentive to see the expanded story. Reading the books make me want to see every family and character have a huge impact on the ending but it's more realistic to think that eventually the ending will boil down to many of the characters we started with having the most direct involvement.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

I think it makes Dorne stand out less and just generally less interesting. There's still the stand Sand Snakes I suppose but they might not even amount to much.

Maybe for us, having read the books. But the Unsullied won't know the difference.

mhmm, so with bran out, we will have next to no TWOW material in season 5, I guess some people will be happy about that

We're probably getting Sansa's TWoW material.

 

[Euron]

I seriously think they did that in order to combine Trystane and Aegon. It makes it easier to understand if there's only one plot floating around in Dorne, as opposed to Arianne's Queenmaker stuff.

She's an awesome character; there's no doubt about it. She would have been great on the show. But if they're trying to streamline things as much as possible from here on out in order to get to the end, I can see why she was cut.

Has it been confirmed whether or not Illyrio is in Season 5? There's an article about a return to Pentos and it seems to be Illyrio's House: http://winteriscoming.net/2014/10/06/game-thrones-finally-returning-pentos/

If Illyrio is back, wouldn't that complicate things if Trystane=Aegon? Varys will be there as well, so the two can't have conflicting motivations (Dany vs Aegon). But this could mean that Aegon is cut entirely and the two just support Dany, retconning a lot of things from the previous seasons.

 

[Brakke]

I dont think there is any way around it, even if GRRM actually has all the details already planned out, which I doubt very much, what would stop him from just changing it as he actually writes it down? I am not a writer, but I imagine that's how this works. a lot is changed as you write it down.
ADOS at least will be quite different from the show, simply because it's not there yet.

He definitely knows where he wants to go. He's got a pile of prophecies and stuff to pay off. Prophecies suck as a rule but they suck double if you resolve six of them at once with a precious "well haha surprise it wasn't literal and you interpreted it wrong!!".

 

[RatskyWatsky]

There's a different between cutting and rushing. They rushed Sansa when they basically condensed the entirety of her book 4 plot into a single scene, and even there I would hesitate to call it rushing, just because that has such a negative connotation. Omitting the Greyjoy plot isn't rushing, it's just dealing with the limited bandwidth they have for simultaneous plots in a 10-episode season. It doesn't change the pacing of the other plots. If anything, it preserves their pacing, since they're able to dedicate adequate time to the remaining plots, instead of having to rush through them in a lower number of shorter scenes to make room for the minutes they would be dedicating to Greyjoys.

Semantics.

EW: Bran confirmed to not be in season 5

It's strange that the show would take out one of the main characters for a whole season. I always thought that was sort of exactly what they they wanted to avoid, what with beefing up other characters roles/storylines in past seasons to give them something to do onscreen instead of taking them out for a year (Theon being tortured for a season; Yara showing up for a scene or 2 last year).

Its like they're sort of making the same mistake of AFfC by hacking out a whole character and their plotline because they sort of screwed up with the pacing. Granted, it makes sense that they don't want to have Bran get too far ahead but at the same time, it seems kind of lame to just have him disappear for a whole year instead of doing any Weirwood Internet stuff.

Mmm, that bugs me too. Like, Theon's endless torture scenes in season 3 were easily the worst parts of that season, and the (unofficial?) explanation given was that "They can't just write out one of the actors for an entire season! That's madness!"

...and yet they're doing just that next year with Bran (and Hodor and Meera).

As you said, it makes sense that they can't get too far ahead with one character before all the others are caught up, and Bran's training may have proven to have been too expensive to film or even not very interesting to film (which I doubt. I for one think it would have been cool to see even tiny bits of Bran's training), but it does make Theon's stuff from season 3 all the more frustrating in retrospect.

So, let's see:

• Arianne cut
• Greyjoys cut (sorry guys)
• Bran gets a vacation
• Stoneheart cut
• Jaime's arc change

This season is going to be seriously weird for book readers.

Yeah. I'm interested to see how things play out given all these drastic cuts/changes.

Also, do we know if Sam and Gilly are going to Braavos/Old Town this season?

mhmm, so with bran out, we will have next to no TWOW material in season 5, I guess some people will be happy about that

 

[jett]

EW: Bran confirmed to not be in season 5

...that's REALLY weird.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

...that's REALLY weird.

Especially since it was supposedly confirmed that he was going to be in the season just a few months ago.

 

[Randdalf]

Arianne being cut is the only one that doesn't really make sense to me.

 

[NeoGiff]

Especially since it was supposedly confirmed that he was going to be in the season just a few months ago.

It could be a case of the producers deciding late in the game that the season would be better off without the scenes they filmed. That exact situation happened in season 3 with Baelish and Lysa, whose scenes were then rescripted and reshot for season 4.

 

[Speevy]

Just in: Hodor to be in season 5, but not Bran.

 

[kirblar]

It could be a case of the producers deciding late in the game that the season would be better off without the scenes they filmed. That exact situation happened in season 3 with Baelish and Lysa, whose scenes were then rescripted and reshot for season 4.

This is probably what happened given the conflicting information.

 

[BobTheFork]

Just in: Hodor to be in season 5, but not Bran.

I'm waiting for Bran's first grand vision. He see's back in time to when Ned was alive. They close in on his departed father's face and he just says "hodor" before they snap back and you see Hodor is 6 inches from Bran's face talking to him.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Mmm, that bugs me too. Like, Theon's endless torture scenes in season 3 were easily the worst parts of that season, and the (unofficial?) explanation given was that "They can't just write out one of the actors for an entire season! That's madness!"

...and yet they're doing just that next year with Bran (and Hodor and Meera).

As you said, it makes sense that they can't get too far ahead with one character before all the others are caught up, and Bran's training may have proven to have been too expensive to film or even not very interesting to film (which I doubt. I for one think it would have been cool to see even tiny bits of Bran's training), but it does make Theon's stuff from season 3 all the more frustrating in retrospect.



Yeah. I'm interested to see how things play out given all these drastic cuts/changes.

Also, do we know if Sam and Gilly are going to Braavos/Old Town this season?

Perhaps looking back on Theon season 3 was one of the reasons they decided to leave Bran out of season 5...

Agreed that Theon in S3 was the weakest link of the season, outside of it being cut entirely I do think just not having any of the scenes after Ramsay "saves" him (ep 4 I think) would have been more effective.

It could be a case of the producers deciding late in the game that the season would be better off without the scenes they filmed. That exact situation happened in season 3 with Baelish and Lysa, whose scenes were then rescripted and reshot for season 4.

It always find this aspect if the show interesting. Very unlike almost all other TV shows in that they write all the scripts before shooting and then rearrange the episodes a bit after shooting as well.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

Has it been confirmed whether or not Illyrio is in Season 5? There's an article about a return to Pentos and it seems to be Illyrio's House: http://winteriscoming.net/2014/10/06/game-thrones-finally-returning-pentos/

If Illyrio is back, wouldn't that complicate things if Trystane=Aegon? Varys will be there as well, so the two can't have conflicting motivations (Dany vs Aegon). But this could mean that Aegon is cut entirely and the two just support Dany, retconning a lot of things from the previous seasons.

Illyrio in S5 doesn't make any difference. They can just make it so that he knows about Trystane instead.

 

[WaffleTaco]

Theon's scenes made sense as a way of introducing Ramsay, and the Boltons. The main antagonist of seasons 4,5, and maybe 6. Like Joffery was for 1,2,3 and 4. Daanerys will be 6, 7A, 7B.

 

[bodyofanamerican]

Theon's scenes made sense as a way of introducing Ramsay, and the Boltons. The main antagonist of seasons 4,5, and maybe 6. Like Joffery was for 1,2,3 and 4. Daanerys will be 6, 7A, 7B.

To not lose Alfie for a year, but to also hang on to some of the shock, I think they should have had Ramsay rescue him in episode one or two then cut back in episode 10 exactly like they did, but have Theon be much more worse for wear (very obvious missing fingers, teeth) and answering to the name Reek.

My point is, they could have done the Reek transformation offscreen in one season if they wanted to, and just pick right back up in S4 when Roose comes home.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

I'm waiting for Bran's first grand vision. He see's back in time to when Ned was alive. They close in on his departed father's face and he just says "hodor" before they snap back and you see Hodor is 6 inches from Bran's face talking to him.

Maybe they're not including him this season because they don't want to reveal major events or revelations too early. I don't mean that as they're waiting for GRRM, but rather, they want to save the juicy stuff for season 7.

 

[Jigorath]

For a while now this show has been built around setpiece moments. Considering that Feast and Dance lack heavily in big battles, betrayals, and major character deaths, it shouldn't be a surprise that the D&D want to rush through those books as quickly as possible. Character development has always taken a back seat with the show.

That said, I don't mind that they're cutting Bran's training story. Training isn't usually particularly interesting and easily skipped. I wish Martin didn't waste so much time on Arya's ninja training but I'm sure that'll make the show.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

For a while now this show has been built around setpiece moments. Considering that Feast and Dance lack heavily in big battles, betrayals, and major character deaths, it shouldn't be a surprise that the D&D want to rush through those books as quickly as possible. Character development has always taken a back seat with the show.

That said, I don't mind that they're cutting Bran's training story. Training isn't usually particularly interesting and easily skipped. I wish Martin didn't waste so much time on Arya's ninja training but I'm sure that'll make the show.

Arya's ninja training is actually interesting and will make for awesome TV though

I hope they stay true to blinding her. When I read it I seriously screamed.

 

[Brakke]

Arya's ninja training works well as a framing device for other things going on in Braavos. Sam's visit and all that. Plus, she's a tremendously popular / successful thing about the show, no way they abandon her.

 

[Loke13]

Theon's scenes made sense as a way of introducing Ramsay, and the Boltons. The main antagonist of seasons 4,5, and maybe 6. Like Joffery was for 1,2,3 and 4. Daanerys will be 6, 7A, 7B.

Wait what? lol What gave you this idea?

 

[WaffleTaco]

Wait what? lol What gave you this idea?

Her being the enemy, or there being 7A and 7B?

Her being the enemy, makes sense in the context of the book, that she is going to come to westeros with a bunch of Dothraki, Ironborn, Unsullied and Dragons. It also makes sense with her wanting to use war as revealed in the last chapter of ADWD.

There being a 7A and 7B is my hope that they don't rush through the last season .

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

EW: Bran confirmed to not be in season 5

Fucking what? Here's hoping they at least film his next scenes ASAP so he isn't taller than Hodor the next time he shows up.

 

[Paganmoon]

About Bran, could they have shot the (few) scenes he'd have during S4 shooting?

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Fucking what? Here's hoping they at least film his next scenes ASAP so he isn't taller than Hodor the next time he shows up.

He'll be 6'8" by season 6. Fortunately he'll also be a tree by then so it'll all work out.

 

[Dazzler]

Bran's going to look like Ned he'll have aged so much by the next time we see him

 

[PhoenixDark]

Bran=Benjen confirmed.

 

[Steelyuhas]

Isaac needs to look like a young Sean Bean the next time he appears on screen.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

All I want from this season is for them to do Daznak's Pit and Arya's arc right.

Bran is boring.

 

[Forkball]

Maybe with Bran gone for a year they can work on making Bloodraven actually look interesting instead of a senile Santa who got lost in a cave.

 

[WhereAreMahDragonz]

Maybe with Bran gone for a year they can work on making Bloodraven actually look interesting instead of a senile Santa who got lost in a cave.

It makes sense, so they obviously won't do it.