Game of Thrones 4.10 - "The Children" - Rate and discuss

[Venardhi]

The events of the war were something like 20 years ago at this point in the show (Dany, Robb, Jon, etc. were all born near the end of it). Nikolaj Coster-Waldau looks like a cartoon prince, but he doesn't look like a 20 year old cartoon prince.

I also get the impression that Martin doesn't want to tell that story, leaving some of the events to the reader's imagination/theorizing. If so, we would be seeing Benioff and Weiss essentially write fan-fic and that probably won't end well.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

How about a prequel season (or even two)?

The producers have ruled that out. It's just not practical given the cast contracts and other production realities.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I think when the show ends, they could well consider doing a prequel show about Robert's Rebellion or the like, but there's no way on earth that they'll take up any seasons of the show proper to do so.

 

[-Brett-]

A prequel would be more appropriate for a spin-off after the show ends, or for the rumored movie. Interrupting the story in progress to spend a couple years in the past would kill a lot of interest, I'd think.

If it were to happen, Dance as Tywin is a no brainer. Barristan could probably be played by the same guy. Waldau and Headley look decent for their age, but no way are they passing for teens or 20-somethings. Same is true of Bean, and the guy that played Robert.

Given the resemblance that supppsedly exists between the two characters, Williams as Lyana could work. Similarly, with the lack of branches on the Targaryen family tree, Clarke as Rhaella would be plausible enough.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I'd love a filmed version of Robert's Rebellion. There's definitely a lot of story in there that's not made it to the books.

 

[CaptainCanada]

The prequel thing, quite apart from killing the show's narrative momentum, would not really solve their problems anyway, because the regular cast would have nothing to do and would basically have to be let out of their contracts (with TV contracts, if you don't provide work annually, you basically can't keep it in tact). Unless you tried to recycle the key castmembers playing other people (Sophie Turner as Catelyn! Maisie Williams as Lyanna!), but that would look really cheap.

 

[Klaus]

Unless you tried to recycle the key castmembers playing other people (Sophie Turner as Catelyn! Maisie Williams as Lyanna!), but that would look really cheap.

...a.k.a. the Dark Shadows approach.

 

[FPAlpha]

Well.. if Martin can't keep ahead of the TV schedule (and there's reasonable concern) what would be the alternative?

Spoiling the books (or at least major points) seems out of the question for me so what then? Cancel the show and wait for Martin to finish the series and then do a series of movies to wrap things up? Or try to get the cast together again which could be impossible as they move on with their careers (as much as they may like GoT they probably like having an acting job even more).

A prequel season would just be a worst case, stop gap measure to keep interest going but there is no more than a season or two in it until people really jump ship but i honestly don't know what they would do realistically especially with the young actors who are in full puberty and 5 years fdrom now won't be able to pass believably for teenagers.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

^^^
If Martin falls behind, as now seems inevitable, they'll continue with the show, overtake him, and put the end on screen before it's published. They've had long, detailed talks with him about where he intends everything to end up to enable them to do that.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Spoiling the books (or at least major points) seems out of the question for me so what then?

Spoiling the books is exactly what they've said they're going to do. They've got the broad details from GRRM already.

 

[Mister Fandango]

^^^
If Martin falls behind, as now seems inevitable, they'll continue with the show, overtake him, and put the end on screen before it's published. They've had long, detailed talks with him about where he intends everything to end up to enable them to do that.

There's also always the possibility that they each do a different ending, each one focused on the strengths of their own stories. Considering there are many differences between the two, even if most of it is similar, certainly allows for that.

I mean, the story is called "A Song of Fire and Ice." While it seems pretty obvious who the ice part is represented by, the fire side could be handled by either Dany and her dragons, or Melisandre and her god. That, alone, could allow for a major fork in the two stories.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

^^^
I think they'll only have different endings if Martin ends up changing the ending he currently has planned and has told them about.

 

[Mike Farley]

Which he might if they put it on television years before he gets to it in the books.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Which he might if they put it on television years before he gets to it in the books.

Martin's been working on this story since 1991, and per him, the ending has been fixed for a very long time. I don't think he's going to revamp his magnum opus that much just because of spoilers.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Maybe there are alternatives?
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/photos-of-the-day-june-24-2014-1403627487-slideshow/

 

[Professor Zoom]

How about a prequel season (or even two)?

As others have said, it's not economically feasible for the producers and the actors contracts. And I also suspect that's why they won't go past 7 seasons, as that would probably mean renegotiating contracts with actors... which means $$$$$$

Given the massive popularity of GoT it would also be financially possible to show the huge battles and maybe even the adult dragons on the battlefield. I would certainly watch that, there may even be enough material for two seasons if Martin indeed needs more time (and come on.. get off your ass a little bit more and write more than one page per week).

Here's a link to a Neil Gaiman blog post in regards to that: Link.

However, here is the most relevant quote from that post.

George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.

 

[FPAlpha]

^^^
If Martin falls behind, as now seems inevitable, they'll continue with the show, overtake him, and put the end on screen before it's published. They've had long, detailed talks with him about where he intends everything to end up to enable them to do that.

I'll believe it when the time comes and they actually go through with it.

It would be a first i believe and i don't know how fans would react, especially the book fans.

May not be a good reaction.

George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.

No he's not, no writer is. However a writer lives off his readers, without them reading his material he would have no career and could only write stories for himself.

Martin is one of the slowest writers i know and before the show that didn't matter much apart from hardcore fans who had to wait longer than they wanted.

But the crux is that he approved a TV show and undoubtedly they laid out their season plan before him so he must have known that given his writing speed it may get tight yet he still gave the go ahead.

To me that's at least disingenious because he will spoil all his book readers who stuck with him for over a decade and put up with his schedule.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I'll believe it when the time comes and they actually go through with it.

It would be a first i believe and i don't know how fans would react, especially the book fans.

May not be a good reaction.

The reaction would be very negative from some of the book readers, but stopping the show without an ending would draw a far greater negative reaction from the television audience, most of whom haven't read the books and who outnumber all of the book readers by a considerable margin. The show is HBO's most watched series ever. They bought the rights to the story and if Martin falls behind they'll prioritize their needs, and the wishes of most of their subscribers, over his.

 

[Professor Zoom]

George R.R. Martin is not your bitch.

No he's not, no writer is. However a writer lives off his readers, without them reading his material he would have no career and could only write stories for himself.

Well, he also lives off of licensing fees. From T-shirts, mugs, etc.
That said, he sells books. He also sells books that he's editing. Game of Thrones isn't the only thing he's working on. The books are done when they are done.

Martin is one of the slowest writers i know and before the show that didn't matter much apart from hardcore fans who had to wait longer than they wanted.

If it didn't matter before, why should it matter now?

But the crux is that he approved a TV show and undoubtedly they laid out their season plan before him so he must have known that given his writing speed it may get tight yet he still gave the go ahead.

So? He's also told them how he plans, at the moment, to end the books.

To me that's at least disingenious because he will spoil all his book readers who stuck with him for over a decade and put up with his schedule.

The book readers certainly have a choice. However, that also assumes the show will end where the books end.

AND, if they stuck with him for over a decade, they suddenly won't? Sounds like disingenuous fans. The reality is the books have a lot more material than will ever be portrayed in the books. And is a different experience.

So, if the fans won't read the books because they saw the Cliff's Notes version on TV, they weren't such great fans, were they?

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Martin's editor is among those who think it's important that he stay ahead of the show and publish his ending before the show reveals it:

From what you’ve read about The Winds of Winter so far, and, without spoiling anything, how good do you think the book is compared to the others in the series?
It’s amazing. In fact, when I first read the partial back in 2013, I immediately wrote George an impassioned plea to please not let the show get out ahead of him. I can’t predict what will happen from here, but I definitely want his version to be my first version. And I think a lot of you want that, too. His vision started this; I very much want his vision to end it, too.