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

[Neroon]

Some judicious editing has now been applied, but please..... while everyone should be careful about what they divulge and when they ought to divulge it.... everybody else for whom this is a concern of some significance needs to temper that concern.

Thank you. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blood-letting, already in progress

 

[Professor Zoom]

They only make ten episodes a year.

And they're only adapting pre-existing stories quite literally.

Normal shows make 22 episodes a year and they actually have to invent the material

The complexity of the adaptation is more difficult than inventing new material, but the main reason they can only make 10 episodes a year is the complexity and scale of the production itself.

And also, it's basically three people in the writer's room.

 

[CaptainCanada]

The actual writing only takes a few months, from the descriptions they give of the process. The rest of the time is the actual production aspect. The final episodes of a season are typically only finished a week or two before they air.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

They're following the Doctor Who Production Model.

 

[Lonemagpie]

They're following the Doctor Who Production Model.

The thing people here are forgetting about GoT, as compared to other shows, is the geographical spread and scale.

Your average 22-episode season is all shot in one studio and with locations around one city. Game Of Thrones is shot in half a dozen countries, and on top of that has to create all its fantasy buildings, sets, props etc, rather than just use off-the-shelf present-day clothes/cars/etc.

It's a much bigger undertaking.

 

[Drekstar]

Hmm, wondering whether the show will outpace the novels reminds me of Naruto while waiting for the manga to catch up. The solution was filler episodes - stories not in the manga. I wonder if that can work for GoT, but I guess it's unlikely.

Good season-ender, though. I hear the upcoming seasons and books will be bloodier.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

They won't stretch things out to allow Martin time to catch up with the books. That's not a viable option here either in story terms or production terms. They'll simply pass him and put the story on screen before it's published.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The Winds of Winter: A Novelization by George R. R. Martin based on the hit HBO series

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I think he'll get The Winds of Winter out before most of its material hits the screen. A Dream of Spring on the other hand...

 

[Skywalker]

Looks like I'll be waiting a few years to see how the show ends.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

^^^
It'll end in 2017 if they stick to their current plan of seven seasons or 2018 if they expand it to eight seasons.

 

[CaptainCanada]

^^^
It'll end in 2017 if they stick to their current plan of seven seasons or 2018 if they expand it to eight seasons.

Skywalker is referring to waiting until the books are out to watch the show, I believe.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

^^^
Ah, in that case I think it'll be a long wait indeed. People who are resolved to stop watching the show in hopes of finding out the ending from the books first are going to have a rough time of it. The show is such a big topic of conversation that it's going to be very difficult to avoid being spoiled on the ending.

 

[Destructor]

I've been wondering... so GRRM is obviously on the writer's team, in the writer's room. The show creators have done an amazing job of adapting the show so far... but there is a real challenge for S5... if they want to continue to make a good tv show, they are going to have to make some real changes from the books. Yet at the same time they obviously have deep love and affection for the source material.

My question is... do you think they are comfortable enough to say to GRRM: "Books 4 and 5 were boring and won't make good tv so we have to change them dramatically."?

 

[Professor Zoom]

^^^
Ah, in that case I think it'll be a long wait indeed. People who are resolved to stop watching the show in hopes of finding out the ending from the books first are going to have a rough time of it. The show is such a big topic of conversation that it's going to be very difficult to avoid being spoiled on the ending.

It would actually be sorta funny: the TV viewers would finally get to spoil it for the book readers, rather than the other way around.

My question is... do you think they are comfortable enough to say to GRRM: "Books 4 and 5 were boring and won't make good tv so we have to change them dramatically."?

I don't think he's regularly sitting in the writers room.

And, I think they are smart enough to not say it that way. You don't have to straight up insult someone, when there are better ways of saying something.

And Martin is a professional, he knows what adaptation is. He didn't go into this believing everything in his books would be sacred.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I've been wondering... so GRRM is obviously on the writer's team, in the writer's room.

He's not in the writer's room. He doesn't break the season down with them. He writes his one episode per season at his home in New Mexico (the only place he writes) and Benioff and Weiss do a final draft polish of it, as they do with all the scripts.

My question is... do you think they are comfortable enough to say to GRRM: "Books 4 and 5 were boring and won't make good tv so we have to change them dramatically."?

They won't use the word "boring" to him, but they'll absolutely make the necessary changes.

 

[Skywalker]

^^^
It'll end in 2017 if they stick to their current plan of seven seasons or 2018 if they expand it to eight seasons.

Skywalker is referring to waiting until the books are out to watch the show, I believe.

Yep. I started with the books twelve years ago and I'd rather finish with them. I'm sure it'll be tough to avoid spoilers from the show but I'll give it my best shot.

 

[Destructor]

^^^
It'll end in 2017 if they stick to their current plan of seven seasons or 2018 if they expand it to eight seasons.

Skywalker is referring to waiting until the books are out to watch the show, I believe.

Yep. I started with the books twelve years ago and I'd rather finish with them. I'm sure it'll be tough to avoid spoilers from the show but I'll give it my best shot.

Well avoiding the internet completely for several years will have a number of side benefits, I'd say.

 

[Skywalker]

Ha! True enough.

 

[FPAlpha]

They won't stretch things out to allow Martin time to catch up with the books. That's not a viable option here either in story terms or production terms. They'll simply pass him and put the story on screen before it's published.

How about a prequel season (or even two)?

Showing all the history that leads to season 1 of GoT would surely be appreciated by fans. All the characters only talk about the events through memory and some of it is quite recent for them so for many events you could use the same actor (Waldau could play Jaime as he becomes the Kingslayer).

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).