With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to use?

[Candlelight]

****** THIS THREAD MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS, I DIDN'T HAVE ROOM TO PUT IT IN THE THREAD TITLE ******

With five of the seven (or eight depending on who you talk to) seasons almost over, Game of Thrones is fast catching up with George's novels (Bran's storyline is already exhausted). As someone who hasn't read the books, how much of the novels is left to be told given the current narrative and changes the show has made over the books?

Has George given his blessing for the show to craft what we may eventually see in his remaining novels? Or will they go down a different route?

Mega-happy ending, perhaps...?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

I predict: Winter comes.

The End.

 

[.:: TSN ::.]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

I suspect that most of the stories move beyond the published books, or atleast to the very end, by the end of this season. There are still some storylines that seem to have been left out. Like Sam's and Gilly's journeys or Iron Islands plots. I guess some of them could be moved to the next season.

And yes, GRRM has told the showrunners how he intends to end the books. Its then up to the showrunners to write the detailed story.
Which worries me since its obvious that they are not great storytellers by themselves.

 

[Ethros]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

I predict: Winter comes.

The End.

To be fair, it looks like it's already there in the North, with all the snow at Winterfell

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

It has to be more than just winter, everywhere. It has to be another ice age and the sun has to barely rise.

Or maybe it's just a crapload of white walkers pouring south

 

[.:: TSN ::.]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

In the books winter or atleast autumn is already coming to Kings Landing, but in the show it still looks like summer there. I think that there was some mention of snowing in Kings Landing in the last published book.. Maybe in the next season they start dressing people in Kings Landing little bit more warmer.

 

[Reverend]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

You know I've never quite understood how one marks the passage of years in a world where the seasons last so long. I mean sure, you just count 365 days at a time, but the reason we do that is based on our seasons and the months were originally based on lunar cycles. Does their moon orbit one a year, or is it not quite tidally locked yet and takes a year for the face to rotate, or are they just tracking the constellations?

 

[Captaindemotion]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

The short answer, trying to keep it as spoiler free as I can, is that they don't have much material from the books left (unless they go to material they've jettisoned).

Bran reached the end of his book plot by the last season which is why he's sitting this one out. The Castle Black, Winterfell and Stannis storylines are about on course to end this season pretty much where they left off at the last book (subject to some changes being made). The changes pretty much involve Sansa so her storyline from the books can be disregarded.

Kings Landing is also running about on time to conclude this season roughly where the 5th book has. I've a suspicion that a storyline involving Varys could see Littlefinger in the same role instead.

Tyrion has jumped ahead from where he currently is at the books, while Dany's story has seen some changes but could still converge with where she ends up at the end of the last book. Ditto Arya.

Basically, next season looks set to involve all-new material, though I imagine the writers knew where GRRM is going with his 6th book.

 

[dansigal]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

HBO has indicated somewhat recently that an 8th season is a possibility. Also GRRM has also indicated his goal is to have book 6 released before season 6 of the show, so both those things could possibly mix up the equation a bit.

 

[Beagleman]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

Is anyone thinking about what's going to happen after the series ended? I'm absolutely sure there will be more shows, mini-series or even feature films set in this world. E.g. almost every page of this book has enough story material for at least one movie, prequels set in the time of the Valyrian conquest of Westeros, Roberts rebellion or even thousands of years before that... HBO isn't going to waste that opportunity and it seems G.R.R. is quite happy seeing his creation adapted on screen.

 

[davejames]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

Having not read the books, I honestly can't tell any difference between those portions taken direction from GRRM and those that might have been written by the TV writers themselves.

Still though, I think it would be a shame if the series were to veer too far from what GRRM has done, since that was clearly the main inspiration behind all this in the first place. And there's just something a lot cooler about a show that is based on a series of books (even with a few changes) versus one that is only "loosely inspired" by those books. Or just happens to take place in the same world.

 

[Relayer1]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

Winds of Winter should be out before the 6th season. Most of it will almost certainly be available to the showrunners already.

George tends to write viewpoint characters while the muse takes him. When he's on a roll he'll go with it and he's probably written some characters well into the final book. Couple this with his detailed notes on where it's all going and there's little reason to expect the series to go wildly off in it's own direction, or at least no more so than it already has. The biggest spoilers for the end of it all are what they've been happy to leave out of the TV adaptation. If they've not included it, it can't be a big part of the way it all finishes.

Is anyone thinking about what's going to happen after the series ended?
....almost every page of this book has enough story material for at least one movie, prequels set in the time of the Valyrian conquest of Westeros, Roberts rebellion or even thousands of years before that... HBO isn't going to waste that opportunity

There's also the Dunk and Egg stuff set decades before the series and that stands a good chance of being adapted.

 

[Candlelight]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

HBO has indicated somewhat recently that an 8th season is a possibility. Also GRRM has also indicated his goal is to have book 6 released before season 6 of the show, so both those things could possibly mix up the equation a bit.

GRRM has already said it won't be out in 2015, and they'll be filming the show over the northern winter (if you'll excuse the joke).

That said, I'm fairly certain he's already given info to the producers where book six will go.

The final seasons will definitely air before the book series ends.

 

[sidious618]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

GRRM has already said it won't be out in 2015, and they'll be filming the show over the northern winter (if you'll excuse the joke).

No, he hasn't. I actually wouldn't be surprised if it's out in the autumn.

I can't see the show only going two more seasons. There are way too many balls in the air. They're going to need at least three more seasons or they're going to have to throw a significant number of plots out the window.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

How well is it doing? Are ratings waning at all?

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

How well is it doing? Are ratings waning at all?

Ratings are notably weaker than last season. Fans have been playing what TVByTheNumbers' community likes to call "Fan Excuse Bingo" since the start of the season as to why this has been the case, but while it premiered very high, it's been dropping ever since. It's still in "zomg, those numbers are terrific" territory, but should the current rate of decline keep up, a seventh season would be in line with the third, or even the second. It'll be a two-way mountain in the end.

It's all relative, though. There are a lot of factors involved, not just the "Bingo" factors. HBO has launched Now, a new a la carte service, which is no doubt responsible for a bit of the decline. The first four episodes leaked, which is huge -- that's 40% of the season -- and I think an appreciable number of people who had never before pirated the show heard about it thanks to all the media coverage the debacle received and realized how easy it is to do so, and have continued doing so. I base this on the show "winning" further "awards" for most pirated series of all time as the season has progressed. The decline is perfectly in line with the uptick; it's not rocket science.

HBO also looks at total worldwide viewers as opposed to America's goofy 18-49 metric and live viewership 101. So even though Thrones is bleeding live viewers and network television's coveted "hot, young" demographic, so long as the total remains somewhat even it's likely not losing them much sleep. We don't know what that total is, though; HBO's been shifting its policy this year relative to the launch of Now, and it's starting to reach Netflix levels of ratings secrecy, heh.

In any case, it's still the highest-rated series on HBO, and by a considerable margin. It's also still winning every Sunday night in America. The show will reach its seven seasons, possibly eight, but if it continues to lose viewers (and if indeed it is losing total viewers as well, which is to us an unknown at this time) then there might be matters of presentation budget to be wrestled with at the endgame that would not necessarily have been issues of contention if the show had continued its nigh-unsustainable year-over-year ratings spikes to the last.

By the way, general statement: the show is totally not going past an eighth season at absolute most. The showrunners have been so very, very candid about that time after time this past couple of years, with their most recent confirmation dated as recently as four days ago.

 

[dansigal]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

HBO has indicated somewhat recently that an 8th season is a possibility. Also GRRM has also indicated his goal is to have book 6 released before season 6 of the show, so both those things could possibly mix up the equation a bit.

GRRM has already said it won't be out in 2015, and they'll be filming the show over the northern winter (if you'll excuse the joke).

That said, I'm fairly certain he's already given info to the producers where book six will go.

The final seasons will definitely air before the book series ends.

I'm highly skeptical of a 2015 release, but I believe he has said his goal is early 2016, before Season 6 airs, though of course, that's just a goal, no guarantee. In a lot of ways, the changes that the show have made, have rendered a need for source material less important. That being said, my guess is enough of book 6 has been written or sketched out that by the time they start filming next season, the producers will have at least have access to enough source material to get them through the entire season.

After season 6 though, all bets are off. There might be some source material left from book 6 to leak into season 7, but there's no doubt that the show will finish at least 2-3 years before the last book comes out, and the show will be on it's own.

 

[Relayer1]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

After season 6 though, all bets are off. There might be some source material left from book 6 to leak into season 7, but there's no doubt that the show will finish at least 2-3 years before the last book comes out, and the show will be on it's own.

Yeah, I'm hoping to read book 6 and then watch the conclusion. The chances of staying spoiler free for three to six years aren't good...

 

[Cyrus]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

How well is it doing? Are ratings waning at all?

The first episode of season 5 had the highest rating ever for the series, but the ratings have been gradually declining since and episode 7 had lower ratings than any season 4 episode.

There is a nice rating chart in the following article:
http://www.businessinsider.com/game-of-thrones-season-5-ratings-2015-5

 

[Venardhi]

Re: With two seasons left, how much GoT 'source' material is left to u

After season 6 though, all bets are off. There might be some source material left from book 6 to leak into season 7, but there's no doubt that the show will finish at least 2-3 years before the last book comes out, and the show will be on it's own.

Yeah, I'm hoping to read book 6 and then watch the conclusion. The chances of staying spoiler free for three to six years aren't good...

Other than the broad strokes, there probably won't be much in common with the two endings anyways. Spoilers aren't much of a worry for me. I'll watch the show and then get the real ending in a few years.