Game of Thrones - Season 5

Spoiler chat ahoy!

There is no sacrifice required to resurrect by a Red Priest. Thoros didn't need to burn anyone when he brought Dondarrion back after the Hound killed him. if Jon does get shanked this year, he's not going to be brought back until next season. They first have to get Melisandre back to the Castle Black after all. I think likely what happens is Jon learns that Sansa is being held captive by The Boltons, breaks his vows, gets shanked, and wargs into Ghost. His body would be okay until she returns ("fire consumes, cold preserves"), unless they burn it like everyone else's corpse. They will tie this in with Arya's blindness (for killing Trant instead of the gambler) and how she gets around it by warging into the cats, as well as the reintroduction of Bran's storyline

I couldn't resist. read all the spoilers with no knowledge of the books. :pity:

"Ohio Fanatic wrote:

I couldn't resist. read all the spoilers with no knowledge of the books. :pity:

Damn bro. Bad move.

"Dol-Fan Dupree wrote:

I think he is going to survive somehow. In the book I think Shireen is going to be sacrificed to bring him back. On the TV show, I do not know how they are going to do it. GRRM still talks about Jon as if he has a future.

You don't renew a contract for someone who isn't coming back. They just renewed Harington's contract and gave him a raise.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-cast-signs-season-744314

The principal Thrones actors, who were signed only through six seasons of the show, have completed an extensive renegotiation of their contracts that includes an option for season seven, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

HBO has ponied up huge raises for seasons five, six and the potential season seven that will make the castmembers among the highest-paid actors on cable TV.

A seventh season has not been greenlighted but is considered highly likely given Thrones' status as a ratings smash and awards favorite.

With one of the largest and most diverse ensemble casts on TV, Thrones employs a tiered system to compensate its stars, according to sources. The "A" tier — which includes actors Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) — is paid at the highest level. The "A" tier actors are said to have renegotiated their deals in concert.

The lower-salaried "B" tier — which is said to include co-stars Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and others — is said to be scoring raises as well in exchange for season seven options. A still-lower tier of regular actors will receive much smaller pay increases, according to sources.

"rafael wrote:

You don't renew a contract for someone who isn't coming back. They just renewed Harington's contract and gave him a raise.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-cast-signs-season-744314

The principal Thrones actors, who were signed only through six seasons of the show, have completed an extensive renegotiation of their contracts that includes an option for season seven, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

HBO has ponied up huge raises for seasons five, six and the potential season seven that will make the castmembers among the highest-paid actors on cable TV.

A seventh season has not been greenlighted but is considered highly likely given Thrones' status as a ratings smash and awards favorite.

With one of the largest and most diverse ensemble casts on TV, Thrones employs a tiered system to compensate its stars, according to sources. The "A" tier — which includes actors Kit Harington (Jon Snow), Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) — is paid at the highest level. The "A" tier actors are said to have renegotiated their deals in concert.

The lower-salaried "B" tier — which is said to include co-stars Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and others — is said to be scoring raises as well in exchange for season seven options. A still-lower tier of regular actors will receive much smaller pay increases, according to sources.

Arya is "B" tier?

"Ohio Fanatic wrote:

I couldn't resist. read all the spoilers with no knowledge of the books. :pity:

Thanks for this. I was contemplating reading them as well, but now I see it would just make me disappointed...and sad...like you. You're sacrifice has not been in vain.

"Dol-Fan Dupree wrote:

Arya is "B" tier?

That surprised me as well. Although as much as I like her character, we've all been complaining how little she's done this season. Maybe she just less important than we thought she'd be.

"xDOLPHINSx wrote:

Thanks for this. I was contemplating reading them as well, but now I see it would just make me disappointed...and sad...like you. You're sacrifice has not been in vain.

Don't worry. After Sunday book readers and show watchers will all be equally clueless about what will happen.

okay, I'm not reading anything here until after the season finale... :shifty:

"Deerless Dice wrote:

Spoiler chat ahoy!

There is no sacrifice required to resurrect by a Red Priest. Thoros didn't need to burn anyone when he brought Dondarrion back after the Hound killed him. if Jon does get shanked this year, he's not going to be brought back until next season. They first have to get Melisandre back to the Castle Black after all. I think likely what happens is Jon learns that Sansa is being held captive by The Boltons, breaks his vows, gets shanked, and wargs into Ghost. His body would be okay until she returns ("fire consumes, cold preserves"), unless they burn it like everyone else's corpse. They will tie this in with Arya's blindness (for killing Trant instead of the gambler) and how she gets around it by warging into the cats, as well as the reintroduction of Bran's storyline

All of the red priests are different. Just because one person doesn't need sacrifice doesn't mean the other one doesn't. We haven't read Melisandra use the breath of life.

I agree that Arya is going to be blind at the end of the episode.

"rafael wrote:

That surprised me as well. Although as much as I like her character, we've all been complaining how little she's done this season. Maybe she just less important than we thought she'd be.

It does fall in line with the books. Although I find her arc frustratingly slow and the House of Black and White are unnecessarily cryptic and vague. I don't remember them being this annoying. Or maybe I just blocked out most of the 4th book.

I meant to mention this in my first post about the episode but I forgot. While I found the Stannis sacrificing his daughter sad, and telegraphed, just as much as

Ollie leading next week's stabathon on John Snow has been;

...it didn't really change my opinion of the character. It wasn't like he took any glee or delight in sacrificing his daughter. The love for her was still there. If you buy into who he is as a character, you almost sympathize with him as this is a move he feels like he has no choice but to make, despite his love for his daughter. A move none of us would ever consider with our own children. You can see the agony on his face as the deed is done. But this guy buys into his role as rightful king, and savior of Westeros so much that he really feels like he doesn't have a choice. I also think we will eventually learn that the fires supposedly committed by Bolton's men were really the work of Melissandre to force Stannis' hand. I think we already know as much the way the fires just popped up out of nowhere.

D&D: "Oh yeah, there's going to be Stannis character development this season."

These two jerkoffs have five books, five seasons, 20 years, and still don't understand Stannis' character after all that.

These rewrites are garbage.

"MonstBlitz wrote:

I meant to mention this in my first post about the episode but I forgot. While I found the Stannis sacrificing his daughter sad, and telegraphed, just as much as

Ollie leading next week's stabathon on John Snow has been;

...it didn't really change my opinion of the character. It wasn't like he took any glee or delight in sacrificing his daughter. The love for her was still there. If you buy into who he is as a character, you almost sympathize with him as this is a move he feels like he has no choice but to make, despite his love for his daughter. A move none of us would ever consider with our own children. You can see the agony on his face as the deed is done. But this guy buys into his role as rightful king, and savior of Westeros so much that he really feels like he doesn't have a choice. I also think we will eventually learn that the fires supposedly committed by Bolton's men were really the work of Melissandre to force Stannis' hand. I think we already know as much the way the fires just popped up out of nowhere.

I never liked Stannis. Hated him in the books, hate him on the show.

A perfect summation of my thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToOhmTxvqa8

"Desides wrote:

A perfect summation of my thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToOhmTxvqa8

Only thing i read under spoiler tag was this post...so I will pose my question to book readers in a spoiler fashion to not give anything away to those who haven't read any spoilers at all.

dude mentions great plague? On top of everything else going on a big ass plague going to sweep Westeros?

"Dol-Fan Dupree wrote:

I never liked Stannis. Hated him in the books, hate him on the show.

I get not liking the character. I just don't get people's opinion of the character changing because of this week's episode.

"Vengeful Odin wrote:

I enjoyed everything with Dany and company in Mereen. One choice the show has made is to simply cut through the “Mereenese knot” – as opposed to unraveling it. This decision pays off, as it makes much more sense to have Tyrion present to see Drogon come in and save his mother. Everything in Mereen is great – I can watch Drogan roast dudes all day. Then Dany gets on Drogan, then the effects start to kind of not look the best. The scene becomes somewhat Neverending Story-ish. I also don’t understand why the Unsullied, one of the most badass armies of this world, don’t bother to carry swords or daggers with them, or have any clue how to form a proper military formation.

Unsullied are loosely mirroring the Swiss armies that began to revolutionize phalanx style combat. From a logistics standpoint it is hard to arm and fit large armies with swords and horses. Heavy Cavalary was always a characteristic of well funded armies. The Unsullied are the opposite of that, being made up almost entirely of slaves. They trained, much like the infantry of old, in cheap weaponry which is a spear or known as pikemen. Militarily, unsullied also reinforce the idea that they represent the Swiss infantry that used the plalanx in many of their techniques protecting Dany in many scenes we've seen. Being in their particular lands the most formidable foe is likely the Dothraki which is almost entirely heavy cavalry. Militarily the best way to counter cavalry is pikemen because unlike in the movies...horses do not impale themselves.

"Desides wrote:

A perfect summation of my thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToOhmTxvqa8

He made a lot of good points.

"TiP54 wrote:

Only thing i read under spoiler tag was this post...so I will pose my question to book readers in a spoiler fashion to not give anything away to those who haven't read any spoilers at all.

dude mentions great plague? On top of everything else going on a big ass plague going to sweep Westeros?

Spoilers for 2 book characters who were cut from the TV series, 1 of whom was partially merged into Jorah:

A book character who contracted greyscale in the same setting Jorah contracted his later invades Westeros. It is highly speculated that he will be patient zero in a greyscale outbreak. That theory is what Preston Jacobs is referring to in his line about greyscale.

"Desides wrote:

A perfect summation of my thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToOhmTxvqa8

There were a few lol parts. And he brought up a few good points, but most of it was just whining for the sake of whining. Like complaining about Dany holding hands with her best friend as they get killed. Really? That's a complaint? And he totally misunderstood the conversation with Dany, Tyrion, and Hizdahr... Or Dany's hair being perfect... It's a ****ing TV show.

The only part that I'm in total agreement with, is the part with Davos. While Davos didn't know Stannis was going to kill his daughter, he clearly was suspicious. And he knew Stannis was out of options. Given what Davos did for Gendry, I don't quite understand why he didn't kidnap her. I suspect it's because there's no where to hide. She's not safe from Stannis at Castle Black, nor can he just drop her off somewhere in the middle of winter.

I'm with you on Stannis. In five seasons, I felt they got his character wrong. I think we've talked about it before, so I'll skip my reasoning. That said, GRRM did say to D&D that Stannis was going to sacrifice Shareen. While it hasn't happened in AFFC or ADWD, it will happen. Very likely in Winds of Winter. And perhaps that foresight is why they've altered his character so drastically.

"Clark Kent wrote:

That said, GRRM did say to D&D that Stannis was going to sacrifice Shareen.

He did not. The closest he has ever come to this is when he was asked directly when Melisandre will sacrifice Shireen—as in, basically asking GRRM to confirm that this theory would actually come true. GRRM's response was to offer the questioner something to eat.

In the books, Shireen was left at the Wall with Melisandre and some guards while Stannis went south. There's no way for Stannis to order Shireen to be burned, and that's against his book character anyway.

If Shireen does get burned in the books, it won't be because Stannis ordered it.

"MonstBlitz wrote:

I get not liking the character. I just don't get people's opinion of the character changing because of this week's episode.

Stannis is a very robotic character. Non emotional, rigid, logical, conservative, predictable. "Stannis is like steal. He'll break before he bends."

What changed for a lot of people, was him showing a human side. And we get to see that side of him in the context of his love for his daughter. Where as Tywin once told Tyrion that he wanted to drown him in a sea, but didn't because of family obligations/legacy. Stannis never felt that way about Shireen, even when it was suggest he let her go and move on. Stannis is the kind of guy that you don't always like or agree with, but he's a just man. There's certain respectability to him because of that.

Then, when all hope is seemingly lost, he has to debate whether or not to embrace his destiny. And in doing so, goes dark side. He makes a sacrifice that really can't be justified. I'm very curious to see how it all plays out in the books, because the character is different and the situation he's in is also different.

"Desides wrote:

He did not. The closest he has ever come to this is when he was asked directly when Melisandre will sacrifice Shireen—as in, basically asking GRRM to confirm that this theory would actually come true. GRRM's response was to offer the questioner something to eat.

In the books, Shireen was left at the Wall with Melisandre and some guards while Stannis went south. There's no way for Stannis to order Shireen to be burned, and that's against his book character anyway.

If Shireen does get burned in the books, it won't be because Stannis ordered it.

D&D outright said (inside the episode feature on HBO, I even posted in a few pages back) that GRRM told them Stannis was going to sacrifice Shireen. And they were initially shocked by it, but it made sense because Stannis has been burning people alive and sacrificing to the Lord of Light since we first meet him.

"When George first told us about this, it was one of those times that I remember looking at Dan, and going, god, that's so horrible, and it's so good, because it all comes together in a story sense. From the very first time we meet Stannis and Melisandre, they are sacrificing and talking about king's blood, and the power it contains, and it all leads to this, to the sacrificing of Shireen." - David Benioff

"Clark Kent wrote:

D&D outright said (inside the episode feature on HBO, I even posted in a few pages back) that GRRM told them Stannis was going to sacrifice Shireen. And they were initially shocked by it, but it made sense because Stannis has been burning people alive and sacrificing to the Lord of Light since we first meet him.

Calling BS on anything with D&D as the source.