Game of Thrones (contains serious, massive SPOILERS)

[Kong Wen]

Max von Sydow and Ian McShane have been added to the cast of Game of Thrones for season 6!

Sydow is playing Tree Gandalf.



McShane's character hasn't been announced yet, but people are speculating that it's Randyll Tarly, Sam's father.

[Kiwi the Tortoise]

Max von Sydow hype!!!!!

And McShane would make a fine Tarly.

The casting of the show is still excellent.

They also confimed that there will be at least 7 seasons (with potential for more)

[The Shoemaker]

Didn`t we already have a Tree Gandalf back in Season 4? I guess no one would really notice the actor change.

[Kong Wen]

Didn`t we already have a Tree Gandalf back in Season 4? I guess no one would really notice the actor change.

Yes, this is an actor change. To me, it suggests Tree Gandalf is going to have a more important role this season (e.g. when they changed Berric Dondarion's actor), but it could just be an incidental thing (e.g. when they changed the Mountain's actor and then changed the Mountain's actor).

[The Shoemaker]

Didn`t we already have a Tree Gandalf back in Season 4? I guess no one would really notice the actor change.

Yes, this is an actor change. To me, it suggests Tree Gandalf is going to have a more important role this season (e.g. when they changed Berric Dondarion's actor), but it could just be an incidental thing (e.g. when they changed the Mountain's actor and then changed the Mountain's actor).

Man Berric's actor change was staggering, I mean I know we saw a total of 5 seconds of him in the first season, but he looked so different in season three I don't blame anyone for not recognizing him To be fair, it did work in their favour to show how much the Lord of Light has changed him.

Also, Tree Gandalf is an understandable switch, given that season 4 filming was two years ago now.

I think season 6 is going to be really good.

[The Shoemaker]

So, there has been a lot of talk about the show going for 8 seasons. Show runners David and Dan (D&D) have stuck to the idea that there would be 7 seasons for a long time now, so it'll be interesting to see what the agreement is. The article above notes that the actors are signed on for 7 seasons (I've heard they're technically signed for 8) and if they were to go over that, contracts would need to be re-signed and wages increased. HBO exect asks "The question is: How much beyond seven are we going to do?" so it sounds like ideally they would like to go a couple seasons more than seven, regardless of the cost. Understandably so, considering the show is their biggest hit right now.

Going beyond 7 seasons is interesting in general because GRRM has two more books to write, and I can only assume season 6 and 7 would cover each book respectively. If we were to have 8 seasons, do you think they would maybe cut the last book in two like they did with season 3? And if they had a 9th season, they could split up both books, given them lots of time to do the story justice. Obviously it's hard to make estimates like these considering we have no idea what the next two books will contain content wise.

Either way, with seven seasons we were heading towards the end of the series within 2 years. With 8 or 9, we could be talking 3-4 more years. I think GRRM will be done The Winds of Winter around the time season 6 airs, or at least sometime 2016 (call it blind faith from a fan who started the series in 2014 ). If he hauls ass and writes like he did with the first three books (releasing 3 in 4 years), maybe a 8th or 9th season will give him the time to complete the novels before the show finishes its run!

I know, I know, I hope for too much. But it's definitely an exciting prospect. Even if GRRM doesn't write any faster, I'd rather see the show go past season 7 just so they can stuff as much story into the series as they can. On the other hand, I know D&D would like to be done the show as soon as possible as it really drains the energy out of them to be working so hard all year.

[Kong Wen]

They've just cast Pilou Asbæk (an actor with whom I am not familiar) in the role of Euron Greyjoy. The most interesting thing about this casting, in my opinion, is what it says about the storylines on which they'll focus this season. Trying to cram in all the Greyjoy stuff could be crazy. We'll see!

[The Shoemaker]

They've just cast Pilou Asbæk (an actor with whom I am not familiar) in the role of Euron Greyjoy. The most interesting thing about this casting, in my opinion, is what it says about the storylines on which they'll focus this season. Trying to cram in all the Greyjoy stuff could be crazy. We'll see!

Veeeeeeeery interesting! The actor looks a little similar to Alfie Allen, but who knows if the two actors will ever be in a scene together despite the characters relation.

[Kong Wen]

Veeeeeeeery interesting! The actor looks a little similar to Alfie Allen, but who knows if the two actors will ever be in a scene together despite the characters relation.

I don't think they'll ever share a scene, but who knows what the future will bring. My initial thought was that he looks kind of young, but I guess movie magic can fix that.

[The Shoemaker]

Veeeeeeeery interesting! The actor looks a little similar to Alfie Allen, but who knows if the two actors will ever be in a scene together despite the characters relation.

I don't think they'll ever share a scene, but who knows what the future will bring. My initial thought was that he looks kind of young, but I guess movie magic can fix that.

No I don't see the story going that way, unfortunately.

In the text it's noted that Euron hadn't seemed to age since he left Pyke. Not clear if it's supposed to have any extra meaning. Regardless, it is quite the stark contrast to the current Balon Greyjoy who`s around 70, this guy is supposed to be his brother and he`s only 30, younger than the actress who plays his niece Yara! I'm sure they'll age him up fine though. Will we see Aeron or Victaron? I'm thinking at least one of them.