‘Game Of Thrones’ Probably Won’t Have Time For All The Flashbacks Fans Want To See

2017 is going to be a big year for fans of Game of Thrones. George R.R. Martin is tentatively hopeful that The Winds of Winter will see the light of day this year, though longtime readers know better than to hang our hats on that hope. Meanwhile, HBO will be forging ahead with season seven of its adaptation with a truncated season of only seven episodes, including perhaps Arya with a new face. Viewers hoping the final season of GoT might not be shortened got a boost of optimism at the recent HBO TCA Winter 2017 panel when President Casey Bloys told TV Line they hadn’t settled on how many episodes they’ll need to wrap up the story.

But the closer HBO gets to the finish line with Game of Thrones, the more I’m convinced lore nerds aren’t going to get the closure we wanted. Even if the final season is a full ten episodes, I don’t believe there’s enough run time left. The hardback version of Martin’s A Dance With Dragons was 1016 pages, second only to A Storm Of Swords 1216 pages. The prolific author does not skimp when it comes to his fantasy epic. With two more novels to go, it seems unlikely they’ll be any less dense then their predecessors. This leaves HBO with approximately 2000 pages worth of plot to get through in a maximum of 17 episodes. Even if Martin hasn’t finished his series yet, GoT showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have been gifted with extensive notes in order to stay true to the spirit of the source material. And one need only look at the book The World of Ice And Fire to know exactly how detailed Martin’s notes can be.

For the sake of time and viewer sanity, GoT has excised or condensed many of Martin’s plots and side characters. Perhaps no aspect of Westeros has suffered more from this than whatever nonsense is going on in Dorne, though forcing Sansa Stark into marriage with Ramsay Bolton in lieu of introducing Jeyne Poole is a close second. My Game of Thrones Book Club kept track of the changes in season five and, despite the warning signs that HBO is running the series at a sprint, I ran a hopeful article about future flashbacks the show might indulge in, based on Cersei’s memory of Maggy the Frog. Season six did utilize Bran Stark’s newfound powers to show viewers both Jon Snow’s true parentage, a glimpse of the Mad King, and the truth behind the creation of the White Walkers. So, why then am I convinced GoT won’t continue sprinkling crumbs of Westeros history throughout the next two seasons? Because they aren’t crucial to the current plot and politics of the show.

GoT showed us the Tower of Joy because the audience needed to understand why Jon Snow is so important. The glimpse of the Mad King dovetailed with Cersei’s decision to wipe out her perceived enemies in one fell swoop. Even the big reveal about the White Walkers plays directly into the current conflict between the Night’s King and the Children of the Forest. Each time, the flashback provided key information for understanding current events. If HBO chooses to show more flashes of the past, it will most likely be for the same reasons. Extrapolating from that, the most likely candidates would be divulging the identity of the Night’s King, a second vision hammering home that Jon Snow is the son of a Stark and a Targaryen, and perhaps an explanation about why magic died and why it’s now returning to the world.

Other than that, as interesting as the history of Westeros and Essos is, it isn’t crucial to getting the surviving character of GoT over the series’ finale finish line. The audience doesn’t need to know the story of the Knight of the Laughing Tree to know Lyanna Stark was headstrong. While readers might desire to have the both fire at Summerhall and the story of Jenny of Oldstones mysteries solved, they add nothing to the current story. Even the tragedy of Ashara Dayne isn’t crucial to understanding Jon Snow’s parentage and how it was covered up.

Of course, that isn’t to say lore nerds should despair of ever seeing our favorite historical tidbits on the small screen. HBO is still toying with the idea of a prequel of spin-off series once GoT has finished its run. Bloys said, “It’s such a big property we would be foolish not to explore it,” and he’s right. Ever the world builder, George R.R. Martin’s universe has a history that goes back thousands of year. If GoT doesn’t have time to explain the rise and fall of the Targaryen dynasty, a prequel show called The Dance of Dragons would. In fact, much like Star Wars there is enough meat on the lore bone that HBO could attempt multiple spin-offs. The Age of Heroes, something set in Yi-Ti or Asshai. It could explore Old Ghis, the fall of Valyria and the rise of the Faceless Men. Or, if they wanted to stay close to home, a direct prequel about the events that led to Robert ascending the Iron Throne, beginning with The Tales of Dunk and Egg and ending with Robert and Rhaegar battling on the Trident River. That’s like a decade worth of show on its own.

But with so much ground to cover still in Game of Thrones — including Dany landing in Westeros, creating an alliance to help her overthrow the government, Jaime grappling with the reality his sister has gone over the edge, Tyrion establishing himself as an advisor and not a monster, Jon Snow uniting the North under one banner, Arya getting her revenge, Sansa getting her revenge, Bran and Melisandre fighting the bigger war, and Samwell finding crucial information buried in the library at Oldtown — there honestly isn’t enough room for all the nuanced motivations Martin’s carefully constructed flashback bring. But that’s okay. You don’t need to know the life’s story of every major noble in Westeros to enjoy the drama that history brings.

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