Last season there was a small kerfuffle when, out of nowhere, the Night”s King showed up and transformed Craster”s son into one of his own. Or something very similar. Because that baby is definitely not a zombie, leading to all kinds of questions about the nature of the Others.
Anyway, the point is that so far George R.R. Martin has had no chapters featuring the Night”s King in any of his published books. So for once it was book fans who were smacked with an emotional twist. Was this a spoiler from “The Winds of Winter”??? Probably. And if you want to remain a novel purist, you”re going to have to avoid Season 5 of “Game of Thrones” like the Greyscale plague. Staff writer Dave Hill”s official show blog has been peppering hints for the next season, including information for at least one major book mystery.
WARNING: SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS OMG THEY”RE RAINING FROM THE SKY LIKE DRAGON FIRE GO BACK NOW!
#1 – We”re getting up close and personal of whatever is left of the Mountain.
Image Credit: HBO
Back in October, Hill made noise that “Today we learned that cutting off a man's head is not a felony as long as you put it back on after.” Which could”ve been a reference to a lot of things; the returning of Robb”s bones to family or an allusion to the House of Black and White.
Then on December 10, HBO released the above image along with some tantalizing new details. On Day 64 of the shoot, problems cropped up as “Dragon Unit” tried to film a character held in a tiny cell. The crew ended up removing two walls from the prison just to fit all the equipment in. But it was worth it the next day when everything came together for the mysterious captive.
Hill teased, “Even the shortest of takes can seem like forever, if you have to hold your breath and be completely still – like a corpse.” So there you have it. Whatever Qyburn was doing to Gregor Clegane to make him scream in “A Feast For Crows” is coming to fruition. Ser Robert Strong will most likely be making his grand appearance this year.
#2 – The brothels of King”s Landing are still around but Littlefinger is gone. So…
Image Credit: HBO
This is more speculation and hope than anything else, but Hill released the image above with a funny anecdote about how unsexy it is to film naked people. On Day 61, discussions revolved around how many ladies (and gentlemen perhaps) should be on the couch vs. the floor and if it was time to showcase “…some period-appropriate prophylactics.”
But Littlefinger is gone. Varys is gone. Ros is gone. So who is in charge of this establishment? With any luck, the cast-off Chataya and her daughter Alayaya. Not only would it give insight into the culture of the Summer Isles (and help HBO fix their screw up by letting show-created Ros whitewash away TWO important characters), but it would put control of the world”s oldest profession back into the hands of women. In the book, Chataya”s ladies (and gentlemen) are treated with respect by their madame and well-compensated. A far cry from the treatment by Lord Baelish.
With show Bran completely caught up to book Bran and HBO”s Sansa dangerously close to the end of her novel counterpart”s current arc, fans of Martin”s written word have a choice. Either bid farewell to the HBO show or, more likely, come to grips with the fact that spoilers for “Winds of Winter” and beyond will be cropping up like so many skeleton soldiers.
“Game of Thrones” returns to HBO in the spring of 2015.