Richard Plepler Talks How Benioff Sold HBO on Game of Thrones

How does a global phenomenon start? Ten years ago, a TV show based on the novels of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series was a wild pipe dream. Though fantasy had picked up steam in popular culture with first Lord of the Rings and then the Harry Potter series, these were large budget movies, not television mini series. The leading edge of the new golden age of television had been jump started on HBO, but it was with shows like The Sopranos, set in modern day Jersey, not princesses and sword bearing heroes who lived on Planetos. So what was it about this pilot that when the CEO of HBO read it, he decided that the next step in big budget television serials was dragons?

This question was put to said CEO of HBO, Richard Plepler yesterday at the New York Times’ New Work Summit. Billed as a conference to inspire business leaders to create the company of the future, it featured talks with a disparate group of innovators from leading edge neurosurgeons discussing 21 century medical breakthroughs to J.J. Abrams, whose Bad Robot company has been responsible from everything from TV cult hit Fringe to the Star Trek revival of 2009, and Abrams himself working with Disney, for the revival of the Star Wars brand to the tune of $2 billion and counting. Among the group was also Plepler who discussed HBO’s launch into streaming service and how he’s worked to take the channel from a pay channel with nothing but movies brand to synonymous with the leading edge of innovative television series.

So why did he decide to take a chance on Game of Thrones? He admits that initially he was very nervous about it, as dragons and zombies seemed, in his works “off brand.” It turns out, it was a one on one with David Benioff that convinced him this story was worth it.

Benioff, for the record, wasn’t wrong about how this show was going to appeal to those who are not usually into swords, sorcery, fights between good and evil, or swayed by the cuteness of baby dragons roasting their lunch. Game of Thrones’ political parable of leaders myopically fighting for power as uncontrollable disaster looms resonates not only in the US and the UK, but to people around the world.

Plepler also discussed their “line in the sand” when it came to allowing shows to stream “outside of the HBO ecosystem.”

As Plepler later said, for HBO: “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” For those who don’t know, that’s actually a quote from politician Haley Barbour. Turns out Plepler really is a political junkie…

Via http://winteriscoming.net/2016/03/02/richard-plepler-talks-how-benioff-sold-hbo-on-game-of-thrones/

A new Karstark cast for Game of Thrones season 6

There are still a few mysteries remaining when it comes to season 6 casting for Game of Thrones. One of the roles unaccounted for is- was- that of the new Lord Karstark. The batch of casting notices released in June described a role that our sources confirmed to be Karstark, heir to the previous lord Rickard played by John Stahl. Lord Rickard was beheaded in season 3 by Robb Stark, leading the Karstarks to abandon the Stark cause.

The character is described as :

Lord of Northern Stronghold: The show’s looking for an actor in his late thirties or forties to play another lord, one that’s ruthless and calculating. The frightening lord rules a vassal household with a castle stronghold.

According to the notice, the character will be in 3 episodes of season 6. We now know, based on information that has surfaced on the actor’s CV, that the role of Harald Karstark will be played by Paul Rattray .

In the ASOIAF novels, Rickard Karstark’s eldest son and heir was named “Harrion.”

Rattray has appeared in several British series such as Holby City, Doctors, and Birdsong.

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In other casting news:

Irish actor Ruairí Heading will be appearing in season 6, in the role of the Green Recruit. Jack Bender is listed as the director on his CV.

The Green Recruit also appeared on the June casting notice list; it appears to be a small role that was scheduled for one day of filming.

Heading appeared in the RTE series Rebellion and shot a role in the upcoming film The Lost City of Z.

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Our final piece of casting info today involves a younger actress, news that WotW reader John discovered.

According to the website of the Pauline Quirke Academy, one of their students Annette Hannah filmed a role on Game of Thrones for season 6. The Academy posted on their News page, “CONGRATULATIONS to Annette who recently landed the role of Frances in Game of Thrones!” and shared a photo of the girl on the throne.

The website quotes Annette as saying, “I had such an amazing time and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I especially loved working with Lena Headey, Anton Lesser and Julian Glover!”

Annette’s father says on the website, “I am so proud of the incredibly professional way she worked on her first ever role. Watching her was amazing and the whole process of filming was fascinating.”

In December, a scene was filmed at Shane’s Castle involving Anton Lesser (Qyburn) and some child performers. It’s possible but not confirmed that Hannah is connected to this scene.

The post A new Karstark cast for Game of Thrones season 6 appeared first on Watchers on the Wall.

Via http://watchersonthewall.com

Game of Thrones Season 6: The Last Time We Saw The Tullys…

As we enter the month of February, HBO has begun to ramp up the marketing for Game of Thrones Season 6. On Monday, we got our very first look at a behind-the-scenes video for Season 6, and it looks like the siege at Riverrun is going to play a part this year. In that regard, we will take a look at the last time we saw Riverrun on Game of Thrones, and the last time we saw the other members of House Tully…but before we do so, don’t forget: we’ve previously looked back on House Lannister, House Stark, House Tyrell, and House Greyjoy, all to help you catch up ahead of April 24.

House Tully

When last we saw the members of House Tully all together (sans Lysa) on Game of Thrones, it wasn’t in their ancestral home of Riverrun, but at House Frey’s seat of power, the Twins. There, at the infamous Red Wedding, several of them were murdered, kidnapped, and disappeared, and the once mighty Lords of the Riverlands were no more. To understand the demise of House Tully, one need only look at which great House they aligned themselves with.

Before the events of the current Game of Thrones timeline, Robert Baratheon called his banners and went to war against Aerys Targaryen in the War of the Usurper. His best friend—Eddard Stark—also called his banners and marched a Northern army down from the Neck to Riverrun, where he married Catelyn Tully, thus solidifying the alliance. Sadly, that marriage sealed House Tully’s fate, as years later, Ned and Catelyn would make a series of blunders (honor-bound or not) that would lead to not only their deaths, but the deaths of their children and friends and loyal bannermen.

In Game of Thrones Season 3, Robb Stark’s Northern army made a stop at his mother’s childhood home, Riverrun. There, we were introduced to the deceased Lord Hoster Tully, who had served as Lord Paramount of the Riverlands for many years.

We were also introduced to Brynden “The Blackfish” Tully, Lord Hoster’s grizzled younger brother and Catelyn’s uncle. Then we met the new Lord of Riverrun, the affable Edmure Tully, Catelyn’s younger brother.

Because Robb followed his heart and decided to break the marriage pact his mother had made for him with old Lord Walder Frey, he and the other members of House Tully were forced to travel to the Twins and offer to marry Edmure to one of Lord Frey’s daughters in Robb’s place. Little did they know that they were falling right into a Frey/Lannister/Bolton trap.

During the wedding festivities, Edmure and his new bride were carried off for the bedding ceremony. After he had gone, Catelyn and the Northerners were ambushed and murdered in the main hall, as Lords Frey and Bolton watched. By sheer luck, the Blackfish had excused himself not long before the massacre started to find a place where he could relieve himself…his full bladder saved his life. Brynden fled back to Riverrun and closed the gates, where the castle is now under siege by the combined forces of Frey and Lannister. Edmure remains a prisoner of the Freys.

Another important Tully not at the Red Wedding was Lysa Arryn, daughter of Hoster and sister to Catelyn and Edmure. Perhaps the most unpleasant of all the Tullys, Lysa was married to Jon Arryn during Robert’s Rebellion. This meant that the Houses of Stark, Tully, and Arryn were all united by marriage, which helped them present a unified front in the fight against the Targaryens…is it any wonder that Robert won his war?

Lysa did not want to marry Jon. There was another she was more interested in, and his name was Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish. However, Littlefinger was too lowborn for Lord Hoster’s daughter and he offered nothing of import to the alliance, and therefore was sent away…besides, Petyr Baelish had eyes for another. The last time we saw poor crazy Lysa, she was falling through the Moondoor of the Eyrie, pushed out by the man she loved.

Here’s where House Tully stands ahead of Game of Thrones Season 6:

• Brynden “The Blackfish” Tully holds Riverrun against a siege that would see a Frey take lordship of the castle and the entire Riverlands.
• Edmure Tully is a prisoner of the Freys, and if the show follows the books, he will be marched out to a gibbet and strung up in front of Riverrun, daily, in a futile attempt by the Freys to scare the Blackfish into giving up the castle.
• Hoster Tully, Lysa Arryn, and Catelyn Stark are dead…**wink wink**

The situation for House Tully is certainly dire, and I for one do not see it getting any better…but what do I know?

There is one minor character who we haven’t heard about since Season 1, but in the books is wandering about the Riverlands with a pack of followers around this time: Nymeria, Arya’s direwolf. We got reports that a pack of wolves was situated in the forests near the Riverrun set. Could Nymeria’s wolfpack make an appearance on Game of Thrones in Season 6? And if so, will it be wrecking some Freys and or Lannisters? Oh, that would be glorious.

Via http://winteriscoming.net/2016/03/01/game-of-thrones-season-6-the-last-time-we-saw-the-tullys/

Celeb roundup: George R.R. Martin interviews author Joe Lansdale, and more

The success of Game of Thrones has been excellent for George R.R. Martin’s career. After the way it exploded, other authors are doubtlessly hoping that TV networks will adapt their long-running novel series. Case in point: Joe Lansdale, the author of several books revolving around Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, two friends who live in South Texas and find themselves solving a variety of unsavory crimes, is having his novels adapted by Sundance TV as Hap and Leonard, which will debut tomorrow. Martin is apparently a fan, as he sat down to interview Lansdale about the show, as you can see above.

Obviously, there’s no talk about A Song of Ice and Fire or Game of Thrones here, but it’s neat to see Martin stumping for a fellow author. Surely he can offer Lansdale some advice about managing his time now that he may have multiple commitments.

In other Game of Thrones celebrity news, we have a follow-up to the story from a few days back that Finn Jones, known to Thrones fans as Loras Tyrell, had been cast as superhero Iron Fist in a new Marvel Netflix series of the same name. Setting aside concerns from fans about how Jones will manage to juggle filming Thrones with playing the lead on a new show (knowing Game of Thrones’ reputation for killing characters, at least one morbid possibility suggests itself), his casting has rubbed some people the wrong way. Among those is comic book writer Marjorie Liu (Dark Wolverine, X-23), who took to Twitter to express her displeasure that a white actor had been cast in the role. Here’s what she said on Twitter:

Iron Fist is an orientalist-white-man-yellow-fever narrative. Asian actor would have helped subvert that offensive trope, and reclaim space.

In the comics, Iron Fist (alter ego Danny Rand) is a white man who uses the power of the Iron Fist to focus his chi. We’ll see if Jones’ casting causes any more fallout as the series debut gets closer.

Finally, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (Gregor “the Mountain” Clegane) may soon get another opportunity to perform ridiculous feats of strength, as has become his custom every few months. According to the Herald Sun, Björnsson will compete in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Strongman World Championships, which will run from March 18-20 in Melbourne, Australia. “Thor is a lovely man,” said promoter Tony Doherty. “He’s also in peak condition and raring to … (win) the world’s strongest man contest.” Expect him to tear apart a ship with his bare hands or something later this month.

h/t TVOvermind, The Independent

Via http://winteriscoming.net/2016/03/01/celeb-roundup-george-r-r-martin-interviews-author-joe-lansdale-and-more/

Breaking down the shots from the ‘Inside GoT’ video

Yesterday afternoon, after zero trailers and very little new footage of Game of Thrones Season 6, the show’s Twitter account released the first Behind the Scenes short for the upcoming season. In terms of timing, it was right on cue: the first of these shorts usually comes out a couple of weeks after the big trailer drop. There are usually four or five such shorts, and they appear every couple of weeks between the trailer and the premiere. Of course the “big trailer drop” was more of a sad trombone for most: a Hall of Faces-themed teaser that didn’t feature any new footage.

But the Inside GoT video was interesting for a second reason: unlike in years past, there was no email to subscribers that a new video was uploaded to YouTube. Instead, like everything else this season, the video arrived via Twitter. If one goes to the Game of Thrones YouTube page, the video isn’t there, due to privacy settings. This narrow use of a single mode of social media to announce the release of all promotional material for the coming season is surprising, especially since, by many accounts, Twitter is on the decline. Using Twitter to release everything three seasons ago would have been cutting edge. Now it’s just preferable to those terrible Snapchat-style videos from last year.

Dan pulled some screenshots from the five-minute clip yesterday in his post, but I wanted to dive a little deeper into these images and pull a few more than he didn’t.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I want to start here with this picture. Note the men in the doorway. In the clip, they are clearly working through fight choreography But they are definitely not Sons of the Harpies: the clothes are too leather and brown. That’s because they’re on the same set we see in this image:

Look at the walls, and you’ll see they are a match. During filming, we gathered many spoilers, but we found very little about Daario and Jorah’s attempts to rescue Daenerys. It looks like that’s because at least some of their stuff was filmed on an indoor set.

This is a cute image of Huisman playing around, but it should be noted again that it’s from the same shoot. The question is whether these underground tunnels are located in the same place as this:

A look at the walls suggests that they are. This is important because, as we see in other shots, this is probably part of Vaes Dothrak.

This shot is from filming on site in Almeria, and the color appear to match those used in the previous shots. My bet is that this is from Dany’s arrival at Vaes Dothrak, and that the fight choreography we saw being done in the earlier shot is of Jorah and Daario taking down Dothraki, or taking down slaves who live there.

One more point: due to this next shot, we have a good idea when these scenes will fall in the season.

Note that clapboard: Episode 604.

So from what we know, Dany’s adventure to Vaes Dothrak, and whatever happens that will free her from their captivity, will go down down in the first half of the season.

We’re all betting on dragons for this fire, no?

Another striking aspect: the Jorah/Daario plot is the only storyline from Season 6 that we didn’t have a clue about before this. If we look through the rest of the screen shots, though some of them are technically “unseen before now,” they are from scenes we had glimpses of in the promotional pictures.

These are a perfect example. Although these are our first images of Young Ned and Young Brandon from the Winterfell flashback, we’ve already seen another shot from this scene: in the promotional pictures the other week:

Now we know what Bran is watching.

Dan thought this was from Season 5. Not so. I think it’s the scene that concludes with his arrival back in King’s Landing, as seen in the promotional pictures:

(And since we know from filming spoilers that this was done in Dubrovnik, we know this is from the very beginning of the season.)

And this is clearly of a piece with this:

And our shot of Peter Dinklage waiting for his entrance…

…is of a piece with this:

Now let’s look at the shots from the House of Black and White, probably filmed in Belfast.

Jaqen H’ghar is treating a dead body. When the camera pulls in close, we see something that shouldn’t come as a surprise: his face has been cut out.

I mean, we all knew that’s what they did to the bodies. It’s not a spoiler.

The same goes for this shot of Ellie Kendrick (Meera) This shot doesn’t tell us much, other than “Meera is still around and it’s still snowy north of the Wall.”

Ditto the Sons of the Harpy fighting against a green screen, which we see from a couple of different angles. This is more of what we expected from these characters.

We all really want to know what she’s looking at.

We all really want to know what they are talking about. Especially since this shot looks to be filmed at the Castle Black set.

But what’s interesting to me is how they introduce this shot:

Note down by the feet to the right of the guards: the tops of the Flayed Man cross of House Bolton.

As we pan across this fog covered field, you can see more crosses. Now, those of us who have paid attention to spoilers know exactly what this field is: this is where the Battle of the Bastards happens. It’s the site of the big fight that will serve as the climax of the season in Episode 9. According to rumor, Ramsay will tie a couple of people to those crosses and burn them during the battle. But there’s no hint of what they might be for in this shot. It’s almost a mundane scenery shot.

The Battle of the Bastards took 13 weeks to film from start to finish. (The battle itself took nine.) The production couldn’t leave the images out—clearly, the show is very proud of the sequence. But the fact that what it shows is devoid of detail suggests that the producers know perfectly well they can’t let us know who was filming.

Via http://winteriscoming.net/2016/03/01/breaking-down-the-shots-from-the-inside-got-video/

The results are in! Here are your guesses for Game of Thrones season 6 episode titles

Photo: created with wordle.net

Editor’s Note: This guest post and survey was created by WotW reader James Rivers. After asking for fans’ input on potential episode titles for Game of Thrones season 6, over 1300 readers responded enthusiastically. The results are compiled a little differently this year, owing to the new path we’re forging, less guided by the books but we hope poring over the outcome and ideas of the fans is as much fun as ever. Thank you for reading! -Sue the Fury

The Oscars have an accounting firm to help tabulate and analyze their annual balloting. Us, not so much, but here we go.

We had well over three times the response to this year’s survey compared to the season 5 survey— each episode title had in the range of 800-950 submissions. On the one hand, this is exciting and reflects the growth of WatchersOnTheWall. On the other, it made it harder to tabulate, given wild variations on very similar names, typos and the like.

A more obvious challenge for survey respondents: We have “no idea what’s going to happen.” Sure, we have some spoilers, and we have a handful of major book events yet unseen on screen, but the season ahead remains a largely blank canvas. As a result, we have very repetitive top choices episode-to-episode. So we’re going to present the results differently than we did last year.

This post is meant to be largely safe for the Unsullied- though some episode titles are potential spoilers in themselves. For those who either haven’t read the books or haven’t read many of the filming leaks from this season, spoiler coding is used where appropriate below the fold. Click to uncover spoilers. Overall, proceed with caution!

Overall Top Titles

Here are the episode names that got at least 100 overall guesses (only very similar guesses were combined).

• Kingsmoot    390
• The Winds of Winter    342
• Family, Duty, Honor    237
• Tower of Joy    226
• Queen of Nothing    219
• Crow’s Eye    196
• The Long Night    147
• Mummer’s Farce    140
• Winter/Winter Has Come    126
• Valonqar    117
• A Thousand Eyes and One    116
• Mercy    112
• Promise Me    112
• The Prince That Was Promised/The One That Was Promised    105

In this Top 14 list, we have several references to events from the books (or sample chapters) not yet in the show, a forthcoming book title, family words, and even something directly from the Season 6 teaser involving Dany.

Next, here’s titles with 50 to 99 guesses.

• Trial by the Seven/Faith     98
• We Do Not Sow    93
• Cat of the Canals    90
• Seven-Pointed Star    86
• Mother of Mountains    84
• A Time for Wolves    82
• The Citadel    81
• Battle of the
  Bastards
     81
• Oldtown    78
• Riverlands/
  (Siege of)
  Riverrun    67
• A Feast for Crows    64
• Night Gathers    59
• Hodor    59
• (Amid/st) Salt and Smoke    56
• A Golden Shroud (and very similar)    53
• Cleganebowl
     52
• Greenseer/The Last Greenseer    50

We’ve got references to Cersei’s presumed plotline; a book title; a maybe-if-there-winds-up-being-an-eighth-book title; a castle; a city; a major spoiler from Season 6 leaks; and even a fan-given name for a possible eventual event.

Lastly, titles with 25 to 49 guesses.

• Azor Ahai    49
• (Song of) Ice and Fire    47
• The North Remembers    47
• The Lord Of Winterfell    44
• Horn Of Winter/Joramun    43
• Broken Men    41
• Ghost    39
• The Battle of
  Winterfell
     36
• Hear Me Roar    35
• Snow    35
• Warrior of Light    34
• Winterfell    33
• Battle of Ice    33
• The Stallion Who Mounts World    33
• A Ghost In Winterfell    31
• What Is Dead May Never Die    30
• Growing Strong    29
• Lord Stark    29
• Battle of Six Armies    28
• Bastards    28
• Blackfish    27
• The Ink Is Dry    27
• No One    27
• Lightbringer    26
• Lord of Light    26
• Bloodraven    25
• Dosh Khaleen    25
• Silence    25
• The Bloody Hand    25

Apparently a number of fans think the show should reuse titles like “The North Remembers” and “What Is Dead May Never Die.” Can’t blame them, given speculated events coming up in Season 6. Various battle names here as well, all referring to the same possible event.

You’ll notice that among the 60 or so titles above, many overlap one another in terms of the character, plot or event they reference. I took the liberty of lumping popular related titles together into groups and used them for the next section.

The top 11 groups are:

• Dany and the Dothraki
• Jon Snow’s fate
• Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven
• Cersei’s trial and fate
• Riverrun
• Arya
• The typical Episode 9 extravaganza
• Winter is really coming now
• Sam’s destination
• All things Greyjoy
• Tower of Joy events

This would appear to cover most major storylines, with the exception of events in Meereen.

Top Titles by Episode, Three Ways

For each of the 10 episodes, we’ll list:

1. The top picks from the survey for that episode. I was more liberal in combining similar titles here. Anything with 15 guesses or more for that episode is listed. If multiple episodes had the same winning title (“Kingsmoot,” for instance), then I “assigned” it to the episode where it got the most votes. Overly specific/spoilery titles (example: “Sansa Marries Ramsay” if this were Season 5) are hidden.
2. The most likely titles for the episode from the 11 groups listed above (“Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven” etc.). This is based, when possible, on the spoilers reported by WatchersOnTheWall.  These typically involve which directors were spotting filming what and where — and when not, on speculation. A spoiler compendium by Yaga and Jared is linked here. These titles are hidden below spoiler tags.
3. An “honorable mention” title — one that received no more than five votes in the entire survey, but that I personally liked and that generally fits with the theme/group of part “B.”

Shall we, then?

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Episode One

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• Night Gathers    51
• A Thousand Eyes and One    51
• The Winds of Winter/Winter/Winter Has Come    41
• Kingsmoot    39
• Queen of Nothing    31
• A Feast for Crows    28
• (Amid/st) Salt and Smoke    27
• A Golden Shroud (or similar)    27
• Ghost    24
• Greenseer/The Last Greenseer/The Sight    24
• Tower of Joy    16
• What Is Dead May Never Die    15
• The Ink Is Dry    15

And we start off with a tie between the opening words of the Night’s Watch oath and a quote from the tail end of Season 4 from the Three-Eyed Raven. Both seem appropriately foreboding. We’ve also a couple of quotes from preseason teasers, as well as a reference to Myrcella’s death. Oh, and a title from Season 2.

From overall picks, with speculation:

• A Thousand Eyes and One    116
• Greenseer/The Last Greenseer/The Sight    50
• The Ink Is Dry    27
• Bloodraven    25

“Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven” Group total: 218

You’d think that Bran and company would be re-introduced in Episode 1 given their absence last season…perhaps in the very first scene. If so, this might be the episode with a title most likely to refer to them. Four such titles had at least 25 guesses, with the Three-Eyed Raven’s description of how he has watched Bran receiving by far the most. This choice also assumes that Jon’s likely resurrection doesn’t happen immediately.

Honorable Mention:

• You Will Fly

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Episode Two

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• Queen of Nothing/Khaleesi Vosi    101
• Kingsmoot    77
• Crow’s Eye    56
• Cat of the Canals    45
• A Thousand Eyes and One    29
• We Do Not Sow    22
• Mother of Mountains    19
• Tower of Joy    18
• A Golden Shroud (or similar)    18
• White Harbor    15
• Last Greenseer/The Sight/etc    15

Kingsmoot rises to No.2 here. You’ll be seeing a lot of it. A large amount of repetition, with about half of these title also popular for Episode 1. But overall the winner is a quote from a preseason teaser, available in two languages.

From overall picks, with speculation:

• Queen of Nothing/Khaleesi Vosi      219
• Mother of Mountains    84
• Dosh Khaleen    25

“Dany and Dothraki” Group total: 328

We’ll go ahead and concur by sticking the Dany-related titles here. Perhaps this episode also strongly features Margaery and Cersei. At the least, it establishes the predicament all three presumably find themselves in as the season opens.

Honorable Mention:

• Womb of the World

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Episode Three

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• Kingsmoot    90
• Queen of Nothing/Khaleesi Vosi    55
• Crow’s Eye    48
• Mother of Mountains    34
• Mercy    25
• Cat of the Canals    20
• The Citadel 20
• We Do Not Sow    19
• Tower of Joy    16
• The Mummer’s Dragon    16
• A Thousand Eyes and One    15

This is the first of three episodes with “Kingsmoot” as the top choice. Yes, three. But its most votes came for Episode 3, so it gets the bolded treatment above. With “Crow’s Eye” and “We Do Not Sow” also getting votes, it’s a Greyjoy fest all up in here. Two of Arya’s alternate identities also make an appearance, as does “Mummer’s Dragon.” Book readers have a theory as to what character that represents, but it’s not someone we’ve seen on the show yet and there’s no sign of him coming in Season 6, though you never know.

From overall picks, with speculation: ]

• The Citadel    81
• Oldtown    78

“Sam” group total: 159

The Sam-related title grouping actually placed 11th overall. It’s here only because the episode titles from three of the 11 above groups would, based on spoilers,

make the most sense for Episode 5 or 6. Speaking of Episodes 5 and 6, the Tarly family dinner is to occur during one of them, which means Sam and Gilly and her baby almost certainly swing through Oldtown en route (especially since we now know they travel by boat). Maybe Episode 3 is when they’ll land there.

 

Honorable Mention:

• The Glass Candle

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Episode Four

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• Kingsmoot    77
• The Mummer’s Farce    43
• Tower Of Joy    21
• We Do Not Sow    21
• Crow’s Eye    20
• The Citadel 19
• Queen Of Nothing/Khaleesi Vosi    17
• Mother Of Mountains    15

There’s “Kingsmoot” at the top again. But it had more votes for Episode 3, so we’ll tag “The Mummer’s Farce,” which could also refer to something Braavosi in nature, as the Episode 4 pick. Pretty much everything else on this list is a retread.

From overall picks, with speculation:

• The Prince That Was Promised/The One That Was Promised    105
• (Amid/st) Salt and Smoke    56
• Azor Ahai    49
• Warrior Of Light    34
• The Stallion That Mounts the World    33
• Lightbringer    26

“Prophecies from the books” group total: 303

We lack clear spoilers on when the “Is Jon dead?” mystery will be resolved, but it would likely need to be the same episode as

the Tower of Joy episode (Episode 5 or 6, per spoilers) or in an earlier one. And with Dany involved in some sort of tent-torching act in Episode 3 or 4, perhaps Jon will be revived the same episode? To me Episode 4 seems a little long for him to be on ice, but we’ll go with it.

Honorable Mention:

• The Old Words

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Episode Five

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• Kingsmoot    68
• Tower of Joy    35
• Crow’s Eye    28
• The Mummer’s Farce    22
• Promise Me/The Promise    19
• Mercy    17
• The Citadel 16
• Broken Men    15
• Family, Duty, Honor    17

“Kingsmoot” was already number one for Episode 3. “Tower of Joy” is No.1 for another episode. That bumps us down to “Crow’s Eye,” which I suppose could be used as a double entendre early in the season to refer to both the Three-Eyed Raven and a new season 6 character, even if said new character lacks the physical characteristic on the show that yielded that nickname in the books.

From overall picks, with speculation:

• Kingsmoot    390
• Crow’s Eye    196
• Silence    25
• We Do Not Sow    93
• What Is Dead May Never Die    30

“All things Greyjoy” group total: 734

The huge number of Euron-related guesses guaranteed placement somewhere on the “informed speculation” list. Fans think, based on spoilers,

that the titular meeting occurs in a Jack Bender episode, hence No.5 or No.6, so here we are. “Crow’s Eye” seems less likely only because it’s unclear if Euron will be one-eyed on the show. “Silence” would be a neat title, though, albeit for whatever episode we first meet the pirate.

Honorable Mention:

• King of Salt Rock

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Episode Six

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• Tower of Joy    56
• Family, Duty, Honor    50
• Promise Me/The Promise    45
• Kingsmoot    27
• The Mummer’s Farce    24
• Mercy    21
• The Winds of Winter    19
• The Seven-Pointed Star    19
• (Siege of)
  Riverrun/Riverlands    16

The Tower of Joy sequence has mythical import among A Song of Ice and Fire readers, and wouldn’t it make sense that whatever episode features it will also have it for its title?

From overall picks, with speculation:

• Tower of Joy    226
• Promise Me    112

“Tower of Joy” group total: 338

• The Mummer’s Farce    140
• Mercy    112
• The Bloody Hand    25

“Arya and the players” group total:  277

The Tower of Joy sequence is in

Episode 5 or 6, we think. And so is the mummers’ play involving Westerosi characters (though the troupe also appears later in the season). Rather than tossing one of these up to Episode 3, where we know it won’t belong, I’m just listing both groups of titles here.

Honorable Mention:

• Blood and Roses

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Episode Seven

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• Family, Duty, Honor    92
• Tower Of Joy    24
• (Siege of)
  Riverrun/Riverlands     22
• Mummer’s Farce    21
• Trial (of the Seven, of the Faith, by Combat…) 21
• Crow’s Eye    17
• Seven-Pointed Star 15

The Tully family words are by far the top choice here. It will be most interesting to see how the events on their (former?) home turf shake out.

From overall picks, with speculation

• Valonqar 117
• Trial Of Seven/Faith     98
• Cleganebowl    52
• Seven-Pointed Star    86
• A Golden Shroud 53

“Cersei’s trial and fate” group total: 366

Well, the “informed speculation” guess here depends on whether you decide to combine “Seven-Pointed Star” with “Trial of Seven” and/or “Cleganebowl.” We’ll just go ahead and use “Valonqar” instead, although that’s only directly related if you interpret The Hound to to be the little brother referred to in the prophecy. A safer pick might be something about the Seven. [/spoiler]

Honorable Mention:

• All That You Hold Dear

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Episode Eight

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• Family, Duty, Honor    51
• Trial (of the Seven, of the Faith, by Combat…)   37
• Tower of Joy   32
• Valonqar    26
• (Siege of)
  Riverrun/Riverlands    17
• Warrior of Light    15

Those fishy words make a return appearance at the top here, so we go with the second item on the list, the combined “Trial…” answers.

From overall picks, with speculation:

• Family, Duty, Honor    237
• Riverlands/
  (Siege of) Riverrun[spoiler]    67
• Blackfish    27

“Tully/Riverrun” group total: 331

This could be the episode with the [spoiler]siege of Riverrun — it appears to be happening in Episode 7 or 8, and since Jaime is still in Kings Landing in Episode 6, he’d need one fast jetpack to reach the Riverrlands, get settled in his tent and fight all in one episode. So we’ll use our Tully-themed title here. Have to wonder, though, if we’ll have parallel Lannister battles in the same episode. If Cersei’s trial is in this season, would it be in this episode as well?

Honorable Mention:

• River’s End

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Episode Nine

Okay, these are all spoiler-y. Look away if you don’t want to know anything about the big episode 9!

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• Battle of the Bastards    69
• The Winds Of Winter    64
• A Time For Wolves    37
• Winterfell    31
• Battle Of Ice    29
• Battle Of/for Winterfell    28
• The Long Night    28
• The Battle Of Six Armies    27
• Lord Of Winterfell    25
• Snow   23
• Valonqar    20
• Bastards  18
• Battle Of/for the North    17

Whew. That’s a lot of battles, Winterfells and bastards, with some ice and north thrown in. A wintry mix, if you will. In case you’re wondering (and I know you are), we had 192 guesses involving “Battle  ___________,” 140 with “________ Winterfell,” and 114 that incorporated the word “Bastard.” This includes guesses that fit more than one of those categories, though I don’t think anyone put “The Battle of the Winterfell Bastards.”

From overall picks, with speculation:

• Battle of the Bastards   81
• The Lord Of Winterfell    44
• The Battle of Winterfell   36
• Winterfell    33
• Battle of Ice    33
• A Ghost In Winterfell    31
• Battle of Six Armies    28
• Bastards  28

“Episode 9 extravaganza and related geographical places” group total: 314

We know there’s an insane battle in the north (sorry Stannis, bigger than “great”) in Episode 9. In the entire survey, the totals were 211 guesses for “Battle ____________,” 209 for “________ Winterfell,” and 144 involving Bastard. Now watch, the episode title will involve Dorne instead. 

Honorable Mention:

• The Hell We Live In

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Episode Ten

Top picks specifically for this episode:

• The Winds Of Winter    231
• The Long Night    84
• Winter    69
• Valonqar    41
• Winter Has Come (or similar)    40
• A Time For Wolves    25
• Horn Of Winter/Joramun    21

Well, these are largely nice and vague. Would it be cruel of D&D to title an episode “The Winds of Winter” before the book by that name is released? Or just cruelly appropriate. Well, we’ll see.

From overall picks, with speculation:

• The Winds Of Winter    342
• The Long Night    147
• Winter/Winter Has Come    126
• Horn Of Winter/Joramun    43

“Winter is really coming now” group total: 658

Anyway, there’s no real speculation here, other than by the end of the season we should at least have a White Raven sighting.

Honorable Mention:

• Stormborn

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Outtakes

Finally, here are some amusing, or possibly confusing, entries:

• 2 Girls, 1 Glass Candle
• Olly vs. Longclaw
• The Last Piebender
• Weekend at Balon’s
• Brienne Beats a Great Fighter Who Is Injured
• Dany Finally F***ing Starts Coming to Westeros
• Dark Wings, Darkwing Duck
• Davos Seaworth: Undercover Administrative Assistant
• Greyworm and the Angry Inches
• Guess Who’s Coming to the Iron Islands?
• Hype Gathers
• Just Trolling, He’s Fine
• Least Surprising Reveal of All Time
• Let’s Ruin Jaime Now That We’re Done With Stannis
• Make America Great Again
• Melisandre Burns Davos for No Reason At All
• Rickon and a Unicorn Attack
• The North Kinda Remembers
• The One About the Martells That No One Cares About
• The One That Makes National Headlines and You End Up Having to Explain to Your Grandma Why You Watch That Show
• The One Where Cersei’s Hair Grows Back Extremely Quickly
• The One Where They Try to Top Hardhome but Don’t
• Sand Snakes on a Plane
• Tom Bombadil
• Trystane’s Very Awkward Boat Trip
• Tyrion Actually Makes Us Care About Meereen
• You Say You Want a Resurrection…

A few more with spoilers:

• Mysterious Woman in a Cloak (You Actually Thought It Was Her, Didn’t You?)
• Bastard Bowl 2016 #noregrets
• The Resurrection of Jon Snow
• Sam’s Journey, but Without Aemon, Braavos or the Fat Pink Mast

And that’s all for this year! It won’t be too much longer before we learn how accurate we were with our guesses.

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