Bran Stark and Hodor are taking a holiday. Their storyline has caught up with the books, so that crew beyond the Wall will apparently not be featured in Season 5.

"We have a season off and we have a year's hiatus, solely because I imagine our storyline is up to the end of the books," [Kristian Nairn] said.

I am not thrilled as Bran is one of my favorites, but I'm also not surprised given the situation with the books. And that'll just make that crew's return that much bigger, I think. I can cope.

ETA: This news is only from an offhand quote from Nairn in an article about his DJ tour, so there is apparently some possibility that only Nairn and Ellie Kendrick (Meera) won't be featured, as some at Vulture have speculated. But for now I'm just going off the quote itself, which may be subject to change. Stay tuned.

Edited September 3, 201411 yr by Vee

Well, I guess it's just as well because there will be so many new characters next year anyway.

Ugh. I guess some of the people who insist Bran is boring and pointless will be happy. Bran was always one of my favorites.

This year seems like it will have so many changes, and after the way they handled some of the King's Landing and Arya material this season, I'm not sure how much I am interested in any of that.

I guess I will mostly just hope they get the Theon, Stannis/Mel/Davos, Jon, Sansa stuff right, as that's the main reason I'm still watching.

Edited September 4, 201411 yr by DRW50

Winter Is Coming is now going off a Boxtrolls interview Isaac Hempstead-Wright just did with the Irish press (from today, apparently), suggesting he will be filming even if Bran's back-up crew is not. I guess we'll have to see. HBO has yet to comment.

There's one scene I really want to see...I hope they at least film that.

(book spoilers)

I'm not sure they would need to even have Bran in it, but basically Bran's spirit appears in the werrwood tree at Winterfell and helps "Reek" return to being Theon.

I wish I hadn't clicked that, but it does sound neat.

Another installment of Maisie Williams and other teenagers make me feel very, very old.

GoT won a TV Choice Award, accepted by Maisie.

https://twitter.com/TVChoice/status/509085882876715008/photo/1

I've watched all the Teen and YoutTuber react videos (and NOT the elders and kids, LoL). The latest one almost gave me a twitch. I'm only 25 and it made me feel ancient. I only had NES in my house until I was, at least, 11 or 12, when I got a PlayStation. I always envied those who had an SNES, though. So good.

GOT cast and ex-cast continue staying busy in the off-season - Charles Dance is in Dracula Untold, as the zombified Emperor Caligula, who apparently sires Dracula. Yeah, I don't get it either. Also surprisingly featured is Art Parkinson (Rickon Stark), as Dracula's son and the apparent narrator of the trailer.

Meanwhile, Rose Leslie (Ygritte) is some sort of demonically-troubled bride in Honeymoon.

Many have likely heard about this, but Charles Dance hints that he will appear in Season 5.

Also, the Nerdist has a Comic-Con piece up with Isaac Hempstead-Wright, who seems to clearly indicate he will be featured, but who knows.

Loras is back on the job in Dubrovnik/King's Landing. Also, Winterfell rises again.

Sophie Turner is modeling. Also, discussing GOT and her new horror flick, Another Me, with Vulture at the link. Re: Season 4's developments with Sansa:

She’s like the evil twin of Sansa! Actually, that’s the real Sansa, to be honest. That’s how I look at her. The Sansa who’s been lurking in the shadows. She's like Gollum and Smeagol. [chuckles] [...] She’s the real Sansa. The Sansa you saw up until season four... I mean, in season one, that's who she was. But in seasons two, three, and four, she was kind of using the facade of her season one self, to deceive. So I think what we’ve done, you missed seeing the progression into the dark Sansa, and we’re just seeing it suddenly emerge, because she’s been deceiving people with this mask. Or at least that’s how I see it!

I'm not sure if I linked the Another Me trailer, so voila.

And yes, somehow there is more Isaac Hempstead-Wright as he continues the endless Boxtrolls press tour and demonstrates warging and the whole eyes thing for Screen Junkies, which he apparently learned from pro wrestling.

Edited September 26, 201411 yr by Vee

I wonder if he will still have to wear the wig as Bran.

I don't know how I feel about too much focus on Sansa's "dark side," as I tend to see this as just her trying to survive, but I am interested in where it goes.

So it looks like Loras will have more to do this season. Finn Jones always goes to cons (I know actors do that for money but I still think it's nice for fans), so I wonder if he'll give anything away.

I'll be happy to see the weirwood trees again.

Alfie Allen has moved back to the UK to do theater and to be around his family (I hadn't been aware he'd been living in LA in the first place...). He's made some movies - Plastic (a caper movie with Emma Rigby, Ed Speelers, etc.) and some Keanu Reeves movie called John Wick where Reeves is an ex-gangster who wants vengeance on Alfie for killing his dog.

Not my type of stuff, but I hope it leads to more work for him.

http://nypost.com/2014/09/21/alfie-allen-ready-to-take-over-the-family-spotlight-from-sister/

Finn Jones is so cute so I'm glad to see more Loras....glad to see that they're all staying busy tho. Sophie Turner is def someone who has such a classical Hollywood beauty.

Prince of Sunspear, I owe you my most sincere apologies. I read some of your posts earlier in this thread that expressed frustration because GRRM has not finished writing these books, and my instinctive reaction was along the lines of "Geez, back off. He's written a gazillion pages already. You can't rush the creative process! He'll finish it eventually."

Then I read the books.

I just finished A Dance With Dragons. I have watched all 4 seasons of the show. I have this enormous void now that can only be filled with new episodes and new books, and I absolutely understand your frustration now. So, I am very sorry for being less than sympathetic before. I know that odds are he's going to just kill everyone and be done with it, but even so, I really, really want to read it all. Now. And barring that, I'd really like to watch the next season already.