‘Game of Thrones’ Creators on Season 5: ‘We’re Building to a Crescendo’
It’s featured “Red Weddings,” literal head-crushings, WTF lead-character murders, death by dragonfire and molten gold force-feedings, major plot twists, and epic battles involving gargantuan woolly mammoths and bow-and-arrow-wielding ice giants. As legions of Game of Thrones fans can attest, HBO’s fantasy series has never skimped on spectacle, big set pieces or creative ways of detailing what happens when you cross the wrong politically ambitious person in Westeros and beyond. And though anyone who’s read George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire novels knows that there’s much more is in store for the Starks, the Lannisters, Jon Snow and the Mother of Dragons, it’s tough to imagine that anything could top the last four seasons. Winter is coming — but after matrimonial massacres and cast-of-thousands sieges, where is there left for the hit show to go?
Ask showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss that question, however, and they’ll tell you that things are just getting warmed up — according to the pair, the upcoming fifth season is going to be the most epic to date. “We’re starting to build to a crescendo now,” Benioff says. “Two of the set pieces we shot this year have been the biggest ones to date. And on a story level…expect a snowball effect.” As they prepare for the show’s return on April 12th, the writer/producers weighed in on what to expect, the “spoiler” issue, and why the end may be in sight.
What can we expect from this season?
Benioff: For four seasons, you’ve had all these characters who’ve been separated by geography — from Daenerys and her band of warriors roaming around to everyone in Westeros. Now, these storylines are starting to merge. It’s going to be a big East-meets-West season.
Weiss: It’ll be easier to keep things straight for the viewers – and for us.
This is one of the advantages of having a show with a high mortality rate: the potential for things to get streamlined eventually.
Benioff: It certainly does keep things fresh. [Laughs] Most of the actors have read the books…
Weiss: …or have looked up stuff online to see what’s going to happen to their characters, so it’s never really a surprise.
Benioff: I mean, Sean Bean was number one on the call sheet — and he got his head chopped off. So it’s hard for anybody on the show to think that they would not also be in danger of getting their head chopped off.
That must have been an awkward conversation.
Benioff: Sean knew that going in, so no surprise there.
Weiss: The one-year contract was a big tip-off. “You guys sure you don’t need options here?” “No, no, we’re good, thanks.” [Both laugh]