Season 8: Speculation and Spoilers Discussion

[Happy Harpy]

5 minutes ago, GrailKing said:

Game of Thrones: Analysis of new information from EW. Small spoilers (photo by Jon and Daenerys). I don't know Spanish so we know the drill. : )

We do.

Quote

[–]TherealFrikidoctor [score hidden] 47 minutes ago 

Nothing new, just my analysis on the EW article and new Jonerys pic.

Not even a fleak.

[GrailKing]

40 minutes ago, Happy Harpy said:

We do.

Not even a fleak.

yeah, I thought I pasted that too, because I highlighted it, forgot the paste.

[Happy Harpy]

13 hours ago, GrailKing said:

yeah, I thought I pasted that too, because I highlighted it, forgot the paste.

On my side, I forgot to put a colon after "we do" so just in case, I meant we know the drill "with him", not with you.

I read on Freefolk that an EW cover for Westworld S2 foreshadowed the last episode (don't watch it, didn't check). LOL if the "end game" on the cover is actually about Jon/Dany together and ruling.

[GrailKing]

1 hour ago, Happy Harpy said:

On my side, I forgot to put a colon after "we do" so just in case, I meant we know the drill "with him", not with you.

I read on Freefolk that an EW cover for Westworld S2 foreshadowed the last episode (don't watch it, didn't check). LOL if the "end game" on the cover is actually about Jon/Dany together and ruling.

No problem.

Now I see Ser Hunt on YT, claiming March return. I didn't check it out. 

[nikma]

29 minutes ago, GrailKing said:

Ser Hunt

Who?

[WindyNights]

Friki thinks the surprising people that made it to the end are Yara Greyjoy and Robert Arryn

[Happy Harpy]

1 hour ago, WindyNights said:

Friki thinks the surprising people that made it to the end are Yara Greyjoy and Robert Arryn

I woulnd't find either of them surprising enough to be mentioned. Theon is on his way to save Yara so the narrative focus is currently placed on her survival, and opinions seem split about her death (fleaks are a good indicator). Sweetrobin has been such a non-entity so far that it would be mildly surprising if he reappeared at all, but not particularly if he "made it".

If it isn't Cersei, I'd say someone like Pod, Tormund or Beric who top about every list of first casualties of the season. Maybe Sansa, who's announced dead every season.

It seems that BoatSexBaby and Frikidoctor still disagree about Jaime's time of death. The former says he'll be at the battle at KL and the latter that he dies in WF. WatchersOnMyBalls saw him "dying" in Brienne's arms, but 1) it could be during a scene for the KL battle and 2) he could merely pass out. I'm really of two minds about Jaime seeing Cersei again -surviving WF or not. It would be logical that he does. "I don't believe you" could be a foreshadowing that he doesn't.

Edited November 3, 2018 by Happy Harpy

[BadAssRobinArryn]

12 minutes ago, Happy Harpy said:

 

If it isn't Cersei, I'd say someone like Pod, Tormund or Beric who top about every list of first casualties of the season. Maybe Sansa, who's announced dead every Season. 

We are talking about a Journalist, not necessarily a member of the fandom. I guess there's a realistic chance of Sansa dying, but seeing her around in the final episode wouldn't be that surprising either. Definitely not surprising enough to highlight it.

And IMO Podric only tops the list of casualities, because the casting news indicated that Daniel Portman didn't film for the later episodes. If you don't know this (and most people outside the fandom probably don't), there's no reason to be more surprised about him being around than a character like Sweetrobin. Podric is one of these minor characters that could go either way without it being a total surprise.

[Eyes High]

2 hours ago, Happy Harpy said:

I woulnd't find either of them surprising enough to be mentioned. Theon is on his way to save Yara so the narrative focus is currently placed on her survival, and opinions seem split about her death (fleaks are a good indicator). Sweetrobin has been such a non-entity so far that it would be mildly surprising if he reappeared at all, but not particularly if he "made it".

If it isn't Cersei, I'd say someone like Pod, Tormund or Beric who top about every list of first casualties of the season. Maybe Sansa, who's announced dead every season.

It seems that BoatSexBaby and Frikidoctor still disagree about Jaime's time of death. The former says he'll be at the battle at KL and the latter that he dies in WF. WatchersOnMyBalls saw him "dying" in Brienne's arms, but 1) it could be during a scene for the KL battle and 2) he could merely pass out. I'm really of two minds about Jaime seeing Cersei again -surviving WF or not. It would be logical that he does. "I don't believe you" could be a foreshadowing that he doesn't.

/BoatsexBaby has insisted that there were KL battle scenes filmed at Magheramorne during the night shoots, that the farewell message referencing the 55 night shoots for a single episode is part of a deception on the part of the producers, and that even the extras involved in the night shoots at Magheramorne believe they filmed for the  Winterfell battle when some of them were in fact filming for the KL battle without knowing it.

[Happy Harpy]

2 hours ago, BadAssRobinArryn said:

And IMO Podric only tops the list of casualities, because the casting news indicated that Daniel Portman didn't film for the later episodes. If you don't know this (and most people outside the fandom probably don't), there's no reason to be more surprised about him being around than a character like Sweetrobin. Podric is one of these minor characters that could go either way without it being a total surprise.

I agree about people inside and outside a fandom having different info and perspective. Nevertheless, every TV journalist worth his shit knows about the concept of red shirts. There will be battles so if only for realism's sake the show is going to need poignant deaths, meaning deaths of characters the audience is invested in.

IIRC, even before filming began many people were  already afraid of, or were betting on, Pod's death. I think it's telling that it's one of the less controversial topic this off season, no one tried to pretend D. Portman could take time off to film GoT or be secretly ushered in a studio or on set: Podrick is the perfect red shirt. He's a minor character but he got lots of airtime regularly over the course of the show, he's nice, decent and adorkable, he saved characters the audience loves, and characters the audience loves like him. Those characters would mourn him, the audience wouldn't hurl like when Jon was stabbed but they would cry their eyes out. He's also a soldier so it automatically ups his chances to die on the battlefield.

Robin has appeared in less than ten scenes over the course of the show. He had agency nor relevance in none. No character likes him, and most important no character the audience loves ever liked him. On most people's radar, he's at best an annoying blip. His death would bring nothing in narrative or emotional value. So, why bother?

So in that respect imo there would be more reasons to be surprised by characters like Pod (or Jorah, Tormund, Beric) "making it until the last episode", than by Sweetrobin; because the writers will "need" to kill off at least one of them, and not him.

Now, had the article said "surprised by the presence" of some characters, there I'd have said Sweetrobin, or Jaqen and the Waif.

Edited November 3, 2018 by Happy Harpy

[GrailKing]

5 hours ago, nikma said:

Who?

[glowbug]

23 minutes ago, GrailKing said:

March 2018 isn't the release date because that was March of this year. That was when the author of the article visited the set. Season 8 is coming in 2019. The video is mixing up the years.

[GrailKing]

6 hours ago, glowbug said:

March 2018 isn't the release date because that was March of this year. That was when the author of the article visited the set. Season 8 is coming in 2019. The video is mixing up the years.

As I said above, I didn't listen to it, to me most of them are somewhat wacked. LOL

[Eyes High]

It's not impossible for a March premiere date as far as I know, since I don't think there has been any official confirmation of when Big Little Lies Season 2 will air, but I think it's likely that Big Little Lies will premiere in March, which means a premiere date for GOT in late April. Either way, the show airing after True Detective will premiere March 10th, 2019, assuming TD airs straight through and doesn't skip any episodes. That seems too early for GOT, which in previous seasons (except Season 3 and Season 7) has premiered in April. Furthermore, I believe a crew member implied on a since-deleted IG post that the show would be premiering in April, so that's my guess until we hear otherwise.

Big Little Lies will have seven episodes in Season 2, so if Big LIttle Lies premieres March 10th, 2019, the earliest date for a GOT premiere would be April 28th, and that's my guess for a premiere date until we hear otherwise. 

[nikma]

I think the show won't air later than April, that's for sure, because they've already started promotion. 

[Happy Harpy]

2 hours ago, Eyes High said:

It's not impossible for a March premiere date as far as I know, since I don't think there has been any official confirmation of when Big Little Lies Season 2 will air,

I wish BLL aired later. I'm not even thinking "GoT will air earlier then", but "Oooh, first new images before Xmas". What a sad state of things, LOL.

2 hours ago, nikma said:

I think the show won't air later than April, that's for sure, because they've already started promotion. 

IIRC it needs to premiere in late April at the latest for the show to be eligible re: Emmys. HBO certainly wants the biggest sweep possible and set records when the hype is at its highest, and they have less chances to achieve this if the show is only in contention in 2020.

[GrailKing]

I'm still going with 1 or 2 weeks after Super bowl and ending 6 or 7 weeks later on the first week of spring or the week after..

It all depends on how much work they still have to do.

[Eyes High]

11 minutes ago, GrailKing said:

I'm still going with 1 or 2 weeks after Super bowl and ending 6 or 7 weeks later on the first week of spring or the week after..

It all depends on how much work they still have to do.

The Super Bowl is scheduled for February 3rd, and True Detective will air for all of February. The earliest possible date for the GOT premiere is March 10th.

I had thought that the Emmy rules for series that won’t be returning are different for series that will be airing another season and that GOT had to air all six episodes by the May 31st cutoff, meaning that it would have to premiere in March instead of Big Little Lies, but according to /Freefolk this doesn’t seem to be the case. April seems to be the month that comes up when cast or crew in the past have slipped up and mentioned the date. And really, March 10th versus April 28th is a difference of seven weeks, and seven weeks are a drop in the bucket after waiting for a year and a half.

Edited November 4, 2018 by Eyes High

[nikma]

We have less than 6 months until S8.

[GraceK]

4 hours ago, nikma said:

We have less than 6 months until S8.

???? I seriously cannot wait . One thing I will be grateful for is to finally see all the conspiracy theories laid to rest. 

[nikma]

I will start with my slow rewatch. Episode per day. It will be over sometimes in January, maybe even February since I'll skip some days for sure.

[Happy Harpy]

I got to read the verbatim of the EW article instead of what was reported, and it says the journalist is surprised at "the characters who are there for the finale". Not the "characters making it". I still think it's Cersei but it can be anyone, really, including Sweetrobin. It isn't the same surprise factor.

Anyone analyzed the illustration and find a deeper meaning and FoReShAdOwInG yet, for the lulz? [tongue in cheek] Is Jon Snow the line between lce and Fire...wait, Arya isn't fire and Tyrion isn't Ice. Is Jon Snow the line between life and death, characters on one side die, those on the other side live? How come Tyrion on the same side as Bran and Sansa,  the "Stark " side and how come Arya is on the same side as Drogon and Daenerys, the "Targaryen" side...does it mean they'll be in different camps? Or is Tyrion going to end as a honorary Stark (by marriage) while Arya is somehow "Dark Sister"? [even for the lulz, let's stay platonic, OK?] If the leaks are true, and Tyrion is going to betray and die, how come he, Sansa and Bran are all looking in the same direction? [/tongue in cheek] So much tinfoil, so little tea!

[Eyes High]

3 hours ago, Happy Harpy said:

I got to read the verbatim of the EW article instead of what was reported, and it says the journalist is surprised at "the characters who are there for the finale". Not the "characters making it". I still think it's Cersei but it can be anyone, really, including Sweetrobin. It isn't the same surprise factor.

Anyone analyzed the illustration and find a deeper meaning and FoReShAdOwInG yet, for the lulz? [tongue in cheek] Is Jon Snow the line between lce and Fire...wait, Arya isn't fire and Tyrion isn't Ice. Is Jon Snow the line between life and death, characters on one side die, those on the other side live? How come Tyrion on the same side as Bran and Sansa,  the "Stark " side and how come Arya is on the same side as Drogon and Daenerys, the "Targaryen" side...does it mean they'll be in different camps? Or is Tyrion going to end as a honorary Stark (by marriage) while Arya is somehow "Dark Sister"? [even for the lulz, let's stay platonic, OK?] If the leaks are true, and Tyrion is going to betray and die, how come he, Sansa and Bran are all looking in the same direction? [/tongue in cheek] So much tinfoil, so little tea!

The illustration seemed to be a loose reproduction of a number of GOT shots or stills (Dany looking down at Jon in 7x06, that still of Sansa looking out over the Winterfell courtyard, etc.), so I wouldn’t read much into it.

I had originally thought that the reason those six were in the illustration is that there would be photos of Peter, Sophie, Maisie and Isaac in costume in addition to the cover photo in the print version of the EW article, but that obviously didn’t turn out to be the case. As for why those six characters were chosen for the illustration? Well, it’s the original five plus Sansa. Who more fitting?

If Big Little Lies is going to premiere in March, we should be getting a tease or at least a premiere date announcement soon enough, one would think. I would love it if GOT aired before BLL, and frankly the timing of the EW article raised my hopes a little, but I’m not holding my breath.

[Lemuria]

 One thing I noticed about the illustration: it shows Drogon’s eyes as red, and if you look at both Jon and Daenerys, you will see red in both of their eyes, which does not appear in the eyes of Arya, Bran, Sansa or Tyrion. 

Emphasizing their dragon blood, I presume. 

Edited November 8, 2018 by Lemuria
Autocorrect prefers John to Jon!

[Happy Harpy]

5 hours ago, Eyes High said:

If Big Little Lies is going to premiere in March, we should be getting a tease or at least a premiere date announcement soon enough, one would think. I would love it if GOT aired before BLL, and frankly the timing of the EW article raised my hopes a little, but I’m not holding my breath.

There's another factor that might count, competition. IIRC, GoT usually starts after TWD's finale. Of course, TWD's ratings aren't what they used to be but HBO might want to avoid any potential viewership overlap.

[nikma]

TWD should avoid GoT tbh.

[Eyes High]

9 hours ago, Happy Harpy said:

There's another factor that might count, competition. IIRC, GoT usually starts after TWD's finale. Of course, TWD's ratings aren't what they used to be but HBO might want to avoid any potential viewership overlap.

Good point. TWD usually premieres in mid/late February and finishes around late March/early April. If HBO wants to avoid overlap, they'll go with the April 28th premiere date.

It seems kind of weird that we haven't yet gotten any kind of teaser for the show airing in 2019 after True Detective, given that the first teaser for True Detective Season 3 aired over two months ago. Something should be coming soon, one would think.

The first GOT promotional item is usually the teaser poster, not the EW promotional article, which usually comes out much later. For Season 6, the poster came out 130 days before the premiere date, and for Season 7, the teaser poster came out 153 days before the premiere date. /EveryFckngChicken at /Freefolk did the math using an estimated premiere date of April 28th, 2019 and calculated that using these numbers to estimate the range for Season 8, we're looking at between November 26th and December 19th for the teaser poster. Of course, using this logic, that if GOT were really premiering on March 10th, going by the release schedules of Season 6 and Season 7, we would have already seen a teaser poster. Also using /EveryFckngChicken's calculations based on the schedules for S6 and S7, the first teaser should be out in December. 

To be fair, given that this is the last season and all, we may see a departure from the usual promotional schedule. The EW article is a big departure from previous seasons, where usually there is only one issue with a cover promoting the new season, and it's released much closer to the premiere date. We may yet get another EW article with a proper cast photoshoot (as opposed to the one GOT still) closer to the premiere.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Eyes High

[Happy Harpy]

11 hours ago, nikma said:

TWD should avoid GoT tbh.

Yes, but unless I'm mistaken TWD's schedule is already locked, give or take a week.

[anamika]

Papa Ned knows best:

Quote

It was a memorable event — a bit of a shock," Bean said, in the understatement of the decade. "I'm proud of all that, though. It's great to be part of a phenomena, establish this character and then he's there forever."

TheNorthRemembers, Sean. We will never forget the unexpected pain of losing Ned, who first introduced us to how Game of Thrones will kill everyone you've ever loved.

Now, Bean can only look on from a distance on the show. He's only caught bits and pieces of the show since his departure, as perhaps one of the only people in the world who doesn't obsessively watch every Sunday.

But he still has some thoughts on which of his former TV children will make it to the end.

"Who's left?" he said, jogging his memory of the endless blood bath brought upon his house. "Jon Snow is left, isn't he? But Arya would have to be it. Yeah Arya will last — maybe she'll be on the throne."

https://mashable.com/article/sean-bean-hitman-2-game-of-thrones/?europe=true#p4eudn_XNaqO

On 11/2/2018 at 7:46 PM, Eyes High said:

I thought Sophie was in Belfast in mid-April, though. Fanbelfastleigh (former Fanbelfast) on Twitter seemed to think Sophie was filming then, and they usually have a pretty good handle on where she is at any given time.

I was trying to find a date where Sophie was in Belfast with all the other cast members as she mentioned that she wrapped in Belfast with a scene which featured almost all the cast members. And that last date in March is the only one that comes close.

Edit: Okay, I went back and checked. Sophie was in Belfast twice in April and both times there were lots of other cast members around as well. It feels like whenever Sophie films in Belfast, every other cast member is also there lol! I think a lot of Sansa's scenes next season is going to be with all the other characters - maybe butting heads with other leaders on how to deal with AOTD/Dany issue which Sophie has mentioned in interviews.

Edited November 9, 2018 by anamika

[Eyes High]

4 hours ago, anamika said:

Papa Ned knows best:

https://mashable.com/article/sean-bean-hitman-2-game-of-thrones/?europe=true#p4eudn_XNaqO

Hee. Judging from Maisie's filming time, either Arya lasts until the end or she's a very prominent wight.

Quote

 

Edit: Okay, I went back and checked. Sophie was in Belfast twice in April and both times there were lots of other cast members around as well. 

 

Which times? I thought she was only there in mid-April, since in late April she was at her brother's wedding and in early April she was out of the country. 

Quote

It feels like whenever Sophie films in Belfast, every other cast member is also there lol! I think a lot of Sansa's scenes next season is going to be with all the other characters - maybe butting heads with other leaders on how to deal with AOTD/Dany issue which Sophie has mentioned in interviews.

That makes sense, although it begs the question what exactly Sansa will be doing given the extended breaks Sophie took from filming in February and March and her very early end date in May compared to other leading cast.

If Sansa escapes through the crypts as some have speculated, it would explain why Sophie wasn't needed for any Winterfell battle exterior or interior scenes, but that only accounts for her absence from 8x03 (which seems to be a 50-minute battle scene) and not her absence from whatever was filmed in mid/late May and June and all KL exterior scenes save the Dragonpit scene from 8x06. Maybe Sansa is separated from the other leads and spends the latter part of Season 8 hiding out at the Vale or the Riverlands...?

I think Sophie may have filmed something with Nathalie Emmanuel and Hannah Murray, since they were all in Belfast at the same time in late January. 

If Sophie did film a real scene in Dubrovnik--which seems likely--I suspect it was a scene from 8x06, since they were only there for a few days and since Dany's supposed last scene(s) of the show were filmed there if Architectural Digest can be believed.

[SeanC]

50 minutes ago, Eyes High said:

I think Sophie may have filmed something with Nathalie Emmanuel and Hannah Murray, since they were all in Belfast at the same time in late January. 

This wouldn’t surprise me, since the circle of non-combatant characters is relatively small, and it would make sense to group them together for at least some part of the story (especially the apparent Siege of Winterfell).

[GrailKing]

1 hour ago, Eyes High said:

I think Sophie may have filmed something with Nathalie Emmanuel and Hannah Murray, since they were all in Belfast at the same time in late January. 

 

Way back when, someone who said they had knowledge ( don't remember who ) stated that Sophie and Emilia filmed more scenes than others know.

Maybe Sansa's passionate and  personal battles are not just for life, family and Winterfell, maybe it's also for her mind.

The girl seen and been through some shit.

[anamika]

1 hour ago, Eyes High said:

Which times? I thought she was only there in mid-April, since in late April she was at her brother's wedding and in early April she was out of the country.

So looking at our conversations during April, Sophie was spotted in Belfast around April 12th along with Kit, Maisie, Liam, Joe, Emilia, NCW, Gwen, John Bradley and Hivju

Now, I don't know if she continued to be there or she left and came back because the next Sophie sighting was around April 20th and again Kit, Emilia, Hannah Murray, Nathalie Emmanuel, Maisie, Gwen, NCW, Hivju, John Bradley were all in Belfast at the same time as her and Director David Nutter was spotted as well.  She could have been filming with these guys from the 11th to the 20th. She did mention that the last scene she filmed in Belfast was shot over 5 days.

Only Peter was missing from these dates and he was in the US at this time.

If we look at Sophie in Belfast on March 27th, pretty much all the cast members were again present there at the same time as her. If I had to guess, a lot of Sansa's scenes will involve all the characters or they are just shooting scenes with different groups of characters and different units at the same time.

2 hours ago, Eyes High said:

If Sophie did film a real scene in Dubrovnik--which seems likely--I suspect it was a scene from 8x06, since they were only there for a few days and since Dany's supposed last scene(s) of the show were filmed there if Architectural Digest can be believed.

I am not so sure Sophie filmed there. The 'we' in her statement most likely stood for the show. If she dressed up in a fake costume to fool the paparazzi, should she not have been seen along with Kit and Lena?  Though considering how leaky Sophie is, she could have given out that she filmed there as well.

[Eyes High]

1 hour ago, SeanC said:

This wouldn’t surprise me, since the circle of non-combatant characters is relatively small, and it would make sense to group them together for at least some part of the story (especially the apparent Siege of Winterfell).

I thought so, too, although now that I think of it Peter was also in Belfast around the same time in January as Sophie, Nathalie, and Hannah, and Peter seems to have been involved in the Winterfell battle sequence (unlike Sophie and Nathalie).

4 minutes ago, GrailKing said:

Way back when, someone who said they had knowledge ( don't remember who ) stated that Sophie and Emilia filmed more scenes than others know.

I thought that was a fake leaker, although admittedly it's hard to keep track of who said what.

Quote

 

Maybe Sansa's passionate and  personal battles are not just for life, family and Winterfell, maybe it's also for her mind.

The girl seen and been through some shit.

 

Pretty much every character still alive in S8 has seen and been through some shit, but yes, if Sansa's not going to be involved in the Winterfell battle or the KL shenanigans, she needs something to do, so it's possible that D&D are going to have her sort through some of her trauma for her S8 arc. Sophie's reference to Sansa being involved in a "passionate fight" as opposed to a political fight could be alluding to that.

Quote

I am not so sure Sophie filmed there. The 'we' in her statement most likely stood for the show. If she dressed up in a fake costume to fool the paparazzi, should she not have been seen along with Kit and Lena?  Though considering how leaky Sophie is, she could have given out that she filmed there as well.

I think Sophie gave away that she filmed something in Dubrovnik, which would explain why she skipped the premiere of Josie, which took place at the same time as the Dubrovnik filming. 

[SeanC]

5 hours ago, Eyes High said:

I thought so, too, although now that I think of it Peter was also in Belfast around the same time in January as Sophie, Nathalie, and Hannah, and Peter seems to have been involved in the Winterfell battle sequence (unlike Sophie and Nathalie).

I'd consider Tyrion an in-between character, as there's any number of ways he could be involved in the combat, as he was in Blackwater.

Quote

Pretty much every character still alive in S8 has seen and been through some shit, but yes, if Sansa's not going to be involved in the Winterfell battle or the KL shenanigans, she needs something to do, so it's possible that D&D are going to have her sort through some of her trauma for her S8 arc. Sophie's reference to Sansa being involved in a "passionate fight" as opposed to a political fight could be alluding to that.

Just based on what we've seen of the writing on this show, I find it unlikely we're going to see significant time dedicated to a character reflecting on their past traumas.

[Eyes High]

13 hours ago, SeanC said:

Just based on what we've seen of the writing on this show, I find it unlikely we're going to see significant time dedicated to a character reflecting on their past traumas.

It's unlikely, sure, but Sansa needs something to do while everyone else is off doing all the things that Sansa isn't going to be a part of: fighting at Winterfell, KL crowd control, etc. etc.

A poster on /Freefolk pointed out that it's already been stated in a Deadline article that Big Little Lies is going to start in March 2019, so April 28th, 2019 it is for a premiere date. 169 days and counting.

[Smad]

3 hours ago, Eyes High said:

It's unlikely, sure, but Sansa needs something to do while everyone else is off doing all the things that Sansa isn't going to be a part of: fighting at Winterfell, KL crowd control, etc. etc.

Couldn't she be leading refugees south or something? Flee with the old, children and women who can't fight? And probably picking up more along the way as they run from the North.

[Eyes High]

26 minutes ago, Smad said:

Couldn't she be leading refugees south or something? 

Given what we know of her filming schedule and her prolonged absences during the exterior filming months, not really.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Eyes High

[anamika]

4 hours ago, Eyes High said:

It's unlikely, sure, but Sansa needs something to do while everyone else is off doing all the things that Sansa isn't going to be a part of: fighting at Winterfell, KL crowd control, etc. etc.

I am sure the show will have plenty for her to do. This is GOT we are talking about. Last season Sansa was instructing Royce on defense strategy and teaching armorers how to make proper armor. As per the EW article, Sansa is preparing Winterfell for the AOTD attack and Sophie has mentioned how Sansa is a true leader of WF and all that. I am sure she will be contributing to defense preparations and logistics inside WF along with all the other leaders and will be seeing to the safety of the civilians, food, co-ordination and planning etc. The EW article mentions the battle being about small groups - could be Sansa, Gilly, Missandei etc are in a group leading people to safety when the battle is raging outside. Does not require battle filming for those scenes. Sam and Bran could also be in that group.

GRRM has given a new interview with his latest excuses on why TWoW is still not finished yet. Apparently every character's POV chapters has bloomed into novels. I can easily see why this is as all his main characters continue to be in different locations with lots of story still left to be covered. Interestingly this time around he mentioned that:

Quote

Martin confirmed they were all prequels, but said he did not expect all of them would be made and that he was not writing any of them. “None of them are traditional spin-offs,” he said. “You won’t be seeing the further adventures of Arya, Sansa or Jon Snow, you’ll be going back in time. The other four are all over the map and at least two of them are solidly based on material in Fire and Blood. Those haven’t been greenlit yet.”

Last time around it was Arya, Tyrion and Jon Snow. Confirmation that Sansa survives the series?

Edited November 10, 2018 by anamika

[Smad]

33 minutes ago, Eyes High said:

Given what we know of her filming schedule and her prolonged absences during the exterior filming months, not really.

If their main focus in S8 is fighting the AotD then there is no need to devote screen time to Sansa. Which would explain long absences. They could check in with that refugee group for a minute now and then to let us know they are fine and that's it. If they start S8 right off the bat with WF being attacked, then the groups I mentioned previously fleeing only makes sense. And the refugees wouldn't be a focus of the action.

[nikma]

1 hour ago, anamika said:

GRRM has given a new interview with his latest excuses on why TWoW is still not finished yet. Apparently every character's POV chapters has bloomed into novels. I can easily see why this is as all his main characters continue to be in different locations with lots of story still left to be covered. Interestingly this time around he mentioned that:

First 3 books had 8-10 POV characters. Book 4 and 5 as well.But book 6 will have something around 20.

Here’s the list – Daenerys, Tyrion, Jon, Cersei, Bran, Jaime, Arya, Sansa, Davos, Selmy, Asha, Theon, Victarion, Aeron, Arianne, Areo Hotah, Melisandre, Brienne, Jon Connington and Sam.

It’s just not possible to put this in one book. That’s the reason TWOW is not finished and I can’t imagine how he is going to finish it.

1 hour ago, anamika said:

Last time around it was Arya, Tyrion and Jon Snow. Confirmation that Sansa survives the series?

I don't think so. I think he is just saying random names of major characters. But I do think Arya, Sansa and Jon Snow will survive the series. 

[Eyes High]

2 hours ago, anamika said:

I am sure the show will have plenty for her to do. This is GOT we are talking about. Last season Sansa was instructing Royce on defense strategy and teaching armorers how to make proper armor.

Sure, but that was one scene. From what Hibberd was saying about callbacks to the pilot in 8x01, it seems like just as there was a scene with Catelyn walking around issuing instructions in preparation for Robert's arrival, we may get a scene with Catelyn 2.0 walking around issuing instructions in preparation for Jon's arrival. That would also align with Sophie's comments about how when we first see Sansa in Season 8 she's the empowered true leader of Winterfell etc. etc.

However, Sansa being large and in charge initially in S8 has no bearing on what will happen during the rest of the season, especially since we know that Winterfell is attacked and the action shifts south. Sophie has also said that Sansa is thrown into the deep end again in Season 8, which suggests that we may get a structural repeat of Sansa's S5 arc (such as it was), where she starts off calm and confident, but by mid/late season is in deep, deep trouble.

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GRRM has given a new interview with his latest excuses on why TWoW is still not finished yet.

In one of The Guardian articles from that interview that was just published, the writer notes the "strict guidelines" she was given for the interview, including not being allowed to ask anything about TWOW. 

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Last time around it was Arya, Tyrion and Jon Snow. Confirmation that Sansa survives the series?

Well, if it's confirmation that Sansa survives the series, then GRRM's previous comment about Tyrion was also confirmation that Tyrion survives the series, which means that Frikidoctor is full of shit.

59 minutes ago, nikma said:

I don't think so. I think he is just saying random names of major characters. But I do think Arya, Sansa and Jon Snow will survive the series. 

It's the second time he made a comment about not seeing the further adventures of certain characters past ASOIAF, and the second time that Arya and Jon were mentioned in that list, so the names chosen are probably not random. If Jon and Arya survive the series, then it seems likely that these comments suggest that Tyrion and Sansa will as well.

It would be weird for GRRM to suddenly start spoiling the survival of certain main characters in interviews less than a year before the GOT series finale will air, but GRRM has done passive-aggressive shit in relation to the TV show before (releasing the Alayne chapter while Season 5 was airing, e.g.), so I wouldn't put it past him to spoil his own series just to stick it to D&D.

Edited November 10, 2018 by Eyes High

[nikma]

26 minutes ago, Eyes High said:

It would be weird for GRRM to suddenly start spoiling the survival of certain main characters in interviews less than a year before the GOT series finale will air, but GRRM has done passive-aggressive shit in relation to the TV show before (releasing the Alayne chapter while Season 5 was airing, e.g.), so I wouldn't put it past him to spoil his own series just to stick it to D&D.

This "conflict" between GRRM and D&D is just wishful thinking of some book readers. He is working on new shows with HBO, he would never spoil GoT. 

[Eyes High]

54 minutes ago, nikma said:

This "conflict" between GRRM and D&D is just wishful thinking of some book readers. He is working on new shows with HBO, he would never spoil GoT. 

Unless you think that Jon, Arya, Tyrion and Sansa will die, he already has...?

[nikma]

I think Tyrion will die.

[Eyes High]

4 hours ago, nikma said:

I think Tyrion will die.

You said that GRRM would never spoil GOT, but if you’re right and Jon, Arya and Sansa survive, then GRRM has already spoiled their fates by implying they will survive. If he is spoiling those three characters’ fates by implying they will survive, it stands to reason that he’s spoiling Tyrion’s as well.

The only way GRRM wouldn’t be spoiling Jon, Arya, Tyrion and Sansa’s fates by saying we won’t be seeing their further adventures is if they all in fact die, and we can reasonably assume that they won’t all die. So your conclusion that GRRM would never spoil GOT is probably mistaken, since he already has.

As for GRRM “randomly” picking Jon, Arya and Tyrion as the characters whose further adventures we wouldn’t see past ASOIAF, as he did the first time when he made this comment, there’s nothing random about it. They are the characters whose arcs he has said he has always known, his favourites (in Arya and Tyrion’s cases), etc. etc. Tyrion, Jon and Arya also have the most POV chapters over five books, even compared to Dany; Bran and Sansa’s combined POV chapter count still falls short of Tyrion’s. GRRM has a cast of thousands of minor characters, dozens of major characters, and a healthy number of lead characters, and he picks those three, two of whom are his repeatedly acknowledged favourites? There’s nothing random about that. 

Edited November 11, 2018 by Eyes High

[nikma]

I think you are overthinking this, just like Sansa's statue.

[Eyes High]

6 hours ago, nikma said:

I think you are overthinking this, just like Sansa's statue.

I think you’re trying to avoid the obvious implications of GRRM’s comments because it doesn’t fit with Friki’s “spoilers,” just like the other times it was pointed out that those “spoilers” were full of holes and you said it was just denial. So here we have you insisting that GRRM naming Jon, Arya, Sansa and Tyrion for characters whose adventures we wouldn’t see past GOT was a totally random, meaningless choice while still admitting that you think Jon, Sansa and Arya will survive: it doesn’t fit with your “Tyrion dies” narrative, so GRRM naming Tyrion when he was talking about other characters’ further adventures must have been a totally random, meaningless choice...except it obviously wasn’t, just as it wasn’t with GRRM naming Jon and Arya.

Edited November 11, 2018 by Eyes High

[nikma]

It has nothing to do with Friki. GRRM would never spoil the ending in that way, he just said the names of popular characters. He is not an idiot, just like Sophie wasn't an idiot to spoil Sansa's death.

[Eyes High]

21 minutes ago, nikma said:

It has nothing to do with Friki. GRRM would never spoil the ending in that way

As I said, unless the characters he named all die, which given that Arya is one of them is exceedingly unlikely, GRRM already has spoiled the ending, so “He would never do that!” is no argument.

And GRRM already said on many occasions that Parris would divorce him if he killed off Arya, which now appears to be a legitimate spoiler in light of Maisie’s presence at the Dragonpit filming, so saying that GRRM would never spoil something like that is a demonstrably untrue statement, given that he has happily been spoiling Arya’s survival for several years. If Arya survives for a fact, then it seems likely that the other characters he named do as well...but then, the outline said as much where Jon and Tyrion are concerned, so maybe GRRM doesn’t consider their survival a big spoiler, since the outline leak spilled the beans back in 2014.

Lastly, GRRM is a writer. He knew exactly what he was implying with his “further adventures of X, Y and Z” comments and how fans would potentially construe those comments, and he went ahead and did it anyway on two separate occasions, specifically naming Arya (and Jon) both times. If you think that that is a random, unspoilery choice, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

Edited November 11, 2018 by Eyes High