#got convention

HBO, I swear to gods, if u won't release all those deleted scenes, i'm gonna burn my subscription and then Dracarys all of you!!!

Hello, and thank you for the ask. I always love reading @esther-dot's takes on things to do with Game of Thrones, and the books as well. She writes things that are very insightful, and really provide so much food for thought.

Yes, it seems like there definitely has to be a disconnect between the show and the books for many of the characters. I suspect, for example, that episode three of season eight, as presented, is probably a major departure from the books, especially the big moment of Arya killing the Night King, and also because of the absence of the Direwolves other than Ghost (I think it was leaked somewhere that Martin wanted the Direwolves to figure heavily in the battle, and we know the Night King seems to be more of a show thing). Although Arya killing the Night King provided a dramatic moment, it did not seem to make sense in terms of Jon's past encounters with him, and for that reason it fell flat for many viewers.

However, I still think that it's likely that many of the major beats of the show's ending are going to be the same or very similar in the books. We do know that Benioff and Weiss were told the planned ending by Martin, so I think a lot of it is probably more or less accurate in a general sense. The twists and turns leading up to the ending, and the character development will be better in the books and will make more sense, but I think the major endpoints will be about the same: Dany burning King's Landing, Jon killing her, Bran becoming King, Jon being exiled; probably Sansa revealing Jon's identity and Sansa becoming Queen in the North. I also think that much of the Jon/Sansa arc in general is going to roughly follow a similar trajectory as the show and is going to be very important in the books. I'm looking forward to reading it.

But talking more specifically about Jon Snow, and in light of the recent panels with Kit Harington, I think what was said in those panels has only done more to confirm that Jon's show ending will roughly be the book ending. In the panel, KH said that killing Dany was the right thing to do. It was obvious that when he said it he knew that this plot point was unpopular with a decent portion of the show's viewership. At the same time, it's probable that he said it because he is heavily involved in developing the new Snow show (he is rumored to be the executive producer). Therefore, he has to set this show up accurately, necessitating for him to speak in general terms about the premises for the leading character's backstory.

I read somewhere that Kit's writing team, whoever they are, have visited GRRM to discuss the Snow show, and Martin himself blogged about it, so it's fairly obvious that it will be a premise of the new show that killing Dany is Jon's arc, and that Jon is coming to terms with it being the right thing. Somehow, this was Jon's fate all along, even given the vagaries and misreadings of the "prophecy" which is also figuring heavily in House of the Dragon. So in my mind at least, there is some hope that while Jon is haunted by his past, he won't be depicted as being hopelessly entrapped by his "love affair" with Daenerys Targaryen.

Another interesting thing that Kit said in the panels was about Jon having an "internal conflict." He said something like, "Jon doesn't know who he is, and we didn't have time to see how being a Targaryen sits with him. He's been told who he is (by others), but he's quite far away from knowing." Kit also said that he thinks Jon will remain "Jon Snow." This may imply that the show is going to explore Jon finally finding his identity in some way or another? Maybe there is even a hint here that KH (perhaps like GRRM?) was not entirely pleased with Jon's story in season eight?

Question: who does Kit think should have been King of the Seven Kingdoms. 

Scheduled in Orlando July 17-19... unless, ya know, he’s shooting somewhere ;-)

My selfies with cast members of Game of Thrones (ask by anon).

More infos in caption.

All men must die convention, Paris, august 2018.

Iain Glen with Nathalie Emmanuelle, Paris, August 2018