Kokomo Tribune Entertainment NOW
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/290688
TV Media Weekly
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April 5 - 11, 2014
something.
In any case, with the show
catching up with the as yet unfin-
ished book series, it may be a good
thing that the creative team is get-
ting used to taking liberties where
the source material is concerned.
With the sixth book still in progress
and the seventh barely a spot on
the far-off horizon, there's a good
chance the show will outpace Mar-
tin's writing process.
Benioff told "Vanity Fair," how-
ever, that he and Weiss have every-
thing under control. Having sat
down with Martin last year to get
his ideas in hand, the showrunners
at least know where he plans to
take the series, and from there can
lay out a script, even if the books
aren't yet done: "We don't know if
we are going to catch up and
where exactly that would be. If you
know the ending, then you can lay
the groundwork for it. And so we
want to know how everything
ends. We want to be able to set
things up." So put your minds at
ease, as it sounds like, one way or
another, we'll have a few seasons
of "Game of Thrones" to look for-
ward to yet.
off (fans still cringe when they hear
"Red Wedding"). George R. R.
Martin has become known for go-
ing to extremes when it comes to
snuffing out major characters, and
not just the bad guys, either. Some
of the most noble, moral and just
plain likeable characters in the se-
ries have been taken from us long
before their time.
Since season 4 kicks off midway
through a book, the action takes
off right away. "It's not building to-
wards one specific climactic
event," showrunner Weiss reveals
in an HBO promo. "There are more
climactic events in season 4 than
there have ever been before." Adds
Benioff: "There is tremendous
clamor for revenge, especially in
the wake of the Red Wedding."
One said clamorer is a new char-
acter to the show, Oberyn Martell
(Pedro Pascal, "The Adjustment
Bureau," 2011), also known as the
Red Viper of Dorne and much be-
loved of fans of the book. Oberyn
has a hate on for the Lannisters for
their part in his sister's brutal mur-
der years before, yet he'll befriend
Tyrion in the latter's time of need
and take up his cause in what's
sure to be an epic fight. Oberyn, Pe-
ter Dinklage says in the HBO pro-
mo, is "the one wild card," adding
yet another level of vengeance to a
story already packed with revenge.
Benioff adds that season 4 is the
pivotal point in the series, and that
it's from here that everything be-
gins to turn: "It feels like this is the
midpoint for us," he tells "Enter-
tainment Weekly." "If we're going
to go seven seasons, which is the
plan, season 4 is right down the
middle, the pivot point."
Devotees of "A Song of Ice and
Fire" will know that the HBO series
has begun to veer off from the
books' content, and should expect
more of the same for the upcoming
season. In a Screenrant.com article,
Kofi Outlaw quotes Jerome Flynn
("Soldier Soldier"), who plays
lightning-fast swellsword Bronn,
revealing in a 2013 New York
Comic-Con panel that "fans would
be 'quite surprised' by how differ-
ent season 4 of the HBO show was
from the books that inspired it."
Outlaw goes on to say that "other
actors from the series [claim] that
season 4 will have even more
death in it" — and that's saying
By Jacqueline Spendlove
TV Media
I
f you're going to get yourself
invested in a multi-installment
epic yarn, you'd best be pre-
pared to pay a terrible price:
waiting.
It's been roughly 10 months
since last season's final episode of
"Game of Thrones" aired on HBO,
with filming for Season 4 starting
early in July 2013. Bearing in mind
the multiple, far-spanning filming
locations, zillions of cast members
and dizzying web of storylines, it's
nothing short of a miracle that so
many elements have come togeth-
er in less than a year.
Nuts to that, though, it's about
dang time! Fans of the fantasy dra-
ma can breathe again at long last,
as Season 4 premieres Sunday,
April 6, on HBO.
The series is based off George
R.R. Martin's series of epic fantasy
novels, "A Song of Ice and Fire,"
and showrunners David Benioff
and D.B. Weiss have helped to
adapt it beautifully for the screen.
As avid readers of the book series
will know, season 3 leaves off part-
way through the third book, "A
Storm of Swords." The upcoming
season will cover the end of book
3, but will also draw from books 4
and 5 — "A Feast for Crows" and
"A Dance With Dragons" —
whose storylines run concurrently
alongside one another. Like the
previous seasons, this one crams
all that action, killing and schem-
ing into 10 hour-long episodes.
To very briefly recap where sea-
son 3 left off — so skip this bit if
you haven't seen it yet — the
Starks, previously one of the most
high-ranking families in the Seven
Kingdoms (and oh so noble!), have
been scattered to the four winds
and, in the wake of the worst wed-
ding in history, most of them are ei-
ther dead or presumed dead. The
rotten boy-king Joffrey (Jack
Gleeson, "Batman Begins," 2005)
is set to marry Margaery Tyrell
(Natalie Dormer, "The Tudors") in a
union of two powerful families
previously at odds with one anoth-
er.
Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-
Waldau, "Oblivion," 2013) has
made it back to King's Landing,
short a hand, while his rock-hard
father Tywin (Charles Dance,
"Strike Back") is running the show
as the King's Hand. So the Lannis-
ters are in a pretty solid position of
power — for now. Theon (Alfie Al-
len, "Atonement," 2007) has been
losing body parts at an alarming
rate, but when we last saw his sis-
ter she was sailing off against her
father's wishes to rescue her broth-
er from a sadist's flaying knife.
The Wall is facing White Walkers
on one side and a Wildling attack
on the other, while across the Nar-
row Sea, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke,
"Spike Island," 2012) is freeing
slaves by the thousands and win-
ning them to her cause while her
dragons grow from cute little
hatchlings to "Jurassic Park" pro-
portions.
As for season 4, there's a lot that
can be expected, and no doubt
we're in for a horrible death or
three. If there's one thing previous
seasons have taught us, it's that no
character is too integral to be killed
Rory McCann as seen in "Game of Thrones"
In like a lion
'Game of Thrones' returns with a bang
2
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