Benioff and Weiss: Dorne Was Nearly Cut Completely

Entertainment Weekly‘s deep dive into Game of Thrones just keeps giving. The latest entry, released yesterday, is a wide ranging interview with showrunners and creators of the TV series David Benioff and Dan Weiss, plus producer Bryan Cogman. They spill a little bit on every major character in the series, plus answer a few other questions. Like “Is Winter really coming?” And the Weather Channel’s big question: What is the average snowfall in King’s Landing anyway?

The interview avoids spoilers, so feel free to check out what they had to say below!

As we know, the Ironborn, including the majority of the Greyjoy Uncles and the entire Kingsmoot sequence, was cut from the show completely. But as the producers reveal here–Dorne almost got completely cut too.

Weiss: We were so happy to be able to include it. We didn’t know if it would fit, to be honest—because of budgeting, scheduling and story reasons. There were a lot of ways we had to cram it in. But it’s such an important place. Of all the places in Westeros you’d ever want to live, the Dornish seem to have figured out the right approach to life. It’s the one most aligned with what our approach to life would be if we weren’t making this show. It’s our Brazil—we dream of Dorne and the way they do things down there. And Indira Varma [who was introduced as Ellaria Sand last season]—once you have someone of her caliber, you want to double down on that casting strength. Also the Sand Snakes are such a fun, exciting addition to that world. [Prince Oberyn Martell] opened up a tiny window into this world last season, and now you get to go through that window and see what kind of world this is that made this person we loved so much.

I can almost understand this. Dorne, as it appears in the books, feels like a random set of chapters from a completely different series that randomly interpolated themselves into A Feast For Crows in place of the ones you should be reading–the ones about Dany and Tyrion and Jon Snow. it takes until A Dance With Dragons for the importance of that region to start to make sense, or tie back to the main story. Much like Dany’s adventures feel very separate from King’s Landing in the earlier part of the story. The changes they’ve made–sending Jaime to Dorne instead of to Harrenhal for the upteenth time–promises to tie the region in to the main plot much faster than it might have done. And the streamlining of characters, including upping Ellaria Sand’s role have made it seem like a natural progression of the ever expanding world map of Westeros and Essos this year. It’s the part of the Season I’m actually looking forward to the most.

Speaking of the ever expanding map, both Tyrion and Arya have now headed for Essos, and the producers were asked about getting to flesh out their stories in cities we’ve only visited in the briefest way before.

Bryan Cogman: The storylines are blending in exciting ways. It’s like Phase 2 of Thrones. The set pieces and scope of the world has expanded hugely. It’s going to be a very rich season. Also, a lot of our major characters in one way or another find themselves in positions of power. Some are seeking it, and some stumble into it. And if there’s one common thread, it’s what they do in these positions of power—you got this thing, so what happens next? What’s great about George’s world is exploring what it really means to be a leader and a ruler. You’re going to see more of the intricacies of politics in a fascinating way. The other thing is having characters come into contact with one another.

Benioff: Arya is going to Braavos to find her destiny there, which is fascinating for us. She’s been wandering the moors for years in the same costume, and this year she gets a new costume, new hairdo, new people to pal around with—or fight with, as the case may be. It’s an exciting season for Arya and Maisie loves it.

As for Dany, who has spent all her time on Essos so far

Benioff: She’s been incredibly successful as a conquerer, and now she’s having difficulty ruling. Conquering is binary—you either lose or win. But ruling is making complicated decisions every day, where there often are no right answers. It’s just a matter of who you’re going to piss off over the course of the day. She’s struggling to maintain her sense of justice and to do the right thing, and learning that’s impossible when ruling a city as large as Meereen.

As the [Dragons] grow, they become more complex. Dany said she was the Mother of Dragons and she didn’t mean that as a metaphorical thing, but that they are the only children she will ever have. They’re bigger in terms of personality and in terms of their actual size, and that makes them more complicated to deal with in story terms and production terms. You talk about characters having their most important seasons so far, this is definitely the biggest season the dragons have had to date.

Oh and as for the imminent arrival of winter:

Cogman: The jury is still out on how much winter appears everywhere. We’re only really seeing evidence of winter in northern areas. What’s fun about it, though, is not only does it become a thematic part of the story, but it will become a practical part, as well. Weather will impact the story in cool ways.

I assume that pun is not intended. Check out the full interview, including tidbits on Jon Snow and Cersei, at the link.

• Published on 03/18/2015 at 8:00 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/21/2016 at 1:06 PM CDT