ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First: How would you tease up this season?
We left our central characters in huge moments of crisis and at their lowest points last year.
All of them are now trying to rebuild their lives.
Credit: HBO
Season 5 was in many ways our darkest.
This season is still very dark, very intense, but its very much a next act.
Whats unique compared to previous years?
Seasons 24 were about the expansion of this world; seasons 5 and 6 are about contracting.
And then theres the obvious answer in terms of the size of the show.
We say this every year, but its true this is the biggest season ofGame of Thrones.
It took me by surprise, just how big it is and I helped write it!
This is also the first season in awhile where we did read-throughs with the cast.
What prompted the table reads?
There was a proof of concept we wanted from the read-throughs.
We separated the read-throughs by storyline.
Hearing the arcs play out isolated was hugely helpful.
I remember thinking: Holy st, this is huge, how are we going to do this?
Yourbiggest action sequence yetis a part of that scope.
Also, of course, fans are really not going to know whats coming…
Which is scary, but exciting.
It was the hardest season to write for that very reason.
I think of it as Westeros 2 the alternate universe version of Westeros.
Theres the book universe and a show universe and this is what happens in the show universe.
Well, I dont know that its stupid.
I can respect David and Dan for choosing to stay offline.
And I also think its smart to have at least one producer representing the show in the online space.
But it can be rough putting yourself out there to be the focus of online feedback.
After winning all those Emmys last year, has that added pressure to making season 6?
We partied that night and went back to work.
We would be doing the same thing even if we havent won.
Were just making the best season we can.
Was there something sweet about winning for the season that got the most controversy?
Sure, that was gratifying.
We told our story and put our characters through what we put them through for a reason.
We put our characters through hell, but itsa very carefully thought-out hell.
Season 5 was meant to break a lot of these characters down.
There are things we did last year that weve laid the track for over five seasons.
Doomsday people were saying viewers were going to leave in droves and that hasnt been the case.
Theyve been saying that since Ned Stark died and the numbers go up every year.
People also say we love to terrorize theGame of Thronesaudience.
Thats not how we see it.
Ultimately its putting characters through situations that are realistic.
This is a story about a world war, and war is hell on everybody.
The innocents and the vulnerable play a terrible price for the games rulers play.
Were not pulling this stuff out of thin air.
If that makes you feel better, fine, but we dont do anything for shock value.
The idea that were sitting around going, What can we do to this person to shock people next?
… thats not how this works.
So overall, whats been the greatest challenge this season?
The good news is weve been doing this for a long time now and everybody knows what theyre doing.
Everybody involved knows how to tell this story at this point.
There is no show like this on the planet.
And anybody who tells you there is hasnt worked on this show.
Preview:
Game of Thronesreturns to HBO on April 24.
