Q: How do you handle spoilers? A: We try not to discuss book spoilers during the cast. Note, that we do not consider events from the books that have already been depicted on screen to be spoilers, even if the book goes into greater depth than what the TV show does. We also discuss what we consider to be “background information” that is provided in the various prequels and DVD special features, for example.
It is admittedly a grey area, and there are those fans that would consider that extra detail to be spoilers themselves, as that extra flavor and color might very well end up elaborated on and shown in the series, but we feel this strikes a good balance between preserving the surprises in the story and having a well rounded, informative cast. That said, we do have a “spoiler section” after each cast where we do discuss book details and spoilers for the TV show, but you always have at least 30 seconds of outro music to protect you from hearing them if you don’t want to.
Q: You guy’s mispronounce a lot of names! A: Yeah. I’m terrible with names, and it takes quite a bit of repetition before I get it right. I get a certain pronunciation in my head while reading the books, and it’s tough to replace that with the correct one, especially on the cast when I’m either going from memory, or reading from my notes. We’re trying to get better!
Q: Have you read the books? A: A.Ron has read the first three, and is working on four, Mad Brew has decided not to read any until after the series. By all means, send us any theories and book spoilers you want, we don’t mind being spoiled and it’s pretty inevitable when you cover a TV show anyway.
Q: If you haven’t read the books, why do you presume to do a cast on A Song of Ice and Fire? A: We’re not doing a cast on A Song of Ice and Fire, we’re doing a cast on HBO’s Game of Thrones. To the extent that the producers do a good job of telling their tales, lack of book knowledge should not detract from a successful viewing experience, though certainly it can add to it.
Q: That wasn’t Jorah talking to Varys in King’s Landing during season 1, it was Illyrio! A: Yes, our mistake. We did issue a correction on a later cast.