HBO’s gripping drama Game of Thrones, based on George R.R. Martin’s bestselling fantasy-novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, has permeated the public consciousness, drawing new audiences to the brutal Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, a land where summers can last for decades and where the threat of winter (and worse) always looms large. The show also did the seemingly impossible in winning over passionate adherents of Martin’s sweeping novels—the most recent of which was released in July—obsessively adapted by writers/executive producers David Benioff and D. B. “Dan” Weiss. After a first season that captivated 8.3 million average gross viewers, Game of Thrones scored an impressive 13 Emmy Award nominations (PDF), including nods for best drama and, for Peter Dinklage, best supporting actor.
The Daily Beast caught up with Benioff and Weiss—currently working around the clock on the second season of Game of Thrones, set to air in 2012—to discuss the Emmy nominations, Emilia Clarke’s snub, “sexposition,” casting for season two, and what’s coming up next season on the addictive and shocking fantasy drama....
"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Winter is Coming Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
