In the course of an update on various fronts, GRRM notes a little cryptically that he’s spending his spare time with, “Varys, Littlefinger, the Old Bear, Jory Cassel, Septa Mordane, Bronn, and some other old friends.” This baffled us for a moment—at first we thought he meant the script he was writing, but at least one of the characters in that list wouldn’t appear in said episode. Then we thought perhaps he was rereading A Game of Thrones to help him get into the flow of the script.
And then, a moment after, it dawned on us: GRRM has been viewing audition tapes for those various roles. Exciting!