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Game of Thrones Is Using Almost All New Directors for Season 5

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Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) in Season 4 of "Game of Thrones"
Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) in Season 4 of "Game of Thrones"Helen Sloan—HBO
By Eric Dodds

Over the course of its five seasons, Game of Thrones has become known nearly as much for its epic visuals as it has for its sprawling storytelling. Naturally, talented directors like Neil Marshall (responsible for Season Two’s “Blackwater” and Season Four’s “Watchers on the Wall”), Michelle MacLaren (four episodes of Thrones and a pair of Emmy nominations for her work on Breaking Bad) and Alan Taylor (six episodes, as well as 2013’s Thor: The Dark World) play a substantial role in creating that style.

So when it was announced on EW.com that many of the directors responsible for creating some of the series’ most iconic episodes were not returning, it was a bit of a surprise. That said, HBO is bringing an impressive group of newcomers to Westeros (alongside David Nutter, who has helmed four past episodes of Thrones).

Here’s the full list:

Episodes 501 and 502: Michael Slovis (episodes of AMC’s Breaking Bad and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU)

Episodes 503 and 504: Mark Mylod (episodes of Showtime’s Shameless and HBO’s Entourage)

Episodes 505 and 506: Jeremy Podeswa (episodes of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and Showtime’s The Tudors)

Episodes 507 and 508: Miguel Sapochnik (episodes of Fox’s House and Fringe)

Episodes 509 and 510: David Nutter (known as “the pilot whisperer” for his track record in getting pilots picked up to series; Nutter directed four epiosdes of Thrones, plus many other shows)

And, of course, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are returning as showrunners (though not behind the camera for any episodes in 2015), so it’s unlikely Game of Thrones will look all that different from how you remember it.

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