--- description: A few familiar faces—including Neil Marshall and Michelle MacLaren—won't be involved in the upcoming season of the popular HBO show title: Game of Thrones Season 5 Directors Announced image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4161d66bf68e52/69869beae8524b78af603e78/game-of-thrones-kit-harrington.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Game of Thrones_ Is Using Almost All New Directors for Season 5 by [Eric Dodds](/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 16, 2014 2:40 PM CUT  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](/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 16, 2014 2:40 PM CUT 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](http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/07/15/game-of-thrones-season-5-directors/ "undefined") 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: --- > “” --- 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2991956/game-of-thrones-season-5-directors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2991956/game-of-thrones-season-5-directors/"},"headline":"Game of Thrones Is Using Almost All New Directors for Season 5","datePublished":"2014-07-16T14:40:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:10:33.853Z","description":"Familiar faces — including Neil Marshall and Michelle MacLaren — won't be directing new episodes of the popular HBO show, with only one Thrones veteran returning","url":"https://time.com/2991956/game-of-thrones-season-5-directors/","keywords":["Television","HBO","game of thrones"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4161d66bf68e52/69869beae8524b78af603e78/game-of-thrones-kit-harrington.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Dodds","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b4161d66bf68e52/69869beae8524b78af603e78/game-of-thrones-kit-harrington.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) in Season 4 of \"Game of Thrones\"","caption":"Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) in Season 4 of \"Game of Thrones\"","creditText":"Helen Sloan—HBO","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2991956/game-of-thrones-season-5-directors/","name":"Game of Thrones Is Using Almost All New Directors for Season 5"}}]}] ```