Show runners David Benioff and Dan Weiss recently discussed dragons, Dance-ing, and Dornish coming in Game of Thrones season 5.

Less than a week after the fourth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones concluded in a rush of exhilaration and blood, show runners David Benioff and Dan Weiss told Entertainment Weekly that they have no fears for season 5 – at least, not anymore.

“The fear started to dissipate when we outlined it and realized how much story we had to tell,” the writers say. “Now that we’re nearly finished with the first drafts of each episode, we see no reason why the coming season shouldn’t be the strongest yet.”

Benioff and Weiss admit that they “have talked to [author George R. R. Martin] extensively about where he’s going with the books” which inspired the HBO series. Though the information to which they are privy will impact their work on Game of Thrones season 5, the showrunners maintain their position that “the show needs to work on its own terms, and keep on moving. Our job is to square that necessity with George’s work to the best of our ability.”

Speaking of moving, Benioff and Weiss promise that Game of Thrones season 5 will take viewers to a new location, which will be filmed in Spain.

“There will be Dorne,” the writers admit, “and we’re excited about it. Who wouldn’t want to hang out in Dorne? They have admirable values and priorities. And have you seen Oberyn’s coat?”

Yeah, that coat is definitely what we miss most about Oberyn Martell.

Though other new characters will continue to appear beyond the kingdom of Dorne, Game of Thrones season 5 marks something of a turning point. “It’s been an expanding universe,” says Benioff, which “will now start to contract.”

And with the shrinking universe may come greater clarity for several characters prone to manipulating events from behind the scenes. Though Littlefinger has been surprisingly frank about his all-encompassing goals, Weiss and Benioff say that light will be shed on his equal-and-opposite, Varys,

“At the end of the season… He throws away the entire life he’s built for himself in King’s Landing to save Tyrion’s life,” the writers observe. “Now what?… “Now what?” will become eminently clear in season 5.”

But though the show runners promise that the realistic characters will always be central to Game of Thrones, fans shouldn’t expect the fantasy elements to disappear.

“The White Walkers aren’t going away,” they promise. “The dragons aren’t getting any smaller. Melisandre’s still sorceressing, the giants are more pissed than ever… the fantasy’s not going away. It is a fantasy show.”

Game of Thrones season 5 will return to HBO in Spring 2015.