HBO's A Game of Thrones [spoilers through end of 1st book!]

[Xinpheld]

It took me horse of painstaking work, but I managed to start a spoiler thread for GoT:S1.

I really wish Viserys was crazier/meaner. It's going to have much less an impact then he 'gets his crown', unless we truly start hating him at Joffrey levels. At this point, he just seems a little bitchy and desperate. I don't think there's enough of the Targaryen Crazy coming through. I don't blame the actor, so much as him not having enough character space. But as of the end of episode 3, it may be too late. All he's really got left is the feast at the meeting grounds, where he gets his crown.

I'm worried that the show is going to start getting slogged down toward the second half of the season, when intrigue rules the day. There's a long stint of wringing of hands and writing of letters, mainly after Tyrion takes his pet Bronn back to King's Landing. I guess there's going ot be a lot glossed over or heavily encapsulated in the near future.

Really, what I'm looking forward to most is the big finale with Dany, with the witch and the fire and the eggs. That's going to be pretty sweet. I wonder how the actress who plays her will look bald.

I'm also looking forward to next season already, especially the Battle of Blackwater. I wonder too, who they're going to get to play Melisendre and Stannis. In my head, Stannis has been a younger Patrick Stewart.

So ok, get all those things out that you couldn't in the other thread. What's working? What's not? What parts are you looking forward to?
_________________
"I believe you stray into sarcasm.”
“Funny. I thought I’d run straight into it, screaming at the top of my lungs.”
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings

[ThrillKillBill]

okay, I guess I better not read this thread since I have not read the book and you want to talk about "future" things too...
_________________

Ya born alone
Ya die alone
And still we live on
Yesterday is a memory
Tomorrow is a vision
But today
it's a b*tch
Yesterday is a memory
Tomorrow is a vision
But today
it's a b*tch

[julie]

TKB - I am so sorry! Most of us are so used to discussing this series that we forget that there are people watching the show who haven't read all the books.

I have requested an edit to the title of this post to reflect that the spoilers are through the end of the book. Not sure how long it will take, as two of the moderators have small children and the third is in a way different time zone and probably still at work.

I would suggest, as sucky as this sounds, that you are probably better off avoiding reading anything about this series that says Spoiler on it - and be careful with posts that don't - until you finish the currently published books. Even when we try to stick to a particular frame of chapter/book/ or episode, sometimes we lose track of exactly when something happened. I've read the first three books at least twice - possibly three times and am on my third or fourth re-read of them. It's easy to lose track of what happened in what book - particularly since many of us started reading them over a decade ago.

I always stay away from spoiler threads, even with chapter delineations, until I finish something new, because sometimes people say things that they don't even think are spoilers and they really are for people who are paying attention.

I hope you finish the books and join our discussions - or even post your own thread with your own theories! It's always fun to see the viewpoints of someone new to an old favorite.

[Patrick]

Title edited to reflect spoilers.
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On a mountain of skulls in a castle of pain, I sat on a throne of blood. What was will be, what is will be no more. Now is the season of evil!

[julie]

And now, Mr. Smartypants pot stirrer, first *sticks tongue out at your snarkasm* it does take me a really long time to write a post, especially when you consider that 10 minutes is more time than I should be spending on line in the evening these days.

Second 'horse of painstaking work'? *snicker* Maybe should have thrown in an extra pony or two of edit time. ;-)

Third, shame on you! You'd want to strangle anyone who started a post three episodes into a new series and told you what happened at the end! /scolding

OK, that covered, I totally cracked up when you said that about

Click here to see the hidden message (It might contain spoilers)

"what I'm looking forward to most is the big finale with Dany, with the witch and the fire and the eggs."

That's what Jeff keeps saying every episode!! *lol* He keeps asking

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but WHERE ARE THE DRAGONS?! I WANT TO SEE THE DRAGONS?! WHEN DOES SHE GET THE DRAGONS?!

And Rob and I just roll our eyes and tell him it's not til the end. It's been a very long time since he read the first book and he's never done a re-read.

On your Viserys concern:

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Don't forget that the last thing he does to earn his golden crown is not only draw steel in a sacred city where it is forbidden to spill blood (thus the crown of gold), but also sticks said steel between the breasts of his rather pregnant sister and loudly threaten to split her open and kill her unborn child. I think that trumps any other crazy he could have mustered in earlier episodes. Plus, he is just creepy.

I'm not worried about them running out of action. There is plenty of action going on in other PoV areas. I'm about 3/4 through the book and there has been no lack of action.

*lol* Young Patrick Stewart would a perfect Stannis!

[Xinpheld]

Apologies for not being clearer on the range of spoilers. You're right, it never occurred to me that someone might be watching the show that didn't read the books already. Let the flogging begin.
_________________
"I believe you stray into sarcasm.”
“Funny. I thought I’d run straight into it, screaming at the top of my lungs.”
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings

[Patrick]

*prepares to whip it, whip it good*
_________________


On a mountain of skulls in a castle of pain, I sat on a throne of blood. What was will be, what is will be no more. Now is the season of evil!

[Rhodric]

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I guess just to be on the safe side I can put up a spoiler cut too. I'm not sure I have high hopes for mini series, considering they started deviating from the plot in the first five minutes of the first episode. I know its an "adaptation" but come on, was there really any credible reason for Eddard to execute Will instead of Gar? I mean besides it being more hollywood to give the young guy some lame back story and kill him for audience sympathy.

I don't know if V is quite right but I dunno if its a lack of crazy or something else. To me he just looks and sounds like a thwarted gay fashion designer. I don't really like the Targaryen look they made up for the mini series. Maybe its unpractical but I wish they could have given the actors violet hued contacts or something.

I don't like the way Drogo has been portrayed, at least in the first couple episodes. In the books, at least to me, he came off as caring at best, and at least sympathetic at worst to Dany's fears and concerns. On the show it seems more like date rape night at the local watering hole. The Dothraki seem to not be uniform either ethnically or in their dress, but that's a small concern. We won't be seeing much besides Dany's 3 after a little bit.

Eddard is cool, I like Sean Bean. He seems larger than life on the screen. I have the same concerns with Robert that others on other sites have voiced. He just seems too small and too old. Robert is 35ish and stands 6'6. Sure he's fat, has a piece of charcoal for a liver and is probably suffering from some stds, but he's still a powerful man. It's hard to imagine Addy in that role, although I think he does a good at bringing the spirit of Robert through.

Cat. Omg this heinous female dog. She looked way too old. She looked 60 in the first couple episodes. I guess the actress does a credible job. I'm probably being too harsh but I wish she were more bitchy in the series. From railroading Jon Snow to getting her husband and various other people killed with her idiocy, Cat was always a force of nature. On the bright side, at least she already looks like a corpse.

Bran and Jon's haircuts: .... lol.

I can't make up my mind about Winterfell. At first I think it seems too small and run down,, and then I think it doesn't feel stark enough (haha).

I read somewhere that the actress who plays Cersei said, "I really think she really loved Robert when they were first married." Hahahahaha. Cersei needs to be meaner and not so sympathetic. The only person this chick adores is her inbreed offspring. Even father and twin brother are only tools to achieve power and self gratification.

Jaime: good, though I think they are just portraying the mean spirited side to Jaime's personality. Where's the reckless playboy. I kind of hope it gets to season 3 so he can lose a hand. It was around then that I thought to myself, wow this guy is pretty complex.

I don't have any beef with Sansa, she was pretty unlikeable in the books too but I imagined her to be prettier.

Arya: Oh my darling. Still seems too feminine, but she steals the show. I could watch Arya scenes forever. The rest of the cast can go to heck.

Tyrion: Also steals the show but I wish they could have slapped on some make up or something to hint at some of the deformities the imp possesses. He's responsible for one of my favorite scenes, b*tch slapping the hell out of Joff. And I'm sorry for using bad language ya'll but it was definitely that kinda slap. My other fav is of course Arya and Joff and Nymeria at the river.

Dany's Mormont: I think he's way more attractive than the book version of his character but I totally dig the casting, none the less.

Lord Baelish: Omg this hillbilly imbred treasonous bastard. Well played HBO, well played.

The Kingsguard armor is cool.

The Hound seems bored and disinterested instead of a very in your face dick/tortured soul from the books.

The wall is good but not like I imagined it. I had thought it was made of huge quarried blocks of ice and had a very uniform look to it but it looks like a natural cliff or a comglomeration of glaciers. It still looks cool, just saying.

Using stretches of dialogue right out of the books verbatim is a cool facet but I could do without the extra nudity. I can't believe I said that but there's enough in the books without adding more.

I know there is a trade off between finding actors who actually look like the characters and actors who are available and/or can act, I know that, and I don't mean to keep harping on it. That being said. It took me a few minutes to realize who renly was. Dude is tiny, or at least, average sized. Can't wait to see Sam and Bri lol. Speaking of fat people, Magister Illyrio too skinny. They need to make him eat 3 or 4 dozen krispykremes a day to fatten him up.

Syrio Forel: Cool but couldn't they at leave have given a nod toward canon and given him a haircut? At least we know rogaine lives in the Seven Kingdoms.

Bran's wolf Summer ripping apart assassins was cool. I wonder how they will portray the warg aspect of the Starks. From what I remember, Bran had the most ability, but Arya and Jon had it too, to a degree. Should be interesting.

The show is entertaining and I think they've done a good job considering time and budget constraints. Its been picked up for season two, which is cool. Not sure I care all that much about the battle of blackwater (which Martin will write), but there is plenty of cool stuff in that book. For example the Quorin and Jon fight. Though I find myself really hoping it gets picked up for season 3 and beyond. There's many things, from missing hands to red weddings to the continued adventures of Arya that I'd like to see portrayed.

Cheers aSoIaF fans.

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Carai an Caldazar! Carai an Ellisande! Al Ellisande!

[Xinpheld]

Don't read Rhod's comments above in the Spoiler box (or mine in this one in response), unless you've already read through at least book three.

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I agree about The Hound. If they don't make him seem dangerous and impudent now, how are we going to fear for Sansa and Arya later, or empathize with him during the Battle of Blackwater and the wildfire?

I have word from my wife who read that the Targaryens were supposed to have purple eyes originally, but one of the two actors was having serious eye trouble from the contacts, so they dropped it. I'm sure they decided it wasn't worth the time and expense to fix it in post.

Also agree about Renly. H doesn't seem larger than life at all, and I wouldn't have picked him out but that the Brilliant Script pointed him out by name. He doesn't have the look of someone Brianne would die for.

re: the Cersi actress quote-- sounds like she didn't read the books. Cersei has loved no one but herself. She kept Jaime because she wanted to BE him and their intimacy was just her loving herself, really. Her children were a tool for her gaining power.

Sansa seems to be getting prettier as the series progresses. She obviously got her looks from her mother. Ahem. Cough. I'm increasingly disappointed with Cat. And you're right, she'll make a fine corpse.

I've been also disappointed with the scope of the show. Did anyone else decidedly NOT get the impression that there are 20,000 riders in Drogo's force? I realise that extras are expensive, but they could have used some Weta tricks to make the group look bigger. Everything just looks too sparse. The Red Keep seems empty.

I was annoyed with ep4's scene in the bathtub with Viserys, chattering on about dragons. Seemed a waste of precious screen time. It gave me the sense that they're having trouble figuring out what to emphasize out of all the writing. Spending 7 minutes to say 'there were a lot of dragons once' doesn't seem like good use of time to me.

Gendry is too old, period.

Gregor Clegane is too small. More like the Hillock That Rides, if you ask me. My wife pointed the fact out first, so I'm not crazy.

Good things: Ned and Cersei's conversations; they give a good feel for the nature of their relationship in the book. Arya, of course. Peytr is deliciously smarmy. And Jeoffry... he's like a ghastly open wound you can't look away from. Perfect. B**ch slap, indeed.

_________________
"I believe you stray into sarcasm.”
“Funny. I thought I’d run straight into it, screaming at the top of my lungs.”
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings

[Patrick]

So, I've seen the first three episodes, and this may surprise y'all, as I am well-known as a GRRM detractor ever since the "I'm splittin' the books and all I do now is make miniatures and rant about the New York Giants" crap...but I'm really liking it so far. It even makes me kinda sorta maybe think about finally reading AFfC, in spite of my avowed protest of not reading it until ADwD comes out.

Mind you, it's been about five years since I read any of the books, so I'm a bit rusty on a lot of it.

So...first impressions:

1. I generally like the casting. I really don't get why so many people are hating on the lady who plays Cat. She's not that bad, people! I think she fits well the role of somewhat bitter southerner brought to live at a cold, grim northern fortress, whose husband promptly said "bye y'all, I'm going to war!" and came back a year later with a bastard son by some chick he had an affair with. I don't get the Robert hating, either; he looks just like the debauched, gone-to-seed, formerly mighty warrior I pictured from the books.

I don't really like the portrayals of Jaime or Cersei, though. They're just not, well, golden enough, if you know what I mean. Joffrey is an appropriately smirking little douchebag, and Viserys is a whiny creep who makes me really eager to see some molten gold come a' pourin'.

I think Sansa looks older than 13, but I'm horrible at guessing kids' ages; just as spoiled, entitled, and self-centered as I remember from the books. Tyrion, Arya, and Jon are cast perfectly, and words cannot express how much I love Sean Bean as Ned. Dany looks young enough that the, er, romantic interludes, as my mother would have said, were creepy to watch. I don't know about Khal Drogo, though...I think people are overreacting to the Dothraki, but I can't not see him as Ronon Dex, ready to bust some Wraith ass all over Essos.

Littlefinger's great little pedostache is great.

2. Setting.

I like Winterfell, I think it looks grim enough. I don't like the Red Keep; I've heard people say it seems empty, and I agree, to which I would also add it just didn't seem very grandiose to me. Where are the "drum" towers and massive fortifications? The Great Hall? I liked the Wall, too.

3. Scenes Various

Tyrion slapping Joffrey had me laughing, as did Arya beating his spoiled little butt.

Okay, more later, I just got out of my last final exam of the semester and my brain is mushy.
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On a mountain of skulls in a castle of pain, I sat on a throne of blood. What was will be, what is will be no more. Now is the season of evil!

[Xinpheld]

[julie]

nothing can make littlefinger less skeevy