Game of Thrones (HBO)

[crisper57]

I saw an interview with Martin in which he mentioned there will be some overlap between novels in the series..... I have been expecting the wedding to either end this season or start the next.... it has however been a few years since I read those particular books....maybe I am off with the timeline....but I recall the wedding being shortly after Jamie Lannister and the Maid of Tarth head out on their own.

Spoiler

They aren't introducing the Blackfish character until next season, according to EW. It would be hard to pull off the Red Wedding without the groom. I think the S2 finale will be Jon Snow/Dany-centric. He'll reach the wildling camp and she'll go to the House of the Undying.

 

[oaken1]

both of those suggestions make perfect sense.

 

[Stout]

There is some confusion about a few characters. The Blackfish is not Edmure Tully, but rather his uncle, Brynden Tully. It's not a spoiler, really, to say that the Blackfish will be appearing in season 3, and not season 2.

Spoiler

The red wedding happened in book 3, not book 2.

 

[crisper57]

There is some confusion about a few characters. The Blackfish is not Edmure Tully, but rather his uncle, Brynden Tully. It's not a spoiler, really, to say that the Blackfish will be appearing in season 3, and not season 2.

Spoiler

The red wedding happened in book 3, not book 2.

You are right. A lapse on my part.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Weddings blow ass!

I thought you didn't mind weddings. I thought it was the actual marriages that followed the weddings that you didn't like.

 

[D-Dogg]

Spoiler

I think the S2 finale will be Jon Snow/Dany-centric. He'll reach the wildling camp and she'll go to the House of the Undying.

This would be my expectation, even not watching the show in season 2.

Especially because (book five spoilers here)....

Spoiler

I'm becoming more and more convinced that Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Of course, my assumption is that Jon is not dead, either. But the prophecies in the house of undying show dark eyes for Rhaegar, no lilac, as well as the blue rose in the wall which would be Jon via Lyanna's blue rose mentions.

So joining a Jon/Dany finale would be smart and crafty if this were to be true, to more closely align jon with the prophecy.

 

[Phrazbit]

This would be my expectation, even not watching the show in season 2.

Especially because (book five spoilers here)....

Spoiler

I'm becoming more and more convinced that Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Of course, my assumption is that Jon is not dead, either. But the prophecies in the house of undying show dark eyes for Rhaegar, no lilac, as well as the blue rose in the wall which would be Jon via Lyanna's blue rose mentions.

So joining a Jon/Dany finale would be smart and crafty if this were to be true, to more closely align jon with the prophecy.

Book 5 spoilers within:

Spoiler

The person who interested me in these books proposed the same thing, only problem is everything we know about the Targaryen's is that they all have that silver hair. But yes, the story fits. She and Rhaegar disappearing together, Ned fighting the Kingsguard once they tracked her down.

But I agree about Jon not being dead, Melisandre is there as he gets shanked, we know the "lord o light" can bring people back but the resuscitated Jon is likely to have a large shift in personality.

I might start a thread on the book forum so we can speculate a bit more openly on the possible directions the story will take. Martin weaves sooooo much detail into his story and it comes from so many points of view that its hard to sift out misinformation. I love the way he does it. No omnipotent narrator, you basically know as much or as little as the characters do.

 

[MadCardDisease]

So I watched all of Season One on Blu-Ray. Thought it was fantastic. IMO they really nailed the casting of the Lannisters. Especially the Imp. The Wall looked fantastic. All of the sets looked great. Impressive stuff for a miniseries.

My only gripe was the direwolves. I pictured them as being much bigger and dangerous. They showed a huge dead bitch when they found the pups in one of the first scenes. However later they were clearly no more than skinny little wolves which was a disappointment for me. I guess with the limited budget that they had, CGI direwolves would have cost too much. I don't know if they get bigger in Season 2 but I kind of doubt it.

Oh and I didn't like the casting of Shae. She wasn't what I was picturing at all.

 

[D-Dogg]

Book 5 spoilers within:

Spoiler

The person who interested me in these books proposed the same thing, only problem is everything we know about the Targaryen's is that they all have that silver hair. But yes, the story fits. She and Rhaegar disappearing together, Ned fighting the Kingsguard once they tracked her down.

But I agree about Jon not being dead, Melisandre is there as he gets shanked, we know the "lord o light" can bring people back but the resuscitated Jon is likely to have a large shift in personality.

I might start a thread on the book forum so we can speculate a bit more openly on the possible directions the story will take. Martin weaves sooooo much detail into his story and it comes from so many points of view that its hard to sift out misinformation. I love the way he does it. No omnipotent narrator, you basically know as much or as little as the characters do.

Spoiler

In the prophecy, it is shown that Rhaegar has the dark eyes, not the purple which is a Targ thing and also in Dayne. There are several places shown where the Targ line isn't dominant...but when Targ breeds with Targ, the violet and silver dominate.

This is a really good link that I found that goes into it...and put me over the edge for being convinced.

http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/mlarchives/faq/jon.html

And yes, the unreliable narrator is awesome...one of my favorite films is Rashomon, so I love this style.

 

[Stout]

Book 5 spoilers:

Spoiler

Also, on Jon Snow, he is mentioned many times as having a fiery blade. In fact, Melisandre continually dreams of him, and gets angry, because she's trying to dream about Stannis. It is crystal clear that Jon is also Azor Azhai (sp?) as well as a Targ.

 

[D-Dogg]

Book 5 spoilers:

Spoiler

Also, on Jon Snow, he is mentioned many times as having a fiery blade. In fact, Melisandre continually dreams of him, and gets angry, because she's trying to dream about Stannis. It is crystal clear that Jon is also Azor Azhai (sp?) as well as a Targ.

Spoiler

I disagree, it is not crystal clear. I do not think he is AA, Dany is. She's the only one born of salt and fire (crying while sacrificing Khal Drogo to make dragons). The sword is either her dragons, or Arthur Dayne's sword, Dawn...which is in Dorne, where she's like to go when she hits Westeros. Aegon is the prince who was promised, and Jon is the third dragon rider.

Stannis is NOT AA, of course, and the effect on his sword is a glamour from Millisandre. Why she continues to fake it with him, I do not know. But I do think she's going to save Jon from his stabbings.

IMO, of course.

 

[crisper57]

So I watched all of Season One on Blu-Ray. Thought it was fantastic. IMO they really nailed the casting of the Lannisters. Especially the Imp. The Wall looked fantastic. All of the sets looked great. Impressive stuff for a miniseries.

My only gripe was the direwolves. I pictured them as being much bigger and dangerous. They showed a huge dead bitch when they found the pups in one of the first scenes. However later they were clearly no more than skinny little wolves which was a disappointment for me. I guess with the limited budget that they had, CGI direwolves would have cost too much. I don't know if they get bigger in Season 2 but I kind of doubt it.

Oh and I didn't like the casting of Shae. She wasn't what I was picturing at all.

Oh they are bigger in Season 2. Sometimes this effect is more believable than others, though. I think I read last year that they used dogs in place of the direwolves. In Season 2, they switched to real wolves and used CGI to make them bigger.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Oh they are bigger in Season 2. Sometimes this effect is more believable than others, though. I think I read last year that they used dogs in place of the direwolves. In Season 2, they switched to real wolves and used CGI to make them bigger.

That's great to hear. I was so disappointed with the dogs they used in season one.

 

[Stout]

Spoiler

I disagree, it is not crystal clear. I do not think he is AA, Dany is. She's the only one born of salt and fire (crying while sacrificing Khal Drogo to make dragons). The sword is either her dragons, or Arthur Dayne's sword, Dawn...which is in Dorne, where she's like to go when she hits Westeros. Aegon is the prince who was promised, and Jon is the third dragon rider.

Stannis is NOT AA, of course, and the effect on his sword is a glamour from Millisandre. Why she continues to fake it with him, I do not know. But I do think she's going to save Jon from his stabbings.

IMO, of course.

IMO in disagreement

Spoiler

I think Aegon is the fake, because Martin leaves hints about that, including a pretty strong reference to a paper dragon which, in Westeros, is a fake dragon used in festivals. Jon would be the prince who was promised, because is is a Targ. And I would be willing to bet a hefty sum that, given all the oblique hints Martin drops in the books, that Jon is AA. Here's a good link to all of the prophecies so you can see for yourself: http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/Prophecies/

 

[Phrazbit]

Show spoiler

Spoiler

Where is the Bastard of Bolton?!?!? He has been mentioned offhand by Roose a few times but certainly is in a different role here. Its too bad they dumped his gruesome back story, I dont see the TV audience grasping how sick "Reek" is with the way they are portraying him as already part of Bolton's trusted crowd.

Book 5 spoiler

Spoiler

I agree, she knows Stannis is not AA and I think she has known for a long time. IMO she continues to fake it with Stannis so she can use his cause to spread her agenda and track down the real AA... which is almost certainly Jon Snow, who she is going to literally make "reborn" at the start of the next book.

Also, poor Stannis, dead in the snow or at the hands of the Bastard. I wonder if the exact circumstances of his demise will be left as ambiguous as many others.

 

[D-Dogg]

IMO in disagreement

Spoiler

I think Aegon is the fake, because Martin leaves hints about that, including a pretty strong reference to a paper dragon which, in Westeros, is a fake dragon used in festivals. Jon would be the prince who was promised, because is is a Targ. And I would be willing to bet a hefty sum that, given all the oblique hints Martin drops in the books, that Jon is AA. Here's a good link to all of the prophecies so you can see for yourself: http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/Prophecies/

Haha, I was looking at that site yesterday, a lot. You make a good point, which I don't necesarily disagree with, but I think the mummers dragon reference will turn out to be something otherwise. Could easily be wrong. Martin likes to bob and weave a lot.

Spoiler

Now, he could get "reborn" in book 6 in salt and fire/smoke and that would nail the AA. Until then though, I'm not buying it. Jon might live the rest of the books out as Ghost, for all we know. That was heavy handed in the recent books too, living on in the animal after dying in human form..wasn't that the 4th book's prologue even?

 

[AZZenny]

OK, serious Question: Many of you are the same people who praised Homeland as the best thing on TV, etc etc. It's not out yet on DVD, so no way for me to compare.

I'm halfway through season one of Game of Thrones, and I'm pretty sure it's the best series I have ever seen on TV. It's just astonishingly well-made, from the music and intro to the casting, the writing, the pacing, acting, sets, directing, and of course, the story.

Do you really mean to tell me Homeland is better?

 

[Shane]

OK, serious Question: Many of you are the same people who praised Homeland as the best thing on TV, etc etc. It's not out yet on DVD, so no way for me to compare.

I'm halfway through season one of Game of Thrones, and I'm pretty sure it's the best series I have ever seen on TV. It's just astonishingly well-made, from the music and intro to the casting, the writing, the pacing, acting, sets, directing, and of course, the story.

Do you really mean to tell me Homeland is better?

Homeland is not better than season 1 of Thrones. It is however better than season 2 of Thrones.

 

[azsportsfan01]

Don't forget there are 10 extra minutes tonight. If you do a season pass you should be fine but if you manually set the DVR be aware.

 

[Cheesebeef]

OK, serious Question: Many of you are the same people who praised Homeland as the best thing on TV, etc etc. It's not out yet on DVD, so no way for me to compare.

I'm halfway through season one of Game of Thrones, and I'm pretty sure it's the best series I have ever seen on TV. It's just astonishingly well-made, from the music and intro to the casting, the writing, the pacing, acting, sets, directing, and of course, the story.

Do you really mean to tell me Homeland is better?

they're both pretty insane first seasons of TV. The best part of season 1 of Thrones was it was so dense building up the story the first five or six episodes and then the last four episodes just had knock-out surprise after surprise.

Homeland may not have had those knock-out surprises, but the level of tension/acting that it sustained for every episode was sick and they went to some pretty crazy (no pun intended) places with claire danes character by the end of the season.

 

[oaken1]

I enjoyed the season finale.......but it would have been nice as a two hour finale.....the house of the undying left much to be desired....but they did a great job on the wights and the white walkers.

 

[Stout]

I absolutely loved the finale, which made up for a lot of the season's shortcomings. The one thing that really cheesed me off, though, was this:

Spoiler

WTF was that with the Jon Snow/Qorin Halfhand fight? It was supposed to be a set-up fight, with the Halfhand having Jon kill him, but only in order to infiltrate the wildlings. Yeah, so we got something of a very small hint of that, but that isn't anywhere near enough. When they went corps-a-corps with their swords, I just KNEW it was the moment when the Halfhand would tell him that. Instead, we had just a wee bit of foreshadowing in another episode, and a cryptic remark after Jon CLEARLY killed him out of rage. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! It was all SUPPOSED to be a big setup, so that Jon clearly only did it for the Watch. Instead, he's a douchebag that just joined the wildlings. HATE IT!

 

[D-Dogg]

I absolutely loved the finale, which made up for a lot of the season's shortcomings. The one thing that really cheesed me off, though, was this:

Spoiler

WTF was that with the Jon Snow/Qorin Halfhand fight? It was supposed to be a set-up fight, with the Halfhand having Jon kill him, but only in order to infiltrate the wildlings. Yeah, so we got something of a very small hint of that, but that isn't anywhere near enough. When they went corps-a-corps with their swords, I just KNEW it was the moment when the Halfhand would tell him that. Instead, we had just a wee bit of foreshadowing in another episode, and a cryptic remark after Jon CLEARLY killed him out of rage. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! It was all SUPPOSED to be a big setup, so that Jon clearly only did it for the Watch. Instead, he's a douchebag that just joined the wildlings. HATE IT!

Oh, no. That's not good. That's just wildly different, character wise, from the book. A bridge waaaay too far, IMO.

I'm not all that happy with the stuff I've been hearing about Season 2 and the liberties that have been taken.

 

[Covert Rain]

I absolutely loved the finale, which made up for a lot of the season's shortcomings. The one thing that really cheesed me off, though, was this:

Spoiler

WTF was that with the Jon Snow/Qorin Halfhand fight? It was supposed to be a set-up fight, with the Halfhand having Jon kill him, but only in order to infiltrate the wildlings. Yeah, so we got something of a very small hint of that, but that isn't anywhere near enough. When they went corps-a-corps with their swords, I just KNEW it was the moment when the Halfhand would tell him that. Instead, we had just a wee bit of foreshadowing in another episode, and a cryptic remark after Jon CLEARLY killed him out of rage. Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! It was all SUPPOSED to be a big setup, so that Jon clearly only did it for the Watch. Instead, he's a douchebag that just joined the wildlings. HATE IT!

Spoiler

I didn't read the books but it seemed very plausible to me. They planned the fight and I took it as Jon didn't want to fight him and probably didn't have it in him to pull it off. Halfhand knew Jon didn't either and so he antagonized him during the fight to make sure Jon did what it took to kill him. It was very clear to me it was a setup so Jon could survive only. Not for one second did I think Jon joined them and it was also clear to me why Halfhand did what he did to piss Jon off.

 

[Stout]

The problem with that, Daren, is this:

Spoiler

In no way did the Halfhand have to 'piss' Jon off to get him to kill him. It was a premeditated and planned act, Jon knew what he was doing, and he did it deliberately. It shows strength of character and willingness to do whatever it takes to carry out the mission. Instead, he's turned into a puling weakling that has to be cajoled into doing it. Stupid decision.