A Game of Thrones (HBO)

Television, Movies Games and Books Game of Thrones
#321

I am way behind the rest of you, just now getting to disc 3 of the season 1 DVD set. And every time I open the set and see Cersei Lannister’s face I want to scream “CUNT!”… ahem… sorry…

So far only two disappointments:

The Eyre. It has been quite awhile since I read the book but I could have sworn that the only ‘practical’ way up to the Eyre was by a series of primitive cable cars. Those were not present. Instead there was a narrow road leading up to the castle. Now upon reflection I can see why they removed them, the technology might have seemed rather out of place… But they kept the ‘elevator’ at the wall. So why not the cable cars? The cable cars are what made any attempted assault nearly impossible…

The crowning. Happened way too fast and spontaneously. You cannot melt gold over a small campfire… Nor could Ronin have lifted the pot by the handles like that without heavy gloves (if indeed they had actually smelted the gold) to pour it over the asshole’s head. The princes hair should have caught fire immediately upon contact… The event should have been planned out after the dirtbag’s acting out. Staged the following morning with far more witnesses and flourish, make the prince think he was getting a ‘real’ crown and then pull back the drapes to reveal a small foundry with the molten gold ready to go.

Minor gripes. So far everything else has been excellent.

#322

I dunno… Drogo really is that bad.

#323

Not to be that guy, but methinks thou proteststs too much. :eyebrow:

#324

Regarding your spoilery comments:

[spoiler] I completely understood and agreed with the choice to cut the journey for Arya and crue to Harrenhal and really like how it was cut while still including important aspects, ie. Gendry learning Arya’s secret, bad guy stealing Arya’s sword, injured kid getting stabbed for not being able to walk, etc. Well played I say.

Re: Margaery: I like how they made her a stronger character. I think it will make it easier to develop the other characters around her as well.[/spoiler]

Also, Theon still irks me.

#325

Sorry but watching gold medallions instantly melt like milk chocolate when coming into contact with a thin skinned potmetal cooking vessel atop a small campfire tends to yank me out of the moment… It is one of my curses, sometimes the logical part of my brain just won’t shut off and allow me to enjoy a good story. I am sure the whole thing was compressed for the sake of the episodes running time, but it still pulled me out of the moment.

I mean if after six hours of entertainment that is all I can grouse about, that is pretty damned good! And I already admitted it was something minor…

#326

re: the cable cars, I don’t specifically remember that but you’re probably right. The reason for the change, I suspect is largely budget. There’s only so much to go around. The RObert hunting scene should have had more people, more horses just flat out more. They had an hour to shoot it & no budget for the rest in order toa ccomplish what they wanted for the full season.

As for the melting gold, tht absolutely happened too fast, however as a whole the scene worked beautifully. That thunk at the end was the cherry on top I didn’t know I wanted until I got it.

#327

I’m further behind on this than you, having only read the first 3 books and 1/2 of the fourth and now having viewed the 1st 2 episodes of Season 1. But in the books the only approach to the Eyre is a series of increasingly steep stair-like pathways and at the top of those the choice of a ladder or single lift to get into the lowest part of the castle. No cable cars, no elevators, just lifts with ropes & pulleys to get to the top.

#328

In the commentary they sort of threw in an amusing “explanation” for it in there: much like Valyrian Steel, Dothraki Gold apparently is a special type of gold that has different properties than our gold. :smiley: LOL

Yeah, I thought it was entirely because of budget too. And I’m pretty ok with that, especially since they made the moon door better in the show than in the books.

To me too. But I thought the letter scene was a nice and needed touch.

#329

OK, faulty memory on my part. Or else while reading that part my mind envisioned something slightly different than what the author was attempting to describe. Who knows? The mind is a funny thing…

#330

I love the opening credits, but they are starting to confuse me a bit. Before, other than Winterfell, The Wall, and Kings Landing being staple locations for the credits, they only show the locales of what would be featured in the episode. But this isn’t really the case anymore. Like they had Pyke featured, but we weren’t there in this episode, and last week they featured Dragonstone, but we weren’t there either. This somewhat bugs me a bit. (I love how they depicted Harrenhal in the map though. No clockwork bits moving about, it just sits there, fittingly dead and haunted.)

book reader comments on 2x4, spoilers for book 2:
[spoiler] SHADOW BABIES. Perfectly creepy and menacing as shit. Though, maybe I’m misremembering it entirely, but I had the shadowbabies pegged at a much later episode, like maybe at the end of 2x6, not this soon. By the time shadow babies happened, I feel like we knew Davos quite well and that scene was very much myself feeling like I’m in Davos’ place experiencing this WTF moment through his eyes. Whereas in the show, we’ve only somewhat aware of who Davos is right now, and so the moment played out quite differently for me, I think. It’s a curious shift.

I’m a bit puzzled with Littlefinger constantly getting more scenes that I expect, even though I enjoy him a great deal as a character. Same goes for Roz, though she’s mainly just a plot device reacting to and being in other characters’ big/revelatory moments, whereas I’m just sort of surprised with Littlefinger being in what seems to be every episode so far when he isn’t a big plot point person - not in book 2 anyway.

Intriguing change with Arya being Tywin’s cup bearer instead, am interested to see how that goes.

I’m a bit worried that they’re overemphasizing just what a shit Joffrey is. Not that he isn’t a shit, because he is the worst, but…IDK.
[/spoiler]

#331

I think that art has little to do with facts and everything to do with truth. Viserys was a c-word. He got what was coming to him, but if we had to wait for the gold to melt in the time it would in real life, well, the scene would’ve been too long. Come on, man, you’re killing me here! :wink:

#332

One of the things I’m glad of, that makes Game of Thrones superior, in my mind, to A Song of Ice and Fire, is losing a lot of G.R.R. Martin’s long, unnecessary descriptions. The journey up to the Eyrie in the novel was one of the most tedious things I’d ever read (until I read A Feast for Crows. Man, that book just WOULDN’T END). In the show, BOOM, you’re there thanks to the magic of editing. Of course Cat had to go through all of that to get up there. It just happened off camera. Now, on to the main story.

It’s the same thing that bothers me about the special edition of The Empire Strikes Back: we don’t need that imperial shuttle to know how Darth Vader gets on the star destroyer. It’s totally unnecessary and ruins the tempo of the scene.

Okay, I should stop before I ruin our GWC positive vibe. Gotta stop being a hater. :o

#333

[spoiler]Totally with you on Davos, Coco. It seems like he’s kind of peripheral at this point in the show, where in the book he was a pretty pivotal character by now. I suppose when you have this huge a cast, though, something’s gotta give or we’d have 2-hour long episodes. (Wait, that doesn’t sound so bad…)

The shadow babies were creepy as shit, though, weren’t they? I knew what to expect and they still blew me away. Fantastic!

And yes, what’s up with Littlefinger being in everything? Tommy Carcetti’s (that guy will always be Tommy Carcetti to me) agent must be GOOD. Meanwhile, I think Nicolaj Coster-Waldau must be asking to renegotiate his contract (although, granted, Jaime’s hardly in book 2 at all, so it’s to be expected).[/spoiler]

#334

…and, as the episode explained: there ain’t no cure for that!

Man, just when you think you can’t hate that kid any more…

Somebody oughtta cast him & the Draco Malfoy actor together as some kind of villain team.

#335

No, no, no: a buddy comedy where they play loveable idiots. That could be all kinds of weird awesome.

#336

I am enjoying the second season of this show, but I wonder if people who have not read the books are struggling to keep all the characters and story lines clear? It seems as if we are only getting very brief mentions of some story lines. I know there is a ton of material in the books, and I applaud the show writers! At the end of each episode, I can’t believe that an hour has passed- I find myself wanting the episode to continue.

I do like seeing Arya again. The Harrenhall scenes were tough to watch, and I was worried about those. That part of the series really makes me cringe.

I was sure about Melissandre at first. She did not seem exotic or mysterious enough. This last episode changed my view of her though. :slight_smile:

#337

Haven’t started watching Sn2 yet, still rewatching Sn1. Hope to be through it by tomorrow. Really looking forward to Sn 2.

#338

I haven’t read the books myself, but I listen to a bunch of GoT podcasts that do a good job of filling me in on anything I’ve missed out on.

#339

My wife has been watching it with me without having read the books(she got hooked when I got season one on Blu Ray) and hasn’t had any trouble, that I know of, keeping up with everybody.

#340

A question to those who have read the books- I can’t recall, but if memory serves, I thought one more of Robert’s bastards was alive in the tower that was part of Renley’s camp. Now the show didn’t include this, nor will it likely show the siege of that tower, but I just wanted to check my memory. I am okay with the show omitting things, but now they’re starting to do more of that and I admit I’m getting confused. I don’t think it matters that the show didn’t choose to add that storyline though. Viewers know that Gentry is Robert’s.