HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones - will this be just for nerds? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Just been picked up for a first season.

I don't know anything about this but the fantasy genre is expensive and so 2k3 really isn't it?

It will for this nerd!

fwiw every show HBO has is just for nerds but everyone else watches them anyway

this might be dope

are the books good?

YES

also: Sean Bean as Eddard Stark

FUCK YES

'good if you're a fan of the fantasy genre and are cool with the Dragonlance series' or 'good' in the general sense.

GOOD GOOD

HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING FROM ILX

did a search for 'Game of Thrones' to see if this show was already mentioned, and saw nothing about it or the books so...no?

REALLY GOOD GOOD

this nerd is v v v v excited

Anticipating "A Feast For Crows" by George R. R. Martin (Nov. 9)

George R. R. Martin

Anticipating "A Feast For Crows" by George R. R. Martin (Nov. 9)

whoops. just searched 'game of thrones'. i actually wikipediaed this ages ago when the pilot was first announced. it's coming back to me.

This will be awesome. I gave up on the books after the first two, but would still like to see it on teevee.

Third book is probably the best.

I'd agree with that

ok so what's going to happen when this show becomes wildly successful and 4 years from now they run out of god damn source material

tbh if they've any sense they'll get to the end of book four about two and a half seasons in

also: 'they will come up with their own ending, more quickly and as validly as george r r martin manages to come up with his'

amazing that its been 4 or 5 years since i was really into these books and the next one's still not out...dude isn't gonna finish the series is he :(

it's definitely good tv series material though if they're willing to run it out long enough and don't try to cram each book into a single season (the 3rd book alone is like as long as the entire lord of the rings iirc)

you think they ought to make it longer? u mad

not necessarily make it longer, just not do 1 book = 1 season when the books are of varying length and plot complexity (4th book could be cut down by a ton for example to make room for more stuff from the 3rd book)

They could just do more episodes for the season w/ the 3rd book. I don't see how they could split it up though.

Gobbled up all the books on the recommendation of ILXors. I'm looking forward to the HBO show, but mostly I just want the new book! And then I guess there are two MORE of these books that he has to write, in-between blogging about the Jets and going to fantasy conventions? Sigh...

expected to air around this time next year, alongside the second season of Treme.

Can't wait for the crossover episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MophfvUlfI

1 book = 1 season makes total sense

they can make that work

also hbo shows arent always 1 season = 1 year

sopranos took long breaks

Never read the books, but pretty keen on watching this.

what is the point of this if the dude won't even finish the books???? Goddamn stop re-writing them already!!!

also hbo shows arent always 1 season = 1 year

sopranos took long breaks

― delanie griffith (s1ocki), Saturday, June 19, 2010 7:50 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

name one HBO show besides Sopranos that didn't/doesn't do a new season every year

actually, I'll name another, Curb Your Enthusiasm, but i think that's it

The Wire had a significant gap between seasons 3 and 4, but that was partly because they weren't sure if they were going to renew it.

at this point, I am wondering if it might not be better if some talented cable TV writers finished this thing for him. I am losing faith that he has any idea where he is going with these books.

We should start bitching about the BSG/Lost style finalefail.

Turns out Tyrion is Jesus.

big love took a break right?

If it hasn't it needs to.

Carcetti is Littlefinger

That character means nothing to me obv.

FUCK YEAH THAT IS BRILLIANT!!!!!

yeah, that is good casting

ditto

Really looking forward to this!

more teasing

I hope this starts a trend of classy TV fantasy adaptations. Someone should do Perdido Street Station (though would be fucking expensive). Do these books have monsters and magic and shit, or is it just guys fighting with swords?

They have dragons and undead.

only in the first and last episodes of this season though, that saves you some money right there

perdido street station feels basically like a miniseries already! which is unfortunate in that the other bas-lag stuff wouldn't really work as further series of.

Exclusive EW pics

Martin has penned the 8th episode.

Also EW On the Set

There's a new language or something that's better than Klingon it says.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGuIhhyNX-o
Looks nice and wintry

Wasn't the guy in the first scene of the trailer also in the Lord of the Ring movies? I guess all "serious" fantasy movies/series now have to look kinda murky with muted colours, since LotR did that. Will anyone make a colourful fantasy movie anymore?

yeah thats sean bean... ive been reading the first book and im not a fantasy guy at all but its p. good... a lot of the early parts of the story take place in a wintery shithole, which limits your color choices... plus its kind of 'gritty' fantasy and they wanna convey that style/mood...

lotr movies were pretty colorful imo, like that part where they're in elfburg and the dwarf goes AND U HAVE MY AXE... lots of stuff actually... its just the color palette changes depending on context... i mean what do you want dude, rainbows over mount doom..

Well, not necessarily, of course it depends on the story... It's just that every recent live action fantasy seems to have had a similar muted colour palette as LotR, as if gritty fantasy was suddenly the only choice. For example, based on the trailer the Avatar The Las

Well, not necessarily, of course it depends on the story... It's just that every recent live action fantasy seems to have had a similar muted colour palette as LotR, as if gritty fantasy was suddenly the only choice. For example, based on the trailer the Avatar The Last Airbender movie has the same kind of look even though the source material is actually quite colourful and fun.

have you read the books? if there is one story that needs to look "gritty", it's this one.

So is each season going to be one book?

God, I hope not. To me the best way to do it would be to break it down and rearrange in a linear timeline. Jump around between characters, like any good television drama with a ton of characters tends to do.

It's just that every recent live action fantasy seems to have had a similar muted colour palette as LotR, as if gritty fantasy was suddenly the only choice.

yes because there have been so, so many live action fantasy movies recently

still lolling at "muted color palette of LotR"

It's not fantasy, it's HBO

A decent little write-up about the 10-minute making of that premiered and also the branding of the show.

oh, and that Inside of Game of Thrones featurette:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJR3eBfcusM

This looks so good. I really, really hope it succeeds and gets George off his fat ass to finish the story before they catch up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ5p18wIQEI

April cannot come soon enough.

im still peeved they didnt get tamzin merchant to play daenerys. her replacement doesnt look inbred enough imo. at least they got the iron throne right.

and yes this will be just for nerds.

Hopefully it will do for us nerds who haven't read the books as well.

i have the speakers off, did they cut this trailer to 'power'

this looks so awful. the throne of swords is a pretty stupid idea for a visual and this is not executed in any way that'd serve to redeem that

I pulled out my old copy to read again before the adaption starts and I'd totally forgotten I have an autographed copy.... lol.

hi five!

also that counts as a humblebrag, right? ;)

i'm on storm of swords now. it's good, but i liked the first book best. should be incredibly easy to adapt for cable!

here's some big-ass pics:

http://i.imgur.com/0NlAW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xLJ3Y.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/vUc0i.jpg

am 3/4 of the way through the first book...freaking love it!

those photos make me p excited for the tv show

Yes, I should have followed that up with #humblebrag

Looking at prices on eBay I'm wondering if I should just sell this thing, or wait a few more years?

wait until he's dead, yes

holy crap @ the wall, that is impressive. is the 2nd one supposed to be winterfell? don't remember things well enough to ID the first one, maybe the lannisters' castle? that was by the ocean iirc

i'm real tempted to reread the books now that the 5th one finally has a release date and i don't remember most of the plot details, but that's like...4000 pages of pulp fantasy when i already have a long list of new and probably better things to read, damn. i'll probably do it anyway

whatever you do Jon, DON'T TOUCH THE BOOK AT ALL, EVER.

Those pics are awesome. I am pretty excited about this show.

ya first one is king's landing, second is winterfell

the casting is looking pretty good too

yeah

Need to re-read but books completely boxed up and unreachable in storage!! ;_;

very excited about hearing my first name spoken repeatedly on tv.

Viserys?

those pictures look pretty rad. i usually like this kind of stuff better when there are actors and, like, vistas, so that's another reason i'm looking forward to the adaptation, although the books were def A Cut Above.

"robert"

nah theon.

I've mostly gotten off the endless/knotted/OTT/hyperinvolved fantasy saga train by now for a variety of reasons -- changed foci of interest in life, etc. -- but I think I'll be good with this to watch as it stands. If anything I think I'm glad that it's been adapted rather than trying to imagine dealing with the whole series; if it delivers as good drama that's all I need, really. I have absolutely no doubt that if I was twenty years younger I would long since have memorized all the books backwards and forwards -- but I grew up when I did and I got, well, Dragonlance.

(My dream extended adaptation wouldn't actually be a fantasy series but would be a hell of a blast -- Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond/Niccolo cycles, set in Renaissance/16th century Europe; if you want hyperinvolved plotting across decades and shades of grey characterization, you want to read these ASAP. And she completed it all before she passed so no regrets a la Jordan.)

yeah i'd say Martin is 90% likely to pull a Jordan at this point given his age/health and how slowly he's written the 5th book of supposedly 7 or 8

I'm less convinced than everyone else that GRRM's gonna die before finishing. There's only 2 more books and he's only 62. Does he have any known health issues aside from the obesity?

Not sure people are totally convinced he's gonna pop his clogs, it's more of a fatalist thing after what happened with RJ

xpost -- I suspect the only reason everyone's all thinking it might happen now is that people joked about it in re: Jordan for years and then he actually DID die and now people are all "MARTIN WE ARE PARANOID ABOUT YOU AND YOUR HEALTH ARGH"

(Or what Number None just said.)

Don't thing i could stomach another writer finishing these ala WOT though

A Song of Ice and Fire's epic conclusion, by Nicholas Sparks.

;_;

i think he can definitely write 2 more books if he sticks to his guns, i'm more worried about him stretching the story out into more than 7 books. he's already done this once, it was originally gonna be 6 books and then A Feast for Crows was sandwiched in later, and it seems like each time he gives a new character a voice, even if they were in the storyline already, it just increases the scope of the whole thing.

i think i'll feel better about it if some of the separated characters' plotlines start to merge again in the next book, there was just so much fracturing of the plot by the end of book 3 and none of that's been resolved yet iirc

Must be kind of cool to have hundreds of thousands of people actively willing you to remain alive though. Maybe that's why he doesn't want to finish?

where was this filmed? i want to guess the winterfell area is scotland but i have no basis for that

maybe i'm just mentally linking The Wall with Hadrian's Wall or something

ireland, scotland and malta iirc

I thought some was in Morocco too but I might be wrong.

I wish I had HBO now. That ice wall looks nice. I cannot even remember half of what I read tho. ;_

part of the reason im pysched for the series is that it makes rereading at least one of the books unnecessary

Every time I read about 'Sansa' my brain automatically starts chanting 'Sansabelt! Sansabelt! Sansabelt!'

I started re-reading this, and I have to say I am worried that the show will sort of overwrite my own visualization of the various locations, kind of like Lord of the Rings did, despite my best efforts to resist it. May skip the show.

LOTR overwrote the visualisations from the Bakshi film for me, so an improvement.

really dig the king's landing/winterfell contrast in those first two pictures. one of my favorite things in these books is (extremely minor spoiler) how homesick sansa gets for winterfell, and how defensive she is about the way it looks--low and grey and, um, stark, in a way she didn't know she loved when she was there, and didn't know was so much like her, cuz she thought she was all king's-landing-glam.

yeah my own visualization of winterfell wasn't quite as cloud-city-ish but i really love how it looks there anyway

i like how both castles have architectural styles that aren't just plucked straight from the medieval europe cliche of a castle

On first impressions, I don't thing it's stark enough? The interiors could win me over but in a general way, isn't constructing round buildings a lot more work and finesse-y than square ones? Doesn't seem in keeping, all the extra labor and attention just to result in some inconveniently round rooms.

I agree with that. I definitely didn't picture it to be some kind of architectural marvel. it's supposed to be ancient.

it's been awhile since i've read these i'm pretty sure bran the builder (i swear i had to look him up!) was famous for his building.

There's nothing particularly fancy about a rounded castle tower, and when they're built that way it's for a reason - they protect against siege weapons differently than a square building would. It's not exactly how I pictured Winterfell either, but it's a valid design decision that doesn't contradict anything we know about the Starks (and yeah, Brandon the Builder gets mentioned a lot... there's supposed to be a great architectural tradition in the North, eg. the Wall)

u r the biggest shithead

also can I just:

"NERRRRRRRD"

tbh this series is probably third only to LOTR and harry potter for fans geeking out over minute details

(eep shithead comment on wrong thread btw)

That's a relief!

lol lol

tamtam i find it ridiculous that you have read these for some reason

that is some ugly composited architecture, the wall one has two horizons ffs

My "nerd" comment 100% meant for tamtam...I kid bc I love

haha thom, as i was composing that post i imagined you coming along and registering disgust with me

First 15 mins
http://www.hbo.com/#/game-of-thrones/about/video/exclusive-preview.html/eNrjcmbO0CzLTEnNd8xLzKksyUx2zs8rSa0oUc-PSYEJBSSmp-ol5qYy5zMXsjGyMXIyMrJJJ5aW5BfkJFbalhSVpgIAXbkXOA==

that is some ugly composited architecture, the wall one has two horizons ffs

Okay, I keep looking but I'm not seeing these two horizons at all.

Already watched much of those 15 minutes through teasers, but still nice to see. Especially inside Winterfell. Was hoping to get the show's title sequence, though.

looked great...looking fwd to the start of this.

Productions values are satisfyingly high anyway

From the mid-season tv thread:

Not going to the Game of Thrones thread(s), but as someone who's never read the books, should I try to get in on the miniseries?

― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Saturday, April 16, 2011 11:16 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

YES

― VegemiteGrrl, Saturday, April 16, 2011 11:19 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Not going to the Game of Thrones thread(s), but as someone who's never read the books, should I try to get in on the miniseries?

― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Saturday, April 16, 2011 6:16 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

The thread for the series is spoiler-free I believe.

― Gukbe, Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:03 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i tried reading the book a couple years ago but i hated the writing and never got more than 40 pages in. that said, reviews for the show have been stellar so far and i'm really excited for it.

― Mordy, Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:12 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

stellar? NYT and slate both hated it

― ban drake (the rapper) (max), Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:26 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Both those reviewers seemed to have chips on their shoulders

― Number None, Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:31 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

and the Slate review is basically unreadable

― Number None, Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:33 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yeah, I was reading something someplace that compared it favorably to a D&D The Wire (possibly on Wired.com?).

― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:33 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

From the NYT review:

While I do not doubt that there are women in the world who read books like Mr. Martin’s, I can honestly say that I have never met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to “The Hobbit” first.

In other words, I don't think Ginia Bellafante is predisposed to this sort of fare.

― reggaeton for the painfully alone (polyphonic), Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:36 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ilana-teitelbaum/game-of-thrones-hbo_b_850014.html

― reggaeton for the painfully alone (polyphonic), Saturday, April 16, 2011 1:41 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Heather Havrilesky from NYT doesn't dislike it but has some interesting thoughts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Riff-t.html

Sepinwall loved it, VanDerWerff really liked it, but they have the advantage of 6 episodes.

Oh, and should we throw down some ground rules if people are going to be discussing this week-by-week? i.e. if you've read the books don't discuss anything further than where we are, but discussion of any differences in the TV show and the books from what we've seen is fine.

obv i know but we don't want another Doctor Who thread on our hands.

and to breakdown VanDerWerff's thoughts from his podcasts:

He has larger issues with HBO moving away from episodic television, and those issues manifest themselves in GoT. He wasn't too enthused when he'd watch one episode, but when he'd watch two in a row he'd really be into it. Also aside from the nudity of one character, he finds a lot of it to be somewhat gratuitous.

Also, Myles McNutt has a series of posts in the lead-up:

A Televisual Love Letter

A Question of Taste

On Winter's Doorstep

and Zoller Seitz has weighed in on the reviews:

Slate, NYT to fantasy buffs: Grow Up

that seitz article is good

it's basically getting two kinds of reviews as far as i can tell - good ones, and fantasy-hating dismissive ones (i didn't think there'd be so many of these!)

Oh, and should we throw down some ground rules if people are going to be discussing this week-by-week? i.e. if you've read the books don't discuss anything further than where we are, but discussion of any differences in the TV show and the books from what we've seen is fine.

― Gukbe, Saturday, April 16, 2011 4:51 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

this seems sufficient to me

Sepinwall loved it, VanDerWerff really liked it, but they have the advantage of 6 episodes.

― Gukbe, Saturday, April 16, 2011 4:49 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

i think almost every reviewer is working w/the first 6 eps btw

Fantasy-hating dismissive reviews make me want to take up my sword >:(
jerks

Yeah, Gukbe's ground rules sound good to me too.

Alan Sepinwall gave it a great review: http://hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/review-hbos-game-of-thrones-an-epic-mature-well-crafted-fantasy-series

JESUS, this is starting tonight! For some reason I thought it was next fall.

so excited!

WOOHOOO

HBO doesn't do itunes season passes do they? may have to break my moratorium on bittorrent to watch these without waiting months

yayayayayayaay

I got an invitation from someone who has HBO!!!!!! Pretty excited over here.

No HBO. Gonna try to stream or download it.

lets do this

Started watching but the stream was shut down. So how was it?!

It was good. The story doesn't really start moving along until farther along in the story. This was more just of an introduction. What makes it so good is the characters and what happens to them.

so that was the queen and her brother at the end there?

Yeah. "the things I do for love"

Production was second to none. Great look and sound to this. Having read the book I was also pleased with the storytelling. The one gripe I have is at the end of the episode, which diverges from the book as I remember it. But a minor point.

The sets look great, as was the dialogue. And I had planned on expecting them to change some things in the story line. There is a lot to the story.

The one gripe I have is at the end of the episode, which diverges from the book as I remember it. But a minor point.

― calstars, Sunday, April 17, 2011 10:25 PM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark

Yeah, that was the only change I didn't care for. Otherwise, pretty good.

AV Club review claims this is the weakest of the first six eps.

It's a lot of build up and character introduction, mostly. You get to start seeing the viciousness of some of the characters as it goes along.

Sooooo sad I missed it this week, had prior engagement to see a good friend place music. But I do think I have a place to watch it squared away in the future (with Laurel!) so that is dope as hell.

Pretty good! The only thing for me was all the boobage...I mean, it fit with the story and all but it also felt like they were meeting some kind of HBO quota

Love Dinklage as Tyrion, and <3 Sean Bean as Ned Stark, casting is top notch. Danerys and Drago are so spot on it's kind of scary.

One other small thing is that I wished they'd shown Danerys riding the horse Drago gives her, how much she loves it the way they describe in the book... seemed like a missed opportunity to me?

Sean Bean is great in the role. It's unfortunate that in this and lotr he plays such tragic characters.

He's so good at it though....think that face was pretty much made for it.

It's funny though, every time I see him I sigh a little and say "Oh brave Boromir" lol

It is a very solemn face. To a degree Boromir and Ed Stark are similar characters... both trying to save the kingdom.

sigh swoon noble hero

ok just caught up w/ this, really enjoyed it. it seems as if they're gonna write Theon out of the story completely, which makes sense since iirc he doesn't actually do much until the 3rd or 4th book and even then isn't a crucial character. everything else seemed like it was plotted straight from the book, i didn't catch whatever difference you folks were talking about at the end but i haven't read the books in 6 years so maybe my memory's off.

bran overhears queen and bro talking about their conspiracy, so it's not just that he sees them doing the nasty that gets him pushed out the window, it was that he had knowledge of their plot also

i doubt they're writing Theon out, he just doesn't have much to do in book 1 besides smirk a lot.

re: the ending of the episode, in the book when Bran stumbles onto jaime & cersei he listens in on them for a while and hears about a bunch of ~intrigues~ before watching them bone - i can understand why they cut it out, but i missed it all the same

xp

allmypulp's last two posts seem a little spoilery to me, maybe a mod should edit them? not to be all thread police-y but

I won't argue if they are. But you may want to edit some of the reviews that are listed, since they contain spoilers also.

allmypulp: just understand that there's several people on here watching this who haven't read the books, and this series has a lot of huge out-of-nowhere plot twists so it's particularly prone to spoiler-ruination

That's a good warning! xp

Okay, that's fair. Well I would've liked to more of Theon also. But it is just the first episode which I enjoyed, and am still anticipating the rest.

yeah i don't remember theon doing anything interesting at least until book 2.

(sadface.)

Peter Dinklage is the best.

actually my mistake, it looks like Theon is cast, he just didn't get pointed out yet. wouldn't be surprised if they play down his story anyway though, at least for the first season

Who is Theon I have read book 1 and don't even know who he is

He's Ed Starks ward from an island that rebelled against the king, so he's held as hostage by the Ed Stark under the pretense of being a "ward".

I really wasn't taken with the sex/nudity aspects of the pilot, but there's definitely some promise here. (I'm not familiar with the books at all.)

"it seems as if they're gonna write Theon out of the story completely" -- if they do this i will credit them with a certain amount of nous, i guess? there's like two or three things that you can see would be obvious candidates for streamlining the narrative, and that seems like one of them

likewise glad that it's less clear what bran sees -- that said, i kind of think that even knowing who pushes him out of the window is cack-handed plotting: i mean, it makes the whole arc of the book fairly transparent once you learn (isolated datum which will probably be somewhere in the first six episodes)

re: the slate review - http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/04/16/game_of_thrones_review_of_reviewers - someone on tumblr posted a screengrab of that where every single ad on slate was for this show. er

i kind of want to watch the first episode or so of this, i feel like the combination of it being about elves and shit + apparent shitheap of gratuitous nudity = it will be a hard sell for the other half, i think

also i only want to watch it so i can complain about it on the internet? so i shouldn't bother, probably

I really wasn't taken with the sex/nudity aspects

phrases you rarely see

from that salon article "Patterson is one of the sharpest, funniest TV reviewers out there"

oh plz.

Hating Danaerys as she is cast. That part needs a true Scandanavian ice queen with wisp-fine white-blonde hair and hauteur she can wrap around herself like a cloak to shut out her inside from the outside. Not a cheap bottle job with brown eyebrows and too much blusher.

Everything else otm^10.

wife and i thought the pilot was great btw and we're totally onboard for the time being. so is this supposed to only be six episodes as the opening season (like walking dead) or is it just that reviewers have only seen the first six episode and we're going to have a more 13 episode season. bc it seems that with the cast of characters they've got, and the amount of written content Martin has produced, they could easily write episode after episode of compelling material.

wikipedia says 10 eps

I believe the first season is going to be ten episodes.

Ian! We'll review the first ep next week -- maybe we need to ALWAYS re-watch the prev ep before the new one is on? Makes a nice evening with good company even a bit longer.

Plus I want to AWWWWW at the WOLF PUPPIES again.

haven't watched this yet, hope to tonight

did ppl dig it?

Loved. Loved.

i kind of want to watch the first episode or so of this, i feel like the combination of it being about elves and shit + apparent shitheap of gratuitous nudity = it will be a hard sell for the other half, i think

I watched this while my wife futzed around with her phone, her comments were something along the line of "every time I look up there are boobs wtf"

thought the eps was disappointing overall. the opening sequence was *really* well done, pretty much the main reason I tuned in after seeing the preview. set design + cinematography + acting were top notch but I don't get all the hurrahs for the script. characters were weakly written. and the danerys + drago sequences came off like some harlequin skinemax weaksauce.

haven't read the books but it seemed like this would only appeal to someone who loved them?

It's not about elves and shit.

wolves and shit

laurel i've read them, i'm just saying that the look they've gone for with this pretty broadly telegraphs ELVES AND SHIT. 'dragons and shit' would have accomplished the same admittedly

And had the advantage of being accurate.

Waiting for Carcetti to arrive

haven't read the books but it seemed like this would only appeal to someone who loved them?

i hated what i read. the show has the advantage of not being written in terrible fantasy trope language. (gritty fantasy or not.)

and some of the cgi is so impressive that it's more like LOTR where you don't care that it's a theme you've seen a dozen times. like the guard riding out past that huge wall was OMG impressive.

not being written in terrible fantasy trope language.

Man, if you think GRRM is "terrible fantasy trope language", you better just stay away from the genre completely, because, imho, he's one of the least worrisome offenders for this type of thing.

I agree with Mordy.

I like fantasy more on screen than on the page, generally.

this show seems ok

I have never read the books and haven't read much fantasy, but I enjoyed this. Some problems that I'll write off as pilot-issues but I'm looking forward to the rest. We'll know in the next 3 or 4 episodes just how much being a fan of the book matters.

also theon never does anything interesting

martin's not a great stylist, but i stopped noticing/caring about 1/3 of the way into GoT - that's not really why you read this stuff anyway

i had a hard time getting into Book 1 but was looking forward to this. It's great so far but have to agree with this:

"and the danerys + drago sequences came off like some harlequin skinemax weaksauce"

also, drago wedding fight scene was some Star Trek : TOS lolz but with tits and rape.

the title/credits sequence with the little clockwork gameboard showing all the locales is v. awesome imo. and supposedly it changes from episode to episode depending on where stuff's happening

really? thats a nice touch!

not sure if thats true, i just remember reading it somewhere

i hope it's true...we'll have to check the next set of credits to see

martin's not a great stylist, but i stopped noticing/caring about 1/3 of the way into GoT - that's not really why you read this stuff anyway

― cum dude (Princess TamTam), Monday, April 18, 2011 11:51 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^word up

This is why I don't read much fantasy lit. Wish I could get past it but I can't.

martin's prose is functional but he certainly does like to tell you what color people's doublets are.

he likes to say "nearly a man grown"

at least westeros' weird seasons thing invalidates the "she had seen barely thirteen summers" sort of thing because you just know he'd be dipping in that well like once per page

dude is a perv tbh

strikethrough, pimp, http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JjTZojojDPI/SxPR-ffvWkI/AAAAAAAAAok/bzrrZEsb1T4/s1600/0007stfc.jpg &c &c

I was surprised to learn that he uses the word "fuck" in the books.

The robe completes the outfit. and he kind of looks like the playing robert baratheon

for anyone who's watching this without reading the books and wants to get all the characters/houses/history straight, HBO has a great little viewers' guide that doesn't appear to spoil anything that's not pre-episode-1 backstory:
http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/#!/guide/houses/

Video podcast with cast interviews and stuff: http://skyatlantic.sky.com/game-of-thrones/thronecast

this was terrible. so much hair gel. so many stupid accents. and the horselord wedding reception.

i mean http://mimg.ugo.com/201103/9/8/6/183689/cuts/gameofthrones-targaryen01-screencap-11_288x288.jpg

rather http://mimg.ugo.com/201103/9/8/6/183689/cuts/gameofthrones-targaryen01-screencap-11_288x288.jpg

It was distracting how white Drogo's teeth were.

Nah, the third book goes into great detail re: Dothraki dental plan.

i just watched the 25 minute making of that's on the HBO site (still having not seen the first ep) and I gotta say the guy who plays Drogo seems like a bro in all senses of the word.

dude is a klingon

Dude is also going to play Conan later this year.

He was in Stargate Atlantis, too. Nerd cred.

It was distracting how white Drogo's teeth were.

Someone else I was watching it with said this! What I noticed mostly was that his breasts are bigger than Danaerys'.

Xpost aha that's where I recognize him from!

OK watched it - was good! Also posts very much in character but Laurel otm re the wolf pups omg. The end was great too. I didn't have a problem with the nudity/boobage but I was a bit fan of Rome which has tons of that sort of thing so maybe I'm just used to it. I want the next one already! Damn.

Yeah see I have enjoyed Rome, Deadwood, all the HBO stuff...maybe it was more "boobs in broad daylight" then that was giving me hangups? Dunno.

Biggest WTF moment - "The Dothraki have no word for thank you"

Wait, why is that wtf? Irish Gaelic doesn't have a word for "no." Sort of. There are workarounds, but there's no direct translation for a flat No.

I'm Irish funnily enough. The line wasn't in the book and it just seemed really cheesy.

Haha ilx being what it is, I wondered right after I said that if I was carrying coals to Newcastle. Haven't read the books in years so I can't remember exactly what was in them.

It was just like, really, that's the line you decide to add?

you know damn well what was in the books--sex, violence and the occasional supernatural threat.

and richly colored doublets

YES but not line by line.

Actually watching the first ep reminded me of so many parts of the story that have really long and complex lines to play out. Some things are lengthy but straightforward, you can sort of see the gears turning already, but some things have SO MANY TWISTS TO GO and I'm feeling a slight tedium already because I know they just aren't fruitful lines of hope or progress for the characters.

has marc loi filed his review yet

For those wondering about Theon, he apparently does come into a lot more in the first six episodes. I reckon he'll have an awesome payoff in the books down the line as well.

@PFTompkins
"Do something, fantasy Denis Leary! That kid saw us incesting each other!" #gameofthroenesonhbo

lol

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/hbo-renews-game-of-thrones

Not great opening numbers, tho. Of course. I can't remember the last time a show I liked got great numbers.

The obvious expense of the show made a second season almost inevitable. It would have needed Terrier-like numbers to not get renewed. There's enough promise that I hope it builds an audience and does well. It looks like the kind of story I'd like to see through.

It'll do well on home video. All scifi/fantasy stuff does.

the tra-la-la-la-la high fantasy stuff was a bit out of control. the stupid dothraki wedding looked like it was dreamed up by a 13-year old with a boner and a bad understanding of sex.

I'm not sure if you can fault the show for that though, it was pretty faithful to the description in the book. I mean, if you are objecting to the way it was shot or whatever, fair play, but I don't get people faulting the show for staying faithful to the source material.

"it was like that in the book" isn't an excuse for a film version sucking

there are many ways that scene could've been shot, and the way they decided to go was cheeeeze

Thats why I was asking, I was trying to understand why it bugged remy. The concept in general?

conceptually there isn't anything wrong w/ a timid girl getting thrown into the midst of a savage culture, but the execution here was laughable

i agree with edward the concept is fine – in the book i'm okay with with the dothraki. in the pilot, there were certain editorial decisions w/r/t importance of various salacious bits that took precedence over what i would value in a good story. i.e. the ... lingering on the sexiness (for the sake of sexiness) rather than as indicative of the power relationships between dany, vis, and drogo. i mean, the whole incesty boob-grab played as soft-focus porny rather than upsetting and manipulative.

i agree with edward that the concept is fine.

i think the wedding was even worse than the rave in the 2nd matrix movie as far as dionysian nerd fantasies go

get the feeling daenerys wasn't cast based on acting chops either, it's like the director said "you're forlorn eye candy, ACTION"

^^^^

otm

now step into the tub slowly

It was funny the way the camera panned down at one point specifically so her whole ass would be in the frame.

yeah I know..that whole sequence was weird

"Guys, guys, that's only 75% ass. The contract specifically calls for a 100 at all times."

http://oi53.tinypic.com/2ldkuj4.jpg

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

He is the cutest - those ears!

I think I actually saw "awwwwwwww" out loud at that point.

I want one.

err said "awwwwwwwww" not saw "aawwwwwwww"

it was like in one of those cartoons when the character hits his head and sees stars, except you were so stricken by the cuteness that you saw awwwws.

pretty much otm

When he was climbing the wall I kept wondering why they built the castle for Assassin's Creed specifications.

it wasn't great but will watch a few more before damning it completely.

supposedly it gets (even) better

yeah like...if you watch six seasons of the sopranos or whatev the first few are always a bit shonky.

idk, sopranos seem like a big exception to that rule. episode one is still a defining thematic episode. that's one thing reviewers have pointed out about the thrones pilot that i think is otm. there's no particular scene that really pulls together the major themes of the show. it's more of a preview/prologue type of episode where all the pieces are put into place. not that that is a particularly bad idea -- the world they're playing with is much much larger than the one of the sopranos.

Yes, but in this case they have the added responsibility of a viewership that already knows the entire contents of this season of planned plot developments. I can understand how that makes a tough balance between keeping the allegiances of the readers and drawing in new HBO viewers. That is not a comfortable seat, all in all.

dude is a perv tbh

I agree, but I think he may have more of a pregnancy fetish than anything else. At least that's what I get from the books.

That wolf pup is CGI, right?

NNOOOOOO they used sled-dog puppies.

Those ears are 100% REAL, AND THEY ARE GLORIOUS.

^^^^^

idk, sopranos seem like a big exception to that rule. episode one is still a defining thematic episode. that's one thing reviewers have pointed out about the thrones pilot that i think is otm. there's no particular scene that really pulls together the major themes of the show. it's more of a preview/prologue type of episode where all the pieces are put into place. not that that is a particularly bad idea -- the world they're playing with is much much larger than the one of the sopranos.

One of the articles linked above talks about the move away from episodic television altogether on HBO. The Sopranos and Deadwood both establish a lot about their central characters in the first episodes, and they're still fairly episodic in nature to give a full story, which GoT doesn't really do except some broad character strokes. Still, those shows took 3 or 4 episodes to really show their stuff ("College" and "Here Was A Man" are the ones usually cited).

I don't think GoT will be nearly as good as either of those, but it looks to be pretty entertaining once it gets going. Also, pretty much everything I've read says the pilot is the worst of the first 6.

Agreed about the nudity, though I think the brother-groping scene is a bit more pervy than you're giving it credit for. Certainly the final scene with her and the new husband is played for violation-by-the-Other discomfort.

i think the wedding was even worse than the rave in the 2nd matrix movie as far as dionysian nerd fantasies go

― adam, Tuesday, 19 April 2011 16:49 (Yesterday)

the angry, grunty dry humping was fucking HILARIOUS.

I agree, but I think he may have more of a pregnancy fetish than anything else. At least that's what I get from the books.

so i started re-reading the first book last night and there have already been at like three references to someone's seed quickening in someone else's womb or whatever so you may be on to something.

For those wondering about Theon, he apparently does come into a lot more in the first six episodes. I reckon he'll have an awesome payoff in the books down the line as well.

― Number None, Tuesday, 19 April 2011 09:54 (Yesterday) Bookmark

ha ha ha

idk, sopranos seem like a big exception to that rule. episode one is still a defining thematic episode. that's one thing reviewers have pointed out about the thrones pilot that i think is otm. there's no particular scene that really pulls together the major themes of the show.

― Mordy, Wednesday, 20 April 2011 00:39 (9 hours ago) Bookmark

errrr did they skip the execution? because that's pretty much the whole thing there, I gotta say

Why the laugh?

errrr did they skip the execution? because that's pretty much the whole thing there, I gotta say

i think the execution says a lot about that particular family and that particular people living in the north, but didn't really seem to speak to the exiled king or the real party king or any of the other groups. which idk having not read the book i can't comment with any authority.

= 'these are the sorts of bad decisions that acting honourably leads you to'

I think there's also the pressure on those who DO act honorably to make even become even more vigilant/observant when standards seem to be loosening all around them -- ex Robert's slack court in the South. The whole world is putting N. Stark in this position, and he's becoming more alone every day.

(Sorry about the mis-read there, was revising in a hurry.)

yo thomp...

i think it's funny that, at this point, anyone would have any faith in george r.r. martin's ability to plot a novel in a way that would result in any kind of satisfying experience for the reader

Ah right, you may have a point there.

at this point -- you mean one episode in (and it gets better) or you mean considering the corpus of material he's already written?

alllll my wolves stay real
stark don't think these political deals
gonna feed your seeds
and pay your bills because they not

(xxp)

George got a little bit of love and thinks's he's hot

mordy, sorry, that was in response to the thing about whether it will turn out in book five, six, or seven that theon has some reason for having been there

hey guess what

http://images.hitfix.com/photos/503754/game-of-thrones-daenerys_article_story_main.jpg

winter is busting a nut all or ya face

That photo is the wrong color, on the tv her hair is a woolly yellow-blond that looks like someone hid the undyed roots with cornstarch and powder bleach. I'll be delighted, though, when the character gets to a place where she makes that resolute a face ALL the time.

sarah connor IS cersei lannister

Sky Atlantic fan show (probably not for people who already know the books and stuff, it's pretty beginner-y... might be of interest? It's an iTunes podcast, too):
http://skyatlantic.sky.com/game-of-thrones/

Whoops: http://skyatlantic.sky.com/game-of-thrones/thronecast

ha "thronecast", sounds like they're broadcasting from a toilet

podthrone

You Shit Or You Die

Urine is Coming

Haven't read the books, loved the first episode.

Already so much shit going down!

Finally got to watch the first episode. From the talk of things the wedding scene was going to be some grand cheese ball of central focus, but a few quick flashes to dry humping I can take. I thought the episode was solid -- some stiff dialogue about who is who and what is what was necessary and they got through the exposition fairly effectively here. Some more to come, no doubt, but once we get a few episodes into this I think the characters will make for compelling viewing by themselves. All the actors seemed very well cast. Sansa was perfect.

I agree-- this episode had pilot-itis where they have to give you a tidbit of everyone involved but a meal of none. And I do trust the characters will get to stretch out a bit starting in the next coupla.

Agree with reservations about the Daneirys actress-- not so much physically but the tone of her performance-- the somnambulist/frightened rabbit thing. Didn't seem right.

My only outright beef is with the music. Cheap, generic, dull. I understand that they fired their original composer (Stephen Warbeck) vcery late in the game, so that Ramin Djawadi had scant time to do his job, but this just sounds like stuff you'd hear on an electronic RPG or a History Channel special on Vikings. In other words, they need to fire their composer again pronto. All the painstaking, beautiful execution on so many other fronts and they think people won't notice this half-assed crap?

I think the frightened rabbit thing is is the right look for her so far.. what was entertaining about the character in the book was how she came off as frightened, unsure, dulled by suppression, but then had moments when provoked where she exploded and found her powers.

^^^

I think its totally okay for her to be a frightened rabbit at this point, her future is so unsure and her supposed protector is a creep!

OK so maybe frightened rabbit is apt but what about the weird sleepwalker affect?

To let the camera linger on her ass better, iirc.

Eh it's predicable "pretty, scared girl" stuff, it's fine, not going to ruin the show for me. But as a young woman who had never known anything else I imagined her being a lot more affect-less, that she would have figured out how to hide her fear by now -- this is how her whole life has been.

I actually think the sleepwalking thing is the right direction.

Maybe its because I just finished rereading the book before I watched this, but she comes across as still pretty fearful, at least prior to the wedding and up to her deflowering.

I defer to anyone who's read the books more recently than about 4 years ago! Damn it.

There is still some awkwardness about her, thats for sure, but I don't think the fearful thing is the problem just yet. We'll have to see how she evolves over the next few episodes, thats for sure.

Fair enough. Anyone else hate the music as much as me?

Didn't even notice it, not one second of the music made any impression on me. Will be paying much closer attn this week, though, now that you've mentioned it.

I really dug the 'spooky' two-note theme during the opening scene

That's an interesting point, the opening scene was well scored. Increased my bummerz regarding what followed musically. Maybe this composer is better at creepy/textural/semi-ambient scoring than other aspects.

It sounded to me like most of the score was a few acoustic instruments augmented by synths imitating an orchestra, which is always NAGL in my opinion (if you're gonna do a synth score then fucking OWN that fact!)

Ok so what historical racial analogue are the Klingon guys supposed to be? Because it's pretty clear they're supposed to represent some non-Euro Other, but they still got a white guy to play the bossman.

Mongols, maybe.

Not everything in fantasy has to have a direct analogue.

Anyway, the guy who plays Khal Drogo is Hawaiian. So he is actually a non-Euro.

'Ok so what historical racial analogue are the Klingon guys supposed to be?'

the french

The dry humping raves during Louis XIV were legendary

ha ha

It's a good point though - I keep seeing historical analogues for everything in the show - the Great Wall, Genghis Khan, Wars of the Roses - distracting. Better that than analogues to some other fantasy material though.

daenerys = omar etc

omar little?

Anyway, the guy who plays Khal Drogo is Hawaiian. So he is actually a non-Euro.

Stand corrected! (Was thinking he had a really nice tan.)

He is also married to Lisa Bonet as I learned last night. Weird!

Throw the kid out the window and whatevs, but force the death of that poor wolf!!! fucking hate the Lannisters.

Totally into this now, btw.

This one was good. Makes a world of difference spending some time with characters interacting instead of chop-chopping through plot.

this is some camp-ass crap

why is a grown-ass man playing jon snow

why is tyrion still addressing him as though he was a fourteen year old

why can none of these people act

when does carcetti show up

He shows up in the next episode but I think it's better for everyone if you just stop watching.

it's better for you all if you just stop watching imo

i can watch it for you and report back via this thread, everyone will by happy

That doesn't make sense. I hope you never get to write a script!

lol thomp in "omg older people play way younger than they really are on television show" shocker

I still really hate the Daenerys subplot, maybe even more this week thanks to the laughable addition of the quasi-lesbian sex tutor.

I felt the same way about the Daenerys plot when I read the books till later on in the series. I just half-assed my through her stuff in the first book to get back the the much more rich plots.

Daenerys went from mournful rape victim to believable courtesan in one episode.

I smell emmy

xpost don't live in the past

the wolf jumping on joffrey was lollable. it, like, leapt in the air on a trampoline. i wish z_s could make a .gif of it (pretty please?)

i watched the first episode, i approve and will continue watching this series

i agree with the above about how shitty the wedding scene is. felt like a bad star trek episode. also uhhhhhhhh racially problematic.

2nd ep fucking BRINGS it. So much more involving than the debut.

It'd been long enough since I read the books that I forgot the feeling of sinking horror that arises with the Arya/Butcher's Boy/Sansa/Joffrey fiasco. It's like, hmmm, let me just switch on this infernal machine over here, ah yes that seems to be running nicely.

The Joffrey actor soooo perfect; the mere sight of his face makes me want to throttle him.

also they should really get someone besides dennis leary to play incestbro

He looks like Aaron Eckhart

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/domestic-abuse/man-battered-kin-over-hbos-game-thrones-780215

http://i.cdn.turner.com/dr/teg/tsg/release/sites/default/files/assets/gameofthronesreport.jpg

POOR PUPPY!!!! D:

I am going to find a dog now so I can hug it.

http://i54.tinypic.com/2nrg7yx.gif

I would like a gif of one of the wolfpuppies jumping up and tearing someone's throat out.

http://i.imgur.com/a1ZES.gif

He looks like Aaron Eckhart

― VegemiteGrrl, Monday, April 25, 2011 11:35 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

THANK YOU! SO MUCH LIKE Aaron Eckhart. This was killing me last night because I couldn't remember his name. "He looks exactly like that guy, you know, the one from The Dark Knight. You know which one I mean - that one - the one he looks like dammit!!"

Also did we decide if those wolves are real cause the face on that one that she hugs is just amazing. THOSE EYES! I almost think that it can't possible by real.

can I just say I'm still lolling pretty hardcore at the wedding scene 2 weeks later

Just FYI I'm not reading this thread right now because we didn't see it on Sunday -- will catch up next week!

what laurel, you think something's gonna be spoiled for you?!

Not taking any chances.

The direwolves are played by a breed of dog called the Northern Inuit
http://static.gotpetsonline.com/pictures-gallery/dog-pictures-breeders-puppies-rescue/northern-inuit-dog-pictures-breeders-puppies-rescue/pictures/northern-inuit-dog-0002.jpg

Oh I love them. The look he gave her during that hug! I died.

Apparently the actress who plays Sansa adopted her dog once filming finished so there's kind of a happy ending.

Chiming in to randomly note that the director of the first two episodes, Tim Van Patten, has a hell of a TV director/writer career already -- dude co-wrote "Pine Barrens" among other things -- and that longtime MST3K fans know him from his earlier years:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0lIOaq3oEY

Bootstrapping, always a fine thing! Seriously!

Yeah, it's generally reassuring when you see Van Patten's name in the credits of a show.

that one dude totally looks like dave navarro in his guyliner

Tim Van Patten is awesome in Class of 1984, that is such a fun/funny movie.

omg guys i watched eps 1 & 2 today and i love this show a lot and hope there are dragons soon
and the wolf-dogs i love the wolf-dogs too

hope that little prince gets killed.

totally digging this show, btw

i dislike fantasy (with some exceptions) but this is good so far.

finally watched Ep 2...after careful consideration I really don't like the Danerys scenes...want to fast forward to where she gets interesting. But otherwise loving it. Arya is pretty great huh? And the wolves were awesome this week : D

I'm willing to put up with the Danerys scenes because uh ahem

yes yes nubile boobs yay etc

yeah i remember when i read the books i didn't find Dany's storyline engaging at all until later in the series. the show hasn't really changed that yet.

see I guess I wasn't thinking about how it would look played out on tv...but I love that storyline, from go she was interesting to me...but I don't know what it is,maybe it's just that her inner life doesn't come through. Also it just becomes the "boobs" portion of the show. I dunno. Maybe it will improve as her arc develops

I like this.

also am I right in that the sex scene witnessed by lil dude was incestuous? still trying to keep the characters straight

Yep. They're brother/siter which is why the small fry had to fly.

sister

surprised to see that in tv tbh! I mean I know it's Hbo but actual depicted incest seems p rare

well evan the actors are not actually brother and sister, and they are not actually having sex

it's kind of fundamental to the series

it happened in Rome. This is old hat for HBO.

As my wife said the other night, "so apparently in this fictional continent they love the doggie style".

warning: if you are married and watch this show u will be mocked

wait, what?

My wife is totally into this show!

I mean, it doesn't hurt that she finds Dany even hotter than I do and she was hoping for more of the "seduction lesson", but, yeah, she is enjoying it so far.

mine loves it too, and she never read the books

yeah my wife loved the book and loves the show so far.

agreed that episode 2 was far better, really slowed down the pace and let you get to know the characters

joffrey is such a little fuckstick i forgot how much i hate him

rip lady the direwolf :(

would stress to those who haven't read: all the adolescent fantasy sex stuff is straight from the books, they might actually be toning it down.

wives!

tbh if my wife was watching this I'd be mocking her

I need to stay out of this thread

Yes, you do. WTF?

Sorry but seriously.

The Joffrey casting is so perfect, I hated him so much even before the scene with Arya and the butcher boy.

Yeah, the casting is amazing. That kid's face just looks so awful and snotty. I hate him so much.

My only (very minor) casting gripe is Caetlyn, I feel like she's a little bit too old. Isn't she still supposed to be like really pretty? Not that the actress playing her is ugly by any means, I just don't get the vibe implied from the book that she is supposed to be really pretty still.

I think she's kind of perfect; at this point, she's an anchor of reality in the books and seems to be functioning much the same way here, both in terms of her outlook/reactions and how she looks like a normal, attractive middle-aged woman in this casting pool of ludicrously good-looking people.

Tyrion slapping the shit out of Joffrey was the highlight of my April, and I watched the Doctor Who premiere.

MY wife's big gripes are Caetlyn's age and how bad the wigs are. Otherwise we're enjoying, though they don't really hold even a dim candle to the books.

That makes sense, I think her casting will make more sense as the series moves forward and she shows her real strength instead of just grieving mom.

Hah hah.

laurel i thought you weren't reading this thread. ;)

Couldn't resist. Soooo wishing for Suuunnday.

would stress to those who haven't read: all the adolescent fantasy sex stuff is straight from the books, they might actually be toning it down.

Disagree with this. The books have their fair share of embarrassing sex scenes but they've definitely ramped up the raunch quotient in the tv show. As far as i remember, Daenerys getting some lessons in love from her handmaid is only alluded to in the first book. They also threw in an scene with Tyrion in the first episode that wasn't in the books seemingly just to get some more boobs on screen.

Here (points to self) is another motherfucker whose wife is at least as into the books/show as he is, if not more.

Re: Dani sex scenes, I actually think the show has made them more rapey than in the book. The first time with Drogo actually has some slight tenderness to it in the book IIRC? Not in ep 1 of the show, though.

haha xpost

I guess watching Rome made me a little more immune to the gratuitous sex scenes, they don't seem as surprising really.

They definitely lezzed up the love lessons scene. I don't really get why this is surprising or upsetting to people at this point. I mean it's HBO, what the hell do you expect? I'm not going to complain because a) big deal and b) Khal Drogo's ass.

I need to reread but I thought some form of that introduction scene occurred in the books, if not as Tyrion's introduction...? The whole "the gods made up for my body by giving me a massive cock" thing I'm sure was in the books somewhere.

hmmm i remember the love lessons being pretty lezzed up and there's even more scorcery lez in later books

anyway martin always seemed creepy and rapey to me, one of the things i don't really like abt it

the thing about this being on HBO and the fact that Martin has become such a big deal is it makes people wish he wasn't - at heart- just a pulp fantasy novelist. which he is. he's not like literary fantasy, he's just a rainman level high functioning savant pulp novelist

Mr Veg hasnt read the books but is enjoying so far. Yay husbands!

Re: the Wall in the animated map credits he said "Why do they hate Scotland?" irl lols

he's not like literary fantasy, he's just a rainman level high functioning savant pulp novelist

Cosign. I've learnt to accept this fact and even view it as a strength, but this is why I put e.g. Robin Hobb on a slightly higher shelf than GRRM. And why I have absolutely no qualms about GoT possibly finding its best expression as a TV series (we'll see if that's how it turns out).

Maybe this has already been covered somewhere, but I might have missed it. Do we know how the timing for these seasons are going to work out? I mean, is season 1 going to cover the first book, season 2 book 2, etc? Because man, we're going to be left for a hella cliffhanger when they catch up with GRRM.

I feel like they're really far into book 1 already after only 2 episodes. But I haven't gone and checked in terms of page count or whatever.

Thats what I was thinking too, actually.

btw i noticed the name in the credits and looked it up! ilyn payne (the tongueless bald dude that is the king's justice) is WILKO JOHNSON of Dr. Feelgood! crazy

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/21000000/Game-of-Thrones-game-of-thrones-21095017-309-633.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rn45_OO9rk&feature=related

I remember reading somewhere that the first season will cover the first book.

There's a lot of story to tell, I think they're following the book's pacing pretty closely.

Personally I don't want book three split into two seasons like others.. just make book four half a season and give the other half to the rest of book three.

Seems by his blog that he's just done writing the new book.

yeah the first 2 seasons will be the first 2 books, they might stretch it out a bit more after that though since the 3rd book is so long and dense

and yeah new book has a release date in july iirc

I'll believe it when I'm holding it in my hands.

Robin Hobb

you will not feel this way about Robin Hobb after you've read her Forest Mage books, is my prediction

my wife is a fan of the books and so far the only way i've gotten even a little engaged w/ the show is if i watch it with her and she provides a running commentary track and explains what stuff means and why it will matter later, etc. maybe if i keep it up eventually i will actually care, i dunno though.

so far my favorite parts are Peter Dinklage pimpin' hoes and smacking kids around. i want someone to make a youtube of his first scene in the pilot set to Shawnna's "Gettin' Some Head".

xpost yeah it'll be awhile before i get to that trilogy... and your repeated warnings have been noted.

Dinklage is my favorite thing about the show so far; also Arya.

His accent is a bit crap tho. Maybe i'll get used to it.

Out of curiosity: are there any actual fantastical elements to this world? Cuz it mostly seems like gussied up historical fiction? Aside from non-functional dragon eggs and "dire wolfs," there's been no allusions to anything supernatural or magickal or w/e. Not complaining, mind, just curious as to what marks this as fantasy aside from taking place somewhere made up.

stay tuned

His accent isnt great, but he's fun to watch and it really isn't that much worse than McNultys

stay tuned

^__^

answer I was hoping for tbh

trust us, shit is legit

there are demons and magic zombies right in the first five minutes iirc.

It's Dinklage's attitude that nails it. His interactions with Jon Snow about why he reads, beating Joffrey jerkface...100% Tyrion

I quite like his accent. Definitely heard far worse Brit accents from yank actors.

curious as to what marks this as fantasy aside from taking place somewhere made up.

That's all you need to make something fantasy really. Plus there was some kind of supernatural shenanigans going on at the very start of E1.

and an ogre with a talking donkey iirc.

xposts

also: Dinklage is my favorite thing about the show so far; also Arya.

OTM; very glad to see they have mirrored the books well enough for my allegiances to transfer over intact (altho I am a little worried about my friend who is still very strongly Team Daenerys)

just to clarify, my point above wasn't "wives don't like this show", more like this is some divisive shit designed to tear families apart, seems like ppl of either sex who are into this are waaay into it and those who aren't are like wtf are you watching but hey look I'm posting itt again when I swore I wouldn't

there are demons and magic zombies right in the first five minutes iirc.

I tuned in a little late lol

just to clarify, my point above wasn't "wives don't like this show", more like this is some divisive shit designed to tear families apart, seems like ppl of either sex who are into this are waaay into it and those who aren't are like wtf are you watching but hey look I'm posting itt again when I swore I wouldn't

so basically you are wholly talking out of your ass

One of the cool things about the books is the way the more fantastical elements are gradually introduced.

what else is new

xp

Dinklage seems to be channeling Stewie from the Family Guy at times...

in fairness, so does Tyrion in the books

One of the cool things about the books is the way the more fantastical elements are gradually introduced.

Like the sound of this

hey evan the first 15 minutes are still streaming here

http://www.hbo.com/#/game-of-thrones/about/video/exclusive-preview.html/eNrjcmbO0CzLTEnNd8xLzKksyUx2zs8rSa0oUc-PSYEJBSSmp-ol5qYy5zMXsjGyMXIyMrJJJ5aW5BfkJFbalhSVpgIAXbkXOA

obv I'm not into this show but the opening scene is def worth watching in my wholly-talking-out-my-ass opinion

imwtomao

Everyone seems to be overacting/over-emoting except for the Tyrion (the dwarf) and Arya. Or are they just 'in character?'

esp. Jon Snow

you leave Jon Snow alone

You know nothing, Jon Snow

Out of curiosity: are there any actual fantastical elements to this world? Cuz it mostly seems like gussied up historical fiction? Aside from non-functional dragon eggs and "dire wolfs," there's been no allusions to anything supernatural or magickal or w/e. Not complaining, mind, just curious as to what marks this as fantasy aside from taking place somewhere made up.

supernatural stuff definitely exists in this series, it's just used sparingly instead of being commonplace so it's a bigger deal when it does show up.

You know nothing, Jon Snow

This phrase, in the voice of Roy Dotrice, is spoken often in my house.

Caetlyn totally MILFy, I don't get some of you guys.

Curious about the religion -- should I wonder about historical analogues again, or just think of it as anonymous polytheism?

I am continuing to watch this for the promised lezzing. And the doggies.

The northerners have a kind of nature worship thing going on. Guess the southern religion is slightly analogous to Ancient Greece? They have a pantheon anyway.

Lena Headey burned through her Sarah Connor goodwill awfully quickly!

ws cat.

http://i54.tinypic.com/25j8hao.jpg

@MKupperman Game of Thrones is so realistic. They muttered very slowly back then.

rilly proud of this one

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkj1kg91ss1qa9bmvo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1304356920&Signature=IdJ0BZz59iScn4koXxGbvRRh5Mg%3D

Thoughts about tonight's episode:

- Carcetti was quite good as expected

- Too much digital snow?

- Sylvio excellent and provided welcome comic relief

- Scenes too brief in general

could watch Peter Dinklage all day, but then any form of lightness and charm is welcome here.

hard to balance scene length & the necessity of fitting so much into such a short time, but yes, i imagine people not familiar with the characters may be having trouble keeping everyone's connections straight.

[Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers come over to tell Martin and his wife what huge fans they are of the show.]
Poehler: I like the blondie! [Daenerys]
Martin: She’s straight out of drama school.
Poehler: You can tell. I think she left all her shirts and bras at drama school.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYNeT2nzEgA

fuckin a

someone loaned me a screener so i got up to episode six, i guess if youve read the books you know this, but some srs shit goes down

i mean basically everyone just goes ham

Haha yes, this is why we were all so excited for this show

yeah i guess i gotta read these books now huh

tbh it's been very faithful to the books so far so it might be a bit deja vu

you do get more insight into many of the characters via internal monologue, particularly Daenerys

honestly i might just skip up to the part that i havent watched on HBO yet. mostly i just want to know what happens!!

Read it anyway, you can skim over whole pages but you should get some more richness from it like stuff about the Starks' religion and more.

Now that you know what happens, you know how good we're being by not mentioning ANY OF IT.

no totally its all i can do to not go and read wiki summaries of the next five books cause d-d-d-damn

re: the northern religion: that was something i was curious about, actually. like in episode two when catelyn gathers ppl to tell them she thinks bran was killed it's just AND THEY'RE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION IN A WOOD, OKAY, THAT IS WHERE THEY ARE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION

That would be lame, max. Go get the books.

AND THEY'RE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION IN A WOOD, OKAY, THAT IS WHERE THEY ARE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION

yeah this is a whole thing where the north practices this old religion that the south thinks is quaint at best and disloyal at worst, and they have these little patches of forests in their towns with "magic" trees and sometimes they pray to these trees. but their use in the story is mostly just as a place to have whispery conversations.

this show's fun btw but peter dinklage's accent is a travesty and almost unlistenable.

I sort of feel that way about Hugh Laurie on House

What? That's crazy talk. I think his Laurie's accent is great!

hugh laurie will always be bertie wooster to me and it was hard getting used to him pretending to be american but i thought his accent was pretty good and at least he didn't sound like a weird 9th grader doing shakespeare

n.b. that was not a mean joke about peter dinklage's stature

just his accent

I remember feeling like the Northerners' religion was going to play a part at some point but GRR STOPPED PUBLISHING BOOKS BEFORE I COULD FIND OUT. So it's worth really reading about it.

i just pre-ordered 'a dance with dragons', actually. but there's still at least a month and a half in which i could cancel it.

And isn't there some sub-sub-story where Catelyn's own beliefs are different because she's from the South so there's some complicated thing where she's loyal to her husband's religion but also still has her own?

I guess the show kind of barely whispered that to us when she hung the wreath over Bran's bed but I was distracted by someone in the room with me making fun of the crafted wreath and dolls.

i think dinklage's accent stands out because the show's sort of avoided the typical posh for lords, cockney for commoners thing you see with fantasy sometimes - i like all the northern accents you get with winterfell, the freakin lord of winterfell is from sheffield. i think dinklage is doing fine at what he's going for even if it's rather broad, and so is hugh laurie - accents dont have much to do w/acting anyway, and the Dink is stealing every scene he's in

i like all the northern accents you get with winterfell, the freakin lord of winterfell is from sheffield.

yeah this is great!

The episodes are getting better and better.

The old lady's scary story was amazing.

I remembered that some people in here seemed to like Rome and just saw on FB that you can now watch full eps on HBO GO. Doesn't actually mean much to me since I don't know what HBO GO is but some of you might and thought you may be interested.

already started reading the first book, can't wait a week to find out what happens next

dink's accent is so hammy

think the series is p.faithful so far, except the imp is described as being mucb more ghastly in the book. dinklage is too handsome

the hound also seems too normal-looking. otoh all the 14-year-olds being 20-plus seems more of a problem.

yeah they aged all the kids up by 5+ years for the show so that they could use adult actors for the older ones. probably a good move given some of the content.

really loving this, tbh

The old lady's scary story was amazing.

im just about done with this book but this was my favorite part. and there's more in the novel as well.

I don't notice the accents at all. Is that because I'm American?

max later books in the series go ham X infinity

i went to the bookstore today and they only had got in hardcover. gonna try another bookstore tomorrow

are you finding things understandable as someone who hasn't read the books? cuz i think it moves too fast sometimes

b/c as ham as everyone has gone by episode 6 in the hbo series i can only see further ham-going from there

xp i mean the basic mechanisms of the plot i can follow, yeah; and the backstory i get the broad strokes of--the mad king and all that--but theres a ton of little stuff w/r/t past alliances and former enemies and that kind of thing that just flies by. not that i mind, its more fun that way i think.

Watching the show has the appeal of stuffing delicious cookies into your mouth YOM YOM AHARHGGYOM-style, paced only by the fact that you get a dozen cookies at once and have to wait a week for the next dozen.

Reading the books is like getting 4x as many cookies but only one at a time and you have to take actual bites.

you dont get to actually SEE all the doggy-style sex when you read the books, too

That is a blessing in disguise. If anything, I think characters are coming across as TOO likeable in the shows, because they're over-the-top or funny or sympathetic in some way. Without all the golden hair and wry grins and soulful glances, you can really get your teeth into the hate.

but theres a ton of little stuff w/r/t past alliances and former enemies and that kind of thing that just flies by. not that i mind, its more fun that way i think.

― ban drake (the rapper) (max), Monday, May 2, 2011 7:47 PM (35 minutes ago) Bookmark

agreed that its more fun. i'm all for savoring the atmosphere, but i kinda like how breakneck things are going right now, and am stoked for the madness

shit gets pretty raw dude

tight

I am very much looking forward to all this upcoming ham

that's enough thanks

Read the books!