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

can we speculate here or is that spoilery?

if Jon Snow's mother was the person suggested in this link: http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/548862/20140421/game-thrones-history-jon-snow-spoilers.htm, why would Ned have to make up a story about Jon (and keep it from his wife, who resented Jon as a bastard)?

I figure if it hasn't been revealed in the books yet, then it's a theory, not a spoiler

That's the one that makes the most sense, I think.

why would Ned have to make up a story about Jon (and keep it from his wife, who resented Jon as a bastard)?

presumably to protect him from Robert Baratheon.

x-post: Well, it probably had something to do with what Oberyn was so mad about. Hope that is not too obscure.

presumably to protect him from Robert Baratheon.

― ryan, Wednesday, June 18, 2014 12:03 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yep also iirc ned never actually made up a story he just brought he kid back and was all this is jon snow and that was it

there was a scene where ned and robert were talking about some lady ned had sex with during the war. ned was guarded about it, cuold have been making it up, just bro-talk.

Oh hai guys i'm back, this is jon don't mind him. Where's my goblet?

but why wouldn't Ned tell Catelyn the truth, even if he needed a public cover story to protect the kid? Kind of weird to let your wife think that you fathered a child with a prostitute when the truth would be something she's totally cool with; plus she hated Jon (from what little I remember of the couple of chapters of the first book I got through) and it was a bit of a strain on the family not Ned-style to let that fester

the promise he made to his sister mightve been to not tell anyone

He didn't know Catelyn that well back then, right? They were married pretty quickly, after the death of Ned's older brother.

Also, the parentage of Jon Snow totally wouldn't have been as mysterious if Ned had told more people about it.

he prob made a vow to his sister that superceded being honest to his wife.

he's shown as being pretty torn up about SOMETHING relating to his sister all through the first book.

ned is so unchill

I suppose - just seemed like he trusted her enough to loop her in on that secret at some point in the 17 years or so after he brought home a baby... though I guess there's a case for him knowing Catelyn is a bit of a walking disaster zone - basically every single move after Ned splits Winterfell ends up tipping off all kinds of death and destruction, so maybe he would keep her in the dark on info that could have big ramificatons

there's an interesting theme running throughout about maternal love being kind of intrinsically fucked up--almost every mother on the show is at minimum causing big problems and putting their kids ahead of more...universal...ethical obligations. (maybe the "myhsa" stuff contradicts that though)

ned has v high moral standards is what it comes down to he wldnt break a promise to his dead sister

lol for days at the image of ned showing up at the castle, plunking an infant down on the table and saying "here's jon snow, i'll be in the godswood if you need me."

thats what happened m/l!

he really hung out in that godswood a lot, honing his sword

huh, i hadn't thought about that mothers thing - Cersei's a disaster - and most dangerous to the world through her actions as a mom, Catelyn is sympathetic but did fuck shit up, Lyssa was a nutcase and her over-mothering is specifically one of her big problems... are there any good living mothers in this story?

Gilly?

mother of dragons

smoke baby mom

Diana Rigg seems like a pretty chill grandma

Are their any good fathers? Parents are fucking shit up all over the place.

yeah, i guess it's not like fathers fare much better

maybe the mothers thing is supposed to be read as saying EVEN a mother's love and protectiveness causes death and destruction in this crazy world of Game of Thrones rather than as a comment on women or mothers

though Ned seemed like a good dad. Taught them to cut dudes' heads off themselves and stuff.

http://theoatmeal.com/quiz/got_character i admit i lol'd.

:D

queen of thorns very good mother.

Very good grandmother; her son is an empty suit.

Also, I got Arya, suckit.

I got Hodor!

I think if you pick the choices with the most Hodors you get Hodor

queen of thorns is OK by Game of Thrones standards but she's basically pimped out her granddaughter to a a psychopath and a child

and a gay

oberyn, olenna, eddard and possibly stannis are good parents. balon, robert, cersei and especially tywin are terrible.

the best father in westeros is obviously roose bolton

we haven't, and presumably won't, meet brienne's father, but he seems like a dad who learned, as he was forced by his daughter's nature to learn who she was and not who he wanted her to become, to be an excellent parent.

sam tarly's dad arguably the worst of them all though, based the story he tells about how he arrived at the night's watch.

surely the worst parent of all is craster

I get all these North of the Wall nutters mixed up, probably shortsighted of GRRM to give them all really similar names - Rast/Craster/Manse - they're all just interchangeable bearded blokes wearing fur and raping people.

Walder Frey is the true family man of the bunch

Craster ftw

yeah Craster is a bad dad

Theon's dad's a real nurturing dude too, and of course there's Tywin...

So is Nedd maybe the only decent dad in the story, then?

Catelyn seemed to like her dad

love that we're reduced to characters who never appear in the show for good dads

the dad who got an arrow through the head courtesy of ygritte seemed like a pretty good dad in his 30 seconds of screen time

Worst dad is the direwolf who couldn't prevent his baby momma from dying AND left all seven of his newborn children to die in the snow

the dad who took in the hound and arya and then was robbed by the hound seemed like a good dad, wanted the best for his daughter even as winter comes etc