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

the most interesting thing by far is the mythological world building, particularly the mysteries surrounding the events before the first novel and the deeper history of westeros, but the show has no idea how to present that materia.

material

I'd agree with that. The most interesting aspect is the world building, which is the show is probably incapable of adequately conveying. Right now it is certainly coasting far below the level of the LotR movies in that regard, and obviously they left tons out.

Eh most interesting to me is watching the Lannister house tear itself apart from the inside. Also there is your moral compass in action. Good guys die a lot here but the bad guys inevitably get what's coming.

winter?

I've been reading lots of early medieval history lately and its like GoT happening over and over again, minus the dragons. But people back then believed in even crazier stuff than that. I'm sure the Vikings seemed like White Walkers at the time too.

Also lol only 2 dead lannisters so far. Meanwhile literally everyone from house stark is dead except arya and bran.

Xxp

And Rickon, and probably Sansa and Jon.

Jon looks p dead, rickon kinda belongs to another house. I forgot sansa tho yeah. She probably wishes she were dead at this pt.

Tywin, Joeffrey, Myrcella, Martyn, and Willem = 5 dead Lannisters

I dont even know who those last 3 are. Were they on the show?

I think the last two were murdered while prisoners of Rob Stark

Anyway my pt is its weird to argue that lannisters suffering is proportionate to their crimes. At best they suffer slightly less than more sympathetic characters.

do we know that Myrcella is dead? Is that a book spoiler?

Show hasn't made a terribly compelling argument, imo, for why anyone would want the iron throne, given the frequency of murders, executions and assassinations. Especially since the show has made a compelling argument that there are a dozen other better places to live than King's Landing. But that could be because the show hasn't clarified the elaborate history of the book. All the "how did we get here" background, which my nerd(ier) friends have explained to me Like, the importance of Valyrian Steel, etc.

But yeah, the story (as such) would be more effective minus the deus ex dragon and unbeatable threats of zombie hordes. Vikings might as well have been zombies, but really ... they weren't. And in terms of this show, half the cast is essentially Viking-esque anyway.

do we know that Myrcella is dead? Is that a book spoiler?

afaik yes, that is a book spoiler

like I don't think there's any evidence Martin or the showrunners intend the Lannisters as a cautionary tale. Suffering is meted out arbitrarily on this show, if anything it's POV seems to be "you're fucked no matter what you do" ie garden variety nihilism.

xp

Same nerd(ier) friends agrees that is the point, too. That a la history, good intentions are not enough, and bad stuff happens to good or well meaning people all the time, for capricious and greedy and stupid reasons. Doesn't do the narrative any favors, and yeah, nuclear option dragons and hordes of shambling metaphors complicate the nihilistic simplicity a little.

I'm holding out hope for something along the lines of:

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

afaik yes, that is a book spoiler

Y'all didn't see last season?

or read the books

a bloody nose in a season finale doesn't inevitably mean death jeez

i thought she just got hit by a basketball

I mean I am assuming that she's dead based on context clues. I haven't read the book. I suppose she could have just had a very chill nosebleed?

I guess Reek and Sansa must be dead too. Last time we saw them they jumped off a high wall RIP

Buncha jokesters around here

if jon's dead i'm rhaegar targaryen

It would be silly to assume that after cutting away from the nosebleed scene, Jaime fetches her a tissue and she politely thanks him. But seriously, even her being in a coma or something as a result wouldn't be exactly likely after it was established that the sand snakes intended to kill her. Especially since she wasn't a very important character.

not a book spoiler, show is both somewhat divergent and ahead on that. seemed p fatal on the show.

ugh the sand snakes

never forget
http://winteriscoming.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/S5-E6-SS-fight-2.gif

i never quite got the sand snakes hype cuz in the books they're kinda just plotting and bitching and then it turns out doran is three steps ahead of them and it's kinda yr first inkling that he's smarter and maybe deadlier than his brother. i remember someone somewhere compared them to boba fett in terms of gap between rep and any actual badassery we witness. on the show they weren't even that. they did give us my favorite pair of breasts on the show i guess. alot of the dorne stuff i guess was either providing backstory or providing a way for, uh, house targaryean to come back to westeros.

that's accurate, but what is Martin but a massive hypeman for for shit that doesn't actually go down?

I don't see the suffering as completely arbitrary. Tyrion being blamed for Goffrey's death is the tail end of a lifelong hatred between him, his sister, and father. They put him on trial and he responds by killing his father, in part as punishment for a lifetime of abuse. There are motivations here that are built up through the first few seasons. things seem less anarchic IMO in the latter seasons. Karma getting doled out on a more regular basis.

Not even the Red Wedding was arbitrary--Rob had no business being a king if he was going to be breaking oaths to nobles and stuff

FWIW when I said "yes, that's a book spoiler" I meant "that is a spoiler for events that have not yet been covered in the books based on what interviews I've read"

some chatter about maisie's thread being minimized next season as/if/when she becomes a doc who fixture

Boooo!

oh just recast the part. no one will notice

Get one of the old Mountain actors.

They could theoretically write her into another actor bcs of the whole many-faced god thing anyway.

Is there actually anything to that talk other than "reporter realises that she's returning to Doctor Who for episode that's been scheduled since before the season started"?

prob not but he does need a new assistant and she would be great and is raving about script quality

i'm near the end of s3 and this continues to be pretty bad! it's watchable enough to keep my curiosity going.

the rhythmic element i'm really beginning to hate is the "humanizing monologue" about some terrible thing in the past from a badguy character.

it has a teenager's sensibility. the lannisters are supposed to be subtle and devious; they're all crude and obvious (cersei especially, can't tell if that's the writing or performance but neither are good). the love plot between tyrion and shae is unwatchable. none of the characters really seem like they live and breathe the ideology of dynastic struggle; *every single* political marriage has been taken like it was a bad prom date, like nobody can really see what's coming or get how life is.

there's hardly any lightness, none of these people are funny, none really seem like they are of different personality from each other. the language is lifeless.

the nobility were hardly ever alone. they were surrounded by their relatives, their staff, their households. the show is underpopulated. everyone seems to be in transit or being abducted between one of like five places, wouldn't they just run into each other in the middle?

great show.

God, I'm glad I dont demand such realism from my bodice-rippers.

no need to rip anything, there's guaranteed boob!

the rhythmic element i'm really beginning to hate is the "humanizing monologue" about some terrible thing in the past from a badguy character.

i liked the one w the guy in the box.

got more of a boobage ripper

I think quite a few of the characters are funny. And despite what everyone says about relentless grimness (which spellcorrects as firmness) I think there's plenty of lighter moments (not that I necessarily require them but it would be a different show without them).