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well through various means (or if you have HBO in the US) the first episode is here. First i'll say it looks very good, the production design is top (as you'd expect from HBO) and the acting is pretty spot on. The writing is top notch and little things that other shows miss they do (the Wolf pups aging after passing of time) making it much more ebnjoyable than US network dross (like The Event where there was a tense 2 or 3 hour standoff between the government and the aliens meanwhile b plot has time to do a whole heap of stuff, get a private jet and fly to France now i dont know my geography but isn't it a longer flight than 3 hours frpm US to France?)

And if you've read the books first episode ends exactly where it should.
Strongly recomended.

CU Radbacker

Quote from: Radbacker on 18 April, 2011, 02:11:50 PM
well through various means (or if you have HBO in the US) the first episode is here. First i'll say it looks very good, the production design is top (as you'd expect from HBO) and the acting is pretty spot on. The writing is top notch and little things that other shows miss they do (the Wolf pups aging after passing of time) making it much more ebnjoyable than US network dross (like The Event where there was a tense 2 or 3 hour standoff between the government and the aliens meanwhile b plot has time to do a whole heap of stuff, get a private jet and fly to France now i dont know my geography but isn't it a longer flight than 3 hours frpm US to France?)

And if you've read the books first episode ends exactly where it should.
Strongly recomended.

CU Radbacker

Ive yet to read the books as has the wife, we both enjoyed the first episode,and already looking forward to the next episode.

[spoiler]The last minutes of the episode really shocked the wife more than myself but what an ending!![/spoiler]

I'm well looking forward to this, fantasy normally leaves me pretty cold but a friend has been talking this up a lot. He says the overarching plot is so massive and the characters so good that if they pull it off on telly it'll be like a fantasy The Wire. That's sold it to me.

Quote from: Keef Monkey on 19 April, 2011, 01:02:17 PM
it'll be like a fantasy The Wire. That's sold it to me.

I've heard it called the Sopranos in Middle Earth. Either way, the first episode has got me hooked.

Hmm. A lot to like here, but it's setting off HBO alarm bells -- every HBO show I've tried to watch so far has driven me off with its efforts to be oh-so-fucking-shocking when all I really want is some fucking plot and maybe, just maybe, some characters I could give a shit about.

Thus far, Six Feet Under, Deadwood and True Blood have all failed this basic requirement. I'd really like this to be the one to that does better.

Cheers

Jim

There is some pretty shocking stuff in the books, so HBO may not be adding stuff specifically for shock value.*  They may have been more willing to show that stuff than other channels, which is a bit different, although I suppose the affect on the viewer is the same.

As for plot, well as long as the series is true to the book, you'll have that in plenty!

Anyhow. I love the books. Still waiting for the new one. I hope I get a chance to see  this series too. I don't think I can get it on Virgin Media unfortunately.


*Spoiler (just in case you haven't reached this bit in the series yet.): [spoiler]If we're talking about sexually explicit incest between the Lancaster twins, that's right there in the books.[/spoiler]

Oops.  Lancaster=Lannister.

gone down well in the US and already green lit a second season, woohoo.
Oh Mardroid the new book is supposed to be out in June i think, A Dance with Dragons.

My housemates girl friend absolutely loves this and she does not like Fantasy/Scifi in general I think this is going to be a big one hopefully will get  a full seven seasons (supposidly one per book) and not be cut short like so many HBO shows (Carnivalle, Deadwood, Rome).

CU Radbacker

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 April, 2011, 10:55:32 PM...Deadwood... failed this basic requirement.

Campbell is dead to me now (the cock-sucking cocksucker). 

Quote from: TordelBack on 20 April, 2011, 09:14:11 AM
Campbell is dead to me now (the cock-sucking cocksucker). 

I'll happily concede it may have been the best TV series ever, but I think I got to the second or possibly third episode and all that seemed to have happened is a succession of dirty, smelly-looking people had sworn (albeit inventively) at each other and I really, really didn't give a shit what happened to any of these people. Just didn't feel like a worthwhile investment of an hour of my life every week...

Cheers!

Jim

The first bit in the woods was excellent (looked like Ukko in that skull-cap thingy) but the rest of it was wooden and bobbins imho. Of course that could be alot of furious backgrounding going on in the first episode and I'll happily hang in there but certainly don't think its deserving of all the hype.

The 'beach' scene followed by 'tough night?' did get a laugh tho. 

Hugely enjoying this, episode 2 didn't disappoint. I've not read the books but it feels like a fantasy epic for sure. I can now see Sean Bean as Lord Borric from The Magician.

Characters are very good for the most part, but the stars of the second part were the dire wolves. Just awesome. [spoiler]And sad too  :'([/spoiler]

Oh no, my qq has given away a clue to the spoiler  :lol:

quickly moving into the 'watching it because the other half is' dept. Episode 2 seemed awful slow - an assassination attempt, a comedy dwarf and a 'will be important in the future' kids squabble. Was there more to it than that? Less boobs too. Can't see the general public keeping with it. 

Quote from: BPP on 28 April, 2011, 10:49:26 PM
quickly moving into the 'watching it because the other half is' dept.

I get that. There's one or two shows I would have given up on long ago if it weren't for the missus. Dexter, for instance. I lost interest in the second season. But if I hadn't kept watching it with the girlfriend I probably would have missed the wonderful John Lithgow series. Why isn't that man on telly more often?

saw episode 5 last night, there's stuff in this that i really didn't think I'd ever see on TV [spoiler]The mountain beheading his horse because he lost a joust! a 6year old breast feeding!(the sky cells look amazingly terrifying)  Renly and the Knight of Flowers preying together (which i totally didn't get in the book even thought I've read them all at least twice), the Imp totally caving in a dudes skull with a sheild[/spoiler]
Definatly the best episode yet and bodes well for the second half of the season.  I quite like how they are fleshing out some of the characters that dont have anything to do till book two (Theon). 

CU Radbacker

welll done to anyone who made it to 5... 2-4 were dull dog.

That's baffling - the missus and I are absolutely hooked. Fine performances all round - a big shout out to Peter Dinklage, Conleth Hill and the girl who plays little Arya Stark. Even Lena Headey hasn't spoiled it - I usually find her to be very wooden, but now I'm confused, as she seems to be infusing Cersei with just the right amount of cold detachment and ennui. Or maybe she is just wooden and I was right first time.

Anyway, it's me new favourite show by a country mile, and TBH these days I mostly find fantasy stuff a bit daft.

episode 1 got me into the book - which i've almost finished, although the tv progs good, it's not as good as the book and i minor scene change with jon snow was unnessaccery

I've just finished reading the book as I wanted to read it first with no spoilers. I've now started watching the series and it is fantastic.

The costumes, sets and all the production design is virtually flawless. They've got the tone and dialogue just right and even where it deviates slightly from the original text, it's entirely appropriate and in keeping with the story.

All the cast are fantastic and give great performances. I've been especially impressed by Sean Bean as Ned Stark, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister and Iain Glen as Jorah Mormont.

Now I need to read A Clash of Kings before series 2 comes out.

I'm enjoying it a lot. It's entertaining and, each time it finishes, I want to know what happens next.

anyone enjoying the programme - really should read the book, it's amazing and the characters are soo well written - i read it on my commute to and from work, each chapter has the main characters name that it focuses on - so perfect for the train

This week's ep probably featured one of the most painful-looking deaths I've ever seen on screen. Damn.

enjoying this immensley,came to it blind having never read the books and eah episode has me drawn in so much i'm sad that the end credits roll, nice sean bean swordy action last week he'd have totally had the poncey blond fella if the dastardly guard hadnt done that!

nah i dont think Bean (Ned) would've taken Jamie (The Kingslayer is meant to be one of the best swords in the realm, and we saw how easily he put poor Jori down) down but he was putting up a danm good fight concidering.  This weeks just keeps galoping along, all the important scenes are there and more imporantly all the characters are ringing true to their Book counterparts (I was particualarly concerned that the girl playing Danrys wasn't up to it but after last nights "he wasn't true blood of the dragon" line she also gets thumbs up).  Missing Jon and the Wall as he hasn't been in the last two episodes.

Definatly my favorite new show this season, i've completely stopped watching Camelot as it just cant match this.  Will pick it up again when this ends to sate my thirst for more swordy action.

CU Radbacker

Well that was another cracking episode. Even though I knew it was coming (I haven't read the books, just stumbled across a spoiler), that [spoiler]'gilded death' [/spoiler] was utterly shocking and brilliantly gruesome. It's been apparent from the onset that [spoiler]war is coming[/spoiler], but I was worried we might have to wait until something like season 3 for it. But we're only 6 episodes in and it seems to be looming already.

CAN'T. GET. ENOUGH!!!

And for anyone with any doubts about Jason Momoa as Conan - just get a load of his Khal Drogo, and forget yer worries. Of course, Conan could well be a steaming pile of shite, but it won't be because Momoa's rubbish.

if you like Drogo in ep 6 just wait till you see the end of episode 7, i could totally see the guy as Conan.  Unfortunatly in seeing episode 7 (which is available through various un-named means) the whole series is ruined for me [spoiler]I have to wait two whole fucken weeks till the next new episode[/spoiler] :lol:
Starting to see some real scale now, the opening shot in ep 7 shows a considerably larger quantity of tents that previously seen.

CU Radbacker

This show is so goddamn good its crazy. And only two episodes left for this season, great Scott!

My favorite line, "No one touches the dragon!", I say it often now.

Favourite bits this week - [spoiler]seeing Robb Stark rise to the occasion, Syrio's last stand (or was it?), Ser Barristan's hissy fit, Khal Drogo's utter annihialtion of his enemy[/spoiler]. Actually, I'm gonna spoiler all of those just in case.

What a show! And now we have Charles Dance lording it over everyone in full on smarm mode - superb!

I'm loving this series.
Having read the books, I'm glorying in visiting the world, plus spotting places I know in where it was filmed.

Bou hasn't read the books, so doesn't know what's coming in the next couple of weeks. I shall particularly enjoy the reaction that will come at what happens to [spoiler]Khal Drogo[/spoiler], she commented last episode that she couldn't wait until [spoiler]he got on the boats to fight the Lannisters...[/spoiler]

Quote from: Richmond Clements on 09 June, 2011, 02:20:55 PM
Bou hasn't read the books, so doesn't know what's coming in the next couple of weeks. I shall particularly enjoy the reaction that will come at what happens to [spoiler]Khal Drogo[/spoiler], she commented last episode that she couldn't wait until [spoiler]he got on the boats to fight the Lannisters...[/spoiler]

Adrene has no idea either...oh, it's going to be fantastic to read some reactions.

Having read the books as well (I've just finished Storm of Swords), I have to say I like most of the casting too. Except Tywain. I always pictured Patrick McGoohan as Long Shanks playing the part!

Now that I'm comfortably into Clash of Kings, having really enjoyed the first book, I thought I'd give the first episode of the TV series a quick peek.

Yes, some places and people look and sound different to how they are in my mind's eye, yes there are some slightly odd changes, there aren't enough extras in the background, and all the kids are way too old (I understand why - Emilia Clarke's legal butt alone justifies it) but basically... WOW!   That's a hell of a thing to pull off in a TV series, so solid, so extensive, so convincing.  Gives me instant confidence in how certain aspects will be handled, and how great the whole thing will be as it unfolds.  I'm not a fan of adaptations in general, but on the strength of that opener this one gets a free pass.

Wifey and I will be watching this whether she likes it or not - maybe I should fast forward to shirtless Jason Momoa straight away just to make ensure compliance...

Anyone else who read Game of Thrones feel the last episode had a "rushed" pace? The episode seemed like an hour long "preview" for a longer show. We went from scene to scene at a crazy pace, we were left with little time to digest what we were seeing, everything from the performances to the action was hurried. Many of the scenes in the book were slower, more deliberate, more detailed and filled with important implications. Even the atmosphere was lacking: [spoiler]when the Other rises at the Wall, the scene should have been much longer - or rather the moments leading up to the reveal of the Other should have been drawn out for suspense; and after the other has been burned, we should have gotten a great sense of dread. Jon's hand being burned, which becomes a big part of the character later on, barely even registers.[/spoiler] I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining though; this is the best show I've watched in ages. I suppose the books have me spoiled!

Although I haven't read the books Locust, I know what you mean. That really was breakneck pacing last week wasn't it? I have to say though, this just meant I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through, with barely time to take a breath (even more so than usual). In dramatic terms, I thought it worked. Of course, if I'd read the books and had a different experience, I'm sure I'd feel differently.

Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 09 June, 2011, 02:10:56 PM
Favourite bits this week - [spoiler]seeing Robb Stark rise to the occasion, Syrio's last stand (or was it?), Ser Barristan's hissy fit, Khal Drogo's utter annihialtion of his enemy[/spoiler]. Actually, I'm gonna spoiler all of those just in case.

What a show! And now we have Charles Dance lording it over everyone in full on smarm mode - superb!

dont believe [spoiler]syrio[/spoiler] copped it as we didnt actually see him die and he kicked ass with a wooden sword he's westeros' miyamato musashi...

got a nasty feeling neds not gonna have a happy ending :( as soon as its finished gonna track down all the books how many are there?

Quote from: locustsofdeath! on 12 June, 2011, 06:31:59 PM
Anyone else who read Game of Thrones feel the last episode had a "rushed" pace? The episode seemed like an hour long "preview" for a longer show. We went from scene to scene at a crazy pace

Although I've enjoyed it, I've felt this way about most of the series. The first four episodes seemed to be trying to cram in as many scenes from the book as possible without any room to breathe or let them sink in. From the fifth there seemed to be a bit more of an attempt to flesh out some of the characters and there were a few scenes I didn't recognise which appeared to be doing just that. I'm quite surprised it's been so popular with people who haven't read the books as I assumed they'd all be quite lost.

Quote from: mogzilla on 13 June, 2011, 06:00:26 PM
got a nasty feeling neds not gonna have a happy ending :( as soon as its finished gonna track down all the books how many are there?

Five so far, with a sixth out next month and I'd reckon at least another couple to come. Don't hold your breath waiting for those though.

Quote from: mogzilla on 13 June, 2011, 06:00:26 PM
dont believe [spoiler]syrio[/spoiler] copped it as we didnt actually see him die and he kicked ass with a wooden sword he's westeros' miyamato musashi...

This seems to be a recurring topic amongst fans of the books.

Just watched the penultimate episode and...... bugger!

So, so good. Best 'historical' romp for ages.

And don't forget the 2000AD connection- some costume and set design and the storyboards are by Will Simpson!

Really? How cool is that? I had no idea.

Last night's episode was epic and mental. Unbelievably good!

last one next week :( hope "the borgias" is good

Quotehope "the borgias" is good

Umm... no, no it's not.

Glacially paced without any tension, and even the sight of her off of Ashes to Ashes (Shaz)  in flagrante is handled clumsily. It's not as creaky as Camelot but is too worthy to be part of the whole new sub genre of 'Sopranos in ......'

Jeremy Irons, who has evolved into a less friendly version of Boris Karloff, looks utterly bored.

Dunno what Neil Jordan was going for here but by the look of the pilot (only thing I've seen so far) it's not very engaging.

That was so fricken cool but damn it why is there only one episode left. 
Next seasons going to be bloody epic, hope we see a bit more of the battles though (be a shame for all that brilliant armour design not to be used) even if its only small parts rather than whole armies going at it (thats for season 3 Clash of Kings).
[spoiler]From the last episode so many brilliant moments, Tyrions Tysha speech was arsom, Joffrey really is an absolute shit, mad arse shit going on in Kal Drogo's tent, Maester Aemon's (sorry Aemon Taygerian) speech to Jon about duty to the wall and what it means to be a Brother of the watch even when your family's getting murdered[/spoiler]
I dont think the series has put a foot wrong and we can live in hope that it will keep running and running.

CU Radbacker

Quote from: Radbacker on 16 June, 2011, 04:12:11 AM

I dont think the series has put a foot wrong and we can live in hope that it will keep running and running.

Let's also live in hope that A Dance With Dragons is chock full of the arsomness that could have made A Feast for Crows a bit less tedious, so that if the show gets that far (and I think it will) it isn't subtitled [spoiler]A Medieval Vagina Monologue: Cersei Freaks Out About Everything and Nothing[/spoiler].

Most of the battles in the books happen off camera, with the exception of [spoiler]the Blackwater in book 2 and the wall in book 3 part 2, and possibly the Fist of the first Men but that happens at night.[/spoiler]

Also I see that they did not show MAJOR SPOILER or a red herring only time will tell[spoiler]Neds memories of his sister while he was in the cells[/spoiler]

I was mildly concerned about how they'd handle the climax of the first book and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. That whole episode was basically just one big setup for the next series though.

Quote from: The Cosh on 20 June, 2011, 11:33:27 PM
I was mildly concerned about how they'd handle the climax of the first book and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked. That whole episode was basically just one big setup for the next series though.

Well, yes, but that last scene was the real Moffat style 'game changer' wasn't it? Now I have to go read the books...!

more, more, I want more now!!!!!!!!!!
absolutly note perfect all the way through and that end, what a scene, i knew it was comnig but my housemate didn't and boy did he have kittens.  Played perfectly.
There's got to be some Emmy nominations in this thing it is by far the best show on TV at the moment.

CU Radbacker

Oh man that was really good.
I'd been waiting all series to see the [spoiler]dragons[/spoiler], and they did not disappoint. The final scene was incredible, even better than it was in the book, I think.

The onlt possible downside is keeping Bou watching it now that [spoiler]Kahl Drogo [/spoiler] is [spoiler]dead[/spoiler]... Oh, and that scene was brilliantly handled too.

Cannot wait until next series!

Yep, Drogo is a big hit in our house too. He makes me go all gooey, never mind the missus!

Mmmm, I've noticed a distinct skewing towards dothraki-heavy episodes in our house too.  No idea why.  That said, wifely empathy with Arya is also running high.  Wait 'til she sees the horrors that await the poor thing in Season 2...

I've been delighted with this series, it's been awesome and seems very faithful to the source work.

Although admittedly, I've only read the first book in the Fire and Ice series, and that was when it first came out, so my memory of it is a bit hazy (re-reading now, though).

Quote from: brendan1 on 21 June, 2011, 02:57:19 PM
I've been delighted with this series, it's been awesome and seems very faithful to the source work.

There are plenty of changes and omissions from the original, and while I miss some things ([spoiler]the Sansa/Sandor relationship, for example[/spoiler]), I don't think I've noticed anything that isn't an honest attempt to streamline material while retaining its intent and tone, or to handle things within some kind of manageable budget or an episodic TV format.  Obviously there are characters who don't look or sound like I imagined them, and some of the backgrounds are a bit sparse and... expedient (no, more like expeditious), but I don't think I've ever seen a better adaptation of a genre book.  The sheer ambition of the production is enough to make me love it, never mind that it actually succeeds.

Quote from: TordelBack on 21 June, 2011, 03:12:52 PM

Quote from: brendan1 on 21 June, 2011, 02:57:19 PM
I've been delighted with this series, it's been awesome and seems very faithful to the source work.

There are plenty of changes and omissions from the original, and while I miss some things ([spoiler]the Sansa/Sandor relationship, for example[/spoiler]), I don't think I've noticed anything that isn't an honest attempt to streamline material while retaining its intent and tone, or to handle things within some kind of manageable budget or an episodic TV format.  Obviously there are characters who don't look or sound like I imagined them, and some of the backgrounds are a bit sparse and... expedient (no, more like expeditious), but I don't think I've ever seen a better adaptation of a genre book.  The sheer ambition of the production is enough to make me love it, never mind that it actually succeeds.

It's been so long since I read it that quite a few bits (and you can probably guess what I'm talking about) have had me going "Fuck! Was that in the book, I don't remember that?!"

As I said, it's got me re-reading Game Of Thrones again, and after that I'll read Clash of Kings, which I've had sitting on a bookshelf unread for over a decade. In fact, this single TV series has single-handedly got me back into reading a genre of books that I haven't actually touched since I read Game of Thrones the first time!

wow! the wife didnt get the end i explained it with "magic stuff" and [spoiler]dragons[/spoiler] i've started the books and do see the characters as the tv ones which is odd when robb is described as 14 and dany is 13! this made for uncomfortable reading especially as the wedding night was described quite gaphically ... but i'm guessing that our time and westeros time is slightly different and a 14 year old in their time might be the same as a 20 year old in ours...i'm hoping. :-\

    nice cliffhangertastic end to the brilliant series and i am now devouring the first book so when my parcel from play.com arrives i can plough on...


  i really want joffrey to come to a sticky end...git.

Quote from: mogzilla on 21 June, 2011, 10:34:35 PM
but i'm guessing that our time and westeros time is slightly different and a 14 year old in their time might be the same as a 20 year old in ours...i'm hoping. :-\

I'm pretty sure they're the same, at least physically. It's more to do with how people measure adulthood. In ancient to medieval societies, a person was considered an adult when they were sexually mature. (In a girls case when she started her monthly cycle.) Of course that's still rather messed up in my opinion. Even putting aside the ethical side of things for now, if a girl that young gets pregnant, I think it can be harmful as she isn't fully grown. Narrow hips, birth canal, etc. But it was cultural. (Thank God that's changed.)

Of course both boys and girls did grow up pretty sharpish mentaly due to how much tougher their lives were. They had to muscle in and work at an age when we were still playing! Of course there are still thousands of children living today who are still in that same situation.

I think was a good call to explicitly age all the kids by about 2 or 3 years (even Bran is 7 in the book and identified as 10 in the series).  It makes handling their inevitable aging (the Walt factor) a bit easier, probably helps finding competent actors, and as noted makes the stuff with Daenerys somewhat less icky.  The only one I have any problems with is Robb (whose actor is actually 25), who seems like he's already quite old enough to take on his fathers mantle - at least Jon Snow's actor (24) plays him as young. 

I came to Game of Thrones cold - I'd never heard of the books and to be honest had got it confused with Pillars of the Earth. Wasn't sure what to expect from it, and imagined it would be quite nihilistic and schlocky - all I'd heard about it was the boobs and violence. Was surprised that the show had so much humour and so many lovable characters. Also: some of the best fight scenes and onscreen deaths I've ever seen in a TV show - found some bits very difficult to watch, and that should be taken as a compliment to the writers and actors, as I felt a lot of affection for certain characters and didn't want them to die!

An absolutely phenomenal production, from the amazing cast and excellent writing to the brilliant credit sequence and theme tune, which I can't get out of my head! Anyone else notice that the locations in the credits changes from episode to episode to show you where the story takes place? As someone coming to the story new, I didn't find it rushed or confusing in the slightest - I thought it had a great pace to it - every scene pushing the story forward while letting us get to know the characters. Unfortunately I didn't manage to avoid all the spoilers going round, so knew the fates of certain characters in advance, and some git on facebook ruined the ending somewhat by mentioning the word [spoiler]'dragons'[/spoiler] the other day... But still, massively enjoyed it - so much so that I'll probably end up buying it on Blu Ray to rewatch before season two starts.

If I had to fault it, I'd say that the ending felt like a massive anticlimax - there was no closure or resolution, just things being set up for the next series. Was especially disappointed with how Daneris(?) and Khal Drogo's storyline resolved - seemed to be a lot of build up for very little pay-off. There were another few things I didn't quite grasp - what was the scene with the old dude and the whore all about at the end of the last episode? Seemed like a waste of time and I kept wanting to see what the other characters were up to. I never quite got a grasp on a few of the characters - for instance Joffrey. I could never tell if he actually had feelings for Sansa. There's also the issue of scale, as others have mentioned - if they have to keep contriving ways of not showing the big battles then it could get farcical pretty quick.

Had a chuckle when I learned that it's an unrecognisable Jerome Flynn playing the part of Bronn (great character!), while Joffrey is - unbelievably - played by the little Blond kid from Batman Begins!

Oh, and I need to know... I really, really recognise the actor playing one of Jon Snow's friends in the nights watch (not Samwell, one of the other two in his little gang). Can't for the life of me think what else he is in - anyone know? Been bugging me for days!

Jon's two main mates other than Sam are Pyp (the funny one) and Gren (the tall one).  Gren's actor Mark Stanley seems to be a newcomer, but Pyp is Jozef Altin, who according to IMDB has been in loads of stuff, including Being Human and Mistfits, as well as the usual Caualty and The Bill.

QuoteWas especially disappointed with how Daneris(?) and Khal Drogo's storyline resolved - seemed to be a lot of build up for very little pay-off

More coming from her next season,  Drogo was a very important part of her life as you will see in the next couple of seasons, i think it was more about building things up for the easy path (Dani takes Drogo and his massive army accross the ocean and conquors the Kingdoms) then snatching hope from you the veiwer and confounding expectations. (warning this will happen regualarly in the series).

Quotewhat was the scene with the old dude and the whore all about at the end of the last episode? Seemed like a waste of time and I kept wanting to see what the other characters were up to

Roz (the whore) isn't in the books IIRC so she seems to be added as a tool for exposition, first we got a bit of Little Fingers motivations last episode and now we learn that Grand Maester Pycelle isn;'t quite a feeble and infirmed as he leads us to believe (which is a bit diferent to the books as while he is a bit sneaky he definatly is feeble and infirmed) also in his little speech about the kings that he's served (three of them now) and their differces the one thing the same that persists through them all is Pycelle himself.
Phenominal series and just cant wait till next season, this is a definate Blue Ray for me too.

CU Radbacker

Without wanting to know anything from further books, there were a couple of other things I didn't quite understand about this series.

The middle aged bloke from Westeros who was acting as a sort of bodyguard to Daneris - what's his story? Did I miss something? I got the impression that it was him acting as a spy for the king, is that right? But then he saved her life from the assassin....

Discounting Jon Snow and Theon, there are five Stark children, four of which are Robb, Sansa, Arya and Bran. I'm right in thinking that the other young boy - his wolf is called Shaggy Dog - is the fifth? He got so little screen time that he didn't even register. So, both he and Bran have some sort of precognitive ability? Again, I don't want to know specifics about other books, just making sure I didn't miss anything.

I take it direwolves are semi-sentient creatures - is that right?

Quote from: radiator on 29 June, 2011, 08:17:01 AM
The middle aged bloke from Westeros who was acting as a sort of bodyguard to Daneris - what's his story?

That's Ser Jorah Mormont, disgraced son of Jeor Mormont, the Commander of the Night's Watch (and Jon's boss).  Acquiring a wife of very expensive tastes, he ran out of money and sold some captured poachers to slavers, and had to flee Ned's shiny metal justice, taking service with the last of the Targeryans in exile in Pentos.  There he became an informer on their doings for Varys (the eunuch), but falls for Daenerys and stops acting as Varys' agent - I think this is why h[spoiler]e foils the poisoning[/spoiler], rather than it being on anyone's instructions.  I'm not 100% clear on what Varys is up to as regards the Targeryans (not having read past Clash of Kings yet), but I don't think we're supposed to at this point.

And Jon Snow's been given the family sword that should've passed to Jorah.

Quote from: radiator on 29 June, 2011, 08:17:01 AM
Discounting Jon Snow and Theon, there are five Stark children, four of which are Robb, Sansa, Arya and Bran. I'm right in thinking that the other young boy - his wolf is called Shaggy Dog - is the fifth? He got so little screen time that he didn't even register.

That's Rickon. Somebody mentioned earlier that all the children have been aged a bit for the series and he's a victim of that really as he's not much more than a baby in the first books so there's very little material for them to work with.

Precognitive ability? Wait and see: [spoiler]Bran has some ability; don't think Rickon has.[/spoiler]
Don't think direwolves are meant to be sentient, just smarter than the average wolf and these ones have a symbolic bond with the Stark children.

That scene with Ros and Pycelle has caught a lot of flak (particulalry on the excellent Guardian series blog that accompanied the show), but I actually enjoyed it. A nice little insight into the power behind the throne (and its string of occupants), rather like the verbal sparring between Varys and Littlefinger. I loved how we now know that Pycelle puts on this feeble, doddering old geezer act when in fact he's quite limber and sharp as a knife. Suppose he has to be to survive.

Maybe now that [spoiler]Sean Bean is gone [/spoiler] they will have a bigger budget to tackle the battles [spoiler](appreantely he commands a huge fee!). [/spoiler] The [spoiler]dragons[/spoiler] didn't look naff anyway, which is a good sign. Plus I read somewhere that they've recruited about 3 or 4 times as many CGI artists for season 2 - again, bodes well.

I've been copying episodes for a student a work with - a lad of 18 with various difficulties I won't go into (he's very mature in lots of ways). He's hugely into mediaeval stuff and LOTR and all that, so I thought he'd appreciate this, and he's become a massive fan. It's been enlightening talking with him after each episode too - he couldn't get his head around the fact that [spoiler]they killed Ned, [/spoiler] and was truly gutted - I tried to explain that was the very thing that made the show so good, that boldness, the willingness to pull the rug from under the viewer, but I think he's a bit too young to make sense of that yet. [spoiler]He then asked me 'who's the main character now then?', and again, I explained that there wasn't really any one central character anymore, it wasn't that kind of show. It's more of an ensemble. Arguable, even Ned wasn't the main character, but I can see how he appeared that way - the biggest name actor and the moral core of the show.[/spoiler] Anyway, we're both champing at the bit for season 2 now.

Oops. That was supposed to be spoiler tags, not bold. Could someone amend?

Quote from: The Cosh on 29 June, 2011, 11:37:41 AM
Oops. That was supposed to be spoiler tags, not bold. Could someone amend?

There you go!

What I liked about [spoiler]Ned's[/spoiler] death, well not liked exactly, was the message that if you are an honourable guy and do the right thing, even when everyone around you is being an utter bastard, then you will [spoiler]die[/spoiler].

Cheers, TB - makes more sense now.

QuotePyp is Jozef Altin, who according to IMDB has been in loads of stuff

Thanks again - had a look through his IMDB and found that he played the mugger from series 3 of Peep Show, and that's where i recognised him from - he made Mark ask for his phone back in a girly voice!

QuoteThat's Rickon. Somebody mentioned earlier that all the children have been aged a bit for the series and he's a victim of that really as he's not much more than a baby in the first books so there's very little material for them to work with.

Ah! That makes a lot of sense. I was wondering for a while who the five children were - it is a bit much to take in - it was a few episodes before I could tell Robb and Jon apart (they are similar looking guys), and it's all the more confusing throwing Theon into the mix, who is sort of a seventh Stark child, despite being neither Stark nor bastard.

Quote[spoiler]Bran has some ability; don't think Rickon has.[/spoiler]

...I think you meant to spoiler that! Hmmm. [spoiler]But what about the scene where the two boys revealed they had the same dream/premonition?[/spoiler]

One last thing: did Tyrion know it was Jaime who is responsible for Bran's condition? Whether he did or not casts a new light on his - seemingly altruistic - gesture of designing the saddle for him.

Quote[spoiler]He then asked me 'who's the main character now then?', and again, I explained that there wasn't really any one central character anymore, it wasn't that kind of show. It's more of an ensemble. Arguable, even Ned wasn't the main character, but I can see how he appeared that way - the biggest name actor and the moral core of the show. Anyway, we're both champing at the bit for season 2 now.[/spoiler]

To be fair, he has featured heavily in the publicity for the show too. [spoiler]I knew in advance that Ned wouldn't be making it to the end of the series, but I still found his death really affecting. He gave that great little speech about how he didn't care at all for his own life - as a soldier he had come to terms with his own death years ago - but what was so sad was that he was forced to dishonour himself by 'confessing' - that saddened me more than the actual death.[/spoiler]

I've heard that the producers want Christopher Ecclestone for series 2!

Nice one, I wonder who for? Did you hear about the Gerard Butler hoax? Apparently some enthusiastic nerd-do-wells hacked his imdb page and cast him as Stannis Baratheon! You never know, it might come to pass. Poor King Leonidas has been slumming it in shitty romcoms for too long, he needs a meaty roaring king role again.

he'd make a good stannis methinks... trying to get through the clash of kings but as im off with stress it makes relaxing and getting into a book difficult. tyrion continues to delight tho'

Quotetyrion continues to delight tho'

At the risk of name dropping- I told George RR Martin at last years Octocon that Tyrion was pretty much my favourite character in a book ever, to whcih he replied, "Mine too"- but I bet he says that to everyone...

does that mean at least one character will survive the saga? ;)

Quote from: mogzilla on 29 June, 2011, 01:53:22 PM
does that mean at least one character will survive the saga? ;)

Haha! Funnily enough, we were on a panel together (along with Mr M Carroll, also of this parish) and I did ask him about killing off characters in an effort to get a hint of what is to come. He pointed out that magic exists in that world, so the dead may not necessarily be dead...

(and, as an aside, the conversation also turned to aging in comics, and when told that Dredd ages in real time, he was most impressed)

QuoteHaha! Funnily enough, we were on a panel together (along with Mr M Carroll, also of this parish) and I did ask him about killing off characters in an effort to get a hint of what is to come. He pointed out that magic exists in that world, so the dead may not necessarily be dead...[/quote

Do not read if you havent read alll four books
repeat do not read this
[spoiler]There's Lady Stoneheart who's a major character that definatly died and has come back, Quybyrne(?) the mad Expunged Maester has something definatly not dead he's working on in the dungeons involving the mOuntain and theres something awfuly familiar about the pale reder beyond the wall that rides the great elk that rescued Sam and met with Bran (methinks it might be liost dead uncle Benjin, but this is pure guess)[/spoiler]

Tyrion's a fav for evryone I know who's watching it which is good as next season he's really going to own it, didn't warm to him in the books untill book two but they've made him more symapathetic quicker in the series, that could also be something to do with the awsom actor they've got to play him and in the book he's more deformed and impish with his mismatched eye's a hook nose and distinct wadle he just came accross as classic bady in the firdst book (though it's been ages since i read it and may be remembering wrong).
Sinply can not wait for next season but atlest the new books out soon to help tide over a bit of time.

CU Radbacker

whilst reading game of thrones i easily pictured the characters from the series but couldnt get a stannis until now! he's gonna be chris eccles cake from now on god, ihope he is in the next series after all that! :lol:

Funnily enough I found Tyrion far easier to warm to in the books than in the series.  Although Peter Dinklage is just incredibly good, he's just a bit too handsome for the Imp as I imagined him, and so I find Tyrion's self-depreciation comes off as a bit more calculated than in the book.  Naturally he's my favourite character too.

Incidentally, the casting director for the TV series must deserve a small mound of awards - some very difficult choices handled brilliantly.

Brienne has been cast, looks like we are getting Hollywood ugly, hair up & glasses

Asha's been cast as well - name changed to Yara ( :lol:) so not to be confused with Osha. The actress is cute, I like her:

http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/07/asha-renamed-and-cast/

Anyone know what they'll be calling season two? Will they be following the titles of the books, or will the just call it Game of Thrones season 2?

Quote from: radiator on 11 July, 2011, 01:20:51 PM
Anyone know what they'll be calling season two? Will they be following the titles of the books, or will the just call it Game of Thrones season 2?

I'd be pretty surprised if it was called anything other than Game of Thrones. Certainly, that's how Martin has been referring to it on his website.

I watched all of this over a few days the other week and mentioned that I was really enjoying the series, while I was sat in the rest room at work and that I had just finished episode 6. Some twat goes and mentions the death of a character and how that character dies. To say I was pissed off was an understatement, as when those scenes played out all the suspense was gone  >:(

I have told him that I will be ruining season two for him, as I will download each episode asp and ruin everything for the bastard  >:D

EDIT- It does get shown in Yankland first doesn't it!

HBO showed it on Sunday night, Sky Atlantic Monday night. So taking time zones into account you probably have 18 hours to watch and track down your nemesis.

Semi-reassuring update from HBO about the future of GoT...

QuoteHBO executives Richard Plepler and Michael Lombardo have declared that Game of Thrones will have a long run.

The fantasy drama was renewed for a second season back in April, with new episodes expected to air in 2012.

"I hope it lasts for 20 years," HBO programming president Lombardo told Entertainment Weekly. "I promise you we won't stop it before it's ready to stop.

"There's a great relationship fans have with the show and we appreciate that. We've never seen people get so excited about casting [decisions]."

HBO co-president Pleper also insisted that the television adaptation will continue "as long as [author George R R Martin] keeps writing".

However, Lombardo confirmed that HBO does not have a "predetermined number of seasons" in mind for Game of Thrones, and also rejected the notion of expanding each season beyond ten episodes.

"If we could do 12 [episodes], we would," he insisted. "To produce those shows in the time they have, there's no way they could physically do more than ten... without diluting the quality."

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s151/game-of-thrones/news/a332390/game-of-thrones-will-have-long-run-say-hbo-execs.html (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s151/game-of-thrones/news/a332390/game-of-thrones-will-have-long-run-say-hbo-execs.html)

I don't know about you lot, but from where I'm standing, GoT seems to be approaching 'phenomenon' status - everyone I know is talking about it/watching it/reading the books. That should bode well for the future of the show...

The queue for one of Martin's signings at SDCC managed to cut off the 2000 AD booth completely, as did the one for Greg Bear. However, it wasn't as mad as the movie/TV signings.

I've been greatly enjoying Game of Thrones so I hope it continues to be successful, but I wonder if the second season can keep up the momentum of the first. While we geeks can provide a committed hard core of doggedly loyal support, for wider audiences I don't doubt that it was Sean Bean's star power that was the main draw. Now that he's been relegated to the convention circuit, will the show retain as much recognition next year?

They might have come along for Mr Bean*, but hopefully they stuck around for the story.

If series 2 continues with the books, I think there's a good chance they'll stay.

Just speculating mind you. I haven't seen the series but I like the books a lot. That reminds me, I should pick up the new novel soon...

*Not that Mr Bean. That's already been done in The Black Adder**. Okay not really...
**Yeah, the sequel series were better but that incarnation was closer to Mr Bean. And set in the middle ages for that matter.

hopefully not many people switched off after bean left ,plus theres so many great characters played by so much talent i for one might have been drawn in by beany but the likes of tyrion, arya ,jon and even the weasely joff have me chomping at the bit...

  also i never realised the little lass who plays arya is in her first role!

Does anyone know if the first series of this is likely to be shown on terrestial TV?

http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6579356/game-of-thrones-rpg (http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6579356/game-of-thrones-rpg)


I've not seen it yet, but thought you blokes'd like a look at this dubious new game that's out based on the series.

Quote from: Krombasher on 05 August, 2011, 12:56:27 PM
I've not seen it yet, but thought you blokes'd like a look at this dubious new game that's out based on the series.

Brilliant! Thanks for posting.

OOoooooooohhhhhh!

Behind the scenes teaser for series two!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pE12H1HorUU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pE12H1HorUU)

Looks awesome already, a lot of new characters in there. But no sign of Jaqen H'Ghar yet?


Incidentally, I made the mistake of finding this video on aintitcool and then browsing through the comments where some dickhead felt the need to post a massive spoiler about book five (I'm still on four). So that's just put me in a bad mood.

QuoteLooks awesome already, a lot of new characters in there. But no sign of Jaqen H'Ghar yet?

No clear sign but he's in the cage Arya walks past in the last episode with the other two monsters Rorge and Bitter, we dont get a good look at them though got to save some shocks for season 2.

I cant bloody wait for this, (saty away if you sdont want to know names)[spoiler]that thar behind the scenes did I spy The Onion Knight, Lady Melisandre, Lady Magery Tyrell, a quick flash of Briene the Beautifull [/spoiler] hurry up I hate wishing my life away but i just want it to be on now.

Ahh, Aintitcools good for that but I wouldn't worry about the spoiler too much Shutdown Man nothings for certain in Martins Books.

CU Radbacker

Quote from: Radbacker on 21 November, 2011, 02:08:50 PM
I cant bloody wait for this, (saty away if you sdont want to know names)[spoiler]that thar behind the scenes did I spy The Onion Knight, Lady Melisandre, Lady Magery Tyrell, a quick flash of Briene the Beautifull [/spoiler] hurry up I hate wishing my life away but i just want it to be on now.

I believe there's a brief glimpse of [spoiler]Aeron Damphair and King Stannis[/spoiler] in there too.

Fresh off the back of reading A Storm of Swords (aka One of The Greatest Fantasy Novels Ever Written^TM), all I can say, is FASTER, faster damn you!

Quote from: TordelBack on 21 November, 2011, 04:05:53 PM
Fresh off the back of reading A Storm of Swords (aka One of The Greatest Fantasy Novels Ever Written^TM), all I can say, is FASTER, faster damn you!

I've started "A Dance With Dragons" and after the snail-pace of "A Feast For Crows" I do worry that he's "doing a Jordan" because my enthusiasm for it has waned dramatically.

As for the TV series, the first was truly excellent, but what are the chances it will keep an audience long enough to justify the hefty budgets? I can't see it ever catching up with the novels. Mind you, I'm getting the feeling that the novels will just carry on and on until Martin drops dead, without actually finishing it.

Also like Jordan.

I'm about two thirds through Feast, and I'm a bit worried about that myself, it's just not a page turner in the same way the others were.

The main problem being, I reckon, [spoiler]that most of the the more interesting characters, Tyrion, Jon Snow, etc. are "off-screen", and bringing other lesser characters on for one chapter at a time and then leaving them again doesn't help. [/spoiler]

I'm hoping it picks up again in Dance, but I've heard mixed reports about that too.

Quote from: the shutdown man on 23 November, 2011, 09:10:01 AM
I'm about two thirds through Feast, and I'm a bit worried about that myself, it's just not a page turner in the same way the others were.

The main problem being, I reckon, [spoiler]that most of the the more interesting characters, Tyrion, Jon Snow, etc. are "off-screen", and bringing other lesser characters on for one chapter at a time and then leaving them again doesn't help. [/spoiler]

I'm hoping it picks up again in Dance, but I've heard mixed reports about that too.

The characters that aren't in "Feast" are all in "Dance", but so far it's just as fucking dull, as nobody actually does anything at all, apart from mope about and eat.

remember that Feast and Dance were not originally going to be in the series, after Storm of Swords the series was supposed to pick up quite a few years later but I guess the characters (or the publisher) got the best of MArtin so he decided to write a bridging book which then turned into two books.  The series does have an end though from what i understand it was originally planned as a 5 book series, so if he doesn't pump any more filler in we have two books left.  The new character that just seem to be randomly inserted definatly have a purpose which becomes clearer towards the end Dance when the whole story starts moving forward again.
Dance starts slow (the first half is really the last part of Feast) but really picks up towards the end and I think ends with one of the best moments since book 1.

I like Jordan even if his last 4 books were really slow (and i mean really slow i think they covered about a 6 months in their world), he's (was) one of the best world builders in modern fantasy.

CU Radbacker

Quote from: Radbacker on 23 November, 2011, 10:37:24 AM
remember that Feast and Dance were not originally going to be in the series, after Storm of Swords the series was supposed to pick up quite a few years later but I guess the characters (or the publisher) got the best of MArtin so he decided to write a bridging book which then turned into two books.  The series does have an end though from what i understand it was originally planned as a 5 book series, so if he doesn't pump any more filler in we have two books left.  The new character that just seem to be randomly inserted definatly have a purpose which becomes clearer towards the end Dance when the whole story starts moving forward again.
Dance starts slow (the first half is really the last part of Feast) but really picks up towards the end and I think ends with one of the best moments since book 1.

I like Jordan even if his last 4 books were really slow (and i mean really slow i think they covered about a 6 months in their world), he's (was) one of the best world builders in modern fantasy.

CU Radbacker

That's very interesting, and potentially good news re: Thrones.

As for Jordan, I read The Eye Of The World way back in about 1990 at the age of 18, and devoured every book after that, until I got to A Crown Of Swords, or maybe Path Of Daggers, at which point I got utterly frustrated by the ever-increasing cast of characters and plotlines, and nothing ever being resolved, to the point that I realised I didn't fucking care anymore, so I gave up.

I did have a rather mordant chuckle that he actually fucking *died* before finishing it, but I'm glad that enough work had been done to ensure it could actually be completed. I may revisit in the future.

(I think part of my waning interest was also due to my increasing interest in drugs, partying and more "sophisticated" fiction that was slightly less embarrassing to leave on one's desk or read on the tube, but now I'm old enough not to really give a fuck again)

That's reassuring, Radbacker, thanks for that info!  I've just started into Feast of Crows (enjoying it so far), and was a bit disprited reading those comments!  Storm of Swords definitely felt like it ended on a clear break for most characters, so that makes a lot of sense.

Unmissable TV! This is incredible. No spoliers just WOW! And the heavily Brit cast only adds to it all. Mr Sean Bean being particularly awesome.

Quote from: Colin Zeal on 02 August, 2011, 02:44:39 PM
Does anyone know if the first series of this is likely to be shown on terrestial TV?

I suspect not.  I think the terms of Sky's deal with HBO are pretty exclusive.

Quote from: brendan1 on 23 November, 2011, 11:16:44 AM
As for Jordan, I read The Eye Of The World way back in about 1990 at the age of 18, and devoured every book after that, until I got to A Crown Of Swords, or maybe Path Of Daggers, at which point I got utterly frustrated by the ever-increasing cast of characters and plotlines, and nothing ever being resolved, to the point that I realised I didn't fucking care anymore, so I gave up.

While I found the slower moving plot a bit painful when first reading I still found a lot to like. Mind you, I think the world has a lot to do with that.

QuoteI did have a rather mordant chuckle that he actually fucking *died* before finishing it, but I'm glad that enough work had been done to ensure it could actually be completed. I may revisit in the future.

The new guy's done a decent job in his role as co-writer.

i'm glad everyone found feast for crows hard work it took me 4 months! i did put that down to being depressed but its nice to know it probably wasnt...have just started dance of dragons but skyrim's got in the way made it as far as [spoiler]the dragon's been eating kiddies[/spoiler] i must self impose a respite from the xbox so i can
a/ read books and catch up on my telly and just realised i didnt get this weeks prog! :o :-[
b/ so i can get to bed before 2am

Quote from: mogzilla on 27 November, 2011, 06:39:26 PM
i'm glad everyone found feast for crows hard work it took me 4 months! i did put that down to being depressed but its nice to know it probably wasnt...have just started dance of dragons but skyrim's got in the way made it as far as [spoiler]the dragon's been eating kiddies[/spoiler] i must self impose a respite from the xbox so i can
a/ read books and catch up on my telly and just realised i didnt get this weeks prog! :o :-[
b/ so i can get to bed before 2am

I feel your pain.

I am 100 pages into Dance Of Dragons, almost finished Magnus Mills's "All Quiet On The Orient Express"  and Level 15 in Skyrim.

Choices choices

So Skyrim, then

Current rumours indicate that HBO may film seasons two and three (which together will cover the third book) back to back next year.

Exciting news, if true!

http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/11/rumor-hbo-to-order-two-more-seasons-film-them-back-to-back/ (http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/11/rumor-hbo-to-order-two-more-seasons-film-them-back-to-back/)

I can't help but wonder how a show like this can make money in this day and age - just about all of my friends love the show, but only one or two of them actually watched it on Sky - everyone else - and I'm thinking of 20+ here - people watched it via torrents...

Already read that article yesterday, besides, don't you mean Seasons 3 & 4?

QuoteI can't help but wonder how a show like this can make money in this day and age - just about all of my friends love the show, but only one or two of them actually watched it on Sky - everyone else - and I'm thinking of 20+ here - people watched it via torrents...

As far as I am aware HBO have enormously deep pockets and an extremely lucrative business model. I think they've said that they're giving shows a lot of leeway with ratings because they feel like they made a mistake cancelling Deadwood before it's time.

Yes, that's right - seasons three and four, not two and three, two having already been filmed.

Quote from: radiator on 30 November, 2011, 12:23:41 PM
Current rumours indicate that HBO may film seasons two and three (which together will cover the third book) back to back next year.

Exciting news, if true!

http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/11/rumor-hbo-to-order-two-more-seasons-film-them-back-to-back/ (http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/11/rumor-hbo-to-order-two-more-seasons-film-them-back-to-back/)

I can't help but wonder how a show like this can make money in this day and age - just about all of my friends love the show, but only one or two of them actually watched it on Sky - everyone else - and I'm thinking of 20+ here - people watched it via torrents...

Well, I don't know anything about actual numbers but from HBO's point of view isn't it irrelevant how many people watch it on Sky, so long as HBO have been able to sell it to Murdoch in the first place? Yes, that's just pushing the argument one level along but there you have it.

Presumably DVD sales are also a big part of their income stream too although again, you'd think that would be affected by piracy.

Well thats kind of my point - the old business model of a channel having an 'exclusive' show seems a little quaint now that everyone can get their hands on any show they want if they know how. Nearly everyone I know torrents stuff.

Am I going to subscribe to Sky to watch a single TV show? Am I fuck. Maybe ten years ago when there truly was no alternative but nowadays? I'm just going to download it instead.

Viewing figures most certainly DO matter to the likes of Murdoch, and how much longer is he going to keep paying big bucks for the rights to TV shows? I don't see a future for that business model.

In the case of DVD/Blu Ray - its also a dying market. I think there's a bit more life in it that most people do, but it's undeniably in decline. I definitely WILL be purchasing Game of Thrones on Blu Ray, partly to 'support' the show and do my bit to secure its future -  but I doubt many of my friends will, they've already seen it, without paying a penny or even having to watch any ads.

How long are these big productions going to be bankrolled?

Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 30 November, 2011, 01:58:05 PMI think they've said that they're giving shows a lot of leeway with ratings because they feel like they made a mistake cancelling Deadwood before it's time.

Amen to that, but much as I love AGoT, I know which I'd rather see more of. 

I too have been watching on teh torrentz, because I don't get any relevant channel.  I will however buy the boxset (if it ever bloody well appears), or perhaps more relevantly others would buy it for me as a handy present which they could then borrow and never give back. 

I've also torrented House, which I got sick of chasing round the schedules despite paying for the channel, and Clone Wars, which again I lack the channels for - I have however subsequently bought the boxsets of all series of those (although mainly secondhand from video rental places). In fact the wife and I have a shedload of boxsets from our more flush years, since I pretty much hate the rigmarole of watching TV (except for Masterchef).   So even us pirates are good for a pile of cash, especially for HBO - just perhaps not for Mr. Murdoch. 

I've read that Deadwood was insanely expensive for a low rated show though. HBO and Paramount fell out big time over who was going to fund it.

Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 30 November, 2011, 09:52:24 PM
I've read that Deadwood was insanely expensive for a low rated show though. HBO and Paramount fell out big time over who was going to fund it.

I can believe it.  Every time someone crossed the street (in the first season in particular) it was a jaw-dropping set piece worthy of DeMille.  There were more people buying shovels in Sol Star's store in an average episode of Deadwood than took part in the Battle of the Whispering Wood in Game of Thrones....

Side note to Deadwood. Was in any good and did it have a scene showing Wild Bill Hickok getting shot in the back of the head?




V

Quote from: vzzbux on 30 November, 2011, 10:40:28 PM
Side note to Deadwood. Was in any good and did it have a scene showing Wild Bill Hickok getting shot in the back of the head?

That'd be two "fuck yeah, cocksucker"s. 

Been mulling this over for a while, think I will have to watch it now.
Glad they didn't omit the Dead man's hand birth.





V

Quote from: radiator on 30 November, 2011, 08:10:50 PM
Well thats kind of my point - the old business model of a channel having an 'exclusive' show seems a little quaint now that everyone can get their hands on any show they want if they know how. Nearly everyone I know torrents stuff.

Am I going to subscribe to Sky to watch a single TV show? Am I fuck. Maybe ten years ago when there truly was no alternative but nowadays? I'm just going to download it instead.

Viewing figures most certainly DO matter to the likes of Murdoch, and how much longer is he going to keep paying big bucks for the rights to TV shows? I don't see a future for that business model.

In the case of DVD/Blu Ray - its also a dying market. I think there's a bit more life in it that most people do, but it's undeniably in decline. I definitely WILL be purchasing Game of Thrones on Blu Ray, partly to 'support' the show and do my bit to secure its future -  but I doubt many of my friends will, they've already seen it, without paying a penny or even having to watch any ads.

How long are these big productions going to be bankrolled?

I made this point aswell. It's the same wth films. Pikey internet thieves have totally fucked the music industry, and they'll continue to suck the blood out of TV and films and then wonder why nobody can afford to make quality entertainment anymore.

Cunts

Erm, no, thats not the point I was making at all. You can hardly blame people for illegally downloading when it is so easy, especially if they're given little alternative. If the manager of Harrods left all the shops doors open overnight, who would be to blame if people walked in and started helping themselves?

The goal posts have changed - the inevitable result of technology rather than 'pikeys' as you say. Im just wondering how things can adapt.

And it's not theft, it's copyright infringement.

Quote from: radiator on 01 December, 2011, 09:18:55 AM

The goal posts have changed - the inevitable result of technology rather than 'pikeys' as you say. Im just wondering how things can adapt.

And it's not theft, it's copyright infringement.

I wouldn't help myself to someone else's property if they left the door open. That would make me a looting, stealing cunt.

I don't really have any idea how to clamp down on piracy, but something should be done to close down torrent sites and prosecute people who operate and contribute to them.

Quote from: radiator on 01 December, 2011, 09:18:55 AM
If the manager of Harrods left all the shops doors open overnight, who would be to blame if people walked in and started helping themselves?

Possibly not the analogy I'd have gone for, since I'd expect people to be responsible for their own actions and leave the crabmeat alone.  I acknowledge my thievery is wrong, and try to pay for the goods in way I find palatable, i.e. boxsets (I've no interest in or means for taking out an annual cable/satellite subscription package to watch 10 episodes of one show, and my outdated version of OSX won't allow me to access the iTunes store to buy individual episodes of, say, Clone Wars). I do not, for example, torrent 2000AD, even though I currently can't afford it - the HoT provides many ways which I can enjoy my thrills, and I have no complaints.  I'll get caught up when things are better.

Your second point is more to my taste - the goalposts have changed, media can't be discretely packaged and controlled the way they once were, and so a different business model is required.  Complaining about it is pointless, never mind prosecuting it. 

Quote from: TordelBack on 01 December, 2011, 09:34:03 AM

Your second point is more to my taste - the goalposts have changed, media can't be discretely packaged and controlled the way they once were, and so a different business model is required.  Complaining about it is pointless, never mind prosecuting it.

A different business model? Like what?

Films and TV require money from people paying for tickets, boxsets and advertising.

People who prefer to simply steal their entertainment and store it on a hard drive are going to kill the industry and fuck everything up for the rest of us, while moaning that it isn't their fault it's so easy to be a thief, and the industry needs to come up with a new business model.

Ok, perhaps the shop analogy isn't a great one, but do you take my point? Yes, you might choose not to help yourself, but it would be the shop manager who got the blame. And are you seriously telling me that you have never watched a pirated movie or copied a friend's music?

I'm also wondering why more isn't done to prevent piracy. Obviously it'll never be stamped out entirely, but there certainly are steps that could be taken. Just make it difficult enough so the majority can't be bothered, but also make it easier to legally access shows. For example, why don't they flood torrent sites with hundreds, thousands, of files that are sabotaged in some way? Perhaps they cut off ten minutes before the end, or the lip sync is out, or scenes are in the wrong order? People would soon get fed up with repeatedly downloading faulty files.

Case in point with Game of Thrones - if you wanted to watch it legally in the uk, you either had to sign up to Sky, or else wait an entire YEAR for the home format release. Why not give people a third option? In this day and age, people want stuff NOW. If you make them wait, they'll just look elsewhere.

Quote from: brendan1 on 01 December, 2011, 09:41:35 AM
A different business model? Like what?

If I knew that I wouldn't be sitting at home on a Thursday morning posting on a forum, but the micropayment model seems to be one way, on the iTunes model. I'd do it, if it was easy and universal.  Obviously this causes all sorts of other problems, particularly for advertising, but it's a start.  Personally I don't sit in front of the TV waiting for things to come on.  I want to watch what I want when i want - TV itself is effectively a rolling trailer AFAIC.

I'll throw it back to you though, Brendan: how do you propose getting the horse back in the stable?  I just popped over to Demonoid - one torrent for Episode 9 of Game of Thrones alone has 190,000 completed downloads, and there are dozens of torrents for it.  On one torrent site.  That's a lot of prosecutions.

Quote from: radiator on 01 December, 2011, 09:52:08 AM
Ok, perhaps the shop analogy isn't a great one, but do you take my point? Yes, you might choose not to help yourself, but it would be the shop manager who got the blame. And are you seriously telling me that you have never watched a pirated movie or copied a friend's music?

I'm also wondering why more isn't done to prevent piracy. Obviously it'll never be stamped out entirely, but there certainly are steps that could be taken. Just make it difficult enough so the majority can't be bothered, but also make it easier to legally access shows. For example, why don't they flood torrent sites with hundreds, thousands, of files that are sabotaged in some way? Perhaps they cut off ten minutes before the end, or the lip sync is out, or scenes are in the wrong order? People would soon get fed up with repeatedly downloading faulty files.

Case in point with Game of Thrones - if you wanted to watch it legally in the uk, you either had to sign up to Sky, or else wait an entire YEAR for the home format release. Why not give people a third option? In this day and age, people want stuff NOW. If you make them wait, they'll just look elsewhere.

People who want stuff NOW get on my tits aswell. Fuck off and wait, you grasping impatient cunt.

As for piracy, I don't think I'm entirely whiter than white, no. I certainly have ripped a few tunes off sites like Soulseek, but quite often it's to get onto the i-pod tracks I already own(ed) on vinyl or CD. And my taste is quite esoteric, so it's not easy to find stuff elsewhere.

But that is really it. Generally I like having stuff to look at and touch and feel. Real stuff.

I think online streaming also offers a measure of salvation for the industry - illegally downloading and managing files is actually very time-consuming. If a decent, comprehensive streaming package was available, then I think people would be happy to pay for the privilege, as long as it was a quality service, and not too expensive. I'm quite happy to pay the license fee, because I think the BBC offer a good service, especially the iPlayer.

Pricing is another thing - have you seen how expensive tv shows are on iTunes? Would be cheaper to just get the DVD! What's that about?

Quote from: TordelBack on 01 December, 2011, 09:54:39 AM

I'll throw it back to you though, Brendan: how do you propose getting the horse back in the stable?  I just popped over to Demonoid - one torrent for Episode 9 of Game of Thrones alone has 190,000 completed downloads, and there are dozens of torrents for it.  On one torrent site.  That's a lot of prosecutions.

Clsoe down the sites. Ban the IPs of people on them. Make some high-profile prosecutions and start handing out fines. Hefty fines. There is no other way to save the industry, because piracy is killing it.

It's clear that delivery via a paying model (a monetised version of BBC's online service, for example) is the future for delivery of multiple-platform content. But there has to be a paying audience along the way somewhere.

By admitting that you yourself have illegally downloaded stuff because it is quicker/easier than finding it legally, you have just surrendered your argument.

Quote from: radiator on 01 December, 2011, 10:08:20 AM
By admitting that you yourself have illegally downloaded stuff because it is quicker/easier than finding it legally, you have just surrendered your argument.

No, I said that I ripped some tracks, most of which I already had paid for, the others which I couldn't pay for, because they were commercially unavailable.

Next.

Quote from: brendan1 on 01 December, 2011, 10:02:36 AM
Clsoe down the sites. Ban the IPs of people on them. Make some high-profile prosecutions and start handing out fines. Hefty fines. There is no other way to save the industry, because piracy is killing it.

All of which has been done.  To no effect.

Perhaps it's time to spin this off into a dedicated thread regarding the future of media/piracy etc.

Quote from: radiator on 01 December, 2011, 10:23:30 AM
Perhaps it's time to spin this off into a dedicated thread regarding the future of media/piracy etc.

Yes, good idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5_Y1HcsMy0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5_Y1HcsMy0)

Anyway, season 2 trailer's up....

More more more, I want more.  Cant wait for this.  If it wasn't for the interwebs and these torrent things i still wouldn't have seen season 1 as no OZ channels have picked it up for broadcast (or cable chanel in OZ) and the Blue Rays still aint out yet so like f*&k i'm waiting so long to see it.  Season two will follow.

C Radbacker

good argements here

my take.
why do we have to wait? if DR Who, the BEEB so to speak can show itself on Brit tv then offer it across the globe to a paying audience directly after, so even those not in the UK can watch it on their christmas day for a small fee, then let us.

not offering it to buy, encourages people to rip,torrent,etc,
so for me, get it on the net 24 hours later, I and i am sure many others will pay for it.
the Game of Thrones is the perfect example of this old school idea, delays only cost you money, wake up and get it out asap. for us to legally own.

I torrent stuff, if the G,O,T situation arises.
they have themselves to blame.

on balance, I buy all my 2000ad stuff legally, in an act of respect.

Here the trailer for 2nd Season. but Hadnt see first season yet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rOzXsqoJhtE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rOzXsqoJhtE)

Cool! 

Anyone know who that lass showing her chest [spoiler](in vain)[/spoiler] to Renly is meant to be?  Please tell me it's Margaery and not Brienne...   

Looking forward to Season 2.  Season 1 was best thing on TV last year (along with Boardwalk Empire).

truly looking forward to this,

season 1 was outstanding.
rather ostrich head in the sand with the official availability and blue ray discs, of season 1.
in this day and age.

if they don't get it officially on iTunes toot sweet, they will once again be missing out on my groats.
agree with it being up their with Boardwalk Empire.

Boardwalk Empire season 2 was absolutely outstanding - dense, tense and a finale that was utterly stunning. Game of Thrones I think has just pipped it to being my favourite thing on TV at the moment though. I wish it was Walking Dead, which is good but not great.

Full trailer for season 2 - it's a leak and a bit choppy (think the proper version will hit in the next 24hrs) but still watchable.

In short: it looks f**king amazing.

Don't think I've ever been this excited about a TV show - I have so far resisted the temptation to read any of the other books apart from the first one as I want to go into season 2 fresh, looks like it's been worth the agonising wait.

http://io9.com/5888219/new-game-of-thrones-trailer-++-now-with-more-scheming-dragons-and-hodor (http://io9.com/5888219/new-game-of-thrones-trailer-++-now-with-more-scheming-dragons-and-hodor)

My nerd-organ has just gone into uncontrollable spasm.

New trailer, complete with slightly incongruous Florence & the Machine soundtrack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV3RflsNxak&feature=channel_video_title (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV3RflsNxak&feature=channel_video_title)

...and a little something else too....

http://io9.com/5890410/watch-the-simpsons-game-of-thrones-intro (http://io9.com/5890410/watch-the-simpsons-game-of-thrones-intro)

Quote from: radiator on 05 March, 2012, 09:12:54 AM
...and a little something else too....

http://io9.com/5890410/watch-the-simpsons-game-of-thrones-intro (http://io9.com/5890410/watch-the-simpsons-game-of-thrones-intro)

Best thing ever.

On the subject of HBO, is anyone else watching Luck? The first few episodes were slow and obtuse (not unlike Deadwood's opening) but it's grown into an incredible show.

Quote from: Roger Godpleton on 05 March, 2012, 11:37:10 AM
On the subject of HBO, is anyone else watching Luck? The first few episodes were slow and obtuse (not unlike Deadwood's opening) but it's grown into an incredible show.

I have enjoyed watching the first two episodes, although I do find some of the dialogue difficult to follow at times even with the TV turned up. 

Picked up the first season on Bluray yesterday, looks arsom and has some very tasty extra's narrated by the cast (Histories of the Seven Kingdons, the First Men, the invasion of the Andals, the rise and fall of Valyria etc).  Very classy pack and the extra's let youknow just enough of the world and hint at future events without giving anything away, best extra's ever.

The Florence soundtrack in that latest trailer suits it so well, listen to the lyrics she could be singing about the Seven Kingdoms themselves!
So much in that trailer I'm looking forward to, Tyrions going to rule the season.

CU Radbacker

Ordered the Blu Rays, will attempt to get my girlfriend to watch the series with me. Chance of success - minimal.

QuoteOrdered the Blu Rays, will attempt to get my girlfriend to watch the series with me. Chance of success - minimal.

We'll my housemates Girlfriend is very hard to convince to watch anything that hasn't got a big name attached to it or if something is even slightly Comic booky or Fantasy like she wont touch it but she's been hooked on this from episode 1 so you might have a bit of luck there Radiator.  I actually snuck in the first episode inbetween some other pap i'd downloaded for her and after she seen it she imediatly demanded where the rest was! success. (then she got shitty at the weekly wait between episodes).

CU Radabcker

Quote from: Radbacker on 07 March, 2012, 08:01:21 AMI actually snuck in the first episode inbetween some other pap...

This is how I get my cats to take worming tablets. Not sure what that says about Sean Bean.   ;)

In preparation I'm watching the first series again. I'm actually enjoying it more (and I greatly enjoyed it the first time) now that I don't have to figure out who's related to who, or when they talk about a character that hasn't even appeared on screen yet.

I've yet to read the latest book so might start that soon.

The Blu Rays arrived yesterday and I had a quick look last night - only ever watched it in quite shitty resolution on my iphone, and was blown away by how incredible it looks in HD on my plasma!

This blog is genius - an Arrested Development/Game of Thrones Mashup:



http://arrestedwesteros.com/ (http://arrestedwesteros.com/)

My girlfriend finally showed an interest in watching GoT last night, and much to my surprise she was gripped pretty much from the off. She insisted on watching the first three episodes back to back and is already asking when the next series is starting!

It's great fun watching her reactions to all the twists and turns - she literally recoiled in horror at Bran's fall at the end of episode one - I can't wait to see what she makes of all the nastiness to come - especially episode nine...!

However, she's way smarter than me and called the Cersei/Jamie relationship before the reveal, and has also already twigged the paternity of the royal children....

I assume this is back on Sky Atlantic soon?

After being too intimidated by the absurdly unwieldy Dance Of Dragons hardback, I bought both parts of the paperback version and restarted it. So much easier for the commute!

What books does this series cover? The second? Part of it?

According to Wikipedia, the whole second book. Starts April 1st I believe.

Woooohoooooooo!

I think I made this point earlier in the thread, but will they ever actually get near to filming all the books? I can't imagine that interest commercially and from viewers will be maintained long enough.

Although I'm more concerned that the books won't get finished and Martin will "do a Jordan"

My guess would be no. The kids would grow up too fast for a start! It'd be Walt Syndrome all over again.

Has the season 2 premier aired over there? It was nice episode, held back slightly by the first half hour being spent reintroducing us to the characters. But, John is [spoiler]finally beyond the wall[/spoiler] and there's a great scene between [spoiler]Rob and Jamie (and Rob's almost full-grown dire wolf)[/spoiler]; I did feel the scenes with [spoiler]Stannis and Melisandre[/spoiler] needed more depth, but it is only the first episode. The finale, however, is quite effective.

It's on tonight on Sky Atlantic.

Going to a friend's house on Tuesday night to watch it and have dinner - very excited.

Slight problem is that I ordered the second book to read after the TV series finishes, but haven't been able to resist it and have burned through 120 or so pages in the last couple of days...

well this seasons opener was ok, just a bit underwhealming compared to the last couple of episodes last season.  A bit too much catch up and not quite enough new stuff but what there was i ate up.  Robbs Direwolf looks pretty bad arse now but the queens dragons are a bit gimpy looking.  I really think there going to have problems with pacing this season, there was just too many characters to try to fit in  and even more introduced over the next couple of episodes.  [spoiler]Craster was an absolute f*&k wit as he should've been, Davos seemed a little bit off and Stannis comes off as the stiff backed tosser he is.  Melisandre was a bit younger than imagined but Ms Van Hooten is a very nice looking lass and look forward to more from her.[/spoiler].
It did suffer a little bit  as I watched it mere hour or so after watching the season final to Spartacus. (a very bloody piece of work, not quite up there with season one but very satisfying.)

Cu Radbacker

enjoyed it but it suffered a bit of lacking a wow factor pete dinklage steals the show as usual ! stannis is spot on as i imagine davos is when he's  given a bit more to do. wasnt keen on the scarlet witchy thing in the book so heres hoping she grows on me... i'm personally looking forward to brienne as shes one of my faves in the books... how do you pronounce that btw? i go for a "bree-ann" but could be wrong

Thought the introduction of Ser Dontos was quite badly handled ([spoiler]he shouldn't start off as a complete arse[/spoiler]), but my main thought on a very fine production was "blimey, Lena Headey is one devastatlingly beautiful woman".

I thought Stannis talked a bit too rapidly, not sure yet. Everything else is spot on, as usual. Yay!!

I'm currently on Book 5 (yawn) so I'm not actually certain what this series will cover off (the entirety of Clash?) and even then I'm not 100% sure what happens in that book and what doesn't.

Which is good, obviously.

I enjoyed it a lot.
I'm with the Stark Block, who you fighting for?

I always saw Stannis as a larger man, a Knight - he seems a bit timid, not as sure as he is in the books

Ryder Block all the way!

Amazing, amazing television!

I've only just realised that during the opening credits of each episode, the relevant house sigils appear next to the various actor's names - a direwolf next to Kit Harrington who plays Jon Snow, a mockingbird for Aiden Gillen/Littlefinger, and so on.

When it gets to cast and crew, things get a little weirder - apparently they're allowed to choose their own sigil so you get things like ostriches turning up - and the one for the shows producers Weiss and Benihoff has two skulls, mirroring the logo for Bighead Littlehead - presumably the production company they own (the proper logo for which appears at the end of each show).

Brilliant!

Quote from: radiator on 06 April, 2012, 12:13:22 AM
... a direwolf next to Kit Harrington who plays Jon Snow....

The Direwolf is the Sigil of the House of Stark. Jon Snow is not a Stark.

MAJOR BIG-TIME SPOILER:[spoiler]He might be a Targaryen[/spoiler][spoiler]http ://awoiaf. westeros.org/index.php/Jon_Snow/Theories#Lyanna_Stark (remove spaces)[/spoiler]

Yes he is, he's just a bastard Stark, hence the white wolf he got.

Is it just me or has the music got slightly more arsom too?

Thoroughly enjoyed the new season opener. Kind of agree that Stannis should be a bit more imposing, but he's certainly a mean and moody bugger. Carice van Houten as Melisandre is just perfect casting though - 'for the night is dark and full of terrors', delivered in that cute dutch accent, awesome.

If anyone's interested, I'm celebrating the return of hte show on my portrait blog this week (and possibly the week after - there are so many great characters). So far I've done Tyrion and Joffrey. Link in the sig!

Late to the party once again, just watched the 1st five episodes of series 1, why didn't anybody mention how arson this is  :D

filip

Quote from: flip-r mk2 on 07 April, 2012, 12:33:09 PM
... why didn't anybody mention how arson this is

Should be plenty of [very minor spoiler] [spoiler]arson[/spoiler] in the second season! 

Season 2!!!!
bloody hell outstanding.
why they do not sell it instantly on iTunes is madness,

it only encourages other means of viewing. but as a show, SEASON 2 is as good as season 1. which says it all.

Have read the first two books, but am only now getting through season 1, truly fantastic tv. I can't get away with how high the production values are. My only concern is how they'll manage to pull it off as things get bigger, because even by book 2 there are things I can't see them getting across on a tv budget. Hopefully they do!

Quote from: Devons Daddy on 07 April, 2012, 03:40:25 PM
Season 2!!!!
bloody hell outstanding.
why they do not sell it instantly on iTunes is madness,

it only encourages other means of viewing. but as a show, SEASON 2 is as good as season 1. which says it all.

They don't sell it instantly on i-Tunes for obvious reasons.

Quote from: brendan1 on 10 April, 2012, 03:13:55 PM
They don't sell it instantly on i-Tunes for obvious reasons.

They hate money?  'Cos it's available to download for free in 10 different formats and resolutions an hour after it airs.  Don't see how adding a profit-making legitimate version would hurt anything other than failed attempts to segment markets by geography. 

Well, blood-sucking leeches that nick everything they want for free off the internet are a discussion worthy of a thread in itself. I've made my views clear; they're cunts and they're ruining everything and they need fucking locking up/ fined/ removed from access to any broadband.

But it's a bigger issue, so let's deal with this one: the reason they don't put it onto i-tunes straight away is still obvious, and still wouldn't address the aforementioned blood-sucking leeches that would nick it for free anyway.

The desire to watch something in a format and at a time of your choosing doesn't automatically equate to an appetite for thievery.  Everything that's on iTunes is available by illegal torrent, and yet still many, many people are happy to pay for it.

Here's a comic that might strike a chord with a few:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones)

FWIW, I torrented all of series one of Game of Thrones. I also later bought the book and the Blu-Rays. I will do the same with series two. Does that make me a 'blood-sucking leech', or could it be that the issue is a bit cloudier than your rather simplistic, reactionary world-view would suggest?

Not surprising, considering it has been their fastest-selling DVD of all time, but HBO have officially greenlit a third run of Game of Thrones...

http://io9.com/5900741/hbo-renews-game-of-thrones-for-a-third-season (http://io9.com/5900741/hbo-renews-game-of-thrones-for-a-third-season)

Hell of a lot of [spoiler]shagging[/spoiler] going on in last nights episode.

Funny comic Radiator.
I think i've comented before but for a theiving Blood sucker i have a massive DVD/BlueRay collection(over 500 DVD's all paid for and original, no Gold Disc's lots of season box's, only at about 100 BlueRays so far).  If its worth the $ I pay for it as soon as i can get hold of it.

Episode two's a cracker, really wish they opened with the two episodes back to back would've made up for slight drop in season two opener.
[spoiler]Fingerbanging your own sister, for shame Theon :)[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Tyrion owns it again, i dont remember Millisandre getting it on with Stannis quite so easily in the book IIRC it was quite hard for her to convince him he needed to bang her to gain his throne [/spoiler]

CU Radbacker

Quote from: LARF on 10 April, 2012, 08:14:06 PM
Hell of a lot of [spoiler]shagging[/spoiler] going on in last nights episode.

Is there maybe too much shagging? I'm not a prude but it doesn't really add much to the show for me, it's all a bit .....meh.

Overall I think Game of Thrones is one of the finest examples of adaptation I have seen - condensing the somewhat long-winded novels down to the essentials while also adding a few well-judged extra scenes to show us things that aren't possible in the books POV chapter format. Fleshing out supporting characters like Robert and Cersei, who were hardly more than sketches in the first book and also to provide exposition and set up future storylines and events....

...but I do think they could rein things in a bit sometimes - the TV show has a tendency to amp up the sex and violence aspects of the books to a borderline gratuitous level, which can cheapen it occasionally. The real strength of the show is in the characters, the production values and the writing - it doesn't need to rely on shock tactics quite so much.


Anyone else think that the newly-elongated credits and theme tune could get a little ridiculous with every season as ever more locations are introduced?  :D

My worry is that with the ever expanding cast it'll become a bit too confusing for viewers. I find the whos who much easier after reading the books and I've been asked  from a few folk already who/what the hell the woman in red is all about.

Oh, I don't think that will be too much of a problem - everyone who has stuck with the show thus far probably won't have much trouble keeping up - it took me a good few episodes of the first series to work out who everyone was, and it was only on second viewing that I knew for sure so it's to be expected. There's also the fact that older characters are presumably going to start dying off as the story moves forward, leaving room for the new guys.

The bigger problem to my mind is that the whole thing might feel a bit fragmented now that [spoiler]Ned Stark is gone (and without Sean Bean there's no recognisable actor to market the show with). There's no central character to root for anymore - it's Peter Dinklage with the top billing now, but he's not as sympathetic as Ned, and can never be the 'lead' character as he's still a Lannister so will always be one of the 'bad guys' as far as the overall story is concerned.[/spoiler]

I enjoyed the first series as an adaptation and I like the books but I find I have no real desire to watch the new series. My main problem with the first series was that it seemed like a breathless rush to cram in as many incidents from the book as possible. I can only really remember one or two scenes which I recognised as having been added by the writers and those were the bits that worked to flesh it out more. A friend (who watched the first series vanilla but has since read the books) reported that this was exactly how she found the first episode of the new series.

A couple of things in your spoilers there, radiator. One is something which other people have mentioned before. I find it a bit odd to single out one member of an ensemble cast as the draw. Was there a particular lead in The Wire or Deadwood who would've been considered indispensable? Are there really a significant number of people who would watch a programme just because Sean Bean's in it? I'd be surprised if his own mum felt like that!

I'm not sure how far you've read the books, so the following contains mild, implicit spoilers (even if it's just in terms of who's still alive) for further down the line.[spoiler] Inasmuch as there is a "hero" at all, it very much is Tyrion for a couple of books before, probably, giving way to Jon Snow. This may, of course, be simply a reflection of the characters I like most rather than anything else.[/spoiler]

QuoteMy main problem with the first series was that it seemed like a breathless rush to cram in as many incidents from the book as possible. I can only really remember one or two scenes which I recognised as having been added by the writers and those were the bits that worked to flesh it out more. A friend (who watched the first series vanilla but has since read the books) reported that this was exactly how she found the first episode of the new series.

I watched the first series without having read the books, and it didn't feel rushed to me at all. However, I read the first half of the second book before watching the first ep of season 2, and yeah it does feel a bit weird because I'm looking at it in a whole different way - noticing what has been changed/omitted/added etc. My point is that your perception is skewed if you have recently read the books (isn't that the case with most adaptations?), but I think it works just fine if you haven't - otherwise it wouldn't have captured the imaginations of so many who have never read any of the books - and such a broad demographic - seriously, 80% of the people I know are hooked.

QuoteI find it a bit odd to single out one member of an ensemble cast as the draw. Was there a particular lead in The Wire or Deadwood who would've been considered indispensable? Are there really a significant number of people who would watch a programme just because Sean Bean's in it?

Frankly, yes I think there is - don't underestimate star power. The entire show was marketed and sold on the presence of Bean - maybe not for discerning folk such as ourselves, but definitely the mass market. Bean was by far the most famous cast member, and was featured prominently on all advertising. He was there as an in for the casual audience - a familiar face in a strange and hostile world - like Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan. While it's undoubtedly an ensemble cast, I would guess that he had by far the most screen-time out of any of them, and it was the actions (or inactions) of Ned Stark that drove the narrative of most of the first series.

Hmmm, watching episode 2 did little to assuage my fears about the excess of gratuitous nudity and naughtiness - I felt at times that it went too far and ended up in self-parody and Carry On-esque campness - I did a bit of an eye-roll at some of the double entendres.

I'm all for the odd sex scene - it's part of the appeal of the show - but I hope they pull it back a bit. Feels a bit like they're overloading the sexiness to compensate for a rather slow story consisting mainly of sabre-rattling and posturing and they're worried people will get bored if they don't.

Quote from: radiator on 13 April, 2012, 07:10:22 PMFeels a bit like they're overloading the sexiness to compensate for a rather slow story consisting mainly of sabre-rattling and posturing and they're worried people will get bored if they don't.

Haven't seen it yet, but in Season 1 it was noticeable that almost all the really heavy exposition was delivered while naked ladies were on the screen (usually Esme Bianco or Roxanne McKee, so that was okay).  A bit obvious, but I'll reserve judgement 'til I've seen Season 2!

A bit like Al Swerengen's blow-job/piss-pot monologues, but easier on the eye.

Quote from: radiator on 13 April, 2012, 07:10:22 PM
Hmmm, watching episode 2 did little to assuage my fears about the excess of gratuitous nudity and naughtiness - I felt at times that it went too far and ended up in self-parody and Carry On-esque campness - I did a bit of an eye-roll at some of the double entendres.

I'm all for the odd sex scene - it's part of the appeal of the show - but I hope they pull it back a bit. Feels a bit like they're overloading the sexiness to compensate for a rather slow story consisting mainly of sabre-rattling and posturing and they're worried people will get bored if they don't.

I felt exactly the same and found not only myself but my wife both rolling our eye's having not read teh book's yet i've no idea if the book's are the same,i hope this tone it down in favour of more story and plots.

Yeah, the sex scenes do feel a bit "cheap".

My main problem is that in two episode we've seen Danaerys twice, and maybe for a total of five minutes. We've spent equal time at the brothel where very little outside of the [spoiler]murder of Robert's bastard child[/spoiler] of importance to the story has gone on. We also got zero scenes with Robb.

So we're getting [spoiler]snowballing whores[/spoiler] instead of the characters that could use more screen time. Littlefinger's storyline doesn't need to be pushed into the foreground.

Now...don't let me sound like I'm complaining (although I suppose I am). We're off to a slow start, but I have no doubt this will get better. A Clash of Kings is my favorite novel in the series, and HBO has done such a wonderful job with GoT so far that I have faith there's nothing to worry about.

Quote from: locustsofdeath! on 13 April, 2012, 07:39:41 PM
Yeah, the sex scenes do feel a bit "cheap".

My main problem is that in two episode we've seen Danaerys twice, and maybe for a total of five minutes. We've spent equal time at the brothel where very little outside of the [spoiler]murder of Robert's bastard child[/spoiler] of importance to the story has gone on. We also got zero scenes with Robb.

So we're getting [spoiler]snowballing whores[/spoiler] instead of the characters that could use more screen time. Littlefinger's storyline doesn't need to be pushed into the foreground.

Now...don't let me sound like I'm complaining (although I suppose I am). We're off to a slow start, but I have no doubt this will get better. A Clash of Kings is my favorite novel in the series, and HBO has done such a wonderful job with GoT so far that I have faith there's nothing to worry about.

I think to a degree we were spoilt with the first season,not that i think this one is bad.It would just better suit me if there was less sex just for the sake of it.
At the moment atleast to me anyway if feel's as though alot of the main/key player's from teh first season have either had very little or no screen time yet.

It does seem very odd that, in a series where it is evident that they have to be very economic with how they go about cramming as much story from the book as possible, they are adding seemingly redundant scenes with the likes of Littlefinger. You do wonder if there's a bit of wrangling going on behind the scenes - actor's agents jostling for screen time etc.

QuoteI felt exactly the same and found not only myself but my wife both rolling our eye's having not read teh book's yet i've no idea if the book's are the same

Yes and no - for the most part, the TV show very much exaggerates what is on the page - things like the relationships between [spoiler]Renly/Loras Tyrell[/spoiler] and [spoiler]Stannis/Melisandre[/spoiler] are merely implied in the books rather than shown explicitly, while the [spoiler]killing of Robert's infant lovechild[/spoiler] happens 'off-screen' and is only referred to in passing in a conversation between two characters. The [spoiler]cum-wiping scene in the brothel[/spoiler] and the [spoiler]sex scene between Melisandre and Stannis[/spoiler] were written purely for the TV show and don't appear in the book at all.

There were a couple of moments in series 1 where I felt it went a bit far, but the most recent episode had about 3 or 4 such scenes. Let's hope it's just a blip and episode 3 gets back to what the show does best - backstabbing, spectacle, intrigue and wonderful character moments.

The "unfocused" start of the season probably has a bit to do with the fact that all of the characters are spread out now - in season one we had most of the main characters all in one place. They were at Winterfell and then King's Landing, and even when John went to the Wall, Tyrion was with him, same with Catlyn and Tyrion being together then Catlyn and Robb, ect, ect. Now they're separated all over the world so the show jumps around. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out on the show, but each novel from here on out could really do with two seasons each for fleshing out.

QuoteI find it a bit odd to single out one member of an ensemble cast as the draw. Was there a particular lead in The Wire or Deadwood who would've been considered indispensable?

Both shows were low rated.

i have read the books with the exception of dance for dragons but cant remeber most of it so it is enjoyable seeing it all unfold ,and find out what happens to the boys? tyrions handling of slynt (?) was commendable and arrya is brilliant as always ,still dont believe it was the kid's first gig.!

I've just found out Tyrion's bodyguard Bronn is actually Jerome Flynn, as in Robson & Jerome the fictional crooning squaddies and Simon Cowell protégé. I don't know how to take that. I never would have realised.

Yeah I only realised it was Jerome Flynn when someone told me - funny how Robson and Jerome ended up both being memorable badasses of genre TV - Robson Green was equally excellent as a grizzled Geordie werewolf in series 3 of Being Human.

In other pleasing Game of Thrones casting revelations - Jack Gleeson (Joffrey) played the innocent blond boy in Batman Begins (Batman gives him a batarang while climbing the side of an apartment building so he can prove to his mates that he saw him), and Sandor Clegane aka The Hound is played by Rory Mcann - who played Timothy Dalton's simpleton henchman in Hot Fuzz - "Yarp!".

I wouldn't have thought the yarp henchman would be capable of such gravitas. By the way, if anyone's thinking of looking up GoT characters and actors on Wikipedia be warned you will be spoilered in the face from the outset. My fault, but be warned.

Yes, I found that out when I googled a particular character to find the name of the actor - the very first Google result was the character's Wiki entry that began "(character name) was...", basically letting me know that he's going to die at some point. Hardly a massive spoiler where Game of Thrones is concerned, but still a little annoying.

The Hound will always be the Porridge Oats guy! Stood next to him in a pub years back, he's a big lad!

Starting to really enjoy this season now after feeling it was a bit disjointed at the start. Was interested to see how they would show the ***don't read if you aint seen latest ep or read books***

[spoiler]fanny shadow[/spoiler]

and was pleasantly surprised at how they handled it.

Some cracking banter in this ep, Bronn in particular.

Never mind that, what about the [spoiler]massive-naval-battle-freaky-magical-napalm-extravaganza[/spoiler] at the end of book two?

How on Earth are they going to even hint at the scale of that ([spoiler]knowing that they don't even have the budget to show combat any bigger than one vs one[/spoiler])? Or are they just going to completely rewrite the ending? I hope they keep it in, even if we just get to glimpse it - perhaps through the windows of the castle as characters observe it from a distance?

From what I understand, the production is skimping here and there to "save up" for the [spoiler]Big Battle[/spoiler]. If you notice, even the shows' running times so far have been shorter than the episodes in season one.

Quote from: locustsofdeath! on 24 April, 2012, 03:26:46 PM
From what I understand, the production is skimping here and there to "save up" for the [spoiler]Big Battle[/spoiler]. If you notice, even the shows' running times so far have been shorter than the episodes in season one.

They seem to have more ad breaks than even Walking Dead on FX

Im sure I read somewhere that the budget had been increased this season and that they promised MOAR WAR!

read somewhere one of the cast describes one episode as one big battle,plus they dont have to pay sean bean's wages...tyrion's deffo the glue holding this season i love his clever manipulating of all un sundry...

At first I was a wee bit annoyed with the overuse of Tyrion. For the first few episodes it seemed like the producer's were just cynically shoving him into as many scenes as they could.

BUT

It's starting to make sense. The first season revolved around Ned, who was the Hand of the King. Now Tyrion is the Hand of the King and now he's the centre of events. It work's.

*Stuff about the books
[spoiler]*To be fair in the books, Tyrion is a big player, but so are Danaerys and Jon Snow. And the two latter have been practically absent, Jon Snow wasn't in the latest episode at all. The producers have a difficult balancing act to perform. I think the show has benefitted from the lack of Dany, I found her early chapter's from Storm of Swords are fairly dull. I would prefer to see Jon Snow's adventures beyond the wall expanded upon though, but that's just because the Night's Watch are my favourite faction in the books.[/spoiler]

Also I learned a fantastic word which describes many of the scenes on the show: Sexposition.

jesus the end of the episode was terrifying, cant wait till next week.  [spoiler]The Boy king is an absolute evil cunt, and Harranhall scenes were suitably horrific, loved Tywins entrance and spotting Arri as a girl straight away.  Like the Robb scenes with Lord Bolton, the whole flaying references were well placed, now as it's changed a bit from the books i take it the girl on the battle field is Jayne Westerly? i missed the name if it was brought up[/spoiler]

I think Episode 8's the big one, directed by Neil Marshal (Dog Soldiers, that Mad Max rip off).  He seems to be able to work wonders with small budgets in the movies so i have faith its going to be suitably epic, hope they don't short change Tyrion like they did in season one's battle.
I tyhink the big question is can they truelly fit book 3 in a single 10 episode season, they really should split it if they dont want to extend the season there's a very natural split point in the book that would leave peopl gobsmaked if they went with it.

CU Radbacker

Hbo have said that season three will cover the first half of book three.

I think the girl said she was from Volantis - so not JW. [spoiler]I  think she was there to show just how out of his depth Robb is - There seems to have been a shocking lack of political education in the Stark household[/spoiler]

Anyone have any idea as to a date for season 2 being available on dvd in the UK? Watched the first series and started reading through first book, really hooked now!  :D

Quote from: U.S.S.R on 10 May, 2012, 09:02:30 AM
Anyone have any idea as to a date for season 2 being available on dvd in the UK? Watched the first series and started reading through first book, really hooked now!  :D

HBO usually releases the DVD's roughly a year after the last episode/Beginning of the new season!!

Yep, I would guess season 2 will be released on DVD in March 2013....

Ok cheers people :)

Really enjoyed episode 9 but I'm wondering how they can tie it all up with just one episode left to go, even with the extra 10 minutes they're granting it next week.

The loose ends are so many, even for 70 minutes: [spoiler]the fates of Stannis Baratheon, Jaime Lannister, Theon Greyjoy, Sansa Stark and The Hound, and Daenerys Targaryen. Also, the fallout from the battle regarding Joffrey's retreat and Tyrion's wound. Plus, where is Littlefinger during all this?[/spoiler]

What I really want to know is why [spoiler]the King's Guard soldier attempted to kill Tyrion in the battle.[/spoiler]

Can't wait for next week.

As far as an adaptation of the book's story goes, that's the last we see for now of Sansa and The Hound. In the case of Jaime Lannister, we're actually in book 3 territory (his last scene in book two [spoiler]is Catelyn drawing the sword[/spoiler]).

That was indeed a tremendous episode (and an incredible achievement on a TV budget), but overall this series has been somewhat of a mixed bag compared to series one. I hate to be one of those 'I've read the books' moaners; I understand - even prefer - the majority of the unavoidable changes made during adaptation, I just simply can't understand a few of the decisions the producers made - things that really undermined the drama of certain key moments. Most obviously changing the story so that [spoiler]Catelyn frees Jaime before she finds out about Bran and Rickon[/spoiler], which was baffling and only served to severely weaken her character.

Arya's [spoiler]escape from Harrenhal was also completely fudged -[/spoiler] it's a thrilling chapter in the book and I couldn't wait to see it unfold on screen - was completely gutted that they didn't even try to even suggest the 'weasel soup' incident.

I also found Jon Snow a little short-changed. I really liked him in series one, but this time he came across as a whiney, bumbling idiot and an irresponsible liability. His actions were much more deliberate and sympathetic as portrayed in the novel.

Another example is the crucial tweak they made to the scene of the attempted poisoning of Melisandre by Maester Cressen back in epsiode 1. Why - why - the hell did they change it so he drinks the poison first? Just made no sense logically and robbed the scene of most of it's impact.

I'm nearing the end of part one of A Storm of Swords now, and much as I'm desperate to read on I'm going to try and stop now, because it's kind of spoiled series 2 for me to be honest. It's way more satisfying to do it the other way round - TV show first, then book.

I really enjoyed that episode. Plenty of deaths and some excellent sword chopping/slicing scenes to keep me glued to the screen!

Now that was some great telly eh? I think I'll watch that ep again at the weekend.

I'm already looking forward to watching the whole thing again on Blu Ray. Shame it probably won't be out for another 10 months or so...

Well I never, what a finale with loads of story progression and a few surprises (for us who haven't read the books) and WHAT AN ENDING  :o

Bring on season 3 NOW  :thumbsup:

Earlier today I GIS'd "Ramsay Bolton" and got some weird fanart of Inspector Gadget and Penny. So uh, don't do that.

Excellent advice!

"The Walking Dead" and "Game Of Thrones". Telly has never been so ace!

I wonder what's coming next that will thrill me? Any ideas?

I have a feeling that we may see some more fantasy adaptations. Tad Williams' "The DragonBone Chair" (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn), perhaps? I really enjoyed those when I read them ages ago. Sadly, Ic an't see anyone other than HBO/ AMC doing them justice, so if it's going to be shit and cheap, don't bother.

I've been wondering if the success of GoT and Walking Dead would mean more genre shows from the classy US networks. I'd like to see Preacher and Anno Dracula personally, think both would make for fascinating, character driven pulpy thrills. With 2 solid hits in the bank, now's the time to look at adapting more methinks.

Quote from: mygrimmbrother on 06 June, 2012, 12:54:50 PM
I've been wondering if the success of GoT and Walking Dead would mean more genre shows from the classy US networks. I'd like to see Preacher and Anno Dracula personally, think both would make for fascinating, character driven pulpy thrills. With 2 solid hits in the bank, now's the time to look at adapting more methinks.

Hmmm. I think GOT was an obvious sell, due to the success of LOTR in the cinema, and also the millions of people reading the books. Walking Dead had an obviously smaller installed base, but then zombies are _ or were - really popular, and then there's Darabont's involvement.

I reckon they're the only two obvious "models" for future TV adaptations, but I supsect that if we do get a slew of "me-too"s it won't be pretty at all.

I've reminded myself of Mr Partridge:

"Spender, Bergerac, Taggart, Morse - what does that tell you about regional detective shows?"

"There's too many of them?"

"That's one way of looking at it, another way would be 'people like them, lets' make some more of them'."

;)

An interview with the droid known as Will Simpson on his work drawing storyboard for GoT:

www.derryjournal.com/lifestyle/entertainment/derry-s-game-of-thrones-1-3894497

Quote from: radiator on 29 May, 2012, 12:43:45 PM
That was indeed a tremendous episode (and an incredible achievement on a TV budget), but overall this series has been somewhat of a mixed bag compared to series one. I hate to be one of those 'I've read the books' moaners; I understand - even prefer - the majority of the unavoidable changes made during adaptation, I just simply can't understand a few of the decisions the producers made - things that really undermined the drama of certain key moments. Most obviously changing the story so that [spoiler]Catelyn frees Jaime before she finds out about Bran and Rickon[/spoiler], which was baffling and only served to severely weaken her character.

Good point. I thought that was an odd decision too.

Quote from: radiator on 29 May, 2012, 12:43:45 PM
Arya's [spoiler]escape from Harrenhal was also completely fudged -[/spoiler] it's a thrilling chapter in the book and I couldn't wait to see it unfold on screen - was completely gutted that they didn't even try to even suggest the 'weasel soup' incident.

Well they changed an awful lot about Arya's arc. [spoiler]She slowly crawled her way through the ranks of serfdom before becoming a cup bearer to the lord of Harrenhal. Maybe I'm misremembering, but it pretty sure she wasn't Lord tywin's personal cup bearer in the books. Overall I think the decision to change things up was made so Arya's story tied into the larger narrative more. I've always found Arya's story to be largely isolated from the major events from book 2 onwards.[/spoiler]

Quote from: radiator on 29 May, 2012, 12:43:45 PM
I also found Jon Snow a little short-changed. I really liked him in series one, but this time he came across as a whiney, bumbling idiot and an irresponsible liability. His actions were much more deliberate and sympathetic as portrayed in the novel.

My take on Book John Snow Vs. TV John Snow:[spoiler]In the books I gained more sympathy with The Bastard because the narrative better explains what's going on in his head. It would have been difficult to portray his thoughts on screen without a clumsy internal monologue device, or maybe a sillly conversation with his wolf. Although one thing I did pick up on in his onscreen battle with the halfhand; just before he runs the halfhand through, John seems to share a wee look with the halfhand. I thought that one wee look was very effective[/spoiler]

Quote from: radiator on 29 May, 2012, 12:43:45 PM
I'm nearing the end of part one of A Storm of Swords now, and much as I'm desperate to read on I'm going to try and stop now, because it's kind of spoiled series 2 for me to be honest. It's way more satisfying to do it the other way round - TV show first, then book.

Well you can hardly claim it's more satisfying if you haven't done it in the reverse order. Having read the books first has made it much easier for me to follow. But then again, I can't possibly know how hard it is to follow the TV show without having read the books.

Overall I've found the adaptation has paid great tribute to the text. I have thoroughly enjoyed the portrayal of supporting character's like Bronn, the Hound, Varys, Dolourous Ed, Sam, Littlefinger and Maester Luwin. The highlight of the cast though, is that young fella that plays Joffrey. He really is a little shit.

Hard to follow, you say?  Here's a handy guide:

http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6778815/name-of-thrones-who-every-game-of-thrones-character-is

Quote from: TordelBack on 07 June, 2012, 08:47:43 PM
Hard to follow, you say?  Here's a handy guide:

http://www.collegehumor.com/article/6778815/name-of-thrones-who-every-game-of-thrones-character-is

Pfft, they left out BALDY NO BALLS and THE MAYOR OF BALTIMORE

Quote from: pops1983 on 07 June, 2012, 08:40:53 PM

Quote from: radiator on 29 May, 2012, 12:43:45 PM
That was indeed a tremendous episode (and an incredible achievement on a TV budget), but overall this series has been somewhat of a mixed bag compared to series one. I hate to be one of those 'I've read the books' moaners; I understand - even prefer - the majority of the unavoidable changes made during adaptation, I just simply can't understand a few of the decisions the producers made - things that really undermined the drama of certain key moments. Most obviously changing the story so that [spoiler]Catelyn frees Jaime before she finds out about Bran and Rickon[/spoiler], which was baffling and only served to severely weaken her character.

Good point. I thought that was an odd decision too.

Quote from: radiator on 29 May, 2012, 12:43:45 PM
Arya's [spoiler]escape from Harrenhal was also completely fudged -[/spoiler] it's a thrilling chapter in the book and I couldn't wait to see it unfold on screen - was completely gutted that they didn't even try to even suggest the 'weasel soup' incident.

Well they changed an awful lot about Arya's arc. [spoiler]She slowly crawled her way through the ranks of serfdom before becoming a cup bearer to the lord of Harrenhal. Maybe I'm misremembering, but it pretty sure she wasn't Lord tywin's personal cup bearer in the books. Overall I think the decision to change things up was made so Arya's story tied into the larger narrative more. I've always found Arya's story to be largely isolated from the major events from book 2 onwards.[/spoiler]

Quote from: radiator on 29 May, 2012, 12:43:45 PM
I also found Jon Snow a little short-changed. I really liked him in series one, but this time he came across as a whiney, bumbling idiot and an irresponsible liability. His actions were much more deliberate and sympathetic as portrayed in the novel.

My take on Book John Snow Vs. TV John Snow:[spoiler]In the books I gained more sympathy with The Bastard because the narrative better explains what's going on in his head. It would have been difficult to portray his thoughts on screen without a clumsy internal monologue device, or maybe a sillly conversation with his wolf. Although one thing I did pick up on in his onscreen battle with the halfhand; just before he runs the halfhand through, John seems to share a wee look with the halfhand. I thought that one wee look was very effective[/spoiler]

Quote from: radiator on 29 May, 2012, 12:43:45 PM
I'm nearing the end of part one of A Storm of Swords now, and much as I'm desperate to read on I'm going to try and stop now, because it's kind of spoiled series 2 for me to be honest. It's way more satisfying to do it the other way round - TV show first, then book.

Well you can hardly claim it's more satisfying if you haven't done it in the reverse order.

I have - with series one.

Re: Jon snow - its completely different in book vs tv show - in the book he makes a conscious decision to let Ygritte go - something that Quorin anticipated and doesn't condemn.

What becomes of Jon (and I haven't seen episode 10 yet so I can't directly compare) seemed a lot more planned, or more like the rangers had no choice and were making the best of a bad situation. It certainly wasnt because of Jon's ineptitude that the others died, it's just how it went down.

Overall, In the tv show Jon comes across like a bumbling fucking idiot, whereas in the book he seems brave, pragmatic and honourable.

I've had my doubts about series 2 of GoT, but I've just watched episode 10 and bloody hell, that scene at the end - my jaw literally dropped. I've actually got goosebumps.

That. was. incredible.

There's been a lot of controversy regarding Dany's storyline deviating so wildly from the book, but in the end, I thought it worked out really well and actually made a lot of sense as a narrative.

Amazed they wrapped things up so well, just a shame that they didn't explain the situation at Winterfell better. I actually got a bit choked up at a certain character's farewell, though.

Pub banter: For all the various permutatations, one on one, who would win in a fight?
The Hound (Little King Shithead's bodyguard)
Bronn (The Imp's Bodyguard)
Brienne (The ma-hassive female knight)

Here's an audio interview with Neil Marshall about his experiences directing Blackwater - well worth a listen:

http://soundcloud.com/empiremagazine/empire-podcast-neil-marshall (http://soundcloud.com/empiremagazine/empire-podcast-neil-marshall)

Quote from: pops1983 on 13 June, 2012, 08:48:35 PM
Pub banter: For all the various permutatations, one on one, who would win in a fight?
The Hound (Little King Shithead's bodyguard)
Bronn (The Imp's Bodyguard)
Brienne (The ma-hassive female knight)

The Hound.

But Gregor would fuck 'em all up, good style.

Have to go with the Hound

A ton of new castings have been announced for season 3, and some of them are freakin' awesome!

[spoiler]Paul Kaye[/spoiler] as [spoiler]Thoros of Myr[/spoiler]!!!

[spoiler]Diana Rigg[/spoiler] as [spoiler]The Queen of Thorns[/spoiler]!!!

And [spoiler]Thomas Sangster[/spoiler] is a great choice for [spoiler]Jojen Reed[/spoiler], so glad those characters are appearing - I presumed they'd been cut entirely when they didn't appear in season 2...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rpSDSgChsaI#! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rpSDSgChsaI#!)

Is the writing really graphic around the incest?  Is it truly Restrictive reading with a capital R or is it only on the show?

Looks like Dominic West was offered the role of Mance Rayder, but turned it down.

Quote from: radiator on 06 August, 2012, 01:10:51 PM
Looks like Dominic West was offered the role of Mance Rayder, but turned it down.

I'm not a fan tbh anyone know why he turned it down?

He didn't want to be away from his family for some six months!!!

Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 07 August, 2012, 12:16:53 PM
He didn't want to be away from his family for some six months!!!

I'm sure most of our troop's dont,atleast he get's a choice nevermind it's not the end of the world i'm sure they will find some one else if worked out well for Viggo Mortensen in LoTRs

Short promo for the forthcoming Inside Game of Thrones art book - featuring former 2000ad artist and GoT concept artist Will Simpson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X_i4dNH_1wI#! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X_i4dNH_1wI#!)

Latest casting rumours are Torchwood's Owen Harper and the excellent Noah Taylor - presumably both of whom are playing brothers of the Night's Watch. Still no word on who is playing Mance Rayder.

Ciarán Hinds has been cast as Mance Rayder.

Must say I pictured him as a younger man, but I guess most of the characters in ASoIaF have been aged up (or down in some cases) a few years.