So, what did everyone think of the opener? Here's my thoughts...
Overall a much stronger start than the decidedly wobbly s2 premiere in my opinion.
Is it just me, or have they tweaked the theme tune again? It seemed sped up..?
The opening scene was a bit annoying, and seemed very confusing, especially to the casual viewer. In the books, it is [spoiler]absolute chaos as soon as the White Walkers show up, and the Night's Watch pretty much get annihilated.[/spoiler] IMO the show didn't really communicate this and they should have showed at least some of the battle. The way the show had it, the threat of the Wights seemed diminished. For a minute I thought we were going to be treated to that scene (with the [spoiler]obsidian knife[/spoiler]), but no. I'll give the showrunners the benefit of the doubt for now, as they seem to be bringing the Night Watch strands together with Samwell's storyline (it's more fragmented in the books), so it will probably work quite well. Presumably they're going to incorporate the plotline in which we start to see [spoiler]discontent and rebellion in the ranks, which ultimately leads to Mormont's death.[/spoiler]
I was convinced that they would leave [spoiler]the giants out[/spoiler] of the TV show as it would be too crazy and fantastical, but they didn't - and the one they showed IMO looked great! Happy days.
Dragons awesome, Unsullied awesome. This is going to rule.
I still don't really know why they're persisting with the Ros and Shae characters, their scene seemed a little pointless.
Charles Dance's Tywin is the best thing in the show - his scene with Tyrion was fantastic. Expanding Tywin's role is one of the best things the producers of the TV show have done. Likewise Margaery - she's a great addition (and IIRC is barely a sketch of a character in the books).
As I've only read up to the end of book 3a, the [spoiler]Barristan Selmy[/spoiler] reveal was a shock to me, great to have genuine surprises again as that's the reason I swore off the books for the time being (I was ruining the TV show for myself).
This is all set to be a fantastic series based on this first episode, though I also think that this is the point where the casual viewers start to get completely lost. I had to clarify/explain so many things to my girlfriend during the episode, and could see her attention wandering.
I'm really relieved that they had the confidence to rest a few characters/plotlines like Jaime/Brienne, Bran and Arya. Going by the preview we'll catch up with them next week - it would be wise for them to stagger or rotate the plotlines like this as season 2 felt too fragmented to me - the Davos/Stannis plot this ep especially benefitted from having a bit of room to breathe.
Overall a much stronger start than the decidedly wobbly s2 premiere in my opinion.
Is it just me, or have they tweaked the theme tune again? It seemed sped up..?
The opening scene was a bit annoying, and seemed very confusing, especially to the casual viewer. In the books, it is [spoiler]absolute chaos as soon as the White Walkers show up, and the Night's Watch pretty much get annihilated.[/spoiler] IMO the show didn't really communicate this and they should have showed at least some of the battle. The way the show had it, the threat of the Wights seemed diminished. For a minute I thought we were going to be treated to that scene (with the [spoiler]obsidian knife[/spoiler]), but no. I'll give the showrunners the benefit of the doubt for now, as they seem to be bringing the Night Watch strands together with Samwell's storyline (it's more fragmented in the books), so it will probably work quite well. Presumably they're going to incorporate the plotline in which we start to see [spoiler]discontent and rebellion in the ranks, which ultimately leads to Mormont's death.[/spoiler]
I was convinced that they would leave [spoiler]the giants out[/spoiler] of the TV show as it would be too crazy and fantastical, but they didn't - and the one they showed IMO looked great! Happy days.
Dragons awesome, Unsullied awesome. This is going to rule.
I still don't really know why they're persisting with the Ros and Shae characters, their scene seemed a little pointless.
Charles Dance's Tywin is the best thing in the show - his scene with Tyrion was fantastic. Expanding Tywin's role is one of the best things the producers of the TV show have done. Likewise Margaery - she's a great addition (and IIRC is barely a sketch of a character in the books).
As I've only read up to the end of book 3a, the [spoiler]Barristan Selmy[/spoiler] reveal was a shock to me, great to have genuine surprises again as that's the reason I swore off the books for the time being (I was ruining the TV show for myself).
This is all set to be a fantastic series based on this first episode, though I also think that this is the point where the casual viewers start to get completely lost. I had to clarify/explain so many things to my girlfriend during the episode, and could see her attention wandering.
I'm really relieved that they had the confidence to rest a few characters/plotlines like Jaime/Brienne, Bran and Arya. Going by the preview we'll catch up with them next week - it would be wise for them to stagger or rotate the plotlines like this as season 2 felt too fragmented to me - the Davos/Stannis plot this ep especially benefitted from having a bit of room to breathe.
