Game of Thrones: book thread

[Harvey Dent]

Probably the bleakest episode ever. It's just outstanding how the younger actors (Arya, Sansa, Joff) tackle material like this. Joffrey really is a cunt of the highest order (with a fucking crossbow) and it's simply glorious. It's almost uncanny how Qarth looks pretty much exactly how I'd pictured it. The final scene was brilliant, one I've been looking forward to seeing since reading it and thought it looked awesome.

[Burchill's Buddy]

Fucking wow. Definitely the best episode of this season, and possibly my favourite overall so far. Just so much great stuff. The scenes at Harrenhall were amazing, The Tickler was again perfectly cast, the scene with Sansa staring down the Joffbow was just perfect and what an ending, like someone else said, I almost wish I hadn't read Clash of Kings so I could have seen that and not known what was about to happen. Immense.

 

Also, I echo all sentiment that there's no cure to being a cunt. Bronn gets all the best lines.

[Teedy Kay]

Being a downloader of TV shows I never really get to see credits, I would have never known that Bronn was Jerome Flynn until I read this thread.

 

I haven't read the books, they're waiting for me, but I've not started. A good friend of mine has and it was he that made sure I watched the show. He also understands my love of fantastic television, a love I prefer to that of reading. Because of my television needs he's told me to stay away from the books till the show has concluded.

 

I'm glad, as THAT ending would have been tarnished if I knew it were coming.

 

Only one thing annoys me about Game of Thrones, it's budget must be immense, and budgetry reasons are the excuse HBO gave for a lack of Deadwood Season 4, or dare I say it Carniv

[Astro Hollywood]

Being a downloader of TV shows I never really get to see credits, I would have never known that Bronn was Jerome Flynn until I read this thread.

 

I haven't read the books, they're waiting for me, but I've not started. A good friend of mine has and it was he that made sure I watched the show. He also understands my love of fantastic television, a love I prefer to that of reading. Because of my television needs he's told me to stay away from the books till the show has concluded.

 

I'm glad, as THAT ending would have been tarnished if I knew it were coming.

 

Good luck avoiding spoilers for the next five years.

 

Having gone into the first season blind, and loved it, I knew I had to choose between 1) Carrying on just watching the show, in which case, there's a high probability of blundering into spoilers over the course of a possible seven seasons, and ruining the "OMG, NED!" style moments or 2) Biting the bullet and reading the books, and still having the TV show spoiled, but getting to live out the big shockers for the first time as I read. If that makes sense. And the books are fantastic, so it's not like it's the shitty option, and the way the TV series is structured, there are still a lot of surprises in the way they reveal things or the paths they're taking with it. Even so, I've only read the first two books, as I'm waiting for S2 to finish airing before reading the rest, and I've still been spoiled on a couple of big future points by unthinkingly clicking on links and seeing what some cunt's put into a Youtube comment or something.

 

My suggestion - wait until the second season's over, then dive into the books. Plus, once you've seen the show, I think it plays out better in your head as you're reading. You know what everyone looks and sounds like, and the things you haven't seen, when they are revealed on TV, like Qarth, or favourite moments you can't wait to see onscreen, it's awesome.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Season 3 will only cover half of book 3, so 7 years might be a bit short. The books get bigger as they go along as well. I had to buy a kindle to read Dance of Dragons, a thousand pages in hardback is not an easy read. There is still at least 1 more book to come as well after DoD.

 

The casting has been spot on so far, I am looking forward to who they cast as SPOILER - Highlight the black box to read

Mance Rayder, Robert Carlyle would be my choice

 

[Astro Hollywood]

Season 3 will only cover half of book 3, so 7 years might be a bit short. The books get bigger as they go along as well. I had to buy a kindle to read Dance of Dragons, a thousand pages in hardback is not an easy read. There is still at least 1 more book to come as well after DoD.

 

Gawd, quoting shit leaves the spoiler unspoilered. Had to delete that spoilered part with my eyes closed in case I saw something I shouldn't.

 

I'm right in thinking book 3 splits into two parts, with each part covering one set of characters each? Because HBO are planning to (obviously) not shoot it that way, and structurally, the TV show is going to depart from the books pretty heavily from S3 onwards. Otherwise actors are going to be sat around for a year. I know that's not the point you were making, because they've said themselves that S3 will only be half of the book, but it's interesting all the same, and will make it pretty different for people who've read the books, to see both storylines intersecting like that. I swore I read they were shooting seasons 3 and 4 back to back somewhere, but a couple of weeks later, HBO announced it had been renewed for S3, so I must have either imagined that, or it was a lie.

 

As successful as this show is, I struggle to see any show carrying on for that long. I mean, I know it does happen, but it seems so far away, with so many factors involved. Seven seasons. Or eight. The biggest problem they'll have is with the kids growing up. Joff looks like he's one of those dudes who'll look 12 when he's 30, but the likes of Bran and Arya, probably not so much.

[air_raid]

Its pretty hard to avoid spoilers if you use the internet to do anything related to Game Of Thrones. Thankfully I have read all the books. but in using Google images to hunt down some pictures of various characters I stumbled across a jpeg some cunt has created that ruins one of the major happenings of A Storm Of Swords in BIG FUCKING LETTERS, and by typing certain characters names alone into Google it offers auto complete options regarding speculated bloodlines / deaths / apparant deaths that completely knacker things up for those that have not read all the books or are only watching the telly so far.

 

In fact this thread may be your only safe haven. Please, take bread and salt, you're quite safe.

[HarmonicGenerator]

Just on Teedy Kay's point about budget, it's not as massive as you might think - they actually have a pretty tight budget from all accounts. That's the reason that in season 1

 

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

Tyrion was knocked out by one of his army before that battle, instead of fighting in it

 

[close spoiler]

");document.close(); and why in the most recent episode (which was fantastic, incidentally) *end of season 2 spoilers in next tag*

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

you only see the introduction and aftermath of Robb's battle. They can only afford one big battle this season, so they're saving it all for episode 9 which is called 'Blackwater' and is directed by Neil Marshall.

 

[close spoiler]

");document.close();

 

In the Empire webchat with George RR Martin I read yesterday - which I won't link to because of spoilers, major major spoilers - he also mentioned that he was going to be a severed head on a spike, but they cost so much to make that the producers couldn't afford to do it for him.

 

So anyway, it might look like they have money unlimited but that's probably just really good production design or something!

[Burchill's Buddy]

I'm right in thinking book 3 splits into two parts, with each part covering one set of characters each?

Not quite, book 3 is split into 2 just because it's fucking huge. The character split comes in book four when A Feast for Crows covers one part of the world and the first half of A Dance With Dragons covers another part of the world, then it reconverges in the second half of ADWD. Like you say though, it won't be filmed that way.

 

I've just managed to get to the epilogue of the last book now, cannot believe I've managed to remain spoiler-free for a year but shows it is possible if you're super safe. No typing anything into Google, as autocomplete's will fuck up your life, and definitely avoid any YouTube clips because YouTube commenters are the scum of the earth.

[LaGoosh]

Only one thing annoys me about Game of Thrones, it's budget must be immense, and budgetry reasons are the excuse HBO gave for a lack of Deadwood Season 4, or dare I say it Carniv

[cobystag]

I don't think the kids ages will be a problem, in the books they are never really clear about how much time has passed. I guess if the show goes 8 seasons by the end of it most the kids will be in their 20's which isn't the end of the world. It's fun for actors to age with the show they are on, it makes the story more epic.

 

On the wiki of ice and fire, the nights watch deserter who is executed at the very beginning of the story dies in 297AL.

 

A character who dies near the end of A Dance With Dragons (the fifth book) is down to have died in 300AL.

 

So in the five books so far only 3 years have elapsed.

[LaGoosh]

Yeah well in terms of the show season 1 covers Danys pregnancy so that must have been about 8-9 months, so if the show sticks to those rules the kids will age just about right.

 

One bad thing about the latest episode, The Mountain. They recast him. In season1 he was a huge terrifying bastard, now he's a lanky skinny unimposing pussy-looking fella'.

[air_raid]

The bloke playing Gregor now is from Bangor. Should have got Big Barri on the case I reckon. But I agree with you completely that in that scene he just didnt look right at all.

[Astro Hollywood]

Yeah, the new Mountain is terrible. The old one, who was awesome, left for a couple of small roles in Spartacus and The Hobbit.

[LaGoosh]

Regarding the Mountain (book spoiler)

 

<-- click on 'spoiler' to show/hide the spoiler

I hope they get the old one back for the fight with The Viper. This new guy won't be able to convincingly punch through a guys face.

 

[close spoiler]

");document.close();