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Posted: Apr 04 2012 03:55 pm

So..the new season has started. Honestly, I'm a little worried about it. I thought this first episode was a bit on the busy side. Having read all of hte books, it was easy for me to keep track of what was going on, but I'm a little worried that it might get a bit confusing for those experiencing the new parts of the universe.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

I've only become aware of this show the past month or so because I don't subscribe to the premium channels. So, it's about a fantasy medieval world? Can anyone tell me what it entails?

Posted: Apr 04 2012 07:00 pm

That, more or less. A third of the story is about a political struggle in a Medieval, feudal society, 1/3 of the story is about the guardians of the realm dealing with a force of magic monsters that's totally going to fuck it up and the other third is about the rise of a queen on another continent.

It's a terrific show, but the series of novels it's based on (A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin) is even better. If you can't watch HBO, I highly recommend that you at least read the books, because they are stellar

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

I have not read the books, but I am up to date with the show.

So far, no trouble keeping up.

For anyone who wants to start by watching the show, the first two episodes of season 1 need to be seen together. HBO originally broadcast it with back to back episodes for 1&2. I have some friends who only watched Season 1 Episode 1 and almost gave up because it was so confusing. Season 1 Episode 1 and Episode 2 really must go together. After that, the show has been fantastic.

Season 2 Episode 1 has felt like more of a recap of the first season and the placement of all of the characters onto the "game board" for the start of the second season. Not much forward motion in the plot, but a setup for it.

Posted: Apr 05 2012 11:48 am

That will have to continue into the next episode, I'm afraid. There are still two other factions to introduce before all the pieces can start moving.

Title: an horse Joined: Feb 26 2012 Posts: 169

Last year I saw the first episode and thought thi show was a steaming pile of crap. After several friends imploring me to give it another chance ( they know I like good things Deadwood FTW!) I watched it again. By about the 4th or 5th episode I am hooked and all caught up and intend to read the books as soon as my wife is finished with the first. This show is GOLD! Why couldn't The Walking Dead be this good?

I do find some things a little confusing. All of a sudden there is like 60 new characters to keep track of. I really thought the set up with Drogo and the.. Delfraki(?) /baby/war was an awesome build up and then it when in a totally different direction.

I propose a spin off show called the Drogo and Tyreon show where those guys just wander around together and get into adventures and shit.

Posted: Apr 22 2012 09:57 am

I'm really digging the show. I ended up watching the entire 1st season in one sitting. I have Comcast and HBO on which they had they entire 1st season on demand. I ordered all 4 books on Amazon and currently waiting on them to show up in the mail Very Happy

Posted: Apr 22 2012 02:18 pm

Atma wrote:

I'm really digging the show. I ended up watching the entire 1st season in one sitting. I have Comcast and HBO on which they had they entire 1st season on demand. I ordered all 4 books on Amazon and currently waiting on them to show up in the mail Very Happy

You're short a book.

Those of you just starting to read the books....be prepared. They're amazing but Martin will fuck every expectation you ever have. That major character death at the end of season/book one is just a preview of coming attractions.

Posted: Apr 22 2012 03:06 pm

Hmm, this is what I ordered... So what am I missing?
http://www.amazon.com/Books-Thrones-Feast-Crows-Swords/dp/0345529057/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335121224&sr=8-2

Also, Yeah, that one in season one threw me way off. Because of that, this pic made me laugh though. If you haven't seen Season one or read the book, don't look at it.
[SPOILER:fb881585cf]

[/SPOILER:fb881585cf]

Posted: Apr 22 2012 05:43 pm

Yeah. I have that set too. It doesn't include the 5th Book, A Dance with Dragons which came out last year.

Posted: Apr 22 2012 05:56 pm

Ah, I'll keep that in mind whenever I finish off the first 4. Thanks for the heads up.

Posted: Jun 02 2012 01:23 am

So for those who watch it, any thoughts on the battle episode?

Posted: Jun 02 2012 05:31 am

The siege episode was pretty awesome, but it just amplifies my one gripe with the show. There is way too much going on to do justice in an hour. The entire episode was on Tyrion, and it was an awesome hour, but the other characters just kind of get dumped for a week.

Right now, Dany and Joran have the most interesting story arc going, and we're lucky to get 5 minutes of them per week. Meanwhile we are treated to at least ten minutes of Robb having sex with Charlie Chaplin.

Posted: Jun 02 2012 07:37 pm

Valdronius wrote:

The siege episode was pretty awesome, but it just amplifies my one gripe with the show. There is way too much going on to do justice in an hour. The entire episode was on Tyrion, and it was an awesome hour, but the other characters just kind of get dumped for a week.

Right now, Dany and Joran have the most interesting story arc going, and we're lucky to get 5 minutes of them per week. Meanwhile we are treated to at least ten minutes of Robb having sex with Charlie Chaplin.

Well, to be fair, they're mostly on par with the books. Dany doesn't get a whole lot of love in book 2, and a lot of what she's gotten on the show was improvised by the writing staff.

[SPOILER:a467811ab8]In the book, for instance, instead of having the Qarthene Priests steal her dragons, they just invite her to come and visit the House of the Undying.

Jorah was like, "Hey, don't go. They're going to try to kill you and steal your dragons."

But Dany just kind of went, "Nah. It's cool."

Then she went, and guess what. Jorah was right. Anyway, the show was basically they show writers have had to invent this convoluted plot to make her not seem like an idiot[/SPOILER:a467811ab8]

Also, the battle, in the book, represents a six chapter block, and they're all Tyrion, Sansa and Davos chapters. So again, they were pretty much sticking to the source material.

Posted: Jun 06 2012 11:22 am

Fighter_McWarrior wrote:

Well, to be fair, they're mostly on par with the books. Dany doesn't get a whole lot of love in book 2, and a lot of what she's gotten on the show was improvised by the writing staff.

To my understanding, this series was initially only supposed to be three books. When it ballooned beyond that because GRRM had more and more ideas for the plots in Westeros, he still essentially had only three books' worth of plot for Daenerys. The result is that I hear her plot drags the most out of everyone, and a lot of her chapters are just reflection and introspection without anything actually happening. I'm assuming the show writers will have to invent more plots for her or else her scenes will be monumentally boring on that front.

I wanna bitch about something real quick. Guess this needs a spoiler tag:

[SPOILER:c92c1c4399]I'm pretty upset with the turn of events with Robb and Catelyn. In the books, the two receive word of Bran and Rickon's 'deaths' at the hands of Theon Greyjoy. This is what causes Catelyn, in her extreme grief, to release Jamie Lannister and send him towards King's Landing with Brienne, in hopes of getting her two daughters back. At the same time, Robb has been injured and is being taken care of by Jeyne Westerling (aka Talisa in the show, I guess) when he receives word of his two brothers' deaths. Jeyne comforts him and it is then, again in his grief, that he sleeps with her. Afterwards, to preserve her honor (as she was from a noble house), he weds her.

These two choices (Catelyn releasing Jamie, Robb marrying Jeyne/Talisa) were both pretty stupid. Releasing Jamie lost the Stark's their major bargaining chip, while marrying Jeyne/Talisa means Robb screwed Lord Walder Frey over by breaking his agreement with the man. But these two decisions in the show, without any news of Bran or Rickon being killed, come off as just dumb. Robb even has time to sit and contemplate his wedding, even talking to his mother and having her tell him what a dumbass move it is, and he still did it. How does he plan to get his army back to Winterfell if they cannot use the bridge?

Catelyn's move is even more random. She has no sudden motivation or reason to release Jamie. She just... does it. Out of nowhere. And whines about the girls, like she has been all season. Maybe now that she had Brienne to send along with Jamie, she figured she would actually have a chance of getting the girls back, whereas anyone they had sent with Jamie before would have gotten killed along the way, either by Jamie or someone else, and Jamie would waltz into King's Landing a free man.

Of all the changes they've made so far this season, I think this one confuses me the most. Why couldn't they somehow have gotten word of the 'deaths' of Bran and Rickon to make their actions more understandable? As is they just seem so random and inexcusable.[/SPOILER:c92c1c4399]

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

Well... I'll be watching Season 3 when it comes out. This damn show is addictive as hell.

Posted: Jun 07 2012 01:23 pm

For sure. It's killing me that it's gonna be a whole year before we get another season. Why couldn't I have heard about this show when there was like five seasons of material already made instead of now Sad

Posted: Jun 07 2012 02:44 pm

As to Robb

[SPOILER:ce4226f007]The fact that it was a stupid decision is exactly the point. Rob, in the show, is only 18 years old, and in the books he was only 15. Kids make stupid decisions, particularly when they let passion overtake their judgement. The whole point of Robb's story arc is that he's a brilliant battle commander but a horrible politician. His battlefield record is spotless, but his diplomatic choices are disastrous. I'm just glad that the show worked around his real blunder, because in the book, his biggest mistake was so unbearably retarded that it doesn't even make sense in character.

Anyway, the course of events in the show differed from the book, but it still makes sense given everything we know about Robb.[/SPOILER:ce4226f007]

And Catelyn, well...

[SPOILER:ce4226f007]Cat is...a headache. In both the book and the show, her decision to release Jaime was questionable at best, but you're right that it made a lot less sense in the show. I agree that they bungled that. In either source, though, Cat represents one of the Seven Kingdoms' poorer decision makers.[/SPOILER:ce4226f007]