Game of Thrones [SPOILERS]

[Khaldun]

They're also more familiar as archetypes. Tyrion has a lot of complexity to come, but for the moment he's still instantly familiar as the outsider, the cunning observer, etc. Arya is a completely familiar kind of character, very well executed. Hell, Joffrey is a familiar character. But Eddard, Catelyn, Daenerys, Jaime, Tywin, and a bunch more, don't have any immediate archetypical resonance.

[lamaros]

Good point. Jon is very much the same. Though I would argue Dany is too.

[Tebonas]

I guess so too, because never having read the book, he screams "Paladin archetype who will lose everything because of his honor and steadfast loyalty" to me.

[Draegan]

That's how he is in the books.

[lamaros]

That's how he is in the books.

[Rendakor]

I guess so too, because never having read the book, he screams "Paladin archetype who will lose everything because of his honor and steadfast loyalty" to me.

That's how I remember him from the books, but it's been about 10 years since I've read them.

[Khaldun]

I think that's about right about Ned even in the books, though.


I don't think Dany feels particularly archetypical to me--or if she is, she's the kind of archetypical character who is usually seen from a male point of view and operates as a plot device in a male character arc  (e.g., Pretty Woman) and less like a character with an independent archetypical existence.

But: oh yeah, Jon definitely is a familiar character, and actually in the books, his story stays pretty recognizably archetypical throughout. So far.

[lamaros]

Dany is pretty much Jon, with tits. I dunno if tits break the archetype.

[Venkman]

I think that's about right about Ned even in the books, though.

I'm stuck waiting for the end of season one before the episodes get onto iTunes/Netflix, but this is the part I'm most curious about too. This world is still unconvential enough to be jarring to me. I'm only 3/4 through the third book on my first read of the series, but so many things I thought were persistent untouchables have been, well, touched. I'm at point where I hate a chapter that shows optimism for a character or event because of what's likely to come in the next chapter dedicated to them/it.

The events surrounding Ned seemed pinnacle to book one, as similar things happening in the subsequent books. I'm curious how people who haven't read the books to be pre-jarred will handle the shows :)

(trying to be vague...)

[Draegan]

That's how he is in the books.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

[Quinton]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

[shiznitz]

Do we really need all these spoilers?  The % of posters in this thread who have read the books has to be extremely high.

[Rendakor]

I like the spoiler tags; I've only read the first three books and that was a long time ago so the show feels mostly fresh and new.

[Abagadro]

Never read the books so appreciate being able to talk/read about the show without the spoilers being spoiled.

I'm really liking this. I may have to read the books even though I don't read fantasy. Almost doesn't seem all that fantasy-ish. Are the books in the same vein?

[Ruvaldt]

Absolutely in the same vein.  It's one of the reasons I've always enjoyed the books so much.

More fantasy elements are eventually integrated into the story, but it still never becomes high fantasy, thankfully.

[Arthur_Parker]

They really nailed the inn scene at end, the ending of 3 & 4 were the best bits but nice to see episode 4 also had a strong opening with Bran's dream.

[Quinton]

Absolutely in the same vein.  It's one of the reasons I've always enjoyed the books so much.

More fantasy elements are eventually integrated into the story, but it still never becomes high fantasy, thankfully.

ASoIaF is kind of the opposite of a Tolkien-esque fantasy world.  Instead of being a world where the age of elves and magic fading, it's a world where magic or non-human creatures (dragons, the white walkers, etc) have been gone for quite a while (to the point of being thought of as myth by some -- see Tyrion's dismissal of creatures beyond The Wall as stories told by nursemaids to children).  There is some hinting that some of these things may return (or already have), but heart of the story is about the people and the politics and the history that brought them there.

There are the old gods and the new gods (only seen in passing reference in the tv series so far), but it does not seem like a world where the gods take a hand in the lives of men (this is not the Malazan Books of the Fallen, after all).

[Threash]

Even though neither scene was in the books the introduction of Theon and Jory were both very well done.

[Ironwood]

Guy who plays Jaime is so regal, heroic and damn good looking it's confusing me.

I love the armor too.

 

[Rasix]

It gets more confusing with him.  They're playing him a lot more sympathetic than I thought they would this early on.  Of course, he's not a POV early on, so you're getting a lot more than you normally would.

These last two episodes have been fantastic.  They did a much better job with Sam than I thought they would.  Could have expanded a bit on his background, but they handled it well.

[WayAbvPar]

They really nailed the inn scene at end, the ending of 3 & 4 were the best bits but nice to see episode 4 also had a strong opening with Bran's dream.

My only quibble was the size of the inn/amount of extras. In a room of 15-20 people no way Catelyn could go unnoticed. Should have been about 3x that many people there in my mind's eye.

[Yoru]

These last two episodes have been fantastic.  They did a much better job with Sam than I thought they would.  Could have expanded a bit on his background, but they handled it well.

Agreed. This series is really hitting its stride. I thought some of the scenes sagged a bit, particularly the Dothraki ones, and I'm still not thrilled with Littlefinger's delivery. The characterization seems right, but the actor... Perhaps he's trying to suppress any emotion in his voice, but it comes across wooden to me.

I did like how Sam's entrance was handled, and was wondering if they'd do the proper thing with the crow opening. I'm pretty glad they did. I got a smile out of it.

[Threash]

It gets more confusing with him.  They're playing him a lot more sympathetic than I thought they would this early on.  Of course, he's not a POV early on, so you're getting a lot more than you normally would.

These last two episodes have been fantastic.  They did a much better job with Sam than I thought they would.  Could have expanded a bit on his background, but they handled it well.

It's hard to come back from tossing a kid out the window though, i doubt many people are feeling warm and fuzzy about him at this point.  I was surprised they sort of touched on the idea that maybe killing the mad king was not such a horrible act after all already.

[lamaros]

I think the guy playing Jamie is doing brilliantly. The combination of charisma and arrogance is balanced perfectly. The only point I would question is that he seems a bit too 'switched on'. In the books he is much more of a 'act first, think later' guy, but he's getting a few lines which are making him look calculating rather than just witty and charming.

I'm still not getting the strong sense of foreboding (outside the very well executed Arya dancing scene) that was in the novel at this point, but as said earlier, I think this is much a factor of the poor 'characterisation' of King's Landing as much as anything. No 'in to the Lion's den' sense when Ned rode in there, so hard to channel it now.

[Ironwood]

I have to say that I'm actually warming to the show, which has surprised me.  There are now 3 or 4 characters that I actually LIKE and some of the ones that I hate are starting to appeal as they develop.

So it might actually pass the 'Ironwood doesn't hate this' watermark soon.

Stranger things have happened.

[Arthur_Parker]

They really nailed the inn scene at end, the ending of 3 & 4 were the best bits but nice to see episode 4 also had a strong opening with Bran's dream.

My only quibble was the size of the inn/amount of extras. In a room of 15-20 people no way Catelyn could go unnoticed. Should have been about 3x that many people there in my mind's eye.

Yeah, I sort of expect every scene with more than half a dozen people to be smaller just because of the cost.  The whole joust being an example.  As for her being recognised, it had been 17 years (?) since she was last in the area and I thought the book covered that pretty well just before they entered the inn.

Catelyn made no move. Lord Jason Mallister himself rode with them, surrounded by his knights, his son Patrek by his side and their squires close behind. They were riding for King’s Landing and the Hand’s tourney, she knew. For the past week, the travelers had been thick as flies upon the kingsroad; knights and freeriders, singers with their harps and drums, heavy wagons laden with hops or corn or casks of honey, traders and craftsmen and whores, and all of them moving south.

She studied Lord Jason boldly. The last time she had seen him he had been jesting with her uncle at her wedding feast; the Mallisters stood bannermen to the Tullys, and his gifts had been lavish. His brown hair was salted with white now, his face chiseled gaunt by time, yet the years had not touched his pride. He rode like a man who feared nothing. Catelyn envied him that; she had come to fear so much. As the riders passed, Lord Jason nodded a curt greeting, but it was only a high lord’s courtesy to strangers chance met on the road. There was no recognition in those fierce eyes, and his son did not even waste a look.

“He did not know you,” Ser Rodrik said after, wondering. “He saw a pair of mud-spattered travelers by the side of the road, wet and tired. It would never occur to him to suspect that one of them was the daughter of his liege lord. I think we shall be safe enough at the inn, Ser Rodrik.”

[WayAbvPar]

I meant by Tyrion- GRRM made a point of her hiding way in the back hoping to go unnoticed (until the singer spoke up). In the scene from the show, she was 20 feet from Tyrion and there would have been no chance he would miss her, so the singer's part was really superfluous.

[Arthur_Parker]

Oh right, ok.

[Draegan]

I hated the episode really, because it makes me anxious.  It's so good I don't want it to end and I'm just waiting for the goodness to stop.

Each episode is better than the one before it.  Love Tyrion as every else does.

I just can't wait for Syrio's fight seen. 

I'm such a gushing fanboy it's really disgusting.

[Arthur_Parker]

I'm just waiting for Ironwood's reaction to episodes 6 & 8.

[Ironwood]

When people say stuff like this on f13, it just disturbs me...

[Lucas]

Looks like Ironwood and Draegan are not the only ones "warming up" (hmm...), because 'Thrones' ratings have slightly risen again this week: 2.5 million viewers.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/05/10/game-of-thrones-ratings-rise-again/

Yeah, if the show is still building up its audience no matter the somewhat slow paced episodes (and lots of names and introduction), I just can't wait to see the reaction when s**t will start hitting the fan for real (and it will happen quite soon).

[Draegan]

Golden Crown episode will make me go 

[Samwise]

So is there anyplace I can watch this online yet, apart from the obvious?

[Merusk]

Just the obvious.  They're going to hold this one close.