Game of Thrones [SPOILERS]

[shiznitz]

Not that it matters since the rating are still good, but every season has had higher ratings than the previous season until this season.  I do find it a bit less compelling, but my wife who never read the books still loves it.

[Samwise]

Yeah, this season definitely isn't as good as previous seasons, but the baseline is so high that it's still the only show that I'm actually going out of my way to watch as it airs.

[eldaec]

Casting calls for season 6 are out for a 'pirate' returning home after adventure etc. Sounds awfully like Euron.

Which is interesting because Melisandre's script this week specifically swerved the question of Balon Greyjoy's current status.

[Rendakor]

Didn't someone (Sansa?) call Theon the last surviving son of Balon? I guess she might just not know better...

[Chimpy]

Didn't someone (Sansa?) call Theon the last surviving son of Balon? I guess she might just not know better...

Euron was one Balon's brothers.

[eldaec]

Sansa did say that.

But stood out when Melisandre only mentioned two of the three usurpers to Stannis, and nobody called her out on it. A cynic might wonder if they've made a final decision on what is happening on the Iron Islands yet, or a more generous interpretation is that events from the end of storm through to early feast have yet to happen.

[Rendakor]

Didn't someone (Sansa?) call Theon the last surviving son of Balon? I guess she might just not know better...

Euron was one Balon's brothers.

Victarion too? It's been a while and I may just be remembering it wrong, but I always thought those two were Theon's siblings, not uncles.

[Tebonas]

Nope, he was the only surviving son, which made him such an important ward to keep the Iron Island compliant for so long after the Greyjoy Rebellion.

[Rendakor]

Ahh alright; I only remembered Aeron being his uncle, not the other two.

[Threash]

Yeah, being the only son was also an important plot point in that it invalidated that whole election thing since he wasn't present.

[Raph]

I can't even remember what happened with his sister. My last memory of her on the show is her sailing away somewhere. 

[HaemishM]

The fact that they haven't even mentioned Balon's death on the series tells me either they've been shifting that whole succession thing to another season or they are removing it altogether.

[jgsugden]

On that front:

[Speedy Cerviche]

Could use some abbreviating, got pretty long & tedious in the books.

[HaemishM]

It wasn't really that long - just fucking boring, which made it seem a lot longer than it was.

[Fordel]

Does winter ever actually show up in the books?

[Paelos]

Does winter ever actually show up in the books?

Not yet.

[eldaec]

Yes it does. The white raven arrives in the last chapter.

[eldaec]

From the casting....

Pirate, man in his 40s to late-50s. He's "an infamous pirate who has terrorized seas all around the world. Cunning, ruthless, with a touch of madness." He’s a dangerous-looking man. A very good part this season.

Father. Aged 50s to 60s, he’s one of the greatest soldiers in Westeros — a humorless martinet, severe and intimidating. He demands martial discipline in the field and in his home. It's described as "a very good part" for next year, which will be "centrally involved" in a protagonist’s story line.

Mother, in her 50s. She’s a sweet, plump, and adoring mother, and has a soft spot for one of her children who benefits from her decency.

Sister, in her early 20s. She’s a kind, friendly, and unpretentious woman.

Brother, in his early-to-mid-20s. Athletic, a good hunter, an excellent swordsman, manly, not particularly bright, but the favorite child of the father.

Priest, in his 40s or 50s. A gruff ex-soldier who found religion. Now a no-nonsense rural priest who ministers to the poor of the countryside. He’s a salt-of-the-earth man who has weathered many battles.

Leading Actress, in her early 40s, she’s an elegant actress with a traveling theater company. Fun, charismatic, rum-drinking actress in the troupe.

Priestess. Mid-20s to early-30s. Any ethnicity — she’s beautiful, intense, and magnetic.

Fierce Warrior, a tall man in his 30s or 40s with a powerful physique. They’re looking for someone with “mixed ethnicity” for the role.

A large boy, for an actor who is 10 to 12, but playing 7 or 8. He’s described as “a clever boy” who seems too large for his age. He’s big and tall, but not fat. “Characterful squat features” are a plus for this part. It’s specified that this is a one-time appearance.


12-year-old boy, with brown hair and blue eyes. He needs to use a Northern accent. He has scenes where he has to spar with a wooden sword. The length of the role isn’t specified.

7-year-old boy, with dark brown hair, a narrow face, and green eyes. He has a Northern accent. He also spars with the wooden sword, so it’s safe to assume it’s the same scene. This role is similarly open-ended, the description only stating that the character is being "introduced."



So Euron, a fistfull of Tarlys, the obvious guess for the last 2 is young Ned Stark and Howland Reed.

[Threash]

Septon maribald should be the priest.  The others would fit tyrions boat trip, but that is already past.

[eldaec]

I've seen a lot of people suggest Meribald, but what he gives you is a background on the Sparrows and a narrator for the Riverlands.

If you send Brienne north and Jamie south, and if the Sparrows have already broken through in King's Landing, not sure how Meribald helps. I guess I can see Sam running into him if he heads south.

The priestess I can imagine as Lemore even without the boat trip, but only if they are also doing Aegon. "The internet" appears to believe there will be no Aegon. But it wouldn't shock me if Doran Martell pulls Aegon out of his ass. After all, there has to be some point to Dorne, surely? With no Quentyn, Doran needs an alternative plan, otherwise Ellaria/Arianne is right and every minute filmed at the water gardens is a waste of everybody's time.

Personally I quite like the theory that Lemore is Ashara and Aegon is her's and Ned's bastard. There is enough in that theory to explain why GRRM is bothering with Aegon and suggest GoT won't want to drop him entirely.

[Rendakor]

The Priest could be the Elder Brother, who is relevant if Sandor Clegane isn't quite dead.

[K9]

After all, there has to be some point to Dorne, surely? With no Quentyn, Doran needs an alternative plan

Trystane?

[eldaec]

Quentyn went to marry Dany and start a war.

As yet Trystan isn't doing shit.

They might plan to crown Myrcella as Arianne intended in the book - then marry her to Trystan. But that sounds like a pretty bad plan, unless Doran thinks he can take down the Lannisters and Tyrells in a straight conflict. Also makes no sense that TV Doran is trying to hold the Sand Snakes back unless he is waiting for something.

[angry.bob]

The idea that Game of Thrones as a series rises or falls based on having a sufficient number of mature, responsible adults talk through their issues strikes me as one of the strangest expectations I have ever heard anybody voice about any work of fiction.

Well, it worked well enough for Deep Space Nine for years. It was also a show set in a vast, established universe that had a life of it's own and yet felt that spending 30 out of 40 minutes in each show was best spent filming two people talking about stuff in conference rooms, bars, cargo bays with space crates, and space versions of U-Haul trucks.

[Shannow]

Just gotta say that after reading a breakdown of the series finale of Outlander, GoT is fucking tame compared to that show. Fucking hell wtf is going over at Starz?!?

[Samwise]

Just gotta say that after reading a breakdown of the series finale of Outlander, GoT is fucking tame compared to that show. Fucking hell wtf is going over at Starz?!?

I haven't seen any of Outlander yet (maybe I need to remedy that), but Starz is the network that brought us Spartacus, so...

[MediumHigh]

I think the feminist over reaction is more interesting than the show itself...

[Rendakor]

Is Outlander as full of porn and gore as Spartacus was?

[Threash]

I think Black Sails is more of the spiritual successor to Spartacus than any other show.

[Shannow]

Is Outlander as full of porn and gore as Spartacus was?

I wouldnt call it porn what happened in the last episode, unless you are into some really wierd shit.

[MahrinSkel]

I haven't seen the finale of Outlander yet (I don't get Starz, so I have to wait for it to percolate into the illicit channels and didn't want to stay up that late). But everything up to that was good, historical costume drama that doesn't shy away from the icky bits.

Probably we should start a thread.

--Dave

[Chimpy]

[Threash]

That was amazing.

[Khaldun]

For some reason, I couldn't get HBO to turn on normally tonight, it just kept cutting to World War Z.