Game of Thrones
 

Did anyone else watch the HBO premiere of Game of Thrones on Sunday? I am curious to get some of your opinions on the show.

I read the 4 released novels years ago and I am a huge fan of the series. I have eagerly been awaiting the TV show and I was not disappointed.

If you have read the series, what did you think of the premiere? If not, how did it work for you? Was it hard to follow?

There were a lot a boobs. That's what I mainly remember about the premier.

One thing I was confused on:

spoiler:

Who was the mother of Ned's bastard son?

I missed the UK premiere yesterday, but fortunately it's repeated tomorrow.

I haven't read any of the books, though, so I'm going into this blissfully ignorant of any differences.

When I read that Lena Headey was part of the cast, I'd assumed there might be.

spoiler:

Even by the 4th book (4800 pages later) we still don't know for sure. Ned does not talk about her, but there are rumors about it. Ashara Dayne is who I predict it will be, if we ever find out.

They actually stayed true to the story in the first episode, and I've heard that's the plan for the rest. There are things left out of course, as the books are just too detailed to include everything, but there wasn't anything that happened in the 1st episode that did not also occur in the book.

Actually, Lena Headey has yet to actually get her boobs out, unless I missed them in the last scene. No, it was mostly just hookers. A LOT of hookers.

I've only read the short story "The Hedge Knight", but I was really impressed by the quality of Martin's writing and thus became really interested in the show since I first heard of its making. As far as the first episode goes, I am not disappointed - the plot seems interesting, the acting is very good and the overall production value seems top notch. Can't wait for the next episode.

Saw it, loved it. The whole atmosphere is pretty much as I imagined it when I read the books (oh my, the Wall!!) and I'm glad they're staying faithful to the books. The actors have left a good first impression, even the children. Of course, they have yet to be really tested, but things are looking good.

I eagerly await the next episode.

Yeah, that was a bad assumption on my part, but it was based on most of the films I've seen her in. Her clothes just won't stay on.

Anyway, watched it last night, really liked it, and I still don't know much about the world, but I was impressed by the quality of the cast.

I watched the first ep, and enjoyed it overall. Pretty gory but the visuals weren't super well done in that department. I agree that it seems like a strong cast, with a few exceptions I think. Maybe it just seems that way because Bean can eat a scene right around you. A nice start that made me want to tune into the next episode.

I've never read the books, is there that much sex in those too? Or is it just HBO being HBO?

Well, the Dothraki rape/murder was in the books, as was Jaime and Cersei's tower 'love' scene, but Tyrion and his hookers was not in the book. However, while it is an -addition-, it's not really shocking. Tyrion partakes of whores rather often in the book.

I think those were all the sex scenes in the pilot, but I may have missed one.

Don't expect particularly -erotic- sex scenes in this, if you're hoping for them. The books always did their very best to make even the most potentially erotic sex scenes incredibly squicky and very much -not- sexy.

I'm kind of hoping for the opposite actually. I like T&A as much as the next guy, I just found the frequency of it in the pilot to be a bit overkill and made it seemed like pandering.

For those of us who have read all the books, I'm sure I don't need to remind you all of the 'Pink Mast' and the 'Myrish Swamp'. *Hork, blork, hooorf*

lol very nice. While I agree most of the sex scenes in the book are not sexy, I do think some of them are. An example would be

spoiler:

Dany's episodes with her handmaids... Irri or Jhiqui? Can't remember which one. Maybe they weren't meant to be sexy either and I was just persuaded by the girl on girl action.

Well, I wanted to watch it because of Sean Bean (great actor!), but now I have even MORE reason to watch it!

Dany and her handmaids, maybe, but still. Myrish Swamps. Pink Masts. Dwarf sex. I could go on.

Thoughts on the second episode? Plot is starting to take shape, and there was less of the overt sexuality.

The young prince and the guy who wants to retake his thrown really seem like wimps. Not sure if the characters are supposed to be like that or if it is just the actors.

I like the scenes between Bean's character and the King. They seem to have good chemistry.

Yeah, both are pretty much wimps who act tough, from what I remember from the books. The actor playing Joffrey hasn't convinced me yet, even though he does look the part. The guy playing Viserys, however, is pretty much how I envisioned him. He's doing great. Also, I'm a bit confused with Myrcella Baratheon in this episode. From what I remember from the books, she had no feelings for Bran, but she seemed pretty happy when she heard Bran wasn't going to die.

In any case, Daenerys and the Dothraki have never interested me that much in the books, and the show doesn't change my mind. It's a pretty slow story arc, perhaps that's it. On the other side, I'm really enjoying the (few) moments between Jon Snow and Tyrion Lannister, can't wait seeing them on the Wall. But I've really been enjoying the first two episodes.

Ditto. Although I have to say the kid who plays Joffrey has really sold the "wimpy spoiled brat" vibe of his character to me. Viserys on the other hand, hmm, I don't know what to think of him yet. His first appearance in the previous episode had me thinking he's a total wimp, but all his subsequent appearances simply make me think he's a really disgusting bastard. Tyrion Lannister is awesome, by the way. Again, I haven't read any of the books (only the one short story that takes place long before the books), so I have no idea how faithful the plot or the characters are, but the show definitely is very interesting.

Yeah, Tyrion Lannister is pretty much awesome incarnate. Joffrey, on the other hand, is much, much worse than just a spoiled brat who wants to look tough. Kittens, my friends. Kittens.

Interesting.

I'll definitely be checking this out when it becomes available on Netflix streaming.

^This.

Just seeing the ads for it, I hadn't been too interested. But this thread, and what this thread has prompted me to read, has changed that. Pity I don't get HBO, and watch far too little TV to justify paying the extra $$$ for a channel lineup with it.

These days, a good antenna + broadband (preferably capless) + Hulu + Netflix is really all you need.

Screw cable/satellite. Waste of money, IMO.

One thing that is off with me is some of the hairstyles look too much like present day. Bean's looks the part but some others don't seem to fit.

I really liked the 2nd episode as well, but I did notice a few differences from the book this time. I didn't notice any in the first episode. Nothing that was changed really took away from the story so I wasn't offended by it.

Joffrey is a wimp, but from the books I gathered Viserys was more of a spoiled, temperamental brat than a wimp. He's vicious and feels entitled, but I don't feel like wimp is the right word for him. Both are despicable characters.

I think this show is interesting but I'm really not a fan of the nudity at all. It may sound ridiculous to some but I can't stand it when shows are packed full of nudity. Like True Blood *shudders*.

Sean Bean is awesome. :D

In most cases I think the nudity could go without (although it doesn't bother me either), but for Game of Thrones I think it would offend the fanbase if there wasn't nudity. It wouldn't be true to the books, or at least it would be ignoring an aspect that is prevalent in the books.

****s happening now. The tables are turning! I'm starting to get a bit more involved in this now...

Major ish is about to go down, so stay tuned.

You'll definitely wanna stay tuned. The start's pretty slow, but it was necessary. I'm glad people have kept watching through the slow episodes. I actually forgot about some of the stuff that's happening in the first book, thinking it happened later on in the series. So I'm definitely looking forward to the next episodes. Because this series is about to shift a gear higher. :)

Yeah, just wait until Shae shows up in Season 2 and we get like 6 really unpleasant Dwarfsex scenes. Yeah, that's shifting it higher.

And Melisandre. Dear -God- Melisandre is going to terrify me.

It took me about 30 seconds to figure out why Melisandre will terrify you, but now I got it. If HBO conducts that scene as it's described in the books... ::shudder::

Should I stop reading this thread? :p

One thing that I'm definitely looking forward to is Tywin Lannister, the head of the Lannister clan. It's not for nothing Robert called him "the mighty Tywin". And the interactions he has with Tyrion are so great.

I'm also looking forward to Tywin, and Davos Seaworth. My wife has been watching this with me so far and is already having a hard time keeping up with the characters... she has no idea... there are so many integral pieces that haven't yet been introduced. I was tempted to fill her in on the back story of Maester Aemon during his appearance but decided to let it go. I went through the same exercise with Ser Barristan Selmy during his scene with Robert and Jaime... also let it go. I often find myself telling her something like "remember this character - he will be really important later", but there's only so many times you can say that and still have it be effective. Sandor Clegane comes to mind as an example of that.

I had a hard time getting into the first episode. I kept going "who the **** is that and why should I care". Once I got over that and just watched the show, it grew on me. Can't wait to see what happens next episode. I assume the Lannisters are going to be pissed.

I like Tyrion. He reminds me of a miniature Eddie Izzard. It must be the accent.

I also like Arya Stark. She's such a badass girl. I haven't read the books, does she become a knight or something? No idea how much time passes in the books.

Arya's story is pretty awesome. If you want to know more about it:

spoiler:

She does not become a knight - at least not by the end of the 4th book (all that's been released so far). She is on a path to become a trained killer, by the most badass assassins in the known world.

Really enjoying the show so far - although I overindulged in my search for background information - so I've kind of spoiled some of the big plot points in later episodes, but still looking forward to seeing how they play out.

Yeah, I can understand the difficulty of keeping track of everything. There's so many characters and still so many to be introduced and it can get a bit confusing, even for someone who's read the books, like me. And to think some of the characters introduced will only get important in season 2 (or possibly 3 and beyond). But it's important they're introduced now, so you won't be saying "who the hell is this?!" when that character starts to be really involved in the Game of Thrones. It's part of the difficulty of creating a TV show based on a series of books that's not finished yet.

Oh, and I think there's some Aemon backstory coming up next episode, or the one after that, I'm not sure. But I agree, I sometimes wonder if people will get the same satisfaction of seeing the story unfold as me if some characters, like Ser Barristan Selmy, are underlit.

That sounds pretty cool. I wonder if the TV series will last that long.

So we've come to the last episode of the season, this sunday. Have those new to GoT recovered from the shock yet? Remember, this isn't the last you've seen of heartwrenching moments, in my opinion even more difficult moments will follow.



I'm pleased with the season as a whole so far. It faithfully adapted the books but can really stand on its own. I'm also happy with the performances. Dinklage never wavered as Tyrion, we saw some good stuff from Robb that reminded me why I liked the character in the books so much. I've also come to like the Daenerys story arc, where in the books I didn't really like it that much.

After episode 9, Westeros will never be the same again. Keep watching, the Game of Thrones has only just begun!