Game of Thrones discussion thread - Season 5 debuts April 12th

So glad they stayed true to the books. I do hope they have all the necessary flashbacks of Robert's rebellion though. Because there were some pretty big character changing revelations and clues to the biggest secret in the books
(which is the meaning of the "song of ice and fire") that is likely to be the finale to the series.
 
Wow, the first episode was fantastic. Surprised at how close to the book they're sticking, and the scenes they did add in really helped flesh some stuff out. Can't wait to see more!
 
Some thoughts about the episode

They changed a lot of the way things happen in scenarios without actually changing the outcomes. The prologue is quite different in how the rangers are actually killed, for instance.

Tyrion also got a gratuitous sex scene to pull people in I'm sure.

One of the most significant changes that takes away from the subtlety of character is that when Drogo consumates with Daenerys, he actually waits until she says yes before they have sex. The pilot would actually have you believe that he just rapes her. This point is important because Dany actually ends up loving Drogo, and that initial consummation is a big part of that.

Still, it was pretty damned faithful and very well done. Looking forward to next week for sure.
 
I haven't read the book yet. Although I usually read the book first before watching, I don't think I'll be able to do it on this one. Can't miss this!
 
Watched the pilot since it's a free hbo preview weekend on DirecTV.

Very good, I love that they're staying faithful to the books. Not sure if I'll bother streaming it or just wait until it's out on Bluray.
 
loved the first episode and very glad they are staying true to the books, incest and all. if they stick with the books they can't go wrong, because the books are that good.

i think theyve done an excellent job in casting, i mean beyond excellent. Theon looks like a twerp, Jon and Rob, King Robert, Jaime, Maester Luwin, Drogo... I even cracked a smile when Rickon had his one very brief scene and of course Tyrion. Peter Dinklage will win at least 1 emmy during this shows run.


ive already got a notification set up for the bluray boxset on amazon.

Edit: shame on everyone talking about streaming and torrenting the show. /soap box
 
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How does iTunes handle series from HBO? Do the episodes get available as they come out, or do they wait till the whole series is done?
 
[quote name='Rei no Otaku']Another thing I have to mention how good the opening credits sequence was. Very well done.[/QUOTE]

I haven't made up my mind either way on it yet. It definitely set the mood and showed a good overall layout of what was up, but it also did look a bit cheesy.. though I suppose it works with the genre.

Edit: I just read that the sequence is going to be changed based on what locations are featured in the episode.. I'm sold.
 
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[quote name='Anexanhume']Some thoughts about the episode

They changed a lot of the way things happen in scenarios without actually changing the outcomes. The prologue is quite different in how the rangers are actually killed, for instance.

Tyrion also got a gratuitous sex scene to pull people in I'm sure.

One of the most significant changes that takes away from the subtlety of character is that when Drogo consumates with Daenerys, he actually waits until she says yes before they have sex. The pilot would actually have you believe that he just rapes her. This point is important because Dany actually ends up loving Drogo, and that initial consummation is a big part of that.

Still, it was pretty damned faithful and very well done. Looking forward to next week for sure.
[/QUOTE]

I thought the same thing about the end with Drogo. Still loved it though.
 
Going with DirecTV sure has paid off. I'm not entirely sold on the show as a whole just yet, but I'm definitely digging some of the characters. Guess I'll be ordering HBO next weekend though, especially since they have a three month promo of free Skinamax! =)
 
Looks like these threads got merged (discussion thread and my original thread about pilot). Does anyone give a damn for the OP to be updated to contain trailers and things like that?
 
[quote name='ajh2298']How does iTunes handle series from HBO? Do the episodes get available as they come out, or do they wait till the whole series is done?[/QUOTE]

There iTunes MO seems to be putting the show's up for download when the DVD releases, not as the show airs. Bummer.

Maybe this will help?
 
[quote name='Rei no Otaku']Wow, whoever merged the threads is fucking retarded. Why not just close the old one, and let it die?

I had an OP I was going to keep updated...[/QUOTE]It's been wikified, go ahead and update it all you'd like.
 
[quote name='Rei no Otaku']Wow, whoever merged the threads is fucking retarded. Why not just close the old one, and let it die?

I had an OP I was going to keep updated...[/QUOTE]

i put your post in the merged OP, but i cant change the title.

shrike, can you change the title to something along the lines of "game of thrones general discussion and its totally bad ass"

[quote name='Adobe Jones']There iTunes MO seems to be putting the show's up for download when the DVD releases, not as the show airs. Bummer.

Maybe this will help?[/QUOTE]

posting links to illegal streams doesnt help.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']i put your post in the merged OP, but i cant change the title.

shrike, can you change the title to something along the lines of "game of thrones general discussion and its totally bad ass"[/QUOTE]

I was able to edit it.
 
[quote name='bvharris']I haven't made up my mind either way on it yet. It definitely set the mood and showed a good overall layout of what was up, but it also did look a bit cheesy.. though I suppose it works with the genre.

Edit: I just read that the sequence is going to be changed based on what locations are featured in the episode.. I'm sold.[/QUOTE]

Awesome idea!

So glad they featured The Hound enough to convince me he's going to be pretty big as far as screen time. I'm just hoping like crazy (book spoiler)
Micah is in the series, because that would give The Hound some great screen time next episode. I did see Jeyne Poole sitting with Sansa at the Winterfell dinner scene, I have a feeling that was all that will be seen of her. Which would suck. I always thought she was a really tragic character in the book, so much more than others.
 
[quote name='yankeessuck']I feel like the first episode should have been longer. I just hope people stick with it.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's one concern I have. It does seem like it could be hard to follow for people who haven't read the books. So I worry that some may give up on it.
 
Yeah, they should have done 90-120 minutes for the opener. HBO could have easily done that. I mean, they aired the premiere three times in a row. Probably more, I fell asleep. They are really serious about this show doing well.

I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about cancellation. Once word of mouth gets around, this show will go through the roof. George Martin probably made a million dollars today in book one sales. I hope he uses it to clone himself and finish the last two books ASAP.

EDIT: Somebody said Hodor was in the King's arrival scene but I totally missed it. The premiere needed more HODOR!
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']Yeah, they should have done 90-120 minutes for the opener. HBO could have easily done that. I mean, they aired the premiere three times in a row. Probably more, I fell asleep. They are really serious about this show doing well.

I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about cancellation. Once word of mouth gets around, this show will go through the roof. George Martin probably made a million dollars today in book one sales. I hope he uses it to clone himself and finish the last two books ASAP.

EDIT: Somebody said Hodor was in the King's arrival scene but I totally missed it. The premiere needed more HODOR![/QUOTE]

I agree I thought the premier should have been longer. But all things considered, it was a crash course in characters that would have been hard to pull off in any length of time. They could have had a 4 hour episode just to introduce all the characters, there are that many (and that's just Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons, and Tangaryens!)

I was hoping for some Hodor too, but hey, he will get plenty of screen time in the 3rd season.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']Yeah, they should have done 90-120 minutes for the opener. HBO could have easily done that. I mean, they aired the premiere three times in a row. Probably more, I fell asleep. They are really serious about this show doing well.

I'm pretty sure we don't have to worry about cancellation. Once word of mouth gets around, this show will go through the roof. George Martin probably made a million dollars today in book one sales. I hope he uses it to clone himself and finish the last two books ASAP.

EDIT: Somebody said Hodor was in the King's arrival scene but I totally missed it. The premiere needed more HODOR![/QUOTE]

Theres pretty much no chance its not coming back for another season. You just have to hope for strong work of mouth and maybe some award buzz.

They also did a great job with the casting especially with the kids.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']Yeah, the casting of Arya is awesome. That girl is going to steal the show.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. She's one of my favorite characters anyway, and they really could not have done better.

The show is really marvelously cast from top to bottom.
 
I haven't the read the books and honestly I don't really intend to, but I've been looking forward to this show for the past two months, and the pilot did not let me down. Very well done.

I'll be tuning in regularly from here on out. it's nice to have some new Sunday night viewing material while True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, and The Walking Dead are all on hiatus.
 
[quote name='MattJ1991']I watched this today and really enjoyed it. I look forward very much to see how this series develops.[/QUOTE]

Oh it develops...fast. Then slows down but that's just the books because they got split in two after book 3's insanely massive plot twists that even put book 1's to shame. Fortunately, HBO will undoubtedly splice books 4 and 5 together (as they should have been to start with) and air them as two seasons. I LOVE the books, but if HBO does that then it'll give the show a lot of extra value for me (in regards to box sets).
 
Season 4 needs to be ten hour long episodes of a black screen with white text that apologizes profusely, over and over and over. Hell, film Martin writing it on a chalk board, and then totally skateboarding through town after the bell rings.

First episode was pretty good. I was exhausted when it aired, so I need to rewatch it. I too thought the same thing regarding Drogo as Anex did, and am glad that I didn't misremember that scene.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']Oh it develops...fast. Then slows down but that's just the books because they got split in two after book 3's insanely massive plot twists that even put book 1's to shame. Fortunately, HBO will undoubtedly splice books 4 and 5 together (as they should have been to start with) and air them as two seasons. I LOVE the books, but if HBO does that then it'll give the show a lot of extra value for me (in regards to box sets).[/QUOTE]

Or just scrap most of book 4 which would be even better.
 
The Drogo stuff was just for TV drama.
I think they wanted to stress that Dany didn't want any of her brother's quest for the throne, emphasizing that she's just a victim in all of this. HBO probably figured it would be better for Dany to take a while to warm up to Drogo. So they instead just had the entire first episode being her used as a pawn by her brother, so that when Drogo gives Viserys his "golden crown" that moment can be when she begins to care for Drogo.

I don't get all the hate for book 4. I DOES suck that George divided up the POVs, but the book itself is still leaps and bounds above the competition. I think most people hate it because they knew it would be ages before the vague outcomes for certain other POV characters can be proven true or false,
like Davos' fate, etc.
. There were some pretty big moments in book 4. Like (major spoilers)
Cersei getting pwned by the Tyrells and basically abandoned by Jaime, Cersei having some bad karma through her own kids' fates, implications that The Hound is alive and well but just in hiding due to an imposter besmirching his name by wreaking havoc in his armor, Arya's always-aweseome crazy adventures, etc.
.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']The Drogo stuff was just for TV drama.
I think they wanted to stress that Dany didn't want any of her brother's quest for the throne, emphasizing that she's just a victim in all of this. HBO probably figured it would be better for Dany to take a while to warm up to Drogo. So they instead just had the entire first episode being her used as a pawn by her brother, so that when Drogo gives Viserys his "golden crown" that moment can be when she begins to care for Drogo.

I don't get all the hate for book 4. I DOES suck that George divided up the POVs, but the book itself is still leaps and bounds above the competition. I think most people hate it because they knew it would be ages before the vague outcomes for certain other POV characters can be proven true or false,
like Davos' fate, etc.
. There were some pretty big moments in book 4. Like (major spoilers)
Cersei getting pwned by the Tyrells and basically abandoned by Jaime, Cersei having some bad karma through her own kids' fates, implications that The Hound is alive and well but just in hiding due to an imposter besmirching his name by wreaking havoc in his armor, Arya's always-aweseome crazy adventures, etc.
.[/QUOTE]

It was well written and enjoyable but did we need all these new POVs? It just didnt progress the story enough.
 
I really enjoyed the first Ep, the only problem I have with it is because they're sticking so closely to the books I feel like I already know whats going to happen all the time.

Then again if they didn't stick to the books I guess I'd bitch about that, so it's probably better this way. Agree with the cast being excellent, the whole thing was very well done.
 
[quote name='benjamouth']I really enjoyed the first Ep, the only problem I have with it is because they're sticking so closely to the books I feel like I already know whats going to happen all the time.
[/QUOTE]

That's true of most adapted works, can't really hold it against them. I knew what was going to happen in the LotR films and that didn't stop me from enjoying them. In some ways knowing what's going to happen makes it more interesting for me, just so I can see how they execute everything for television.
 
[quote name='yankeessuck']I guess they were just making sure the show wasnt going to be a disaster before renewing. Happy days![/QUOTE]

They didn't wait long, since the ratings only came out about an hour before the announcement.

It did modestly in the first viewing, 2.2 million (compared to 4.8 for the Boardwalk Empire premiere), but once you factor in the two encore performances immediately following it, that number jumps to 4.2, which is a very good number considering it didn't have much of a lead in (BE did 7.1 million combined on multiple viewings on its opening night). That number doesn't yet include the airings last night either.

HBO has a ton invested in it though, and it figures to do very well in international distribution and home sales, etc so a pick-up was a foregone conclusion unless the show completely tanked.
 
[quote name='bvharris']They didn't wait long, since the ratings only came out about an hour before the announcement.

It did modestly in the first viewing, 2.2 million (compared to 4.8 for the Boardwalk Empire premiere), but once you factor in the two encore performances immediately following it, that number jumps to 4.2, which is a very good number considering it didn't have much of a lead in (BE did 7.1 million combined on multiple viewings on its opening night). That number doesn't yet include the airings last night either.

HBO has a ton invested in it though, and it figures to do very well in international distribution and home sales, etc so a pick-up was a foregone conclusion unless the show completely tanked.[/QUOTE]

Did well in the UK too
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']The Drogo stuff was just for TV drama.
I think they wanted to stress that Dany didn't want any of her brother's quest for the throne, emphasizing that she's just a victim in all of this. HBO probably figured it would be better for Dany to take a while to warm up to Drogo. So they instead just had the entire first episode being her used as a pawn by her brother, so that when Drogo gives Viserys his "golden crown" that moment can be when she begins to care for Drogo.

I don't get all the hate for book 4. I DOES suck that George divided up the POVs, but the book itself is still leaps and bounds above the competition. I think most people hate it because they knew it would be ages before the vague outcomes for certain other POV characters can be proven true or false,
like Davos' fate, etc.
. There were some pretty big moments in book 4. Like (major spoilers)
Cersei getting pwned by the Tyrells and basically abandoned by Jaime, Cersei having some bad karma through her own kids' fates, implications that The Hound is alive and well but just in hiding due to an imposter besmirching his name by wreaking havoc in his armor, Arya's always-aweseome crazy adventures, etc.
.[/QUOTE]


The Hound is dead, with only the smallest doubt possible there. Arya left him to die and his corpse was picked clean for his armor as the story suggests. George doesn't believe in bringing back characters who we thought we dead (pulling a Gandolf).

As for book 4, it simply lacked the readers' favorite POVs. No Dany, Jon or Tyrion. Those three are reader favorites and also undergo some of the more interesting situations.
 
C'mon guys. We don't need to argue the merits of the 4th book in a thread about the first season of a TV show. We're talking about stuff that's years away and who knows what will and won't be included in the series.
 
I'll withhold my longer post then and be brief. I'm reading book 4 now (about 80% through it on the Kindle) and not liking it nearly as much as the first 3. Just too many new POVs in a series that already has too many POVs IMO. I really just don't care about the stuff in Dorne or the Greyjoys very much and hope that gets trimmed down when they get to that season.

Overall I think the books are a tad overrated personally. But very well suited to a TV series. It may well be one of those rare cases where I like a film/screen adaptation more than the books. The books drag at times, whereas I assume the series will focus on key events and trim the excess.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']The books drag at times, whereas I assume the series will focus on key events and trim the excess.[/QUOTE]

Yet retain an excess of trim. UP TOP!
 
[quote name='dothog']Yet retain an excess of trim. UP TOP![/QUOTE]

Nay, I say a stark lack of trim will be evident. Grooming was different back then.

[quote name='RAMSTORIA']C'mon guys. We don't need to argue the merits of the 4th book in a thread about the first season of a TV show. We're talking about stuff that's years away and who knows what will and won't be included in the series.[/QUOTE]

We were actually discussing something that will probably be dealt with definitely in a mere 3 months when book 5 releases.
 
In any case, he's right that this a thread for the TV series and not the books. Perhaps someone could start a thread for discussing the books since maybe some more people will start reading them after watching the show?
 
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