Game of Thrones

Do watch it with book spoilers, yeah, guys.

And yes, the sex feels superfluous. It's not like I mind or get offended, it just starting to feel like too much and it adds nothing. Not sure what they're trying to accomplish. Weak titillation?

Lexx: That's just what this series is like, in the books, and thus in the TV show.
 
I watched the first series, thought OHMYDAYSAMAZEBALLS and have since got through all the books; I've seen season 2 but not any of season 3 as at university I have no access to the channel it's on so am awaiting the DVD.

Essentially I think the world is awesome, but the story has got bogged down from about the middle book.

Book spoilers:
[spoiler:1a09610b95]Like, can Arya get on with whatever the hell it is she's doing in Braavos please? I've forgotten what she's doing there it's so dull.

Likewise Danaerys. Nobody cares about Mereen, get back to Westeros and have some proper battles with dragons and Selmy and stuff! Plus I can just tell that Aegon's little invasion is going to go to shit, which is irritating.

As for what happens to Jon Snow at the end of Dance pt.2 - ARGHLEBLARGLEMYRAGEHASNOENDS[/spoiler:1a09610b95]
 
I usually don't watch tv-series. GoT made itself an exception after having been hyped around me, and NRK decided to show season 1 in its entirely for a whole day, preparing for season 2. So I thought, okay, why not.

Hooked.

I haven't read the books, and I am not looking up episodes online. I'm in no hurry. It still looks good, every episode has its merit, but I am constantly worried that it will somehow get lost-i-fied. As in, that it will turn into a quest to milk endless DVD-boxes out of it.
 
zegh8578 said:
As in, that it will turn into a quest to milk endless DVD-boxes out of it.
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Only viable way of that happening that I can see is finishing the story of A Song of Ice and Fire and then continuing with endless spin-offs. Martin has already written (short) stories in the same universe
 
I have the first book, but I'm on Season Three of the show. Episode 8 was pretty interesting. I can't wait to see where they go from here. I keep rooting for the Kingslayer, especially after the last few episodes. I love seeing John Snow with the red haired girl (Forgot her name), but I have a bad feeling someone important will die soon and bum me out. It's inevitable.
 
It's Game of Thrones, people always die.

Jaime Lannister's character arc is probably one of the most interesting ones in both the books and the show. It's really well done.
 
Serifan said:
Crni Vuk said:
yeah john snow, beeing the Chosen One (maybe?), I think that is somewhat a spoiler. For me at least. - Granted doesnt say much though. But still :p
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Have you even read the books? if you have fucking re read it.
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[spoiler:b3e015ddc7]If John Snow isn't the Chosen One, that would make Ned Stark the biggest stooge of the lot. If he is, then Ned is the craftiest and most selfless of them all.

I'm not so sure there aren't three Chosen Ones though.
.
[/spoiler:b3e015ddc7]

Funny how the story is written that the revelation of a new POV can add new facets and drastically alter perception of everything that has come to pass, without retconning or contradicting things, but really adding depth all the while. I wouldn't call GRR a great writer, but he's woven a pretty intricate story. He's pretty good at peppering in little hints and nuances to keep things consistent. If you both watch and read, in whatever order, you're sure to pick up on things that you wouldn't have noticed, but are totally consistent with and a precursor of something that happens books later.
 
Lexx said:
I like to watch GoT, but I'll have to admit, that I am slowly getting a little bit annoyed. The story isn't really progressing the way I'd like to see it. There are new characters all the time and old ones die all the time and it feels to me like there is just no end in sight. Especially now that I've "accidentally" read a bit more on the GoT wiki... I am not really happy about how things are turning.
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yeah, I have somewhat a similar feeling, the "two" or pretty much "tree" plot line they follow? I really had that feeling the plot about Daenerys Targaryen was to long, or is still somewhat to long. So much stuff where pretty much nothing at all happens.

But I really cant wait to see what happens behind the great wall in season 3. It seems there is somewhat a focus on that.

I would probably read the books, but at the moment I have neither the time nor the money for that, buying every book to say that.
 
zegh8578 said:
I haven't read the books, and I am not looking up episodes online. I'm in no hurry. It still looks good, every episode has its merit, but I am constantly worried that it will somehow get lost-i-fied. As in, that it will turn into a quest to milk endless DVD-boxes out of it.
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Well the story is set in stone, they follow the books closely apart from a few changes (some good, some bad). And Martin (that author) has woven a consistent, deep story, so it almost certainly won't end up like Lost.

I have the first book, but I'm on Season Three of the show. Episode 8 was pretty interesting. I can't wait to see where they go from here. I keep rooting for the Kingslayer, especially after the last few episodes. I love seeing John Snow with the red haired girl (Forgot her name), but I have a bad feeling someone important will die soon and bum me out. It's inevitable.
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Wouldn't be Game of Thrones if every character made it out alive. IMO there's already enough characters with plot armor in that story (albeit it's more noticeable in the books).
 
Ilosar said:
so it almost certainly won't end up like Lost
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unless he dies first. Martin I mean. everybody keeps saying that it wouldn't be Game of Thrones in nobody died. let's hope he finishes 'em. and stays healthy in general.

also - almost certainly sounds very promising 8-)
 
Yes, I am aware (and comforted!) by the fact that the story is written down, and that ideally, it will conclude where it does.
I just don't trust tv/movie industries. They are SO fond of money!
 
Gaspard said:
Ilosar said:
so it almost certainly won't end up like Lost
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unless he dies first. Martin I mean. everybody keeps saying that it wouldn't be Game of Thrones in nobody died. let's hope he finishes 'em. and stays healthy in general.

also - almost certainly sounds very promising 8-)
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Given the curret rate (1 book every 5 years), the sixth one will be out in 2015-2016, the 7th in 2020-2021. And Martin is already something like 70 and he's not exactly the most healthy and fit person on the planet. So yeah that's a very legitimate fear, not to mention the fact he has absolutely refused to have someone else finish the story for him in case something happens. The Showrunners apprently know how it will end so that they can plan for it, but book readers will be SOL if he dies.

I'm also not a LOST viewer, but from what I understand (read, wikipedia), Martin's pinky has a better grasp of plot construction than all the writers of that show combined, and so do the Game of Thrones fellas.
 
Ilosar said:
I'm also not a LOST viewer, but from what I understand (read, wikipedia), Martin's pinky has a better grasp of plot construction than all the writers of that show combined, and so do the Game of Thrones fellas.
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I didn't watch it either, but you can tell the "tendency" in a lot of series: When they avoid concluding a series, with a constant ambition to extend it with more seasons, which is why I refer to "DVD-boxes" as their ultimate ambition. Examples such as "4400" or "Prison Break" are the same, imo, where shows are kept very generic, and very open-ended, for the sole purpose of DVD-box sales.

It was also the reason I got so hooked on GoT when I started watching, because decisions were sometimes so brutal, and finite, that I quickly understood that storyline progress is a major priority on this show :D And that is worth plenty.

I remember enjoying the first season of Dexter, precisely because I thought it was a miniseries. I simply didn't even consider the idea of this serial-killer-spin being forced into season after season. ONE event of this interesting angle is plausible and fun to watch. Making a whole series out of it... I don't even care if they are good or bad or anything, they should show a bit of self restraint...
 
zegh8578 said:
I didn't watch it either, but you can tell the "tendency" in a lot of series: When they avoid concluding a series, with a constant ambition to extend it with more seasons, which is why I refer to "DVD-boxes" as their ultimate ambition. Examples such as "4400" or "Prison Break" are the same, imo, where shows are kept very generic, and very open-ended, for the sole purpose of DVD-box sales.

It was also the reason I got so hooked on GoT when I started watching, because decisions were sometimes so brutal, and finite, that I quickly understood that storyline progress is a major priority on this show :D And that is worth plenty.

I remember enjoying the first season of Dexter, precisely because I thought it was a miniseries. I simply didn't even consider the idea of this serial-killer-spin being forced into season after season. ONE event of this interesting angle is plausible and fun to watch. Making a whole series out of it... I don't even care if they are good or bad or anything, they should show a bit of self restraint...
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Ya I see what you mean. It's what put me off How I met Your Mother after Season 4. It was obvious they wanted to make it shorter at first, but because of $ they padded the fuck out of it and it became a shadow of what it was with absolutely no end in sight. Game of Thrones (and ASoIaF before it) certainly don't do that; how many TV series kill the alleged protagonist before the end of the first season/book? That's to not say GoT is devoid of plot armor, but it's much more judiciously applied, and events move along at a brisk enough pace to keep things interesting. And most of them have enough foreshadowing that it makes perfect snse, so it's not like Martin simple shakes things up for the hell of it; it's all part of a plan, and certainly one of the serie's biggest draws.

Book 4 slows down a lot and that's a big reason why many like it less; I'm curious as to how the TV folks will handle it. We know that they will avoid the geographical split (books 4 and 5 happen largely at the same time chronologically, but in different locations) so some plots should move along much better. I've always thought the split was Martin's worse decisions. Book 4 did away with what are arguably the 3 biggest protagonists of the story (Jon, Dany, Tyrion, who only return in book 5) in favour of minor characters. And Jaime. But I'm confident the GoT people will avoid that mistake.
 
I'm gonna be open to most storyline decisions, as long as they are genuinely grounded in a creative ambition, rather than a financial one. Sometimes, you can just tell. And so far, watched 1 and 2 season, waiting for 3rd to be aired here, I have no problems with the series. It is head and shoulder above all the rest they send here. Compare to "Castle" -.- or "Adventures of young Conan" or whatever the goddamn hell they air that people happily watch...

So... so long as they stay true to storyline, and keep their ambition to show us a gripping fantasy world of in-your-face-ness, and don't veer off into money-greed-land, I am going to be happy as a lark :D
 
I like season 3 so far. Not much to complain about from my side and I cant wait when they continue it, it sucks a bit that there is a "cliff hanger" to say that. But oh well! It said they want to release the next part in October? If everything goes like planed. As BN said, there is definitely an arch with some characters and how they actually evolve. And that is pretty awesome.
 
The series is so good, and for me one of only a handfull of things on tv that are worth watching, because it avoids the tv series trap. What I mean with that is that most tv series on tv right now think that they need to capture anyone watching at any given time. They think that if one episode can't be followed by your average joe on the couch flipping channels, they won't succeed. So what they do is set up a story and pay it off every episode. This leads to a story that simply doesn't work when you put the episodes together. Or at least, it doesn't work as well as a longer arc with simply developments in the SAME story every episode. And that's what Game of Thrones does so well. There's no end to a story at the end of an episode or season, it's a real world with every season being connected to the others. It completely shattered the quality barrier tv has had up untill this point, for me. I only ever really liked Band of Brothers and the first season of House and first two seasons of Dexter as far as tv series go before Game of Thrones came along. Ideally, every series should be based on books, or maybe comics, in my opinion.
 
the only fear I have right now, is that somehow they will fuck it all up going the way of the series Lost.
 
2 things about this discussion perplex me:

1) The whole fixation on GoT becoming "Lost-ified". Why? What kind of nonsensical paranoia is this? Jesus, GoT isn't a series that was born out of some random idea to sell a staple concept as the basis for a plot and then turn it on its head with twists at every conceivable opportunity. GoT is a series that was born out of the success of a book series that the creator repeatedly turned down any film adaptation to because he always stressed "It's too big, it can't be done, you'd cut too much!" until he found 2 producers who shared his vision for taking his series to the screen in a long-term series format so as to minimize how much content was removed and/or changed. The circumstances of the 2 shows are nothing alike. There is ZERO possibility of GoT becoming "Lost-fified", because despite some changes, it's not going against the books, and the books follow a continuous, evolving plot that takes the reader from the beginning of a massive outbreak of successive power struggles and looming threats and brings them along to its ultimate, definitive conclusion. The 2 shows share NOTHING in common, so any worries of GoT becoming lost in intrigue for the sake of intrigue is just paranoia. Even GRRM has already stated that the story is more or less done ("I already know the answer to [Who sits on the Iron Throne at the end of the story] so I can't say anything.") so it's simply a matter of writing it.

2) The problem with Theon's latest torture scene. Yeah, he briefly had a dry hump. Why do you think this can't compare with torture at all? I can see the point that it's another "fine" example of just including boobies for the sake of boobies, but if you knew anything about the characters, you'd realize this scene was COMPLETELY consistent with the characters and their personal missions. (Granted, it's not yet CONFIRMED that the "Unidentified Boy" (as he's named) is indeed Ramsay, but it seems pretty damn obvious!)
[spoiler:9cd03227d3]Ramsay psychologically dismantled Theon completely. He took a proud and stubborn youth who made the mistake of trusting his blood over his adoptive family, and rendered him a shell of a human being who had no regard for himself, no faith in his freedom, and EXISTED in perpetual fear of his captors. In both the books and the show, Ramsay would let Theon escape just so he could hunt him down, both for sport and to facilitate in utterly crushing Theon's dreams for freedom; and it worked- to the point that Theon didn't trust anyone who ACTUALLY wanted to rescue him![/spoiler:9cd03227d3]
The dry humping scene was basically just taking the same method of torture that Ramsay was confirmed to be fond of (showing you want you want before taking away from you, forever) and applying it to an implied scene, making the scene real for us to see in the show. While watching it, I KNEW it was just another torture by Ramsay, and when he blew the horn, I went from feeling uncomfortable and filled with dread to feeling certain and definite fear of this man. The scene worked, and it just so happened to include tits, so big whoop.

I guess I could include a third, though that's just a matter of intense speculation. "John Snow is the Chosen One?" has been the subject of fan speculation for many years. It's not spoiler, because it's not confirmed. It could be a complete flight of fancy, for all we know. But to simplify the matter, the show hasn't quite made it clear but HAS alluded to a prophecy that recurs in several of the world's religions, all of which refer to the coming a sort of "Chosen One". One calls him the "Prince that was Promised", another by another name, and etc etc. One of the speculations was actually made by a character in the books (slight spoilers) who stated that it was a mistranslation, as the term "Prince" originally had no gender, therefore Dany is the prophecized person! Nothing is confrmed, it's just massive speculation. John Snow is simply one of the recipients of such speculation (although I think he's probably the "real" one, truth be told). No spoilers, just some fans think he's the one.

Perplexities regarding the conversation, aside, I LOVE the show. I'd long heard about the book series, though I knew nothing about it, and having read several titles into a couple different fantasy novel series, nothing in particular seemed to beckon to me about A Song of Ice and Fire. I just recognized when it was being referenced in Warcraft III and many fan fictions of other works, but other than that, I was completely oblivious to it. I started watching the show on HBO because I had already become a big fan of Boardwalk Empire, and I was eager to see another "good" show while BE was on its off-season, and the result has drawn me into this world that makes me question "What took me so long?" I blame the other fans I knew, who failed to sell it to me properly, like that friend of mine to told me how I should eat at Taqueria de Anda, but failed to express just how amazingly goddamned delicious that food actually is. Lazy bastard....
 
All I am saying is that the people working on the TV show might fuck it up one way or another because to many dollar signs in their head.

What the hell. I am paranoid. As far as those things are concerned >_>
 
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