Game of Thrones

[Masamune]

Spoiler

I can't help laughing at the 'butcher boy' scene in episode 2. Just the way the butcher boy is stereotypically a ginger chubby and the way Joffrey calls him 'boy', when he's probably younger than him.

*And* Sansa's stupid "You two are ruining everything!" when Joffrey's swinging his sword at Arya. I think "Stop before you disembowel my sister!" would be more appropriate.

 

[Ⓐaron]

Salladhor Saan, Xaro Xhoan Daxos, and Quaithe of Asshai have been cast.

 

[Cthulhu]

Finally, some black people, . Just two so far, but it's a start.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

Man I am so beyond behind on news for this damn laptop dying on me for two weeks

I'm happy so far with all the casting decisions it's making me want to change to Jaqen H'ghar already but alas I will wait until we get pictures/screencaps of him in costume to have a nice little theme which will probably be a while.

 

[Ⓐaron]

Peter Dinklage wins Emmy. Great justice is great.

 

[Dana Scully]

Awesome, dude definitely deserves it.

 

[Masamune]

Can someone explain to me...

Spoiler

the point of Littlefinger framing Tyrion?

I understand he was looking to build trust with Ned, but why such a gamble? It could have very easily backfired on him, as Varys later suggests. And later on, he wants Ned to bury the hatchet with the Lannisters, anyway.

 

[Hisako]

Spoiler

iirc wasn't it Joffrey who gave the assassin the dagger? I'm not sure any of them were actually aware of it at that point, and Petyr was just making an opportunistic jab.

Also, saw the news about Peter Dinklage about half an hour ago, although I can't say I'm totally surprised

ed: Also not surprised at Mad Men winning Best Drama fourth year in a row.

 

[Masamune]

Spoiler

iirc wasn't it Joffrey who gave the assassin the dagger? I'm not sure any of them were actually aware of it at that point, and Petyr was just making an opportunistic jab.

Spoiler

I spoiled it for myself. Robert mentioned it would be mercy to kill Bran, so Joffrey totally thought hiring an assassin would be the smart thing to do.

That still doesn't explain why Littlefinger made such a risky move just to win Ned's trust. Sounds like a big gamble for little gain, tbh.

 

[Hisako]

Spoiler

Well, considering what he does by the end of Game of Thrones,

 

[Masamune]

Spoiler

Well, considering what he does by the end of Game of Thrones,

Spoiler

Ned backed him into a corner. If Ned had his way, Stannis would be king and he wouldn't tolerate Littlefinger's ways. It was self-preservation more than anything. He didn't set out to betray him.

In some ways, Ned deserves what happened to him. He made a series of naive blunders which led to his demise. Giving the game away to Cersei, rejecting Renly's succour, and putting faith in Littlefinger (who's obviously a slippery mofo and was clearly against crowning Stannis). All in the name of misguided honour.

 

[Splintered]

Spoiler

It's just my opinion, but I think Littlefinger just wanted to cause chaos because he's one of the few that really enjoys the game. He wants the Starks and the Lannisters at war. That's why he framed them for Jon Aryn's death when it was really him who orchestrated the entire thing through Catelyn's sister. IMO, that was even riskier considering he's playing family against family, good thing she was certifiable.

Littlefinger even says it himself, he thrives in chaos. He had an opportunity to throw oil on the fire he himself started. And not once did Catelyn doubt him, that's the sad thing.

 

[Roger]

Spoiler

Littlefinger only wanted Ned to make peace with the Lannisters as an alternative to Stannis, which for him would be the worst case scenerio. Before that came into play he just wanted to get the Lannisters and Ned at each others throats so he can make himself useful to both sides, rise in favor and reap his reward.

 

[Masamune]

Spoiler

I want to know more about Rhaegar Targaryen. From what I've wiki'ed, it sounds like he was a fascinating character and there seems to be some debate whether he did indeed kidnap Lyanna Stark or whether they eloped together. And ofc, there's the theories that Rhaegar & Lyanna are Jon Snow's true parents.

 

[Ⓐaron]

Spoiler

It's not entirely clear whether Lyanna was abducted, but the only character who really seems to believe sincerely that Rhaegar abducted her is Robert, who is pretty clearly depicted as having an irrational hatred of Rhaegar. Most of the rest of the characters seem to have a fairly high opinion of him, which wouldn't really square with him abducting her. That said, everything we hear about him is second-hand, and due to the books' use of unreliable narration it's unlikely we'll ever have a completely accurate depiction of what kind of person he was.

 

[Masamune]

True that, Aaron. It's that ambiguity which adds to Rhaegar's mystique.

I decided to buy the first book. I'm not that far in, but it's strange trying to imagine younger characters (Dany, 13, Jon Snow, 14 etc.) when compared to their TV counterparts. The 'underage' scenes neither shock nor appall me, because this is, after all, a medieval/fantasy setting. It was common practice for girls of 12 to marry back then, and still happens in some parts of the world today.

As I said before, I already own A Clash of Kings. I'm not sure if I want to read it before they air Season 2. The way I see it, book spoilers will remove a lot of the drama from the TV series, whereas reading the books second can only expand on the world of Westeros and its players.

 

[Ite]

My thoughts exactly after finishing the first book. I have all the books, but I'm letting them sit. Whether or not I can wait a year between books remains to be seen...

 

[Ⓐaron]

It'll probably be two years for the third book, because they're planning to break it up into two seasons.

Part of me would have liked to have seen the show before reading the books (apart from that it would have meant I'd have had to wait six years after I heard about the series to start experiencing it), but part of me is glad I read the books first. There's just such a rich world in these books and I'm not sure I could have satisfied myself in between with waiting for the next season. There are things to be said for either approach.

 

[Cthulhu]

It's kinda like whether or not to read the LotR / Hobbit books before watching the movies. I, for one, watched the first LotR movie first, then read all three books before watching the second / third (which had not been released at the time, btw). I'm not sure if it actually mattered in that case - I can live without the extras found in the book but not in the movies, and still think the movies are among the best ever made.

As for GoT, I'd say it's better to read the books first, preferably before seeing anything of the TV series. It's much win going 'OH HEY THAT'S so-and-so LOLZ!' whenever a new character is shown in the TV series, . That, and the TV characters don't get nearly as much introduction and backstory as the ones in the books.

 

[Masamune]

Spoiler

Also the details of how Jory dies might have been slightly different; I can't remember if Jaime actually stabbed him through the eye, but he definitely killed him.

Just read this part in the book.

In fact...

Spoiler

Jory is killed by Jaime's men, not Jaime himself. Jaime rides off after giving the order, leaving Ned to fall off his horse while his men are getting slaughtered. XD Pretty lame once you've seen the TV show's take on it. Also, Jory seemed a much closer character to Ned in the show, which made his death more poignant.

 

[Ite]

Even having seen every episode so far, I still feel scared when I see Spoiler tags. There's no way to tell if you guys are gonna talk about the show or the books under there. Luckily, Masa's last post is Season 1 related. Whew.

 

[Dana Scully]

Usually if we're talking book spoilers we'll say so in the spoiler tags

 

[Cthulhu]

Cba to find the occifial GoT thread, so I'll just spam it here .

Cyanide Studio recently published their GoT RTS, and it seems that they've had an RPG of the game under development since before the HBO series aired. First announcement mentions a storyline involving two playable characters and a "Mass Effect-like RPG with a KotOR-style combat system". They have a contract with HBO, so the TV show actors can / have voiced some of the characters (and they may resemble each other).

I remain unconvinced. I'd rather have a party like Bethesda get the license for making video games based off of the series.

 

[Masamune]

I was going to ask where the redhead whore, Ros, comes into the books, but it turns out she's an original character for the show. Strange one, really, because her tits have more screentime than some of the more important characters in the book. I wonder if they'll actually do anything with her character other than give HBO an excuse for more T&A?

 

[Ⓐaron]

Well, the main purpose of introducing her into the show was to provide an outsider to use as foil for exposition so characters would have a plausible reason to reveal details that are generally included in their internal monologues, or scenes that there wasn't enough time/budget to include. One can debate how well it worked, but most of the information included in her scenes is generally pretty important.