I don’t know what to say except that you and I experienced altogether different things from the same scene. Some of that is simply putting together odd choices the TV series (particularly highlighting Roz so many times, and then bringing her all the way from the North to Baelish, etc) with what Dotrice did. The instant switch from coughing old man to spry codger bouncing around, followed by a pronounced re-hunching as he prepares to open the door speaks volumes, and in fact until reading your interpretation I thought they were being over-the-top with the reveal. Roz was put there for a reason by the filmmakers, and the fact that Pycelle is so purposefully babbling at her seems to speak volumes about who he is even if he doesn’t know who specifically planted her (not that it would be tough to connect the dots). At a minimum, he assumes he is being watched and acts accordingly, living a double life as a sickly, doddering old maester while he runs his own plans. I expect this will also make the later kidnapping and imprisonment by Tyrion a more interconnected event than it is in the book since the prostitute will likely be Roz or at least explicitly linked by viewers to Baelish.
Watching the HBOGo this morning with the Special Features turned on, it pointed out somethign I missed - the bard that gets his tongue removed at court is Marillion (The bard that tags along with the party that goes to The Vale, and in the books stays there). Somehow he ended up Kings Landing, I guess.
Also, I seemed to have missed the character that GRRM hinted was changed to die in this season instead of book 3.
Did you maybe miss the last minute of the scene? When he shot up, did calisthenics, trotted around the room, then exaggeratedly hunched himself back over before he opened the door? He did everything but hold up a sign that said “I’m not as doddering and senile as I’m pretending to be”.
Oh, apparently the consensus over at Westeros.org is that the unexpected death this season was Marillion. I guess I was correct earlier in the thread when I suggested GRRM didn’t remember correctly what book the character dies in (since Marillion died in AFFC)
How does Marillion there even make sense? Why would they even bother to name him? I’m not questioning you, I’m just asking generally. The whole purpose of Marillion’s miserable existence is to be the fall guy (LOL), no?
I have no idea, but that’s deffinately the same actor.
Pretty much. The only thing of any real import he does otherwise is to nearly rape Sansa/Alayne in ASoS… which isn’t made much of plot-wise.
Marillion’s maiming was a decent scene though. It gave the viewers an idea of what the “King’s Justice” is like under Joffrey.
General Veers was great. I loved the Wire-esqe, say so much without saying anything.
Marillion isn’t dead though, just sans tongue, although that would make it pretty difficult to fulfil his part in the books as written.
Honestly I think the whole “someone dies early” thing may have been a red herring. There weren’t any characters, even lesser ones, that died in the show this season who weren’t dead at the end of Game of Thrones.
ALSO : Lizard King, I can’t stop laughing at your Chris Hanson pic.
He’s not dead yet, right? Just tongueless.
Edit: Ninja’d!
Could just have been artistic license on Martin’s point. Who knows though at this point.
Yes, I know he’s not dead, I just assumed that making him tongueless would likely make him useless as a gigolo, a person who confesses, or as a songwhining inmate.
haha.
Dotrice actually had to drop out of the project for health reasons, that’s Julian Glover playing Pycelle.
Watch it again if you have a moment and listen to his monologue. Joffrey has the potential for true greatness? That’s stretches credulity. My favorite tell in that scene came later though, there’s a beautiful moment where Pycelle preens before the mirror before settling into ‘character’ for the rest of the world. We’ve seen that contrast again and again through the first season. The old fool who gives Ned the genealogy vs the ferocious interrogator that tears into Sansa for carrying traitors blood. He shifts with the political winds quite deftly.
Just in case anyone in this thread was also an Arrested Development fan, and has not yet seen this:
Arrested Westeros
FUUUUUUUU. And here I thought it was the man himself. Stupid IMDB.
Really funny, thanks!
Euri
3016
I really liked the Unburnt scene. They are setting up Dany perfectly for the TV-only crowd.
Tyrion
3017
I think the sort of people that say the Starks deserved what they got have a serious blame the victim mentality. It’s interesting to see.
So… as much fun as it was, why did they move important parts of Catelyn’s aCoK conversation with Jaime to here? In particular it was a bit odd that Jaime owned up to shoving Bran out the window, given that he did so in the books only after Catelyn knew all the answers and he could admit to being Cersei’s lover.
I suppose it could be part of their ongoing plan to have Jaime disappear less in aCoK, but effectively they’ve just cut one scene from aCoK and put it into aGoT here…
Interesting (and perhaps sound) decision: they didn’t externalize the “He’s given Jaime up as lost/dead” line that Tyrion thinks when Tywin calls him his son and appoints him acting hand. On the one hand it’s good that they think they can leave that implied (partly by Tyrion’s stunned expression) but on the other hand, in the books the explicit realization that Tywin elevates Tyrion by default, and then degrades him again later when he’s less necessary, sets him up as a blameworthy villain a bit more.
OFF-TOPIC.
Honestly, why do multi-line quotes annoy me so much? I can’t help it, they just do. I’ve even done them before! Anyway, just thought I’d share that, in case someone else has insight as to what the deal is. It’s possible I’m just crazy.
Really they just split the scene between Cat and Jaime in two - they’ll have a continuation next season. They had to do something though - everyone else was getting some type of closure for the season, if they just left Rob and Catelyn sobbing in the woods it would have been pretty pathetic.
The lack of internal dialogue is what is lacking most from the show. You miss out on important things about the characters, espcially Tyrion. The scene you mentioned being one, but another being his innocence in the whole Bran plot.
