MikeJ
3501
You definitely don’t want to be reading this thread unless you are completely caught up on the books.
Tim_N
3502
Try till you have read all the books (or in the distant future and you have seen all the seasons). People talk about plot points in future books in here, I believe the “(no spoilers)” thread only allows show spoilers that have aired.
The problem is that this thread started in 2008, three years before the series even aired. If you were jumping in back then, odds were that you were a fan of the books. This is just one of those threads on Qt3 that never dies.
In retrospect, having two new threads when the series started last year would have made sense. A spoiler viewing thread and a non-spoiler viewing thread.
So … question …
I haven’t read the books. My wife and I really enjoyed Season 1 of Game of Thrones. I’m even considering paying for HBO for a bit when Season 2 premiers.
But, I’m a bit concerned that this is one of those shows in which nothing will get resolved. I know there are a bunch of books (with each book a season), and still others being written. Who knows if HBO will continue through with more seasons. Who knows if the book series will even get finished.
Without spoiling, are there opportunities in the near-term (Season 2 or 3, for example) to resolve certain plot lines and arcs? Do the books ever finish off big storylines and then pick up new ones?
Other than just having characters die, of course, which seems to happen a fair bit.
- According to various reports, GRRM told details to David Benioff & Dan Weiss regarding the end of the series. This is widely believed to be a precondition from HBO for the series to go forward. (If you were going to invest $60 million+ a year in this property, you’d want to have your bases covered, too.)
HBO also seems very pleased. If the show continues to grow, and there’s no reason to believe it won’t, it could soon become bigger than True Blood. And HBO says Game of Thrones broke its first week records for DVD/BluRay sales. The sheer fact that a geeky fantasy series got 12 Emmy noms and two wins its first year out is also very good. Ratings and prestige make the series pretty much bulletproof for HBO.
- Your second question is trickier to answer, given you haven’t read the books. There are monumental events to happen, and I’m not willing to call it closure, but there’s certainly a sense that if the series is one long story, we’re still in the first act, and there’s definitely a sense that the first act does come to a close.
Fair enough, Woolen. Thanks. It’s nice to hear that the author does purportedly have an endgame in mind.
Going to try to stay spoiler-free for Season 2. I was forced to avoid using my peripheral vision when visiting this thread. I was late watching Season 1, and by that time I had been deluged with spoiler’y magazine covers, etc. That’s why I am considering watching them first-run on HBO this time, damn the expense.
Fair enough, Woolen. Thanks. It’s nice to hear that the author does purportedly have an endgame in mind.
Going to try to stay spoiler-free for Season 2. I was forced to avoid using my peripheral vision when visiting this thread. I was late watching Season 1, and by that time I had been deluged with spoiler’y magazine covers, etc. That’s why I am considering watching them first-run on HBO this time, damn the expense.
As an aside, I love the design of the Lannister family armor on the show. Every time the father or Tyrion or Jaime was onscreen wearing armor I was overcome with the idea of finding someone to make me some so I could wear it around the house.
I would argue that there’s a nice feeling of an act 1 ending with the third book. Books 4 + 5 are just cludgy vinculums trying to bridge over to the second and final act.
In the end, I’m pretty sure the books will be viewed in two halves, the first three and the last four. If they only ever covered the first three in TV form, I think people would still get their moneys worth. Which is not to say all arcs conclude there.
I’ve been reading the books (only on the second one) but given GRRM’s age and physical condition, I hope he actually finishes the series of books before he pulls a Robert Jordan and keels over. I think there’s zero chance of that guy even making it to 70.
Scuzz
3512
I am about to finish the 3rd book and that thought is always running through my mind. If I get through the 5th book and the guy croaks I am going to be so pissed.
Biggerboat, in my opinion this is a case where even if they never reach a conclusion, the trip is totally worth the price of admission.
Scuzz
3514
As good a read as the first two books of the LOTR were it would have been ruined had Tolkien died before he wrote the third book.
The comment a few posts up where it’s rumored he had to lay out the plot for HBO makes me less-worried than I was before. Previously, GRRM had said things like “no, the overall plan isn’t written down anywhere”, which meant that if he were to say, keel over from a cheesy-fries-induced coronary during a Jets game, we would be SOL.
However, if “the plan” is indeed now locked inside a titanium safe buried in a bunker beneath HBO HQ, we can be assured that either HBO or the Martin estate would waste little time farming it out to some one to finish. The last book or three might not approach Martin’s brilliance, but at least we’ll get to read some rendition of the Dany/Jon wedding and the bloodshed accompanying the event.
No, nothing would have been ruined. It would have been a far lesser work, by that would take nothing away from the existing books.
Scuzz
3517
You forgot the sex, someone would have to describe the sexual positions they would use.
And the food. Long, detailed, descriptions of each and every dish.
Wicks
3519
And an in depth travel log for each of the guests on their way to the reception.
