The music is supposed to be jarring. It’s all about dissonance. They talked with Ramin Djawadi and there wasn’t anything they could think of that would be appropriate hand-cutting orchestral music. And, yes, they cited American Werewolf in London as the inspiration.
the problem is, it doesn’t work very well.
Been a long time since I read the book but I thought that Jamie gets most of his arm cut off not just his hand. I guess they changed it for easier practical effects.
Can you give an example of one of the gritty elements you think they may gloss over?
Well they’ve already glossed over Tyrion’s disfigurement.
No, the extent of the maiming on the show is the same as in the book (albeit a different cutthroat and for different reasons). It is your memory of the book that is off.
Mr_Zero
4366
Not out of squeamishness, though, just to save him time in the make up chair.
They couldn’t do Tyrion’s face true to text without CGI-ing it.
Yeah, that was purely for budget and ratings reasons, and I don’t know that facial scarring is what Teiman was talking about. In my mind much of what I thought was gritty about the books has been incorporated: Dany’s rape by Kal Drogo. Castor’s inbreeding with his daughters, Nedd’s beheading, etc. My definition of “gritty” might be different though, which is why I asked the question.
Oh, and while I think of it, I really liked the good-bye scene with Hot Pie. The wolf-shaped bread/pastry was a nice touch and I thought the exchange was fairly touching.
Mr_Zero
4369
The grittiness of the plot has been preserved, but the showrunners have – thankfully – dialled back the grittiness/grimness/nastiness of the tone. I recently read the chapters dealing with Jaime and Brienne’s Midnight Run, and the TV show kept their banter so much lighter than the book, in which Jaime is constantly calling Brienne a cow, wench, stupid stubborn bitch, etc. I think it’s a good move, to keep the show more of a big tent, and I personally find it nice not to have to take in too much grimdark.
Mouzone
4370
So who was the guy in the show that cut off Jaimie’s hand. Last week it looked like he was a Bolton banner man. But in the books I thought it was the bloody mummers
I think they made a mistake cutting out Vargo Hoat and the Brave Companions. It makes no sense for a simple minor bannerman of House Bolton to cut off Jaime Lannister’s hand. He risks not only the wrath of Tywin Lannister (which makes bold men shit themselves), but also the wrath of his own lord (Bolton) and that of the King in the North (Robb) for maiming an important hostage (hell, THE most important hostage). How is Robb supposed to trade a crippled Jaime back to Tywin for his sisters? He’d fully expect Tywin to cut off the hand of BOTH sisters before returning them.
With Vargo Hoat on the other hand, you have a mercenary captain who is already known to be slightly insane and won’t give two shits what either Bolton, Robb or even Tywin think. Vargo Hoat in the books was an egomaniac and psychopath who thought first and foremost of himself, and nothing else. THAT is the only kind of character who would dare maim the Lannister heir. This new interpretation makes no sense, and is the first mis-step I’ve seen in the otherwise excellent changes the producers have made to the story.
Emos
4373
Agreed. Not sure why they decided to remove “The Goat” and the Brave Companions in the series. I think they would make for much more interesting villains then the current captors.
first mis-step I’ve seen in the otherwise excellent changes
the majority of the changes have been for the worse. the added scenes are usually below average, and they really messed up some of the storyline in season 2 (dany in qarth was abysmal)
I think this guy who cut off Jaime’s hand has a couple of reasons why he’d do it and I think it makes sense:
Jaime was really rubbing his wealth and privilege in the guy’s face, really pissing him off.
Jaime was to be brought back “alive”, and it could be explained that during an attempted escape they had to chop chop. He’s still alive.
This guy is expecting to be a rich man, maybe wealthy enough to get out of Dodge? Then who cares what Rob or Tywin have to say?
JonRowe
4376
Yeah, but the bloody mummers were so cool. I am still transfixed by why they are changing so much. I definitely agree that the added scenes are kinda pointless.
Why? HUGE SPOILER WARNING
Most of the characters with added scenes are going to die… This season is kinda hard to watch knowing what is coming. Watching scenes they have added going… I don’t care… you are going to die soon… move on to the actual plot!
Still love every episode though.
The story isn’t finished, I don’t think they want to speed through the plot. Which is why they change things I think. For instance:
Sticking to the books, a certain character may have X amount of scenes, where certain LIMITED things happen and/or are discussed. In the books this is fine, because we get extra but needed info through internal thoughts, other characters’ point of view, and other tricks like having a side character exist solely to fill in a blank. None of this would work in a limited run tv show. So I can see why they’d add a scene for a character that the audience already knows, so that person has more to do and does it in a timely manner chronologically. Including those bloody mummers means having to explain to the tv audience who the hell they are, no explanation means no audience value. Having it be Bolton’s men(the audience already knowing Bolton) is a tidy and efficient way to get to the same plot point.
Tangential, but were they villains?
I haven’t read the books and I have to admit I had zero clue who Locke was before clicking the wiki link Veefy posted. But the only vaguely villainous thing I’m aware of Locke & co doing so far, was cutting off Jaime’s hand instead of Jaime’s head.
… Then again I’m having a hard time spotting any true non-villains over 5ft tall, and the short people come across as not utterly vile purely for lack of opportunities to be despicable. Weirdly, I loves teh relentlessly grimdark in TTRPGs. But at this point I think the only reason I’m still watching the show is that character gets abused all to hell, and they’re all vile gits that really-really deserve it (and my SO is an AGoT fan).
Will there be any likeable characters in the show at some point?
define “likeable character”
Will there be any likeable characters in the show at some point?
Some of the characters that initially seem totally unlikeable become more likeable later on in the books. Right about now, in fact. If you don’t like Tyrion (at least as a character, if not a person), then you’re not going to like anyone else.
