1641

My concern with Dany is that they never really showed how abusive her brother is towards her - so far it’s obvious he doesn’t care for her well-being, but she hasn’t “woke the dragon” on-screen as yet and shown just how personal and deep his abuse is. I don’t know if we’ll have the same impact when the eventual shift of power happens where you see her overcome him. That to me was one of the most defining parts of her character - that she comes from a tragic, abusive background and overcomes it so completely out of her own internal strength.

1642

We’re on episode 2. Give it some time. :P

1643

In the book, Viserys came across as a constant over the top expression of anger, bitterness and cruelty. So far TV Viserys has been rather nice and jolly.

1644

Like when he nicely told Dany that he’d let 40,000 men fuck her if it gave him his throne? What a jolly guy! :P

My point though is we have 4 episodes until he’s crowned and thus far he hasn’t even had a lot of screen time. There’s still plenty of time to see the dragon wake, and the scenes thus far have done a fine job in establishing his character.

1645

Shit, that scene made me giggle like a little girl the first time I watched it.

One of my favorite things about it is just how fucking chill The Hound is with it. He’s Joffrey’s fucking bodyguard and he’s just standing there like, “I’m cool with it.” I imagine he’s probably more pissed off at Joffrey than any of them, considering he has to put up with the royal little shit 24/7.

1646

Pissed? I always figured the Hound didn’t give a shit. Joffrey represents the hypocrisy and injustice of the the feudal system that Sandor seems at times amused by and ridicules in the books.

Edit: But that’s just my impression, there may be more evidence in the books he really is angry with Joffrey at some points.

1647

Brilliant!

1648

Same here. Actually, I never found that storyline terribly interesting - I would have been happier if GRRM had ignored that plotline entirely, and stuck to the scheming in Westoros.

1649

Dany’s story in the second book bored me quite a bit. I’ve read the series twice and I don’t think I can recall any detail of interest re her storyline from book 2.

1650

She’s only in about 4-5 chapters in Book 2. The big issue with her is that she needs time for her dragons to grow, and so she’s basically treading water.

The bulk of Book 2 she’s got to get her and her Khalasar out of the desert. They get to Qarth where she the three main factions try to persuade her to join them. She then goes to the House of the Undying to meet the warlocks and she gets various prophecies (and Drogon goes all dragonfire on the warlocks). Then she decides to leave Qarth aboard the ships that Magister Illyrio sends for her.

Book 3 is where she goes all apeshit on the slaver cities.

1651

Well if the interpretation is right Showtime would be in hot water too. The last episode of the Borgias had Lucretia get married off and then essentailly raped by her husband at the end, and I believe in the show its been said that she is 14.

1652

Totally disagree. Dany herself can be a bit boring at times, but the cool cultures and cities around her are fascinating and add a lot of variety to the series. Her chapters are particularly amazing in Book 3.

1653

In episode 1, his very first scene involved him sexually molesting her.

I sort of know what you mean – I think the writers intended the actor to convey a lot more subtle menace with his lines via, well, acting – but I think the disgusting aspects of his character are there. Perhaps Harry Lloyd just isn’t quite up to the challenge

I was much happier with Daenerys’ story in Episode 2. The departure from the book in episode 1 had me worried about where they were going with her, but I like the direction. She’s basically trying to gain some measure of power back through sexual wiles, without the mixed emotions. The wig isn’t doing it for me, but I was very impressed by Emilia Clarke’s acting in episode 2. She was successfully able to convey Dany is plotting her own scheme while being raped. That can’t have been easy.

1654

Really. I couldn’t disagree more. I thought she did a fantastic job in that scene. There were equal parts of nervousness, uncertainty, a strong inner fire and overall sexual arousal. It totally made sense for me.

I do agree about Tyrion, Jon and Arya though. They are all terrific.

For me, the weak link is Cersei. Perhaps it’s just because I hated that actress on the Sarah Connor Chronicles, but in every scene she seems stiff and unconvincing. Isn’t Cersei supposed to be a selfish, pretentious and not as clever as she thinks she is? So far she just seems flat. She didn’t even seem to have much lust for Jaime in ep 1.

1655

40,000 men AND THEIR HORSES TOO.

Just finished watching episode one, i have to say, the dothraki, and specifically Drogo, look just bad ass. With all their armour and weaponry and whatnot the westerosians (?) can’t outmatch sheer dothraki coolness.

1656

SPOILERS

I’m rereading the books right now and up until the end of the first book, when Joffrey orders Eddard beheaded after Cersei and the small council promised that he’d be allowed to take the black she really does seem to be fairly clever.

Her not being actually clever doesn’t come in until after, especially after Tyrion becomes the Hand in book two.

1657

I was fairly disappointed by the first episode, not because it was a poor adaptation; it’s actually very faithful, and nicely grubby and non-epic. The acting is generally fine, the pace is decent, and the relationships clear. But I am not satisfied.

The characters and world sing in my imagination, and on the TV screen they never will.

1658

I have to agree with sinnick – I’ve never found Daenerys herself all that compelling, although the cultures around her have been quite interesting. But the way the actor handled the scene with Doreh, & then after with Drogo, were really well done.

Neither the characterizations of Jon nor Cersei are doing it for me. Both seem flat. I love the portrayals of Tyrion, Arya, and Jaime, though. I actually like Dinklage better than the book version of Tyrion, because by this point in the novels he’s such an obvious stand-in for Martin himself. My wife, who hasn’t read the books, is spitting mad at Jaime right now, and keeps asking when he gets beaten down or killed. All I can stand to tell her is “Very few characters are completely good or evil in Martin’s books. Jaime’s evolution is…complicated. But I can understand why you hate him now.”

I’m pretty sure I’ll get her reading the novels by episode 5. Oh, and I can’t believe how fast an hour flies by with these episodes.

1659

Just wait for the musical.

1660

Vanity Fair reviews episode 2: Game of Thrones: Veering into Porn-Parody Territory

You say that like it’s a bad thing.

His distaste for all the unlikeable characters and the lesbian innuendo is understandable, I guess, but also makes me think that he doesn’t really get the show yet.

I do wonder what it must be like for someone not familiar with the books. I imagine it must be hard to keep all the characters straight.