Starst with a Q. I only watched the East Coast showing before the television exploded with news.
Wherever he was going, he couldn’t have been more obvious. “Oh, the queen is with child? Well, I gotta go! You know, to mumble mumble… I’ll be back!”
jg93
1783
"I wish Martin had cut Dany from the first book or three entirely. She’s interesting but does not really mesh with the rest of the story-telling in the books. It always feels jarring to me to jump over to another continent where almost nothing that happens will directly influence anything in Westeros where the “real” story is (at least within the same book). I wish she were treated more like events over the wall: there are hints that something is going on but we don’t really get into the details until they become more directly relevant to our main cast of characters. "
SPOILERS
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I agreed with this in the first book - and on my first reading. In subsequent readings she’s about one of the only ‘good’ characters, and her adventures in Pentos are just fucking awesome. Strong Belwas, the Unsullied, the Dragons - on and on and on. Her brother’s demise… Her story is incredible.
Eh, I didn’t think anything of it. If you already know the answer, most mysteries seem pretty obvious.
Sure, but why even add it? The book handled it well enough.
Barristan was awesome, as well as Syrio.
Don’t remember how the book worked it, but maybe they just want to lay the groundwork so that the surprise, when sprung, feels earned, and not out of left field.
It wasn’t at all a surprise in the book. They talk about it in the small council. That Jorah Mormont (and Ned makes a face) is spying because he wants to come back home.
salwon
1789
Great episode overall, but where the hell was Ghost?
Remember back when we were all wondering how they would handle the direwolves? CG, real wolves, puppets, or a mix?
We’re getting our answer now. Apparently, the solution is to completely ignore the fact that they exist unless you absolutely need to show them attacking or getting killed.
:-/
Ghost was scene at the camp in the last episode.
The wolves aren’t getting as much play as originally hoped, but I read it’s because even trained animals can be difficult to work with, and they tried shooting a number scenes with them but they couldn’t get them right and ran out of time. Even HBO needs to keep a shooting schedule.
GRRM also hinted that a couple of the dogs got in a fight and drew blood.
If I recall doesn’t Jon let Ghost go off and hunt most of the time? It’s a little odd to not have at least one or two shots with Ghost, but being off hunting could easily explain that.
Blips
1793
Yeah I was kind of looking for Ghost for most of the episode. Even something as simple as someone asking him where his wolf was would have been nice.
You’ll see some of Robb’s direwolf in the next episode I’m pretty sure.
— Alan
Great episode, and I totally didn’t mind the changed/added bits as I felt they made the story easier to understand for non-readers. Information, characters and changes are coming at viewers so quickly in these first few episodes that I still fear we may be losing non-readers to the complexity and blinding pace of the story. Even I was momentarily confused when Barristan Selmy appeared on screen, thinking for a moment I was looking at Tywin Lannister. My wife, a non-reader, then asked me if “the older guy” was Jaime’s father, so it wasn’t just me.
I am hoping they use the Tournament of the Hand to help identify a lot of the players and put things into context for viewers. It would be very easy and natural to have someone sitting with Sansa (Littlefinger perhaps) naming each knight and his house as they make an appearance and giving some background details on the important players. I think viewers would greatly benefit form something like that.
I loved that they included Tyrion pissing off the wall in this episode, it’s such a great insight to his character. I didn’t mind that they gave Donal’s rescue of Jon and advice thereafter to Tyrion instead, as it only helped cement the relationship between the two and make Tyrion look a bit more sympathetic. I think Jon was fleshed out a bit more this episode as well, and I like that he finally gave voice to his misgivings about the Night’s Watch. I’m liking all the scenes at the Wall. Jorah Mormont and Yoren are well cast, and I like that Yoren is a bit more likeable given what’s coming.
Arya continues to steal the series thanks to the actress playing her. There can’t be many people watching who aren’t totally taken with her at this point, which is perfect for where we are at in the story. Like many others, including Sean Bean, I was grinning ear to ear during the Syrio “dancing master” scene.
My only real concern remains that the show is pacing too fast and with too little action for non-readers. I’m hoping that the next couple of episodes resolve that issue.
Her whining to her father felt a little over acted to me. It didn’t ring true and there’s some other quibbles but…
My only real concern remains that the show is pacing too fast and with too little action for non-readers. I’m hoping that the next couple of episodes resolve that issue.
Actually, I’d think the pacing would be less of an issue for non-readers in some ways. Sure, it’ fast and hard to follow, but as someone who’s read the books as I watch these scenes I realize what we’re mostly getting is just the turning points back to back leaving little room for the natural arc around these events to contextualize them and give them meaning. In the book, these turning points are bookended which heightens their impact.
I’m having a real hard time staying interested except out of curiosity. There’s no way this would have happened (or had the broader appeal), but I wish they’d contracted out an animation house like Production IG to animate the series and have 22 episodes per book. Animation is a great medium, where much like the reason GRRM turned to writing a series of epic fantasy novels in the first place, it’s cheaper and less limiting than doing a regular TV show.
That said, I loved the transition at the end of the last scene… and there are some fine performances we would have missed out on.
Likewise; I haven’t read the books but I’ve read a bit about the lore and all so I knew Tywin is supposed to be bald so he probably was someone else, I had to look at the wiki to know who Barristan was.
Blips
1798
Does anyone know if they’re putting the relevant actors / actresses through conditioning and sword training?
mixuk
1799
I’m not sure what happened, but now the show somehow clicked.
Maybe it’s because we’re past the introductions, and the characters start to talk and do things which reflect who they are (Arya, Ned, Tyrion, Jaime). The first two episodes felt more like setting things up, while in the third the story actually started to finally roll. This show rocks, it has me hooked like the first book over 10 years ago.*
- The opening beyond the wall is still not very good though
Athryn
1800
Yeah, they have been, all the way down to the girl playing Arya.
