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 Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:30 am
First, oddly enough I just got done watching episode nine about 15-20 minutes ago. Hoo-boy! (And sorry about the forced double-post. I'll explain my lessened activity elsewhere.)
Stretching back to cover gaps: Harry Lloyd turned out to be one of the great castings, and I'm also sorry to see him go.
Tywin's a perfect a**. Brilliant tactician, but damn I hate him. Effing Lannister...
Curtain call on Mark Addy, as well. Being familiar with him mostly through his comedy roles, I'm glad to see he stepped up to the challenge and brought Robert to life in a way I both agreed and sympathized with. In the books I always felt he was a bit more oafish and somewhat of a jerk, but in the show I can respect where he came from and feel sorry for how he turned out.
Drogo's impassioned declaration came practically out of left field. I've always liked that setup. He comes in as a stoic leader of barbarian types, gets a few lines here and there, shows growth and then BAM! Those bastards wanna ******** with me 'n mine?!? ******** 'em! TO WAR!
I've also been keen on how Littlefinger is coming off. Seeing new fans of the series not sure which side he's on... I love it.
Episode eight, the fall of the Starks and the crazy of the Arryn's. We also say goodbye to Syrio, who turned out more badass than I could have hoped. I'm going to miss his training.
Team Robb grows while Team Snow fights off an undead menace. Hey, Rickon shows up!
Rickon: *enters room*
Bran: How long have you been hiding out there?
Rickon: Since episode one.
Bran: Oh. Alright, then.
I think seeing the actress that plays Tonks as Osha (I can't recall her name at the moment and am lazy.) is awesome. She puts an eerie macabre into Osha's omens that I can't help shiver over.
Kicking out Barristan? Man, the Lannisters are stupid. The guy's a badass! They don't call him Barristan the Bold for nothing. You could also see the hurt in Sansa's face when she saw the way they were dismissing him. That was well played indeed. They she goes and herp derps before the council. Silly Sansa, this isn't some happy little love story.
And now, episode nine.
I dislike the way they treated Tyrion's battle as well... though I'm sure they'll more than make up for it in later battles. (Heck, I was more disappointed we didn't get to see the battle where Robb took Jaime.)
I'm also disappointed that we didn't get to see, or even hear Ned mumble about, the 'bed of blood' dream. That's important s**t! Bah.
Hahaha! Lord Frey was awesome. I kept expecting a big grungy cat to hop up on the arm of his chair.  Still, I like the casting. Maybe a little older in my mind, but still played out perfectly.
Yay, Longclaw! "Here, Snow. Have a sword with a wolf pommel. Every Stark should have a wolf." "But Lord Commander, I have Ghost..." "Who?" "Oh, nevermind."
Hmm. Not sure I like Shae. She doesn't look young enough. Her face is longer than I pictured and her hair too dark. Meh, I'm sure I'll get used to her. Also, the game they played? I, uh... don't think I ever recall Bronn having been north of the wall. That confuses me, and I may have to do some digging on that point.
Arya's scenes at Baelor... man, I love Arya. (She is, of course, my favorite character in the series.) Ned drawing Yorren's attention to her was nice, too, because it helped set a few things up rather than the 'chance' that occurred in the books.
And then we meet Beheaddard. I won't lie when I say that I shed tears. I knew it was coming and I still wept. I've read the first book half a dozen times and I still couldn't help it. That was an amazingly well done scene, and the emotion was perfect. The only thing that would have made it better from a reader perspective would be to subtly draw attention to the fact that the sword used to take Ned's head was his own. It's not an important fact, but an ironic one. Ned used Ice when we first met him to take the head of an oathbreaker. Now, hundreds of leagues away, that very sword is used to remove his own head after he himself breaks oaths and lies to the people. Sadly poetic.
Anyway, I'd rate episode nine as probably my favorite of the season thus far, (with exception once again for the first, as it was so amazing to finally SEE ASoIaF acted out) simply for the emotional impact.
Only one episode left before the BIG WAIT for season two. (Which is already in the casting process!)
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:44 am
Lady Pyre You're going to make me double post, hmm? Ironic that the "episode everyone will be talking about" seems to have killed this thread. I was seriously annoyed with the treatment they gave Tyrion at the Battle of the Green Fork. Yes, I know he's not a warrior. That makes the fact that he managed to kill a few people before being unhorsed even more badass. And he must have been a damned good commander to, I dunno, hold the left when Tywin had intended for it to break? Instead of this, they saw fit to have him get knocked out by his own man before battle was even joined and make him look like a complete jackanapes. -_-
Also, annoyed that they didn't see fit to mention that Longclaw is a hand and a half b*****d sword.
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Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 11:50 pm
Xanilus
Tywin's a perfect a**. Brilliant tactician, but damn I hate him. Effing Lannister...Oh hai, Charles Dance. Haven't seen you in a while. I still can't decide if him skinning that stag during his introduction was clever or overdone kitsch. Xanilus We also say goodbye to Syrio, who turned out more badass than I could have hoped. I'm going to miss his training. Syrio... *sniffs* In the books, when Yoren grabbed Arya at Baleor's and kept calling her "boy," I thought for half a second that Syrio had somehow escaped. My heart broke all over again when it turned out to be the smelly crow. sad Xanilus I think seeing the actress that plays Tonks as Osha (I can't recall her name at the moment and am lazy.) is awesome. She puts an eerie macabre into Osha's omens that I can't help shiver over. HBO says her name is Natalia Tena. She's pretty awesome. It's kinda strange that she looks like a cross between the way Martin describes Osha and how she's always looked in my head. I know that she's supposed to have short brown hair in sort of a bowl cut, but for some reason I always pictured her as having wild red hair. At least until Ygritte showed up. Now she has the crazy brown hair like in the show. Xanilus I dislike the way they treated Tyrion's battle as well... though I'm sure they'll more than make up for it in later battles. (Heck, I was more disappointed we didn't get to see the battle where Robb took Jaime.) That was beyond lame. They showed Cat and Rodrik sitting there, and I thought they were seeing Robb off to battle. Then he came back and I realized the battle was over. Xanilus I'm also disappointed that we didn't get to see, or even hear Ned mumble about, the 'bed of blood' dream. That's important s**t! Bah. Then I take it you're of the same opinion regarding Jon's parentage? I love how Martin drops all of these little hints about important plot twists well before they happen. I think I've figured out most of them because of that. Xanilus Hahaha! Lord Frey was awesome. I kept expecting a big grungy cat to hop up on the arm of his chair. Still, I like the casting. Maybe a little older in my mind, but still played out perfectly.
Hmm. Not sure I like Shae. She doesn't look young enough. Her face is longer than I pictured and her hair too dark. Meh, I'm sure I'll get used to her. Also, the game they played? I, uh... don't think I ever recall Bronn having been north of the wall. That confuses me, and I may have to do some digging on that point. I dunno about older, but I definitely saw Lord Frey as being balder. He sort of looks like the old Spider-man villain The Vulture, in my head. I thought it was strange that he got up and walked around when he never really leaves that chair in the books. Not crazy about Shae's casting either. She doesn't look like I pictured her and she doesn't act quite as devilish, either. Xanilus And then we meet Beheaddard. I won't lie when I say that I shed tears. I knew it was coming and I still wept. I've read the first book half a dozen times and I still couldn't help it. That was an amazingly well done scene, and the emotion was perfect. The only thing that would have made it better from a reader perspective would be to subtly draw attention to the fact that the sword used to take Ned's head was his own. It's not an important fact, but an ironic one. Ned used Ice when we first met him to take the head of an oathbreaker. Now, hundreds of leagues away, that very sword is used to remove his own head after he himself breaks oaths and lies to the people. Sadly poetic. That scene was very well-done. *sigh* Poor, stupid Sansa... Xanilus Only one episode left before the BIG WAIT for season two. (Which is already in the casting process!) Really? I thought we'd get 12 episodes for some reason. No wonder things seemed to be happening so fast.
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Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2011 8:10 pm
Heh. Sean Bean made it into a Soup clip.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 8:20 pm
THE FINALE. Watching it for the second time already...
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 11:45 pm
THE KING IN THE NORTH!
THE KING IN THE NORTH!
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 7:17 am
I'm glad they showed us a bit of "Arry" before next year. Although, I don't think they're doing a very good job of making her pass as a boy. I'm not sure if I only noticed because I recently read a short interview with Maesie in People and found out she is fourteen (Holy crap! She's so tiny I totally would have bought her as an actual 9-year-old), but I could see her breasts under that very thin shirt. Even her nipples. I imagine they made Dany (and everyone else) older because they were afraid of ***** overtones, so maybe they should cover their young actresses better. gonk And that brief glimpse of Jaqen H'ghar was rather disappointing. Where is the crazy half-and-half hair? sad
I was also disappointed that Mirri Maz Duur didn't imply that Dany will never have another child. Reading the last few Dany chapters in the first book, it was like "Holy crap! Can Martin pile any more sorrow on?" Maybe that is why they left it out, but I feel like it takes away from showing how strong Dany is in that she keeps moving forward. Drogon looked pretty sweet, though.
And man, maybe I wasn't so far off with my joke about Littlefinger being gay. Homoerotic overtones between he and Varys, much? And, ya know, there is an interesting choice of words in Storm of Swords: I've only loved one woman.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:06 pm
Maybe it's because I adore Arya's character so much, or maybe it's because I'm still on the "Maisie is such a perfect cast!" bandwagon, but I didn't see anything wrong with her Arry. Gendry being slightly older than the books is a bit odd to me, but Arry works as a boy. For now.
Jaqen was the hooded guy, with perfect reason. The scene itself is from the second book, and only used so that Arya wasn't left off at a stand-still. Being he'll have a bigger role in season 2, but only one scene (and a very brief scene at that), HBO opted not to cast that role, yet. Rorge and Biter were present, of course, and looked perfect. But to get Jaqen right, they'll have to do a bigger casting call. Something that would fascilitate much more than a brief scene. Hence we see a 'hooded figure'. I almost wish they'd done the same thing with a few people at The Wall. (spoiler note) Dareon, specifically. (spoiler over)
I think the episode was great. Not as hard hitting and epic as the premiere or episode 9, but very well done, nonetheless.
However... The impact of the birth of the dragons was not as shocking to new viewers as it was for book readers. Throughout the book we're presentetd with information regarding how pointless it is to try and hatch them. They're hundreds of years old, fossilized, may be nothing more than elaborately carved stones... Not to mention the tales of previous Targaryen whose failed attempts at hatching dragons had cost them their lives. All of that, coupled with how bland the eggs looked, meant that new viewers were practically assured they would hatch. (Honestly, they could have dressed the eggs up a bit more to dissuade that thought. I always pictured them as looking like rather large fabergé eggs.)
Also... SHE HAD HAIR! What the hell, HBO? Dany isn't hurt by the fire, yes... but she is supposed to lose her hair. I guess that's what they get for using fire resistant wigs.
Dany with hair, noisy Ghost, lack of direwolves... all of these are little points to be sure, but for a series intent on being book faithful, helmed by a crew going the extra mile in order to try and make things work correctly (with a few deviations necessitated by the transfer from print to film) you would think they could at least get the small points right. 
Ah well. It was still worth it. Ned, Arry, John, Robb, Tyrion, Jaime, Cersei, Sansa, Petyr, Varys, Theon, Joffrey, Syrio, Robert, Dany, Bronn, Viserys... all amazing cast choices that worked out perfectly from the start.
Catelyn, Sam, Yoren, Sandor, Bran, and Renly, however, took a bit of time to grow on me. Some popped after one or two scenes (Sam, Bran) while others took quite a bit longer. (Catelyn)
HBO is holding a Game of Thrones panel at Comic Con this year, with shooting for season two to begin the following week. (Yes, that soon!  ) This means that any day now we'll start seeing casting hints for all the new players dropping in Martin's journal: Stannis, Davos, Jaqen, Brienne, Craster, Asha, Jojen and Meera, Weese, Lorch, Edmure... that is, of course, assuming none of them are cut.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 8:33 pm
Xanilus Maybe it's because I adore Arya's character so much, or maybe it's because I'm still on the "Maisie is such a perfect cast!" bandwagon, but I didn't see anything wrong with her Arry. Gendry being slightly older than the books is a bit odd to me, but Arry works as a boy. For now. It has nothing to do with the character or the actress - it's the costume department's fail. When I can see her boobies, small though they may be, I can't buy the illusion. That shirt was just waaaay too thin. They should have dressed her in a thicker shirt or given her some flesh-toned spanx to strap her chest down Xanilus Jaqen was the hooded guy, with perfect reason. The scene itself is from the second book, and only used so that Arya wasn't left off at a stand-still. Being he'll have a bigger role in season 2, but only one scene (and a very brief scene at that), HBO opted not to cast that role, yet. Rorge and Biter were present, of course, and looked perfect. But to get Jaqen right, they'll have to do a bigger casting call. Something that would fascilitate much more than a brief scene. Hence we see a 'hooded figure'. I almost wish they'd done the same thing with a few people at The Wall. (spoiler note) Dareon, specifically. (spoiler over) Wait... Jaqen was the one in the hood? I thought that was Rorge. Didn't both of the dudes we could actually see have noses? Xanilus However... The impact of the birth of the dragons was not as shocking to new viewers as it was for book readers. Throughout the book we're presentetd with information regarding how pointless it is to try and hatch them. They're hundreds of years old, fossilized, may be nothing more than elaborately carved stones... Not to mention the tales of previous Targaryen whose failed attempts at hatching dragons had cost them their lives. All of that, coupled with how bland the eggs looked, meant that new viewers were practically assured they would hatch. (Honestly, they could have dressed the eggs up a bit more to dissuade that thought. I always pictured them as looking like rather large fabergé eggs.) I dunno. Even reading the books, I was never that shocked when the eggs hatched. Yeah, there was a lot of stuff about crazy Targaryens failing to hatch dragons, but there were just as many hints that something special was going on between Dany and those eggs and how they were both drawn to fire. I did find the designs rather lackluster, though.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:06 pm
Lady Pyre It has nothing to do with the character or the actress - it's the costume department's fail. When I can see her boobies, small though they may be, I can't buy the illusion. That shirt was just waaaay too thin. They should have dressed her in a thicker shirt or given her some flesh-toned spanx to strap her chest down Lady Pyre Wait... Jaqen was the one in the hood? I thought that was Rorge. Didn't both of the dudes we could actually see have noses?
Oddly, the wiki for the show has the picture of Rorge on Jaqen's page and no picture for Rorge's. I find this silly, as reviewing that scene one can quite clearly see that his nose is ******** up. Sure, he's not squat and hairy as described in the books, but considering their relationship to one another it stands to reason that Biter would be sitting next to Rorge, not Jaqen. And his nose. Is ******** up.Lady Pyre I dunno. Even reading the books, I was never that shocked when the eggs hatched. Yeah, there was a lot of stuff about crazy Targaryens failing to hatch dragons, but there were just as many hints that something special was going on between Dany and those eggs and how they were both drawn to fire. I did find the designs rather lackluster, though.
...
Alright, not really, but I did feel she was following down the same path as Viserys and the Mad King. I thought they were setting up hereditary crazy.
Ah well.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:17 pm
Xanilus The hood was Jaqen, the guy in the back was Biter, and the guy in the front that looked like a young Liam Neeson with the front quarter of his nose missing and a gash up the rest of it was Rorge.
Oddly, the wiki for the show has the picture of Rorge on Jaqen's page and no picture for Rorge's. I find this silly, as reviewing that scene one can quite clearly see that his nose is ******** up. Sure, he's not squat and hairy as described in the books, but considering their relationship to one another it stands to reason that Biter would be sitting next to Rorge, not Jaqen. And his nose. Is ******** up. That's the guy I thought was supposed to be Jaqen, too. Bah. More make-up and costuming fail. Rorge is supposed to have no nose, so they give us a guy with a little scab on it. Xanilus Hmm. I just thought it was signs that Dany was losing her mind. She'd feel something in the eggs, no one else would, she'd say something kookie, cue laugh track, "A Miller-Boyett Production".
...
Alright, not really, but I did feel she was following down the same path as Viserys and the Mad King. I thought they were setting up hereditary crazy.
Ah well. I guess I can see that. I figured the reason only Dany sensed something with the eggs was because Targaryens had a special bond with dragons. Like the Stark children and their direwolves. I mean, we know Viserys is nuts, and he senses nothing special about the eggs. So either Dany is sane or another flavor of nut. But the former is the simpler explanation.
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2011 10:37 pm
Lady Pyre That's the guy I thought was supposed to be Jaqen, too. Bah. More make-up and costuming fail. Rorge is supposed to have no nose, so they give us a guy with a little scab on it. Lady Pyre I guess I can see that. I figured the reason only Dany sensed something with the eggs was because Targaryens had a special bond with dragons. Like the Stark children and their direwolves. I mean, we know Viserys is nuts, and he senses nothing special about the eggs. So either Dany is sane or another flavor of nut. But the former is the simpler explanation.  HBO didn't fail, it was my filthy non-Westeros bloodline!
That makes sense. The Dany/eggs thing, not my bloodline.
Having multiple friends who've read the books, and after a lot of discussions over numerous aspects, I can definitely say that it's understandable how everyone perceives different things. That's a great thing about this series. So many characters, so much information, so many different ways to come at it.EDIT: Alright, so apparently it's not just me. After listening to the latest Podcast of Ice and Fire, I've come to the following conclusion: Female viewers are acutely aware of Arya's chest. Male viewers are like "Uh, wut?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 8:53 pm
Okay, this made me lol. xd
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:10 pm
It is REAL!!
I held it in my hands! IT IS GLORIOUS!!!
The urge to break street date and purchase it early lost to my need of keeping my job. So I'll have to wait.
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS TO GO!!!
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:22 pm
LOL. I'm happy for you, Xan. xd
I'm only about a quarter of a way into A Feast for Crows. Got distracted by the Thor fandom, but it's okay. Because I don't buy hardcovers and I don't think I could finish A Dance with Dragons in the allotted library time. And hell, it's probably got a six-month-long waiting list, as-is.
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