980 replies to this topic

[d0mm2k8]

Oh sh*t the music in the series is good, it really captures the epic scope of the series perfectly. I'm excited as f*ck to see where Martin takes the story in his next book and how the show is going to portray it.
This piece especially hits all the right notes and I'll definitely have stuck in my head when I reread the books.

[Cheat]

Well it took me about a week to discover this series, fall in love with it, finish the three seasons and start to crave for more. I'm one of you guys now.

[El_Diablo]

welcome to the club, Cheat.

just do yourself a favor and avoid reading the books until the series is over

[Voodoo]

That's good advice. Actually, just stay away from the book people as well.

[TEoS]

QUOTE (Voodoo @ Friday, Jul 26 2013, 15:42)

That's good advice. Actually, just stay away from the book people as well.

Too late, I'm here. The show is great, the books are better. If you've only watched the show you are probably a mongoloid. Fact.

[Voodoo]

Well, la-dee-fookin-da.

[El_Diablo]

no no.
I'm not hating on the books.

of course they're better than the show. that's usually how literature works.
but now that he's started watching the show first, he should avoid reading past it.

I have every intention of reading the novels when the show is finished.

[Cheat]

Yeah I'm a huge book worm and I've been thinking about whether I want to love GoT as a TV series, a book series or a whole. I definitely want to know how the story continues but I'm afraid the series wouldn't be as interesting if I knew what wilm happen. But season 4 is far away...

[orbitalraindrops]

I think its better if you watch the show then read the books tbh. If you read the books first then watch the show your disappointed because so much stuff was left out but if you watch the show first then read the books you have so much more depth and its like holy f*ck this is even more awesome.

[Jedi.]

@Cheat: As a general rule of thumb, never scroll down into the comments section when you're on a GoT youtube video. The book people tend to get a little too excited and have spoiled quite a lot for me.

[Brobinski]

I'm pretty sure I made a terrible mistake with regard to the books. I have no plans to read them myself, but the friend who got me into the series is a big reader in general so I got her the full (so far) set in paperback for cheap as a birthday gift. It only hit me afterwards that, if they get read, I'm gonna have nobody to talk to about the series in the future. I've already had to ban any mention of the series in my flat because my flatmate has read them all and I'm deathly scared of spoilers.

[Voodoo]

That is a dilemma. I think we both know what needs to be done in this case. You'll need to distract her long enough to recover and dispose of those books. Godspeed.

[TEoS]

Just read the books guys, the wonderfully arrogant feeling of knowing what's going to happen so you can condescending tell your friends they're "going to love this next part" or the ability to threaten to spoil things for them if they don't do your bidding are just some of the perks of joining our club. It's quite fantastic.

[A J]

I'm reading the first book now, every time I take a dump in fact , it's brilliant. There are so many moments, so beautifully described in detail in the books that the show could never show, somethings the show has done better, but all together the books are brilliant, I'd recommend at least reading the first book, just to bring back memories of the first season and remind you how awesome it is.

Good advice from Jedi too, avoid youtube comments like the Plague.

Just a general question, who has beeneveryone's favourite character so far in the show? Ned? John? Davos? The Hound? Arya? Tyrion?

[darthYENIK]

I don't regret reading the books first. They are the superior of the two mediums, so I think it's better not to spoiler the books with the show.

I wish I hadn't watched the first season before I read the book. Although I was blown away by Ned's death, I would have rather read it first.

[TEoS]

QUOTE (ajbns87 @ Saturday, Jul 27 2013, 11:56)

Just a general question, who has beeneveryone's favourite character so far in the show? Ned? John? Davos? The Hound? Arya? Tyrion?

Such a tough question to answer, as the show specializes in making sure most characters have faults to balance out their good qualities and vice versa.

Jamie Lannister is so interesting I can't help but place him as my favorite. Reviled as the Kingslayer in the eyes of Westeros, the audience knows a more honorable side (despite his attempted murder of 10 year old in the 1st episode). I can't wait to see how the show handles his character.

Honorable mention goes to Ned Stark, who really helped make the 1st Season and the character that got me into the series. One of like, 5 good guys in Westeros.

[Brobinski]

I think there're probably too many characters to definitively have "a favourite", for me at least.

Every character has a good and a bad side. Jaime being the perfect example as outlined above: he's gone through a real redemption arc and become less of a dick both as we learn more about him and as he grows as a person, but he did throw a child out a window to protect the incestuous relationship he was having with his married sister. Then you have Cersei herself. On the surface, she's a real bitch with no redeeming qualities, but if you look at why she's like that she's pretty sympathetic. She's the only Lannister child who really follows (or rather, followed) Tywin's path of doing what's best for the family, but has constantly been downtrodden just because she's a woman and only treated as a possession. She's just doing anything she can to cling to any shred of power that should, rightfully in her eyes, be in her hands.

I'm the same even with people like Theon. I was saying this just yesterday to the aforementioned book receiver actually, but even though he sacked the home of the protagonist* family and murdered two young boys, I can kinda see where he's coming from. Essentially sold off by his father as a peace offering to the family of a sworn enemy, he was treated well enough but always reminded that he was not part of the family despite being treated like one. That's gonna f*ck with your head and your ideas of what "family" really is. Then when he returns to his actual family he's treated with disdain and mistrust, so he does everything he can to try and appease his father and get his really family back good and proper. Eh, maybe I can just relate to the whole daddy issues thing, but I might not like him for it but I can understand why he did everything.

Westeros seems to punish those who are wholly virtuous, see: Ned Stark. Doesn't bode well for the righteous Daeny when she finally turns up.

My favourite story arc has to be the whole Red God thing though. The whole thing with magic returning to the world and a god legitimately, provably existing is cool as sh*t.



*As close as you get with such an ensemble cast.

[El_Diablo]

QUOTE (TEoS @ Saturday, Jul 27 2013, 14:26)

Just read the books guys

no!
you can't tell me what to do!

I'll read them when the show is over and that's that

[d0mm2k8]

QUOTE (orbitalraindrops @ Saturday, Jul 27 2013, 13:03)

If you read the books first then watch the show your disappointed because so much stuff was left out

Not true. I'm excited as f*ck for the show. I was sh*tting my pants with excitement for the Red Wedding for months before Season 3 started even though I knew it was going to happen, and f*ck, it did not disappoint. It hit me just as hard as the book, if not harder due to Robb having far more character and time.

Then there's Talisa. In the book Robb had a different wife who didn't show up to the Frey's wedding. I noticed they'd changed this going into Season 2 but didn't think anything of it. That is, until I watched The Rains of Castamere and saw that she was at the wedding. My heart f*cking sank as soon as I realized what was going to happen, and then the there was the announcement of baby Eddard followed shortly by that brutal scene. I died inside.

Michelle Fairley also really nailed the scene a lot better than I did in my head when I read it.

[Cheat]

I think the brilliance of the characters is the reason why Game Of Thrones is so good in the first place. Even though the plot mostly builds around the relations of the Houses, it all comes down to each individual character and their role in the game of thrones. The series is astonishing audiovisually and the fantasy world is immersive but it's the characters that make it so magical and real. Looking back at the 3 first seasons of the series it's amazing to realize how much each character has evolved and with them my personal opinions about them. Almost no-one seems purely evil or purely good anymore and you can symphatize with even the "worst" people in the series, f.e after Theon betrayed the Starks I wanted to see him die but seeing him tortured, especially after he revealed that he regrets turning his back on Robb, really made me feel sorry for him. Same goes for Cersei and Jaime, you despise them at first but after everything that happens to Jaime and after Cersei's feelings about Joffrey are revealed you start to regret hating them and realize they're just two hurt people who have built huge walls around them. Also I loved the dynamics between Tyrion/Cersei and Jaime/Brienne, beautiful way for the writers to get in their heads. Then there are a lot of characters who you see lose a lot and whose vengeance you start to support, for instance Arya, I can't wait to see how she grows up, I hope Jaqen returns to her too.

But above all, for me, is Tyrion. Righteous, clever, hilarious and one of the few characters whose actions seem driven by love and empathy, not greed for power or gold. The plotline with her and Shae brings great diversity into the series and is a good reminder of what an important factor love is in the series deep down. All that and Peter Dinklage's amazing acting and brilliant lines, always.

[TEoS]

“I admire Tolkien greatly. His books had enormous influence on me. And the trope that he sort of established—the idea of the Dark Lord and his Evil Minions—in the hands of lesser writers over the years and decades has not served the genre well. It has been beaten to death. The battle of good and evil is a great subject for any book and certainly for a fantasy book, but I think ultimately the battle between good and evil is weighed within the individual human heart and not necessarily between an army of people dressed in white and an army of people dressed in black. When I look at the world, I see that most real living breathing human beings are grey.” - GRRM

Really summarizes one of the great themes of the series.

Edit: I only just now realized that Martin and Tolkien share 4 letter, double RR initials.

[Voodoo]

QUOTE (TEoS @ Sunday, Jul 28 2013, 07:43)

Edit: I only just now realized that Martin and Tolkien share 4 letter, double RR initials.

Coincidence? I wonder...

[El_Diablo]

well didn't Martin say that he specifically chose to write his name in that style as a tribute to Tolkien?
obviously it's just a coincidence that the initials work out the way they do.

JRR Tolkien
GRR Martin

but since they do, I thought that writing them in that order was his intention.
he could have gone with any other order. he could have made up a nom de plume just as well.

[Secura]

I re-watched the "Red Wedding" last night and I still can't shake the feeling that it's far more shocking on screen then it ever was in the books. Don't misunderstand me I thought that the way the books handled that situation was great, but I think the reason that I felt a lot more for Rob in the show is because he's becomes the character he was never allowed to be in the books. We never had a POV Robb Stark chapter or anything along those lines, he was pretty much nonexistent in the second book with only a few mentions of his name and his victories here and there and that was about it, so he was never really a "major character".

Now introduce the TV series and we can clearly see that he takes Eddard Stark's role midway through the second season, he becomes the protagonist of the storyline because the viewers are behind him, they want him to win and they want the Lannisters to lose. He becomes the character he never could be in the books, he becomes a protagonist because we get to see what he thinks firsthand rather than having an outsider's look on things all the time we really see who Robb Stark is, how he forms relationships, what makes him laugh and cry and as a result we the audience form a bond with him closer than we could have in the books.

The show also seems to have a way of unwinding the viewer, making them realise what sections are more fun loving and present no real danger, so when the Red Wedding aired the general atmosphere surrounding the show at that point was one of peacefulness for those who haven't read the books and one of eerie suspension for the ones who have. The way that the show pulls this massive twist on you faster than Clint Eastwood in a shootout is testament to just how well the writers and directors did their jobs here, the way that they calm you down only to stab you in the back viciously and violently is an absolutely brilliant yet cruel thing to do to your audience.

Then there's the obvious fact that we never leave Robb's side. He's present in every episode of every season, the character doesn't just vanish from season only to then reappear in the next, no due to the nature of GoT's timeline Robb's story runs along side many of the others happening in Westeros allowing us to spend more time with him and for us not to become out of touch with his endeavors. All of this builds up to the audience having a stronger connection with not only him, but also the war he's fighting and just how dramatically it all comes to a close.

[darthYENIK]

[Cheat]

Yeah, I loved how they changed the atmosphere right before the killing itself began (@1:05 here). There's a long shot with the door being closed and making a huge noise, then bam, for a split second, complete silence and then the melancholy music. I knew that something huge would happen during the episode - I have Twitter - so waiting for it throughout the episode kinda ruined it for me but luckily I didn't know what exactly would go down. I never was that sad for Robb or the Starks alltogether, I'm pretty neutral about them as far as Starks/Lannisters goes but the way they killed them - especially his wife - was so explicit and brutal that I definitely didn't see it coming. To put it shortly, I wasn't as shocked about what happened plot-wise but the scene itself really surprised and moved me.

[Secura]

QUOTE (Cheat @ Tuesday, Jul 30 2013, 22:41)

Yeah, I loved how they changed the atmosphere right before the killing itself began (@1:05 here). There's a long shot with the door being closed and making a huge noise, then bam, for a split second, complete silence and then the melancholy music.

The moment that The Rains of Castamere started playing I knew what was coming, the darkness started seeping into the scene, slowly but surely I could feel the unease growing inside me.

[Carbine23]

So, i decided to read the 3rd book, Storm of Swords. Yes i know i skipped the first two but i heard the first two are similar to the series and the 3rd is the most different so far. Let me just say holy sh*t. the 4th season's adapted from the 2nd half of Storm of Swords and it's going to be wild. VERY WILD. 

 

@Lightning Strike - BOOKSPOILER

Spoiler

Well it was still shocking in the book but also wasn't it foreshadowed by the Lord Beric? So you kind of knew it was going to happen. Also the Red Wedding isn't the most shocking moment in the book, which is why next season will be insane. 

[darthYENIK]

I mom started watching the show.  She's one of those people who asks what's going to happen.  Constantly happening when she's watching.  And she knows I read the books, so she's constantly asking me if "the Dragon queen" is going to die.

[Brobinski]

I mom started watching the show.  She's one of those people who asks what's going to happen.  Constantly happening when she's watching.  And she knows I read the books, so she's constantly asking me if "the Dragon queen" is going to die.

 

As someone who hasn't read the books it's pretty clear Daeny is gonna live for a while at least. She's got major plot armour. This is a story mainly about Westeros, and of Ice and Fire (where she is literally the embodiment of fire). So it's pretty clear she's gonna be alive at least until she gets to Westeros and/or encounters the White Walkers.