The official Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire discussion post!

[Ali]

Dany is by far my favourite but Jon Snow is my man!! Haha

I felt the same... Until a friend pointed out that it seems unrealistic to us because we know the full story already. We see each characters point of view and without that additional information maybe we wouldn't have noticed the gaps in information that leads the Starks to believe it was Tyrion xx

[Jon]

Don't forget to put things in spoiler tags :)

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

Ali wrote: "Dany is by far my favourite but Jon Snow is my man!! Haha

I felt the same... Until a friend pointed out that it seems unrealistic to us because we know the full story already. We see each characte..."

I know but it seemed too obvious that it just happened to be Tyrion's dagger that the paid assassin was to use - almost as if Cersei wanted to implicate Tyrion to get him out of the way also.
(Spolier alert)So, Dany and Jon Snow both survive the 1st book? I hope so!!

[Ali]

Haha, now it would be a spoiler if I told you that!!!

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

Hahaha -- that's OK, you don't have to tell me!

[Bri]

oh good episode but next week looks like there's going to be a lot of action...

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

Does the TV series follow each book? What I am asking is, does the first season just stay on the first book, the 2nd season on the 2nd book, etc?

[Ali]

Yes. First book = first season. And so on :)

[Jon]

Seasons 3 and 4 are both book 3.

There hasn't been an announcement about seasons 5 and 6 but I think they will have to use both books 4 and 5 combined because the books take place at the same time (different POVs)

BTW, in season 2 they started deviating from the books in some ways, so as the show progresses the differences will, inevitably, be more noticeable. Domino effect.

That said, I believe the creators know what they're doing (they also know how the story ends).

[Ali]

As in the know know.... From the man himself??!!! Does that mean they may finish the TV series before the books come out???

Really not sure how I would feel about that!!!

[Jon]

Yep, they D & D (the creators) "know know" how the series ends.
GRRM is also one of the writers on the show: he wrote the 7th episode this year.

It would be really bad if the show gets ahead of the books. I don't think it would happen because if it gets close then GRRM would have to buckle down and finish the books as quickly as possible. I hope it won't reach that predicament because I want the books to be good, not rushed.

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

Just finished book one and can hardly wait for the 1st dvd of the 1st season to come in the mail - it should be here today!

[Jon]

So Terry, what do you think? Favorite characters? Predictions?
(remember to use spoiler tags if necessary)

Here's a cool pic of Arya I stumbled upon.

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

Jon wrote: "So Terry, what do you think? Favorite characters? Predictions?
(remember to use spoiler tags if necessary)

Here's a cool pic of Arya I stumbled upon.
"

Hi Jon,
My favorite character is Jon Snow and I love the direwolves! They remind me of my own dog, she is a Rottweiler mix and would defend me to the death - she even warns my teenage son that she is not kidding if he tries to roughhouse around me. I also really like Danyeres, the princess who is descended from dragons(I think I spelled her name wrong)I think she will be become a much stronger person in the next books.

[Ali]

Favourite character?

There are so many!!! I love Jon Snow, Dany and Arya!!! I think the direwolves are pretty neat too!
And Tyrion just kicks ass! He's so funny... Peter Dinklage was a perfect choice to play him in the show! He really portrays what I read about him!

[Jon]

I love all of them, except for maybe Joffrey.
My favorite favorites are the Hound, Book Brienne, Randyll Tarly, Greatjon, Rodrik the Reader

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

Actually, Joffrey is the one I am afraid of. A weak sociopath is the most dangerous political combination ....

[Jon]

Terry wrote: "Actually, Joffrey is the one I am afraid of. A weak sociopath is the most dangerous political combination ...."

True, but a strong/smart sociopath might be even worse :)
Are you planning to continue with the series or watch the show first?

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

I rented the first season on dvd after I read the first book and I am liking it! I think I will read the 2nd book before watching the 2nd season.

[Jon]

Check out the latest Facebook recap - these are quite funny.
***SPOILER ALERT!! - This is a recap of the latest episode. Do not click if you haven't seen it***
http://www.happyplace.com/23526/game-...

[Dylan]

I'm completely caught up on both series.

I just wanted to mention how much I love Ramsay Snow. He was such an interesting, screwed up character in the book, and he's GREAT in the series, or so I'm fairly sure, since they never officially said that Iwan Rheon was Ramsay. Regardless, I've seen Iwan Rheon in Misfits, and really liked him, and am ecstatic to see him playing Ramsay. He absolutely 100% nails the character (even if it somehow isn't Ramsay, it's still a totally awesome cruel dude) right on the head. Love it!

[Jon]

Dylan wrote: "I'm completely caught up on both series.

I just wanted to mention how much I love Ramsay Snow. He was such an interesting, screwed up character in the book, and he's GREAT in the series, or so I'm fairly sure, since they never officially said that Iwan Rheon was Ramsay. Regardless, I've seen Iwan Rheon in Misfits, and really liked him, and am ecstatic to see him playing Ramsay. He absolutely 100% nails the character (even if it somehow isn't Ramsay, it's still a totally awesome cruel dude) right on the head. Love it!"

You're caught up to book 3 or all the books?

His identity is still spoiler territory as far as the show goes, despite the clues.


Facebook recap of episode 7:
http://www.happyplace.com/23906/game-...

[Dylan]

Jon wrote: "Dylan wrote: "I'm completely caught up on both series.

I just wanted to mention how much I love Ramsay Snow. He was such an interesting, screwed up character in the book, and he's GREAT in the se..."

Really? I thought it might have been at first, but decided that it wasn't, due to the name having no major affiliation with anyone in the show currently, if you haven't read the books of course.

And by caught up, I meant all 5 books.

Also, those facebook recaps are hilarious.

[Marie]

10 things George R.R. Martin is doing instead of writing the next 'Game of Thrones' 'A Song of Ice and Fire' book


DAMN IT GEORGE, GET ON IT

[Jon]

Hey Marie, where have you been?

Poor Sansa and her watery eyes and rosy cheeks :(

Tonight's episode should be awesome.
Have you been watching this season?

[Bri]

The latest episode left me with my jaw dropped...how can everything go so wrong so quickly

[Marie]

Watching last night's show while at work was NOT a good idea...I was filled with dread regarding (view spoiler)[the RW, (hide spoiler)] but it was (view spoiler)[Bran and Rickon's goodbyes (hide spoiler)] that got me crying and emotionally "weakened," I suppose, for the big event. Even knowing what happens, I was so tense and riveted by what was on screen. Excellent, excellent episode.

By the way, this is my favorite fan art of the event:

(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

After reading that part in ASoS a while back, I really just wanted to see how other people depicted the scene.

Jon, I'm sorry I haven't been around, but I'm going to send you a friend request so we can interact a bit more (if you approve the request, that is!). I've definitely been watching this season and yes, I do have complaints, but I am enjoying this one more than Season 2. Some of the changes they've made I find myself agreeing with it (though not all).

[Bri]

Hi Marie! That fan art is a beautiful depiction. Riveting definitely describes that entire scene. I think the actors did a really good job.

[Marie]

Hello, Bri! I'm glad you liked the fan art as well. I really love how it reminds me of stained glass windows. Plus, the artist got Robb right. As much as I love Richard Madden, Robb is totes a Tully, meaning he has red hair like his mother (Robb only had reddish hair in the show's first episode).

[Marie]

Well, now that we're on the topic of fan art, here are just some of my favorites (apologies in advance for a long post):


Starks, as described in the books: only Jon and Arya have Ned's coloring, while the rest take after Catelyn. I like how Disneyfied this looks. (source)


The King in the North (source)




My boo Jon Snow...I can do an entire post about him, he's one of my favorite characters (sources 1|2|3)


My little lord Bran, another favorite. Also, for book readers: (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (sources 1|2)


Kingslayer (source)


Mother of dragons (source)


Sansa...this specific part in the book (from the third book, A Storm of Swords) kills me; the narrative just breaks my heart (source)

Last, but not least, for book readers again:
(view spoiler)[
Rhaegar and Lyanna (hide spoiler)] (source)

[Marie]

A good interview with GRRM regarding the colorful event...do not read if you haven't seen the latest episode or haven't read A Storm of Swords!

[Marie]

So understandably, the finale was going to be a bit of a letdown after what happened in Episode 9, but wow, was that ending cheesy or what...

Having read production notes while they were shooting Season 3, I knew that the show was gonna GO THERE with (view spoiler)[Grey Robb but damn, I didn't expect it to be so brutal and heart wrenching, I guess!

(hide spoiler)]

I'm confused as to why (view spoiler)[Jaime is at KL so early...he was supposed to arrive after Joff's death and then he and Cersei proceed to bone each other in the sept. So does this mean Jaime is going to attend the PW and see his son die? (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Sam/Bran scene (hide spoiler)] was perfect, though I have to slightly rage since it took the writers a while to figure out what to do with Bran's storyline and now that it's making a bit of headway, the season is over.

Pip and Aemon, yay! I can't recall, but (view spoiler)[has Aemon revealed yet that he's a Targaryen (hide spoiler)]?

Also, a big NO to (view spoiler)[Tyrion and Sansa (hide spoiler)] being chummy and joking around together. NO NO NO.

And FINALLY, the big "reveal" of (view spoiler)[Ramsay Snow...and we get Reek, too (hide spoiler)]! I hope I'm not the only one who laughed at the pork sausage bit (Iwan Rheon's facial expression was hilarious) and it was pretty much inevitable for me to think of (view spoiler)[

when they showed Asha Yara and Balon, LOL...but why was Balon still alive, though (hide spoiler)]?

Wait, one last thing...Davos is a BOSS!

[Jon]

Re Episodes 9 and 10 (including allusions to events in the books, so click with care!)
(view spoiler)[
(to save time, scroll past this wall of text and click the link to the Facebook recap. It's much better)

I really liked both episodes (I warned Marie that I'm easy to please).
The director (David Nutter AKA the Pilot Whisperer) did a great job with these two.
I'm having a hard time deciding which directors and writers I like best because they're all so good in different ways.
I heard sad news that DN won't be directing any episodes in season 4 :( I was hoping they'd let him do GRRM's episode; that would've been an interesting combo.


E09:
Without a doubt the most shocking episode.
In the history of ever.

I'm loving everything about the Hound and Arya arc. Two of my favorite characters. My main concern is that their story would end early in season 4 and we won't hear from them again for a while (especially the Hound). We might see Arya boarding a ship after leaving the Hound to die, but the rest would have to wait for season 5.

The Bran and Co scene was good and sad. Bran warging into Hodor after telling him to stop hodoring. Osha and Rickon heading to Last Hearth is an interesting twist/addition. I wonder if we'd see them hanging out with Greatjon and family there.

No complaints with Jon's scene; got the job done.

Sam and Gilly - 'You're a wizard!' - epic.

That's about it for Non-RW scenes iirc.
OK RW:
Everything was well done, the foreshadowing (though spoon-fed), the acting (yes, even Cat), the music (though without words! did non-readers catch that it was Rains of Castamere?), Edmure's super-pretty teen-wife, the stabbing-a-pregnant-woman-in-the-belly...

What I was really looking forward to from the books is the scene with Super-Drunk-and-Unarmed Greatjon vs 8 Freys where he killed two and injured the rest before they managed to subdue him and take him hostage.
Bring him back, HBO!

OK E10 (I'll reply based on your post because I loved all the scenes):

DireRobb/Grey Robb: I admit to secretly hoping they'd do that but I did not really expect them to, at all. Good job shocking me again.

Jaime at KL: I don't think it's a big deal he's there already. Shouldn't change the story too much. If they do hook up they'd probably do it before the wedding because afterwards would be too chaotic and won't make a lot of sense on TV.

Sam/Bran: great scene. Sam is so underrated - the character and the actor. I'm tempted to give him 'best actor' for this episode. I loved Hodor too. Doesn't get old. Actually, this was Hodor's best episode all season.

Aemon: another fun scene. And yes, I believe he revealed to Jon that he's a Targaryen, though it may have been to Sam. I think it was when they were standing by the ravens' cages.

Sansa+Tyrion: didn't mind their buddy moment, it's not like it was a big stretch from prior events in the show. It was basically a 'hey, we can add a humorous scene with these two without affecting the story too much - show that Sansa has a funny side two seconds before she founds out her family died' And, regardless, after she finds out about the RW (who told her? Varys? Joff?), she probably won't be friendly with him or anyone around KL anymore. That's her Tywin-doesn't-laugh-or-trusts-anyone-anymore moment. Back on track :)

Ramsay: were any non-readers surprised by that reveal? I think they went out of their way to make it as obvious as possible. Anyway, Roose and Ramsay are really good actors and fascinating characters. Roose still managed to outcreep Ramsay I think. Those facial expressions.

Balon+Yara: I didn't think about that video, but now that you mention it I'm not sure how I missed that :)
Balon still alive is not a big deal; they couldn't have too many big events taking place and they need to save stuff for season 4. Also, it takes time and effort for the writers to decide how to kill him and under what circumstances. I guess sending Yara to save Theon (hurray for made up storylines!) so nobody would know how he dies is one way to do it.

Davos: I must concur. Davos for King, one time.

OK, since this was the longest spoiler tag in since the invention of spoilers, I will stop here.

See you all next season!

Oh, and one last thing. Facebook recap of season finale!
http://www.happyplace.com/24434/game-...

(hide spoiler)]

[Terry ~ Huntress of Erudition]

http://mashable.com/2013/08/14/dating...