Stopping Watching Game of Thrones

[Quasar]

So I've been talking about this for a while, maybe years as a theoretical, but now it becoming more and more real. That being stopping watching Game of Thrones so I don't get book spoiled and so I stop getting annoyed by the offbook parts.

I guess the thing is...just how hard will it be to work. People (with some effort) manage to be TV only people and not get spoiled. But given the way the TV show gets much more press and discussion I wonder just how possible it will be for me.

Doable or a fools errand?

[Trike]

Since the show is going to diverge from the books (because Martin is molasses slow), I wouldn't worry about it.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

There is no guarantee ASoI&F will be completed in GRRM's lifetime or mine for that matter. I hope he lives to 100+ and completes many more series beyond his epic. At least the TV show will have closure before this decade is out.

You won't have to worry about offbook parts once they pass the books.

I'm treating GOT the same as I treated "The Walking Dead" & "Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit". When the visual media and the books cross paths, great. I get another take on that story. Where they differ I sit back and enjoy the ride.

It is going to be strange reading the books after the TV show is finished but I will still read them.

I don't mind knowing the story when I read a book. It's the journey not the destination that matters.

[Rob, Roberator]

I think at this point I may not bother to read the books. Sure I could avoid watching the show until the books come out (if they do), but I doubt I can avoid spoilers from the show. TV viewers aren't that courteous.

Look at the Red Wedding. How many viewers were surprised despite their friends/family who read the book and knew what was coming. And look how quickly what happened in the Red Wedding was EVERYWHERE on the internet.

I figure I'll just watch the show and decide what to do about the books if and when they ever get released.

[Michele]

I'm with Rob, I've decided I don't care about the books, especially since I wasn't too impressed by the last two anyway. I may read them someday, but I think the show is doing a good job of showing us the main story without getting off track or bloated with unnecessary details.

Also I don't care much about spoilers or having a TV show/movie stay strictly to a book.

[[deleted user]]

I'm another one of those that stopped keeping track of the books. In the 5th book especially, it feels like the quality of writing has started going downhill a bit.

[Dara]

Michele wrote: "I've decided I don't care about the books, especially since I wasn't too impressed by the last two anyway. I may read them someday, but I think the show is doing a good job of showing us the main story without getting off track or bloated with unnecessary details.

Also I don't care much about spoilers or having a TV show/movie stay strictly to a book."

Same for me. I think the changes are doing a great job of streamlining the plot and cutting a lot of the fat, especially when it comes to condensing a few characters/plotlines into one. Spoiler for season 5: (view spoiler)[For instance, Jaime going to Dorne with Bronn and making Ellaria's role more prominent instead of introducing new characters. (hide spoiler)]. I'll be fine waiting on the books until they're done (if that happens).

As for spoilers, If there's something I really don't want spoiled, I avoid the internet. Otherwise, I'm fine with spoilers. It's bound to happen. No need to get bent out of shape about it.

[Rob, Roberator]

Dara wrote: "If there's something I really don't want spoiled, I avoid the internet.

That's maybe viable for a few days/weeks/months. But years? It'll be YEARS before the final book is published (assuming it ever is), and the show runners know how the books are supposed to end.

I think he's made it pretty much impossible to NOT get spoiled for the books at this point. At least for some things. May as well just watch the show and get spoiled that way rather than reading it in some unexpected place on the internet. Or on TV for that matter.

A friend of mine is still annoyed that some NFL halftime show spoiled part of Breaking Bad for him. That's not really a place I'd be expecting spoilers from.

Since I tend to be more sensitive to spoilers than most people, I just try to rush to finish stuff before they become too prevalent.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Being Australian and traditionally getting shows delayed (It used to be months later than US and UK), avoiding spoilers on the internet only works if you never go on the internet. Even before the internet it was hard. I knew who shot J.R weeks before the show aired in Aus. That was in 1980.

Game of Thrones this season is the first drama show "ever" to be shown on Aus TV at the same time US viewers see it.

A bit weird watching it at 11 AM Monday morning but I do it to support their decision to beat the bittorrenters (Which I admit I am one) but I will watch any of my shows legally if it is within 24 hours of US release

[Jennifer]

I just view them as different from each other. I will watch and I will read. just call me a sucker.

[Dara]

Rob - I suppose I just view spoilers different.

Tassie Dave - I hadn't thought about international viewers.

[Alan]

I stopped reading the books after book 3 or so because I wanted to let him get ahead of me and I had had to reread the prior books each time the next one came out. I also have only watched the first season of the TV show. I watched it, I liked it but I don't have HBO and didn't want to get too invested in the series.

It's actually easy to avoid spoilers about it if you avoid facebook on Sunday night and Monday morning. Also, after a while the mass of characters helps keep anything from being a real spoiler.

I think you can do it and avoid being spoiled but I do feel out of the conversation whenever GoT comes up ...

[Bryan]

I'm done watching the show. I get far more enjoyment out of reading the books than I do watching the show, even though the show is quite good. I don't really need to watch TV so bad that it's going to be an issue for me to watch the last few seasons later.

On the issue of spoilers on the net...you guys must spend a lot more time on the internet than I do. I've had no problems avoiding spoilers in the past. I haven't watched any of the previous 4 seasons as they came out, but instead waited a year after the end of each season to buy the blu-rays.

[Marc]

I did not continue watching the show after watching the first few episodes. I felt the show paled in comparison to the books (as per usual) and wanted to continue having my first experience of the story via the books.(I did the opposite with the Lord of the Rings however. I watched the movies first and have recently read Fellowship for the first time all the way through - and loved it more than the movie. I adore both).
I am re-reading 1-4 of Song of Ice and Fire and still have not read 5.
On to the main point - I think it's easy enough to stop watching the show and wait for the books without spoilers. Granted - it may be a little difficult to avoid ever hearing or reading a headline such as "The Red Wedding" or equivalent from the show - but hopefully it would be ambiguous enough to not spoil a major plot point for me from the books.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Bryan wrote: "On the issue of spoilers on the net...you guys must spend a lot more time on the internet than I do. "

It depends on where you hang out. I listen to (and watch) a lot of podcasts that discuss geek culture and media and hang out on several of their forums.

Even here if you are not careful (and if some posters don't use spoiler tags) you can have major book, movie and TV show plots spoiled.

[terpkristin]

I'm behind on the show but am not "stopping" and nor do I intend to. I also will keep up with the books when they come out. I feel like they compliment each other, and I like seeing how each unfold.

That said, I'm not at all spoiler sensitive. Actually, I'm spoiler-loving. I HATE suspense, it makes me very anxious...more than I am comfortable with. As a result, I actually don't mind being spoiled...and in fact, have spoiled myself on occasion. For example, when the final Harry Potter book came out, I had to skip to the end to get through the stress of the book, just to see if any of the main characters died (the trio). Once I knew my answer, I was able to read the book in a more relaxed manner, not be stressed about the unknown.

On a related note, my sister recently had a baby. She and her husband elected not to find out the gender of their baby until he came along. I could NEVER do that, I'd be stressed about that even though in the grand scheme, if the baby is healthy, gender really doesn't matter.

Yeah, I'm not normal. I'm sure there are more like me though. :)

[Robyn]

I knew who shot J.R weeks before the show aired in Aus. That was in 1980.

This really made me laugh.

[Robyn]

terpkristin wrote: "I'm behind on the show but am not "stopping" and nor do I intend to. I also will keep up with the books when they come out. I feel like they compliment each other, and I like seeing how each unfold..."

I'm somewhat similar re: spoilers. Depends on how invested I am in the characters, but, for instance, I did the same thing with Harry Potter. I don't really like surprises, either.

[Serendi]

I always read the ends of books. HATE suspense and often try to find synopses first. An author kept telling everyone that even if you read the ends of books, DON'T read the end of her latest, it will RUIN it. I tried not to, but at nearly halfway through I was so annoyed I read the end, only to find that Big Reveal was about 10 pages later.

We may not be legion but we do exist!

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

terpkristin wrote: "On a related note, my sister recently had a baby. She and her husband elected not to find out the gender of their baby until he came along. I could NEVER do that"

Finding out is great, Except when they get it wrong. My god-daughter's son looked pretty in all his pink baby clothes ;-)

I love minor spoilers. But I like some surprises.
I don't understand people like Andrew Zarian who on a recent "Cordkillers" Podcast (Tom Merritt & Brian Brushwood's show) said he reads the whole plot of a movie before he will go and see it. So he knows what to expect and isn't disappointed if he doesn't like the way it ends. That's weird ;-)

[Trike]

People who like spoilers are clearly Lizard People, part of the alien vanguard sent to study our ways. It's the only explanation possible.

[Serendi]

Hssssss......

[Michele]

There are spoilers and then there are SPOILERS. Sometimes the whole story is based around that one thing - then knowing it ahead of time is kind of a let down, because honestly nothing interesting is going on if you know - and that's kind of a shallow enjoyment, but sometimes shallow WOW is all you're there for.

But I've seen people who don't even want a basic plot told to them - for example "it's about two guys who do a thing and then get famous and then have to deal with the effects of that on their friendship" - this is like the backcover sales blurb, and someone was upset about it. That's just silly. There's no big reveal there, there's no huge plot twist uncovered, no shocking encounter laid out, no deaths or resurrections. How is that a spoiler?

And honestly I don't mind either one - though I don't go out of my way to find them like reading the last page of a book. If the entire worth of the novel depends on the last page then that's not a good book, IMO. And if the end of a book isn't what I hoped, that doesn't ruin the entire story for me either.

I enjoy being surprised by a story, but I can't hinge my everything on being surprised. There's too many other reasons for why I read a story besides shocking reveals.

[Lamora]

Trike wrote: "People who like spoilers are clearly Lizard People, part of the alien vanguard sent to study our ways. It's the only explanation possible."

You might be onto something.

I really do not appreciate spoilers, in general. However, when it comes to GoT and ASOIAF, I’m taking them as complimentary to each other – or rather, as mediums telling the same story somewhat differently. (view spoiler)[I am really impressed with what they’re heading to with Sansa – I’m much more excited about show-Sansa than book-Sansa, for instance. Jaime and Bronn going to Dorne is another change I liked. (hide spoiler)]

I’ve been happy with the show more often than not, especially with some changes they’ve made. They seem to condense the plotline nicely, and give some characters a more meaningful role by cutting the introduction of new participants.

If I keep looking for different things in both the books and the show, I won’t find it difficult to endure to be expected spoilers. I will keep on watching and waiting for the books.

[[deleted user]]

Michele wrote: "There are spoilers and then there are SPOILERS. Sometimes the whole story is based around that one thing - then knowing it ahead of time is kind of a let down, because honestly nothing interesting ..."

I don't know. I read the back cover of the third Locke Lamora and regretted it. It basically uncovered the identity of a mysterious character that's in the first part of the book and explained what they wanted from the protagonist.

Which took out part of the suspense and mystery from the beginning.

I feel like trailers and back covers sometimes reveal too much and should mostly get you pumped about the suspense. :/

[Joe Informatico]

I actually don't care how ASoIaF ends. Either it will end in one of the two or three ways that have been strongly hinted at, in which case I won't be surprised, or it will end with GRRM pulling something out of left field, which would be irritating, but would hardly be the first time an epic fantasy series didn't stick the landing for me. So for me, these books have been more about the journey than the destination, and same for the show. No moratorium here!

[Eric]

Lamora/Ches wrote: "I’m taking them as complimentary to each other– or rather, as mediums telling the same story somewhat differently "

Makes even more sense since I've read that since the book is POV-based, you can't always trust the narrator. The TV show is a more objective perspective.

[Rik]

I've given up on the books until Martin finishes the series which I don't believe he ever will. I haven't read the 5th book yet and will never since the series will never be finished but based on the 4th book and what I've been told about the 5th (seriously a whole book of Tyrion and Daneryis not meeting up???), it feels like Martin decided to unnecessarily drag out the series. Bring on the TV series because we will get an ending there. Huzzah!

[Tommy]

Anja wrote: "Michele wrote: "I don't know. I read the back cover of the third Locke Lamora and regretted it. It basically uncovered the identity of a mysterious character that's in the first part of the book and explained what they wanted from the protagonist.

Which took out part of the suspense and mystery from the beginning.

I feel like trailers and back covers sometimes reveal too much and should mostly get you pumped about the suspense. :/


Personally, I only bother reading the back of the book of stand alones or book one of a series. After book one I already know if I want to go on or not, so I just do or don't.

Kind of ridiculous to give away that much on the back of the book, though.

[Trike]

I find the internet is hilarious in its ability to spoil things inadvertently. A couple years ago one headline announced there were spoilers within the article while the one right below it actually had the spoiler in the title.

It happened again today with the recent Grey's Anatomy episode. (Spoiler alert: Grey's Anatomy is still on the air.)

(view spoiler)[Apparently he's dead -- but the article writer forgot to tell the headline writer not to give that away.
(hide spoiler)]

[Sky]

Trike wrote: "I find the internet is hilarious in its ability to spoil things inadvertently. A couple years ago one headline announced there were spoilers within the article while the one right below it actually..."

That's like when one major newspaper the other day had an article with a "NSFW" tag in the headline/link to the article, but the photo attached to the headline/link was of a bunch of naked people

[Stephen]

Nope, I will be there, midnight, waiting for Winds of Winter, the only difference I will not be the only one. This is my third great wait, the nice thing about this wait, there has been more & better books to read during the wait span. I gave up on HBO after no Strong Belwas, but I still watch. but would be more fired up if Deadwood started up again.

[Trike]

They might bring some characters like Strong Belwas back, according to the producers. They said they're looking at mining stuff they were forced to cut previously.

[Brendan]

Looking forward to the Game of Thrones equivalent of Beach Episodes as they stall for time for the creator to create new content.

[Stephen]

Still having the Hero of Mereen killed by Daario was the last straw for me. still watch, but not live, do not watch or listen to any post talk about it and look forward to true detective.

[Rick]

"Looking forward to the Game of Thrones equivalent of Beach Episodes as they stall for time for the creator to create new content. "

They've said that a) they know how the series ends and b) they're not going to wait. They have worked with GRRM to get an outline of the events from now until the end, at least enough of one to allow them to do the show. I imagine he'll add bunch of side stuff for the people who like the tourist side of fantasy, but they're not going to wait.

This was always going to happen. We all know that GRRM puts these novels out slowly and that given the pace of seasons on TV we would reach this point. I'm not sure why anyone is surprised about this if they are.

[Trike]

Stephen wrote: "Still having the Hero of Mereen killed by Daario was the last straw for me. still watch, but not live, do not watch or listen to any post talk about it and look forward to true detective."

That seems weird to me since the books just went to shit somewhere around the writing of the third-slash-fourth one and the show does a great job of cutting the crap that Martin's editor should have told him to cut.

[Trike]

What the Game of Thrones characters would look like if the TV series were faithful to the books.

[Jennifer]

Trike wrote: "Stephen wrote: "Still having the Hero of Mereen killed by Daario was the last straw for me. still watch, but not live, do not watch or listen to any post talk about it and look forward to true det..."


I so agree!!!

[Eric]

Brendan wrote: "Looking forward to the Game of Thrones equivalent of Beach Episodes as they stall for time for the creator to create new content."

Beach Episodes, eh? For me it's the Power Leveling Episodes from Dragon Ball Z where they had an entire episode where they just stared at each other and marveled at each other's levels. When I first saw it, I didn't know WTF was happening and was annoyed (back before DVRs) that I'd wasted 30 minutes on that.

[Rik]

Brendan wrote: "Looking forward to the Game of Thrones equivalent of Beach Episodes as they stall for time for the creator to create new content."

Won't happen. The show creators have said all along they are aiming for seven seasons meaning there is going to be very little filler to do the story equivalent of three books in three seasons.

[Rik]

So the series will wrap up in 2017 which may well end up being before Winds of Winter.

Anyone wonder if after the series ends Martin gets cranky over having his book spoiled and then writes book seven wholly differently? Of course by 2028 when it comes out people may not remember how the series ended.

[Nicholas]

Quasar wrote: Doable or a fools errand? It's pretty doable. I mean the show is what, on season 5 now? I've managed to avoid spoilers for the entire run of the show so far (except for one, you can probably guess which event). It just requires some basic management of visited sites and overzealous friends.

[Rob, Roberator]

You think there won't be at least one more Red Wedding level event that blows up the internet before the series ends?

Good luck with that.

[Brendan]

Still waiting for the musical episode. Scrubs and Buffy did it.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

The TV show is already started to take some storylines into a different direction from the book.

They may even be foreshadowing events to come. (For both books and TV show)

Major book spoilers (ADWD) and major speculation included: (view spoiler)[I found it telling that a whole scene between Sansa & Little Finger, in the latest episode, was talking about Ned's sister Lyanna & Prince Rhaegar. Why bring them up now?
I am one of those that believes that Jon Snow isn't Ned's son but Lyanna & Rhaegar's.
This would put Jon ahead of Daenerys (his Aunt, in this theory) as heir to the throne of Westeros. 2nd in line if Aegon, (his half brother), is who he says he is in "A Dance with Dragons"
Another theory 3 Dragons, 3 heirs to the Targaryen throne.
Coincidence, methinks not. :-)
Targaryens historically rode dragons into battle. How cool would that be.

As long as I am speculating, I think Jon will end up as King of Westeros & Daenerys will rule Essos (at least the parts she has already conquered).

Arya is one character I can't decide where she will fit into a resolution of the story. She is, by far, my favourite character and is being set up to be a major player. I could see her coming back and taking over Winterfell as a warrior Queen against the Lannisters. Bran will be some sort of mystic adviser. and where the f... is Ricon? and what is his future role? or does he just mysteriously never appear again?
(hide spoiler)]

[John (Nevets)]

OK, The following really isn't too spoilrish, but I really don't want to mess anything up for anyone trying to avoid any. (view spoiler)[I'm guessing this isn't a new thought, but with the way the series has been set up and run all along, how can there be any resolution at the end? I have a hard time believing that even if Jon or Daenerys end up ruling there will be "peace across the lands" This has been too much like real life, but with nobody having any patience like real life. I don't think we would even get the lull between WWI and WWII in this world. Even if just about everyone who has been a star character is killed off, this world just tends to have more to take there place. This story seems to be more like a soap opera, that just never ends. Maybe minor resolutions, but never wrapped up at the same time. Anyway, I just don't see how either the books, or tv series can have a traditional ending, yet I know they have to have something. I think that is why I keep watching, as usual, I'm Plot Addicted again. (hide spoiler)]

[Jennifer]

I love the whole Sansa and Littlefinger chemistry. And it makes sense what direction they are going. I cannot wait for the battle at Winterfell.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Totally agree John (view spoiler)[GRRM won't do a "happily ever after". The only real resolutions I see is the end of the Lannisters as a ruling dynasty. The reinstatement of the Targaryens (which will not be popular with the kingdom) and the Starks back as rulers of the north.

Westeros will follow a medieval European path of divided and constantly changing loyalties, with brief periods of peace and frequent wars and overthrowing of rulers.

I hope George does some kind of brief history of Westeros post "A Song of Ice and Fire" or at least leave enough notes so that someone else can do it. (hide spoiler)]

[Heino]

I keep wishing for even more departures from the books so that it feels like I'm getting a new ASoIaF story. Also, if I'm lucky I might get to see a couple of "what ifs" that I wondered about while reading the books!