Oh ok, I think Keg might have made another thread in the Media Center for non-spoilers because most people in here have read the books.

Wasn't the King married to starks sister and she was murdered? Or have I got that wrong?

Um, I'm not 100% sure but from what was said in that tomb it sounded like the King was in love with Stark's sister. Not sure if they ever got married, but they were going to.

I don't know how she died.

The Lannisters didn't kill Stark's sister. The Targaryens did, along with Ned's father and older brother. I could go into detail about what happened but only these basic facts have been revealed in the show so far.

Also, there is another thread that is 100% spoiler-free.

The Lannisters are by far the wealthiest family in the kingdom of Westeros. Obviously the wealth helps raise formidable armies. The leader of the house Tywin Lannister (Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion's father) is also a shrewd and ruthless tactician.

Great, GREAT! episode. I love this show so much. They are really handling the source material well. I do miss some of the talk/argument about who is going with Ned and who is staying behind. That all happened so fast and weakens some of the characters, to a small degree. But whatever. I think everyone is getting the basic point.

Also, I loved the final scene.

Yeah, wondering how they are going to do the Warg stuff. I am guessing they will show POV of inside the wolf, along with some of what they are doing. Won't be able to show the tasting blood and all the smells but should all still be really cool.

Leaving spoiler tags off since they separated out a spoiler free thread.

Also, something that bugged me about this week's episode was the scene where Jon says goodbye to Ned. Every map shows the Kingsroad running north/south with Winterfell on the west side. In this scene, we're looking in the direction of Winterfell, which means that right is north and left is south. However, Jon goes left (south) and Ned goes right (north). They're both going the wrong way.

And yes, I realize it's an asinine thing to nitpick about, but it still caught my attention.

Arya also threw the rock at Nymeria with her right hand, but she's supposed to be left handed. **** HBO! ;)

ROFL We have our winner for fanboy of the week.

OMG, I know!!! Must... control... nerd rage...

;)

Meh, not so much fanboy as it is OCD observation.

Regardless.... Kudos.

Obviously, this has already been addressed in a response. But just in case you missed it, I was referring to the Warg stuff that comes up in the next book. I thought it was a really cool way to plant that idea without people (who haven't read the books) even realizing that it's foreshadowing.

Nice touch.

I was reading some of the critiques of the episodes on the Song of Ice and Fire forum, and holy shit are there some nitpicky ****ing losers over there. There was one guy that said he and his wife were seriously considering cancelling HBO because of the "horrible" job they did thus far with the series. Good grief.

Which forum was this now? Westeros.org?

I'm sure there is a rather sizable fringe group of ASOIAF-hipsters who will hate the show because it will draw mainstream fans and isn't exactly as they imagined it.

Yes, it was Westeros.org. Most people were fairly evenhanded but there were a few basement dwellers that really came across as reeruns.

Just finished up watching the second episode. Damn. Very nice. Lannisters are finally coming off as the despicable breed they are.

One minor complaint: I don't think Tyrion has been set up as devious and potentially evil as he was in the books.

The ratings held:

I've noticed that on numerous sites' forums. I don't think the GoT series is perfect, not by a long shot. It's still awesome to see other people's take on it. the costumes, weapons and armor used in the show are nothing like I envisioned those things while reading the books. the price of the HBO subscription fee is a bargain in terms of entertainment value.

the people that gave up on the show will come crawling back once the tourney is aired.

She will be when she sword fights. The little girl (who is right handed...) trained left handed because she wanted it to be right. Err, correct.

(At least that's the story that I've read...)

Actually...when she was sparring with the butcher's boy, was she left-handed? I didn't even notice.

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/CuN9D.jpg">
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/ze8zW.jpg">

Yeah, I know. That's actually why I caught that - I remember seeing a preview snippet talking about how the actress had to learn to swordfight left handed. Pretty impressive...

Martin officially finished the book today and submitted it to the publisher. His blog has a big picture of Kong dead. Damn I can't wait.

Did they kill the Butcher's boy or just severely beat him?

The hound ran him down and kills him. Ned asks him, and the hound says, "he ran.... Just not very fast." It's one of the things in the book that really characterizes the Hound as a cold blooded villain at this point.

Cleganes are just huge pieces of shit, man.

The hound isn't quite as dastardly as he needs to be. The stuff he doesn't later isn't going to seem so odd with him almost being likeable.

Almost cleaved in half, so killed.

Agreed.

Agreed 100%. One of my few complaints so far...

LMAO

Those guys win the Fanboy Wars.

I just bought the books on Amazon, they were 17 bucks for 4 books. Had 10 bucks credit, so not to bad for me. I should have them monday.

I just finished the second book. I'm finding more and more that there are certain characters and story lines I just don't give a **** about. Daenerys is firmly in that category. Really, anytime the story moves away from the the Starks and Lannisters, it just slows down so much for me.

I won't spoil anything, but Theon only became interesting to me towards the end of the book, for obvious reasons. Davos was okay, but still very mehhh.

Not that I don't like it. I'll still pick up the next book...

I see what you mean, but I think she becomes to integral to the story before it ends that he knew he had to develop her well all along or else it would be like a WTF sort of blindside when she all the sudden lands on the shores of Westeros. The story doesn't take up THAT much of the content. I have a harder time reading about the guy with gout or whatever down south than that part....not sure how that part comes into play other then fleshing out what happened with Gregor Clegane and killing the chick and her kids during the rebellion.

I think Daenerys is one of the most fascinating and well rounded characters in the series. She only gets more interesting to me with each book.

Otherwise I would agree, WoodDraw. The second book is my least favorite so far. The next one (Storm Of Swords) is one of my favorite books ever. In any genre.

Ugh, this episode is boring so far. talktalktalktalktalk

My only complaint so far is the lack of ghost. That wolf never left his side.


My guess is they couldn't find a white wolf.

ugh, that was yawn worthy as shit

do better

The interaction between Jon and Tyrion without ghost is just killing me. Those were some of my favorite parts in the book.

Hodor Hodor

Welcome to fantasy for grownups.

This episode gave me the first real sense of foreboding for the all the tragedy that's about to begin. It's going to be really interesting to see people's reactions by the end of the season. This isn't like anything that's ever been on TV before, and I think it's going to be shocking to many.

The sounds of real swords clashing while Arya is having her dancing lesson really gave a good sense of that.

I thought Daenerys was one of the less interesting characters until the third book. She really comes into her own. Davos is still meh to me.

Agreed, I really came to enjoy Dany's chapters. I really liked Davos' character, and kept wanting his chapters to lead up to something more, but nothing ever seemed to happen with them.

Next week looks awesome, and should introduce a lot of new characters. Not checking my spelling of names, so likely wrong on some here, but some that come to mind are Thoros, Gregor, Loras, and Beric.

Speaking of intoduction of new characters, Varys was great, as were Pycelle, Syrio, Renly, and Lacel. They all blend in, but it is cool seeing knowing that they have parts to play in the story.

Yeah, there were a LOT of new characters introduced in this episode. Every member of the council was great, especially Petyr Baelish (Littlefinger) and Varys.

My favorite scene from last night was Robert eating and drinking in his room. Yelling at Lancel, trading war stories with Jaime and Barristan (who was awesome, btw), and finally Jaime telling Robert about the Mad King ("Burn them all").

Also, did anyone else think that Syrio looked like Robert Downey Jr with a fro?

It is a very safe bet the Gregor and Loras will play a role given they are probably spending a good chunk of the episode on the tourney.

Thoros will get some time if they show any of the melee.

Yeah, guessing Thoros and Beric will be quick glances, but will be there.

I don't know if there will be a melee. When they were going over the costs, they said 40,000 Gold Dragons for the winner of the tourney, 20,000 to the runner up, and 20,000 for the winner of the Archery contest. No mention of the prize for the melee.

This is completely unrelated to anything that happens on the show: I was initially lukewarm about the title sequence and the music over it, but I've grown to like it after three weeks.

And they fixed the sigils that were incorrect so it's much better!

Major major MAJOR MAJOR spoiler and question....

Seriously, don't click on this if you haven't finished the book.

Oh just wait until you read book 2, then you'll probably wonder why you asked that question.

There isn't really a central figure to the show, even now. And while I like Bean a lot, and think he's quite good on this show, it's not like he's head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. There are some terrific performers.

And I think you have to kind of move past the idea of nobility, heroes and villains. There's going to be a lot more shades of gray.

And it just occured to me: oh man, if you haven't read book 2 and beyond, I'm not sure I wouldn't get the heck out of this thread now.

Agreed. I was biting my tongue a LOT.

I haven't read a ton of it. I just stick my head in, ask a question, wait for an answer then get out.

I haven't screwed anything up yet.

If you look at the parchment, it says something like "The Combat with Swords & Clubs."
Not sure why they wouldn't have the melee, it's one of the cooler moments in the early goings.

Would anyone else be interested in a thread that is only for those that have read all four books? I am dying to have some discussions about where we think things are headed for Dance with Dragons but don't want to ruin it for any wandering eyes.

I think a Dance with Dragons thread for July would be great. I've got to reread all four at some point before then.

Since you are the Song of Ice and Fire threadmaster, do you want to get it started? I can do it as well.

Knock yourself out. I don't have a monopoly on anything. :thumb:

The thread has been started.

I think the casting is pretty good overall, but Catelyn Stark was horribly miscast. I just cannot believe that any men find her attractive. Not only is she fugly, she is a bitch. And a stupid bitch, too. Why would Ned come to love her, and why would Peter have loved her?

Her character is the one Stark (Tully) that I hate in the books.

I think the actress portraying Dany is fantastic. She is subtlety showing the transformation.

http://www.withanaccent.com/wp-conte...24-300x300.jpg

I don't know, she definitely isn't fugly. She has kind of a brunette Ellen Barkin thing going on.

She seems like a motherly type. Strong woman, a little past her best years as far as looks go. Been through some shit. Her disdain for the "bastard" was clear.

Not having read the books, she's doing a fine job, IMO.

I think she's pretty spot on so far.

Sean Bean isn't exactly his suave Bond bad guy self these days either. They seem to have aged a lot of characters compared to the books. I think Eddard was around 35 when the books began.

Anyway, I started reading the book and watching the show at the same time. My intention was to keep at roughly the same spot, but I'm now halfway through the book just reading at night. Can't put that shit down. I think the show has done a pretty good job so far. The casting is mostly spot on, I like what they did with Syrio. I didn't even realize until yesterday that King Robert is the guy from Full Monty and that shitty CBS sitcom. The show does feel a bit rushed at times, a couple more episodes would have been nice, but I imagine the budget is already high for a tv show. I wonder how they're going to handle the dire wolves as they get bigger. Maybe some LOTR style perspective tricks mixed with animatronics/puppets, I hope they don't go for some bad tv CGI.

I was thinking about the season length this morning, and how Game of Thrones compares to True Blood. The Sookie Stackhouse books are maybe a third as long as the Ice and Fire books, but they stretch those seasons out to the point where they're probably too long (for the source material...), whereas they're trying to fit three or four times as much Ice and Fire into two fewer episodes.

But it has to be an immensely expensive show.

Ratings for the 3rd episode are in, and while I thought they'd be down due to bin Laden, they're up 200k over the pilot and episode 2, at 2.4 million (3.1 million if you add the 10 pm airing; previous high had been 2.9). Ratings in the UK are still apparently strong, as well.

Total viewing of the pilot on all HBO platforms is now at 8.7 million, which is great.