HBO greenlights A Game of Thrones pilot!

[keg in kc]

EDIT: Changed the original header to mark this as the thread where spoilers are allowed (but not necessarily recommended...). Created a new, spoiler-free thread for Ice and Fire virgins...


This is awesome...

Huge, Huge News

Nov. 11th, 2008 at 10:29 PM

HBO has given the production order.

They will be filming the pilot episode of A GAME OF THRONES.

It's just the pilot so far. They'll need to see that before they decide whether to proceed with a full season's episodes. So let's all hope the pilot will kick serious ass.

It should. David Benioff and Dan Weiss did a terrific job with the script. And yes, all of you can relax, it's very faithful. Dan and David will be the executive producers for the pilot and (we hope) the eventual series.

More details when I have 'em. The news is very fresh. HBO just issued their own press release, which should be up on their website soon, if it's not there already.

Winter is coming to HBO. Hot damn.

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

"Ser Jorah Mormont is an exiled knight who was once the head of House Mormont and lord of Bear Island. He fled Westeros to escape execution for trading in slaves, and entered the service of the last Targaryens."

Ned was going to execute him... it's his duty and all...

He's also the son of The Bear. Lord Mormont. Jon Snow's boss (THE Boss) at the wall.

Thanks. Things are clearer about him now. That last connection will prove interesting, I bet.

[Baby Lee]

Thanks 4th of July!! Trip to KC and back has me 8 hours into A Clash of Kings, just 28 hours left.

Spoiler!

[I'm just past Theon meeting Aeron and settling in at Pyke]

Bonus! Got Mom/Dad/Sis through ep 4, and they're already hooked. Told them the good stuff hasn't even happened yet. Also predicted, I wouldn't have to call them to see how they've progressed through the series, they'd call me.

[Hawk]

Originally Posted by Frankie

Thanks. Things are clearer about him now. That last connection will prove interesting, I bet.

The book gives a little more back story than the show has. Ser Jorah married a beautiful girl who looks something like Dany and who he loved very much, but she was bored on Bear Island and insisted on having a lot of stuff that Ser Jorah could not afford to provide her. To try to please her, he spent tons of money, went into debt big time, etc.

That is why when he caught poachers on his land, instead of sending them to the Wall to be part of the Night's Watch as he was supposed to do by law and was honor bound to do, he instead sold them as slaves for extra cash. Ned Stark was going to come and punish Ser Jorah for that crime by killing him, so Ser Jorah left Westeros and went into exile with his wife. While they were in exile, his wife left him for a rich foreigner.

Early on Ser Jorah was selling information to Varys about Dany. That is how Varys found out she was pregnant. On the show he gets a pardon for his efforts (can't recall if that is in the books), but either way, he has a change of heart after he finds out Robert,Varys and the council are trying to kill Dany. He saves Dany from the guy trying to poison her and becomes loyal to Dany. That is it in a nutshell so far.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Hawk

The book gives a little more back story than the show has. Ser Jorah married a beautiful girl who looks something like Dany and who he loved very much, but she was bored on Bear Island and insisted on having a lot of stuff that Ser Jorah could not afford to provide her. To try to please her, he spent tons of money, went into debt big time, etc.

That is why when he caught poachers on his land, instead of sending them to the Wall to be part of the Night's Watch as he was supposed to do by law and was honor bound to do, he instead sold them as slaves for extra cash. Ned Stark was going to come and punish Ser Jorah for that crime by killing him, so Ser Jorah left Westeros and went into exile with his wife. While they were in exile, his wife left him for a rich foreigner.

Early on Ser Jorah was selling information to Varys about Dany. That is how Varys found out she was pregnant. On the show he gets a pardon for his efforts (can't recall if that is in the books), but either way, he has a change of heart after he finds out Robert,Varys and the council are trying to kill Dany. He saves Dany from the guy trying to poison her and becomes loyal to Dany. That is it in a nutshell so far.

Spoiler!

In the book, Ser Barriston shows up and outs him. He has to crawl through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine in order to regain Dany's trust (along with Barriston). He ends up bickering with her afterwards and gets exiled from the Khalasar.

The series jumped the gun on him, IMO. They should have kept that particular element under wraps.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Spoiler!

In the book, Ser Barriston shows up and outs him. He has to crawl through five hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine in order to regain Dany's trust (along with Barriston). He ends up bickering with her afterwards and gets exiled from the Khalasar.

The series jumped the gun on him, IMO. They should have kept that particular element under wraps.

Spoiler!

No way is he done in the story. My gut tells me he has a huge part to play as the story goes on....

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Spoiler!

No way is he done in the story. My gut tells me he has a huge part to play as the story goes on....

Spoiler!

I keep thinking he somehow ends up fighting Others on the wall. That may not be quite Martin's style though as he doesn't tend to cross storylines all that frequently. It just seems that an twice exiled knight showing up and taking the black to defend his father's sworn brothers has a poetic ring to it.

But, given the author, he'll probably end up murdering Jon Snow at Cersei's behest and getting a white cloak after she has Jamie killed by Gregor's zombie corpse (no, I don't believe either Clegane is dead).

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by Hawk

The book gives a little more back story than the show has. Ser Jorah married a beautiful girl who looks something like Dany and who he loved very much, but she was bored on Bear Island and insisted on having a lot of stuff that Ser Jorah could not afford to provide her. To try to please her, he spent tons of money, went into debt big time, etc.

That is why when he caught poachers on his land, instead of sending them to the Wall to be part of the Night's Watch as he was supposed to do by law and was honor bound to do, he instead sold them as slaves for extra cash. Ned Stark was going to come and punish Ser Jorah for that crime by killing him, so Ser Jorah left Westeros and went into exile with his wife. While they were in exile, his wife left him for a rich foreigner.

Early on Ser Jorah was selling information to Varys about Dany. That is how Varys found out she was pregnant. On the show he gets a pardon for his efforts (can't recall if that is in the books), but either way, he has a change of heart after he finds out Robert,Varys and the council are trying to kill Dany. He saves Dany from the guy trying to poison her and becomes loyal to Dany. That is it in a nutshell so far.

Thanks. For those of us who haven't read the books it's easy to get a bit lost in the sea of names and thick accents.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Spoiler!

I keep thinking he somehow ends up fighting Others on the wall. That may not be quite Martin's style though as he doesn't tend to cross storylines all that frequently. It just seems that an twice exiled knight showing up and taking the black to defend his father's sworn brothers has a poetic ring to it.

But, given the author, he'll probably end up murdering Jon Snow at Cersei's behest and getting a white cloak after she has Jamie killed by Gregor's zombie corpse (no, I don't believe either Clegane is dead).

Spoiler!

Martin really does piss you off, doesn't he? They way I foresee it is Jorah shadowing the Khalasar all the way back to Westeros, and jumping in at some last minute part to help out. That's probably way too simplistic, especially concerning GRRM, but something along those lines.

And interesting take on the Cleganes. Didn't Sandor get beheaded? Shame, too. I was really starting to dig his character.

[vailpass]

FWIW to those considering buying the books: the mass market paperback set on Amazon for $19.99 is pretty tough to read. I bought it and sent it back. The print was pulpy and small; it even blurred a little.
Obviously for the price you can't expect top-quality.

Instead I got the larger soft-cover books on Amazon for $10.20/ea. ($17.00 +tax at Barnes&Noble).
These are easy to read, good quality books.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Spoiler!

Martin really does piss you off, doesn't he? They way I foresee it is Jorah shadowing the Khalasar all the way back to Westeros, and jumping in at some last minute part to help out. That's probably way too simplistic, especially concerning GRRM, but something along those lines.

And interesting take on the Cleganes. Didn't Sandor get beheaded? Shame, too. I was really starting to dig his character.

Spoiler!

regarding Sandor, I don't believe so. I'm pretty sure Arya left him to die. A monk comes along later saying he buried the body, but he's very vague about it. I think the monk is speaking spiritually and Sandor's actually on his way to becoming a heroic figure.

As for Gregor, too much was made of Qyburn's 'understanding of death' and the fact that only a barren skull was sent to the Martells for me to believe he's truly dead. I think Qyburn's made some sort of ghoulish menace of him and is keeping him hidden somewhere.

I think Dragons brings us the re-appearance of both Cleganes, as well as Theon Greyjoy.

[Hawk]

Spoiler!

I think it's a given that some form of headless zombie Gregor Clegane is going to show up in the books. Qyburn even seems to offer the zombie warrior up to defend Cersei in a trial by battle at the end of AFFC, but she refuses because it has to be a member of the Kingsguard.

I also think the Hound, Sandor Clegane is still alive. Not something I picked up on when I read it, but I was convinced by reading this essay at the Tower of the Hand website: http://towerofthehand.com/blog/2010/...he_/index.html

As for Theon, I think I read somewhere that he will have one or more POV chapters in the new book. I could be wrong though.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Hawk

Spoiler!

I As for Theon, I think I read somewhere that he will have one or more POV chapters in the new book. I could be wrong though.

Spoiler!

yeah, you're not wrong.

[Frankie]

Question from those who have read most or all of the books:

Spoiler!

Since I'm still 'mourning' Ned Stark's death the question occurred to me that since this is also a magic/fantasy story, do you see any hint that Martin might bring him back from the dead at one point?

[keg in kc]

No.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Frankie

Question from those who have read most or all of the books:

Spoiler!

Since I'm still 'mourning' Ned Stark's death the question occurred to me that since this is also a magic/fantasy story, do you see any hint that Martin might bring him back from the dead at one point?

Read it if you want, but be careful.

Spoiler!

He possibly could, but the one person that seems likely to do that has noted that its probably impossible. I'm not sure how far in you are, but Dondarian's gang seems to be the sole source of 'resurrection' to this point and at one point, Thoros of Myr all but tells Arya that it's not going to happen.

Ultimately I think having Ice melted down and re-cast was Martin's symbolic statement to everyone that the House of Stark as we knew it was gone, as was the Sword's handler.

Besides, broken things have stayed broken throughout this series. Ned's dead, baby. Ned's dead.