Game of Thrones (spoiler-free zone)

[keg in kc]

A few have suggested it, might as well test the waters. The idea is to give people who haven't read the books a safe place to talk about the show.

A few quick ground rules:

• No Spoilers!!!!! for upcoming episodes.
• Larger Song of Ice and Fire discussion should be limited to the other thread although I think a tiny bit of book delving to fill in holes should be okay (example of this would be talking about Catelyn and her treatment of the wolves in the novel, which was alluded to on TV but never really made clear...)
• Everything that happened that week is fair game once an episode airs. So if you don't watch on Sunday night, I'd stay outta here until you do...

[Fish]

Originally Posted by scorpio

Awesome.....

[BigRedChief]

No book talk in here. Talk about the book in the other thread.

[KcMizzou]

I'm not too worried about someone spoiling something major in here. Common sense, and all. I don't think anyone's gonna just blurt out something really important.

On the other hand, the fact that people are freaking out about spoilers means they're digging the series... so that's cool.

[KcMizzou]

I thought this was cool and weird. Two things I like crossing paths...lol Didn't know where else to put it. (in bold, at the end)

George R.R. Martin and Carlton Cuse Kiss and Make Up


Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin is on the record as being disappointed in the ending of Lost, much to Damon Lindelof's consternation. But last night at the Time 100 Gala, hatchets (or Direwolves, if you rather) were buried, when Martin and Lindelof's Lost partner Carlton Cuse had an air-clearing discussion. Cuse tweeted, "Just had a very nice chat with George RR Martin. Worked a few things out. George convinced me he thought Lost was one of the best shows of all time. (But it's true he didn't like the finale.)" We caught up with Martin at the Gala to get his side of the story, to find out what he thinks of Camelot and The Borgias, and just in time to hear what Amy Poehler makes of Game of Thrones.

Are you feeling competitive with Camelot and The Borgias and the other cable shows that are similar to Game of Thrones?
Sure, but I want them to succeed. I want to see more fantasy, more science fiction, more historical dramas on TV. When I was a kid, which was a long time ago in the fifties, there were all sorts of different shows on television. There were shows about the Civil War; there were shows about the Revolutionary War — Disney’s Swamp Fox and all that. There were shows about Robin Hood and King Arthur. And, you know, as a kid, a lot of it was like education. Maybe it’s not accurate, but you learned the basics about who King Arthur was and who Robin Hood was, and you got interested and you’d buy some books. And now we’re just looking at our own reflections in the mirror. We’re just looking at the housewives of New Jersey, and all of this nonsense, the typical suburban family in a sitcom. I want to see shows about all of human history and all different cultures. That educates us. It opens us up, and it’s also more interesting. What can you do in a cop show that hasn’t been done a million times before by Steven Bochco, Dick Wolf, or a whole lot of people who’ve worked in that genre? But historical drama opens up great possibilities.

What happened with you saying you didn’t like the ending of Lost?
I talked to Damon Lindelof’s partner, Carlton, tonight. He’s very tall with gray hair.

What did you talk about?
The ending of Lost and what I said. We didn’t punch each other or anything. We were nice. I mean, obviously, he disagrees. But we loved Lost. We wouldn’t miss it. Every week. We were trying to figure out, how could it end. What’s the mystery? What’s the solution? It’s intriguing. And then when we got the solution, we were disappointed.

Did Carlton pull you over to his point of view?
No, we didn’t get into that much detail. You know, ending something is difficult. Ending a television show is harder than ending a book because you don’t know how many episodes you’re going to have. You know, it’s not like we’re going to do this show and it’s going to be fifteen episodes and then it’s over. Then you could construct the arc. But instead they’re like, “Well, we’re going to put you on and maybe you’ll have six episodes and then we’ll cancel you, but maybe you’ll be on for 12 years. So construct a story arc that works for that.” So I think a lot of shows don’t have satisfactory endings.

How do you feel about everyone wanting to know the end of your series?
Well, I’m doing two more books, so I have a long time to worry about my ending. I have one in mind.

Does the pressure to get the next one out make it hard to write?
I don’t think so. Not particularly. It’s hard to write anyways.

[Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers come over to tell Martin and his wife what huge fans they are of the show.]
Poehler: I like the blondie!
Martin: She’s straight out of drama school.
Poehler: You can tell. I think she left all her shirts and bras at drama school.

[KcMizzou]

Who can argue with this?

I want to see more fantasy, more science fiction, more historical dramas on TV. When I was a kid, which was a long time ago in the fifties, there were all sorts of different shows on television. There were shows about the Civil War; there were shows about the Revolutionary War — Disney’s Swamp Fox and all that. There were shows about Robin Hood and King Arthur. And, you know, as a kid, a lot of it was like education. Maybe it’s not accurate, but you learned the basics about who King Arthur was and who Robin Hood was, and you got interested and you’d buy some books. And now we’re just looking at our own reflections in the mirror. We’re just looking at the housewives of New Jersey, and all of this nonsense, the typical suburban family in a sitcom. I want to see shows about all of human history and all different cultures. That educates us. It opens us up, and it’s also more interesting. What can you do in a cop show that hasn’t been done a million times before by Steven Bochco, Dick Wolf, or a whole lot of people who’ve worked in that genre? But historical drama opens up great possibilities.

[Fishpicker]

the penny arcade comic is great. here's another comic.

Spoiler!

note: there's no actual spoilers in this. I put it in the spoiler tags because it has one line of NFSW language.

[eazyb81]

Kind of a "meh" episode, IMO, but I am guessing it was used to set-up some big storylines that are coming.

I am still amazed at how much this series must cost to film. It's like a mini LOTR movie every week. The budget must be incredible.



Couple questions (forgive me, I still don't have all the names/characters down):

1. Who is the guy that went with Snow to the Night Watchmen (not Tyrion)? Is he basically just a friend of the Stark clan? Why did he decide to go on his own past the wall?

2. Who is the white guy with the Darthrakis (sp?) that talks to the new Queen? I can't quite figure out his role in the story yet. Does he know the brother and sister before they came to the Darthrakis?

3. Can someone quickly summarize the importance of the various conversations between the King and Lannister, and Ned Stark and the old guy in the King's decision-making group? I'm really lost here.

I think Stark's dad was the former king and was killed (by the "mad king")? If so, why didn't he get the throne? Is there some bad blood here between Stark and some others due to his father's murder?

What was the deal with the comment that the mad king wanted to burn everyone?

[Los Pollos Hermanos]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

Kind of a "meh" episode, IMO, but I am guessing it was used to set-up some big storylines that are coming.

I am still amazed at how much this series must cost to film. It's like a mini LOTR movie every week. The budget must be incredible.



Couple questions (forgive me, I still don't have all the names/characters down):

1. Who is the guy that went with Snow to the Night Watchmen (not Tyrion)? Is he basically just a friend of the Stark clan? Why did he decide to go on his own past the wall?

2. Who is the white guy with the Darthrakis (sp?) that talks to the new Queen? I can't quite figure out his role in the story yet. Does he know the brother and sister before they came to the Darthrakis?

3. Can someone quickly summarize the importance of the various conversations between the King and Lannister, and Ned Stark and the old guy in the King's decision-making group? I'm really lost here.

I think Stark's dad was the former king and was killed (by the "mad king")? If so, why didn't he get the throne? Is there some bad blood here between Stark and some others due to his father's murder?

What was the deal with the comment that the mad king wanted to burn everyone?

1. - That's Snow's uncle. I assume, it's Ned Stark's brother.

[keg in kc]

There's going to be a lot of infodumping while they introduce new characters...

I can answer a couple of those off the top of my head

1. Benjen Stark. Ned's younger brother. He's the first ranger, the leader of the scouts.
2. Ser Jorah Mormont. He's an exiled knight from Westeros, and I'm not going to say more about him right now for fear of spoilers.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

Kind of a "meh" episode, IMO, but I am guessing it was used to set-up some big storylines that are coming.

I am still amazed at how much this series must cost to film. It's like a mini LOTR movie every week. The budget must be incredible.



Couple questions (forgive me, I still don't have all the names/characters down):

1. Who is the guy that went with Snow to the Night Watchmen (not Tyrion)? Is he basically just a friend of the Stark clan? Why did he decide to go on his own past the wall?

2. Who is the white guy with the Darthrakis (sp?) that talks to the new Queen? I can't quite figure out his role in the story yet. Does he know the brother and sister before they came to the Darthrakis?

3. Can someone quickly summarize the importance of the various conversations between the King and Lannister, and Ned Stark and the old guy in the King's decision-making group? I'm really lost here.

I think Stark's dad was the former king and was killed (by the "mad king")? If so, why didn't he get the throne? Is there some bad blood here between Stark and some others due to his father's murder?

What was the deal with the comment that the mad king wanted to burn everyone?

Stark's brother Brandon was killed by the mad king; The Starks have always been (to the best of my knowledge), the Lords of Winterfell; never Kings. I've never figured out exactly why Baratheon ended up as the King, but I think it's mostly because he took it. Stark could've been King had he occupied the throne and established legitimacy, but Robert did it and Stark evidently preferred it that way.

The white guy is a former Knight for the mad king that was exiled. He is essentially a protector for Dany that appears to be loyal to her because of his history with her father.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by ChiefsfansofDallas

1. - That's Snow's uncle. I assume, it's Ned Stark's brother.

Ah okay, gotcha. He seems like a good guy. Is he in the Watchman as well?

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

There's going to be a lot of infodumping while they introduce new characters...

I can answer a couple of those off the top of my head

1. Benjen Stark. Ned's younger brother. He's the first ranger, the leader of the scouts.
2. Ser Jorah Mormont. He's an exiled knight from Westeros, and I'm not going to say more about him right now for fear of spoilers.

I do know that Jorah told Viserys in that he hates Robert because Robert persecuted/prosecuted him for killing some poachers on his lands. Viserys responded with, "I can assure you that such things won't happen under my reign." So, he's basically in exile and wanting to help the Targaryens because he hates Robert.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

2. Ser Jorah Mormont. He's an exiled knight from Westeros, and I'm not going to say more about him right now for fear of spoilers.

So I take it he is not a slave of the Dothrakis? He just joined their crew and they took him in? The Dothrakis seemed like savages the first two episodes that wouldn't take outsiders in. I'll wait to see how his story unfolds, thanks.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I do know that Jorah told Viserys in that he hates Robert because Robert persecuted/prosecuted him for killing some poachers on his lands. Viserys responded with, "I can assure you that such things won't happen under my reign." So, he's basically in exile and wanting to help the Targaryens because he hates Robert.

I think it was Ned Stark rather than Robert.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

So I take it he is not a slave of the Dothrakis? He just joined their crew and they took him in? The Dothrakis seemed like savages the first two episodes that wouldn't take outsiders in. I'll wait to see how his story unfolds, thanks.

That's right, he's an exile, rather than a slave. He speaks Dothraki so he's clearly spent time with them previously.

The way the book went, and I've gotten the same impression from the show, is that Viserys took him into service after the wedding (or whatever you call that ceremony...).