434 replies to this topic

[Alexia]

CryFenril, on 06 June 2011 - 09:08 PM, said:

Number two - Sansa's "betrayal". It was never a betrayal in the strict sense - she was a teenager confiding in a woman she trusted to make sure she got what she thought she was destined for and promised. She had no idea she was hurting her father in the process.

TBH, I never would have thought to apply the word "betrayal" to Sansa's actions until I came on the internets and saw others do so.  It was a little kid who didn't understand the situation she was in, to disastrous affect.  I always thought the point for the character was more about the impact of Cersei's betrayal of Sansa's trust, rather than some betrayal of Ned on Sansa's part.  Betrayal requires intent, IMO.

[valacirca]

snowzombie, on 06 June 2011 - 08:48 PM, said:

True, but HBO has used Sean Bean to market the show. He's often the *only* person on promotional images. I bought the box sets of the books and Sean Bean was on the box set even though he's only in one of the four books.

I don't think it should matter that he's "the face of the show." For people who have been following the show, they should already know that the show can run just as well without Ned.

Makes me wonder who they'll use to market Season 2.

[Volderon]

valacirca, on 06 June 2011 - 09:20 PM, said:

I think you underestimate people. Also, this isn't CBS, it's HBO.

Oh I don't underestimate people, I always count on them to fail :-p

Most non-readers I've heard about from friends had no idea Jaime and Cersei were brother and sister until the fifth episode.

[Ser Warpechowski]

Oh, another thing, there is a lot of people rooting for the Dothraki and for DROGO, which means his death may be another reason why people may walk away.

Ned and Drogo dead. Dunno if dragons will be enough to keep they all watching. I guess the dragon birth scene will have to be freaking amazing. Nonetheless I liked the King of the North scene far more than the birth of dragons.

[NW Deserter]

Quote

Makes me wonder who they'll use to market Season 2.

Probably Dany and Robb. The final two scenes are big moments for these characters.

They might even throw Stannis in the mix too.

[Alexia]

Another thought:  I don't care for the way HBO is handling the rapes.

I don't necessarily want to see rape depicted on the screen, but OTOH, I find the whole thing of tossing the women about by the hair or whatever they were doing to be a bit disconcerting.  Same with the dry humping of the Dothraki women at the wedding.  And I don't quite understand the rationale behind it - Pillars of the Earth made it pretty plain what was going to happen to the traders at the wool market, so why is HBO doing this strange thing of trying to keep the plot point of rape while having the women dry humped or tossed about?  

This is a genuine question - its so bizarre-looking on the screen to me that I can only assume that they have some rationale behind it.

[valacirca]

Alexia, on 06 June 2011 - 09:26 PM, said:

Another thought:  I don't care for the way HBO is handling the rapes.

I don't necessarily want to see rape depicted on the screen, but OTOH, I find the whole thing of tossing the women about by the hair or whatever they were doing to be a bit disconcerting.  Same with the dry humping of the Dothraki women at the wedding.  And I don't quite understand the rationale behind it - Pillars of the Earth made it pretty plain what was going to happen to the traders at the wool market, so why is HBO doing this strange thing of trying to keep the plot point of rape while having the women dry humped or tossed about?  

This is a genuine question - its so bizarre-looking on the screen to me that I can only assume that they have some rationale behind it.

I was just wondering why they'd include an all-out softcore porn scene (two whores during LF's monologue in the brothel) in the show that wasn't in the book... but they were half-assed with the rape scenes that were in the book.

That was what seemed odd to me.

[Volderon]

NW Deserter, on 06 June 2011 - 09:26 PM, said:

Probably Dany and Robb. The final two scenes are big moments for these characters.

They might even throw Stannis in the mix too.

Makes me wonder if they will show Robb in the field in the second season.

We all know he wasn't in the second book except for one appearance.

[Kaitscralt]

Volderon, on 06 June 2011 - 09:32 PM, said:

Makes me wonder if they will show Robb in the field in the second season.

We all know he wasn't in the second book except for one appearance.

If the preview for episode nine is any hint, we may see Robb in the field as early as next week.

[Volderon]

Kaitscralt, on 06 June 2011 - 09:37 PM, said:

If the preview for episode nine is any hint, we may see Robb in the field as early as next week.

No I meant in the second season when we hear about him but don't see him.

[Lord Godric]

JayDubya, on 06 June 2011 - 06:03 PM, said:

Oh, one scene that I liked was when the ravens all flew from Winterfell, calling the banners.   It didn't really add anything to the plot, but it was (in my mind) an excellent visual.  Gave me chills.

Agreed, I absolutely loved that scene.  There certainly weren't that many bannermen to call, but I still thought the scene was great.

[Xenophon]

Tywin, on 06 June 2011 - 06:24 PM, said:

That's incorrect, I know what I've read (and it goes way beyond the Littlefinger scene) and there's been enough of it to make John Bradley say some well chosen words on it in the WIC interview. I must have been stepping on some toes though since this is the second person that hasn't said the things I laughed at but still felt the need to defend himself. That always makes you wonder if you've hit on something thought but not yet said since otherwise there's no reason to get defensive.

Maybe I wasn't clear or there's some sort of translation problem here.  You said:

Tywin, on 06 June 2011 - 09:04 AM, said:

In light of the complaints about sexual exposition I can't help to be amused at the lack of complaints about violent exposition, like Drogo literally ripping someone's throat out.

My point was that "sexposition" =/= simply showing sex on screen.  It means showing sex in the background while also giving us some exposition about the backstory (i.e. Tyrion/Ros, Theon/Ros, Viserys/Doreah, LF/Ros).  Thus Drogo ripping that guy's throat out isn't really analogous.  If Drogo had fought the guy while relating the history of the Dothraki it would have been "violent exposition".  This was just a violent scene, more analogous to the straight up sex scenes between Dany/Drogo.

If all you meant was that people seem more offended by the graphic sex than the graphic violence, then I see your point.  I still think there is more sex/nudity-for-the-sake-of-having-sex/nudity than there is violence-for-the-sake-of-violence.  But it is notable that there wasn't much debate over whether Gregor killing his horse was really necessary compared to the discussion of Ros (although that probably has a lot to do with the fact that she's not in the books).

Daenerys, on 06 June 2011 - 08:35 PM, said:

But what's even weirder, and what's been bothering me, was why use the wooden sword at all? OK, maybe for the first guy, but the way the scene was staged, Syrio had plenty of time and plenty of opportunities to switch out the practice sword for a real one with his dispatched enemies lying all over. But he didn't, I just thought that was really weird.

My only thoughts are that:
1) He expected to die anyway.  Even if he beat the KG, there would be more guards coming and he had no hope of escaping himself.  So all that mattered was that he gave Arya time to escape, and once she was gone it didn't matter much if he bought her 1 min or 10.  
2) He isn't used to the balance of those swords.  He did emphasize that his style of fighting requires great precision and is very different from the "knight's dance".  So maybe he figured he was better off with his own practice sword than an unfamilar blade.  And after the KG breaks his blade, it's perfectly reasonable to assume that he didn't dare drop his guard.

[Lord Godric]

Volderon, on 06 June 2011 - 09:38 PM, said:

No I meant in the second season when we hear about him but don't see him.

Personally, I hope they do show him.  The show obviously isn't limited to certain PoV characters like the books are.  We have scene the addition of many scenes that were alluded to in the books but not shown because we don't have the proper PoV, and I hope they continue that trend with Robb.  I have come to really like Richard Madden's portrayal of Robb so I'd like to see him in all his badassery before the Red Wedding.

[Huan]

NW Deserter, on 06 June 2011 - 09:26 PM, said:

Probably Dany and Robb. The final two scenes are big moments for these characters.

They might even throw Stannis in the mix too.

I think a strong actor for Stannis will be essential to the success of Season 2 since he's a new character they need to establish. Dany actually only has 5 chapters in COK (vs. 10 in GOT). Tyrion and Arya will be carrying a lot of Season 2, if they stick pretty close to the book. Since several of the Tyrion chapters include Sansa, she has quite a big presence in COK as well. I'd forgotten how many Bran chapters there are. I wonder if they will be able to make his storyline compelling.

COK POV count:
Tyrion 15
Arya 10
Jon 8
Sansa 8
Bran 7
Catelyn 7
Theon 6
Daenerys 5
Davos 3
Maester Cressen 1

[End of Disc One]

To those saying new fans will drop the show with Ned's death...it's possible.  However look how awesome Robb became in this last episode, and think how even more awesome he will be in the next two.  I think if fans at least stick around for the finale they will throw all their support behind the KING IN THE NORTH for the next season.

Also D&D have talked about giving Robb more screen time than he has in the book for next season.

[FlipFantastic]

The Other looked like Uncle Fester.  This episode was terrible.

[Lord Godric]

NW Deserter, on 06 June 2011 - 09:26 PM, said:

Probably Dany and Robb. The final two scenes are big moments for these characters.

They might even throw Stannis in the mix too.

I think they will market season two as an all out civil war, which is certainly is.  Renly vs. Stannis vs. Robb vs. Joffrey.

[End of Disc One]

Lord Godric, on 06 June 2011 - 09:48 PM, said:

I think they will market season two as an all out civil war, which is certainly is.  Renly vs. Stannis vs. Robb vs. Joffrey.

vs. Balon.

[Volderon]

In all fairness we could see quite alot of new scenes. We don't need to see Tyrion screwing Shae every second.

[NW Deserter]

Lord Godric, on 06 June 2011 - 09:48 PM, said:

I think they will market season two as an all out civil war, which is certainly is.  Renly vs. Stannis vs. Robb vs. Joffrey.

They might play up Theon too.

It's a shame the north of the Wall stuff is fairly uneventful in the next book, up until the last bit.