89 replies to this topic

[Purah]

Both of my friends are really into the series but do get a little confused by the all the characters, the backstory to the plot and the world in general. When introducing someone to the series, I have to spend a good five or ten minutes explaining Robert's Rebellion to them. I also find it really hard not to spoil events (I kind of let slip about LF's uh...involvement in the whole shiz-bang should we say), because they always ask for an explanation whenever I offhandedly say "ooh that wasn't in the book".

I suppose looking at it from their perspective, D&D's little alterations do make sense in helping 'The Unsullied' to understand things, but some things still bring out the purist in me I guess it can't really be helped haha

[Gertrude]

There is a forum on Television Without Pity for Game of Thrones. ONe of those threads is for unspoiled speculation. The people posting here are very vigilant about avoiding any type of spoilers, including the book, obviously. They don't even allow for people who have read Game of Thrones after the first season since it would have more information that what we are shown. You can find it here. This thread starts with season one, but season two starts up about 154 (around there anyway). I find it fascinating to see how others see it and what they pick up. Robb is definitely in the 'dead pool', but most think it will happen this season.

[Caro99]

i had my mum thinking back in S1 when king robert is telling his council he wants daenerys dead that Danny would manage to get to Westeros before the end of the season and robert would fall madly in love with her. i only laughed and said that it was a posibility but knowing robert's hatred for targaryens i knew it was impossible. but then it left me thinking- robert loves pretty young women, so what would happen if the most beautiful woman in the world according to many came along..?

Edited by Caro99, 10 April 2012 - 01:53 PM.

[Dolorous Eddie]

Most people I know haven't read the books. They actually tell me they don't want to read them because it will "spoil" the show for them. Ah well... I've convinced a couple to pick them up, though.
Anyway, I was surprised a lot of people told me they find most of the episodes boring. Those who watched season 1 are completely "Team Stark" and think of everyone else as black and white villains. They are always amazed when I say Jaime is one of my favourite characters, and I can't really give them my reasons...
Robb Stark is, without exception, their favourite character, closely followed by Dany.  They all loathe Sansa and see Tyrion as some sort of minor character put there for comic relief. They only remember the "main" characters' names and everyone else is given nicknames. Joffrey is universally known as Draco Malfoy v2.0.
The most difficult part for me is that I have to listen to their theories on who's gonna die and etc. and cannot correct them!

[Rob the God]

Friend of mine loved the first 2 episodes.
Was totally psyched by the theon and tyrion scenes

But didn't understand everything about Stannis (thought they were sitting in a tent when Stannis&CO. were at Dragonstone)
He is also afraid of not getting all the small things (like the thging about davos fingers) and wants to buy the books now

So well decide yourself if that's a good or a bad thing for the show;)

[int11]

Show your friends some character and house features etc before the episode starts.

These are also good:
New characters of season 2: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=AWF929rlw10
You win or you die: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=Dku_Uya8Ygc (like a more detailed recap with interviews)

[the maid of woodlynne]

My coworkers are watching, but only one of them has attempted reading along. And none of my friends are big readers, so no one is on board. Every monday I put on my Westerosi Ambassador hat and play the "in the book/not in the book" game. I'll admit, it is fun yet challenging to find a way to answer their questions without spoiling stuff...

For the most part, they're following along - keeping names straight - but they're seriously sick of the sexposition.

[boojam]

I and my wife are older than the usual viewer.
I am a long time reader of science fiction and some fantasy, fantasy like Tolkien or Twilight Zone style fantasy.
Our in laws are very avid readers of history, fiction, non-fiction, not fantasy readers at all.
They don't get HBO but got the DVDs of GOT and loved it!
We have HBO on demand so was able to show them 201, they think it's some of the best TV they have ever seen, the believe the actors are of the highest caliber.

[ti_ana]

My fiance hasn't read the books (although he did listen to the last half of the Game of Thrones audiobook with me on a long car ride when I decided it was time for a reread), but he's really enjoying the show. It's interesting to watch it with him and hear what he thinks is going to happen. I feel bad because I point out who characters are sometimes before their names are mentioned and I feel like I'm ruining it for him. He's a good sport, though, and doesn't seem annoyed yet! Haha. It was very interesting to watch his reaction when Ned got beheaded!

Last episode, he (correctly) predicted that Tywin's going to die and all hell is going to break lose because of it. Obviously, I didn't confirm either way, but I bet he'll be shocked when he eventually finds out who kills him.

I also got my brother to start watching and he's been into it as well. When I asked him what he thought about Ned's death, since I remember a lot of fans who hadn't read the books were shocked that what was perceived as the main character could be killed off, my brother shrugged and said, "Well, he wasn't the main character!" Love it. He did go ahead and start on the book series. I'm excited about that.

[CrypticWeirwood]

Funny but I don’t seem to have any non-booker friends who follow the series.  Even my folks and siblings have read the books.

[GSP]

I only had one friend who was watching the show and hadn't watched the books. He promptly started reading the series about halfway into season 1 and is now frustratedly waiting for TWOW with the rest of us.

His family, none of whome have read the books, love the show and are probably enjoying it more than myself without the internal 'why the hell did they make that change?' monologue. (I do really enjoy the show but I know for a certain I'd like it more if I could just stop comparing it to the books).

[turdle]

the people i've shown all really liked the first season, i'm not entirely sure how they feel about the first two episodes of this season, but i think for the most part they're enjoying it.  they were a little confused about dragonstone, i clarified as much as needed.  i'm not sure how, but my friend thought the girl that theon is fucking on the boat was osha. he also thought the whitewalker was a wight, which is more understandable. i really don't know why non-readers would think it was a wildling, unless they just think wildlings are whitewalkers. it clearly had bright blue eyes, and made the same sounds as the whitewalker from season 1.

[N. Baratheon]

Isis, on 10 April 2012 - 05:23 AM, said:

I don't think Sean Bean looks  that much like Triple H. Why not just call him Sean Bean. Or Boromir.

I actually wind up calling Ned "Sean Bean" or "Boromir" in conversation, but then I think of Ned as "Trevelyan"

"For Westeros, Robert?"
"No. For me."

[flame7926]

My dad liked the first episode, but didn't like the most recent one, too much build up, not enough action. It did seem dull to me too, maybe 5 not connected events, two sex scenes, nothing advancing the plot too much.

[Lady Stormheart]

They think this is the best show ever. I watched the first season first and when the show ended I started on the books. So now having read all the books before the second season, I am dissapoint. I mean, the sets are lovely and the cast is awesome. Some discrepencies I did not like but I suppose fit in the show...like, Bronn become the King's guard or Gentry finding out about Arya in 3 minutes. Also, what is Melisandre and this son? Wut.

Other than those things and Peter Dinklage being rather stiff. I love the show:) lol

[Mista C]

A friend of mine at work who hasn't read the books was a little confused about Theon.  He didn't know that he was a ward of the Starks for all these years; he just thought that Theon was gone on his own will.  He also was a little confused about who Melisandre is and why they were burning the idols, but he figured it out enough to not be lost.  I love that I fall into the "book reader" camp this year, as opposed to last year when I was not.  I like filling-in things for my non-book reading friends... so on monday's now I put together an e-mail with things that were different in the show compared to the book and I send it to my friends... they love it.

[Morky_Pep]

This is a show where you have to actually pay attention. This is not 90210, you have to actually make connections to understand whats going on and thats what makes this show like nothing else on television. What makes it brilliant is that you can watch throughout the season once and get the main plot points and be shocked by the huge developments, and then you can rewatch it again and again and pick out the multitude of details that you missed the first time.

Thats what I did with season 1, i watched the first 3 episodes in one day and was totally flimsy on what was actually going on, but I knew that I loved it, so I finished the season, rewatched it , then started the books. Casual viewers went through the same things; when they watched the first season, they were somewhat confused; who are these people? what is the society like? who am i interested in? Then they got used to it and started to enjoy their favorite characters. Now when you watch a second season of a show, you expect your need to pay attention to decline because well youve already gotten used to the idea and feel of the show(take walking dead for instance, all you need to know for the second season is there is zombie apocolypse and ricks wife cheated on him with his best friend when she thought he was dead), and tjhis isnt the same for GOT. Season two is like watching a new series. The feel has changed from the first season, there is a  plethora of new characters, and this confuses and scares people because they are not accustomed to it. My belief is that as the season rolls on and they start to get used to theon, stannis, and davos as being main characters they will start to enjoy it much more jsut like season one.

The same is with the books really. I;ve read other series like wheel of time, whewre after you get the feel for the characters from the first book, its just a breeze read through the next ones. With each ASOIAF book, you have to approach it like a new series, and focus and remember who people are, and this may put off some readers, but for me I love it. It is what seperates it from so many other series. You can read them again and catch all the subtle things(frey pies, the clues that bran actually isnt dead, the stinky steward ect), unless you visit sites liek these where people catch them and post them for you.

It is this reasoning that this is the best show ever. It may not be perfect in its adaptation but it does a pretty good job with the scope. I think that people will watch the season, skim the surface, see some crazy sh*t and then be like wow that was awesome, I didnt fully get it, but was awesome, im going to watch it again.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

My mom and brother-in-law are still 100% into it and are excited about where the show appears to be going.  It helps that both of them have book readers (dad and sister) to help them along with some of the details, especially the new characters.

[Slingingstones]

I've read the books and both my lady friend and I have watched the HBO series.  We're both septuagenarians and as you might imagine, have enjoyed all types of movies for many years.  This series is Ivanhoe for adults.  We love the adaptation.  Had to re-view the last Jon Snow scene on HBO GO several times to see the WW's blue eye to prove to her it was indeed a WW and not a wildling.  

She's somewhat familiar with the story, hearing me relate the back-story of what was cut to allow the progress of the video to fit an hour episode.  I'm pleased with how they've made the transition.  Nothing in our real lives ever follows the script perfectly. We all cope by adapting to the situation.

[Isabella Stark]

Non-reader friend # 1: Was holding off reading the books because she knew how frustrated the rest of us were with the wait for the series to end.  Last year, she watched with me. After making it to episode 4, she was so hooked on the story that she couldn't resist reading the books.

Non-reader friend # 2: Watched the first 4 episodes last year, found it confusing but was mildly positive. Then got busy and couldn't keep coming over to watch it with us.  Last month, she borrowed by DVD's and watched season 1.  She really enjoyed it!  She was particularly enthusiastic about the credits, which she said were really valuable in orienting her in each episode.  She's a big fan of British pop culture and is a walking encyclopedia of British actors; so part of her enjoyment is in seeing all these wonderful British actors.
She made her boyfriend watch the first 2 episodes of season 1 with her.  He's not a big fantasy fan and said it reminded him of one big Led Zeppelin video; but did acknowledge that it seemed well done.

Non-reader friend # 3: Says it's a "great show." We haven't really discussed plot details so far this season.  He found it useful to watch this season's episode 1 twice.
This friend has always advocated for watching the movie (or tv show) before reading the book it's based on.  His theory is that you can enjoy the movie/ tv show, without being distracted by departures from the book; and then read the book, which will be better, and enjoy it as well.