58 replies to this topic

[Istari]

Trzysztof Trieślowski, on 28 May 2012 - 03:31 PM, said:

Here is a review from a non-book reader at Grantland who gives The Hound his due:

http://www.grantland...ur-wife-wont-do

...you quoted something that went something along the lines of 'one of the show's greatest creations"(referring to the hound)


hardly HBO's creation haha

Edited by istari, 28 May 2012 - 11:39 PM.

[Envie]

Like many, I am a big fan of the Hound and all the symbolism that goes along with his story. He's always been a dark horse hero for many of us and I absolutely love the actor they've chosen and he is doing a fantastic job of bringing The Hound to life through this amazing critical episode in the story.

I was also disappointed Sansa did not sing for him as it was in the books, I even thought I read an interview snippet saying she was nervous about singing... so I was expecting it. I guess the tiny bit she sang of a hymn was all we're getting. Boo.

[Dornish Hen]

I love The Hound and I am always grateful for any screentime he gets. Go Hound!!  The thing I was most surprised at was that The Hound has friends to have dinner with. Who knew?

[Mulled Wino]

No complaints here.  The Hound went all Hound and killed it.

[Mulled Wino]

Istari, on 28 May 2012 - 11:37 PM, said:

...you quoted something that went something along the lines of 'one of the show's greatest creations"(referring to the hound)


hardly HBO's creation haha

To be fair, that guy never read the books and wont read them until after the series ends.

[WinterWarrior]

Loved the Hound, both in the books and now in the series. And the fact that his story line is being told in full in the HBO series makes me hopeful that he still has a significant role to play in books not yet written.....I would really like the San/San story to continue.

Edited by WinterWarrior, 29 May 2012 - 08:30 AM.

[Lady Sansa Stark]

Finally we saw him how he should be, judging from the books: the cold, traumatized man with just one fear, but with a massive strength whom everybody should be afraid of. Slicing people in half, screaming he would fuck their corpses if their swords would be clean etc. Can't wait to see him back in Season 3, and hopefully in the last two books.

[scurvy]

Crown, on 28 May 2012 - 05:32 AM, said:

I just saw the screentime list and the Hound has the most this episode. He was great: 'fuck the king!'

I just wish he had said, "Bugger the Kings Guard, Bugger the City, Bugger the King."

And, had he told Sansa about how his brother burned him two episodes ago and told her if she told anyone he would kill her, it would be so much more.  The LF scene at the tourney didn't hold true.  How would LF know and why would he say it aloud publicly if he did?  Sandor would gut him.

Loved the portrayal. Loved the actual use of the character.  He and Arya are going to rock next season.

[boojam]

An amusing thing.
There is an very recent interview on the web with Sophie Turner (google it)
She said when left in change she was a bit afraid because she says she can't sing, but gave it her best, she's fine.

Any way so we didn't get the Sansa/Sandor song, I don't think because Turner can sing.
On the other hand Rory McCann can.
He brings his guitar to all the shoots.
So he could have sung for her!

Had to smile when Bronn and guys were singing, in came the Hound who apparently never sings....
So it goes.....

[Kittykatknits]

It was nice finally seeing Rory bring the Hound to life!!! He was amazing in this episode. The lines were great and all very in  character, which makes sense as Martin actually wrote this episode.

Loved seeing him walk in to the brothel and all conversation stops. He then kicks two guys out of their table and takes their drink too which I thought was a nice touch.

I think his line, "Fuck the kingsguard, fuck the city, fuck the king" might be the most epic line of the show that wasn't taken from the books.

Can not wait to see more of him.

[Kittykatknits]

dbl post.

Edited by Kittykatknits, 31 May 2012 - 01:32 PM.

[bikie]

I could watch spinoffs of the hound and bronn, as well as arya and tywin... the actors were fantastic and the chemistry was amazing... I'm hoping jamie and brienne have the same sort of chemistry... haven't gotten it from that pair yet that I have from the aforementioned...

[Ghosteline]

I can't even say how much I loved the Hound in this episode - and what a great acting job by Rory - I mean to make a fear look so obvious on your face! I could really feel his terror! I love The Hound character so much as he has very strong opposites in him, which makes him so dynamic and interesting and somehow you don't know what to expect. On one side he is a brutal emotionless killing machine and on the other hand he must have been one of the most honest men in Kings Landing and seemingly the only one who understood how wrong Sansa was treated. He kind of laughs at world. In a way his view of life might seem so dark and wrong and yet, I feel as if its right and honest and seeing through all the false glitter. And of course that little tender spot he has for Sansa just revieles his honesty and some kind of kindness he has inside. Its just so interesting to see the clash of this kindness and anger he has in him. Just love him!!!!!!!!!!! And Rory is hot!!!!

I was expecting also a bit more from the SanSan scene.... but the soft spoken words from the Hound... were just melting me ...so... worked for me!

[Free Northman]

I was disappointed that he didn't dominate Bron in that confrontation they had earlier in the episode. In fact, here you have the most feared fighter in Westeros and Bron is ready and apparently very confident of taking him down without a sweat.

And the way they made the scene play out it seemed as if Bron had the upper hand, with his hand on his secret dagger in the small of his back and the Hound apparently unaware of it.

I really felt that this was an opportunity to establish the Hound as a whole new level of warrior above the common sellsword Bron, but that they let it slip.

For example, it would have been great if Bron actually whipped out his dagger, only for the Hound to catch his wrist and crush the dagger out of his grasp.

Instead, Bron comes off as the more savvy, and the scene where he later sees and laughs at the Hound in his moment of fire weakness hammers it in even more.

Totally the opposite of what it should have been, which is that the Hound is absolutely supreme except when faced by fire.

[Dornish Hen]

In the book, The Hound was much scarier (and drunker) when he was in Sansa's chamber.  I really liked how Rory McCann portrayed a kinder gentler Hound in that scene.  Unfortunately, throughout the show The Hound hasn't had enough time to really show his true nature, good and bad.  This episode finally gave him the time to shine!

After this episode, my friends finally understand my Hound love.  

scurvy, on 29 May 2012 - 08:55 AM, said:

I just wish he had said, "Bugger the Kings Guard, Bugger the City, Bugger the King."

    

[Kittykatknits]

Free Northman, on 01 June 2012 - 04:31 PM, said:

I was disappointed that he didn't dominate Bron in that confrontation they had earlier in the episode. In fact, here you have the most feared fighter in Westeros and Bron is ready and apparently very confident of taking him down without a sweat.

And the way they made the scene play out it seemed as if Bron had the upper hand, with his hand on his secret dagger in the small of his back and the Hound apparently unaware of it.

I really felt that this was an opportunity to establish the Hound as a whole new level of warrior above the common sellsword Bron, but that they let it slip.

For example, it would have been great if Bron actually whipped out his dagger, only for the Hound to catch his wrist and crush the dagger out of his grasp.

Instead, Bron comes off as the more savvy, and the scene where he later sees and laughs at the Hound in his moment of fire weakness hammers it in even more.

Totally the opposite of what it should have been, which is that the Hound is absolutely supreme except when faced by fire.

Did you see the youtube video where D&D talk about the scene with the two of them? They left me with the impression that they are both pretty big Bronn fanboys.

[Plaguewalker]

Loved, loved, loved The Hound in this (and always, but nice to see him getting his due at long last screentime-wise). I think the fear of fire was explained well with his expression (awesome job, Rory) as the wildfire erupted, as well as him telling the pyromancer that he better not let any "of those fuckin' flaming arrows" get near him.

I was disappointed, however, with his exit. It seems every week we get minutes upon minutes of Tyrion being pithy and Cersei talking about her scheming (is it really such great scheming if all you do is talk about it? This is a point that has bothered me many a time) and Joffrey being a sociopath, but I felt this was the one time all season where The Hound deserved to be front and center for not just the battle scenes and the brilliant "Fuck the king" moment but also his final interaction with Sansa.

Re: the cutting in half with the broadsword. That irked me, truth be told, those surgical cuts. It's a bloody sword, not a lightsaber. But other than that, mwah! mwah! Episode Nine!!

[Valkyrja]

Plaguewalker, on 02 June 2012 - 02:56 AM, said:

Loved, loved, loved The Hound in this (and always, but nice to see him getting his due at long last screentime-wise). I think the fear of fire was explained well with his expression (awesome job, Rory) as the wildfire erupted, as well as him telling the pyromancer that he better not let any "of those fuckin' flaming arrows" get near him.

I was disappointed, however, with his exit. It seems every week we get minutes upon minutes of Tyrion being pithy and Cersei talking about her scheming (is it really such great scheming if all you do is talk about it? This is a point that has bothered me many a time) and Joffrey being a sociopath, but I felt this was the one time all season where The Hound deserved to be front and center for not just the battle scenes and the brilliant "Fuck the king" moment but also his final interaction with Sansa.

Re: the cutting in half with the broadsword. That irked me, truth be told, those surgical cuts. It's a bloody sword, not a lightsaber. But other than that, mwah! mwah! Episode Nine!!

Once again, totally agree with your assessment here, my friend! (And no, I did not intentionally stalk you on Westeros today, I just happened to be drawn to the same threads, surprise surprise.)

You bring up a good point about how much screen-time  many of the other characters tend to 'eat up'. I don't claim to know a ton about them, but from every little bit that I've seen of behind the scenes stuff and interviews, D&D (the showrunners) seem to be almost....well.....reveling in creating as close to possible their 'preferred' version of this story.

They seem to not just include, but also to amplify the things that they especially like about the story. Fair enough. I'm sure we'd all do the same if we had the chance to run the show! For instance, my preferred fan-version would probably be one giant road-trip with all the Stark kids + Direwolves learning life lessons, Hodor Hodoring, Hot Pie being Hot Pie, Tommen + kittens(!) being too stinkin' adorbs to die, the Hound swearing and raging and acting 'not ungently' now and then, Tormund Giansbane making 'member' jokes, Jaime and Brienne being badass, and even.... Dunk and Egg tagging along for some anacronistic/ Time Travel episodes .

That said, D&D are HUGE fanboys of Tyrion and subsequently include him in almost every single episode so far, and also ....they  do tend to 'white-wash' Tyrion a bit (I wonder what they will do with his scenes starting from ASoS onwards, as he starts slip into his own Dark Side little by little.... ), at the expense of other characters. I shudder to think of how they will portray poor Sansa during her forced marriage to Tyrion!

Because of this, I can't help but feel skeptical that some of D&D's choices about characterization (what and how much they choose show of the characters as they are written in the books) is influenced not just by the text, or by how much time they have per episode, but also by deliberately choosing what they like and don't like from the text.

Some of it is of course based on what they think will work well on television vs on the page, but I think they are greatly underestimating their audience here as well as the potential of the tv series.

For example, the HBO series has so far completely ignored a very prevalent theme: the concept of "True Knighthood". This theme greatly affects Sandor's character, as well as many others such as Sansa, Jaime, Brienne, etc. throughout the story, and is important enough to GRRM (and to the understanding of his created world) that it is even one of the main themes of this prequel Dunk & Egg stories as well. While the theme may not seem to directly affect major plotlines (and may be why it was omitted from GoT show), it affects character development big time. Surprise, surprise, it is noticeably the character development )aside from a few 'choice' characters) that is sorely lacking in the tv show, at least in my eyes.


Sorry for the tangent....where was I......

Oh yes, Rory McCann.   The Hound.   (The Power of this character is such that even the watered-down tv-version makes me fling my undergarments across the room swoon. )

Edited by Valkyrja, 02 June 2012 - 03:55 AM.

[Plaguewalker]

HODOR! (As in, "I agree completely and totally with everything you have ever said.")

You are spot on about them tossing the whole exploration of "true Knighthood" to the wind to the detriment of the show overall. That's another thing that has rankled me. Someone I know who didn't read the books was describing the show to someone else as "kings and boobs and killing." Many a time that's what I feel the show has been reduced to, though apparently, by the ratings, they're doing something right to please a great number of people.

Gotta go to work now...will be thinking of other things...other brawny, irritable things...for the next 12 hours, though... I do love brawny and irritable things.

[The_Spanish_Inquisition]

Dornish Hen, on 01 June 2012 - 05:28 PM, said:

In the book, The Hound was much scarier (and drunker) when he was in Sansa's chamber.  I really liked how Rory McCann portrayed a kinder gentler Hound in that scene.  Unfortunately, throughout the show The Hound hasn't had enough time to really show his true nature, good and bad.  This episode finally gave him the time to shine!

After this episode, my friends finally understand my Hound love.  

I read all the comments about this episode before I saw it, and I will admit I was convinced I would hate the Sandor/Sansa scene, but actually I loved it. I think the vulnerability Rory shows in the Hound makes it easy to forget the brutality of the book scene, and it's still just as powerful, IMHO anyway. We've already seen him angry - time to see him scared and seeking comfort.

I have to wonder if Mr. Martin wrote that scene in such a way as to specifically to make Sandor seem more sympathetic. I know he has said that he was surprised that readers felt so deeply connected to Sandor, and that he didn't really intend for him to come across as a heroic figure. I'm curious if reader/viewer opinion of Sandor is changing his opinion or plans for him.