54 replies to this topic

[Lord Varys]

There could already be some parts of the Martell-Lannister history in season 3. Lady Olenna will come to court, we'll see much more of the Tyrells, there agenda and history, and they are very much defined through the eternal enmity between the Reach and Dorne.

Considering that the whole Myrcella marriage thing featured prominently in season 2, I'd not be surprised if Tywin would chastise Tyrion for this 'great idea', and give the audience a first hint why House Martell does not exactly like Tywin and his brood.

Gregor on the other hand is not important as a character. We already know that he is a sadistic ass, there may be some stuff about him in season 3 (Roose Bolton has to get Harrenhal, after all), but I don't expect much additional Clegane bloodshed on screen. Telling us about the murder of the Targaryen children in detail should suffice before the trial-by-combat starts. Especially since this fight is going to give us additional Gregor cruelty. And the Mountain is far from finished. Ser Robert Strong is waiting to continue his work.

[Frumpus]

If they don't get Conan Stevens back, my guess is that the Mountain will be written out and the Viper will duel some nameless massive knight that came from nowhere (probably played by the guy who played gregor in season 2).
There wouldn't need to be a backstory.

[Padraig]

Lord Varys, on 05 December 2012 - 01:05 PM, said:

Considering that the whole Myrcella marriage thing featured prominently in season 2, I'd not be surprised if Tywin would chastise Tyrion for this 'great idea', and give the audience a first hint why House Martell does not exactly like Tywin and his brood.

In S1, they dropped a lot of hints about Stannis.  In S2, they dropped a lot of hints about Mance.  I expect in S3 it will be Oberyn, paving the way for S4.  That side of the duel is important.

Gregor.  S1 Gregor was ideal but they may downplay him now given they changed actor.

[Lannister Hamster]

Padraig, on 06 December 2012 - 05:38 PM, said:

In S1, they dropped a lot of hints about Stannis.  In S2, they dropped a lot of hints about Mance.  I expect in S3 it will be Oberyn, paving the way for S4.  That side of the duel is important.

Gregor.  S1 Gregor was ideal but they may downplay him now given they changed actor.

Tywin, Tyrion and Bronn can all talk him up and they can explain the backstory without him being in the scene or involved if they think the actor is weak.

They can always have less is more and build up the mystique.

[King Tommen]

In the novels, you barely heard the Mountain talk or saw him in action.  The majority of his mystique was built up through what other characters said about him.  Similarly, the show has prominently featured his backstory with his brother via Littlefinger and gave him his menancing scene with the horse.  After that, they have namechecked him on numerous occasions in both S1 and S2 (remember the random Lannister guards ranking his fighting skills with Jaime?) but left the majority of his actions to the imagination, as they should.

In S4, they just need to talk him up via other characters prior to him being chosen for the duel with Oberyn.  Would it be great if he was played by Conan Stevens at that time?  Sure, because Stevens is more physically imposing than Ian Whyte but if it ends up being Whyte, it's not the end of the world either since the character will have been hyped up and described the same way regardless of the actor playing him.

[StannisisaBAMF]

My only concern is theres not much screen-time to fit all this stuff in, any I'm sure everyone remembers the mountain chopping off his horses head, They just need to reinforce the back story of him smashing baby skulls at some point.

He wasn't featured all that much in the books aside from dialogue if IRC

[Liar]

Also, Twin chastising him in s2 might have served to show Tywin's character, but as a side effect they made Gregor look like a goof. They need to fix that.

[ShowOverBooks]

Damar, on 04 December 2012 - 01:29 PM, said:

I still regret Conan Stevens leaving the show. I mean he had like only one scene and a single word, and his replacement is also tall and has quite the deep voice, but I thought Conan pulled off that perpetual RAGE look like someone who'd rape your daughters and wipe out your town just because some peasant looked at him funny, the new guy reminds me more of Lurch.

Yeah, the replacement looks too normal and sane for me. He did nothing in season 2 but pick victims for the Tickler.

Conan was a much better fit for the role.

I agree with the OP that we need The Mountain to show his true nature to make the duel more personal.

[Quiet Isle]

They have to bring back Conan.  If predictions are right that he and the hound are going to ultimately face off, then it needs to be Conan.

[StannisisaBAMF]

ShowOverBooks, on 12 December 2012 - 01:19 PM, said:

Yeah, the replacement looks too normal and sane for me. He did nothing in season 2 but pick victims for the Tickler.

Conan was a much better fit for the role.

I agree with the OP that we need The Mountain to show his true nature to make the duel more personal.

Maybe they could show the hound talking crap about his bro? He does this in the book IRC so thats one way to save screen time.

Edited by StannisisaBAMF, 15 December 2012 - 12:27 AM.

[So1ar]

I'm in the boat that wants Conan Stevens back, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if he doesn't. I mean it's not impossible for Ian Whyte to bulk up a bit. He also played the Predator in AvP so there are ways to make him look much more physically imposing than he really is.

Also, we don't really need to see the mountain to know how fierce he is (like several of you have mentioned). He just needs to be built up by all the other characters for his big fight in season 4. Hopefully by that time Conan is back or Ian has put on some weight.

[Mr Fixit]

So1ar, on 16 December 2012 - 01:57 AM, said:

Hopefully by that time Conan is back or Ian has put on some weight.

It's not just that Ian is too thin, he's also reserved and not imposing in the least. When you look at Conan, or rather his interpretation of Mountain, he doesn't have to say anything, he *seems* barely contained and ready to explode at any given moment. Ian just sorta stands around quietly minding his own business.

[Arkash]

What I hope is than Ian Whyte took note of all the remarks (I so hope the guy didnt take all of these badly) and has worked on it for the future, and had more time to work his character ! I'm sure we wont get Conan back but Ian can be a really good Mountain, I'm sure of it !

[The Ghost of Winter]

I want Conan back too, he looked physically imposing. Like he could crush your head with his fingers.

[King of the Road]

Ian Whyte is still pretty imposing! At 7ft 1" you're not gonna want to pick a fight with him!

[boojam]

Mr Fixit, on 16 December 2012 - 05:49 PM, said:

It's not just that Ian is too thin, he's also reserved and not imposing in the least. When you look at Conan, or rather his interpretation of Mountain, he doesn't have to say anything, he *seems* barely contained and ready to explode at any given moment. Ian just sorta stands around quietly minding his own business.

Yes that's the problem.
Whyte is really a 'stunt' actor , he has been in quite a few films , but I don't think a single one of them were speaking parts.
He has played the Predator , a suit job, I guess because of his height he is imposing as a monster or an alien. He was in Prometheus recently playing a non speaking alien (no not one of the 'aliens' but one of the 'alien engineers' ).
I don't think he has any acting chops at all and it showed in the second season , in his longest piece of dialog in season 2 he seemed totally intimidated by Charles Dance's acting abilities that he almost seems to hiding from the camera!
Rumor had it , at one time that Stevens was coming back, then rumor had it he was not or HBO was blocking his being rehired. I would like to know if D and D noticed how poor Whyte was in the role in season 2.
Stevens does have a drama training background , even has even done modern dance!, a drama writer, plus done about 20 other things!
If they don't get him back D and D should look for and actor like him , it a large acting world out there, and just let Ian Whyte remain as a White Walker (which he seems good at!).

Edited by boojam, 30 December 2012 - 08:08 AM.

[eaglestate]

I think they need to just pick a actor and stick with him because it gets confusing i mean it took me awhile to realize that Ian Whyte was the Mountain

[Jaqen H'gcarl]

Crown, on 04 December 2012 - 02:21 PM, said:

They need to get Conan Stevens back, otherwise it is simply not going to work for me.

[Commodore]

was going to post a thread about this but I see it's already here...

There is so little to find fault with this show, but the writers/creators have really botched everything about Ser Gregor.

In the books he is a menacing prescence throughout. But I imagine most TV show viewers have no clue who he is.

What's strange is the Arya scenes at Harrenhal would have been the perfect time to flesh out Ser Gregor as a terrifying brute of a castle warlord. And yet he's relegated to a few lines of dialogue and minimal screen time, he's practically an extra. Is this because Conan Stevens was unavailable and they wanted to hide the character?

This will be a problem when we get to the Red Viper/Gregor conflict and beyond. Gregor will need to be reintroduced and we will need to be told rather than shown why he matters. Hopefully the writers will figure out a way, but you want the audience to be terrified of Gregor by the time you get to the Red Viper fight.

It looks like Gregor will not appear at all in season 3. Hopefully Conan will be back for season 4 (don't blame him for leaving, hard for a lesser known guy to say no to Peter Jackson).

[Winterz]

Well in the show he was responsible for all the "interrogation & execution" of the prisoners in Harrenhal, plus attacking Loras and cutting his own horse in half. Of course those don't have any comparison to his brutalities in the books but it is a start.

Edited by Winterz, 19 March 2013 - 09:24 AM.