All-purpose TV nitpick extravaganza thread.

[Mandurang]

Re: Kingsguard armor: I don't know. I think white armor can be visually very impressive. Commodus' armor from Gladiator is a great example.

The biggest nitpick I have is that King's Landing is portrayed as what I had thought as Dorne. If anything, KL was, in my mind, a very medieval city. No palm trees or such. And even then Dorne wouldn't exactly be the Caribbean - Ibelin in Kingdom of Heaven was a pretty good depiction of my mental image of Dorne.

Also, the dragon eggs are looking like plastic props, and plastic pine cone props at that. I imagined something a lot more mineral-looking, with whorls and veins and a surface alternating between patches of smooth and craggy material, like hardened volcanic glass.

Finally, I posted this somewhere else but since we're nitpicking... I really do hope the British accent is not terribly overdone. I do not look forward to watching Hogwarts transplanted in Westeros, like the impression with which some featurettes with Emilia Clarke left me. The British accents in Braveheart nailed it - distinguishing enough so that you could differentiate them from some of the lighter Scot accents (like Robert the Bruce's, for those of you who remember), but not overdone by any stretch. Although McGoohan's impossibly perfect performance as Edward the Longshanks was so great verbally that I might have let any flaws pass.

[The Fan]

Also, the dragon eggs are looking like plastic props, and plastic pine cone props at that. I imagined something a lot more mineral-looking, with whorls and veins and a surface alternating between patches of smooth and craggy material, like hardened volcanic glass.

Something like this, this, this, or this, but much bigger? Me too...

[Asha—Not Yara!]

Yeah, the eggs were a bit of a let down. They sounded so colorful and gorgeous in the book description. Ah, well it's a small detail in the grand scheme of things. I just hope they do an awesome job with the dragons' CGI.

[Maltaran]

The British accents in Braveheart nailed it - distinguishing enough so that you could differentiate them from some of the lighter Scot accents (like Robert the Bruce's, for those of you who remember), but not overdone by any stretch. Although McGoohan's impossibly perfect performance as Edward the Longshanks was so great verbally that I might have let any flaws pass.

I'm surprised that you could differentiate between Scottish and British accents, given that Scottish accent are British accents. Or did you mean English? :P

[smegma]

The thing about the accents though is that most of the actors are using their own accents, with very few exceptions (Dinklage). So what makes more sense....to have a whole cast change their accents, or one guy? I am totally cool with the direction they are going with their accents (but then again I'm easily satiated when it comes to this and I was fine with the British accents in Rome, which is WAY more strange than what they are doing in GOT).

[Mandurang]

It's a good point, but I'm not sure modern accents would be by definition good in a medieval setting. And I don't know at all about this, but isn't there such a thing as a standard neutral accent that all english-speaking actors try to become proficient at?

We'll wait and see, I guess. At any rate, it's a minor grievance. And I haven't watched Rome, but I bet Romans speaking in British accents would be much more weird than Westerosi. But at least there we have some adaptations of plays by Shakespeare that we can identify with.

I'm surprised that you could differentiate between Scottish and British accents, given that Scottish accent are British accents. Or did you mean English? :P

Yes, that is what I meant ^_^ Maybe I should have said between the dialects of British english.

Something like this, this, this, or this, but much bigger? Me too...

Kinda like this, but more...craggy. Perhaps alternating between your pictures and this.

[williamjm]

It's a good point, but I'm not sure modern accents would be by definition good in a medieval setting.

This seems to be a contradiction of your earlier request that they speak in a fairly neutral accent. If they went for authentic medieval accents then we'd probably be unable to understand them without subtitles, the accents in Braveheart you mention are completely anachronistic (even ignoring the anachronistic language, Robert the Bruce would probably have primarily spoken French and Gaelic rather than English).

And I don't know at all about this, but isn't there such a thing as a standard neutral accent that all english-speaking actors try to become proficient at?

There isn't a standard accent, although some accents are definitely more popular than others.

[RSasoiaf]

The Dothraki horde:

The scene where we see Danny riding with them.....they dont look that impressive. Not only due to numbers but also due to organizations and looks.....they dont seem that scary or warliking....and a couple of blue paintings is not going to fix that for me.

It puzzles me why Danny is being seen riding among riders and people walking.....is the horde going to have an infantry force also? Because in the books, the only ones who would walk would be the ones without honour. Even the older or injured should be carried on wagons. A man with no horse was a man with no honour among the Dotraki. But apparently in the series they seem to have infantry and Danny seems to ride among them.

I dont know if you get the point but this will make it a bit less impressive when they force Viserys to walk. That kind of decision on the part of Danny was really really powerfull and it was the best she could get in exchange for a death sentence or something getting cut off from her brother. The fact that they have actually people walking around on the horde will remove a bit from the jokes they latter did about Viserys.

Also, what was the idea of having Drogo coming to Ilirio´s place to "check" Danny????? That´s so so wrong. Can you imagine Drogo going to visit someone in order to "check" is possible future wife??? He would tell them that either they drag their asses to him or he would find someone else to "f***". He is already visitting the city, it would be quite an insult to ask him to drop by their house if he would like to see the girl. Quite on the other way, Drogo "forces" them to give him a palace and they are the ones who will meet him there where he has his full army already settled.

On Drogo appearance itself: He looks huge compared to Danny due to Danny being so small. Granted he is described as taller compared to ordinary man, but he is also describe as looking quite fast, agile, young and generally good looking. Somehow....the series Drogo comes across more like a WWF wrestler then a general and a skilled fighter. But i´ll give him the chance to show us otherwise. We have seen before the likes of Schwarzeneger pulling Conan quite well, so if Jason can get that kind of style, i think he will do.

This is nitpicking ;) I know and i will love the series!

But this is about nitpicking and so here it is :)

Both these instances puzzle me above all because they are being so strict to the book when making Arya fight left handed......and then they drop the ball creating Dotrhaki foot warriors???? Did they lack enough horses??? A call to Peter Jackson could have solved that problem :)

[Padraig]

I dont know if you get the point but this will make it a bit less impressive when they force Viserys to walk.

Depends. The elite presumably ride. And he choose to take a cart, making his situation even more embarrasing.

There probably was a budget issue with the amount of horses. But that's fine. There are more important things. And Peter Jackson is in New Zealand. A long way from Ireland. :P

As for checking Dany. In the books didn't he check her out also? It was a bit more elaborate but effectively the same thing.

The actress playing Arya choose to fight left handed. She wasn't told to.

[Josiah Rowe]

And I don't know at all about this, but isn't there such a thing as a standard neutral accent that all english-speaking actors try to become proficient at?

There isn't a standard accent, although some accents are definitely more popular than others.

Mandurang may be thinking of Received Pronunciation (RP) or "BBC English", which used to be regarded as the standard English accent. Until a few decades back, RP was regarded as the default for all actors to use, unless a role specifically called for a "regional" accent. But this position came under criticism beginning in the 1960s, as it assumed that the accent found in the British public schools (that is, private in American usage) and top universities was the "right" way to speak English, and people from different backgrounds were speaking "wrong". Over the decades, it became more and more common for actors, newsreaders and other people in the public eye to use accents from different regions and classes, to the extent that today RP is considered slightly old-fashioned. Some people say that Estuary English is taking the place of RP as the "neutral" form of the spoken language. But in general, it's more common for British film and television production to encourage actors to use their native, regional accents.

[Whatever]

as far as i know, Emilia Clarke is the only RP speaking of the cast