[BOOK/TV SPOILERS] Celebrating the little touches

[The King of Ashes]

I'd have to disagree with the consensus here that Sophie Turner is doing a good job. There are aspects of Sansa's character that sometimes appear to make her likeable in the books but we've seen none of that from Turner thus far. Also, her delivery is consistently awful, especially when compared with Maisie (which in an unavoidable comparison).

[Trebla]

I loved how they mentioned Dunk. The Hedge Knight is my favorite GRRM work.

I also liked the mention of Simon Toyne and the Kingswood Brotherhood. It gives us a hint that Ser Barristan is a baddass with Jaime mentioning Barristan's killing maneuver as the best he'd ever seen. Also it let's the audience know Jaime killed his first man at age 16.

It was interesting that they made Robert's first man killed a Tarly. I'm wondering if they wanted the audience to remember the name so when Sam is introduced.

[Forgiven]

Loved Roberts reaction to 'Burn them all'.

[Joanna vander Poele]

Also, when Ned and Jaime have the confrontation in the throne room. While Jaime is obviously being a hostile twit, his little preamble about thinking of Ned's family when he killed Aerys was probably the most honest and revealing thing he's ever said about it, and Ned unwittingly spits it back in his face. The three seconds of Jaime's mood changing from a kind of assholish conciliation to offense and contempt, all done in silence and with Nikolaj's eyes... awesome. A particular scene for book readers, methinks :)

[iheartseverus]

The scene where Cersei is putting salve on Joff's arm--when she touches the first bite mark, he flinches and yelps 'ow!' She chides him a bit, saying the wound is almost healed. Then, when she puts salve on the second bite mark, he doesn't flinch or react at all. So obviously, salving that first bite didn't hurt at all, he was just being his usual whiny sissified twit self.

[Talleyrand]

I'm from Chicago. Gotta establish that so this next stuff makes sense. I hear all sorts of British-y accents going on and unlike Professor Henry Higgins, I can't tell where someone British is from or what their social class/status is based on their accents. (I'm from Chicago, remember...) BUT, my admittedly-ignorant American ears tell me that Ned's accent is not posh upper-class, at all. It sounds blue-collar, working-class to me.

So, it makes me happy that Benjen's accent isn't posh, either. He's a working-class guy, just like brother Ned. When John takes the 'elevator' to the top of the wall and looks out at the North, Benjen stands there with him and says "I wanted to be here with you when you first sawr this." Sawr?

Such a little moment. It made me happy.

Ned's accent isn't posh. Sean Bean is a Yorkshireman and he does very little to hide it

[Xenophon]

Also, when Ned and Jaime have the confrontation in the throne room. While Jaime is obviously being a hostile twit, his little preamble about thinking of Ned's family when he killed Aerys was probably the most honest and revealing thing he's ever said about it, and Ned unwittingly spits it back in his face. The three seconds of Jaime's mood changing from a kind of assholish conciliation to offense and contempt, all done in silence and with Nikolaj's eyes... awesome. A particular scene for book readers, methinks :)

Yes, that was a great scene. But I don't think it was solely for viewers who've already read the books. I think the director did a great job of showing very quickly in that scene and the one with Robert that Jaime regards himself as at least partially justified, and that nobody else really cares (and hinted that his usual flippant attitude might partly be a shield against the contempt everyone has for him).

Ned's accent isn't posh. Sean Bean is a Yorkshireman and he does very little to hide it

I think that was iheartseverus's point. I can't tell different British accents apart that well, but I can tell that all the southerners speak with a BBC-ish accent, while the Starks generally have some sort of different, less posh-sounding accent.

[iheartseverus]

I think that was iheartseverus's point. I can't tell different British accents apart that well, but I can tell that all the southerners speak with a BBC-ish accent, while the Starks generally have some sort of different, less posh-sounding accent.

Exactly. And Benjen sounds un-posh, as well. So that's the little tidbit that made me happy. :thumbsup:

PS: And here's another little thing that makes me happy--as an American, I finally got to use the word 'posh!'

[Pinkyfinger]

Any scene with the King, love Addy's voice, couldnt imagine a better Robert.

[So1ar]

I liked the painting hanging in the background during the small council's meeting. it looked like it was the battle of the trident.

also, pretty much old nan's entire scene. i also adore all the scenes we are getting of jon and ghost...

[Arya The Assassin]

So far, what have been your favorite "little touches" of acting, set design, or whatever?

Arya bowing in 'jest' after hitting the bullseye during Bran's archery training in episode one. I loved the expression on her face.

Sansa screaming in rage when she realizes that Lady will be put to sleep.

[The Anti-Targ]

All of Viserys' facial expressions during the wedding. Someone already mentioned him laughing about the deaths, but I also liked his reactions to some of the gifts. Like the snakes, you can tell he's thinking "what the hell kind of a gift is that?"

I loved Viserys' look when Jorah said he always hoped to serve the true king at the wedding. That was great.

Arya's 2 evil stares in Ep 2 (when she had Joff on the ground, and at the end of her "trial").

King Bob turning his back on Ned and walking away when Ned asks him to reconsider over Lady's fate. Absolutely heightens the injustice of the whole debacle.

2 interesting transferrences of dialogue from book to screen: When Ned wants to take Bran to the beheading and he says Bran won't be a boy forever, and winter is coming. That's a line (slightly altered in the TV show to remove the reference to age) he delivers about Rickon in the books when Cat is concerned over Rickon having one fo the direwolves. When Cat says (in the TV show) she can't handle Winterfell with Ned gone Ned says "you can, you must". In the book Cat says "You cannot, you must not" to Ned when Ned says he wants to refuse to be the Hand. Little homages to dialogue in the books, even though they appear in different scenes, and in the case of the latter, a complete reversal of Cat's attitude about Ned being the Hand.

[The Brandon Stark]

Robert talking about killing the Tarly lad. "Wait! Wait" and Robert's gruff little chuckle. That is Martin humor at it's finest.

Ned's grieving look just before leaving Jon on the way to the wall. Amazing.

At this point, almost anything Maise does as Arya just blows me away. I swear that girl was summoned directly out of the books.

[iheartseverus]

Summer growling as Theon enters Bran's room. Starks, I beg you, start paying attention to your damned magic wolves! :(

[Ser Kevan Raley]

Littlefinger's line in epsiode 3:

"The Starks. Quick tempers, slow minds!"

[Huan]

HBO's Facebook page has announced that registered HBO GO subscribers can watch Episode 7 of Game Of Thrones directly following Episode 6 on May 22.

Edit: Sorry, didn't realize a thread had already been created for this topic.

[iheartseverus]

HBO's Facebook page has announced that registered HBO GO subscribers can watch Episode 7 of Game Of Thrones directly following Episode 6 on May 22.

HOLY CRAP!! I always go right to HBO GO on Sunday nights to watch the episode over again (sometimes twice) So, it looks like the night of the 22nd is going to be pretty much an all-nighter for me, hurray! :stunned:

PS: Now I'm wondering, will Ran set up spoiler threads or impressions threads or whatever here following that May 22 episode 7 screening?

[Tywin's bastard]

So, it makes me happy that Benjen's accent isn't posh, either. He's a working-class guy, just like brother Ned. When John takes the 'elevator' to the top of the wall and looks out at the North, Benjen stands there with him and says "I wanted to be here with you when you first sawr this." Sawr?

Not that I'm a native English speaker but doesn't Benjen say "I wanted to be here when you're soaring for the first time"?

[JewBear]

I loved the end scene of episode three, Arya's sword lesson while Ned watches on. The slow zoom to Ned's facial expression is priceless and the battle sounds made this scene epic for me. His face had this total "wtf have i done" look about it, but it also foreshadows Arya's future in the series.

[Xenophon]

Not that I'm a native English speaker but doesn't Benjen say "I wanted to be here when you're soaring for the first time"?

I heard "I wanted to be here when you saw it for the first time"