[TV SPOILERS] will not showing battles effect viewership?

[Brienne the Beauty]

Jaime's capture should have been shown. They didn't need a massed battle - I'm sure they could have thought of something. It was left pretty unclear why he was a prisoner.

Battles for the sake of battles are pointless in this story. The books skip a lot of battles, and when they show them, the focus is on the characters not the grand spectacle.

[MyDogIsNamedDanerys]

Season 2 Blackwater predictions. To all those saying that HBO won't screw us over on the Blackwater. Here's how they'll do it.

The Hound tells Tyrion of the horrors outside the walls and deserts. Then a long talking scene with Sansa happens. Tyrion gives a long speech to his men and is seen charging out of the gates with his men. Fade to black. He wakes up in a bed and Pod tells him of his heroic deeds and how Renly's ghost saved the day. Davos gives a long speech and then commands his lone ship to enter fiery haze with everything obscured by smoke. Fade to black. He wakes up in Sallador's ship and is told of what happened. No actual fighting happens.

Unlikely.

It's very important that Tyrion knows who cut his nose off. HE has to realize that Cersei was behind it. Besides, that scene can be done with like 10 extras or fewer on screen so it'd be silly not to do it.

I do hope we see some ships, too, but I'm less certain of that.

Also the interview with the FX people from last season mentions that they would have had to do green flame on water for this season so clearly there are plans for wildfire to be shown.

[Cop out]

I don't think it will affect viewership (apart from those people who would purely tune in to see medieval weaponry in action), but I would have liked to see some of the battle. It was a confusing jump when we suddenly ended up with Cat waiting.

Hope the money they save by not choosing too big name actors can be saved for Blackwater.

[Joni]

Season 2 Blackwater predictions. To all those saying that HBO won't screw us over on the Blackwater. Here's how they'll do it.

The Hound tells Tyrion of the horrors outside the walls and deserts. Then a long talking scene with Sansa happens. Tyrion gives a long speech to his men and is seen charging out of the gates with his men. Fade to black. He wakes up in a bed and Pod tells him of his heroic deeds and how Renly's ghost saved the day. Davos gives a long speech and then commands his lone ship to enter fiery haze with everything obscured by smoke. Fade to black. He wakes up in Sallador's ship and is told of what happened. No actual fighting happens.

This is probably how it should be done.

As for Tyrion's nose, a scar across the face should suffice. Having him show up noseless for the rest of the season (and season 3 if we get there) would cost too much prosthetic makeup.

[TamTam Rapley]

Unlikely.

It's very important that Tyrion knows who cut his nose off. HE has to realize that Cersei was behind it. Besides, that scene can be done with like 10 extras or fewer on screen so it'd be silly not to do it.

I do hope we see some ships, too, but I'm less certain of that.

Also the interview with the FX people from last season mentions that they would have had to do green flame on water for this season so clearly there are plans for wildfire to be shown.

The WW could of been done with Robb, Jaime, and 10 extras and it was silly for them not to do it, but they chose the easy way out anyways.

[Golden Imp]

I would like to see more developed battle scenes, I mean they don't have to be Helm's deep but I do want to see the life and death struggles that happen on the field of battle.

[Cozur]

I find that battles are not needed for my enjoyment of the show, I do however find that some people I've spoken to, do not understand the vast world that ASOIAF takes place in, instead mistaking it for a regional battle between lords possibly no more powerful than those found in, say, Normandy before the Battle of Hastings.

I think a battle, not necessarily showing, but at least mentioning, the scope of the armies, would have helped expand the horizon of people who haven't read the books.

[daimonion]

I think a battle, not necessarily showing, but at least mentioning, the scope of the armies, would have helped expand the horizon of people who haven't read the books.

Robbs army of 18000 was mentioned more than once. And Tywins numbers too, i think - at least that they had more men.

[Lady Blackfish]

Martin himself is not the most descriptive about the battles, other than the Wildling attack on the Wall I actually can't even remember an extended play-by-play of large-scale armed conflict. So while I can understand that some book readers may have wanted HBO to do something in this case that Martin did not, I still think an expectation of such is a little premature. From non-readers I can't see how it affects them much either way, what would they be expecting?

For me Whispering Wood was a let down not because I needed to see the action but because I needed to feel more tension and drama, which could've been accomplished without a big huge panoramic battle scene (ie the way it was in the book, as one option). Green Fork I didn't have as many qualms with, because my favorite parts of that storyline were the Lannister "conference room" scenes and the subtext of the thing w.r.t. Tyrion's relationship with Tywin, and those survived well enough for me, but I know that Tyrion getting no piece of the action disappointed a few people (I didn't mind much either way).

[Whitney]

I don't watch for the battles, I watch for the human interaction. Lengthy battle scenes tend to bore me.

[Joni]

If there were any battle scene for Blackwater, it would be small scale; similar to the end of episode five. I don't see why people expect battles when the series has such a small budget, don't be surprised if they skipped Blackwater entirely. Lord of the Rings had $300 million for a 10-hour trilogy, Game of Thrones had $45-60 million for a 10 hour series. Understand the difference?

[Asha—Not Yara!]

Yeesh, they won't skip Blackwater entirely. GRRM is writing the episode called "Blackwater". It's a crucial moment of the second book. They'll find a way to do it justice even within the budget restraints.

[Ty K]

We didn't see the Whispering Woods in the book either, and I was actually glad they played Tyrion's scene the way they did. I can buy Tyrion killing someone like he did in episode 5 on the Eastern road, where he tripped the guy from behind and beat him with the shield. But the book has him channeling Conan the Barbarian for a while. Those scenes never stood right with me, and would look silly onscreen.

That said, I have concerns for the future. The Battle of the Blackwater is a major, climactic event depicted from multiple POVs; it will need to be portrayed, and done well, if Season 2 is going to be a success. I can deal with the battle scenes being scaled back, or the shots of it being quick, but we will need to see some shots of the battle one way or another.

[mr. peasant]

If there were any battle scene for Blackwater, it would be small scale; similar to the end of episode five. I don't see why people expect battles when the series has such a small budget, don't be surprised if they skipped Blackwater entirely. Lord of the Rings had $300 million for a 10-hour trilogy, Game of Thrones had $45-60 million for a 10 hour series. Understand the difference?

Moreover, it's $45-60 million, ten years later! Taking inflation into account, that would probably mean they have 1/10 of the budget or less. It's unrealistic to expect large-scale, live-action battles in a television series. It's simply not done.

[TamTam Rapley]

Moreover, it's $45-60 million, ten years later! Taking inflation into account, that would probably mean they have 1/10 of the budget or less. It's unrealistic to expect large-scale, live-action battles in a television series. It's simply not done.

The Borgias, a show with a lesser budget managed to show two episodes of large battle scenes and panoramic shots of the armies and fortresses. Don't tell me it can't be done.

[HouseLark]

Personally I can live without large-scale battle scenes but let's face it, they would help keep the show on air. The thing that I always come back to is that they can create the sense of a large-scale battle within small, tight scenes. I don't need to see 5,000 soldiers going at it hammer and tongs. For Blackwater you need a few key scenes involving <200 extras in each - substantially less in most cases. And you need one decent CGI shot of what takes place on the actual river. Quickly cutting between a number of small-scale pitched battles will easily give the impression of a much larger battle. Seeing the massed ranks isn't necessary.

I also agree that Whispering Wood should have been shown. I don't care that it wasn't in the books. That would have been an easy battle to show as they could legitimately have shot it tight because of the enclosed environment, which would also have justified fewer bodies on screen. 20 Starks, 10 Lannisters and whole load of background clanging of swords while Jaime is taken down shouldn't have been a stretch.

Ultimately, I feel the budget needs to increase significantly in future seasons. There's a number of large battles that are necessary to various plotlines and the dragons are only going to get bigger...

[lanky316]

We didn't see the Whispering Woods in the book either, and I was actually glad they played Tyrion's scene the way they did. I can buy Tyrion killing someone like he did in episode 5 on the Eastern road, where he tripped the guy from behind and beat him with the shield. But the book has him channeling Conan the Barbarian for a while. Those scenes never stood right with me, and would look silly onscreen.

We now have to live with the image of him being brave enough to lead a full on charge to try and fight off the enemy army where we've got absolutely no thing to understand the change in character. We're to believe suddenly he'll go from being so useless he get's knocked out while his own men run past him to being able to do all that. Talk about suicide on screen... Mind you maybe the characters "so cool" people will accept LOTR style "leggy moments" from the Imp....

[JagLover]

My brother (who does not ready fantasy) liked the series but thought it could have done with some battle scenes, so it is having an affect on TV fans.

As said above you don't need LOTR style CGI fests, just a couple of hundred extras in a carefully composed scene. TV shows with far smaller budgets have at least made the attempt.

[DragonAge93]

I admit I was slightly disappointed there was no battle, as I loved that part in the book. I'm the kind of "action scenes make it better" guy, but honestly, I didn't really care. I still loved it because it's medieval fantasy, and just seeing elements from the genre makes me happy. I know the battles in season 2 will be better, that's for sure.

But really, the battles weren't really "full-on assaults". The Tyrion battle was only brief, and we only got glimpses of Robb's fight with Jaime's men through Catelyn's eyes. So I don't think they went a bad route at all. Just hope the Battle of Blackwater lives up to the book, albeit a few changes due to budgetary reasons.

[Blackhaven]

Enjoyed season one.

Was disappointed by not portraying the battle scenes. The desparate image of the Kingslayer going for Robb while the Karstarks got in the way would have been intense. The only reason Robb survived was because Jamie's sword got stuck in one of the Karstark's neck. That could have been a great scene.

Looking forward to season two. If season two has good portrayal of some of the battle scenes...Yoren and the NW recruits holding the tower for example...I'll enjoy it more.

I hope they don't cut corners on the Blackwater. I hope they show it en masse from all sides - Tyrion and King's Landing, the Hound faltering, Davos desparation trying to stop the inevitable, the deed of Podric Payne, the Ghost that turns the tide, etc. It is an epic, plot changing battle.

I hope it is portrayed in grand scale.