Anyone else prefer the character ages in the show?

[SkipDouglas]

I can buy Joffrey as being fairly young and I GUESS Sansa is understandable. Robb, Jon and Dany though? Nah, that's just silly (and very very "Dateline NBC" in the latter case...). The show has Robb, Jon and Dany all in their early 20s or so, ages that I believe are much more appropriate.

Thoughts?

[Kaitscralt]

GRRM himself prefers the children being older. I personally think that every one of the kids needed an age bump with the exception of Robb, who had a touching scene in AGoT that would not have worked as well with the older television Robb. But even he works for me as being older.

All in all, I approve.

[The Sand Snake]

I like the age bump though Dany, Robb, Jon, and sansas ages never bothered me. However Arya and Bran seemed to young to do the things the did in the series. I always just ignore it

[Marcus of the South]

I think with the axing of the five year gap, particularly for Arya, Sansa and Bran, these ages work better.

[Envie]

I thought I read somewhere that Mr. Martin said he thought it worked better for all of the 'kids' to be aged up at least 2-3 years for the television adaptations and probably would have made them older in the first place if he could re-do the writing.

For me, the only ones that really needed aged up to make sense were Arya, Bran and possibly Daenerys. The first two because as someone else states, it doesn't seem as believable for them to go through and do the things they did at a mere 8 or 9 years old, and the latter because she goes through so much to become "The Mother of Dragons" that at a mere 13 or 14, that seems unrealistic. We forget that in ancient times 'children' married at those tender ages!

I thought one of the key reasons (in book 2) Sansa got lucky and dodged a bullet in being married to Joffrey was because she was so young and hadn't yet 'flowered' (first menstruation) to womanhood. Aging her to 15 or so in the television show really just makes her that much more at risk to Joffrey's attention in much worse ways. He was also much younger and not yet interested in that form of entertainment as I remember Tyrion considering sending him to a whorehouse to keep him occupied and away from Sansa somewhere in the middle of Book 2. He was 13 at that time.

[SFA-OK]

I'm fine with most of the ages on the show, except for one, Robb. The actor is doing a GREAT job but he sure doesn't look like a "boy". He actually could pass for almost 30, IMO. I think it would've been cool, visually, if Robb actually looked like he was 16, since it would make what he's doing all the more impressive. Not really a big complaint, but something that is definitely noticeable.

[smegma]

I never pictured them as the ages in the book anyway - it was too unrealistic to my mind. Much better this way.

[silverkitty]

Their ages were appropriate for a pre-industrial-era society. They needed to age them up for the show to not alienate as many people who think "18 is when adulthood begins" is a constant of the universe and not something we made up in the last 150 years.

[stevelabny]

The show has Dany, Jon and Robb at 16 not 20-something.

The kid characters have all aged 2-3 years and the actors are 1-7 years older than that. The adults have aged an unknown amount but the actors are 5-15 years older.

The only characters it really matters with are Arya and Sansa (both of whom its impossible to believe haven't had their moon's blood yet) and to some extent any of the older characters who heads of house. Its impossible to believe that Ned or Robert would not have had heirs by 21ish.

The slight age difference makes the kids more believable to a modern viewer but less believable in context. The prime example is an Arya with breasts. It just doesn't hold water.

[Faint]

In regard to the children and teenagers, it was for the best. For everyone else, it was for the worst.

[smegma]

The show has Dany, Jon and Robb at 16 not 20-something.

The kid characters have all aged 2-3 years and the actors are 1-7 years older than that. The adults have aged an unknown amount but the actors are 5-15 years older.

The only characters it really matters with are Arya and Sansa (both of whom its impossible to believe haven't had their moon's blood yet) and to some extent any of the older characters who heads of house. Its impossible to believe that Ned or Robert would not have had heirs by 21ish.

The slight age difference makes the kids more believable to a modern viewer but less believable in context. The prime example is an Arya with breasts. It just doesn't hold water.

God, this has been beaten to death, but girls can get their periods as early as 8 or 9 or as late as 16 or 17 in rare cases. The average age is 12, but it's certainly not unheard of for a 13 or 14 year old to not get it - especially those that are stressed out or super athletes.

The way GRRM wrote the characters was not believable for their age, historically or not. With a few exceptions, their emotions and thought processes were all older than the written age, which is one of the reasons the aging up works. It was something that always bugged me about the books - I didn't feel uncomfortable with their ages, I just never bought it.

[HokieStone]

The way GRRM wrote the characters was not believable for their age, historically or not. With a few exceptions, their emotions and thought processes were all older than the written age, which is one of the reasons the aging up works. It was something that always bugged me about the books - I didn't feel uncomfortable with their ages, I just never bought it.

Agree 100%. I'm currently re-reading AGOT, prepping for ADWD, and I agree that "their emotions and thought processes are oder than the written age".

Another consideration for this in the show is that for the older children, there's less risk of the actors "developing" faster than their characters should. Prime example - Walt from "Lost". They basically had to cut the character since the kid grew to 6' tall or so. I worry about this with Arya and Bran (Rickon was in it so little, they can cast another actor and I probably wouldn't notice - even more so with the youger Baratheon kids). It's going to look ridiculous if Hodor is carrying around a teenage Bran. Anwyay, since Robb, Jon, Joffrey, Danaerys and even Sansa already look fairly "mature", that shouldn't be a problem with them.

[howland_reed]

Arya, that is the actress Maisie Williams, is already 14 IRL, only a year younger than Sophie Turner. The only worry is that she DOESN'T grow taller and then you have a huge height difference between 5'10 Sansa and 4'11 Arya. That would seem weird. At least they don't have any more scenes together.

Sansa is the only one who I feel aging up has hurt her character. Whereas in the books, she just comes across as stupid and naive 12 year old girl, in the show, she comes across as a bratty, self-centered 15 year old. Slight difference, sure, but it made her even more annoying than in the books. I still felt sympathy for her by the end of Episode 10 though, so the producers are doing a good job manipulating our emotions in the right course.

[stevelabny]

God, this has been beaten to death, but girls can get their periods as early as 8 or 9 or as late as 16 or 17 in rare cases. The average age is 12, but it's certainly not unheard of for a 13 or 14 year old to not get it - especially those that are stressed out or super athletes.

Yes, they "can". It would be perfectly believable for a rather small-chested Sansa to not have her period because of her stressful situation. When she's 6 feet tall, it becomes less believable.

The problem with Arya and breasts isn't related to her period, or even her Arry disguise

which will be quickly abandoned

but its simply that you see what is happening to all the other young women in the middle of Westeros during war. The only reason it doesn't happen to Arya is because she is not developed. A post-pubescent Arya in close proximity with a bunch of grown men at war is a recipe for disaster.

My main point was that the age jumps on the show have NOT been that bad as Robb, Dany and Jon have all managed to act their character's age. Now we have to see if Margery can also pull it off, or if this is getting 90210ish.

[El-ahrairah]

Arya, Sansa, Bran, Rickon, & Dany were all fine, and even improved. But Jon and Robb both looked way too old. Reminds me of Prince Caspian.

[Nick Of Troy]

The aging up is not a huge issue to me, the only problem I see is that the larger age gap between Robb and Joff robs the series from the rivalry those two foster across the first book. Although since they didn't really include that small subplot in the series anyway it moots the point I suppose

[ferthepoet]

I was o.k with the ages so far but casting a 29 year old as Margaery Tyrell is really pushing it

[King_In_The_North]

I'm fine with the casting, I guess. I think Richard Madden or Kit Harrington or Emilia Clarke can pass for 17 y/o's.

[The Anti-Targ]

I always pretended the kids were older than the ages given in the books. So, show suits me fine.

[The Anti-Targ]

I was o.k with the ages so far but casting a 29 year old as Margaery Tyrell is really pushing it

Well yes, that's rather out of proportion.