SerArthurHeath

Well, more logically, higher than the 94 percentile, surely?

I retract my comment regarding army size- in the book Jaime had thrice the troops of Robb! However this does not affect my feelings on how poorly depicted the Whispering Woods and the entire middle 40 minutes of the episode were in general

6 from me. I love the series, I have previously loved the added scenes, and changes and not been bothered by omissions. So it pains me to say, but for me, some scenes (maybe half) were a great 10 out of 10. But just as many were guttingly disappointing (some a 1 or 2 tops). It wasn't an all round average episode, but the mix of excellent and awful got a 6 overall from me. Ned's death scene , perfect. Varys, amazing, Sean Bean too. The acting, on the whole, great. frey, great. Jon and Aemon, great. ending music- wonderful. Dany's acting- fantastic. Shae- not good. The drinking game scene that makes Tyrion a mind-reader (he's clever, he's not psychic!) was not a good way to have his Tysha story in IMO, though others may disagree. Bronn's story was interesting but we only needed to know half of that, max. No Whispering Woods, not even what Cat saw- awful, almost series ruining for me. Too much telling, no showing (Jaime cut down 10 men did he? I didn't see it, and his character could do with some fighting street-cred because that's what his redemptive arc and multiple storylines and character defining moments end up being BASED ON). Making characters like Jorah more sympathetic- ok, but not at the expense of others. No Direwolves, and this was an episode they should have been in. Why make Robb only able to have 1/3 as many men as Tywin? Why make any of the changes this episode? You don't need a huge budget to get some idea of what is going on in a battle. You don't need a lot of time to show some of the WW. I'm really disappointed for the first time, and thank god that Varys and Ned's opening and Ned's death were well acted enough to make up for the cr*p in the middle

Um, there's no way you can dissociate yourself from a show emotionally part way through it, unless you didn't make those attachments initially. And your not meant to emotionally dissociate yourself from the show- that would remove the value of trying to create emotional attachment and empathy with characters in the first place, and you may as well just show plot and no character development.

I find it interesting that some people keep saying that they don't like how Theon is coming across as so much of a dock so early (as opposed to his first scene in the book, where it's pretty clear he's a douchebag) and others say that he's being treated so harshly that he's sympathetic and/or his betrayal is inevitable. A) these seem to be practically if not opposite criticisms, once again (and I tend to think that if people can throw polar opposite criticisms at the same thing, what it actually signifies is that they are being very over sensitive and the actual portrayal is very good) B) I'm fairly sure he is portrayed as a dick, an outsider and sympathetically in the books. We didn't see much of him in book 1, just like Jaime, but he definitely had these traits and the tv show, not having PoVs, is third person omniscient where we were always going to get earlier and more accurate complexities in character than in the books. Also, because a 10 hour tv show will effectively go at a much faster pace than its source book, all development must start earlier in order to not seem like inconsistency. That's not hard to grasp C) I don't think his betrayal will be too obvious to tv viewers. Some will get it, but some people guessed that Ned was doomed, or that he'd betray the Starks in the books. That doesn't mean they all will. The signs ate there to see, because of the differences in the pace of revealing information and the speed at which things happen and scenes change, it has to be more obvious in the show otherwise the signs would not be there. And having something happen as an absolute shock with no clues (at least having more than one thing happen) is IMO awful writing. That's why foreshadowing is s universal literary technique. It's clear in retrospect in the books why Theon betrayed the Starks. If it weren't, it would appear to be a cheap change in characterisation as a form on deus/diabolis ex machina. The same applies in the show. They are mediums that run with a different pace and a different viewpoint. That seems to me to account for all perceived differences in characterisation. Except Renly, but he was dull in the book so feel free to make him interesting.

One and a half post

Hello I am Jac, a medical student from London, UK with a love for reading. Especially fantasy, and as you can tell, Steven King. I read GRRM's books a couple of years ago after someone recommended them, didn't like aGoT but persevered and loved aCoK. I've joined this site as the glorious new TV series reminded of how fascinating the story is. I also used the old WoTmania and new RAFO websites very sporadically. In RL I row and play rugby. I support Quins and thus am filled with joy at their recent win over Stade Francais. I also run and sing in various choirs, groups and productions and apparently hate spare time and sleep so I'm spending the time I should be revising/resting on here reading people's great theories. Jac xx

I'm pretty sure they outed him as a spy in exactly the same council meeting in the books

9, great episode with some very strong scenes, performances and dialogue, would be 10 but as much as I'm trying to ignore it because it shouldn't matter so much, I am really annoyed at the way they did Jaime vs Ned. I knew it was coming but I genuinely think, as I have stated too many times on the spoiler thread, that it will negatively affect all future seasons to a large enough degree to be considered a calamitous decision