Never thought I'd miss Ed Skrein, but...

[Rhaquentis]

I could care less about his appearance, but as others have said, he lost his SWAG! There are still plenty of eps to go though, so here's hoping :/

[-Ghost-]

It's been 1 episode. Hes had like maybe 3 minutes of screen time. Huisman is a pretty good actor so I'm gonna give him more than 1 episode before going crazy.

[Cas Stark]

It's so typical of D&D that they perfectly cast Drogo, the character with hardly any lines where everything depends on screen presence and chemistry.

Yet they can't seem to cast properly, now after two tries what amounts to a completely stock Hollywood type: dashing Errol Flynn pirate type.

[Mother of Mini Dragons]

Yeah, I wasn't crazy about old Daario. He wasn't that good of an actor, but he did have the Daario swagger. So far, I'm unimpressed by new Daario though I'll completely reserve judgment until I see him interact with Dany again. He was bland and boring and then introducing him next to Grey Worm was a bad idea b/c I can never take my eyes off of the actor who plays Grey Worm when he's on the screen, so I scarcely noticed new Daario at first.

As I said in another thread, I just keep picturing the guy who plays Capt. Hook on OUAT as the type of man or character that Daario should be. This new dude is not selling it. Old Daario almost sold it, so it would have been better to stick with him and work with him on improving in some of the areas that he lacked.

[Glasgowchivas]

It's far too early to be talking about whether this recasting is good or bad guys. The guy has had about 10 lines and 4mins of screentime. Let's reserve judgement until we've seen him a bit more, eh?

I have a feeling that the people who aren't won over will change their tune when he duels with Mereen's champion.

For the record, I thought Ed Skrein did a fine job as Daario; he was cocky and believable as a sellsword. I had no trouble believing that Dany would fall for him or that he'd be the type to behead his friends on a whim but alas, he's moved on to the Transporter franchise so we've got a new guy. Let's just give him a bit of time before we break out the pitchforks, eh?

[Cas Stark]

Yeah, I wasn't crazy about old Daario. He wasn't that good of an actor, but he did have the Daario swagger. So far, I'm unimpressed by new Daario though I'll completely reserve judgment until I see him interact with Dany again. He was bland and boring and then introducing him next to Grey Worm was a bad idea b/c I can never take my eyes off of the actor who plays Grey Worm when he's on the screen, so I scarcely noticed new Daario at first.

As I said in another thread, I just keep picturing the guy who plays Capt. Hook on OUAT as the type of man or character that Daario should be. This new dude is not selling it. Old Daario almost sold it, so it would have been better to stick with him and work with him on improving in some of the areas that he lacked.

I was kind of thinking the same thing...its a bit of a bad sign when the guy playing the unsullied eunuch is more charismatic than the guy who is supposed to ooze charisma.

[King Tam Stark]

They should have kept the other guy, Old Daario, and make new Daario to warg him.

I read it was Ed's choice to leave the role as he is to play the lead (Frank Martin) in the new Transporter movie.

[FakeJaqenH'ghar]

I like Ed better at this point, but that's going off of what...5 minutes of new Daario? New Daario exhibited little to no personality. He honestly looks like he belongs at Castle Black with the Brothers of the Night's Watch. There seems to be more of a darkness to him, unlike the colorful flamboyant Daario we all probably expect to see.

Luckily for us, we have opportunities over the next several Sundays to solidify our opinion on the recast.

-Jaqen

[Ser Desmond Wine's Bane]

I read it was Ed's choice to leave the role as he is to play the lead (Frank Martin) in the new Transporter movie.

Huisman was announced as Daario in August 2013

Skrein was announced for Transporter in February 2014

What you read was an assumption at best.

[barmyscouser]

Because she's attracted to him and not Jorah? In the books she's not attracted to him. The show has beefed up his looks. This is the real Jorah, and Dany just isn't attracted to him the way she is attracted to Daario, Iain Glen or not.

I'm really surprised to see so much love for the bland portrayal we got last year. I barely even remember him. He wasn't smug. He wasn't arrogant. He was repeating lines. New guy has all the swag.

You're getting warmer. But even that pic shows Jorah with too much hair on his head and not enough on his knuckles. For book Jorah I'm partial to this one.

The sad thing about the love scene at sea between Dany and Jorah is that she looked up to him as a kindly uncle. So she really wasn't expecting his tongue.

[RoamingRonin]

He's too hairy.

[JesterX]

Old Daario seemed to fit the character more. Also, there was a better chemistry going with Emilia Clarke and Ed Skrein. You could see it from her very first line to him and the way she said, "you're very young for a captain".

Not the same thing between Emilia and this new guy. The attraction the two are supposed to have seems forced, not natural. At least that's the feel I got from them.

[ground_control]

It's far too early to be talking about whether this recasting is good or bad guys. The guy has had about 10 lines and 4mins of screentime. Let's reserve judgement until we've seen him a bit more, eh?

I have a feeling that the people who aren't won over will change their tune when he duels with Mereen's champion.

For the record, I thought Ed Skrein did a fine job as Daario; he was cocky and believable as a sellsword. I had no trouble believing that Dany would fall for him or that he'd be the type to behead his friends on a whim but alas, he's moved on to the Transporter franchise so we've got a new guy. Let's just give him a bit of time before we break out the pitchforks, eh?

1) It is not "far too early", there is *no* need to reserve judgment. Most of Book Daario's "character development" is Martin's apparent attempt to discredit the little known "clowns are sexy" trope by focusing on Daario's appearance and attitude. S4 Daario looks like Young Mormont, and that isn't going to change no matter how well he reads his lines.

2) While I understand the show's need to consolidate characters, and will wait to see how well they pull off the duel with Mereen's champion, in the book that scene is done with Strong Belwas, not Daario. So my opinion on Huisman's performance in that scene will be judged against Belwas, not Daario.

3) I don't see any pitchforks. Book Daario is a crap character, S3 Daario actually being tolerable was (IMO) a Herculean feat, and S4 Daario proves that by showing how far down the ladder the next-best thing D&D could find is.

I get that not everybody dislikes S4 Daario, this is art, so there will be differences of opinion. But the people telling other people to "keep waiting, maybe it will get better" are the ones engaging in anticipatory behavior.

[Thelastactionhero]

Well in the five minutes I saw of Ed, I didn't like him and couldn't see Dany falling for him, so different strokes for different folks.

I tried to give him a second chance in the following episodes, but found his acting cues to be horrible and didn't endear me at all to a relationship between him and Dany; probably because I found him creepy and serial killer-y. But again, I gave him a second chance knowing that he would be on the series for a while as one of the love interests.

Knowing Michiel from his previous roles, charisma and charm is something that you need not worry about with him. But if you're resigned to believe it's the worst casting of the entire series, that's on you.

I'm reserving my full judgment for after I see him in another couple episodes, as there wasn't much material for him to work with, but thus far I totally disagree with you. Firstly Michiel's acting chops have absolutely no bearing on assessing the scenes we witnessed today, and whether or not he's good in other productions doesn't necessarily mean he's the right fit for this role (he certainly doesn't look the part). His scenes were dull, and his delivery was anything but "accurate" to the character, as some defenders of the recast are arguing. Daario is flamboyant, he's suave, but he's not subtle. What sets him apart from other characters is that he says exactly what he thinks and knows exactly what he wants and how to get it. Ed Skrein might be a quote on quote "bad actor", but the fact is that his performance, perhaps due even in part to his limited professional training, actually came off as far more natural and electrifying than what I saw on Sunday night. Even if Michiel is more competent at conveying lots of subtle dimensions of a character, the fact is that Daario actually has a bit of a one track mind, and Skrein nailed the shit out of it. More than anything else, however, Michiel's scenes had very little chemistry with Clarke (though I recognize there wasn't enough time to really make a definitive judgment on this). This is what I think is going to cause problems, unless they're really able to synch up after more screen time. You can say what you want about Ed, but the spark was there from the minute he walked into her tent with the Titan's Bastard.

[changalang]

I'm reserving my full judgment for after I see him in another couple episodes, as there wasn't much material for him to work with, but thus far I totally disagree with you. Firstly Michiel's acting chops have absolutely no bearing on assessing the scenes we witnessed today, and whether or not he's good in other productions doesn't necessarily mean he's the right fit for this role (he certainly doesn't look the part). His scenes were dull, and his delivery was anything but "accurate" to the character, as some defenders of the recast are arguing. Daario is flamboyant, he's suave, but he's not subtle. What sets him apart from other characters is that he says exactly what he thinks and knows exactly what he wants and how to get it. Ed Skrein might be a quote on quote "bad actor", but the fact is that his performance, perhaps due even in part to his limited professional training, actually came off as far more natural and electrifying than what I saw on Sunday night. Even if Michiel is more competent at conveying lots of subtle dimensions of a character, the fact is that Daario actually has a bit of a one track mind, and Skrein nailed the shit out of it. More than anything else, however, Michiel's scenes had very little chemistry with Clarke (though I recognize there wasn't enough time to really make a definitive judgment on this). This is what I think is going to cause problems, unless they're really able to synch up after more screen time. You can say what you want about Ed, but the spark was there from the minute he walked into her tent with the Titan's Bastard.

Fair enough. It's your opinion that Ed had the spark. As I've said, I found him quite creepy and therefore I didn't see that spark that you speak of.

And I've said it a million times in this thread, but I'll say it one last time - I think D&D are being purposeful in their recast and, essentially, rewrite of the character so that he doesn't have, as you say, "a one track mind" - because Show!Dany doesn't seem to have time for that (with how exasperated she was with him for holding them all up). Michiel's subtlety works well here, and maybe that's why they cast him. But we'll never quite know until D&D outright say it, so this is just me speculating for now and I could be completely wrong.

I think what it all boils down to, and it seems that we're arguing in circles about, is whom you find Dany falling for more believable, Old!Daario or New!Daario. And we all have differing opinions on that. But I'm glad that many of you are giving Michiel a chance beyond this first episode - whether you end up liking him or not.

[six]

Noooooo, you lot you got it wrong. I think the new Daario will work a lot better long term, as book!Daario is way too annoying for people not to get peeved at Dany being all head over heels about him.

As for Skreim, I thought he was the worst <_<

[Mel_Rose]

But this new guy seems like the type of guy who would be friendzoned. Picking flowers for her, playing silly sword games to win her affection, etc. Old Daario was straightforward; "You. Me. Shag. Now." *Hair flip*

I am another one disappointed by the change. Last Daario for me was spot-on: had the swagger and the bad boy vibe and you could see that even from the first moment when he was standing there with a smirk in Dany's tent. New Daario seems like the guy you bring home to your parents.

I wish they had changed him with another actor that looked a little like old Daario, long hair, something, just to ensure some continuity. This guy is cute but not distinctive enough in a show full of bearded men - not to mention the unsullied are probably lost on who he is.

[LordStoneheart]

only bitter idiots think such a sexist thing as as "friendzone" exists, so stop thinking Daario giving her flowers is some poor sap thing. It's based on something from the books, the only difference is that Dany is showing obvious reserve from him.

It's definitely an opinion thing because I have no idea where you guys are getting this "badass, arrogant, douchey, confidant" interpretation of last season's Daario. He sounded like there was teleprompter behind him. there was no good delivery. He was completely wooden. Maybe because he had a scene where he talked about whores you guys think he was spot on? Mero was more like Daario than Ed was.

New guy on the other hand actually has given some sort of romantic connection to Dany with the flowers. Time will tell, but so far the writing of S4 Daario, while more subtle, is better and its acted well. Last season was sloppy writing and barren acting.

[Sand11751]

So glad I found this thread! I thought I was the only one who sees there is ZERO chemistry between new Daario and Dany. Old Daario had all the swagger and you could see why she would have him as a lover; this one and his flowers doesn't fit the character at all.

[Jslay427]

If I hadn't read the books I wouldn't have much of a preference. But S3 Daario is closer to what I imagined from the books.