Adapting ASOIAF For the Screen...

[Tysha]

In the Ned/Cat scene, Ned's reaction to the news of Jon's death will be enough to tell us that he and Jon were close. In the crypt scene, the dialogue is enough - we'll have seen Robert killing Rhaegar in the opening moments so this scene in the crypt will already have an added emotional resonance, and we've got the ToJ dream sequence later on, so that's fine.

I'm all for cutting out anything unnecessary but the audience does still need to know that this guy became king as the result of a brutal war where a lot of people died and the king's brother-in-law killed the old king. There's still no way of getting this information across without the use of flashback or crappy dialogue. I think everyone can agree we don't want crappy dialogue, so we're left with flashbacks. Why leave the flashbacks for later when they'll slow down the narrative when you can just open the whole thing with a bang?

[Maester Yobjascz]

Tysha... my suggestion was to cut the flashbacks *and* the expository dialogue whenever possible. Where there's a spoken story that describes events past, like the Robert/Eddard scene, or the Harrenhall Tourney scene, then I'd overlay some images or the like to yield a flashback of sorts, but that's it.

the audience does still need to know that this guy became king as the result of a brutal war where a lot of people died and the king's brother-in-law killed the old king.

This information does get out from the information as written...

I'm sure there's earlier references in dialogue, but if nothing else, there's Arya telling Sansa that they're passing the spot where Arya defeated Rhaegar... and that she's going to look for Rhaegar's rubies. The tie between Rhaegar's defeat at Robert's hand here at the Trident and Rhaegar with Lyanna in the Crypts at Winterfell should be sufficient.

As for Jaime... the fact that he's called 'Kingslayer' should be enough. If that's not enough, Eddard's retelling the tale to Robert on the ride south will confirm it.

Also, any comment on the 'Animatrix' thought? To have short video vignettes (or perhaps animations) telling additional background story available online?

[Maester Yobjascz]

Tysha -

I guess I'm also hesitant to open the series 'with a bang' in part because the series doesn't open with a bang. It opens slowly, as things develop. If we open with a fast-paced opening sequence, it'll setup expectations that won't be met.

There's little action until the Green Fork and Whispering Wood. Before that, there's scattered action sequences only: the Prologue, the assassination attempt on Bran hardly counts, there's the fight between Arya and Joffrey, Daenerys' Wedding has some action, there's the Hand's Tourney, when Jaime 'chastises' Eddard, Catelyn & Tyrion taking the High Road, and Bronn's duel with Ser Vardis Egen. None of these are really large 'bangs'... punctuated action, yes, but no epic battles or fight sequences. And these are all fairly well spread out... perhaps one per episode.

If we open with a big, fast, 'bang', and then spend the rest of the episode on character development, I'm afraid it'll appear to rapidly fade with a whimper.

[Tysha]

I'm sure there's earlier references in dialogue, but if nothing else, there's Arya telling Sansa that they're passing the spot where Arya defeated Rhaegar... and that she's going to look for Rhaegar's rubies. The tie between Rhaegar's defeat at Robert's hand here at the Trident and Rhaegar with Lyanna in the Crypts at Winterfell should be sufficient.

Sufficient to tell us that there was a guy called Rhaegar, yes. But the question still remains who the effing hell is this Rhaegar bloke and why should I care how he died?

As for Jaime... the fact that he's called 'Kingslayer' should be enough. If that's not enough, Eddard's retelling the tale to Robert on the ride south will confirm it.

As I've already said - two guys sitting on horses and talking isn't very exciting and should be avoided.

And Jaime is called Kingslayer before then. It would beg the question in the uninitiated audience member's mind why the hell the king was hanging round with a man nicknamed Kingslayer. Which king did he slay? Robert's father? Because that's who everyone would assume was king before Robert if the rebellion isn't explained.

The fact that Ned and Robert were involved in a rebellion against Aerys is pretty much the first piece of backstory we are given in the book. It needs to be made clear to the audience as early on as possible, so why not right at the start?

I'm all for using flashbacks sparingly and leaving unnecessary exposition on the imaginary cutting room floor, but a flashback to the rebellion in the opening moments isn't unnecessary.

Also, any comment on the 'Animatrix' thought? To have short video vignettes (or perhaps animations) telling additional background story available online?

For information that we can't fit into the episodes, sure, but not as a replacement for information that should be included on screen.

If we open with a big, fast, 'bang', and then spend the rest of the episode on character development, I'm afraid it'll appear to rapidly fade with a whimper.

First, I wouldn't say it's slow at all - especially if we cut out much of the exposition later on by putting it at the beginning. A seven year old boy getting thrown from a window certainly isn't slow and that will be in the first episode.

Second - look at pilot episodes of TV shows. They very frequently start with a bang and then slow down for a bit to let everyone catch their breath before speeding up for the finale. Smallville opens with a meteor shower, Lost opens with a plane crash, Desperate Housewives opens with a woman shooting herself in the head, Supernatural opens with a woman being gutted, stuck to the ceiling and burned alive. It's a hook. It's what makes sure no-one turns over or gets bored and goes to make a cup of tea. Are the pace and the shocks kept up throughout? No - but the interest is hooked right from the start and the interest is kept up, and ASoIaF is nothing if not interesting.

[Ser Greguh]

I agree that opening with a bang is a mistake, and for the same reason - it simply sets the wrong tone. It can be fun to contemplate the idea of opening up with a big, epic battle, but it just doesn't match what's coming. The books have the correct opening. Cover what needs to be covered in flashbacks, and with expository scenes that cover some of the history that's given in individual characters' reminiscence (I would suggest, for instance, introducing Arya and Sansa being lectured by Septa Mordane on the history of Robert's Rebellion; such a scene could be quick and not out of the spirit of the books).

[Tysha]

(I would suggest, for instance, introducing Arya and Sansa being lectured by Septa Mordane on the history of Robert's Rebellion; such a scene could be quick and not out of the spirit of the books).

That would be ... well, boring! Like I just said in my previous post, opening with a bang is common practice on television. The pace is rarely, if ever, kept up, but it doesn't matter because the audience is hooked. If a person wants a history lecture they'll be watching the History Channel, not HBO.

Besides which, I don't think opening with the rebellion (and again - I'm not thinking epic battles, I'm thinking a very quick montage of the main events with the focus being on the characters who we will follow for the next God-only-knows-how-many episodes) sets the wrong tone at all. Re-animated dead, a man getting his head chopped off being witnessed by a seven year old boy, said seven year old boy getting thrown out of a window ... this is all just in the first episode and it doesn't even compare to what's going to come later! Battles, blood, death, brutality - these are all things the audience are going to have to get used to!

[PhoenixFlame]

I think it's good to keep in mind that if the books got turned into a TV show, it should be translated, not transcribed. Books and film are two totally different mediums. It works much better to capture the feeling and story rather than including every single scene and scrap of dialogue.

For example, does anyone remember the Alfred Hitchcock movie Rebecca? It was based off the novel by the same name. It was very good. Nice, slightly creepy atmosphere, the characters nailed castwise. It got all the important aspects but did not follow word for word. In the movie, the girl almost leaps out of the window at Mrs. Danver's urging as a result of her humiliation at the party. In the book, she was in Rebecca's room, Mrs. Danvers comes in, and almost drives her to throwing herself out the window. Both work excellently. In the book, it works because of how powerfully it's written. In the movie, all the events come crashing down on the poor girl and Mrs. Danvers finally almost breaks her. But they each work best in their mediums. On the other hand, not too long ago there was a miniseries of it, that followed the book exactly, word for word. It was dry and dull. It was transcribed, not translated.

In film, so much can be shown in a gesture or a camera angle or an expression. In books, the same thing is shown, but it can be shown in a different, more effective way than a book. In a second you can see a character's facial expression on screen. In a book, it gets tedious to describe each position of the mouth, eyes, and all that stuff, and so often it is shown in a slightly different way. For many things. a few words can do in the place of a huge paragraph.

For example: Tyrion revealing the Jaime was always kind to him. Instead of Tyrion thinking and revealing it all, it can be shown just as effectivly on screen by Jaime simply acting nice to him, in contrast to Cersei who treats him cruelly, and Tyrion would respond in kind.

As for the Rhaegar - Robert thing. I think it can be shown gradually. I had a scene in my head when thinking of it. As the party crosses the Tridant on the way to King's Landing, older Ned looks at the river. In the place of the party, it's two people hacking and slashing at each other. It's Rhaegar and Robert, but that's not expressly stated. A moment later Ned blinks and it's just two rowdy teenagers or something goofing around in a mock fight. He looks then at Robert, who is crossing the Tridant, and his expression grows more morose. The audience can begin to realize and guess what it was, with more things later on to confirm it. A more solid flashback to confirm things can be shown later on, when Ned's in his cell and has the Tower dream. The dialogue between the knights and him can be altered slightly, so that Ned says "Prince Rhaeghar died on the Tridant." at some point. Or something even subtler, who knows.

I also had a few ideas if they show more of the Rhaegar - Robert smackdown. One thing I liked in the books was that Rhaegar appears to be a heartless, evil rapist until you get further into the story. At some point in the screen version, it could go back to Robert and Rhaegar fighting. Robert smacks Rhaeger and it causes Rhaegar's helmet to go flying off. You expect to see some evil, "RAWR!" looking evil prince. Instead, it's a young, pale haired man who would look rather gentle if he wasn't trying to stab the other person. It could start sending the message that Rhaegar was not the monster that Robert made him out to be.

As for the prologue deal. I agree with several things. Just showing the prologue by itself and not making it almost comical in randomness would be hard to do well. In the book, it's startling. On screen it could easily come across as silly. "We are feirce, dark warriors! HOLY SHIT IT'S AN OTHER! AAGGGHHH!" I think a way to handle it would be to show it as the episode goes along. Flipping between the Winterfell stuff and the Wall stuff. It could start with the execution, and make the audience have a "Huh? Is this guy supposed to be good?" Soon after, you see the Wall guys riding through the snow. The one who was executed is among them, cluing people in that it takes place before. Throughout the episode, cut back to their ordeal. I REALLY think that the first episode should end with Bran getting pushed out the window. But while that's sudden and terrible, it may be a bit too sudden just to immediatly go to the credits. So Bran gets pushed and suddenly the camera flips to the Wall. The Lord gets cut down after a brief fight (the previous thing had had them about to face off). There is a great emphasis that this is a big badass OTHER! He will smack you silly and have you begging for Mommy. This makes the big point that there is a huge threat no one's seeing. Holy shit! These things are out there while these dudes are fighting in tournies and screwing each other? The guy who got executed runs off, and it's sad, because you know he's running to just another death.

[Prince of the North]

Prince... I noted that you moved this over from the casting thread... and unfortunately, I think it's a bit outside the scope of what we're doing as well...

Animation is a legitimate style, and one that's increasing in popularity amongst young adults (particularly in the anime styles). However, the difficulties of adapting the written word to film are no different than those of adapting to animation. Both are dynamic visual media, and both face the same restrictions.

Doing the series in animation does free up substantial amounts of budget funding (props, location, actors, etc.), though there are still tremendous costs (animators are not cheap... depending on the quality and style sought, and good voice actors are not that much cheaper than film actors). Animation also has some advantages over film, as special effects shots are no more expensive than standard shots.

In any case, this thread is focused on the screenplay adaptation...

Yeah, truth be told, I don't know how I accidentally posted my thought about animation in the other thread. But I guess I simply misunderstood your intent in this thread. I just wanted to get others' thoughts on an animated version and I thought it could be much less expensive. However, from what you said, that's not necessarily the case.

[The hairy bear]

IMO, the best place to explain what happened on the Trident is early on when Robert arribes at Winterfell and the very first thing he asks is seeing Lyanna. During the conversation between he and Eddard down the crypts the basic motivations and outcomes of the rebellion are described, and those could be intereweaved with flashbacks of the battle. Something like that:

ROBERT: “I vowed to kill Rhaegar for what he did to her.â€

[Robert is seen spoting Rhaegar and riding to him]

NED: "You did."

[Rhaegar has fallen on the river and Rober rises his warhammer, as in Miller's lito]

ROBERT: “Only once.â€

[Robert smashes the warhammer on Rhaegar's chest.]

ROBERT: “In my dreams, I kill him every night. A thousand deaths will still be less than he deserves.†NED: “We should return, Your Grace. Your wife will be waiting."

[Tysha]

I think it's good to keep in mind that if the books got turned into a TV show, it should be translated, not transcribed. Books and film are two totally different mediums. It works much better to capture the feeling and story rather than including every single scene and scrap of dialogue.

Thank you!

As for the Rhaegar - Robert thing. I think it can be shown gradually. I had a scene in my head when thinking of it. As the party crosses the Tridant on the way to King's Landing, older Ned looks at the river. In the place of the party, it's two people hacking and slashing at each other. It's Rhaegar and Robert, but that's not expressly stated. A moment later Ned blinks and it's just two rowdy teenagers or something goofing around in a mock fight. He looks then at Robert, who is crossing the Tridant, and his expression grows more morose.

That would be great! It wouldn't have to be long, just a flash of a couple of seconds, but it would be a great emotional moment and tell us a lot about Ned.

However, while the finer details of the rebellion can come out later, I still think it is necessary for the audience to know right from the start that Robert won his throne through war. We know it in the book before we meet Robert and we need to know it on screen as well. It would be too jarring to learn it later. Expository dialogue to do that would be awkward and clunkly and unrealistic, a history lesson would be dry and dull, but a flashback would look so cool! And in fact, I think if we see just a little a bit of the Rhaegar/Robert fight right at the beginning, both the scene in the crypt and the scene PhoenixFlame suggests here will have a lot more of an emotional punch.

[PhoenixFlame]

Yes yes! Awesome!

Show a little at the crypt, then show some later. When I say it should gradually come together, I mean that it should not be shown all at once as opposed to all throughout the film/series. But at the same time, I don't think it should be revealed all at once what happened. Small bits of dialogue can hint at it with flashbacks to back it up. The BIG flashback would be the Tower of Joy, with sharper, more chaotic flashbacks of the war. I think the ToJ should be almost surreal. It's a dream but also I think it should give the impression that there's just something off about the entire scene (you know, Lyanna not being the victim of repeated rape and everything). Not to state anything, but to give the feel.

There are stupid people in the world but I don't think you should underestimate the intelligence of the audience. Not Fountain vagueness but I don't think everything needs to be smashed into your face with a warhammer.

Avoid exposition. It's dull. It can sometimes work, like the intro of LOTR, but that's because it was so action packed and kickass. But I don't think ASOIAF should start the same way. Namely it would seem like a ripoff and create the wrong mood.

[Knight of the Teabags]

However, while the finer details of the rebellion can come out later, I still think it is necessary for the audience to know right from the start that Robert won his throne through war. We know it in the book before we meet Robert and we need to know it on screen as well. It would be too jarring to learn it later. Expository dialogue to do that would be awkward and clunkly and unrealistic.

While I agree knowing Robert won the throne by war early is important, I disagree that a brief dialogue or screen text wouldn't cover it nicely in a short manner. Consider this.

"It has been 14 years since Robert Baratheon overthrew the Mad King Aerys Targaryen and won the Iron Throne for himself, thus ending 283 years of the rule of the House of the Dragon. Yet however, to the North beyond the Wall, black brothers sworn for life to the Night's Watch are about to learn all is not well for the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros..."

Then into straight to the prologue!

It is a nice simple introduction to all thats going to happen and sets the scene well for the events of the long story. If we going to do it as a voiceover I would suggest whoever's playing Maester Aemon (current suggestion is Peter O'Toole I believe) do it. Other thoughts maybe you could have a stylished animation (my thought was maybe like an animated Bayeaux Tapestry) of some of the events going on in the background while the words are spoken/

[Tysha]

While I agree knowing Robert won the throne by war early is important, I disagree that a brief dialogue or screen text wouldn't cover it nicely in a short manner. Consider this.

"It has been 14 years since Robert Baratheon overthrew the Mad King Aerys Targaryen and won the Iron Throne for himself, thus ending 283 years of the rule of the House of the Dragon. Yet however, to the North beyond the Wall, black brothers sworn for life to the Night's Watch are about to learn all is not well for the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros..."

While perfectly functional, that's just ... not very interesting! I'm rarely a fan of starting films or TV shows off this way as I always wonder why the filmmakers couldn't think of a more interesting way to show it. Key word there being show. Books have words, films have pictures.

However...

If we going to do it as a voiceover I would suggest whoever's playing Maester Aemon (current suggestion is Peter O'Toole I believe) do it. Other thoughts maybe you could have a stylished animation (my thought was maybe like an animated Bayeaux Tapestry) of some of the events going on in the background while the words are spoken

That could actually work. The animation would alleviate any percieved similarity to Lord of the Rings, the tapestry style would immediately put the audience in mind of a medieval-like time and the whole thing would just be very interesting to look at.

It could also be quite powerful to show those styled images from the events and then later show snippets/flashbacks of the actual events (e.g. Ned looking out over the Trident and seeing Robert and Rhaegar fighting for a second, or the ToJ dream).

Doing it that way would probably require a voiceover (though I'd like to keep it minimal) and Aemon is a great suggestion for that. You're going to trust Peter O'Toole's voice and given that it's telling of the fall of House Targaryen, it would have an extra emotional resonance later on when we find out Aemon is Aemon Targaryen.

I like it!

[Maester Yobjascz]

Tom -

I'd rework the language slightly, and I'd be tempted to quickly show a map of Westeros in there as well... panning to the different kingdoms and having Aemon name them... just to give things a sense of place.

Otherwise I like the tapestry visual, and the Aemon narration.

If that's been resolved, and we're agreed on a *brief* synopsis to into, leading into the Prologue, the next question becomes one of chapter breakdown... Let's say from Prologue to Bran IV (Tyrion's return to Winterfell with the improved saddle design). How should we organize these chapters?

[Maester Yobjascz]

My initial thought on chapter breakdown is this:

Prologue, followed by an introduction to the Starks... this would be Bran I to Catelyn I... It would effectively be the beheading and its aftermath. I would bulk up the first two scenes (Prologue and Bran I), to make them the majority of the episode. The remainder would be Catelyn and Eddard dealing with Jon's death and Robert's impending arrival. My concern is that this episode would fade a bit at the end... so it might work better to include the King's arrival as well. This would keep the tone more even, by introducing the darkness of the crypts, while still providing a hook (the offer of Handship and betrothal) and mystery (Lyanna and the Trident).

Episode 2 would pick up on the King's arrival with the feast in Jon I. We'd start out by the grandeur of the feast and the betrothal announcement, and the hope for possible friendship and goodwill with the meeting between Jon and Tyrion. A short scene follows (Catelyn II) where there is discussion of Lysa's note, and hints of Lannister treachery. There might be a quick nod to Arya I, but only to last a minute or so. Then there's Bran II, the fall. This should take up the bulk of the episode, and will fall right around the middle of the hour. The episode wraps up with a short Tyrion I scene, and the farewells to Winterfell in Arya II and Jon II.

The third episode would be Daenerys I *and* II, and I'd like to expand these two to get to know Illyrio and Viserys better... and there's a lot of backstory that needs to be told... I'd start with Daenerys' birth on Dragonstone, Ser Derry and the house with the red door, being kicked out, fleeing from the 'Usurpers' knives', becoming the Beggar King, and finally arriving at Illyrio's.

The fourth would focus on journeys, with be the beginning of the conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters, as the King's party leaves the North... Joffrey and Arya, Lady being killed, and so on... skipping ahead to Eddard's arrival at King's Landing. These scenes would be intercut with Tyrion & Jon traveling north to the Wall. The penultimate scene would be either be Jon III (offering to train Grenn and the others) or Tyrion III (stabbing Ser Alliser with a crab fork), depending on timing. The final scene would be Eddard IV. He'll arrive at King's Landing and be brought to a brothel, where he sees Cat... and Cat will tell her story (her skipped chapter plays out here as a flashback/tale).

Hmmm... given the length of that last episode, it might have to be split in two... or, have Cat's story (Catelyn III and IV) wait 'till the following episode, along with Bran III. After this point, things get challenging, as we start getting lots of divergent chapters with characters all over the place. Getting some sense of continuity and organization will be the test of the adaptation.

[PhoenixFlame]

Not to tromp on anyone's ideas, but the tapestry thing is a bit....er....I'm having trouble picturing the tapestry thing and it not coming off as the intro to Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Can somebody explain it a little?

I recall in Rome how the intro was done with carvings and paintings on walls coming alive, but I'm not all that fond of that opening for some reason I can't put my finger on.

[Maester Yobjascz]

A couple possibilities for how the tapestry approach would work. Either method would use a narrator. The first option would be to have a static tapestry embroidered with the various scenes to be shown. The camera then simply pans (or cuts) from one scene to the next, displaying the vital points of history as Aemon explains them. The other would be largely similar, except that the tapestry images would 'come alive' in animation form with appropriate background audio, while Aemon narrates...

[Knight of the Teabags]

A couple possibilities for how the tapestry approach would work. Either method would use a narrator. The first option would be to have a static tapestry embroidered with the various scenes to be shown. The camera then simply pans (or cuts) from one scene to the next, displaying the vital points of history as Aemon explains them. The other would be largely similar, except that the tapestry images would 'come alive' in animation form with appropriate background audio, while Aemon narrates...

That's essentially what I had in mind. All else I could add is probably the best example of the animated version of this technique would be though they are part of a much more frivilous film Terry Gillam's little contributions to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. IE nothing too complicated, in fact the simpler the animation the better in many ways, each image is more a static picture with moving parts rather like the pictures in children's pop-up books than completely animated pictures. For example the soldiers in the Battle on the Trident picture might wave their swords in the air to suggest fighting.

[Tysha]

Not to tromp on anyone's ideas, but the tapestry thing is a bit....er....I'm having trouble picturing the tapestry thing and it not coming off as the intro to Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Can somebody explain it a little?

In the style of the Bayeaux Tapestry.

I also think we could really push the boat out a little with what we can actually show. When I was envisaging this prologue as live action I figured there'd be cutaways for some of the more violent bits - I'm thinking particularly the murders of Rhaenys and Aegon here, 'cause you just don't want to see that - but if it's a single image depicted in silk sewn on canvas, it could be a lot more visceral without slipping over into horrific.

A couple possibilities for how the tapestry approach would work. Either method would use a narrator. The first option would be to have a static tapestry embroidered with the various scenes to be shown. The camera then simply pans (or cuts) from one scene to the next, displaying the vital points of history as Aemon explains them. The other would be largely similar, except that the tapestry images would 'come alive' in animation form with appropriate background audio, while Aemon narrates...

I think still images with the camera panning over them would generally look better, though there would be some scenes where there would be maybe 3 or 4 consecutive images which can fade together to give the illusion of them moving but without actually having them move.

As for the first episode ... there is no way going up to Robert's arrival is going to take up an hour! Or even 45 minutes if you allow for advert breaks. That would require obscene amounts of padding and it would just be slow and bloated. Even going down into the crypts, the episode would still just trail off because it's all set-up.

Bran falling from the window is the place to end episode I, IMO. Hands up anyone who was able to put the book down after reading that? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? That is a scene that will get people tuning in next week! All the major players are introduced by that point, there's mystery regarding Jon Arryn's death (a mystery which could afford to be upped a bit on screen), the conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters is laid out and then right at the end you get the double whammy of the twincest and the cute kid getting pushed from a window.

Start with the tapestry and some sparse narration from Aemon. The concept of the NW also needs to be introduced at this point (and here's where having Aemon narrate comes in very handy) otherwise we're still going from all this history to something which has sod all to do with it. If we present the world as a whole right from the start we can go anywhere.

Then we go into what was the prologue in the book but I don't think it should be padded out at all. It should be dark, cold, eerie and fast. These are the first five minutes of the first episode, the story needs to start sooner rather than later. End of the prologue do a smash cut to a plain white screen, hold it for a second, and then let that fade into the snow-covered lands of the North where Ned and his boys are riding to the execution. Over this scene we should have the credits, then quickly go back to Catelyn and Winterfell to find out Jon Arryn is dead.

Given her importance in the story and the fact that the Targaryen downfall has been outlined at the beginning, we need to have Dany in the first episode. Given how much of her first chapter is exposition and internal thought, it won't take long to show on screen and I think it could end Act I, taking us to the first ad break.

The arrival of the king, the crypt, the feast and finally the introduction to Tyrion at the end of Jon I is Act II.

For Act III I think Daenerys II should be yanked forward and put in here, rather than leaving her hanging on the verge of being married off until next week

Then we have Catelyn II and Arya I in Act IV and I think more should be made of Jon Arryn's death at this point, and we should also probably show more of Sansa, before finishing it all with Bran catching Jaime and Cersei going at it and then, "The things we do for love..."

[Ghlade]

I tend to agree that Bran ought to fall at the end of Episode 1. That avoids the problem of the first episode just "fading." Furthermore, in the best of all possible worlds this show would be produced by HBO or Showtime. Neither of these networks have commercial breaks, so I think the "stay tuned" mid-episode cliffhanger loses a lot of its force.

Dany's introduction ought to take place at the start of Episode 2 in order to gradually introduce viewers to Westeros and to give Episode 1 the sort of coherence and tight structure that you need with a pilot episode. Give the viewrs an opportunity to get adjusted to the Starks and the North before you dump the Targs and the East on them. Because Dany's first chapter is so brief, you can have her first two chapters run along the aftermath of Bran's death.