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The Bard of Banefort
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On 3/26/2023 at 2:55 PM, $erPounce said:

I am going to express what will probably become a very unpopular opinion here.


I know there is great disdain here for A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons. Apparently people consider anything that doesn't push the plot forward as "filler." Those books are certainly not without flaws, but I have a hard time taking seriously the people who argue that entire chapters should be cut. Those chapters are in service of character development and atmosphere and are certainly not useless

I'm going to make no secret of it: I love FeastDance. George was always interested in exploring the human condition in ASOIAF, and that aspect became increasingly prominent. With FeastDance, George decided to emphasize the human aspect rather than plot. Personally, I think that's the right decision, because characters are pretty much what George is best at. But I am aware that people generally have different expectations than me for books within the fantasy genre.

I remember back in 2015, many book fans thought the decision not to accurately adapt FeastDance would save the show from demise. Although book readers were generally dissatisfied with some decisions such as the deaths of Stannis and Barristan (which happened in very illogical circumstances) - it seemed that the vast majority of book readers nevertheless overwhelmingly defended David and Dan's decision to "adapt" those two books in just ten episodes.

I know it's not realistic that everything from FeastDance would be adapted into the show. Anyway, subplots were going to be lost, characters scrapped or combined and so on. But D&D didn't even try. The essence of these books was completely lost and character arcs for the characters became practically non-existent. The storylines no longer made sense because logic was thrown overboard. D&D was no longer trying to be consistent and coherent. Season 5 and season 6 still have a few moments in common with the books and here and there is still a lost line of dialogue from the books, but the original context is completely lost.

D&D totally failed to consider the impact and consequences of their adaptional decisions. They had no idea what to do with the characters after they decided to eliminate their storylines from the books. Despite their attempts to streamline FeastDance, this did not result in better pacing than these books. In fact, D&D tend to add extra padding to most storylines (in an attempt to stretch them for 10 episodes and save the cliffhangers for the last episode). Result is a slower pacing for the show, but unlike FeastDance, that is not used for character development and other important things. 

That of the large amount of padding is most noticeable in season 6, in which very little happens before the last two episodes. Examples: Arya's storyline for the season has three episodes in which she is beaten with a stick as a blind person and later, for a few episodes, she is mostly a passive spectator for a play. Tyrion spends the first half of the season making jokes more than governing Meereen. Characters are unchanging and extremely passive, the situations from the books became far too oversimplified so there was no longer any depth. Despite all that time for those various storylines, the writers/showrunners didn't do anything useful with them.

I consider the praise fans gave D&D for "trimming the fat off FeastDance" to be completely undeserved. After all, what they did was remove all the depth from FeastDance and replace it with empty air. 

The main problem is that FeastDance just lacks payoff and most of the story arcs do not reach a proper conclusion.

AGOT ends with Ned's execution and the birth of dragons; ACOK with the Battle of Blackwater and the fall of Winterfell; ASOS with the weddings, Tyrion's escape, Dany taking Meereen, Stannis saving the Wall and Jon becoming Lord Commander. In contrast, FeastDance only has a proper conclusion (payoff) for the character arcs of Cersei, Jon and (arguably) Dany, while the Battle of Ice and the Battle of Fire - which by all rights should have taken place in ADWD - and the ending of the 'missions' of Jaime&Brienne and Davos are all placed to AWOW. If those (even if only the 2 large battles) were wrapped up in ADWD, I think there would be much less complaining.

There are also smaller problems which come from the 'overcomplication' of the plot. Feast lacks most of the loved POV characters and both novels contain a huge number of chapters which simply involve traveling and character paths diverging from each other, and an incredible number of new POV characters are introduced (3 for Dorne and 3 for the Greyjoys alone, when the previous books only introduced 2 new POV characters each). In AGOT an event like the crowning of Renly and in ACOK an event like the Battle of Oxcross happened off-screen, while in AFFC and ADWD every somewhat significant battle involves at least 1 POV character (such as Deepwood Motte).

This 'overcomplication' of the plot is part of the reason why no new books have been released for 12 years. If GRRM had already released 2 subsequent books and was writing the 8th and final book, much less people would be complaining.

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I'm not over someone like Bronn without  tiniest drop of courtly manner or knowledge being granted the best prize in all of Westeros and this is discounting his pedigree and prestige. There was lot less blacklash on this Bronn character  than  it should have been. After trial of Tyrion this character's purpose was done..as they never played the angle of him being Lord Stokeworth and proving to be thorn right at  Cersei's doorstep.

Davos suggestion to Unsullied to form their own House and rule the Reach still haunts me. 

I adored Dany in S1 that finale scene of dragon birth was most epic moment on the show  for me. She got boring and annoying saint after S3 so i  started hating her. But when she was burning that foul city to ground it felt awesome.

Jon(up to S5) and Catelyn are my favorite characters. Catelyn faced insurmountable hate from most everyone including that Preston youtuber. Cat hate has lessened. But i take it as lack of interest in series after the show's ending.  

Like someone said even if i am a Stark fan, by series end i didnt find any one of them likeable. Ned & Cat dodged D&D. I'm thankful they didnt adapt Stoneheart and hence avioded in making her either a killing machine or laughing stock.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Lord of Oldstones
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  • 2 weeks later...

Are there any good fan reviews or tweet threads for Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon? I'm thinking about giving it another shot, but last time I didn't make it far. I'm guessing there wasn't anything too spicy in there, since I don't remember it making many waves among fans. (I will say this: that is a godawful title. I understand why they couldn't keep All Men Must Die because of COVID, but still, talk about clunky. They couldn't have just gone with Winter is Coming or The North Remembers instead?)

Edited by The Bard of Banefort
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I was going to start a new thread to talk about Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, but since I don't know if I'm going to read it straight through or space it out, I figured I'd just post commentary here. Some thoughts from the Preface and Chapter 1:

  • According to FCKAD (and I have not proof-checked this), they started filming the Battle of the Bastards in October 2014, half a year before S5 even premiered.
  • This one I hadn't heard before: David Benioff read ASOIAF after GRRM's agent sent him a copy and suggested that he might consider adapting them. I had always thought that D&D had broached the idea on their own.
  • GRRM is such a boomer. "I did famously ask them the question: 'Who is Jon Snow's mother?' They said they read the books. I wanted to see if they had really read the books and how much they paid attention." George, they could have just googled it!
  • Quotes that haven't aged well: "We had a sense of where this was going for many seasons."
  • D&D got the gig despite having never worked on a TV show before. This is a reminder of just how starkly perceptions can change in only a short amount of time. FCKAD is clearly setting up GOT as "the little engine that could," and maybe that's how most people would have seen this a decade ago. Nowadays, I think that many people would read this and think, How the hell did two dudes without any experience get a multi-million dollar premium TV contract?
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4 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I was going to start a new thread to talk about Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, but since I don't know if I'm going to read it straight through or space it out, I figured I'd just post commentary here. Some thoughts from the Preface and Chapter 1:

  • According to FCKAD (and I have not proof-checked this), they started filming the Battle of the Bastards in October 2014, half a year before S5 even premiered.
  • This one I hadn't heard before: David Benioff read ASOIAF after GRRM's agent sent him a copy and suggested that he might consider adapting them. I had always thought that D&D had broached the idea on their own.
  • GRRM is such a boomer. "I did famously ask them the question: 'Who is Jon Snow's mother?' They said they read the books. I wanted to see if they had really read the books and how much they paid attention." George, they could have just googled it!
  • Quotes that haven't aged well: "We had a sense of where this was going for many seasons."
  • D&D got the gig despite having never worked on a TV show before. This is a reminder of just how starkly perceptions can change in only a short amount of time. FCKAD is clearly setting up GOT as "the little engine that could," and maybe that's how most people would have seen this a decade ago. Nowadays, I think that many people would read this and think, How the hell did two dudes without any experience get a multi-million dollar premium TV contract?

George should have them gone on to ask, “Well, that was an easy one.  Give me the identity of the Alchemist, and the Ghost of High Heart?”

As to your last point, a friend said to me, “D & D were paid millions for producing crapulent fanfiction.  Why aren’t I?”

 

 

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Some highlights from Chapter 2, about the casting:

- Most of this is stuff we already knew (Sibel thought Shae was too mean, Peter put in a good word for Lena, Maisie and Sophie did their audition together). There didn’t seem to really be any “nepo babies,” but this—inadvertently—shines a light on how much getting a job relies on knowing the right person. At the same time, some of the actors were down and out. Rory McCann was apparently homeless and living in a tent at the time.

- Jack Gleeson was only 17 when he was cast. Am I the only who was under the impression he was much older?

- The spin is already starting. According to the showrunners, everyone got along and there were no divas on set. Of course, we know there was drama from the beginning (such as Lena and Bronn refusing to be on set at the same time) and that some actors had serious problems during the run of the show (Kit, Sophie, etc). 

- Going strictly off of interviews, Peter D. comes across as pretty unpleasant. He just seems to take himself way too seriously.

- Skipping ahead, this book is written as if S8 never happened (figuratively speaking, of course). It was inevitably started before the show ended, and no one (including Hibberd, clearly) thought people would turn on it like they did. Even HOTD hasn’t lessened the backlash.

- There’s mention of “fan sites” that advocated for Jason Momoa and didn’t think the Lannisters were pretty enough. I’m guessing they’re talking about this site, right? Lol

Edited by The Bard of Banefort
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7 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Some highlights from Chapter 2, about the casting:

- Most of this is stuff we already knew (Sibel thought Shae was too mean, Peter put in a good word for Lena, Maisie and Sophie did their audition together). There didn’t seem to really be any “nepo babies,” but this—inadvertently—shines a light on how much getting a job relies on knowing the right person. At the same time, some of the actors were down and out. Rory McCann was apparently homeless and living in a tent at the time.

- Jack Gleeson was only 17 when he was cast. Am I the only who was under the impression he was much older?

- The spin is already starting. According to the showrunners, everyone got along and there were no divas on set. Of course, we know there was drama from the beginning (such as Lena and Bronn refusing to be on set at the same time) and that some actors had serious problems during the run of the show (Kit, Sophie, etc). 

- Going strictly off of interviews, Peter D. comes across as pretty unpleasant. He just seems to take himself way too seriously.

- Skipping ahead, this book is written as if S8 never happened (figuratively speaking, of course). It was inevitably started before the show ended, an no one (including Hibberd, clearly) thought people would turn on it like they did. Even HOTD hasn’t lessened the backlash.

- There’s mention of “fan sites” that advocated for Jason Momoa and didn’t think the Lannisters were pretty enough. I’m guessing they’re talking about this site, right? Lol

It was Peter Dinklage’s reaction to the fans’ criticism of Season 8 that made me think he’s unlikeable.

The two D’s had favourites (like Peter Dinklage, and Lena Headey) and Benioff saw his father in Tywin, who was “lawful neutral”, tough but fair, whereas, in their eyes, a character like Daenerys was always evil.  I suspect they disliked Kit Harrington, with all the jokes about his height and penis size.

With his unfunny practical jokes, and stunts like waterboarding Hannah Waddingham, or Ros’ eroticised death scene (Esme Bianco was being severely abused at the time), Benioff comes over as particularly unpleasant.

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On 4/14/2023 at 4:47 AM, The Bard of Banefort said:

I was going to start a new thread to talk about Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, but since I don't know if I'm going to read it straight through or space it out, I figured I'd just post commentary here. Some thoughts from the Preface and Chapter 1:

  • According to FCKAD (and I have not proof-checked this), they started filming the Battle of the Bastards in October 2014, half a year before S5 even premiered.
  • This one I hadn't heard before: David Benioff read ASOIAF after GRRM's agent sent him a copy and suggested that he might consider adapting them. I had always thought that D&D had broached the idea on their own.
  • GRRM is such a boomer. "I did famously ask them the question: 'Who is Jon Snow's mother?' They said they read the books. I wanted to see if they had really read the books and how much they paid attention." George, they could have just googled it!
  • Quotes that haven't aged well: "We had a sense of where this was going for many seasons."
  • D&D got the gig despite having never worked on a TV show before. This is a reminder of just how starkly perceptions can change in only a short amount of time. FCKAD is clearly setting up GOT as "the little engine that could," and maybe that's how most people would have seen this a decade ago. Nowadays, I think that many people would read this and think, How the hell did two dudes without any experience get a multi-million dollar premium TV contract?

I do think opinions of later seasons of GOT have got worse over time.  People will forgive a lot, if they get a good ending.  Now most people only talk of the show’s flaws.

The show has no rewatch value for me.  What’s the point, when the end of it all is a nihilistic mess?

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On 4/15/2023 at 3:27 AM, SeanF said:

It was Peter Dinklage’s reaction to the fans’ criticism of Season 8 that made me think he’s unlikeable.

From what I’ve heard, when fans ask to take pictures with him, rather than just saying “sorry, I don’t do pictures,” he either completely ignores them and acts like they’re not there, or gets angry and berates them for asking. Doesn’t sound like the type of guy you’d want to run into in the grocery store.

On 4/14/2023 at 4:10 AM, SeanF said:

George should have them gone on to ask, “Well, that was an easy one.  Give me the identity of the Alchemist, and the Ghost of High Heart?”

As to your last point, a friend said to me, “D & D were paid millions for producing crapulent fanfiction.  Why aren’t I?”

 

 

In Chuck Klosterman’s newest book, The Nineties, he talked about American Beauty and how drastically different the protagonist seems to a modern audience versus 25 years ago. The consensus among film buffs at the time was that the movie exposed the hollowness at the center of the American dream and the hidden psyche of suburbia and blah, blah, blah, all that psychobabble. Now it just comes across like an indulgent story about a privileged, perverted asshole who throws his life away. (He also talked about how Reality Bites is one of the few movies that unites Boomers and Millennials, in that they both find it ridiculous haha). I think D&D’s “Hollywood miracle” would have been more palatable fifteen years ago than it is now.

Edited by The Bard of Banefort
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Highlights from Chapter 3, about the original pilot:

  • D&D actually do come across as quite humble when talking about how they messed up the original pilot. It's a far cry from some of the other interviews they've done.
  • This isn't news, but GRRM really does have a fun and witty personality that makes him very likeable in interviews like these. And he clearly puts a lot of thought into everything he says.
  • Lots of swearing from Iain Glen, which I only find notable because I'm so used to the stoic and charming show-Jorah. It's hard to imagine Jorah saying "fucking diddlly squat." 
  • A lot of the original wigs were even worse than HOTD's. Joffrey had a Henry V bowl cut, Viserys had a silver bob, and Cersei looked like a "medieval Dolly Parton."
  • We see a bit more of George's psychology behind Dany and Drogo's wedding night. He describes how Dany had her horse leap over a campfire on their way to the cliff, and how Drogo was impressed by her bravery. 
  • The White Walkers originally had a language called Skroth.
  • Very evasive as to why Tamzin Merchant was recast. There are no quotes from her, and the people interviewed all insist she gave a great performance but that it "didn't work out." Hibberd claims the showrunners chose to let her go. Of course, when Tamzin finally spoke about this a year or two ago, she made it sound like she found the filming process degrading. Assuming it was her decision to step back from the role, this is some pretty big spin on Hibberd's part.
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5 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Assuming it was her decision to step back from the role

No chance that it was her decision, and Hibberd's book is clear that someone made the call to tell her they were recasting, which doesn't make sense if she had pulled out.

I recall the interview, and I think it's pretty clear Merchant was also providing a spin on things. It wasn't her choice, but of course in retrospect she can say she's happy about it because it would have been a mistake, etc.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Ran said:

No chance that it was her decision, and Hibberd's book is clear that someone made the call to tell her they were recasting, which doesn't make sense if she had pulled out.

I recall the interview, and I think it's pretty clear Merchant was also providing a spin on things. It wasn't her choice, but of course in retrospect she can say she's happy about it because it would have been a mistake, etc.

 

 

Maybe, but it’s also possible that they chose to recast her because she wasn’t compliant enough or pushed back on some of the directions.

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9 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Maybe, but it’s also possible that they chose to recast her because she wasn’t compliant enough or pushed back on some of the directions.

That seems pretty made up, as Merchant doesn't suggest anything like it in her interview with Hibberd.

I mean, if we had to give a likelier cause for her having been recast, one of the people who worked on the pilot was pretty frank and claimed that Merchant was pretty unprofessional on Malta, spending too much time clubbing and partying into the night after filming and that this affected her work and (more unforgivably) the production. No surprise if both HBO and Merchant would be circumspect when describing her recasting.

Perhaps we can square the circle by suggesting that Merchant was sub-consciously or perhaps even deliberately sabotaging things to try and get herself dropped? But it's not a good look for her. The story she tells is much nicer for her, even though it doesn't actually claim she initiated leaving the production.

 

Edited by Ran
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9 minutes ago, Ran said:

I mean, if we had to give a likelier cause for her having been recast, one of the people who worked on the pilot was pretty frank and claimed that Merchant was pretty unprofessional on Malta, spending too much time clubbing and partying into the night after filming and that this affected her work and (more unforgivably) the production. No surprise if both HBO and Merchant would be circumspect when describing her recasting.

Where did you hear this?

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26 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Where did you hear this?

Right around the first season, or perhaps even before the first season aired, I can't recall, an effects supervisor who worked on the pilot was pretty open on Twitter and on their own blog with their remarks on various aspects on the show they had worked on. Much was positive, but they basically said it wasn't a surprise Merchant was recast for the reasons stated.

Now, I don't know that this would be a reason to recast Merchant even if it were true -- Boardwalk Empire had two rather difficult actors and went ahead just fine in roughly the same era, so I think HBO was tolerant of actors being... well, difficult. But in any case, if we have to try and speculate on reasons for recasting, at least there's a rumor about why Merchant was recast.

Edited by Ran
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I read Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon a few months after it was released. Around that time it was discussed extensively here on Westeros.org in one of the Rant & Rave threads. Outside of this site, the book received little attention, I was under the impression.

As for the book ... I felt that much of the content consisted of snippets of old interviews that I had read years earlier somewhere on the Internet.

On 4/10/2023 at 3:57 AM, The Bard of Banefort said:

(I will say this: that is a godawful title. I understand why they couldn't keep All Men Must Die because of COVID, but still, talk about clunky. They couldn't have just gone with Winter is Coming or The North Remembers instead?)

I do think the title of "Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon" fits the book. Game of Thrones was a very impactful and successful show that is still very popular. It was truly a behemoth at the time. Book readers and diehard show fans were very unhappy with what happened during season 8. However, they are only a very loud minority and they cannot change the reputation of the show among most people. Casual fans have no problem with the last season and even enjoyed it. Season 8 did well at the Emmys and other awards shows. Well-known review sites such as Vulture and The Slant are also very positive and "The Bells" is considered by them to be the best episode of the Game of Thrones show.

The fire of angry fans is not able to slay the dragon that was the GOT show.

1 hour ago, Ran said:

That seems pretty made up, as Merchant doesn't suggest anything like it in her interview with Hibberd.

I mean, if we had to give a likelier cause for her having been recast, one of the people who worked on the pilot was pretty frank and claimed that Merchant was pretty unprofessional on Malta, spending too much time clubbing and partying into the night after filming and that this affected her work and (more unforgivably) the production. No surprise if both HBO and Merchant would be circumspect when describing her recasting.

Perhaps we can square the circle by suggesting that Merchant was sub-consciously or perhaps even deliberately sabotaging things to try and get herself dropped? But it's not a good look for her. The story she tells is much nicer for her, even though it doesn't actually claim she initiated leaving the production.

This is new information. Thanks for posting this.

3 hours ago, SeanF said:

Tamzin Merchant would have been ideal as book Daenerys, who is often playful and charming,  IMHO.

But, D & D wanted to erase that part of her character.

Despite the many criticisms Emilia Clarke received for her acting performances, I don't think she was a bad choice for book-Daenerys. But:


"So they started writing for us, and I think they knew that whatever kind of stoic, cold sensibilities they might be writing down, I was going to try to bring a bit more warmth and humanity to [Daenerys] where I possibly could. That was always a conversation we were having. And every season I'd do something else on hiatus, and I'd come back and be like, "What's up, yeah, she's going to sit like this" (slouches down in chair). And every time, they're like, "That's really cute, but sit up straight and don't smile, you're not funny."


We know Emilia Clarke has read the ASOIAF books, and she was right when she suggested Daenerys would not sit up straight (in the books Daenerys sits crosslegged numerous times and the one time she got "tired of being regal" and sat "with one foot tucked beneath her and the other swinging back and forth.")

Unfortunately, D&D had a very different vision of how Daenerys should be portrayed in the show. Emilia is also charming and playful: she would do very well if she had the chance to play as the book version of Daenerys.

Edited by $erPounce
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47 minutes ago, $erPounce said:

I read Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon a few months after it was released. Around that time it was discussed extensively here on Westeros.org in one of the Rant & Rave threads. Outside of this site, the book received little attention, I was under the impression.

As for the book ... I felt that much of the content consisted of snippets of old interviews that I had read years earlier somewhere on the Internet.

I do think the title of "Fire Cannot Kill A Dragon" fits the book. Game of Thrones was a very impactful and successful show that is still very popular. It was truly a behemoth at the time. Book readers and diehard show fans were very unhappy with what happened during season 8. However, they are only a very loud minority and they cannot change the reputation of the show among most people. Casual fans have no problem with the last season and even enjoyed it. Season 8 did well at the Emmys and other awards shows. Well-known review sites such as Vulture and The Slant are also very positive and "The Bells" is considered by them to be the best episode of the Game of Thrones show.

The fire of angry fans is not able to slay the dragon that was the GOT show.

This is new information. Thanks for posting this.

Despite the many criticisms Emilia Clarke received for her acting performances, I don't think she was a bad choice for book-Daenerys. But:


"So they started writing for us, and I think they knew that whatever kind of stoic, cold sensibilities they might be writing down, I was going to try to bring a bit more warmth and humanity to [Daenerys] where I possibly could. That was always a conversation we were having. And every season I'd do something else on hiatus, and I'd come back and be like, "What's up, yeah, she's going to sit like this" (slouches down in chair). And every time, they're like, "That's really cute, but sit up straight and don't smile, you're not funny."


We know Emilia Clarke has read the ASOIAF books, and she was right when she suggested Daenerys would not sit up straight (in the books Daenerys sits crosslegged numerous times and the one time she got "tired of being regal" and sat "with one foot tucked beneath her and the other swinging back and forth.")

Unfortunately, D&D had a very different vision of how Daenerys should be portrayed in the show. Emilia is also charming and playful: she would do very well if she had the chance to play as the book version of Daenerys.

When Emilia Clarke was allowed to act, she did well.

One of the (very few) good points of Season 8 was that she was allowed to act.  Most of the time, the two D’s wanted her to be an icon, rather than a person.

Edited by SeanF
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This is fun. Writing commentary is making it much easier to get through this book.

Just for the record, I have nothing against James Hibberd and consider him a good reporter. In his position, you don't need to only cover the story but also maintain good connections in order to ensure access for future stories. At the same time, that means that all of these stories are going to have a certain layer of gloss to them. Remarking on that isn't a criticism of Hibberd himself.

Highlights from a fairly meaty Chapter 4:

  • In preparation for the scene where Bran stumbles upon Jaime and Cersei, his mother had to give him "the sex talk a little earlier--with some topics that probably aren't covered by general sex talks."
  • It sounds like Issac and Kristian (Hodor) had a good relationship. The first time they met, Isaac accidentally broke Kristian's cell phone. 
  • They apparently didn't have any security on set during S1, which strikes me as very odd. I was under the impression that film sets always have security. 
  • The showrunners credit HBO being more preoccupied with Boardwalk Empire for why they were allowed to basically do whatever they wanted. 
  • Lots of mishaps on set, including extras fainting and one guy nearly falling off a cliff after being thrown from his horse. Kristian permanently injured his back on the first day on set after doing a scene where he has to carry Bran on his back 74 times in a row. He blames himself for not speaking up about it, but that sounds pretty messed up to me. No one on set (i.e. the director) ever thought to ask how he was holding up?
  • They filmed the episodes out of order, which is unusual for television. Because of the weather, a lot of scenes had to be scrapped and rewritten at the last minute. This meant some of the episodes were too short now, which was why they added scenes like Robert and Cersei's heart-to-heart.
  • Rory McCann was apparently bummed that his monologue about how the Hound was burned got scrapped. As were we, Rory. As were we.
  • Speaking of which, that was part of a larger scene like the one in the books, where Robert was going to get drunk at a feast and whack Cersei by accident.  
  • Brief mention that the Jaime/Cersei Winterfell sex scene needed to be re-filmed. (Wasn't Lena pregnant at the time? It's not mentioned). 
  • Alan Taylor: "My favorite dramatic structures are when you build up something and then pull the carpet out from underneath it." (Guess we know what to expect for S2 of HOTD then).
  • They considered having Varys be a "master of disguise," but decided against it.
  • Bronn defeating Vardis Egen is described as "a splendid example of Game of Thrones' brutal pragmatism overturning traditional Arthurian hero storytelling." And then Season 6 happened!
  • When they cut open the stag at Winterfell, the stench was so bad that it made several cast and crew members retch.
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And now Chapter 5:

  • This chapter kinda-sorta tries to address the criticism about excessive nudity on GOT but mostly just dances around it. Hibberd acknowledges that it's hard to gauge Emilia's opinion on it since she's made such widely-varying remarks about it over the years. (That said, they also try to make it sound like the nudity was equal between the genders, which is just hilarious).
  • Viserys' death was filmed in one shot. His wig had hidden pipes in it that pushed out bubbling steam through tiny holes. Harry Lloyd was nervous about nailing the scene, so he watched YouTube videos of drunk people the night before to prepare.
  • Out of the main cast, I don't think it's controversial to say that Emilia has received the most criticism for her acting. Perhaps it's fitting then that she wasn't just the second choice for Daenerys, but the third, or fourth, or fifth. After Tamzin left, the showrunners offered the role to "some familiar names," such as Imogen Poots, before doing another casting call.
  • Kristian asked to use a prosthetic for Hodor's nude scene after he found out that Bran was in the scene. He was "shit scared" but agreed to do it for "body positivity." He says that "Game of Thrones has a lot of people of different shapes and sizes, probably more than any other show ever." (Also hilarious).
  • Up until this point, GRRM seemed overjoyed with the entire film process. This is his first major criticism. Most of us have probably seen the quote: 
    Quote

    Why did the wedding scene change from the consensual seduction scene that excited even a horse to the brutal rape of Emilia Clarke? We never discussed it. It made it worse, not better.

    What I hadn't realized is that the horse in question isn't metaphorical. During the original pilot, the horse Dany rode in on became visibly aroused during the initial sex scene.

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