What do you expect

[Silverstar]

I'm expecting that the HBO series will end up having a very different effect on me than the books do. For example, I expect to feel more sympathy towards the Lannisters than I do in the books, because of the way the pilots points towards the series being constructed. I expct to find Jon and Dany's plotlines more interesting in the show than in the books, because of the great contrast that will be obvious between their settings and the rest of Westeros.

What about you guys? What differences do you expect the series to have with regards to the way you view the books?

Do you think that certain actors that we know are playing the parts will make any characters more or less sympathetic or interesting to you?

Do you think that certain storylines in the show will be more or less prominent in your mind than in the books?

How about locations?

Scenes in the show that will be more or less interesting on screen than on the page?

[Halfhand]

I expect Peter Dinklage to somehow make Tyrion even more awesome.

[trio]

I'm expecting Tyrion to be so full of AWESOME that I'll end up having an embarressing crush on him when everyone else is crushing on Jaime. And I won't be able to tell anyone. :blush:

Actually what I'm really expecting is that the Bran stuff ends up not being that interesting on TV. Sad but true. It could end up just a lot of him wandering around the country with Hodor going "HODOR!" and Bran getting all whiney and irritating.

[The Pita]

Tyrion and Jaime are going to be awesomer than in the books.

I'm a bit concerned about how we'll learn Ashara Dayne's name. It isn't in the pilot. I wonder how it will be done.

[kuroishi]

Actually what I'm really expecting is that the Bran stuff ends up not being that interesting on TV. Sad but true. It could end up just a lot of him wandering around the country with Hodor going "HODOR!" and Bran getting all whiney and irritating.

I agree.

And I have another concern for Arya's plotline, in the books it's really great, but I'm afraid in the series it will just seem really, really wrong. The poor Maisie Williams is going to go through many hardships....

If Jennifer Ehle does a good performance, she might make me like Catelyn more than in the books (I think that her flaws could be less apparent on tv).

[About Yea High]

Maisie Williams will be fine. There's nothing cooler to a kid than running around hitting people with swords - to a tomboy especially (Martin said she was the only one that came in and owned Arya from the get-go).

It's Sophie Turner I worry for more. They plucked her straight out of school and are sticking her in the shoes of one of a girl who has to cry at the drop of a hat, gets beat up by grown men multiple times, and publicly stripped by Koffrey. She may also be the most criticized (and arguably reviled) characters in the books. If she even does Sansa half justice, she'll be getting hate mail. "Welcome to HBO, kid."

Overall, I have high expectations based on the casting choices already. HBO is sinking a lot of hope into this; I can't imagine the pay scales of some of these actors. Many have headlined major stage productions, films, and television shows.

So it's sort of at the point where only a disaster of MacBethian proportions could keep season 1 from hitting our screens.

I think my perception of the Targaryens will change; it's one thing to read a book about people with lavender eyes and platinum hair ... another thing to see it onscreen and believe it's real. I almost think the CGI dragons will be more realistic than a silver wig (Halle Berry, anyone?) ... but I'm remaining hopeful.

I just want them to do GAME OF THRONES well.

And I'm actually hoping they make Bran's portions better than in the books, which were in my opinion the more tedious chapters, overall. That will require a bit of work ... not to mention a kid willing to not walk for a few years.

[NoSpeakEnglish]

I think they will add more depth to Rob's POV giving him more central role in the story, They will make us feel sympathy for Sansa by showing more manipulation on the Lanisters side, They will have to add more scenes to Tyrion's story in the second half of the first season.

[Prince Bran]

Actually what I'm really expecting is that the Bran stuff ends up not being that interesting on TV. Sad but true. It could end up just a lot of him wandering around the country with Hodor going "HODOR!" and Bran getting all whiney and irritating.

Yeah, Bran is a tougher sell on screen I think. I'm slightly worried too because they decided to edit out one of Martin's characterization lines (important for both Catelyn and Bran) where she's talking to Ned. Ned says something like "you would have been proud of him," to which Catelyn responds "I'm always proud of Bran." Little lines like that from the get go can have a marked impact on reader/viewer perceptions of characters.

Overall though, he just has to be eminently likable. I think (just as in the books) they could make Jaime (for example) an antagonist for a bit just fine -- he doesn't need to be liked to be watchable -- but I think if Bran isn't likable the viewer will tire of him quickly.

I'm also nervous that they haven't cast Bran yet, b/c that must mean they weren't presented with any "perfect options" along the lines of Maisie.

If this goes into AfFC, the Tyrion/Jaime/Cersei stuff will just get stupidly good. Stupidly.

[Tanatie Snow]

I think they can do a lot about bran with flash/dream/shapeshifting scenes...

I just hope that the viewpoints aren't completely lost, since it was great in the books...in the first book I loathed the lannisters and then I slowly got their viewpoint when GRRM introduced jaime as a character...then he introduced cersei and she was even worse than I imagined, though jamie got much better when I "read his thoughts"...

[Melikon]

Two...~Three seasons tops.

Chickification, reality TV and no-talent shows have become too entrenched, unfortunately.

[Eyelesbarrow]

I expect Peter Dinklage to somehow make Tyrion even more awesome.

This.

I'm also excited to see Maisie Williams as Arya and Jennifer Ehle, I hope will soften Catelyn's annoying edges.

With a great cast, I expect a gripping series. I don't majorly mind them tweaking certain POVs and characters (some of the actors may bring their own interpretations on their roles), but I want them to do it well so as not to ruin the story.

If this becomes a big hit, I expect tween fandom for those who will play Jon, Rob, etc.

[Pebble thats Stubby]

I expect it will make me weep, cos I know whats gonna happen. I'll have my Hubby saying "Aww it’s a horrible program your watching making you blub like that. But don't worry its all gonna be ok, See Ned's just gonna confess and he's gonna be sent back North where he really wants to go. Oh look its Arya in the crowd just in time to be re-united with her father, She will be able to travel with him and go home. And Sansa still gets to marry her Prince and live happily ever after. Hey even Jon will get to spend some quality time with his Dad now.......*#@(#&%%$$%!!!! but?"

[Silverstar]

Jennifer Ehle, I hope will soften Catelyn's annoying edges.

I kind of hope she doesn't.

Catelyn isn't soft. If people need her to be softer in order to like her, because she's female and a mother, then that's their problem. I don't want them to change her character just because there are a lot of people out there who can't see past whatever they think a character like her should be like, to sympathise with her the way she actually is.

[smegma]

I expect that there are going to be a lot of people on these boards griping about changes or their favorite minor characters not having any face time or altogether written out or combined with others or they'll be upset about continuity or dialect or accents or omissions of talk about the history of Westeros or the aging up or down of characters or new ones or how such and such just doesn't look like they wanted them to or that this line was different in the books or whatever.

In fact I fear this is going to be the case so much so that I may not read any of the board's input once the show is (hopefully) picked up and released. People become rabid about their beloved characters and stories and when movies or shows are unable to display each particular nuance or elaborate on certain things they go into hissy fits. I've seen a lot of this on the boards already. Not to mention dozens of posts on random things in the books that will probably never make it to the screen that people are counting on seeing. There just won't be enough time/budget to show everything.

They'll try to be faithful, but I'm sure there's going to be changes that make sense, and some that to us for whatever reason are not apparent as to the reasons why. But the outcries are going to be long and hard, I'm sure.

[Nehet]

I hate to sound like a cynic, but I'm not going to let myself expect anything or I may just be setting myself up to be disappointed. The show will be however it will be :-)

[Rimmer]

I'm also a bit worried about the Bran parts, though I them to be trimmed down a bit anyway, because of the limited time for filming minors that D&D spoke of. I can't see a 7-year-old boy or whatever he is captivating us too much by himself, and Hodor and Rickon aren't much help; people like Maester Luwin, and Jojen and Meera later on, will really have to shine.

[WightMeWorry]

I hope they flesh out Bran a little more than he is in the leaked script. Things like his desire to be a kingsguard knight, his love of the spooky stuff. The more they can endear him to us really early on, the better :devil:

As for expectations, I expect Jorah (much like Catelyn mentioned previously) to be much more compelling on screen. I think Iian Glen may end up as one of the fan-favorite actors on the show. He will have to be because Dany cannot carry the eastern continent storyline by herself. Dany, her handmaids, and nearly shirtless horselords will help :D, but Jorah and Dany's interactions will prevent it from becoming a pointless skinemax sideshow.

Bran is not alone for book one; Robb is there learning to be acting lord of Winterfell and winning the northern bannerman, which will keep things interesting. The exiled princess storyline worries me much more than Bran's woe-is-me/mystic-powers-awakening storyarc.

[red snow]

I expect I'll be one of those people who will go on about how it's "not as good as the book" regardless of the quality. I'm hoping it will be like when I saw the Spider-man movie and felt that it captured the spirit of the comics perfectly (same goes for LOTR - although i tried reading the books again after seeing the film).

I think my list of favourite characters will differ a lot from those in the books. First of all, there wont be as much of a POV bias - Cersei, Jaime, Robert, Jorah Mormont, Robb, the Hound etc will probably get as much screen time as the POV characters from the book. So we may get a surprise in that Sansa, Arya and Bran feel like they are being short-changed (it may actually make a lot of sense if the kids acting is ropey).

The other big difference is that we wont get to see what is going on in the heads of all the characters and therefore the ones who do a lot are more likely to strike a chord on screen. Tyrion will be loved as he gets all the great lines and gets into a lot of shit. Jaime will stand out because he is a good villain as will Cersei (she could rival Rome's Attia). If we get a season the likes of littlefinger and Varys will be cool as they'll get to do lots of chin-stroking and eye-rolling too, as well as some witty lines. I think viewers will respong well to Dany's change in character if the actress can pull it off well.

I am slightly worried that Jon may come across as too whiny and far prefer Robb's "affirmative" action.

To sum it up; I want it to take advantage of the visuals and give me a different look at the same story (so that I can then complain it's not as good as the book :) )

[Rinso]

I expect that most of the actors will do a good job, even though some of them totally don't fit my view of the characters, visually speaking. I'm still not sold on Sean Bean as Ned and Rory McCann for Sandor, for example, as far as looks go.

I fully expect that some of the more visually impressive moments of the books, few as they are, will be downplayed. For example, while I hope that we get at least two episodes centered on the Battle of the Blackwater, if a Season 2 is to happen, it will probably be squashed into 20 minutes and made out pretty lackluster. I also expect that CGI creatures, like the dragons or the Others, will look cheesy.

From what I can tell from the leaked scipt, I also expect to see minor, but still pointless, changes. Such as making Ned more badass than needed or Jaime loudly whining for the whole Aerys thingie, or the change of the end of the Prologue. Still, I also expect that the series will remain true to the core of the series, and to many details too.

I expect that the intimate thoughts of the characters will be mostly lost. Though they can be saved with clever writing and good acting.

Let's see... what else... Oh, yes. I expect that I'll see the first episode of the series before I read the first chapter of ADWD :P

[Padraig]

Jaime loudly whining for the whole Aerys thingie.

You mightn't like the scene but there is a point to Jaime mentioning how he killed Aerys. They had to explain this Kingslayer bit or it wouldn't make sense that such a man is hanging out with the king. :)