Younger Versions for Flashbacks

[Rhaegar's Rubies]

Ever since I heard that ASOIF would make it on the small screen, I have been trying to imagine how certain scenes would play out. This is especially true of flashbacks. Although there aren't quite as many in GOT, a few key flashbacks do appear. I am thinking in particular of the Battle of the Trident. Mark Addy is all well and good for the current incarnation of Robert, but a young Robert needs to be cast, if for nothing else but to show how he once was an awesome and handsome warrior. Also, a good Rhaegar needs to be found for this scene as well as for the House of the Undying. Other scenes should also include a young Jaime killing the king (maybe Nikolas whatever-his-name-is could be made to look younger, but I think it may work out better to have a different actor cast who could also reenact the conversation with Rhaegar later in the series as well as the Tourney at Harrenhal scenes. And the more I think about it, I think it would be good to have a young Ned reenact the Tower of Joy scenes, so that he can reappear in later series for the Knight of the Laughing Tree/Tourney at Harrenhal scenes as well.

The Tourney at Harrenhal will be a key scene, something that should perhaps be filmed early and can be spliced into memories, flashbacks, and Meera's story so that the audience can understand that it is the same scene in each case. As the series progresses, a young Cersei will be needed for meeting Rhaegar and Maggy the Frog.

Lastly, I hope that whoever gets cast in these roles will return for all the flashbacks. I hate it when the child version of a character is portrayed by multiple actors - it breaks the continuity too much for me. Also, I'm not a huge stickler for having the younger versions look EXACTLY like their older counterparts, as long as their identity is made apparent from the beginning.

What do you guys think? Who would you cast for the younger versions of these characters? Can you think of other key flashback scenes that I haven't mentioned (the one mentioned above were the first to come to my mind)? What do you think about how flashbacks or memories should be portrayed?

One scene in particular for me (if I were a director): tossing the wreath of blue roses into Lyanna's lap at the Tourney. I envision this scene in slow-mo, with a stunned reaction shot from Lyanna (and gasps from the crowd). Perhaps in the first book/season, Rhaegar is shown with a cocky expression/secret smile when he does this, so that the effect is ambiguous. As the series progresses, and more of the events are shown, we can see a longer version of this scene, where Lyanna is at first shocked, but then smiles, with Rhaegar smiling back, showing the audience how the story unfolds with each new perspective.

[Padraig]

One scene in particular for me (if I were a director): tossing the wreath of blue roses into Lyanna's lap at the Tourney. I envision this scene in slow-mo, with a stunned reaction shot from Lyanna (and gasps from the crowd).

Hmm. If they did show this scene, I think they should focus on everyone else. Not Lyanna and Rhaegar. We are 4 books into the series and we still don't know for sure what those 2 felt. But we do know how shocked Ned was.

I'm not a great fan of flashbacks but they do probably need to show some. That Lyanna-Rhaegar scene could just be described for example.