December Fifith Promo.

[MinDonner]

I am dubious about taking Sansa's word as to who is the hottest guy in Westeros. We need look no further than the careers of Hanson, Justin Bieber, Bros and all their teen-heartthrob brethren for confirmation that teenage girls' tastes are not to be trusted.

ETA: by which I mean, Jaime should TOTALLY be hotter than Loras.

[Lady Blackfish]

Ran, I think you must be right, Robert and Cersei eye-fighting about Lyanna's tomb is a bit embarrassing for an onlooker to witness. Still wish her hair was a bit more coiffed, but hey you can't win them all ;)

[smegma]

Well, I can appreciate NCW and Jason Momoa's good looks, and for the younger guys Kitt Harrington (if only I was ten years younger!) - to me the sex appeal is all wrapped up in Aiden Gillen. I drooled over every scene of his in The Wire. Yum.

[MountainThatRides]

All things considered, I was very happy with the "inside look" and how the series seems to be coming together. Obviously for fans of the books things will take some getting used to; some things will be how I imagined them, and others will vary wildly. They went for a unique and pragmatic approach as far as the weapons and armor, it seems, though I'll admit that I was hoping for a thoroughly medieval Europe look, but that departure was inevitable.

Most of the actors and the scenery/costumes looked impressive. The one bit of acting that bothered me was Eddard talking to Gendry and asking to buy the bull's head helm; the lad playing Gendry seemed a bit wooden. I guess when I read the chapter it played out in my head with more hesitation and tension, but he is a stubborn and brash young man, so I suppose their take is more credible.

I got a few brief glimpses of Littlefinger and Varys in action, and I'm eager for more; so much hinges on those characters, I really hope the actors playing them deliver.

I'm feeling a bit possessive about the whole thing -- having been reading these books for so long, I always felt like it was something truly special I had discovered and I always marveled at why it wasn't as huge as it should be, considering how other books become so popular when they're so much worse. Now that the show is actually a reality in my mind, the whole world is going to stumble upon Westeros and it won't be mine anymore (not that it ever really was). It's an odd feeling. My one consolation out of this sense of impending gloom is the fact that, until everyone gets hooked and runs out to buy all the books, I'll have a serious leg up. And as we all know, spoiling this series would be so easy and so cruel, so it's always going to hang on the tip of my tongue. I can't wait to see the reactions. You look at all these characters in the trailers and the promo and in your head, you're going "Dead. Dead. Crippled. Dead. Maimed. Dead, possibly Frankensteined." I just hope people don't flip out or turn on the show when George 'the Headsman' Martin's axe reaps its foul harvest.

[The SmilingKnight]

Yeah, gendry didnt completely deliver on his line or two, either. Isnt terrible, not every scene has to be acted to the fullest but, there it is...

And, i really have to say, about the armor, i dont know about you but i always figured the complete Westeros to be different then out most common image of medieval times.

More fantastic, but in this realistic way Martin has.

Especially in armors design department.

As a minimum i would have thought they would visualize them similar to armors in Excalibur ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082348/ ), only better and in style of Songs.

I mean, we do see from few encounters with armorers that the work they do with armor and the "technology" is actually like a improved version of those we had at the relative time.

-edit-

I really have to say that dothraki are the most disappointing,

They seem more like some weird band of land pirates then actual Dothraki Khalasar.

And they have no bells anywhere. Not a single bell!

You might say what you want but whenever Drogo comes into the scene ill be "Wtf! Who is this looser? Ha, ha! Look at him, someone cut of his bells or he never earned a single one! Impostor! Someone call the Khal! Torturin` to do!"

[Abaddon]

Random thought -- is it possible the new Ned-the-warrior is in fact an indication of a merging of Brandon and Ned into one character (Ned)? Have we heard anything from the show regarding the role of Brandon in the series?

[smegma]

I just want to reiterate that I think Viserys looks phenomenal (my favorite casting choice was Harry Lloyd and Aiden Gillen). It actually makes me sad that he gets done away with so quickly. I definitely wouldn't mind if they prolonged his appearance a few more episodes in the season (they might be anyway, depending on the flow of the storyline). I think he will be a scene stealer.

[Padraig]

Random thought -- is it possible the new Ned-the-warrior is in fact an indication of a merging of Brandon and Ned into one character (Ned)? Have we heard anything from the show regarding the role of Brandon in the series?

Hmmm.

Doubt it. Except for one possible flashback, Brandon doesn't appear in the series. And even in the flashback, he wouldn't have to speak. Just look very angry. So what would they gain? Ned having his brother and father die, just adds to his story. We already have a character (Jaime) who can recount the scene. And if Ned is there, it undermines Jaime's story (since Jaime's story is no longer unique). Would make Jaime angrier at Ned for judging him badly for killing Aerys I suppose. But can't see why Ned could have survived it.

If Jaime wasn't there, introducing Ned would make more sense since it gives us somebody we know in that scene.

It actually makes me sad that he gets done away with so quickly.

I've been thinking on the same lines. At the end of this (first) series, they'll have done some serious damage to the main cast members. You'll be beginning to get used to these people and they'll all be killed off. I think i'm going to find that very weird actually.

[smegma]

Hmmm.

Doubt it. Except for one possible flashback, Brandon doesn't appear in the series. And even in the flashback, he wouldn't have to speak. Just look very angry. So what would they gain? Ned having his brother and father die, just adds to his story. We already have a character (Jaime) who can recount the scene. And if Ned is there, it undermines Jaime's story (since Jaime's story is no longer unique). Would make Jaime angrier at Ned for judging him badly for killing Aerys I suppose. But can't see why Ned could have survived it.

If Jaime wasn't there, introducing Ned would make more sense since it gives us somebody we know in that scene.

I've been thinking on the same lines. At the end of this (first) series, they'll have done some serious damage to the main cast members. You'll be beginning to get used to these people and they'll all be killed off. I think i'm going to find that very weird actually.

Yeah, but I think HBO viewers moreso than other people might be used to it.

It doesn't make it suck any less that I'll get only a little bit of Harry Lloyd. From what I can tell, he really exudes the crazy without coming across as cheesy. Hard thing to do.

Oh well! At least Aiden Gillen will be around and maybe I can stop worrying that Kit Harrington is only 23 and just appreciate how damn cute he is.

[alguien]

What problem is there to have? Eddard IS a stereotypical hero. That's what gets him killed. As to the fight with Jaime, I thought that was the showdown between them in the books, sans the rainy gloomy atmosphere that made the fight so memorable in the books. THAT I'm slightly miffed about.

Eddard isn't a stereotypical hero in that his martial prowess isn't legendary or anything. In fact, when confronted by Jaime, he uses words in order to save himself and his men.

I don't think the fight itself was that memorable. It was certainly an extremely tragic episode, but what happens is Jaime challenges Ned. Ned replies that any harm done to him will be returned upon Tyrion. Jaime orders his men not to harm Ned but kill his men as sort of an evil taunt. What follows is butchery. Ned is never in any mortal danger.

[Scion of Valyria]

It was memorable (to me, at least) not because Ned fought Jaime. Its mostly just how they say Ned was found, cradling Jory's corpse in his arms, alone in the dark, surrounded by dead men. It always made me wish Jory had a bigger role. Just the image it created in my mind, I guess, is why I like it so much. So to move it to broad daylight with a bunch of people watching kind of sucks the whole feeling out of it.

Its just a personal complaint.

AND I still don't know why we assume he's going to be a master swordsman. He's acting tough, for certain, but that's not entirely unlike Ned, what with his prickly honor.

[alguien]

AND I still don't know why we assume he's going to be a master swordsman. He's acting tough, for certain, but that's not entirely unlike Ned, what with his prickly honor.

Because

from the notes that were reportedly in the script, it explicitly stated that Ned is one of the "deadliest" swords in Westeros

And in the special, you SEE them spinning and fighting.

[Padraig]

Just the image it created in my mind, I guess, is why I like it so much. So to move it to broad daylight with a bunch of people watching kind of sucks the whole feeling out of it.

I would hope we still have the Ned cradling Jory moment. Given they have made Jory slightly more important, its a great way to end that scene. (I'm sure there were people watching in the books also. It was in the middle of a city. But the peasants don't interfere in the Game of Thrones).

I agree that it's where Ned cradles Jory that you really miss the rain. Tears for Jory...

[Infidel]

Ancient Arab men would wear kohl in the desert. Maybe that's where they got the idea from?

And more apropos (cribbing from Wiki): "In Punjabi culture, sirma or surma is a traditional ceremonial dye, which predominantly men of the Punjab wear around their eyes on special social or religious occasions."

Gee, might we be seeing Drogo at a special occasion?

[MinDonner]

I've been thinking on the same lines. At the end of this (first) series, they'll have done some serious damage to the main cast members. You'll be beginning to get used to these people and they'll all be killed off. I think i'm going to find that very weird actually.

The Tudors managed that well enough, despite culling most of the main characters at the end of each series. OK, so they had to introduce a bunch of new ones every time which started to get awkward by Season 4 (who the hell was that guy with the eyepatch, for example?), but Game of Thrones should have it much easier, the death toll is really pretty low in comparison.

[Lady Blackfish]

Ned's heroism is, granted, not very blindingly new, he's moral and we've certainly seen moral heroes before, even not so martial ones. What made it more interesting for me is that Ned existed this way within a very very martial, macho culture. Atticus Finch is one thing, but Atticus Finch didn't live in a bloodthirsty feudal society. It was way more interesting to think of Ned and his past exploits knowing that he wasn't some badass prodigy, but that it might have made him unsure of himself, afraid, all those things conventional macho badasses can't ever admit because that would tarnish their swagger. It made him more human and less cookie-cutter "Rah rah I am a badass male all shall behold my prowess and phear".

Jaime is different because Jaime's badassery is supposed to eventually unnerve us; he doesn't care about dying, he doesn't care about killing, he hardly cares about anything, even his own children. We aren't supposed to see Jaime as a hero, so the fact that he is badass dovetails quite nicely into this deconstruction of/skepticism towards celebration and glorification of violence. These messages are somewhat at odds with conventional Hollywood standards.

They will likely still have Ned utter lines about how wrong it is to kill children and how one needs to angst and brood about executing men to fully appreciate life and all this. It just sounds more sincere from book!Ned, based on what we've seen of HBO!Ned so far.

I can vaguely visualize Jory's death working well in the daytime, in an ironic "The day was too bright for something so dark to happen" kind of way.

[Herr Fick]

I am dubious about taking Sansa's word as to who is the hottest guy in Westeros. We need look no further than the careers of Hanson, Justin Bieber, Bros and all their teen-heartthrob brethren for confirmation that teenage girls' tastes are not to be trusted.

Quite funny in this regard:

going to see Justin Bieber at the NIA on March 5th with a few of my bff's:D oh my gosh I am so excited

— Sophie Turner (@SophieT)

November 21, 2010

I just cried at Justin's performance... i love you Justin

— Sophie Turner (@SophieT)

November 28, 2010

;)

[MinDonner]

Awesome. :D That's some apt casting!

[Padraig]

"Rah rah I am a badass male all shall behold my prowess and phear".

I accept your essential point but I doubt he would go that far. Sure, he did respond to Jaime but even if he is now a great fighter, I don't think he would be generally boastful about it. Unless pushed by a guy like Jaime. If he took part in tourney's i'd be more concerned.

[Lady Blackfish]

Oh, I doubt he'd go that far, but I do think it compromises the integrity of the character's make-up a bit. Not to an extent that would hurt HBO's ratings, I imagine.