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[Book Spoilers] What did non-readers of the book make of it?


Brienne the Beauty

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Nah, some parts of the show wasn't explained properly, especially Jon the bastard and the Targs.

How was Jon's bastard situation not properly explained???? They dedicated a whole scene to it where they spelled it out (Jon/Tyrion) and it was referenced in two other scenes.

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:)

I think the other reason why I'd rather read the book than watch the show (for anything) is that I tend to like whichever I experience first. In this case, I'm grateful that I read the books first because they are f-ing fantastic. At the same time, I enjoy watching True Blood but I have absolutely no desire to even give the books a try. Now, if I'd not read GoT before watching the show, I'd still probably read it, but my experience with the show would interfere.

I also tend to lean towards the media I experienced the story first. But in the case of True Blood, I read the books after the last season ended, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. I don't know if I would have liked them had I not watched the show first.

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Nah, some parts of the show wasn't explained properly, especially Jon the bastard and the Targs.

I think Jon was introduced and explained just fine, although I agree with you completely about the Targaryens. Ser Jorah was the only real hint that connected the Targaryens to Westeros, and I'm not sure how new viewers would understand that they are the heirs of the previous king that the Baratheons, Starks and Lannisters deposed. I would guess that most viewers who are completely new to the series would figure that the Pentos plot was completely separate from the main action at this time, although it doesn't take a genius to suppose that those plots will eventually converge. Still, a bit confusing I think.

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I filled in some of the back history about Robert's Rebellion (left out the Tower of Joy stuff though). I don't think it'll detract from their enjoyment of the show too much. In the books we learned the basics pretty early on after all. I did it because they seemed interested and I think having a clearer idea of the back story made it more enjoyable to them.

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None of my friends read books (at all - their loss), so I had been telling them for years how great this show, based on my favourite books ever, was going to be. I think I managed to get about 4 people to watch it in the end.

My girlfriend, whom I watched it with, seemed to enjoy it (hard to tell if she was just being nice for me). I had filled her in on the backstory beforehand and made her a little character chart so she kind of knew who was who. She said she thought the episode was good, she was shocked when Viserys said that classic line to Dany - much the same as my reaction when I first read the book. She found the rape scene very difficult to watch, and when Bran was pushed at the end she gasped and said she wanted to see the next episode right now! She said Jon Snow was a very intriguing character and she really liked both him and Tyrion. She said she feels really sorry for Dany "that poor girl". Sansa was quite annoying apparantly; I guess that means the show got her character right!

I got some feedback from a friend on Facebook who said he watched and gave the simple reply of, "it was great".

Another friend and her boyfriend on Facebook told me they sat down to watch and her boyfriend fell asleep halfway through, so they decided to watch it another time. Apparantly, they were quite enjoying it up to that point (or at least she was). I figured they would really enjoy the show since they seem to love anything that HBO broadcasts.

I told a lot of people about it but I think most of my friends either don't have Sky Atlantic or prefer to go out drinking in the evenings!

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I think Jon was introduced and explained just fine, although I agree with you completely about the Targaryens. Ser Jorah was the only real hint that connected the Targaryens to Westeros, and I'm not sure how new viewers would understand that they are the heirs of the previous king that the Baratheons, Starks and Lannisters deposed. I would guess that most viewers who are completely new to the series would figure that the Pentos plot was completely separate from the main action at this time, although it doesn't take a genius to suppose that those plots will eventually converge. Still, a bit confusing I think.

Did you immidiatly get the full connection the first time you read the books? I thought the show did a good job of it, considering how little an hour is to explain so much. I liked how they tried to connect Dany and Viserys to Westeros through Ned and Roberts dialogue. Ned said something about the Targs being dead and Robert saying "Not all of them" then cut to Pentos. I understand it is hard to catch things like that as a new viewer, but I think people will understand eventually, just as we did as new readers.

As long as n00b viewers ENJOY the show and want to watch the next episode I'm happy. They don't have to understand everything after just one episode. The Otaku Assemble Review was pure awesome even though he got his facts a little jumbled. I'm looking forward to his next review, almost more than I'm looking forward to tonights episode.

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Nah, some parts of the show wasn't explained properly, especially Jon the bastard and the Targs.

A lot of things wern't explained properly on the first reading either.

We had to put the pieces of the puzzle together gradually. (Want some more pieces. Now!)

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Oh, and I should mention that I didn't even bother trying to tell my family about this show. I know my parents won't watch anything with excessive bad language, violence and especially sex in it (sometimes I think that Coronation Street is all my mum can handle). My sister and her boyfriend might have liked it but I know they are generally too busy to watch TV. I might keep trying with them though!

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It's so much fun to see new people's reactions: My friend told me that she "hopes something bad happens to that blond guy". I just nodded.

And, I hope, cackle gleefully inside.

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My wife enjoyed it, and was really sad about Bran. However, she did pester me about Bran's fate and in the process said "it's not like I am ever going to read the books, sorry". So that is unfortunate, but she liked the show anyway. At least she isn't watching Twilight (again).

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Watched it with the girl, she really liked it. Watched it later with my friend, he really liked it, enough to say he wants to come over next week and watch it again, and he likes nothing. Going to watch the first two episodes with my grandma on Tues. She loves Jason Momoa, lol.

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This might be controversial but I think people are (or risk) doing their newbie friends and family a DISSERVICE when they give them a Westeros history lesson before and during the first episode.

Why not just let them discover the world for themselves? If you pay attention, the show does give put the necessary information as it goes along. And these small Info-dumps will continue. I think trying to figure out the story and relationships is part of the fun.

After all, we readers did not get the Westeros history in a big dump before we read the first chapter. We were given the information in small nuggets at a time - just like the show.

Answering questions is fine, but I think excessive info dumping is not helpful in getting your friends and family to enjoy the show.

I understand what you're saying. At the same time, it was a simple 5 minute quicky lesson on Robert's Rebellion and the various houses involved. Being that it took place before the story starts up, there wasn't anything to spoil. And I'm not sure what you mean by "trying to figure out the story and relationships is part of the fun". I think it's more fun when you're not confused. Just like an athlete can "play fast" when he has a good grasp of the playbook, a viewer can get more enjoyment out of the story in front of them when they don't have nagging questions in the back of their mind about how this character and that character are connected.

Think of it this way. When you start a brand new fantasy series that has a big atlas in the opening cover, do you check out that map, or just start reading right away? I prefer to look over the map for 10 minutes or so, that way when a certain country or river or desert is mentioned in the book, I have a bit of a mental reference for it and don't have to pause what I'm doing to put it all together.

I respect your opinion on the matter, but I disagree with it entirely. Now if I were telling her outright key plot elements and so on - then yeah, shame on me for ruining one of the best stories out there. A little background info though, *for us*, only makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

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I understand what you're saying. At the same time, it was a simple 5 minute quicky lesson on Robert's Rebellion and the various houses involved. Being that it took place before the story starts up, there wasn't anything to spoil. And I'm not sure what you mean by "trying to figure out the story and relationships is part of the fun". I think it's more fun when you're not confused.

It has nothing to do with confusion. It is about not seeing the whole picture, and mentally filling in the blanks. The AGOT novel did not start with a massive history lesson - yet myself and you (I presume) were engrossed enough by the premise and characters to continue. We did not know the westeros history then, even if it may seem like that in retrospect. No, we enjoyed reading it and filling in the blanks of our knowledge of the world and relationships as we read along.

That's what my point is. That this is exactly the same with how we watch a new television series. We don't instantly know the relationships between all the characters, nor their backgrounds, as soon as we see our first episode. Figuring that out IS PART OF THE FUN. (excuse the yelling, but that is my central point)

I respect your opinion on the matter, but I disagree with it entirely. Now if I were telling her outright key plot elements and so on - then yeah, shame on me for ruining one of the best stories out there. A little background info though, *for us*, only makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

You are certainly welcome to disagree as much as you want. :) I just caution you in telling to much, in making the same judgement for others who may not share your point of view. They may (as I do) enjoy to gradually get to know the characters and settings, instead of having it all spelled out for them.

So my personal recommendation is again - Answer questions they have, but don't info-dump.

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It has nothing to do with confusion. It is about not seeing the whole picture, and mentally filling in the blanks. The AGOT novel did not start with a massive history lesson - yet myself and you (I presume) were engrossed enough by the premise and characters to continue. We did not know the westeros history then, even if it may seem like that in retrospect. No, we enjoyed reading it and filling in the blanks of our knowledge of the world and relationships as we read along.

That's what my point is. That this is exactly the same with how we watch a new television series. We don't instantly know the relationships between all the characters, nor their backgrounds, as soon as we see our first episode. Figuring that out IS PART OF THE FUN. (excuse the yelling, but that is my central point)

You are certainly welcome to disagree as much as you want. :) I just caution you in telling to much, in making the same judgement for others who may not share your point of view. They may (as I do) enjoy to gradually get to know the characters and settings, instead of having it all spelled out for them.

So my personal recommendation is again - Answer questions they have, but don't info-dump.

You use the terms "info-dump" and "massive history lesson". My post talked of a ~5 minute quicky introduction to Westeros to more or less "set the scene". I would compare that to getting a pamphlet or brochure while you are being seated to a theatrical performance - it gives you something to glance at for a few minutes before the show starts. It's not like I'm preparing a 45 minute lesson plan for my wife, complete with pop quizzes and homework assignments (hyperbole of course, but I'm just trying to stress the difference). I didn't see anyone in this thread talking about a massive history lesson (although I do disagree with the poster who pointed out the significance of the stag and dire-wolf, that was going above and beyond IMO).

Another thing to keep in mind is we all had the luxury of watching the story unfold over 900 pages. We were the masters of the story pace. We could pause at our leisure, flip back a few pages to check on something, flip over to the appendix at the end, or the map in the beginning. We also had internal thoughts exposed, as well as a level of detail that dwarfs what any television series could ever dream of including. Those are advantages a person who is only watching the series simply does not have - so I don't think the 5 minutes of "bonus material" I gave my wife before ep1 was over the top or excessive.

I do hear what you're saying though. I wouldn't dream of info-dumping an enormous backstory on her. Not only would me droning on bore the crap out of her, it would definitely detract from the overall experience. I do think it is advantageous however for a non-reader to watch the show with someone versed in the series, provided of course that that person has the discipline to not spoil and/or drop massive amounts of unwaranted information. I'm hoping we can agree on at least that small kernel, if nothing else.

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To stay on-topic...

These reactions are from the same non-book friend that I watched ep. 1 with:

"Oh man, I can't watch this..." - As Ned approached Lady at the end. Tore me up, too.

"I'm really starting to like the midget!" - After Tyrion slaps Joffrey.

"Holy shit that was badass! I want a direwolf!" - After Summer de-throats Bran's attacker.

I feel like he got even more drawn in during this episode. He's not really a fantasy fan so he made it sound like he thought the first episode was "just okay", but I think he'll be sticking around for more. :thumbsup:

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I do hear what you're saying though. I wouldn't dream of info-dumping an enormous backstory on her. Not only would me droning on bore the crap out of her, it would definitely detract from the overall experience. I do think it is advantageous however for a non-reader to watch the show with someone versed in the series, provided of course that that person has the discipline to not spoil and/or drop massive amounts of unwaranted information. I'm hoping we can agree on at least that small kernel, if nothing else.

Yep, I agree with that. My apologies if I misinterpreted the amount of backstory you were giving. My rant was more a reaction to the "explaining the symbolism of the Stag/Direwolf" type of explanation, which you also noted. B)

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