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[BOOK SPOILERS] Renly, WTF?


Ser Sean

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I'll add my voice - the show's Renly has very little in common with the book's Renly, both visually and in personality. But what are you going to do - some things are inevitably lost in trasnlation. Heck, different from the books as he is, Renly is far from being the show biggest failed character.

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I'll add my voice - the show's Renly has very little in common with the book's Renly, both visually and in personality. But what are you going to do - some things are inevitably lost in translation. Heck, different from the books as he is, Renly is far from being the show biggest failed character.

I can only assume that something in the on-screen Renly really sold the producers on selecting him during his audition that we haven't had the opportunity to see just yet.

(fingers crossed)

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The actor definitely seems more like young Stannis than Renly, as people have noted.

I think his presence is definitely off. However, the bigger problem to me is that he isn't being played like Renly. Where's the carefree smile and laughter? The guy is uptight, not carefree. He's like anti-Renly.

As someone said earlier, this character does not fit with the "peach" scene at all, which is like the iconic Renly moment.

I think the casting was off, but I think the way he's being played might be more of a directorial choice. I'm not sure how much of that lies with the actor.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't think the casting is terrible, Gethin Anthony isn't my precisely perfect Renly but I think he could be good enough. I fault the writing more, but I also think that he'll probably be more like the assertive, charismatic confident Renly we know in season two, when he's wearing his pretty shiny hat.

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Was rewatching the series. God, all I have to say is that his diatribe about Robert getting horny when talking about killing Dany was just so... perfectly delivered. If nothing else, the actor has got splendid comedic timing. Plus, his and Loras' interactions were just too darn adorable, even if I always thought Loras in the books was rather innocent and seemingly detached/not involved in the scheming of the other Tyrells.

Hope Renly surprises us all and kicks ass in season two.

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Was rewatching the series. God, all I have to say is that his diatribe about Robert getting horny when talking about killing Dany was just so... perfectly delivered. If nothing else, the actor has got splendid comedic timing. Plus, his and Loras' interactions were just too darn adorable, even if I always thought Loras in the books was rather innocent and seemingly detached/not involved in the scheming of the other Tyrells.

Hope Renly surprises us all and kicks ass in season two.

Honestly, we had very few scenes with Renly in the show, even fewer than in the books. Yes, we got the Loras and Renly scene, but nearly all his other scenes were small or private affairs and with very big time characters and actors. Did anyone expect him to steal the scene away from MArk Addy's Robert Baratheon? Or the pivotal scene in the main character's decision to not betray his best friend's memory? The scene between Ned Stark and Renly had to be Sean Bean's scene. He played it well without stealing the spotlight from Bean.

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  • 6 months later...

I am rewatching the series and this is just too much. Robert Baratheon, black of hair. Stannis Baratheon, black of hair. Renly Baratheon, black brown of hair. Uh, what the hell HBO? Really?! The war was caused by the discovery that the Baratheons ALL HAVE BLACK HAIR! And they make Renly's hair brown? All they really had to do was dye his hair black. Sigh times a million.

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The war was caused by the discovery that the Baratheons ALL HAVE BLACK HAIR!

Actually, it wasn't. Renly, for example, declared himself king, and when he confronted Stannis he acted like he'd never thought of Cersei's children not being Robert's, so there was going to be war anyway. Besides, brown or black doesn't make that much difference, and the whole idea of illegitimacy in medieval times was more about archaic belief and political convenience than any kind of science.

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Actually, it wasn't. Renly, for example, declared himself king, and when he confronted Stannis he acted like he'd never thought of Cersei's children not being Robert's, so there was going to be war anyway. Besides, brown or black doesn't make that much difference, and the whole idea of illegitimacy in medieval times was more about archaic belief and political convenience than any kind of science.

Yes, but I mean that is why Ned confronted Cersei which caused her to "kill" Robert and imprison Ned. That's how it all started--Ned discovering they were bastards because all Baratheon's, even bastards, had the black hair. Robert would have lived (at least longer) if Ned did not discover the true origin of the Joff, Tommen, and Myrcella.

They should have just dyed his hair. I don't see ANY reason why they shouldn't.

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Yes, but I mean that is why Ned confronted Cersei which caused her to "kill" Robert and imprison Ned. That's how it all started--Ned discovering they were bastards because all Baratheon's, even bastards, had the black hair. Robert would have lived (at least longer) if Ned did not discover the true origin of the Joff, Tommen, and Myrcella.

Cersei was already trying to kill Robert before Ned confronted her about her children; Varys came to Eddard before the Tourney of the Hand and told him Robert would die of an "accident" in the melee unless they convinced him to not enter (I realize this is an instance where book and show diverge, but on things like this I still generally assume they are more or less the same, by which I mean that Cersei was already planning to kill Robert soon, even if the hunt itself was a last minute thing). And Eddard can come to the same conclusion about Cersei's children from Baratheons having brown hair as opposed to black. Also, in the book (and I suppose in the show, too), it's not just the hair color of the bastards, but they also physically resemble Robert, while Cersei's kids don't.

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Cersei was already trying to kill Robert before Ned confronted her about her children; Varys came to Eddard before the Tourney of the Hand and told him Robert would die of an "accident" in the melee unless they convinced him to not enter (I realize this is an instance where book and show diverge, but on things like this I still generally assume they are more or less the same, by which I mean that Cersei was already planning to kill Robert soon, even if the hunt itself was a last minute thing). And Eddard can come to the same conclusion about Cersei's children from Baratheons having brown hair as opposed to black. Also, in the book (and I suppose in the show, too), it's not just the hair color of the bastards, but they also physically resemble Robert, while Cersei's kids don't.

Yes, but I feel like that is an instance of Robet's stupidity. No King should ever enter a melee, regardless of assassination plots. And the point is, they should have just dyed his hair. It would have been no trouble at all and would have made it that bit more accurate than the book. Wouldn't you be upset is Melisandre had blonde hair? Or if Ygritte has brown hair? It's just like how I get mad about Dany's eye color in the show. Purple contacts or even CGI Ilike they do with the wights would easily make it a little more accurate.

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Wouldn't you be upset is Melisandre had blonde hair?

Not really; I suppose it would bug me a little, but it would just be a nitpick.

Or if Ygritte has brown hair?

That I couldn't care less about. Superficial changes like these are just not important to me.

It's just like how I get mad about Dany's eye color in the show. Purple contacts or even CGI Ilike they do with the wights would easily make it a little more accurate.

This makes you mad? Seriously? I had guessed that maybe they wouldn't bother with the Targaryens having purple eyes, just because I thought they might think it looked silly, and too typically fantasy-ish. The only reason that it would've been cool if they had done it is that it marks the Targs (even though they're not the only ones who have that gene), so it comes into play regarding Young Griff/Aegon and his claim. But, really, this types of things: names, eye color, hair color, they're just pretty trivial, they're not really what I consider important in regards to what makes for good storytellilng.

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Not really; I suppose it would bug me a little, but it would just be a nitpick.

That I couldn't care less about. Superficial changes like these are just not important to me.

This makes you mad? Seriously? I had guessed that maybe they wouldn't bother with the Targaryens having purple eyes, just because I thought they might think it looked silly, and too typically fantasy-ish. The only reason that it would've been cool if they had done it is that it marks the Targs (even though they're not the only ones who have that gene), so it comes into play regarding Young Griff/Aegon and his claim. But, really, this types of things: names, eye color, hair color, they're just pretty trivial, they're not really what I consider important in regards to what makes for good storytellilng.

I guess it's just a difference of opinion. I want the show to be as accurate to the books as possible. Especially for things that would be no more than a minor inconvenience.

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They tried to give Emilia Clarke and Harry Lloyd the purple eyes, but they didn't look very good on film and caused them too much irritation/pain so they dropped it.

Martin himself said that he shouldn't have bothered giving every character specific eye colors.

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