First Look at Game of Thrones S2

[Spidey]

Would somebody more versed in series lore than me dare to give us a scene-by-scene analysis?

(For me it’s just “random human, random human, random human, BURNING WOODEN STATUES , random human, random human.”)

Not sure if you're fine with spoilers, so I'll keep it vague.

-First scene is most likely the feast in the prologue, with some random shots from Tyrion, Dany and what seems like Maester Cressen.

-Next up is the great ranging of the Nightswatch

-0:41 to 0:43 looks like the Battle at the Blackwater (note the green glow)

-Sam&John probably arguing about Gilly, one of Craster's daughters

-Catelyn and Loras: the parlay at Storm's End, I guess. Either that or the tourney at Bitterbridge.

-Arya: Some Goldcloaks are looking for a certain someone on the Queen's orders.

-1:16 Margaery Tyrell, newly wed to Renly (most likely the tourney)

-Theon and a priest of the Drowned God after Theon's arrival at the Iron Islands.

-The burning of the Seven at Dragon Stone

-Dany and Jora in the desert (the Red Wastes)

-1:49 Davos Seaworth, the Onion Knight

[Gertrude]

Agreed that Renly and Loras look much improved. The crown helps, but I think a lot of it has to do with him actually having hair rather than the close crop. I remember seeing an interview with the actor and thinking he's much better looking than my impression from the series with his hair grown out. It suits him.

[Queensmoot]

I can't wait!!! Melisandre looks perfect. I can almost hear Stannis grinding his teeth.

SQUEEE!!!! :D

[I.Know.Nothing]

I agree about Renly as well. In the novels he seems much more confident and even a bit arrogant. In season one he was a pretty big wuss. He looks pretty cool with the antler crown on.

[My Lady Ashalind]

Everything looks awesome. April can't come quick enough!

[Blangadanger]

I know it's just one tiny glimpse (behind Renly near the end of the video), but Brienne does NOT look particularly attractive, or even feminine, so I think they've pulled the description of her off.

[Queensmoot]

I know it's just one tiny glimpse (behind Renly near the end of the video), but Brienne does NOT look particularly attractive, or even feminine, so I think they've pulled the description of her off.

Her mouth is appropriately wide and thin! I think we're going to love our Beauty!

[Linda]

I am really thrilled with the look of Melisandre, who jumped up as surprising new favourite for me among the characters after the last book. I remain disappointed in the casting for Margaery. I do think they will change how she acts quite a bit and it seems so...traditional.

[Tyrionthebest]

I am really thrilled with the look of Melisandre, who jumped up as surprising new favourite for me among the characters after the last book. I remain disappointed in the casting for Margaery. I do think they will change how she acts quite a bit and it seems so...traditional.

It's hard to tell from that clip but to me it seems she will be the same sweet Margaery that is in the books except older of course .

[Stannis the Great]

Wow Renly looks a lot more manly than before. Loras actually looks like one of the best knights in the realm.

The AA rebirth scene with Stannis looks brilliant.

Oh and Bran looks like he's aged 4 years.

[Linda]

It's hard to tell from that clip but to me it seems she will be the same sweet Margaery that is in the books except older of course .

Natalie Dormer just doesn't look like a sweet and innocent girl. She looks like she's plotting. But, can't say for sure until we actually see her in character.

Not a fan of Renly's beard, but...not a fan of beards in general. Just looks a bit too much like he's trying to be taken more seriously, which isn't really in character (well, for book Renly, anyway).

[The Anti-Targ]

Yep, Natalie vs. Lena certainly gives Cersei a red herring wrt Maggy the Frog's prophecy, if it ever sees the light of day in the TV series, which I doubt. I still say she's too old and worldly looking for the part, but she's a great actor and a good asset for the show wrt attracting the non-readers.

So much packed into so short a time I need to see it a lotr more before I spot everything.

Renly's crown looks a bit too much like thorns and not enough like stag antlers, IMO.

Great to see all the other new characters. Can't wait for Davos. I hope his devotion to Stannis doesn't come off as too slavish in the TV show, missing that internal monologue might be hard to get the finer points of Stannis / Davos relationship across.

[Werthead]

I do wonder how Dormer's role in The Tudors is going to play into this. She was quite the schemer in that and with a similar period-piece character (more or less), it's easy to conclude she's doing the same thing here. Making her more innocent like Margaery from the books would be an interesting way of delineating the two characters more strongly, as well as being more faithful to the book.

Hmm... seeing some of the screen caps made me wonder. Any idea when we'll hear about episode titles? We already know what Episode 9 is, but what about the others?

IIRC, the attitude on Season 1 was that GRRM was a huge proponent of episode titles and submitted his script with a title. The rest didn't have them, not even during filming, and the titles were chosen only in post. Dan and Dave said that worked out quite well, so they'd probably do that again for Season 2.

So based on that, GRRM has named his episode already but the others probably don't have names yet, and may not for several more months.

[The Anti-Targ]

I am really thrilled with the look of Melisandre, who jumped up as surprising new favourite for me among the characters after the last book. I remain disappointed in the casting for Margaery. I do think they will change how she acts quite a bit and it seems so...traditional.

I've always been a Mel fan. And I realy liked Carice van Houten in Black Book (not to be confused with the British Comedy series of a similar name). While I liked the idea of someone even more exotic to play Mel (my persdonal preference was for Aishwarya Rai), I think Carice is a very good choice, and a great opportunity for her to massively increase her exposure to the West. Albeit she's been in a few Hollywood movies, Valkyrie most notable of them.

[The Anti-Targ]

I do wonder how Dormer's role in The Tudors is going to play into this. She was quite the schemer in that and with a similar period-piece character (more or less), it's easy to conclude she's doing the same thing here. Making her more innocent like Margaery from the books would be an interesting way of delineating the two characters more strongly, as well as being more faithful to the book.

Indeed, some people might find it hard to relate to Natalie as a relatively sweet personality. It'll be a testament to her quality as an actor if she can play the Margaery from the books rather than play Ann Boleyn lite. Of course it all depends on how D&D have written her. Did they write Margaery as a more hardcore player of the game and cast accordingly? Or did they write her true to the book and gave Natalie a shot at showing she can convincingly play a different sort of role?

[Linda]

My suspicion (but nothing more at this stage, of course) is that they wrote Margaery as a more overt schemer. I don't quite see how they ended up with Natalie Dormer otherwise.

Given ADwD, I am convinced about certain things regarding Melisandre's background that makes me very happy with the casting choice we got.

[Arrogant Bastard]

I'll be disappointed if they turn Margaery into a schemer. Frankly, the show has more than enough scheming and backstabbing characters that in my opinion they don't need to turn Margaery into one. Margaery from the books is pretty bland to me, so maybe they're trying to make her more interesting, but I don't really think it's necessary. She's really more of plot device anyway, and I know for a show it doesn't make sense to hire an actress only for small scene, but I'd have preferred it if they just kept her sole appearance as it was in the book. Ten episodes is not a lot of time to cover ACOK; the more focus on Margaery, the less there can be for Arya, Sansa, Bran etc. Of course, this is all just speculation.

Hoping they come out with an actual trailer or teaser pretty soon. Boardwalk Empire season 2 ends on Dec. 11th and HBO is showing some kind of extended preview for "Luck" either before or after the finale, so I imagine they'll have a teaser by then.

[JonHo]

But Margaery is a schemer. Of course she's sweet on the outside, but it is pretty obvious that she and her grandmother are two of the main schemers in the story, especially visible in AFFC. And she was in on the plan on killing Joffrey.

GRRM was particulary happy about Dormer being cast, I believe in his judgement, since he's the creator.

[bemused]

I have to echo the misgivings about Margaery. I always assumed that she was at least pretty aware of her house's plots and schemes, but that she either felt she was above all that ( leave it to the experts and trust them to do the best for you ) or that she was in on all the details , but had her innocent role down to perfection.( Probably the latter )

Last year, I felt Littlefinger was written and portrayed a little too broadly, and now , with an older, bolder Margaery I'm afraid I'll feel the same.

Of course , that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the show as a whole . Far from it. And I remain open to being won over . ;)

[Roose Seal]

Melisandre, I always pictured her more exotic, something like middle-eastern or even indian by Earth standards. She looks almost sweet and gentle in that shot.

Margaery, eh... I never got the impression that she was particularly innocent in the books, so I'm fine with her being a schemer. She always came off to me as particularly cunning and aware of her surroundings, cautious and always two steps ahead of Cersei. She was definitely in on the plot to kill Joffrey, so yeah...but she doesn't look exactly as beautiful as she is described in the books.

King Renly looks great. Loras looks great. Davos looks great. Stannis, I always pictured him more scruffy and older..but I keep forgetting how old he is in the books.

All in all, pretty excited.