[Book Spoilers] EP201 Discussion

[HokieStone]

8. I'm watched in a hotel room in Philadelphia, so this was the first time I've watched anything non-HD in ages. It still looked pretty good.

The wide shots of Dany & crew in the waste, and the snowy mountains north of the wall looked absolutely breathtaking in HD. I splurged last Black Friday and bought a 70" tv - I was loving it tonight.

But I'm sure Philly is nice ;)

[Bozworth]

Who was that seeking council from Bran and Luwin re: reparations to his holdfast's walls? He mentioned Torrhen's Square, but I didn't catch any indication he was from there.

[ckongo]

Blasphemy! The awesomeness of the Blackfish must grace our television screens!

I personally think they may choose to combine Books 4 and 5 into one season because of their parallel nature (Besides, who could go a season without Peter Dinklage?).

lol I love the Blackfish too, but the only workaround really needed for him would be the fourth book (so far).

From what I've heard book 3 will be put into two seasons because it's so large. Book 5 is even larger, so books 4 and 5 will likely compose 3 seasons.

[Tsavong Lah]

Who was that seeking council from Bran and Luwin re: reparations to his holdfast's walls? He mentioned Torrhen's Square, but I didn't catch any indication he was from there.

I asked this as well earlier in the thread. I also didn't catch the name of the fat lord Luwin called forth before it cut to the wolf dream. He is definitely not from Torrhen's Square from the way he phrased his statement about it. Could he perhaps have been Mors or Hother Umber?

[Dru]

Thought it was a great way to kick off the season. I put my book knowledge aside when I watch and it's much more enjoyable and was easy to follow for my nonbook reading wife. Didn't have to fill her in once. She loved it. Grey Wind did it for me and the ending with the bastards was great. Also like Bron's cheek when Tyrion says the Hound doesn't like him. "Can't imagine why?" lol

[Cat from The Canals]

Cersei definitely had more than one bastard killed. Besides Barra there was the one at Casterly Rock.

It was a good choice to have Janos Slynt do the deed himself. Viewers may not remember him betraying Ned but they will definitely remember this.

I cant wait to see Jon cleve his head off...i wonder how many seasons away that is.

[Guest]

I cant wait to see Jon cleve his head off...i wonder how many seasons away that is.

And people say that ADWD was a disappointment. Snow taking Slynt's head was all I needed.

[HokieStone]

I forget which one is Alaya(?) and which is Chitaya(?), but I think Ros is taking on the role of the matron, and the one she was showing around at the beginning of the scene will take on the role of her daughter.

I went and looked it up - Chataya is the brothel owner - I think that's who Ros is taking the place of. Alayaya is her daughter in the books.

And...was it just me, or did Ser Dontos' armor look a little Captain America-ish?

[Monday]

I forget which one is Alaya(?) and which is Chitaya(?), but I think Ros is taking on the role of the matron, and the one she was showing around at the beginning of the scene will take on the role of her daughter.

Was this the first scene Ros has appeared in where she kept her clothes on?

Maybe she'll replace Alayaya and Chataya. Maybe they are setting it up so we get to know her and care when she's scourged.

[Lord Godric]

I know I may be thinking ahead too much, but HBO quickly renewed GoT last year just after a few days. Should we expect the same?

[Harle The Handsome]

I will admit that when it is supposed to be obvious she is faking it, like with 'well struck' or her line about Ned, Robb and Catelyn being traitors, she pulls it off well. But her "you cannnnn'tttt" was just dreadful. Her scenes in the first season are littered with poor acting scenes like that from her, and I was hoping she had improved. I thought the scene was very flat until Tyrion arrived.

I don't blame Sansa for that. This scene seemed forced because of revisions the producers made. Making Ser Dontos to be about the same weight and age as Sam Tarly -instead of middle-aged with skinny legs- and taking out his desperate, drunken attempt to mount a horse, made the scene feel forced instead of a smooth build-up, stoking Joffrey's wrath.

[James Arryn]

Robert Pugh as Craster was the unexpectedly stand-out among the new characters, imo.

(Not a comment on him; great character actor...just not a new character I gave much thought to, and he rocked it.)

[Sonic The Hedgehog]

I know I may be thinking ahead too much, but HBO quickly renewed GoT last year just after a few days. Should we expect the same?

If the ratings stay good I don't see why not. I think the show is pretty much guaranteed to go to a 3rd season. I don't know about beyond that though. It gets a bit tricky for the writers on how to handle the longest book in the series so far. And even more so if they get to books 4 and 5 and having to piece the chapters together in chronological order.

[turdle]

am i the only one who loved davos?

[Harle The Handsome]

I thought I had remembered in the books CerseI ordering it as a result of the letters Stannis sent...

Tyrion knew Janos was Cersi's catspaw, but couldn't prove it, so he sent Slynt and 6 others from the Gold Cloaks to the Wall for it.

[turdle]

I have not seen this brought up yet - we got a little more San/San in this episode. I am looking forward to the show putting more emphasis on that relationship as the season continues.

i don't know, i feel like they're going to basically skip sansa and the hound based on the fact that they almost totally skipped over them in season 1, and yet gave renly and theon so much screen time.

[Robin Of House Hill]

I'm of two minds on the 1st episode. It didn't have the same feel as the book and some things were omitted. When they have to get the whole book into 10 episodes, it isn't surprising.. The reason I'm of two minds, is that despite those things, I thoroughly enjoyed it. When I was at the same place in the book, I didn't think Mellisandre was scary, just evil. Craster was a bit more "civilized" than in the book. Killing Robert's bastards was done quite well.

I'm going to watch it again. :D

[Lord Godric]

Watching the Littlefinger/Cersei scene again, I don't see where the gripe is really. While Littlefinger's line may have been out of character, the scene was to show us more about Cersei than Littlefinger. It shows that she values power and is emotional and rash. Book!Cersei would have slapped Littlefinger senseless for suggesting anything like that, but this over reaction of Cersei makes up for her lack of emotion in the first season, and I appreciate it.

[Guest]

Watching the Littlefinger/Cersei scene again, I don't see where the gripe is really. While Littlefinger's line may have been out of character, the scene was to show us more about Cersei than Littlefinger. It shows that she values power and is emotional and rash. Book!Cersei would have slapped Littlefinger senseless for suggesting anything like that, but this over reaction of Cersei makes up for her lack of emotion in the first season, and I appreciate it.

Agreed. It mostly just forwarded latter Cersei into an earlier stage in the story. LF can still be LF.

[Bozworth]

i don't know, i feel like they're going to basically skip sansa and the hound based on the fact that they almost totally skipped over them in season 1, and yet gave renly and theon so much screen time.

Yeah, I think they're already too far past a couple of key scenes if they were wanting to set up the San/San thing. I don't think it's that huge a deal though. It basically just culminated in him showing up drunk in her bedroom near the end of the Battle of Blackwater, no?

By the way... Book-wise, I know the what-we-actually-know about Sandor is that he died on the side of the road. Wasn't there some allusion to him being on the monk island where Brienne, et al., visited in aFfC?