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[Book Spoilers] Book Petyr vs. TV Petyr


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People didn't like the 'power is power' scene. I at first didn't because it showed LF slipping up, yet thinking further it works. LF is perhaps the most arrogant egomaniacal character in the whole series. Plus add the fact that he's certainly delusional. This would cause him to slip up. LF is only human.

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Why are tv writers such idiots? Why do they need to spoon feed and reverse characters, etc?

Anyways, the actor playing Petyr is really struggling this season. His accent was so messed up this past episode. He was brilliant for the most part in season 1...minus the oppressive brothel scenes. I feel like these writers are just dirty old perverts obsessed with sex that they need to create irrelevant scenes just to have sex and semen on the screen. STOP wasting our time and Petyr's!

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Why are tv writers such idiots? Why do they need to spoon feed and reverse characters, etc?

Anyways, the actor playing Petyr is really struggling this season. His accent was so messed up this past episode. He was brilliant for the most part in season 1...minus the oppressive brothel scenes. I feel like these writers are just dirty old perverts obsessed with sex that they need to create irrelevant scenes just to have sex and semen on the screen. STOP wasting our time and Petyr's!

Last episode, my wife's like- "Oh, he must be Irish"...next scene, "Wait, it he American? His accents are HORRIBLE"

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I've come to just accept that TV Petyr is a significantly different guy than Book Peytr.

TV Petyr is:

a) less intelligent: the "knowledge is power" scene would have been ludicrous for Book Petyr. To the extent that knowledge is power, Petyr should have *known* that Cersei had armed men with her who would obey her orders without question. For Book Petyr the rumor of Cersei's incest provided him with an opportunity to make himself even more valuable with the Queen; by coming up with the "Shireen is Patchface's bastard" rumor he actually walks out of that scenario with his status with Cersei enhanced. For TV Petyr the same circumstance is an opportunity to bait the Queen, with no discernable upside, which is shortly followed by grovelling.

B) less gifted as a financier and businessman: Based on Tyrion's observations of the Kingdom's finances when he takes over as Master of Coin, Book Petyr seems to have invented leveraged investing. He had financial interests in scores of businesses, as well as a patronage system in place for KL positions. TV Petyr is a pimp.

c) less disciplined: In addition to the "knowledge is power" reference above, TV Petyr also can't resist breaking into monologues about how he secretly resents everyone higher born than he is. Book Petyr insists on maintaining his cover with Sansa when they're alone, because slipping out of character is a bad habit to get into.

TV Petyr is a bright man who isn't nearly as smart as he thinks he is. He's less able to control his emotions, and is more easily baited by references to his low birth and perceived humiliation at the hands of the Tullys. Those choices were made intentionally; I suppose the thinking was the series can't be quite as subtle with Petyr at the top because it will make his later machinations seem like they are coming from nowhere.

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I've come to just accept that TV Petyr is a significantly different guy than Book Peytr.

TV Petyr is:

a) less intelligent: the "knowledge is power" scene would have been ludicrous for Book Petyr. To the extent that knowledge is power, Petyr should have *known* that Cersei had armed men with her who would obey her orders without question. For Book Petyr the rumor of Cersei's incest provided him with an opportunity to make himself even more valuable with the Queen; by coming up with the "Shireen is Patchface's bastard" rumor he actually walks out of that scenario with his status with Cersei enhanced. For TV Petyr the same circumstance is an opportunity to bait the Queen, with no discernable upside, which is shortly followed by grovelling.

B) less gifted as a financier and businessman: Based on Tyrion's observations of the Kingdom's finances when he takes over as Master of Coin, Book Petyr seems to have invented leveraged investing. He had financial interests in scores of businesses, as well as a patronage system in place for KL positions. TV Petyr is a pimp.

c) less disciplined: In addition to the "knowledge is power" reference above, TV Petyr also can't resist breaking into monologues about how he secretly resents everyone higher born than he is. Book Petyr insists on maintaining his cover with Sansa when they're alone, because slipping out of character is a bad habit to get into.

TV Petyr is a bright man who isn't nearly as smart as he thinks he is. He's less able to control his emotions, and is more easily baited by references to his low birth and perceived humiliation at the hands of the Tullys. Those choices were made intentionally; I suppose the thinking was the series can't be quite as subtle with Petyr at the top because it will make his later machinations seem like they are coming from nowhere.

I agree with all of what you said except for the idea that they NEED to be less subtle with Littlefinger. He isn't a PoV character so there aren't any internal thoughts we are missing that need to be filled in like is the case for so many other characters. I think Littlefinger is very much on par with Varys in what the audience needs to know at this point, yet the writing for Varys has been much more true to the books. Littlefinger has always come across as like Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects, or Ben Linus in LOST to me. Characters who appear to be pawns or minor players early on, but only much later do you realize what they really are.

I think they are on their way to ruining any chance of that if they continue to write Littlefinger the way they have so far, and it is a shame. If they want to make it more obvious what Littlefinger is up to they should add scenes where he is selling positions in the government, taking money from taxes and reinvesting it. Things that the book version of Littlefinger actually did. What I take exception to is that they are adding these TV "insights" that actually paint a contradicting view of his character, rather than help us understand the book character better.

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I am sorry but you guys in love with Book LF need to go reread GoT. Seriously guys this is the same person who told the fib to Ned Stark about the origin of the knife that was used on Bran. In doing so he shows that he can make reckless mistakes, as the consequences would have been fatal if Ned had lived longer. He is not a perfect player of the game.

I think people like to put him on a pedestal because his lack of PoV chapters make him more mysterious, but in doing so they overlook the obvious.

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Glad I'm not the only one troubled with Gillen as LF. Gillen was pretty great in The Wire but his accent does seem to be all over the place. That last episode, he sounded like Sean Connery.

Doesn't help that the writers are trying to make him into some supervillain (that "crying Ros" scene stands out).

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That was a calculated risk, knowing that Tyrion was out of everyone's reach at the time. How was he to know that Tyrion would just happen to stop at the very same inn within half an hour of Catelyn? And in the end, it only served to hasten the very thing he wanted, and he got out of it scott free.

His needling Cersei was just stupidity. He has to work with her, he knows her temper, he knows how dangerous she can be, and yet he throws in her face her big, deadly secret for which Hands have died.

Silly stuff. Mistakes are one thing, but that was the act of a n00b, so to speak. A veteran of the intrigues of the court just wouldn't put his foot in it so transparently.

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It's not just liking LF's character. What if they had made Varys that much more transparent, or not as smart? How about Tyrion not being so very clever? Make Cersei smarter? It would rub us the wrong way. The intrigue is one of the more intriguing aspects of the story.

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That was a calculated risk, knowing that Tyrion was out of everyone's reach at the time. How was he to know that Tyrion would just happen to stop at the very same inn within half an hour of Catelyn? And in the end, it only served to hasten the very thing he wanted, and he got out of it scott free.

His needling Cersei was just stupidity. He has to work with her, he knows her temper, he knows how dangerous she can be, and yet he throws in her face her big, deadly secret for which Hands have died.

Silly stuff. Mistakes are one thing, but that was the act that a n00b.

I just don't see it that way. In the TV show he is just repeating what has widely been distributed by Stannis and as you said he knows Cersei. I don't see this as rising to the same level of danger as hoping that Tyrion is somehow just not found and questioned by someone with the power of the Hand.

In fact LF/Cersei is pretty close to the verbal jousting between LF and Varys in the first season, mostly harmless, and seems to be in character.

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His accent's been all over the place ever since episode 1 of last season. During that dreadful Finger Her Arse scene, it changes about four times during his monologue.

I've loved him in everything I've seen him in, especially The Wire, but overall, his performance in Game of Thrones has been somewhat below par. His is probably the second most wooden performance, only beaten by the guy who played Pyp last season.

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