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[Book Spoilers] Mountain Out Of A Mole Hill


Craven Mummer

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They should have cast a former NBA center like Greg Ostertag. 7'2" and 300lbs. Sure, he's not a muscled as Conan, but he's thick and under armor muscles don't matter as much as girth. Manute Bol height doens't matter when you need to appear to be a mountain. A big oafish white guy who has some athletic talent is perfect. And, grumbling about 5 lines over a season shouldn't be too big a deal for a non actor.

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I think we should give New Mountain a chance.

He is in a bad situation of trying to live in the shadow of Conan, and he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Really, nobody could possibly come close to stature/power of book Gregor in real life anyway.

Conan had one line - "Sword" - how can that justify him behing the perfect Mountain that Rides?

I thought new Mountain had a great voice actually!

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Maybe they are trying to keep him in the backdrop with not a lot of talking so they can keep the possibility open of bringing back Conan. There's a good chance that's the last we'll even see of the Mountain this season, and if they bring back Conan the next season or the one after, most viewers would not even notice.

I know it's hard to find a guy that big, but it is possible. The mountain's size is hugely important to his character. Actually, it's basically the only important part of his character. Yes, he is disgusting, barbaric, and ruthless, but he would not be called "The Mountain" or be legendary even with the small folk if he looked like the Mountain they have in there now. He's supposed to be about 300 lbs and freakin' massive. That dude may be a good actor, but his looks don't cut it. Well, they could, if they dressed him up properly. He needs some padding.

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Oh a link! Sure proof! Look dude, Conan isn't going to tell all and sundry that he screwed up and therefore got left out of season 2. But keep clicking on his hyperlinks on his page to support him and the yellow pages!

Fuck. If only they could find that guy who portrayed every Predator in two of those movies...

Seriously. Predator.

Unpossible!

Or very likely. You decide.

Such as? Getting his ass kicked by a pretty boy with a spear?

So... Replying like a fucktard is your thing around here? I guess you've honed the skill over the almost 14k post of yours.

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No, you probably couldn't: http://www.ianwhyte.com/

He doesn't have Conan's physique, but really, it's not some massive loss to the show in the end.

As to what happened... I think it's more complicated than going another direction. I suspect he had hoped they'd fit their schedule around his shooting in NZ, and they simply couldn't do that, so "they went in another direction". That is, in any case, my speculation on that front. But just because HBO doesn't comment on such things doesn't mean that there isn't two sides to the story.

This is pretty much what I was thinking. It doesn't make a lot of sense for HBO to just cast someone else. Especially knowing they have a Large viewership comprised of hard core fans that would not only notice the difference but analyze it. It sounds like he really wants to be considered for the next season and they may bring him back, although as the season goes on the fans may grow to like the new Gregor and not want the original. Either way, as long as they get the important Mountain scenes played right, it makes no difference to me who's behind the armor.

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It would have been interesting to see how Conan would have handled the speaking part.

I absolutely think he is visually perfect and he is a great physical actor, but I do admit that Ian delivered the lines perfectly.

If Conan is a horrible speaking actor than I might reconsider my position, but it really is hard warming up to Ian since his look is completely underwhelming.

I still don't understand why they couldn't have stuck him in Gregor's season 1 armour and helm instead of the now generic Lannister garb. Leaders should stand out.

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Conan had one line - "Sword" - how can that justify him behing the perfect Mountain that Rides?

First of all, it's no true. it wasn't "sword", it was

SWORD!!!

Secondly, if I recall correctly, Mountain doesnt have any lines in the books except for the certain tavern incident, which will probably be cut out anyways. And I have the confidence that Conan would be up for the task of screaming in agony after meeting Oberyn.

Therefore, physical appearance is all that matters, and in that regard Conan is just great for this role.

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Gregor also speaks in a rather key scene for him in ASoS.

Maybe Stevens can be brought back later, I don't know. But this season, his presence isn't so important that they felt it needful to work around his schedule, and I think that's fair enough.

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Gregor also speaks in a rather key scene for him in ASoS.

Maybe Stevens can be brought back later, I don't know. But this season, his presence isn't so important that they felt it needful to work around his schedule, and I think that's fair enough.

I remember reading in a tweet, blog, news item, somewhere that Stevens said he would like to come back.

I think Peter Jackson is finished with principal photography on the Hobbit by now, so we shall see.

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Maybe Stevens can be brought back later, I don't know. But this season, his presence isn't so important that they felt it needful to work around his schedule, and I think that's fair enough.

I think the better choice may have been to leave Gregor out of season two altogether. There was no important reason for the character to be in that scene and it probably would have played out better if the Tickler had been the one to pick the daily victim. So long as the Tickler had been portrayed as a frighteningly inhuman unfeeling sociopath killer which of course he wasn't.

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I think your particular vision of the Tickler isn't necessarily what's in the text, though. He's described as very ordinary, that he's just like any of the other soldiers, perhaps a little quieter than most. The matter-of-fact performance struck me as being perfectly in line. The guy smiles and all in ASoS, so it's not if he has no emotions. He's not inhuman, but he's an example of a kind of banal inhumanity. Or so it seems to me, anyways. Mileage may vary.

I'm fine with the Mountain being around this season, to justify his inclusion in Arya's list, which may well be important down the road.

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