Game of Thrones (Book Spoilers, Srsly, Monkey)

I mean, come on, we already have Jon and Ygritte for a tragic love(ish) story that ends badly, so why do they need to make Robb AND Jon look like complete dumbasses?.

I saw this theory somewhere, that in the books Robb is a Stark we get less about because he's basically the same character as Jon, without the added complication of bastardy, and I think that's kinda true. And now the writers have fallen into the trap of giving Robb more to do so it's basically two of the same story arc, except Robb's is happening faster.

Sansa and Arya have almost the same amount of chapters in Clash of Kings and we've seen a lot of Arya and not a lot of Sansa. I mean they basically invented Arya's entire story this year and while I really like it, I wish we were getting similar scenes with Sansa. She might not be especially plot heavy in this book but a lot of character work happens here. They couldn't have invented some scenes? We didn't even get to see why Sansa trusts Shae! It's just 'I can't teach you to do your job' to 'You're not the wrong people' with no in between. Shae is great and I think having a connection there is interesting, but we didn't get to see anything that forms the connection.

I am super over Talisa also. I hope that her whole backstory ends up being a big fake-out because if that super ridiculous story is true I don't know where they are going with this. It seems very out of place in the world GRRM created. I was all for more exploration of Jeyne and Robb but I am not a fan of this story so far.

I like the adaptation overall but I just wish there was more focus on certain characters.

Awesome.

Drunk Cersei, the songs, the wildfire, The Hound being all fuckthisshit.

Sorry not to see the chains across the bay. Also guess Tyrion will not loose his nose, but will have a bad-assed sexy scar. That works for me.

Stephen Dillane is soso good as Stannis.

In conclusion: Tywin effin Lannister.

sen3 wrote:Awesome.

Drunk Cersei, the songs, the wildfire, The Hound being all fuckthisshit.

Sorry not to see the chains across the bay. Also guess Tyrion will not loose his nose, but will have a bad-assed sexy scar. That works for me.

Stephen Dillane is soso good as Stannis.

In conclusion: Tywin effin Lannister.

For lack of anything profound to say: WHAT YOU SAID

(I really loved this ep).

Playing drunk, Lena Headey reminded me totally of Keira Knightley. Not sure what to make of that.

List of new characters for S3:

– Mance Rayder: We’ve heard about him all season. A former member of the Night’s Watch who became the “King Beyond the Wall,” the leader of the Wildlings.

– Daario Naharis: A confident and seductive warrior.

– Jojen Reed; Meera Reed: A teenage brother and sister duo with special insights.

– Edmure Tully: A brash young member of the Tully family.

– Ser Brynden Tully (The Blackfish): Catelyn’s uncle.

– Lady Selyse Florent: Stannis Baratheon’s wife.

– Shireen: Stannis’ daughter.

– Olenna Redwyne (The Queen of Thorns): Margaery Tyrell’s sharp-witted grandmother.

– Beric Dondarrion: A skilled knight who is the leader of the outlaw group Brotherhood Without Banners.

– Thoros of Myr: A red priest who follows the same religion as Melisandre.

– Tormund Giantsbane: A Wildling raider.

I know we saw Beric a bit in S1.

With all the Downton Abbey crossover, Maggie Smith has to be considered for The Queen of Thorns

The Dude wrote:List of new characters for S3:

– Mance Rayder: We’ve heard about him all season. A former member of the Night’s Watch who became the “King Beyond the Wall,” the leader of the Wildlings.

– Daario Naharis: A confident and seductive warrior.

– Jojen Reed; Meera Reed: A teenage brother and sister duo with special insights.

– Edmure Tully: A brash young member of the Tully family.

– Ser Brynden Tully (The Blackfish): Catelyn’s uncle.

– Lady Selyse Florent: Stannis Baratheon’s wife.

– Shireen: Stannis’ daughter.

– Olenna Redwyne (The Queen of Thorns): Margaery Tyrell’s sharp-witted grandmother.

– Beric Dondarrion: A skilled knight who is the leader of the outlaw group Brotherhood Without Banners.

– Thoros of Myr: A red priest who follows the same religion as Melisandre.

– Tormund Giantsbane: A Wildling raider.

I know we saw Beric a bit in S1.

With all the Downton Abbey crossover, Maggie Smith has to be considered for The Queen of Thorns

I've been hearing Maggie Smith as The Queen of Thorns in my head whenever I read that fantastic scene in the book when she invites Sansa to dinner.

In other news, I'm finding it quite touching that some people in the other thread are hopefully speculating that Tywin will finally start respecting Tyrion after Blackwater. Little do they know...

I always pictured Daario as a more badass, less drunk version of Captain Jack Sparrow. I assume that they'll have him be less flamboyant in the show, however. Hopefully they will cast that role well; it would be nice to have at least a couple sex scenes in the show be actually sexy. I have a little hope for Jon/Ygritte. And Robb/Talisa (or whatever her name was) was ok, I guess. They need to make this show less about nakedness and more about sexy whenever there is the least chance (because there aren't many), but perhaps the show-runners don't understand the difference.

Yay, Shireen lives! I like that poor greyscaled little girl. But boooo no Sand Snake, I think I'm alone in loving the Dorne people in general, but he is just such a perfectly awesome character and I loved how much you pin your hopes on him in the book only to have them die so very hard.

Ugh Daario. In theory he's a fun character, but instead I just see him as part of the whole problem with the way GRRM is futzing around with Daenarys story for the last two books. He could be a lot more fun in the tv series though, and bring some hot male full frontal to the one sided sexposition party.

ETA: I actually don't think Maggie Smith is a good fit, she's too ram rod straight and tall for what I imagined. I always thought the Queen of Thorns looked rather frail and small, which made her biting tongue and masterful manipulations all the more unsuspected. I'd love to see them go in a totally different direciton and give Ms. Betty White a shot at it, I know that woman can do more than comedy and she was Sue Ann Niven's who's whole schtick wasn't too far off from QoT.

I hear the third book is being split into two seasons so maybe we'll get the Red Viper in season four.

blixie wrote:Yay, Shireen lives! I like that poor greyscaled little girl. But boooo no Sand Snake, I think I'm alone in loving the Dorne people in general, but he is just such a perfectly awesome character and I loved how much you pin your hopes on him in the book only to have them die so very hard.

Ugh Daario. In theory he's a fun character, but instead I just see him as part of the whole problem with the way GRRM is futzing around with Daenarys story for the last two books. He could be a lot more fun in the tv series though, and bring some hot male full frontal to the one sided sexposition party.

I like the Dornish group pretty well, too. And I LOVE the Viper. Man, he left us too soon!

Maybe they could just recast the guy playing Jaqen as Daario. That would certainly work for me, although it would obviously require some creative non-book-approved backstory LOL.

Seriously I think I love the Viper second only to Davos, in terms of so called "secondary" characters, I love the Viper because he pretty much does not really give a shit about the game, he wants vengeance for Elia, he wants Dead Lannisters, and he wants to have lots of sex. Which of course is probably exactly why he dies. The more they talk about that on the show the more I think we need not so much Arrested Westeros as tumblr consisting of The Wire/GoT crossover fun. In which case Davos is obviously Donut, the thief who will make it out a ALIVE.

In the last episode did anyone find it weird how Varys was all, "Did I EVER tell you HOW I got CUT?" "No" "Good! Then I will go to Camelot another time!" So awkward and weird, I think I literally lol'd.

For reals. The Viper and his awesomeness made me sit up pay attention to the Dorne people and I've loved them since and still. Unlike the Greyjoys.

I too wish there was some way to keep the Jaqen-actor around.

The more they talk about that on the show the more I think we need not so much Arrested Westeros as tumblr consisting of The Wire/GoT crossover fun.

Someone did come up with A Song of Ice and Wire, but sadly, they do not keep up with it even close to the way the Arrested Westeros folks do. But there IS a Westeros Community College and I hope they stick around. (The Davos/Donut comparison is making me LOL for years.)

They did say there are a couple of people being cast who aren't on the list but I'm pretty sure that Dorne won't be showing up until season 4. It kind of makes sense since the Red Wedding is probably going to happen towards the end of season 3 and that will eliminate a few characters so there will be time to bring them in. I love Dorne and really can't wait until we get there.

It occurs to me that the night the Red Wedding episode airs would be a good night to stay off the Internet. And the streets. In fact, perhaps I'll book a suite in a bomb shelter.

As long as you have a TV with HBO, it's all good.

Actually, I'm really looking foward to seeing the reaction to that from the unspoiled. It'll be completely mental!

I wonder if they will actually show Robb's body with Grey Wind's head sewed on top? :( It's one thing to read about it but to actually see the image, eek :(

Red Wolf wrote:As long as you have a TV with HBO, it's all good.

Actually, I'm really looking foward to seeing the reaction to that from the unspoiled. It'll be completely mental!

Particularly from this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owf6D2vfZqM

I will buy or rent a movie theater popcorn machine to prepare for the screams of the internet the night the Red Wedding airs.

I am really interested to see how they divide Storm of Swords over two seasons. They're going to have to give Emilia Clarke some time off every other episode OR drag out Dany's plot even more than they're doing this season. Blerg.

Anyway back to Maggie Smith, she did play for another GoT farm team, Harry potter (she was never a Bond villian though). And can anyone do catty better than her? Maybe Jessica Walter.

Of course, this isn't The Tudors which felt the need to bring in a ringer every year.

Sometimes I get a little giddy thinking about future book events being translated to the show. I am most excited for the future episodes featuring the Red Wedding, and also Joffrey's death. The show has done such a beautiful job of making Joffrey utterly hateful (not that he wasn't already in the books) that I anticipate Extreme Internet Glee after he dies so horribly. Oh, and Tyrion taking a crossbow to Tywin on the toilet -- Dinklage is going to rock that scene.

Um. Okay. End of season 2, and Catelyn and Robb don't know that Bran and Rickon are "dead," Dany hasn't met up with Barristan Selmy yet or heard any interesting prophecies? WTF? And no confirmation that DAVOS IS ALIVE, but to be fair, that didn't happen until book 3 anyway, so I can't fault the show for that.

I always figured the season would end with the attack by the Others. This is a time where I feel sorry for the non-book readers who expect this plot to actually go somewhere when, um, it hasn't for three books now.

So relieved that Tyrion's face is mostly intact. I kept thinking 'they won't take off his nose, surely, makeup/special effects nightmare and more or less ruins Peter Dinklage's fabulous facial expressions'. But then following that up with 'on the other hand, they are complete bastards and might do it just because people say they won't'. I felt so sorry for poor Tyrion, though - after all he did, being basically stuck in a basement and forgotten about. The look on his face was enough to make me want to cry for him.

A bit of a weird episode for me overall though...everything is usually so gritty and realistic (you know, as much as fantasy can be) that when real magic turns up it sort of throws me for a loop. Glad to see Drogo again, though - even if I do get bored during most of Danaerys' scenes (that happened in the books too so not the show's fault).

Theon made me laugh with his ranting about the horn-blowing man. His battle speech was comedy gold. 'I thought he'd never shut up'. Hah!