Game of Thrones: spoilers discussion.

[Kzach]

I know there are a lot of GoT threads at the moment but I'm so over using spoiler tags and just want to have a thread where people can openly discuss the series without worrying about spoiling it for anyone.

So, caveat lector! If you are not up to date with the latest aired episodes, then don't read this thread!

 

[Kzach]

I'm waiting to hear from one of my housemates what he thought of the first episode. He hasn't read the books and isn't really into fantasy but he liked the Rome series. In other words, he's an average viewer rather than a geek or a fan. I'm keen to hear his opinion because I'm finding I can't view the series objectively.

For the most part I was really happy with the first episode. There were a couple of things I felt could've been done better like the fact that half the dothraki were white and the other half black rather than being one race. That and the terrible acting of the dothraki festival fighters. But on the whole it seemed well done.

It definitely has a much faster pace than I thought it would. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing though. As a fan of the books, it's probably a good thing since I automatically fill in the blanks, but I'm wondering just how much of the setting and subtleties will be missed by people who haven't read them.

I also really hated the introduction. The toy-like aspect and the cogs and wheels just made it feel tacky and childish, which seems so completely out of place with what the series will (and should) be like. If I didn't know better and only had that introduction to judge the series by, I'd think it was some renaissance inventors show or some kids animated fantasy series and probably switch channels.

 

[catsclaw227]

My mom watched most of it and thought it was a bit too gory, but her husband might like it.

Note: My mom is 70 yrs old.

 

[Krug]

Well Tyrion was perfectly cast. One thing I didn't like and thought was different from the book was the sex scene between Drogo and Daenerys. If I recall from the book Drogo waited for Daenerys to give him the go-ahead; it wasn't gentle, but it was consensual.

 

[Blastin]

I took the whole "toy like" intro as a play on the title: A Game... It looked like the board for a medieval Risk like game. In taking it that way....I liked it.

Overall I loved it. It had more nudity than I expected (not that there's anything wrong with that) but then I never watched an HBO show before.

The only scene that I thought was a bit lacking was with Drogo and Danny on the beach. In the book (from what I remember) he kept saying "no" until she said yes. Not so much in that scene....I guess they are gonna have Danny warm up to Drogo a lot more slowly? It's pretty important for her to fall in love with him for the events to play out like they are supposed to at the end of book one.

 

[catsclaw227]

Obviously, they had to do a few things differently to squeeze it into 10 episodes in 10 hours.

My opinion, they kept the right stuff, re-jiggered the stuff that was peripheral to telling the story but still kept the point across, and left out some stuff that really does nothing to drive the story except maybe expound on a character. Which in some way kinda sucks because this really is a character driven series, not necessarily situation driven or event driven (though events drive the story, it's the people that count).

Either way, I think they did an awesome job with the first episode. And all the reviews I saw were based upon a 6-episode press package, and all said that it only gets better and episodes 5-6 are the best of the group.

This tells me that their storytelling will consistently get better, and like The Wire, they aren't trying to explain everything to you in the first couple of episodes.

 

[Fast Learner]

One thing I didn't like and thought was different from the book was the sex scene between Drogo and Daenerys. If I recall from the book Drogo waited for Daenerys to give him the go-ahead; it wasn't gentle, but it was consensual.

Yes, agreed, that surprised me, too, in that the book version was very revealing of Drogo's character, especially in contrast to all that had gone before.

 

[Kzach]

Definitely agree with the Drogo/Danaerys thing, although I think it might just be a cheap scripting trick to create shock and awe. I'm going to go out on a limb and bet that they come back to that scene and she does say yes. If they don't, then I'll be disappointed because as others have said, it's so integral to Drogo's character and Danaery's embrace of his culture.

By the way, is anyone surprised at the pronunciation of character names? So far, I'm 100% spot on; the way they've pronounced it on screen is how I imagined them as reading them

Lastly, Arya is perfect. As my favourite character in the books, I was a bit nervous about how she'd be portrayed, given that she's going to be portrayed by a real-life ten year old girl and the character is so atypical and strong that I wasn't sure any young actress would be able to accomplish it. Kudos to the little girl in the role, she not only seems to be an excellent young actress but from preview character study videos, she seems quite intelligent and to have a good understanding of the character.

Rob was unimpressive; he may as well have not been there he made such little impact on screen. The same can be said of Theon. The Jon Snow actor was excellent; I got a real sense of turmoil, frustration and yet quiet honour about him. I still think Mark Addy was a poor choice for the role. They've obviously used camera tricks to make him look bigger and taller and yet he still doesn't look remotely how I pictured Robert to look. The Catelyn actress swayed me with her acting; I don't think she was a perfect choice of actress for the role, but the actress herself I feel is quite good and carries the role well.

Other than that, I think the wolves were a little bit underplayed. I'm hoping they feature more prominently as the series progresses because I really didn't get a sense of their importance in that first episode.

 

[Starman]

I was surprised/disappointed with the changes to Cat's character. In the books, she wants Ned to go to King's Landing (at least until Bran falls). It seems small, but I think it really changes her character. In the books, she has a bit of the political schemer in her and now it seems she's just like Ned in not wanting to be a part of that at all.

 

[catsclaw227]

[MENTION=56189]Kzach[/MENTION] and [MENTION=7663]Starman[/MENTION], I believe the little changes are there to help fit this into 10 hours of film. Obviously, there are subtleties that won't make there way into the script, though I believe that the "story so far" is pretty darn close to spot-on.

Yes, I wish the Danaerys/Drogo scene was closer to the books, but she shows trepidation, and even though in the books it was Illyrio that convinced her to go to Drogo when she first is to be with him, they combined a conversation with Varys(sp?) and Danaerys with the Illyrio hand-off and did it without taking anything away with what was being said.

In reviews that had seen the first 6 episodes, they all say that Danaerys becomes more confident and grows to be close to Drogo. So maybe they know what they are doing and didn't need to do it exactly as the books in an effort to send the same message in less screen time.

Even the scene at the end with Bran on the window sill and seeing Jaime and Cersei together was chopped quite a bit, but the message was still delivered.