Topic: Game of Thrones

[Henning]

I really liked the first episode. I was blown away by the title sequence.  Awesome!

For those of you who haven't read the books, how lost/not-lost were you?

Yeah, that ruled.
I was pretty lost, but I wanted to watch it again.
's cool.

[Calinthalus]

I got my wife and son to watch it with me.  I'm the only one that has read the books.

So, my wife makes me pause and sort out the characters for her.  They are short in the way of character introduction and the relationships between them (sister, father, cousin etc.etc.)...but I guess you would have to be in a visual media.

Then the end of the episode comes as I had guessed it would and my wife says, "I may not watch this with you, I liked it right up until the end."

My son is hooked.

[EmergentSystem]

I was personally irritated when the guy decided to push the kid. Now I have to sit here hating him and his bitch every time I see them, annoyed that they're not suffering reprisals for their actions. Or maybe the kid lives. He fell onto grass. Totally survivable. I'd enjoy that.

[Calinthalus]

I was personally irritated when the guy decided to push the kid. Now I have to sit here hating him and his bitch every time I see them, annoyed that they're not suffering reprisals for their actions. Or maybe the kid lives. He fell onto grass. Totally survivable. I'd enjoy that.

Not his bitch, his sister...



and his queen.

[EmergentSystem]

Details.

[Kessdawg]

Details.

It was his twin sister!  Ewww!  Who also happens to be the queen!  SCANDALOUS!!!

Also, I learned a new word today: "Defenestration: the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.  From the Latin de- (down or away from) and fenestra (window or opening)"

Seriously? There is a word for that?

One very minor gripe I have about the TV version is the White Walkers.  In the book they're only rarely referred to as that. In the book they're mainly called "The Others" but apparently Lost staked a claim on that phrase.

[IrishJazz]

My only gripe is the "Lord of the Rings" elven prettiness.  There were a few shots, especially the ones on the continent, that looked like the cover of a Harlequin Romance novel, or worse, a Thomas Kinkade painting.  And the warriors all looked like Klingons from the later Star Trek movies.  They were a diverse group- the women could be of any race as long as they had dark hair and big breasts. The nudity was a distracting plus. 

[Calinthalus]

I actually kinda prefer the WW term.  The Others doesn't seem as horrible.

My only real gripe is how fast it had to move.  I mean, which kid is Rob and which kid is Theon Greyjoy, and which one is Jon Snow?  I could tell, but I'm not sure people who haven't read it can.  Also Jon's status as bastard could have been expounded on a bit more...how important it is in this society.

Sansa seemed a bit older than I had expected.  The other kids were about right in age from my imagination while reading the series.

The stuff with the Dragon lady was winnowed down quite a bit as well.  That was a horrible part of the book and it seemed if anything even more horrible on the screen.  But there were some touching parts in that relationship with her husband.

[Neutral Milk]

At this point in the book that relationship is nothing but ugly and scary to danaerys. The touching moments will occur later.

[teethering]

I have to say, despite my already high expectations, I'm pleased with how closely the first episode follows the book.  Nothing which I remember as important has been left out or twisted so far.  I thought casting, especially of Lannisters and Starks, was terrific.  In part I think it's because Martin didn't really spend too much time on appearances and more on actual personalities, which gives a bit more flexibility for casting.

[Kessdawg]

I actually kinda prefer the WW term.  The Others doesn't seem as horrible.

My only real gripe is how fast it had to move.  I mean, which kid is Rob and which kid is Theon Greyjoy, and which one is Jon Snow?  I could tell, but I'm not sure people who haven't read it can.  Also Jon's status as bastard could have been expounded on a bit more...how important it is in this society.

Sansa seemed a bit older than I had expected.  The other kids were about right in age from my imagination while reading the series.

The stuff with the Dragon lady was winnowed down quite a bit as well.  That was a horrible part of the book and it seemed if anything even more horrible on the screen.  But there were some touching parts in that relationship with her husband.

Agreed with how fast it was.  It felt like I was reading it in fast-forward mode.

[lukebourassa]

Finally got to watch the pilot last night on my DVR. Never read the books (not much of a fantasy guy) but MAN I enjoyed that! Half the fun for me is learning how the world "works" and spotting the differences in armor, building style, etc.

Off-topic, but I'm also watching "The Borgias" on Showtime and I had to watch the Sunday episodes of Borgias and GoT back-to-back last night... My theory is that, aside from doggy style sex, non-basic cable shows also need incest, because there's some weird brother-sister thing going on in "The Borgias" right now as well.

[Blackmere]

I just watched it last night. Aside from nit picky gripes  (Why is it that in every fantasy ever filmed people have to have vaguely British accents?) I think it was pretty faithful to the books. The casting has been astoundingly good.

[lukebourassa]

I just watched it last night. Aside from nit picky gripes  (Why is it that in every fantasy ever filmed people have to have vaguely British accents?) I think it was pretty faithful to the books. The casting has been astoundingly good.

Ever notice almost all American movies about Europeans involve people with English accents (even if the people being portrayed are Spanish, Italian, etc.)?

[Calinthalus]

I just watched it last night. Aside from nit picky gripes  (Why is it that in every fantasy ever filmed people have to have vaguely British accents?) I think it was pretty faithful to the books. The casting has been astoundingly good.

Ever notice almost all American movies about Europeans involve people with English accents (even if the people being portrayed are Spanish, Italian, etc.)?

In the defense of the Borgias, the lead is played by someone with a fantastic English accent.  Every time I hear him talk I think of Scar.