The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

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Electric Crocosaurus
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The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Electric Crocosaurus »

This forum is for fans of George RR Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' books and the hit TV show based upon them, 'Game of Thrones'. Because I'd like as many people to enjoy this thread as possible, here are a few rules if you are planning to post on here.
  • 1. Open discussion of the events of the TV show up to the most recent broadcast is fine
    2. Open discussion of the books up to the point that has been covered by the most recent TV episode is also fine
    3. The thread runs at UK pace (which is normally a day after US transmission)
    4. Any discussion that discusses events beyond the most recent episode should be hidden as a spoiler
*Original post*

It doesn't seem as though this forum has a dedicated Game of Thrones thread, so given the events of last night's episode I thought I would set this one up. Consider this a...

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING
Spoiler: show
I started reading the ASOIAF books shortly after the start of the first series on Sky. Therefore most of the big story moments have come to me via the book rather than the tv show. That being said, last night's 'Rains of Castamere' episode (or more accurately 'the Red Wedding' episode) was absolutely gut wrenching to watch, even though I've known what was coming for the best part of two years. I thought the show's producers did an excellent job, and if anything made the events even more brutal given the introduction of Talisa and her child (characters not present in the books). The wedding came close to romantic comedy territory in places, which just made things unbearably tense for viewers knowing what was coming and all the more unexpected when the violence kicked off.

This season more than the last two has done a better job of tweaking the source material to st the show (a sign of confidence from the writers). Thus while there were changes to how events played out, I never felt short-changed by any of them. I particular I thought the decision to close on Cat standing, shell-shocked, rather than her madness from the books was far better suited to Michelle Fairley's portrayal of the character, and (at the risk of sounding like a broken record) just made things all the more devastating.

In short it was one of the most harrowing, horrific hours of tv I've ever seen. And I loved it.
Buckled Kipper

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Buckled Kipper »

I'm also a massive fan and am up to date on all the books. I've been worried about how they would do the red wedding ever since I read it as I was concerned that they wouldn't do it justice or tone it down. But boy they didn't let me down, amazing episode. I felt sick with trepidation the whole show. So many great parts, but my favourite had to be Cat's reaction to the doors closing and the music starting.

I really hope they start next weeks episode with the wolf head/Rob shot.
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Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Electric Crocosaurus »

Me too, I was half expecting that to form the end of the episode, but I'm glad the final shot was what it was. Cat was always an annoying character in the books, but I think this season has done a great job of showing her grief and despair.
Todinho

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Todinho »

Man that episode I was really looking foward to it but in my head I kept thinking that there was no way they could pull off something as good as the book scene,but I couldnt be more wrong I found the Red Wedding to be perfect even with the changes what got my surprise was Talissa being killed so fast and so brutally i was in the theory that she was Tywin's spy but alas she was really just a foreigner that was in love with a king,I also liked her way more than Jeyne what-her-face from the books since she had no personality at all,I also liked Robb in the show way more so that scene when he puts his hands on her bloodied belly just destroyed me.
Spoiler: show
Part from the books that would have liked to see was the Bannerman and Grey Wind fighting till the end but then I think the slaughter of the show was more effective from one angle since it shows they didnt even have a chance to fight back,also that last scene of Cat looking at the screen empty and the silent credits that was just perfect!I think they'll anticipate Lady Stoneheart a little to give the audience some kind of revenge to look foward to my guess it is going to be the last scene of episode 10.
Roy42

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Roy42 »

Can I request spoiler tags for things in the books that haven't been covered in the show? I would like to talk about the show with people, but I don't want to have future events spoiled for me like they already have been in the past.
Buckled Kipper

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Buckled Kipper »

Roy42 wrote:Can I request spoiler tags for things in the books that haven't been covered in the show? I would like to talk about the show with people, but I don't want to have future events spoiled for me like they already have been in the past.
I think that's a good idea as it would allow more people to join in the discussion. Though I'll have to figure out how to do spoiler tags on tapatalk.
Buckled Kipper

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Buckled Kipper »

Roy42 wrote:Can I request spoiler tags for things in the books that haven't been covered in the show? I would like to talk about the show with people, but I don't want to have future events spoiled for me like they already have been in the past.
I think that's a good idea as it would allow more people to join in the discussion. Though I'll have to figure out how to do spoiler tags on tapatalk.
Buckled Kipper

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Buckled Kipper »

And how not to repeat myself :)
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Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Electric Crocosaurus »

Roy42 wrote:Can I request spoiler tags for things in the books that haven't been covered in the show? I would like to talk about the show with people, but I don't want to have future events spoiled for me like they already have been in the past.
I've edited my first post with a few rules that should hopefully keep things spoiler-free for you Roy42. However I have to warn you that even typing Game of Thrones into Google means you run the risk of hitting a spoiler now that the show has become so big. I know how upstanding the Cane and Rinse community is though so hopefully there'll be none of those shenanigans here!
Buckled Kipper

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Buckled Kipper »

Just done a 2nd watch of ep 9. Love the look that The Hound gives Arya after she clubs the old man.
Todinho

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Todinho »

Spoiler tags up sorry if I spoiled anything.
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Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Electric Crocosaurus »

Managed to catch the last episode of Season 3 last night, 'Mhysa' (which is Ghiscari for 'mother'). Similarly to the last two seasons this was more about wrapping up the loose ends from episode 9 and setting the scenes for the next season. I thought the episode was a strong one, with a lot of character moments that I really enjoyed. Any time Tywin and Tyrion are on screen together is a highlight, and even though his scheming is a little more open than I would like I thought Varys and Shae was also quite touching.

Even after the events of last week, it still managed to affect me seeing the desecration of Robb's body. Makes you hate the Lannisters and Freys all over again.
Spoiler: show
Also, I know some people were disappointed at not getting the Tywin / Tyrion confrontation that ends Storm of Swords, but I always saw that as more of a finisher for Season 4. Joffrey's wedding will presumably come quite early on, if not in the first episode, leaving Tyrion to languish in jail for much of the season. I'm assuming a lot of the Kings Landing stuff in season 4 will be about introducing the Dornish characters, and perhaps building Jaime up as more of a protagonist. I'll be curious to see how they handle Jon Snow's plotline though, as presumably the battle beneath the wall will be held back for episode 9. Will he just be ignored a bit up until that point?
Todinho

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Todinho »

Saw a lot of people being disapointed in this episode,I myself found it quite good especially the arya parts,I actually didnt believe they would actually go as far as showing Robb's body with the wolf but that was great.Im gonna be honest Im liking tv Tywin way more than book version Charles Dance just makes me smile everytime he's on screen.

Season 4 prediction based on the book's:
Spoiler: show
My theory is they are going to change things a little bit for season 4 to surprise the audience Joffrey's wedding is probably gonna be within the first 3 episodes leaving time for Tyrion to rot in prison and became bitter enough to do what he does because right now tv Tyrion is too much of a nice guy,the battle on the wall is probably gonna be on episode 6 or something otherwise it will just drag the watch and stannis stories too much,the trial gonna be at the end of episode 9 and episode 10 is where everything is gonna go down
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Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by DomsBeard »

Yeah the Tywin/Tyrion scenes were great but I thought that Khaleesi being the last scene was quite weak. I'm midway through book 5 a dance with dragons but I haven't read them in about 6 months but am I right in thinking:
Spoiler: show
That the whole Theon torture thing hasn't happened?, I remember the death of Balon and the battle to be the new iron king between the uncles and his sister but this whole torture thing I've found a waste of screen time.
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Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Electric Crocosaurus »

DomsBeard wrote:Yeah the Tywin/Tyrion scenes were great but I thought that Khaleesi being the last scene was quite weak. I'm midway through book 5 a dance with dragons but I haven't read them in about 6 months but am I right in thinking:
Spoiler: show
That the whole Theon torture thing hasn't happened?, I remember the death of Balon and the battle to be the new iron king between the uncles and his sister but this whole torture thing I've found a waste of screen time.
Spoiler: show
In the books you don't see Theon / Reek until ADWD, after the torture shown in the tv series has happened. It would have been nice to preserve the 'wtf' surprise of him reappearing after such a long time away from the spotlight, but I can understand why the TV producers had to elaborate on Theon's storyline. They can't really release cast members for potentially two or three seasons and hope they're still available when the time comes. I assume this is why the storyline with Yara was set up, which also doesn't appear in the books; it gives both characters something to do next season until their respective storylines start up again in ADWD
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Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by DomsBeard »

That sounds about right, good point.
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Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Electric Crocosaurus »

So we're 2 episodes into Season 4 and already the show's produced a handful of brilliant moments ('lots of people name their swords'). This season, even more so than the previous ones, seems to be cherry-picking from across the whole series, so if you haven't read up to the end of Book 5 it's likely that the TV show will start spoiling things for you.

With the showrunners saying they're aiming for 7 seasons it does seem that there are some major story-lines that are going to get cut for the show. Certainly any activity relating to the iron islands seems to have fallen away, but hopefully they're just saving this for a later series where they can have a clearer run to introduce everyone.
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Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Flabyo »

I'm only about halfway through book 3 at this point, but my understanding is that the books abandon a strict chronological order at some point, with later books going back to earlier time periods and showing stuff happening elsewhere. But the TV show is taking the approach of showing things in the order they happened.

Sort of like how the second Lord of the Rings movie didn't spend 90 minutes just with Frodo and Sam then 90 minutes with Aragorn.
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Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by BasementShaxx »

They inserted a little hint as to who was responsible for the big event in last night's episode for those watching carefully:
Spoiler: show
Re-watch the moment when Olenna Tyrell is offering some kind words to Sansa at the wedding, and pay attention to what she does with her right hand just after she strokes Sansa's hair. When the camera switches back to Sansa there is something missing from a gift she was given in the previous episode...
Todinho

Re: The 'everything goes' Song of Ice and Fire thread

Post by Todinho »

Flabyo wrote:I'm only about halfway through book 3 at this point, but my understanding is that the books abandon a strict chronological order at some point, with later books going back to earlier time periods and showing stuff happening elsewhere. But the TV show is taking the approach of showing things in the order they happened.

Sort of like how the second Lord of the Rings movie didn't spend 90 minutes just with Frodo and Sam then 90 minutes with Aragorn.
Hum,,, kinda off but not quite you have some parts where the events of a chapter are happening before previous ones but it's just at the end of Book 2 and beginning of 3 I believe,what happens is that Book 4 and 5 happen at the same time but this season was supposed to cover the second half of book 3 yet they are putting stuff from future books here so it's a little weird.
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