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Game of Thrones - Season 2 - George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire - Sundays on HBO

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A

AngryMoth

Member
Ok, I've been disappointed with season 2 so far, but I really enjoyed this episode; by far the best this season for me.

Lots of great material covered; the riot, Ygritte, Theon, etc. They really did nail the Winterfell stuff, showing Theon to be totally out of his depth with that execution. Poor Rodrick, although still a better way to go than he gets in the books :(. I know I'm in a minority preferring season 1 (by along way) so far, but I think its mostly because Clash is just much harder to adapt than AGoT, rather than the deviations. The story is much more scattershot and less cohesive, and therefore harder to partition into satisfying episodes. Plus, this episode had perhaps the most deviations of any, and its my favourite this season!

The kind of deviations that bother me are either the omissions (where was my "BROTHERFUCKER!"), or changes which will lead to omissions in later seasons (killing the Tickler), although I can understand some of the other premature deaths given that they are working with a much smaller cast than the books. Dany's dragons being stolen isn't in either of these categories so it doesn't bother me at all. Its something I know will be resolved by the end of the season with no lasting changes, and so I'm happy for them to do their own thing for now; heaven knows her story needs some padding this season. As long as they end up in the same place I'll be happy. Same reason I'm enjoying Arya's stuff with Tywin, especially because it means we get more Charles Dance!

Final thought: what is up with the episode titles this season? I'm struggling to relate the old gods or the new to this episode even thematically. The prince of Winterfell would have been much more appropriate, but that one's being used for episode 8.
 
H

Hellcrow

Member
Because we always need more Joffrey slapping:

CMQBx.gif
 
A

apana

Member
jett said:
Ramsay hasn't been cast, right?
Are they just gonna leave things unfinished in Winterfell this season?
Click to expand...

Not that I am aware of. [ACOK and season 2 spoiler]
Yes I think some of the Winterfell stuff will be moved to next season.

AngryMoth said:
Ok, I've been disappointed with season 2 so far, but I really enjoyed this episode; by far the best this season for me.

Lots of great material covered; the riot, Ygritte, Theon, etc. They really did nail the Winterfell stuff, showing Theon to be totally out of his depth with that execution. Poor Rodrick, although still a better way to go than he gets in the books :(. I know I'm in a minority preferring season 1 (by along way) so far, but I think its mostly because Clash is just much harder to adapt than AGoT, rather than the deviations. The story is much more scattershot and less cohesive, and therefore harder to partition into satisfying episodes. Plus, this episode had perhaps the most deviations of any, and its my favourite this season!

The kind of deviations that bother me are either the omissions (where was my "BROTHERFUCKER!"), or changes which will lead to omissions later seasons (killing the Tickler), although I can understand some of the other premature deaths given that they are working with a much smaller cast than the books. Dany's dragons being stolen isn't in either of these categories so it doesn't bother me at all. Its something I know will be resolved by the end of the season with no lasting changes, and so I'm happy for them to do their own thing for now; heaven knows her story needs some padding this season. As long as they end up in the same place I'll be happy. Same reason I'm enjoying Arya's stuff with Tywin, especially because it means we get more Charles Dance!

Final thought: what is up with the episode titles this season? I'm struggling to relate the old gods or the new to this episode even thematically. The prince of Winterfell would have been much more appropriate, but that ones being used for episode 8.
Click to expand...

I agree.
 
J

jett

D-Member
AngryMoth said:
Final thought: what is up with the episode titles this season? I'm struggling to relate the old gods or the new to this episode even thematically. The prince of Winterfell would have been much more appropriate, but that ones being used for episode 8.
Click to expand...

Meh, there's really no running theme in any of the episodes, the show is just going through the motions. Episode titles are quite useless here.

Honestly I also consider S1 to be superior, if only because it was less convoluted and simply lead to an easier adaptation. S2 has really been quite scattershot like you said. They're sort of representing the main events of the book but with very little depth behind them or the characters. I don't really know how I feel about this show. It's entertaining but production values and shock value aside I don't think it's high up on HBO's totem pole, maybe ASOIAF is just too much for any medium. I think vastly bigger changes would make it a better show, or maybe the showrunners just aren't any good.

Anyway, things are only going to get more clusterfucky as the show goes on.
 
JordoftheDead

JordoftheDead

Member
Considering the amount of story threads it is having to follow from the books and the amount of screen time they have to do it I think they're doing a very good job. You can't be all things to all people.

It may have been better if they split the first two books over three seasons, but then people would have only complained about it being too slow paced.
 
N

Net_Wrecker

Member
Well...that ending. Glad to see the show can still catch me off guard despite knowing where it all goes in the end.

rififi said:
If it was socially acceptable, I would totally dress like Jon Snow in the winter.
Click to expand...

Hell yeah, I love how the Night's Watch look against all the snow. The North scenes are beautiful, period.
 
M

Moofers

Member
Loved the episode. Have not read ACOK, so this was all new to me. I loved it. Best part was Tyrion slapping the shit out of Joffrey, and telling him "We've had vicious kings and idiot kings, but I don't know that we've ever been blessed with a vicious idiot for a king until now!" lol I mean that shit is GOLD.
 
L

LegendofJoe

Member
This episode was very poorly paced. There was not nearly enough lead up to the riot in King's Landing. The Dany and Wall scenes should have been moved to the next episode, and there should have been a scene with Cersei and Tyrion before Mycella left the city to explain the condition and state of mind of the population in King's Landing. The fact that they didn't made the scene feel rushed and out of place.

The other scene I had a big problem with was the capture of Winterfell. There was enough lead in for the Winterfell assault in the previous episode, my problem with that scene though was the fact that they didn't show it. It happened way too quickly as a result. The episode started and a few seconds later Winterfell was taken, there was no time to adjust to what was happening. As a result it was difficult to realize the gravity of what had occured.

These scenes coupled with the poor pacing in other episodes is my biggest complaint regarding the show this season. The producers really do need to think about cutting a lot more than they currently are. The war, Winterfell, and King's Landing should be the dominant focus of the show. I think that instead of jumping around from plot arch to plot arch so much they would do better to just focus on one plot line at a time for extended periods. Somthing like 20 uninterrrupted minutes in King's Landing, and then 20 on the War followed by a lead-in for covering what's going on beyond the Wall, in Winterfell, and in Qarth in the next episode.
 
G

GorillaJu

Member
LegendofJoe said:
The show runner seriously need to think about cutting a lot more than they are currently. The war, Winterfell, and King's Landing should be the dominant focus of the show. I think that instead of jumping around from plot arch to plot arch so much they would do better to just focus on one plot line at a time for extended periods. Somthing like 20 uninterrrupted minutes in King's Landing, and then 20 on the War followed by a lead-in for covering what's going on beyond the Wall, in Winterfell, and in Qarth.
Click to expand...

As someone who hasn't read the books I'm loving it how it is. I think they're pacing it really superbly.
 
E

endre

Member
What a stealth edit

I for one am satisfied with the cut, and I was even thinking about how good it is they are not dragging it out.
 
L

LegendofJoe

Member
odd_morsel said:
As someone who hasn't read the books I'm loving it how it is. I think they're pacing it really superbly.
Click to expand...

That's great, I wonder if that's the general opinion among non-book readers?

endre said:
What a stealth edit

I for one am satisfied with the cut, and I was even thinking about how good it is they are not dragging it out.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I am a compulsive editor. It's great for when I publish, but not so great for posting on message boards.
 
M

Monroeski

Unconfirmed Member
The thing that bothered me the most about this week was the weird ass way Osha is always holding her head at odd angles. I noticed it before but in this so it was almost unbearable, particularly during the Theon scene with how the editing on camera changes made her head jump from one angle to another constantly.
 
V

Volimar

Member
Monroeski said:
The thing that bothered me the most about this week was the weird ass way Osha is always holding her head at odd angles. I noticed it before but in this so it was almost unbearable, particularly during the Theon scene with how the editing on camera changes made her head jump from one angle to another constantly.
Click to expand...

There's a funny pic with her head cocked at an incredible angle in one of the GoT threads...

I don't mind it. She's kind of a gypsy-like character, so she sees things differently. She looks at things differently.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
M

Meier

Member
aceface said:
No idea if this is true but I think he suspects who she is now and will confirm it next episode. I just can't think that they want us to think he'd be dumb enough not to notice.
Click to expand...

I absolutely disagree. I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but on the contrary I think the viewer would have to be dumb to think he did not notice. There is literally no chance at all that he did not recognize her as Arya. Tywin Lannister has never seen Arya before this in all likelihood whereas we know that Littlefinger has, even within the context of just the show's world versus the book.
 
U

ultron87

Member
Did Osha sleeping with Theon actually accomplish something towards the goal of sneaking Bran and Rickon out (besides getting us boobs)?
 
V

Volimar

Member
ultron87 said:
Did Osha sleeping with Theon actually accomplish something towards the goal of sneaking Bran and Rickon out (besides getting us boobs)?
Click to expand...

Boobs are their own reward. But yeah, they could have cut the whole scene with her and Theon and have the rest play out exactly as it did.
 
M

Meier

Member
ultron87 said:
Did Osha sleeping with Theon actually accomplish something towards the goal of sneaking Bran and Rickon out (besides getting us boobs)?
Click to expand...

It made him lower his defenses as a person which would obviously affect how he was running the castle. Furthermore, it probably put her in a position closer to where she needed to be to get out of the castle.

I think it was primarily meant to reinforce how easily Theon is distracted by feminine wiles despite the fact he's becoming more "career driven."
 
V

Volimar

Member
Meier said:
It made him lower his defenses as a person which would obviously affect how he was running the castle. Furthermore, it probably put her in a position closer to where she needed to be to get out of the castle.

I think it was primarily meant to reinforce how easily Theon is distracted by feminine wiles despite the fact he's becoming more "career driven."
Click to expand...

All it made me think is "Why the hell is she leaving with him alive?"

In fact, she could probably actually make the rounds and kill every single one of Theon's men before the drunkards could get their pants off...
 
C

Cornballer

Member
Ugh, this week's selection of gifs off of tumblr is worse than usual. Not much that's worth posting here, but I'll keep looking while we're waiting on the resident gif-makers here to (hopefully) put a few together.
 
U

ultron87

Member
So was Oona Chaplin actually cast as someone named Jeyne and they just changed the name at some point to Talisa? Or is she hiding her identity or something?
 
C

Cornballer

Member
ultron87 said:
So was Oona Chaplin actually cast as someone named Jeyne and they just changed the name at some point to Talisa? Or is she hiding her identity or something?
Click to expand...
She was originally cast as "Jeyne", and HBO refused to divulge her last name at that point. WiC's current cast page seems to indicate that they just changed it to Talisa at some point - maybe to avoid confusion?
 
I

Ithil

Member
FStop7 said:
The Hound has the strangest moral compass. He ran down and murdered an innocent child (the butcher's boy) without hesitation. Yet he intervened when his brother was about to kill Ser Loras. And he intervened again to save Sansa.
Click to expand...

Saving Loras was more in his "GREGOR! KILLKILLKILLKILL!" complex, but yes, he has a soft spot (or anything that can resemble a soft spot in him) for Sansa.
 
The Lamonster

The Lamonster

Member
My thoughts on last night's ep:

-Ygritte was perfect, even though she didn't say what we were all waiting for
-Clarke's Dany is acting a little too desperate and petty
-Is that tower what I think it is? Why did they make it a tower??
-Great KL riot scene. Pretty close to what I imagined. But no Bronn? Was he not in the book scene either?
-Finally some more Hound action. The more dialogue for Rory, the better.
-Tyrion was a badass yet again. So was Tywin.
-oh yeah, Natalie Tena...that was unexpected and awesome
 
pr0cs

pr0cs

Member
Natalia Tena dropping trou = :eek:

I was a fan of hers before, I like her music but nude = fabulous.

that is all...

all in all I think last night episode was the best this season yet. Initially I hated the deviations from the book but from a filming/story point of view they make sense.
 
A

AngryMoth

Member
Cornballer said:
She was originally cast as "Jeyne", and HBO refused to divulge her last name at that point. WiC's current cast page seems to indicate that they just changed it to Talisa at some point - maybe to avoid confusion?
Click to expand...
I don't have any foreknowledge but I'm almost certain she's
Jeyne Lanister. Makes sense that she really is a Lanister spy, and the Romeo and Juliet thing would play a lot better with a tv audience. That's my theory on why they wouldn't reveal her last name anyway.
 
J

JGS

Banned
This episode was very good. I didn't care forlast weeks as it seemed too predictable. this one had suspense for days in it. nearly every scene had me guessing what would happen next. Thought Sansa & Theon would be done. Theon should have been done for.
 
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