I think you have it the other way around,
The thread here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=467562 is clearly marked "NO BOOK SPOILERS".
You can post book spoilers in this thread, but they have to be spoiler tagged.
Game of Thrones - Season 2 - George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire - Sundays on HBO
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I think you have it the other way around,
The thread here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=467562 is clearly marked "NO BOOK SPOILERS".
You can post book spoilers in this thread, but they have to be spoiler tagged.
PhoenixDark
Banned
Larry Williams' video brought up something interesting that I'm curious about with new viewers. He was confused about the religion situation with Melisandre and Stannis, and thought Stannis was converting from The Seven to the old, Northern gods. At one point Cressen actually says something like "the old gods are gone, now there is a new god" which I can definitely see new viewers being confused over.
I'd imagine later episodes will further expand on this, making it clearer for all. The one non-book reader I talked to understood this was a completely new god, separate from The Seven as well as the Old Gods.
I'd imagine later episodes will further expand on this, making it clearer for all. The one non-book reader I talked to understood this was a completely new god, separate from The Seven as well as the Old Gods.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the complications that the plot presents from this point forward but I still think in the hands of the right people it can be done right and I'm fairly confident it will be done right. They had to get everyone their moments in the first episode and they did a good job with a lot of the scenes but I feel it is a real stretch to say it was much better than the first episode of season 1. I will admit though that season 1 was much easier to direct because most of the characters are together.
Don't exactly agree, I had no real problem with any of the Dany stuff. I thought the wedding was great and the tone felt right. For this episode I felt there were some unnecessary changes and akward transitions. The death of the bastards didn't really feel like it had the emotional impact that they were going for, even the death of the baby. This episode felt rushed and I understand they had a lot to go through but they made some mistakes, particularly with the King's Landing scenes. I thought they nailed the stuff in the North with Robb, Bran, and Jon though. I think the King's Landing parts were what mostly brought this episode down for me. I still loved it though.
Meh I didn't think those were a big deal.
I think at this point in each shows respective lifetime I would still give the edge to Breaking Bad just because the characters and performances are so great, and it just keeps getting better, but if hbo can pull off the rest of book 2 and especially book 3, then this is going to be some seriously amazing television.
I can't wait to see what they do with season 5 of BB. I know it would go against the entire premise of the show, but I really wish they would let Walt and his family live happily ever after when all things are said and done. No way it's gonna happen, the piper will have to be paid, but I like his character so much that I don't want to see his eventual downfall. heh
Buckethead
Banned
They really fucked up the entire plot at Dragonstone, imo.
Complete clusterfuck.
Complete clusterfuck.
PhoenixDark
Banned
To me, the wedding just looked so cheap (despite the not-so-cheap location), almost History Channel recreation level. It didn't seem to fit the rest of the episode, to the point I almost cringed whenever Dany arrived on screen.
Which transitions were awkward to you, I'm curious; I thought they did a great job tying things together with the comet. And in terms of the Kings Landing scenes, I thought they were great; perhaps that first scene with Dontos was awkward but that was it. Tyrion was great, and all the dialogue was good. One of S1's worst (and most disappointing) scenes was the first council meeting where everyone rushes through their lines. The actors were given space to breath this time, and it worked wonders. The only scene that felt rushed was the final one on Dragonstone, with the painted table. Cressen clumsily puts the poison in the cup, then drinks it first (which made little sense to me). I'm not sure viewers even cared about him, although to be fair that scene was more about establishing Melisandre's power.
To me the only bad thing about the baby scene was the lack of Prince Of Egypt music.
velvet_nitemare
Member
There's a thread for non-book readers
Those were just a couple of the small things that I felt were poorly handled. There were some others that I can't recall offhand. After actually thinking about it though, I just felt that the direction of the first episode felt very "made for tv" and nowhere near as grand or competently directed as the Alan Taylor episodes. I personally don't feel that Timothy Van Patten is as good a director as Alan Taylor. Not even close to be honest. Not to say he is bad by any means, but his style just doesn't feel as epic to me. Just my opinion obviously.
IAmtheFMan
Member
I know this but this isn't the open thread. This thread should still have appropriate spoiler tags for all future events/book discussion.
Net_Wrecker
Member
Man, that episode MOVED. Really quick 50 minutes. Very different viewing experiences than Season 1 for me, having read ACOK, but it's still a ton of fun. Excited to see how the events to come look on screen compared to how I envisioned them while reading.
Just curious, but in what way? It's been a couple years since I've read aCoK, but it was pretty much how I remembered it. What was so bad about it? I actually thought it was done very well.
Yeah Dragonstone felt off. I don't want to criticize this episode too much because I enjoyed a lot of it, it just didn't become greater than the sum of its parts for me. I think that there is just so much to cover. They have a few minutes to get in a lot and if some choices or scenes don't sit right with certain people the episode will feel weaker whereas others may enjoy it more. Like I felt the moment with the bastards they should have just focused on the baby, not try to rush through a bunch of killing scenes. I do like a slower and more contemplative style and there may just not be the minutes for that kind of thing. I hope after the first episode we can have episodes focusing on certain characters. Like maybe Jon Snow could be more of the focus in one episode, Robb in another, etc. instead of everyone having to get their moment. Also Shae is annoying and Littlefinger scene was a bit much.
Himynameischris
Member
Ok I'm having a little trouble with some of the characters..I started to look it up online then got a major spoiler.. :/. Who is Ros and Shae? I think I'm confusing them.
timetokill
Banned
Ros = the hot redhead whore that was running the brothel when the guards came in and killed the baby.
Shae = the whore that is hanging out in Tyrion's bedroom
Was Ros the whore from Winterfell? Or, at least somewhere near enough to Winterfell that she could get ridden by everyone in Winterfell?
After rewatching it... man, I will miss Sean Bean's Ned, but Richard Madden does a fantastic job as the re-imagined Rob. In the books he was kind of undeceive and somewhat naive, needing his mother and lieutenants for much of the decision making. On the TV show he's Ned Stark 2.0. His mannerisms, tone, words... you could put Sean Bean with the same lines and it would be badass Ned. Excellent job by Madden. King in the North.
PhoenixDark
Banned
Rewatched it just now and loved it even more. It actually feels and looks like a great show, something that S1 lacked until the last three or four episodes imo.
There are too many characters/plots to do that, especially now that the show no longer has a "main" character. But even in S1 most episodes rarely had any type of overarching theme or main character focus, and instead everyone got scenes; iirc Jon and Dany weren't in a couple episodes. From what I've read S2 will have more of a focus on creating themes for episodes to connect the various scenes, which is a good thing.
It'll be interesting to see how characters are delegated though. Renly will likely be in the second episode, as will Arya. Will any of tonight's characters be dropped, or have their screen time reduced to make room?
There are too many characters/plots to do that, especially now that the show no longer has a "main" character. But even in S1 most episodes rarely had any type of overarching theme or main character focus, and instead everyone got scenes; iirc Jon and Dany weren't in a couple episodes. From what I've read S2 will have more of a focus on creating themes for episodes to connect the various scenes, which is a good thing.
It'll be interesting to see how characters are delegated though. Renly will likely be in the second episode, as will Arya. Will any of tonight's characters be dropped, or have their screen time reduced to make room?
Himynameischris
Member
Ah ok I kept seeing whore so it was confusing the hell out of me. Thank you!
timetokill
Banned
Yep. The one Theon was all in love with.
No problem. Ros isn't actually in the books, so keep that in mind if you're reading plot stuff elsewhere.
I'm betting that's how it will go. I can't imagine it jumping around this much in every episode. I think they just had to get all the major plots started and then they'll be able to narrow their focus down to specific storylines in the coming episodes. I'm sure we'll see a lot more Arya in the next episode. Probably more Dany too. I agree that Shae is annoying. I kinda felt she was annoying in the books as well, but not to this degree. I was also kinda disappointed in Stannis sword Lightbringer. I thought it was supposed to glow red at all times. Not just be on fire for a second and then go back to looking like a normal sword. Minor nitpick obviously. Overall though I was very happy with the episode.
Chuck Norris
Banned
Steelyuhas
Member
Yeah that was weird.
Yeah they definitely referred to The Seven as Old Gods in that scene, which of course clashes with the Old Gods being the Gods of the North, and referred as the Old Gods many times.
As for discussion on direction, I love Taylor's direction. I thought the transitions tonight were excellent.
blainethemono
Member
thats kind of the whole point though, its just a regular sword that they set on fire to put on a show for everyone...its not a legit magical sword or anything
Ya but in the books it actually does have a magical glow to it at all times. It doesn't produce heat, but it definitely produces light even when it's not on fire.
timetokill
Banned
series
Well, kind of... other characters in the book see the sword and it apparently IS red or glows like an ember or something, but it doesn't actually give heat. The imagery in the book is strong for that because it implies falseness or a real "show" for everyone like you're saying.
brianjones
Member
how do you set a sword on fire
like put bbq oil on it?
like put bbq oil on it?
blainethemono
Member
Ah, I don't remember that at all. I need to read the book again
Magic fairy dust. True story.
ya pretty much. In the book there is a certain character who regularly coats his blade in something and sets it on fire when he goes into battle. Probably just oil.
Brian Fellows
Pete Carroll Owns Me
Yeah he just had longer hair.
brianjones
Member
this series cant make up its mind if its magic based or not
Regarding the production:
The dragons and wolves are excellently done. As for the intro, I was a bit disappointed that it still zooms in to the Dothraki Sea instead of the Wastes.
The King's Landing sets were all the same place. The small council room and Littlefinger's brothel were the repurposed throne room set with props laid over to hide its distinctive areas. Not a big deal considering its the same architecture and location though. I loved the balcony shot with Shae and the Dragonstone war room. I like how they propped up the backgrounds in Malta to make them look like they were in the Red Keep. Even little details like having the symbol of the Seven on the windows everywhere. Really cool stuff.
The dragons and wolves are excellently done. As for the intro, I was a bit disappointed that it still zooms in to the Dothraki Sea instead of the Wastes.
The King's Landing sets were all the same place. The small council room and Littlefinger's brothel were the repurposed throne room set with props laid over to hide its distinctive areas. Not a big deal considering its the same architecture and location though. I loved the balcony shot with Shae and the Dragonstone war room. I like how they propped up the backgrounds in Malta to make them look like they were in the Red Keep. Even little details like having the symbol of the Seven on the windows everywhere. Really cool stuff.
I did think that seemed wrong at the time. Stannis just kind of dropped the sword and walked away, while in the book [ACOK]
he keeps it with him at all times as a sign that he's the chosen one, right?
I don't really remember. I think that he might have actually left it at first because he wasn't sold on all this sorcery mumbo jumbo at that point, but as he starts to buy into melisandres ideas about him being the chosen one, he begins to keep it with him.
I felt that way during season 1, but the moment they showed those S1 spoilers
dragons
If people are feeling the plot kind of getting too scattered... I don't know how they're gonna keep things under control by book 5. There are just so many locations even GRRM had to split them to two books following the same timeline. And that's on a +1000 page per novel format.
Last Hearth
Member
This show is so beautiful, I'm already looking forward to owning season 2 on Blu-Ray.
That's sort of one of the themes of the series. Magic is gone from the world and literally held back behind a wall and then it slowly creeps back in.
I hope no one considers it a spoiler to say that it doesn't go harry potter style magic at any point, it's mostly under control.
a secret-boss
Banned
Magic died when the last dragon disappeared
This is y I like the book. The further it goes the more fantasy is becomes
This is y I like the book. The further it goes the more fantasy is becomes
I just looked it up. He does plunge it in the ground and walks away from it, back up to the castle. Melisandre picks it up a short time later and follows him
Loved the episode. Great reintroduction without being slow, set up a ton of action to come. Can't wait for more Arya next week. As someone who hasn't read the books, HBO's viewer's guide is a huge help. Really well done. I feel like I understand most everything already (I got the stuff about the Gods and the bastards etc.) but this fills in the gaps quite wonderfully.
Only part I feel confused on is how the Greyjoy House fits in. Is Balon jockeying for the iron throne or not? I guess we'll find out when Theon visits him?
(SPOILERS IN THE QUOTE BELOW ME ARE FOR SOMETHING LIKE THE 3RD OR 4TH BOOK, I DON'T KNOW BECAUSE I DON'T READ THEM)
Only part I feel confused on is how the Greyjoy House fits in. Is Balon jockeying for the iron throne or not? I guess we'll find out when Theon visits him?
(SPOILERS IN THE QUOTE BELOW ME ARE FOR SOMETHING LIKE THE 3RD OR 4TH BOOK, I DON'T KNOW BECAUSE I DON'T READ THEM)
Fuck you man. It looked like everyone had been tagging everything great, and you fuck it up. The no spoilers thread is dead so I'd rather post here, but you're gonna go ahead and blatantly ignore the huge list of rules in the OP. Awesome. Dammit all. At least the other examples of it above were misunderstandings. It's like you're trying to ruin stuff.In another two books.
Anyhoo, really dug the episode. Man, Tyrion is going to be fucking awesome the next two seasons. The scene with him and Shae in the Hand's Tower was really sweet. Also makes it even more sad
See, but you don't need to spoiler tag season 1 stuff. When people follow the rules set out in Cornballer's op everything goes great and it makes it easier for everyone.
hah this is what I thought of. but that would be inconceivable.
Himynameischris
Member
Ah ok although the spoiler I read was about Sansa. I think I'll just stick to this thread lol
criesofthepast
Member
So this is the official thread or isn't it? Why is there two threads? The other one is dead compared to this one. If people labelled spoilers properly I dont really see the need for two threads. Anyways...
Premier was so good.
Premier was so good.
Goes to show how bad my memory of the books is at this point (probably read ACOK a decade ago).
I didn't remember the scene where Littlefinger tells Cersei that he knows her secret at all. As I was watching it I was thinking "Wow, that's really not something you'd want her to know, considering what happened to the last couple people that let it slip that they knew"
I assume that actually happened in the book anyway.
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