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Game of Thrones *Tagged Book Spoilers, Please Read OP* |OT| Season 3 - Sundays on HBO

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I've read the books. I was pleased with season 1, and a bit disappointed by season 2. Thus far, season 3 has been pretty decent in my opinion.
 

Moff

Member
[ASoS]
What a weird thing to say.
You want to be refreshed of a memory of Tyrion being wretched, then you follow that up with one of his most wretched moment? o_O

no thats not weird at all, because you judge TV tyrion from what we've seen already when you call TV tyrion "less wretched", so I'm wondering what you mean. because I think he's exactly as pathetic and insecure as in the books. book tyrion is not wretched AT ALL before the end of ASOS.
 

RaidenZR

Member
I've read the books. I was pleased with season 1, and a bit disappointed by season 2. Thus far, season 3 has been pretty decent in my opinion.

I feel similarly except I didn't like how they copped-out on the whole White Walker army cliff-hanger from last season into this season. And this last episode makes me doubt this show can handle the third book's material in general.
 
I feel similarly except I didn't like how they copped-out on the whole White Walker army cliff-hanger from last season into this season. And this last episode makes me doubt this show can handle the third book's material in general.

Yeah, true. I noticed that with the White Walker thing as well. It seemed off, and didn't really gell with the way season 2 ended. I also thought that Theon was dead on the show, but I'm happy to see him alive and "well".

Everything else seems okay to me. It looks better than season 2, and I like the more deliberate pacing going on at the moment. Some choice lines of dialogue, and plenty of intrigue. I even kind of liked the Cat scene... it was touching.
 
Fair enough. I thought that that scene did a good job of making her seem (ASOS)
more three dimensional and human, without totally neutering her history with Jon. I don't really feel like either Cat or Robb (or Talisa) are very personable at this point, which is a mistake given what's coming up for them down the road. I welcome any attempt the writers make to humanize or endear us to those characters before the RW.

Also, I just found out that Jennifer Ehle was originally cast as Catelyn in the pilot but had to drop out due to conflicting schedules. Damn. I think she would have made for a much better Catelyn.

The problem, IMO, is that (ASOS spoiler):
they pretty much wasted all of S2 with respect to Catelyn and Robb. The King of the North scene at the end of S1 was certainly a highlight for many viewers, and the assumption became that a torch was being passed to Robb basically; he'd be trying to avenge his father or die trying. But in S2 he pretty much just stands around doing nothing, except have awkward conversations with a nurse.

So now we're in S2 and Talisa is still a pretty boring, unremarkable character. Likewise Robb is still riding around with little impact on the story. He won multiple victories in the second book and reached a mythic status throughout the north, but so far the series has made him quite boring and emotionless. So yea, I hope things improve, but right now I'm not very hopeful. We'll see how the Riverrun stuff goes, and how they handle Edmure (who pretty much lost the war for the north by not following directions); Tywin is no longer in the field of battle so I really don't know what they'll do with that story
 
Anywhere I can find a list of the creatures of the book series? It was cool seeing a Giant in the first episode this season. I want to know what else is in store.
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
Margaery stole the show in this ep, together with the queen of thorns. Scenes with Joff & Sansa were the highlight this week. Giving Dormer more to do, was a pretty good decision. That smirk on her face! She's great. Change you can believe in. I'm not familiar with Dormer's other work, but I love her in this. I should check out The Tudors sometime.
I'm really glad with the way they're treating Theon's stuff. It bridges the gap and it allows them to [series]
do the Reek stuff after all.
Overall, pretty good episode. Moreso than last week, the hour just flew by. Some weaker scenes as well though. Kekelli's acting was pretty bad, and the Jon stuff felt like a waste. So far, show Mance is pretty much a new character... Cool thing about book Mance is that he always came off as jovial, funny and even a bit fragile for a guy with that much power. But still combined with smarts and the gift of leadership. In the show, Mance seems much more one-dimensional, aka just a strong badass leader. In game terms: it's like a rogue/thief/bard hybrid compared to a pure fighter.
Then there's the Night Watch. I'll agree with what others have said. After the final shot of s2, the current state of affairs must seem pretty lame to most viewers: the threat of the White Walker army is gone, and instead we have a bunch of dudes casually marching towards the Wall. They didn't pay off what they set up. Budget reasons I know, but still. So far, this is my biggest complaint.
 

Kilrogg

paid requisite penance
Since nobody has really made any criticisms about the Reeds, I'll go ahead. Let me just preface this by saying I still love what we've seen of them, especially Jojen:

- Jojen is a bit too down-to-earth compared to the way I pictured him. He always had a sense of mystery and poetry about him in the books, which I don't find here. Part of it is because he's been aged up I suppose.
- Meera sure is a badass hunter, as in the books, but she looks and sounds a bit too cocky for my taste. She's a bit like Yara Greyjoy, except she's a child of the forest.
- Overall both characters lose a bit from being aged up, or at least it has a noticeable impact on the feel of the characters. Still, I like both book Reeds and show Reeds. Can't wait to see more of them.
 
- Jojen is a bit too down-to-earth compared to the way I pictured him. He always had a sense of mystery and poetry about him in the books, which I don't find here. Part of it is because he's been aged up I suppose.
- Meera sure is a badass hunter, as in the books, but she looks and sounds a bit too cocky for my taste. She's a bit like Yara Greyjoy, except she's a child of the forest.
- Overall both characters lose a bit from being aged up, or at least it has a noticeable impact on the feel of the characters. Still, I like both book Reeds and show Reeds. Can't wait to see more of them.

I agree with this. I always pictured Jojen as very mysterious. Talking slow and really seriously all the time. As for Meera, I don't mind her getting a little more charisma as she isn't very interesting in the books.
 

Zoibie

Member
where is Rickon?

Man that tyrion and shae scene was bad.

Yup. It's the first time I didn't much care for Dinklage's performance, which is a shame considering he nailed his scene with Charles Dance last episode. Was Shae always this bad at acting and I'd just never noticed before?

Yeah, true. I noticed that with the White Walker thing as well. It seemed off, and didn't really gell with the way season 2 ended. I also thought that Theon was dead on the show, but I'm happy to see him alive and "well".

Everything else seems okay to me. It looks better than season 2, and I like the more deliberate pacing going on at the moment. Some choice lines of dialogue, and plenty of intrigue. I even kind of liked the Cat scene... it was touching.

ASOS
That Cat scene is what's going to make the RW hurt just that little bit more. And they're only going to build on that sympathy from here
 
Isn't it funny how the best scenes in each episode are often the ones most faithful to the books? Stick to the source material, geniuses. You're no GRRM, D&B.
 

Moff

Member
Isn't it funny how the best scenes in each episode are often the ones most faithful to the books? Stick to the source material, geniuses. You're no GRRM, D&B.
most people seem to praise the show exclusive margaery scenes in the latest episode though.
 

Kilrogg

paid requisite penance
which might also be because they somehow look alike. that was the first thing I noticed about meera.

I know, right?

I agree with this. I always pictured Jojen as very mysterious. Talking slow and really seriously all the time. As for Meera, I don't mind her getting a little more charisma as she isn't very interesting in the books.

The show does a good job of presenting Meera as complementary to his brains and warg powers I think. I don't mind the show giving her more character either, but it's just not the kind of personality I pictured for her. If anything she should be calling Jojen on his bullshit when he gets too esoteric, not defending him from Osha. Then again show Osha is much different and show Jojen is not mysterious at all.
 

Atsumi

Member
I agree with this. I always pictured Jojen as very mysterious. Talking slow and really seriously all the time. As for Meera, I don't mind her getting a little more charisma as she isn't very interesting in the books.

I always liked Meera, but I do agree that she isn't all that interesting. Always great to see badass warrior/fighter/hunter women.
 

Eidan

Member
Uhhh of course Tyrion's personality and character has
something to do with his murder of Shae. Do you think Ned, even in a similarly desperate and humiliated situation, would resort to murder the way Tyrion did? It has very much to do with his character. And I might grant that a whitewashed Tyrion would still murder Shae as presented in the books, but it doesn't make sense with a more sympathetic TV-Shae. Who, by the way, can apparently fend off rapists with a knife, so I wonder how Tyrion will strangle her. I guess he'll just crossbow her as well. Eh.

ASOS
Tyrion's history and the circumstances involved have a lot more to do with it. Nothing you listed as "whitewashing" would make Tyrion killing Shae seem impossible. Far from it. And why do you think it wouldn't make sense for Tyrion to kill Shae if Shae is more sympathetic. Why would that matter? I've said it before, but adding nuance to Shae's situation does nothing but enhance the entire scene. I really don't get where you're coming from.
 
I really don't see why it was necessary to bring in the Reeds instead of just rolling them into Osha or something. There are already too many characters for a TV show and they seemed like a relatively easy cut.

Full series
By ADWD they appear to serve practically no purpose anymore. Unless including them in the show now confirms they'll serve further purpose in the coming books.


Your spoiler part is what I think, that they are end game participants
 
I always liked Meera, but I do agree that she isn't all that interesting. Always great to see badass warrior/fighter/hunter women.

She always struck me as a very prim and proper type in the books. But I'm ok with the depiction so far.

Was Shae always this bad at acting and I'd just never noticed before?

She has actually always seemed to me to be acting really well. But maybe I'm looking at it from a different perspective and ASOS
giving her too much credit?
 

Eidan

Member
Series
Looking in that non-book spoiler thread, I get the distinct feeling some people are stealth non-book readers. That one dude already "deduced" that the Boltons are betraying Robb, and "must be" in the pocket of Tywin.
 

Ingeniero

Member
Osha's actress is pretty good.
That sick look all the time and badassery in general is very cool.

I liked Meera.

Thoros does not look like I imagined him, but its ok, he seems fun.
 

Of course, all threads are like that. The walking dead was especially funny towards the end when I knew the spoilers for an episode and amazingly accurate "speculation" just kept right on happening ;)

All in good fun.

So far, show Mance is pretty much a new character... Cool thing about book Mance is that he always came off as jovial, funny and even a bit fragile for a guy with that much power.

Yeah I always pictured him as the good looking bard type...he doesn't seem to have quite enough charisma or charm...although his depiction is probably more realistic.
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
Series
Looking in that non-book spoiler thread, I get the distinct feeling some people are stealth non-book readers. That one dude already "deduced" that the Boltons are betraying Robb, and "must be" in the pocket of Tywin.
Maybe he's Sherlock Holmes. :p
 

Moff

Member
Series
Looking in that non-book spoiler thread, I get the distinct feeling some people are stealth non-book readers. That one dude already "deduced" that the Boltons are betraying Robb, and "must be" in the pocket of Tywin.

yeah thats dumb, but making a fuss about it in the thread about is not really recommendable. now all know thats true.
 
ASOS
As for the Night's Watch, we've seen even less of this storyline, and it pretty much is going exactly as I remembered. The Watch is broken and beaten, spirits are low, and Sam is a bitch.

I think the main thing that's lacking in the Night's Watch scenes is a lack of danger due to the budget and daytime filming. ASOS
In the book last episodes scene happened at night with torches being the only thing protecting the watch from the weights, when Sam goes down and his brothers torches vanish into the woods there's actually a reason to be concerned for him. When he's 3 years away from the conga line of brothers in broad daylight with Mormont in his face seconds later commanding people to watch over him it feels like everyone's safe, the scene doesn't achieve much beyond making Sam look like a bitch again. On top their situation seems nowhere near as dire due to the fact we didn't witness the horror at the Fist.

Other than a few parts I enjoyed the episode and really liked what they did with Margaery. I just wish that it was Vargo Hoat rolling up at the end with the brave companions, hopefully the characters them seem to have had their personalties neutered develop into more than generic man/boy later in the series.
 

Ark

Member
Anyone else notice how in Bran's dream everything was green, even the forest floor was covered in greenery.

Green dreams!
 
Full series
I'm sure it's been discussed already but I fell behind on the thread this week. The final moments/lines of the crossbow scene, do we think they're setting her up to be the one who poisons him?
 

Dysun

Member
I think the main thing that's lacking in the Night's Watch scenes is a lack of danger due to the budget and daytime filming. ASOS
In the book last episodes scene happened at night with torches being the only thing protecting the watch from the weights, when Sam goes down and his brothers torches vanish into the woods there's actually a reason to be concerned for him. When he's 3 years away from the conga line of brothers in broad daylight with Mormont in his face seconds later commanding people to watch over him it feels like everyone's safe, the scene doesn't achieve much beyond making Sam look like a bitch again. On top their situation seems nowhere near as dire due to the fact we didn't witness the horror at the Fist.

Other than a few parts I enjoyed the episode and really liked what they did with Margaery. I just wish that it was Vargo Hoat rolling up at the end with the brave companions, hopefully the characters them seem to have had their personalties neutered develop into more than generic man/boy later in the series.
If the wildlings go to the fist and see some carnage in episode 3, which was in the books, I expect it would have made the Night's Watch situation look more dire. Perhaps they should have shuffled around the trek to fit in after that.

Isn't it funny how the best scenes in each episode are often the ones most faithful to the books? Stick to the source material, geniuses. You're no GRRM, D&B.

Except for Margery who was the highlight of the night. D&D have added things before that work well. I would love to see a 100% faithful adaption but it's never going to happen.

Non book reader thread
This Madness guy thinks he's on a crusade to stop spoilers in the non-spoiler thread but he's just spread the spoilers far worse than if he had said nothing, I think he's been crying for like 3 pages now.
 

Jobiensis

Member
Series
Looking in that non-book spoiler thread, I get the distinct feeling some people are stealth non-book readers. That one dude already "deduced" that the Boltons are betraying Robb, and "must be" in the pocket of Tywin.

Series
He also said Jamie killed the mad king under orders of Tywin, so he might just have gotten lucky, or consulted wiki about Bolton or he is deliberately saying wrong things to throw off the scent. I also found the 'speculation' that Robb had made a former ally an enemy because of his marriage a bit suspect. Really hard to tell what is real speculation and what is people trying to look smarter than they are. Let the witch hunt begin.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
A lot of the criticism that gets tossed at GOT by book readers seems to rely on this assumption all of the events in the books actually are occurring, but D&D are mean and don't' let us see them. The reality is that GOT is pretty much a retelling in which those events don't occur.
 

Eidan

Member
Series
He also said Jamie killed the mad king under orders of Tywin, so he might just have gotten lucky, or consulted wiki about Bolton or he is deliberately saying wrong things to throw off the scent. I also found the 'speculation' that Robb had made a former ally an enemy because of his marriage a bit suspect. Really hard to tell what is real speculation and what is people trying to look smarter than they are. Let the witch hunt begin.

Jaimeburnthemall.gif
 
If the wildlings go to the fist and see some carnage in episode 3, which was in the books, I expect it would have made the Night's Watch situation look more dire. Perhaps they should have shuffled around the trek to fit in after that.

Ep 3 spoiler
They will, it's in the episode 3 synopsis.
 
The main problem with the show is that changes to characters and lack of interior monologue is really killing a lot of them.

They've done a wonderful job of creating a living, breathing world but the character development is just not good right now. A show about zombies is doing a better job of developing characters and making us care about them.

John Snow as a fourteen year old kid is so vastly more interesting and different than what comes across in the show. The way they are writing Margaery--that's how Cersei was supposed to be. They've turned her into an old woman. Jaime, Dany, Tyrion, Arya are perfect. Something about Catelyn and Robb are off, can't put my finger on it, but I could care less about them as they are portrayed in the show.
 

Dysun

Member
The main problem with the show is that changes to characters and lack of interior monologue is really killing a lot of them.

They've done a wonderful job of creating a living, breathing world but the character development is just not good right now. A show about zombies is doing a better job of developing characters and making us care about them.

John Snow as a fourteen year old kid is so vastly more interesting and different than what comes across in the show. The way they are writing Margaery--that's how Cersei was supposed to be. They've turned her into an old woman. Jaime, Dany, Tyrion, Arya are perfect. Something about Catelyn and Robb are off, can't put my finger on it, but I could care less about them as they are portrayed in the show.

The Walking Dead does not have better character development, lets not get crazy
 

Talon

Member
The main problem with the show is that changes to characters and lack of interior monologue is really killing a lot of them.

They've done a wonderful job of creating a living, breathing world but the character development is just not good right now. A show about zombies is doing a better job of developing characters and making us care about them.

John Snow as a fourteen year old kid is so vastly more interesting and different than what comes across in the show. The way they are writing Margaery--that's how Cersei was supposed to be. They've turned her into an old woman. Jaime, Dany, Tyrion, Arya are perfect. Something about Catelyn and Robb are off, can't put my finger on it, but I could care less about them as they are portrayed in the show.
This show has problems, but TWD does not do better than it.

The Walking Dead consists of a cast of autistic sociopaths with no empathy. Half the shit that happens in that show would be solved by just speaking to each other instead of storming off into the woods and chopping up.
 
The main problem with the show is that changes to characters and lack of interior monologue is really killing a lot of them.

They've done a wonderful job of creating a living, breathing world but the character development is just not good right now. A show about zombies is doing a better job of developing characters and making us care about them.

John Snow as a fourteen year old kid is so vastly more interesting and different than what comes across in the show. The way they are writing Margaery--that's how Cersei was supposed to be. They've turned her into an old woman. Jaime, Dany, Tyrion, Arya are perfect. Something about Catelyn and Robb are off, can't put my finger on it, but I could care less about them as they are portrayed in the show.

I agree that Cersei, Catelyn and Robb aren't mirror images of their portrayal in the books, but of the three, Robb is the only one that's a bit underdeveloped in the show. We're pretty clear by the time we're halfway through season one as to who Cat and Cersei are and how they got to be that way. Robb basically has nothing to do in the show for the first half of the season and just kind of pops up out of nowhere when Eddard is taken captive and starts a war.
 

dubq

Member
I always got the impression that the Brotherhood were against ALL who would harm the small folk, wolf or lion. Regardless, one of them lazily singing "The Rains of Castamere" hardly feels out of character.


I got the impression that Thoros was singing that so that any Lannister's out there would think they are allies and thus they'd have the jump on them.
 
most people seem to praise the show exclusive margaery scenes in the latest episode though.
Her scene with her grandmother was almost word for word from the book. They have done well with the two big scenes she had this season that weren't in the book(orphanage, crossbow) but overall their original scenes simply aren't good television; I thought the Brotherhood was great though. The Shae scene was just bad, largely due to her acting. I liked Cersei's scene with Joffrey well enough but some might argue it was redundant.

I think a lot of this might have to do with how/what characters are used. Apparently this season will have a lot of new scenes with Lady Olena and I'd imagine they'll be good television. But Ros and Shae apparently also have extended scenes...why? I think part of the reason people say the episodes fly by to many peoplr is because each episode features multiple uneventful scenes many people don't care about; so if you're getting 30 minutes of characters you like, while your favorite character (for instance Arya wasn't in ep 1, Dany wasn't in ep 2) is absent, of course you'll feel like the show breezed by.

I really think that will continue to be a major problem with the show as new characters are piled on, plus uneventful new scenes with characters no one likes.
 

Eidan

Member
Her scene with her grandmother was almost word for word from the book. They have done well with the two big scenes she had this season that weren't in the book(orphanage, crossbow) but overall their original scenes simply aren't good television; I thought the Brotherhood was great though. The Shae scene was just bad, largely due to her acting. I liked Cersei's scene with Joffrey well enough but some might argue it was redundant.

I think a lot of this might have to do with how/what characters are used. Apparently this season will have a lot of new scenes with Lady Olena and I'd imagine they'll be good television. But Ros and Shae apparently also have extended scenes...why? I think part of the reason people say the episodes fly by to many peoplr is because each episode features multiple uneventful scenes many people don't care about; so if you're getting 30 minutes of characters you like, while your favorite character (for instance Arya wasn't in ep 1, Dany wasn't in ep 2) is absent, of course you'll feel like the show breezed by.

I really think that will continue to be a major problem with the show as new characters are piled on, plus uneventful new scenes with characters no one likes.

The show should be reduced to just Tyrion, Jon, and Dany scenes.
 
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