# Game of Thrones: omnibus discussion thread based on knowledge of books (OPEN SPOILERS) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377 "2011-04-22T17:16:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/501 "2011-05-09T17:28:22Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Wither Robert dead and Renly fled, what use would it be to help out Ned? You might end up dead if you help out Ned, so you’d better watch your back instead! ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/502 "2011-05-09T18:26:47Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > Much more powerful when the Hound tells Sansa his story. Especially considering how their relationship evolves. Edited for time, I suppose. I agree and the scene is rather baffling because Arya and the septa can hear what he says so how exactly is it supposed to be a big secret. And I am not sure it even saves much time since the Hound is quite a well-established character by now. I still liked the episode. Once again a nice bit of casting for the actor who plays Sam. I liked the scenes which make Thorne and Viserys a touch more sympathetic at least at first. I agree that Theon is an important character and the sack of Winterfell is much more dramatic and horrifying if it’s done by him. They did a reasonable job of setting up his character and story in this episode though I suppose some of it would go over the head of new viewers. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/503 "2011-05-09T18:29:43Z")
What makes it even more baffling is that the guy playing Sandor was specifically cast because of how well he did that scene. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/504 "2011-05-09T19:21:05Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I’m not watching the series (we don’t have HBO), but I doubt it. Tywin doesn’t really show up in person until after Ned dies, to try to keep the kingdom from flying to pieces because of Cersei’s and Joff’s political fuck-ups, and the series isn’t there yet. Actually, Tywin shows up before Ned is dead - he shows up at the battle at the river when Tyrion is leading all his mountain savages in the vanguard. > [@brocks](#): > > Joff is arrogant and cruel, but he’s not an idiot. He knows that Ned is his “father’s” best friend. How could he think that killing one of Ned’s children would make him look good? I don’t think he meant to look good to his father. I think he’s an impulsive and not-very-bright little jerk and it was an act of impulse more than anything else. His father said Bran should be dead, and Joff doesn’t really like the Stark boys, so there you go. I’ve never actually understood how Cat is stupid enough to believe the Tyrion’s-knife story anyway. If there’s ANYTHING that’s obvious about Tyrion it’s that he’s far, far more clever than anything else. What kind of complete moron would you have to be to arm a stableboy with a knife THAT distinctive? Well, a Joffrey kind. Certainly not a Tyrion kind. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/505 "2011-05-09T19:22:45Z")
> [@Enilno](#): > > With Littlefinger, if he had told the truth, that he lost the dagger to Robert, it doesn’t really accomplish anything. I doubt that Ned would believe that Robert, even as he is now, would have ordered it. They probably wouldn’t have been able to trace it to Joff, either. They would have been at an impass. so instead, he set them on an Imp ass. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kylede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kylede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kylede)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/506 "2011-05-09T19:29:07Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > I am re-reading in hopes that we will not be disappointed by yet another delay for A Dance with Dragons. > > In A storm of Swords, page 323, Arya is told by Edric Dayne that Jon Snow’s mother was a wet nurse named Wylla. Just a note for anyone who hasn’t read this. Here is a grand discussion of Jon Snow’s parentage. [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/FAQ/Entry/Who\_are\_Jon\_Snows\_parents/](http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/FAQ/Entry/Who_are_Jon_Snows_parents/) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/507 "2011-05-09T19:33:42Z")
Another good episode, I thought. The actor playing Sam was well-cast. Good to finally see Jon Snow’s direwolf. Impressive jousting scene. The scene at the end, as Cat reminds each of those knights of the fealty they owe her, and then calls for them to seize Tyrion, was very well done, I thought (but what about Tyrion’s four guards who we saw riding in with him, and were left standing by the door? You’d think they’d have said or done _something_.) Nitpick: the Queen’s name is spelled “Cersei.” ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/508 "2011-05-09T19:36:49Z")
> [@Feyrat](#): > > …I don’t think he meant to look good to his father. I think he’s an impulsive and not-very-bright little jerk and it was an act of impulse more than anything else. His father said Bran should be dead, and Joff doesn’t really like the Stark boys, so there you go… It could be that Joff was hoping to implicate his uncle, as a bonus. Tyrion had probably aimed well-deserved slaps in his direction before that scene we witnessed. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/509 "2011-05-09T19:38:02Z")
So…what was the deal with the shields at the joust? Why were they concave? Is that a specific tournament setup to keep the lance inside the shield rather than impaling the opponent? I’ve never seen anything like that before. Never heard it mentioned, either, though I can see the sense in the design if that’s the point behind it. > [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > It could be that Joff was hoping to implicate his uncle, as a bonus. Tyrion had probably aimed well-deserved slaps in his direction before that scene we witnessed. Sure, but Joffrey doesn’t think that far ahead. He wanted to do something dad could appreciate - putting him out of his misery. Short-sighted and simple. Like everything Joffrey does. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/510 "2011-05-09T20:12:19Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > So…what was the deal with the shields at the joust? Why were they concave? Is that a specific tournament setup to keep the lance inside the shield rather than impaling the opponent? I don’t see the series because we don’t get HBO, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Concave? Like the edges project forward and the center is depressed? Or like there was a notch cut from the upper left-hand side (if you’re facing the shield-holder)? The latter is a standard jousting shield, to make room for the lance. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/511 "2011-05-09T20:40:23Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I don’t see the series because we don’t get HBO, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Concave? Like the edges project forward and the center is depressed? Or like there was a notch cut from the upper left-hand side (if you’re facing the shield-holder)? The latter is a standard jousting shield, to make room for the lance. Nope. Imagine your shield is made of half-inch plywood. Now imagine that you take some three-quarter inch strips of wood and attach them around the edges, flush with the back so that the rim of the shield protrudes a quarter-inch past the surface of the shield. Or, to put it another way, if you were to lay the shield down face-up you could collect water in the thing because it’d have walls. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/512 "2011-05-09T20:54:39Z")
In \*A Complete Guide to Heraldry \*by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, a jousting shield is described as follows: > [@](#): > > They were concave, and had on one side of the knight’s right hand a circular indentation. This was the spear-rest, in which to place the tilting-spear. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/513 "2011-05-09T21:15:50Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > In \*A Complete Guide to Heraldry \*by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, a jousting shield is described as follows: No…stupid text-based internet. Here we go, did a quick cap. [https://picasaweb.google.com/merijeek/GOT?authkey=Gv1sRgCPink4i0pe\_ypwE#](https://picasaweb.google.com/merijeek/GOT?authkey=Gv1sRgCPink4i0pe_ypwE#) Thinking about it while looking at the picture I’d describe it as “Like an old-fashioned metal garbage can lid”. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/514 "2011-05-09T21:51:47Z")
I wish there was a way to find out if non-readers have guessed the truth about Robert and Cersei’s “children”. I know I wouldn’t have. Or I would have thought that Robert’s bastards were important for another reason – not because they were proof that Baratheons make dark-haired children, no blondes. When Jon Arryn said “The seed is strong”, is he talking about Baratheon seed or Lannister seed? Both? ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/515 "2011-05-09T21:56:22Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I wish there was a way to find out if non-readers have guessed the truth about Robert and Cersei’s “children”. I know I wouldn’t have. Or I would have thought that Robert’s bastards were important for another reason – not because they were proof that Baratheons make dark-haired children, no blondes. > > When Jon Arryn said “The seed is strong”, is he talking about Baratheon seed or Lannister seed? Both? Baratheon - think dominant vs. recessive genes. Basically, Robert’s hair color is BB, not Bb. As for the kids, I don’t know if I would have know. But as others have said, once you see a dinner table full of blonde “Baratheon” and Lannister kids, it becomes a little more obvious. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/516 "2011-05-09T21:57:07Z")
Baratheon. All of Robert’s children look like him. At least one person on this board has it figured out. I don’t remember the poster and don’t want to look back through this thread. The poster popped in, said “I’m not reading anything, but Joffrey is a product of incest I bet” or something along those lines. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/517 "2011-05-10T01:14:52Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I wish there was a way to find out if non-readers have guessed the truth about Robert and Cersei’s “children”. I know I wouldn’t have. Or I would have thought that Robert’s bastards were important for another reason – not because they were proof that Baratheons make dark-haired children, no blondes. > > When Jon Arryn said “The seed is strong”, is he talking about Baratheon seed or Lannister seed? Both? Someone in my family figured it out right after the Jamie/Cersei sex scene in the first episode without ever reading the books, or any books. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/518 "2011-05-10T01:16:27Z")
[The Lannisters in happier times](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7movKfyTBII) ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/519 "2011-05-10T01:25:19Z")
I think I had a feeling something was fishy with Robert’s kids when he said something to Ned like, “you love your children don’t you?” I don’t know why, but for some reason that made me wonder about his kids’ legitimacy. Seeing it on TV, Joff and the others with their blonde hair, shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377/520 "2011-05-10T01:54:03Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I wish there was a way to find out if non-readers have guessed the truth about Robert and Cersei’s “children”. I know I wouldn’t have. Or I would have thought that Robert’s bastards were important for another reason – not because they were proof that Baratheons make dark-haired children, no blondes. > > When Jon Arryn said “The seed is strong”, is he talking about Baratheon seed or Lannister seed? Both? I actually read a lot, but not this series. 😉 I can’t say I guessed the truth, because honestly I didn’t give it a thought. I gave the issue no importance. Perhaps I should have because of the big deal that was made over Ned’s bastard son. Also, I’m not even sure we’ve seen more than the one theoretical king’s son, Joffrey the Weasel. Oh, yeah, and the this last episode the bastard blacksmith son. If we’ve seen others it would have only been in passing for a moment, and none but Joffrey have had any significant role in the series so far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-omnibus-discussion-thread-based-on-knowledge-of-books-open-spoilers/579377.md?page=27)