Heh, I was joking about Jeyne Poole since I thought she disappeared after the first book, but looking her up on the Ice and Fire wiki (mainly to make sure I spelled her name right), I see that she’s actually Queen of the North now. So there you go, in Song of Ice and Fire, you can’t really write off even minor characteres. Its like Doonesbury but with more killings.
:p:p
Theon does give Robb a peer to talk to, which has some characterization value. I suspect his role is going to be cut down to making rude jokes and occasionally suggestion nasty courses of action for Robb to refuse.
Once the cast splits up, it should be easier for new people to tell who’s who. Most of the similar looking actors are going to different places.
Re: Needing Theon, I think you do.
The emotional impact of it being Theon just adds to the “Jesus can’t ANYTHING go right for these people?” feeling, and I think that’s a huge part of the storyline, that “can’t catch a break” feeling. That this man Robb grew up with as a brother-figure could do something like he did must have completely gut Robb. If it was Asha or one of the brothers, it wouldn’t be the same, IMHO.
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I’d never even heard of the books until this series, so I’m coming in cold. I quite enjoyed the first episode, and the only thing that gave me trouble was keeping track of all the characters.
I’m very glad there was no such scene. It sounds horribly wasteful, expository, and fan-servicy.
Ummm…no. As someone coming in cold you have absolutely no cause for saying that. The wolves are in fact quite significant.
Why are we focusing on the dwarf so much? I know nothing about what will happen but his character is clearly a waste of time and is just there for servicing the Ewok fan boys!
-Joe
As someone who saw the episode, I have just as much cause as anyone. A TV show is not a visual transcription of a book.
That’s as may be. That doesn’t mean that a scene showing their being named would make the show better.
Sarcasm? 
You’re right. But the plot will be the same, or similar. The characters will likely be the same, or similar.
But you’re right, as someone who has read the books I know as much about the significance of the wolves as you do.
By your logic, of course, nobody needs to worry about spoilers, seeing as how things could be completely different from the books at any moment.
Ask ascenray. His guess would be as good as mine, apparently.
-Joe
I think the episode worked well scene by scene but they made a mistake in including the Dany/Drogo story in the first episode especially for new viewers. They should have kept the first episode simple and stayed in Winterfell. I also think some backstory about the history of the Targaryens and the war would have helped before introducing the characters of Dany and Viserys and they could have done that in the second episode.
I think they needed to use people’s names more, to their face or in passing. It might come across slightly forced, but when you have soooo many people to introduce it could be worth it.
In the books, we hear much of the events that led to the downfall of the Targaryens & put Robert on the throne. Eventually we read several versions of these events–& realize that they don’t agree in every particular. There are some elements of that period that haven’t yet been “finalized” in the unfinished series of books, although fan speculation is rife.
In the books, we see events in different parts of the world unfold. Will they eventually come together? Just how?
The show is trying to duplicate the storytelling method in which several story lines move forward while leaving past events somewhat murky. Will everything become clear at the end? We’ve got years to go. (In the books & on TV.)
(From an art direction standpoint, the sunlit scenes with the exiled Targaryens make an interesting contrast to the grim, dark world of Winterfell.)
No, the point has nothing to do with the plot, nor with the significance of the wolves. The point is that filmed drama is a different medium with different requirements than literature. It does less telling and more showing. It does less showing and more implying. It does less exposition. It delays most knowledge until it’s important.
That’s one of the reasons why the Lord of the Rings movies were so much better than the Harry Potter movies. The latter tries to recreate the books too literally and sucks the drama out of the presentation. Jackson, on the other hand, worked hard to preserve the feeling of the story without trying to translate every scene literally.
I agree with you, but I still think that the show is doing a poor job of showing how important the wolves are. The wolves are a vital part of the story, and already in the second episode the lack of set up of the wolves importance in this first episode has caused a major plot element to be seriously underplayed to the point that it is almost nonexistent, and two others to be be downplayed in addition.
spoilers for people who are behind in watching the show:
Arya chasing away Nymeria is critically important, it is one of the single most defining points of her character later on and is glossed over. The power of Sansa’s wolf’s death was undercut as well, as was Bran’s wolf saving his and Cat’s life. It could have been handled better.
So while Merijeek’s solution might not have been the right one, I do agree they needed to do something more.
Yes but I think it would have been wise to have chosen a more linear style at least in the first few episodes while the viewers who haven’t read the books get their bearings and can figure out who the various characters are. As seen in this thread it has been quite a problem for some new viewers.
Incidentally I completely agree that more time should have been spent on the wolves and in fact this could have been one of the scenes that could have been fitted in by dropping the Dany/Drogo subplot in the first episode. Not only are the wolves important later on, they would have been a great device for helping viewers get to know the Stark children better.
You know, that’s a great point. Now I wish they’d done that.
So, in the opening sequence there was a girl nailed to a tree who later popped up in front of the Cowardly Kid. Are the White Walkers some kind of undead creatures?
People killed by the White Walkers come back as undead.
I’ve been quite reliably informed that such a thing would have been both a.waste of screen time and pointless fan service.
-Joe