I didn’t read the books, so I agree with those saying there is a lot of stuff being thrown at us. I fell like I was plopped down in the middle of something, and not too sure why I should care about any of these characters. I wish they had spent maybe just a few minutes giving us the backstory and what these various locations are and how they relate to each other.
But it’s got me interested enough to keep watching.
FWIW, thats one of the better parts of the books. You get plopped into it kinda mid-story, and then the (very extensive) back story of all the charactesr is only revealed slowly from there. Not sure the same thing will work in a TV show, but I guess we’ll see.
In the first book we hear discussions of the past–from ancient history to incidents of the war that put Robert on the throne. In later books we hear slightly different versions of those tales. And we are inside one point-of-view character’s mind when he remembers a notorious occurrence–which seems to have happened very differently than we first supposed.
Fan sites for the books contain much speculation about what exactly happened in the past. (I’m avoiding details to avoid spoilers.)
So it’s good that we haven’t seen “flashbacks” to events that GRRM hasn’t fully explained in the books!
I thought it was a decent pilot although not up to par with HBO’s other series’ pilots. It felt thin, but I may be biased being a fan of the books. Early reviewers say the show really picks up steam pretty quickly, though, so I’m not concerned.
I was concerned that a lot of the sound/dialogue seemed muffled and mumbled, and that people who hadn’t read the books wouldn’t be able to pick up on characters’ names and relationships to each other. The little confrontation between Ned and Jaime at the banquet is a good example of this – if I didn’t remember that conversation (or exposition?) from the books, I wouldn’t have understood what Ned said to Jaime to explain his reluctance to fight in tourneys. It’s not Sean Bean’s accent, because I’m familiar with that – the dialogue in the sound mix was just very muffled.
That scene was not in the books…
No, but at some point later on in the story he says or the narration explains that he doesn’t fight in tourneys because he doesn’t want people to see his moves. (…Right? I swear I remember that.)
Not sure if I agree that it’s a better part of the book - I started the first book about 4 times before I could get into it. It’s now one of my favorite books, but boy, that beginning really turned me off for a long time.
I don’t think so. That’s pretty out of character, IMO.
It is, what happened in the past is just as interesting as what is happening during the books. When i read i wanted to know what happened before just as badly as i wanted to know what would happen next.
Each their own, of course. But I liked it because a lot of stuff never gets explicitly explained, you just slowly pick it up from the comments made by characters until you realize the books didn’t start at the beginning of the story but the middle. It kinda mimics the experience of the Stark children, who missed most of the same stuff and have to piece it togeather from their elders.
Course, in TV form, I fear this will lead to a lot of awkward out-of character explanations. For example, from last night (paraphrased, obviously)/
I just read GoT and Ned does state that he doesn’t fight at tourneys. It seemed more like, “I don’t play at war.” than “I don’t want people to know what I can do.” Though maybe it was a little of both.
In any case, Ned definitely mentions he’s not a tourney fighter.
Re: Ned and tourneys
Ned objects to the tourney thrown in his honor because he hates being made a fuss over, and he thinks it’s a huge waste of money at a time when the crown is in deep debt. I’ve just recently re-read the first two books and nowhere does he state that he doesn’t want to fight because people would see his moves.
I didn’t like the way they changed Cat’s reaction to Ned being offered the position of the Hand. It simplifies her character too much - she was both affectionate and ambitious and ruthless in the book, and that didn’t come through in the show.
I agree with Simplicio. I think to an extent the happenings themselves are what hooks you in, along with a little bit of how the characters seeem to be. As time goes on, generally the events take on less significance in terms of pure shock and surprise value (though some certainly have that), and more significance because we care about the characters (or dislike them and want bad things to happen to them). And of course, as time goes on you’re also learning about the backstory and why people like/dislike others.
I think the biggest problem is that the books are written from one characters’s perspective per chapter, so for a lot of what’s covered in this first episode we basically are Ned and we have access to his thoughts on a subject. That allows for easier identification.
It was kind of a weird experience watching the show last night. I was actually physically uncomfortable at some points, thinking about which characters were going to die horribly, which ones were going to be maimed or go through mental hell, etc etc. I told my wife that I wasn’t sure I could watch the whole series. Hell, I haven’t even re-read the books (nor gotten them on audio) because, while I loved the story, it’s pretty rough on the main characters…especially several of them that I really liked.
The lead up to when Bran gets thrown off the tower was particularly difficult. We were watching it with some friends of ours who hadn’t read the book, and I saw what was coming and had to restrain myself from leaving the room. They were shocked when it happened and wanted to know if the boy would be alright. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that he gets off light compared to some of the other members of that family.
-XT
I don’t have any issue with it as the book goes on - it was just at the very beginning, I found it hard to get into the book.
I really want to watch it…I just need to carve out TV time from the rest of the people in the house. Your spoiler was the point in reading GoT that I first realized that this was not an ordinary fluffy-bunny fantasy series.
Yeah…and this mini-series is definitely not your average fluffy-bunny fantasy mini-series either. It’s pretty gritty and I definitely wouldn’t recommend anyone letting their young children watch.
Seriously…spoilers here, do don’t read further if you haven’t seen the show and don’t want to have it spoiled: Literally before the first commercial break there had been several gruesome deaths and a beheading. The word ‘fuck’ is pretty commonly used, as well as some fairly gritty near-porn sex scenes and nudity. There are some other fairly adult themes such as Daenerys being given to Khal Drogo to provide an army for Viserys, as well as the various brother/sister incest parts of the story, John Snow’s bastardy, and the ever popular Tyrion, who gets a fairly graphic blowjob fairly early on :p. Plus, there is Bran getting casually thrown off of the tower he climbed up because he witnessed some of that brother/sister incest. Definitely not for the kiddies.
-XT
Shit yeah! Immensely satisfying so far. I subscribed HBO just for this and I watched about half so far.
Casting: allgood. Dany: boner fuel. Locations: immersive. Tyrion: fuckin A right.
I haven’t gotten the thrill of a confluence of upcoming books and upcoming TV series since Harry Potter. HP, not being written for my age demographic, is not remotely close to this intensity. SoIaF = unfettered badassery. All the hoopla has reanimated my near 30-year dormant appetite for fantasy literature. I’m reading Tad Williams and Wheel of Time while I while away the days until Dance with Dragons hits.
This jumped out at me, too, haha! I know it was expected of the Dothraki. But I guess no one in the Seven Kingdoms is into missionary style. With Jamie and Cersei I guess it was contrived so one of them would be looking out the window.
It’s simply the most efficient way to get busy. What…you think they’re going to soil their clothing even further, or take it off? My theory is that anything not in an actual BED is going to be doggy style just for practical purposes. Not that there’s anything wrong with doggy style IN bed, either…