Which pretty much follows the books.
I thought Viserys was perfect, Tyrion and Jamie were this close to perfect, and everyone else was really, really, really good. The only one I didn’t like was Cersei – she’s supposed to be this legendary beauty, and they’ve casted someone who’s a 7 on a good day. Eh. Oh, and Danerys was very emotionless, but it makes sense, so I’ll trust that she’ll do more than get naked and look stoned in future episodes.
One thing I didn’t expect was to like Robert so much. I remember him being a prick from the books, and… well, he seems to be a prick in the show, too, but a likable prick.
Contrasting this to Camelot, another swords-and-sorcery epic currently airing on Starz, I’m just struck how polished and professional Game of Thrones is in comparison. Not that Camelot is amateurish, necessarily, but it’s like comparing MLB to AAA. Yeah, AAA players are very skilled, but it’s clearly not the same league.
I just watched it from the DVR. Absolutely excellent! Hehe…supervenusfreak (who has never read the books) was watching it with me and when you know what happened at the end and it faded to black, I hear “Are. You. SERIOUS?!” from the couch.
Unfortunately, we don’t have HBO. I didn’t know he was just watching the free weekend when I heard him watching Bill Maher and asked him to DVR the first episode. Not sure what we’re doing about that at the moment…I think he’s watching a series on another premium channel and we can’t really afford to have two of them active.
Re: the wolves
They’re going to have to show the scene where Lady gets executed - it’s such a huge part of the story, the fact that Sansa loses her wolf in such a way. I just thought it was odd that there were no scenes whatsoever that showed the girls bonding with their wolves. I’m hoping they’ll show more of that in the second ep.
THANK you. Of course, we’re in the oppressed minority on that one.
-Joe
Robert was supposed to be extremely likable, at least when he was younger.
Nymeria helping Arya pack is in the next episode. A great scene between Jon and Arya should help build a connection to the characters for the newbies.
Yeah, Robert was supposed to be pretty heroic and generally cool. It’s just that he basically was given ultimate power and so he spent all his time indulging his lusts.
Really, except for being a general womanizer and treating Cersei like shit (something that was definitely a two-way street) , he wasn’t too bad.
-Joe
Boooooo! Lena Heady is easily a 9, almost a 10.
Castings are never going to suit everyone, I suppose. Personally I was expecting someone a bit “icier” for Cersei, sort of Nicole Kidman-esque before she botoxed her face to death. Or an older Blake Lively, maybe. But Lena Heady is beautiful and from what I’ve seen she plays the role pretty well. I’m interested to see how she carries off the insane/raging side of Cersei.
The only casting I have a problem with is Catelyn, but maybe I’ll eventually warm up to her.
[This](http://www.nobleknight.com/imagepage.asp?image=FFGGOT29A.jpg&name=Five Kings Booster Box) is how I pictured her when I read the books, and I wish they would have cast someone who looks even remotely like that.
I REEEEEEEALLY wish Jennifer Ehle was playing Catelyn. I remember being so excited when she and Sean Bean were announced as Cat and Ed. Also she should be closer to Cersei in age - maybe a handful of years older. Robb is only a couple of years older than Joff.
I caught a glimpse of Lysa in one of the previews and (minor spoiler)
she looked gaunt and severe rather than plump and made up like she’s described in the books.
Anyway, I’m going to re-watch the first ep again tonight. I think now that I’ve gotten the geeky nitpicking out of my system, I can enjoy it more as a casual viewer, so to speak.
One thing I wish is that shows with big sprawling casts like this would put character names on screen as they appear for the first couple of episodes. It might be distracting for some, but it would have been a huge help for me with this, Rome, and both of the Tom Hanks WWII minis.
I’m very happy with Jon Snow, Ned, Tyrion, Robert, Jaime, Arya and Joffrey. (I had an overwhelming desire to kick that character in the face even before he opened his mouth.) I’m less so, but still happy, with Catelyn, Sansa, Cersei, Robb and Viserys.
I imagined Catelyn would look, well, like someone close to forty who’d bourne five children. A little rounder around the edges. I can’t make my mind up if I dislike Sansa because the actor rubs me wrong or because I’m supposed to dislike her. IIRC in the books, she was quietly sympathetic in a “daddy’s little princess” way, at least until the show hit the road. Cersei has the cool and the timing for the Ice Queen pieces, but I didn’t see any chemistry between her and Jaime at all. Her part grows in King’s Landing, though.
Robb was just a haughty deaf-mute in this episode. I expect to revise my opinion as he comes into preeminence. And Viserys . . . I had always imagined him as something more like the Joker from the last two Batman movies. Someone with a flash temper who goes way too far. Now he just seems like a scheming sociopath. Again, probably more later.
Daenerys is the only casting choice I really can’t for the life of me see.
As someone who becomes the driving force for a large part of the tension in the series, she showed precisely one expression and tone of voice in this episode. Yes, that’s true to the book where she walked around like a perpetual nervous breakdown for a long while, but unless she’s hiding some absolutely terrific acting chops under that horrid wig, I can’t see her remaining neither convincing nor interesting for long.
I’m drawing a blank. Which incident is that? (Spoiler it, please).
The scene where the queen asked Ned’s daughter “Have you bled yet”- is the queen crass in the novels (other than shagging her brother) or is that an acceptable question to ask an adolescent potential daughter-in-law in the 7 Kingdoms world? And is Robert king of all 7 kingdoms in the first episode?
And I wonder if missionary position is known in this world or just doggy style as seen in the first episode.
Cersei can be quite blunt, but she doesn’t show that side to Sansa in the novels, until much later on after a lot of other shit happens. In the book, Sansa is embarrassed by the question. I was a bit startled that they showed Cersei being so blunt with Sansa so early on.
And yes, Robert rules all seven kingdoms when the series starts. The seven kingdoms have been under a single ruler for quite some time at this point - the Targaryens united them ages ago.
The last one? I think he’s talking about the incident with Lyanna at the Tower of Joy.
Well, Robert reigns over all seven kingdoms. A couple of them have more or less become semi-independent (paying more lip service than real service) because of Robert’s inattention and/or their own political tendencies.
I’ve read the books several times, loved them all, but even I couldn’t figure out who was who in the premiere. And it took my 2nd viewing to finally figure out that the reason it looked like there were too many Stark kids is the fact that one of them is Theon.
Of course, no one’s NAME is ever used <well, rarely>; I honestly don’t know how they expect newcomers to follow it.