Agreed, I always have trouble with that in movies/series like this with lots of characters. It’s hard onscreen to tell you who they are without it being ham-handed I guess, but still, it’d be nice. Label them or something the first time they’re onscreen!
Yeah, in the first few scenes, I couldn’t tell Robb, Jon and Theon apart.
Yep, and just when I thought I had it, they all got shaves and haircuts and I gave up. 
The casting for Sansa rankled me as well. I’ve always pictured her as very soft-featured, with big blue eyes…actually, just like the actress playing Dany with her natural dark hair (except, you know, auburn) or Rachel Hurd-Wood (my ideal casting). This actress doesn’t fit that bill, although she may be very good…we’ll see soon.
They were nice enough to point out that Jon was a bastard a few times early on. That helped a lot. Theon, I couldn’t figure out at first. I just didn’t remember the character at all and nothing was said or done to make it clear. At some point it did dawn on me.
I think the choice to cast Lena Heady as Cersei is based more on the fact that she is believable in all aspects. She’s not a 10 as far as beauty goes but there is something about her that makes her very atractive and she has the acting chops to be a total bitch when needed.
Tyrion is the other way around. Not as ugly/disfigured as I thought he would be. But the actor has the exact charm that Tyrion should have. He’s a rogue, a pest at times and even a complete asshole but you wanna cheer him on and high5 (low5?) him.
The show itself; Lots of information for the first episode. I think every major character for book one/series one has been introduced. This probably means they will take the time to explain some things in the next few episodes.
I have to admit, I forgot how the book starts with the slayings beyond the wall.
I gasped when I saw the wall (it looked a lot more wicked than i had ever pictured i) and the blue eyes on the creatures and then the undead girl were great.
While watching the barbarians at work, I suddenly remembered a lot more about Daenerys’ story and the army she gathers. I hope the series makes it that far 
That suprised me a bit, too. Not the question itself … middle ages types didn’t have that much concern for privacy…but I would’ve expected her to use the euphemism “flowered”, as they did through much of the book.
And I have to agree with the poster that was disappointed by the crowd scenes, that was my biggest letdown. The book describes the kings as travelling with “hosts” numbering in the thousands and IIRC, Khal Drogo’s group was 50,000 people strong. I was looking forward to some massive impressive crowd scenes and I was disappointed.
STOP OPPRESSING ME!!!
I always thought that Theon was supposed to be coldly handsome. I also pictured long hair for some reason. This guy was just plain ugly. Only reason I figured out who he was is that he was in such a hurry to kill the wolves. Even then it was the second viewing that I was sure.
-Joe
Oh yeah, and who is the guy with his hair tied around his chin who seemed to be Ned’s Number Two…who was that supposed to be?
-Joe
I think he’s supposed to be the Winterfell chamberlain, but he was such a minor character I can’t remember his name. Probably just there to give the series a bit of color.
-XT
Theon is played by Alfie Allen, who is the singer Lily Allen’s brother (and the subject of her song, Alfie).
OK, I watched it last night. I’ve never read the books and am going to have to watch it again before I make a decision. I mostly watched it for Sean Bean (yummm) but I think it has the potential to suck me in. It’s a tad confusing so I will reserve judgment until after a second watching.
That’s Rodrik Cassel, the master at arms, he’s the one that teaches the kids to fight. His nephew is Jory Cassel, Captain of the Guard. They’re both favorites of the kids.
I think it’s a mistake to treat a character’s words as truth all the time. In GRRM’s world, characters lie, misremember, or are under false impressions all the time. In this case, I don’t think Ned literally meant that as a reason he doesn’t fight in tourneys. He said it to remind Jaime that he doesn’t trust him, and fully expects to have to fight him someday. It’s all subtext, baby.
The guy with the beard tied under his chin appears to be Rodrik Cassel, Master at Arms. The HBO Viewer’s Guide appears to be a pretty cool source of “can’t tell the players without a scorecard” info.
http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/#!/guide/houses/stark/
I’d never heard of the books until I saw a thread here wetting its pants in anticipation. I’m pretty much sucked in now, although I feel like how a Tolkien virgin must have felt upon seeing the first movie.
Perhaps for next week’s episode we could have a thread that is book-free? One that just discusses the episode on its own, without constant (and spoiler-boxed) references to how it differs from the book?
One more thing:
They killed the little kid? What kinda fucked up story is this?!!??
jsc1953, wrt Bran…you ain’t seen nuffin yet. Brace yourself…
-XT
Without giving away anything, GRRM is very fond of killing off his characters. You never see it coming, then BANG! that person you thought was integral to the storyline is gone.
[quote=“DarkFire, post:125, topic:578781”]
The show itself; Lots of information for the first episode. I think every major character for book one/series one has been introduced. This probably means they will take the time to explain some things in the next few episodes.
[QUOTE]
No. I don’t think these are spoilers, but none were mentioned in the episode, so…
[spoiler]
Littlefinger is obviously a main character and plays a large role in this book. Sam Tarly too.
Sandor was seen, but introduced?
Gregor.
We haven’t met Varys, Bronn, or Lysa yet.
Tywin and Renly both make appearances, but who knows how large a part they play in this season.[/spoiler]
[spoiler]
Just as I predicted in the previous thread, there are gonna be some pretty major freakouts from non-readers when Viserys, Robert (well, maybe not so much since there were predictions of him getting offed in episode 1), Drogo and especially Ned get whacked. And there WOULD be some for Lady if she were actually on the show. Personally, I can’t wait to see Septa’s head on a pike.[/spoiler]
Time magazine loves the show: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2065251,00.html
I, for one, can’t wait to see Queen Cersei save her son from an unstoppable cyborg from the future.
I think it’s a good sign that the main complaints so far would be exactly the same as someone reading the book would have at this point.