To paraphrase Mel Brooks, even if it isn’t always “good to be the king,” it’s usually a lot better than being a serf, a lordling, or an outright enemy of the king. Do unto others before they do unto you.
I don’t find that, I must admit - I find Jon, Arya, Tyrion and Daenerys to be entirely sympathetic, and consider them my main POV characters for the show. So far, at least - they may turn into major assholes later (Haven’t read the books, don’t read unfinished series, but I have spoiled major plot points for myself and don’t really see those sympathies changing, based on what I know is likely to happen in the TV series as it does in the books).
Oh, and Hodor, he’s entirely sympathetic.
Large Man: Who’s that, then?
Dead Collector: I don’t know. Must be a king.
Large Man: Why?
Dead Collector: He hasn’t got shit all over him.
I think the interesting part is the interplay of those who think they have power Joffrey, Cercei, etc. and those that do have power like Tywin, Littlefinger (at least in season 1), etc.
Is there any pity for Tywin? His eldest son is the Kingslayer, guilty of incest, and can’t take over his lordly title. His daughter is guilty of incest, and does such a shitty job raising the heir to the throne that Baratheon disavows him of the throne, throwing Westeros into civil war. The one that ends up being the most competent of the lot is a midget and killed your wife in birth. Now he has to put out fires all over the kingdom as well as ensure that his lone surviving heir - a sadistic shit in Joffrey - stays alive long enough to at least inherit his fiefdom much less stay in power on the Iron Throne.
Nope - his treatment of Tyrion is abominable, and he deserves whatever he gets for overlooking his best son, for something that wasn’t his fault (I mean, seriously, this is a Medieval kingdom, women must die in childbirth all the fucking time) and using that grudge to overlook his very real success as Hand.
Plus it turns out he’s a hypocrite when it comes to the whores, which he rips Tyrion for everytime he berates him.
I have no pity for Tywin. He’s murderous, cruel, and ruthless. He has stepped on pretty much everyone he can. He apparently was fond of his wife, but that love manifests itself quite perversely. He claims to act for the family, but all his instincts and decisions are essentially self-serving.
I do have some sympathy for his brother Kevan, though.
But he’s a fantastic character. I don’t need to like him.
This.
Absolutely. I don’t need to *like *any of the characters.
I watched a few episodes of the first season and then had to stop watching after some guy chopped his horse’s head off with a sword after losing a joust. My rational mind was all “It’s pretend. It’s special effects.” but that scene just messed me up too badly.
I watched a little bit as I puttered around the house while my husband was watching, but after a few more horrific scenes I just can’t do it anymore. If I’m home while he’s watching it I’ll go downstairs and play on the Wii or work out or something.
Good thing you didn’t see the recreation of a spiral galaxy made with severed horse heads and other horse bits in the latest episode then.
I’m sorry, but I can’t help thinking of Babah Wawah every time I hear the name “Tywin”.
Interview: So, tehw us Tywin, who do you wike best?
Indeed he is. And if Charles Dance doesn’t take home a wheelbarrowful of Emmys, something is seriously wrong with the universe.
And now they have both Caesar and Brutus in the cast!
I kind of get where grude is coming from. I don’t hate GoT but I sure cannot stand all those awful people. I remember last year in one of the million GoT threads I wished that the end of the series would be Dany riding in on her dragons and burning Westeros to the ground and every malicious, self-centered, self-serving asshole that lived there with it. Even the commoners-- they’re all assholes too.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m about one more book of nothing of importance happening for wishing that the zombies win. And I think Martin probably overdid it with the “insufferable assholes” and “everyone can die” cards. Would a glimmer of hope be too much to ask? A Richard the Lionheart, perhaps, instead of a Richard III?
Jon, I find to be too brooding. Tyrion bores me with his “I’m so smart” routine, and his bad, fake British accent grates on my nerves. Danny is a winy bitch, even if she’s easy on the eyes. I don’t know who Hodor is.
Ariy is the one character I almost posted that I find sympathetic, but they need to grow her up fast-- as a child, I don’t find her particularly interesting. And that goes double for the other children.
And just to be clear, I’m not trying to debate. It’s all a matter of taste, and I’m not saying you’re wrong.
You mean the Richard the Lionheart who executed POWs en masse, first led an army at the age of 16, fathered a bastard son, had petty squabbles with his allies, faced rumors about homosexual behavior, had a politically manipulative mother, a younger brother who tried to usurp his throne, and was killed in a relatively insignificant battle? It seems like there’s already a lot of characters in Game of Thrones like that.
Just forget the books now. While Martin deserves credit for some cool ideas to start with, the TV series has the potential to be better, in totality. Whether he ever finishes writing the books or not. It might even be best if he doesn’t, because then the series would be truly free to find its own course. Regardless, everyone involved in the writing has already acknowledged that the series will diverge more and more from the books, and that’s all to the good.