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GAME OF THRONES


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Aha! I knew Maester Luwin seemed familiar. He was in an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures. (speaking of heartbreaking, RIP Lis Sladen :( )

Donald Sumpter is an excellent British character actor. I remember him as the Mr. Cust from the Agatha Christie's Poirot, The ABC Murders. :)

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And the story continues. The new episode brings us another step along the way, deepens the characters some more and sets up more plot and new characters. It was nice to see Julian Glover in the show as Grand Maester Pycelle and James Cosmo as Jeor Mormont. They seem to have all the British greats in this. I personally like the almost titillating feel of things slowly brewing but am a fan of the novels and can imagine that to someone who is watching the series without any knowledge of coming events could feel a tad impatient at the meticulous character building and slow building of events.

The production itself keeps impressing me with every passing episode. Gorgeous sets, full of details, a world alive and breathing, colorful but not too out of touch with stark real world sensibilities, costumes and great special effects work contribute to this character driven story in a great way.

Acting is also stellar at this point, the highlight of the episode being the parting of Catelyn and Eddard Stark. Sean Bean projects this very disciplined, good and decent personality that is also grim, dutiful and honourable. Underneath he is obviously a loving husband and a good father but rarely shows this. To see the unspoken feelings reflected in Sean Bean's performance was just poignant.

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion is perfect in his ambiguous performance of cunning and witty, often honorable but sarcastic, self-mocking but proud dwarf of whose sympathies and loyalties you are still not entirely convinced.

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And the story continues. The new episode brings us another step along the way, deepens the characters some more and sets up more plot and new characters. It was nice to see Julian Glover in the show as Grand Maester Pycelle and James Cosmo as Jeor Mormont. They seem to have all the British greats in this. I personally like the almost titillating feel of things slowly brewing but am a fan of the novels and can imagine that to someone who is watching the series without any knowledge of coming events could feel a tad impatient at the meticulous character building and slowly building of events.

The production itself keeps impressing me with every passing episode. Gorgeous sets, full of details, a world alive and breathing, colorful but not too out of touch with stark real world sensibilities, costumes and great special effects work contribute to this character driven story in a great way.

Acting is also stellar at this point, the highlight of the episode being the parting of Catelyn and Eddard Stark. Sean Bean projects this very disciplined, good and decent personality that is also grim, dutiful and honourable. Underneath he is obviously a loving husband and a good father but rarely shows this. To see the unspoken feelings reflected in Sean Bean's performance was just poignant.

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion is perfect in his ambiguous performance of cunning and witty, often honorable but sarcastic, self-mocking but proud dwarf of whose sympathies and loyalties you are still not entirely convinced.

I pretty much agree with you 100% on just about all you've said. It was GREAT seeing Julian Glover, my word he's looking old now isn't he? And I couldn't place James Cosmo so I had to Google him to figure out it was Braveheart I knew him from.

I keep wondering how well the show is keeping fans who've not read the books and have no idea of the great stuff coming.

Speaking of which... Spoiler alert!

The parting of Catelyn and Eddard was very heartbreaking, with us in the audience knowing this was the last time these two characters saw each other, though possibly Eddard has an inkling of what's to come in the pit of nastiness that is King's Landing, maybe even Catelyn knows deep down. The closeup on Sean Bean as he was fighting back his emotions, wow. In general you can tell Eddard knows he's on dangerous ground being the King's Hand, too.

I wonder how the non-book readers are gonna react to the BIG twist that's due in a few episodes' time. When I was reading the book the first time, I kind of got the sense it might happen just before it did, but even then I kept thinking, "No, they couldn't do THAT, could they?" Looking forward to seeing the internet reaction. :)

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion has that character nailed perfectly. Just the right touches of sarcasm, pride, resentment, teasing, whatever is called for, he's great.

Maisie Williams playing Arya I think has that character down pretty dang good, too.

Wonder when they'll start announcing casting for Season 2, as there are a few new and important characters debuting in A Clash of Kings. Supposedly starting filming in June, so it's pretty close now. Here I am, 3 episodes into Season 1 and I'm already anxious for Season 2. :D

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Haha, nice catch with that motif. :D

I just watched the third episode. I definitely get the sense that this is all going somewhere, and I think at this point I'm committed to seeing where exactly that is. Definitely a slow start, though. Rather brave of them to do that.

Agreed about the acting, BTW. Sean Bean especially. I really like the way you described him, Mikko - he has those layers, and you get those glimpses of the warmth that lies beneath his necessarily tough exterior. He's got a good face for conveying that sort of thing. In a totally different way, Hugh Laurie's House is similarly layered. Unsympathetic exterior, but you can see something very different lying beneath the surface.

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I have to say I like the show - planning to read the books in the near future :)

Funny thing though:

What Dawadji defines as a major theme for a franchise, for Williams only is a small transitional motif :D

02:49! ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO9ZHGRVCjY

To be fair, these string lines are not Djawadis theme. They just acompany the title theme.

Wait with the books till the first season finishes. So you can experience all the cliffhangers and gamechangers purely in the show.

Then you will have the in depth experience with the books afterwards and you prevent disappointements about changes.

For example i didn't know LOTR in 2001 and when i saw Fellowship in the cinema i really thought Gandalf died. This moment therefore was far more poignant than if i had read the books before.

And i also didn't know about all the stuff PJ changed ;)

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Maybe ensemble shows aren't for me (I can't remember the names of 20 characters and their motivations), nor medieval shows, but I'm 40 mins into the first episode and I'm bored, frankly. I don't think this show is for me :P

And they need to stop hiring RCP guys for these shows. The synth score really cheapened it for me.

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I'm a big fan of Lost, but the difference is that the characters were introduced gradually, episode by episode, and it became clear that the flashbacks were building the character, and not something we had to remember for the story.

I think my problem with GoT is that I don't like ambiguity as far as whether a particular scene is important to the plot, or just something the writers threw in for the character. Entire scenes seem to go by when nothing much happens.

There have also been similarities drawn with The Wire, a show I find hard to watch due to the accents and the fact that David Simon intentionally made plot points very intricate.

If it gives an idea of the sort of thing I like, we're loving The Event and House these days.

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I can definitely relate, Richard. I was having massive difficulty remembering who was who at first. (Not only did LOST introduce the characters gradually, but it made them all very distinct in their appearance AND character, and there weren't complex alliances and feuds and whatnot to learn right off the bat.) But it does get easier. After a few episodes, I'm feeling like I have a much better handle on who everyone is. It starts to make sense. You might want to keep giving it a shot, like I am. Give it the benefit of the doubt, simply because so many people agree that it gets really, really good before long. [shrug]

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From what I understood, it's going to get worse. :P There's gonna be lots of betrayals, new alliances, etc...

Haha, I believe it. Easier to handle if you've got a reasonably good sense of who the characters are in the beginning, though, and I'm happy to say that that's starting to make more sense to me.

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I can definitely relate, Richard. I was having massive difficulty remembering who was who at first.

I can understand that. Especially with a story that takes place in a fantasy world, with names like Daenerys, Viserys, Baratheon and stuff (although there are a lot more common names than some fantasies (Ned, Jon, Jaime, Bob...))

Well the information overload is nearly as acute in the novel as it is in the series. The appendix with the major noble houses and their retainers and list of other characters at the end of the book comes real handy many many times during the reading. :)

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Another great episode. Things really start to happen at this point! Midway through the season and about 5 hours to go. I can imagine how things start escalating from this point onward with a rapid pace. Excellent acting all around, Mark Addy's Robert Baratheon all bluster and on the other hand brooding melancholy, Lena Heady's Cersei cool and almost detached, feelings behind a mask of indifference. The scene with the king and queen was espcially intense, somehow reminded me of The Lion in Winter in its bittersweet feel. Sean Bean continues to provide the moral center of the series, his portrayal excellent in all aspects. Conleth Hill is spot on in his role as the slimy and courteous eunuch spy master lord Varys.

I can't wait for the next week's episode!!!

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No, but I've been downloading every episode and plan to watch as soon as I have time to

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That was easily the best episode, lots of feature films can't compete with this show.

@BloodBoal

The score was good but in no way great. I couldn't make out a Lannister theme in all these episodes and in this last scene there

only was underscore and a nice action motif overlayed.

So i can safely say no Stark/Winterfell theme appeared in the last scene (but it appears in the episode during Bran's scene with Maester Luwin) and to date i think there doesn't even exist a Lannister theme.

Could you post a scene or timings where the Lannister theme you identified is played?

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Just finished the second episode. It's getting interesting, but it would be so much better if it stopped with the pointless and gratuitous titilation and concentrated instead on moving the story forward in ways which do not involve tits and arse.

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That was a joke ! So don't worry, you're not going mad (and neither am I), there is no Lannister theme. I thought the score for that scene was such a wasted opportunity, so I turned in "What-I-want-to-hear" mode. You should try sometime. Trust me : the music is better that way.;)

Ah, ok well i think trying it with the what i want to hear mode would make me only depressed. I'm rather a big optimist :)

Just finished the second episode. It's getting interesting, but it would be so much better if it stopped with the pointless and gratuitous titilation and concentrated instead on moving the story forward in ways which do not involve tits and arse.

It is just very faithful to the books. You probably won't believe it but HBO still cut out some tits and arses, the books are even more intense. And the

story is largely independent from these things. Only in Daenerys storyline the sex with the Khal is a major plot point

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it would be so much better if it stopped with the pointless and gratuitous titillation and concentrated instead on moving the story forward in ways which do not involve tits and arse.

Daenerys' storyline, huh ?

Not that alone. The first episode wasted much time on the same sort of juvenile boobage fair which the latest spate of medieval serials seem to be obsessed with. A few years ago I'd have been goggling like a 13 year old sat in front of an episode of Baywatch, but I'm a little bit older than that now and would much rather they just got on with the plot.

I get the impression it starts how it means to go on, in that regard?

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The first episode was definitely the most guilty of that...the others have downplayed it somewhat. In any case, though, I agree...it feels kind of unnecessary. Gratuitous, I guess.

I'm also having an increasingly difficult time following the various plots. I felt like my comprehension was increasing in the first few episodes, but now I'm getting lost. Too many similar faces, names, alliances, backstories, and whatnot. It'd be a good thing if I understood it all, but I'm starting to lose patience with it.

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Yeah, I guess I can finally sympathise with all those poor buggers who hadn't read LotR before seeing the movie.

It is just very faithful to the books... Daenerys storyline the sex with the Khal is a major plot point

I can appreciate that. It's just the tone and handling of those sequences scream prime-time titillation, to me.

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it would be so much better if it stopped with the pointless and gratuitous titillation and concentrated instead on moving the story forward in ways which do not involve tits and arse.

Daenerys' storyline, huh ?

Not that alone. The first episode wasted much time on the same sort of juvenile boobage fair which the latest spate of medieval serials seem to be obsessed with. A few years ago I'd have been goggling like a 13 year old sat in front of an episode of Baywatch, but I'm a little bit older than that now and would much rather they just got on with the plot.

I get the impression it starts how it means to go on, in that regard?

The first episodes are heavier in exposition and storywise heavier on boobs in at least Daenerys case. Then it scales back. You will still see sex, boobage, etc in later episodes but not in that quantities.

Starting with episode four most of the exposition is dealt with, most characters are clear and explained and the story starts going. And it starts going fast. It's like a rollercoaster ride. You reach the top within episode 4 and then you race down with no breaks and no idea what comes next. The shit keeps hitting you right in your suprised face so to speak.

The drama is overwhelming, the shockers are huge, there is action around every corner and you will get hooked. You will want to read the books after the season finishes, cause a one year

wait after these cliffhangers is truly painful, trust me. The greatest thing is the books keep getting better and better, crazier and crazier till the absolute melting point in Book 3.

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Yeah, I guess I can finally sympathise with all those poor buggers who hadn't read LotR before seeing the movie.

I was one of them...and I can't decide whether the films or the books were more confusing to me. I suppose the books deepened my knowledge of that world, but there was SOOOOOO much that I could not follow, nor did I really want to. Tolkien gets an A+ for developing a whole universe, but he gets an F for making it dull and incomprehensible. Reading those three books is a chore to which I never intend to submit myself again.

This is still illuminating the genius of LOST for me. When you're dealing with a huge ensemble cast with a lot of diverse backstories and everything, it really pays off to give each character something immediately identifiable and unique (e.g. obesity, pregnancy, being black, being an abrasive redneck, etc.). Obviously, this show couldn't take quite the same route, and I'm sure they're being constrained somewhat by the source material, but there are so many scenes when I have no idea who they're talking about, or I'm wondering if the character I'm looking at is someone I've seen before or not.

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Yeah, I mean, I like boobies as much as the next guy, but I agree that something about the tone just feels like cheap titillation.

Ooh ooh, I know what they should do! Cut out all the sex scenes and replace them with five-minute recaps of who all the characters are, what they look like, what their names are, where they are, what they're trying to do, who they like, who they hate, and so forth. :lol:

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There are no pictures! :P Most of those names have absolutely no meaning to me. EDIT: And I don't really want to spend a whole bunch of time researching this show just to get a basic understanding of who's who. Part of the show's job is to communicate that, and it's not doing a good job of that, from my perspective.

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There are no pictures! :P Most of those names have absolutely no meaning to me. EDIT: And I don't really want to spend a whole bunch of time researching this show just to get a basic understanding of who's who. Part of the show's job is to communicate that, and it's not doing a good job of that, from my perspective.

Ok, here is HBO's viewer guide. They did it to make non book readers the life easier. This time with pictures :)

http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/

Here for example is House Stark with character pictures: http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/#!/guide/houses/stark/

To be fair, the books have a ridiculous amount of characters who all are important (some only in later books) so they couldn't just cut these characters

to make it easier for new viewers. But trust me, this level of complexity pays of big time in later episodes and seasons!!!

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And to be honest i really think this is a great guide for new viewers. There are all houses in there, the locations of their castles and cities and all the character pictures with a short description of each character if you click on it.

The effort HBO put into this show is really astonishing. I can't remember any TV show where you could get such a high class viewer guide (even with a detailled map of the fantasy world)

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Click on a House, you see all the characters who belong and are sworn to this house. Or click on a location, like the Eyrie or Winterfell. You see a description of the place and then the house it belongs to. Then click on the house (in that cases House Arryn or House Stark). Then you see the characters of this house.

Not really that confusing ;). Don't be lazy

Just get information on the characters you like most or you really didn't understand while you watched the episodes...

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