GAME OF THRONES

[Incanus 5,713]

Same here, but it's mainly just the tediously embarrassing nudity which bugs me. Every time l think I'm watching something really high end and sophisticated l am always reminded, like clock work, that I'm not.

The nudity itself doesn't bother me, but last episode I saw had an hysterical shot of Robb and whats-her-name showing their asses to the camera in a careful composition that cracked me up.

This show should not be about tits and arses but certain parts of the demographic obviously feel that throwing enormous amounts of blood, gore and nudity at you in a TV show is a mark of realism and maturity and edgy film making. And the series creators at least to some degree feel that they have to oblige them.

[Quintus 5,399]

I think it's juvenile and playing to the lowest common denominator. I'd really just rather watch actual porn. The producers just don't even seem to care about the damaging effect if has on pacing and that's the main reason I'll never own the blu-rays.

[Brónach 1,301]

My point is: I don't care about nudity itself, but I do care about pointless sex scenes that don't advance anything or that break the tone of an episode. But if a character is nude I don't really mind. It's not like people are never nude.

When Jamie and Brienne are nude in that bath room in a non-sexualized manner having an interesting conversation it didn't bother me, neither it did when Loras getting it on with that spy was meant to show how Littlefinger knew whatever and it didn't go on for too long.

[Quintus 5,399]

Of course, the babes are hot as hell. But they turn me right off. It's all about the way they are shot.

The Jamie and Brienne scene was a welcome exception. It was an excellent scene.

[Brónach 1,301]

I think finding Jon Snow a girl and them having sex was the worst thing they could do to the character. It not only feels a bit forced, it's missing the point of where the character can go, given that audience is not crazy for the girl as well. Hey the giants look cool, why can't we have more about the giants beyond the wall or whatever. And plan some actual evolution for the character.

Jon Snow originally seemed like one of the characters meant to, nay, designed to, be able to connect particularly well with the audience among many characters that don't really do that (and at first I thought it was too obvious). But not only he's had very little to do, his interaction with Ygritte isn't really making the character evolve and so far it feels like the typical Avatar plot that I hate (up to and including the rival tribal member). It's the mix between the odd writing and the actor himself. An alternative could have been making Ygritte a slightly different character who doesn't quite get this far with Jon Snow and falls to her death climbing the wall. That would feel more like GRRM seems to like it. Or at least the parodies of the guy.

[Incanus 5,713]

[Brónach 1,301]

I wonder if David J. Peterson will make more languages for the show besides Dothraki and High Valyrian and its descendants.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Brónach 1,301]

You do realize that it's not "they" who decided to have Jon have a girl and have sex with her. I was Martin. You know, the guy who wrote the book 13 years ago...

What do I know? For all I know, Martin wrote that Dany went to the House of the Undying to rescue her dragons.

Maybe it worked better in the book. It's the show that I've seen, it'd be stupid for me to critizise the books.

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. The giant was integrated so fucking well in the picture, it was really impressive. Great job.

Yes, I was like, "Did they just put a giant there without it feeling weird?"

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[crocodile 7,978]

Whoa a feel good(ish) episode of Game of Thrones. Who would have thought?

Karol

[Matt C 452]

Same here, but it's mainly just the tediously embarrassing nudity which bugs me. Every time l think I'm watching something really high end and sophisticated l am always reminded, like clock work, that I'm not.

The nudity itself doesn't bother me, but last episode I saw had an hysterical shot of Robb and whats-her-name showing their asses to the camera in a careful composition that cracked me up.

I thought the frontal shot of both Ros and Greyjoy doing it in "The Wolf and the Lion" was pretty gratuitous. And of course, the camera is conveniently placed so when Ros sits down at the vanity, you get another unobstructed view of her breasts. That's HBO's nudity policy for you.

[Incanus 5,713]

Whoa a feel good(ish) episode of Game of Thrones. Who would have thought?

Karol

It is just a ruse to let down your guard before all the beheadings.

[Quintus 5,399]

Shaky start aside, this was overall a stronger season than the last. The ending was cheesy and felt rather empty (why do people keep falling at their feet for Dany?), but it left me wanting more.

I'm a fan again.

[KK 3,307]

I wasn't too pleased with the crowd surfing and the ending seemed kind of over-sentimental. The music wasn't as effective as I hoped in context for that finale. Great episode (if a bit anti-climactic), but was disappointed by the final scene.

[Brónach 1,301]

I thought the frontal shot of both Ros and Greyjoy doing it in "The Wolf and the Lion" was pretty gratuitous. And of course, the camera is conveniently placed so when Ros sits down at the vanity, you get another unobstructed view of her breasts. That's HBO's nudity policy for you.

I don't even remember that. I am the first to complain about anything, I just meant to say that natural, not forced nudity is not the same and pointless sex scenes.

[Quintus 5,399]

LOL, are you for real? There's barely any "naturalistic" nudity in GoT. The way they shot Dany getting out of the bath; the way the camera lingered on her golden, supple tones; the way her skin shimmered in the warm glow of the room; the way her nipple stood erect upon a pert breast, tantalizingly close to the lens.

It was utterly disgusting and 100% gratuitous! Ahem.

[Brónach 1,301]

And I agree with that.

Is nobody listening to me?

I just want to say that nudity isn't automatically OMG evil.

[Incanus 5,713]

Not automatically but when it is intentionally and continually calling attention to itself it becomes irritating.

[Brónach 1,301]

Yes. Dany appearing nude is particularly uninteresting, it robs the actress of her actual presence.

What I find interesting is that the show doesn't have a problem with female genitals, but shyes away from showing a dick. ¿? Do they think that male genitals are somehow more "offensive"?

[Quintus 5,399]

Be thankful for little mercies.

[crocodile 7,978]

Yeah, they wouldn't show one crucial penis in the last episode either. Pity, could have been a memorable final shot.

Karol

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Quintus 5,399]

I actually very nearly did feel sorry for that slimy child murderer. Nearly.

He's certainly one of the most interesting characters of the lot.

[Brónach 1,301]

Be thankful for little mercies.

??

[jangoisbaddest 1]

You know, listening to the OST for season 3, I'm starting to realize that I really don't like this score nearly as well as I did back in season 1. It's just so...formulaic. He's so confined in his thinking that you end up with the same score as last season, with almost the same instrumentation, the same feel, no real development of the themes he's written. I feel like either the spectacular budget should make more room for this guy or he should learn how to be more creative.

That said, I adore the "Kingslayer" track...maybe because it's my favorite scene in the whole damn show so far, but I do think he did a good job with that one because at least he came up with something new (and I thought it was pretty effective).

I do find it odd that the season didn't end last episode, but I suppose that's probably because the producers wanted to make a promise that "no, not ALL of the characters are going to die. Look, the Mother of Dragons is doing great!" LOL I wonder how many viewers they lost because of the Red Wedding.

Edit: maybe that was a bit harsh. Mhysa and Dracarys were good tracks, too, as were the scenes they accompanied...though her scenes are starting to feel same-old already, much like the "I don't trust Gollum" dynamic in LOTR.

[Brónach 1,301]

The Mhysa track is stuck in my head. Luckily the "da, da-da, darada" isn't annoying.

I wonder, if they pronounce it "misa", why is it written "mhysa"?

[Incanus 5,713]

I wonder, if they pronounce it "misa", why is it written "mhysa"?

Because that is how the Ghiscari language rolls Chaac!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Brónach 1,301]

[Matt C 452]

Yes. Dany appearing nude is particularly uninteresting, it robs the actress of her actual presence.

What I find interesting is that the show doesn't have a problem with female genitals, but shyes away from showing a dick. ¿? Do they think that male genitals are somehow more "offensive"?

Um, there is that scene I mentioned with Ros and Greyjoy doing it in season 1 (both fully nude), plus that merchant who tries to poison Dany being led to his death. It all depends on the actors who are willing to bare it all, not because HBO shies away from male nudity. The network is allowed to show both male and female nudity, but they can't show actual performed sex or aroused genitals at all.

[Quintus 5,399]

Hodor

[Brónach 1,301]

Um, there is that scene I mentioned with Ros and Greyjoy doing it in season 1 (both fully nude), plus that merchant who tries to poison Dany being led to his death. It all depends on the actors who are willing to bare it all, not because HBO shies away from male nudity. The network is allowed to show both male and female nudity, but they can't show actual performed sex or aroused genitals at all.

Hodor!

PS: at least the Jon Snow plot didn't actually go the Avatar route.

[Jay 37,268]

The Season 3 soundtrack is getting a physical release on July 9th

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3ZJFBO

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,268]

Well I'm officially all caught up!

Seen all 30 episodes of the show

Pretty sure this is my favorite show on TV right now. I just love the heck out of every episode, I am never bored, love (or love to hate) all the characters, and am fascinated to see where the story goes.

My biggest annoyance is that I found out about The Red Wedding before we watched that episode. I think the shock would have been maybe the most shocking TV scene I had ever seen had I not known about it ahead of time. Stupid internet!

I had meant to type thoughts on each episode as I watched them, but it just didn't happen. I might watch every episode again sometime between now and when Season 4 starts, not sure... and if I do, I will hopefully post my thoughts on each episode then.

Oh, and from what I understand, Season three has covered about 57 out of 82 chapters from Book 3, so they made it 2/3s of the way through, not 1/2. Looks like Season 4 will be a blend of 3 books for sure! Good thing GRR Martin published Book 5 when he did.... (I understand the Theon Greyjoy stuff from Season 3 comes from that book as well)

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,268]

Right, I knew all that. And honestly, I don't get the point of making all that up!

The Theon being tortured storyline was EASILY my least favorite storyline in Season 3, or any season really. There is no pleasure in sitting down and watching a man be tortured and flayed. It would have been better to just reveal in episode 10 than he was alive, I think.

This is definitely the kind of show where people can disappear for a while and then come back and be relevant - people will remember. Heck, Theon's sister hadn't been seen since Season 2, but when she showed up in the Season 3 finale I was like fuck yea! She's a cool character, and it looks like she's going to be important to to the next season of stories.

[Jay 37,268]

What does everyone else here think about the Theon Greyjoy storyline in Season 3?

[Incanus 5,713]

Easily the least satisfying part of the season and entirely expendable. Gratuitous in every way. It could have been handled with more skill and in less time and achieved the same final results, i.e. breaking him.

[Jay 37,268]

Yea, pretty much how I feel.

[Quintus 5,399]

So, without spoilers please, is the Greyjoy stuff entirely 'artistic' license? Does his subplot have any bearing on what happens next?

[Incanus 5,713]

Yes the Theon plot line exists in the novels in somewhat similar form although much of the actual events do not deal with different tortures so much as the series. They obviously wanted to underline Ramsay Bolton's cruel and twisted character to the highest degree. And Theon plot does have some bearing on the future events.

[Quintus 5,399]

Ah, that's okay then. Cheers Incanus.

Maybe the writers feel this mysterious subplot might have great reveal potential further down the line, I don't know. Maybe they think it'll eventually make for a great tv moment doing it this way.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[oierem 151]

Ah, that's okay then. Cheers Incanus.

Maybe the writers feel this mysterious subplot might have great reveal potential further down the line, I don't know. Maybe they think it'll eventually make for a great tv moment doing it this way.

Basically, after the sacking of Winterfell Theon is not seen again until later in the books -all the torture (and some more) is in the books, just not directly told. The writers didn't want to lose Alfie Allen for a year and felt that the audience need to witness Theon's transformation. Furthermore, the character of Ramsay and his mind-tricks were part of the second book, but they decided not to feature the character until season 3.

[Quintus 5,399]

Thank you for the explanation. I can see the writer's thinking and was quite intrigued by his plight, even if I could have done without the sleazy soft porn!

[Jay 37,268]

'Game of Thrones' casts major season 4 role: Oberyn the Red Viper

Heard he's a fan favorite character. I'm just glad he'll be on the show since he's on my shirt

[Incanus 5,713]

Ah, that's okay then. Cheers Incanus.

Maybe the writers feel this mysterious subplot might have great reveal potential further down the line, I don't know. Maybe they think it'll eventually make for a great tv moment doing it this way.

Basically, after the sacking of Winterfell Theon is not seen again until later in the books -all the torture (and some more) is in the books, just not directly told. The writers didn't want to lose Alfie Allen for a year and felt that the audience need to witness Theon's transformation. Furthermore, the character of Ramsay and his mind-tricks were part of the second book, but they decided not to feature the character until season 3.

This series of novels has so much going on I am actually having hard time trying to remember what bit is from what book when I watch the series when the timelines sometimes align with events from elsewhere in later novel or actually bring something from a previous novel to the new season when there was no time for this material in the previous season.