Game of Thrones - TV Series (NO BOOK SPOILERS)

[momeNt]

I wouldn't say he was funny.. but I do find myself already missing him. He brought this unique tension to every scene he was in because one never knew which way he was going be feeling. He was a really good psycho, made even better with his power.

I felt robbed when Rob died, because it could have built into an epic battle between Lannister and Stark but Tywin checkmated him by taking advantage of a previous blunder (Rob breaking his oath that allowed him to pass the two towers). Joffrey dying I feel more justice than anything because of how much of a monster he was, and it was a matter of time before he was assassinated.

So even if I were to miss him, I can see how his death is fitting and can cope with it better than other deaths. Drogo really hurt too because of how badass he was and just how pitifully he died.

 

[Kev]

And it is in large part because I cannot make myself believe the premises to it - that they draw their power because their blood is different than other people's blood and has magical significance just because Robert sat on the throne for a period of time. They could have made the case that Baratheon blood has genetic differences making them favored by the God of Light, but they didn't, they declared it is because Robert was King, thus giving him King blood, and apparently only King Robert has King blood and no other king had it, and once he became king his king blood spread out to his brothers and I don't know...

Strange that in a show with gods, zombies, dragons, shapeshifters, giants, animal psychics, raising people from the dead, blood magic, and sorcerers, among other things, that magical royal blood is what you're getting hung up on.

 

[alkemyst]

dude, alkemyst...you're getting way too hinty with your posts here. way too close to spoiling. I have always been entertained by your posts but you're gonna have to hit the ignore list for the time being.

I never read the books. I have read a lot of books.

If you like this story though and like to read.

Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson and also Micheal Moorcock's books especially featuring Elric of Melniboné and Stormbringer.

Not all happy endings in those books either.

 

[momeNt]

They also sort of glossed over the Lord of Light resurrecting Beric a ton of times. Its the same "God" yet portrayed completely different.

I think there is some dialogue with Thoros that talks about how many times he brought him back. Thoros also talked with Lady Milisandre about the resurrections too.

 

[alkemyst]

I felt robbed when Rob died, because it could have built into an epic battle between Lannister and Stark but Tywin checkmated him by taking advantage of a previous blunder (Rob breaking his oath that allowed him to pass the two towers). Joffrey dying I feel more justice than anything because of how much of a monster he was, and it was a matter of time before he was assassinated.

So even if I were to miss him, I can see how his death is fitting and can cope with it better than other deaths. Drogo really hurt too because of how badass he was and just how pitifully he died.

That's the "300" story prior to it coming out though.

In reality, battles are won by brains and intelligence.

Assassinations happen when you don't have the above and going on the record pissing those that do off.

 

[momeNt]

Strange that in a show with gods, zombies, dragons, shapeshifters, giants, animal psychics, raising people from the dead, blood magic, and sorcerers, among other things, that magical royal blood is what you're getting hung up on.

I think he's misinterpreting it. I think "blood" is just another term for lineage. They are "blood" related.

Maybe I'm misinterpreting it?

 

[ZaneNBK]

They could have made the case that Baratheon blood has genetic differences making them favored by the God of Light, but they didn't, they declared it is because Robert was King, thus giving him King blood, and apparently only King Robert has King blood and no other king had it, and once he became king his king blood spread out to his brothers and I don't know...

This takes place in the fictional equivalent of the Middle Ages, they don't know what genes even are. Beyond that, their belief in how the magic even works might be entirely wrong. Who knows, maybe the fact that they believe someone's blood is king's blood is all it really takes. I doubt they've done any double-blind studies on the issue.

 

[alkemyst]

If that's all you took away from that scene, then you missed the fairly crucial piece of information that Oberyn is boiling over with homicidal rage towards the Lannisters; just hearing the Rains of Castamere has him ready to skip the whores and go straight to murdering people in public. It immediately dovetails into explaining WHY he is so angry with the Lannisters, setting him up as an interesting plot piece for this season. It was an excellent scene, probably my favorite this year (aside from the Hound getting chickens, of course).

But I could definitely do with less Stannis and Theon. The worst is Bran at this point; surprised you didn't mention him.

Cubby can enjoy this as he sees (and I feel he is not), but I don't think he sees the whole picture in this more intelligent series.

 

[sactoking]

I know, but the scene could have been shorter and still convey the same message.

I'm okay with the Theon storyline because it appears to be the next battle, them versus the Stark kids for reign over the North.

But the Stannis story I just cannot stand. And it is in large part because I cannot make myself believe the premises to it - that they draw their power because their blood is different than other people's blood and has magical significance just because Robert sat on the throne for a period of time. They could have made the case that Baratheon blood has genetic differences making them favored by the God of Light, but they didn't, they declared it is because Robert was King, thus giving him King blood, and apparently only King Robert has King blood and no other king had it, and once he became king his king blood spread out to his brothers and I don't know...

I'd like to see that plotline develop into something bigger where you can see how that red lady fits in to the greater world, but right now it's just a small-time cult without much of a goal or a plan.

Quick, name all of the families that produced a king in the last, say 300 years...

Let's see, there's Targaryen. There's Baratheon. And there's... nothing. So if you want a king's blood you need a Targaryen or a Baratheon. The living Targaryens consist of Danaerys. She's thousands of miles away. The living Baratheons consist of Stannis, Joffrey, Myrcella, Tommen, Shireen and Robert's bastards. Stannis isn't going to sacrifice himself or his daughter, Joffery, Myrcella and Tommen are out of reach, so the bastards are the only option.

 

[momeNt]

That's the "300" story prior to it coming out though.

In reality, battles are won by brains and intelligence.

Assassinations happen when you don't have the above and going on the record pissing those that do off.

Yes, I know all this, but the young wolf was a brilliant field tactician, and I wanted to see more of it. I understand why it happened, and it works out okay for the story, it makes me respect Tywin more, who is pretty much the show's ultimate badass thus far, ruling without "might" in the sense of Drogo or Robert. So I'm ultimately at peace with the plot, but I just wanted that little bit more.

The two main people you kind of rally behind (Rob and Drogo) are taken so early, which I think makes future watching / reading very uneasy (in an enjoyable way) because you begin to fear for your champions.

 

[alkemyst]

1) Sure, Margaery has some political savvy, especially compared to Joffrey. But offering leftovers from a 77 course feast to starving people is hardly a difficult decision to make. It's silly to try to equate that with Danny amassing an army through guile and convincing people to follow her through sheer force of will.

In these kinds of things Cersei would never do. Cersei knew a NEW QUEEN was coming. She'd not have anything really.

She was hoping her PUPPET (JOFFERY) would be her Proxy.

2) Why was Cersei stupid? She was getting smacked around in her verbal jousting about her former power and what a meaningless little nobody she would be as an ex-queen. So she got angry, exercised some of her power over a person she could still control and took a bite out of Margaery too. When the food disappears Margaery will be blamed for not keeping her word.

There you go.

 

[nageov3t]

Quick, name all of the families that produced a king in the last, say 300 years...

Let's see, there's Targaryen. There's Baratheon. And there's... nothing. So if you want a king's blood you need a Targaryen or a Baratheon. The living Targaryens consist of Danaerys. She's thousands of miles away. The living Baratheons consist of Stannis, Joffrey, Myrcella, Tommen, Shireen and Robert's bastards. Stannis isn't going to sacrifice himself or his daughter, Joffery, Myrcella and Tommen are out of reach, so the bastards are the only option.

couldn't one argue that the decendents of all the Great Houses have the blood of kings running through them? (given that their families were Kings of independent nations prior to the Targaryen conquests)

 

[blankslate]

Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson and also Micheal Moorcock's books especially featuring Elric of Melniboné and Stormbringer.

I have read those. And spoke to a couple of people who

Spoiler

couldn't get past the first few chapters of the first Covenant book

The above are are imo outstanding works of fantasy fiction.


....

 

[alkemyst]

The two main people you kind of rally behind (Rob and Drogo) are taken so early, which I think makes future watching / reading very uneasy (in an enjoyable way) because you begin to fear for your champions.

LOLWUT?

As a reader, I am my own champion really. You really are trying VERY hard to derail threads.

Much of the story annoys me and that is really the purpose of it. It's easy to kill a King...doesn't mean your family gets out of that bet even if you agree with execution.

 

[quikah]

I am disliking the Bran story simply because it has been pretty static since Osha left. They are wandering in a field, they are wandering in the woods, they are wandering in the mountains...

They are north of the wall, where are all the wildlings, white walkers, zombies, wights, etc. Bleh, give me something. I don't need another vision with a bunch of reused footage (almost every scene in that vision was footage from earlier seasons).

 

[smackababy]

I am disliking the Bran story simply because it has been pretty static since Osha left. They are wandering in a field, they are wandering in the woods, they are wandering in the mountains...

They are north of the wall, where are all the wildlings, white walkers, zombies, wights, etc. Bleh, give me something. I don't need another vision with a bunch of reused footage (almost every scene in that vision was footage from earlier seasons).

All the wildlings have gathered with Mance. I don't think any walkers were that close to the wall yet.

The best thing is everyone think's Jon is all bad ass because he killed a risen, when fat ol' Sam killed an actual white walker.


Also, why is alky rambling gibberish in multiposts?

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Quick, name all of the families that produced a king in the last, say 300 years...

Let's see, there's Targaryen. There's Baratheon. And there's... nothing. So if you want a king's blood you need a Targaryen or a Baratheon. The living Targaryens consist of Danaerys. She's thousands of miles away. The living Baratheons consist of Stannis, Joffrey, Myrcella, Tommen, Shireen and Robert's bastards. Stannis isn't going to sacrifice himself or his daughter, Joffery, Myrcella and Tommen are out of reach, so the bastards are the only option.

Stannis was told by Ned Stark that Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen aren't Robert's true children, so they don't have Baratheon blood in them anyway. And for the purpose of the ritual, family name isn't enough, it's about the lineage of blood, so Stannis and Shireen are out as well; Robert was king, not Stannis, so they need someone of Robert's lineage. The only surviving option was Gendry. This is all just for some hocus pocus spell, of course, but that's what the spell required (and it seems to be working, given that two thirds of the "usurpers" are now toast).

 

[sactoking]

They also sort of glossed over the Lord of Light resurrecting Beric a ton of times. Its the same "God" yet portrayed completely different.

I think there is some dialogue with Thoros that talks about how many times he brought him back. Thoros also talked with Lady Milisandre about the resurrections too.

Potential book spoilers.

Spoiler

In season 3 Melissandre visited Beric and Thoros to get Gendry. This was a departure from the book plotline in that Melissandre already had access to Edric Storm at Dragonstone and Gendry was not necessary. However, since they "simplified" the story and wrote out Edric, they needed some way for Melissandre to get king's blood for the leeches. (It was explained that Stannis could have served but he was too weak after siring the ghost assassin)

While picking up Gendry, Melissandre and Thoros discuss Beric and how Thoros brings him back to life. She says "You're not supposed to have this power" and Thoros replies that all he did was say the words and the Lord of Light answered. That heavily intimates that there is some logical hierarchy to the priesthood and the powers they obtain and that somehow Thoros has been "chosen" to receive power he doesn't deserve.

The books, however, portray it differently. When Danaerys is in Qarth dealing with the Warlocks it is mentioned that the Warlocks were minor tricksters until the dragons were reborn into the world. Once the dragons returned the warlocks' power increased greatly, which is how they knew the dragons existed and were not just rumors. Thoros, in describing his ability to Arya to resurrect Beric, basically says one day his prayers started working. That day was the day the dragons returned (it is implied). At some point it is explained that the Red Priests/esses were something of a charlatan group until magic came back into the world at which point they all got power, but it manifested differently in each of them.

That's not to say that magic was completely gone before then, but its role had been greatly diminished (hence the references to grumpkins and snarks and other dismissals of anything magical or fantastical).

I'm not sure that these are necessarily spoilers as they add some backstory and my interpretation to things that have already happened on the show without discussing the future but I wanted to be careful anyway.

 

[sactoking]

couldn't one argue that the decendents of all the Great Houses have the blood of kings running through them? (given that their families were Kings of independent nations prior to the Targaryen conquests)

All of the other great houses bent the knee.

 

[silverpig]

I wanna see more of that shapeshifting dude that Arya can ask favours of.

 

[TheAdvocate]

Tyrion for king!

He doesn't have a claim, his dad hates him and he's been accused of murder but WHO CARES

Tyrion for king!

By book 3, I had decided that however this thing turns out, I thought John Snow would make the best king, and Tyrion the best hand.

 

[alkemyst]

We'd be able to pick up on it if the show would ever air her storyline!

You are clueless if you don't understand it. It was very set up in the beginning since this is not books.

In the books, she is a major POV character.

I'd wind and rewind Visery's parts over and over.

Her major part was (and I am not sure if that is key) was her consummation with Drago was what she needed to allow her to give birth.

Those dragons are her children. Kid's try to bite, hit, kill their parents at times.

 

[KeithTalent]

I wanna see more of that shapeshifting dude that Arya can ask favours of.

Yeah I brought him up a page or two ago. That guy was awesome and it seems they should be running into each other again at some point. Unfortunately it seems they may not use the same actor though since he changed his face when they last parted ways.

KT

 

[quikah]

All the wildlings have gathered with Mance. I don't think any walkers were that close to the wall yet.

That is obviously not true, Craster wasn't with Mance, most likely there are others, but even if not Mance most likely has scouting parties out and about.

Scene 1, Ep1, Season 1.

Sam's escape from beyond the wall.

Really, Bran shouldn't be that far off from these areas. Even if he isn't that far north, we don't need to see this part of his journey, he is walking north, that is it. We can skip this part.

They are really treating Bran's story poorly IMO.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah I brought him up a page or two ago. That guy was awesome and it seems they should be running into each other again at some point. Unfortunately it seems they may not use the same actor though since he changed his face when they last parted ways.

KT

Isn't he from Bravos, from where hails Ary's dancing partner and the Iron Bank?