The Glade 4.0

Response was enough from the Pilot episode that HBO has already renewed for the second season. =)

Yep...one thing that did occur to me though. In the first episode several events happen within basicly a half an hour that was seperated by a couple hundred+ pages in the book, so I can see that kinda amplifying the impact of "omg, all the boobies!"

General consensus is that HBO decided to greenlight a second series a long time ago, but waited til now to announce it for publicity purposes. "Oh wow, a second season promised after one episode? They must be doing well!" Still... made me smile to see it official. :p Especially because their numbers WERE pretty good... and this is the type of show that builds audience over time, rather than loses it.

As to the nudity and such... two things:

The first book, especially at the beginning, is a lot more raw IMO than the rest of the books as a whole, at least in terms of scandalous stuffs per page. The Viserys-Dany thing was actually toned down from the books a little in terms of shock value... a moment going too far even for HBO to be comfortable with, if I had to guess. Later on in the series, and even the first book, you get entire plotlines that go for a very long time without any sexual at all... though there's one plotline that will probably keep the titillation up for that market segment of viewers. :p

Secondly... this is HBO. It's pretty much what HBO does. Even Starz seems to have copied the HBO model exactly for Spartacus. I kinda don't like it, in the sense that I think they push it a little too much, that they try a little too hard. Not that other parts of me mind, though in the case of A Game of Thrones I am missing out on the social aspect as a result. I know there is one scene in an upcoming episode that is... well, it does have roots in the actual book, but let us say it is greatly expanded upon for the aforementioned titillation purposes. :p

And yeah, I don't think the actual percentage of minutes aired out of the entire episode probably was all that bad. They just hit you hard with it up front. It's staying more or less true to the book. The scene with Tyrion in the brothel was not in the book itself, but there are other parts of other books that make this one perfectly justified, and it provides a good introduction for his relationship with Jaime. In short, HBO is not doing midget sex for shock value. As much as I think they try too hard, they are very justified in this case.

Anyway! I don't want to type up a huge post, but I am very happy with the first episode. The only thing I didn't really like was the change in the prologue with the White Walker letting the dude live. Not sure where that came from... I understand why they made the other changes, but I think they could've still made a lot of those changes yet avoid having the White Walkers decide to let guys live. While I can echo some of your casting concerns, Kaffis, I wonder how much practicality has to win out. You're definitely right about the Jon - Robb - Catelyn thing, but individually the actors are all good fits in their roles, so it simply may be a case where the other characteristics win out. Aside from Dany's actress, who I'm not really convinced of yet (and wasn't their first choice anyway), I am pretty overwhelmingly happy with the actors. I've been keeping track of the series for awhile now, so not many are surprises based on watching this episode, but some of the actors were a better fit than I could have hoped for. In other cases, some actors made their characters jump out more than they did in the book. My goal if life is to now become Rodrik Cassel, that beard-ish thing especially! I also look forward to basically every scene with Jorah Mormont. He wasn't in the first episode, but every clip I've seen of Aidan Gillen as Littlefinger makes it look like he'll be a scene stealer for me too.

More episodes prz.

The only actors I'm familiar with going into this are Bean, Gillen, Dinklage, and Headey or however it's spelled. So I'll have to take your word for it on the Jon/Robb thing for a while.

_________________
"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Hm.. well, I'll admit I haven't seen either of them in things before this, but I have seen a lot of Jon in all sorts of released clips in the previous month or 3. A ton of reviewers in the media that got a chance to watch early singled him out (with Arya and Viserys for the most part) for praise. He has impressed me pretty well so far, though perhaps I'm biased since he's one of the better characters IMO.

Robb... maybe I can't really justify too much. I didn't know the actor at all before, and I didn't see much at all about him in the previews for the show. I think it's more that I'm now seeing it seems to be a good fit. Not a very good reason I guess.. I think my overall point was more a general point when casting big families. Can add in quite some difficulties when each character has to hold their own with their own acting skill, yet all fit a certain familial look.

Perhaps HBO has a big enough reach that they could pull it off regardless. I don't really know enough about the casting world to know. The Weasley family came together pretty well, so it can be done!

I didn't have a problem at all with the actors playing Jon & Robb. Robb's eyes are blue, and much closer to Cat's, while Jon's are brown. Also, Jon's hair is black and curly, where Robb's is straighter and a shade of red that's very close to Cat's, as well. Really didn't see any cause for confusion there.

The only person I had a problem with was Sansa. She seemed much older than the book portrays her. I understand why HBO may have wanted an older actress to portray her, much like the situation with Dany's character. But still, the actress playing her just seemed too old/mature to be playing such a naive young girl. And as far as her being power hungry, I didn't get that impression at all. I got the same impression I got from the books, that she "wanted nothing in the world more than to be married to Joff." She's so caught up in marrying him, that she looses site of everything else. It's got nothing to do with being queen, and everything to do with having a fairy-tale wedding to a handsome prince.

Spoilered for the un-initiated:


I mean, Sansa is probably my least favorite character. In fact, I really hate her. But in the books, she seems young enough to be that naive and/or stupid. I'll have to wait and see how they continue to portray her. Maybe they will change my mind. Everyone else was damn near spot on.

_________________
"I Live, I Love, I Slay, and I Am Content."
- Conan the Barbarian

Oh, no doubt that's how it is in the books. But, like I said, there was just a subtly different feel in that hair-brushing scene in the show. I'm not sure whether it comes down to how the line was emphasized when delivering it, or the choice to call out the queen aspect in writing it (as opposed to "I want to marry Joff, it's all I've ever wanted" or whatever), just gives it a subtly different spin that could be interpreted differently, particularly if you don't have the books to inform you about exactly HOW Sansa goes about being destined to be a pain in the ***.

_________________
"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I guess I can see that. Maybe I was just distracted in all of Sansa's scenes by how much older she looks than how I pictured her.

As far as the sex and nudity, it's FAR tamer than Spartacus and True Blood. I love both of those shows, but they are both more graphic/violent and alot more explicit in their sex scenes. And most of the sex scenes so far have or will have political implications, or they go a long way toward giving you insight toward a specific character, so I don't have a problem with it.

_________________
"I Live, I Love, I Slay, and I Am Content."
- Conan the Barbarian

If I can't fap to it, its not porn

_________________

Holy shitsnacks!

Hm. Wikipedia tells me Sansa was 11 at the start of the books. Her actress is 13... maybe 12 at the time of filming. Granted those are still pretty important years for how mature someone is, but the difference isn't too huge.

I don't think the lines in that scene were all that off, either, but I think maybe I've just taken something different from the books themselves. To me, she seems more obsessed with fairy tales than with Joff himself. Being Queen would fit right into that, so long as there's never any sense that she wants the power that comes with it, per se. Joff is her key to that fairy tale, and I don't want to downplay what attraction she does have for him (again, in the innocent fairy tale way of having a good looking boyfriend that all girls Sansa's age want), but I don't have problems with the depiction in the show on this point.

Overall though, doesn't come across as blindly naive in the show as I expected. Whether it's age or just the relatively few scenes in the first episode remains to be seen.

I watched this tonight and...it was pretty meh. I'll give it another episode or two before writing it off completely, but it has failed to impress on the first episode.

_________________
Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

I wonder how they're going to show the full-grown direwolves. Are they going to be pure CGI? I imagine the "wolf puppies" in episode 1 were actually some breed of dog, but that probably won't work for the adult ones.

I think one of the making of shorts indicated they were using Malamutes.

As for adult ones...

_________________
"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Northern Inuit. Related to Malamutes!







Caption: George R.R. Martin has just posted a group photo of GoT child actors playing Stark siblings, who have become friends in real life. It was snapped by Sophie Turner’s (Sansa) mum, and George notes that the dog Zunni (Lady) was adopted by the Turner family after the shooting.

More can be found here.

My doubts for this aren't in HBO's willingness to produce a 5 or 6 (yet), but rather, whether source material for a 5 or 6 will be written by the time they need them. I share your hopes, though.

_________________
"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Remember, book 5 is coming Tuesday, July 12th!

A further sign leading up to a 2012 apocalypse? Time shall tell. Barring an apocalypse, maybe this means the wheels are back on the train and it won't be another forever many years until the 6th...

I keep reading the things in spoiler tags, even though I have not read the books, because the suspense is killing me and I am impatient and very curious.
Fortunately, nothing in the spoiler tags makes any sense whatsoever yet.

_________________
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

You need to stop that, LK. Or go read the books if the suspense is killing you. This is a series where spoilers kill.

_________________
"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I can't help it! I have no self-control, hahaha! Can't you put locks on the spoilers or something?

_________________
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I guess we'll just have to be intentionally cryptic even within the spoilers, then, too.

_________________
"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I hope so, or I'll have to demand a nanny state in this thread and have myself locked out for my own good!

_________________
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Ok I have never read the books so only going by the show. I thought it was ok, a bit convoluted for me since there are so many characters. One thing I don't get is at the beginning, the deserter that got a haircut (beheaded). I thought they were north of the wall when they were attacked (just going by the map they showed in the opening) so how did he get to winterfell without going back to the wall - which is why he was executed he said he should have gone back and that he broke his oath. I assume they will tell more about the oath later and why the wall is there. Am I missing something?

_________________
I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil

Not really sure it's explained in the book either. It's assumed he snuck back over the wall at some point. The wall is there to protect the kingdom from the walkers and the savage wildlings that live there. It is manned by the Night's Watch, who's numbers have severely diminished in recent years, so they don't have as many patrols or guards as they used to. As a result, small bands of wildlings and deserters are able to sneak over the wall at certain spots. Also, in the books, the walkers didn't "let him go," either. He ran away before they saw him.

_________________
"I Live, I Love, I Slay, and I Am Content."
- Conan the Barbarian

Ok that helps, it just seemed from what I saw that it would be pretty hard to get over the wall, it looked huge on the map animation and the tunnel they went through to get on the other side seemed pretty secure.

_________________
I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil

It is huge. As a Ranger (one of the watchmen who go on patrols beyond the wall), he probably had a key (or whatever, presuming they don't just require somebody on the south side to operate the portcullises) to the gates through the wall, and knowledge of which ones would be unmanned due to understaffing.

It's also alluded to later on that wildlings often attempt to slip around Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and the Shadow Tower (the other two constantly manned positions on the wall aside from Castle Black, at the east and west ends of the wall, respectively) by making boats to slip around Eastwatch and braving the perilous passes in the narrow ridge of mountains that the Shadow Tower guards.

_________________
"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades