Game of Thrones (HBO) - Time to jump on board

Ha, a'int that the truth. Ever try reading The Silmarillion? The Old Testament is a lighter read.

The first trilogy was fantastic, and they omitted the awful songs that the villains would sing in the books.

 

No Tom Bombadil? Without Tom Bombadil, there would be no Tim Benzadrine from "Bored of the Rings."

Thus speaking, the withered apparition raised his spidery hand in a two-fingered "V" sign and uttered an eldritch spell:
"Tim, Tim Benzedrine!
Hash! Boo! Valvoline!
Clean! Clean! Clean for Gene!
First, second, neutral, park,
Hie thee hence, you leafy narc!

The towering plant shivered and the coils fell from its victims like yesterday's macaroni, and they sprang free with joyful yelps. As they watched with fascination, the great green menace whimpered like a nursling and sucked its own pistils with ill temper. The boggies retrieved their garments, and Frito sighed with relief to find the Ring still firmly Bostiched to his pocket...

I agree about the songs though. Good god, it seemed like every character had a friggin story to tell in the form of a song. I'd swear that Tolkien wanted the cinematic version to be a musical.

 

Ha! I spent more time reading some of them than I care to admit, trying to get them to make sense as a song.

 

I yield the floor to you, Ray.

 

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yeah...

 

Going to need time to digest. Overall, I wasn't too offended by the episode as they're trying to stay on a track similar to the books in most cases.

On the bright side, that Reddit post is now thoroughly debunked. So those spoilers are mostly false. (A few may be true by good guess, but not actual spoilers)

But this is exactly what I feared with putting Sansa into that plot line. I don't approve. I'm offended as a book reader and a fan of the story. And a little appalled they'd go this route with her. Yes yes yes, Jeyne "Arya" Poole had a really rough marriage to Ramsey. Either way, some girl is being victimized. But does it have to be Sansa? Hasn't she endured enough? And no. I'm not a fan of Sansa to be honest. I still don't like it one bit and I'm beginning to question the show runners' mental stability. They may need a visit from SVU or Chris Hansen.

Tyrion + Jorah is pretty good overall. Interesting divergence with the whole Faith Militant / Cersei / Maergery drama... but simpler and tighter for TV purposes than the more delicate plotting of the books. I'm fine with it.

The Sand Snakes continue to bore the hell out of me.

The best thing all year has been Arya's journey. Well done overall. And now Meryn Trant is on his way to Braavos as Mace Tyrell's guard? I'm thinking he never sets foot in Westeros again.

 

When that scene started unfolding, all I could think of was that damn spoiler, because it sure seemed like there was going to be a nude Sansa.

My thoughts are on par with yours with the episode, though, the Sansa storyline pisses me off. Maybe I just need to take a few days and watch it again, but for me that was potentially shark jumpy.

Arya's story has been very well done. Tyrion and Jorah is pretty good. When they jump to a Sand Snake sequence, I feel like someone sat on the remote and it flipped to a B movie commercial. I can almost hear GRRM typing angrily in the background.

 

Having slept on it, I think I have a better handle on why the whole Sansa affair bothers me.

It could have been worse. MUCH worse if they wanted to give her the whole Jeyne Poole treatment. (It can and probably will get worse anyway, but that one scene was subdued compared to what it could have been)

I'm not even sure we can call it a rape scene. I mean, of course it was. Maybe not in a strictly legal sense by Westerosi standards. But clearly rape in how Sansa reacted. But - and this is what galls me - it's like Sansa volunteered to be raped. And the bigger irritation is they're STILL making her a victim!!! What happened to the whole Littlefinger protege thing? Sansa could have consummated the marriage where it's clear she detests what she's doing but not be a victim. Ramsey can be abusive or mental enough to make Theon need to protect someone other than himself without having to go there.

And maybe it would bother me less if they haven't shown a rape fetish in the past, inserting rape scenes that never happen in the books (Dany and Cersei).

Kudos to Alfie Allen as we see what's happening through his reactions. Really good acting. BUT.... now it becomes about poor Theon. Was this whole scene meant to just further HIS story??? Come on! It's lazy story telling.

 

Upon even further reflection, I think it's safe to say what the real source of my anger over that scene is: for some reason, as a book reader / viewer, I feel protective of Sansa. (odd, considering I don't particularly like her)

Yeah, I'm also protective of the original source material too.

Overall, we knew deep down this would happen the moment Sansa agreed to go to Winterfell. So I guess me real irritation isn't that it happened, but that they twisted the story in a direction where it HAD to happen.

So I'll sum it all up with this: It better have a point. It really better have a point.

 

I think you're right, Ray. I've never really thought about it, but as annoying as Sansa is, you still feel protective of her. I'm protective of the source material to a degree, but don't have a problem with creative liberties. I can think of several other plot changes that I could have tolerated much more. I'm not sure why they felt they had to "go there", but like you said, it'd had better have been for good reason.

I found myself thinking that they were going to mimic the Jeyne Poole scene with Reek, or Sansa would be saved just in the nick of time (Marillion). Hopefully Brienne's sword gets bloody soon.

 

It was my awkward way of trying to say Jump the Shark. Jumping the shark is the moment a show starts to decline in quality. It originated from Happy Days when The Fonz jumped a shark on water skis.

Campy is the perfect word for the Sand Snakes. Thank you!

 

Ok. This put a smile on my face.

[video=youtube;1URvDyzh8uI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1URvDyzh8uI[/video]

 

Damn you, Theon! Act like you got a set! Oh, wait...

Entering spoiler territory even for book readers soon. Cersei's gotcha moment wasn't nearly as fist pumping awesome as the books. Even Maergery's great line was less than I had hoped. Not going to nitpick over book changes this episode other than that.

Oh, and this was pretty entertaining, if not quite as hilarious as people hyped it up to be:

[video=youtube;zs7xO5P3Az4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs7xO5P3Az4[/video]

 

Yeah, I can't complain. I'm with you on the two Queens. I felt a little deflated when Cersei found her new accommodations. I was fist pumping when Jorah mopped the sand with those guys, though. :-D

The Sand Snakes were more tolerable this week, too. Or was it just me?

 

Funny how a little... seduction makes them more tolerable. (Where did she hide those bombs?)

Jokes aside, they were a little more in line with how I imagined them this week. Let's see if they can keep going in the right direction.

 

Heh, yeah, but the scene was entertaining in general.

I have to admit I wondered for a moment if they were CG'd in.