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

Perhaps, but when they were first introduced, they didn't seem like acting was their forte.

 

Hmm, when he said it, I assumed it was Lancel. Now that I think about it, it may very well have been someone else.

 

Another case of books > TV. They just don't have the time or ability to show how powerful that movement has become. It's sweeping most of Westeros (not so much in the north).

It appears to be Lancel. But that makes no sense. You'd assume Lancel confessed all when he converted. I'm hoping LF has another card up his sleeve, but as clumsy as the show can be at times, maybe it was just Lancel.

Tyrion and Dany have not yet met in the books. The closest they have come to it had Tyrion within 100 feet of her. But she has zero clue who he is. And he's in no position to introduce himself. There's still a huge event left to happen. (HUGE) Think episode 9. All the major players are in place for it... just in slightly different places. It's a scene that when I read it I had 2 thoughts: "I can't WAIT to see this on the show!" And, "how the hell are they going to film this?" But I know for a fact they did. I hope they get it as awesome on film as it was to read.

Killing Selmy off while he was alive in the books irritated me. But now that they've sped up Tyrion's meeting Dany, maybe they plan to give Tyrion Selmy's overall role for some events to come. (I'm ok with that. Show Daario sucks and should get no added story)

The show is so far off the book's tracks here, I'm not sure what they'll do in Sansa's regard. But don't give up on Theon yet. (One of the things I love about ASOIF is how GRRM can take a character you HATE and make you actually like, pity, or root for him/her)

I have a bad feeling about this... (nothing in the books. Just speculation, but I can see where the trail is going)

"Little Sam" is her baby. She named him Sam. Oh, you thought she meant something else? This is another case where the book handles a scene a little more deftly. The location is different. They're both grief stricken over Aemon's death. (And Gilly is even more distressed over a situation the show has not introduced yet - if they ever do). Sam is basically ordered to comfort her by another man. He protests over his vows, and the man tells him IDGAF - if you care about her, you do it. (Not quite in those words, but I'm trying to avoid any clues at potential spoilers) They do have sex, and yes, it's awkward (It's Sam, afterall). But it's also tender and sweet. Nothing salacious or creepy about it.

While we're on the subject of Little Sam, how the hell is he still a friggin baby?!?! He was born 2 seasons ago! Myrcella states she's been in Dorne "for years." Sansa, Arya, etc are obviously older. Tommen is 16! WTF?

 

Casting calls for season 6 are already going out. No character names, just descriptions. But from the descriptions, we can safely assume a few of the characters.

Euron Greyjoy (or a Euron / Victarion hybrid most likely). I want James Purefoy.

Randyll Tarley (Sam's Dad). They've been name dropping him this season for a reason it appears. He shows up briefly in the books, but I have a hunch this is material as of yet not seen.

And what can only be Septon Meribold!!!!! Tertiary character at best but his appearance also indicates the presence of a certain grave digger.

And with Qyburn's little experiment...

Spoiler

Cleganebowl looking likely! Get hype!

Septon Meribold also has one of the best speeches in the books. I hope they include it and don't dumb it down.

 

ICWUTYOUDIDTHAR

But couldn't be an heir for obvious reasons. And no. I don't buy the fan theory about him either since it isn't supported by the books. Unlike a certain Algebra equation is.

 

Can't complain about that change from the books as it happens off page and we only get a hint at what happened. Cotter Pyke doesn't even exist in the show I don't think. Not how I envisioned Hardhome, but it was intense.

And we have Wun Wun!

Can't wait for the big "sporting event" next week. (They better not screw it up)

 

After a string of episodes that had me less than excited, I am once again looking forward to the final two episodes of the season. That was pretty good on all fronts last night.

 

Yes. It's a story Old Nan told Bran. A rather well known story in the north either way. I'm not 100% sure their version is the same as the book version though as we haven't actually SEEN him in the books... yet.

Not really spoilers. Just some background. But I'll hide it anyway from an abundance of caution.

Spoiler

The Night's King was the 13th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Long story short: No one really knows his identity anymore since the Night's Watch expunged all records of him. Some say he was a Bolton. Others say he was an Umber. But Old Nan told Bran he was a Stark.

http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Night's_King

 

http://embed.gyazo.com/c8f7778ba9f05c0bda6b560943ecc831.png

 

The thing that puzzles me is why the "NK" is a thing. The Others (White Walkers, wights, etc) existed long before him. The Wall went up in response to the last time they ravaged Westeros (Old Nan's story of the Long Night). The Children of the Forest were fighting them before the First Men ever set foot on Westeros! In the books, the NK was a legend. A ghost story. A campfire tale along with others like the Rat Cook King. We get no indication he's still around or important.

Then again, the show introduced him not long after they had their sit down with GRRM about how the story all ends. So he must be important somehow. I guess we'll have to wait and see why.

 

I have to censor myself a bit regarding my enthusiasm over last night's show. It was nerdgasmic for sure. I didn't see that battle coming, and it was pretty epic.

 

Hmm, I always figured it was just a direction they went for screenplay purposes. I never considered that he may actually be significant in the books at some point.

 

Aside from it's rarity, yeah, there's a reason it's so prized. It's lighter and stronger than steel. Holds a razor edge for a very long time. And you saw Brienne break another man's normal sword with hers.

How to make Valyrian steel has been lost to the world in the book/show's time. It's assumed it's forged with dragon's fire and magic. Some very talented swordsmiths can rework the metal, but cannot make their own. A rough estimate places about 200 swords in Westeros along with many daggers, and knives. Most of the great houses have 1 as an ancestral sword. The Lannisters, despite their wealth and power, never had one. A fact that rankled Tywin. Which is why he had Ned's Greatsword Ice melted down to form 2 new ones when he had the chance. Jaime gave his to Brienne. I'm not sure where the other one is (buried with Joffrey?)

By direct mention in the books, we only know of a handful of the blades out there. Samwell's dad, Randyll Tarly has one called Heartsbane. The dagger that was used in the attempt on Bran's life was Valyrian steel. Littlefinger currently possesses that one. One of the pit fighters in Mereen uses a Valyrian steel Arakh (the type of blade Dothraki use). The Targaryans owned several at one time, but their current whereabouts is unknown. The Blackfyres (a house formed from Targaryan bastards) owned 2 legendary Valyrian swords. One of them went with Brynden Rivers aka "Bloodraven" - another Targaryan Bastard who was once Hand of the King (said to have had a thousand eyes and one) - to the Wall when he took the Black along with Maester Aemon. He became Lord Commander. He went ranging north of the wall and was never seen again...

... or was he?

Considering the Valyrian Empire once ruled most of Essos, there's probably hundreds if not thousands of blades out there amongst the Free Cities.

In the books (no real spoilers here), Sam reads a passage about how to kill White Walkers. It says they can only be killed by Dragonglass (obsedian), which Sam already knew from experience. Another way was with "Dragon Steel." He speculated to Jon that maybe it meant Valyrian Steel.

We got our answer last night.

 

I'm at the point where I forget who the book readers are and are not.

 

Saw a spoiler that appears to be confirmed with screen caps.

If true, I might be done with this show. I'm tired of their heavy handed butchering of the book canon and some of the characters. Especially when it makes zero sense whatsoever. Reserving this space for rage.

Edited for rage:

SCRENBKFTJHDDKGJJ@#$%@%^654!!!!!!

How.. why... what the... gah!

I'll be blunt. There is NO way whatsoever that Stannis of the books would do that. None. Forget that it's a logistical impossibility considering he's currently hundreds of miles away from Mel and Shireen. He would NEVER burn his own daughter. Hell, he wouldn't burn an innocent! The only people we've EVER seen him give consent to burning were ALL criminal!!!!! They were either deserters, treasonous, or in the latest case, friggin cannibals!!!! And he even WARNED his men specifically not to eat the dead (they were starving) before it happened!!!

The writers of this show must have zero reading comprehension to continually get Stannis this @$##ing wrong! Is he ruthless? Sure. Merciless? Not quite but close. But he is NOT some power hungry madmen willing to do anything at all to achieve his goals! Sure, he was tempted to let Mellisandre burn Edric Storm (Gendry in the show)... but ONLY tempted. And Davos saved him from making that horrible choice even if he did follow through. Later, when he's asked to burn (innocent) men, he refuses and says, "Pray harder." He's not even a true believer!

It's like D&D went all "Hurr Durr, he killed his brother, he'd kill anyone." But even that's not true. Renly was a usurper attempting to preempt Stannis' claim. By rights, Stannis could order his death upon capture anyway. BUT... Stannis gave Renly multiple chances to rescind his claim and bend the knee instead. He even offered him Hand of the King and to be named his heir!!! Only after Renly refused, yet again, did Stannis finally agree to Renly's killing.

Stannis was dedicated to his daughter and intended her to follow him on the Iron Throne.:

If Stannis has his daughter burned in the next book, I'll eat the flipping book. That's not to say Shireen won't die. Maybe she'll even burn. But it won't be by Stannis' doing. It'll happen behind his back or without his knowledge.

I'm not angry they killed off Shireen, sad as I am to see her die. I'm not even angry they burned her, although that was horrific. I'm friggin PISSED because they didn't kill Shireen - they murdered Stannis as a character. This is even worse than having Jaime rape Cersei. WTF?

This doesn't even make sense in THEIR version of the story! Selyst HATES her daughter. And she's a fanatic. She watched her own brother burn with a big smile on her face. She'd burn her with glee. But she's the only one in anguish over it? Dafuq?

Benioff and Weiss: all the subtlety and complexity of a farging hammer.

And to rub lemon in the wound, they pull this crap in the same episode that carries the scene many of us have been waiting anxiously 5 damned years to see! And they manage to even mess that scene up. But, hey... it was more important to kill Selmy off early, not introduce Strong Belwas at all, not bother to give the Sons of the Harpy any real motivation other than kill kill kill.

Drogon was too small. Hilarious! Considering he's at least 30% bigger in previous episodes!!!!

He didn't come to "rescue" Dany either. He was just attracted to the sounds of dying and the scent of blood. And he almost KILLED Dany when she approached him in his fury (and pain from being attacked)! Her clothes and hair were burned off and she was badly burned on her hands and took burns in other areas. She had to whip him and cow him until he submitted. (Oh, show viewers think she's immune to fire? LOL, oh, my sweet summer children....)

Nope. We get a smiling dragon. Oy vey!

I guess Hizzy isn't the Harpy after all (big question in the books). Or maybe he was and they killed him by mistake? Fun! They never bothered to introduce the Green Grace (the only other main suspect), so.... what? We're just going to drop this storyline?

Yunkai and Volantis not marching on Mereen yet? Hell, they should be outside the walls by now!!!!

Don't get me started on the abysmal puddle of liquid, fetid, marinated in the sun excrement that they turned the Dorne storyline into. At least we got a small glimpse of something resembling Doran tonight.

Game of Thrones has about as much in common with the books now as 50 Shades of Grey has in common with Twilight. (hack written fan fiction)

 

Well Ray... I guess this saves me the time off asking what you thought of last night's episode!

I read the books, and am getting used to being surprised and annoyed over the storyline deviations. However, my wife who never read the books is riveted. She loves the series, and I generally don't tell her about how the story is being butchered. The series is made for TV, and it seems to be kicking butt with its intended audience. If I set aside the books and take it for what it is, I'm good with most of it. I've accepted that it's a loosey goosey adaptation at this point.

i guess it's so far off the rails that I am watching it like its a totally different story, and I kind of enjoy the fact that I can be surprised by what happens.