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

New Trailer for Season 2 (getting close now. Only a month away)

[youtube:nzf47amx]X66PDW1Mjf8[/youtube:nzf47amx]

Allow me to geek out for a moment here...

Red Comet!

The Hound kicking ass!!!

BIG direwolves!!!

Wait... that part of Robb's story is in book 3... oh well, guess they're juggling some things for time....

Tyrion holding a jar of a very, ahem... useful substance....

Jon Snow: "I saw something..." And you're going to see a lot more too.

*** Osha saying the comet means dragons. That line is in the book, but it's said by Old Nan. Sadly, the actress who played her passed away, so maybe that's why they changed it. That said, I hope they also include Osha's actual book explanation as it's a cool line: "Blood, and fire, boy, and nothing sweet."

 

Another new trailer for season 2:

[youtube:10witm07]5JbqzI2Dl7Y[/youtube:10witm07]

"I will hurt you for this. The day will come when your joy will turn to ashes, and you'll know the debt is paid." I always imagined Tyrion having more anger or force in his voice when he says this to Cersei, but the subtle way it's said here can be more ominous.

Does Tyrion make good on that threat? Stay tuned.

 

Argh! I can't frickin wait! I'm going to have to start reading faster...I'm not even halfway through book one.

 

Ha, I'm in for one. My wife's a wonderful woman.

 

Got my confirmation of shipping earlier today. Will be here on Tuesday.

The Blue Rays are over 22 hours of material with all of the bonus stuff. The DVDs have a few bonus features, but not nearly as much.

Thank the gods that Blue Ray players have been cheap the last year or so. Somehow, I went from having none a little over a year ago, to having 3 in my house today.

I'll have a hell of a time finding them, so I'll be waiting for someone to list on line where to find all of the easter eggs... er, I mean in this case, Dragon Eggs.

 

First good look at Grey Wind, Robb's direwolf.



Now that's a direwolf! They're big (in the books, Ghost - Jon's direwolf - is at one point described as being as big as a small pony), and in the books, capable of bringing down even mounted knights in armor. Those dogs they used last year were cute, but partly due to their size, and partly due to the dogs not cooperating, they were left out of key scenes they should have played a big role in.

Now, they're using real dogs and animatronics combined with CGI. Looks pretty good to me. Now I want to see them in action.

 

Looks sweet. It appears that they are going all out, so it shouldn't disappoint.

My box set arrived today.

As a happy bonus (or possibly by mistake), they included a Direwolf at no extra cost. He's likely the runt of his litter and looks underfed, but I'll fatten him up and have him chasing off Ne'er-do-wells in no time.

 

Great looking dog.

I'm already loving the Blue-Ray set. I've devoured the books numerous times, and I still loved the "Complete guide to Westeros" histories. So far, it's the only extras I've watched. (and I highly recommend that and the house histories as required viewing to non-readers to get some backstory and fill in the gaps). But if they're any indication, the rest will be great.

And the picture is stunning! I watch the show on HBO-HD, yet somehow, the picture here is even better. I never knew Daenarys had freckles.

 

Thanks, he's our 11 yr old Siberian Husky who my wife spoils terribly and who also hates cameras. I thought he'd be a good prop for saying 'looky what I'm watching tonight'.

My happy bubble was popped last night though when the damn discs wouldn't play in my blu ray player. I've never had one that wouldn't play, and wouldn't you know it...none of the GOT discs would work. I tried it in a different player, and the outcome was the same. I decided to try again this morning, and apparently they just take a really, really long time to load. The thing is, they don't 'load' like any other disc I've watched. They just sit there with a black screen and zeros on the readout. So, I went from 'good feeling's gone' to 'good feeling's...postponed'. :-D

Rant over.

 

I had the same experience the first time I popped them in. My Blue Ray players are all WiFi connected, so I figured maybe they were DLing firmware.

 

New trailer. Not as impressive as the last 2, but we get a few glimpses of.... well, you'll know who they are eventually.

[youtube:2uq371qf]r6Uo0XTBKjs[/youtube:2uq371qf]

I have to agree with Ser Jorah. I look at Daenarys and can't believe she's real too. /pant

 

Yeah, there were a few faces I didn't recognize.

Dang that's gonna be good.

You weren't kidding about the BRs looking so good. They're fantastic.

 

Here's another face you won't recognize. His name is Jaqen H'ghar. Watch him closely. One of the cooler characters in the series... and quite a few mysteries / questions surrounding him that even the most diehard, who can quote every verse of the books fans don't have the answers to yet. But there's plenty of speculation.

 

Not that TTF needs it. But this is pretty cool. It's an HBO made catch up guide, the story so far, updated guides, and the first "official" map.

http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/

 

This will air Sunday night, but HBO has released it on-line early. It's a 20 minute or so primer for season 2. Not any season 2 spoilers, only brief glimpses and teases. And of course, a catch up on season 1.

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2 new primer clips have been added by HBO. One for new locations, and one for a few of the new, more or less major characters as an introduction. Nothing really spoilery.

Locations:

[youtube:1dmukfco]Ww6rFGkU_44[/youtube:1dmukfco]

Some of the new characters:

[youtube:1dmukfco]flIHsZvC1SU[/youtube:1dmukfco]

 

Ooooh that was good. I can't wait to see how that prick Joffrey gets his... raying:

 

Don't hold your breath. And he only gets worse.

Great episode. Flew by so fast. Even as a multiple times reader of all of the books, I want to see the next episode NOW! LOL The major events, I knew. But there were some subtle scenes there that were new. Either way, I liked how they executed the story so far. Sorry for the pun.

 

I figured so much. I've been really spoiled when it comes to being able to get instant gratification with this series. When it was over last night I was longing for the next episode.

I'm almost done with book one, so I'm hoping I can read ahead of season two. We'll see.

 

If you want instant gratification, this is not the story for you. It will test your patience and resolve. But I like that. It's not so simple as "good guys vs. bad guys, and the good guys always win." That kid playing Joffrey is so good. Joffrey is an a-hole in the books. He's vile, contemptible, rash, cruel, and clearly a sociopath... and this Gleeson kid manages to make you hate him even MORE. So it's a good thing you have to wait (I won't say how long. Don't hold your breath. ) for any commeupance. It makes the story more fun. There will be moments where he gets checked, and those are fun. But for any grand justice, you'll be waiting quite a while.

In the books, Joffrey is such a prick that you have to sometimes put the book down because you need your whole body to hate him with...

... and he isn't even the worst. Oh, just wait. LOL

Preview for the next episode:

[youtube:2tp6las4]biqw1vDPhsU[/youtube:2tp6las4]

 

You're right on all counts. Sociopath is a pretty good label for Joffrey. It wasn't much of a surprise when he went all 'King Herod' on Robert's bastards.

The Red Priestess drinking the poison...eek, she scares me.

 

Hehehe... you ain't seen nothing yet.

 

HBO is less concerned about ratings than it is total viewers. Mostly that's due to their being subscription based and they don't sell ad time.

That said, despite AMC being in 3 times as many households than HBO, GoT beat out Mad Men Sunday night. And HBO's numbers put's GoT's season 2 premiere ahead of the 2nd season premiere of True Blood.

That's really good news. The show should be sticking around a long time.

 

In honor of another episode about to air, I thought I'd pass along a couple funnies:



On the left is Caligula. The right is Joffrey. Cue Twilight Zone music.






And 2 of my favorites (not including ones that would have spoilers in them):

 

Wow, that's downright spooky.