The Church of Alvis

It's here, it's spectacular, and here's our discussion thread. Don't bother with spoiler tags because if you haven't already read the books... Piss off and go read them.

My take on episode 1...

The characters are amazing portrayals. For the most part, they are exactly as I pictured them. Some comments:
Ned - bang on
The Stark boys - bang on
Jon Snow - perfect
Arya - perfect
Sansa - something wasn't quite right, but I can't put my finger on it
Catelynn - perfect. Already picturing her walking around... Um... Dead.
Robert - perfect
Cersei - not hot enough
Tyrion - pretty damn good. Something about Peter Dinklage with blond hair was odd.
Daenerys - great
Viserys - probably the closest to my minds eye of all the characters. Just a perfect worm of a character.
Jamie - the least close to my minds eye. I kept thinking it was Nathan Fillion.
Drogo - again, pretty much perfect.
Jorah Mormont - a little less weathered than I'd pictured him
Joffrey - what a twerp
Illyrio - perfect
Then Greyjoy - tiny part, but did well to set him up (as a snake)

Other notes

- they really made a point of NOT making Daenerys' age known
- the dragon eggs looked lame
- wasn't Ned already at King's Landing when Bran fell??
- the Godswood tree was underwhelming
- the pacing was really good - it didn't feel rushed. I assume people who haven't read the books were totally lost though. - My wife quit watching 3 minutes in. She is more bothered than most by dismembered heads.
- generally, I was thrilled with the fidelity to the book. I can't wait for next week.

Soon to happen things I'm looking most forward to:
- the three eyed raven
- intro of the Hound
- Syrio
- the dragon skeletons
- how creepy they make Mirri Maz Duur (sp?)


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Cuspar wrote:the dragon eggs looked lame

I agree with the dragon eggs. C'mon, scales on an egg?

Cuspar wrote:wasn't Ned already at King's Landing when Bran fell

No. I remember thinking that Ned was selfish for going off to King's Landing and abandoning his family.

Cuspar wrote: I assume people who haven't read the books were totally lost though.

I'm not so sure. While they crammed a lot into the pilot, I think some people will stick. At the very least to see what happens to Bran next week.

There were a lot of beheadings. And on that note...

This is the one time I regret cutting the cord, besides my birth.

Raikir wrote:This is the one time I regret cutting the cord, besides my birth.

Please explain further. Not your birth. The first part!

Cuspar wrote:

Raikir wrote:This is the one time I regret cutting the cord, besides my birth.

Please explain further. Not your birth. The first part!

I'm going to speculate here and say he is regretting giving up HBO, or maybe cable/sattelite completely...

Furiel wrote:

Cuspar wrote:

Raikir wrote:This is the one time I regret cutting the cord, besides my birth.

Please explain further. Not your birth. The first part!

I'm going to speculate here and say he is regretting giving up HBO, or maybe cable/sattelite completely...

No cable/satellite. Just OTA and Netflix.

Raikir wrote:

Furiel wrote:

Cuspar wrote:

Raikir wrote:This is the one time I regret cutting the cord, besides my birth.

Please explain further. Not your birth. The first part!

I'm going to speculate here and say he is regretting giving up HBO, or maybe cable/sattelite completely...

No cable/satellite. Just OTA and Netflix.

I kept my HBO just for this. Are you watching it on the... um... undernet?

Cuspar wrote:

Raikir wrote:

Furiel wrote:

Cuspar wrote:

Raikir wrote:This is the one time I regret cutting the cord, besides my birth.

Please explain further. Not your birth. The first part!

I'm going to speculate here and say he is regretting giving up HBO, or maybe cable/sattelite completely...

No cable/satellite. Just OTA and Netflix.

I kept my HBO just for this. Are you watching it on the... um... undernet?

I AM wearing fish-net underwear. Yes.

We've never had the cord... Just our complementary copy with the purchase of the interwebs... :Shifty:

But it was pretty sweet. Can't wait for next week.

Kitoshi wrote:We've never had the cord... Just our complementary copy with the purchase of the interwebs... :Shifty:

thief!

I have no idea what you're talking about...

Sansa isn't how I pictured her, though she is pretty still. Jon Snow looks a little too boyish to me.

I can't wait to see how the direwolves (especially Ghost) turn out. I'm also eager to see more of the Hound.

Catelyn Stark looks too old, I think Lena Heady would have been better cast as her. She doesn't really radiate beauty like Cersei was supposed to.

I too, was disappointed in the eggs. If I remember correctly, they were supposed to look like swirling marble. At least they got the colors right.

The walkers were effin perfect.

The godswood and winterfell's heart tree seemed about right. But, I'll hold judgement until I see the face.

I'm still hyped as fuck. I'm eager to see Viserys get his "crown of gold" in the next episode and hopefully Balerion's skeleton will look as menacing as I imagined it.

I agree with Raikir, I thought Catelyn looked too weathered. I pictured here being beautiful, just more subtle about it than Cersie. Sansa seemed... Different somehow. The eggs were okay, I imagined them more as jeweled rather than scaled.

As for the Rob and Jon, Jon looks as I had pictured him but Rob seems older than I thought. I had imagined them both about 17ish. Maybe the book said they were older, it's been so long since I've read them.

Aside from those small things I feel this is the best book adaptation I've ever seen. I'm very happy with it so far.

Kitoshi wrote:IAs for the Rob and Jon, Jon looks as I had pictured him but Rob seems older than I thought. I had imagined them both about 17ish. Maybe the book said they were older, it's been so long since I've read them.

They adjusted the ages, according to a blog I read, so there was less... um... need for "To Catch a Predator".

As for Cersei, Raikir is right. She definitely doesn't "radiate beauty". She's an attractive older woman, but I think every person who read these books had a VERY sexy picture of Cersei in mind.

The "Crown of Gold" is gonna be great. I'm scared that Balerion is going to be a let down...

Cuspar wrote:The pacing was really good - it didn't feel rushed. I assume people who haven't read the books were totally lost though. - My wife quit watching 3 minutes in. She is more bothered than most by dismembered heads.

I am probably one of the only ones who hasn't read these books yet. They looked very political to me, which was a deterrent from reading these - I have plenty of politics daily in the corporate sector...but the show may turn me back towards picking them up.

That being said I found the show interesting, although I was admittedly a bit lost. The production value of this show alone is likely going to keep me hooked to see what happens next. Incidentally - the queen - who was she fornicating with in the tower at the end?

Dodd Formeianna wrote:

Cuspar wrote:The pacing was really good - it didn't feel rushed. I assume people who haven't read the books were totally lost though. - My wife quit watching 3 minutes in. She is more bothered than most by dismembered heads.

I am probably one of the only ones who hasn't read these books yet. They looked very political to me, which was a deterrent from reading these - I have plenty of politics daily in the corporate sector...but the show may turn me back towards picking them up.

That being said I found the show interesting, although I was admittedly a bit lost. The production value of this show alone is likely going to keep me hooked to see what happens next. Incidentally - the queen - who was she fornicating with in the tower at the end?

Her brother.

Season 2 has been signed.

Gandolfini wrote:

Dodd Formeianna wrote:

Cuspar wrote:The pacing was really good - it didn't feel rushed. I assume people who haven't read the books were totally lost though. - My wife quit watching 3 minutes in. She is more bothered than most by dismembered heads.

I am probably one of the only ones who hasn't read these books yet. They looked very political to me, which was a deterrent from reading these - I have plenty of politics daily in the corporate sector...but the show may turn me back towards picking them up.

That being said I found the show interesting, although I was admittedly a bit lost. The production value of this show alone is likely going to keep me hooked to see what happens next. Incidentally - the queen - who was she fornicating with in the tower at the end?

Her brother.

Whoa - incest.

Dodd Formeianna wrote:

Gandolfini wrote:

Dodd Formeianna wrote:

Cuspar wrote:The pacing was really good - it didn't feel rushed. I assume people who haven't read the books were totally lost though. - My wife quit watching 3 minutes in. She is more bothered than most by dismembered heads.

I am probably one of the only ones who hasn't read these books yet. They looked very political to me, which was a deterrent from reading these - I have plenty of politics daily in the corporate sector...but the show may turn me back towards picking them up.

That being said I found the show interesting, although I was admittedly a bit lost. The production value of this show alone is likely going to keep me hooked to see what happens next. Incidentally - the queen - who was she fornicating with in the tower at the end?

Her brother.

Whoa - incest.

That was the reason Bran was tossed out the window.

That was when this writer was a bit different. He has no problem fucking up or killing a major character to move the story along.

Gandolfini wrote: That was when this writer was a bit different. He has no problem fucking up or killing a major character to move the story along.

Uhhh. Most recent book in series = Feast for Crows. Feast for Crows = Red Wedding. Just sayin'.

Cuspar wrote:

Gandolfini wrote: That was when this writer was a bit different. He has no problem fucking up or killing a major character to move the story along.

Uhhh. Most recent book in series = Feast for Crows. Feast for Crows = Red Wedding. Just sayin'.

You sure? I would have bet my life that this particular scene was in the third book...

Yep. I checked. Its in a Storm of Swords.

I remember because that was probably the single most unbelievable, painful, memorable scene of the series for me thus far.

I stand corrected. My point was just that GRRM doesn't shy away from killin' a man. Or dozens of men.

There have to have been notable deaths in AFFC.

My thoughts on episode 2:

The direwolves just aren't big enough. If i remember correctly, they were already full grown by this time in the story. I know that in order to make them bigger, they would probably have to emplou some heavy CGI, which would kind of cheapen the production. But, IMO, having them appear as normal wolves, albeit smart, kind of takes away from the story.

Joffrey's portrayal is perfect. I cant stand the little shit.

The Hound is good. Cant wait to see the byplay between him and Sansa.

God I want to throw that little blonde haired twit off the fucking wall of the north... covered in whatever the white walkers would consider a condiment... fucker...

Everything else has been dead on, and I'm fucking enthralled. If they could pull this shit off with wheel of time I'd probably just quit my job and get sent to a jail /w HBO.