Sean Bean is awesome I can't say that enough. I loved the episode and it's got a good plot going. In fighting between two powerful familes, the throne is in disaray, and there is an outside invading force that wants to regain the throne. The series has promise and I can't wait until Sunday to see the next episode.

I saw the first episode (due to it being on every damn channel for 3 blocks) and wasn't really impressed despite my great liking of Sean Bean's acting.

I haven't read the books, no. But to me it seems like another series with way too many disturbing elements. I'm getting sick of the [censored] in all these things..

Sorry if I am prudish or ignorant, but when a series starts out that way I just.. am automatically turned off by it. I know it's just a show, but it's not the kind of thing I want to see in a show, either.

Edit: the censored is the four-letter "r" word (to avoid confusion).

Hmm... A Song of Ice and Fire is a dark fantasy series, very dark. In Clash of Kings you'll find tons of very very very bad things of wars and cults, and continue with the rest of the story. If you're not into such story well perhaps yeah it's not the thing you would like.

From what I've read, the novels themselves are pretty bleak. I hesitate to call them 'dark' though. I like to think of it more as 'realistic'. Overthrowing a government and usurping the crown was always going to be bloody.

Anyone see the NYT review? Completely idiotic. "Durr fantasy is stupid so GoT is stupid! I want everything explained in the first episode and if there's any mystery as to character's motivations or why the world is the way it is its poop. Stupid books for boys"

At least it seems everyone else for the most part is in love with it.

And for the record, my sister loves the series as much as I do.

I can see where she's coming from. If someone had no background in the fantasy genre and was suddenly thrust into GRRRRRRRRR Martin's world, it does feel cliquish in a way. And being cliquish puts people on the defensive. Honestly, if I had no idea what the film was going to be about I would have thought the first episode was a tad confusing too. Too many story lines evolving at the same time, perhaps. I also think she is approaching the review not simply as a film but as an HBO production.

Oh well I don't want it to seem that way.. I live and breathe the fantasy genre, I just never saw the need to incorporate that into a show, even though it is realistic.

(I'm also a medieval/renaissance studies history buff/major so I just died inside a little. While I studied real events.. being assumed not to be into fantasy..agh!)

Think of it as this: Fantasy =/= Fairy tale. :biggrin:

Obviously :ahhh:

I understand, actually. The books are (somewhat) more artful than the series so far; there's a greater sense of romance and even dark humour in many of the scenes. Of course, that's much easier to achieve in prose than in live action, so the series was always going to be less subtle in that regard. And less detailed as a whole.

For example, Drogo was surprisingly sensitive and intelligent in the book (and relatively kind to Daenerys), despite being a dangerous and brutal man. If it's implied she was taken unwillingly in the first episode, I don't see how...

The rape scene was the only bit of the show that really, really bugged me. Way to totally miss the point of the "no/yes" passage in the book, HBO... although from reading blogs and stuff it seems GRRM was really involved in the filming. If he gave that interpretation the green light, I really don't know what to think.

Don't you know? Anything but the missionary position with the lights off for the purpose of procreation is '[censored]' in the eyes of the MPAA.

I just read that there will be a Game of Thrones RTS game released during 2011.

What do you think?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/219791/take_your_first_look_at_a_game_of_thrones_genesis.html

Well that's a load of BS ;P not even the MPAA is that stupid, I don't think.

Ah well. Even if it wasn't meant to be how I/Rumple/whomever perceived it, they really should rethink some things. Now however, the bit with the couple later on in the episode was clearly consensual. Sure Daenerys (?) acted very weak all the time, but it seemed way too.. well, yeah.

And I just realized more fully toward smert.. if you're trying to imply I don't know the difference whether because I'm female or for any other reason, you're sadly mistaken. And I take offense from that.

Edit: No I'm not a feminist, but the fairy tale thing is very cliched for women, I suppose.

The raep thing was to simplify her arc. She consents to her first night, but she is essentially [censored] (six'd without her explicit consent, painfully) in later chapters. Rather than potentially confusing the viewers with that shift the producers chose to eliminate the initial "yes" and then have her and Drogo's relationship go up from there. Judging by the previews and the chapter layout, thats all in tomorrow's episode.

However, I do have to say that I'm not entirely comfortable with calling it outright [censored]. Yes, it wasn't exactly consensual, but he was gentle with her, especially compared to typical Dothraki customs. It also comes down to the time period they are living in - they were married, so it was their duty to consummate their marriage. So while its [censored] in our modern eyes, it was perfectly acceptable in theirs. :confused:

Rumple, how come it censors my [censored] and not yours?

My brain broke trying to parse that sentence. Help?

Sorry, he said that fairy tale doesn't equal fantasy, which I figured implied I didn't know the difference.

Have you guys seen the Taiwanese animation version of GRRM?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G6QyXl6d2M&__sf=1303675648

pretty insane and funny