Winter Is Coming...The Game of Thrones Thread *spoilers*

[Emily]

Alright, I thought the finale was awesome. I loved the scene where Jon's brothers come and stop him from leaving The Wall. Also, obviously the dragons at the end were fuggin' awesome. And usually I get pretty annoyed when shows don't stick to minor details for the sake of things looking pretty, but I was really glad they didn't have Daenerys lose all of her hair. Also, I think I've said this like 30 times, but I love the kids who play Bran and Arya. They're so adorable. Also glad we got to see Rickon a little bit more. OH, and I'm so glad they included the Jaime Lannister line, "There are no men like me. There's only me." AWESOME.

Things I wasn't crazy about: I know Bethany mentioned this, but I really am not crazy about the portrayal of Shae. I don't understand why they made her so different, but I think she's annoying and strange. I kind of thought that actress was hot at first, but in tonight's episode I thought she looked like a strange, exotic cross between a snake and a horse? Really I just don't like that they changed her so much from the books. My biggest complaint tonight is the Pycelle scene, and then the Varys/Littlefinger scene that followed it. That Pycelle scene was so horribly boring I actually got annoyed and started fidgeting in my seat, which I never do. I don't understand what the point of that scene was. It seemed like a supreme waste of finale episode time. And I don't know if it was because I was annoyed already, but the Varys/Littlefinger scene right afterwards bored me also.

All in all, it was a great episode, I just can't help but be weirdly critical of finales.

[Erin]

Excellent episode as well. I totally agree with you about the Pycelle and Littlefinger/Varys scenes. I think they could have been left out this season and Dany's final scene could have been expanded a bit. I would have loved to seen Drogo's bloodriders who had previously shunned Dany bow down to her after seeing the Dragons. It seemed a bit weird for Jorah to proclaim her "blood of my blood" when he's not even Dothraki.

I loved the King in the North scene and I'm really impressed with the actor playing Robb. These past couple episodes have been so convincing with the emotion he's displaying.

I also really liked how you heard the Lord Commander's speech to Jon while it showed the Night's Watch armoring up and leaving to head beyond the Wall to find Benjen Stark and see what is going on with the wildlings. That was a really moving scene.

The Dragons scene was just awesome. The dragons themselves looked great, Dany looked great (I'm glad they left her hair unburnt as well. Something like that works in the books, but seeing her suddenly bald onscreen would have distracted the average viewer out of the moment) and the mood was awesome.

Oh, and I'm glad they threw the Cersei/Lancel scene in there. They didn't say what was on that letter she was reading, but I bet it was informing her of Jamie's capture. If so, that's an interesting deviation from the books, having Cersei already sleeping with other people BEFORE learning of Jamie being imprisoned. Huh. Cersei likes to keep it in the family.

Bring on season 2! Did anyone notice the green in the flame during the Season 2 teaser?

Spoiler:

Wildfire anyone?

One big concern I'm hearing a lot about for Season 2 (which starts filming July 25th) is the budget. The cast is ever expanding, all Dany scenes next season will have to have CGI dragons in them, the direwolves are growing and dogs aren't going to cut it for much longer, there are huge battlescenes in book 2, giants and mammoths, all the House of the Undying stuff with Dany in book 2 and so on. Lots of CGI needed. I wish the show could have a movie's budget to fit it all in.

[Bethany]

I am afraid that a huge deviation with Pycelle is in the making. Why go to all those (boring) lengths to establish he is not as infirm or doddering as he puts on? A huge waste of what could have been dragon time. And I, too, loved the scene with Lord Mormont and the Night's Watch. Had I not known that Dany's scene was still pending, that would have been the perfect place to end the season. Shae is so annoying, I can't wait I don't like Roz. Why does she keep showing up everywhere? the King in the North scene was incredible. Theon's piece hurt my heart (you know why). I liked the dragons, they were not Disneyfied at all. And I think I kinda have the hots forJorah.

I think I will let Annabeth sum it up for me:

"That. Was. Epic."

[fernandito]

Agree with Pycelle, waste of precious screen time.

I personally loved the exchanges between Littlefinger and Varys. Two insidious characters acknowledging that they both pledge allegiance with the winning side under the pretense of 'serving the realm'.

Loved the dragon scenes, but I'm a little worried about how they're going to portray them in the seasons to come. If the CGI isn't up to snuff, we could be in trouble.

Love everything and anything having to do with Jon/the wall. Does anyone else notice that whenever they start to talk about the Whitewalkers, there's this slice of audio that they play, it's like a wolf's howl accompanied by the sound of the wind howling ? It's subtle but it lends much more poignancy to any mention of the danger to come. I freakin' love it.

BRING ON SEASON 2 !

[OchrisO]

At least the put the hot naked prostitute in the Pycelle scene.

[fernandito]

[Still Servant]

Dragons? You guys keep talking about dragons, but I didn't notice any dragons in the whole episode.

What an amazing ending to an amazing season. People who know me know that I love obsessing about TV/books/movies and I've already been the recipient of playful teasing from family and friends. From The Lord of the Rings, to Lost, to The Dark Tower, there's nothing like getting totally lost in a form of entertainment.

What I liked/loved/adored

Sansa and Joffrey. Joffrey is quickly becoming one of the best villains in TV history. I loved how Sansa was going to push him off the bridge. Would have been a nice little parallel with what happened to Bran. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Sansa's character develops.

"There are no men like me. There's only me." Classic. I also loved the Robb scenes.

Rickon sighting.

Arya/Gentry scene.

Jon Snow. I like pretty much anything Jon Snow does. His scene with the Nights Watch was just awesome.

I really like Jorah. He's fast becoming one of my favorite characters.

Dragons. There were fucking dragons. 'Nuff said.

I was going to call this next section, "stuff I didn't like" but there's almost nothing I dislike about this show so:

Stuff I wanted more of

Would have liked another scene wrapping up the season for the Starks.

Would have liked a little bit more from Tyrion that episode.

I didn't like the Pycelle scene. It just didn't work, then again, I was distracted.

No Bronn. I love that guy. Wanted at least one scene.

I was kind of looking forward to seeing Drogo as some bad ass warrior. Oh well.

I can't really think of anything else right now, but I will just say that I'm extremely excited for what's to come in the books/movies. I love adding a show like GoT to my list of fine, quality programming.

Ok, off to go finish reading Game of Thrones.

[Bethany]

Thanks to the lovely ErinPatricia...
http://geektyrant.com/news/2011/6/24...pet-style.html

[Ka-mai]

What the hell, there are only ten episodes in the season?! Fuck that. I was coming in here to be all "omg I love this series when's the next episode" and that totally killed my high. That being said, I fucking love this show, I think the casting is brilliant and I don't hate the child actors because they can actually act. While I kind of hate that they keep killing off the interesting/awesome characters, it keeps it from getting predictable which I would have hated more. NO ONE IS SAFE.

The only thing I didn't like was the dragons... they looked too CGI. I know there's really no way to pull off dragons, but I think in general puppets have a slightly better look to them. Or they could have taken some sort of lizard and glued wings to it. They were a lot better than usual (think Harry Potter atrocities) but I still winced.

I was going to get the books out of the library but everyone in the damn county had the same idea. Must find someone to borrow from.

[Erin]

Season 2 castings are starting to role in!

Apparently Asha has been cast, but her name has been changed to Yara to avoid confusion with Osha.

http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/07/...amed-and-cast/

Also, GRRM on his blog left clues that point to Gwendoline Christie as Brienne. I'm super pumped about that particular casting, she's always been my top choice. She's pretty, but she's more than got the size and I'm sure she can be made to look quite plain in armor and make-up.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...t:429,r:11,s:0

[Ka-mai]

Wow, they just now care about confusing names? I was having a lot of trouble watching the first time around because everyone's names rhyme or start with the same letters (Bran/Bronn and Jorah/Jory for example). And Yara reminds me of Yoren (or Arya!), so I think they're not helping themselves any.

[Erin]

That is a good point. I'm sure I wouldn't have known who anyone was had I not already been super familiar with them because of the books. Especially Bronn. It took them forever to say his name in the show.

[Ka-mai]

Tell me about it... when Arya was all "they killed Jory!" I was thinking, "what the fuck is a Jory?" The first time I watched I didn't pick up on half of what was happening, had to watch the whole thing twice to understand who was doing what and why.

[fernandito]

Totally. The fact that the range of characters is somewhere in the realm of A THOUSAND certainly doesn't help either.

[Ben Staad]

I am so freaking happy now. Someone hooked me up with all ten episodes! I've watched the first five so far and each episode is better then the last.

[Yaksha]

Maybe this is just me but Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister was a stroke of genius casting. I almost cheered when I found out he was Tywin. He is such a great bad guy.

[Bethany]

I have no idea what else he has done but I love him as Tywin.

[Yaksha]

Well he was the bad guy in Last Action Hero

[fernandito]

Maybe this is just me but Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister was a stroke of genius casting. I almost cheered when I found out he was Tywin. He is such a great bad guy.

Hell yeah, I love Charles Dance. When I saw him as Tywin a single, salty cheek ran down my face. I put that tear in the freezer , and once it froze I hanged it up on my wall to always remind myself of how genius that casting was.

[John Blaze]

Maybe this is just me but Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister was a stroke of genius casting. I almost cheered when I found out he was Tywin. He is such a great bad guy.

Hell yeah, I love Charles Dance. When I saw him as Tywin a single, salty cheek ran down my face. I put that tear in the freezer , and once it froze I hanged it up on my wall to always remind myself of how genius that casting was.

Mano, I love you, man.

[Erin]

Double

[John Blaze]

So, status update. Where's everyone at?

<Finished.

[Ka-mai]

Does Syrio remind anyone else of Bob Ross? Or is that just me?

[John Blaze]

yes, yes he does.

Frankly, Syrio I expected to be more of a Muskateer type guy. Swarthy frenchy/spanish looking dude, quick with a rapier. I was a little disappointed, but it was still ok.

[fernandito]

He looks like a hairdresser.