A GAME OF THRONES (HBO) -- POSSIBLE SPOILERS

Again, I'm pretty sure nobody has been cast for the Reeds. People are suspecting Osha (Tonks from Harry Potter) will take over that role, or, that Bran will meet the Reeds in season 3 ..... >>>>>> after he takes off away from Winterfell. The Reeds are, after all, bannermen to the Starks that live in the backwoodsy type areas of the north. It would make sense for Bran to meet them while he, Hodor, Osha and Rickon are on the run. Not having the Reeds isn't a huge deal. It was mostly them there befriending Bran while the little Frey brats acted like huge asses. My guess is that in an episode or two, Theon will be in Winterfell, ordering people around, making one mistake after another, bungling things up. They can show him in Winterfell for a few episodes at least, lording over people and completely destroying any semblance of his honor.

Season 3 is so big that they have to split it in two. I'm not sure why they'd let season 2 spill over too much there. If anything, they should put bits of season 3 into season 2 to make more room. Storm of Swords was massively thick and full of story and new characters. <<<<<

I agree that they are important in the books, but in the adaptation, they might not be as important. And yeah, I agree that Osha has other things to do eventually (i.e. Rickon), but for a lot of season 3, they won't need the Reeds. She can teach Bran all he needs to know. They can come in later and probably will.

Just for laughs....

Oh, wait, so we're done talking about erections?

Finally got around to the episode. That Renly thing was just lame. They should've had Brienne fight the smoke monster at least--shown some excitement. Instead they just have a bunch of anonymous red shirts rush in and ignore everyone and die. It was a complete fail, imo.

They really are rushing things this season. I have NOT read the books, but the show totally lacks last year's absolute savorying of every delicious detail. This season seems like a headlong rush to get to some point everyone (involved in the show, or a fan of the book) knows about and wants to see--leaving those of us who are sitting down to watch a tv series shaking our heads and trying to keep up.

There was nothing I really liked about this episode because nothing really happened (except the Renly thing three seconds in), and all the little plot points were so hurried and obscure. Take Brienne's oath to Kat. Remember last year how the series developed the relationship between Tyrion and Bronn? That was excellent (and spread over several episodes), way better than that slapdash two scenes which took Kat and Brienne from near total strangers to devotees. SPOILER: And seeing as I know Kat dies in the not too distant future, the "I'll always guard you" felt a bit like a waste of time.

And the bit in the north was completely askew. THey were marching to find some new character called Half-Hand, and then the next scene he was there with them (without any sort of introduction at all) about to lead some of them off to scout/attack another new character called Manse Rader. No one at our house knew who this new guy leading the scouting party was until we discussed it.

Of course, I also didn't hate anything about the epsiode (except the lame Renly thing), but they need to slow down and let people savor the world like they did last year.

JohnnyGottaKeyboard said:

And the bit in the north was completely askew. THey were marching to find some new character called Half-Hand, and then the next scene he was there with them (without any sort of introduction at all) about to lead some of them off to scout/attack another new character called Manse Rader. No one at our house knew who this new guy leading the scouting party was until we discussed it.

Of course, I also didn't hate anything about the epsiode (except the lame Renly thing), but they need to slow down and let people savor the world like they did last year.

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They've been mentioning Mance this season the way that Stannis was mentioned but not seen last season, so I don't think the name should be that new/jarring. But I agree that it's a bit difficult to follow what's happening north of the Wall. There are a ton of characters, many of which are blending together. When I saw Halfhand, I thought, "Hey - is that Benjen?" And of course it wasn't. Still. Confusing. The thing to keep in mind is the entire reason the Night's Watch is north of the Wall is because they had heard that the Wildlings were gathering under the leadership of Mance, and between that (with Mance being an AWOL member of the Night's Watch) and the Walkers, they needed to take a force north and learn what was going on and give battle if needed. They need to protect the Wall, and thus the Seven Kingdoms, and if they have all of the Wildlings coming to attack from the north, then they're in trouble.

I think part of the problem this season is that there are so many characters spread all over the place. Last season, it was about the Starks (and their interactions with the Barratheons and the Lannisters) and the Targaryans (and their interactions with the Dos Thraki). Now everyone's split up - there were six kings claiming the throne, and all have their own stories.

No real resolution here; the cast of characters is massive.

Yep, and it's only going to get more dense. I do think they should have introduced Half-Hand more clearly. It was very abrupt in how they handled it. It could be that he and John have a nice conversation as they are travelling.

thothguard51 said:

Wait a minute, they did introduce half-hands arrival, he did not just show up unexpectedly.

He was the lone figure approaching off in the distance before Piggy started exclaiming how the Craster girl would love it here.

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Which is how we eventually reasoned it out. But a dot on the horizon in one scene to a nameless character in the next, is not much of an introduction. There were loads of nameless (voiceless) nightwatchmen milling around in both scenes. Of the two men gathering firewood during Sam's line, one also appeared to be a whole new character.

thothguard51 said:

Also, has anyone noticed the new keeps and cities shown in the opening? I really hadn't noticed that until the fourth episode as I usually used the opening to ahhh, well drain the bladder before the show starts.

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Yes, the credits often change as they only show locations that factor into the current episode. I first noticed this when Kat took Tyrion to the Eyrie. Since the Eyrie pop-up was so much taller than what I was used to, it grabbed my attention.

thothguard51 said:

Also, has anyone noticed the new keeps and cities shown in the opening? I really hadn't noticed that until the fourth episode as I usually used the opening to ahhh, well drain the bladder before the show starts.

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Yep. I love the opening credits. They had to lengthen the theme music to allow for the greater number of cities/places shown on the map. I particularly like how for Harrenhall, which is supposed to be haunted, it's dead, with no moving gears. Very cool!

I also love the opening credits. I remember John Favreau tweeting once that the opening of Game of Thrones was more interesting than most television shows out there.

I have turned into a crazed Peter Dinklage fangirl/stan. I just LOVE him. He is a terrific and marvelous actor! All the nuance, wit,and charm he gives to the role of Tyrion just makes my GOT viewing all the more pleasurable. Chile,I tend to get QUITE upset if I don't see him and start wondering if I should send a crazed fan manifesto to HBO demanding an explanation.


I am so deep into Tyrion that I wanted to whip Cersei's ass when she pushed him. I was like"you witch,how dare you touch him! "
I am currently glaring at Shae. My stanning is out of control,lol.

I love the opening credits,too. Very creative and gorgeous to look at.

Kitty27 said:

Chile,I tend to get QUITE upset if I don't see him and start wondering if I should send a crazed fan manifesto to HBO demanding an explanation.

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Oh my. That is serious Tyrion love!

thothguard51 said:

I watched the episode again last night and paid close attention to the preview for this weeks coming episode. Looks like we will finally get to meet Ygritte.

You know nothing Jon Snow...

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Is it season 3 that we get.... >>>>> giants? =) <<<<

Some really awesome animated shorts:

http://io9.com/5907862/brush-up-on-your-game-of-thrones-history-with-these-animated-shorts

Various histories told from perspective houses.

They were on the Game of Thrones Bluray, I think (special features).

The voices used in the films were the actors. I thought they were pretty cool! I imagine they were Martin-sanctioned if they were in the DVD dealio.

24 hours is forever. (sigh)

Those will be handy! My other half, usually such a passionate reader, still hasn't ready any of the books, and we've had them all sitting about the house since the first season ended.