John the OFM | 27 Apr 2014 7:20 p.m. PST |
Let the SPOILERS begin! I am as puzzled at what is going on as people who have never read the books. Almost none of that happened in the book(s). At first I thought that was Coldhands. Nope. Then I thought Brynden Bivers. Nope nope. Craster's Keep? Not a speck of the current arc is in the books. So, Armand. Your guess is as good as mine. |
doug redshirt | 27 Apr 2014 7:36 p.m. PST |
I was scratching my head too. I was wondering if I had forgotten something from the books. |
McKinstry | 27 Apr 2014 7:44 p.m. PST |
Good! It wasn't just me. I was afraid I was losing my memory. |
John the OFM | 27 Apr 2014 8:16 p.m. PST |
Remember how Peter Jackson had to catch up with leaving out Tom Bombadil by having Aragorn pull out from his handy knapsack a bunch of swords for the hobbits? I'm afraid that Benioff and Wise have a similar task ahead of them. |
Brian Smaller | 27 Apr 2014 8:18 p.m. PST |
Game of Thrones – based on the books – not a scene by scene reproduction of them. Kind of like every Conan movie ever made bears scant resemblance to a REH story. |
saltflats1929 | 27 Apr 2014 8:26 p.m. PST |
Thank god- not a moment too soon. |
Tango01 | 27 Apr 2014 9:18 p.m. PST |
So, in the books there are not a "demon who made walkers touching babies"?
Nor the future ambush to John Snow? Nor the visit of the hot "queen racer" to the poor little boy in his bed? Nor the presents from the big female warrior and her new quest to find Aria? Hope the poisoners are the same! (smile). Amicalement Armand |
AmongLions | 27 Apr 2014 10:14 p.m. PST |
Armand – The "big female warrior" and Podric do actually go on a quest to find the Stark sisters. Everything else you mentioned is not in the book
Not that I remember anyway. Could be wrong. |
Dan Beattie | 27 Apr 2014 10:53 p.m. PST |
No, the Hobbit swords come from Galadriel, in the best scene of the movie. It was cut from the theatrical version, but it is in the extended version. Good riddance to Tom Bombadil.
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Rapier Miniatures | 28 Apr 2014 1:37 a.m. PST |
They have used writers that haven't read the books, oh dear, that is terrible, the plot is going to improve, the characterisation become plausable and it is going to become watchable. How terrible that must be. 10,000,000 words into the drivel and GRRM finds out you can actually make it worth while! |
Gunslinger | 28 Apr 2014 1:37 a.m. PST |
No, he's right. Aragorn opens a bedroll and gives each of the Hobbits a short sword at Weathertop unless I have lost my mind. |
Patrick R | 28 Apr 2014 2:00 a.m. PST |
If LOTR was made today, it would be six or more films long and one film would be almost entirely based around Tom Bombadil. |
langobard | 28 Apr 2014 3:38 a.m. PST |
Forget Game of Thrones (which, incidentally I refuse either to continue reading until Martin finishes the books, or watch until HBO finishes the series), why all the anti-Bombadil sentiment??? |
The Gray Ghost | 28 Apr 2014 4:08 a.m. PST |
Why is anyone shocked that Hollywood has changed the storylines |
John the OFM | 28 Apr 2014 6:04 a.m. PST |
I think Aragorn does it at the Prancing Pony in Bree. I actually have no problem with the series changing the story. There is a slightly different dynamic here. With LOTR, the books had been out for decades before it made it to the silver screen. There was not da Interwebs for fans to agonize over "theories". link There was not the smug "I know about the Red wedding, and you don't!" attitude of those who had read the books. Suddenly, the readers are as clueless as the watchers, and I find that funny. HBO has already thrown out Jeyne Westerling and Robb's will. Heck, if the series is going to throw the Dorne and Iron Islands digressions, change away! I will be interested to see what happens next when Jon rescues Bran and friends. How can he let them to go off to find the Three Eyed Raven when Hodor ("HODOR!") has been wounded in the leg, Jojen gets epileptic fits and Meera is a mere slip of a lass? I guess Coldhands shows up and says "Here, brother. I'll handle that." The problem with derailing the train so early is that you have to fit your new plot line in in the upcoming shows. This is not a one shot movie. This is a projected 70 episode series, which has to to SOME degree follow more or less the 7 books. It is also compounded by the fact that 2 of them have not been written (or published) yet. |
Mardaddy | 28 Apr 2014 6:10 a.m. PST |
Not shocked; confused and disappointed because there are so many compelling story threads and themes in and of itself WITHOUT having to stray from the books too far. Or without some writer/director trying to put their own stamp or twist on things to, "make it their own." You want to make it your own, write, pitch and get funding for a spin-off instead of piggybacking and hijacking. |
John the OFM | 28 Apr 2014 6:13 a.m. PST |
Armand, in the books, Tommen is 7 or 8 years old. He does marry Marge, although the consummation is naturally put off. It's a dynastic marriage, after all. I was really enjoying the look on the new Tommen actor's face when Marge shows up and sits on his bed talking about their "secret". It is not any stretch to say that he "acted" exactly like a normal 13 year old boy would. Stunned. Who, me? I expected to see the sheets rising
I kept expecting the White Walker to be someone else, and then I thought the King of the Walkers, who is definitely NOT in the books, was another character. Wrong on both counts. Remember Jon's three arrow wounds? He has to get along on canes and crutches in the books. Instead, he is like a TV Private Eye from the 60s or 70s (Rockford? Mannix? Harry O?) who sustains at least 3 concussions per episode and beats up the Bad Guy in the final minute. The Brienne and Pod plot is about 90% on track. I really like Pod, although he is a lot bigger than I imagined. "He has the bumbling "Ser,
. My Lady" just right. |
AcrylicNick | 28 Apr 2014 6:18 a.m. PST |
In the LotR movies, Aragorn hands out the swords at Weathertop, shortly before the Hobbits make a campfire and the Ringwraiths show up. |
Parzival | 28 Apr 2014 6:41 a.m. PST |
Yep. And Galadriel merely gives Pippin and Merry "nice shiny daggers" in both book and film, which never get used. As for GoT, I read a recap, and while it's been awhile since I read the books, at the end of it I was going "Who did what now to whom???" |
Tgerritsen | 28 Apr 2014 6:46 a.m. PST |
In the books, Pod is a boy, not a young man. That would have made the reward of prostitutes a bit awkward, though. I actually like that Pod is older. Also, the book hinted that Marge was having an affair with someone- it appears that the show will make it with Tommen (as a way to head off Cersei at the pass), whom, if he was 7 or 8, would be really awkward. I still suspect we'll see some awkward 13 on 20 something sex scenes coming. |
John the OFM | 28 Apr 2014 7:10 a.m. PST |
Giving it a little thought, the King of the White Walkers could be the Night's King. That scuppers the theory that Coldhands is the Night's King, though. Since we have not seen Coldhands yet, that may not be a problem. |
John the OFM | 28 Apr 2014 7:14 a.m. PST |
Oh, and I do not remember Dany crucifying anybody either. |
headzombie | 28 Apr 2014 8:08 a.m. PST |
While all the Walker stuff is different than the books we don't know for sure that it always will be. The producer's have sat down with GRRM and he has given them a mental download. They know where things are going so maybe this is just working some ideas in early. |
John the OFM | 28 Apr 2014 8:46 a.m. PST |
Yes, it could be that we just got a sneak peek at Book 6. Will the Night's King have his own POV chapters? |
AcrylicNick | 28 Apr 2014 8:50 a.m. PST |
Oh, and I do not remember Dany crucifying anybody either. A Storm of Swords, in the last "Daenerys" chapter: "How many?" one old woman had asked, sobbing. "How many must you have to spare us?""One hundred and sixty-three," she answered. She had them nailed to wooden posts around the plaza, each man pointing at the next. The anger was fierce and hot inside her when she gave the command; it made her feel like an avenging dragon. But later, when she passed the men dying on the posts, when she heard their moans and smelled their bowels and blood
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altfritz | 28 Apr 2014 9:50 a.m. PST |
What I want to know has the third bit of blood magic come to pass – the "Usurper Greyjoy"? And is there now a zombie Stark in the game? |
darthfozzywig | 28 Apr 2014 10:07 a.m. PST |
I, for one, was excited to see the White Walkers' leader, the True King in the North.
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21eRegt | 28 Apr 2014 10:20 a.m. PST |
What is Dany doing with these conquered towns when she moves on? She typically kills or has killed the established leadership, so who is running things? Or are they plundering everything of value and leaving the town abandoned? And how big is her "army" of former slaves? "I'm Spartacus!" The point last night of "we are not fighters" rings true. They are a logistical burden to a force on the move. |
darthfozzywig | 28 Apr 2014 10:34 a.m. PST |
Speaking of reaching into Book 6 to speed things along, puberty waits for no man, and Bran the Actor is growing fast. He now bears a striking resemblance to Geddy Lee of Rush.
"Fly by Night" indeed! |
Light Horseman | 28 Apr 2014 10:34 a.m. PST |
Having read all the books published so far, I must say that I have become disenchanted with the HBO series as they have increasingly deviated from the original story. So far, nothing they have done has made the TV show better than the books. |
Tango01 | 28 Apr 2014 10:52 a.m. PST |
Many thanks for your guidance John and et all!. (smile). Amicalement Armand |
Mardaddy | 28 Apr 2014 11:39 a.m. PST |
"What is Dany doing with these conquered towns when she moves on?" That's covered in the books. After discovering that the conquered cities are just reverting back to their ways after she reaches the horizon, Dany decides to sit and learn to lead for a while – some pretty integrity/courage-laden decisionmaking there
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Bashytubits | 28 Apr 2014 11:56 a.m. PST |
For those challenged by words.
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darthfozzywig | 28 Apr 2014 3:28 p.m. PST |
Having read all the books published so far, I must say that I have become disenchanted with the HBO series as they have increasingly deviated from the original story. Having read all the book published so far, the original story has increasingly deviated from the original story. :D |
Goonfighter | 28 Apr 2014 3:55 p.m. PST |
I enjoyed the books but really found myself muttering "move up, move up" # in the Dornish episodes and where Daenerys wanders around the desert once again. If HBO are shortening some arcs and revving it up in other places, that can only be good. For my part the entire Bran and his famous five like chums bimbling about in the snowy wastes is what you get when you have a character that everyone really likes take the long drop early on. I can't help but wonder if Brans powers are the result of an "uh oh, should have been someone else" moment by GRRM. |
Caesar | 28 Apr 2014 4:09 p.m. PST |
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Quaker | 29 Apr 2014 3:40 a.m. PST |
I think the issue is that Jon Snow is one of the last "good" characters left in action at this point so they are fluffing out his scenes before the attack on the Wall (I'm betting they are not going to kill Ygritte, so that part of the books will probably get cut down and they need to fill it. Or at least Thorne and Slynt will be in command during that attack and Jon will return to exact revenge). |
John the OFM | 29 Apr 2014 6:05 a.m. PST |
Oh, come on. they killed off Robb's adorable pregnant wife. What purpose would be served by sparing Ygritte? Don't you want to hear "You know nothing, Jon Sn
arrrrrgggghhhhh
." As for Slynt
page 111, Book 5. Break out the balloons and party favors! Speaking of "goodness", Tyrion is heading for a rather shaky act. |
darthfozzywig | 29 Apr 2014 9:28 a.m. PST |
"You know nothing, Jon Sn
arrrrrgggghhhhh
." Heheheheh. Crows before hoes, man, crows before hoes.
Tyrion is heading for a rather shaky act She had it comin'
wonder if Brans powers are the result of an "uh oh, should have been someone else" moment by GRRM. There's a LOT of "uh oh" moments in his writing. Daenerys' ENTIRE ARC for one. When ASoIaF was supposed to be three books, her storyline worked. When he decided he could stretch it out for five more books, that's when we get the endless wandering, leading up to the end of book 5 and
her decision to go back to the beginning. Seriously? Ugh. |
Parzival | 29 Apr 2014 10:49 a.m. PST |
Wow, Ceasar, that art was terrific. Thanks for the link! |
Thomas Thomas | 29 Apr 2014 1:40 p.m. PST |
Re last episode: Jamie giving Oathbreaker to Brienne was true to the books (though Jamie names it and Pod is added latter). Most of the rest was made up nonsense. Jon extracting revenge on the mutineers is filler because of a timing screw up that takes him away from what he is supposed to be doing (getting ready to fight off the Wildling raiders). In the books the White Walkers are not zombies (though they do reanimate human/animal corpse) but a different sort of "Dark Elf" race – called the Others. A mysterious and interesting foe for all mankind. Light Horse – always nice to read intelligent comments on MPage. TomT |
darthfozzywig | 29 Apr 2014 2:56 p.m. PST |
The way to defeat the icy doom of the White Walkers is to capture the burning nerdrage of the fanboys. They turn incandescent with even minor deviations from Martin's meandering prose. |
The Beast Rampant | 29 Apr 2014 3:05 p.m. PST |
IMO, up until now, the series' changes have been, by and large, pretty inspired. Lots of scenes filled out characters, or were at least inspiring shortcuts around the books' more convoluted storyline. But lately, so much seem filler. Did we really need to devote five minutes to making darn sure we know the Watch mutineers were disreputable sorts? My bet is that you could have cut the whole scene out entirely, and introduced Craster Manor's new tenants with Bran's capture. And do we need to spend lots a time making The Red Viper a creepy jerk? So I'll have a hard time deciding who to root for in two or three episodes? This whole season has been a bit off. Why can't either party get past three installments without mucking things up? And I would have been OK with Tommen being in middle school (and Margerie's subsequent manipulation of him against his mom) if he wasn't, like, SIX last season. Geez, way to age a character! |