A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones Spoiler-Filled Discussion

Not having watched the show (I'll catch up when I've finished the novels), how do they have episodes of varying length - don't TV shows have to be a certain standard length ?

 

On HBO not so much as they don't have adverts to worry about.

 

So I think I can tell from that what's going to happen in episode 2.

 

Wow dude, haven't you heard? It's not TV it's HBO.

 

We've already known that for a while, from casting calls and George talking about the upcoming season in interviews that he enjoyed writing Joffrey's wedding. (I think he described it something like "great food, drink and entertainment between meals...")

 

^Yeah, I figured also when I saw that he'd written the episode that he'd want to write that particular one. I just didn't know when into the season it would happen.

 

It's on commercial satellite TV over here. I suppose they can add or omit advert breaks to make it fit the slot...

 

Rumored to be the titles for episodes six to ten of season four:

4x06 — Sons of the Harpy
4x08 — The Gift of Mercy
4x09 — The King Beyond the Wall
4x10 — The Fall

 

New trailer:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIASaUUwklk&feature=player_embedded[/yt]

 

LOVED that shot of Braavos. Methinks we'll see Arya get there this season.

 

Spoiler: Filming details.

We'll see her get on the ship, frm the sound of it, but Stannis will be visiting Braavos first, so the shot is undoubtedly from that.

 

I also loved that the shot of Braavos. Just how I imagined it.

I'm going to miss out on the first couple of episodes because I'll be on holiday in Italy, so I really cannot wait for this season to start.

 

Why is it that I've liked Aiden Gillen in everything else I've seen him in but just find his delivery as Littlefinger a bit 'off'? Something about the delivery seems forced to me.

 

Per David Benioff in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, their plan is now definitively for seven seasons (indeed, they're claiming that's always what it ways, which I think is a retcon; but I wouldn't be surprised if HBO's number-crunchers did an estimate of cast retention costs for an eighth season and dissuaded them from it).

GRRM is so fucked.

 

I rewatched the first 3 series back to back and his Welsh accent becomes more pronounced with each passing series. In the promos for the fourth series it's even stronger...almost evil Welsh. Could that be why?

 

If they've settled on seven seasons rather than eight then GRRM's lack of progress may well be a factor in that. If he was on track to have the final two books out in a timelier manner they might have stuck with eight seasons and a fuller adaptation.

 

He's actually Irish. I find his delivery in GOT a bit over the top and hammy, which he never is in contemporary dramas. Perhaps that's what bothers me.

 

I've been thinking for a while now that seven seasons made more sense than eight. True Blood, a show with roughly the same audience that almost certainly has a smaller budget, went to seven with the last two shorter than usual, so even with GOT's success, eight might be a reach financially. And they might well want to minimize the amount they have to write without source material.

I find Gillen's performance unconvincing as well, which is a shame since it's such good casting in theory. I don't know if he thinks costume drama calls for that kind of staginess, or what.

 

I think it perfectly suits the character. Littlefinger has survived and thrived by convincing everyone that he is more useful than he is threatening. He has only shown hints and barest moments of the true man behind his often-clownish public persona.

 

From the books I always thought that Varys and Littlefinger used their finery to mask who they really were. Varys glides around in silks all perfumed and supposedly servile. Littlefinger keeps his ledgers and wears his brocades and little bird pin. Therefore, the powerful families see LF as someone who is happy to be raised up from his smallholding and will go with the flow to keep what power they deign to give him. I think they believe the same of Varys. None of them really grasp the depth of either Varys' or LF's cunning. - Well maybe Kevan.

LF and Varys want to seem useful but ultimately harmless - then they can plot and scheme to their hearts desire.

I always loved LF's line in the books about Loras volunteering to be in the king's guard and how Loras thought it was Loras' idea but it was truly LF's.