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

[Misfit Toy]

Kegg wrote:

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Frankly, the casting and writing choice that for me all of season two hinges on. The series has had a stellar track record of casting and writing these characters so far, but Stannis personally is one of my favourite characters from the books, so really hoping he's done well.

Really? That whole storyline leaves me a bit cold. I much prefer the characters that dominated the first book. I felt that the side arcs, while adding depth, weren't as compelling.

[Kegg]

Misfit Toy wrote:

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Really? That whole storyline leaves me a bit cold. I much prefer the characters that dominated the first book. I felt that the side arcs, while adding depth, weren't as compelling.

I'd agree about the side arcs. Arya's chapters in particular frequently feel like so much filler. I think they can be dealt with pretty swiftly in the series, a handful of scenes between leaving King's Landing and Harrenhal should do nicely.

But Stannis is simply one of the series' great characters. His iron will, overshadowed by his elder brother and not as well liked as his younger brother, the joyless teeth-gnasher who will be King not because he wants to, but because it is his by right.

Hell, the way he turns the discussion of supporting Melisandre's religion into one about how he once cared for a useless bird and things improved when he abandoned it is a wonderful little moment.

[Colonel Midnight]

Brienne's chapters, for me, are the ones that drag along... Here she goes a-wandering, feeling all ugly and horsey about herself. *yawn*

Of course, she'll probably be back in ADWD or TWOW. *oy*

Cheers,
-CM-

[Scout101]

Not sure there's a lot of leeway with her character, given how we left her...

[Canadave]

Kegg wrote:

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I'd agree about the side arcs. Arya's chapters in particular frequently feel like so much filler. I think they can be dealt with pretty swiftly in the series, a handful of scenes between leaving King's Landing and Harrenhal should do nicely.

Really? That'd make me sad... Arya's one of my favourite characters, and I'm always happy to see her name at the top of a chapter.

[Kegg]

Canadave wrote:

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Really? That'd make me sad... Arya's one of my favourite characters, and I'm always happy to see her name at the top of a chapter.

Oh Arya's a good character. But once she leaves King's Landing her story really drags. I didn't really get invested in it again until book four. She's kind of the inverse of Sansa, who can be a very annoying character, but has far more interesting things happen in her chapters.

[Colonel Midnight]

Scout101 wrote:

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Not sure there's a lot of leeway with her character, given how we left her...

True -- She was just sort of hanging around, saying Hello to a lot of folks there at the end of the Feast...

Cheers,
-CM-

[Canadave]

Kegg wrote:

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Oh Arya's a good character. But once she leaves King's Landing her story really drags. I didn't really get invested in it again until book four. She's kind of the inverse of Sansa, who can be a very annoying character, but has far more interesting things happen in her chapters.

Okay, that is fair. Much as I like her, I did start to get a bit tired of the way her story was playing out. "Arya is going somewhere, but is captured. Then she escapes and starts going somewhere, but is captured. Then she escapes and starts..."

[Venardhi]

Colonel Midnight wrote:

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True -- She was just sort of hanging around, saying Hello to a lot of folks there at the end of the Feast...

Cheers,
-CM-

She had enough time to shout a word, the question is what it was and if that word was enough to change her fate.

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Brienne shouts, "Bitch!" And then she dies.

[Colonel Midnight]

Venardhi wrote:

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She had enough time to shout a word, the question is what it was and if that word was enough to change her fate.

True, true.

Since this is a spoiler thread -- any ideas?

I would bet 'Sansa', personally, but curious as to what others (or Others) might think...

Cheers,
-CM-

[Hyperspace05]

Canadave wrote:

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Okay, that is fair. Much as I like her, I did start to get a bit tired of the way her story was playing out. "Arya is going somewhere, but is captured. Then she escapes and starts going somewhere, but is captured. Then she escapes and starts..."

Amen to that, I strongly agree with both of you. The Arya chapters were a repetitive chore through ACOK and ASOS, and did not get interesting again until AFFC - when she actually went somewhere. Again, she is a great character but criminally underused/misused in book 2 and 3.

I have voiced opinions like that on Westeros.org, but that is heresy to 95% of the population there. People just don't seem to understand the difference between liking/disliking the character vs. the events the character takes part in.

[Canadave]

^ I think part of it may be the fact that I like Arya enough to want her to be triumphantly successful in everything she does (and possibly for her to raise an army that wipes out the Lannisters). So when she's just scurrying around trying to survive (though that makes sense for her character) it can't help but be a little disappointing.

[FreezeC77]

Time to 'wight' this thread.

So who was the character that dies in book 3 who died in S1? I was wondering did I miss it? I didn't notice anything so I did some searching today.

Apparently the bard who had his tongue cut-out was the same bard that was at the Inn when Catelyn captured Tyrion (which makes him Marillion)... but he didn't die... Unless he died off screen?

BTW I don't have access to watch the show while at work, but I'm reading that apparently the actor who plays Syrio was credited as appearing in this episode lending fuel to the long-held book theory that Jaqen is Syrio.

It could also be knowing all the long-running theories that exist they simply had the actor who plays Syrio appear somewhere in the background and then credited him... Or I guess he even could have been killed and his head was on a pike and I missed it (Sean Bean was credited and the only thing you saw of him was a CG head)

[JD]

Was he in the main credits? Sometimes when someone in the main credits is killed towards the end of a season they'll just leave them in for the rest of it even if they don't appear in the episodes. But I haven't seen the show, so I wouldn't know if that is the case.