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Game of Thrones 3.1 - "Valar Dohaeris" - Rate and discuss

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Out Of My Vulcan Mind

Out Of My Vulcan Mind

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Rate and discuss (with spoilers for the episode, but not for forthcoming episodes) "Valar Dohaeris", airing on the 31st March on HBO and on the 1st April on Sky Atlantic.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYpkwfPyBDA&feature=player_detailpage[/yt]
 
Solid start to the season! I was impressed by how many scenes just leapt off the pages of the book. My favorite scene was Tywin and Tyrion. Yeah, Tywin's a royal bastard, but you can totally understand why he feels the way he does about Tyrion. The guy could out-hard-ass Stannis any day. The Unsullied scene was spot on as well. Was a little surprised to see Salladhor Saan again, considering he appeared in all of one scene last season. No "Arstan Whitebeard" here, but I can understand why the did it, since while you can easily keep Barristan's identity a secret on the page, you can't really do that on TV. No Strong Belwas, though. :( Can't wait for the return of Arya and the Wacky Adventures of Jaime and Brienne next week!
 
This show is so damn good. Really liked the translation from book to TV and was worried about some details. They make it all work really well.
 
I tried GoT but it did nothing for me. Its too busy,,,there are way too many characters, way too many plotlines, scenes are so hurried in order to service the ten thousand threads. I can appreciate developing a large expansive cast but this is ridiculous. I guess tv writers suffer from ADD but it makes for a very unsatisfying viewing experience.
 
^^There are even more characters in the book lol...

I liked it a lot, a good setup for most of the storylines going forward. I also wondered how they were going to keep Selmy's identity secret, this does seem the best way to go. The bit about Cersei hearing that he'd lost his nose was a nice nod to the readers.
 
Good first ep to set up the rest of the season. The giants are not how i pictured them (what with wearing clothes and all) but i am not that disappointed. I am interested to see how they use the cast of characters they have as opposed to the huge cast of charters in the book. Also I am sad not to see Strong Belwas.
 
degra said:
I tried GoT but it did nothing for me. Its too busy,,,there are way too many characters, way too many plotlines, scenes are so hurried in order to service the ten thousand threads. I can appreciate developing a large expansive cast but this is ridiculous. I guess tv writers suffer from ADD but it makes for a very unsatisfying viewing experience.
Click to expand...

Now who suffers from ADD? :p Just kidding. ;) Yeah, it can be daunting.


I rated the episode 'Above Average', but very close to 'Excellent'.

It may not seem like it, but the pacing was FAR superior compared to the season 2 opener. They really dig give each scene time to breathe, and they avoided showing every character.

Favourite moments:
- Giant! :techman:
- The Tyrion/Cersei and Tyrion/Tywin scenes
- Kraznys(?), the slave trader... Great job of making him an unlike-able jerk. And an amusing one. Loved the mis-translations.
- Barristan Selmy!
 
Awesome.. Game of Thrones is back and it's firing on all cylinders.

Once again scenes involving Tyrion Lannister are the best.. i don't know if it's the writing of him itself or the portrayal by Dinklage (or a combination of both) but they are usually the best amongst all the scenes.

It felt really organic picking up from last season's finale and showing us the aftermath of the big battle.. the wheel keeps on turning and all players move about and it's just so fun to see how it all develops.

The next 10 weeks or so will be brilliant!
 
Good job. To echo others tyrion and tywin was awesome. Understand the selmy shortcut. Nice insidenreference.to tyrions nose.
 
I gave it an "average." I was wary of being too excited about the return and gushing too much.

It was a very solid opener.

Dany's story is off to a strong start, and I was stupidly excited to see Selmy again. (I felt her story was too watered down and changed last year, but SoS has a lot of great Dany moments.)

Jon's story also suffered last year, but seeing Mance and Tormund in the opener gives me high hopes. I thought that Ghost being with the survivors of the Fist of the First Men was a bit of a head scratcher but...

Like another poster mentioned, I enjoyed the inclusion of the giant. I figured they would be a casualty of the budget, but was excited to see one on screen, even if they did not appear as I imagined.

I can only echo what was said above. The Tywin/Tyrion interaction was so spot on. (I loved the nod to what Tywin was writing.) Charles Dance and Peter Dinklage are dynamite together.

I like how they are cutting things while pulling some things in. For example, I thought the intro of Qyburn in that manner was an interesting choice.
 
Evil Twin said:
Solid start to the season! I was impressed by how many scenes just leapt off the pages of the book. My favorite scene was Tywin and Tyrion. Yeah, Tywin's a royal bastard, but you can totally understand why he feels the way he does about Tyrion. The guy could out-hard-ass Stannis any day. The Unsullied scene was spot on as well. Was a little surprised to see Salladhor Saan again, considering he appeared in all of one scene last season. No "Arstan Whitebeard" here, but I can understand why the did it, since while you can easily keep Barristan's identity a secret on the page, you can't really do that on TV. No Strong Belwas, though. :( Can't wait for the return of Arya and the Wacky Adventures of Jaime and Brienne next week!
Click to expand...
I, too, was initially very surprised about Barristan's early reveal, but as you say, he would be too easily recognizable on-screen to make prolonging the mystery of his identity for any length of time. And, yes, where is Strong Belwas?!? :eek: He's one of my favorite characters from SoS! Has there even been a casting announcement for that character?

Interesting how they've very quietly introduced Maester Qyburn. I don't recall him being discovered quite in that way in the books, then it's been a long time since I read them.

Nice to see Tywin moving closer to his true form, moving away from the more patronly figure that was protecting Arya. His scene with Tyrion was pretty much dead-on. Lots of good and relatively accurate adaptations of scenes this episode - the scene with the Unsullied and the fun with Astapori translations was pretty close, too.

I understand how some of the critical comments mentioned that the season didn't really quite start off with a bang that many have expected, but I thought it was an excellent establishment and build-up to many major events in the very near future.

Other great things:
- The smoking hole that is Winterfell in the intro credits - nice touch
- The addition of Astapor in the intro - also nice touch. I'm thinking we'll see all of the cities on Slaver's Bay being rendered eventually
- Mance Rayder and Tormund Giantsbane
- Giants!
 
As expected as a 'table setter' for the rest of the season. Great visual effects, Dany didn't come off as whiny, tywin vs tyrion, Giants!
 
degra said:
I tried GoT but it did nothing for me. Its too busy,,,there are way too many characters, way too many plotlines, scenes are so hurried in order to service the ten thousand threads. I can appreciate developing a large expansive cast but this is ridiculous. I guess tv writers suffer from ADD but it makes for a very unsatisfying viewing experience.
Click to expand...

:lol:
 
The whole Wiki of Ice & Fire also seems to be down. Well, bad for the sys admins, but a good sign for the longevity of the show. :)
 
I really enjoyed it. I think the changes that they do for the adaptation are remarkably well integrated on the whole. I'm doing reviews for a website called Drunk Monkeys this season. Here's a link.

I'm hoping for more of the creepy girl. Great touch.
 
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