First watching "Game Of Thrones"

[crookeddy]

I hear they stopped the series because they ran out of recurrent characters to kill off.
I've watched four more episodes so far... I think I'll make an overall comment after I am finished. So far I am intrigued and are waiting for irrelevant parts of the story to become relevant.

I'll take a look at "Spartacus" and "The White Queen" after I am finished.

Speaking of Spartacus, it has a bit of a controversial watch order. It aired this way: season 1, prequel season, and then season 2 with recast Spartacus (because the lead actor died ). So you either watch the prequel first or watch it the way it aired. Not really sure which way is better.

 

[Forbin]

The prequel season has Lucy Lawless naked, if that helps.

 

[Skipper]

There is nothing at all spoilery about my advice/comment.

Yes, for example

Spoiler

it's clear that Daenerys will not die very soon

 

[Discofan]

I hope no one will tell me if they're having a Renaissance fair somewhere down the line...


Btw, I am at episode s0302...

That is about one-third of the series.

 

[fireproof78]

I wish you luck. I have no desire to view it so I will view it through your responses.

 

[Discofan]

I wish you luck. I have no desire to view it so I will view it through your responses.

No problem but I will only give my personal judgment after I have seen the series entirely. That may take a few days hence, maybe two weeks, depending...

 

[Owain Taggart]

I've heard (but haven't seen) that it drops the ball entirely in the last season. I wouldn't mind being wrong about that.

Oh, I'm sure you're not the only one who wouldn't mind being wrong about that

I really wish The Dagger & Coin series would be made into a TV series. It's written by Daniel Abraham, one of the writers of the The Expanse series, and while I never took to The Expanse, I really liked what he did in these books, although admittedly I've only read the first two. But I found them refreshing, because rather than the usual trope of fantasy heroes, while there were heroes, the focus was on the world's economy, how wartime affects it as well as the people, which gave it a fresh enough perspective from the usual fantasy. The world was fairly well developed with interesting characters.

 

[crookeddy]

I wish you luck. I have no desire to view it so I will view it through your responses.

You should view it.

 

[fireproof78]

You should view it.

There has been little that I have read about that makes any of it appealing.

 

[crookeddy]

There has been little that I have read about that makes any of it appealing.

Even with the uneven ending (I didn't actually HATE it) I'd still put it into consideration for best TV show ever filmed. That's just me though.

 

[fireproof78]

Even with the uneven ending (I didn't actually HATE it) I'd still put it into consideration for best TV show ever filmed. That's just me though.

I'm sure it is among the best out there in terms of production values and the like.

Doesn't make it appealing to me in any way.

 

[crookeddy]

I'm sure it is among the best out there in terms of production values and the like.

Doesn't make it appealing to me in any way.

Well it's like Rome or I, Claudius but also with zombies and dragons... For me that's the perfect mix, though I guess it got too dark to be considered entertaining at points.

 

[fireproof78]

Well it's like Rome or I, Claudius but also with zombies and dragons... For me that's the perfect mix, though I guess it got too dark to be considered entertaining at points.

Ah, that's a decent description. For me, though, neither is especially interesting when it comes to the fantasy genre. All the political gamesmanship irritates me so I think I'll pass.

 

[theenglish]

I don't get why you continue to post your statements that you are not interested in viewing the series. Just view the thread and let people enjoy posting. It makes no sense to just say "I'll read the thread but I won't watch the show because it is not something I'd like" over and over again when you can just read about the show on a thousand different websites.

 

[fireproof78]

I don't get why you continue to post your statements that you are not interested in viewing the series. Just view the thread and let people enjoy posting. It makes no sense to just say "I'll read the thread but I won't watch the show because it is not something I'd like" over and over again when you can just read about the show on a thousand different websites.

Because I respect the opinions on this board and believe that this place is most likely to have a poster change my mind.

What's the point of the internet if not to read opinions contrary to my opinion?

ETA: Let me clarify. I want to hear the OP's thoughts. I asked them for that and will be following along to find out. I appreciated @crookeddy and their description of why they like the show. I believe passionately in the ability to discuss disparate ideas and to be exposed to concepts I would not otherwise see and shows I would otherwise not watch here. This board is very good for that and has changed my mind on other topics. So why not this one?

 

[FPAlpha]

I am not usually into this kind of stuff but people kept telling me how great it was so that I finally decided to watch the whole series.

I have watched the first ten episodes so far and I must say I like it, although it's a little bit on the heroic fantasy side which is not usually something I like. I thought it was much more medieval realism than fantasy...

In the first episode, it was a bit ambiguous. I mean the demons and all that could just have been in the guy's head, up until the moment when he lost it that is...

I was a bit amused by the cauldron filled with melted gold... I mean the melting point of gold is quite high... This looked more like it was gold-painted lead.

But when it took a sharp turn toward heroic fantasy was the tenth episode where the girl was able to enter the fire and survive!! Plus the little CGI minute dragons on her shoulder, belly etc... So that means these REALLy were dragon's eggs then...

I like the realism a great deal more than the dragon and stuff thing... I hope we won't get much of the latter...

Now to watch season two...

Have fun and don't bother with any outside opinions, form your own opinions.

One thing i can say without spoiling the show ist that GoT is more like medieval realism than fantasy as you put it. These "Demons" you saw in the pilot and the Dragons are the most fantasy like things in the show, there is little else that falls into what is considered high fantasy tropes like fireball throwing wizards, magical weapons, everything from Dwarves to High Elves etc.

GoT is mainly about characters with their ambitions, strengths and weaknesses who influence events on the small and big scale and they are brilliantly written and acted in the show which makes it so enteraining to watch.

In the final season there is a scene between many beloved characters sitting around a fireplace just talking and remembering events and in the context of the show you can't help but smile when you yourself remember what they've been through all those years.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this show though today it's hard to avoid spoilers since it was so massive and every season was put in the spotlight by the media and analyzed to death by the fans.

If you can avoid any spoilers, the experience will be far better if you can go in unbiased and fresh.

 

[Discofan]

I thank you @FPAlpha for your good advice. I've just watched episode two of season four and I must say I find this show very entertaining. And it's true, it's well-acted, the decors and costumes are magnificent and the stories are involving. I didn't know the first thing about the series before I started watching and I have avoided any spoilers since, so I am watching it, "as the gods intended", so to speak. Terrible things happen in the series but not worse than what happened in human history. King Joffrey is a demented sadist but he's no worse than people like Ivan The Terrible for example and a lot less bad than Pol Pot!! Plus he's dead now. Poisoned.

To more viewing then...

 

[DonIago]

I'm kinda jealous, having read the published books largey before the series. I rather wish it was possible to both watch it having read the books and watch it having not read the books.

 

[Smellmet]

Ah, that's a decent description. For me, though, neither is especially interesting when it comes to the fantasy genre. All the political gamesmanship irritates me so I think I'll pass.

Being honest, I was exactly the same as you, I have next to no interest in the genre, and wasn't interested in watching the show at all when it came out.

I had a couple of people at work persuade me to want to watch it as I valued their opinion, but still I had to persuade my wife to watch it with me, which was an even harder sell than myself.

She very reluctantly agreed, so we started watching it, and found ourselves struggling with all the multiple families and characters at first. By the second series we were hooked, and we watched more or less every evening to the end. We now both consider the show to be the probably the best we've ever seen, maybe just slightly ahead of Breaking Bad, but that's not an apples to apples comparison.

Now I've seen it, I would recommend you watch it, regardless of if you like the genre (I still don't) as the characters alone make it worth while before any other consideration (production values, story etc) - which the show absolutely aces anyway.

 

[Discofan]

I have just seen episode seven of the fourth season. I am at the point where Tyrion has asked for a trial by fight and Oberyn volunteered to be his champion against the really big and nasty guy who set his brother's face on fire for borrowing a toy!!! Ayra is healing the neck wound of the Hound (the brother in question) whom she previously wanted to kill. And it looks like the night watch people will be attacked by an army of one hundred thousand (IE enormous) including some giants. (not the football team) and the bozo in charge refuses to seal their only access.