Game of Thrones 2.10 - "Valar Morghulis" - Rate and discuss

[Venardhi]

Hopefully so. Ian Whyte is a capable actor it seems, but he has none of that caged animal two-seconds-from-snapping seething fury that Gregor needs IMO.

Spoiler: In case you're curious about the character of The Mountain but don't want to read the books.

Gregor likely suffers from a brain tumor which is (at least in part) the cause of his enormous size. He suffers from constant near-debilitating headaches and takes enormous amounts of the narcotic "Milk of the poppy." So not only is he always mad because of constant pain, he is always high.

Since neither Conan Stephens nor Ian Whyte are as abnormally large as Gregor is supposed to be (Nearer 8 feet than 7) one can assume this version doesn't have Gigantism or any sort of variant of it, but to lose that "motivation" for Gregor to be the monster he is would be a shame.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Well, after this season I've decided to read the books. They're all really long so it'll take me years to catch up especially with all my other reading material I have to get through.

 

[Forbin]

Okay, which one is The Mountain again?

Big Guy, decapitated a horse, not a very nice fellow.

Although the recast of the Mountain does not look the part in my opinion.

Agreed. The actor they got for this season almost seemed too...well...eloquent and knightly, compared to the S1 Mountain, who was pure brutality personified - a bully with a title. I remember hearing that the S1 guy simply wasn't available but may be able to return in later seasons, but I honestly don't know for certain.

Conan Stevens, the actor who played the Mountain in S1, was probably busy with filming for The Hobbit.

Okay, which one is The Mountain again?

The Mountain, or the Mountain That Rides, is the nickname of Gregor Clegane, the elder brother of Sandor Clegane (the Hound). His most notable scene was during the tournament in S1 where Loras Tyrell bested him in the joust, and a furious Clegane beheaded his own horse before attacking Loras. Sandor stepped in and saved Loras, and he and Gregor fought for a moment before Robert Baratheon ordered them to stop.

Okay, which one is The Mountain again?

He's the big guy who's The Hound's older brother. He only appeared in the tournament in season 1, where he killed Jon Arryn's former squire Ser Hugh with a lance through the neck, and later nearly killed Loras Tyrell in a fit of rage after his horse threw him. This season he was played by a different actor and appeared several times in Harrenhal. He was the one selecting prisoners for the Tickler to "question". After Amory Lorch was killed on Tywin's doorstep by Jaqen, Tywin ordered The Mountain to step up his efforts in hunting down the Brotherhood Without Banners (an outlaw band in the region) thinking they were possibly behind it, and when Tywin rode for King's Landing, he left The Mountain in charge of Harrenhal.

Right, then. I think the three of us just about covered it.

Yup, that does it! Thanks guys!

 

[Forbin]

Well, after this season I've decided to read the books. They're all really long so it'll take me years to catch up especially with all my other reading material I have to get through.

Luckily I have this odd thing about me - I enjoy fantasy films and fantasy comics, but I hate reading fantasy prose. So I can comfortably skip the books.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

I'm not a big fantasy reader either. I've just read a few Conan novels and the Lord of the Rings. But I like the show enough to give it a go.

 

[137th Gebirg]

It's not really that bad - at least, not how these are written. That, plus, you can get the audio CD versions of the books and listen to them. I have a daily 2.5 - 3 hour commute and the books being read really do wonders to keep me sane. They're read by Roy Dotrice (Amadeus, Space: 1999, Saturn 3), who actually broke the Guiness Book of World Records for the number of voice impressions he did in its reading. More expensive than the actual books, but worth it, IMHO.

Edit - Just did an IMDB search on him, and they actually gave Dotrice a small role in the Game of Thrones series as "Hallyne" in the two episodes "The Ghost of Harrenhal" and "Blackwater". Didn't even notice that was him. I'll have to go back and look for him. He has a very distinctive voice.

 

[Forbin]

^Every time I whine to somebody about the traffic on my 30-45-minute commute, somebody shames me with an order-of-magnitue-longer drive.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Come to the DC metro region. You, too, can experience glacial commuting times.

BTW, that 3 hour commute is both ways, split up about an hour-and-a-half each, so it's not THAT bad...but bad enough...for two years now...

 

[Captaindemotion]

Well, after this season I've decided to read the books. They're all really long so it'll take me years to catch up especially with all my other reading material I have to get through.

Luckily I have this odd thing about me - I enjoy fantasy films and fantasy comics, but I hate reading fantasy prose. So I can comfortably skip the books.

I've always been like that and felt the same as you about ASOIAF. But I picked up Game of Thrones in my library and thought 'Well, what's the worst that can happen, it's not like I'm paying for it?'

Devoured it, devoured A Clash of Kings (also from the library and am now well into book 3 on my Kindle. I'll continue until I'm bang up to date on the series.

 

[Evil Twin]

I'm not a big fantasy reader either. I've just read a few Conan novels and the Lord of the Rings. But I like the show enough to give it a go.

I will say (and have said in the past) that reading the books will pretty much spoil the rest of the genre for you, as NOTHING else I've read is as good as the ASoIaF series. It's the current gold standard of fantasy literature IMO.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I'm not a big fantasy reader either. I've just read a few Conan novels and the Lord of the Rings. But I like the show enough to give it a go.

I will say (and have said in the past) that reading the books will pretty much spoil the rest of the genre for you, as NOTHING else I've read is as good as the ASoIaF series. It's the current gold standard of fantasy literature IMO.

Pretty much, yep.

And actually the same goes for the TV show.

 

[Evil Twin]

Well... I will admit there are a number of shows I like better than GoT, simply because I've always got the books lurking in the back of my mind when I watch, and knowing that everything that occurs on the screen just doesn't have the same depth, detail, and scale as what's on the page. Whereas with most other shows, I don't have anything to compare it against. Don't get me wrong though, I'm absolutely thrilled that the show exists, as it's catapulted the books into the mainstream consciousness and given them the widespread recognition they've always deserved. I get all warm and fuzzy inside every time a GoT reference happens on another TV show these days. For someone who started reading the books over a decade ago, it's like a dream come true.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I only hope that Martin finishes his final [two?] books. They've been a long time in coming - hopefully the natural progression of the series will be enough for him to keep ahead of the curve and wrap everything up.

I get all warm and fuzzy inside every time a GoT reference happens on another TV show these days. For someone who started reading the books over a decade ago, it's like a dream come true.

Saw a car with a license plate that said "WNTRFLL" the other day. It definitely seems to be earning itself a place in pop culture.

 

[Silent_Bob]

I'm not a big fantasy reader either. I've just read a few Conan novels and the Lord of the Rings. But I like the show enough to give it a go.

I will say (and have said in the past) that reading the books will pretty much spoil the rest of the genre for you, as NOTHING else I've read is as good as the ASoIaF series. It's the current gold standard of fantasy literature IMO.

I've found Joe Abercrombie's work to be of similar standard, but Martin's certainly set a high benchmark for fantasy literature.

On a similar note, having finally watched the episode, i have to say Peter Dinklage continues to be absolutely astounding as Tyrion. The emotion he brought to his scene with Shae was fantastic.

 

[Evil Twin]

I did read Abercrombie's First Law trilogy earlier this year but nope, just wasn't as good as Martin, and I didn't really feel motivated enough to want to find out what happens next and continue on to his other books.

P.S. if you write a fantasy trilogy, INCLUDE A FREAKING MAP!

 

[Silent_Bob]

I did read Abercrombie's First Law trilogy earlier this year but nope, just wasn't as good as Martin, and I didn't really feel motivated enough to want to find out what happens next and continue on to his other books.

Shame you didn't like them, i found them very compelling. But then tastes differ.

The fact that a show like 'Game of Thrones' can exist and be done so well gives me hope that we'll see an adaptation of his novels one day.

 

[Cyrus]

Luckily I have this odd thing about me - I enjoy fantasy films and fantasy comics, but I hate reading fantasy prose. So I can comfortably skip the books.

Yeah, me too, so I have no intention of reading the books. Come to think of it I am not too crazy about fantasy films either, but GoT is fantastic.

 

[Kegg]

I don't know a helluva lot about fantasy literature (although as a kid I used to spend all my free time reading Terry Pratchett) but reading the ASOIAF books last year made me feel like picking up the odd one or two other genre works. I'd say the Bas Lag books - especially Perdido Street Station - were very involving. Really inventive, crazy, idea-dense fantasy fiction that.

And while I don't greatly care for maps, if maps are important, then Martin's to be fairly criticized for waiting until Dance With Dragons to finally include a map of part of Essos.

The fact that a show like 'Game of Thrones' can exist and be done so well gives me hope that we'll see an adaptation of his novels one day.

It'll be interesting to see if there are any other attempts at making TV shows based on densely arced, long-running book series in the wake of Game of Thrones. And this interest doesn't really limit itself to fantasy fiction or even genre fiction, at least for me - GoT shows that with the right budget, casting and writing, you can adapt a massive epic.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

An excellent finale.

- Poor Tyrion. He was instrumental in the Lannister victory, but he's tossed aside, bloody and broken. His reaction to finding out that Shae really loves him was sweet.

- Maester Luwin's death was one of the most moving scenes in the show to date. He made much more of an impact on me in the show than in the books. Donald Sumpter did a great job in the part.

- Loved the House of the Undying. Drogo's apearance was a nice surprise. Seeing Dany in Westeros was weird (in a good way). Her seeing the throne room deserted and engulfed by winter was a nice metaphorical touch representing the threat Westeros is facing: winter is coming, both in the seasonal sense and in the sense that an invasion of White Walkers that could destroy Westeros is stirring. Dany's dragons frying Pyat Pree was awesome. A Song of Ice and Fire indeed.

- It had become pretty obvious that Doreah had most likely betrayed Dany, but I was hoping it wouldn't be the case because I wanted Doreah to stick around a while longer as a) she and Dany interact well and b) she's really pretty. Still, it led to a great, though chilling, moment: Dany locking Doreah and Xaro in the vault was a stone cold move.

- The final scene was epic!

- Dany kept her clothes on for an entire season!

- Ros kept her clothes on for almost an entire season!

Anyway, I wish there'd been a new episode for me to start a thread about yesterday, but now the long wait for season three begins.

 

[Klaus]

- Dany kept her clothes on for an entire season!

- Ros kept her clothes on for almost an entire season!.