"How long do I have to look?"
"Fire and Blood"
So the axe dropped last episode, changing everything. The season finale deals with the aftermath, and sets the stage for what we'll see next year.
spoilers below the cut...
Showing posts with label game of thrones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label game of thrones. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Game of Thrones: Season 1, Episode 10
"Fire and Blood"
So the axe dropped last episode, changing everything. The season finale deals with the aftermath, and sets the stage for what we'll see next year.
spoilers below the cut...
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Game of Thrones: Season 1, Episode 9
"If the day should ever come when your lord father had to choose between honor on one hand and family on the other, what would he do?"
"Baelor"
spoilers below the cut
Sunday, June 12, 2011
A Game of Thrones - Season 1, Episode 8
"Tell Lord Tywin winter is coming for him. Twenty thousand northerners marching south to find out if he really does sh*t gold."
"The Pointy End"
spoilers under the cut
Sunday, June 5, 2011
A Game of Thrones - Season 1, Episode 7
"A king does not need a chair to sit upon. He only needs a horse."
Episode 7: "You Win or You Die"
I think it was last episode that I mentioned that there was something that bugged me about Littlefinger that I would come back to later, and now's the appropriate time. Spoilers below the cut...
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Game of Thrones: Season 1, Episode 6
"There is only one thing we say to Death... 'Not today.'"
Tyrion steals the show again, confessing his crimes....
Friday, May 20, 2011
Game of Thrones: Season 1, Episode 5
Are we at the halfway point already? A nine-month wait between seasons will be cruel, but nowhere near as cruel as the six-year wait between the last book and the upcoming one.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Game of Thrones: Season 1, Episodes 3 and 4
I'll try to be a little more spoiler-careful going forward!
Not a whole lot to say about episode 3, there weren't any major events here. We met some of the characters in King's Landing. "Littlefinger" Baelish is pretty great... Varys is probably the most underwhelming casting, as there's nothing about him that screams "the Spider".
And as pictured above, Syrio begins training Arya... she's going to be a scene stealer. I take that back... she already is, since I believe that scene was probably the most satisfying bit in the episode.
Onto episode 4.
Ghost made an appearance! The wolves need better agents.
"I've a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards, and broken things." I loved that line from Tyrion. Apparently the producers of the show did as well, since they made it the title of this episode.
Lots more characters are introduced: Theon Greyjoy... who's actually been in the background since the first episode. Samwell Tarly... coming across as even more pathetic than I had imagined him. And Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane. Gregor's character is defined through his brutality in the joust, and a story of cruelty to his brother, Sandor "The Hound"... and while the Hound has been a little more prominent than Theon, it's the first bit of attention he's given in the show as well. At this point, I don't feel like I have enough of these characters form an opinion on the casting. And as I don't recall Theon or the Mountain having a lot to do in the first book, I doubt I'll be able to anytime soon.
Cersei's confrontation with Ned Stark reminded me that I really haven't gotten enough Cersei these last couple of episodes.
The episode ends with a scene featuring Tyrion that was in the original teaser for this show... It was one of two easily recognizable scenes from the book in that trailer, and I'd been looking forward to seeing it in it's entirety. Another brilliant cliffhanger to end the show.
There hasn't been a whole lot of movement with the Targaryens in these last two episodes, but I just have to throw out there that Viserys is another great bit of casting. So many amazing casting choices, I may make up my own ranking once the season is over.
Not a whole lot to say about episode 3, there weren't any major events here. We met some of the characters in King's Landing. "Littlefinger" Baelish is pretty great... Varys is probably the most underwhelming casting, as there's nothing about him that screams "the Spider".
And as pictured above, Syrio begins training Arya... she's going to be a scene stealer. I take that back... she already is, since I believe that scene was probably the most satisfying bit in the episode.
Onto episode 4.
Ghost made an appearance! The wolves need better agents.
"I've a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards, and broken things." I loved that line from Tyrion. Apparently the producers of the show did as well, since they made it the title of this episode.
Lots more characters are introduced: Theon Greyjoy... who's actually been in the background since the first episode. Samwell Tarly... coming across as even more pathetic than I had imagined him. And Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane. Gregor's character is defined through his brutality in the joust, and a story of cruelty to his brother, Sandor "The Hound"... and while the Hound has been a little more prominent than Theon, it's the first bit of attention he's given in the show as well. At this point, I don't feel like I have enough of these characters form an opinion on the casting. And as I don't recall Theon or the Mountain having a lot to do in the first book, I doubt I'll be able to anytime soon.
Cersei's confrontation with Ned Stark reminded me that I really haven't gotten enough Cersei these last couple of episodes.
The episode ends with a scene featuring Tyrion that was in the original teaser for this show... It was one of two easily recognizable scenes from the book in that trailer, and I'd been looking forward to seeing it in it's entirety. Another brilliant cliffhanger to end the show.
There hasn't been a whole lot of movement with the Targaryens in these last two episodes, but I just have to throw out there that Viserys is another great bit of casting. So many amazing casting choices, I may make up my own ranking once the season is over.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Game of Thrones: Season 1, Episode 2
When I saw in the preview that this would be the episode where Lady was killed, I was kind of apprehensive.
I'd mentioned before that the wolves didn't get a lot of screentime in the first episode relative to what they got in the book. What was lost in that is not only the connection that the reader/viewer has with the wolves, but an understanding of the connection that the Stark children have with the wolves. They felt very key to the story.
And so when Lady's death came... I, as a reader, not only felt the pain of that loss, but also a sense that something had gone horribly wrong here. This wolf had a purpose, and now it's gone. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? It was the single, most significant moment in the book for me, because it shattered all my expectations and left me wondering what would happen next.
I already knew going into this episode was not going to be able to recreate this moment for me, but I feel they did things right building this scene:
Firstly, they managed to squeeze in a scene of Sansa walking Lady early on. Really, I'm glad they managed to squeeze in some kind of connection.
Secondly, Nymeria protecting Arya, and Summer defending Bran.... without these moments, we would have had no reason to care about Lady at the end. I feel like they could have gone just a little farther, and it only would have taken seconds... 1) either giving mention to the fact or showing that after the assassination attempt, Summer stayed by Bran's side, and that's why Catelyn felt safe leaving her son. And 2) showing Ghost's distrust of Tyrion during the scene with Jon... it also would've had the added effect of giving the viewer just a little bit more to chew on in regards to their opinion of Tyrion.
Thirdly... Bran waking up at the moment Lady was killed... I don't recall if Bran woke up at the same time as the book. If he did, the connection was not made as strongly as it was here. But it did establish that there may be a special connection between the Starks and their wolves, and it was a pretty great way to end the show. Bravo.
The other things that stick out in my mind from this episode... enjoyed watching Daenerys gaining confidence over the course of this episode, and Joffrey swinging the sword at Arya caused me to catch my breath. It's rare that they nail a scene just right like that for me.... it's like the scene in Point Break where the guy is trying to shove Keanu's head into spinning lawnmower blades.... I've seen it dozens of times, but each viewing still causes my blood to race.
And Jaime and Cersei are making for an interesting viewing experience, in that they're hard to hate even though they're clearly evil. Cersei, because she's played by the beautiful Lena Headley... her distressed look at the end of the first episode makes me think that if she were my girlfriend and ended up on death row for murdering my own parents, I'd still be there to comfort her. And then Jamie has kind of an evil Han Solo thing going on. I love the weird diversity of the three Lannister siblings.
I'd mentioned before that the wolves didn't get a lot of screentime in the first episode relative to what they got in the book. What was lost in that is not only the connection that the reader/viewer has with the wolves, but an understanding of the connection that the Stark children have with the wolves. They felt very key to the story.
And so when Lady's death came... I, as a reader, not only felt the pain of that loss, but also a sense that something had gone horribly wrong here. This wolf had a purpose, and now it's gone. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? It was the single, most significant moment in the book for me, because it shattered all my expectations and left me wondering what would happen next.
I already knew going into this episode was not going to be able to recreate this moment for me, but I feel they did things right building this scene:
Firstly, they managed to squeeze in a scene of Sansa walking Lady early on. Really, I'm glad they managed to squeeze in some kind of connection.
Secondly, Nymeria protecting Arya, and Summer defending Bran.... without these moments, we would have had no reason to care about Lady at the end. I feel like they could have gone just a little farther, and it only would have taken seconds... 1) either giving mention to the fact or showing that after the assassination attempt, Summer stayed by Bran's side, and that's why Catelyn felt safe leaving her son. And 2) showing Ghost's distrust of Tyrion during the scene with Jon... it also would've had the added effect of giving the viewer just a little bit more to chew on in regards to their opinion of Tyrion.
Thirdly... Bran waking up at the moment Lady was killed... I don't recall if Bran woke up at the same time as the book. If he did, the connection was not made as strongly as it was here. But it did establish that there may be a special connection between the Starks and their wolves, and it was a pretty great way to end the show. Bravo.
The other things that stick out in my mind from this episode... enjoyed watching Daenerys gaining confidence over the course of this episode, and Joffrey swinging the sword at Arya caused me to catch my breath. It's rare that they nail a scene just right like that for me.... it's like the scene in Point Break where the guy is trying to shove Keanu's head into spinning lawnmower blades.... I've seen it dozens of times, but each viewing still causes my blood to race.
And Jaime and Cersei are making for an interesting viewing experience, in that they're hard to hate even though they're clearly evil. Cersei, because she's played by the beautiful Lena Headley... her distressed look at the end of the first episode makes me think that if she were my girlfriend and ended up on death row for murdering my own parents, I'd still be there to comfort her. And then Jamie has kind of an evil Han Solo thing going on. I love the weird diversity of the three Lannister siblings.
Game of Thrones: Season 1, Episode 1
Game of Thrones is my favorite book series by far, and so my hopes have been high since I first heard about this show long ago. I gotta say, it hasn't disappointed.
Like many other fans, I found Tyrion to be the most interesting character in the book; I'm glad that there was an actor with the chops of Peter Dinklage to pull off the part.
Arya was another favorite character of mine... it's hard to imagine a girl that young and that small involved in what's to come for her character. Of course, even in the book she seemed too young... but the reading mind matures the character in a way that will be hard to escape when you see her on the screen. I'm sure she'll grow quickly, and taking the long view, it's probably better that we don't have an Arya that looks like she's in her twenties at the end if the show is successful.
It's interesting that exiled Targaryens had some of the most compelling scenes in this first episode, since the first time I'd read the book I actually considered them a distraction in the early chapters.... I wanted to get back to what was going on in Winterfell.
And a big part of what made Winterfell interesting in the book was the direwolves, but they barely got any screentime in the first episode. I was confused by this at first, but after thinking about it, it made sense to me.. the wolves didn't really advance the story, and a lot of that character-building stuff had to be sacrificed.
I don't even remember seeing Rickon Stark, and there are still other key players in Winterfell that they haven't had time to "properly introduce" to the audiences yet. So much to tell, so little time. I bet there were a lot of scenes that were filmed and cut, and in the age of Internet, HBO should be throwing those scenes on youtube to connect with fans.
I've always said "watch the movie first, read the book later" when it comes to stuff like this, because otherwise it's hard not to be stung by what got altered or didn't make it to the screen, but thus far i'm very satisfied with what's made it to the screen.
Like many other fans, I found Tyrion to be the most interesting character in the book; I'm glad that there was an actor with the chops of Peter Dinklage to pull off the part.
Arya was another favorite character of mine... it's hard to imagine a girl that young and that small involved in what's to come for her character. Of course, even in the book she seemed too young... but the reading mind matures the character in a way that will be hard to escape when you see her on the screen. I'm sure she'll grow quickly, and taking the long view, it's probably better that we don't have an Arya that looks like she's in her twenties at the end if the show is successful.
It's interesting that exiled Targaryens had some of the most compelling scenes in this first episode, since the first time I'd read the book I actually considered them a distraction in the early chapters.... I wanted to get back to what was going on in Winterfell.
And a big part of what made Winterfell interesting in the book was the direwolves, but they barely got any screentime in the first episode. I was confused by this at first, but after thinking about it, it made sense to me.. the wolves didn't really advance the story, and a lot of that character-building stuff had to be sacrificed.
I don't even remember seeing Rickon Stark, and there are still other key players in Winterfell that they haven't had time to "properly introduce" to the audiences yet. So much to tell, so little time. I bet there were a lot of scenes that were filmed and cut, and in the age of Internet, HBO should be throwing those scenes on youtube to connect with fans.
I've always said "watch the movie first, read the book later" when it comes to stuff like this, because otherwise it's hard not to be stung by what got altered or didn't make it to the screen, but thus far i'm very satisfied with what's made it to the screen.
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