Amph Game Of Thrones (uh i guess it's done now? Edit: No!)

I haven't read the books, but I've watched the first episode just to see what the whole buzz was about. Must say I really liked it, the cast looks solid and I love the look of the whole thing (there are some gorgeous sets and locations). I think I'll keep watching and one day I might even read the book series...

 

I liked the first episode, though I had to watch it twice to fully understand it... and even then I'm pretty sure I don't fully get the politics.

 

I've not read the books, but I watched the first episode and enjoyed it. My only confusion is putting names to faces (which should get better as I see more episodes), and the relationship between the fair-haired siblings making an alliance with the barbarian warriors and the kingdom of Westeros - I assume they are a former ruling family looking to take back their kingdom, but I'm not sure. I don't really expect to understand everything after one sitting, though.

It did remind me of I, Claudius, with the scheming, murder, and incest.

 

Yeah, the pilot episode really packed in a lot of information and covered a great deal of the story in a short amount of time. It's a necessary evil but from what I've read about the first six episodes, the pilot is the only one where its dense with exposition and stage setting.

 

This, definitely. Got even worse when they got their hair cut. Hopefully some defining features will start to stick out.

 

I actually prefer being a little in the dark and having to pick things up as I go along, little by little; being spoon-fed the information irritates me, and takes a lot of the fun out of it.

 

Been a while since I read the books, but this is the gist of the Targaryen family:

Aerys "The Mad King" Targaryen ruled Westeros, but he was, well, crazy. Eventually his craziness caused the kingdom's subjects to rise against him. A group of soldiers led by Robert Baratheon, Eddard Stark and Jaime Lannister attacked King's Landing.

As was alluded to in the pilot, Robert was in love with Ned's sister, Lyanna. She was killed in the battle by Aerys' oldest son, Rhaegar. Robert got his revenge on Rhaegar by smashing his face in with a hammer (also alluded to in the pilot when Robert said "In my dreams I kill him every night.")

During the battle, Jaime Lannister killed Aerys, and has been dubbed "Kingslayer" ever since. The throne was given to Robert Baratheon, who wedded Jaime's sister Cersei to make the pact binding.

Aerys had two younger children, Viserys and Daenerys, who were forced to flee across the sea to Pentos, where they had remained ever since. Dany was just a baby at the time, but Viserys was old enough to remember the injustice of losing the throne that was by rights his. They've spent the ensuing 17 years trying to get back to Westeros with an army great enough to take back the kingdom.

Unlike in Amph, I'm not going to just let unhighlighted content pass. Don't do it again.

 

Those are technically spoilers. I mean the relationship between all these characters/families is critical to the path the story takes.

Edit: However all that stuff about Lyanna is wrong (in the books at least) so don't worry about it.

 

Gregor killed the infant Aegon Targaryen during the battle, and also raped and killed Princess Elia of Dorne.

 

God, I hope this thread doesn't turn into a wall of black.

 

does... giving a basic history of why dany and vis are over there really spoilers considering that's sort of like history and may not even be covered in the show? if it hasn't already doesn't seem TERRIBLY likely.

 

Well, he could've just answered 'yes' when somebody asked 'Are they a former ruling family of Westeros', rather than all that other stuff. We didn't hear about most of that info for a fair while in the books, and it was rather drawn out. Plus some of it was wrong.

 

Highlight .. .
................to. .
..........................read. .
Is a fun song to sing
I grab my goblet, full of mead
And i highlight to read
game of thrones
solojones
i wonder if jello
ever drank melloyello
and i hightlight to read
Before i bleed
Lord of the rings, The rise of boromir
I don't know the difference between mead and beer
maybe we should a spoiler thread and a htr thread
it would put this conflict to bed
This is the worst song you'll ever bear
i really like the nudity and not much cathair

 

not really complaining, just was wondering if that was really a spoiler since it seemed pretty apparent to me when i was reading it the first time through before it was outright stated. you know, what with vis ranting about getting back what was his and all. and that was just from the first time i saw them, so if that's a spoiler my apologies, don't know how it can be since they've been introduced.

and there kind of already IS a spoiler thread in the amph.

 

Why, though? Don't think the story would hold your attention in written form?

 

My advice to non-reader viewers of the show: don't worry about the background politics or even about the different family connections or anything like that. When I read the books the first time around (especially AGoT, way before I was anywhere near as emotionally invested as I am now), I was confused as hell, but Martin was still a skilled enough writer to make me care about the events and things that happen to different characters at the end of the first book. It was only on reading the books a second time through that I really became quite the ASOIAF expert.

If you do want to worry, here's a handy viewer's guide on the HBO site. Kind of spoilery, but only about background stuff, like character histories, recent wars, and the like.

 

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s151/game-of-thrones/news/a315441/game-of-thrones-renewed-for-second-season.html

om nom nom nom nom nom

 

If you must know, it is because I am horrifically tired much of the time and very selective on what I read. With a tv show in play...in the case of both True Blood and Thrones...I see no reason to trouble my tired brain over reading the books. My loss, maybe, oh well.

 

HBO gave my house HBO for like 2 days for the premier of this thing.

watched it. dug it pretty good.

but now I won't see any more.

I wanted more with the wolf cubs, though. so cute and awesome at the same time!!