Official Game of Thrones show thread

[Jack Brickman]

& I've heard the next two books are kinda sucky (heard they're told from two different perspectives - book 4 from 1, book 5 from the other - during the same time frame..or some shit like that).

You are correct, although near the end of book five the timelines intersect again. What really sucked for fans of the novels was the wait from book four to five, especially since book five had a lot of the best POV characters (who I won't reveal for the sake of not spoiling who might live or die before the end of this season).

Some of Theon's stuff from this season was from book five (he disappeared in the novels from the end of book two until you find him in Ramsay's dungeon in book five, but he's already been tortured and turned to Reek at this point), and personally I thought he had some of the best chapters in the entire novel. I was a little disappointed in how they adapted him taking back Moat Cailin, which happened this week. They failed to show just how terrible the conditions were at the castle, with the Ironborn having been poisoned by arrows from the "bog devils" (Meera and Jojen's father's men, essentially). That was a great chapter in book five, and the adaptation just felt rushed.

Similarly, Dany, Brienne, and Bran are all into their book four/five content, which I guess shows you how the timelines are so skewed in the books. Brienne spends most of the fourth book wandering around Westeros looking for Sansa and failing, and while her chapters are entertaining in their own way and reveal a lot of exposition content about the world, I can see why they've fast-tracked them on the show. I have a hunch as to where her arc will end this season, but obviously I won't say it here.

Also, if you really want to see some crazy fantasy world story-boarding, check out Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere:
http://stormlightarchive.wikia.com/wiki/Cosmere

The guy has literally set all of his novels in the same universe, even when they take place on different planets. It's nuts.

 

[The Voice]

Not sure if this is true, but I heard Sansa pretty much is caught up to her book character.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Not sure if this is true, but I heard Sansa pretty much is caught up to her book character.

Yeah, more or less. There were some pretty significant changes in Sunday's episode that may change where her arc might go too.

 

[MirORich]

I imagine that all of Sansa's scenes next season will be with Littlefinger. There is enough implied in what they have to orchestrate in the Vale and what Littlefinger continues to orchestrate in Kings Landing(think the Kettleblacks/Cersei plot) to give the two of them a sufficient amount of interesting season 5 scenes. And of course there could always be a few things from book 6 moved up as the showrunners know where things are heading from meetings they've had with Martin.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Yeah, more or less. There were some pretty significant changes in Sunday's episode that may change where her arc might go too.

Yeah, they moved up all the stuff with Lord Royce.

Part of that Ep. really didn't make sense to me, though. Or if it did, it's going into a pretty weird place.

Sansa said the reason she lied to protect Littlefinger was that she didn't know what the other Lords would do with her. But what, exactly, was she scared of? If they were going to turn her over to the Lannisters, she took that risk as soon as she told them who she was. So she already knew they wouldn't do that. So what else was there? I mean, she knows that Littlefinger definitely has the hots for her, so that's what she's going to be subject to if he stays in his position. What was she worried the Lords would do that was worse than that? Unless...she doesn't think being left with a horny Littlefinger is that distasteful.

 

[SixPACK]

God, I felt Oberyn was going to chuck that weapon up at one of the people in the viewing area

Spoiler

And I knew he was going to die when he was pussy footing around his dead body. The look on Tyrion's face was amazing when Oberyn actually died.

GoT should pull another off week after the ending of that episode. People would flip their shit.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Yeah, they moved up all the stuff with Lord Royce.

Part of that Ep. really didn't make sense to me, though. Or if it did, it's going into a pretty weird place.

Sansa said the reason she lied to protect Littlefinger was that she didn't know what the other Lords would do with her. But what, exactly, was she scared of? If they were going to turn her over to the Lannisters, she took that risk as soon as she told them who she was. So she already knew they wouldn't do that. So what else was there? I mean, she knows that Littlefinger definitely has the hots for her, so that's what she's going to be subject to if he stays in his position. What was she worried the Lords would do that was worse than that? Unless...she doesn't think being left with a horny Littlefinger is that distasteful.

Well, the main change is that Sansa revealed her identity to the lords of the Vale, which is something she has yet to do in the books, although a few of them seem like they may have figured it out on their own.

Really, what pissed me off about that whole plot line this week was that Littlefinger revealed afterward that he didn't have a plan at all. So we're supposed to believe that he killed Lysa without any sort of plan other than just saying it was a suicide? And we're supposed to believe that he had three days with which to prep Sansa for the arrival of the other lords, but he didn't even attempt to do so? It was just so ridiculous. I get that they wanted to finally give Sansa some agency, but the way they did it was just awful and totally out of character for Littlefinger. The man never acts without a plan, a fallback plan, and probably five other fallback plans just in case. He's a snake and a survivor, and he didn't get that way by acting impulsively and without thought of the consequences.

For the record, in the book Littlefinger kissed Sansa specifically because he knew Lysa was watching. He knew she'd flip her shit, which would give him a chance to kill her. He also had a patsy to lay the blame on (a singer that most of the lords in the Vale despised because of the preference Lysa gave him), and he spent time prepping Sansa on exactly how to lie to save them both. In fact, he pseudo-threatened Sansa, saying that she was as likely to be killed as he was if the lords of the Vale learned the truth.

GoT should pull another off week after the ending of that episode. People would flip their shit.

They kind of are. Next week is entirely focused on the Wall (similar to the Blackwater episode in season two), so we won't even see any other characters. Ultimate troll move. :chuckles:

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

They kind of are. Next week is entirely focused on the Wall (similar to the Blackwater episode in season two), so we won't even see any other characters. Ultimate troll move. :chuckles:

Really? I mean, as far as I can tell there are four major events/reveals left, and that would put three of them off until the last week.

Anyway, gotta say that I think this season lived up to the hype/promise of the source material. I do have hope that the showrunners are going to be able to overcome some of the weakness of A Feast for Crows, because I think some of their changes show some real talent. When I reread the Tyrion/Oberyn seen in the cell, I got more of a amused/detached vibe from Oberyn, as if they were just having some fun verbal banter. The writers added that "just a baby" line that changed the whole tone of the meeting for the better, IMHO.

 

[SixPACK]

Really? I mean, as far as I can tell there are four major events/reveals left, and that would put all of them off until the last week.

There's only 2 episodes left this season?!!

 

[Jack Brickman]

Really? I mean, as far as I can tell there are four major events/reveals left, and that would put all of them off until the last week.

I think that's why they ended Sansa and Theon's stories for the season (presumably...both moments felt like season-enders) this week rather than try to push them into the finale.

So after the battle for the Wall next week, that leaves us with the following characters for the finale:
Brienne
Tyrion/Jaime/Tywin/Cercei
Stannis/Davos/Melisandre
Arya/Sandor
Aftermath at the Wall (avoiding specific characters so as not to spoil anything)
Bran/Jojen/Meera
Danaerys

Did I miss anyone? Well, aside from the one reveal that book readers all assume is coming, which, by the way, I think will be roped into

Spoiler

Brienne's

storyline anyway. I guess it's possible we see Yara too, and maybe even Balon.

That doesn't seem too outlandish for a slightly extended episode (I think the finale will be a little longer...read that somewhere). It might feel a little rushed, but I don't think it will be too hard to get all that into one episode.

 

[Chris]

There's only 2 episodes left this season?!!

Joke post?

I feel like every other week somebody is surprised the season is 10 episodes. Every season has been 10 episodes. Season 4 is no different.

 

[Nicky]

I always thought it was 12 episodes. :chuckles:

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I always thought it was 12 episodes. :chuckles:

There's a lying about "length" joke in there somewhere. Anyone care to take a stab?

 

[CardiacCavs]

For all ye unspoiled fans who wish for a happy ending: [video=youtube;r8oOi6JOXEQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8oOi6JOXEQ&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[Tlyons]

:chuckles: