Game of Thrones.2: Books/Spoiler Discussion [R]

Isn't it also implied that the Doom of Valyria was some sort of meteor strike?

Mmmmmmm... It's very vague. My understand is that it was closer to a massive Krakatoa-level volcanic eruption, and the resultant lava/ash/rock debris rained down on the people. Valyria was a very volcanic area anyway, so it makes sense.

That's how I understood it, too.

But that wouldnt leave a Chernobyl type toxic wasteland through which even Ironborn feared to sail.

We don't know, it's a magic world. The Valyrians were fire wizards, and they found their dragons inside the volcanoes. Maybe it was a mix of natural volcanism, and a powerful magic ritual going terribly wrong? Remember the Targaryens and their troubles. Summerhall might have been a small reprise of the doom, in an attempt to wake the dragons with fire and magic.

Sulfure?

That's all propaganda, it's just a ********ing balrog.

I think that constitutes a real difference of perspective between those who are familiar with the source material and those who aren't. I have enjoyed the Robb scenes precisely because we did not get a first-hand account of his campaign in The Things That Shall Remain Unnamed*.

* rhymes with "looks"

(Moved this post here just so that I don't get in trouble in the other thread again)

@Belgian guy: I took the risk, and dodged the bullets for now.

After last night's episode, I'm beginning to appreciate the merits of throwing away a kingdom over some Volantese booty.

In seriousness, I do think that seeing things from Robb's perspective as opposed to seeing/hearing a lot of this stuff from second hand sources from Catelyn's perspective has helped in terms of understanding Robb's choices and motivations.

I might be wrong, but I think the Robb as portrayed in the series is a different one than Martin portrayed, or wanted to portray. Now with season 2 I think it is better to see both things as different interpretations of the same tale, sort of how you have different interpretations of the Nibelungen for example. Wolfgang Hohlbeins Hagen von Troje portrays a different Hagen than in the classical story that came from orla history, or the interpretation Wagner made in his operas. They are the same character, but much different persons. That is how I would interpret Robb here.
Another example for this would be how Boba Fett was portrayed in the Star Wars movies as opposed to the extended Universe novels with him as the main character.

Dunno if it has to do with me being older, but I enjoy the little tweaks they made to the story far more than I did the left-out scenes in the LotR movies for example.

Well Robb is supposed to be somewhat different from the novels. He's several years older here. The Robb from the books is a real kid (not necessarily in appearance, but in age) as opposed to a young man here.

Don't they have to make several characters older just for the nudity scenes to begin with?

That was part of it yes. Though they seem to have aged a few characters far beyond what was necessary. The Hound is 27 at the start of A Game of Thrones. He's around 15 years older in the TV show. It seems they were somewhat random in their aging of some of the characters.

They won't be that different, at least they won't be contradictory. Martin is heavily involved in the series, and wrote the script for the next episode himself; so I assume he's fine with the changes.

Too much of his story was told indirectly in the books. I think they consciously changed this to have a Ned-style sympathetic figure for season two.

I also think Catelyn comes off looking much worse on the show than in the books.

Old post, but right on. I read some of the books between seasons, forgot the details, and then felt déjà vu watching the entire first episode of the second season. That hasn't really happened again except for moments here and there.

With the ages thing I think the books were truer to the actual Middle Ages, and in the tv series we're letting political correctness skew our portrayal of history (the enjoyable medieval atmosphere portrayal is what I'm referring to, not that this is factual, obviously). I guess it really can't be helped.

They most definitely are building him up more. That will make the Red Wedding that much bigger for the show. I'm looking forward to reading what the non-readers have to say once that occurs.

I get the reason why they aged the kids, and in turn, why they had to age those same kids' parents. What I understand less is aging a character like Sandor Clegane. What exactly was the problem with his age in the books? If anything, the increased age difference with Sansa has made the torch he's obviously carrying for her more than a bit more creepy...

That'll probably be the climax of season four, so we have a bit more to go before we reach that point.

More importantly it's easier to cast skillful older actors than younger ones. I'm personally fine with them going with the best actor rather than one that fits the book character's age and appearance more closely.

Like I said above, it's all about the casting. When you're searching for a nearly 7' actor with the build of a warrior options are somewhat limited.

With that character I regret his lack of prominence and lines more than anything like his age.

Well I don't see how finding a 27-year old with those attributes would be more or less complicated than a 40-something...

The lack of lines is a problem that is true for most characters, just because they each get so much more material in the books.