So I'm thinking on starting watching this show. Can someone give me an overview on the show and the main premise behind it without spoiling anything? Im still debating whether to watch this after i finish 24 so any opinions/reviews would be great.
I can't remember where the conversation took place, maybe it was Cersei telling the story later and guessing as to why it happened, but it had something to do with Joffrey overhearing his "father" (King Robert) talking about how terrible it was that Bran survived the fall and he'd just be a useless cripple the rest of his life. Joff decided to try to please daddy by stealing a dagger out of the pile of royal weapons they'd brought along to Winterfell and paid some idiot to try to finish the job. Which explains why it was so incompetently done. Now as to why Littlefinger lied about the dagger, well that's just how he rolls, chaos for chaos' sake.
I enjoyed the Joffrey's death as early as it did. The actor (Jack Gleeson) took what could have been a potentially cartoonish villain and made him believable yet slimy. The reactions on YouTube and other forums attest to how much he was hate and, in turn, how well Mr. Gleeson played him. The Purple Wedding being as early as it did makes me suspect KL's storyline will focus on Tyrion's trial. Also, it may make room for an appearance by Coldhands since there is more time to focus on the trial storyline.
Really? Man, the only characters I remember from that scene in the book other than Tyrion, Sansa, and Joff was the brothers wife. thanks for this. I gotta say the tv series has really made Littlefingers actions seem way more calculated and has me wondering if that is choice the tv series made on their own or influenced by Martin and what he has planned for the Littlefinger character.
What they've done is made him way less subtle. He's at least as calculating in the books, it's just not as obvious to anybody who's paying attention. I think Littlefinger's portrayal is the most disappointing thing about the show.
to be quite honest the wedding was a disappointment to me - or maybe I set the standards high, because as you said, the actor who played Joffrey could have made it much, much better. The location was too small and looked a bit cheap, Cersei's command to capture Joffrey wasn't convincing enough and his body looked like some random character from a Zombie movie. Stupid. Dinklage's terrific performance killed it, however. That was some Oscar-worth performance.
Interesting take on the difference between that Jaime POV chapter and the way it was transposed to the TV show: http://luciwithani.tumblr.com/post/83414555160/re-that-scene
I kind of came to those conclusions myself, but I don't know how much I'm just being generous. I do think the scene was more effective as portrayed in the books, and I think if they intended this one to be "eventually consensual" as the director said then they failed (if Cersei's final gripping hand was supposed to mean she was into it then that was just a little too subtle). My really cynical side says that they deliberately turned it into a rape just to kick up the "ick" factor even higher. Because we all know screwing in a church next to your incestuous spawn's corpse just isn't quite enough. All that said, there were some great non-book scenes in this episode. Tywin's verbal kidnapping of Tommen was brilliant (including Cersei's reactions), Tyrion and Pod's interaction literally brought tears to my eyes, and the Hound's brutal lesson for Arya was great (and that coupled with Jaime's scene makes me think they really were trying to shock the audience back into harsh reality after the high of last episode).
Agreed. I loved the Tommen/Tywin scene, thought the use of lighting was fantastic. I didn't catch it the first time watching it but Tywin beginning his birds and bees talk got a chuckle out of me. The one non-book portion I did not like though was between Sam and Gilly. I'm fine if they want to build up the relationship between the two of them, so go ahead and add some extra interaction between them. But the idea of sending her to Mole Town just seems wrong... Sam knows there are wildings approaching from the south and I would think he knows Castle Black would be the safest place for her.
Yeah, I thought that was pretty lame too, a too-convenient way to make Sam look like an idiot, put Gilly in danger so we have more to care about when the wildlings attack Mole's Town (which I assume will happen), and stretch out their romantic tension by introducing conflict. Like I said, pretty lame.
Hmm, an interactive Westeros map which allows you to control how far you are into the show and/or books to help avoid spoilers. http://quartermaester.info/
I'm a week late with this, but I think there are huge issues with Jaime's characterization after the rape episode. It's not just the way they changed that scene itself. It's not even in line with how Jaime himself is presented. He lied to prevent the Goat's men from raping Brienne. Then he had the soldier who had repeatedly raped Pretty Pia executed.
Jaime wouldn't be the first person in the world to condemn something that he does in secret. One of the good things about the series is the subversion of expectations. But I'm starting to think they just messed up how they did that scene. Cersei was angry at Jaime this week but it didn't seem to be about the rape. There was no mention of it at all the week. In the books it seemed consensual, and the director seemed to think there was some consent, but I don't see it as it was presented.