Game of Thrones (HBO)

[AustinIllini]

If Jon Snow is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, then Jon would be Dany's nephew, since she and Rhaegar were brother and sister.

It's also possible (in fact, for dramatic sake, likely) that if Jon is Rhaegar's son he is also a true dragon and not vulnerable to fire.

By the way, I respect other people's rights to be behind on the show, but I'm not spoilering anything that has happened before season 5 started. The material is over a year old.

 

[kilcher]

Regardless how closely it follows the books or not, you all have to admit that was without a doubt one of the greatest action scenes ever filmed for TV. It even rivals all but the highest budget films.

Agreed. I thought it was the most impressive battle scene yet. My big complaint about GoT battle scenes is that they take 50-100 actors and through the magic of TV try to make it look like 5,000. This actually seemed pretty epic. The makeup and effects were top notch too.

 

[QCassidy352]

Agreed. I thought it was the most impressive battle scene yet. My big complaint about GoT battle scenes is that they take 50-100 actors and through the magic of TV try to make it look like 5,000. This actually seemed pretty epic. The makeup and effects were top notch too.

I came away from last night's episode a little disappointed. After reading some recaps/comments wrong the web today, I see I'm probably the only one who feels that way. I guess I just find the whole white walker plot dull. There's no nuance to it, no intrigue. Just zombies. If I wanted that, I'd watch the walking dead.

It was an impressively shot scene, but I find the current plots in Mehreen, King's Landing, and Winterfell all far more interesting.

 

[eish2306]

That episode last night was crazy! In the books, did we know Valyrian steel worked like dragon glass against the whites? Makes me wonder if dragon fire will as well. We might finally be getting some hints of how the "true war" story arc will meet with the ever spinning game of thrones in Kings landing.

How do you do that spoiler text?

When looking in the archives of the Night's Watch for a way to combat the Others Samwell Tarly reads about dragonsteel. He and Jon Snow think Valyrian steel may be meant by this.

 

[JoshMKB24]

Even though I knew something about it, the shocker in this book is Lady Stoneheart, who I would assume will make an appearance in the show at some point.

I think they already confirmed she is not going to be making an appearance, both because they're already trying to tie things together and due to the actress not being available.

 

[JoshMKB24]

I came away from last night's episode a little disappointed. After reading some recaps/comments wrong the web today, I see I'm probably the only one who feels that way. I guess I just find the whole white walker plot dull. There's no nuance to it, no intrigue. Just zombies. If I wanted that, I'd watch the walking dead.

It was an impressively shot scene, but I find the current plots in Mehreen, King's Landing, and Winterfell all far more interesting.

I loved it, but I think why most people were excited for the scene beyond that it was the most action we've seen all season is it was something not from the books, so it was new to everyone.

Also, they aren't just regular zombies. If you read up on their history, they're supposedly like their own type of race. The Night's King that you saw is in theory the old Lord Commander of the Night's Watch who fell in love with 1 of the Other's. They're kind of made to look like zombies in the show, but from the history described of them, they're just another race that has necromancy powers and the wights are the re-animated dead. I'd suggest you just doing a Google search for the Long Night, the War for the Dawn, the night's watch, and the Night's King. Chances are everything ties together with whats going on in other parts of the GOT world.

 

[malman89]

Regardless how closely it follows the books or not, you all have to admit that was without a doubt one of the greatest action scenes ever filmed for TV. It even rivals all but the highest budget films.

That was without a doubt the best scene/perhaps episode in the entire series. First we got the Tyrion/Daenerys intellectual sparring I was hoping for and then that? Man. I kept thinking they'd cut away to something stupid and leave us begging for more. The show did not disappoint.

 

[stridemat]

That was without a doubt the best scene/perhaps episode in the entire series. First we got the Tyrion/Daenerys intellectual sparring I was hoping for and then that? Man. I kept thinking they'd cut away to something stupid and leave us begging for more. The show did not disappoint.

...and episode 9 is historically the one with all the drama! Hopefully next weeks episode will be equally good.

I was reading about episode 8 and apparently it took about a month to film the 20 mins of show footage, effectively 1 minute per day.

 

[Huntn]

I loved it, but I think why most people were excited for the scene beyond that it was the most action we've seen all season is it was something not from the books, so it was new to everyone.

Also, they aren't just regular zombies. If you read up on their history, they're supposedly like their own type of race. The Night's King that you saw is in theory the old Lord Commander of the Night's Watch who fell in love with 1 of the Other's. They're kind of made to look like zombies in the show, but from the history described of them, they're just another race that has necromancy powers and the wights are the re-animated dead. I'd suggest you just doing a Google search for the Long Night, the War for the Dawn, the night's watch, and the Night's King. Chances are everything ties together with whats going on in other parts of the GOT world.

Good info! I could see an obvious difference between the WW leaders and the re-animated. What I don't remember is them moving so fast. I remember them lumbering. Obvious that's in the show and maybe I've seen too many zombie shows. I don't remember the author describing how they move at all, slow or fast. It's also possible if they are out and about on their own, they lumber without purpose, but maybe they can be motivated by their bosses into a frenzy. But since this kind of event has yet to happen in the books (my understanding) it's liberties the show is taking, I assume with the author's approval.

I think they already confirmed she is not going to be making an appearance, both because they're already trying to tie things together and due to the actress not being available.

I was shocked by what the author did to her, but I wont say that is a bad thing. Based on this info, I assume she is just a side show. But it's stuff like this that makes the books rich and full, while the show is more like an outline, not to imply the show is bad, it's still outstanding with its limitations and deviations.

 

[AlliFlowers]

And on the bright side, those of us who read the books can no longer spoil anything, cause the show is now so far off the rails there's not much comparison left. I lost count of how many times we commented "wait, that wasn't in the book" watching episode 8.

I just hope they don't do like True Blood did, which is veer so far from the book that they were clueless as to how to follow any plot at all.

 

[Huntn]

And on the bright side, those of us who read the books can no longer spoil anything, cause the show is now so far off the rails there's not much comparison left. I lost count of how many times we commented "wait, that wasn't in the book" watching episode 8.

I just hope they don't do like True Blood did, which is veer so far from the book that they were clueless as to how to follow any plot at all.

I'm beating a dead horse, but True Blood was a galaxy away from the integrity of the Sookie Stachouse books, yeah some characters with the same names, attributes, and some general relationships, but seriously lacking regarding the events that ties its appeal to the books we loved and completely lacking in the humor that gave the story life.

 

[zmunkz]

And on the bright side, those of us who read the books can no longer spoil anything, cause the show is now so far off the rails there's not much comparison left. I lost count of how many times we commented "wait, that wasn't in the book" watching episode 8.

Yeah, although now I spend a lot of time trying to speculate if the show is spoiling events from later books, or just inventing sequences whole cloth. I'll be interested to see how that turns out.

 

[benthewraith]

It's also possible (in fact, for dramatic sake, likely) that if Jon is Rhaegar's son he is also a true dragon and not vulnerable to fire.

This is something that a lot of show viewers think, but it needs to be made absolutely clear because it's entirely wrong. Targaryens, including Dany, are not immune to fire. Her surviving the pyre was a one off thing. Dany even gets burnt (her hand is left raw and blistered) by Drogon later on in the series. This isn't a mistake, numerous Targaryens died at the fire at Summerhall (it wiped out a lot of extended family branches).

They have like +20 fire resistance compared to everyone else, but that doesn't make them immune.

 

[zmunkz]

That was without a doubt the best scene/perhaps episode in the entire series. First we got the Tyrion/Daenerys intellectual sparring I was hoping for and then that? Man.

I've been highly anticipating Tyrion / Daenerys meeting, and was curious what tactic he would use to gain her favor. I like how they played it out.

 

[zmunkz]

This is something that a lot of show viewers think, but it needs to be made absolutely clear because it's entirely wrong. Targaryens, including Dany, are not immune to fire. Her surviving the pyre was a one off thing. Dany even gets burnt by Drogon later on in the series. This isn't a mistake, numerous Targaryens died at the fire at Summerhall (it wiped out a lot of extended family branches).

Right, in the book it was clearly a blood magic thing resulting from sacrificing that lady who killed Drogo... death pays for life! In the show the same sequence occurred, but without her inner monologue you didn't realize what she was doing or why it was going to work.

EDIT: I forgot, we also saw Jon's hand get badly burned when he fought the White a few seasons ago, didn't we? So we know he is not immune to fire, although if he was it would give the red woman a hard on.

 

[stridemat]

I watched it last night and I was blown away by the whole episode, but more so by the final 20 mins. So many story arcs jumped on

 

[AustinIllini]

This is something that a lot of show viewers think, but it needs to be made absolutely clear because it's entirely wrong. Targaryens, including Dany, are not immune to fire. Her surviving the pyre was a one off thing. Dany even gets burnt (her hand is left raw and blistered) by Drogon later on in the series. This isn't a mistake, numerous Targaryens died at the fire at Summerhall (it wiped out a lot of extended family branches).

They have like +20 fire resistance compared to everyone else, but that doesn't make them immune.

My mistake, but the point still stands. Let's see if Jon is a +20 fire resistance.

 

[malman89]

...and episode 9 is historically the one with all the drama! Hopefully next weeks episode will be equally good.

I was reading about episode 8 and apparently it took about a month to film the 20 mins of show footage, effectively 1 minute per day.

I've got a feeling it's going to be a lot of King's Landing if they push along the Cersei storyline and perhaps Bolton/Stannis in the North.

 

[stridemat]

I've got a feeling it's going to be a lot of King's Landing if they push along the Cersei storyline and perhaps Bolton/Stannis in the North.

The IMDB listing says:

Jon returns to the wall. Arya runs into someone from her past. Mace visits the Iron Bank. Stannis faces a difficult decision. Daenerys oversees a celebration of athleticism.

Looks like we may be getting the fighting pit.

 

[AlliFlowers]

I've been highly anticipating Tyrion / Daenerys meeting, and was curious what tactic he would use to gain her favor. I like how they played it out.

I love Tyrion. He and Arya are my favorite characters. I particularly like the cerebral scenes, early on between Tyrion and Varus, and this week between Tyrion and Dynarius. They are just brilliantly done.

 

[Huntn]

For those of you who have subscribed to HBO Now in iTunes just to watch Game of Thrones and plan on unsubscribing after the next two episodes, you can take your subscription off auto-renew and maybe save a month. For myself my subscription ends on 17June which should cover the last 2 episodes.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202039

 

[JoshMKB24]

For those of you who have subscribed to HBO Now in iTunes just to watch Game of Thrones and plan on unsubscribing after the next two episodes, you can take your subscription off auto-renew and maybe save a month. For myself my subscription ends on 17June which should cover the last 2 episodes.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT202039

Hah damn! Mine ends June 12, probably done so on purpose just so they could get 1 extra month out of the GOT crowd. The last episode is the following Sunday. Oh well, 15.81 after tax is worth every penny!

 

[Huntn]

Hah damn! Mine ends June 12, probably done so on purpose just so they could get 1 extra month out of the GOT crowd. The last episode is the following Sunday. Oh well, 15.81 after tax is worth every penny!

Lol, I waited a week after the first 2 shows before I subscribed, not on purpose, that's just how it worked out.

 

[Huntn]

Apparently in the Fire and Ice series, a "warg" equals a skin changer, a person whose consciousness can enter and take over an animal's body in contrast to wargs in The Hobbit which were just evil wolves.

http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Skinchanger

 

[malman89]

The IMDB listing says:



Looks like we may be getting the fighting pit.

Ah look at you, being all investigative. I'm too lazy for that. I like to have a little surprise in my TV viewing