Winter is Coming...

[Dappleganger]

who will also be watching the premiere episode of Game of Thrones this evening?

[Lyric]

1. I wish I could be.

No cable, unfortunately. Here's hoping I can find a way to download it later.

[Dappleganger]

2. Try

eztv.it--they usually are good about having things like this.

It's a free weekend for HBO w/most cable and satellite companies, dunno what we're going to after that--maybe subscribe? The promos are all over youtube and look fantastic!

[yellowdogintexas]

8. yeah it will be a year before NetFlix has it

when season 2 Clash of Kings is released

[nolabear]

3. MEMEME!!!

I can't wait. Well, I actually have to because my son is coming over to watch and can't be here til eight so I can't watch the six o'clock feed. Excited? No, not me.

[yellowdogintexas]

7. no not me either. LOL

my casting opinions so far

best casting is Tyrion, second is Neddard, third is Cersei

Dany is beautiful

[NewJeffCT]

4. Good first episode - pretty close to the book

from what I could remember. Liked the cast - I think Sean Bean was very good as Eddard Stark. Liked the ending with Jaime/Cersei.

[yellowdogintexas]

6. Hi Jeff!!

from FaceBook to DU in one click!
It is wonderful.
We just got a new DVD player that records on DVD so I am recording it for my husband and daughter and will mail to them

[yellowdogintexas]

9. do we know how many weeks this is going to run?

[Supply Side Jesus]

11. 10

heard episode 6 is best, out of the first 6. almost guarantee future seasons will be 12 episodes.

[Dappleganger]

17. Yes, agreed...

Sean Bean was perfectly cast. I love how Daenerys was cast as well--she's going to be spectacular.

Cat's character looks good as well (love those strong female characters).

[NewJeffCT]

21. The women characters will develop more

going forward, if I recall.

[Iggo]

35. Nice to see Sean Bean as the good guy. (n/t)

[yellowdogintexas]

5. Winter is Here!

broke down and took out HBO to see this and it is worth every penny!!

[Dappleganger]

18. Good for you...

I think we will do the same as Treme is about to begin too.

[nolabear]

23. Treme! Treme!! Treme!!!

Makes me homesick as hell and I love every minute of it.

[Dappleganger]

32. After The Wire, it's one of my favorite series...

it starts back up April 24. Wonder who will be featured wrt music this season? I still count my blessings for having been to NO twice before the storm (and watching the show is a heart-breaker).

[Liberal Veteran]

10. All in all, it was a very good hour of television.

I have read the books, but I have been looking forward to this for some time.

I'll be back to watch next week.

[Supply Side Jesus]

12. "The Things I do for Love"

wow...the spot to end epi 1


how about those opening credits?! phenomenal

[Luciferous]

13. Huh, just read the description on IMDB and it sounds pretty interesting.

I think I'll have to check it out.

[Mojambo]

14. Incest is best.

:hide:

[kiva]

15. Brilliant. n/t

[XemaSab]

16. Yay!

:bounce:

[Xithras]

19. I was a bit disappointed in Khal Drogo

The braid was swapped for a banded ponytail, and where were the bells? The wedding night was also poorly done, and portrayed him as a brute who raped her. That's not really what happened in the book. The kindness Drogo showed her in the books was an important part of establishing his personality later on. I can understand why they cast her a bit older and left out the graphic sex (wait, this is HBO, no I can't), but there are a hundred ways they could have rewritten it to accomplish the same thing. It felt like they just skipped it.

[NewJeffCT]

20. Isn't she like 13 or 14 in the first book?

So, I can understand making her older.

[Xithras]

22. Yes, she was 14.

I have no problem with them making her older (and they really just left it vague), but the rest of what went along with it was rather important to establish his personality. Viewers who haven't read the books were left with the impression that he was just a dark skinned brute taking his prize, whether she wanted it or not. Martin used that scene instead to establish Drogo's humanity, and show that he valued her and cared for her.

Now that I think about it, the entire Targaryen story line was gutted a bit. While Viserys did once threaten to "wake the dragon", they never explained what that meant, or how nuts he actually was. By this point in the book, the reader was fully aware that Viserys was a sick bastard.

My favorite storylines in the books have always been those of Daenerys Targaryen and Arya Stark, and it just seemed to me that the Pentos storyline was written into the show almost as an afterthought. The wedding ceremony/night was simply the worst of it.

The rest of the show was very well done though, IMHO.

[nolabear]

24. Yeah I was sorry they didn't portray that story line so well. But overall I enjoyed it a lot.

[SteppingRazor]

29. I agree they didn't make Viserys nearly as unlikeable as he should be. Daenerys' age though is set.

She's late 17, early 18. Probably 18. Viserys remarks in the episode that he's waited 17 years for his revenge on Westeros, and we know she was an infant when the two fled to Pentos. As for the age difference, I can certainly understand it. Depicting sex acts by adult actors portraying underage characters is technically legal, but it runs into gray areas in obscenity laws. Much easier to just move the character's age up a bit.

[NewJeffCT]

30. well, he did have the line

about letting Drogo and his 40,000 men (and their horses) each have a turn at her if it would get him the throne back. That was pretty nutso, IMHO.

[Lyric]

28. I agree completely. I was telling Rhythm this just last night.

That scene made Drogo look like a heartless brute, and in the book, he was the exact opposite. They also skipped the small bonding moment that happens between them when Dany rides her silver for the first time at the wedding. I'm not sure how they're going to establish Dany and Drogo's love for each other later on (which is important for explaining certain things) if they leave out the scenes that humanize and soften his character.

But overall I really liked the show.

[Duer 157099]

36. I haven't read the book(s) nor knew anything about it prior to watching

and I got the impression that he wasn't a brute (exactly) towards her and that the horse was very meaningful. Somehow they managed to convey it well enough imho because I got it. I got the sense that they would bond.

[nolabear]

25. I enjoyed it a lot. They're running through the plot at breakneck speed

and I was kind of amused at how much older the younger characters have to be than they are in the book...which just makes me wonder why Martin made them 14 and 15 years old in the first place. I think his adolescent audience could handle 18 and 19.

Loved Tyrion best. And Ayra. And poor Bran; it'll be interesting to see how they handle that (btw I'm not that far into the books and will be struggling to stay ahead of the series I expect).

Fun to see the kingdom too. And I hope the wolves turn out well. So far they're not as much a part of things as I'd like, but that's me.

[Xithras]

26. I kept looking for Hodor.

Hodor! Hodor! Hodoooooor!

The book established Bran as being friendly to Hodor BEFORE Bran's back was broken, even when other people teased Hodor. This helped to explain the relationship that developed between the two afterward. It also helped to establish Bran as one of the most kindhearted of the children.

Hodor was missing entirely. So was Rickon. And several others.

In all honesty, they could have made three episodes out of the section of the book covered last night. I haven't re-read the first book in about four years, but the more I think about it, the more I'm realizing that they left a LOT out.

[Dappleganger]

31. Love Hodor and can't wait to see his scenes!

I re-read the first book just a few weeks ago to have it fresh, and am currently re-reading book two.

[SteppingRazor]

27. I thought it was pretty good. They covered a lot of territory for one episode, but they had to.

I think I have to withhold my opinion on the whole thing for another episode or three, but so far, I like what I saw.

[Supply Side Jesus]

33. first 3 move fast

lots of exposition, then it slow down and builds on the characters and their respective storylines

[Iggo]

34. I quite recently read the first book for the first time.

My brother (with whom I watched the first episode) hasn't read the books at all.

He was very appreciative of the pause button and of having a person there who knew the characters and some of the history.

Hard enough to tell the players without a scorecard in the book, let alone in the TV show's accelerated pace.

[NewJeffCT]

37. That has frustrated me with the books

it was so long between books 3 & 4 that when I picked up book 4 when it came out, I had forgotten a lot of the characters.

[LaurenG]

38. I had to watch it last night since I forgot about it...

I thought it was awesome and some of the characters really matched the ones in my mind from the books.