Game Of Thrones

Night Prowler

Night Prowler

Customer Deathcycle Manager
Staff member
Never read the books but I started watching the show tonight. I'm not really a fan of fantasy/medieval stuff like this, but I saw some clips here and there and want to jump on the bandwagon while the show is still airing :P Plus there aren't really any shows set in winter landscapes, so that drew me in too :)

Because I only started watching, if you could keep the spoilery stuff in spoilers that'd be really great :)

Premiere was interesting.
Everyone's really blunt. Queen asking that little girl if she had her period, then brother groping his sister and telling her he'd let her get fucked by 40000 warriors, then actual brother and sister boning? Some shows don't have this much WTFery in their whole runs :D

Will post my thoughts as I slowly catch up :)

So who's watching? Discuss!
 
Books are among my favourite.
The author is a master at making you like, or at least get, the vilest of people, as they make their way through a vile world. The plot is complex, layered and beautifully nuanced.
Show was good, but declined as it gradually deviated from the books.
I'm still watching. But not with my kids.
 
I'm also a big time fan of the books. I'm very glad I was able to read them before I watched any of the show, as they are so much more detailed an in-depth.

I do still enjoy the show quite a bit. In fact, I'm sure I'd like it more if I hadn't read the books, because I'd be able to enjoy it for what it is without constantly comparing them. That said, the first season does an excellent job of staying true to the first book. More deviations start happening in later seasons and, as mckindog said, the quality does start to decline a bit.

The interesting thing is that the show has now pretty much surpassed where the last published book left off, so everything happening in this current season is a surprise for everyone!

I'm interested in seeing your reactions as you go through the series, Night Prowler. You're in for a wild ride!
 
You're a little late Night Prowler (which uninformed dickhead told you to do this? ;-).

One of the most striking series ever. So much intrigue, so many unexpected situations, such strong acting, such a great story. Lots of possibilities, landscapes and characters. So beautifully made. Epic. The best character (acted at least) ever: Tyrion.

I know people who have stopped watching in the previous season because of that
rape scene
and the fact that it deviates more and more from the books. But they are missing out. The current season has started very strong. This might be the coolest yet.

The recent and upcoming seasons have formed the adaptation as one being more independent from its source than any other adaptation, ever. @CriedWhenBrucieLeft would hate it, for just that.

At this point, apart from some storylines which haven't been told yet (such as
Oldtown and matters happening in House Greyjoy
no one knows what will happen for the bigger part, as there isn't any book left to draw from. So @Lampwick 43 and @mckindog soon you can stop comparing. There's just the series and no book.

Seriously, I wonder how much the upcoming books will be worth. We're in an awkward situation that the next books might be partly spoiled by the current/upcoming seasons. I can't imagine that Martin won't be influenced by the series. If he writes something completely different then the series have influenced him as well, to do that. If you see this a bit bleak, you could say the series are both the success and the death of the books.
 
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I read the books, starting in 2008, and loved them. I had very high hopes for the TV series and I really enjoyed the first two seasons. However, I kind of lost interest further on and I have not seen anything since season 3. The series is very well done and it's definitely worth seeing, but it just couldn't hold my attention any more. For me, the problem is not that the film differs from the book, I actually prefer it that way. But I think I got a bit bored with the constant blood, gore and sex in the series. I'd seen it all before in the first three seasons.
I might get back to it, eventually, and see the later seasons, but that's not a priority at the moment.
 
I see what you mean! I rather see these excesses in smaller quantities. Although, in the books, a lot of cruel (which certainly can result in gore) things are happening. The difference is mostly in the sex. Not much of that lately (current season), by the way.
Ariana said:
I'd seen it all before in the first three seasons.
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I'm afraid not.
 
Forostar said:
no one knows what will happen for the bigger part, as there isn't any book left to draw from. So @Lampwick 43 and @mckindog soon you can stop comparing. There's just the series and no book.
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That's true. It is a bit disappointing that the show will tell the end of the story before the books can, but I've accepted it. No matter what happens, I'll continue to watch the show, and whenever the next book does come out, I'll continue to read the books.

I've taken solace in the fact that there are certain storylines/characters that can only be resolved in the books, because they don't exist in the show.
 
I feel the same. Normally I hate to be spoiled. But I see this is as an experiment. I am terribly curious as where the series will go, and I also wonder how much it will effect the reading of upcoming books.

And: what spells will Martin cast? What kind of Houdini escape will he make?
 
Forostar said:
You're a little late Night Prowler (which uninformed dickhead told you to do this? ;-).
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As I said, I'm not a fan of medieval/fantasy stuff or excessive gore & nudity in TV shows. But I saw some cool clips on YouTube so I decided to finally watch the show. I think I picked the best possible time, since there are no books left so there won't be future spoilers like before :D I know a fair amount of stuff that happens, since it was impossible to avoid in the past 6 years, but it's usually just fate of certain characters rather than outcome of a big plot.

Lampwick 43 said:
I'm interested in seeing your reactions as you go through the series, Night Prowler. You're in for a wild ride!
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I'll try to post here regularly as I watch :)
 
Night Prowler said:
As I said, I'm not a fan of medieval/fantasy stuff
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You do care about Lord of the Rings or not?

I don't think people need to be a fan of fantasy/medieval stuff because these series have many qualities that have drawn many people from all corners.
The intrigue IMO is unrivaled. The excellence of the characters... Mckindog explained it well.

As said, of course I do not care about excessive gore & nudity either, but this is no Caesar (or Spartacus or some other series I forgot the name about) which was way more excessive in the violence, I thought.
 
Not necessary (anymore). :)

Even my parents-in-law are addicted to GoT, and they have nada with fantasy or sci-fi, because "it is not realistic". I think that these series have proven for them that there are enough realistic matters going on in fantasy, enough to like it.
 
Never read the books but I watch the series since episode 1 aired. I really like it, although not for the fantasy aspect. In fact it irritates me when people treat GoT as fantasy at its finest, because the fantasy elements are actually the least interesting and I'm not digging the vibe. TV budget makes it look cheap and not fully fleshed out. I'm sure the books do better job in that regard. All in all, it's the plot where this series shines. Intrigues, twists and characters are masterfully done. It could take place in space or in some kind of post-apo world and all the cool stuff would work there too.
 
It can and often does appeal to fans of historical or political fiction, who do not usually appreciate fantasy. My dad and my wife are two such. The plot hints at much and gives away nothing, resulting in all kinds of wild speculation. Every chapter is delivered from a different character's head, in such away that important points can be missed and misperceptions created. It is their version of reality you see.

I must say that I enjoyed last year less, and looked forward to this year less because I am afraid of how it will spoil the books for me moving forward. The filmmakers are best when they are delivering Martin's story. I just don't trust them to tell it as skillfully on their own.
 
I've been watching since season 1, never read the books though. It's an enjoyable series but they rely too much on shock value and cruelty.
 
They sure do rely on shock, but I can't help thinking they do it right all the time. When you think about it, the number of deaths seems ridiculous, but I'm not tired of this kind of twists when watching.
 
I've also started re-watching after falling off the wagon sometime around season 4. I'm up to the third episode of season three now. So much stuff I didn't notice/remember from the first time around either and I'm much more into the characters this time around too....

Without spoiling, are the latest seasons as good as the first ones were?
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Without spoiling, are the latest seasons as good as the first ones were?
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They are probably not as good overall, but there are still very cool things happening. Definitely worth watching. Actually I don't know if I would be able to pick one or two best seasons. All of them seem to have their highs and lows. First seasons have the advantage of being fresh to the viewer, I think.
 
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