The one thing that I would say to all non-book readers (i.e. those quoted above from Facebook) is, if you're not even
slightly interested in politics, you're not going to like Game of Thrones.
Yes, there are fantasy elements, with dire wolves and dragons and such. There are fantastical lands, a rich mythology and supernatural elements mentioned throughout.
Yes, there are historical elements, with an eye towards heraldry, family ties and kingdoms.
But what it all comes down to, and this is why the series is being called "Game of Thrones" instead of "A Song of Ice and Fire" (besides the fact that it's a mouthful);
everything is politics. This person and this person are allied to stab this person in the back because that person did xyz to another person 30 years ago and so on and so forth.
When Ned calls King's Landing a viper's nest, that's exactly what it is. The show makes it a point to single out Varys, Littlefinger, and Cersei all spying on everyone and each other, but there's
dozens of other interests that aren't even represented (even in the books); everyone is trying to gain favor, gain land, gain titles and see their enemies falter. It literally is everyone playing a massive political game for their own benefit.
If the idea of people talking and scheming is boring, Game of Thrones is not for you.
... sorry for the mini-rant. Seen too many similar comments about the show being boring and pointless talking and a billion pointless characters in a bunch of different, pointless places. Even though the books aren't finished yet, I think it's safe to assume that
everything we see, from Jon at the Wall to Arya in King's Landing to Daenarys in the Dothraki Sea have a purpose towards a singular end. All of these character's aren't off doing their own thing just because it's cool to tell a bunch of stories at once.
Then again GRRM is a notorious D&D player... maybe he's just rolling d20 to decide what happens next... /cry
X-Frame said:
Oh yeah, so Bran is paralyzed? Damnit.
Yeah, Bran is paralyzed below the waist. Luckily, this episode introduced Hodor, who serves as a sort of big, talking wheelchair for Bran so all of his scenes won't be cooped up with Old Nan and her anal rape-spider stories.
see5harp said:
I never really noticed until last night, but during the intro when the logo for GoT comes up you can see the House Sigilis on each corner (direwolf, dragon, horse, deer?). Thought it was a nice touch.
The four symbols are the Lion, Direwolf, Stag and Dragon, the sigils of House Lannister, Stark, Baratheon and Targareyen, respectively.
Not a spoiler: GRRM spends
paragraphs describing family connections and their sigils, and there's a scarily rich level of heraldry and thought put into the various families and their crests. There are pages at the back of each novel explaining each major family and their sworn knights and lords and family connections. I don't think a lot of this will translate to the show, but it should make it very visually interesting to see all of these crests and heraldric colors flying and have them rooted somewhat in the fiction.