Okay, just discovered the "Pledge Your Allegiance" clips and the Targaryen one is just epic and awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JAQcQQ2H-A&feature=relmfu

House Targaryen all the way!

 

These were circling tumblr. I'm highly amused. Also ALMOST THERE FUUUUU A;LDKFAJ;.

 

:awesome

 

While I can't confess to having ever watched much of the show (though I've read the books) I figured I just thought I'd let you all know that apparently you're all Dungeons and Dragons nerds because you watch A Game of Thrones.

This is from the New York Times review of the new season that I found particularly amusing.

You can probably guess the contents of the rest of the review from there, which really makes me wonder why they decided to get someone to review the show who has absolutely no grasp on fantasy at all.

 

The Targaryen and Baratheon pizzas have a fuckton of olives. Gross. But still cool, in an extremely nerdy way.

And I shall be watching the new episode this evening :awesome

 

I don't suppose you know where I can find this reviewer, I have an overwhelming need punch him in the face. It's idiotic reviews like this that are responsible for any good sci-fi or fantasy series getting cut within the first two series.

 

Nerdy or not, with the right marketing you can make some serious money out of this near a campus. Half the guys I know from other engineering majors in my university found a way to get to someone's house with HBO to watch this while eating pizza.

But don't mind me, I'm just annoyed I never get to see shit like this.

Edit: It seems people with HBOgo got to see the second episode a week earlier. Curse them.

 

Not gonna lie, first episode of new season was somewhat dull.

Spoiler

Having characters repeating 'For the night is dark and full of terrors,' (which is a great line I admit) got boring pretty quickly.

Over-plugging lines, while often effective in literature to build dramatic tension, doesn't translate well to television/movies. Hopefully the writers were just having a temporary slump.

It wasn't all bad though.

Spoiler

I thoroughly enjoyed the new incident of Joffrey-slapping. GoT is incomplete without it.

 

It is available elsewhere on the Internet, you know.

On that note, what did all y'all think of the second episode?

I thought there was some decent progression, but nothing really interesting or spoiler-worthy to report about.

 

It was a good episode, though they changed some things from the books that felt slightly unnecessary to me. I'd elaborate, but I can't be fucked to do so right now. Go watch the episode and see for yourself.

 

I liked it a lot, but the amount changed from the books is a bit disconcerting.

Also: GOLD OR IRON? I will not have my son dress like a whore!

 

Renewed for a third season

 

Unsurprising they got renewed. I'll be watching, so long as there's more of this:

 

Hmm. Methinks dropoff around mid third, interest waning somewhat, at which point they either try to amalgamate two books into one season (won't happen with Martin still actively involved, if he is by then) or cancel it at the end of the fourth, in which case the former will probably happen anyway.

Avoiding a full rant, for me the story fell apart during the fourth book. Don't plan on buying the next one to be released. I know a lot of people love them, but I don't predict them making very exciting television. Nor do I believe it will hold people in the long run without cheapening it, which will again serve to hurt ratings further down the line.

Then again, I don't produce television, maybe I'm totally wrong. If I were in the network's shoes, though, I'd be worried about the longevity of it. To be honest, with the wealth of characters and interactions drawing people to the books, I'm surprised more aren't abandoning them for the lack of their development. Kill-offs should never be a viable alternative for characters you get tired of writing.

 

I'm pretty sure that they've stated that the last two books are planned to be merged all along. They are basically one anyway, despite what the time difference. And I bet a ton of it will be cut out so I can see them doing it. As for Martin complaining, he's been with it so far and if he doesn't want to well, tough.

IDK what you mean by them not being able to hold people in the long run without cheapening the show, they seem to be doing pretty well. They've actually gained viewers, probably due to good word of mouth.

As for a season three drop off, they're already taking steps to avoid that. Certain characters, like Cersei are being shored up (they really need to do the same for Dany or I fear you would be right, she's considered to be a more important characters than most simply because of her... children), and made more sympathetic. If one or two other main characters were to disappear someone would still be there.

I can see them going strong at least to the end of the major conflicts in the series, which is at worst at the end of the third season, if they don't split it up.

My biggest worry is the execs stepping in and trying to change things. But they had to have known what they were buying so hopefully they leave things as is.

 

They said at ComicCon that they're tying to continue it until Red Wedding, which would make sense for a book a season.

 

They are definitely splitting Storm of Swords into two seasons, and I'm sure it will remain that way for the subsequent books, with Feast and Dance being combined. That gives us season 5 as the start of Feast/Dance, and season 7 (god, I hope they get that far) as the start of Winds.

 

Edit: 5am, on a nasty comedown. Excuse the ramble.

@Scrib:

Things are already changing, to be honest. We've had - what, three or four scenes by now that bridge larger courses of events? I mean the dialogue bits between a couple of characters that are a sort of summary of their relationship for the viewer. Robert and Cersei in Season 1 specifically jumps to mind but we've had one or two in the first few episodes of 2 - perhaps most notably the Robb and Theon exchange, a relationship they couldn't show dramatically despite the eons of screentime they've devoted to attempting to make Theon a sex symbol. That said, that little Royal-couple scene in the first season was, I thought, excellent in and of itself, but as part of the greater whole?

A spoon-fed audience has a half-life. Giving viewers a chance to properly discern the dynamics of the characters, you build yourself a core audience - whether they're disappointed at the end of it all (a la Lost, The West Wing, even Star Trek) is irrelevant, because they're still there. That's where a show has longevity. On this path, you end up with a drama everyone seems to watch, though nobody bothers buying the box sets - every facet of story has already been spelled out for them. On a shorter show or miniseries you can get away with it, but on a show of this length, the only way you'll maintain that audience - and those DVD sales - is to turn those fans into a fanbase... by cancelling it (Firefly, Deadwood,. etc).

The show is essentially becoming a series of moments, more and more of which won't be in the books because they're glossing over those occasional excellent interactions by using tell in place of show.

Edit: Also, if by some miracle people really start to get into some of the other characters as much as they're into Tyrion, I'm not sure Martin's 'kill-'em-all' policy will be taken quite as jovially by a TV audience considerably more flighty than a literary one. He seems to enjoy making his most worthy characters completely worthless.

 

The majority of characters that die from this point on are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, so I doubt the outcry against character death will be as big as you're predicting.

(Putting this in spoiler tags just in case anyone out there hasn't read the books.)

Spoiler

Honestly, of the remaining major deaths (Robb, Renly, Catelyn, and Joffrey - I think that's all of them), I think the only one that will be majorly complained about is Robb. Renly is probably dead in the next episode or two, based on what we've seen so far, and he hasn't been developed very much. Joffrey is pretty universally hated, so I doubt anyone will cry when he dies (I know most people who've read the books are looking forward to it). Catelyn hasn't been built up all that much, and she only sorta-kinda dies anyways.

As for the recent episode:

Spoiler

I can see why they made Bronn Captain of the City Watch (fewer new characters), but it really doesn't fit for him. Also not liking Asha's name change, but we knew about that one ahead of time. Not sure about where they're going with the final scene - none of that is in the book from what I remember (Gilly just tells them what Craster does with the boys).

I liked the whole Pyke scene though - they did a pretty good job of staying true to the book there. The only thing missing was Damphair, but I guess he wasn't deemed important enough the make the cut.

 

EDIT:nvm I'm an idiot.

Theon is a huge woobie, that is something the show has done better than the books imo.He's extremely pathetic. Hell, some of that even rubs off on Asha and Balon (slightly, like, you need a microscope to see it).