You don't need to read them to watch the show. As far as the books are concerned, the show is FUBAR.

 

What I'm picking up from this is that you have a hot sister and some frustration issues. Shall we take this somewhere more appropriate?

The PYP thread, perhaps?

 

So anyways, I have yet to read Dance, and haven't watched the show. Which should I do first?

 

Sorry. Your assessment is off. 2 brothers 2 sisters. All as fugly as me.

 

I'd say give books a try, but don't sweat it. The show is plenty good on its own. I read the first book and tried the second, but at that point I was forcing myself which, I think, is so not the point. The writing style just doesn't work for me. A bit too much on the Tolkien-y side, with the grandflowering prose in some places. I guess I'm a product of HP and the new wave of YA in general.

 

So yeah. Mance is dead for real. There is a behind the scenes featurette on comcast on demand that has Benioff and Weiss talking about Ciaran Hinds leaving the show.

Spoiler

Also probably suggests that Selmy is still alive.

 

Just to make it clear to you, just in case you hadn't realised: the "spoilers" in the thread title refers to book spoilers, not show spoilers. There's another thread for people who haven't read the books.

Though to be honest, it's getting kinda redundant now the show is overtaking the books in several storylines.

 

Disclaimer: I've only read the first book and don't remember much of it, so this speculation is show-based.

It seems to me like Dany's best opportunity to retake Westeros has come and gone.

Yunkai masters offered her ships to sail to Westeros. After she took the city, she had 8000 well-trained infantry, 2000 cavalry and I'm assuming the ships were there for the taking. She also had two veteran Westerosi to advise her what was needed to wage war on the colder western continent. At that point Robb's forces were crippled, Stannis had just a few thousand men left (4000, going by the Iron Bank scene in season 4) and Lannisters and Tyrells were scattered trying to keep the country under wraps. The only obstacle left would be Dorne.

Unsullied are a professionally trained army that impressed even Oberyn Martell. Westeros operates on a feudal system of private armies. Look like with careful planning, Dany could've given the Seven Kingdoms a good shake. Now, the goal of conquering Westeros becomes more and more far-fetched with each passing day. Dany has a strong presence in the Slaver's Bay. Why not found a kingdom of her own? She could have three major cities from the start.

 

The Iron Throne still had a good 100k fresh men under arms IIRC.

 

She also would have had Dorne and maybe the Golden Company if they realized what was happening. Not sure if that would be all that big. But if she waits for Dragons to grow and tames one, I don't see what's stopping her from threatening Kings Landing and getting Tommen to surrender. He wouldn't put KL under fire. Hell, in CK2 he surrenders to Stannis half the time.

Which brings me to my next point. I am now rooting for Tommen to escape Cersei influence and prove himself the kind and just king for many years to come. If the Lannister have usurped the throne in the process, well what's the eternal peace of Tommen to the rightful ruler.

 

Agreed that Tommen seems like a good kid. That's why I don't get why Dany keeps up this charade, introducing herself as the rightful queen of Westeros. She seems comfortable enough where she is right now. However, I don't think she's going to succeed with her current holier-than-thou attitude. She could use the same talk Tywin gave Tommen: listen to what other people have to say about matters you don't know much about.

Not that she's not doing it, and she's still very young (about 17?), but she does sometimes stomp her foot where I would have said "but wait a minute".

edit: And dragons are a crutch. Certainly useful, but if she threatens "give me the crown or I burn the city", I imagine some people might take issue with that. The last Targaryen on the Iron Throne was a cackling madman.

 

I think its pretty clear at this point that Dany isn't going to return to Westeros with a massive army. She'll leave her forces behind to maintain what's left of her crumbling rule. She'll likely fly back on Drogon, with maybe a few chosen comrades riding Viserion and Rhaegal, and inevitably be dragged into the Northern War against the Others. She'll gain the love / respect of Jon Snow, yada yada yada, and stuff will happen.

 

This is also why I don't understand what the hell Varys is doing. He said that he wants Daenerys to be Queen for the good of the realm and to promote stability.
How would she help? She would just prolong the civil war further, probably drawing the rest of the kingdoms like Dorne into it. Just tens or hundreds of thousands of additional deaths. Drawing down the supplies that have been amassed for the coming winter further.
Also, she can't have any children! That's one of the worst things that can happen in a hereditary monarchy. No clear succession means another civil war once she dies.

What is so bad about teaching Tommen to be a good king and advising him?

 

That's because Varys doesn't care as much about the good of the realm as he claims. He wants a particular person on the throne, everything else is him screwing other people's plans while he waits for his plan to be ready.

 

Apparently the actor playing Barristan confirmed that he's gone from the show. While he was quite underutilized, his absence will be noticeable.

I'm quite disappointed in the Sand Snakes, but mostly because their introduction scene was badly done in my opinion. Maybe they will do better in the future episodes.

Jonathan Pryce as High Sparrow is good. I especially like how they make him to be a quite levelheaded guy in a contrast to his fanatic followers.

Kit Harington keeps improving while getting better and better material to play. Which is good because for a long time I considered him to be the weakest of the main characters and now he slowly becomes one of my favorites.

 

Damn. That sucks. At least he went out in a suitably awesome fashion. Should he have been slightly more badass and killed like 50 guys singlehandedly instead of ten? Maybe. But I suppose that would have detracted from the realism.

 

Seeing a piece of Valyria up close was all kinds of awesome.

 

Am I the only one feeling underwhelmed by this season so far? Halfway through and barely anything has happened, really.

Jon became Lord Commander, fanatics arrested some gay people and Bronn and Jamie killed a few dudes. I feel like the show is struggling to stand straight under the weight of all the characters.

Daenerys is sitting on her ass, Stannis is sitting on his ass, Jon is sitting on his ass and Tyrion is barely present. Hopefully something will start happening soon. Spending half of the season on wind-up doesn't seem like the best idea if you ask me. Subtle political scheming reads well, but on the screen, it's not as exciting.

Winter should get its shit together and come already.

 

Well, that sort of plays true to the books. Book 4 has barely anything interesting happening at all, and book 5, slightly more, but still pretty much nothing.

 

Yeah. They're actually doing a good bit to mix it up and make things a little tighter than the source material. Like... the fact that Sansa has replaced Jeyne Poole has made something relatively interesting out of an extraneous and bland plotline.