Whoops, I thought that since the season ended that spoilers about the show were now okay. Anyway, this: Just in case: Spoiler The thing that still confuses me about Ned Stark getting the axe (sword?) is that until now, its done nothing to put story in motion. Robb was already on his way to take down Joffrey, the Night's Watch was going out beyond the wall no matter who was beheaded, and it didn't affect the Lannister's much at all either. I was hoping that Sansa would actually push Joffrey off the bridge, but that was stopped too. The only person whose life was changed was Arya. I'm hoping something actually comes of this in the next book/season. Now I'm not sure if I want to read the books now, or just wait. Would kill all suspense of the show, but they must be good reads.
Spoiler It sets up a lot of stuff for the next book/season as well as spurs the North to declare Robb King. Before that, the North was fighting to free Ned more than anything. For example, if timing had worked out, they might have traded Jaime for Ned and then fought for Stannis as rightful King. And, importantly, still bent the knee to the Iron Throne. Now they're fighting for independence. And, as always, if anyone has questions about either non-spoiler or spoiler material, I'm happy to answer. I'm not quite as much of a superfan as the guy Martin actually hired to consult with, but I know a fair amount or where to find it.
If anyone wants the series of books in an ePub format, PM me and let me know, and I can give you a link.
Next season\book spoilers: Spoiler The failure to stop Robb is important though, because it is one more side that Joffrey has to defend against beyond Renly and Stannis. In fact I believe Stannis would have probably backed down in the face of a living Ned garbed in black saying it was all a plot.
My $0.02 Spoiler I think it did have quite a bit impact on the story, for two reasons: it solidified that the Lannisters and the Starks could never get back to civil means, but more importantly it now officially created the separation of the North from the rest of the kingdom. As Tywin said, he wouldn't have minded a truce, but the minute the little d-bag Joffrey had Ned executed, there was absolutely no possibility of it happening. I think if that wouldn't have happened, and the Lannisters offered up a truce in the form of Ned and some retribution, things could have been much different.
I was rewatching episode 2 and can't quite make up my mind about something: Was Cersei lying, being honest, or somewhere in between when she talks to Catelyn about her first son that died? We see later she has no interest in bearing Robert a son and works quite hard to keep that from happening. It seems like she could have easily just smothered the kid or something, infants die all the time in their cribs. I guess you could say the fever came from being poisoned, but why go to that trouble? You've gotta get your hands on poison somehow, do the actual poisoning, etc, etc. It would be much easier to just smother the kid or not let Robert finish inside you. Cersei seemed pretty torn up about it and it seemed like it was genuine emotion and loss, not just for Catelyn's benefit. Plus I can't figure out what the benefit of that story would be if it weren't true. Just come pay your respects and be done with it. Everyone at Winterfell knows you're a bitch and you hate it there. They probably wouldn't be fooled by false sympathy or whatever. As we saw through the rest of the season/ books (if you've read them) Cersei is awful at scheming and not that smart, though she's also completely unaware of this. The scene in question, if true, adds some depth to her character and makes her a little more sympathetic, though not much. If it's fake, what does it do then?
What? Really? Spoiler This is the harpy who managed to hide her incest and the resulting children from an entire kingdom (save those supporting her) and its (albeit drunken) king. The same woman who managed to pull off the murder of her husband, the damn King of the Seven Kingdoms, and the downfall / imprisonment of the Hand of the King, a Lord of Winterfell. She might not be the world's greatest manipulator, but she's damn good at scheming. About the scene, that scene wasn't in the book. I imagined it was added for the effect seen in this thread: to get people wondering whether it was true or not.
Spoilers all the way through book four. Spoiler Cersei is a deluded dumbass. She manages to hide her incest from like one person: Robert the Drunken King. Just about everyone else of relevance and proximity knows or suspects her incest. She fails to keep Ned alive like she wants, she loses control of her son, she loses control of her daughter, she loses control of her various pawns when Tyrion comes to the city, she's used and manipulated by her retainers like Qyburn, she alienates potential allies in petty pride games, is dumb enough to rearm the church, and finally ends up losing her freedom after being manipulated into admitting that the Church should be the ones to judge Queens. Cersei is an abject failure who is so desperate to be taken seriously that she is blinded to her numerous faults.
I'm an idiot. I forgot there was another book in the series I haven't read yet. Yeah...sorry about that.
No worries man. That's what is so great about this series- watching people get their long deserved comeuppance. The longer it takes, the more enjoyable it is. Silway forgot the best part though: Spoiler Jamie abandoning her. She sends him a letter pleading for him to come be her champion in the trial by combat and he burns it. Probably didn't help that he found out she was fucking not only Lancel but one or both Kettlebacks (Kingsguard she appoints). He realizes she's awful and stupid and doesn't really love him. Despite all his faults, he has been faithful to her always. She also manages to lock herself out of the credit market by refusing to honor the crown's debts to both the church and the banks across the Narrow Sea. Man, I forgot just how much she manages to fuck herself once there's no one around to keep her stupidity in check. Cersei's biggest problem is her crippling insecurity. She resents the shit she is forced to put up with as a woman in those times and thinks if she were born a man she'd be the best thing ever. She tries to overcompensate by being extra harsh/cruel/tough because she thinks that's what makes people respected and powerful, but she's never taken the time to learn how to rule or learn how to take advice from people. We see this repeated big time in Joffrey. What's that article that always got linked to on the old board? Unskilled and unaware? Cersei is the poster child for that shit.
Wow, such a fantastic show. I definitely got goosebumps during that final scene. I'm reading book one right now, and I find myself in a bit of a pickle. When I finish book one, should I jump straight into book two and keep reading? I've always loved to read of course, and I'm really very surprised that I had never heard of this series before the show started, and I'm pumped to read these books. On the other hand, the show was amazing, and not having read the books made all of the big plot points so much more impactful. Not sure what to do here.
Obviously it's totally a personal preference thing. I can imagine being in the position of someone who hasn't read the books before and I think I'd just go ahead and read them rather than waiting a year for book 2, another year for book 3, and so on. Season 2 is in spring 2012, that seems like a long time to me. As someone who has read them, I haven't found my enjoyment of the show to be diminished. But if you're the sort of person who got pissed that Tom Bombadil was left out of Lord of the Rings then wait, because here's no such thing as 100% adherence.
Unsurprisingly, I already have it. It was preordered for my Kindle so it was there when I woke up. Today is a long work day though so not making much progress yet.
No. The 2 books in 11 years has made me to decide to wait until (if?) the series finishes to get the rest of the books. As it stands now I cannot remember what happened, anyways. As much as I hear this book is a return to form, I'd rather wait and re-read the whole series when done.
Fuck that shit. I'm reading the hell out of it right now. I thought about waiting, but what's the point? Whenever the next book comes out, I can re-read the whole series and pick up on a bunch of other shit that I will have forgotten about by then, and then by the time it's finished I will be so learned in the series that I will have absolutely no value to society outside of my basement. I'm so excited.
Yep, I read Clash of Kings the first time 6 years ago. I am catching a lot of things on my current re-read that are much more significant in the context of the next 2 books (and I am sure A Dance with Dragons.)
Along with "Game of Thrones" getting nominated for Best Drama today, Dinklage was, in fact, nominated today for Best Supporting Actor (Drama). He was the only actor from the show to get an individual nod. That's a pretty good sign, since a lot of nominees fall benefit from a "pick one, pick all" mentality. (See: "Modern Family") My money says the Little Lion is taking home the golden man.