From what I remember (its been a while since I read the books): Spoiler I don't think any battles are shown in the books until like midway through the second book. It is all character reactions to the battles, including the capture of Jamie (which, if I remember correctly, even that was revealed in conversation away from the action- not even in real time) But I think that you can sorta get used to the absence of large scale action with more of a focus on the smaller skirmishes for your action fix, as the budget and logistics for pulling off such scenes might be beyond the scope/budget of the filmmakers. I'm just guessing and going off a feeling I have from watching (and it personally doesn't bother me- I'm more intrigued by the story than the action), so don't quote me. Like I said, its been a while since I've read these, so I may be wrong. Yeah... THAT was a good post... Everything I just wrote may be dead wrong (did I mention that yet?), but lets go with it anyway. That being said, I couldn't be more pleased with the show. The adaption couldn't realistically be any closer to the source, the actors are all perfect (I can't tell you how happy I am that they went with smaller actors instead of headliners, as I'm personally taken completely out of the story when I see an Angelina Jolie or similar person in rolls like this) and do a tremendous job, and the story is just as captivating and fucked-up as I remember. EDIT: I don't think anyone answered this for you, so allow me: Spoiler After the wolf attacked Joffrey, Arya chased her off by throwing rocks at her until she ran away to the forest, leaving the caravan and Arya behind for good. She did this to save the wolf's life, as she thought they would kill the wolf if it followed her back to camp. As you saw, they killed Sansa's wolf in her place, so she wasn't that far off the mark. As of the fourth book, I don't think Nymeria has made a comeback in the story, but I'm betting it'll happen sooner rather than later.
If you're pissed at Joffrey today this should lift your spirits. It's ten minutes of Tyrion slapping the piss out of Joffrey set to Led Zeppelin's Achilles' Last Stand. It's very cathartic.
The following is a spoiler for TV viewers and possibly people who haven't read the whole series (though I don't entirely recall when we learn what). Spoiler In the books Nymeria gathers up tons of wolves of Westeros into a huge super pack that roams the kingdom scaring the shit out of people who see or hear them. Arya occasionally has dreams of being Nymeria which indicates that Arya could also be a skinchanger like Jon and Bran and presumably the rest of the Stark children.
Nice to see Jorah isn't afraid to fuck shit up, AND he's the commander of Castle Black's son? AND Creepy Blind Oldie was the former rightful heir to the throne? The plots are mud-thick on this show. Just out of curiosity to the readers, what ARE the actual "Seven Kingdoms"? From watching the show, I gathered: 1) King's Landing 2) The Erie 3) Winterfell 4) Castle Black/The Wall 5) The Riverlands 6) The bridge Kingdom run by Gary Glitter-esque old pervert that I hope dies horribly by fire 7) ? Chop Joeffrey up into tiny pieces and throw them into a meat grinder. I want to kill the actor that plays him I hate him so much. If they kill Drogo off, then I'll like this show somewhat less. I'm doubting that they will, but this story and its characters are insanely unpredictable. What a debut season. I like it as much as Spartacus, only this show instead chooses substance over style. And it also had this:
The Seven Kingdoms are actually: 1. Winterfell 2. Vale 3. Stormlands (between King's Landing and Dorne) 4. The Reach (governed directly by the Tyrell line) 5. Westerlands (Lannister seat) 6. Iron Islands (ruled by the Greyjoy line) 7. Dorne itself
Hahah shit is glorious. Now the real story can begin. It's clear that the Starks are the characters the audience is meant to relate with. Having read the first book midway through the season, you'll notice all the main characters are mostly passive, clueless, and powerless. The big players are antagonistic, powerful, mysterious and unpredictable - and they are not "us". We as an audience (or readers) are meant to be faced with these figures of power who play their own games, on their own terms ; this is how we enter this world, with our nice family-man expectations, and we get blown off in this world of instability like we'd receive a grenade in the face. Well, I say "we", but I mostly mean those who never really wondered about the dynamics of raw power. At first I found that the fact that we were forced into such passive characters' POVs was condescending of the author, but the fact that he's killing them off is paying off for me. We'll get somewhere at some point, I hope. Joffrey is a pretty cool guy. Might makes right. You have to realise here, if he succeeds, then history would remember him as entirely in his right to do what he does. I doubt he will suceed, but I'm hoping he will. If they want to make this character sympathetic, they have to give him smarts. He's already got plenty of balls, so I'm waiting to see the rest. It probably won't come, as I assume he's mostly a scapegoat for the audience to hate, but I'm thinking George won't have him killed off any time soon. That would be for the best.
Here is a helpful map of Westeros (The continent all but Dany are on). The accuracy of some of the cities can be debated, I think Dorne might be a bit too big, and naturally the Crownlands aren't under the dominion of the dragons. Overall though, for those who like to get a feel where things are happening I would recommend it. <a class="postlink" href="http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/5414/westeros1yj8.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/5414 ... os1yj8.gif</a> And for those who are really big picture people, a map of the whole world. Spoiler Minor spoilers, like what Dany is doing in the books, but better safe than sorry. <a class="postlink" href="http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110427121751/cronacheghiacciofuoco/it/images/6/6f/Essos.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... /Essos.jpg</a> Hope you don't mind links. These maps would kill the screen.
For those that didn't know, the fifth book of this series called A Dance of Dragons will be released July 12th 2011.
And just for anyone who is confused by the Riverlands not being on the list, they were ruled by the Iron Islands at the time the Seven Kingdoms got made into one if I recall correctly. So yes, just to mess with you even more, the Seven Kingdoms have Eight major sections. Though the Iron Islands aren't as big/rich as the rest by my reading.
Yeah, think I'll stay away from this thread, can't trust myself around those 'book spoilers'. Already read more than I should have. Agree with Crown Royal, the part where Drogo kills the fuck out of that guy and rips out his tongue was the coolest yet. I was literally stunned after that one.
For those of us that haven't read the book, what kingdoms are currently not mentioned in the show? I'm just trying to get a handle on who runs what. So far I get: 1. Starks run Winterfell 2. Lannisters run Kings Landing (and technically, everywhere) and Westerlands 3. Woman thats Neds Wife's Sister is in Vale
Yay, a chance to be nerdy and pedantic (and hopefully helpful) Technically the Starks are wardens of the North. Their seat is known as Winterfell, but they have lordship over all the lands of the North and responsibility for protecting the 7 Kingdoms from threats beyond the wall should the Nightwatch fail in their task. Actually the Baratheon's run King's Landing as Joffrey is still viewed as Robert's son. The Lannister's hold all of the control with Cersei as Queen Mother and Tywin as Hand of the King. They are the Wardens of the West and considering how much money the throne owes them they principal power in Westeros currently. Lysa Arryn sits as regent until her son comes of age. Other areas of note: Catlyn's and Lysa's father is Lord Tully and head of the riverlands. The Martell's are the lords of Dorne The Tyrell's, the family of Ser Loras aka Renly's "friend", are the lords of The Reach. Theon's father Balon Greyjoy is still Lord of the Iron Isles. I mentioned all of those, because they will become important in season 2 and 3.
Even in the books, there is very little knowledge regarding the White Walkers, so there's no mention of how they think. The book doesn't explain how the guy got away - that entire scene is written from the POV of the second man who dies, and the next chapter is Bran's POV of the execution of the survivor.
Heh, you opened the pedantic door... Warning, while I have mostly tried to keep it from having actual spoilers, the stuff in the spoiler tag is very very pedantic and nerdy and unless you want to dive into the minutiae of titles and power in the Seven Kingdoms, you probably don't want to read it. Spoiler So "The North" is actually used in two ways. Because the Starks are the Lords of Winterfell they rule "The North". Think of that as a bottom up kind of authority in that the Starks ruled there before the Seven Kingdoms were unified. However, the "Warden" position is a top down grant of authority from the Crown, designating Lord Stark as commanding the armies of that region in a time of war that would involve the entire Seven Kingdoms polity. Why does this matter? Well, it means that the Crown can theoretically appoint someone other than Lord stark to be Warden of the North and thus command all the Northern armies in the name of the King instead of the Starks if a really big crisis threatens. And by theoretically I mean "Good luck to a King who does that", but that's the concept behind Wardens. They are Theater Commanders in Chief, basically. The best example is the West. Lord Tywin Lannister is the Lord of Casterly Rock which is the capital, basically, of the Westerlands which are the holdings of House Lannister and their bannermen. However, he is also Warden of the West so if the Seven Kingdoms were invaded by an enemy from the West, Lord Tywin would command the armies in that region, regardless of who they normally were sworn to. For example, armies from the Riverlands which are neighbors of the Westerlands, would have to obey Lord Tywin during this time of war, something they would otherwise *never* want to do. There is also a Warden of the East (It was Lord Jon Arryn before he died at the beginning of the series) and a Warden of the South (I can't remember if it's Mace Tyrell or Prince Dorne, either way the Dornish and the Tyrells hate each other so it's even more nominal). At the time of the series, being Warden is fairly meaningless in terms of actually getting people to obey you, but is still considered a high honor and is a grant of Royal Authority that people are willing to get very pissed over if the wrong person is named. For the most part, though, it has become largely hereditary. The Starks are always Wardens of the North, Arryns in the East, Lannisters in the West, and whoever it is in the South. But being Lord of Winterfell and *ruling* the North does not come from being Warden, it's independent of it.
It wouldn't be the first time HBO and the like has hired Porn Stars to take roles tha require nude scenes. Entourage has done it several times, ditto for Californication.
No actual spoilers in this, by the way, for either people who have or haven't read the books. Just a fair and accurate description of meta-politics in the seven kingdoms (Chater, I promise, there's no spoilers in there...). And I know this map has been linked before, but it helps a lot, visualizing who's where... (spoilered for size only) Also kinda awesome in the fact that in the middle of each region it shows the sigil of the ruling house. Spoiler And yes, it shows 8 regions. I think someone explained why before, but it seems that Westeros has kept the name of "Seven Kingdoms" out of stubbornness (unless someone else remembers why).
A little balm for the pain. Spoiler Eddard Stark Is doing just fine. (non TV or book spoilers, Chater has just put the fear of admin in me) Spoiler Sean Bean, Aka Ned, he's good. I wish he was my dad.
Joffrey is literally the worst character in the story. He's a worthless little shit with no grasp of tactics or strategy and is a raging asshole to boot. If you idolize might makes right you need to look at characters who actually know something about acquiring and handling power like Drogo, Tywin and others.