[TV] Game of Thrones - Season 3 is here.

[pr0ner]

she could have pulled away. gross!

She was testing him in order to see what kind of a man he grew to be. He failed.

testing is fine. enjoying the test is a whole other basked of eggs.

I think you're missing the point of the test.

[hepcat]

I wonder if George R. R. Martin has any sisters...and if they've been tested too. 

[CeeKay]

HBO RENEWS GAME OF THRONES FOR THIRD SEASON

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First Episode Of The Second Season Has Already Grossed 8.3 Million Viewers

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LOS ANGELES, April 10, 2012 – HBO has renewed GAME OF THRONES for a third season, it was announced today by Michael Lombardo, president, HBO Programming.

“Series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss raised our expectations for the second season – and then surpassed them,” said Lombardo. “We are thrilled by all the viewer and media support we’ve received for the series, and can’t wait to see what Dan and David have in store for next season.”

Based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, GAME OF THRONES is an epic drama set in the world of Westeros, where ambitious men and women of both honor and ill-repute live in a land whose summers and winters can last years. The Emmy®- and Golden Globe-winning fantasy series began its ten-episode second season Sunday, April 1 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), with other episodes debuting subsequent Sundays at the same time.

Among the early critical praise for the second season, Newsday called GAME OF THRONES “the best show on television,” while the Los Angeles Times termed the series “a cinematic feast” and “masterful.” The Wall Street Journal hailed the show as “magnificent” and USA Today called it “near perfection.”

According to early data, GAME OF THRONES’ season two premiere has already accumulated a gross audience of 8.3 million viewers, and is on track to easily surpass the season one average of 9.3 million viewers.

Season two cast members include: Emmy® and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage, Michelle Fairley, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Aidan Gillen, Iain Glen, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Maisie Williams, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Sophie Turner, Jack Gleeson and Alfie Allen.

Season two credits: The executive producers of GAME OF THRONES are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger; co-executive producers, George R.R. Martin, Vanessa Taylor, Alan Taylor, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis; produced by Bernadette Caulfield.

[leo8877]

Nice!

[TheEgoWhip]

So Dinklage is signed for 6 seasons. That's encouraging.

[TiLT]

So Dinklage is signed for 6 seasons. That's encouraging.

Everyone (except people like Sean Bean obviously) are signed up for 6 seasons. It's a standard contract and means little. Many of those actors will (if the series lasts that long) be involved for more seasons than just those 6. In most interviews where people are asked about this number, the actor doesn't even remember the exact amount of seasons they have signed up for as it's not that important.

[notrich]

i honestly don't mind some of the changes they are making to the story (having fights instead of jousts, having a camp instead of a small keep for the nightwatch showdown, being caught immediately instead of having a side adventure before getting caught).

but I sooooooo wish that they had the scene where damphair was drowning converts for the god of the ironmen...

and the beauty should have been uglier.

definitely enjoying the season though... still worried about seeing a 20 yo arya at some point (but i guess they have stated that they are going to film the next two seasons back to back so maybe they might push the arya scenes early in the schedule)

the tyrion and cersi stuff has been fantastic... and that little shit king has continued to be awesome...

[leo8877]

i honestly don't mind some of the changes they are making to the story (having fights instead of jousts, having a camp instead of a small keep for the nightwatch showdown, being caught immediately instead of having a side adventure before getting caught).

but I sooooooo wish that they had the scene where damphair was drowning converts for the god of the ironmen...

and the beauty should have been uglier.

definitely enjoying the season though... still worried about seeing a 20 yo arya at some point (but i guess they have stated that they are going to film the next two seasons back to back so maybe they might push the arya scenes early in the schedule)

the tyrion and cersi stuff has been fantastic... and that little shit king has continued to be awesome...

I don't recall Renly's queen knowing about her brothers relationship with Renly. Was that in the book and I just spaced?

[Scraper]

i honestly don't mind some of the changes they are making to the story (having fights instead of jousts, having a camp instead of a small keep for the nightwatch showdown, being caught immediately instead of having a side adventure before getting caught).

but I sooooooo wish that they had the scene where damphair was drowning converts for the god of the ironmen...

and the beauty should have been uglier.

definitely enjoying the season though... still worried about seeing a 20 yo arya at some point (but i guess they have stated that they are going to film the next two seasons back to back so maybe they might push the arya scenes early in the schedule)

the tyrion and cersi stuff has been fantastic... and that little shit king has continued to be awesome...

I don't recall Renly's queen knowing about her brothers relationship with Renly. Was that in the book and I just spaced?

HBO is really taking liberty with this topic. It was never suggested in the books that she knew anything about it. Heck there isn't even a scene with her and Renly alone in the books. In fact I doubt she has more than 3 lines of dialogue in the books.

[notrich]

I don't recall Renly's queen knowing about her brothers relationship with Renly. Was that in the book and I just spaced?

the whole changes regarding the story of renly are a shame... it was pretty cool in the book when you started noticing what was happening and put the pieces together (its not like they are making him gay completely out of thin air... some of the clues are sledgehammers).

it would have been cooler for them to plant the seeds in the first season and have the shocking revelation happen during (or just before) the BIG scene coming up (if they felt the need to confirm it or make it explicit).

But I can't fault them for making it more upfront - its on the checklist of film/tv making now... next up incest will be in every show... lol .

alluding to a book spoiler

Spoiler for Hiden:

Also, it kind of makes sense for them to expand renlys story a bit considering the limited amount of time they have to tell his story

[rittchard]

I am totally in love with Renly so I'm not complaining about the changes/additions.  I wasn't really much into beards before (no pun intended), but he just makes it work.  So adorable!

What does bother me is I just read the episodes are shorter this season.  I thought I was imagining it but it seems like there are so many characters barely getting any screen time.  Daenerys and Robb weren't even in the episode and Bran, Jon and Arya basically just got one scene/sequence each.  Hard to see how they'll cover the events of the entire book this season.

One quick question, did Brienne show up this early?  I thought she came later but I guess this makes sense.  I was wondering how they'd cast her; all I can say is I think they did a great job.

[leo8877]

I am totally in love with Renly so I'm not complaining about the changes/additions.  I wasn't really much into beards before (no pun intended), but he just makes it work.  So adorable!

What does bother me is I just read the episodes are shorter this season.  I thought I was imagining it but it seems like there are so many characters barely getting any screen time.  Daenerys and Robb weren't even in the episode and Bran, Jon and Arya basically just got one scene/sequence each.  Hard to see how they'll cover the events of the entire book this season.

One quick question, did Brienne show up this early?  I thought she came later but I guess this makes sense.  I was wondering how they'd cast her; all I can say is I think they did a great job.

I think there's just so much going on that it goes by quick.

Brienne came around at the right time I thought.

[Scraper]

I am totally in love with Renly so I'm not complaining about the changes/additions.  I wasn't really much into beards before (no pun intended), but he just makes it work.  So adorable!

What does bother me is I just read the episodes are shorter this season.  I thought I was imagining it but it seems like there are so many characters barely getting any screen time.  Daenerys and Robb weren't even in the episode and Bran, Jon and Arya basically just got one scene/sequence each.  Hard to see how they'll cover the events of the entire book this season.

One quick question, did Brienne show up this early?  I thought she came later but I guess this makes sense.  I was wondering how they'd cast her; all I can say is I think they did a great job.

I think there's just so much going on that it goes by quick.

Brienne came around at the right time I thought.

Brienne's scene was spot on per the book. They change the fight to take them off of horseback, but that probably had more to do with a budget and safety concerns than anything.

Spoiler for Hiden:

In the book they are fighting on horseback and are evenly matched, so Brienne jumps into Loras to knock him off his horse. So they slightly changed it by removing the horses, no biggie.

[metallicorphan]

I have just downloaded all of season 1 to my SKY HDD and the first few episodes of season 2...so will watch these soon(never seen an episode yet)

[Zarkon]

The one thing that's confusing me is the changes to Shae, although it makes sense if

Spoiler for Hiden:

you want to make it more obvious as far as why Shae betrays Tyrion in the end

[Blackjack]

I received the Season 1 DVD set as a birthday gift. Hopefully I'll catch up at some point. 

[Scraper]

The one thing that's confusing me is the changes to Shae, although it makes sense if

Spoiler for Hiden:

you want to make it more obvious as far as why Shae betrays Tyrion in the end

Spoiler for Hiden:

It still sucks, because the loyal character who still betrays is always more interesting.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

The one thing that's confusing me is the changes to Shae, although it makes sense if

Spoiler for Hiden:

you want to make it more obvious as far as why Shae betrays Tyrion in the end

Might want to indicate that this is a spoiler for future books, especially since it's a pretty big spoiler.

[notrich]

What does bother me is I just read the episodes are shorter this season.  I thought I was imagining it but it seems like there are so many characters barely getting any screen time.  Daenerys and Robb weren't even in the episode and Bran, Jon and Arya basically just got one scene/sequence each.  Hard to see how they'll cover the events of the entire book this season.

I think that part of the problem with so many characters is that some parts of the story will be glossed over until there is a reduction in the amount of cast members.  And it is kind of annoying that they spent so much time on characters that did NOT have significant pages in the books... it wouldn't seem so glossed over if they had a few more episodes this season to flesh things out (or reduce the number of characters to focus on). 

Also... daenerys' story potentially involves a cameo by the dragons which is probably adding significantly to the budget (but it would seem by now that those kind of effects should be getting cheaper).  So it kind of makes sense... and skipping an episode kind of pushes her story toward the end of the season... I expect they will be skipping some of the desert stories... which might allow the stories to be similarly paced near the end of the season (hitting climaxes around the same time).


and are those digitally enhanced wolves i am seeing?  


The wolf dreams are nice to see... hopefully the frogs make an appearance soon or are they skipping those characters?

I am still bummed that there were no Ned dreams for season 1 (even if they were 5-10 seconds a piece)... and since they skipped that entire thread of the book then I suppose it is possible that the frogs won't even make an appearance at all.

major book spoiler

Spoiler for Hiden:

the ned dreams and the stories from the marsh kids contain hints about jon's mother - the story of which the tv series seems to be skipping entirely

[Scraper]

What does bother me is I just read the episodes are shorter this season.  I thought I was imagining it but it seems like there are so many characters barely getting any screen time.  Daenerys and Robb weren't even in the episode and Bran, Jon and Arya basically just got one scene/sequence each.  Hard to see how they'll cover the events of the entire book this season.

I think that part of the problem with so many characters is that some parts of the story will be glossed over until there is a reduction in the amount of cast members.  And it is kind of annoying that they spent so much time on characters that did NOT have significant pages in the books... it wouldn't seem so glossed over if they had a few more episodes this season to flesh things out (or reduce the number of characters to focus on). 

Also... daenerys' story potentially involves a cameo by the dragons which is probably adding significantly to the budget (but it would seem by now that those kind of effects should be getting cheaper).  So it kind of makes sense... and skipping an episode kind of pushes her story toward the end of the season... I expect they will be skipping some of the desert stories... which might allow the stories to be similarly paced near the end of the season (hitting climaxes around the same time).


and are those digitally enhanced wolves i am seeing?  


The wolf dreams are nice to see... hopefully the frogs make an appearance soon or are they skipping those characters?

I am still bummed that there were no Ned dreams for season 1 (even if they were 5-10 seconds a piece)... and since they skipped that entire thread of the book then I suppose it is possible that the frogs won't even make an appearance at all.

major book spoiler

Spoiler for Hiden:

the ned dreams and the stories from the marsh kids contain hints about jon's mother - the story of which the tv series seems to be skipping entirely

Book Spoiler

Spoiler for Hiden:

They could cut out the frogs, but then that would make Bran's trip to the wall seem really impossible with just him and Hodor. Besides they would be easy to leave in, so why not just include them?

[TheEgoWhip]

I was thinking that Osha was going to have an expanded role and replace the frogs.

[Turtle]

Probably has something to do with budgets and time constraints when working with child actors.

[notrich]

I was thinking that Osha was going to have an expanded role and replace the frogs.

except she can't be in two places at once?

big book spoiler

Spoiler for Hiden:

she is supposed to go with rickon in one direction... AND NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN FOR 2-3 BOOKS   

and the frogs go with bran - actually the frogs could be slightly older or replaced by another character... and bran's scenes will probably be a total of 15 minutes screen time the next two seasons - i exaggerate of course)

[TheEgoWhip]

I was thinking that Osha was going to have an expanded role and replace the frogs.

except she can't be in two places at once?

big book spoiler

Spoiler for Hiden:

she is supposed to go with rickon in one direction... AND NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN FOR 2-3 BOOKS   

and the frogs go with bran - actually the frogs could be slightly older or replaced by another character... and bran's scenes will probably be a total of 15 minutes screen time the next two seasons - i exaggerate of course)

Spoiler for Hiden:

I remember Rickon from the books but I think he has already disappeared, never to be seen again, from the series...
I expect them to either tag Rickon along with Bran or drop him off at an aunts house somewhere, as the most memorable part that he had in the series to date was the shared dream of his fathers death, and that's already happened.

Spoiler for Hiden:

[notrich]

this last episode was pretty good... the flayed man makes his appearance.  I was a bit surprised where they ended it - though I enjoyed how it ended with the red witch (she is growing on me - initially didn't like the actress)

[corruptrelic]

this last episode was pretty good... the flayed man makes his appearance.  I was a bit surprised where they ended it - though I enjoyed how it ended with the red witch (she is growing on me - initially didn't like the actress)

It didn't have anything to do with her baring all, did it? 

[notrich]

this last episode was pretty good... the flayed man makes his appearance.  I was a bit surprised where they ended it - though I enjoyed how it ended with the red witch (she is growing on me - initially didn't like the actress)

It didn't have anything to do with her baring all, did it?  

lol no... actually the way she speaks was annoying to me... but its growing on me after hearing her more. (and some of the cooler lines made it in from the book)

also - liked the special effects at the end

upon seeing the repeat tonight... looks like another non-book character?  the girl from volantis?  not ringing a bell for me anyway

[TiLT]

upon seeing the repeat tonight... looks like another non-book character?  the girl from volantis?  not ringing a bell for me anyway

She may or may not be a book character. Wait and see.

[leo8877]

upon seeing the repeat tonight... looks like another non-book character?  the girl from volantis?  not ringing a bell for me anyway

She may or may not be a book character. Wait and see.

Did you know: that woman is Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter! o_0

(Spoilers maybe in the link)

http://winteriscoming.net/2012/04/interview-with-oona-chaplin/

[TiLT]

Did you know: that woman is Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter! o_0

Yup, I knew. You can see the resemblance too, which is cool.

As for the character, here's the current speculation in its roughest form: (moderately big book spoilers)

Spoiler for Hiden:

She's actually the Jeyne we know from the books, only she's "undercover" for one reason or another which is likely to be revealed soon. Robb might end up in the hay with her, and only afterwards realize she's a noble. His honor will force him to marry her, which leads us to the events we know from the books.

[notrich]

As for the character, here's the current speculation in its roughest form: (moderately big book spoilers)

Spoiler for Hiden:

She's actually the Jeyne we know from the books, only she's "undercover" for one reason or another which is likely to be revealed soon. Robb might end up in the hay with her, and only afterwards realize she's a noble. His honor will force him to marry her, which leads us to the events we know from the books.

well i was more worried that she was a character made up out of thin air to replace the character in question...  seems like a silly way to introduce the character (if the speculation is true)

[notrich]

welp... a minor character gets killed

almost a full book early (and takes some of the emotional impact of that scene in the book away... i would have liked to see the actress play that scene - but unlikely to happen now)

[Toe]

As for the character, here's the current speculation in its roughest form: (moderately big book spoilers)

Spoiler for Hiden:

She's actually the Jeyne we know from the books, only she's "undercover" for one reason or another which is likely to be revealed soon. Robb might end up in the hay with her, and only afterwards realize she's a noble. His honor will force him to marry her, which leads us to the events we know from the books.

well i was more worried that she was a character made up out of thin air to replace the character in question...  seems like a silly way to introduce the character (if the speculation is true)

She could be.

Spoiler for Hiden:

In the book she is a minor nobility. I can seem them switching it up for TV so that the impact of their station difference is a lot more pronounced.

[Scraper]

welp... a minor character gets killed

almost a full book early (and takes some of the emotional impact of that scene in the book away... i would have liked to see the actress play that scene - but unlikely to happen now)

Spoiler for Hiden:

If you're talking about Aria's victim, then yes it was an entire book too early, actually since it happens towards the end of book three it was probably two seasons too early, and I was really looking forward to her killing him in that scene too, if I remember the book correctly she repeatedly stabs him with needle after she steals it back from him.

[notrich]

welp... a minor character gets killed

almost a full book early (and takes some of the emotional impact of that scene in the book away... i would have liked to see the actress play that scene - but unlikely to happen now)

Spoiler for Hiden:

If you're talking about Aria's victim, then yes it was an entire book too early, actually since it happens towards the end of book three it was probably two seasons too early, and I was really looking forward to her killing him in that scene too, if I remember the book correctly she repeatedly stabs him with needle after she steals it back from him.

yep - book spoilers

Spoiler for Hiden:

screaming "is there any gold in village - where are the brotherhood - how many were there?" as she stabbed him

for me the dogs swordfight and her reclaiming her weapon was almost as big as the wedding scene... it was a HUGE payoff in story telling for me as i was reading it for the first time and on subsequent readings

its also why i was worried that she might be too old unless they pushed up filming of all her scenes for the next two seasons early in next years production - you could easily argue that she ages overseas for the purposes of the tv series but she is still super young at that point in the books

if they didn't have weese in the tv series they could have had a nameless cohort of tickler and saved tickler for later... the killing of tickler in the books was awesome... in the tv series -- eh

the dinklage remains awesome "Demon monkey???"


also i think the set designer that built/dressed "the fist of the firstmen" set must have worked on spinal tap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zdyo4vJuCU

[Roguetad]

I agree, I was both confused and dissapointed with the early death of

Spoiler for Hiden:

The Tickler

, which actually took place in book 3.  Exactly as you said, it was a very dramatic scene in the book.  The feeling of payback was awesome as a reader.  I actually reread that part several times just so I could take it all in again.

Regarding the red priestess, I've always imagined her as dark skinned, exotic, maybe Persian.  Plain vanilla with dyed red hair was not what I was expecting...at all.  I'm sure it would've looked odd, but where are the red and purple eyes that make these iconic characters who they are?  Daenerys and Melisandre just seem cooler (or more wicked in the case of the red priestess) with their very unique eye color.     

[leo8877]

I didn't really like last night's episode.  Seemed to me that a lot of things happened way differently than I remember from the book and that a lot of things were really condensed.

[Jumangi]

Tyrion smacking Joffery around some more. Always brings a smile.

[Jumangi]

I didn't really like last night's episode.  Seemed to me that a lot of things happened way differently than I remember from the book and that a lot of things were really condensed.

Better get used to it, cause its going to be the norm.

[Crusis]

Nothing quite like spooning north of the wall.