Game of Thrones

I think the straying from the book is necessary going forward. There's just too many characters, too many places, and too much detail in the books for them to fit into a 10 episode season with a relatively limited budget.

Plus, to be honest, I think they've done a really good job with changes so far, with the addition of Ros as the exception. I get who she is replacing and why, but does she really need an extended scene every episode that adds very little, if anything at all, when there is so much to cover right now??? It kind of seems like the HBO writers are doing what GRRM's book editor should of done in the first place, condense the content and characters (not complaining about the books though).

As far as this episode, I too thought the Pyke scenes were great. If anything, I wish they would of cut the pointless Ros scene so we could of seen the entire exchange between Theon and his sister (whatever her new name is). I thought that was a brilliant chapter in the book, and it was cut a tad short on screen, but it still worked.

I liked Melisandre a lot better this episode, I wonder why . But I'm glad to see them show the sex scene

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Ghost looked even better than Grey Wind and Summer did last episode. I'm so happy they spent the money to make the direwolves like they should. That's still my biggest complaint about last season.

Tyrion (Dinklage) is going to have 10 phenomenal episodes this year. He's just so in tune with his character, and the material for him is gold. Can't wait to see

Danny's scenes are pretty rough while she's in the Red Waste, but I think they'll payoff down the line. Just not much to show now, her dragons need time to grow and you can't just fast forward time in the story since there's an important war going on.

All in all, I enjoyed the episode and appreciate the character development. But I can see how non-book readers may think it was a little slow.

I'm glad you pointed this out. Littlefinger's character is getting a little too dark IMO. He's one of the most interesting characters in the book because he nails exactly what GRRM is trying to underscore about the humanity of these characters and the decisions they make.

He can be good, loving, forgiving, and thoughtful at times. And then he can be cruel, deceitful, cold, and ruthless at times. Each decision is based entirely on the situation. He just knows that you have to make calculated decisions because the consequences can be life or death. Like Greg said, he's just highly ambitious and knows the game they are all playing in Kings Landing, and he intends to win. But that doesn't mean he's not human.

You could be waiting at least five years. Even if he gets them all done in time for the show, he doesn't technically have to have Book 6 finished until around March 2016, and that's assuming they split 3 and mash 4 and 5 together into one season, AND don't have any Sopranos-style 18-month layoffs due to contract negotiations.

Aw son of a...at least the guy that writes the Dexter books cranks them out every year or so..

He's written five books in sixteen years. Game of Thrones came out in 1996. The only time constraints Martin is under is finishing the books before the tv series can catch up and surpass it. If it continues to grow in popularity, they might decide to split book 3 but also keep 4 and 5 in two separate seasons, thereby giving him another year to finish 6 and 7.

He may get on the horse and write, but if history is any indicator, he likes going to ComicCon and signing autographs a LOT more than he likes working on these books. There were at least three different release dates listed on Amazon (that I'm aware of) for Dance with Dragons. He's a notorious procrastinator.

Game of Thrones renewed for season 3! And assumed book 3 will be split into 2 seasons like most people have speculated. Great news!

http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Game-of-Thrones-Renewed-by-HBO-for-Season-3-in-2013/10545

I've had the Game of Thrones main theme stuck in my head for about a year and a half...and I don't really mind because it's a pretty great opening theme song.

Agreed. Tyrion was great in this episode. The way they split up him talking to the three small council members to find the leak was very well done.

Spin off series- Tyrion runs this place.

Never seen the show, so I'm not going to read this tread... but I just bought the first season, and I'm going to start watching on my 3 hour plane ride today. Can't wait.

Personally I'm hoping they don't need a spinoff for that to happen.

Finally got time to watch it. Totally agree. Masterful!

Thought it was great too. But there were a couple things that weren't great.
Likes
-The seamless cuts of Tyrion toying with the small council was fantastic!
-Yoren stole the show in every one of his scenes (which is hard to do with Arya in the same scene), he had probably the best one-liner of the year "I always hated crossbows...take too long to reload." And I love how they setup

-Margaery Tyrell ftw! I even like her more than the book. If I had to bet

-Brienne is even bigger than I imagined! Another great casting.
-Sam and Gilly have a great chemistry going, that's important.
-The Old Bear, Lord Commander Mormont is an absolute natural for that role, and I love the back and fourths between him and Jon.
-Theon is stepping up this season in what has got to be a hard part, the burning of the note to Robb was very well done. It sure doesn't hurt that Balon Greyjoy seemed to step right off a page in the book and onto the screen. Another perfect casting! Seems like all the Pyke scenes are turning out great.

Dislikes
-The Renly and Ser Loras makeout session. I know its HBO and stuff like this makes their shows edgy, I know their super-gayness fits in with the story line (even though it's barely hinted at in the books), but that doesn't mean I have to like it...not that there's anything wrong with it.
-Shae just sucks. Why would anybody put up with a whiney, needy whore??? Doesn't make sense. She's gotta show something to make viewers believe that Tyrion SHOULD fall head over heals for her and risk everything to keep her around.
-The final scene was no good after Yoren's fight. I'm ok with them condensing Arya and Gendry's storyline right there, but it was just corny. Somebody trips and knocks over the one torch that just happens to by the cage with H'ghar and Biter, then untrained kids charge mounted Lannister troops in the field instead of running, then the guy who stole needle from Arya (can't remember his name) just steps out behind a wall to knock Arya down in the middle of a battle looked like a lame Hollywood movie, and then Arya tells the Lannister men that the dead kid (Lem I think) next to the bull's helm is Gendry...who has curly blonde hair and we're expected to think the Lannister men are like "Oh yeah, lookie there, the dead kid has that bull's helm laying semi-close to him, looks like a job well done, time to go home boys." That just bothered me a lot.

Overall though, very good stuff. I'm ready for Sunday again.

The casting of Brienne was amazing. Where did they find her? I know Theon is a waifish actor, but still. Looks like she's 6'3": http://www.escapistmagazine.com/new...rth-Will-Be-Literally-Huge-In-Game-Of-Thrones

Not Theon, Renly. I guess I'm still not awake yet. Time for coffee!

Pretty funny SNL skit about GoT: http://gawker.com/5902076/snl-explains-the-nudity-in-game-of-thrones