Game of Thrones, episode ten
Game of Thrones
Go TEAM DANY!
My current plan is to have a general discussion of the entire television series up in a couple of days, followed by individual discussions of the books as we approach the publication date of Dance With Dragons. Of course, this involves following a plan, never one of my strengths. So, a few brief comments about episode ten, with mild spoilers for the books, as a fill-in for the moment.
1) First, not that this had anything to do with last night's episodes, but I've been rereading the books in preparation for Dance With Dragons (and will probably have some posts up about them in a bit) and in doing so, I realized that one of my comments on last week's episode was completely wrong. Tyrion does tell Shae about his first marriage and its aftermath - but in the second book. HBO apparently and reasonably decided to combine both scenes and just have Tyrion tell Bronn and Shae the entire story at once. So, mea culpa, and now I really don't like Shae. Didn't like her before, don't like her now, and HBO's changes to her character while understandable are not helping.
(The changes: Shae has been made harder, older, more cynical, plus given that foreign accent/mysterious past. I can definitely understand the wish to make Shae less of an airhead, since I think viewers will want Tyrion paired with someone intelligent, but part of the reason Tyrion falls for her so hard is that she also seems fun: bubbly, playful, cheerful, and likeable - even Sansa ends up liking if not trusting her. And I have difficulty believing that the show Shae will be unable to understand the clear dangers of Renly's approaching army. I assume that she will instead choose to argue with Tyrion that, as a whore, she'll be ignored, and she's safer outside where she can make an escape - and that if he insists on bringing her inside the castle, no one is going to mistake her for a scullery maid.)
2) I rather liked the addition showing that Pycelle, too, has been faking it all along, mostly because that slides right into what I always thought about that character - that he was faking his physical and mental limitations just to stay alive. After all, he lived through the horror of Aerys and the now-horror of Joffrey, and more critically, he is literally the only member of the Small Council in the first book to still be there on the Small Council at King's Landing at the end of the fourth book. And about the only courtier other than the eternally coughing Gyles Rosby to still be sticking around.
(Those who haven't read the books; don't read too much into that statement. People travel!)
I never thought that happened accidentally, and since it becomes clear in the second book that aging Maesters do call for their replacements BEFORE they die off (the Maesters at Dragonstone and Riverrun), and Pycelle….hasn't, and is portraying awareness of his infirmities, I figured something was going on. Pyrcelle may not have been down in Oldstown recently, and we don't know if he has that link that shows he studied the magical arts. But he definitely watched the last Targaryen king; he saw the pyromancers; and he had to have guessed about the Lannisters…and chosen to support them anyway.
Alas, my guess is we won't be learning much more about the Maesters until the sixth book, gulp, but we'll see. And now, back to the show.
3) My other favorite addition: Varys and Littlefinger playing the Good Spy/Bad Spy routine. Heh.
4) I have to be honest: I'm not sure how many more episodes with Joffrey I can take. I mean, kid, you already killed her father. Forcing her to look at her father's dead head? Overkill. Literal, overkill.
5) I was surprised that the King in the North bit appeared so early in the episode - I would have shifted it later, to right before the Dany scene, largely because that was the one bit that was not at all telegraphed/predicted by the show. (It is foreshadowed lightly in the book.)
6) SP was very sad that we didn't get a big battle scene. I told him we had hopes of one next season, although given the special effects budget that will need to be blown on dragons, I'm not entirely certain of that.
7) And finally -
DRAGONS!
I am a little obsessed with dragons. And THESE dragons were JUST ADORABLE. And so strategically placed! (How that one baby dragon managed to cling just there -- well, I guess they are kinda magical dragons.)
DRAGONS!
GO TEAM DANY!
(More on this if I get around to blogging about the books.)
Go TEAM DANY!
My current plan is to have a general discussion of the entire television series up in a couple of days, followed by individual discussions of the books as we approach the publication date of Dance With Dragons. Of course, this involves following a plan, never one of my strengths. So, a few brief comments about episode ten, with mild spoilers for the books, as a fill-in for the moment.
1) First, not that this had anything to do with last night's episodes, but I've been rereading the books in preparation for Dance With Dragons (and will probably have some posts up about them in a bit) and in doing so, I realized that one of my comments on last week's episode was completely wrong. Tyrion does tell Shae about his first marriage and its aftermath - but in the second book. HBO apparently and reasonably decided to combine both scenes and just have Tyrion tell Bronn and Shae the entire story at once. So, mea culpa, and now I really don't like Shae. Didn't like her before, don't like her now, and HBO's changes to her character while understandable are not helping.
(The changes: Shae has been made harder, older, more cynical, plus given that foreign accent/mysterious past. I can definitely understand the wish to make Shae less of an airhead, since I think viewers will want Tyrion paired with someone intelligent, but part of the reason Tyrion falls for her so hard is that she also seems fun: bubbly, playful, cheerful, and likeable - even Sansa ends up liking if not trusting her. And I have difficulty believing that the show Shae will be unable to understand the clear dangers of Renly's approaching army. I assume that she will instead choose to argue with Tyrion that, as a whore, she'll be ignored, and she's safer outside where she can make an escape - and that if he insists on bringing her inside the castle, no one is going to mistake her for a scullery maid.)
2) I rather liked the addition showing that Pycelle, too, has been faking it all along, mostly because that slides right into what I always thought about that character - that he was faking his physical and mental limitations just to stay alive. After all, he lived through the horror of Aerys and the now-horror of Joffrey, and more critically, he is literally the only member of the Small Council in the first book to still be there on the Small Council at King's Landing at the end of the fourth book. And about the only courtier other than the eternally coughing Gyles Rosby to still be sticking around.
(Those who haven't read the books; don't read too much into that statement. People travel!)
I never thought that happened accidentally, and since it becomes clear in the second book that aging Maesters do call for their replacements BEFORE they die off (the Maesters at Dragonstone and Riverrun), and Pycelle….hasn't, and is portraying awareness of his infirmities, I figured something was going on. Pyrcelle may not have been down in Oldstown recently, and we don't know if he has that link that shows he studied the magical arts. But he definitely watched the last Targaryen king; he saw the pyromancers; and he had to have guessed about the Lannisters…and chosen to support them anyway.
Alas, my guess is we won't be learning much more about the Maesters until the sixth book, gulp, but we'll see. And now, back to the show.
3) My other favorite addition: Varys and Littlefinger playing the Good Spy/Bad Spy routine. Heh.
4) I have to be honest: I'm not sure how many more episodes with Joffrey I can take. I mean, kid, you already killed her father. Forcing her to look at her father's dead head? Overkill. Literal, overkill.
5) I was surprised that the King in the North bit appeared so early in the episode - I would have shifted it later, to right before the Dany scene, largely because that was the one bit that was not at all telegraphed/predicted by the show. (It is foreshadowed lightly in the book.)
6) SP was very sad that we didn't get a big battle scene. I told him we had hopes of one next season, although given the special effects budget that will need to be blown on dragons, I'm not entirely certain of that.
7) And finally -
DRAGONS!
I am a little obsessed with dragons. And THESE dragons were JUST ADORABLE. And so strategically placed! (How that one baby dragon managed to cling just there -- well, I guess they are kinda magical dragons.)
DRAGONS!
GO TEAM DANY!
(More on this if I get around to blogging about the books.)