Dylan @ 3/3/2013 11:27

Sorry if i called you querr

I forgive you.

Hey Dylan, your testicles just called. They're asking when they can come back.

Dylan @ 6/3/2013 4:29

Paulus @ 5/3/2013 18:15 Hey Dylan, your testicles just called. They're asking when they can come back. Its a show full of suspense and smoking hot girls sue me. Btw, The avatar I have and my Lab 2 Robert avatar were both from that show

I don't know anything about it. Just couldn't resist taking a swipe, sorry!

I bulk watched it all about a month ago.

It was quite good. I think people hyped it up a bit too much because it took a while to get into. Season 2 was a lot better than Season 1.

Spoiler	+
Everything in King's Landing and beyond the Wall in S2 were great. So was the stuff with Ayra and Tywin. Dany's S2 stuff was much better than the S1 stuff which kind of fell very short of...anything at all. It's good though. Tyrion is my favourite character and I'm glad he survived.

I guess I can do better than that.

Spoiler

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Season 1: STUFF I LIKED Tyrion/Catelyn and unearthing the assassin plot Ned's death The stuff with Varys/Littlefinger Drogo Syrio Jon Snow and the Wall STUFF I DISLIKED Most of Dany's plot Drogo's death Almost everything that Ned did at King's Landing Almost everything at Winterfell Sansa Robert Most of the accents in general WINTER IS COMING i get it Season 2: STUFF I LIKED Almost everything at King's Landing Every scene Tyrion was in Beyond the wall...in places. I didn't like the earlier stuff as much as I liked the later stuff with Jon missing Arya/Tywin Jaqen (I tell a lie. My actual favourite) Bronn Renly and the battle for the throne The battle of blackwater Qarth Sandor Pretty much all of the last two episodes STUFF I DISLIKED Stannis Sansa Stannis Every scene that Theon was in Theon's stupid unexpected betrayal Stannis Robb Stark in general really. Not a fan That tall woman I don't even remember the name of. I found her aggravating. Stannis Renly's death (and not because of the pacing. Just because of everything about it)

Leaffan20 @ 7/3/2013 3:59

Paulus @ 6/3/2013 21:55 It was quite good. I think people hyped it up a bit too much because it took a while to get into. Season 2 was a lot better than Season 1. Spoiler + Everything in King's Landing and beyond the Wall in S2 were great. So was the stuff with Ayra and Tywin. Dany's S2 stuff was much better than the S1 stuff which kind of fell very short of...anything at all. It's good though. Tyrion is my favourite character and I'm glad he survived. Spoiler + For me it's the opposite I loved season 1 much more than 2. I found 2 a bit lacklustre and stagnant at times minus the epicness of Blackwater. Dany in season 2 was unbelievably slow except near the end of season 2. But yeah Tyrion and Arya are my favourites.

That's a terrible opinion but it's at least an original opinion. Take a shiny karma point.

So guess who decided to buy the seven volume box-set on amazon yesterday? It arrived during the day today. It's a nice looking collection, I have to say.

My thoughts so far on the first book:

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It's interesting to see what changes they made in the show. Obviously the ages is the biggest one and I can understand the need for that. It's strange that Joffrey is the older child in the novel though. I have a hard time picturing it with the show embedded in my mind. There's some cool stuff they missed showing while they added scenes that weren't really necessary. Without the POV of the characters and their thoughts, it makes it harder to understand motives and histories so I can see why certain scenes were added but I don't really get why they had to show the shaving scene over the sword-fight with Tommen and Bran, ending in Joffrey mocking and enraging Robb. That seems like the kind of foreboding character moment they'd want to capture. I guess in the show they wanted to make Joffrey even more snivelling and the age differences meant that him fighting Robb and taunting him was unrealistic. But the whole point is that Joffrey was all talk and couldn't really back up his actions (but there was nothing that Robb could do about it). I think of all the parts I've read so far, that single scene is the most interesting omission. Other than that it's largely faithful. Again with the ages, it's strange that Theon is so much older. The Starks all had to be aged up because of the differences with Sansa for audience sensitivity. But I always thought Robb was older than Theon in the show. Maybe that isn't the case at all and it's just my perception that is off. It's funny that the White Walkers are originally called Others. They obviously didn't want to clash with Lost when they made the show. Hilarious really because George R.R. Martin was a Lost fan who despised the ending and actually publically stated he wouldn't end A Song of Ice and Fire in the same way. This pissed off Damon Lindeloff who was pretty vocal on it despite being a fan of his too. The fact that they had to change a detail in the show to avoid clashing with Lost is hilarious in light of this. That being said, Others is a much cooler name for them. It's far more sinister and foreboding. Theon seems even more of a dick (I was expecting him to become more sympathetic in the books but I guess there's time for that to grow). Catelyn insisting Ned goes to King's Landing is an interesting difference too. Her character seems a lot harder and more embittered in the novel. It's nice that there's more insight on her loathing of Jon Snow and her "it should have been you line" at Bran's side was cold as ice. Damn. At the same time Jon seems to be more openly accepted at Winterfell in this. All of the other characters are pretty much the same as their book versions so far, minus the aging differences. It's nice that they captured them so well. Drogo seems less menacing but that's largely down to the POV of Dany. Making her willing on the wedding night is a pretty substantial difference and will likely lead to her development throughout being less of a mysterious jump. I was not a fan of Dany at the start of the show, mostly because her characterisations didn't lend themselves to any emotion at all. She didn't seem scared. She just seemed indifferent to everything. In her POV she largely is indifferent to everything but the fear element comes across a lot stronger, which helps. Oh and Sandor already has a bigger role and more lines. I approve whole-heartedly. EDIT: Also it's kind of nice that Tommen and Myrcella do more than just appear very briefly in the background. I guess the show didn't feel the need to explore them much because they hardly play a tremendous role in the narrative...at least as the first two seasons go. Still, these subtle expansions lead to a more interesting world. So far, very very good read. I'm struggling to put it down.

I don't think Parliament specifically was involved, Jeff. But I will write to them and ask.

For the record it was this collection: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Song-Ice-Fire-Volumes/dp/0007477155/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364679204&sr=8-1

I couldn't find it on the US Amazon site at all.

I enjoyed it. I'm not sure what people were expecting really. The shows have to follow the books fairly closely and it can't all be action and drama at every turn. It was the opening of several plot threads which I'm positive will each lead into something much more interesting.

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The Barristan reveal had me very, very happy. I was expecting him to return in the third season but I didn't know how or when. This was the perfect way to handle that. I also thoroughly enjoyed all of Davos' scenes. Stannis becoming a deranged fanatic post-defeat is great. Margery's charity is interesting because it's grinding Cersei the wrong way. Something will give sooner or later. Also Natalie Dormer is hot so that's a win-win. I like how Joffrey seems baffled and confused by the concept as he slowly turns it around in his head. The stand-off between Tyrion and Tywin was great. The scenes beyond the wall were great. The only scenes I didn't care for were Robb in Harrenhall (though it was suitably creepy) and the little exchange between Ros and Shae. Considering that Ros was invented entirely for the show and is an absolutely awful character, the less screen-time they give her the better. So really, I don't know what was so bad about it at all. Seemed to me like it was just setting things in motion at a respectable pace. I enjoyed almost every scene so no complaints here.