Game of Thrones on HBO

[MrBug708]

Im on there a day on a honeymoon cruise thru the Med!

[JPhillips]

Too bad, but then again a Med cruise probably won't suck.

Make sure you see the city square and either walk some of the wall or go to the fort. The fort steps are outside the old walled city, but it isn't far. The church in the square is nice, too. I liked walking some of the narrow side alleys and seeing where I went. The walled city is small enough that you won't get lost easily.

[MrBug708]

Will do. I knew we would walk the walls, maybe find some small hole in the wall place to eat

[DaddyTorgo]

Watched the premiere last night.

Wasn't BLOWN AWAY by this episode or anything. In my mind there weren't really any great like..."hook" moments in the episdoe that would hook a new viewer (although why a new viewer would start at S2E1 I don't know) like there were in many of the S1 episodes. Very nice character moments though, as others have noted, and a lot of introducing of Davos/Stannis/Mel, which needed to be done.

That being said - baby-killing Janos Slynt was nasty. Joffrey was appropriately douchey.

DRAGONS LOOKED FRIGGING AWESOME!! WOLVES LOOKED AWESOME!!!

New CGI-team for those is top-notch.

Can't wait for the season to heat up.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I think my reticence with him and his character is very much a minority impression. By and large, it seems to me Davos is a favored character for most readers of the books. For some reason, though, he never quite took for me, and I always kinda glazed over when I got to his chapters.

Show watchers/non-readers spoiler:

Spoiler

FWIW, I found him and his scenes much more interesting in ADOD. I was more intrigued with his chapters there than I had been in any of the previous books.

Yeah, this describes me to a T.

[Grover]

I thought in a couple of points the direwolf looked too obviously CGI'd when it was approaching Jaime in his little crate prison.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

(although why a new viewer would start at S2E1 I don't know)

Lots of people hear great things about a show and miss the 1st season, so they figure they'll watch the first episode of the 2nd season to see if its worth catching up. For example, my first episode of "Mad Men" was 2.1

[DanGarion]

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

I actually did laugh out loud.

/tk

[Honolulu_Blue]

Some thoughts on last night's episode...

I am not surprised that they decided to be quite so explicit about the whole Stannis/Melisdandre thing. While they never had an explicit sex scene in any of the books, I think that was because we never had a Stannis or Melisandre chapter. I think it might have been implied, with her staying with him in his tent and all, but I would have to go back and see. How else do you explain certain... future events.

I think Davos is awesome. The actor brings a ton to the role. I've always liked his character in the books, but I may even like him more so far in the show. Fantastic actor. Brings a lot of charm to the role. I really liked his scene with Salador Sahn on the beach.

Speaking of casting, Balon Greyjoy is /exactly/ how I imagined him. Every bit is a haggard and cruel as I pictured. Yara/Asha wasn't exactly how I pictured her in my mind's eye, but the actress very much carried herself like like I imagined her to. Speaking of Theon, we had our first sexposition so far this season, but that was actually some sexposition straight from the source material.

I felt like the scenes with Tyrion and Janos Slynt and with Theon and Yarra (both which I love in the books) were too short. I fully understand why they have to be shortened, but since I enjoy them so much in the books and the payoff is so great - Slynt's slow building realization and reaction and Theon's shock - that it's sad to see them truncated.

Tyrion continues to be fantastic. All of his scenes are great. I liked what they did with the letter from Mormont, as opposed to having Alleister Thorne go down there. That was a truncation of events that really worked, though it does take some of the blame off Tryion. In the book, he made Thorne sit and wait out of spite, which spoiled the hand he was carrying. Here, Tyrion was much more a "champion" if you will of the Night's Watch and possible threat.

The scene with Gilly/Sam/Jon was great. Very well handled. Great to see a Ghost cameo. I understand why they made the whole Crastor thing a little more explicit on the show. You need to do that on TV.

I really liked the Arya/Gendry stuff. Some good chemistry there. I am looking forward to seeing more out of Jaqen H'gar. Rorge really didn't blow me away, probably because he didn't look as horrorific and monstrous as he is described in the book.

The Littlefinger scene definitely showed a harsh side of the man. As much as I like the actor, something is just a bit off about the character. Not sure what it is exactly...

Poor Khaleesi.

[DaddyTorgo]

Davos = great

Salador almost stole the episode for me though. Although I was expecting him to be like...Fat Albert fat for some reason.

Arya/Gendry was great. I loved their whole exchange where she told him who she is and his reaction and everything.

Yara/Asha I always pictured with long dark curly hair, but I'll get over that I'm sure.

Good solid episode. Want more of my Khaleesi though.

[Peregrine]

I have to say that the scene on the beach with Davros and Salador really made the whole episode for me - great actors and a great scene.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I think the scene with Tyrion and Varys was fantastic. The guy playing Varys has completely won me over - at first I wasn't sure of him but he's killing it in his role. I thought the scene was the perfect combination of subtle verbal jabs and thrusts with a great payout in the end that not only made sense, but spelled out what had been going on for those that may have missed the underlying point of the conversation.

[booradley]

I borrowed the Season 1 series from my brother, and I must say few of these characters look the way I imagined them in my head, so of course they are Wrong. Chief examples:

1. Cersei looks constantly constipated, and she is not a beauty. She's also a lot cooler than the lil' spitfire in the books. Boo.

2. Ha ha - Sansa is a dog and little Arya is a beauty! Total reverse of the books. I mean, they make a lot of noise about Sansa being beautiful in the video series, but that just made me snort beer out of my nose.

3. Tyrion is awesome. I have no bone to pick here.

4. Ned Stark wouldn't wear his hair like he was still prancing around a LOTR set. He's a very disciplined, serious man and he would reflect that in his haircut. Like Littlefinger does. Oh, and Ned's hair is dark with a liberal sprinkling of silver. Character-wise he's fine, though.

5. Caitlyn Stark is old, and a dog. This is not a woman Littlefinger would still be attracted to, as he is in the books. She's supposed to be a handsome woman, still. Boo.

6. Jon Stark is bang-on. Let's move on.

7. Arya Stark is great. Let's move on.

8. Robb Stark - eh, ok.

9. Theon Greyjoy - No, no, no!!! Supposed to be much more handsome, and cocky, and he's largely cocky because of his looks. Video needs more cockiness, so to speak. Damn, they blew this by casting a buck-toothed goofy-looking kid ...

10. Jaime Lannister - I'll buy it. Not bad ...

11. King Robert - accurately portrayed.

12. Lysa - Holy shit, how did a woman THAT ugly get into acting? I always thought she was supposed to be a bit portly. Her creepy-ass kid is dead-on, though.

13. Bron-- I always imagined him being pretty much like Han Solo, in terms of appearance and attitude. The video series clearly has this guy all wrong. Pffftt ...

14. Tywin Lannister - HIS EYES ARE NOT GOLD, AND THAT IS A BIG DEAL! I mean, it's only referenced about 20 trillion times in the books. I mean, come. on.

15. Daenerys Targaryen - See rant about Tywin's eyes, and repeat. Except, substitute 'purple' for 'gold'. Also, Hi - she's supposed to have SILVER hair, not look like she lost a wrestling match with a vat of peroxide. Jeezus. Same for her bro.

16. Renly and Sir Loras - Ummm ... their gayness was gayly hinted at in the books, and the subject of much gay conjecture, if you happened to visit the Westeros message boards whilst reading Book I, which I had the grave misfortune of doing. So, WE DON'T NEED TO SEE A F'IN BLOWJOB ON CAMERA!!!! The gaiety of their gayness is NOT supposed to be explicit! Maybe this belongs in Part II, but hell, I'm rollin' ...

17. The Dog Sandor Clegane - This guy is not the strong silent type. He is MEAN. He wants people to KNOW that he is mean. So he growls and glares, threatens and spits, and disrespects EVERYONE save Joff and Cersei (maybe Robert). Openly. Sneeringly. Hand on pommel. Only you wouldn't know it by watching the video, cuz there he don't do shit.

18. Pycelle - perfect.

19. Joff - Supposed to be a good-looking kid, like Jaime and (oops) Cersei, with a snotty self-assured attitude to match. Here, we only get the 'tude, and it seems a bit watered-down, somehow. I mean, this kid was REALLY unlikeable in the books. As in, you'd pay money to off him yourself, before you remember you're just reading a book ...

More later ...

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by booradley

I borrowed the Season 1 series from my brother, and I must say few of these characters look the way I imagined them in my head, so of course they are Wrong. Chief examples:

....

More later ...

I know have a much clearer insight into the "Hot or Not" polling. Wow.

[Coffee Warlord]

Yeah. Little harsh there.

[DaddyTorgo]

Preordered the RPG bundle from Amazon with release-day delivery just now.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Preordered the RPG bundle from Amazon with release-day delivery just now.

HAH!

(I did, too, but I did it awhile ago)

(Kinda funny after our conversation this weekend)

/tk

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by booradley

I borrowed the Season 1 series from my brother, and I must say few of these characters look the way I imagined them in my head, so of course they are Wrong. Chief examples:

1. Cersei looks constantly constipated, and she is not a beauty. She's also a lot cooler than the lil' spitfire in the books. Boo.

2. Ha ha - Sansa is a dog and little Arya is a beauty! Total reverse of the books. I mean, they make a lot of noise about Sansa being beautiful in the video series, but that just made me snort beer out of my nose.

3. Tyrion is awesome. I have no bone to pick here.

4. Ned Stark wouldn't wear his hair like he was still prancing around a LOTR set. He's a very disciplined, serious man and he would reflect that in his haircut. Like Littlefinger does. Oh, and Ned's hair is dark with a liberal sprinkling of silver. Character-wise he's fine, though.

5. Caitlyn Stark is old, and a dog. This is not a woman Littlefinger would still be attracted to, as he is in the books. She's supposed to be a handsome woman, still. Boo.

6. Jon Stark is bang-on. Let's move on.

7. Arya Stark is great. Let's move on.

8. Robb Stark - eh, ok.

9. Theon Greyjoy - No, no, no!!! Supposed to be much more handsome, and cocky, and he's largely cocky because of his looks. Video needs more cockiness, so to speak. Damn, they blew this by casting a buck-toothed goofy-looking kid ...

10. Jaime Lannister - I'll buy it. Not bad ...

11. King Robert - accurately portrayed.

12. Lysa - Holy shit, how did a woman THAT ugly get into acting? I always thought she was supposed to be a bit portly. Her creepy-ass kid is dead-on, though.

13. Bron-- I always imagined him being pretty much like Han Solo, in terms of appearance and attitude. The video series clearly has this guy all wrong. Pffftt ...

14. Tywin Lannister - HIS EYES ARE NOT GOLD, AND THAT IS A BIG DEAL! I mean, it's only referenced about 20 trillion times in the books. I mean, come. on.

15. Daenerys Targaryen - See rant about Tywin's eyes, and repeat. Except, substitute 'purple' for 'gold'. Also, Hi - she's supposed to have SILVER hair, not look like she lost a wrestling match with a vat of peroxide. Jeezus. Same for her bro.

16. Renly and Sir Loras - Ummm ... their gayness was gayly hinted at in the books, and the subject of much gay conjecture, if you happened to visit the Westeros message boards whilst reading Book I, which I had the grave misfortune of doing. So, WE DON'T NEED TO SEE A F'IN BLOWJOB ON CAMERA!!!! The gaiety of their gayness is NOT supposed to be explicit! Maybe this belongs in Part II, but hell, I'm rollin' ...

17. The Dog Sandor Clegane - This guy is not the strong silent type. He is MEAN. He wants people to KNOW that he is mean. So he growls and glares, threatens and spits, and disrespects EVERYONE save Joff and Cersei (maybe Robert). Openly. Sneeringly. Hand on pommel. Only you wouldn't know it by watching the video, cuz there he don't do shit.

18. Pycelle - perfect.

19. Joff - Supposed to be a good-looking kid, like Jaime and (oops) Cersei, with a snotty self-assured attitude to match. Here, we only get the 'tude, and it seems a bit watered-down, somehow. I mean, this kid was REALLY unlikeable in the books. As in, you'd pay money to off him yourself, before you remember you're just reading a book ...

More later ...

I've read a third of the first book, and if you're gonna be so picky about eye colour, you can't leave out that Tyrion has two different colored eyes, can you? I disagree with quite a bit of your analysis, but to each their own.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

HAH!

(I did, too, but I did it awhile ago)

(Kinda funny after our conversation this weekend)

/tk

Well you telling me what you read about the RPG vs. the RTS made me go "okay yeah...I do want to get that and pull the trigger on it."

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

HAH!

(I did, too, but I did it awhile ago)

(Kinda funny after our conversation this weekend)

/tk

What is the RPG bundle?

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

What is the RPG bundle?

If you pre-order on Amazon (or from HBO.com although Amazon has the better shipping options FWIW) you get a nice hardcover book of artwork from the RPG along with background info and I believe it's even signed (or auto-pen signed I would assume) by GRRM.

[Neon_Chaos]

Best exchange of dialogue in the entire series for me.

"But none of your jokes will ever match the first one, will they? You remember, back when you ripped my mother open on your way out of her and she bled to death."

"She was my mother too."

"Mother gone, for the sake of you. There's no bigger joke in the world than that."

[Peregrine]

I find this article on Wired a bit funny - mostly because I can accept that things have to be changed from the books to make the TV version - sure, things are not always done the way I would like, but that's how it has to be for this to get made. Anyway, I found complaint #3 particularly funny.

This Week on Game of Thrones: 6 Weak Tweaks and a Dark Surprise | Underwire | Wired.com


3) What’s with the name changes?

In this episode, Theon Greyjoy returns home to Pyke for the first time since he was a child. As Theon is the only son of Balon Greyjoy, would-be king of the Iron Islands, he expects to be treated with some obsequiousness for a change. But things don’t go according to plan. Not only does the first of his subjects that he meets look like the villain from I Know What You Did Last Summer, but the man is surly and apathetic in the face of Theon’s boasts. Things go from bad to worse as Theon realizes that his long tenure as hostage to the Starks of Winterfell has made him suspect in his father’s eyes, and that his father seems determined to assign command of the fleet to Theon’s sister, Yara.

Wait, say what? What the hell is a “Yara”?

How dumb do TV producers think we are?
Turns out the show has renamed Asha Greyjoy, and now she’s Yara Greyjoy. Apparently someone thought “Asha” sounded too much like “Osha,” the wildling woman held prisoner at Winterfell. Huh? How dumb do TV producers think we are? And how much overlap is there really between viewers who enjoy a show about byzantine political intrigue and viewers too brain-dead to distinguish two characters who look nothing alike?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Based on many, many comments I have read from various people about TV shows far less complicated and intricate than "A Game of Thrones", TV producers are right to think that many people who watch TV are very, very "dumb".

[Chief Rum]

What I find curious is that they changed Asha's name, not Osha. Asha is far more prominent, so I would think she would be the one to keep her name.

[spleen1015]

It is just a name. As long as the story is intact, what difference does it make?

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

What I find curious is that they changed Asha's name, not Osha. Asha is far more prominent, so I would think she would be the one to keep her name.

I bet it was just timing. At the time they were dealing with Osha they weren't thinking much about season two. It was only after it was clear Game would continue that they worried about the characters outside of book one. By that point they couldn't change Osha's name as she was already filmed.

[Peregrine]

Yeah there are so many changes it doesn't really make sense to gripe about relatively small things, like names - I mean as long as the character is basically portrayed as they were in the books, I don't really care about the name. Also, why should people be complaining about name changes when really major changes are common. It's just how it has to be done for TV, and Martin is signing off on all these changes anyway.

[Honolulu_Blue]

We all knew this was coming, but still good to finally make it official!

HBO RENEWS GAME OF THRONES FOR THIRD SEASON
First Episode Of The Second Season Has Already Grossed 8.3 Million Viewers

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.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

We all knew this was coming, but still good to finally make it official!

HBO RENEWS GAME OF THRONES FOR THIRD SEASON

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

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.

If they're doing 3 then four is somewhat of a formality I'd imagine.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

If they're doing 3 then four is somewhat of a formality I'd imagine.

Agreed. Based on everything we've heard, they plan on breaking the third book - "Storm Of Swords" - into two seasons. Given that some of what goes on in book three apparently will bleed over into the second season and given the structure of books 4 & 5, I think we'll start seeing less of a formal "1 season = 1 book" structure here on out.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Peregrine

Yeah there are so many changes it doesn't really make sense to gripe about relatively small things, like names - I mean as long as the character is basically portrayed as they were in the books, I don't really care about the name. Also, why should people be complaining about name changes when really major changes are common. It's just how it has to be done for TV, and Martin is signing off on all these changes anyway.

I think it's because it will increase general confusions among those who only watch the TV series and those who read the books. Referring to Asha doing x, y, z is going to fail when the TV watchers only know a Yara.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I think it's because it will increase general confusions among those who only watch the TV series and those who read the books. Referring to Asha doing x, y, z is going to fail when the TV watchers only know a Yara.

Well, then it's incumbent on those who read the books to adapt! They are, allegedly, the smrt ones because they read books. It's time to help their mouth breathing TV-watching brothers and sisters.

[ISiddiqui]

Book readers tend to be stubborn as well . That's her freakin' name because it just is!!

I imagine that TV watchers may be somewhat confused if they pick up Clash of Kings after the 2nd season.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Agreed. Based on everything we've heard, they plan on breaking the third book - "Storm Of Swords" - into two seasons. Given that some of what goes on in book three apparently will bleed over into the second season and given the structure of books 4 & 5, I think we'll start seeing less of a formal "1 season = 1 book" structure here on out.

I was thinking about this and there is potential for disaster in the sense that Season 3 and 4 will come from Storm of Swords and likely the plodding and lack of (much) movement A Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons will be combined and made into 3 (or, God forbid, 4) seasons. Seasons 5, 6, and 7 could be ridiculously slow without much plot resolution causing viewership to slowly abandon the show.

That and think of all the new characters they'll be introducing in Season 5. Though maybe they can push back the introduction of Dorne or the Iron Islands plotline to Season 6.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

Well you telling me what you read about the RPG vs. the RTS made me go "okay yeah...I do want to get that and pull the trigger on it."

Well, I guess the joke's on me if it sucks.

/tk

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

I was thinking about this and there is potential for disaster in the sense that Season 3 and 4 will come from Storm of Swords and likely the plodding and lack of (much) movement A Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons will be combined and made into 3 (or, God forbid, 4) seasons. Seasons 5, 6, and 7 could be ridiculously slow without much plot resolution causing viewership to slowly abandon the show.

That and think of all the new characters they'll be introducing in Season 5. Though maybe they can push back the introduction of Dorne or the Iron Islands plotline to Season 6.

I honestly think they're not going to do more than two seasons for those books. They may even do just one, if GRRM completes Winds of Winter in reasonable time (although we know how likely that is).

My best guess is that it will be ASOS1, ASOS2, AFOC/ADOD1, AFOC/ADOD2 for seasons 3-6.

Then in Season 7, we'll see where we're at. Even by GRRM's standards, he should have Winds of Winter out before 2017. If they stretch that out to two books. He would then have until 2019 to get to the 7th book--which would be a stretch, but maybe by then he will be motivated to "see it to the end".

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Well, I guess the joke's on me if it sucks.

/tk

I comforted myself by saying "even if the game mechanics suck it will still be worth the $ to visit the locations in the game over and over and just look at them."

[Groundhog]

Loving Davos in this series, great choice for my favourite character.

I don't know if it's just that I've read all of the books in such a shortish period of time and forgotten details of the 2nd book, but there were so many scenes in that 2nd episode that had me thinking "I don't remember this being in the book". Either way, really enjoying it so far. "Yara" definitely looks different than how I'd imagine, but it fits - particularly with how her story plays out.

[Groundhog]

dola

I'm not basing this on anything I've read or heard, but I think they might aim to wind this series up following the 3rd book. If book 2 is 2 seasons, I could well imagine book 3 would be about 3 seasons. Can anyone see them going much longer than 6-7 years with this? Martin originally intended it to be a trilogy so I wouldn't be shocked to see it end right there, especially given the pace of the 4th and 5th books.

[MrBug708]

Well, the serious would be over before the books are done, so I'm not sure how that would be possible

[spleen1015]

You can't end the show until Dany takes over the world, married to Jon Snow.

[MrBug708]

You should taste her fish pie

I don't think Lord Varys likes fish pie very much

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Well, the serious would be over before the books are done, so I'm not sure how that would be possible

It would require a different ending than Martin intends in the books.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I honestly think they're not going to do more than two seasons for those books. They may even do just one, if GRRM completes Winds of Winter in reasonable time (although we know how likely that is).

My best guess is that it will be ASOS1, ASOS2, AFOC/ADOD1, AFOC/ADOD2 for seasons 3-6.

Then in Season 7, we'll see where we're at. Even by GRRM's standards, he should have Winds of Winter out before 2017. If they stretch that out to two books. He would then have until 2019 to get to the 7th book--which would be a stretch, but maybe by then he will be motivated to "see it to the end".

Well there is a LOT of background in Feast for Crows and Dance with Dragons. Remember that Martin wanted to cut that out and do a "5 years later" in the books, but it got too messy and he determined he had to write those 5 years out because otherwise it wouldn't have made any sense - I can't imagine the show will be able succeed where Martin couldn't.

And don't forget, he introduces a SCORE of new characters in A Feast for Crows who seem like they'll be very important to conclusion.

Basically this is the way I see it:
Book 3 will be Seasons 3 and 4, and then:

(spoilers through Dance with Dragons)

Spoiler

Season 5 will be about Dorne and Cersei's chafing at the Tyrells, probably involving storming Dragonstone and Loras getting messed up, Season 6 will end with Cersei's plan to get rid of Maergery backfiring on her so will likely include all the stuff about the Faith Militant & will also focus on the Iron Islands & the scheming between Euron and Victarion, and Season 7 will include Cersei's "punishment", Jon's death, the discovery of Aegon Targaryen, and Dany getting swept away by Drogon to land at the Khal Jhogo's khalessar. Throughout, we'll have the Tyrion travelogue and Jamie's bitterness as well as Dany trying to rule Mereen. I guess having Dorne in Season 5 will allow us to get more attached to the Martell kid that goes to woo Dany (I forget his name) before he gets barbequed. I assume that Brienne's getting strung up will happen in Season 5 to give them something else in that season - but that means Brienne is gone for 2 seasons. I guess they can throw in the Reek/Theon stuff in Season 5 as well. But this leads to nothing really shocking or amazing happening Season 5 - just moving pieces so Season 6 and 7 are good. And I almost forgot about Arya being the Cat of the Canals, Bran becoming Greenseer, and Sansa & Littlefinger plotting at the Eyrie - maybe Littlefinger can toss Lysa Arryn out the Moon Door at the end of Season 5, maybe that's the cliffhanger?

[DaddyTorgo]

I <3 Dorne. I can't wait for Dorne. I'm a Dornish fiend.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by DaddyTorgo

I <3 Dorne. I can't wait for Dorne. I'm a Dornish fiend.

Me. too.

BTW, I'm going to reserve judgement on the Greyjoys because I jumped on some actors early in season one that redeemed themselves later. I will say though the whole understated way they did the scenes with Father and daughter sorta sucked to me. I imagine them loud and passionate (quite danger is Tywin Lannisters' domain), and I felt they were way to restrained, and Asha/Yara had dead eyes. Didn't like it at all.

[ISiddiqui]

To be honest, I've never been a big fan of the Iron Islands. I guess some of the personalities are ok, but its mostly been a snooze. Dorne, on the other hand, is most definitely cool.

Wouldn't mind seeing more of Highgarden and Old Town either.

[MrBug708]

I'm on the opposite end. Dorne seems pretty dull