Was it made clear in the books who the two people Arya overheard in the dragon skulls room were? I don't remember figuring that out, but maybe I am just dense.
I definitely remember being confused about it. The characters were described in a way that I thought should have given me a pretty big hint, but I couldn't figure it out.
Sort of. Spoiler It's a bit like Renly and Loras' relationship, I didn't pick it up from reading the books either. Only found out after reading online and looking at the evidence presented in the book. http://towerofthehand.com/essays/chrisholden/under_the_red_keep.html
She called them "Scarface" & "Yellowbeard". Until last night, I had always thought yellowbeard was Pycelle, not Illyrio. Never had a clue about Varys. I guess the scarface name was because of Varys' excellent use of disguises.
IIRC, she describes how Varys is disguised/dressed. At some point in the books, we see Varys in that same disguise.
Yes in the books it happens much earlier during the events of episode 2, when Robert first mentions that Dany has married Drogo, right after Robert asks about who Jon Snow's mother was. Many readers miss the connection because it is so early and so many different names to learn so fast. I thought the episode was really good. I would have preferred the Renly/Loras relationship was more subtle or Spoiler at least delayed being blatant about it til next season when they go to "pray together" at which point it would have been a big secret reveal that some might have guessed at, rather than an unmissable sledgehammer in their first meeting. Enjoyed seeing Bronn be a badass, and the Hound vs Mountain fight I felt was well done. Jaime vs Eddard was a good change from the book as well Spoiler of what the change is: Spoiler in the book Jaime sent his men, didn't go himself, and Eddard breaks his leg when his horse throws him during the fight rather than getting speared. Lyssa came across as suitably bat crazy and her creepy son Robin breast feeding on the throne. Would have liked to see the actual climbing of the Eyrie, but I suppose it was too expensive to film in a convincing manner and would eat up a lot of screen time to be worth doing at all. I liked the Varys/Littlefinger added scene. Addy did a great job as King Robert this week as well. Next week we get the double feature of episodes 6 then 7 online on hbogo
You guys need to make a separate thread for the books because yall a ruining the show thread with your dorkdom.
Now that we are on the Page 17 of this thread, I think the direction fo the thread is pretty well-setttled: folks have been and are going to talk about the series in the context of/in comparision with the books here. Maybe what's needed, if one desires, is a separate thread for totally book-free discussion of the series.
Their was another thread made and I suggested that idea but it got lost in the shuffle. I knew their would be some spoiler conflicts.
It's like five of you dominating the thread, it's scary how much you guys know about this stuff. It takes all the fun out of watching the show and seeing what theories people have develop going forward, a la the Lost thread. Yall have been using spoiler tags but there are like fifty per page and it sucks sifting through them. I've never met anyone who's watched a movie or TV series based on a book they've read and actually admit to liking the screen versions better, you just end up nitpicking. Can't you guys just enjoy the show for what it is and not compare every single facet of it to a book 95% of us have never read? After all, no one made a thread for the book.
I actually enjoy/look forward more to reading comments from nonbook readers vs book readers, as I feel they have a better and fresher perspective on the show than us. Instead of watching the show unfold while already knowing all the details and stories, they have a truer experience of the quality of the show IMO. My perspective of the show is colored by my knowledge of the book and how I wished more episodes were included to better tell the stories or how a certain character looks different than I'd imagine etc etc. I wish I could have amnesia in regards to the books lol, so I can watch the show and reread the stories all over again. Also everyones done a great job it seems with the spoiler tags so far, tho i guess they are a temptation to nonbook readers.
I see why some would prefer a different discussion, but, as I said, this thread has already become what it is and it's been 5 weeks and 18 pages for those of us posting in it and reading it, so it's seems too late to change gears now. I don't think any of us are trying to take enjoyment away from anyone who didn't read the books-- it appears that some of us do enjoy having the current discussion. It seems natural for people who have read the novels to discuss certain aspects of how it translates to TV-- not just "which is better" but also things like whether certain info got revealed or not (e.g. whom Arya saw in the dungeons) and even general discussions on how to handle certain narratives in TV vs. text. Nobody is forced to read this thread or anything else. Besides, people have used spoilers when appropriate. If it doesn't work, and some of you prefer a different "book-free" discussion than what's taken place here, a new thread seems the thing to do.
If you are inconvenienced, then you should go do something about it. Go start a new thread for non-book-readers. It's not hard to start a thread.
I've never read any of the books, and I am only guessing what might happen. But, Spoiler I think at some point in the future the Imp will become King and he will ask Arya to be the Kings Hand. Just a guess, I know nothing about the books, but I would kinda like to see this happen. That is one tricky dwarf.
