Game of Thrones / House of Dragon

[prinnysquad]

Finished this today.

Not as good as season one, but then there's so many plot threads unravelling in this book/series that I expected as much. The plight of Ned Stark acted as the backbone of book 1 in Westeros, and as such the first series did. This one had bits everywhere. Being familiar with the books, though, I found it easy to keep track.

As I watched the series in a block, I can't really comment on individual episodes, as they blur into a whole. However,

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the Blackwater battle was a standout. The green fire looked great, in fact, the whole sequence was very professionally executed.

Although his character wasn't as amusing as in the first series, I thought Peter Dinklage was superb again. Honourable mentions to Charles Dance and the weasel who plays Joffrey. I hate the little ****, so the lad playing him must be doing something right (as well as having an immensely slappable face).

The swearing content seems higher in this series, with plenty of f's and c's, some laugh out loud funny. There's also a lot of T and A in this series. Has every actress in the show got their wares out? Mind, I agree with Dave -

That fire priestess with the red hair, I'd shag her absolutely senseless!

Definitely! When I saw her I thought,

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'There's no way she'll get 'em out on screen.' But, praise be, she did

.

I also liked the way the Arya storyline was paced in this season, and kudos to the casting folk for unearthing a real Brienne of Tarth. As mentioned,

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the dragons storyline was rather sidelined this season, but I guess at least they kept it ticking along for future reference.

indeed. why didnt Stanis just send in the

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vagina assassin

to kill Jofry?

Yep, fair point! I can't even remember if it's explained in the book.

Still head and shoulders above most things on tv though.

[Fader209]

indeed. why didnt Stanis just send in the

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vagina assassin

to kill Jofry?

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Stannis didn't want the victory to be seen by everyone as won by her magic, so he shipped her off before the battle.

[prinnysquad]

That sounds about right!

[RobRoy]

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Yeah Davos was having a go at him about it in the tent before they went off to kings landing so Stannis left her behind

[rmoxon]

I havent read the books but based on viewing just the tv series I liked the second season just as much as the first. They had so many stories going on at once in the second season it didn't feel as coherent though.

"Blackwater" was an amazing episode, probabaly the best episode so far, but at the same time it was purely focused on the battle and it almost felt like all the other stories were put on hold for a bit.

Tyrion is a great character, has a kind of tragic anti hero thing going on. Even though the show makes you hate his family with a passion, you still love him. Part of me wishes the show was about him.

[noobish hat]

I found the final episode to be more interesting than Blackwater to be honest. A much better cliffhanger than the previous finale.

[prinnysquad]

Interesting. I found the last episode very 'bitty'. It seemed to go from storyline to storyline, setting up a little cliffhanger in each one. As such, it felt a little clumsy.

To summarise...

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Daenerys Targaryen gets her dragons and some wealth - time for a ship!
Robb Stark marries his wench - the Freys are going to kick off.
Brienne kills Stark men while transporting the Kingslayer to King's Landing - what happens when they get there?
Winterfell is burned and the Stark boys are in the care of a wildling and a simpleton - where do they go?
Theon is betrayed by his own men - where does that leave him?
Despite heroics, Tyrion is sidelined by his family - what does he do now?
Joffrey is to be wedded to the Tyrell bird - where does this leave Sansa?
Arya has escaped from the Lannisters - what happens to her next?
Jon Snow is now an insider in Mance's army - can he maintain the lie? Will he nob the redhead, breaking his vows?
The White Walkers are on the march.

For so many scenes in that episode, the music swelled to reach an epic climax, then it was on to the next cliffhanger, then the next, then the ... etc. It just felt like it spent so much time setting everything up for the next series, that there was a poor sense of pace. Having said that, I can't see how they could have done it differently. The nature of the story means there will be plenty of set-up before another season.

[rmoxon]

They could have actually set up certain stories for next season in previous episodes, they didn't need to show EVERY character in the season finale, especially seeing as characters had previously disappeared for several episodes at a time.

Maybe they did it the same on the show as in the book, but with a book most people won't wait a whole week just to read the epilogue.

[prinnysquad]

I guess so. Although, if you wanted to recap on all the story threads before the next series starts, at least you'll only have to watch the single episode.

[dataDave]

Joffrey sounds like EvilBoris.

Add Boris on XBL if you ever want to know what it would be like playing Halo with Joffrey. Yeah, as said, I usually hate young actors, but this guy really brings out the hate in you. Top job. One of my favourite characters.

Top series. Just as good as the first, as Moxon says.

That fire priestess bird is only 35, she's my first older woman fantasy since puberty - her being just four years my senior I don't know if that's good or bad.

[Robster]

I want to know,what happened to

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the dark shadow thing the fire women spat out her camel ..?

[rmoxon]

I want to know,what happened to

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the dark shadow thing the fire women spat out her camel ..?

I gathered that it was a

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murderous manisfestation of Stannis Beratheon, which she "conceived" after having sex with him. Once it did its job and killed the man he wanted dead (his brother) it ceased to exist.

[Robster]

Hhmm, very interesting and quite deep - did you get that from the books or work it out yourself ?.

Thats very insightfull of you if you did .

[noobish hat]

When he asked her where her god was (when he

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was strangling her) she said 'in you' or something to that effect. I took that to mean that if they shag again, it will come back?

[Fader209]

None of that was in the book so maybe it could be in the next one that it is confirmed wtf is going on. Giving myself a break and hitting the sci-fi before going back for more in Storm of Swords.