Sunday, April 1, 2012

game of thrones season two liveblog! episode one: the north remembers.


Game of Thrones - it's here! We're here! You're here! Let's party!
Will there be wars? Or winters? Of course! Let's watch.
9:00 - holyshit FINALLY, game of thrones is back!
9:01 - this is one of my favourite show openings ever.  so well-detailed, with gorgeous and effective symbolism and a kickass theme.  oh man, dragonstone!! 
9:0 - omgomgomgstannisdavosshireenmelisandreaaaaaaaaaaaaah
9:03 - we're opening with the tourney?  it's joffrey's name-day, and he's happy.  but where is the prologue?  nooo, maester cressen!
9:03 - wait, the hound isn't supposed to be fighting - he refused, because it's so banal and beneath him - just senseless slaughter and a loss of knights for the king!  oh well.
9:03 - sansa is obviously not happy.  wow, that guy is dead as shit.  blood everywhere, soaking the stone.
9:04 - shit, ser something the red...he's very drunk.
9:04 - joffrey (king joffrey?) is so psychopathic!  this kid is way less physically handsome than the book,, but severely interesting and talented.
9:04 - so they're going to torture and drown him with wine?  in the book they only threaten to do so! 
9:05 - OH SNAP, FORESHADOWING
9:05 - sansa knows how to play the game...it's really tragic, to be honest.  she saved his life.
9:05 - tyrion!  finally!  
9:06 - damn, i shall never stop being impressed by the costumes on this show.  i liked in the book when tommen and myrcella literally run to him and adore him...this is much more subdued, and i think it suffers.
9:07 - this is more powerful also, when she describes her her whole family as traitors as a reflex, when she says it alone with tyrion in the book.  but wev!  
9:07 - yes, the white raven!
9:08 - they have enough wheat for a five-year winter?  that is not enough wheat!
9:08 - is that janos slynt?
9:09 - tyrion is so badass, though poorly depicted with regards to interiority.  which is pretty much our biggest complaint with the show!
9:09 - i love how there's always a paper to change hands in these times, to make things all official.
9:10 - so badass i can forgive his migrating accent.
(link)
9:10 - the lighting in this scene is interesting.  and look at the embroidery on her sleeves, my god.
9:10 - "you love your children.  it's your one redeeming quality - that and your cheekbones."
9:10 - she calls arya by name, not as a "skinny brat," eh?  much more humanized and sympathetic in the show.  i like it - she has more dimension than the author gave her credit for.
9:11 - new scene!  we're at winterfell now.  what a stark contrast to the lush splendour of king's landing - pun definitely intended!
9:12 - snap!  bran is pretty badass, himself!  and i like this kid they've cast a fair bit.  adds a great deal of maturity, particularly given that the child is supposed to be ten/eleven now, instead of seven/eight.
9:13 - omg is this a wolf dream??  aah!  fucking warg children!  that comet looks like a makeup ad, for serious.
(link)
9:13 - hello, summer!  that was not very cheesy!
9:14 -bran's out with hodor and osha, and she knows about these dreams. they argue about the dreams, and whether he has them before an inquest about the comet, and wht it means.
9:15 - some say it predicts rob's history, others say it's mourning ned, but osha knows, comets mean one thing: dragons. bran disagrees.
9:16 - we meet dany and her people crossing the desert, with a dragon on her shoulder. they're rather cute and make neat noises. they eat meat, dany's brother told him "but my brother didn't know anything about anything"
9:17 - she cages them? doreah is quite cute.
9:17 - she's so much harsher to her brother's memory than in the book.  it almost makes me wonder if they'll rethink the naming of the dragons - or her ships.
9:18 - a horse dies, it was hers from the wedding. this is sad - dany and jorah chat about how terrible life is. apparently whatever direction they go, people will kill them and take the dragons. "you must be their strength" jorah tells dany.
9:19 - dany decides to set up camp and sets out scouts to see what lies ahead over the expanse.
9:20 - their wardrobe is neat here, and i appreciate the biome music cues.
9:20 - rakarro (spelling?) is mad cute.
9:21 - scouts leave, dany stares at a comet, and we're at the waaaaaall.
9:22 - woooa, we're actually far ahead of the wall... they're already at craster's keep. exposition about how gross craster is. "it's beyond foul"... lots of incest on this show
9:22 - incest-as-shorthand-for-evil is an interesting, if heavy-handed trope in this series.  the lannisters, the targaryens, the freys, craster...
9:23 - craster hasn't seen benjen in over three years, and hasn't had good wine in a while. har, says jon is prettier than half his daughters. "snow eh, well listen to me, bastard." heh
9:24 - weirdo explicit harassment by craster, threats about staying away from his daughter. the bear is amazing. craster wants wine. they passed through 6 abandoned villages. they ask where they went. mance rayder is mentioned! calling himself king beyond the wall. all the wildlings are running with him. he's gathering an army, has more men any southern army and "when you're this far north there's only one way to march." oookay, more gross shit about his wives. bear tells craster about how they've chosen different paths. blah blah, more don't touch my wives, and (is this why quorin is halfhand? :p) and they've reached an accord. the nights watch can bunk there.
9:24 - wait, was mance rayder always a defect from the wall, and not a wildling himself?  mind = blown - and also disappointed.  what is this now, fucking avatar?  groooossss
9:2 - obviously the women still are slaves.  such a weird glimpse into their lives, rather than an actual insight into their perspectives.
9:25 - jon gets jumped by the bear who tells him to learn to follow.
9:26 - dragonstone - melisandre is here, and there are fires, and she's sermonizing. her outfit fits well. aaand, i suppose this is stannis "and the dead shall rise in the north" quoth melisandre. weird how they've moved this along
9:26 - oh my, her outfit is amazing...the metal choker/collar/epaulettes; the gem; the r'hllor heart...
we saw this in person at tiff bell lightbox, and i have to say, the show doesn't even do it justice.  though i would have loved to see the slashes revealing deeper, bloody red as described in the books.
9:26 - "you smell of fear. fear and piss and old bones. you want to stop me? stop me." bad ass
9:27 - stannis has hair and scowls like vinny jones. and his bad ass sword awaits him. he pulls it out of... something, and it's still burning! woo, burning sword! people are happy. is that ser davos back there? stannis and melisandre leave, and everyone else follows.
9:28 - cresen and davos wax poetic about how things will unfold.
9:29 -  they didn't like me!  they never liked me! (link) hahahahahaha amazing!!!  *drink*
9:29 - heh, stannis didn't love his brother. boom! incest mentioned in the letter, the kids aren't heirs to the throne...the stannisfesto so sayeth.  this all takes places before stannis' council. melisandre says the only lord they need is the lord of light. stannis is going to destroy any who don't bend the knee. i like this concept, the stannis cult, but i don't like the execution
9:30 - stannis is way unimpressive.  cressen's death was well-acted, but poorly adapted - it's such an interesting and sad scene in the prologue!  there's a complete glossing over of his motivations and relationship to stannis, but i can see how something that powerful but...let's face it, minimal within the text, could and would be cut in order to fit the novel into however many fifty-minute episodes.
9:33 - holy shit, that wolf is fucking huge now!  amazing!
9:34 - yay, jaime!!  oh shit, robb knows about the incest.  robb is throwing it down.
9:36 - don't worry, jaime...flinching is inevitable where goddamn direwolves are concerned.
9:36 - i like the casting of shae so much!  and her casual mention of the reek of decomposition and filth...leading to a discussion of it turning her on?  turns away from depicting the degradation of king's landing after robert's death and eddard's execution, and subsequent loss of trust in the throne...and its many debts...whatever.
9:37 - (link
9:39.  holyshit, cersei.  HOLYSHIT, LITTLEFINGER!  these people are getting fucking bloodthirsty - wait, i was being metaphorical.  my mistake!
9:40 - oh, cersei.  you are just phenomenal.  power is power.  and i appreciate it too.
9:42 - robb "will litter the south with lannister dead." i love his ambition.  and also his hair.  it's...it's pretty great.
942: - "oh, is he." haha oh my, robb is badass.  why is that adjective so damn applicable to everyone on this show?
9:42 - oh shit, i thought he said "we can't fight king's landing without shapes"
oh, theon.  you're so...
i can't finish that thought.  i had an excitement paroxysm.
9:43 - lady stark is amaaaaaaazing.  as is her outfit, which we also saw in person here.  unbelievable execution; there's so much narrative in the costuming alone.
but i..can't fault robb for what he is saying...not entirely.
ah...i can't be certain now, is he trying to get rid of his mother because he feels he cannot rule under her influence, or is he being truthful in his need for her skills of diplomacy to be employed in this sensitive area - and also wanting to keep her away from the battlefield and potential capture?  aaah too many dimensions
9:46 - "king renly.  a king in every corner now."
9:46 - "i think they might.  they're weak.  they put too much value on their women."  fucking christ, joffrey.
9:47 - oooooh my cod, joffrey knows so much!  this is crazy and unexpected and goddamn right she slapped him
oh my goodness
wait, can he actually stop her from hitting him?  she's still his mom and everything...
9:48 - oh, fair enough.  lessons for roz?  or maybe that wasn't roz at all.
9:49 - it's interesting - one of us read this place as scummy, and one of us read this as very lush!  strange.
9:49 - so...where is alayaya?  not that i want to see her beaten in public - that would be way too racist and triggering and horrifying.  but can she appear on the show, regardless?  come on, now.
9:50 - oh right, infanticide like whoa.  okay.  that's brutal.
brutal. (link)
9:50 - fuck, spoke too soon! 
BRUTALITOPS!! (link)
9:51 - gendry!  that means arya soon!  err, i mean, arry!  fuck yessssss
hir haircut is way more...even than it reads!  but whatever, i guess that hollywood/boxoffice
WHAT WHY IS IT OVER NOW BOOOOOO

our verdict?
sort of a pretty much a movie - live!!!!

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