HBO officially commissions Season 1 of GAME OF THRONES

[Culhwch]

There's some chatter about that in another thread as well, Boaz.

Confirmation that Syrio Forel will be in the TV series, including a hint from GRRM that his role will be larger, or he will evade death and reappear later.

Missed this when it was first posted. From that link:

Now for the big scoop (at least imo). I asked him to please give us some insight as to whether Syrio Forel is alive or dead. He chuckled and said that Syrio was alive in the [HBO] series at least because he had written some scenes for him in episode 8!!!!!! Whew! That puts a lot of doubt to rest in my mind!

I don't see this as a hint that his role will be larger or that he evades death at all. For a start, if he's dead in the books (debatable, yes, though I definitely think he is) I don't think they're going to change it for the series. I don't really see what the point would be. There's no role for him beyond Arya's escape through the next three published books at least, and I don't really see one in the upcoming books either. If he shows up again, fair enough, though it's going to take some handy writing to make me accept it.

Secondly - of course he's still alive in the series. It hasn't aired yet. He'll continue to be alive until that episode airs. Then he'll be dead. I think the poster here is reading far too much into this comment. I suspect Arya's escape simply pops up in George's ep, and so, in that episode, Syrio is still alive. Does he leave the episode the same way? There's no indication of that in this quote, to me at least.

 

[Boaz]

Cul, that thread was posted out in the General Discussion forums. Heathens and Savages lurk there. I'm not going out there. Nooooooo, I posted here so that only those raised in the eyes of the Seven, those true Andals may know and understand.

<begins singing>

"Gentle Mother, font of mercy,
Save us..."

 

[The Imp]

I think it will eventually be revealed that Syrio is really, hold onto your hats, sit down for this one

Jaqan H'ghar, or rather, the man who assumed the identity of Jaqan.

GRRM will NOT allow the HBO series to deviate in any meaningful way (from the books), therefore, there is nothing to read into this other than GRRM was writing lines like "and you are slow for a Knight" as SYrio was "dancing" around Merryn Trant. SAyrio will not make a reappearance, if he ever does, until at least ADWD, and then it may only be a revelation as opposed to the actual character.

 

[No One]

I think it will eventually be revealed that Syrio is really, hold onto your hats, sit down for this one

Jaqan H'ghar, or rather, the man who assumed the identity of Jaqan.

GRRM will NOT allow the HBO series to deviate in any meaningful way (from the books), therefore, there is nothing to read into this other than GRRM was writing lines like "and you are slow for a Knight" as SYrio was "dancing" around Merryn Trant. SAyrio will not make a reappearance, if he ever does, until at least ADWD, and then it may only be a revelation as opposed to the actual character.

I'm one of the stout believers that the much-ridiculed Meryn Trant couldn't have possibly overcome Syrio - and that Syrio may well be Jaqan (we still don't know why he was in Kings Landing and his posing as a prisoner makes sense for a good escape). I'd also expect Trant to have mentioned his "glorious" victory over Syrio at some point, which he never did (as I recall). All speculation of course, but I completely agree with Imp.

The teaser trailer is promising (I will not let my expectations spiral out of control, I will not let my expectations spiral out of control, I will not...)

*follows Boaz' lead*

"...sons from war, we pray,
stay the swords and stay the arrows..."

 

[Sereph]

I'm not sure Trant would have mentioned his 'glorious' victory over what everyone else assumed was a dancing teacher. I think it's more likely that he got ridiculed for the men of his who were severly injured while trying to capture a small child and as such learnt never to talk willingly about the matter ever again I'd still like to know if Jaqan was captured and placed in dungeons or whether he allowed himself to be caught for a greater scheme...one day, one day all the questions will be answered.....*crosses fingers*

 

[TK-421]

Wow, I just seen the new webpage over at HBO. Totally awesome.

 

[Boaz]

Imp and No One, I was thinking about Syrio's scenes after his encounter with Ser Meryn and I came to the opposite conclusion. Syrio will not be around to prove that he is Jaqen... Syrio will be around to prove that he is not Jaqen.

If Ser Meryn smacks the former First Sword of Braavos around and tosses him in the dungeons, then when Yoren takes his new recruits from KL we can see Syrio and Jaqen side by side. I believe this will finally allow GRRM to finally lay the Syrio=Jaqen myth to rest.

Syrio can be killed off when Addam Marbrand attacks Yoren.

 

[The Imp]

I'm not sure Trant would have mentioned his 'glorious' victory over what everyone else assumed was a dancing teacher. I think it's more likely that he got ridiculed for the men of his who were severly injured while trying to capture a small child and as such learnt never to talk willingly about the matter ever again I'd still like to know if Jaqan was captured and placed in dungeons or whether he allowed himself to be caught for a greater scheme...one day, one day all the questions will be answered.....*crosses fingers*

The question of how a Faceless Man could possibly be captured has never been answered by anyone. Furthermore, no one has ever explained how a Faceless Man could be kept in captivity by the likes of Yoren unless he wanted to be. I believe that it's a virtual certainty that Jaqan wanted to be sent to the wall via King's Landing, and that his motivation is Arya.

As for the fight, I don't know that we would be privy to a conversation where Trant would have bragged about such a victory, so that fact that we didn't hear him speak of it means almost nothing.

I'm going back right now to disect that fight (yet again) and maybe do a separate post about it.

or maybe not

 

[No One]

Boaz - you've confused the heck outta me (and not for the first time). It may be that Syrio turns up, as you say, to conclusively prove he is not Jaqan, but surely Arya would've recognized Syrio among Yoren's conscripts? And to kill him off at that point, without making an issue of it, would seem wasteful of GRRM (assuming I've interpreted your post correctly).

Imp - I'd like to think that Jaqan has a special interest in Arya (ooo, that sounds wrong), but it's hard to fathom why. I suppose it's possible that he killed the real Syrio in King's Landing to assume his identity and simply saw the potential in her, but we know he must still have had alterior motives to be in Westeros (as he tells Arya, he has "business" to attend to). As you implied, a Faceless Man would only be a prisoner of his own volition though I doubt he ever intended to reach the Wall. I'm increasingly convinced it was Jaqan who killed Balon Greyjoy, but that might suggest he's doing some work for Crow's Eye, but maybe not exclusively...unless there are several Faceless Men working in Westeros and we can have a Faceless Man Face-off!!!

The more I think about Jaqan, the more I love him.

On a personal note: I am so happy I've started re-reading AGOT. Meeting the stalwart Lord Eddard Stark...seeing little Bran climbing (it was actually worse second time round. Damn you Jaime!)...poor and noble Jon...plucky and adorable little Arya...and Robb. Ah Robb, I've got a good feeling about your future, lad. I feel like I've come home. Excuse me, I-I have something in my eye...

 

[Boaz]

No One, I'm talking about the info that GRRM will write more scenes for Syrio (in the HBO version) after Arya is captured. I'm just posing "what if's"... How can we explain the appearance of a character whom GRRM has stronly led us to believe has been killed. I'm not just referring to his fight with Ser Meryn, it's been posted (I believe by Werthead... Wert, if I'm incorrect, please forgive me.) that GRRM has been asked a gajillion times "Is Syrio still alive?" to which GRRM replies something like "For Pete's sake, Syrio just gave Arya a lesson in seeing, truly seeing... Then an annointed knight of the Kingsguard in full plate and equipped with a longsword goes up against a man in linen armed with a stick... You do the math."

I'm just exploring how Syrio will be used before he's killed on screen. Will Varys use him in the dungeons to break Eddard? Will Cersei get her first taste of torture with Syrio? Will Joff torture Syrio? Will Arya crawl under the Keep looking for her father, but stumble upon poor Syrio?

Or... [Crackpot Theory of the Day Alert] will Syrio be dressed up as Eddard and executed? What if Eddard is still alive? Neither Tyrion nor Tywin could have known about it. Only Varys could have accomplished this... We know that both Theon and Jeyne Poole were kept prisoners for a long time, long enough to completely break them... Why would Varys want to break Eddard Stark?

 

[TK-421]

For those from Canada, who may have been confused like I was why the Game of Thrones page is not available on the HBO Canada website and only on the US site, see my recent communication with HBO Canada customer care:

Question to HBO Canada: I am wondering why the new Game of Thrones series webpage on the HBO site is not available on the HBO Canada website? Will the
series, which debuts in 2011 not be shown on HBO Canada?

Response from HBO Canada:
I would like to thank you for your e-mail. Here at HBO Canada, it is
always a pleasure to hear from our subscribers and to address any
questions, comments and concerns that you may have.

There is no doubt that people are looking forward to seeing 'Game of
Thrones.' I spoke with the marketing department and can confirm to you
that we will also be airing sometime in the Spring of next year.

I can now sleep easy.

 

[Culhwch]

No One, I'm talking about the info that GRRM will write more scenes for Syrio (in the HBO version) after Arya is captured. I'm just posing "what if's"... How can we explain the appearance of a character whom GRRM has stronly led us to believe has been killed. I'm not just referring to his fight with Ser Meryn, it's been posted (I believe by Werthead... Wert, if I'm incorrect, please forgive me.) that GRRM has been asked a gajillion times "Is Syrio still alive?" to which GRRM replies something like "For Pete's sake, Syrio just gave Arya a lesson in seeing, truly seeing... Then an annointed knight of the Kingsguard in full plate and equipped with a longsword goes up against a man in linen armed with a stick... You do the math."

I'm just exploring how Syrio will be used before he's killed on screen. Will Varys use him in the dungeons to break Eddard? Will Cersei get her first taste of torture with Syrio? Will Joff torture Syrio? Will Arya crawl under the Keep looking for her father, but stumble upon poor Syrio?

Or... [Crackpot Theory of the Day Alert] will Syrio be dressed up as Eddard and executed? What if Eddard is still alive? Neither Tyrion nor Tywin could have known about it. Only Varys could have accomplished this... We know that both Theon and Jeyne Poole were kept prisoners for a long time, long enough to completely break them... Why would Varys want to break Eddard Stark?

You've gotta think they'll be trying to cut scenes, rather than add them. And those that they add will be to take the place of two or three or four scenes they cut to save time (eg Tyrion in a brothel - boom, character development in an instant). So how does any of this fit into that kind of thinking?

Oh, and I posted this a while ago, not sure if you were thinking of it:

6.1.3. Is Syrio dead?

Syrio’s fate is completely unknown. However, speculation has run between his having been killed, his having been imprisoned, and his having been merely a disguise of a Faceless Man who was thrown into the black cells, changed into Jaqen H’ghar, and is now at large in Westeros. A Feast for Crows appears to put an end to this latter theory, as Jaqen H’ghar was apparently already in the black cells before Syrio’s confrontation with Meryn Trant.

In 2005, GRRM pointed out that Syrio seems to have been left in a hopeless situation when he was last seen, and suggested readers should "draw your own conclusions" based on this (SSM), which seems to imply that Syrio Forel was in fact killed. More recent reports (but, it should be said, unconfirmed) indicate GRRM does not understand why he gets asked the question repeatedly, pointing out that Syrio is not immortal; if accurate, this seems to more heavily imply that Syrio Forel is dead.

From Westeros.org.

Tell me, all you Syrio-is-alivers - when the series finishes, and Syrio never appears again, are you all still going to assert the fact that he was never mentioned again PROVES he survived?

 

[No One]

Boaz - Gotcha. Well, if it's something that's annoying GRRM then he may well want to show Syrio dying in the tv series to put that to rest, but he knew people are going to ask him about Syrio, given the nature of the POV, so if he really wanted to put that to rest he could have at any stage of the books since. Might he not just be pulling a fast one? The math for Bronn in his fight for Tyrion was very similar (granted Bronn was at least properly armed but then I imagine the First Sword of Bravos was/is a much more accomplished fighter*).

Cul - if there's not another word then I'll gladly accept he's dead...

Personally I hope the tv series isn't used to answer these sorts of questions - it should be busy just trying to be as true to the books as humanly possible, as Cul said.

And I absolutely refuse to believe that Eddard is still alive. Now there's a rumour that GRRM should quash. imo it would undermine one of the most powerful scenes in the whole story and make AGOT much less effective a book in retrospect.

*I know he got that title by speaking the truth about a cat, but let's not forget how he breezed through several men - even Sandor might've broken a sweat in that situation.

 

[Ursa major]

The two main reasons that people wonder about Syrio's survival are that:

1. No POV character seems to have reported his death. (I've only read the books the one time, so I'm not yet in a position to read between the lines);
2. GRRM is tricksy and has been pulling rabbits out of hats all through the books.

 

[TK-421]

Ursa: your are 100% correct. On this one, I'm a little like New Labour: comfortably sitting on the fence and waiting to see where the wind blows.

 

[Boaz]

GRRM posted on the construction of Castle Black...

The LARNE TIMES broke the story a "massive castle" being build in an old quarry near Magheramorne for HBO's GAME OF THRONES. The quarry is about forty minutes north of Belfast, near the town of Larne.

I can confirm that, more or less. The set being built at Magheramorne will be our Castle Black. Not actually THAT massive a castle -- much of Castle Black will be created in post with CGI -- but it will come complete with a fully operable winch elevator, David and Dan tell me.

Google tells me that "the gobbinsite at Magheramorne quarry is found as a rare filling of vugs and vesicles." I have no idea what that means, but hey, it sounds like it came straight out of someone's fantasy novel. Gobbins, vugs, and vesicles all in one place. I hope they don't attack the castle. Those gobbins are mean sonsobitches.

Let me caution anyone reading this, however -- please DO NOT go rushing off to visit Magheramorne. Quarries can be dangerous places, and construction sites doubly so. We don't want any fans getting hurt. Besides, why spoil the illusion? Castle Black will be best viewed on screen, in all its glory.

(And no, HBO will not actually be building a 700 foot high wall of ice. We tried, but the cubes kept melting).

And he confirmed the hiring of hair and makeup artist, Paul Englelen.

Everyone is all in a frenzy for casting news, I know, I know... but it takes a lot of talent to make quality television and film, and not all of that talent is in front of the cameras.

David Benioff and Dan Weiss and the good folks at HBO have been assembling a terrific team for GAME OF THRONES. I thought you all might like to hear about one of the latest hires come aboard -- world-class makeup artist PAUL ENGELEN has signed up to do the hair and makeup design for our series.

You may or may not have heard of Mr. Engelen before, but if you've seen a TV show or a film in the last couple of decades, you have certainly seen his work. His credits include Ridley Scott's recent ROBIN HOOD, Narnia, CASINO ROYALE, V FOR VENDETTA, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, TROY, GLADIATOR, James Bond, Tarzan, A FISH CALLED WANDA, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS... oh, and something called STAR WARS too.

Oh, and he's been nominated twice for the Academy Award for best makeup, and five times for a BAFTA. Won one of the latter, too.

He's a exciting addition to the GAME OF THRONES team, and we're all thrilled to have him on board.

 

[Ursa major]

To save you all googling, here are some definitions (all courtesy of Wiktionary):

vug: A small to medium-sized cavity inside rock that may be formed through a variety of processes.

gobbinsite: A tektosilicate of sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium (if you hadn't already guessed ).

vesicle (geology): A small cavity formed in volcanic rock by entrapment of a gas bubble during solidification.

 

[No One]

heh, just read GRRM's blog a bit earlier.

Ursa, your explanation of Gobbinsite sounds a lot more pleasant than what I imagined, even if I don't know what the hell a tektosilicate is.

 

[Boaz]

Ooooh, they started filming again! I'm so excited.... Gaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!

 

[hadd]

I sure would like to spend the end of my summer in Belfast, heh.
News is looking good though, i just hope they don't make too many cuts on the cast further on in the show. However small the roles seem to be on the big screen, they all add their something of importance to the story.