Whom would you choose to be? SPOILERS

[Ursa major]

In the book, "Renly had been a boy of eight when Robert won the throne, but he..."

That's the missing first part of the sentence of Eddard's that I posted above. That would make Renly eight or nine years older than Dany. Of course, the younger characters have been aged, as have their parents (Ned is 35 in Bran's first chapter**), so this would affect various comparisons.



** - Sean Bean was 51 when Game of Thrones was filmed. To be fair, Bran thought that the fact that his father's beard was shot with white made him look older than 35.

*** - Before anyone asks, Stannis was a year younger than Robert.

 

[Needle]

I think the age difference between the actors cast as Robert and Renly is a little too much. TV Robert looks almost old enough to be Renly's father, rather than older brother. I don't believe the difference in the books was anywhere near as large (though I can't remember exactly).

I'm sure all us ladies would agree on the following:

1) Book Renly is gorgeous and we all love him
2) TV Renly is nowhere near as attractive as he should be

Mouse, Needle - any disagreement?

No disagreement from me! Mouse should definitly be pretty Renly from the book.

 

[Ursa major]

No disagreement from me! Mouse should definitly be pretty Renly from the book.

Is it a squeaking part...?

(As opposed to one restricted to silent models.)

 

[HoopyFrood]

I've only seen photos of tv Renly, but as I've said elsewhere, he has been my most major cast dislike of the lot. Mostly 'cos I like him so much in the books. Where's the flowing hair?!

 

[Mouse]

I think the age difference between the actors cast as Robert and Renly is a little too much. TV Robert looks almost old enough to be Renly's father, rather than older brother. I don't believe the difference in the books was anywhere near as large (though I can't remember exactly).

I'm sure all us ladies would agree on the following:

1) Book Renly is gorgeous and we all love him
2) TV Renly is nowhere near as attractive as he should be

Mouse, Needle - any disagreement?

None from me!

I'm also missing Renly's flowing locks. And, if Loras doesn't like hairy Renly, why didn't he shave that awful beard off him? That might've helped some.

 

[Ursa major]

Next you lot will be wanting to watch whole episodes of Ren & Skimpy....

 

[Mesanna]

LOL, nah, we want the Loras & Renly spin-off reality show, where we get to watch them go shopping for rainbow cloaks, eat peaches & look at those books in the library!

 

[Needle]

LOL, nah, we want the Loras & Renly spin-off reality show, where we get to watch them go shopping for rainbow cloaks, eat peaches & look at those books in the library!

TOO FUNNY, Mesanna! Blew mountain dew otta my nose reading this! I forgot all about those books!

You never did say who you would be. Sorry pretty Renly has been claimed!

 

[the smiling weirwood]

Yeah, I have to say he's not bad. I wouldn't say no to him, but he's like random bar guy cute not amazingly handsome as his character should be.

 

[Mesanna]

@Needle I'm not quite sure who I'd like to be. If not Renly, then probably Arya even though she's had some really tough times. Jaime is my favourite character, but I'm not sure I'd want to be him. I wouldn't mind Tyrion's smart mouth though!

I think part of my problem with TV Renly is not just his looks (because let's face it, attractiveness is entirely subjective), but I feel that they've changed his personality somewhat too. Book Renly is just so much fun, and he seems so confident and assured too. TV Renly seems a wee bit of a whiny boy to be honest, and I never got that feeling from reading the books. I love Renly's character and was devastated when he died (me & Loras both!), but I think if I'd never read the books, I wouldn't have any strong feelings toward the TV character at all. And that's an injustice!

 

[Mouse]

Mesanna, I totally agree. He's had a personality transplant and I'm not sure why.

I also agree that we need a Loras/Renly reality show.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I agree that TV Renly isn't as dashing and debonair and witty as I read him to be. I really liked him in the books!

 

[Mesanna]

It's kinda strange reading back through these comments. Renly might not be your favourite character, but everyone seems to like him (book Renly, that is). Is there anyone here who doesn't like Renly? And why?

 

[Ursa major]

I haven't reached the appropriate part of AGoT in my re-read yet, but I don't recall being convinced of the rightness of Renly's grab for the throne, particularly as he wouldn't have known (much?) about the direction of Mel's influence on Stannis, Robert's rightful** heir.








** - Give or take your position on Joffrey's legal right to inherit the throne.

 

[Mesanna]

Legally, I don't think Renly had any right. If Joffrey was proven to be a *******, Stannis had to be next in line. Could Stannis be disqualified for turning his back on the Seven Gods? I can't remember.

On a completely unrelated side note, is it just me or does this totally look like GRRM in today's "A Softer World" strip?

http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=680

 

[Lyanna Stark]

Mesanna, I just finished my rereads of GoT and CoK (I'm more than 2/3 through SoS) and so far there hasn't been any mention of a Stannis "disqualification for crapping on The Seven," although it would be fabulous if that's how it turned out.

As for the question posed in this thread, we know little but from everything we do know, I would totally be Lyanna Stark (not that my handle makes that obvious or anything). Of course the downside to this is that at the start of the story, Lyanna's already suffering from a permanent case of dead, something that I am not nor plan to be at any time in the near future.

That leaves Daenerys. The inability to bear children isn't an issue for me. Despite being young, she's extremely confident, competent, and capable. She knows what she wants, she knows what needs doing to achieve it, and while she's cunning and merciless with her enemies, she's extremely sympathetic to those who've suffered abuse (namely the vast numbers of slaves she's freed). She knows who she is, and embraces it.

 

[Ursa major]

...but I don't recall being convinced of the rightness of Renly's grab for the throne, particularly as he wouldn't have known (much?) about the direction of Mel's influence on Stannis, Robert's rightful** heir.

I'm a lot further behind in my re-read than Lyanna: I'm just about to start Jon's last chapter on AGoT. Which means I've just read Tyrion's last chapter in that book, where Tywin mentions's Stannis's bringing of a shadowbinder from Asshai. Obviously, the first time I read that, I had no idea of what it meant or what consequences would follow. (And, I suppose, I forgot it before reading the relevant scenes in ACoK.)

Given Tywin's description, I'll be far less understanding about Stannis's rôle in Mel's homicidal activities on my re-read. Whether Renly would have known, I don't know, but I can't help thinking that someone in the Tyrell household might have.

 

[Mesanna]

@Lyanna Firstly, welcome to the forum!

Lyanna was definitely a cool character and I wish we knew more about her. Plus she gets to cuddle up with Rhaegar, who I suspect was even hotter than Renly! I like your reasoning for picking Daenerys though.

I wasn't sure if rejecting the Seven disqualified you from being King. I think it was someone else's comment made me question it. You have to wonder though, with the religious zealots taking over Kings Landing, if this is something that may come back to bite Stannis. That's assuming of course that he makes it back from the Wall alive.

@Ursa Good pick up on the shadowbinder. I think I completely missed that. You would think that if the Tyrells knew, surely Renly would know? Wouldn't it be to the Tyrell's advantage to share information like this, cos they and Renly were on the same side? I wonder where Tywin Lannister got his info. Maybe just a Lannister spy in Stannis's household or is Varys playing games again? (And I'm 100% certain that if Tywin knew, Varys also knew).

 

[Koopa]

Lyanna (and Rhaegar) leave me with mixed feelings.
I like their separate actions and I know the first aegon married both his sisters and all that, but still...
doesn't change the fact that Rhaegar was cheating on his wife, and Lyanna was an adultress.I know these things happen, but i still just can't stand cheaters. Admittedly, you can't seem to get an easy divorce in Westeros.

 

[Mesanna]

It's hard for me to think of Lyanna as an adultress as she wasn't married to Robert yet. I suppose it's because, with my western upbringing, I find the concept of an arranged marriage rather alien, so I can't condemn Lyanna for "cheating" on someone she didn't choose. You have to wonder if she'd had free choice, would she have picked Robert? Doesn't she express doubts about him to Ned? And with Rhaegar, again, it's different customs. I presume the Targs believed they were allowed more than one wife, just as a few religions allow that today. I would say Robert and Cersei are adulterers, but I can't be too judgemental on Rhaegar and Lyanna. Just my tuppence worth!