1.07 Game of Thrones - You Win or You Die

[Daisy-Boo]

This episode was fantastic!

I'm reading the book rather slowly so I haven't yet reached the point where the TV series is at. Consequently, I don't know how Tywin Lannister looks in the books. So when I saw Charles Dance I immediately sat up a little straighter. The man has a mesmerising screen presence and Tywin made Jaime look like a chastened little boy. The stag skinning was so real. Everything in that scene was perfect. More Charles Dance please!

(Sidenote: I love Charles Dance as the Patrician. As much as I liked Jeremy Irons in The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic, he was over-shadowed by Dance in Going Postal.)

Khal Drogo was great. That whole scene was chock full of testosterone. I giggled just a bit when I realised that some of Drogo's strutting around the fire reminded me (just a little) of the kind of strutting that rappers do. It was about time we got to see that side of Drogo.

And yay for no Dany blank-face! It feels like Emilia Clarke is finally settling into the role and it shows.

Poor Ned. Poor honourable naive Ned. I'm as infuriated with him as I am sorry for him.

Joffrey Bieber* now has the throne.

*io9's nickname for Joffrey.

 

[digs]

I found this in a review and had to share it (by Boromir they obviously mean Ned):

"Anyway, Renly is basically arguing that he deserves to be king (and given the competition, he may well be right). But Boromir, a man of unbending principle except when it comes to rewriting wills, refuses to go for this."

 

[Red 13]

Hahaha,Joffrey Bieber, thats brilliant!

 

[Daisy-Boo]

Hahaha,Joffrey Bieber, thats brilliant!

I love io9's recaps. Meredith, Annalee and Charlie-Jane write brilliantly. I persevered with The Event and V only because of fantastic io9 recaps that had me snorting with laughter. They do insightful and witty recaps that have to be read to be believed.

 

[Red 13]

I love io9's recaps. Meredith, Annalee and Charlie-Jane write brilliantly. I persevered with The Event and V only because of fantastic io9 recaps that had me snorting with laughter. They do insightful and witty recaps that have to be read to be believed.

Cool,I've never herd of io9 before, i'll have to check it out.

 

[Tansy]

Overall my fave episode so far little things that irked were Ghost barking, Tywin's hair and the whole soft porn littlefinger Roz infodump scene, I mean how long did that scene last, didn't think that was allowed in the US lol

Twin and Drogo stole the show I think

 

[Brian G Turner]

The lesbian scene early on was too much like porn - Tywin's intro was good and Charles Dance looks very much the part, though would have preferred to see him dressed more lordly.

The Dany story is developing well, as is the Night's Watch, and the whole Kings Landing drama was excellent.

 

[Red 13]

I completely agree with the lesbian sex scene being just like porn. I've got nothing against a bit of sex in every episode but this episodes particular taky sex scene was borderline hardcore porn and completely unnecassary. Apart from that it was a really good episode.

 

[Slyde]

I completely agree with the lesbian sex scene being just like porn. I've got nothing against a bit of sex in every episode but this episodes particular taky sex scene was borderline hardcore porn and completely unnecassary. Apart from that it was a really good episode.

I agree with you and 'I, Brian'.

I'm not a prude, and I enjoy a good sex scene as much as any other guy, but this felt like porn thrown in for the sake of showing porn. Yes, it did allow Petyr to present his POV, but that could've been done in many other ways. The Jaime/Tywin conversation is an excellent example.

Up until now, Jason Mamoa's role as Khal Drogo reminded me a lot of Arnold Schwarzenegger's movies - lots of action with little dialogue - but he really came to life in this episode and showed what an excellent actor he is. (I already knew that from Stargate Atlantis)

Overall, I liked this episode a lot. Very well done.

 

[svalbard]

The Jaime/Tywin scene cannot be compared to Litlefinger. Both are animals of a completely different nature to Littlefinger. Their scene suited their characters and the sex scene(which was no where near hardcore porn) suited Littlefinger's. The producers face a dilemma with a show like this. They are now competing with the likes of STARZ and shows like Spartacus.

 

[Slyde]

The Jaime/Tywin scene cannot be compared to Litlefinger. Both are animals of a completely different nature to Littlefinger. Their scene suited their characters and the sex scene(which was no where near hardcore porn) suited Littlefinger's. The producers face a dilemma with a show like this. They are now competing with the likes of STARZ and shows like Spartacus.

I mainly just wanted to make a point that scenes that are added purely to provide some of the narrative that was found throughout the book don't have to be porn just for the sake of porn.

The books have plenty of sex in them, but all of it seems to fit perfectly within the story. Most (if not all) of the sex scenes shown so far weren't in the book and feel like they were added just to compete with other shows.

I like True Blood and Spartacus, and if I hadn't read the books I might not be such a purist with Game of Thrones.

 

[Culhwch]

The sex scene was far too much. In a series featuring a number of sex scenes that were too much, it was far, far too much. I'm going to get shouted down for saying this, I'm sure, and I do know that Martin is a stringent supporter of the show, but if this was an adaptation of one of my works, I'd be horrified. And I'd be disgusted to watch it while sitting next to my wife. But hey, maybe George and Parris are a little kinky like that, who knows...

Elsewise a good episode. The Tywin and Jaime scene was excellent - Dance was wonderful. Sam and Jon remain strong. the Drogo scene was impressive. Cut out the Littlefinger scene, which was unnecessary - all that information could have been worked into conversations between Littlefinger and Ned, Littlefinger and Cat, and Cat and Ned in the earlier episode - and it would have been a very good episode. I still firmly believe there is an amazing amount of potential left off the screen, however.

 

[seek3r]

The sex scene was far too much. In a series featuring a number of sex scenes that were too much, it was far, far too much. I'm going to get shouted down for saying this, I'm sure, and I do know that Martin is a stringent supporter of the show, but if this was an adaptation of one of my works, I'd be horrified. And I'd be disgusted to watch it while sitting next to my wife. But hey, maybe George and Parris are a little kinky like that, who knows....

For an opposing viewpoint, my girlfriend actually called me up to tell me to watch that scene (have it DVRd, hadn't watched the whole ep yet at that point and she knew it), so not all of us have a problem watching that scene with SOs!

 

[Tezz]

Fantastic Episode, My only regret is that i cant wipe my memory and knowledge of the books out of my mind for one hour each week and watch it without trying to pick holes in it

Drogo stole the show for me this week he actually became a fleshed out character and not just a moody looking generic barbarian with eye shadow, as someone said earlier i wanted to cross the narrow sea with him.

Littlefinger's portrayal is bothering me for some reason i cant pinpoint maybe its how the actor is portraying him im not to sure, I wasnt overly kean on the sex scene this week it seemed to drag on and on and could have been done without to be honest.

All in all a fantastic episode only 2 left

 

[Gamblor]

just got around to watching this episode and I have to say I thought it was excellent and the best so far.

THere were some excellent shots and one of the first things I thought was that the director had done an excellent job with this episode.

Favourite scene was between Jaime and Tywin -thought Tywin was excellent, really excellent!

The sex scene was fine for me - I think it served a purpose of making the audience uncomfortable.

I just thought the girls were hot!

 

[Ursa major]

All in all a fantastic episode only 2 left

Only three episodes left: 1.08 "The Pointy End"; 1.09 "Baelor"; and 1.10 "Fire and Blood".

 

[Culhwch]

The sex scene was fine for me - I think it served a purpose of making the audience uncomfortable.

How is that the purpose of the scene? To what end?

 

[svalbard]

The purpose of the scene was to reveal more of Littlefinger's character. From what he does in the later the books, I thought it showed rather well the sewer that his mind is. As stated elsewhere I feel there is far too much hoopla about the so called 'porn' in the show. It is fairly mild to be honest.

 

[Culhwch]

I understand that the purpose of the scene was to reveal more of Littlefinger's character, but as I said I believe that that could have been handled differently. I was curious as to why Gamblor thought the writers/directors felt it necessary to make the audience uncomfortable.

 

[Daisy-Boo]

Svalbard, I think you raise a very interesting point about the sex scene showing us something about Littlefinger's character. That scene, while titillating, didn't seem to make much sense to me but I'm reconsidering now.

However, I'm still puzzled as to why Littlefinger would reveal so much to a woman he just met, but who he must know came from Winterfell. He gave her enough information to easily figure out that he was referring to Catelyn and Ned Stark. I suppose even Littlefinger feels the rare need to fully reveal who and what he is but it still felt odd that he did it with her.