Game Of Thrones Season 2: Throne Harder SPOILER FREE

I am reading the first non-existent book now after having seen the first season.  Pretty jazzed for the new season.  If it was just 10 hours of Daenerys I wouldn't object.

I would absolutely object to not seeing Tyrion serve as hand of the king for his shitbag doublenephew.

Yay, excited....

 

I'm not really worried about the show dropping the ball.  If I may blatantly disregard the original post for a moment, the mere fact that there are 7 books in the series and the fans are still so enthusiastic is encouraging.  They obviously have plenty of room to color outside those lines as they wish, but having a strong long-term outline means there isn't the same danger of things spinning completely off the rails the way something like (insert Lost/The Matrix/whatever property has disappointed you most recently here) did.  Unless budgets start getting slashed wildly or the entire behind-the-scenes talent pool quits, I expect quality to remain fairly consistent throughout the run.

I'm dying to get to the Night Watch's adventures north of the Wall. For all the shit going down in the southlands, I keep sensing there's this big-ass Sword o' Damocles dangling up north on a very frayed and thinning thread. I'm (kind of) sure it won't snap in the second season of potentially seven, but, hell, I gotsta know what's going on up there. And Benjen Stark! The Starks have gotten fucked enough already, I'd like to see him rescued from whatever. (What, a happy ending? On this show? HA)

 

And to echo the BOOKS DON'T EXIST HERE sentiment, and this may be just me, but I'd like if this extends to not discussing stuff in the books that HAS already happened, such as character background or omissions, plot differences, etc. Cause I'll likely read the books someday as well, and I'd prefer not to have those spoiled, either. So, simply no compare/contrast here at all, if I may be so bold to request.

Had a post here, but it mentioned the books in the abstract. I don't think anyone would have been offended, but I'll delete it anyway just to keep in the spirit of the thread.

So excited. Totally taking advantage of a friend who has HBO. 

 

And Tyrion in King's Landing is what's getting me the MOST excited. He was amusing and exciting enough on his own, but now he'll be sharing scenes with Joffrey, Cersei, Littlefinger, Varys, Pycelle...and unlike Ned, he knows the way this game is played! 

 

Also excited to see what Arya will be up to. You don't have a character watch their father get decapitated in front of them and not have that character come back to wreak vengeance in a most satisfying way. That's just a given. 

I would like to add that the show adapted the book ridiculously well.  Better than anything in recent memory.  It may start to stray a bunch later and I have heard that some of the sex is far more prominent on the show.

 

Regardless, what excites me is I have no clue what the second season has in store.  Sure, the pieces are being moved into place, but I couldn't remotely predict what this next season is going to do or say or where it's going to go.

I'd argue that in a couple of cases, the first season improves some of the stuff from the book. But that's enough be cause THE BOOKS DO NOT EXIST!

I find myself in a weird position, as I'm reading the books presently. I'm almost finished with the third, but I don't want stuff from the later ones spoiled, so I'll probably stick to this thread. And I won't mention the thing I'm not supposed to mention anymore. Can't wait for the show!

 

Of the southern stuff, this has me the most on edge. On the rewatch, when the Night's Watch "recruiter" starts his caravan of "recruits" out of King's Landing, I just kept thinking, "Please just get her to Winterfell. They have to pass right by Winterfell, right? How hard can it be to make it to Winterfell? Drop her off, and everything's hunky dory." And that there's no reason for her dire wolf not to come hang out again, so that fat kid better keep his hands to himself.

 

Because Arya is going to end up as the Awesome Queen of Everything. Martin, don't you fuck me on this.

I'm sure non-readers are avoiding interviews anyway, but you should REALLY avoid the TV Guide interview with Harington, Dinklage and Coster-Waldau that just went up. They're absolutely shameless about spoilers.

Cannot fucking wait for this.  I'm going to be tearing through the blu-rays all week in anticipation.  

 

Thing I'm most looking forward to this season: Neil Marshall directing an episode penned by Martin. 

Dany's cute and all but Cersei is so much more fun.

Just to be clear as well, Season 1 of the television show DOES EXIST and if you haven't seen it and we're talking about THE TELEVISION SHOW, tough break, here's the Blu-Ray and see you in 10 hours?

 

Not that I can see that happening often, because I can't imagine people starting season 2 without having either seen the show or read the books, but still.

So, I'm really the only one holding faint, futile hope that they didn't kill off Syrio Forel that quick? Is that still allowed?

I have a friend that watched one mid-season episode of the 4th season of Mad Men and thought it was boring and confusing (imagine that!).  So he decided to watch the premiere of the 5th season.  He said: nope still boring and confusing.  I told him to piss off. I have never understood watching a show midway through it's run.  I guess a show here or there, and nearly every sitcom wouldn't be a problem but dramas? Genre shows?  Cmon!

 

I told him, well it helps to start from the beginning, since this is a show about characters.

 

Point is, unfortunately, and mostly due to hype, people will try to watch the second season without having watched the first.

 

Quote:

Oh man, how I'd love to see a scene between the two of them. Dany would totally hand Cersei her ass. And I mean that in the least sexual way possible. 

Well, there's only one true god, and that is Death. And what do we say to him?

Syrio said that?? Wow, my memory is going.

Yah, well, fuck em. What can you do? 

 

As a reader, I'm likely going to be fairly silent in this thread, but I encourage you all to make as much wild speculation as you can. It's honestly edifying to see people reel from the twists in a new medium. 

Nah, I think that situation will be rare. The DVD/Blu-ray/downloads of season 1 has been widely available for everyone for weeks. 

 

So has Mad Men (available for even longer) and plenty of assholes still try to watch the 5th season anyway.  I am not saying that the number is that big, but there will still be a fair share.

Hey, this may be a little off-topic but does anyone know the ins and outs of HBO-GO?  As in, will episodes of the new season be viewable with it?  I just heard that it's available on Xbox 360 (with a LIVE gold account), and I'm wondering if I would be able to use my friend's account to see Game of Thrones season 2 instead of trekking to their house to watch their DVR'd episodes.  I guess my main question is, how fast are new episodes put up on HBO Go?

I wish I could help, but I just dl it yesterday.  I would like to know as well.

I live in California and can watch Eastbound anytime after 6 p.m. PST or so.  Basically, that shit's up quick!

Yeah, but the thing is, S1 is out on DVD and Blu-Ray for all to see. S2 is going to require either an HBO subscription or some illegal downloading (which, for all that we talk about it, is still something a relatively small portion of the population knows how to do). Actually I think it's been cool how many people seem to have willingly waited for the DVD.

Waited yes, but I still would've ripped all y'alls arms off if I didn't have to wait the 40ish weeks it took to get out here. Not saying it's not worth it and I appreciate the time and care put into the entire package (it's one of my favorite TV sets ever) but god damn, the wait was bruuuuutal. Damn you HBO and your high quality television and lack of online only Go service. I get it, I do, you're subscriber based, but I curse you all the same.

 

New episodes are usually on HBO GO the same day. (later in the evening)

BUT... To access HBO GO you need to login using your cable account email + password, plus additional info. (Each cable co might have different login screens)

 

So your friend would have to feel comfortable giving you his/her account info. And willing to take the risk if HBO and/or the cable provider starts cracking down on "sharing".

I'm pretty sure new episodes become available right after they air. That seemed to be the case last season, and I assume it will be this season too.

 

EDIT: Doh, beaten to the punch.

Edited by Parker - 3/28/12 at 11:59am

I know most people here bemoaned the fact that dragons showed up in the season finale, but am I the only one hoping/excited to see Dany wreck havoc with a dragon squad?

 

And can I please ask for a return of chewers' hate-filled, pet names for that little asshole king? Some of those were pretty damn funny last year. 

Quote:

Most bemoaned it? That's hardly my impression at all. Quite the opposite.

 

The dragons book-end nicely with the opening of the season, showing the white walkers. You start to get the impression that "magic" is creeping back into the world, and given the way the humans are behaving, you can understand why. I love all the talk of the Wall and the trouble with the walkers and the Wildings and how everybody is always like "fuck the Wall, they're a bunch of losers, they'll be fine." It's a great analogy for how people think all the time. There's huge problems elsewhere that could seriously bite everyone in the ass, but they'd rather focus on their personal ambition and greed. 

 

I expect the magical elements of the universe will only increase the further we get into the story/seasons. And that makes sense, because they're introduced in an organic way and tie into the themes of the show.

Edited by Parker - 3/28/12 at 1:27pm

The first sentence or so of your posts end up in the last post preview. I guess everyone knows about the dragons at this point though.

Edited by Joseph P. Brenner - 3/28/12 at 12:09pm

Can I just state right now that ALL of last season is up for discussion and doesn't require spoiler warnings? If you haven't seen the first season and don't want to be spoiled, stay the hell out of this thread.

Yeah, I apologize, I thought someone already said that earlier in the thread and was just taking it as gospel. I think at this point, if we're discussing the second season, you should have watched the first. But I'll edit my post if people think it's warranted. 

Don't edit it. We're already tiptoing around the non-book-readers, we're not gonna tiptoe around people who haven't seen a season that ended last June.

They don't have to be in this thread to see the last post preview. In fact, that's only viewable from outside this thread.

I'll try to remember to front load some space next time, or type "spoilers" further on down in the post.

So what's the freakin' timeline on accomodating people that don't subscribe to HBO, or don't have friends who have HBO, or access to HBO On Demand, or bought the dvds but haven't bothered to watch them yet, or haven't bought them but intend to sometime in future?

 

This shit is getting ridiculous.

 

It's pretty simple, season 1 spoilers are fine in this thread but they shouldn't be posted in the general television forum for everyone to see. That means not including season 1 spoilers in the first sentence of your post. It's similar to posting a thread titled "Ned's death" to the general television forum when you begin your post with "Ned's death".

I give up.

 Hmm, I was under the wrong impression then. I seemed to remember some feeling dragons were too obvious of a fantasy staple. I'm probably wrong though. Carry on! Give me all the dragons, white walkers, and dire wolves I can handle!

JESUS DIES.

 

Wait...no, no. But come on, this is starting to remind me of uptight parents who are trying to protect 'the children' at all fricking cost. This is CHUD, dammit, not a PTA meeting. Self censor, sure, but christ almighty, take some responsibility. It's not our job to protect you from every little detail of this one property so you can act surprised for the 2 seconds it takes to sink in. Fuck, I knew Qui-Gon was going to die because of the damn Episode 1 soundtrack listing and it was still awesome and sucked when it happened.

 

Alls I'm saying, if it happened in season 1, tough. Wait all of 2 minutes before someone else posts in the thread and changes what's seen on the General Forum posting.

Hilarious interview with Emilia Clarke on Sky here in the UK. The airhead bimbo says to her "hmm, he (Karl Drogo) is somewhat agressive in bed, then you fall in love with him, get pregnant, lose the baby, he dies. I can only assume you weren't drawing on real life for this role".

WTF? Clarke just says "err, noo" and looks at her like she's an imbecile.

Quote:

Great post! And yeah, I for one really, really want to see a smirking schemer like Littlefinger come face to face with a White Walker. I would include Varys, but something about that dude makes me think the spider might be in the know when it comes to such things. 

 

And I love that Night's Watch is above all the petty squabbling of the Seven Kingdoms. Usually I don't like it when a series splits up its narrative threads so much, but it really helped to have things like Jon Snow reacting to his father's death or Robert plotting to have Dany killed. Having events in one continent affect things in another is a really effective tool! In fact, I can't really think of any narrative thread I'm NOT invested in. Sansa in King Joffrey's court? Arya on the road to Winterfell? Tyrion becoming Hand of the King? When I think of other shows I like, I can usually have to sit through one or two subplots I really want to fast forward (Dexter, 24, Twin Peaks. etc), and its really refreshing to have that not be the case here.