Game of Thrones (TV ONLY) [Leaked Spoilers prohibited]

[4815162342]

by the way i know we don't see it in the book but is that nurse chick

the cause of the mighty spectacular demise/fall aka RW

To answer:

In the episode she said her name was Talisa and she was from Volantis. My bullshit detector however immediately went off since the actress (Oona Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter) was announced when cast as playing "Jeyne" and Jeyne Westerling was the girl Robb couldn't keep it in his pants for. I'm not sure how much they're changing, but that's clearly the girl who he marries and pisses off the Freys for. My guess is that she is still Jeyne the noble girl, but is masquerading as a nurse to avoid being a highborn hostage, but the truth will eventually come out.

[4815162342]

Also, one lingering nitpick I have is that the Renly-Stannis confrontation wasn't given as great a treatment as in the book. In the book Renly learns that Stannis has invaded the Stormlands (besieging the capital castle of Storm's End) and rushes with a chunk of his army to stop him, which leads into their confrontation. Here in the show, Stannis just suddenly appears with no buildup, so some of the tension isn't there to start with.

Also they removed some of the best bits from their confrontation (Stannis mocking Renly's marriage, Renly and the peach, etc). It was still good, but the 10 episode limit really shows with some major scenes like this getting trimmed here and there, leaving out some of the best parts.

And while Renly has definitely improved from his Season 1 depiction, I think his character is one of the big points where the show has made a misstep (few that it has made). The writing made him more wimpy and less confident in himself when Book Renly is incredibly self-assured and sociable. It's more of the writing's fault but the actor was also miscast a bit. If I could go back to 2010 when they were beginning to develop the show here are some of the things I would have done for Season 1:

- Make it 12 episodes a season instead of 10 (and obviously spring for a bit bigger budget per episode). This would allow them to give some of the key dramatic scenes in the seasons the depth they deserve rather than trimming a minute here or there. Also allows them to show more of the action instead of minimizing it or holding it offscreen.

- Lay some more foundation for Stannis' character here and there to build him up more as a looming offscreen force. And having 12 episodes a season would have given him more development and presence in this first act of Season 2. Since Stephen Dillane is going a good job so far there's no need to consider recasting.

- Give more to Renly for him to do (such as showing him making plans with the Tyrells once he flees King's Landing and actually seeing his marriage and collecting of his armies) and make sure the character is like in the novel

- And cast this guy as Renly:

Seriously, Henry Cavill would have been the perfect Renly. He nails the look for the part and he easily can handle the character's demeanour.

These changes would have made both Stannis and Renly much better characters and would have in particular made Renly a more engaging and dynamic character that audiences could get behind and root for.

And this in turn would make his assassination even more shocking and dramatic since a potential powerhouse character suddenly gets undercut by his older, ruthless brother

Edited April 24, 2012 by 4815162342

[ladyevenstar22]

Also, one lingering nitpick I have is that the Renly-Stannis confrontation wasn't given as great a treatment as in the book. In the book Renly learns that Stannis has invaded the Stormlands (besieging the capital castle of Storm's End) and rushes with a chunk of his army to stop him, which leads into their confrontation. Here in the show, Stannis just suddenly appears with no buildup, so some of the tension isn't there to start with.

Also they removed some of the best bits from their confrontation (Stannis mocking Renly's marriage, Renly and the peach, etc). It was still good, but the 10 episode limit really shows with some major scenes like this getting trimmed here and there, leaving out some of the best parts.

And while Renly has definitely improved from his Season 1 depiction, I think his character is one of the big points where the show has made a misstep (few that it has made). The writing made him more wimpy and less confident in himself when Book Renly is incredibly self-assured and sociable. It's more of the writing's fault but the actor was also miscast a bit. If I could go back to 2010 when they were beginning to develop the show here are some of the things I would have done for Season 1:

- Make it 12 episodes a season instead of 10 (and obviously spring for a bit bigger budget per episode). This would allow them to give some of the key dramatic scenes in the seasons the depth they deserve rather than trimming a minute here or there. Also allows them to show more of the action instead of minimizing it or holding it offscreen.

- Lay some more foundation for Stannis' character here and there to build him up more as a looming offscreen force. And having 12 episodes a season would have given him more development and presence in this first act of Season 2. Since Stephen Dillane is going a good job so far there's no need to consider recasting.

- Give more to Renly for him to do (such as showing him making plans with the Tyrells once he flees King's Landing and actually seeing his marriage and collecting of his armies) and make sure the character is like in the novel

- And cast this guy as Renly:

Seriously, Henry Cavill would have been the perfect Renly. He nails the look for the part and he easily can handle the character's demeanour.

These changes would have made both Stannis and Renly much better characters and would have in particular made Renly a more engaging and dynamic character that audiences could get behind and root for.

And this in turn would make his assassination even more shocking and dramatic since a potential powerhouse character suddenly gets undercut by his older, ruthless brother

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO nobody touches henry cavill hair no no no! he's too cute to die arhhh

i did not even recognize stephen dillane , he looks way different from when he played jefferson in john adams on hbo...

if they don't want to extend episodes to 12 episodes they could at least try their best to have the episodes actually last 60mn instead of 50/52 mn...just saying

Edited April 25, 2012 by ladyevenstar22

[Ariadne]

There are so many amazing things I loved about the last episode. The Renly/Stannis confrontation was great 'is he a ham?' LOL. I do agree that it might have been confusing to new viewers how Stannis got there and where they are exactly. A scene explaining why they're meeting would have been useful. All the Harrenhal scenes were very well done, the scene with the Tickler especially. I've always loved the Tywin character and Charles Dance is perfect as him. He is Tywin Lannister. I think all the actors playing Stannis, Davos and Mellisandre have been perfect - that finally scene was so well done! Can't wait till next week.

[Ariadne]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO nobody touches henry cavill hair no no no! he's too cute to die arhhh ^_^i did not even recognize stephen dillane , he looks way different from when he played jefferson in john adams on hbo...if they don't want to extend episodes to 12 episodes they could at least try their best to have the episodes actually last 60mn instead of 50/52 mn...just saying

Henry Cavill would have been perfect, but he's a movie star now (or soon will be), he's not taking on minor TV roles. Apparently the remaining episodes have slightly longer run times, 54-57 minutes mainly and the final episode over 60 minutes.

[4815162342]

Henry Cavill would have been perfect, but he's a movie star now (or soon will be), he's not taking on minor TV roles. Apparently the remaining episodes have slightly longer run times, 54-57 minutes mainly and the final episode over 60 minutes.

Now he's too big, but when they were casting for Season 1 in early 2010 he was still unknown outside of The Tudors really.Very good to hear that the remaining episodes will be longer. Now all we need is for some characters without announced casting to show up when they're supposed to instead of being held back for a later season or eliminated entirely (Reek, the Reed children, The Tullys, etc).

[Water Bottle]

A couple of notes:If someone asks for a spoiler non-rhetorically, please have your answer to the spoiler in a spoiler box unless it has already aired.

- Make it 12 episodes a season instead of 10 (and obviously spring for a bit bigger budget per episode). This would allow them to give some of the key dramatic scenes in the seasons the depth they deserve rather than trimming a minute here or there. Also allows them to show more of the action instead of minimizing it or holding it offscreen.

While I think the producers have some leeway with the episode order, I don't think they have control over the budget at all. HBO only has so much money after all-and they probably keep it at 10 episodes to maximize the budget. Asking for too much money would create another Rome situation, where the show gets canned earlier than the creator planned.There are also some reasons on why each episode only lasts 50 minutes instead of 60. Anyways, I had no problems with the meeting between the two. Sure, I haven't read the books, but I thought they were preparing for a major battle.

[DeeCee]

There better be a major battle. It's starting to get a bit annoying skipping every battle to all the bodies on the ground.

[Cedarpoint1111]

I don't mind that they aren't showing the battles. It makes more buildup for the battles that they do show.

[cozmeesah]

Oh, don't worry DeeCee.... there's one coming. OHHHH is there one coming.You guys also have to remember, this isn't a movie and doesn't have the big budget of a film. Battle scenes take a lot of time & money to film, both of which they have to use as efficiently as possible in order to spread out over 10 episodes.There's a lot more to this story than battles. It's not about battles, it's about power and greed and the nature of man.

[Water Bottle]

Yeah, I think people see movies, and don't seem to understand why TV shows can't just do that. A movie with epic battle scenes probably has a budget of $160 million. A TV show episode is lucky to get a budget of $5 million. A massive difference. Game of Thrones might be a massive success, but HBO still has limited funds.

[4815162342]

The budget for Season 2 is $70 million compared to a shade over $60 million for Season 1. I have to imagine that a good portion of that extra $10 million is being funneled into Episode 9, which contains the major battle of the season (and the most epic battle of the novel series so far).

[Water Bottle]

The budget for Season 2 is $70 million compared to a shade over $60 million for Season 1. I have to imagine that a good portion of that extra $10 million is being funneled into Episode 9, which contains the major battle of the season (and the most epic battle of the novel series so far).

Where did you get that figure? Last I heard, HBO wasn't giving out the budget for the show.

[4815162342]

Where did you get that figure? Last I heard, HBO wasn't giving out the budget for the show.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/03/14/game-of-thrones-ew-cover-2/

“This is season is about a country at war,” says Benioff, who along with Weiss, successfully lobbied HBO for a 15 percent budget increase to stage the second season.

Season 1 cost about 60 million, so a 15% increase puts it just under 70 million.

[Ariadne]

http://popwatch.ew.c...nes-ew-cover-2/

Season 1 cost about 60 million, so a 15% increase puts it just under 70 million.

And the CGI had definitely been better this season, so the money's been put to good use. Plus the cast is even bigger.

[iceroll]

That's actually kind of low for GoT, Boardwalk Empire's pilot had an $18 million budget, the whole season must have been like 100 million, and it doesn't get as many viewers as GoT. It also doesn't look like it should need a bigger budget. This kind of budgeting with shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones bugs me.

[Cedarpoint1111]

Idk how a subscription based channel can afford several nearly 100m dollar television seasons without going bankrupt. Plus they have to buy rights to movies and they don't even have commercials!

[DeeCee]

I know whats coming. It's actually consistent with the book in some ways because several battles are only mentioned after the event when news of the victor travels to another character.

[Water Bottle]

That's actually kind of low for GoT, Boardwalk Empire's pilot had an $18 million budget, the whole season must have been like 100 million, and it doesn't get as many viewers as GoT. It also doesn't look like it should need a bigger budget. This kind of budgeting with shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones bugs me.

Actually that's misleading, Iceroll. The Boardwalk Empire show did indeed have an $18 million pilot. Here's the thing about most television shows: most pilots are usually way more expensive than the rest of the show. This is because they have to build the set and a lot of other stuff that future episodes will be using. Sure, new episodes use new sets, but not as many need to be built as in the pilot. The rest of the episodes of Boardwalk Empire probably have the same, if not lower, budget than the standard Game of Thrones episode. I would be surprised if Boardwalk Empire's second season budget was close to $70 million.

And it's true it's not set in a fantasy world filled with creatures. It is set in a period piece, which is pretty damn expensive to do right.

Idk how a subscription based channel can afford several nearly 100m dollar television seasons without going bankrupt. Plus they have to buy rights to movies and they don't even have commercials!

A subscription cost can make quite a bunch of money, plus DVD sales. There is a reason HBO hates pirating more than any broadcast network or cable network could.

[4815162342]

HBO actually reshot much of the pilot for Game of Thrones, so I'm curious how much that added onto the Season 1 budget since they changed casting for Catelyn and Danaerys, had a new director (because the original pilot director couldn't make his scheduling work for the reshoots), etc.