Monday, April 7, 2014

Game of Thrones: Season 4 Episode 1 - Two Swords


Hello people of the 7 realms and welcome to our first official Game of Thrones discussion thread!  I know, it's been 4 years and I'm just getting around to it.  We have certainly had our lengthy discussions in the weekly posts, but it felt like it was past time to give it its own space.  Depending on my available time and the content of the episode, I may or may not include commentary within the post itself.  We'll play it by ear!

A little background on my level of exposure to the world of Ice and Fire.  I have read all 5 books in George R. R. Martin's sweeping saga, including the latest "intentionally leaked" chapter from the currently unreleased Winds of Winter.  And of course, my obsession with the show is reaching LOST levels of dedication as I have rewatched it several times.  I'm fairly good at not spoiling large events coming in the books.  There may be a tease here and there, but nothing that would take away from your surprise of any coming big events.  Like LOST, I will try to bring my encyclopedic knowledge of the characters, history and locales of the expansive saga to these discussions as I know it can be helpful to casual watchers (even readers as it's tough to remember everything.  I'm guilty of that too!)  And, after things air in the show, I like to compare how it was similar or different to the books.

For book readers, I won't forget about you as I'm always itching to look ahead too.  I will clearly distinguish in the post between TV Thoughts and Book Thoughts.   I ask that anyone that comments in the comment section, please do the same.  In the past we've made it very clear in commentary when we're about to discuss Book Spoilers so that TV Readers can avert their eyes and keep reading.  Even in my spoiler sections, I still try to be vague (using abbreviations where possible) in case wandering eyes accidentally view something.

Sound good?  Good!  I have a few thoughts on the premiere, so I'll dive into those and then we'll get into the major discussion below!  Did I even mention I thought this premiere was fantastic!? Well, I did now! Here we go.

Discussion Points

First off, there are a couple of reasons I won't do a full fledge recap.  The first and foremost is time commitment, I just don't have it anymore.  The second is that James Hibberd at EW does a fantastic job mixing in some comedic elements as well as tying his book knowledge in in a non-spoilery way.  I won't be offended if you go read that.  I do every week!  But, here are my observations. 

TV Talk
  • We got a cold open!  There was one last season with Sam running from the White Walker battle.  But the last one before that was in the series premiere with the Night's Watch encountering a White Walker.  This one continued the theme of the Lannister Family's defeat of the Starks.  Tywin forged 2 swords from Ned Stark's ICE (the sword that was used to take Ned's head as well).  One was made for Ser Jaime Lannister.  The other?  Well, you'll have to wait and see.  Mr. Hibberd at EW thought that the wolf's skin thrown onto the fire was Robb Stark's direwolf.  That doesn't make much sense since the head was removed and sewn onto Robb's corpse.  I think this was just more symbolic of taking the Starks off the game board for now.  And of course, we should all be familiar with the Lannister song at this point as the "Rains of Castermere" played in the background.  
  • Jaime's rejection of his father's offer of Casterly Rock was directly from the books.  Though, I can't remember if this was at the end of book 3 or book 4 (thinking more about it, I'm 100% certain it was in book 3).  Jaime didn't return to King's Landing until near the very end of the 3rd book.  I do know that this season more than ever we might be mixing elements of book 3, 4 AND 5 (since 5 has a lot of parallel stories to book 4).  It's awesome that the show has come that far, but as always, it's scary because GRRM is most definitely not going to be able to keep up at this point.   Jaime's reason for wanting to stay is 2-fold.  He doesn't want to break another oath for his father, and the other is Cersei.  There's a reason he joined the Gold Cloaks in the first place.  It kept her close to Cersei.  
  • Of course, Cersei is giving Jaime a rather cold should since he has returned to King's Landing.  She was pretty blunt about it too.  She claims to have had a rough time since he's gone and blames him for helping to start a war and getting captured.  The missing hand doesn't help matters either!  He is no longer the master swordsman that he once was! 
  • We had our first Father/Son scene in Jaime and Joffrey having a wonderful discussion.  Of course, only one of them possessed the knowledge of their actual family ties.  Joffrey just decided to further insult his uncle for his failures in battle and praise his own "success" in keeping Kings Landing safe.   It is key to note the White Book, possessing all of the tales of the Gold Cloaks over the years.  This book, I'm pretty certain, was not revealed until book 4 on the show.  But, since Jaime is in town early, it makes sense to show it.  Besides being ammunition for Joffrey, it really goes to show Jaime's conflict of being the man he has been for awhile (Cersei and Tywin's pet) to the man he may aspire to be.  We'll see how things go!
  • The introduction of Oberyn Martell was fantastic.  Though, I think my favorite part of the whole sequence was Bronn trying to call out the banners and came up with, "Yellow Balls?"  The grand entrance of the Dornish people was a diversion of Oberyn (aka "The Red Viper") quietly enterting the town with his bastard woman Ellaria Sand.  We'll skip past all of the sexposition, except I will note that the Viper was not hinted at as being bi-sexual in the books.  So, this is just another level that they're adding to his character.  I will say that he certainly is a fan favorite character and for good reason!  I'm excited for what's to come. 
  • About his motivations, we should discuss this as it gets into one of the long running theories of book readers.  They FINALLY started bringing up some key moments from the books that need to be portrayed.  Elia Martell was married to Rhaegar Targaryan.  Rhaegar was the Mad King's son (and Dany's brother).  Rhaegar ran off with another woman (I never heard it brought up this way) which spawned Robert Baratheon's war.  This other woman was Llyana Stark, Ned's sister who was promised to Robert for marriage.  Anyway, when Tywin Lannister sacked King's Landing in Robert Baratheon's name, some major events happened.  Obviously, Jaime Lannister stabbed the Mad King in the back when he gave the order to burn the town down.  But, also The Mountain (Ser Gregor Clegane, the Hound's older brother) raped Elia Martell and sliced her in half.  There are also tales of how the children of Rhaegar and Elia were murdered as well, but I'm not sure if that was mentioned in the show yet.  In any case, the Martell's of Dorne are not exactly thrilled with the Lannisters.  And the Red Viper, being Elia's brother, is seeking vengeance.   If you don't recall, Cersei's daughter Myrcella was sent to Dorne to be married to a Martell in season 2 (at Tyrion's request).  Kind of puts things in perspective right!?
  • Yikes, there's so much to cover, I'm not sure I can get to it all!   
  • Let's talk Night's Watch and Wildlings.  We were introduced to the Thenns, another clan of wildlings united under Mance Rayder.  I don't really remember this crew too much from the book, but I'm sure it's just to show the diversity of people coming towards the Wall.  They are portrayed as cannibals on the show which is a new angle.  I'm sure we'll see more there.  
  • Meanwhile Jon Snow reflected on the Red Wedding with Sam, speaking of his jealousy of his older brother.  But then went to testify to his crimes to a Night's Watch council.  Notice Janos Slynt has joined the crew at the Watch.  He was sent there by Tyrion for his crime of not guarding Ned Stark in season 1 when he tried to claim the throne per Robert's request.  Alliser Thorne is also there, who trained Jon Snow.  He is currently in charge until they elect a new Lord Commander of the Watch.   And of course, Maester Aemon was present and most sympathetic to Jon Snow.   The odds were stacked against Jon, but Jon told his tale and confessed all of his "sins" performed during his cover.  He will live to fight another day, for now! 
  • Dany had to adjust to a new look for Daario Naharis, as did we!  We got a new actor playing him.  I recognize him from my brief stint watching Nashville, but apparently he was on Treme as well.  In any case, he's probably a better fit for Daario than the porn star that we had last season.  (sarcasm, I don't know that guy's IMDB history!)  Anyway, there was certain flirtation going on there.  But, the biggest thing I'll take from her scenes was how unruly the dragons are becoming.  They show Dany's strong attachment to the black dragon, Drogon as always.  He appears to be slightly bigger than his 2 brothers.  But yes, they are getting tough to control.  
  • We also got a disturbing image in our heads of crucified children slaves paving the way to Meereen, Dany's next conquest.  Book fans probably dread hearing that name.  I don't want to spoil the books in this section, but you might want set your expectations of getting used to seeing this location!  The books certainly spend a long time there.  But, with the aggressive schedule of the show in contrast to the books, you never know if that might change!   From what I've seen of production shots, they seem to have taken their time in creating the city and it looks pretty amazing.  We shall see!   In any case, the short time we spent with Dany was effective.  She is ready to take on another cruel Slaver town and her ambition seems justified.
  • Almost forgot to talk about Sansa.  She clearly is unhappy in her current situation.  She was almost ready to have a fun friendship with Tyrion, but this was ruined the moment news of the Red Wedding reached her.  They finally visited a big plotline in the books with her relationship to Ser Dontos, now a fool thanks to Sansa saving him in the opening of season 2.  In the books, Ser Dontos played a larger role in being her drunk advisor for her potential escape of King's Landing.  Instead, we saw Littlefinger take on a larger role until he was taken away on assignment.  (Of course, he did offer to take her with him.  She just wanted to stay at the chance of marrying Ser Loras.)    Anyway, Ser Dontos gave Sansa a token of his appreciation in a blue necklace.  The necklace actually looked very much like how I pictured it in the books.  Why on earth would I remember a necklace so clearly?  I don't know, I'm weird like that.  But, I did feel like mentioning it, so there! 
  • I'm sure I'm missing stuff but let's jump to Arya and The Hound!  This was one of my favorite plots in A Storm of Swords (right up there with Jaime and Brienne's road trip).  Things are unfolding a little differently, but not drastically.  I expected a trip to a tavern and a "Needle" sighting and we got it!  Arya and the Hound had some great banter leading to the tavern.  We find out they're heading towards the Vale to crazy Aunt Lysa's home.  Last we heard of her was last season when Littlefinger was going there to woo her and wed her.  
  • They stumbled to a tavern filled with Lannister soldiers.  But, Arya recognized Polliver.  (In the books, the Tickler was here also, but he was already killed on the show in Harrenhal)   On the show Polliver took Arya's sword "Needle" and used it to kill her friend Lommy.  Raff the Sweetling killed Lommy in the books, and also made it to Arya's list.  But, a Lannister solider is a Lannister soldier.   The hound's conversation with Polliver was filled with intensity and was pretty darn awesome.  But, it resulted in the Hound taking on the 5 or so soldiers as Arya cowered in the corner.  This didn't last though.  Once Arya saw her opportunity she took out Polliver's leg and got Needle back. YAY!  Then she had an amazing recreation of how Lommy was killed.  She tried to egg Polliver on to say that he needed to be carried and then talked about the sword in the exact way Polliver did.  Then she killed Polliver the same way Lommy was killed.  The Hound and Arya left the tavern in good shape.  The Hound got his chicken and Arya got her pony and a sweet smile of revenge.  
  • This scene was awesome!  In the books Arya killed the Tickler while the Hound killed Polliver.  But, I actually remembered it as Arya killing Polliver, or just assumed she would.  This is an important step in her journey and it was perfect.   Now, ironically, there was a chapter of Winds of Winter just released by GRRM.  I don't want to spoil it but it mirrored a a lot of events that happened in this scene.  Now, maybe the Game of Thrones writers had advance notice of this chapter, but it gives me hope for the show when it surpasses the books in the timeline of events.  
So, great opening episode! We still need to catch up with Stannis, Davos, Mellisandre, Bran, and the Dreadfort (Theon/Reek and the Bolton family).  I'm sure we'll be catching up with all of them next week!  Just realized I forgot to talk about Brienne!  Oh well, we'll get to it in the comments.   Okay, I'll mention a few book points below and then we'll get to the comments! 


Book Stuff (Spoilers of potential future plots on the show will be mentioned!)
  • So, did you like my subtle hints with that necklace?  :)   PW is coming!  It won't be long now.  I've heard as soon as episode 2.
  • Don't have much else to talk about here right now except for what we may cover this season.  I feel like with Bran and Brienne we'll be getting into book 4 and 5 territory.  Maybe even a little bit with Jaime.   I think some of Theon's book 5 story might happen too since we really never saw him in the books after book 2 until book 5. 
  • Definitely looking forward to this being a big season for Tyrion all the way up to his dramatic finish near the end of the season.  They started building that up with his conversations with Shae.  He didn't indicate that he wanted her to say, but didn't deny the allegations that he tried to pay her to leave (which he didn't).  This might lead Shae to where she ends up.  
  • Loved the hints at R+L = J.  I mentioned above, I never remember it being clear that Rhaegar "ran off with another woman".  I thought it was generally assumed he kidnapped her.  But, maybe I'm just remembering it wrong.  Of course, the grand theory is that they were in love and that love may have spawned a Targaryan/Stark child that might currently be considered a bastard of Ned Stark's.  I fear that the show may get to a point where this needs to be revealed before it is in the books.  And I fear if that happens, they might not be able to reveal it.  But, we shall see! 
  • Everyone buckled up for the Meereenese Knot?  I think, if anything, the show will be able to trim the fat and make this Dany plot more exciting over the seasons.  We shall see! 
Okay, that's all I have for now.  I already commented more than I though.  It's tough not to!  Let's get into the comments and discuss the show!  Remember to note SPOILERS if you're going to talk about the book.  Hope you enjoyed my ramblings and I'll see you in some form or another next week! 

27 comments:

Unknown said...

Book Spoilers/Theories, but important clarifications:

No remember, the STARKS believe she was Kidnapped..and so did Ned up until the Rebellion itself, thus all the stuff in book 1 implying he was wrong about Rhegar etc...so thats what made Brandon and Bryden (I think?) go to KL in the first place to be tortured by Aerys..thats what started the War

Remember, Robert wasnt to BELIEVE that Rhegar "captured" Llyana because she was betrohed to Robert and he actually loved her otherwise it just makes him look bad, hence his part in starting the rebellion, then the death of the Starks brings Ned and Jon Arryn into it and so on and so forth

its like starting a battle over Helen of Troy when we all know its about economic and political power

but what people dont understand is that Robert is not really the "true king" he took the seat just like how Aegon took it with the Dragons, so whether you believe Stannis should be "the rightful king" depends on your point of view..i would argue that either Danerys or Jon Snow (assuming R+L=J) and Aegon would be the "rightful" king...

remember most of R+L=J is from book 1 cause its from Ned's point of view mostly..very little in books 4/5 (obv nothing in 4) really further proof of R+L=J

-AUStarwars

Mike V. said...

**Mild Book stuff (and continuing the THEORY discussion)**

I do need to get myself a refresher on the Stark's part in Rob's Rebellion (other than Ned's). I forgot a lot of that. But the Rob stuff I definitely assumed. He wanted to believe Llyana was "captured" which caused the rebellion. It's all about whose perspective we're following when we read/hear about the war.

I still think the show and the book have gone far to prove that no one is the RIGHTFUL heir to the throne. It's always taken by power. But, yes depending on if the JS theories are correct...and if Dany comes to SAVE Westeros...they may earn the throne with the love of the people behind them.

As for the R+L=J theory, I think there was a lot going towards that theory in more than just book 1. Obviously the "promise me Ned" thing is from Ned's mind in book 1 and key, but all of the information on the Tournament at Harrenhal (discussed by Bran and Jojen Reed) goes a long way into supporting the theory too.

In any case, thanks for the clarifications!

mj said...

Very good ep. Coworker thought wolf thing burned was sheath Ice was in. I don't know that it looked like a sword sheath though. Did any of the Starks have a fur pelt as a collar? Seemed too small to be a dire wolf.

Didn't catch - again - Rains playing during swords thing but did hearitin brothel. lol. think Hibbard spoiled who gets second sword.

Coworker is a book reader and he'll point out 'this. Or that' as important to remember - told me to remember necklace.

Made me happy to see Jamie being nice to Brienne - and he's right - its more complicated now. Loved Lady Oleanna when she met Brienne - and her reminder that brienne beat Loras at the tournament

Mike V. said...

MJ - Yeah, I thought it was a sheath too. In any case, it had some kind of Wolf or Dog's head and was symbolic to the "end" of Tywin's familial adversary. lol

Well, I was trying to be intentionally silly with my necklace commentary. It definitely is something worthy of pointing out!

Yeah the Brienne stuff was great. I was running out of time so didn't go back to talk about it. But the fact that she talked to Margery about how Renly died. It was good stuff. The Lady Olenna/Brienne scene never happened in the book but I agree..it was fantastic! As I mentioned, Jaime and Brienne don't get to King's Landing until much later in the books so this is a little bit of an interesting twist.

Actually...I wondered since we got a hint of Oberyn swinging both ways, that this might lead to a flirtation with another flamboyant warrior....good ol' Loras. That would definitely be something new that wasn't in the books. But, it wouldn't surprise me if that's where they're going with that. Someone in the comments said it was implied that Oberyn was Bi in the books. I must've missed it!

Anonymous said...

THANK you Mike.

1. Theon's sister is on her way to do battle with Theon's captors-another plotline which may come soon.
2. Tywin's concern over his legacy has been ongoing for many eps. This ep put it front and center. Jaime having darker hair and the several mentions of his age-40 really put Jaime in a different light, even without his other hand. Tywin doesn't want Tyrion to be the mainstay of his legacy. So, his legacy is in serious danger. Depending on how the loans are done with Bravos, they could be broke too?? The Lanisters are in long term trouble as a house.
3. Jaime--as said above he is being cast in a very different light now. He's becoming old and hasn't built up much for himself.
4. Brienne and Jaime keeping an oath that in some ways is not valid any more is a great point. More to come on this of course.
5. Cersei's daughter going to Dorne could come into play later obviously.
6. I loved the Arya/Hound stuff. At one time she wanted to kill him.
7.Can you see Peter with that crazy woman from the Vale--lol.
8. Title for 2nd ep indicates to me the PW is next ep. Lots will happen with that of course.
9. Yea on the necklace.
10. They have said there will be more battle in the show than the books for this stretch.
11. Glad to see they're opening up the Rhaegar/Lyanna stuff.
12. Forgot to mention Jaime's observations of Cersei's drinking, she's already not doing so well.
13. I really didn't need the book knowledge to know that Jon wasn't in any real trouble--lol. That was a great line when he called out the guy from KL not knowing about what's North of the wall.
14. I did some marathon watching prior to last night. One thing that stood out was Tyrion's trip and knowledge gained from the wall. Another thing was his bringing his concerns back to KL only to be ignored. Another was Sansa--I have always not liked her character--too childish to the point of causing trouble. But now she's almost just down on life.

A good ep, glad to see Jaime get his new sword and hand. As I recall the other sword is much smaller.

Richard

Anonymous said...

BOOK SPOILERS***************************************************************************

T will get into trouble anyway as Shae was seen leaving his room. But if the PW is next ep the accusations put on him plus the Shae stuff will all add up. He's got several eps to be filmed in the dungeons--lol.

I don't recall if the big battle at the wall should happen in this season, but for TV I think it will.

I could see a battle at the wall, one with Theon's sister and of course Mereen fights at a minimum this season. That with the PW would give us 4 eps with lots of action at a minimum. Oh and of course the RV fight scene.

As I wrote that, does the RV fight scene come before or after the PW, I've forgot?

Lion and Rose title I was thinking is for Lanister/Turrel.

Richard

Mike V. said...

No problem Richard!

1. Yara/Asha - Yeah, I just assumed that was part of the Dreadford storyline when I mentioned it. I still don't know where that's going in terms of where the book was with Asha's story.
2. Yeah, when you think about Tywin's legacy, he has accomplished a great many things, but he is not proud of any of the people he would pass it down to. I did notice the repeated mentions of Jaime being 40.
3. Yep. Though 40 is the new 20 now, right? :-)
4. Yeah...I'm afraid to say anything on this one. lol
5. Yeah, I think they'll keep that stuff in when they start trimming the fat of future books.
6. Well, technically Arya still wants to kill The Hound. But as she mentioned, he's her best chance of survival right now. I need to mention something, but I'll do it in the spoiler section.
7. That might be something I'm interested in seeing!
8. From everything I've read, yes it is. Though, AUSTARWARS (Scott) above doesn't think they'll be able to cover it all in one episode. I think they will.
9. Yep
10. I read that too.
11. Me too. They need to start shoving it in our face. There's still hope that we'll eventually get to some kind of flashback through Bran's "seer" eyes.
12. Agreed on Cersei.
13. Yeah and he also said he's not very good at his job either. I'm glad they kept the Janos Slint/Alliser characters involved for season 4. They easily could've replaced them with new characters since they haven't been around since season 1/2. But, it'll be nice to see how Jon deals with this adversity.
14. Yes, Tyrion definitely has a sympathy for the Night's Watch and what they're doing up there. He also tends to see beyond family ties and obligations to see what's best for the realm. As for Sansa, while the actress keeps getting older, we have to remember she's only supposed to be 14! lol At the same time, we can't go on believing Arya is 10!

*****BOOK STUFF ****

Yeah, I've read that the T stuff is probably going to get him another Emmy this year. I would assume he would submit something involving chains and a privy. :) But there are so many great moments even before that (and probably after! LS). So excited for this season. Also looking forward to more Jaime/Tyrion scenes....I think in the books there was 1...1 pivotal one, but only 1. I think there will be several on the show. We'll see.

WALL Battle - absolutely it should happen this season. And they brought back the same director that did Blackwater. They said it might even be bigger than that one. And they have a big budget for EVERY episode this year.

Agreed on the battles and the other big scene. Yes, there's plenty of action to be had! Wouldn't mind seeing a dragon do something either!

The RV scene definitely comes AFTER the PW. It is a Trial by Combat afterall. RV stands in for T. And I think we have a 3rd actor playing The Mountain this year. lol

Is that the name of the next ep? If so, then yes that's what it is.

So the other thing I wanted to mention with Arya and the Hound. In the book Tavern fight, The Hound gets injured and there are repercussions to that injury. There's always a chance he gets injured later...but I wonder if they'll put a TV show twist on this and have Arya bring about those injuries. I'm sure they'll somehow keep their relationship complicated, but it would be interesting to see Arya be the cause of what he eventually goes through.

***END BOOK SPOILERS*****

Anonymous said...

Yea, just after I hit publish, I recalled the RV timing.

As far as overall theory on who succeeds--after marathoning. It occurred to me that the story makes a big deal about those who are honorable and those who aren't. And there is even overtly no relationship between those who succeed and those who are or are not honorable. In many spots, those not honorable are succeeding to gain position.

ie, the good guys don't always win and sometimes our "heros" might actually be those taking a less honorable path. It can be argued that Ned was the most honorable and that is even mentioned in recent eps, but look what happened to him. Jon was honorable, then not which resulted in the RW. This is more realistic than a normal "the good guys win" story. Tyrion is a good case in point, as he seems to be more honorable, but descending in position.

I look forward to the Jaime/Tyrion conversation.

BTW, when will we start to see Winter in KL?

Richard

Mike V. said...

Agreed, honor in Westeros is not working too well in the short term. I still root for the Starks to get their due in the long term. Plus, I'd say that Dany has been pretty honorable with her intentions...well except for conquering Westeros. But she wants to do it with the people loving her and she feels the throne is her family's. But her whole freeing of the slaves thing is pretty honorable, even if it may lead to unexpected problems.

**Kinda Book Stuff...but still just theories**

I think you meant Robb instead of Jon with the RW. lol I still think when all is said and done Ned's "HONOR" will be restored fully. There is one major slight against his honor and that is Jon Snow. It doesn't add up with everything else he has done in life that he would've betrayed the honor of his marriage. Of course, if JS is not his, then he still lied to his wife and family about it...but that would've been for the honor of the realm!

**DEFINITE BOOK STUFF**

It is autumn on the television show...and has been since the start of season 2. Winter doesn't come in the books until the EPILOGUE of Book 5. i.e. the last thing that was published! So, your question's answer lies in the question "when will the show catch up and possibly surpass the books?" lol

Mike V. said...

Game of Thrones renewed for 2 seasons! I'll post the article when I get a chance. (just saw on Twitter)

Mike V. said...

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/04/08/game-of-thrones-renewed-for-two-more-seasons/

Anonymous said...

Bigger than the Sopranos finale, that's a big deal. No wonder they get the money when they need it. There are going to be so many actors killed off this year, so sad.

One in particular that I really like. Guess which one--LOL.

OH, on the marathoning front--Varys and the lord of light--it seemed like it freaked him out. He believes something was there, he heard it speak. And I forgot how cruel Joffrey was with Rose--that was awful. Then Margery's like holding the crossbow enticing him.

Richard

Mike V. said...

It didn't say bigger than the Sopranos "YET" lol But, I read somewhere else it is poised to get there this season.

I'm pretty sure I can guess who you like that may be leaving us this season but I'll take that thought to the privy with me for now. :) (See what I did there?)

Yes...Ros get a raw deal at the end! Varys' whole story of how he got cut was pretty intense on the show!

Anonymous said...

Character tip: Stranger.

OK, I reread it, the most since Sopranos finale. I never really got into Sopranos, btw.

Richard

Mike V. said...

Well if you're ever looking for a show to watch on a rainy day, THE SOPRANOS is your choice! It's so good. Season 4 is a little below bar but the rest of it is top notch. That first season is pretty much perfect from start to finish.

Not sure I'm picking up on your character tip. Besides being a great Billy Joel album, isn't the Stranger one of the 7 gods? lol

Anonymous said...

Another Tip--LOL--Stranger has 4 legs and black

Richard

Anonymous said...

Oh and I should say, has taken on personality of it's owner.

Richard

Mike V. said...

Ahh...Drogon? lol

Anonymous said...

Think war horse.

This is actually kind of fun. I probably like a character that is so minor to your world of GoT. You mentioned him early in these posts.

Richard

Mike V. said...

I had to google it...the Mountain's Horse? I didn't even know he had a name! lol I'm still not even sure why you brought it up! :)

mj said...

Flamboyant warrior - good one. Friend who does not watch did watch this ep and asked me is it always soft core porn. lol. then she looked it up and actress who plays Shae has been in porn. And apparently some of Littlefingers girls are as well. too funny

Mike V. said...

That's hysterical...I had no idea that's where they were casting from those industries! lol

Anonymous said...

Close

Sandor--the Hound. Great character.

Yea, sometimes the nudity gets to be way too much to the point of overtaking the story.

Richard

Mike V. said...

ahh right...I got Sandor mixed up with Gregor there. So Stranger is The Hound's horse? Obviously the Hound is a great character, but I haven't thought twice (really not even once) about the horse. lol

Mike V. said...

Whew...I'm just realizing why you brought all of that up. I wasn't following the whole conversation thread. So...for now I'll just say...yes that is a great character! Wow I'm dense. lol

Anonymous said...

Saw previews for next ep. on HBO. It was clear what is coming. So awesome.

Mike V. said...

:)