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[A Song of Ice and Fire, Books and Books+Show] Touch this thread and all shall be spoilt
Posts
I seriously doubt it. The QOT didn't appear until book 3 anyway. You expect an old lady to be tramping through the mud in Renly's camping trip, do you? Since she just swans in, is cool, and swans out again, she'd be a nice two-episode role for a famous older character actress (not Maggie Smith please, too typecast.)
I now have a terrifying mental image of The Hoff dressed as Joffery. Thank you.
Though, let's start a petition to get Betty White as the Queen of Thorns. I don't care how little sense it makes.
I was thinking Judi Dench, but I think she's too tall.
Judi Dench is tiny. Check out whenever she's allowed out from behind the desk in one of the recent Bond movies, for example. Craig/Brosnan both have like a foot on her.
They've got 2 seasons for that book. They won't need to cut so much as this season. What she adds is a female character with agency not based on sex appeal, which they need to balance out the general misogyny of the setting.
For instance, in season 1
I agree. Plus her primary plot role is something that I don't think could be shifted to Marg and can't think of anyone else who could do it, either.
I don't expect to see her in Season 3, but with the number of dropouts if 3 ends where we think it will there should be room in Season 4
I don't believe so, but the producers are on-record as saying that (going forward) each season is more an adaptation of A Song Of Ice and Fire, and less adapting an individual book. So, proceed cautiously.
Edit: on the Dame Judi Dench point, it's worth noting that Daniel Craig in the scene referred to above isn't the tallest actor ever, so her height is even more perfect - not to mention her superb screen presence.
You are the king (or queen). You may choose from all of time and space (i.e. any fictional character) to fill out your Kingsguard/Queensguard. The rules:
[1] They become humans without supernatural gifts. They can be freakishly strong for a human, but they cannot be truly superhuman in any category. Ser Bruce of the Banner can be stronger than Gregor, but he can't be anywhere near as strong as the Hulk.
[2] They are treated as having been born and raised in their new environs, but still retain any martial training, translated where necessary to work with medieval tech. If you pick Rainbow Dash, for example, there will be no culture shock going from Equestria to Westeros, and she will know how to use her hands to work sword and shield with at least minimal competence. However, they also are recognizably themselves, with their own personalities. Ser Screamer of Starfall will probably try to assassinate you the second you turn your back to him and declare himself king.
[3] Any special or unique possessions are superior to normal equipment of its type, but only as far as the ASoIaF setting allows, and only so long as the Kingsguard allows. So, for example, a lightsaber would probably be a Valyrian steel sword or similar. Owning a spaceship, though, doesn't translate well at all, and would probably count as owning some sort of fortress (and thereby the land on it) in any case.
[4] The only exception to the supernatural limitation above is minor mystical gifts. A werewolf in another setting could be a warg in this one, for example.
[5] As implied above, you can pick women; regardless of any racial or cultural considerations, for purposes of this game you are a knight and you can make a knight, and you rule the Seven Kingdoms and can pick your own bodyguards. As also implied above, this overrides religious questions, so long as it can be adapted to fit the setting. Do you have a martial priest of Kossuth the fire god? Rh'llor welcomes you to Westeros.
[6] If the character has a long, detailed existence from youth to old age, or multiple versions across multiple media, pick the age or version you use. Adam West? George Clooney? Val Kilmer? Christian Bale? Who shall Ser Bruce Wainwright the Bat-Man exemplify?
[7] One person per setting, or all seven from a single setting. One Jedi, or seven, not two.
A Jedi without the Force isn't terribly interesting. But, some of his Force-related powers - visions, a "spider-sense", persuasion - are applicable to a world like Westeros. Bran, Jojen, the Greenseers, the Ghost of High Heart, Melisandre (and other followers) and others all have visions and prophetic musings. The spider-sense becomes absurdly good reflexes. And being naturally persuasive is doable.
edit: Owning a spaceship, depending on the sort of spaceship you're thinking of, would be closer to having a ship or fleet of ships. And a space station would translate as an island fortress.
Come talk about boardgames with us
Or maybe that's the point.
He's obsessed with the family image. Making sure everyone knows his family is powerful.
I suspect a lot of his "be a good father" drive died with Joanna, assuming he had any potential there to begin with. Not everyone is cut out to be a father.
It is probably unfair, but I tend to blame Cersei for most of Jaime's damage. He wasn't exactly an unwilling participant, but the fact that he never even considered other women indicates he was pretty thoroughly under her spell; and it isn't until Riverrun that he begins to actually examine his choices. He goes straight to her in the Sept, but it's not a pleasant experience.
The closest analogy I can think of is a druggie spending most of his youth and early adulthood in a haze, then being forcibly detoxed; testing the waters again, and finding he's better off.
Group one:
I never excluded A Song of Ice and Fire.
Group two:
Marvel (all modern versions):
Wolverine - Perfectly capable and willing of doing my dirty work, but not likely to stab me in the back (unless I go crazy and start burning people alive)
Beast - I need a very smart, capable warrior. Passed over Hulk, Iron Man, and Mr. Fantastic because I think Beast fits in the role (bodyguard) the best when forced into the setting. Iron Man was a close second here.
Spider-Man - An agile fighter, the team's moral compass and comic relief with an invaluable ability to sense danger. Combined with Beast I have some very smart, creative people.
That's a good core for the team. And since they are bodyguards, I'll round it out with more combatants: Iron Fist (expert fighter), Thor (probably a great drinking buddy), and Colossus/Juggernaut (no one can stop him)
Things are looking up!
And by up, I mean downward, off a precipice.
hehe
To be fair though, the perforation would likely have occurred either way
It also fixes the thing I was most worried about in the series. When Arya got her names, I was so frustrated that she didn't use one on Tywin Lannister. I rationalized it to myself that she was nine or ten at the time, and under a lot of stress, so she really didn't have the scope or perspective to think in that way. (Because let's be real: without Tywin, the Lannisters would be straight-out-screwed)
In the show she's not nine, but looks 12-14ish, so I was worried that her strategic misstep would look stupider than it did in the books. The show has pretty much fixed this, however, by establishing Tywin Lannister as "the guy who keeps the other guys from torturing everyone to death." Killing him would just set the monsters loose again, so it makes more sense for Arya to choose not to do it.
Huge Book 4 spoiler related to the above:
Triwizard Drinking Tournament - '09 !Hufflepuff unofficial conscript, '10 !Gryffindor
Nerd blog at culturalgeekgirl.com
How I wish. I hope they spice her up between her flashes of interesting. I suppose they could actually just cut straight to the interesting bits too. But that may get them ahead too fast, too. Guess we shall see.
psst
That event happens in book 3.
In some countries, eg the UK, "A Storm of Swords" was released as two books. Confusing.
True. Should maybe specify book titles instead of numbers?
A Storm of Swords
2: Blood and Gold.
edit:
Storm Harder would have been better.
Steam - Minty D. Vision!
Origin/BF3 - MintyDVision
It's not anything in particular she does or says, it's the fact that she's running around doing shit that's "Ned Stark dumb" and WINNING. Constant idiot gambits and an endless array of "evil is dumb" enemies that leave her stronger instead of raped to death, set on fire, thrown in a ditch, and blamed for the crimes of someone else.
It is (perhaps irrationally) annoying to me.
I'm just waiting for her story to matter to literally anything else that's happening. That's the only thing that annoys me about her is that so far, if she didn't exist, it wouldn't matter.
The whole dragons bringing magic back thing would have to have happened, also.
edit:
Thats why I need to think long and hard before I post in the tv show thread. 'Am I remembering the book for the tv show here?' Plus I spoiled Beric Dondarion and where Arya ends up after Saltpans for my girlfriend..... Whoopsie!
Steam - Minty D. Vision!
Origin/BF3 - MintyDVision
This isn't me bein' mysterious and foreign, it's me being an idjit.
I really need to get me some "which events happen in which books" flashcards.
Triwizard Drinking Tournament - '09 !Hufflepuff unofficial conscript, '10 !Gryffindor
Nerd blog at culturalgeekgirl.com
She's also, you know, gonna play a major part in the second part of the series.
Stuff makes alot more sense when you realise that it's more like 2 linked series. That's why ASOS feels like a huge climax and ties up so many threads and why AFFC and ADWD spend alot of time spinning out new characters and slowly building up plot elements again.
Her story gets effectively reset in ADWD!
As long as she's dicking around in somewhere that ISN'T Westeros, she's not going to matter. Hell, she's only met like two other characters that we have any reason to give a shit about outside of her story. And it took until ADWD for that to happen.
Realistically, I'm certain that she's going to come to Westeros at some point, but for fuck's sake, can it be soon please?
I hope not. Essos is a far more interesting place.
Mostly, I'm just being snarky... but I'm far more invested in her journey than I am eager to see the conclusion.
"Bringing the magic back" seems darned vague, what with prophecies, necromancers, and blood magicians scampering around before and after the dragons. We're basically being TOLD "mana levels are rising and used to be lower" without a lot of substantive or defined shifts, the assassin's guild has been face-dancing for a long time, Qyburn has been farting around with necromantic experiments for years, and Melisandre has been working her magic for a similar amount of time. I mean, I can make up some handwavium reinforcements for the point and I get that it's a thing because God R. R. Martin said so, but I'm not going to consider the dragons important with respect to magic if you could very easily remove them and just continue to say, "magic is coming back" the same way you already have been.
But mostly she's just still wearing plot-armor and bumbling through successes like Mr. Magoo.
How is her story reset in ADWD?