Finally got around to catching up on GoT so I can comment here.
I liked the S2 finale. It felt quieter, less action-packed, but I think that's okay. Gives a bit of a respite before S3, which I'm pretty sure will end on the Red Wedding, traumatizing everyone even more than the death of Ned Stark did.
I also mostly liked the arcs that they're giving the characters. Especially Tyrion and Shae. In the books, you really got the feeling she was only there for the money, she got increasingly frustrated with all the hiding and with being forced to pose as a kitchen maid/lady's maid. But here, it seems like they're both rather in love. I really, really hope they keep this change for the end of Storm of Swords. I already feel bad enough for all the crap he goes through in later books without Shae betraying him too.
Daenerys' arc was a bit shorter than it was in the books, but I think it did a good job showing the beginnings of where her character will end up later-- much harder and untrusting, better at political games. It also gave a hint that she is more okay with the idea of being a conqueror and plundering in the Dothraki style. I do rather wish they'd managed to get in the prophecies she hears about-- I reread that section of the book last night and it talks about three fires, three mounts, and three betrayals, which were all nice little bits of foreshadowing. (The visions in the book also foreshadow some other events, like the Red Wedding, but they're less important to Dany specifically so I understand why they cut them out.)
I do wish they'd gone a bit more into Jon Snow's story-- in the books Qhorin Halfhand made it very clear that he wanted Jon to defect to the wildlings because there was no other way that the Watch would ever know what they were planning. I wish they'd made that a bit clearer in the show, right now it just looks like Jon is fumbling around with no idea what he's doing rather than going in with a plan (and slowly getting seduced by the lifestyle anyway).
Minor continuity note-- Osha was always a wildling, but the books featured two additional characters, Jojen and his sister, who were the green tree people. In the books the characters split up-- Osha took Rickon off... somewhere, and Bran went with Hodor and Jojen and headed north, to look for the three-eyed crow. It'll be interesting if the series keeps them all together.
So yeah. Overall I'm really pleased with the show and how well it fleshed out the characters that we see, even if it's simplifying a lot of the arcs. They managed to make Renly and Margaery's relationship way more interesting, as well as make Margaery's ambitions much more plain. They even made Stannis a bit sympathetic, which I didn't get in the books until the end of Storm of Swords. I'm looking forward to how they handle the third book, which was my favorite, as well as looking forward to a more streamlined version of the events of Books 4 and 5, which were mostly a mess.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-06-17 04:24 pm (UTC)I liked the S2 finale. It felt quieter, less action-packed, but I think that's okay. Gives a bit of a respite before S3, which I'm pretty sure will end on the Red Wedding, traumatizing everyone even more than the death of Ned Stark did.
I also mostly liked the arcs that they're giving the characters. Especially Tyrion and Shae. In the books, you really got the feeling she was only there for the money, she got increasingly frustrated with all the hiding and with being forced to pose as a kitchen maid/lady's maid. But here, it seems like they're both rather in love. I really, really hope they keep this change for the end of Storm of Swords. I already feel bad enough for all the crap he goes through in later books without Shae betraying him too.
Daenerys' arc was a bit shorter than it was in the books, but I think it did a good job showing the beginnings of where her character will end up later-- much harder and untrusting, better at political games. It also gave a hint that she is more okay with the idea of being a conqueror and plundering in the Dothraki style. I do rather wish they'd managed to get in the prophecies she hears about-- I reread that section of the book last night and it talks about three fires, three mounts, and three betrayals, which were all nice little bits of foreshadowing. (The visions in the book also foreshadow some other events, like the Red Wedding, but they're less important to Dany specifically so I understand why they cut them out.)
I do wish they'd gone a bit more into Jon Snow's story-- in the books Qhorin Halfhand made it very clear that he wanted Jon to defect to the wildlings because there was no other way that the Watch would ever know what they were planning. I wish they'd made that a bit clearer in the show, right now it just looks like Jon is fumbling around with no idea what he's doing rather than going in with a plan (and slowly getting seduced by the lifestyle anyway).
Minor continuity note-- Osha was always a wildling, but the books featured two additional characters, Jojen and his sister, who were the green tree people. In the books the characters split up-- Osha took Rickon off... somewhere, and Bran went with Hodor and Jojen and headed north, to look for the three-eyed crow. It'll be interesting if the series keeps them all together.
So yeah. Overall I'm really pleased with the show and how well it fleshed out the characters that we see, even if it's simplifying a lot of the arcs. They managed to make Renly and Margaery's relationship way more interesting, as well as make Margaery's ambitions much more plain. They even made Stannis a bit sympathetic, which I didn't get in the books until the end of Storm of Swords. I'm looking forward to how they handle the third book, which was my favorite, as well as looking forward to a more streamlined version of the events of Books 4 and 5, which were mostly a mess.