Oh, My Sweet Summer Child - Game of Thrones Season 3

[TheSummoner]

Originally Posted by Old Nan

Oh, my sweet summer child, what do you know about fear? Fear is for the winter, when the snows fall a hundred feet deep. Fear is for the long night, when the sun hides for years and children are born and live and die all in darkness. That is the time for fear, my little Lord, when the White Walkers move through the woods.

Thousands of years ago there came a night that lasted a generation. Kings froze to death in their castles, same as the shepherds in their huts. And women smothered their babies rather than see them starve, and wept and felt the tears freeze on their cheeks.

In that darkness, the White Walkers came for the first time. They swept through cities and kingdoms, riding their dead horses, hunting with their packs of pale spiders, big as hounds.

Game of Thrones Season 3 Trailer

Only five weeks remain until the season 3 premiere of Game of Thrones, HBO's adaptation of the series of novels by George R. R. Martin starting with the book by the same name. Season 3 will cover the first half of the third book, A Storm of Swords.

Lots of cliffhangers (atleast for those who have not read the books) at the end of the second season. Stannis Baratheon's attack on King's Landing was beaten back thanks to the timely arrival of Tywin Lannister. Robb Stark broke his betrothal to the Frey girl. Winterfell is in ruins. And perhaps most ominous of all, the Nights Watch has come under attack by the White Walkers.

I'm really excited. A Storm of Swords is by far my favorite book in the series and I'm happy that they will be picking up some of the plot points that had been cut from season 2 (which covered the second book). Catelyn's brother and uncle will be introduced, as will Meera and Jojen Reed. The Bloody Mummers Brave Companions will also be getting some screen time this season.

Please put anything that people who haven't read the books would not be familiar with in spoiler tags.

[pita]

I just posted on facebook (translated from Hebrew) "The new Game of Thrones trailer made me get really excited and wondering what's about to happen until I realized that I've read the book about twenty times".
I'm gonna watch it, I'm gonna enjoy it, and I'm going to argue with people either that the changes are for the best or that the books are better than the show, depending which side they take.

[Bling Cat]

I must say, I'm almost as interested in the public's reaction to a few things as I am in actually seeing them. Book three is probably the book where the most things happen, with Book 1 being build-up and scene setting, and Book 2 being sort of static up until the end. Book 3 has the most stuff in it, and I'm looking forward to the show watchers catching up to the book readers in terms of that.

[Dr.Epic]

So long as there's plenty of the Imp, I'm happy!

[TheSummoner]

Well, Tyrion certainly got some of his best moments in book 3... Though as they're splitting it between seasons 3 and 4, you'll have to wait a season for half of those moments.

[Hazzardevil]

I'm definetly looking forward to season 3, but I was wondering if anyone could explain this trailer to me. There was a better definition version of it a few weeks ago but I can't find it now.
I have read all the books sans Dance of Dragons and I still can't make sense of it.

[TheFallenOne]

'Their world returns to ours'. It's just a 'Hey look, there's a new GoT season!' It has no relevance to what actually will happen in the show.

[Dr.Epic]

What is dead may never die!

[TheSummoner]

But rises again, harder and stronger!

So I guess the others follow the drowned god then.

[Bling Cat]

Originally Posted by TheSummoner

But rises again, harder and stronger!

So I guess the others follow the drowned god then.

You joke, but the speculation surrounding a connection there on the Forum of Ice and Fire is huge.

[Nomrom]

George R.R. Martin keeps a lot of his old papers in my university's library. So later, this month, he'll be visiting and giving a lecture. As part of the event, there will be a free showing of the season premiere a week early. I'm pretty stoked, even though I didn't manage to get a ticket for the lecture. Still hoping to get one of my books signed.

[Hawriel]

I really need to get HBO.

I just got season 2 in the mail last Tuesday. Heavy snow fall that night knocked my power out for two days. Still have not had time to sit down for a full marathon. I will tomorrow.

One of the best things about the series is seeing all the actors I did not know about before. Especially the younger ones. Seeing so much ability and future potential in a young person is amazing.

Particularly Maisie Williams. Seeing her player Arya as she turns into some dark later on will be thrilling and disturbing at the same time.

[Anderlith]

Anyone else angry about Season 2 changes (& No this isn't even about the Blackwater, I understand that)? Hopefully they will stay truer in Season 3

[Closet_Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Anderlith

Anyone else angry about Season 2 changes (& No this isn't even about the Blackwater, I understand that)? Hopefully they will stay truer in Season 3

I found the changes a mixed bag in that the worst part of the season (Rob and Dany) and the best part of the season (Harranhal) were the least like the book.

[Anderlith]

Originally Posted by Closet_Skeleton

I found the changes a mixed bag in that the worst part of the season (Rob and Dany) and the best part of the season (Harranhal) were the least like the book.

While some bits of Harrenhal were okay, I didn't like them killing off the Tickler early

[Closet_Skeleton]

Originally Posted by Anderlith

While some bits of Harrenhal were okay, I didn't like them killing off the Tickler early

They could kill off Littlefinger early and I wouldn't care if it was to make more room for Charles Dance.

[Dienekes]

Originally Posted by Anderlith

Anyone else angry about Season 2 changes (& No this isn't even about the Blackwater, I understand that)? Hopefully they will stay truer in Season 3

I can legitimately see why they made a few of the bigger changes, actually. Like showing Robb and Whatshername fall for each other, for example. Or saving some of the introduced characters for the next season. But a few of them irked me, not so much for being bad but for losing something better (The Tickler as was already mentioned).

Not enough to get angry though. This is an adaptation, I do not expect it to be 100% accurate. Actually I don't expect it to be 70% accurate, but instead to follow the structure and themes of the books which I'd say it's doing rather well.

And I have to agree with Closet_Skeleton that the Arya/Tywin scenes were magnificently done.

[Anderlith]

Don't even get me started on the lack of Jeyne Westerling. Terrible decision.

[Brother Oni]

Originally Posted by Dienekes

Not enough to get angry though. This is an adaptation, I do not expect it to be 100% accurate. Actually I don't expect it to be 70% accurate, but instead to follow the structure and themes of the books which I'd say it's doing rather well.

I agree. The series' introduction of Tywin Lannister did in one scene what the books had to reinforce repeatedly before he showed up.

Some of the other changes are very obvious once I read the books - upping (or at least obsfucating) the ages of all the characters who are involved in sexual scenes for example.

I'm currently partway through the second half of the third book and one thing has struck me regarding Cersei (spoiler for the third book):

Spoiler

I'm not sure whether it's Lena Headey's portrayal or the changes for the adaptation, but the book Cersei seems very... fickle, almost petty.

During the battle of Blackwater in the TV series, she comes close to the book version but that's excusable due to alcohol and tension. Most of the time, she holds herself as a very strong and manipulative queen, well versed in politics, but the little games she plays with Tyrion in the book undermines her... dignity? Respectability? I can't quite find the right word to describe it.

Note that I've only just reached Joffery's death, so I may be off in my interpretation of Cersei.

[Selrahc]

I'm currently partway through the second half of the third book and one thing has struck me regarding Cersei (spoiler for the third book):

Spoiler

Cersei has definitely been a lot more respectable in the tv series than in the books. The fickleness continues, and I'm interested to see just how they portray it, because in the TV series a lot of the more blurgh or petty actions from Cersei have been moved off onto Joffrey. Joffrey in the tv series is a lot more of a presence, where in the books he was more of an easily manipulated totem for Lannister power. Joffrey was still a tosser, but he didn't have any explicit prostitute murder scenes, he didn't kill all his bastard offspring, and he didn't threaten his mother with death.

Spoiler for end of third book and 4th.

Spoiler

The obvious thing to push Cersei into the more "completely nutso" territory she covers in book 4, is to have her more or less go off the rails following Joffreys death. That's basically what happened anyway but it was building off more previous action in the book.

[Kato]

Regarding Cersei. Spoilers for... up to book 3 (minor for book 4)

Spoiler

While she really is not a likeable character I dare say many people are harder on her then she deserves. Yeah, she is petty and not as smart as Tyrion but while the show puts more emphasis on her actual character depth - mostly her care for her children and a bit her wish to be respected for more than her **** - it is there in the books. (It helps that she becomes a POV character later)
Her feelings towards Tyrion, while not justified... well, his birth did kill their mother. I'm not saying she's justified in it but her dislike for him doesn't come out of nowhere.

While I really, really like what they added to the Tywin/Arya scenes it makes me angry because I don't want to like this Tywin. It's troublesome because due to the actor I kept seeing Vetinari in Tywin and then got disappointed by how he turned out to be and now I know I will be even more disappointed unless they make more changes to him in the third season (and fourth).

[Weezer]

Originally Posted by Kato

While I really, really like what they added to the Tywin/Arya scenes it makes me angry because I don't want to like this Tywin. It's troublesome because due to the actor I kept seeing Vetinari in Tywin and then got disappointed by how he turned out to be and now I know I will be even more disappointed unless they make more changes to him in the third season (and fourth).

They certainly made him a lot more likeable and more 'human', which in the long run could turn out good or bad and if it continues will definitely change the reception of a certain bathroom scene. I definitely love the character, acting and writing for Tywin, but I'm not sure how the new characterization will fit in with later events.

[mangosta71]

I think the shift in perception (for Cersei in particular, but other characters as well) is that TV doesn't let us get inside the characters' heads the way the books do. To continue the Cersei example, the major POV from which we observe her in book 1 is Ned. In book 2, it's Tyrion (with some Sansa mixed in in both books). Neither of the major characters is kindly disposed to her, and Sansa's positive reactions early on are shown to be the naive illusions of a stupid child - it's immediately obvious from the other POV that Cersei is putting up a front to manipulate her. Of course we hate her after reading those two books - the people through which we experience her hate her.

TV can only show us what the characters do and say. The books show us their motivations and the feelings they can't express. Because of that, I feel like the book characters are more fleshed out, more human, more relatable, etc.

[Brother Oni]

Originally Posted by mangosta71

TV can only show us what the characters do and say. The books show us their motivations and the feelings they can't express. Because of that, I feel like the book characters are more fleshed out, more human, more relatable, etc.

While true, there's so much more the book has to state due to the lack of body language and other such non-verbal clues.

For example, compare this scene in the book:

Originally Posted by Game of Thrones p.573-574

"And to Rhaego, son of Drogo, the stallion who will mount the world, to him I also pledge a gift. To him I will give this iron chair his mother's father sat in. I will give him Seven Kingdoms. I, Drogo, khal, will do this thing." His voice rose, and he lifted his fist to the sky. "I will take my khalasar west to where the world ends, and ride the wooden horses across the black salt water as no khal as done before. I will kill the men in the iron suits and tear down their stone houses. I will rape their women, take their children, and bring their broken gods back to Vaes Dothrak to bow down beneath the Mother of Mountains. This I vow, I, Drogo son of Bharbo. This I swear before the Mother of the Mountains, as the stars look down in witness.

to the same scene in the TV series.

The scene in the book doesn't capture any of the sheer aggression or physicality that Jason Momoa puts into the scene, not to mention the harshness of the Dothraki constructed language adding to the tone.

The whole Daenerys and Jorah relationship is another one as well - (spoiler for beginning of book 3)

Spoiler

You only have to see the way he looks at her to know his feelings towards her (well done by Iain Glen there), but it's not obvious in the books until he kisses her on the ship.

[mangosta71]

I didn't have any trouble seeing Drogo's passion in my mind when I read this passage.

I strongly suspected Jorah's attraction to Dany in book 1. Book 2 made it more clear, and book 3 was basically GRRM hitting anyone that hadn't caught on to it yet with a sledgehammer of obvious.

[Brother Oni]

Originally Posted by mangosta71

I didn't have any trouble seeing Drogo's passion in my mind when I read this passage.

Earlier in the scene, Drogo was very quiet from the news of the poison attempt and spoke only after a long while, hence I read it in a cold clinical way, rather than the alpha male vow of fury depicted in the series.
Different people, different interpretations.

Originally Posted by mangosta71

I strongly suspected Jorah's attraction to Dany in book 1. Book 2 made it more clear, and book 3 was basically GRRM hitting anyone that hadn't caught on to it yet with a sledgehammer of obvious.

Again, just because it's obvious to you, doesn't mean it's that way to everybody else. It took the sledgehammer for me.

[INDYSTAR188]

For my part I will be excited to see what direction the show continues to go in. I have read all the books available two times or so and I am not disappointed in changes made in the show. I really love the books but it's pretty awesome to have a visual comparison.

Book 3 Spoilers:

Spoiler

I'm really dreading the Red Wedding. It is so hard for me to READ let alone WATCH! The North Remembers!

I wonder if the exclusion of Jeyne Westerling-Stark from the show kills some of the conspiracy theories you hear in some of the forums?

[Anderlith]

Originally Posted by INDYSTAR188

For my part I will be excited to see what direction the show continues to go in. I have read all the books available two times or so and I am not disappointed in changes made in the show. I really love the books but it's pretty awesome to have a visual comparison.

Book 3 Spoilers:

Spoiler

I'm really dreading the Red Wedding. It is so hard for me to READ let alone WATCH! The North Remembers!

I wonder if the exclusion of Jeyne Westerling-Stark from the show kills some of the conspiracy theories you hear in some of the forums?

Spoiler

I actually liked it, I was waiting so long for Cat to be killed off... only to see her pop back up at the end. /sigh, you can't have everything

[WitchSlayer]

My question is will we get to see the Brotherhood without Banners and Thoros of Myr this season. I'm afraid they're going to leave a lot of that stuff out.

[Dienekes]

Originally Posted by Anderlith

Spoiler

I actually liked it, I was waiting so long for Cat to be killed off... only to see her pop back up at the end. /sigh, you can't have everything

Spoiler

You are a monster. The North will have its vengeance.