About to hit the 5000 post mark on the old thread, the first season 7 trailer today seems like the right time to start the final Game of Thones thread.
I'm going back to the original rules pre-2015. I don't think we need supervision or bannings. Just don't be a dick. Post anything you find online that hasn't aired yet inside of spoiler tags. That's pretty much it. I think we can all handle that...
After six seasons of watching Daenerys transform from timid Targaryen pawn to khaleesi to Dragon Queen on Game of Thrones, it's hard to imagine anyone else but Emilia Clarke pulling off the role. However, the Me Before You star apparently wasn't even showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss' first choice for the part.
In fact, several key Westerosi players — from Jon Snow to Catelyn Stark to Loras Tyrell — were nearly played by different actors, meaning the fabric of the hit HBO drama as fans know it had the potential to be drastically different.
m Claflin
Before starring in The Hunger Games movies as dashing District 4 champion Finnick Odair, Claflin was apparently in the running to be cast in Thrones' very first season. During a 2016 interview with Cinema Blend, the 30-year-old actor revealed he auditioned for both the roles of Jon Snow and Viserys Targaryen — the ill-fated brother of Daenerys who ends up getting a pot of molten gold dumped on his head.
However, Claflin said he was ultimately glad he didn't make the cut. "I like getting into things like that [as a viewer] and not being a part, because I always find it’s very jarring if I was part of it," he explained. "But I’m a big fan."
Gillian Anderson
While promoting her serial killer drama The Fall in 2013, Anderson told The Daily Mail that she had declined roles on both Downton Abbey and Thrones — a decision that her daughter Piper apparently found baffling. "My 18-year-old cannot believe that I would turn down Game Of Thrones or Downton — things she loves to watch," she said.
The X-Files alum never let on as to which Westerosi resident she was in talks to play, but some fans speculate it was none other than Queen Cersei Lannister herself.
Tamzin Merchant
Following some intense feedback on Thrones' disastrous original (never-aired) pilot, showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss drastically altered the episode to create the current version of the show. One significant change was the recasting of Daenerys from Merchant to Emilia Clarke — despite George R.R. Martin's praise of her performance as Henry VIII's fifth wife Catherine Howard in The Tudors and her initial readings as the Mother of Dragons. No official reason was ever given for her departure.
Izzy Meikle-Small
While attending a London screening of The Big Wedding in 2013, Meikle-Small revealed that she was neck and neck with Sophie Turner to play Sansa Stark throughout the season one audition process. Turner ended up snagging the role, but while Meikle-Small was disappointed at first, she ultimately realized the part wasn't right for her.
"I got to the final two to play Lady Sansa Sark," she told The Telegraph. "I was a bit sad, because the show’s massive, but I’m not that unhappy, because they all show a lot of flesh, don’t they? I don’t think my parents would be happy."
Pretty decent breakdown by Emergency Awesome. Sometimes he gets heavy into theories, which could potentially spoil things, but he doesn't in this one. He does confirm a few things (e.g. Dragonstone, Casterly Rock, etc.)
If seasons 7 & 8 turn out to be fantastic I don't see myself buying the next two books. I just don't want to wait that long to read about what's in the pie Davos is eating while wearing black leather boots and a green doublet blahblahblah [Reply]
That's insane. The books are so much better than the show. Even the last two. And saying that is no slam on the show. You just can't do that much on TV...
Also...pretty sure seasons 6-8 will bear only passing resemblance to books 6 and 7 ( and maybe more, if he lives that long...)
That's what I'm still most worried about. That we'll never get to the actual end of the books. [Reply]
Originally Posted by raybec 4:
I don't want to quote vail's huge post but in the link it says Dominic West was offered the part of Mance. That would've been a good choice.
Agreed. While I really liked the guy who was cast, West would have been awesome. [Reply]
Originally Posted by keg in kc:
That's insane. The books are so much better than the show. Even the last two. And saying that is no slam on the show. You just can't do that much on TV...
Also...pretty sure seasons 6-8 will bear only passing resemblance to books 6 and 7 ( and maybe more, if he lives that long...)
That's what I'm still most worried about. That we'll never get to the actual end of the books.
I strongly disagree.
The first three were mostly great, but the last two were very disappointing. And all of them were bloated with pointless characters and needless fluff. Much like Stephen King, Martin takes a good 500 page story and makes it 1,000 pages long. The series necessarily blasts all the excess crap away. Otherwise, we'd only be halfway through season 2 at this point with entire episodes dedicated to feast menu selections.
The best part of Season Six for me was finally not knowing what was going to happen - ironically, right when the story became fairly predictable. I got to watch other people experience the joy/horror of the show's biggest twists, already knowing what was going to happen. That sucked.
If I had it to over again, I would have either never read the books at all, or read them after I'd watched the pertinent seasons.
And frankly I've grown to loathe that procrastinating old fuck. [Reply]
The first three were mostly great, but the last two were very disappointing. And all of them were bloated with pointless characters and needless fluff. Much like Stephen King, Martin takes a good 500 page story and makes it 1,000 pages long. The series necessarily blasts all the excess crap away. Otherwise, we'd only be halfway through season 2 at this point with entire episodes dedicated to feast menu selections.
The best part of Season Six for me was finally not knowing what was going to happen - ironically, right when the story became fairly predictable. I got to watch other people experience the joy/horror of the show's biggest twists, already knowing what was going to happen. That sucked.
If I had it to over again, I would have either never read the books at all, or read them after I'd watched the pertinent seasons.
And frankly I've grown to loathe that procrastinating old ****.
I actually enjoyed Books 4 and 5, especially the second time through them when I read them together as one big book instead of reading 4 then 5. All of the most interesting theories and details are in those books (other than R+L = J). They don't compare to the roller-coaster ride that book 3 was, but book 6 has the potential to be that good again.
There are aspects of the books I wish he'd done differently for sure, but overall they are fascinating books. I think you exagerrate a bit on the food descriptions. You can skim that stuff easily enough anyway, and it's not as bad as people make it out to be. He's actually a very good writer. Try reading an Anne Rice book (Interview with a Vampire and sequels) if you want to see bloated descriptions. Oof.
Plus I will always want to read before watching, because I like to read, and reading after watching sucks balls. It is MUCH better to watch after reading than it is to read after watching. That's because reading takes more mental effort and much more time, so it helps a lot to not know the story already when reading. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Hawk:
I actually enjoyed Books 4 and 5, especially the second time through them when I read them together as one big book instead of reading 4 then 5. All of the most interesting theories and details are in those books (other than R+L = J). They don't compare to the roller-coaster ride that book 3 was, but book 6 has the potential to be that good again.
There are aspects of the books I wish he'd done differently for sure, but overall they are fascinating books. I think you exagerrate a bit on the food descriptions. You can skim that stuff easily enough anyway, and it's not as bad as people make it out to be. He's actually a very good writer. Try reading an Anne Rice book (Interview with a Vampire and sequels) if you want to see bloated descriptions. Oof.
Plus I will always want to read before watching, because I like to read, and reading after watching sucks balls. It is MUCH better to watch after reading than it is to read after watching. That's because reading takes more mental effort and much more time, so it helps a lot to not know the story already when reading.
I generally can't read the book after I've seen the movie, with a few exceptions. I assume I would have gotten bored with all the minutia and crapped out these fairly quickly, since I got bored with the minutia when I did read them. I especially hated the chapters where I didn't care about the POV character, particularly Sansa. While TV Sansa has become awesome, as far as book Sansa is concerned, I wish they'd killed her and spared the direwolf. And I really disliked the fourth book because it had no Tyrion chapters. Then the fifth one featured him on this long, meandering journey which was even at the time pointless because it was obvious he'd meet up with Dani at some point. The show bore that out by essentially omitting it.
And I'm not saying that Martin is a bad writer. He just needs an editor to trim off the ample fat and streamline the story, and at this point in his career that's just not going to happen. Same with King. Hell, you can add George Lucas to that list as well. Midachlorianes, George? I don't think so.
All I know is I've enjoyed the show far more than the books, and reading the books ultimately fucked up the show for me. Assuming Martin ever gets off his lazy ass and finishes them, I really don't see the point in reading the last two now. At this point I barely remember the shit that happened in the fifth one that was nuked by the show, and the sixth one will pick up on that and just end up being confusing. Pointlessly confusing. [Reply]
