Winter is Coming (Song of Ice and Fire TV)

[Skyy High]

the Loras/Renly homoerotic scene ... which is the one that does not make sense for me

It's fairly important characterization that's done very subtly in the books (because neither Renly nor Loras is ever a perspective character). I guess they opted to make it less subtle.

[Gorani]

It's fairly important characterization that's done very subtly in the books (because neither Renly nor Loras is ever a perspective character). I guess they opted to make it less subtle.

OK, the exposition was necessary to introduce Renly as a "possible King", to show that Highgarden has money & influence too and to show Loras' devotion to Renly. It was useful to point out that both of them are quite young and that they have never fought a real war and only knightly tournaments, but nowhere in the book was anything close to what they showed you the two men where doing in that scene.

But again, it is American cable TV, naked flesh seems to be vital even if it is not in the books (e.g like all the Ros sexy time they have added for the same exposition reasons somewhere already explained in this thread).

[Akirai Annuvil]

Well, and the writer probably didn't want to write *** sex scenes, while the screen writers wanted to appease the ***/female audience that the show wasn't completely aimed at young adolescent men.

[Rob Van Der Sloot]

The writer himself on some of the plot points:

Tied By Blood - Sandor & Gregor Clegane
The friendship of Ned and Robert
A Polite Fiction - Theon
An Arrogant Miscalculation
A Perilous Misstep
Dwarf's Champion
More than a Game - Arya's dancing lessons
UnnaturalForces - Magic and the supernatural
Kings In The North

[Drec Sutal]

It was useful to point out that both of them are quite young and that they have never fought a real war and only knightly tournaments, but nowhere in the book was anything close to what they showed you the two men where doing in that scene.

Honestly, this was hardly the only scene that was more explicit in the show then in the books. It was the only *** one, so I guess there's that... but we're in the second decade of the 21st century and if that kind of thing still bothers you then you know what you need to work on with regards to bigotry. And if sex in general bothers you then you should really stay away from HBO.

[Gorani]

Honestly, this was hardly the only scene that was more explicit in the show then in the books. It was the only *** one, so I guess there's that... but we're in the second decade of the 21st century and if that kind of thing still bothers you then you know what you need to work on with regards to bigotry. And if sex in general bothers you then you should really stay away from HBO.

Nice attempt at trolling, but it won't work.

@Rob: I will watch those youtube clips later today, after I have returned from work.

[Rob Van Der Sloot]

Honestly, this was hardly the only scene that was more explicit in the show then in the books. It was the only *** one, so I guess there's that... but we're in the second decade of the 21st century and if that kind of thing still bothers you then you know what you need to work on with regards to bigotry. And if sex in general bothers you then you should really stay away from HBO.

Oh I'm sure I'm not the only heterosexual man who feels a bit uncomfortable watching two men together intimately. And bigotry has nothing to do with it obviously. Sure, this is the year 2011, and I'm glad same sex relations are becoming more and more accepted. But call me old fashioned, I'd rather watch either two women, or a man and a woman.

Regarding the clips Gorani, its so addictive listening to the writer tell about his own magnificent fantasy world. He seems so knowledgable about medieval society, and the way the politics works. His talks give a lot more insight into why certain events play out the way they did in the book. Like for example the reason Bronn stepped forward to defend Tyrion's honor. That was great and so clever. Tyrion knew that Lyssa's sickly child could never wield a sword, so someone else would wield it for him. But that also meant he had the right to pick someone as well, him being an imp. Clearly most of Lyssa's household would not be willing to defend the imp's honor, since they were all loyal to the Eyrie. But Bronn was a thug, a sellsword. All he cared for was making more money, rising in title, perhaps one day getting his own castle. It was pretty clear he'd never get that from Catelyn Stark or from Lyssa. But the imp was an opportunity. Now I don't think Tyrion knew for sure that Bronn would win. Sellswords don't play fair, they fight dirty. But Lyssa's knights were all very capable warriors as well. So it was pretty much tied. Tyrion had a 50/50 chance of winning.

But the sellsword simply abused the weight of the knight, by constantly fleeing till the knight got tired. I don't remember his final line in the episode actually being in the book. But if it wasn't, I wish it had been, because it was briljant: Lyssa: "You didn't fight with honor!", Bronn points to the knight, "No.... but he did".

Hehehe.

[Skyy High]

OK, the exposition was necessary to introduce Renly as a "possible King", to show that Highgarden has money & influence too and to show Loras' devotion to Renly. It was useful to point out that both of them are quite young and that they have never fought a real war and only knightly tournaments, but nowhere in the book was anything close to what they showed you the two men where doing in that scene.

I was referring specifically to the explicit characterization of Renly and Loras as being *** lovers in the series. It was only done subtly in the books, and my point was that it's important enough to the plot later on that it makes sense that they made it much more overt in the TV series.

That, plus the fact that we have every other kind of explicit sex scene included, might as well give some screen time to this one.

[Gorani]

saw that on tv.com

Game of Thrones hasn't even started Season 2, but it's never too soon to talk about Seasons 3 and 4. Rumors that are currently circulating on the internet hint that HBO is already thinking hard about greenlighting two more seasons of the fantasy drama, with the idea that the two seasons would be shot back-to-back. As you likely know, each season is supposed to correspond with a book from the novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire." And if you've read the books, you know that the third book of the series, A Storm of Swords, is a frickin' monster with enough awesome material for two seasons. And since you're smart, you can figure out that shooting two seasons back-to-back can only mean one thing: A Storm of Swords will be split into Seasons 3 and 4, and I think we all know exactly where Season 3 will end.

[Mraezk]

Thinking of giving this a go now, is it worth watching if you aren't that familiar with the books? Is there a good deal of violence (Rome/Spartacus) and whatnot or is it mostly medieval guys scheming at one another?