Lion Heart 15,041 Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 *Episode 1: Part Two Everyone kneels for the giant king who walks directly up to Ned and calls him fat. Ned gives him an up/down in return and they both burst out laughing. Aww bros!! They just want to get some brews and make fun of each other while they watch football. Robert then goes “Caaaaaaaattttt†giving the hilarious awkward greeting you give to someone you know you should be enthusiastic about seeing but don’t really feel enthusiastic about. It’s too loud and not sincere and I totally love it, that is how a bro would greet his best bro’s boring wife. Robert is sad because he and Ned haven’t seen each other in nine years and he does the whole “Where have YOU been?†thing and Ned’s all, “Uhh not seeing each other for nine years is a two year street, I don’t remember you texting me.†Cersei btw arrived before Robert but is just now getting out of her carriage. You know she was just sitting in there playing Words with Friends. Robert greets the kids and does an adorable thing where he asks Bran to show him his muscles and Bran is so excited about it. See! Robert could be good with kids if only…well we’ll get to that. Arya keeps trying to ask Sansa where Tyrion is (because Arya is only interested in awesome things and she knows Tyrion is the most awesome part of this whole procession.) Sansa is like, “Will you please stop embarrassing me I am trying to look cool/hot for that blond prince over there and you are totally ruining my air of mystery by being an annoying younger sister.†Cersei, this b---h has been like walking around looking at Winterfell like: She gives Ned her hand and a forced smile and is like “It’s greeeat to be here.†Robert wants to go to the crypt to see the grave of Ned’s sister who he was/still is totally obsessed with. Cersei wants to take a shower since they’ve been riding for a month. (Westoros really needs a high speed rail. Robb look into it!) Cersei: “Surely the dead can wait. This has been a problem for our entire marriage.†Robert: “Yeah, no I care more about the dead than I do you, Ned come on.†Arya’s still annoying Sansa about Tyrion. Cersi realizes Tyrion is missing and says, “Find the little beast.†(Cersei! I just want to sit with you and drink martinis in a Manhattan lounge and say terrible things about the people around us!!) Robert and Ned are down in the crypts reliving their glory days. Basically Jon Arryn was their favorite college professor and they’re reminiscing about all the times they skipped class to go to a kegger. Robert:â€Well he’s dead now. Be the Hand of the King?†Ned: “I’m not worthy.†Robert: “I’m not being nice nerd, I want you to do all my homework for me so I can go play football and date cheerleaders.†Well what he actually says is, “You helped me win the Iron throne now help me keep it,†which sounds much better. Robert is still upset that he couldn’t marry Ned’s sister and gets all worked up: “I got a great idea how bout your pretty daughter marries my dick of a son!†Ned: “I really need to stop bringing Robert down here to see that statue of my dead sister it makes him act all crazy.†Jamie is looking for Tyrion and goes immediately to the ***** house. Tryion’s drinking beer while he gets his dick sucked by a lady of the night named Ros. Through brothel banter we learn that Tyrion is the queen’s dwarf younger brother who is known as the “imp†for his stature and has a reputation for being a bit of a drunk. Jamie comes in and Ros eye ****s the **** out of him because 1. he’s Jamie Lannister and 2. it’s her job. Jamie goes and pours himself a drink and tells Tyrion that Cersei’s looking for him and his presence is requested at dinner and then he goes, “Don’t leave me alone with these people.†I wish I could make Tyrion come with me to social engagements I didn’t want to go to! (Tyrion and Jamie’s friendship is one of my favorites in the entire series and they have maybe three scenes together.) Tyrion: “I began my own feast and this is just the first of many courses.†(Peter Dinklage’s delivery of that line is perfect.) Jamie’s all, “I anticipated as much†and he brings in five girls (smacking their butts as they come in (the Seven Kingdoms loves itself some s-xism)) and then they all jump on bed on top of Tyrion who shouts, “Close the door!†and Jamie doesn’t. Siblings! Robert’s in the crypt still sad facing over Lyanna. Dude, it was twenty years ago. Robert is still mega pissed about how Rhaegar Targaryen totally raped the **** out of Lyanna. (Basically the whole premise of this series is that Robert was supposed to marry Lyanna and Rhaegar kidnapped her. Robert, in his fury, in response ripped apart an entire kingdom, destroyed a dynasty and named himself king. I mean I understand Cersei’s upset that all Robert does is pine over Lyanna, but when that’s what your up against, girl, you never stood a chance.) Ned’s like the Targaryens are gone and you’re inability to move on from the past is making me (and everyone else) uncomfortable. Robert ominously: “Not all of them.†Cut to: Pentos (across the narrow sea) Background: The Targaryens ruled the Seven Kingdoms for 300 years cause they had dragons and no one argues with a ****ing dragon. Their last king, Aerys II (Viserys and Daenerys dad) got killed by Jamie during Robert’s rebellion and was completely balls out bananas. Targaryen Likes: dragons, fire, Stefon, being off their prozac, Kanye West, swag, Weeds, films starring Nicolas Cage, each other Targaryen Dislikes: caution, usurpers, sanity, The Daily Show, waiting for an army, taking **** from people, the estate tax, Wes Anderson films, slave traders, doggy style Family: Viserys (only living son) Daenerys (only living daughter)…..and that’s pretty much it, Robert killed the rest. They’re chilling at this guy Illyrio’s house who is a wealthy magister/trader dude who lets them stay at his place presumably out of the goodness of his heart. Daenerys is standing on a balcony and hears her brother calling for her. Viserys comes barging in. (Viserys is that over excited nerd in high school who was in all the acting classes and was convinced he was going to be super famous one day and claimed he was “straight.†Henry Lloyd who plays him, plays every scene like he’s a d--g addict who’s had one too many hours since his last hit, which is perfect.) Viserys betrothed her to a tribal horse king (khal) and Illyrio got her a pretty dress to wear when she meets him today. She’s like, “This dude been letting us live here rent free for a year, don’t you think that’s weird?†Viserys is like, “No, because he totally knows my band is going to be super famous one day and I’ll totally let him come over and use my hot tub whenever he wants. Duh.†It takes every ounce of restraint Daenerys has not to eye roll her face off, and in the first five lines of their conversation you learn everything you need to know about their relationship, which is that Daenerys is 5,000 times smarter than he is. Then Viserys takes her dress off and grabs her boob. (Everyone on this show always talks about how the Targaryens married brothers and sisters (coughCersiecough) as if it’s some kind of excuse. (It’s not.)) He tells her she has to be perfect today and threatens her about awakening “the dragon†and talks about the beginning of his “reign.†So he’s a delusional violent dick - got it. Then Daenerys, because she can’t go one scene without doing something bad ass, gets straight up into a boiling hot bathtub and the servant girls are like, “It’s too hot!†and she’s like, “Bitch please I got dragon’s blood this is ****ing lukewarm.†Then we meet Khal Drogo. Jason Momoa who plays Khal Drogo is a ****ing giant, if you see him at photo calls with the rest of the cast he makes Sean Bean look like Elijah Wood when Elijah Wood stands next to Sean Bean. Viserys tells Daenerys how the Dothraki have to cut off their braids when they are defeated in battle so everyone will know what a huge loser they are and Khal Drogo has never had a haircut. Drogo sniffs at Daenerys and peaces. She’s like, “Umm okay…†Illyrio blows a lot of smoke up Viserys’ ass about how the people in the Seven Kingdoms miss Viserys (they don’t) and are secretly wishing for his return (the aren’t.) Daenerys tries to place some objection to this whole “marry me to a horse king thing.†Viserys explains to her that he needs an army so he can go back and reclaim the Seven Kingdoms, specifically Khal Drogo’s army. He says,â€I would let his whole tribe **** you, all forty thousand, and their horses if that’s what it took.†Daenerys is like, “Well this is complete bull****. I’m going to become the best character in the series.†Winterfell! Sansa is with her mom fishing for compliments. “What if Joffrey thinks I’m ugly?†Ugh, shut up Sansa. She’s super excite over marrying Joffrey and gets all high pitched teenage girl, “MAKE DAD SAY I CAN!†Cat: “Well, this is terrible. †Sansa: “It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted!†Sansa, on this Catelyn and I agree, you want terrible things. (Sansa suffers from a specific form of white girl privilege where she is convinced she is the main character in a romantic comedy and anything that happens to her that doesn’t fit in with that idea (99% of life) totally messes her **** up.) ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion Heart 15,041 Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 (edited) *Episode 1: Part 3 Wintefell Rager! Robert has found the ugliest bar maid and is making out with her in the middle of the hall. If b---hface could kill Cersei would have turned this feast into a blood bath. Jon Snow is outside taking out his emo emotions on a dummy with his sword. His Uncle Benjen (Ned’s brother who is on the Night Watch) rides up and is like, “You okay kid? Need someone to talk to?†Jon: “Catelyn thought it would offend the royal family if I was there because I’m just a filthy mudblood.†Benjen: “You’re really just throwing all that out there, huh? Well, you’re always welcome on the wall.†Jon: “Great! I’ll come! When do we leave!!†Benjen: “Uhh really kid, that was just something I was saying to be polite…being on the Night Watch…it’s like this whole thing….you’re not allowed to have s-x…†Jon: “That’s perfect for my s-xual issues I’ll go pack things! Yay! Someone wants me!†Benjen: “I don’t think that’s such a great….ahhh ****.†Tyrion, who has been drinking by himself in the dark (something else we have in common) is all: Jon: “What are you doing?†Tyrion: “Preparing for a night with your family.†HA! He’s pregaming! (I love the Starks but you know they are insufferable at parties.) Tyrion: “Aren’t you the bastard, bastard, bastard, bastard?†Each time he says it Jon looks like he’s going to start cutting himself to make the pain more real. Tyrion: “Let me give you some advice bastard, never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armour and it can never be used to hurt you.†Jon: “That’s some pretty solid advice that I won’t take.†Tyrion: “No sweat, I’m used to people not listening to how awesome I am.†Jon: “God why are you yelling at me!! What do you know about being a bastard! No one understands!! No one!! I’m going to go listen to Bright Eyes!! He’s the only person who gets me!!†Tyrion: “All dwarves are bastards in their fathers eyes.†This won’t be the first time Jon. Then Tyrion wanders away casually drinking wine from a bag, as you do. (Also,Tyrion, get inside! Jamie’s probably looking for you, he needs you!) Inside, Benjen and Ned talk about the wall and the deserter and the white zombie. They don’t decide anything except that winter is definitely coming. Then Robb comes over and everyone smiles and starts hugging and puppies start pouring out of the television and licking my face. Catelyn tries to talk to Cersei and Cersei just ****s all over her. All her words are polite but all her face is saying is “Eww. God the suburb sucks, someone please take me back to humanity.†Catelyn: “I hated the North too when I came here.†Cersei: “Please stop trying to bond with me.†Catelyn: “Welp, I tried.†Sansa comes over and is like “Hi Queen! Be my best friend.†Cersei: “Are you still growing, have you gotten your period? Omg I love your dress.†(Sansa’s dress is terrible.) Cersei and Catelyn talk about how they’re totally going to be in laws and how much they’re both going to hate it. Cersei:â€Such a beauty shouldn’t be hidden up here in the North.†HAHA. That’d be like going into someones house and being like that’s a sweet couch you got there, I’m going to take it to my house because let’s face it it’s totally going to waste in your loser house. Cersei, you are Queen Bitch of my heart. Jamie and Ned run into each other and have a dick measuring contest. Jamie’s jazzed to fight Ned in a tournament. Ned doesn’t fight in tournaments because of honor and things. (I’m kinda sad how things turned out the way they did cause I think beneath his annoyance at all of the Starkness of the Starks I think Jamie does like Ned and was genuinely looking forward to having him at Kings Landing. Again Ned and Jamie could both use a little of the other in them.) Arya is bored at the dinner table and decides to start a one woman food fight with Sansa. Sansa is mortified. Arya finds this appropriately funny (in that she finds it hysterical. There is no other time when it is more tempting/appropriate to **** with a sibling than when they are in front of someone they like.) Cat looks at Robb (who also finds this hysterical) and she doesn’t even say anything he’s just like, “On it,†and picks up Arya and takes her to bed. Robb you the best older brother ever!! Remember when you were shirtless? After the Party Catelyn and Ned are in bed talking. Ned doesn’t want to go to the “rat’s nest†that is Kings Landing. Oh Ned, your melodramatic goodness is what makes it so very easy to **** with you. Then he and Catelyn make fun of Robert for being fat for ten minutes and it is the most likable both of them are in the whole episode. They are interrupted by Maester Luwin who received a message from Catelyn’s sister. Catelyn reads it and then immediately burns the letter. Her sister, who was married to Jon Arryn, fled the capitol and says the Lannister’s murdered Jon and the king is in danger. Ned’s like, “Her husband just died, she’s being a distraught woman, she probably got her period, let’s leave it.†Catelyn’s like, “Uhh that letter could have gotten her killed I don’t think she’s just PMSing.†Catelyn and Luwin fight over whether Ned should take the king’s job offer now since 1. he is in a perfect position to protect the king and 2. that position will likely get him killed. What is Ned gonna do?? Drogo and Daenerys’ Wedding Lots of people ****ing, public nudity, exposed hearts with giant flies on them. Drogo’s wearing a **** ton of eye make up. Viserys is sitting in the corner being petulant and bitter as is his wont. I wish there was some old biddy of a Dothraki who would come up to him and pinch his cheeks and say,â€You’re next!†I bet he would love that. One man is ****ing a girl from behind in the middle of the ceremony, another man comes up throws him off the girl, takes his place and starts ****ing, the original man gets up and then they fight to the death. Everyone is like, “So are we gonna do the Electric Slide next or cut the cake?†Viserys’ like, “….†Illyrio: “A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair.†Something tells me I would probably like Dothraki weddings way more than my friends’ hipster weddings. Daenerys looks like she’s going to **** herself. Then we meet Sir Jorah Mormont of Bear Island. Jorah is played by Iain Glenn who, aside from having a ridiculous first name, is stupid hot. Jorah used to live in the Seven Kingdoms but got exiled for a bit of tiny bit of slave trading and is now a total smug expat who’s always, “Here you can smoke inside, they aren’t so uptight about lungs.†He gives Daenerys books about the Seven Kingdoms she’s like, “Well, it beats that basket of snakes I got earlier.†And then he’s all, “Anything I can do to help out the Targaryens just let me know I’ll be right over here, all the time. Just ask. If you need anything, anything at all. I’ll be over here. No? You’re good for now? Alright. Well you know just holler if you do, I’ll be standing literally right here.†Then Illyrio gives Daenerys the best present not on the registry: three dragon eggs. Daenerys’ looks at them like, “This almost makes my soon rape worth it.†Drogo: “Bitch I can top that,†and gets up and gets a giant white mare for Daenerys which is super lovely and thoughtful and given how the Dothraki feel about their horses is a very nice present. Daenerys: “I don’t know how to say thank you in Dothraki.†Jorah:â€There is no such word, the Dothraki aren’t uptight about saying thank you.†And then Khal and Daenerys ride to a beautiful seaside sunset where he rapes her. Now in the book he’s super nice to her about it and it’s not all crying and forced entry. But obviously this is a situation where consent is impossible so I like HBO for not sugar coating it. Winterfell! Tyrion is hungover as **** lying on a step wrapped up in a coat like it’s a swaddling blanket. We’ve all been there Tyrion! Get the man a burger and a bloody mary! Everybody’s preparing to go on a hunt with the king. Robert comes up to Ned and says, “I know what I’m making you do is super ****ty and that in this situation consent is impossible and I feel really bad about it but I just really need you man.†Ned lies and tells him it’s fine, cause he’s a good pal. Robert promises to at least make him lol. All the men go off hunting. Bran starts climbing. His adorable baby direwolf is concerned. Bran’s like, “Relax I got this.†Bran then hears the unmistakable sounds of people boning and goes to investigate. This is not a good decision Bran!! Bran climbs into the window and it’s Jamie boning Cersei from behind. Bran tries to get away but Jamie grabs him. Cersie tries to put her underwear back on while screaming “He saw us!!†ten times. I imagine having a clandestine, adulterous affair with your twin brother your entire life would be quite stressful and the worst thing that could happen would be someone catching you, and the worst thing if you’re a Lannister would be a judgy Stark catching you, so Cersei’s reaction isn’t entirely out of hand. Jamie’s quite impressed by Bran’s climbing ability because Jamie likes it when people are good at things. Jamie: “How old are you?†Bran: “Ten.†Jamie (shrug): “The things I do for love.†And then he SHOVES BRAN OUT THE WINDOW. End of episode. Edited March 3, 2012 by King ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rito 0 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 (edited) I've been saying I was going to start the book so many times now, but finally really starting it tonight. Finished the book I was reading last night, so... :] + I need to read those things you're posting, King. I skimmed over a few and they seem amazing. :toofunny: Edited March 5, 2012 by Rito Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion Heart 15,041 Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 (edited) Awesome :clap: I seriously can't wait for you to get to Book 3: Storm of Swords And now..... *"7 DEVILS": GAME OF THRONES SEASON 2 TRAILER *http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV3RflsNxak&feature=channel_video_title *Contains elements of the 1st trailer we saw+ new scenes. :clap: *DISNEY'S GAME OF THRONES (VIDEO) *http://www.dorkly.co...game-of-thrones * Edited March 13, 2012 by King ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rito 0 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 That trailer. Poor Sansa. :cry: The only thing I'm not looking forward in the books is the apparently really long pointless descriptions of the food. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion Heart 15,041 Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 (edited) That trailer. Poor Sansa. :cry: The only thing I'm not looking forward in the books is the apparently really long pointless descriptions of the food. :lmfao: ! *I just found this: The Simpson's Parodies Game of Thrones (Intro)!: *http://filmthrasher....ons-intro-couch *its not on YT- but the quality here is good :) I thought it was pretty cool- Game of Thrones gettin that promo. *+ Edited March 5, 2012 by King ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion Heart 15,041 Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 *GAME OF THRONES WINS THE FOLLOWING AWARDS @ 59th MPSE Golden Reel Awards BEST SOUND EDITING: SHORT FORM DIALOGUE AND ADR IN TELEVISION Game of Thrones: "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things" (HBO) Directed by: Brian Kirk Produced by: David Benioff, Frank Doelger, Dan Weiss, Carolyn Strauss NOMINEES: Supervising Sound Editor: Stefan Henrix Supervising Dialogue Editor: Peter Blayney Supervising ADR Editor: Tim Hands ADR Editor: Iain Eyre BEST SOUND EDITING: SHORT FORM SOUND EFFECTS AND FOLEY IN TELEVISION Game of Thrones: "Winter is Coming" (HBO) Directed by: Tim Van Patten Produced by: David Benioff, Frank Doelger, Dan Weiss, Carolyn Strauss NOMINEES: Supervising Sound Editor: Stefan Henrix Sound Designer: Andy Kennedy Supervising Foley Editor: Steve Fanagan Foley Artists: Caoimhe Doyle, Eoghan McDonnell Sound Effects Editors: Naill Brady, Jon Stevenson, Fiadhnait McCann Read more: http://movies.broadwayworld.com/article/HUGO-TINTIN-Among-Winners-at-59th-MPSE-Golden-Reel-Awards-20120220_page2#ixzz1oHjzsVir + don't foget, tomorrow the Season 1 DVD will be available for purchases! ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rito 0 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 (edited) :lmfao: ! *I just found this: The Simpson's Parodies Game of Thrones (Intro)!: *http://filmthrasher....ons-intro-couch *its not on YT- but the quality here is good :) I thought it was pretty cool- Game of Thrones gettin that promo. *+ + glad to see it getting so many well deserved awards! :party: Edited March 5, 2012 by Rito Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion Heart 15,041 Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 Oh look- it looks like someone found an image on Robb's direwolf: the wolves this season will be CGI, so.... we'll see how it goes I guess. ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rito 0 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Hm, doesn't look that bad. :woot: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion Heart 15,041 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 Awesome! I'll have to pick mine up at Best Buy :nacho: Woa- look what I just found: http://www.amazon.com/Feast-Ice-Fire-Official-Companion/dp/0345534492/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330973606&sr=8-1 Not sure if its real though... get that Promo bb: ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rito 0 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Oh, I love cooking, so I might end up buying that book. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion Heart 15,041 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 (edited) MAJOR SPOILER (IF YOU HAVENT SEEN SEASON 1 :lmfao: EDIT: Rito, I just realized you don't have a Sig.... Edited March 14, 2012 by King ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rito 0 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 (edited) omg that video. Yeah, I need to get a signature. :cry: and presenting (and my creepy smile because I didn't know how to pose with it ) Game of Thrones season 1. >:] lol. Edited March 6, 2012 by Rito Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion Heart 15,041 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 ^ :clap: I have a handful of news today so: *HBO TO AIR 22 MINUTE FEATURE ON MARCH 25 @ 8:30 PM E.T. Get in the Game! Enter the world of Westeros with this vivid and illuminating special about the epic HBO drama series ‘Game of Thrones.’ Highlighted by behind-the-scenes footage, clips, and interviews, this feature revisits the events of Season 1, introduces new viewers to the many colorful characters, and presents an exclusive preview of things to come in Season 2 (beginning April 1 on HBO). *DIY INTERVIEWS DAVID BENIOFF AND WESS In the second of our Game of Thrones roundtable interviews we sit down with the creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Benioff first began reading the book series A Song of Ice and Fire in the winter of 2006 and almost immediately called his friend D.B. Weiss to say, “I think it’s the best thing I’ve read in as long as I can remember.†Weiss began to read the series and, “two and half days later I was done with a 900 page book, which is probably the first time I had done that since I was 12.†Before Game of Thrones Benioff was best known for his writing credits on the films Troy and The Kite Runner as well as the novels City of Thieves and The 25th Hour, which he himself adapted for the Spike Lee feature film of the same name, while Weiss wrote the novel Lucky Wander Boy and has written the screen adaptations of the videogame Halo and the upcoming, highly anticipated Ender’s Game. How do you go about adapting a massive saga like Game of Thrones without making errors that could impact on future seasons? Benioff: I think that part of it is just the two of us sitting down together, spending a lot of time deciding what the core stories are and the characters that we're going to follow. The books were originally sent to us to adapt as features and I was only about 100 pages into it when I realised this was not going to make a good feature. In order to compress the first book into a two hour movie you'd have to cut out 80% of the story lines, you'd have to cut so many characters it would've been an act of vandalism as opposed to adaptation so when we called George we said, "look we love your books but we really don't see it as a movie to be honest. We think it's an HBO series" and we were nervous about that because we had no idea he’d be keen on that idea, as a writer you make more money selling your book to a movie studio. So we thought this is going to be controversial, not sure if we can persuade him. But luckily George said, "well that's the only way I ever thought these books would work, as an HBO series." And not just as a series but specifically HBO for him he's a big lover of Rome and Deadwood and for us George's world is a quite adult world, there's obviously a lot of s-xual content, there's profanity, there's violence which is supposed to read like real violence not like PG movie violence and so this wasn't going to work on American Network television, the only place that could really it off and provide the production value we needed for the show was HBO and it was always about going there. Getting back to the original question I think that it was trying to figure out how do we tell the story of Game of Thrones in 10 hours and what are the central plot lines we're following? What things do we have to leave aside at least for now, because as much as those scenes might work in the book we just are not going to have time to tell them? And in certain places expanding actually, there are characters who we love in the books that never encounter each other and we always thought, “well wouldn't it be interesting if Jamie Lannister met Jon Snow, what would they talk about?" Or Jamie Lannister works for the King, he's protecting the King but we never really see the two of them talking and that would be an interesting conversation given Jamie killed the last King and his sister is the wife of the current king. Or even a more basic one the King and Queen, we never really see them in the book having a conversation alone together and we really wanted to see the two of them together. What the hell do they talk about when no one else is around? So taking the characters in the books, I think quite faithfully in terms of adapting them, but also looking or opportunities to show scenes that might well have happened off page in the book that we wanted to see. Weiss: It's really the only way to explore who these people are because you can't tell stories from their past. Somebody telling a long story on the page about what happened to them in the past is really, really compelling because it puts you there in the action. Somebody saying it on screen at length is stultifyingly dull after 5/10 minutes so you need to find a different way into a character. Was the fact that George R.R. Martin works with point of view characters an advantage for you? Weiss: As far as getting into the characters in the book it's a really, really great way to just dive into a character and what he or she thinks and feels but it’s also something that obviously you can't replicate without copious amounts of voice-over or expositional dialogue which is something we really try to not do any voice-over and to limit expositional dialogue to the bare necessities so it forces you to find another way into exploring who these characters are. Is it your choice to write almost all the episodes and how do you manage to write and supervise on all seasons? Weiss: We do a lot of d--gs! (laughs) When you read the books were you already thinking, "this is going to be big?" Benioff: Well we told HBO it was going to be big! When we pitched them the show we said this is going to be huge so you should really do it because it's going to be an international blockbuster but we didn't really know if we knew what we were talking about because we had never made a show before so why would we know what we're talking about? We did think that it would appeal internationally more than most shows would because it's not set in any place in our world, it’s not set in California. Dan (Weiss) made a really interesting point yesterday which is most shows or movies set in the real world whoever is from that place in the audience they have an inherent advantage. For instance I love this English show called Peep Show, it's great I think it's incredibly funny and everything but I am sure there are several jokes I’m not getting because they’re kind of local jokes I'm just not from here (the UK) so I'm missing it. Weiss: Like a show called Freaks and Geeks which we loved because it so closely mirrored my experience as a teenager that I felt like there wasn't a single that happened there that I couldn't relate to directly. Somebody from Croatia watching Freaks and Geeks I'm not saying they didn't enjoy it, they missed a lot of the texture whereas this show nobody can say, "no it's a Westeros thing, you wouldn't understand it." Because they don't come from Westeros, nobody does. The texture that's there needs to touch everybody, reach out to everybody equally and I think that's worked to our advantage. Benioff: It's a very international cast which is something we always wanted not only, obviously, English, Irish and Scottish but also Dutch and German and a couple of Americans. Were you involved in casting Carice van Houten? Weiss: Yes. That was one of the things we loved most about the show and why we're so excited to be not just writing but executive producers is that we go to do the casting and had never had that opportunity before. The movies I've worked on the screenwriter has no say in casting. You can try and whisper in the director’s ear or if you know someone at the studio you can say, "what about this person?" But you have no power whatsoever. Whereas in television as the showrunners we're responsible for the casting and it was a little intimidating at first because it's a massive cast and we've never done it before and we're trying to fill literally hundreds of roles. But it's also for me one of the most rewarding things because there's no more important decision in making a show or a movie than which actors play which roles. And so we're able to cast Carice as Melisandre or Maisie Williams as Arya and then watch them inhabit those roles and really become the characters. It's been thrilling for us. How did you know her? Benioff: From Black Book. Weiss: And from Black Death I saw as well. All the black! And Black Butterflies with Liam Cunningham who is also in our cast. Benioff: We had tried to meet with her for season one. We were really impressed with her work and she wasn't available at that time. And when season two came around the part of Melisandre was open and we thought let's take another shot at Carice it's probably not going to happen because she obviously works so much but we managed to get her to Belfast for an audition and ten seconds in we knew she was the one. She'll have a bigger role in season three? Benioff: She's pretty big in season two I think she'll be in more episodes in season three. She's the kind of character when she's in a scene she kind of dominates the scene. She has so much presence but she's not in as many episodes. It's true she'll be in more episodes in episode three. The children are incredibly important in both the show and the books and as the seasons progress will become even more so. How did you go about casting them, considering that they have to deal with such adult themes and language? Weiss: That’s one of those things where you come in with some ideas of who you want in roles, with the kids we had no ideas and it was really up to Nina Gold and Robert Sterne our amazing casting directors to find a huge pool of potential Stark children for us to choose from. They just have a real gift for meeting children and being able to assess what their ability is going to be down the line because none of the kids had done anything. I think maybe Maisie or Isaac had done a TV commercial at one point but none of them had ever acted in front of a camera before or maybe they were in a school play. It's really just about the raw ability and the willingness and readiness to get out there and put yourself in front of the five hundred adults who are all staring at you and to deliver. Benioff: That role in particular was one of the hardest to cast we probably looked at maybe a hundred and fifty different girls for Arya, no one seemed right at all. I remember we were in a hotel in Morocco, Nina and Robert will take these casting videos and put them online so we can watch them wherever we are. We were scouting locations and we saw there was a new batch of Arya candidates and there were these little thumbnail photographs about an inch big on the lap top screen. And we saw this picture of Maisie, a tiny little picture and there was just something about her face, she just looked kind of like she had some fiery aspect to her and we thought she looks interesting. We played her video and I can't now imagine anyone else in that role. Those three roles are so crucial as you say, these characters go on such dark journeys and they're not typical kind of Hollywood cute little moppet who's just there in an episode to say a line or two and be funny and cute they are as important as any of the characters. We were really, really nervous about it and kind of thinking, "well as long as two of them are good we can maybe figure out a way to keep one of them slightly out of the story.†The fact that all three of them have turned out to be brilliant is a) we got really lucky and b) Nina and Robert are so good at finding these kids. Weiss: It would've been really sad because writing one of them down or out of the story would really remove such a huge part of the texture of that world. Has there been a lot of debate about the title of the show because it only reflects the first book? Weiss: No we know that if you're going to have television show that's an ongoing concern you can't be changing the title of the show every year because that would've been confusing. There wasn't talk of maybe using the title A Song of Ice and Fire? Benioff: We talked about it once for ten minutes but Game of Thrones to us is the story right there it just felt really strong to us. Weiss: It's kind of the most pithy and poetic way of encompassing what the whole show is about. Did you feel under pressure to create an adaptation to satisfy George R.R. Martin and the fans? Weiss: No, no pressure! Sure yeah. I mean we want to do the best adaptation possible and we love that the majority of the fanbase seem to enjoy the show. We also know that the show needs to appeal to people beyond that fanbase, it needs to work first and foremost as a television show. We've always said if we can make a show that in hindsight we are proud of and that George really loves as well then we'll feel like we've probably done our jobs right. How much is George involved in the production? Benioff: Yeah so George writes one episode every a season, he's also involved in terms of casting, that site I was telling you guys about where you see the little videos, that enables him to watch from Santé fe and so he'll write us with his opinions about various actors who've come in. Sometimes there are literally hundreds of different actors for each role and sometimes we miss people. There's at least one important character I can think of where we somehow hadn't seen the casting video and George saw it and said, "this guy's fantastic have you seen him?" And then luckily we did and ended up casting the guy. He's very involved in terms of the big picture stuff because we talk to him a lot about where the series is going, where the books are going, what the ending is going to be because we want to make sure that we're properly building towards that in the hope that we get to go for as many seasons as it would take to tell the story. And sometimes (he's involved) in very minute detailed ways, for instance the look of the dragons, George had very definitive ideas of how the dragons should look. Specifically that dragons have two wings and two legs but not the more traditional dragon with wings and four legs because as George said that would never fly, it's not aerodynamically possible. Weiss: They'd have to flap those wings so fast, it would just never work! How important has a big budget been in making the show the success it has been? Weiss: In terms of overall production value that is why the show can only exist on HBO because of the nature of the material and the tone and the keeping to the integrity of the books is one thing and the ability to do it on a scale that makes you feel the immensity of this world that makes you feel that the different regions of an entire continent and the continents beyond it are actually different places and not all shot in the same parking lot. I think that that's another challenge and that challenge to be blunt does take money, it takes resources I think well above and beyond what most or any television show has access to. Benioff: I think we have the biggest cast on television and all of these actors need to get paid. Weiss: And bizarrely they all want to get paid! I personally think it’s out of line! Will the DVD sales be a factor in getting the green light for a third season? Benioff: That would be a Mara question. Weiss: Mara works for HBO. Mara: Officially the series has to be picked up but for a project this large you always have to plan ahead, with the assumption. So we're hoping that everything will move forward and they'll start shooting again in July. Benioff: We're knocking on wood that the (DVD) sales go well. We really want people who didn't watch last year to come in to our second season but it's not as if the first episode of season two provides kind of, "now here's a reminder of who these characters are." Weiss: We had a screening for the cast and crew the other day and one of the cast members brought his girlfriend and she watched and was very complimentary and then I realised that she hadn't seen the first series and I said, "why are you being complimentary? This must of been complete gobble-de-gook. This must've made no sense!" She's like, "no I got some of it." I really feel like the experience of watching the second season would be, to say the least, greatly aided by watching the season that came before it. Benioff: The ideal here, if we get time and the generosity of HBO, would be to have say eight seasons and some masochistic viewer started from the beginning and watched 80 hours straight through it wouldn't feel like episodic television it would feel like one massive movie, one 80 hour saga with a true beginning, middle and an end. You can't take several hours out it would be like removing a chapter from the book. Weiss: You don't just pick up Anna Karenina and open the page at 200 and say, "I’ll figure out what happens." Game of Thrones The Complete Season One is available on DVD and Blu-ray now. It's quite long, but very interesting :) *GAME OF THRONES: "CROWN" TEASER (UNOFFICIAL) Twitter: Already hearing word that some Best Buys and Targets are beginning to sell out. 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