HBO: Game of Thrones

[Juliajms]

Not only did he agree right away, but he had basically been telegraphing to Jaime that he wasn't going to allow Tyrion to be executed, Jaime just wasn't hearing it. Jaime offered something he never needed to, imo, so of course, Tywin snapped it up. Tywin sure looked completely comfortable on that throne.

As far as I'm concerned Yara went above and beyond just rallying her men to go after Theon. She warned him not to try to hold Winterfell and he was too foolish to listen.

I felt like Bran being an able little lord was a nice testament to Ned's fathering. He did his best to teach his sons what their duties would be. Obviously in our world taking someone so young to an execution would be completely messed up, but Ned was sure to teach his children the responsibility of leading early on.

[Vee]

Yeah - in our world it would be messed up, in theirs it is a necessary responsibility. Like so many tough things on this show.

[Antoyne]

I just love the Lannisters. With how little loyalty there is in the Lannister family, I adore the Jaime/Tyrion relationship. I just knew Tyrion wasn't going to be able to hold his tongue anymore after that bitch Shae. Her character had grown tired ages ago, and this sealed it. I hope this is the last we see of her.

[Cheap21]

I like Shae. I was under the impression that she lied under duress. I kind of expect to see a future scene where Cersei visits her and it's revealed that she threatened to kill her if she didn't lie on Tyrion

[Juliajms]

I think it was partly under duress, but she did turn to him and say "I'm a whore, remember?" so it was partially in revenge for his rejection of her. I can't believe she didn't realize he said all of that stuff so that she would leave and be safe from Tywin.

[ChitHappens]

When Tywin threatened Tyrion and told him he would kill the next whore in Tyrion's bed, I had hoped he meant it. I have yet to see any of S4, but I'm gonna need Tywin to stick to his word like he used to.

[DRW50]

Long interview with Bryan Cogman about last night's episode.

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/05/11/game-of-thrones-tyrion-trial-interview/

Michelle Fairley interview (24 spoilers in this)

http://www.vulture.com/2014/05/michelle-fairley-on-24-game-of-thrones-chat.html

[DRW50]

The actress who plays Shae talks about how she fought to have Shae not include Sansa in her testimony (I agree with her on that).

http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/game_of_thrones_season_4_sibel_kekilli_didnt_want_shae_to_betray_sansa-2014-05

[EricMontreal22]

This is how I saw the scene, too. (Although I was confused by all the cuts on his body immediately after--was that a part of the sex?) Maybe it was overkill (not that the show never does overkill)--we get it by now, but the scene sorta thematically made sense to me--cutting it with the other scene, etc, and I didn't think much of it one way or the other until reading some negative reactions. It's funny, I watched a bunch of episodes of Vicious the not very good old school gay comedy throwback sitcom with Ian McKellen and Jerek Jacobi as a bitchy older gay couple--and it took me a while to recognize the actor playing Ramsey as their nice younger neighbour...

[EricMontreal22]

Exactly--and they have to keep things moving on the TV show while not making it even MORE complex the way it is in the books--it makes sense, IMHO, that the little birds, etc, would have informed them about Danni, etc (it also helps tie her oh so isolated story somewhat into the other action which is more important on a TV show than in the books--although MANY book fans complained about the progress of her story as well.)

[DRW50]

Alfie Allen interview. There's a bit of a spoiler for future events.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Game-Thrones-Alfie-Allen-Theon-1081659.aspx

[Antoyne]

Bingo. I honestly think book fans are going to keep pissing themselves off if they refuse to accept, the show is going to continue to do things that "OMG ARE NOT IN THE BOOK".

[ThePrinceOfSunspear]

No one's expecting them to be 100% to the book but glaring things like that completely destroy how good the story is in the books IMO. And its utterly unnecessary. So now we have to refer to them as Book X and Show X?

Book Stannis vs Show Stannis? Its ridiculous but whatever. The bottom line is that Shae on the shows is a dumb figure who doesn't deserve that much screen time or frankly any attention at all given how minor a role she plays in the books and her ultimate betrayal of Tyrion. And the way the writers crafted her on the show went entirely against the grain of the books which was my only point.

[Antoyne]

The show is not the book, which is my point.

[Vee]

Sunspear, they said three years ago when they cast Sibel Kekilli that they deliberately expanded her role because they were taken with the actress and her performance. This is not news or some new development. Everyone was praising them for it, I'm pretty sure the author praised them for it, and while I've often been tired of Shae and I have little sympathy for her bullshit on Sunday's episode I have always found Kekilli's performance exceptional. If you're really going to make an issue of Shae having a larger role now you might want to invest in a time machine.

Most book fans I know have no problem separating the distinct narrative and choices of the show vs. the book - you're the only one I know who's this upset. And frankly, even if you are, you've had four seasons to be shocked and adjust or stop watching. The show is not going to suddenly snap back into doing things your way or following the letter of the text.

Edited May 13, 2014 by Vee