The Kingsroad (102)

[Andron]

Finally got to watch the episode a second time

As mentioned in my last post, I like The Kingsroad better than Winter is Coming.
So from the start. The opening credits are amazing, so they change them every time to show where the story is happening. Beautiful fly-over the Dothraki sea.
Ser Jorah is truely growing on me, great actor, but I don't know if the tale of the ghost grass of Asshai was helping Dany to get used to the Dothraki life style. But it's always great to hear some more backstory. Dany is finally embracing her role as Drogo's wife by taking charge of her sex life. Wouldn't mind getting taught by those handmaidens Really enjoy to see how Dany gets more confident every episode, can't wait to see her

Spoiler:

as the Kaleesi and as the leader later down the line.

.

Two episodes in & all he has said is no. All he does is stares, & grunts & has sex.

Drogo, as you noticed, hasn't much else yet. Next episode will give him some moments to shine hopefully, once they arrive in Vaes Dothrak.
Also the numbers of the Dothraki hoard that is shown on screen seems much to small. Guess the budget won't allow them to show them over 100000 riders, maybe later...

To the Starks. Catelyn really improved IMO from last week. She seemed much stronger and much more secure in her role. As painful as the assassination attempt was to watch, it showed to which length she would go to protect her children (as every mother probably would), and we finally got to see a direwolf maul somebody Great shot of the gushing and pulsating blood on the neck of the dead catspaw. We got to see some CSI Winterfell, Catelyn searching for clues to why Bran fell. The scene in the godswood was beautifully shot, nice colors especially the hearttree with it's read leafs.
I'm still not convinced by the actor who's playing Robb, he always seems so wooden...who knows maybe he'll surprise me with a great acting performance later on,

Spoiler:

possibly during the battle in the Whispering Woods or when he is king.

I'm starting to like Kit's performance as Jon. Like the uncut version of the Needle scene with Arya much better than when it was shown as reward for the Maester's Path game. You truely can see the love those two have for each other and how hard it is for Jon to leave his sister as well as family as whole. Maise really captures the spirit of Arya dring this scene with Nymeria and her wonder about her sword. "Stick'em with the pointy end". Great scene when Ned and Jon speak at the crossroads with so much symbolism, but where was Ghost (Jon's direwolf)? He should have been there! Jon's scene with Tyrion wasn't favourite of mine. Peter's delivery of his lines just doesn't seem that convincing to me, but it's otherwise shot very nice with the light of the fire. And finally the Wall, breathtaking shot! Could already make out the elevator Can't wait to see Castle Black now.
Taking about Arya, Maise really showed how good of an actress she can be, forshadowing of her future badassery Really liked her "sword fighting" scenes with Mycah and of course her encounter with Joffrey. Can't wait for her dancing lessons with Syrio next week.
Oh Sansa, Sophie is perfect for her role. We got her first meeting with Sandor Clegane, if they stay faithful to the books there will be many more and of Ser Ilen Payne, creepy guy! She's completely living in her won world and always wants to please Joffrey and the queen, so she didn't help her sister, and got punished for it. Poor Lady...
Ned has great chemistry with Robert, they had a very funny and interesting conversation that gave us some needed backstory of the Targaryens. They finally mentioned Rhaegar We got also a name for a possible mother of Jon, Wylla. Props to Sean for underplaying the last scene, this way it had much more emotional impact.

To the Lannisters. First Tyrion, yet another outstanding performance by Peter Dinklage. I actually cheered him on in the slapping scene What it about a dozen times. His back and forth with Cersei during the breakfast was very insightful into each of their characters. Really enjoying his relationship with Jamie. His time on the wall is gonna be interesting.
Jaime is fast becoming my favourite character besides Arya and Tyrion of the TV series,

Spoiler:

he already is in the books, especially in the later ones!

His way of talking just is very smooth and charming, even when he's talking about horrible things...very faithful to the books.
Cersei's scene with Catelyn was interesting in that shows how manipulative she is and focused she is on her own goals. Lena seemed also much more comfortable in her role. Also great to see that Marcylla got to say something.
No to Joffrey, what a spoiled and cruel child he is. The way he "tortured" Mycah for his own amusement was horrible. He fully deserved his disarming and that Arya threw his sword Lion's tooth into the river Very good acting performance by Jack Gleeson.

All in all a very good episode. Can't wait for Lord Snow (1.03)

[Petra]

Just a quick word, since I sadly lack the time to write another essay

I wasn't as impressed with the pilot as people seemed to be. It was okay, it was intriguing enough to keep me watching but I guess my expectations were too high and as a result I was slightly disappointed. After rewatching the ep I must say it gained on second viewing, but there's still something off about it, something missing.

"The Kingsroad" changed it. It's a brilliant, brilliant ep that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time and when it finished I actually said out loud: "What, already?" I admit up front that I haven't read the books so everything is so new and fascinating. I can't wait to see where the story is going, given that it's getting more interesting with each ep. Cool.

Since everybody's listing their fave characters, I'll add mine too. Like most, I really took to Arya and Ned. I find queen Cersei to be very interesting and Viserys is so repulsive that I actually can't take my eyes off of him However, my favourite at the moment id Jon Snow. I have a soft spot for noble, idealistic loners, especially when they look like that

[Cold Fuzz]

Finally got to watch the episode a second time

Great scene when Ned and Jon speak at the crossroads with so much symbolism, but where was Ghost (Jon's direwolf)? He should have been there! Jon's scene with Tyrion wasn't favourite of mine. Peter's delivery of his lines just doesn't seem that convincing to me, but it's otherwise shot very nice with the light of the fire.

I think that Ghost is definitely with Jon.


Book spoiler:

Spoiler:

If they take out the subplot with Ghost and Jon having that strange psychic link I'll be disappointed.

[MattSilver 3k]

There was a shot of Ghost when they set up camp. Hard to see, but I spotted an albino wolf. Of course, the thing was missing from any other group scenes, but from what I understand it's an antisocial thing, and it's not that big a deal.

[Cold Fuzz]

There was a shot of Ghost when they set up camp. Hard to see, but I spotted an albino wolf. Of course, the thing was missing from any other group scenes, but from what I understand it's an antisocial thing, and it's not that big a deal.

In that case, with both being social outcasts, Ghost and Tyrion should get along very well.

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

Ah so having got back to the UK I found myself with a nice new GOT episode on my Sky Plus box, which I then watched at about 1 in the morning. I couldn't wait.

Overall, impressed as always. To be critical for a second, I actually enjoyed the premiere more, I felt the opening third of this ep to be a little slow. However the several of the reviews I read said ep 2 was the "weakest" of the eps. And by Game of Throne standards, their "weakest" means better than everything else on tv. If the other episodes are supposed to be better than this, then my God, this will be an incredible series.

I still really enjoyed it, just not quite as much as the pilot. But it was a fantastic hour of tv, lots of great moments, including of course dire wolves ripping people's throats out, and lots of *****slapping of Joffery. And at the end, MANLY TEARS FOR LADY.

Roll on the next ep.

[magictrick]

How about least favourite characters to change things up?

As in the books, I can't stand Sansa. I don't like those prissy, spoiled and weak minded characters. I realize there's a point to how its being set up but it still annoys me.

[Celandine]

Watched both eps so far back-to-back. And, I must say, it was one of the first times I've actually sat on pins and needles, far from bored while watching a series or show on tv. The series has gripped me from the beginning and I'm very much looking forward to the rest.

This hasn't been brought up thus far, but who do you think was at fault for the death of Lady?

[The Mighty 6 platoon]

How about least favourite characters to change things up?

As in the books, I can't stand Sansa. I don't like those prissy, spoiled and weak minded characters. I realize there's a point to how its being set up but it still annoys me.

Joffrey! Although, without him, who would Tyrion exercise his pimp hand on?

[Ukko]

Watched both eps so far back-to-back. And, I must say, it was one of the first times I've actually sat on pins and needles, far from bored while watching a series or show on tv. The series has gripped me from the beginning and I'm very much looking forward to the rest.

This hasn't been brought up thus far, but who do you think was at fault for the death of Lady?

Sansa. She should've told the truth, then maybe Joffrey would've been punished for being an idiot instead of the wolf dying because Arya's was protecting its master from the idiot.

[Arative]

I enjoyed this episode, probably more than I enjoyed the pilot. Pretty much spot on from the book. Would have liked if that had cut out the Cersei/Catelyn scene and put in some of Bran's dream sequence.

In case anyone is wondering, the wolves are being played by Northern Inuit dogs. Basically a breed of dog that is suppose to be as close to a wolf as possible. They are a cross-breed between Alaskan Huskie, Malamut and German Shepard.

[maxbo]

Now that I have a better handle on the characters and this world, I enjoyed this episode even more than the first.

I haven't read the books yet and if I continue to enjoy GoT as much as I do now, I may never get around to them because I may not enjoy them as much. Despite this, I am enjoying the feedback from those who have read the books. Especially, their opinions on how events from the books translated on scene and their feelings about the differences between the books and what we've seen on screen.

So far, I don't really have any absolute favorites because each character gives the show the kind of intriguing layers that has made Game of Thrones must-see TV for me. I'm also getting more of a feel for why those involved said that this show doesn't have stark good and evil characters. I love this kind of layered storytelling and if I have one complaint it's that it's hard to wait a week for the next episode.

Because of this, I'm looking forward to doing a back-to-back re-watch at the end of the season. Of course, by then there will be a long wait between the season 1 finale and season 2. I can already feel the anticipation.

[magictrick]

So far, I don't really have any absolute favorites because each character gives the show the kind of intriguing layers that has made Game of Thrones must-see TV for me. I'm also getting more of a feel for why those involved said that this show doesn't have stark good and evil characters. I love this kind of layered storytelling and if I have one complaint it's that it's hard to wait a week for the next episode.

This was the big draw for me to the series as well. I like it when its all a grey area and not cut and dry in terms of "good" and "evil". It becomes even more layered as the series progresses.

[dragongirl]

One of the characters I really like is Tyrion. He speaks his mind and make no apologies about how he behaves.

with the least fave character oh that is tough Sansa and Joffery are pretty much in a tie. Him because of the complete creep he is and her for being so stupid that she thinks she is in love with someone she doesn't know and who she sees being so vile

[Falcon Horus]

Finally watched it ... on my iPod so I'll have to watch it again on a bigger screen.

A few things... I'll be back later once I've watched it on a bigger screen with better sound quality.

Arya ROCKS!!!

I almost cried when Ned kills Lady. And I was watching that part during lunch at work, and had to stop myself from yelling at him not to go through with it.

I still want to slap Sansa senseless.... same as in the book. Brilliantly played by the actress.