Game of Thrones on HBO

[John Dibble]

Anyone else looking forward to this HBO series that starts this Sunday? I haven't read the books, but have ordered them after hearing my coworkers recommendations and watching a few minutes of the show.

[John Dibble]

-Is Snow not actually Ed's son? Perhaps its his brother's son, who wasn't supposed to have kids

...

As for Jon Snow, you might be on to something. Nothing has been reveild in the books (and if it had I wouldn't tell you) but there have been a few clues that point in a certain direction...

Yes, there's a certain hypothesis in regards to that I thought up one night that others also thought of in regards to that. The implications will be quite interesting if it's correct.

[John Dibble]

2) I was very shocked at the death of Ned Stark. I don't think I've ever seen a TV show kill off the main character so soon. That took a lot of balls.

They pretty much HAD to. It's in the first book, and if they didn't do it they'd have to rewrite the entire story afterward - if Ned was allowed to live much of the conflict in the later books would just never occur. Rob would no longer have a justification for war and he would take his army back north, and that would just be boring.

It's one of the things I respect most about George R.R. Martin - he is not afraid to kill off an important character if it advances the story.

[John Dibble]

I love to hate King Joffrey.

You have no idea.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

So far, about as faithful as a television adaptation could be. All the main characters' plots are pretty much spot on.

There are some additions to deal with certain things that are implied in the books but not necessarily spelled out - for instance the scene with Loras shaving Renly did not happen in the book, and it obviously makes them gay characters. This is implied multiple times in the books, but not so blatantly. (many people were shocked at it and the implications had to be pointed out to them) I've heard season 2 also has some planned additions, but as you've not gotten through the first three books I won't spoil it for you.

On the other hand some things are left out to a degree. Bran's dreams about the three-eyed crow go into much more detail in the books. Also, the dire wolves play a bigger role in the first book than they do the first season of the show. This is kind of inevitable though - you'll almost always get more detail in text.

Some things were made different for television as well. Dany in the book is 13, but she's made older in the show for reasons related to television. Bran is also a couple years younger in the books. The Mountain that Rides is also larger in the book - kind of hard to find an actor eight feet tall and scary enough I guess.

[John Dibble]

Does Tyrion (and Lord Tywin, I guess) have any suspicions about Jaime and Cersei's incest? I got the impression that while he likes his brother, he dislikes his sister. Just curious. I got the impression from the second episode that he knows something is up.

It's ambiguous on purpose. I don't want to spoil anything for you or anyone else here who hasn't read the books. Suffice to say the Lannister family is rather messed up, and by the end of book three your questions about this will have been cleared up.