Winter is Coming - The Night is Dark and Full of Spoilers

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I've been pretty lucky so far, I think I've avoided all the major spoilers and seem to have dreamt I read a spoiler that hasn't come to fruition, and doubt it will do by the end of the book.

Just found there are a few prequels set around 100 years or so before the start of Ice and Fire called The Tales of Dunk and Egg. It doesnt seem to be available on the kindle yet which is annoying but probably something worth reading to fill some of the time before WOW.

 

[Барбоса]

The Dunk and Egg prequels are novellas. I have heard that Martin is writing another of them and us planning to release them all as one set sometime soon.

 

[Wicked Valentine]

This map may be massive but it is also fucking epic

Spoiler

Holy Mother of God that is so fucking epic

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

There are maps of Essos out there but there is not the information for similar detail

As for the end of ADWD, my uncle managed to spoil the end for me before I read it

Finished ADWD on my break at work today. I'm guessing that Daenarys getting a case of the shits wasn't what your uncle spoiled for you?
Either

Spoiler

Jon Snow getting stabbed in the back (and neck and side and belly)

and/or

Spoiler

Varys loosing a bolt into Kevan Lannister.

2 years to fill with other books before the next installment. The 3rd and maybe 4th television series' being on the horizon is a warm thought though.

 

[Miko]

2 years is too long to wait for a book that will mostly be full of inane drivel, I'll still read and enjoy it though

 

[Барбоса]

Either

Spoiler

Jon Snow getting stabbed in the back (and neck and side and belly)

and/or

Spoiler

Varys loosing a bolt into Kevan Lannister.

It was the former.

Spoiler

Pretty certain that he is not dead. And if he is, Melisandre will bring him back to life due to the prominence of Jon Snow in her visions.

He is one of the heads of the dragon after all...

 

[Shotaro]

As guys who are pretty deep into this, should I read the books first or watch the TV series?

 

[Miko]

Series is infinitely better, books are fun but often boring and unnecessary. If you insist on both then read the books though

 

[Shotaro]

Series is infinitely better, books are fun but often boring and unnecessary. If you insist on both then read the books though

So essentially they took the good stuff in the books to make the series, and the book fleshes it all out with exposition that is necessary to the world but not the story? TV series first it is then, I can read the books after - I have more patience with a book if I know it's worth the read.

 

[Барбоса]

I would say that it does not really matter although it could depend on what kind of reader you are.

I know my mum, who is not a big book reader at all, found it far easier to get through the books having seen season one of the show as it helped her visualise the characters far better and invest in them more.

 

[Miko]

So essentially they took the good stuff in the books to make the series, and the book fleshes it all out with exposition that is necessary to the world but not the story? TV series first it is then, I can read the books after - I have more patience with a book if I know it's worth the read.

Yeah essentially, but there is a lot of shit in the books, which gets removed and sometimes replaced with much better content, read Lord Of The Rings? Basically its just replaced Hobbits singing with pissing, drinking, eating and ****ing, I maintain that only a devout Tolkien-ite could say that the books are better than the films, its the same with ASOIAF. None of the funny characters are actually funny, because George R.R Martin doesnt actually have a sense of humour. Tyrion and Littlefingers quips wont even raise a smile, trust me, whereas in the series Littlefinger, Jaime and Tyrion (and most other characters) are laugh out loud funny. Much like LOTR, most of the characters you just dont care about, until the come to screen and they're played by skilled actors (most notably of course Sean Bean) and somewhat re-written by talented people who think about more than sex, obviously not the case with Tolkien, he was just too busy explaining every blade of grass and why all the elves have a Noble bearing etc.

That said, they are still worth a read though.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

2 years is too long to wait for a book that will mostly be full of inane drivel, I'll still read and enjoy it though

The 4th and 5th books have majorly slowed down the pace set by the first 3 but with a couple of battles looming large on the horizon and other loose characters being on the move (Jaime, Brianne, Stoneheart, Arya and Sam) for certain purposes, I imagine the pacing is going to step up. Dany's chapters have been a massive effort to get through lately and if not for Selmy, I probably would have started skipping them altogether.

It was the former.

Spoiler

Pretty certain that he is not dead. And if he is, Melisandre will bring him back to life due to the prominence of Jon Snow in her visions.

He is one of the heads of the dragon after all...

Spoiler

Yeh I doubted his attack was also his death, but I worry for Ghost and Tormund.

I'm a bit dense as I didn't think of the heads of the dragon, but who are the other heads along with Jon? Daenarys and Aegon?

 

[Барбоса]

Spoiler

I'm a bit dense as I didn't think of the heads of the dragon, but who are the other heads along with Jon? Daenarys and Aegon?

Spoiler

The 'smart' money would be on Daenerys and Aegon being two of them, as direct members of the Targaryen family.

The third is far more up in the air but it would be a somewhat safe bet that whoever it is will require the blood of the dragon to be able to ride/control Rhaegal or Viserion - and be a far more pure strain than Quentin Martel.

That really only leaves two possibilities. The more obvious is Jon Snow, with him being not the son of Eddard but the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyana Stark, who then died in a "bed of blood" i.e. childbirth.

The other possibility, albeit in my mind a far less likely one, is Tyrion Lannister. There have been hints from Barristan Selmy regarding Aerys II lusting after Tywin's wife, Joanna, whilst she was at court in King's Landing. Tyrion could be the spawn of a tryst/rape, which could also further explain Tywin's departure as Hand of the King after 20 years (Aerys' growing paranoia, unwillingness to marry Cersei to Rhaegar and his elevation of Jamie to the Kingsguard are also reasons)

However, I get the feeling that while Martin claims to have it all planned out in his head, he is not above changing something so that it is more of a surprise to the reader.

 

[Wicked Valentine]

Ok, guys, what the one thing that you can't wait to see this season? Like a scene or chapter or whatever. What are you most excited for this season?

Spoiler

Other than the red wedding. I have nothing against it, other that the fact that it's probably gonna make me cry for a few days, but people always say the red wedding. I wanna hear about the other things people are looking forward to.

 

[Барбоса]

What are you most excited for this season?

Spoiler

- Sam the Slayer in action against wights and Others
- the mutiny at Craster's Keep
- Daenerys' use of the Unsullied on the rulers of Astapor
- Arstan Whitebeard and Strong Belwas
- the Bastard of the Dreadfort flexing his psychosis
- Jamie and Brienne in Harrenhal

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Ok, guys, what the one thing that you can't wait to see this season? Like a scene or chapter or whatever. What are you most excited for this season?

Spoiler

Other than the red wedding. I have nothing against it, other that the fact that it's probably gonna make me cry for a few days, but people always say the red wedding. I wanna hear about the other things people are looking forward to.

Spoiler

Pretty much everything Barbosa said, along with
- The Hound and Arya
- Joffrey dying
- Littlefinger throwing Lisa out the Moon Door
- Lady Stoneheart

 

[Барбоса]

Spoiler

Pretty much everything Barbosa said, along with
- The Hound and Arya
- Joffrey dying
- Littlefinger throwing Lisa out the Moon Door
- Lady Stoneheart

My suspicions are that much if not all of what you have put here will not happen until season 4.

ASOS is being split into two seasons. My guess would be that season 3 will end with RW

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Yeh I thought about that after posting. Derp!

Spoiler

Not so much the incident itself, but seeing Jaime change after losing his hand is something I'm keen to see evolve.

Again not a stand-alone incident, but I hope they do something creative with Bran's obsession with running with the wolves.

Also I was thinking about your theory on the third dragon today...

Spoiler

How will they get around Jon's hand that he burned when slaying the wight? Will they play up his 'seeing' ability with animals instead?

 

[Барбоса]

Ciaran Hinds as Mance Rayder

That leaves Vargo Hoat and Daario Naharis to be cast.

I have also seen a couple of leaked pictures that suggest that there will be a scene with the funeral boat of Hoster Tully

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Ciaran Hinds as Mance Rayder

That leaves Vargo Hoat and Daario Naharis to be cast.

I have also seen a couple of leaked pictures that suggest that there will be a scene with the funeral boat of Hoster Tully

You beat me to the punch! He's not how I would have pictured Mance, but I'm pretty content with this.

And I'm soooo happy they will have the funeral boat scene, quite a good moment for getting across the frustrating ineptness of Edmure.

 

[Барбоса]

Never really thought about what Mance should look like but some of the complaints about him being too old are silly.

He had been a member of Watch for years before he deserted and it will have taken numerous years for him to be able to rise to such prominence amongst the Wildlings to be acclaimed "King Beyond the Wall"

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Never really thought about what Mance should look like but some of the complaints about him being too old are silly.

He had been a member of Watch for years before he deserted and it will have taken numerous years for him to be able to rise to such prominence amongst the Wildlings to be acclaimed "King Beyond the Wall"

See the thing is, we haven't seen him in the Mance Rayder make-up/costume yet so those kind of criticisms are a bit silly. Going too old is better than going too young though, as the wildlings are likely to have quite a grizzled and worn look to them due to living in the harsh terrain.

As for Daario, whenever I read about him I just picture a more flamboyant Drogo. Any picks for who you'd want to see play the role?

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

Grey Worm and Daario have been cast by the looks of things. Not heard of either and the guy playing Daario isn't quite how I imagined, but again Ciaran Hinds isn't how I pictured Mance so we'll see how it goes.

http://winteriscoming.net/2012/08/daario-naharis-and-grey-worm-cast/

 

[Барбоса]

 

[Viola Moonlight]

I can't wait. The same night that the Walking Dead's season finale airs is the same night that season premiere of Game of Thrones airs... well, technically they won't air on Australian TV on the same night, they'll just happen to air back-to-back on the same channel on my mate's TV, the same channel we use to play movies or other tv shows on our hard-drives. Either way, it's going to be a good night.