Game of Thrones begins....

[Martinus]

I hope they streamline Daenerys story a bit. It's so drawn out and boring at times. "I think I'll sit in my city this entire book and day dream about this blue haired fucker with a gold tooth."

It seems this is what they are doing and I like it. When I was reading the books it felt like Tyrion's chapters were the most interesting, Sansa's and Bran's most boring, and Danny's ones depended on whether she was killing people and getting mad or just brooding. It seems the show recognizes that and deliberately ignores or streamlines boring story arcs.

[Josquius]

Osha helping Bran to escape and knowing about green seers and all that works just as well as the Reeds.
The problems there though are:

1: Rickon and his wolf is with Bran. Changes Bran's voyage north quite a bit and what of Rickon's voyage south? The book has yet to make much of it but they are heading that way.
2: Wasn't it through the Reeds that the sstory of Rhaegar and the mystery knight and all that starts to come out? This is what is going to reveal Jon's linneage eventually IMO.

They're really heading off down a totally different path to the books here.
Which...I don't mind really. I already know the plot of the books which I think hinders my enjoyment of the series a little (though adds to it in other ways)

[Viking]

Osha helping Bran to escape and knowing about green seers and all that works just as well as the Reeds.
The problems there though are:

1: Rickon and his wolf is with Bran. Changes Bran's voyage north quite a bit and what of Rickon's voyage south? The book has yet to make much of it but they are heading that way.
2: Wasn't it through the Reeds that the sstory of Rhaegar and the mystery knight and all that starts to come out? This is what is going to reveal Jon's linneage eventually IMO.

They're really heading off down a totally different path to the books here.
Which...I don't mind really. I already know the plot of the books which I think hinders my enjoyment of the series a little (though adds to it in other ways)

Plus davos + manderley is a big plot point at the end of the last book. For that to happen Rickon needs to go off on his own to someplace annoying, wet and distant.

[Jaron]

Roz the wandering whore to the rescue?

[Faeelin]

Perhaps Rickon is actually dead in GoT, and they'll just move it up. 

[Martinus]

Incidentally, I think Lilly Allen's "Fuck You" could be Theon's theme song (and she could play Asha). I mean:

"Fuck you, fuck you very, very much
'Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don't stay in touch

Do you get, do you get a little kick
Out of being small minded?
You want to be like your father
It's approval you're after
Well, that's not how you find it

Do you, do you really enjoy
Living a life that's so hateful?
'Cause there's a hole where your soul should be
You're losing control a bit
And it's really distasteful

Fuck you, fuck you very, very much
'Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don't stay in touch

Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you
Fuck you

You say you think we need to go to war
Well, you're already in one
'Cause it's people like you that need to get slew
No one wants your opinion"

[grumbler]

Enjoyed this episode quite a bit, and think the story is going the right direction in ignoring vast chunks of the book that, honestly, a good editor would have cut from the written version. Obviously, a TV series has to take shortcuts, but this series is making the right ones.

[spoiler]The Freys seem to be entirely absent.  That would be a pity if this continues.  The continuing fucking-over of the Freys is the best part of the later books[/spoiler]

I continue to be impressed by the acting, as well.  Tyrion gets so many great lines, and Peter Dinklage does so well with them, that I wouldn't be surprised at this point to find out that he is gay.

I just struck the King!  Has my hand fallen off? 

[jimmy olsen]

[spoiler]The Freys seem to be entirely absent.  That would be a pity if this continues.  The continuing fucking-over of the Freys is the best part of the later books[/spoiler]

Don't they only get fucked over after [spoiler]the Red Wedding[/spoiler]?

[MadImmortalMan]

Osha helping Bran to escape and knowing about green seers and all that works just as well as the Reeds.
The problems there though are:

1: Rickon and his wolf is with Bran. Changes Bran's voyage north quite a bit and what of Rickon's voyage south? The book has yet to make much of it but they are heading that way.
2: Wasn't it through the Reeds that the sstory of Rhaegar and the mystery knight and all that starts to come out? This is what is going to reveal Jon's linneage eventually IMO.

They're really heading off down a totally different path to the books here.
Which...I don't mind really. I already know the plot of the books which I think hinders my enjoyment of the series a little (though adds to it in other ways)

I think missing the Reeds is a mistake, and not just because Osha appears to be a goofy Gollum-wannabe always walking around hunched over with her head lolling back and forth.

[Viking]

Incidentally, I think Lilly Allen's "Fuck You" could be Theon's theme song (and she could play Asha). I mean:

"Fuck you, fuck you very, very much
'Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don't stay in touch

Do you get, do you get a little kick
Out of being small minded?
You want to be like your father
It's approval you're after
Well, that's not how you find it

Do you, do you really enjoy
Living a life that's so hateful?
'Cause there's a hole where your soul should be
You're losing control a bit
And it's really distasteful

Fuck you, fuck you very, very much
'Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don't stay in touch

Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you
Fuck you

You say you think we need to go to war
Well, you're already in one
'Cause it's people like you that need to get slew
No one wants your opinion"

You do know that Alfie Allen already has a theme song?

[Habbaku]

The Reeds (along with Edmure and Brenden the Blackfish) are nowhere to be found in this season and that's all-but confirmed.  There is a very high likelihood that all of them have simply been pushed back to the third season.  Jojen and Meera are absolutely necessary to the storyline, I think, because they provide a needed connection to their father and, as Tyr pointed out, certain pieces of the legend that will complete the plot.

It's possible that they could write the characters out entirely, but now that Bran and his group are escaping, there's no reason to have those two around until they start heading elsewhere--IE, next season.

[grumbler]

Don't they only get fucked over after (snip)

They appeared in the books from nearly the start.  They appear in the series nowhere at all.  That's worrisome to a reader who enjoyed seeing them get fucked over more than anything else in the series.  The Fucking of the Freys is more enjoyable than the fucking of anyone else, even Shae.

I can live with that decision, if that decision has been made for the TV series, but I'd regret it more than the elimination of the Reeds, if that is what happens.

[grumbler]

You do know that Alfie Allen already has a theme song?

Speaking of theme songs, i enjoy the theme song to this series nearly as much as the (changed every season) theme to Babylon 5.  I don't go do something else while the opening credits to this show roll, which is something unusual for me.  Not sure just why, but the opening credits and theme are very compelling.  It may just be that you don't want them to sneak in a new location without you noticing, but I watch from start to finish.

[Habbaku]

Don't they only get fucked over after (snip)

They appeared in the books from nearly the start.  They appear in the series nowhere at all.  That's worrisome to a reader who enjoyed seeing them get fucked over more than anything else in the series.  The Fucking of the Freys is more enjoyable than the fucking of anyone else, even Shae.

I can live with that decision, if that decision has been made for the TV series, but I'd regret it more than the elimination of the Reeds, if that is what happens.

I think it would be a shame if they didn't continue to insert them into the series, but the reminder from Catelyn to Robb this week about the marriage contract is at least a small step in the direction of making them important.  Considering the preview clips, I suspect we'll hear more about the Freys soon enough.

I also have hopes that we'll see a good amount more of them in season 3, due to the way the season will likely end.  It wouldn't have quite the punch if they didn't go to some length to develop the Freys, after all.

[jimmy olsen]

Don't they only get fucked over after (snip)

They appeared in the books from nearly the start.  They appear in the series nowhere at all.  That's worrisome to a reader who enjoyed seeing them get fucked over more than anything else in the series.  The Fucking of the Freys is more enjoyable than the fucking of anyone else, even Shae.

I can live with that decision, if that decision has been made for the TV series, but I'd regret it more than the elimination of the Reeds, if that is what happens.

The Freys were and introduced, and since [spoiler]they are the pivotal players in the Red Wedding disaster surely that will be enough to inspire hatred for them and schadenfreude for their coming misfortunes. [/spoiler]