![]()
April 1st, 2013
11:35 AM ET
Don't know about 'Game of Thrones?' We've got youWe know your secret shame. All around you folks are talking about IT and you are clueless. Heard of it, but haven't watched it. Or it's backed up on your DVR and you keep meaning to get around to it but ... Don't worry, we are here to help.
Season three of "Game of Thrones" premiered Sunday night and plenty of fans (old and new) are buzzing about it. Twitter was lit up with the #GameofThrones hashtag and fans dissected every little bit, even the "nipple scene." The show is clearly popular, as EW reports it was the most illegally pirated TV series of 2012. But there are a few people out there who don't know much about the series based on George R.R. Martin's fantasy novels, so we are here to offer you an assist. Rather than tell, we have looked around the Interwebs to show you where you can get caught up: Back when season two was rolling out, this great video was released of the major players and events of season one: There are also recaps of season two: The Washington Post offered a pretty visual season three primer, and EW has a special section about the new season. Let us know when you are ready to discuss. |
![]() ![]() About this blog
Our daily cheat-sheet for breaking celebrity news, Hollywood buzz and your pop-culture obsessions. |
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve visited your blog before but after looking at many of the articles I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly!
Hello, for all time i used to check website posts here in the early hours in the morning, since i love to gain knowledge of more and more.
It generally takes about three years to total that with.
I am happy that I found this web blog, just the right info that I was searching for!
It generally takes about three years to total that with.
Massive thumb up for this blog submit! Great post!
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read anything like this before. So nice to seek out anyone with some unique thoughts on this subject. realy thank you for starting this up. this website is something that is needed on the internet, someone with a bit originality. useful job for bringing something new to the internet!
Nice post. I be taught something more difficult on completely different blogs everyday. It would at all times be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little bit something from their store. I�d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don�t mind. Natually I�ll provide you with a link on your internet blog. Thanks for sharing.
You must participate in a contest for the most effective blogs on the web. I'll recommend this site!
There are actually quite a lot of particulars like that to take into consideration. That could be a nice level to carry up. I provide the ideas above as normal inspiration however clearly there are questions just like the one you carry up the place a very powerful factor will likely be working in sincere good faith. I don?t know if finest practices have emerged round issues like that, however I'm certain that your job is clearly recognized as a good game. Each girls and boys really feel the affect of only a second�s pleasure, for the remainder of their lives.
That is the fitting weblog for anybody who wants to find out about this topic. You realize a lot its almost exhausting to argue with you (not that I actually would needHaHa). You definitely put a brand new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Nice stuff, simply nice!
This is the appropriate blog for anyone who needs to seek out out about this topic. You understand so much its virtually laborious to argue with you (not that I truly would wantHaHa). You undoubtedly put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
It�s onerous to search out knowledgeable folks on this subject, but you sound like you realize what you�re talking about! Thanks
My dream retirement is to hardly ever really need to deal using the cold of winter or heat of summer. An A-Frame in Vermont and a cottage by the sea near Savannah.
HAVE A GREAT NIGHT ALL...AND THANKS TOO 30 NEW OBSERVERS.....
EXCELLENT NEWS.
–
its important she get the proper recognition 123 she want soo badly
and give her the attention she wants so badly
so we can give her the proper recognition she deserves up in lights for the whole world too finally see what tool she truly is.....
monday you can show me how she leaked the v in...thanks
we skyped mish and she was doing brit from where she was...HA
make me come
I THOUGHT I DID NOT HAVE A COPY OF MY INSURANCE CARD-BUT I DID...KAY
–
i need that more now then before -- great show...
DEF
Get a life. You are sad.
One more: Robin Hobb's Assassin books, which connect to the Liveships books and end up in a series about dragons. It makes sense when you read it. Fitz is born out of wedlock to the prince, then orphaned and left to grow up in the shadows of court until one day the king notices him and gives him a place . . . as the assassin's apprentice.
its spring get lost
–
How much does a thinly disguised advertisement like this one cost the producers?
If you are seeking a book series to read that wont leave you hanging try the Weiss/Hickman series Deathgate cycle. Its 7 books and the series is excellent. Kinda based loosely on a futuristic earth being ripped apart and rebuilt into 7 worlds each with a major elemental theme.
Nalo Hopkinson ought to be famous already, and Nora Jemison deserves attention.
and the conspiracy stays together....
thanks
It most definitely holds your attention...........
Is this the Medieval Ages on THIS planet?
Right; their planet has an extreme axial tilt with a wobble, so that no one can predict the seasons. They've just had a summer that lasted years, and a long fall, and this winter could last a decade. Extreme winters have frozen their civilization into a survival pattern. FIRE TIME by Anderson and HELLICONIA by Aldiss are other examples.
Love both the books and the show. Although, I'm not reading book 5 until late 2014. Anyone want to recommend another series to keep my busy that is as good or better. I don't usually read these type of books. I actually watched season one and then read 4 of the books in a hurry. I wanted to wait to spread it out until book 6 came out, but I couldn't do it; however, I will wait on book 5.
The only other series I've read like this was Lord of the Rings 15 years ago.
Thanks in advance for the recommendations
Definitely hold off on Book 5. I read all the books last summer in the middle of season 2 and I wish I had waited to read the books beyond that point. It kind of colors the story for you when you know what is going to happen, especially with this series, which has a high body count. Also, given the intricacies and huge cast of characters in the novels, the TV show is by necessity a little different. I know I am going to confuse the story lines between the two mediums and while the are generally the same, sometimes they differ in significant details. Plus, it may take a while for book 6, and by then, I won't remember all of the various elaborate plot details of book 5!
thanks!
If you are looking for another series that has compelling characters and is in the same genere try Shadowmarch by Tad Williams. He is a great author and his series have ends, typically 4 books.
Steve Erikson's MALAZAN books are great, but thick and complicated. Brandon Sanderson's MISTBORN trilogy is extremely clever, like all his books. Roger Zelazny was the master – his Amber books and LORD OF LIGHT will last centuries. The Belgariad by David Eddings is his best stuff, but he wrote a lot of books. Janny Wurts never wrote a bad book either; try the Cycle of Fire books.
Stephen R. Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever are one of the gold standards of fantasy. They burn you when you read them, and the scars take a long time to fade, but be true and you need not fail.
I got hooked to season One. Firsts episodes of season Two did not get me. We'll see what's up season 3
Very funny to see different historic styles mixed up; Middle age, Renaissance, Baroque, GreecoRoman,etc. Also the absence of religion, which was too important in the past.
just curious.
nobody was hooked on season 1...
I don't think you watched it...there is definitely religion in GoT.
get a life and get off the tool for an hour
Their religion is more like the old pagan religions than it is like Christianity. Martin is showing us a worst-case feudalism on a world with deadly and unpredictable winters which last for years, and without the humanizing influence of Christian philosophy. I'm not especially religious, but most of our modern ideas come from the idea that each person has value, and that idea hasn't really occurred to this world yet. In other words, they have no way out of feudalism because they have no vision of a better life.
read the books,,duh
For such a small gal, that actress in the photo has some real nice mammazons.
You have obviously not seen the show since she appears nude during many episodes and they aren't that big.
(.)(.)
Drop top and let 'em flop, baby!
who is john snow's mother?
Some say Lyanna Stark who is Eddard Starks sister is Jon Snow's mother. LYanna was supposed to be King Robert's wife but was "kidnapped" by Rhaegar Targaryn. Many say that Jon Snow is actually Rhaegar Targaryn's son with Lyanna and was secretly adopted by Eddard to save his life when the Robert Rebellion killed all of the Targaryn decendants.
Jon Snow's mother is not Lyanna Stark. Lyanna is his aunt, sister of Jon's dad, King Stark. Stark cheated on his wife while at war, with a lady from a powerful family, TBD.
Gavin has the right story, Jeff is going with the story that Ned Stark has told his wife but it you read all the books you know the real mother of Jon Snow is Ned's Sister. There si a very interesting essay about this on http://www.thetowerofthehand.com
Ned never acknowledges Jon Snow as his son only his "blood." I think Gavin is right having read various other sites analyzing the book.
Next, Steven Erikson's Malazan books. Start with GARDENS OF THE MOON. When you finish Erikson, look for Esslemont, who is writing the other Malazan series. If you have the nerve, read Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books, or Glen Cook's BLACK COMPANY.
Don't forget about the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan; enough there to keep someone going for years.
Me, I mostly read books by the author "Anonymous." You can find them in most bookstores geared toward a more mature clientele.
Cap, my friend Anon used to get $1500 apiece for those things. Put himself through grad school.
$1500? Those are righteous bucks! I'm in the wrong line of work.
Martin was a protege of the late Roger Zelazny, whose Amber books are awesome. Never be a series, because no one is cool enough to play Corwin. If you hate this kind of stuff, go read China Mieville. He hates it too, and somehow makes PERDIDO STREET STATION work anyway.
can't find them....
Yawn
Can't wait for the next book to be published!
The best recap and catch-up can be found at "A Song of Ice and LOLS"
One of the minor and barely-examined facets of this world is that there is nothing resembling Christianity. We grew out of feudalism because in the end, it was incompatible with humanism, and we wanted to grow as a species. Until these people achieve a high enough technology, winter's foot on their necks is going to keep them locked into medieval feudalism. No one has started them wondering if an individual has an absolute value.
Christianity perpetuated feudalism. Or did you forget that little part about divine right? People grew out of feudalism as technology advanced to the point where enough food was created to feed the population, allowing people to do something besides work the fields such as, you know, build towns, go to school or become craftsmen, etc.
Yeah, but we hit the Enlightenment way before we should have, because no matter how hard kings and priests tried, they couldn't get people to overlook the contradictions. If God cares about YOU and not just your tribe, then why are you living in misery? It was a new idea, and it's an idea they haven't had yet in Martin's world. And I'm not saying this to be a bible-banger; I think Christianity has pretty much failed in the modern world because so much of it is obviously untrue. Flat earth, virgin birth, loaves and fishes? Fairy-tale stuff. But it was there when we needed it.
I made up my own MARATHON and watched the first 2 seasons "on demand". I'm psyched for this new season. DRAGONS!!!!!
Don't respond to the school kids, vote them down quickly. They are in class, being blocked from their usual chat rooms, so they all go to a news story and use the comment field. Shoot them down like vermin.
.
*drool*
The army of eunuchs thing was a bit over the top, not to mention counter-productive because eunuchs tend to lose muscle tone over time along with aggression, but that said, it keeps them from making babies and distracting them.
"eunuchs tend to lose muscle tone over time along with aggression" You know nothing, Jon Snow. If they are neutered before puberty, they often become the huge harem guards you see in cartoons. Also, this is a world full of magic swords and fire-breathing dragons, and the process of making the Unsullied is secret.
Not enough boobage in last night's episode to enable a good session of fapping. Maybe if I pause the DVR...
( o ( o )
Could not get past the 3rd ep of the first season. I literally fell asleep watching it the 3 separate times I tried.
What gets me is that I am THE target audience for this show and it literally bores me to sleep.
Then it's just not your thing. Stick to other shows 🙂
Drink some coffee and start early. Season one is boring until you love the show which didn't happen for me until Season two
Don't worry, you get more light sabers.. er... flaming swords in Season 3.
So what – go back to cartoon network – no one is going to miss you...
Haven't watched the HBO series, only because I got into the books a decade ago and don't want to muddle up the visualizations I've created in my mind for the settings and characters with the HBO versions.
I read the books when they came out, and most recently A Dance with Dragons. I have also seen the show, and even though it's impossible for it to be 100% true to the books, it is definitely worth watching
You should watch one episode just to see the guy who plays Tyrion – perfect! Face like an old coin until he grins. Google for him slapping Joffrey, who is also perfectly cast. Remember, George RR Martin is helping with the show.
Did you ever read a book when you were younger and then when re-reading it years later, come away with a completely different understanding of the material? What your suggesting sounds as if any fan of Sherlock Holmes for instance, should never see a SH movie because it might be different from the books. Pretty limiting and isolationist when it comes to entertainment. You could be missing out.
you shouyldnt have to worry about that. most of the dialogue from the show comes directly word for word from the books. haveing been a fan of Martin forever, i am very pleased
i read the books after i watched the first season twice. they remain pretty faithful in the first season to the book. there's a few scenes lifted directly from the book. you can't ever make it 100%, but they come as close as they can with a 10 episode season
I guess the RPG community needs something to rally around.
Rocket propelled grenades?
My wife read the books before I started watching the series. I get real tired of telling her to shut the hell up about whats going to happen next
Spoiler alert!!!
Guess what!! In this season @#$%^ dies, and )*&^% dies, and %2(78 sort of dies!!!
Truthfully, I'm getting the most enjoyment out of the scenes that aren't in the books or details that aren't revealed until later books.
lolol
So, I guess your so smart you watch the Mickey Mouse club or the SyFy channel. your comment is moronic, and I think it describes you perfectly.
"Embeciles" Oh the irony....
Dapper Dan...lol
Daper Dan...lol
X27, if you're going to use the term imbecile, at least spell it correctly, lest you look like one.
Its like Fop and I prefer Dapper Dan.
The show is amazing, I love it so much. I'm surprised this article did not mention the great timeline / refresher course that HBO posted on their website. It realy help, IMO.
I'm still hot on getting too know chris cuomo
How about those of us who have read all 5 books and are now comparing the HBO version to the books? We are dumb too? I have to disagree this is perfect entertainment for me, a nice mix of fantasy, story line, mystery, action, and a huge caste to keep track. Fun in all regards!!!
These shows are a dime a dozen and not worth a penny! next
–
I could not disagree more. Why don't you just go back to your Kardashians and Real Housewives of ?
worshipped the kardashians...she's beautiful but she's not someone I would choose as a true friend...
gullible.
HAHA...no.
TROLL
But you replied to an article on the show. That means that you cared enough to click on the article, maybe read some of it, then reply, right? So it was worth that much of your time and effort.
We know, we know, Game of Thrones isn't mindless entertainment like most of TV. If that's what you want, you can get it plenty of places. For those who like dramatic epics, there are shows like this for us to enjoy.
not getting sucked into blogging this week-have fun everyone!!!!!
not getting sucked into blogging this week, hmm?
Why don't you kids go comment on a My L'il Pony website instead? You bore us.
lol
my biggest issue with Season 2 was the Battle of Blackwater Bay, and a few events leading up to it. Though spectacular, the wildfire was supposed to be used in 3 ways per the book, AND there was a LOT more of it under the Sept of Baelor; caches of tens of thousands of pots of Wildfire. the boat was used, but only AFTER Tyrion pulled the chain in trapping all the ships inside the bay.
Most disappointing.
The chain trick served three purposes in the book, from a meta-perspective. One, to show that Tyrion is very intelligent and cunning. Two, to give Tyrion a slow-burn sort of "what's he cooking up now" plot throughout the second book, and three, to be a really badass image.
Only one is really applicable in the show. They simply don't have the time to put his plot arc on that slow a simmer in the show, so two is out, and they do not have the budget for the burning bridge of ships. The wildfire ship is still a good demonstration of Tyrion's abilities, though.
The other thing is that in the show, they put Davos in charge of the fleet as the Hand-to-Be. In the books, he was still just the Onion Knight, sailing under someone else's command. For Davos to sail into a trap as egregiously predictable in medieval warfare as a harbor chain while having serious misgivings but ultimately following orders is one thing. For him to be in charge of the whole fleet and sail them straight into it would be another. It would seriously undermine his credibility in the eyes of the audience. Just the wildfire, though–that's not really especially predictable. No one even knew it was still being made. I suspect the writers changed things both to save the CGI budget and to balance the audience's opinion of Tyrion's competence against Davos'.
You're aware there is a limited budget for TV right? While it would have been awesome to see wildfire raging through the castle and explosions and such, this doesn't have a 100 million dollar budget.
I liked the chain from the books, but you should downgrade its omission from "most disappointing" to "mildly disappointing" considering all the other things they do well. For example, how were they going to keep Barristan Selmy secret for months on a TV show like they did in the books? I think the reveal in Season 3 worked very well.
Glad to hear. You're missing out and don't deserve to watch it anyway.
I agree. Embiciles each and every one.
remember where they go now...
No too me...its just right.
No way – this show is too old timey for me.