Game of Thrones - 14 minute preview

[ManuBalboa]

I can't wait until Jon Snow turns into the dragon.

[eisfeld]

Yeah, you totally totally got me.

He told Cersei about his intent to tell Robert of Joffrey's true father, told her to go far far away, gave her time to plot and scheme, because he's smart. Because he doesn't put honor before the life of his family.

Reading comprehension much? Dost thou possess eyes? Cuz even on the show, that just happened.

He trusted little finger for no true concrete reason. But I'm stupid for saying that decision was stupid.

You call me stupid for calling Ned the stupidest character possible.
Tell me one thing he's done that is smart.

If you re-read the parts you mentioned and leave aside the knowledge you have of the outcome most of his choices seem reasonable. Other decision would have an obvious worse outcome...

- Siding with Stannis would assure that kingdom won't be scattered so badly.
- Telling Cersei was the only option - Robert would not have trusted him (see the incident with Arya, Sansa and Joffrey) and he couldn't kill her because Robert was still alive then.
- Taking the position as the Hand: Had he denied it, it would have been Jaime Lannister

The only foolish thing he did was to trust Littlefinger, a person who is in love with his wife...

Katelyn on the other hand made some foolish decisions.

[coyotes_geek]

- Telling Cersei was the only option - Robert would not have trusted him (see the incident with Arya, Sansa and Joffrey) and he couldn't kill her because Robert was still alive then.

I haven't read the book so I've only got what's been shown on TV to go off of, but I'm having a hard time seeing how telling Cersei was anything short of idiotic. Instead of going straight to his friend Robert, Ned goes to Cersei who he suspects tried to kill his son & wife?

And where are you getting that Robert wouldn't have trusted Ned? Robert loved Ned's sister, told Ned that he was the only one he could trust to be HOTK, Robert mocks the Lannisters all the time and the incident with Arya/Sansa/Joffrey ended with Robert showing disgust that Joffrey got disarmed by Arya.

[eisfeld]

I haven't read the book so I've only got what's been shown on TV to go off of, but I'm having a hard time seeing how telling Cersei was anything short of idiotic. Instead of going straight to his friend Robert, Ned goes to Cersei who he suspects tried to kill his son & wife?

And where are you getting that Robert wouldn't have trusted Ned? Robert loved Ned's sister, told Ned that he was the only one he could trust to be HOTK, Robert mocks the Lannisters all the time and the incident with Arya/Sansa/Joffrey ended with Robert showing disgust that Joffrey got disarmed by Arya.

The problem is Robert is anything but a noble character. Remember the scene where Arya disarmed Joffrey and threw his sword in the river? Cersei summoned Arya, Sansa and Ned. It was word against word - so he couldn't do anything (as it would have been if Ned told Robert about Cerseis betreyal). Sansa lied in this scene and that's why Lady was killed. Hadn't she witnessed what happened the scene might have ended without consequences for anyone.

It would have been Ned's word against Cerseis word - in the heart of Kings Landing, far away of the North with Lannisters surrounding him Ned would have had a hard time convincing Robert without real proof. Although a well known secret, Robert would have never stood up for his bas s as it would have meant that they can live at the kings court.

Don't wanna spoil anything - so when you watch season two or read the second book "A clash of Kings" think about Ned telling Cersei instead of Robert and how it would have affected the future events. In retrospective it was a highly political decision, but I could also be biased because I already know what happens afterwards.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

The problem is Robert is anything but a noble character. Remember the scene where Arya disarmed Joffrey and threw his sword in the river? Cersei summoned Arya, Sansa and Ned. It was word against word - so he couldn't do anything (as it would have been if Ned told Robert about Cerseis betreyal). Sansa lied in this scene and that's why Lady was killed. Hadn't she witnessed what happened the scene might have ended without consequences for anyone.

It would have been Ned's word against Cerseis word - in the heart of Kings Landing, far away of the North with Lannisters surrounding him Ned would have had a hard time convincing Robert without real proof. Although a well known secret, Robert would have never stood up for his bas s as it would have meant that they can live at the kings court.

Don't wanna spoil anything - so when you watch season two or read the second book "A clash of Kings" think about Ned telling Cersei instead of Robert and how it would have affected the future events. In retrospective it was a highly political decision, but I could also be biased because I already know what happens afterwards.

You're missing the point. Who cares about Robert in that point I brought up? Telling Cersei what he was going to do, when he knows how deadly the Lannisters can be is just stupid.
He is as naive as he can possibly be, and his honor makes him even dumber.


Also, to my point, Ned is just flat out stupid/naive to firmly believe Stanis was the answer because "The kingdom would not have been fragmented" or whatever.
That's just pure tomfoolery.
Why would he have thought that? Only because he would naively assume the entire kingdom would follow his code of honor that makes him weak in Kings Landing left and right.

[Sec24Row7]

Ned told Cersei first because he does not like to see innocents killed for political reasons.

If ned would have told Robert, all 3 of the kids that are the result of the Jaime-Cersei union would have been killed by Robert. Just look at what Robert had Gregor Clegane to Rhegar Targarian's children... they were ripped from their mother's breast kicking and screaming and lanced/had their heads bashed in against a bedpost... Look what Robert is trying to do to Daenerys and her unborn son across the Narrow sea with assassins.

He tells Cersei so she can save her children. He has no idea that she will have Robert killed as a result.... Ned probably suspects she will try to have HIM killed... but not Robert...

His honor makes him at least give her a way out... he is just outplayed... by murder and deceit.

[MannyIsGod]

Ned was definitely stupid.

[eisfeld]

Ned was definitely stupid.

Stupid in retrospective? Definitely
Stupid by the time he chose what to do? No

By that logic everyone is stupid...

Tyrion for letting Bronn fight for his life.
Bran for climbing the tower.
Robb for trusting Theon.
Cersei for ing Jaime.
Robert for marrying Cersei.
Katelyn for arresting Tyrion without real proof.

that's called bad decisions not real stupidity.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

He tells Cersei so she can save her children. He has no idea that she will have Robert killed as a result.... Ned probably suspects she will try to have HIM killed... but not Robert...

Cersei had already told the squire to shove super alcohol content wine down Robert's throat prior to Ned telling her he knew about the children.

Saving the children was even more universally stupid. Again, especially in the exact same conversation that ing Cersei is telling you that you either win or die.
Pure naivete.

Good riddance to Ned. In fact, only Arya and John deserve a decent fate out of the entire Stark clan. Although it seems like Ned will probably be the only character in the series who receives what he deserves.

[TheTruth]

You're missing the point. Who cares about Robert in that point I brought up? Telling Cersei what he was going to do, when he knows how deadly the Lannisters can be is just stupid.
He is as naive as he can possibly be, and his honor makes him even dumber.


Also, to my point, Ned is just flat out stupid/naive to firmly believe Stanis was the answer because "The kingdom would not have been fragmented" or whatever.
That's just pure tomfoolery.
Why would he have thought that? Only because he would naively assume the entire kingdom would follow his code of honor that makes him weak in Kings Landing left and right.

Ned couldn't handle playing the Game of Thrones. Went to a gun fight carrying his sword. Naive = Dumb, and he's gonna end up paying dearly for it. Every move he's made since he got to Kings Landing has been the wrong one. Going to Blacksmith's personally, trusting Littlefinger, telling Cersei, trusting the City Guard.

[TheTruth]

Ned couldn't handle playing the Game of Thrones. Went to a gun fight carrying his sword. Naive = Dumb, and he's gonna end up paying dearly for it. Every move he's made since he got to Kings Landing has been the wrong one. Going to Blacksmith's personally, trusting Littlefinger, telling Cersei, trusting the City Guard.

There is a whole lot of suffering for every Stark member in these books.

[MannyIsGod]

just got real

[scott]

Daaaaaaaaaaaamn, you know a series is legit when they kill off all the main characters.

[MannyIsGod]

I knew it was coming and it was still ing good.


BTW, CBF did you hear that they'll be doing American Gods on HBO next?

[scott]

I'd never read the books (or even heard of them) before the show started. In fact, I spent the first 30 minutes of the first episode thinking to myself "I don't remember any of this from european history..." so it's all new to me. Pretty badass, I'm sad the season is ending already.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

There is a whole lot of suffering for every Stark member in these books.

And they deserve it for their stupid ass decisions. Every bit of it.

In fact, as of just finishing book 3, the Starks are the only people in the whole story who consistently get what they deserve.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

I knew it was coming and it was still ing good.


BTW, CBF did you hear that they'll be doing American Gods on HBO next?

No I have not. The first googling I do mentions Tom Hanks. Sure hope he is not an actor in this. Can't ing wait, that will be bad ass.

[MannyIsGod]

CBF, whats even better is that Gaihman on his twitter said that because its 6 seasons they can't fill it with the one book so he's going to do a sequel. I can't wait for that man.

[Cant_Be_Faded]

CBF, whats even better is that Gaihman on his twitter said that because its 6 seasons they can't fill it with the one book so he's going to do a sequel. I can't wait for that man.

Pre-signing a show to 6 seasons? Is this gamechanging? I've never heard of such a thing.

Even if we say American Gods is 3 seasons, that's approx 30 episodes for that one book... That still seems like kind of a stretch. I really liked the book, but always found the climax kind of lacking....I dunno how well that will go over on screen.

I've been meaning to re-read the book, it's been a long ass time since I last read it.
The fact that there is a sequel book coming pretty much forces me to read it again.

[Pistons < Spurs]

Never read the books, but HBO has killed it with this series! Awesome show. Part of me wants to now grab the books, but I'm almost afraid that will ruin the following season for me.

[MannyIsGod]

Pre-signing a show to 6 seasons? Is this gamechanging? I've never heard of such a thing.

Even if we say American Gods is 3 seasons, that's approx 30 episodes for that one book... That still seems like kind of a stretch. I really liked the book, but always found the climax kind of lacking....I dunno how well that will go over on screen.

I've been meaning to re-read the book, it's been a long ass time since I last read it.
The fact that there is a sequel book coming pretty much forces me to read it again.

Depends on how they do it. Because of the universe he "created" with that book you could have the main story line but you could also explore stories of all the gods in the series. I think I'm going to reread it too.

[ManuBalboa]

Game of Thrones the tv series was a lot more enjoyable before I started listening to the audio books. Still great though.

The very last scene of the First Season should be great, so I wouldn't start reading the books until you see it on tv if you haven't started reading yet.

[leemajors]

Depends on how they do it. Because of the universe he "created" with that book you could have the main story line but you could also explore stories of all the gods in the series. I think I'm going to reread it too.

http://twitter.com/#!/neilhimself/st...90403319197696

@neilhimself
Neil Gaiman
And for those asking, No, 6 years of AMERICAN GODS on TV doesn't mean just the 1st book. It means I need to write the 2nd now, for a start.

[coyotes_geek]

Great episode last night. I feel bad for Ned, but what he got was of his own doing. That said, Joffrey sure is a little . Seeing this over and over makes me feel better though.

[Reggie Williams]

Cant Be Faded, you are a ing got