Spoiler-Free Answers from Readers

Sleepy · 16-05-2012 10:14AM #1

If we're going the way of the book readers not being allowed to post in the "haven't read the books" threads, I think a thread for the non-readers to ask questions where they won't be spoilered makes sense.

With so many sites out there dedicated to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones, googling to find out the answer to a question e.g. "who controls Castle X" or "Who was the character that did Y in last night's episode" is quite likely to land those who haven't (yet) read the books into major spoilers so this thread is for those questions!

Mickeroo · 16-05-2012 10:27AM

I know I've only been posting here the last 3 weeks or so but in general I've had no problem with readers posting on the episode thread. Yesterday the way podgemonster worded his post sounded like a major spoiler and I was sickened when I read it, but thankfully it was cleared up afterwards what they meant. Your posts have always been informative and entirely spoiler free Sleepy.

Anyway, this is a good idea for a thread if readers are completely band from the other one now.

Is there any reason in the book why the other Night's Watch men didn't wait around for Snow to kill Ygritte? It seems strange that he couldn't find them and they never came looking. Only answer if its not something we'll find out later though, it just struck me as something they didn't include for time constraints when it happened!

mikemac1 · 16-05-2012 10:32AM

Book readers needn't be banned imo

Talisman should be banned though, picked up several huge spoilers from his "predictions" :mad:

One poster ruining it for everyone

Anyway, good idea for a thread

Sleepy · 16-05-2012 10:38AM

Mickeroo wrote: »

Is there any reason in the book why the other Night's Watch men didn't wait around for Snow to kill Ygritte? It seems strange that he couldn't find them and they never came looking. Only answer if its not something we'll find out later though, it just struck me as something they didn't include for time constraints when it happened!

Let's just leave it at "things happen differently in the books" in this regard.

While we know where Jon's going, it appears he's taking a slightly different route in the TV series.

Mr Freeze · 16-05-2012 10:40AM

Good idea for a thread.

mikemac1 wrote: »

Book readers needn't be banned imo

Talisman should be banned though, picked up several huge spoilers from his "predictions" :mad:

Half of them in there have read the books i'd say and are pretending not to have so they can give their amazingly accurate predictions. :pac:

CastorTroy · 16-05-2012 11:11AM

I hate it when people say things like how someone is their favourite character or that they become important later on, because that means we know the character is around that long in a world where we know anyone can die at any time.

But my question is in regard to reading the books while watching the show. Basically I picked up the first book and I'm wondering if you noticed if there's anything that was covered in the first book but in the second season? I just don't want to read something like "Of course Ned didn't die but he was sneaked off into hiding" in the first book when that doesn't get revealed until season 3.

MitchKoobski · 16-05-2012 11:29AM

People who haven't read the books are goin to want some things clarified.

Characters pop up without being accurately named or explained who they are and why we should know them already.
Difficult to understand what is happening at the same time and what is happening one after the other

I've been having conversations like this with friends since series 2 started. The shadow boirthing for example, I had to explain that she pretty much gave birth to some sort of shadow creature that went on to kill Renly. They said it was disgusting. I said "well in the book she squatted down....". Query over.

Sleepy · 16-05-2012 11:32AM

The first series covers the first book extremely faithfully. There are of course a few scenes added, changed or left out but you won't spoiler anything from the second series by reading it.

The second series is starting to deviate more from the books but so far, while some different routes are being taken to things I've not noticed anything that would spoiler future books.

The third series is only going to be covering half of the events in the third book and while the third book was split into two volumes for it's paperback edition, I wouldn't bet on the split between seasons 3 and 4 mirroring the book split exactly.

The fifth and subsequent seasons (assuming the series gets renewed) will, most likely, take a major departure from books 4 and 5 as the events in these books occur at the same time and are split pretty much along character lines e.g. Character A we don't see at all in Book 4 but discover what they were doing in Book 5. This didn't work brilliantly in the books imo and would be disastrous to a TV series as you'd have to put an actor on hiatus for most of / all of a season only to bring them back a season later when they may no longer be available due to other commitments.

We're already seeing things happen along these lines with Arya and Tywin in this season: in the books another lord is in charge of Harrenhall for most of the time Arya is there and Tywin's activities happen "off screen". Rather than leaving Charles Dance twiddling his thumbs however, they've cut out that other character and had Tywin command his troops from there in order to utilise a great actor and have introduced what are definitely my favourite new scenes between himself and Arya.

stevenmu · 16-05-2012 12:24PM

Good idea, there's a mod post now on the "not read the books" thread saying that people who have read the books shouldn't post there.

stesaurus · 16-05-2012 12:28PM

This thread should probably be stickied so that all this kind of discussion stays in here and is visible.

Bobby42 · 16-05-2012 01:39PM

A little confused with a part from the latest episode. The scene with Jon and Ygritte, Jon says widlings tried to kill Bran and wildlings raid westeros, how do they get beyond the wall? Was it a wildling that tried to kill Bran with a knife?

Sleepy · 16-05-2012 01:47PM

Osha (the wildling played by Natalia Tena) came into the series during an attack on Bran when he was out in the Wolfswood with Robb and Theon during Season 1. That was the attack Jon was talking about.

I don't think any of the ways of getting past the wall have been mentioned in the series yet but if you looked at the maps you'd see that it would be possible to sail around it. The Nightwatch have a castle "Eastwatch by the Sea" which was mentioned in passing where they'd have a few ships but since they're so undermanned it's probably quite easy for small numbers of the freefolk/wildlings to get past.

sea_monkey · 16-05-2012 01:53PM

Bobby42 wrote: »

A little confused with a part from the latest episode. The scene with Jon and Ygritte, Jon says widlings tried to kill Bran and wildlings raid westeros, how do they get beyond the wall? Was it a wildling that tried to kill Bran with a knife?

the nights watch is severly undermanned, which is talked about in the tv series quite a bit with tyrion carrying a message to kings landing from them stating that.

the wall is huge and the nights watch so few that they cannot man it properly.

small groups of wildlings therefore can climb over the wall and raid without even being noticed.

DL Saint · 16-05-2012 03:41PM

Okay I have tried to do this on the map of westeros but I can't find some of the locations and have forgotten a few details from previous episodes. So just asking a few questions for clarification.

Rob is in The Riverlands and has agreed to marry in order to cross the bridge near Riverrun?

Where did they say Stannis' ships were in episode 7? was it Blackwater Bay?

The Bastard who is sending a fleet to re-take Winterfell is in The Dreadfort?

And Theons sister is in Deepwood Mott. Can't find that on the Map, where is it located?

ArmaniJeanss · 16-05-2012 03:44PM

Bobby42 wrote: »

Was it a wildling that tried to kill Bran with a knife?

At this point in the book (and the series) the answer to that question is still unknown.

(I'm guessing this thread isn't for "That'll be revealed in Book 9, Chapter 106", or "Still han't been revelaed yet" type answers.)

Cookiemunster · 16-05-2012 04:07PM

DL Saint wrote: »

Okay I have tried to do this on the map of westeros but I can't find some of the locations and have forgotten a few details from previous episodes. So just asking a few questions for clarification.

Rob is in The Riverlands and has agreed to marry in order to cross the bridge near Riverrun?

Rob and his army are camped at Riverrun, which is the Tully family seat.
He agreed to marry one of the Frey daughters to cross the river at The Twins which is north of Riverrun.

DL Saint wrote: »

Where did they say Stannis' ships were in episode 7? was it Blackwater Bay?

I can't remember exactly where they said the fleet is in the episode, but I think Stannis fleet is sailing north from Storms End. Events around here in the series and the book differ so I'm not 100% sure.

DL Saint wrote: »

The Bastard who is sending a fleet to re-take Winterfell is in The Dreadfort?

Correct. The seat of the Boltons

DL Saint wrote: »

And Theons sister is in Deepwood Mott. Can't find that on the Map, where is it located?

Its on the north west coast below Bear Island.

stevenmu · 16-05-2012 04:35PM

There's a good map at http://towerofthehand.com/maps/westeros.html. As said, Deepwood is just a little north west of Winterfell.

MitchKoobski · 16-05-2012 04:45PM

DL Saint wrote: »

Rob is in The Riverlands and has agreed to marry in order to cross the bridge near Riverrun?

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Rob and his army are camped at Riverrun, which is the Tully family seat.
He agreed to marry one of the Frey daughters to cross the river at The Twins which is north of Riverrun.

The Twins is ruled by Lord Walder Frey aka This Guy we met in Season One.

Figure it might be even easier for people if they can put faces to the names. Might help them remember the events of the episodes in Season One too.

Mickeroo · 16-05-2012 04:50PM

MitchKoobski wrote: »

The Twins is ruled by Lord Walder Frey aka This Guy we met in Season One.

Figure it might be even easier for people if they can put faces to the names. Might help them remember the events of the episodes in Season One too.

Hell, a sticky with a pic of each character plus a mini(spoiler free) bio might not be a bad idea. Seems a lot of people are having trouble remembering characters names and faces etc.

MitchKoobski · 16-05-2012 04:56PM

The "A Song Of Fire and Ice" Wiki contains full spoilers for all the books,

BUT the Game of Thrones wiki goes in the same order as the tv series and updates the wiki as the episodes go out. http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Game_of_Thrones_Wiki

SirDelboy18 · 16-05-2012 06:41PM

Fantastic idea for a thread.

16-05-2012 06:49PM

DL Saint wrote: »

The Bastard who is sending a fleet to re-take Winterfell is in The Dreadfort?

Not a fleet, a medium sized group on foot and horseback.

pickarooney · 18-05-2012 08:56AM

Personally I don't want anyone telling me anything that's not explicitly laid out in the series itself so if these kind of questions can be kept to a separate thread that would be great. There are an awful lot of characters and places and plot lines to keep track of so I often forget about individual incidents but I hate it when someone (with the best of intentions, I appreciate), instead of just reminding what happened earlier in the show, provides backstory from the books.

gavkm27 · 18-05-2012 08:42PM

Mickeroo wrote: »

I know I've only been posting here the last 3 weeks or so but in general I've had no problem with readers posting on the episode thread. Yesterday the way podgemonster worded his post sounded like a major spoiler and I was sickened when I read it, but thankfully it was cleared up afterwards what they meant. Your posts have always been informative and entirely spoiler free Sleepy.

Anyway, this is a good idea for a thread if readers are completely band from the other one now.

Is there any reason in the book why the other Night's Watch men didn't wait around for Snow to kill Ygritte? It seems strange that he couldn't find them and they never came looking. Only answer if its not something we'll find out later though, it just struck me as something they didn't include for time constraints when it happened!

IMO the importance of the relationship between John Snow and Qrin Halfand is not being portrayed in the series.
Qrin knows Jon Snow,because he blood of the first men and a Stark - honourable like himself,that's why he was chosen to go in to the frost fangs.Qrin knew Jon wouldn't kill Ygritte so he took the other crows away and left him to make the decision himself.
The next episode

is vital to really show the importance of Qrin/Snow relationship!

DL Saint · 19-05-2012 12:06AM

gavkm27 wrote: »

IMO the importance of the relationship between John Snow and Qrin Halfand is not being portrayed in the series.
Qrin knows Jon Snow,because he blood of the first men and a Stark - honourable like himself,that's why he was chosen to go in to the frost fangs.Qrin knew Jon wouldn't kill Ygritte so he took the other crows away and left him to make the decision himself.
The next episode is vital to really show the importance of Qrin/Snow relationship
!

Ah here now, in a thread that is meant to be spoiler free you are hinting at what is going to happen in the next episode, not fair, imo!

mikemac1 · 19-05-2012 02:34PM

Just want to ask is this deliberate or just a coincidence?

I know the stories is sort of based on the War of the Roses in England

Did Martin ever talk about Ireland or its use in a map?
I'd google but unsure if I'd find spoilers, asking the good people here

genericguy · 19-05-2012 03:24PM

gavkm27 wrote: »

Mickeroo wrote: »

I know I've only been posting here the last 3 weeks or so but in general I've had no problem with readers posting on the episode thread. Yesterday the way podgemonster worded his post sounded like a major spoiler and I was sickened when I read it, but thankfully it was cleared up afterwards what they meant. Your posts have always been informative and entirely spoiler free Sleepy.

Anyway, this is a good idea for a thread if readers are completely band from the other one now.

Is there any reason in the book why the other Night's Watch men didn't wait around for Snow to kill Ygritte? It seems strange that he couldn't find them and they never came looking. Only answer if its not something we'll find out later though, it just struck me as something they didn't include for time constraints when it happened!

IMO the importance of the relationship between John Snow and Qrin Halfand is not being portrayed in the series.
Qrin knows Jon Snow,because he blood of the first men and a Stark - honourable like himself,that's why he was chosen to go in to the frost fangs.Qrin knew Jon wouldn't kill Ygritte so he took the other crows away and left him to make the decision himself.
The next episode
is vital to really show the importance of Qrin/Snow relationship!

You, sir, are a gobshyte.

19-05-2012 04:21PM

mikemac1 wrote: »

Just want to ask is this deliberate or just a coincidence?

I know the stories is sort of based on the War of the Roses in England

Did Martin ever talk about Ireland or its use in a map?
I'd google but unsure if I'd find spoilers, asking the good people here
]

I'd say it's just coincedence, the only real similarities is the vale and Kerry and I don't think it was purposeful.

If you think about it in regards to the UK. The south is Dorne/Dorset. The east is Kings Landing/London, north is the colder parts like Scotland (Hadrians wall to keep the savages out?) and then in the west there's Casterly Rock who have gold mines and in Wales there's a lot of coal mines. Ireland might be the Iron Islands? The constant thorn in their backside :pac:
That's my take on it anyway

.

Sleepy · 19-05-2012 10:59PM

Hadrian's Wall definitely inspired the wall.

Mickeroo · 20-05-2012 12:17PM

Actually if you look at the Wall as Hadrian's wall then the map looks like a skewed version of Britain as much as anything.

johnnyskeleton · 20-05-2012 10:05PM

CastorTroy wrote: »

I hate it when people say things like how someone is their favourite character or that they become important later on, because that means we know the character is around that long in a world where we know anyone can die at any time..

Like the comments people
make about brienne because they know she hooks up with hodor after he is crowned king beyon the wall?

Actually, what I find interesting is that because grrm has so much input into the show, when somethig is left out it implies he intended it. For example, it would be interesting to see what a non book reader makes of the jon snows mother theory thread.

Spoiler-Free Answers from Readers

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