HBO's Game of Thrones, Thoughts on Episodes 1-1 & 1-2

The first question that always comes up when discussing an adapted work like Game of Thrones is inevitable: "Did you read the book?"  As it happens, I did.  Therefore, my point of view of the series is influenced by foreknowledge of what's going to happen next.  So for me, watching Game of Thrones is less about what's going to happen as much as it's about how well they execute it.  My comments about the show will come from that standpoint, with some discussions about the differences between the show and the book.

There will also be spoilers involved.  I will likely be spoiling the actual episodes I'm talking about, so if you haven't seen that episode yet and don't want to be spoiled about it, by all means come back later.  These posts aren't going anywhere unless Blogger is in financial trouble and no one told me.  I will also be talking about differences from the book, so if you don't want to hear about what scenes were changed, omitted, or added to the show, you should probably skip these posts.

What I will not do is discuss things that haven't happened yet.  I'd like these posts to be friendly to those who're only watching the show and don't know what's coming.  On the off chance that anyone comments on these posts, I'd also like to ask you not to spoil things for the new people.  You got to read what happened without prejudice, let the viewers have the same courtesy.

Everybody got that?  Great. Let's get to talking about the Seven Kingdoms and the lords of Westeros.

Game of Thrones would not have been my first choice for a HBO TV adaptation.  Granted, a TV series is far better than a film would have been where even more would have been lost, and having the series on HBO allows you to get the full impact of the sex and violence that are at the core of the books, which would have been impossible for network or basic cable TV.  But even then, the format has its problems.  The novel A Game of Thrones is nearly 700 pages long.  With only ten episodes to play with, you've got to try and cover 70 pages of material in each and every episode.  Inevitably, so much of the depth and characterization that is done so well in the books is lost in the rush to cover the major events.

I'm not just talking about scenes that are missing or abbreviated, either.  The book has an interesting format.  Every chapter is titled by the name of the character it follows around.  So you'd have a chapter called Eddard where we see Ned's point of view as he talks to King Robert in the crypt, then a chapter called Catelyn where we see from her point of view as she and Ned talk about the offer to become the King's Hand and the letter from her sister arrives, and then we get one called Bran where the little climber climbs the wrong tower and gets shoved out the window, and so on throughout the novel.

The thing is, what we get in the novel is much more than just the events.  Each chapter gives you what the character is thinking, as well as some history or cultural information that makes the world of Westeros feel more real.  Now, arguably, one can say that about any translation from novel to the screen, but since so much of George RR Martin's book is in those details, it feels like that much more is lost with the HBO version.

Does that mean, then, that I don't like the series?  No, actually.  I do like it, despite my misgivings about translating the book to a show.  Peter Dinklage as Tyrion is a delight.  He nails the sarcasm and wisdom of The Imp perfectly.  The opening credits are wonderfully done, and the music gets me in the mood for the show.

What's more, the use of visuals in the show is well done.  The concluding shot of Bran falling into the camera to end the first episode and the shot of him waking up simultaneous to Lady's death were both striking.  I particularly like the look off the Wall, as well.

But the shot that really affected me was nearly a throwaway on.  Its the one in episode two where Jon rides away from his father.  You can see the king's party moving slowly away into the distance while Jon races towards the camera, alone.  The visual poetry of that scene, that of Jon leaving his family and all he knows behind, was a great visual metaphor, and I hope they keep it up.

So what's changed from the book?  Well, the scene in episode two where Queen Cersei talks about her lost baby to Catelyn is new, as was our actually seeing Daenerys actually get sexual training from Doreah.  In that both scenes give a little more depth to the characters they're about, I've no problem with their inclusion.  The books give Daenerys in particular a lot of depth in the narration, and giving some of that to her in the series with an extra scene or two is a fine idea.

Cersei, on the other hand, often comes across as more obviously villainous in the novels, so taking the opportunity to soften her and make her a little more sympathetic early on is a pretty big change, but a welcome one.  No one in Game of Thrones is a all good, nor all evil.  The books in particular do an excellent job in showing the strengths and flaws of each character, and it is through the interaction of these traits that they succeed and fail.  Anything that can show some of that depth on the show is worth the effort in my book.

So, what do I think about the show overall?  In brief, I like it, I'm going to watch the rest of it, and presuming that all the sex, nudity, swearing, and violence don't turn you off, I recommend you watch it as well.

But I also think that you should read the books, as I think they're better.

(Programming Note: I'll be writing one of these every Monday until the first season concludes in June. Come on back next week for more on Game of Thrones.)