HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones - will this be just for nerds? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Magic almost solely seems to deal with illusion and perception in the world of ASOFAI

what about ghost stannis?

Loved the close up shot of Tywin’s horse’s poop plopping on the floor before he entered the throne room.

Maybe he thought Dani would be cowed and overawed enough not to use the dragonfire against him?

Maybe he thought tiny muppet dragons couldn't produce that kind of fire power.

The dragons were so 80s and adorable.

what about ghost stannis?

― ooooiiiioooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaoooooh un - bi - leevable! (LocalGarda)

All the exceptions seem to be when servants of the Red God are involved.

Or the Undying dude's teleportation.

Everything supernatural in this that doesn't involve either dragons or white walkers is a bit rubbish really.

I mean one of the reasons I like it is that it keeps all that stuff firmly in the background in favour of backstabbing and political intrigue but really having a smokey ghost Stannis that inexplicably doesn't do anything in an actual siege feels both wasteful and a cop-out.

But that's everything. I'm even thinking now that the Lannisters exist solely to provide a family of capitalists with no supernatural powers

At first (reading) I was frustrated that there wasn't a global magic system, like every other fantasy series, so there was logic and thus suspense. Then I realized that all these different systems draw so heavily on established archetypes that a global set of cheques and balances isn't necessary.

So you expected smokey ghost Stannis just to hang out on the boats til the siege happened? It was clearly created for one task, which it achieved

you get more of a sense from the books that whatever magic there is to be manipulated in this world comes at significant cost, often personal to the wielder. i suppose you see the cost somewhat with the whole business of trying to resurrect drogo, a life for a life. but basically the few people that can legit do magical stuff are very limited with it - melisandre can't just pop out shadow spy kids every other day. the warlocks may have had power once but they are clearly charlatans by the point we meet them. i don't recall if the show mentions it, but the warlocks have some blue plant that they chew, some shamanistic hallucinogen thing, and they might not be any more magical than that, since they most they achieve is dany's altered perception in the House. obviously when you film it the images are more concrete so it seems a bit more substantial. so the reason they end up being quite so shit is that they were shit all along, and the show hints that they probably got carried away with themselves on the back of the surge of magical power the dragons create.

feel like westeros is prob a place that used to be more magical but now its modernizing blah blah

ppl grew up and forgot about magic. it is v disney.

I'm pretty sure that convention isn't limited to Disney films

that is a BOLD rejection of a claim no one is making

ha!

who r 'the maesters'

Didn't Luwin say he'd studied magic?

careful max this is nonspoiler thread, not that that's written as a big deal in the books or anything

and yeah a small handful of maesters study magic and have a special valyrian steel link in their chain to signify it

oh whoops i thought this was the spoiler thread!!!! my mistake

joe you dont have to http://i32.tinypic.com/33upd14.jpg

jeez just want to know who the maesters r w/o reading some stupid nerd books *joins nights watch*

lol xp

i don't recall if the show mentions it, but the warlocks have some blue plant that they chew, some shamanistic hallucinogen thing, and they might not be any more magical than that, since they most they achieve is dany's altered perception in the House.

seemed pretty clear from the assassination of the city council that warlock dude did have the ability to work some pretty substantial magic, that his powers weren't limited to just messin' with people's minds or w/e. hard to say, though. (i'm speaking only of the show's reality. shit in the books that isn't made clear in the show does not exist in the show afaic.)

i don't remember the scene well enough. what did he do?

multiple versions of him appeared behind every council member and slit all of their throats at the same time

well it was the dragons that allowed that, right?

no reason to think so

(no reason in-show i mean)

well the warlocks said so m/l

did they? if so, i missed or forgot about it. what did he/they say?

they said their power was increased w/dragons around

"when your dragons were born, our magic was born again. it is strongest in their presence, and theirs is strongest in yours."

are we sure there is just one dude and not multiple identical looking dudes? they do talk about warlocks plural

but it decreased our intelligence and we forgot they can shoot fire :(

xp

xp: I like the ambiguity tbh; usually Dani is all "omg MAGIC" and everyone else in the scene is practically rolling their eyes going "argh jeez, just ignore him and he'll go away"

i don't think the warlocks figured that the dragons were that powerful that little (even Dany could just barely get them to shoot a little bit of fire earlier in the season). That said, their "y'all gonna be here for eternity lolz" plan did seem pretty flawed as one imagines the dragons would grow.

"when your dragons were born, our magic was born again. it is strongest in their presence, and theirs is strongest in yours."

oop, i stand corrected. now that you mention it, i remember that line very clearly. anyway, point is that the warlock dude does have real magical abilities, though yeah, they may have seemed trivial w/out dani and her dragons around to amp the magic up.

been looking to redecorate tbh

http://store.hbo.com/game-of-thrones-life-size-replica-iron-throne/detail.php?p=373634&v=hbo_shows_game-of-thrones

that would be perfect for my throne room

I want it for my front porch

TO SURVEY MY LANDS

hey - i got to sit in one of those a few months back!

what ho? are you dragon-born sir?

sword of.

sorry. Couldn't help myself.

I am so running you through for that.

Totally fair. I get your point.

Sorry.

Drawn. And quartered.

However you slice it, I was wrong.

Doh! Sorry.

would love to sit on that and be like "Talk to the Hand... of the King!!!"

they had a GoT exhibit at the Tiff building by my office. you could sit in the iron throne and they'd take a few pics and send you on your way with a contact sheet and a DVD of the first episode. not bad for a free dealy!