Sell me on a Game of Thrones TV Show

[Shjade]

I can't say I have enough exposure to broad british TV to say one way or another. Some things I've seen that's the case, others not as much. They explain the shit out of everything on Dr. Who, for instance.

[Chris Brady]

The new Who is designed for both British and American audiences, I've been told.

[Guren]

Out of curiosity and seeing it constantly mentioned in all my social circles, I want to get into this show.  Unfortunately, it appears that it's the kind of show one needs to watch from the beginning to 'get.'

I can't find free online episodes on official sites, and I will not resort to torrents and the like.  I have not read the book series, although I've heard that it's not a prerequisite for enjoying the show.

From what I've gathered from 2-3 episodes:

1. There's this group of kids who are traveling somewhere to find someone, but got captured by knights and held with a bunch of prisoners.

2. A teenage, blond-haired king with sadistic tendencies is in charge of a country, and family and advisers are worried about his conduct.

3. This woman with white hair and from a foreign land infiltrated this abandoned tower to find some baby dragons.  She plans on using them in war.

4. An undead army in a frozen wasteland is advancing upon civilization, and will appear in the next season.

Fill in the blanks.  "If you like _______, then you'd like A Game of Thrones."  Tell me what appeals to you about the show and why it's good.

I have a solution for you: Watch it yourself starting from episode one, on a video streaming site such as tvmuse.  You won't ever be punished just for watching streamed videos...

[meikle]

You'd be surprised by how much insight can be gained just by observing a character's thought process from the outside followed by their actions, I think, meikle. You just have to trust your audience will put in the effort on their side to glean that information without having it spoon fed to them via exposition.

Unfortunately, trusting their audience isn't something TV/movie producers do anymore, at least not the majority.

A Feast For Crows quote below, maybe spoilers:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

"No bells will ring for you, Tyrion," Cersei thought.  "I will dip your head in tar and give your twisted body to the dogs."

I don't think you're going to get that from watching a person's face.  Their state of mind, their emotional state, sure... the internal monologue that a lot of scenes in the book draw on?  Not so much.  Tyrion isn't even present in the scene that that quote is taken from.  GRRM is often very explicit about showing exactly what his characters are thinking, not just suggesting it; he uses, essentially, voice-overs in the books themselves.  It's easier to get away with in text, I guess.

edit: Though Cersei does say a lot of terrible things out loud that more or less match up with that quote.  "If you ever call me sister again, I will have you strangled in your sleep."  So maybe we can just assume she's always thinking awful things about everyone.

God, I love Cersei.

[Shjade]

Sure, but you also don't need that exact thought process. In the context I'm reasonably sure you could figure out she is thinking ill thoughts of someone; you don't need to know exactly what thoughts are being thought. It doesn't matter. As long as you can get the gist of her feelings you're pretty much there. Maybe you miss out on knowing exactly how sadistic she is in her imagination, but then, when you see her actually act/speak, you can probably guess.

[meikle]

Sure, but you also don't need that exact thought process.

AFFC, same Cersei chapter:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

When she closed her eyes, it was the other brother she dreamt of, and the three wretched fools with whom she had begun her day.  In the dream it was Tyrion's head they brought her in their sack; she had it bronzed, and kept it in her chamberpot.

No, you don't need to know her exact thought process.  Are you missing insight to her character without getting these glimpses into Cersei's mind, the things that she knows better than to say out loud?  I think that it is so!  It's one thing to get the impression that Cersei is power-hungry and angsty.  It is totally different to see that she is the kind of person who

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

fantasizes about shitting on her brother's decapitated head.