HBO's Game of Thrones

[ChrisMC]

My God, I knew what to expect - but that latest episode still slammed me.

[spoiler]Wow!  So disturbing.  Poor Prince Martel.
A few major departures here from the book.  Both Sansa and Arya ID'ing themselves.  They did a good job of showing Sansa's transformation.
I was wondering how Danyrs would handle the news about Mormont as well.[/spoiler]

Mind...BLOWN! ;)

[Rico]

Quite the episode.  Lots going on now.  Only two more to go for this season.

[Bromptonboy]

Still more fun in store for Kings Landing..  :)

[Bromptonboy]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101737463

"Game of Thrones," HBO's Emmy-award winning fantasy epic, has surpassed "The Sopranos" as its most popular series ever, the premium cable network said on Thursday.

Read More Google Maps gives directions for your dragon
Episodes in the fourth season of the show have an average gross audience of 18.4 million, including repeat showings, video on demand and mobile streaming, which broke the record of 18.2 million set by the 2002 season of the mobster drama, "The Sopranos."


Video on demand and delayed viewing habits have changed significantly since 2002, with more options being open to television audiences.

Season three of the show averaged 14.4 million viewers per episode. Two episodes of the fourth season have yet to be aired, with the finale set for June 15. HBO has already committed to making seasons five and six.

Read More Amazon, HBO sign exclusive multiyear online-only deal
The series on Time Warner-owned HBO network features dragons, castles and dragons. It is based on the best-selling books by fantasy and science fiction writer George R.R. Martin about fictional, medieval families fighting for control of a mythical land.
The show, which first aired in 2011, stars Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, and Maisie Williams, and is sold to more than 200 markets outside the United States.
—By Reuters

[Bromptonboy]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2650449/George-RR-Martin-makes-fundraising-appeal-Game-Of-Thrones-fans-character-kill-upcoming-novel.html

George RR Martin will name a character after a male and female fan and kill them in a future A Song Of Ice And Fire novel as part of a fundraising campaign.
The 65-year-old fantasy writer whose epic novels were adopted by HBO into the hit show Game Of Thrones made the offer on Thursday as part of a fundraising drive for the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot in New Mexico.
One male character and one female character will be made available for a Martyr level donation of $20,000.
Scroll down for video...
Fundraising effort: George RR Martin, shown in March, is offering fans a chance to name a character he will kill
+4
Fundraising effort: George RR Martin, shown in March, is offering fans a chance to name a character he will kill
'You can choose your character's station in the world (lordling, knight, peasant, whore, lady, maester, septon, anything) and you will certainly meet a grisly death!,' the author promised on the Prizeo.com website.
George appeared in a YouTube video and said proceeds would benefit the wolf sanctuary in New Mexico that he and his wife Paris have supported for years as well as the Food Depot that serves as a food bank for nine counties.


The campaign has donation levels that go from the $10 Ranger level to the $20,000 Martyr.
Wolf fan: George has included wolves in his fantasy novels adopted into Game Of Thrones
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Wolf fan: George has included wolves in his fantasy novels adopted into Game Of Thrones
Donors will be eligible for a drawing in which one winner and a guest will be flown to Santa Fe, New Mexico to join George for a wolf sanctuary tour and a helicopter ride.
'We can talk about dragons, direwolves, Games Of Thrones, Song of Ice And Fire, anything you want to talk about,' George said.
A Queen level donation of $4,500 will get one donor the script of the first Game Of Thrones episode signed by the cast and crew.

A King level donation of $7,500 will earn a supporter a pair of tickets to the season five premiere of the show.
For a $7,500 donation at the Crown level, a donor will receive one of the author's worn trademark sailor hats.
The contest will be open until August 4.

[Bromptonboy]

Solid penultimate seasonal episode.  Only one more to go - not looking forward to waiting another year.

[spoiler]battle at the wall was pretty good.  Poor Ygrtte - although I knew that was coming. 

Loved the hammer to the head of that cannibal guy![/spoiler]

[Bromptonboy]

I am not going to paste the content here, since it contains too many spoilers:

SPOILER ALERT FOR THIS LINK

http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=872179

[ChrisMC]

Olyphaunts Mr. Frodo!

So cool.

[Bromptonboy]

Olyphaunts Mr. Frodo!

So cool.

Big as a house, gray as a mouse..

[Rico]

Great episode this week.  Very cool stuff!

[Bromptonboy]

Another link about the final episode - some spoilers so only the link:

SPOILERS

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/06/09/game-of-thrones-showrunners-finale-4-tease/

[Bromptonboy]

Interesting article - details a few differences in how GRRM views his world as opposed to what is shown on HBO;
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/arts/television/george-r-r-martin-wants-more-game-of-thrones-too.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=AR_GRR_20140611&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=3

[Bromptonboy]

How cool to get your name in GoT?!
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/game-thrones-character-named-dave-goldblatt/story?id=24093699

Author George R.R. Martin, the creator of the "Game of Thrones" series, will introduce a new character in one of his upcoming books thanks to a $20,000 charity auction prize. He'll eventually kill off that character.

A 30-year-old Facebook employee won the highest prize level in which Martin will name a character after him in an upcoming book in the series, "A Song of Ice and Fire."

Read More: 'Game of Thrones' Fans Respond in Droves to George R.R. Martin's Fundraiser for Wolves, Hungry Children

PHOTO: Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in the fourth season of the HBO show, Game of Thrones. HBO
PHOTO: Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in the fourth season of the HBO show, "Game of Thrones".
Will fans around the world name their child after this new and mysterious personality the way parents named their daughters Arya and Khaleesi, names that Martin created describing two of his female leads?
Except for characters like good 'ole Jon Snow, most names, even the "Wildlings" who roam beyond the wall, have multiple vowels and consecutive consonants.

This new character will be named Dave Goldblatt, a product specialist who reigns from San Francisco.

Goldblatt said he viewed the first season of the HBO series on the recommendation of a friend, then he immediately read the book series in six months.

When asked whether Martin will morph his name to mimic the designations of fictional noble men and women that sound part-Welsh and part-science fiction, Goldblatt said, "I have no idea. You're going to have to ask George about that."

PHOTO: George R.R. Martin attends the Game Of Thrones Season 4 premiere at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, March 18, 2014 in New York.Taylor Hill/Getty Images
PHOTO: George R.R. Martin attends the "Game Of Thrones" Season 4 premiere at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, March 18, 2014 in New York.
Technically speaking, his name is David, but only Goldblatt's mother calls him that.

"I'm just lucky enough to be in a position to do this," Goldblatt said of the $20,000 prize. "Obviously, the money is going to charity, so it's an added bonus. I didn't immediately seek to help wolf sanctuaries, but the more I read about the charities, I learned it was a worthwhile cause."

There were only two top-level prizes available, called the "martyr" level, reserved for a man and a woman. Martin will name a future character after Goldblatt and the other winner, who has remained anonymous. The two winners will choose their "character's station in the world (lordling, knight, peasant, whore, lady, maester, septon, anything) and you will certainly meet a grisly death!" the Prizeo website states.

Goldblatt chose to be a "Valryian," a people group famous for their indestructible steel, as his station in Martin's literary universe.

When asked why he chose to be a "Valyrian," Goldblatt said, "You read some piece of fiction and for whatever reason you think one particular character or race is cool – and for whatever reason, I thought the Valyrians were cool. I'm hoping in future books we get to see more of them."

Martin's project is raising money for Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot of Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Martin lives with his wife, Parris. The campaign is hosted on celebrity-based sweepstakes fundraising site Prizeo.com.

[Bromptonboy]

Season Finale:

Wow, I really liked it.  I must say there is one part from the show that I prefer from the books:
[spoiler]I was really very pleased at the parting of Tyrion and Jaime.  I always hated how they parted in anger in the books.[/spoiler]
The Hound:
[spoiler]I was wondering how they would deal with him - I was thinking he would die from the infected wound to his ear[/spoiler]
Tryion:
[spoiler]That went down as I suspected it would.  Some hints from book 5 here - in how he was shipped off.[/spoiler]

[Bromptonboy]

Just link to avoid spoilers:
http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/06/16/game-of-thrones-finale-martin/