Wait, this doesn't start again until March!?!?!?!

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Yeah

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You snow nothing, John know.

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Should I read the books before watching the series?

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

I'd say yes just becuase they're good, but you don't have to. The books obviously offer more background and detail.

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Definitely read the first 3. They're awesome and totally enrich the tv experience.


As for the last 2 books, read them at your own risk. They both suck, but as a fan you'll probably end up suffering through them anyway.

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Just picked up a paperback copy of Game of Thrones that I plan on starting tonight. Pretty thick book.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

I chuckled, good fanboyhumor.

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Right as winter is ending... How droll.

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Nice. This season should be amazing, hopefully they either cancel it after this season or the producers throw the books away and write the rest of the seasons themselves.

I also expect to see a spinoff spawn from this, The untold adventures of Ricken Stark.

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I believe they are dividing up the 3rd book into 2 seasons so we still have one good season left after this.

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Season 3 wrapped up shooting last weekend.

Rumors that this season will feature the Red Wedding as an episode 9 (penned by GRRM) big event like Ned's execution and the Battle of the Blackwater were in the first two seasons.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

Game of Thrones’ and the Hold Steady team for season 3 song —EXCLUSIVE By James Hibberd

Another acclaimed indie rock band has partnered with HBO’s Game of Thrones to create a hit song from the land of Westeros.

Thrones producers have enlisted Brooklyn group the Hold Steady to bring to life a tune from George R.R. Martin’s fantasy saga. The band will perform “The Bear and the Maiden Fair,” with lyrics by Martin (below) and music by the show’s composer Ramin Djawadi. Last year, The National recorded Martin’s ominous “The Rains of Castemere” for season two, while “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” is more like a boisterous tavern song.

“As with the National, we went after one of our favorite bands and were happily surprised when they agreed to do it,” said showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss. “This is one of the most popular songs in Westeros, beloved by nobles and commoners alike, sung at taverns and feasts and etc. We wanted our rendition to be bawdy and a little sloppy —drunken musicians getting up on the table and jamming while the rowdy party continues around them. There was no one better for the job than the Hold Steady, and the song they delivered has been stuck in our heads for the last four weeks.”

“The Bear and the Maiden Fair” is about a bear that goes to the fair and woos a maiden who was hoping for a knight. We are sworn to secrecy in regards to how the song will be used, though it’s not where readers of Martin’s novels might suspect. The Hold Steady will release a 7″ record on April 20 for Record Store Day that will include “The Bear and Maiden Fair” and the song “Criminal Fingers.”

The Hold Steady isn’t the only popular band lending their talent to Thrones this year. Coldplay drummer Will Champion and Snow Patrol lead singer Gary Lightbody have cameos in season three.

Thrones typically uses an orchestral score, but last year producers surprised fans by enlisting The National to play “The Rains of Castemere” over the closing credits of the climactic “Battle of the Blackwater” episode. The tune recounts Lord Tywin Lannister’s crushing victory over the rebellious House Reyne of Castamere (an event that occurs long before the show’s storyline, but is oft-referenced as part of the Lannister family’s history). The song is available on the show’s season two soundtrack.

For those who missed it over the weekend, here’s the extended version of the latest Game of Thrones trailer. Coincidentally, there is a bear (a bear!) in the new preview. And below are Martin’s lyrics to “The Bear and the Maiden Fair.” Just reading these should make you feel like you’re hoisting a stein of ale.

“A bear there was,” “A bear, A BEAR! “All black and brown,” “And covered with hair!

“Oh come they said,” “Oh come to the fair!” “The fair? said he, “But I’m a bear!” “All black and brown,” “And covered in hair!”

“And down the road,” “From here to there,” “From here!To there!” “Three boys, a goat,” “And a dancing bear!” “They danced and spun,” “All the way to the fair!”

“Oh! sweet she was,” “And pure and fair,” “The maid with honey,” “In her hair! Her hair,” “The maid with honey,” “in her hair!”

The bear smelled the scent, “On the summer air!” “The Bear! The Bear!” “All black and brown,” “And covered with hair!” “He smelled the scent,” “On the summer air,” “He sniffed and roared,” “And smelled it there!” “Honey on the summer air!”

“Oh I’m a maid,” “And I’m pure and fair,” “I’ll never dance,” “With a hairy bear,” “A bear! A bear!” “I’ll never dance,” “With a hairy bear!”

“The bear,the bear!” “Lifted her high,” into the air!” The bear, the bear!”

“I called for a knight!” “But you’re a bear!” “A bear! A bear,” “All black and brown,” “And cover in hair!”

“She kicked and wailed,” “The maid so fair,” “But he licked the honey,” “From her hair!” “Her hair! Her hair!” “He licked the honey,” “From her hair!”

“Then she sighed and squealed,” “And kicked the air,” “She sang: My bear so fair,” “And off they went,” “The bear! The bear!” “And the maiden fair!”

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can't wait for the season to start, very happy they decided to turn book 3 into 2 seasons rather than try and cram all that action into one season. Plus, it gives us another year before this show goes to shit thanks to books 4 and 5.

Hopefully, HBO has been paying attention to the way AMC has taken Walking Dead in a different direction from the comic in many regards and they'll do the same thing when its time to move onto books 4 and 5. But, considering how much the show has been a pretty much word for word retelling of the books I doubt HBO will be that smart.

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Boyd and Hoffy should be stoked about The Hold Steady music if they watch the show. That band has been
growing on me since I added them to my Pandora shuffle list.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Season 1 was nearly a word for word but Season 2 wasnt.

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Maybe not word for word, but as far as adaptations go it was pretty much identical to the book for the most part.

I'm really hoping they go a different path after book 3, but I doubt they will.

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No way Martin lets them go another direction. That asshole is too involved in the show to allow his pride to take a hit. He knows he is off the rails with book 4 and 5 but the money is rolling in so he doesnt really give a shit.

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He's creating two new shows for HBO.

Winds of Winter - Coming never

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Well, hopefully he'll be dead soon and then HBO will be free of his shackles and also someone with talent and drive can take over the book writing department. Win win.

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I sort of content at this point to accept that the books were over after 3.

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Martin believes the two last volumes of the series will be big books of 1500+ manuscript pages each.[19] By October 2012, 400 pages of the sixth novel had been written, although Martin considers only the first 200 as "really finished", the rest still needing revisions.[20] Martin hopes to finish The Winds of Winter much faster than his troublesome fifth Ice and Fire novel.[21] In the past, Martin has angered some of his fan base for repeatedly estimating his publication dates too optimistically; therefore, he has refrained from making hard estimates for The Winds of Winter's final release date.[1] A realistic estimate for him for completing the sixth novel might be expected at three years, at a good writing pace of roughly 500 manuscript pages per year,[22] but ultimately the book "will be done when it's done".[10] Martin has acknowledged his concerns about the final novel not being completed by the time the HBO series Game of Thrones finally catches up in its story line to the novels. [23] Martin does not intend to separate characters by geography again, as he was forced to do because of the unpublishable length of A Feast for Crows' original manuscript. But he said if "Three years from [2011] when I'm sitting on 1,800 pages of manuscript with no end in sight, who the hell knows"

Thanks a lot jackref.

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Yeah this really is all jackrefs fault. If he doesnt push this show to us we never have to deal with the pain of Meereen.

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Just think, I got you on board before it was cool so we are all hipster GoT nerds.

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no such luck. it'll probably end up going to lena dunham.

New trailer for season 3 is good. The Hound fighting Dondarrion looks to be fucking awesome.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

You know its bad when I think Id rather see GRRM naked than her.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fPgIIB67bw

I thought this was pretty funny.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

awesome!!!

For those of us that have read all the books, where do you think GRRM is going with the various stories/characters? During the first 3 books there seemed to be a plan. Maybe Gendry would end up being king. Arya would get revenge for her father. Sansa would turn the tables on littlefinger. Tyrion would hook up with Daynares and help her conquor Westeros. And countless other scenarios that seemed like they fit into the big picture. I'm sure some of you have different ideas of where you thought the story would go, but in terms of big picture at least we all thought it was going somewhere that made sense in a narrative sense.

But now, after reading books 4 and 5 I have no clue what he's doing. And it doesn't seem like he does either. The complete lack of plot progression in these past 2 books has been alarming to say the least. Over 2000 pages and all he did was add new characters, forget about several old characters, stagnate several key characters and essentially do nothing to move the story along.

So I'd be interested to know where you guys think this whole thing ends up when its all said and done?

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