Westeros

The 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Domain

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Preview 02: Screencap 66

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And another great shot of the Kingslayer, this time confronting Eddard at Winterfell in a brand new scene that was originally described to fans from a pilot script.

The gist of this confrontation is that Ser Jaime is arrogantly suggesting that he’d like to see Eddard on the tourney field, because the competition is growing “stale”, with the implication that Eddard’s lack of fame on the tourney grounds suggests he’s not as good as some claim he is. Eddard remarks he doesn’t take part in tourneys because when he fights another man “for real”, he doesn’t want to have given away anything about his ability.

Now… this scene is clearly part of the show’s treatment of Eddard Stark as a much more capable swordsman than what GRRM envisioned. And as Linda remarks, she feels that Sean Bean often seems just a wee bit cocky, so maybe that’s in the mix given Eddard’s remark—certainly, Sean Bean plays it as if he’s annoyed with Lannister. It’s a change, one that we’re not entirely happy with, though I’d have to say it’s less of a problem for me than it is for Linda.

But the real stumbling place, at least for me, is that phrase: “for real”. It is, I’m afraid, like nails on a chalkboard. It’s a very modern phrase (the OED—yes, I looked it up!—says the first usage is in the 1950s, and it’s primarily a U.S. phrase), and seems out of place. The change of a single word—“for true” instead of “for real”—would have fit this absolutely within the rhythms and patterns of speech GRRM establishes in the novels (for true is anachronistic in its own way—first recorded in the late 1800s—but it’s actually made to fit within the text, and is certainly outdated now). While it’s a very minor point, it’s one that does, I fear, grate. I wish they’d changed it, but so it goes!

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Previews, Jame Lannister, EP101

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