The Rain in Westeros Falls Mainly in the Riverlands
May 7, 2013 11:14 AM   Subscribe

What Is Going on With the Accents in Game of Thrones? Gawker beanplates the accents used on-screen by the actors in Game of Thrones. Like most fantasy television shows, Game of Thrones is largely populated by English actors speaking with English accents. This is because Americans are still unconvinced that England is a real country, and associate English speech patterns with kings and magic and sorcery and frequent stabbings.

But Game of Thrones takes its accents a step further: Its characters in speak in several different English accents, and often those accents correspond to to the real-world geography of Britain. Eddard Stark, the Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, is played by Sheffield's own Sean Bean, sporting his native northern English accent. Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West, is played with a posh southern accent by the great Charles Dance. And so on.

Generally speaking this is very cool (to nerdy Anglophile prisses, I mean. Not to me. I only like sports). It's a useful way for a dense, complicated series to quietly signal backgrounds, affiliations and alliances; it draws on pre-existing associations to quickly develop and define character; and it provides people on the internet with a new axis along which nitpicking can take place.


British dialect links:

International Students Guide to British Accents

Dialect of the British Isles

British Library interactive map: Sounds Familiar?

Regarding Davos' accent: What is a Geordie [warning: about.com]

Gawker is confused about Wales and the Vale, but beside the clue in the name, they miss that Westeros is a mirror image of Britain, as pointed out here.

Previously, on British dialect.
posted by snuffleupagus (267 comments total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
 
Bonus: Game of Game of Thrones [SNL]
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:15 AM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


This is because Americans are still unconvinced that England is a real country, and associate English speech patterns with kings and magic and sorcery and frequent stabbings.

or the one thing we're all clear on is that nobody talked like John Wayne while there were still dragons swooping around. It stands to reason.
posted by philip-random at 11:19 AM on May 7, 2013 [15 favorites]


snuffleupagus: "frequent stabbings"

In many parts of England, I hear this is quite accurate.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:20 AM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


they miss that Westeros is a mirror image of Britain

Making King's Landing ...Liverpool?
posted by leotrotsky at 11:21 AM on May 7, 2013


snuffleupagus: "frequent stabbings"

That's from TFA. Metafilter ate my line break.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:24 AM on May 7, 2013


Peter Dinklage: I mean, I don't know. A disaster, basically, but somehow it works.

Agree, it's somehow appropriate that Tyrion's accent is forced and fake and doesn't fit in.
posted by HumanComplex at 11:24 AM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


As a dutch person, I get distracted whenever Melisandre speaks.
posted by Pendragon at 11:26 AM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


I kind of like the Battlestar approach, where you've got Edward James Olmos (American) and James Callis (British) and Lucy Lawless (Kiwi) all using their native accents and presumably from the same "place" because in Capricaland/the Colonies/whatevcetera, there's no direct map from our geography to theirs so it doesn't matter anyway how people talk.
posted by psoas at 11:27 AM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


What's up with Littlefingers accent? I would have sworn he was Turkish trying to pretend to be Irish but then I read the actor is actually Irish... is he trying a Turkish accent or something alien to this planet?
posted by ennui.bz at 11:27 AM on May 7, 2013


I came also to praise Tyrion's accent. It's utterly, completely, totally off the mark, and I don't think I've ever enjoyed listening to someone speak so much.

(also I binge-watched the entire thing this weekend and am totally stoked to internet-talk about it)
posted by ominous_paws at 11:27 AM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


I think you meant to say that Westeros is an inverted Ireland.
posted by toxtethogrady at 11:27 AM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


ennui.bz: "What's up with Littlefingers accent? I would have sworn he was Turkish trying to pretend to be Irish but then I read the actor is actually Irish... is he trying a Turkish accent or something alien to this planet"

He's a talking finger, what do you want?
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:28 AM on May 7, 2013 [10 favorites]


It stands to reason.

You mean it is known?
posted by mr_roboto at 11:28 AM on May 7, 2013 [8 favorites]


Hearing Sean Bean in his native Yorkshire accent is almost enough of a temptation to get me to watch. Northern accents are the best. /totally partisan
posted by jb at 11:29 AM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


George R. R. Martin himself should show up in a cameo and speak with an Australian accent.
posted by Apocryphon at 11:29 AM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


I really like Ygritte. You know nothing Jon Snuuuuw
posted by Pendragon at 11:30 AM on May 7, 2013 [27 favorites]


I've made peace with the disaster that is Tyrion's accent, mainly because I love Peter Dinklage like mad, but it took me at least a season and a half not to feel compelled to point it out every time he's on screen.
posted by scody at 11:31 AM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


2nding Ygritte. They'll kill ya Jon Snuuuuw, and they'll do it slouuuuugh
posted by mcstayinskool at 11:31 AM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Peter Dinklage: I mean, I don't know. A disaster, basically, but somehow it works.

Ugh, no, it's cringeworthy. I like the character but many of his scenes stand out to me as ACTING!
posted by chococat at 11:31 AM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


The really interesting one is Oona Chaplin (granddaughter of Charlie and Oona), whose in-show accent as Talisa Maegyr (the woman Robb wasn't supposed to marry but did) is a flawless upper-crust RP, which she actually had to train for: raised in Spain (among other places), English is like her third language or something.

She uses this accent to devastating effect in the series The Hour, if you get a chance to see that.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:31 AM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


Peter Dinklage has a weird accent in Game of Thrones, but he has a sort of weird accent in real life, too.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:32 AM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


I came also to praise Tyrion's accent. It's utterly, completely, totally off the mark, and I don't think I've ever enjoyed listening to someone speak so much.

That's because every time he comes on you get a break from all the terrible acting.
posted by ennui.bz at 11:32 AM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Interesting post!
posted by KokuRyu at 11:32 AM on May 7, 2013


Dinklage is the new Dick Van Dyke, I think. Terrible accent, but at least it's fun!
posted by Sys Rq at 11:32 AM on May 7, 2013 [6 favorites]


I mean I have a reasonably mannered native English accent and I just spend entire episodes trying to mimic Tyrion and damn if I can't get anywhere even close.
posted by ominous_paws at 11:33 AM on May 7, 2013


Gawker is confused about Wales and the Vale, but beside the clue in the name, they miss that Westeros is a mirror image of Britain, as pointed out here.

That linked picture isn't too convincing because it cuts out the south, which is where the greatest similarities are. Dorne and the Stormlands are almost identical to the flipped UK (London is Oldtown, apparently). It also doesn't show the British Isles, which are attached to the mainland in Westeros. The fingers correspond to South Ireland, not Wales. Wales is the Stormlands/Crownlands.
posted by painquale at 11:35 AM on May 7, 2013


Pendragon: "As a dutch person, I get distracted whenever Melisandre speaks"

Tell me about it. Tormund Giantsbane, played by Kristofer Hivju, basically has the same accent as every Norwegian speaking English ever. It's not all that heavy, and his grammar is of course good, but the accent reminds me more than anything of Norwegians on vacation.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:36 AM on May 7, 2013


Please explain this joke to me. I'm just not seeing it.
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 11:38 AM on May 7, 2013


Also, is that Jerome Flynn's (Bronn) real accent? I mainly ask because between GoT and Ripper Street, I am nursing an insane crush on Jerome Flynn, and so I would just like to talk about him for a bit.
posted by scody at 11:38 AM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


Dinklage's accent reminds me of American expats who've lived in England for many years; their vowels have started to morph and so has their vocab but their intonation remains and the consonants flick back and forth or are a sort of compromise. It's very odd. Listen to Terry Gilliam in interviews to get an idea.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:39 AM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


I think you meant to say that Westeros is an inverted Ireland.
posted by toxtethogrady


I'd say more like "expanded" than "inverted," but that's a damned interesting map.
posted by COBRA! at 11:39 AM on May 7, 2013


Please explain this joke to me. I'm just not seeing it.

Benedict is the voice of Smaug in the Hobbit movies.
posted by Pendragon at 11:40 AM on May 7, 2013


Actually the biomes line up pretty well with North America, with King's Landing more or less at the latitude of Washington, D.C.
posted by Iridic at 11:42 AM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


I mean I have a reasonably mannered native English accent and I just spend entire episodes trying to mimic Tyrion and damn if I can't get anywhere even close.

From an American perspective - descending vowels, nasal and clipped: in fact, try drawing out the descent in the vowels, emphasizing the Ns and bite off the Ds and Ps while actually saying "mmmmnasal and clipped." I have no idea what dialect that equates to if any.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:42 AM on May 7, 2013


George R. R. Martin himself should show up in a cameo and speak with an Australian accent.

but only if he explodes within a minute or so.
posted by philip-random at 11:46 AM on May 7, 2013


Ok, so am I crazy or is Aidan Gillen's voice in that show getting more and more cartoony? Like, that "chaos is a ladder" speech sounded like it was delivered by Megatron?
posted by furiousthought at 11:49 AM on May 7, 2013 [11 favorites]


To me, Dinklage's problem definitely seems to be that his underlying intonation remains pretty American, as noted above, combined with some over-enunciated consonants (I hear it on his T's most prominently) and over-rounded vowels. It sounds to my ears like a kind of surface imitation of RP, but not really like he's been coached at it with any depth.
posted by scody at 11:56 AM on May 7, 2013


I might just sit and listen to this all day. Mmmm accent.
posted by ChuraChura at 11:57 AM on May 7, 2013


It's almost cruel to the other actors to put them in the same scene with Charles Dance. So far only Maisie Williams (Arya) and Dinklage really survive their scenes with him, for different reasons: Dinklage because for all his accent's flaws he's really an amazing actor, and Arya because Arya.
posted by George_Spiggott at 11:58 AM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


I've always explained away Gillen's Welsh/Irish/Romanian hybrid accent as indicative of Littlefinger hiding a despised regional accent what with his nefarious social climbing and all.

I am hoping that at some point we see some Midlands accents on the show, I was hoping the Tyrells might be a bit Brummie but alas.
posted by brilliantmistake at 11:58 AM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


I think it's all about the vowels with Dinklage. I agree that there's an imitation or RP there, but would thrown in a touch of... surfer?
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:59 AM on May 7, 2013


I mean I have a reasonably mannered native English accent and I just spend entire episodes trying to mimic Tyrion and damn if I can't get anywhere even close.

Wherever there's an o or a u, go "eeeeeeeeeooooooooouuuuwwwwwww." Start with a relaxed mouth and end up with lips pursed as tight as you can get them.

The rest is basically flat midwest American, with every consonant over-enunciated.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:59 AM on May 7, 2013


It's almost cruel to the other actors to put them in the same scene with Charles Dance. So far only Maisie Williams (Arya) and Dinklage really survive their scenes with him

And Diana Rigg!
posted by gaspode at 12:00 PM on May 7, 2013 [12 favorites]


And Diana Rigg!

thisthisthisthisthisthis

love her so much
posted by ominous_paws at 12:01 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


And yeah, Peter Dinklage's accent is terrible, but damned if he and Nickolaj Coster-Waldau do sound like they kinda sorta have a similar accent. Better than the Baratheon boys, anyway.
posted by gaspode at 12:02 PM on May 7, 2013


And Diana Rigg!

Oh! Absolutely right, gaspode.

As for Dinklage (again) I find myself imagining Hugh Laurie, with his extraordinary, better-than-accurate American accent, playing an American affecting an English accent. Which would probably be incredibly funny.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:04 PM on May 7, 2013


I've always explained away Gillen's Welsh/Irish/Romanian hybrid accent as indicative of Littlefinger hiding a despised regional accent what with his nefarious social climbing and all.

That's actually a great character note. Plus the raspy throatiness he throws in as a reminder that despite how dashing he appears (I get a little early '80s Midge Ure vibe from him, BUT PAY ME NO MIND THAT IS JUST ME), he will FUCKING CUT YOU (or sell you to someone who will). (Poor Ros.)
posted by scody at 12:04 PM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


I dunno about Jamie's accent. It sounds fairly Scandinavian to me, although maybe that's just because I know the actor's name is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
posted by Copronymus at 12:05 PM on May 7, 2013


or this
posted by ominous_paws at 12:05 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Dinklage's accent in Ice Age 3 is bizzarre, too... pirate surfer punk. It's also entertaining as all hell listening to him chew scenery in that, too.
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:05 PM on May 7, 2013


What I don't understand is if Varys understands that Littlefinger is basically a complete monster like Joffrey with more polish why doesn't he take steps to remove him from the stage.

I mean don't get me wrong I love Littlefinger and it would be fun to see him live to damn near the end but Varys has his measure and Littlefinger is like the chief impediment to his plans.
posted by vuron at 12:06 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


As for Dinklage (again) I find myself imagining Hugh Laurie, with his extraordinary, better-than-accurate American accent, playing an American affecting an English accent. Which would probably be incredibly funny.

Like this?
posted by Pendragon at 12:07 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


I can deal with Dinklage's wobbly diphthongs, but to this day, I have no idea what damn accent Matthew Broderick has been inflicting on the world since the 80s. He sounded like nobody else around him in Ladyhawke AND Ferris Bueller.
posted by maudlin at 12:07 PM on May 7, 2013


The corpse in the library: "Peter Dinklage has a weird accent in Game of Thrones, but he has a sort of weird accent in real life, too."

He's from my home town in New Jersey, not sure why he sounds like that, I don't.
posted by octothorpe at 12:08 PM on May 7, 2013


Ok, so am I crazy or is Aidan Gillen's voice in that show getting more and more cartoony? Like, that "chaos is a ladder" speech sounded like it was delivered by Megatron?

I too, feel like Littlefinger's voice is getting more evil with each passing season. Of course, so is he, so...

Oh yeah, and if the Tyrells being Brummie would have had the merest chance of preventing Diana Rigg from taking the role, then forget it.

Also, Rose Leslie is not a real person. She is not. There is not such a thing as beautiful Scottish women with flaming read hair who grow up in castles, in 2013. I wish the weren't blowing so much money on the Ygritte hologram, we could use a bit more occassional dragon.
posted by Diablevert at 12:09 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


There is not such a thing as beautiful Scottish women with flaming read hair who grow up in castles, in 2013.

You'd think she could have pointed out to Julian Fellows that there's no way in hell that an upstairs maid could have taught herself typing in 1912 without anybody in the house catching on. But I digress.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:12 PM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


I find myself imagining Hugh Laurie, with his extraordinary, better-than-accurate American accent

LOLwhut? The over-pronounced "r"'s are a dead giveaway every time. It's like watching a dog eat peanut butter.

(The single worst American accent, apart from Arnold who wasn't really even trying, is the guy who plays Roman in Hemlock Grove. He couldn't sound more Scandinavian if he flung kitchen utensils and shouted "bork bork bork!" at the end of every scene.)
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:13 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Dinklage is from New Jersey, perhaps he's channeling Brendan Byrne.
posted by tommasz at 12:14 PM on May 7, 2013


I really like Ygritte. You know nothing Jon Snuuuuw
Apparently the actress is super-posh RADA-style in real life. A thespian acting out a persona not their own, I hear you cry; what is the world coming to?
posted by Abiezer at 12:14 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm guessing that once the characters from Dorne come in, we'll be getting some Cornish accents? Maybe more Welsh? Have any of those parts been cast yet? I think the only person to show up in this season or the next would be Oberyn Martell and maybe a daughter or two of his.
posted by LionIndex at 12:14 PM on May 7, 2013


What's-his-face the Braavosi sword master was done as a generic Mediterranean type, IIRC, wonder if they'll keep that up or it was just that particular actor's choice?
posted by Abiezer at 12:17 PM on May 7, 2013


In a way, it would make sense if Talisa spoke with Oona's Spanish accent (assuming she has one) since the character is not technically from Westeros.
posted by LionIndex at 12:18 PM on May 7, 2013


LOLwhut? The over-pronounced "r"'s are a dead giveaway every time. It's like watching a dog eat peanut butter.

That's a characteristic failing of British actors doing American accents but I don't pick it up with him. It's there but not excessive, well within the range of 'real' accents. He's also a shade too growly, another common failing, but again, not outside the realm of believability. And he gets the rest of it absolutely right.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:18 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


Heh, nice. "This is because Americans are still unconvinced that England is a real country, and associate English speech patterns with kings and magic."

As a kid, I would only listen to the original London cast recording of Les Miserables because it was more authentic to the story and characters. I thought the original Broadway cast recording was too modern sounding. (blinks) Yes, people of the UK, I think you sound/seem like mid 19th century French paupers and revolutionaries.
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:19 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


What's-his-face the Braavosi sword master was done as a generic Mediterranean type, IIRC, wonder if they'll keep that up or it was just that particular actor's choice?

Jaqen is also from Braavos, but given his profession, it might not be his point of origin. His accent sounded non-English to me, but I don't know about it being similar to the swordmaster.
posted by LionIndex at 12:20 PM on May 7, 2013


Things get really weird when Jaime pretends to be a common thief from Ashemark. He starts off by disguising the usual RP with a growly West Country accent that in the space of a few words wavers into something vaguely Cockney before the r's drop into his throat and he starts sounding Scandinavian.

Of course it fits that Jaime has zero practice in pretending to be anything but a child of privilege, but I like to think that the characters find the Westerosi dialects deeply confusing too.
posted by Iridic at 12:20 PM on May 7, 2013


(The single worst American accent, apart from Arnold who wasn't really even trying, is the guy who plays Roman in Hemlock Grove. He couldn't sound more Scandinavian if he flung kitchen utensils and shouted "bork bork bork!" at the end of every scene.)

So you haven't seen The Wire, then?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:23 PM on May 7, 2013 [8 favorites]


You could do Lincolnshire for the Crannogmen from The Neck, the odd vowels that bubble up from the marshes.
posted by Abiezer at 12:23 PM on May 7, 2013


You could do Lincolnshire for the Crannogmen from The Neck, the odd vowels that bubble up from the marshes.

Wouldn't the Reeds need to have that accent then ? They are already in the show.
posted by Pendragon at 12:27 PM on May 7, 2013


Benefited from that fancy maester-schoolin', not like us smallfolk down in Soggy Bottom.
posted by Abiezer at 12:28 PM on May 7, 2013


Worth noting that the casting director of House had no idea that Hugh Laurie was not American after watching his interview tape. In fact, he famously complained of how terrible all of the auditioning Brits' attempts at american accents were, and declared himself much relived to have found Laurie's "native" accent.
posted by ominous_paws at 12:32 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Abiezer: "Benefited from that fancy maester-schoolin', not like us smallfolk down in Soggy Bottom"

I'd expect a Soggy Bottom Boys accent.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 12:33 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


scody: "Also, is that Jerome Flynn's (Bronn) real accent? I mainly ask because between GoT and Ripper Street, I am nursing an insane crush on Jerome Flynn, and so I would just like to talk about him for a bit."

I has mancrush on him. I really wanted him to gut The Hound!
posted by Mister_A at 12:36 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


The single worst American accent, apart from Arnold who wasn't really even trying, is the guy who plays Roman in Hemlock Grove.

Honestly, I sort of have to give this award - or first runner up at least - to Philip Glenister's tragically awful stab at a New York accent in the BBC mini-series "Demons". If the series had been picked up for a full run I fully expected a half-suffocated Englishman to come bursting out of his barrel chest and start frantically declaiming Shakespeare.
posted by angeline at 12:36 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


I want fantasy things to start incorporating accents beyond the Isles. Like Yankee sailors or Texan horsemen or Canadian rangers or something. There's still nationalities that the show hasn't explored there, hasn't there? What should a Dornish accent be- Spanish?
posted by Apocryphon at 12:37 PM on May 7, 2013


You could do Lincolnshire for the Crannogmen from The Neck, the odd vowels that bubble up from the marshes.

Sigh... this where I have to do my 'most of the fen is actually in Cambridgeshire' routine
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:37 PM on May 7, 2013


Ok, so am I crazy or is Aidan Gillen's voice in that show getting more and more cartoony? Like, that "chaos is a ladder" speech sounded like it was delivered by Megatron?

I don't mind this. It's supposed to be a bit operatic, the whole affair.
posted by Mister_A at 12:39 PM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


I was taken aback when I first heard Ygritte being interviewed in real life as she's dead posh* especially as I'd only seen her in Downton before where she was basically doing the same 'John Snooooow' accent'

*(sadly in modern Britain and the hardening of the class boundaries far too many poshos are starting to dominate the arts)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:40 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


As a dutch person, I get distracted whenever Melisandre speaks.

I also become distracted. But I'm not Dutch. So I'm not sure it's for the same reasons.

That's because every time he comes on you get a break from all the terrible acting.

How much of the show have you seen? It doesn't seem like one could reasonably call Charles Dance or Diana Rigg's acting "terrible". Or many of the others.
posted by Justinian at 12:42 PM on May 7, 2013


Sigh... this where I have to do my 'most of the fen is actually in Cambridgeshire' routine
I was born in the Deeping Level, I'll have you know!
posted by Abiezer at 12:43 PM on May 7, 2013


Is Cersei mentioned at all? She just seems to have a generic kind of English accent to my non-English ears. Lena Headey grew up in Bermuda and West Yorkshire. But what's her accent in GoT?
posted by gaspode at 12:53 PM on May 7, 2013


Honestly, I sort of have to give this award - or first runner up at least - to Philip Glenister's tragically awful stab at a New York accent in the BBC mini-series "Demons". If the series had been picked up for a full run I fully expected a half-suffocated Englishman to come bursting out of his barrel chest and start frantically declaiming Shakespeare.
posted by angeline at 8:36 PM on May 7 [+] [!]


I wonder if he shares a voice coach with Ray Winstone.
posted by rollick at 12:54 PM on May 7, 2013


But what's her accent in GoT?

A bit East Grimace, I think.
posted by scody at 12:54 PM on May 7, 2013 [6 favorites]


Cersei communicates primarily by making that weird lemonface at people
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 12:55 PM on May 7, 2013 [23 favorites]


jinx!
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 12:55 PM on May 7, 2013


Heh. I'm the only person I know who kind of likes Cersei. Mainly when she's drunk and telling it like it is.
posted by gaspode at 12:56 PM on May 7, 2013 [7 favorites]


So much has this become a fantasy/swords-and-sandals convention that I couldn't really get on with the Aussie accents in Spartacus, when objectively it makes no less sense.
posted by Abiezer at 12:56 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


I just sent this article to my husband with the comment "Look honey there are people nerdier than us!"

He sent back "No matter how big a nerd you are, there's always a bigger nerd. It's nerds all the way down."
posted by KathrynT at 12:56 PM on May 7, 2013 [23 favorites]


> But what's her accent in GoT? (Cersei)

Certainly not West Yorkshire, which is the same (or at least very similar) West Riding accent as Sheffield / Sean Bean.
posted by vbfg at 12:57 PM on May 7, 2013


I want fantasy things to start incorporating accents beyond the Isles. Like Yankee sailors or Texan horsemen or Canadian rangers or something.

Oh, god, what a missed opportunity. If only the Dothraki sounded like Texans instead of, I dunno, Klingons or whatever.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:58 PM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


I read the entire series on my Kindle. When I got to the boring parts, I would turn on Text To Speech and do dishes or whatever while listening. Kindle Text To Speech is remarkably good -- I really had no trouble understanding what was going on. Except it consistently pronounced Jaime's name as if it were the Spanish name Jaime -- HAY-may. I am now permanently stuck on Jaime Lannister being a swarthy Zorro type of swashbuckling iberian warrior.

Oddly enough, the Kindle pronounces Daenerys exactly right.
posted by miyabo at 12:59 PM on May 7, 2013 [17 favorites]


Tyrion's accent stopped bothering me when I gave up on the idea that it's supposed to be English of some sort. Now I assume it's the Westerosi equivalent of that fakey affected accent that people like Katharine Hepburn would put on. The transatlantic thing. It helps!

What I'm now having trouble with is the younger actors outpacing the ages of the characters. They were already aged up 4-5 years but now we're up to like 6 years because of the pace of filming. The idea that Cersei has to keep assuring people that Sansa has gone through puberty is hilarious. It didn't make any sense when she was 16 instead of 12-13, and it makes even less sense now when she's like 18 and could pass for 24.

Bran's incipient teenage stache doesn't help with him either.
posted by Justinian at 1:07 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Bran's incipient teenage stache doesn't help with him either.

Totally. They need to accelerate the pace of his storyline and get him to where he's going, or he's going to be 18 years old by the time he reaches his destination.
posted by King Bee at 1:12 PM on May 7, 2013


Bran's incipient teenage stache doesn't help with him either.

Heh, I know. It's jarring how much he looks like a boy whenever there's a "previously" from last season, and now looks like he's about to bust out Peter Brady's "Time to Change" song in every scene.
posted by scody at 1:12 PM on May 7, 2013 [6 favorites]


Also Bran's growth spurt which is so pronounced that it's visible in his facial structure. It started when Hodor had to start carrying him around in a wheelbarrow and now they're at the point where they have as much of him as possible covered with a blanket.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:13 PM on May 7, 2013


I was born in the Deeping Level, I'll have you know!

You have my sympathies
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:14 PM on May 7, 2013


I kind of like the Battlestar approach, where you've got Edward James Olmos (American) and James Callis (British) and Lucy Lawless (Kiwi) all using their native accents and presumably from the same "place" because in Capricaland/the Colonies/whatevcetera, there's no direct map from our geography to theirs so it doesn't matter anyway how people talk.

We're also talking about multiple planets in the case of BSG. There are bound to be numerous accents.

In fantasy fiction, depending on the scope of the story, it may be less reasonable to assume that there would be a great variety in accents. (Which isn't to say that Game of Thrones shouldn't have a variety of accents, given that the story spans a fairly large geographical area).
posted by asnider at 1:15 PM on May 7, 2013


People seem to think Westeros is the size of Great Britain. That's not correct; it's more the size of South America. The distance between King's Landing and Winterfell is roughly the same as the distance between London and Moscow. Except, you know, south to north instead of west to east.
posted by Justinian at 1:18 PM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


But then, Great Britain is teeny and has a bajillion accents.
posted by gaspode at 1:18 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


I kind of like the Battlestar approach, where you've got Edward James Olmos (American) and James Callis (British) and Lucy Lawless (Kiwi) all using their native accents and presumably from the same "place" because in Capricaland/the Colonies/whatevcetera, there's no direct map from our geography to theirs so it doesn't matter anyway how people talk.

There's actually a scene in one of the episodes where Baltar is in the ship's brig that addresses this directly. He explains to someone who has come to visit him that his accent is fake, intended to make him sound more Caprican (and, as such, intellectually respectable), and he speaks briefly in the native accent of the farming colony from which he comes. So there's definitely a group of different accents that hint at ancestry and from which people draw immediate (and sometimes unfortunate) impressions.
posted by IAmUnaware at 1:19 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


We're also talking about multiple planets in the case of BSG. There are bound to be numerous accents.
Don't know BSG, but wouldn't sci-fi milieux vary depending on communications technology etc., as compulsory education and the mass media have certainly culled a lot of the variety in UK accents. Maybe in some mad future with holo-telly we all have the same flat digital Speak-and-Spell monotone.
posted by Abiezer at 1:21 PM on May 7, 2013


Looked it up because I'm a nerd. Baltar's homeworld confession is from "Dirty Hands" (season 3 episode 16), the agricultural world he's from is called Aerilon, and apparently the accent associated with it is a Yorkshire accent, according to the wiki.
posted by IAmUnaware at 1:22 PM on May 7, 2013


BSG did at least make sure Jaime Bamber spoke in an (uncanny) American accent just like dad, which is more than you can really say for the various Game of Thrones siblings.
posted by furiousthought at 1:26 PM on May 7, 2013


Yeah the scene where Baltar reveals lowly Yorkie roots was..well the intentions were good but it was pretty goofy.

Also according to the wiki Dorne is Wales+Moorish Spain+Palestine.
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:28 PM on May 7, 2013


Don't know BSG, but wouldn't sci-fi milieux vary depending on communications technology etc., as compulsory education and the mass media have certainly culled a lot of the variety in UK accents.

Is that actually happening in the UK? In the US, despite decades of mass communication, the differences between regional accents are, if anything, sharpening rather than being leveled out. If the opposite is happening in the UK then it will be for other cultural reasons than the coming of "mass media." In fact, there has been a much more conscious effort to get regional British accents into the mainstream media in the UK than there has been in the US (where there is a very consistent "newsreader accent" that dominates much of talking-head-dom).
posted by yoink at 1:29 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Worst American accent hands down was Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. No contest.
posted by drowsy at 1:32 PM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


The accent James Callis affects in that scene is to English ears a sort of bizarre Yorkshire/Southern mix. A bit of digging brings up a convention talk where Callis explains that - he tried Dorset but the producers didn't like it, and then went for Yorkshire, but to my ears the result still has some southern in it.
posted by Major Clanger at 1:32 PM on May 7, 2013


It's almost cruel to the other actors to put them in the same scene with Charles Dance. So far only Maisie Williams (Arya) and Dinklage really survive their scenes with him

Game of Thrones Charles Dance: 'I have to apologize to Peter Dinklage'
posted by homunculus at 1:35 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


yoink, I suppose you'd have to wait for a proper linguist to say plus I've lived abroad for years, but my sense is regional differences are flattening out but maybe generational gaps are growing. I do know that historically you can read of, e.g. 19th century essayist William Hazlitt travelling to Edinburgh and not being able to understand the locals at all.
ETA: And my gran had a kind of Lincolnshire accent that I don't hear from anyone under forty these days.
posted by Abiezer at 1:35 PM on May 7, 2013




Heh. I'm the only person I know who kind of likes Cersei. Mainly when she's drunk and telling it like it is.

Cersei's great! 'Evil queen' is a stereotype. 'Incompetent and bumbling evil queen' is totally unique but makes perfect sense. She's hugely watchable and kind of pitiable and lovable.

I also love that Lena Hadley is so brash and foul-mouthed in her commentaries. She's the opposite of her character, just like Rose Leslie and Ygritte but in the other direction.

Bran's incipient teenage stache doesn't help with him either.

Bran's all weird and magic; I bet they'll write something in about his aging preternaturally fast. And they'll just replace the boy who plays Rickon.
posted by painquale at 1:40 PM on May 7, 2013


Jerome Flynn: I assume that's his normal accent, as it's how he sounded as Cpl Garvey in Soldier Soldier.

Diana Rigg: the most recent Doctor Who has her using her native Doncaster accent for what was apparently the first time in her on-screen career.

Peter Dinklage: I keep on seeing comments about how weird and unnatural Tyion's accent is, but I have very occasionally encountered ones just like it in the UK. It sounds like a variety of hyperlect, which is what happens when you go through Received Pronunciation and come out the other side.
posted by Major Clanger at 1:43 PM on May 7, 2013


Here's one answer to my own question about regional accents in the UK. According to the scholarly research reported on in that link, regional diversity continues, in fact, to increase in the UK (as it does in the US). There is some homogenization occurring but it's occurring within the regions, not between them. That is, you no longer tend to have the village-by-village or neighborhood-by-neighborhood differences that you once had (the kind of thing Shaw riffs on in Pygmalion); but Mancunians want to signal even more strongly that they're not Liverpudlians, say, and Liverpudlians that they're not from Yorkshire and so forth.

It's not clear that the local homogenization is a product of mass media so much as its a product of higher regional mobility. The range of territory you can cover in a "local" trip is now so much greater than it once was that it's probably hard for a couple of villages separated by a five minute car trip to maintain much of a separate linguistic identity. They probably both feel themselves to be roughly equivalent satellites of some larger metropolitan center.
posted by yoink at 1:44 PM on May 7, 2013


Heh. I'm the only person I know who kind of likes Cersei. Mainly when she's drunk and telling it like it is.

If every episode of Game of Thrones was just fifty-five minutes of drunk surly Cersei, I'd still look forward to it every week. Possibly even more eagerly than I do now.
posted by Metroid Baby at 1:56 PM on May 7, 2013 [11 favorites]


According to the scholarly research reported on in that link, regional diversity continues, in fact, to increase in the UK (as it does in the US). There is some homogenization occurring but it's occurring within the regions, not between them.
This seems to be the process they call 'regional dialect levelling'; not sure how that can possibly be seen as an increase in diversity or even plain divergence, though I don't doubt people are keen to mark their regional origins. As I say, we're talking of a situation a few generations back of frequent difficulties in mutual intelligibility that have now largely faded.
posted by Abiezer at 2:03 PM on May 7, 2013


I'm the only person I know who kind of likes Cersei. Mainly when she's drunk and telling it like it is.

One advantage of the TV version is that having actors whose little expressions you can see has moved the character development much more quickly than the books. The books have a pretty slow burn for Cersei and Sansa's development, in particular, but you can tell a lot more from actually seeing them interact with Joffrey than the books gave you.
posted by Copronymus at 2:04 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


The single worst American accent, apart from Arnold who wasn't really even trying, is the guy who plays Roman in Hemlock Grove.



The worst is Ewan Mcgregor in Velvet Goldmine.
posted by Windigo at 2:05 PM on May 7, 2013


Stephen "Bill Compton" Moyer on True Blood exists, therefore your efforts to play "who does the worst fake American accent" without mentioning him are futile.

(Ryan Kwanten, on the other hand, sounds like a native, if not necessarily of Louisiana.)
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:07 PM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


Imma let you finish, but Cary Elwes has the worst American accent of all time.

"He'll love it therrrrrrre. I'm gonna take him to Fenway Parrrrrrk."
posted by team lowkey at 2:12 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


I wish Dinklage's accent couch would sort out his 'i' sounds as they are really off putting as the rest of the accent isn't too bad

My vote for worse American accent goes to Hugh Laurie's House
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:13 PM on May 7, 2013


Oh hey, I just found out that Peter Dinklage and Aidan Gillen's dialect coaches once did a movie together.
posted by scody at 2:15 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


This seems to be the process they call 'regional dialect levelling';

Yes: but while within regions there is dialect leveling, between the regions there is dialect divergence. The two processes can go on simultaneously.

As for mutual comprehensibility; that's a tricky kind of measure and not one where historical reports (of the 'I traveled from A to B and suddenly I couldn't understand a word that was being spoken' variety) are all that much use. People have more exposure to a wide variety of regional accents these days than they did in the C19th. Your typical Brit has heard TV characters and vox-pop interviews and so forth from all over the British Isles numerous times as they grow up. There was nothing like that widespread exposure to varieties of accents before the mass media age. That makes it a great deal harder to expose a modern day Brit to an accent that flummoxes them. That doesn't prove that the accents themselves are more homogenous, it could equally show that people are generally better at negotiating a wide range of accents.

I know from my own experience growing up with a lot of British TV that I find regional British accents a great deal easier to understand than most Americans do, for example. I've seen films and TV shows set in Scotland here in the US where the dialogue is subtitled under the assumption that many Americans will find it incomprehensible. That's not a measure of its phonetic distance from American accents, it's a measure of the average American's previous exposure to the accent.
posted by yoink at 2:17 PM on May 7, 2013


Though Mark Strong in Zero Dark Thirty was a bit dodgy
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:17 PM on May 7, 2013


My vote for worse American accent goes to Hugh Laurie's House

I know of a fairly large number of Americans who did not realize he wasn't an American actor. I'm not sure how you can do much better than that.
posted by yoink at 2:18 PM on May 7, 2013


I know of a fairly large number of Americans who did not realize he wasn't an American actor. I'm not sure how you can do much better than that.

I've heard that sort of thing before... but it just sounds fake as all hell to me and many people I know think the same... but they are all from this side of the Atlantic. Perhaps we're just too used to him doing his Jeeves/Black Adder/Fry and Laurie upper class twit voice for so long before
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:23 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Yes: but while within regions there is dialect leveling, between the regions there is dialect divergence.
Overall dialect levelling is happening too. But, I'm no linguist, so won't try to further disabuse you.
posted by Abiezer at 2:26 PM on May 7, 2013


oh no everyone I just remembered Andrew Lincoln in The Walking Dead
posted by ominous_paws at 2:26 PM on May 7, 2013


I was born in the UK and raised in the States, my father is British and my mother American. Hugh Laurie's Jersey accent is perfect.
posted by KathrynT at 2:30 PM on May 7, 2013


Peter Dinklage's accent made me cringe in the first few episodes, but, as a result of his fine acting, I've come to think of it as Tyrion's accent, not his.

In any event, I'll take his accent in GoT over Cynthia Nixon's in World Without End. Talk about a character with an accent nothing like her siblings' or offspring's....

(Every weekend, I watch one episode of World Without End and one of GoT. It makes for an interesting contrast and compare exercise. World Without End is, in theory, historical fiction, but the England it portrays is even rapier and stabbier and sucks-to-not-be-a-member-of-the-ruling-or-priestly-classes than Westeros.)
posted by lord_wolf at 2:32 PM on May 7, 2013


Ooh, and in the "I Don't Think You Even Tried At All" sweepstakes - I nominate John Doman's turn as Rodrigo Borgia in "Borgia: Faith And Fear".

I'm sure he's a fine actor - I've never seen "The Wire" - but as much as I wanted to enjoy "Borgia", I couldn't manage to stay immersed in it. Every time Doman opened his mouth to speak, his rather starkly American accent threw me right out of 15th century Italy with a vengeance. Pity, as I'd heard great things about the series as a whole.
posted by angeline at 2:34 PM on May 7, 2013


Oh god, I've just remembered Vinnie Jones in Kill The Irishman... that destroys all competition
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:35 PM on May 7, 2013


Every time Doman opened his mouth to speak, his rather starkly American accent threw me right out of 15th century Italy with a vengeance.

Why is an American accent any less "15th century Italian" than any other English accent? The American accent would probably be a little closer to 15th century English at any rate.
posted by yoink at 2:41 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Overall dialect levelling is happening too.

As the link I provided shows, this is a matter, at the very least, of some scholarly debate.
posted by yoink at 2:42 PM on May 7, 2013


I don't know why there is a big sidetrack about the Lincolnshire accent, but I want to note that there isn't a single accent for the whole county. Northern Lindsey is far nearer to beautiful and refined northern accents such as Sean Bean's than those bog-trotting southerners. It's a bit like that telly program years back set in Hull and all the actors had "Yorkshire" accents. They had all settled on West Riding pronunciation and it stuck out like a sore thumb.
posted by Jehan at 2:44 PM on May 7, 2013


Why is an American accent any less "15th century Italian" than any other English accent? The American accent would probably be a little closer to 15th century English at any rate.

I found it to stand out in rather sharp contrast to the general "European accents" affected by the other actors. I guess I found the sheer stark difference of it from all the other voices to be incredibly distracting - but one's mileage may vary.
posted by angeline at 2:49 PM on May 7, 2013


beautiful and refined northern accents such as Sean Bean's
Ideally suited to his role as corrupt sex beast in the TV adaptation of the Red Riding quartet.
posted by Abiezer at 2:55 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Laurie gets a lot of help from a notorious American failing: we're pretty terrible at recognizing our own accents, aside from some hand-wavey "he's from Texas, she's from NYC, he's from somewhere in the South" moments. A critic once speculated that whenever Laurie's accent wandered off, American viewers just assumed that it was some regional peculiarity they couldn't name.
posted by thomas j wise at 2:56 PM on May 7, 2013


I didn't know that Jamie Bamber was English for ages. And I was so used to his American accent on BSG that it rendered me unable to watch L&O:UK.

I can't watch House for the same but opposite reason. I don't care how good Hugh Laurie's American accent may or may not be, it just sounds WRONG because I'm used to his normal one.
posted by elsietheeel at 2:59 PM on May 7, 2013


House was kind of like Tyrion in that the characters both project grandiose, larger than life, perhaps justifiably arrogant personalities. For me, that's what makes it easier to accept the sometimes unique accents.

George W. Bush had the worst fake American accent.
posted by Drinky Die at 3:02 PM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


My jaw dropped the first time I heard Hugh Laurie speak in his native accent. I had no idea he was English.
posted by empath at 3:04 PM on May 7, 2013


My jaw dropped the first time I heard Hugh Laurie speak in his native accent. I had no idea he was English.

See also: Damian Lewis
posted by Thorzdad at 3:13 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Laurie gets a lot of help from a notorious American failing: we're pretty terrible at recognizing our own accents, aside from some hand-wavey "he's from Texas, she's from NYC, he's from somewhere in the South" moments. A critic once speculated that whenever Laurie's accent wandered off, American viewers just assumed that it was some regional peculiarity they couldn't name.

I doubt it's a uniquely American failing, though. My best friend, who grew up in California, learned German in school and has no German-speaking relatives can pass as a native German speaker. People just assume she's from region X, where X is perceived as having a somewhat unusual accent, isn't near where the conversation is taking place and isn't near where the person she's speaking to is from. I have another friend who French people often assume must be Canadian, rather than assuming he's not exactly a native speaker, even though his accent isn't in the right ballpark.
posted by hoyland at 3:15 PM on May 7, 2013


What about Marianna Jean-Baptiste from Without A Trace? I didn't know she was English for a long time as I had never seen Secrets & Lies. Is her accent good to US ears?
posted by Jehan at 3:17 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Littlefinger's Chaos Ladder speech gave me Batman flashbacks.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 3:19 PM on May 7, 2013


Littlefinger's Chaos Ladder speech gave me Batman flashbacks.

He sounded almost Bostonian at the end.

ITS A LADDAH
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:30 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


Littlefinger's dialogue also occasionally reminds me of Zorg. In diction, and attitude, if not dialect.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:34 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


For everyone complaining about Dinklage's accent, and its terribleness/variability, I think it might be worth watching a couple of clips of Scottish actor Richard Wilson in One Foot In The Grave, because Dinklage's accent is – consciously or not – an almost exact replica. It has that clipped, haughty tone; it's different enough from a standard English RP accent to sound odd to someone not used to the accent; when he raises his voice, it takes on a kind of exaggerated, exasperated character that can sound oddly Transatlantic. And it's completely genuine: it's the accent of a working class, west coast Scot who has had the more guttural elements of his voice trained out of him by RADA, but who still retains strong vestiges of his background. And it's been put to use for the past four decades playing upper (or at least soi-disant upper) class Scots. That's the accent I hear when I watch Dinklage in Game Of Thrones. It may be capital A Acting, but it's not, in and of itself, a dodgy accent.

scody: Also, is that Jerome Flynn's (Bronn) real accent? I mainly ask because between GoT and Ripper Street, I am nursing an insane crush on Jerome Flynn, and so I would just like to talk about him for a bit.

Would it burst the bubble if you were told that Flynn – along with partner in crime Robson Green – was, for a brief period in the mid 1990s one half of a terrible, housewives-favourite schmaltzy pop duo manufactured by Simon Cowell, all thanks to their characters' popularity on a shitty God-bless-our-fine-boys-the-troops soap? I mean, really they were awful.
posted by Len at 3:37 PM on May 7, 2013 [15 favorites]


What, no love for Hodor's splendid accent? HODOR!
posted by Dr. Zira at 3:45 PM on May 7, 2013 [11 favorites]


My vote for worse American accent goes to Hugh Laurie's House

If by "worst" you mean "indistinguishable from an American", then sure.
posted by Justinian at 3:45 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Would it burst the bubble if you were told that Flynn – along with partner in crime Robson Green – was, for a brief period in the mid 1990s one half of a terrible, housewives-favourite schmaltzy pop duo...

That can't be real. From the 90s? How can that be real?
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:46 PM on May 7, 2013


I don't think a snuffleupagus has any ground to be questioning the reality of anything.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 3:50 PM on May 7, 2013 [9 favorites]


Major Clanger: Peter Dinklage: I keep on seeing comments about how weird and unnatural Tyion's accent is, but I have very occasionally encountered ones just like it in the UK. It sounds like a variety of hyperlect, which is what happens when you go through Received Pronunciation and come out the other side.

Yes! Sorry, I missed this before I posted my previous reply, but this totally chimes with what I was trying to say: it's a regional accent filtered through RP training.
posted by Len at 3:53 PM on May 7, 2013


Holey moley. If Bronn has a falling out with Tyrion he can always go work for Roose Bolton. That is torture.
posted by homunculus at 3:55 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Nobody's mentioned Dominic West's horrendous Baltimore accent yet?
posted by gaspode at 4:02 PM on May 7, 2013


gaspode: Nobody's mentioned Dominic West's horrendous Baltimore accent yet?

Oh, I assumed that we were all taking that as read.
posted by Len at 4:04 PM on May 7, 2013


Nobody's mentioned Dominic West's horrendous Baltimore accent yet?

Yes.
posted by Sys Rq at 4:04 PM on May 7, 2013


Ah yes Robson and Jerome... Cowell truely is evil

I remember having a long 'Who's that?' moment when Bronn first turned up until I was 'OMG! it's Jerome from R&J!'... it was even more surprising because Jerome had basically disappeared since his singing days. He's also popped up in the fairly decent Ripper St since. This is in sharp contrast to other one, Robson who at one point was never off the telly in the UK - mainly poor dramas, annoying talking head contributions to poor showbiz themed things (like the clip above from 'best records of the 90s' or something and endless fishing docs (I'm no expert but I've heard they are terrible) - and at one point was talking up a Hollywood career which obs never happened.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:14 PM on May 7, 2013


Speaking of GoT, only a few more weeks until EPIC INTERNET AWESOMENESS.
posted by Justinian at 4:20 PM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


Absolutely worst American accents were all done by Paterson Joseph in Jeckyl. He was doing 2-3 at a time over the course of one sentence. That performance was Britain's revenge for Dick Van Dyke.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 4:22 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


oh, I'm aware of Robson and Jerome. I just choose to consider it part of an alternate universe.
posted by scody at 4:32 PM on May 7, 2013


Apparently Jerome Flynn is from Kent (far south of England) but affects a northern accent for his performance as Bronn.
posted by dhens at 4:34 PM on May 7, 2013


Oh, come on. All y'all are listing passable but bad American accents. If you want really REALLY *R*E*A*L*L*Y* bad American accents, you've got to go to the Benny Hill Show.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 4:47 PM on May 7, 2013


Kenneth Branagh, god love him, has the most cringe-worthy American accent I've encountered among highly regarded Brits. See Dead Again and Celebrity.

I would like to hear Daniel Day Lewis attempt a Pittsburgh accent.
posted by stargell at 4:52 PM on May 7, 2013


I doubt it's a uniquely American failing, though. My best friend, who grew up in California, learned German in school and has no German-speaking relatives can pass as a native German speaker. People just assume she's from region X, where X is perceived as having a somewhat unusual accent, isn't near where the conversation is taking place and isn't near where the person she's speaking to is from.

Richard Feynman claimed to have done something similar with Italian. Despite speaking no Italian, he was able to convince an Italian shopkeeper that he was from Italy, by spouting a stream of Italian-sounding phonemes and gesticulating with his hands. The shopkeeper reportedly had him down as being from a region with a particularly incomprehensible dialect.
posted by acb at 4:54 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


I believe in The Wire commentaries they discuss allowing West's McNulty a generic New Yorkesque accent as 1. it was easier for West 2. it would make the series even less approachable if McNulty had to have a native Baltimore accent 3. it wasn't completely out-of-the-way for a New Yorker to land in Baltimore and 4. they couldn't bring themselves, to change Lombardozzi's glorious Bronx accent for Herc either.
posted by wobh at 4:55 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


"endless fishing docs (I'm no expert but I've heard they are terrible)"
You take that back! Leave Robson Green alone. ITV3 would be lost without him.
posted by glasseyes at 4:55 PM on May 7, 2013


I'd tune in each week for an hour of Tywin just writing and sealing letters and talking about his various disappointments in his children.
posted by 2bucksplus at 5:01 PM on May 7, 2013 [15 favorites]


Also, apropos the post title, I think the rain in Westeros falls mainly in Castamere. Especially, ahem, this season.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:03 PM on May 7, 2013 [15 favorites]


acb: "Richard Feynman claimed to have done something similar with Italian. Despite speaking no Italian, he was able to convince an Italian shopkeeper that he was from Italy, by spouting a stream of Italian-sounding phonemes and gesticulating with his hands. The shopkeeper reportedly had him down as being from a region with a particularly incomprehensible dialect."

While this might be true, Feynman also told a lot of really tall tales, especially ones making him seem cool/impressive/interesting (not that he wasn't already), so I'd take that with a pinch of salt.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:05 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


You can read this thread and tell everyone who's read the books is fucking squirming not to drop spoilers about the harsh times to come.
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 5:08 PM on May 7, 2013 [6 favorites]


I'd tune in each week for an hour of Tywin just writing and sealing letters and talking about his various disappointments in his children.

Only if the bottom of the screen has an MST3K-ed Pam and Eric continually berating him.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:09 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm assuming it gets cold.
posted by stargell at 5:13 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


You can read this thread and tell everyone who's read the books is fucking squirming not to drop spoilers about the harsh times to come.

I am deliberately not keeping up with the actual show to avoid this temptation. I just (as in an hour ago) finished watching season 2, and will wait disinterestedly until next spring to watch 3. Because there's just no way I could be part of a spoiler-free conversation about it, and besides that, what's the hurry? I already know what happens.
posted by restless_nomad at 5:18 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


I believe in The Wire commentaries they discuss allowing West's McNulty a generic New Yorkesque accent as 1. it was easier for West

Is that what his accent was supposed to be? It didn't sound like any New Yorker I've ever heard. I've only seen the first season, though; did he get better in later seasons?
posted by octothorpe at 5:33 PM on May 7, 2013


"Richard Feynman claimed to have done something similar with Italian. Despite speaking no Italian, he was able to convince an Italian shopkeeper that he was from Italy, by spouting a stream of Italian-sounding phonemes and gesticulating with his hands. The shopkeeper reportedly had him down as being from a region with a particularly incomprehensible dialect."
While this might be true, Feynman also told a lot of really tall tales, especially ones making him seem cool/impressive/interesting (not that he wasn't already), so I'd take that with a pinch of salt.


Yeah, that really sounds like a hot load from a notorious egomaniac. Sid Caesar supposedly did pretty much the same thing with a group of Italians, and they were confused for a few moments but caught on pretty quickly, if I remember correctly. I'm betting that Sid Caesar is way better at that type of miming than Feynman was.

Also what the hell was going on with Gary Oldman's accent in The Professional? It's just jarringly bad at times, especially in light of his apparent ability to do the thing up right in later films. I guess he just needed the practice.

Finally, Ygritte's accent is just the greatest. She's definitely my choice for the hypothetical Game of Thrones in which one character just riffs on their general hobbyhorses all episode every episode.
posted by invitapriore at 5:37 PM on May 7, 2013


angeline: "Honestly, I sort of have to give this award - or first runner up at least - to Philip Glenister's tragically awful stab at a New York accent in the BBC mini-series 'Demons'."

Definitely the winner. According to Glenister himself, in the script the character is from Texas…
posted by Pinback at 5:41 PM on May 7, 2013


A critic once speculated that whenever Laurie's accent wandered off, American viewers just assumed that it was some regional peculiarity they couldn't name.

This. I knew him from Fry & Laurie but felt like his American accent was perfect but of Somewhere Else. People accuse me of being from Yet Another UnIdentifiable Place, too. Americans just pick up weird speech patterns.
posted by small_ruminant at 5:51 PM on May 7, 2013


Also, I'm waiting with bated breath for Season 3 to come out on DVD because no matter how awesome the series, there is no cable company on earth with which I am willing to entangle myself to see it.
posted by small_ruminant at 5:53 PM on May 7, 2013


I just popped in to say that Littlefinger's voice was totally cracking me up and I wondered if any body else had a similar reaction....yay Metafilter!


And that this thread is absolutely hilarious! I LOVE YOU ALL!
posted by bluesky43 at 6:03 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Oh, and I haven't bothered to read the books. I just spoil the TV series by reading A Wiki of Ice and Fire, which is like reading the books, but faster and less of a slog, if I've heard correctly.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:07 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Yes, but you miss out on the unforgettable experience of having to keep track of 700 new characters from Dorne.
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:11 PM on May 7, 2013 [17 favorites]


And a bunch of people I still don't know who they are. Eldric Storm? What the fuck?
posted by Justinian at 6:12 PM on May 7, 2013


Oh, I've come to the conclusion that I'm deliriously happy there is a TV show. Not in and of itself, although I do like it, but because I am now absolutely convinced it is the only ending to the story we will ever see. Martin will obviously not finish the series; the television show does not have that luxury.
posted by Justinian at 6:17 PM on May 7, 2013 [1 favorite]


Edric's been cut out of the show. One of many good decisions.

Except for a few cases that are demanded by the medium (e.g. revealing Selmy's identity immediately, eliminating inner monologues and false memories, being more explicit about things only hinted in the books, having Theon in this season), pretty much all of the major changes have been big improvements on the novels. They show what a good editor can do.
posted by painquale at 6:19 PM on May 7, 2013 [5 favorites]


The only change I'm concerned about is the elimination of the Tower of Joy sequence. How are they going to introduce it? Have Jojen Reed monologue something his dad told him?
posted by Justinian at 6:21 PM on May 7, 2013


Justinian: " Martin will obviously not finish the series; the television show does not have that luxury."

Yeah, keep telling yourself that, after what HBO did to Carnivale. And Deadwood.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:22 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


The ratings for Game of Thrones are stellar. The ratings for those others were... not.
posted by Justinian at 6:23 PM on May 7, 2013


Dr. Zira: "Yes, but you miss out on the unforgettable experience of having to keep track of 700 new characters from Dorne"

Well, gosh dorne it.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 6:23 PM on May 7, 2013


I like that the novels are dense enough that they can support an enormous wiki full of characters and histories and subplots, none of which I registered when reading the books. Reading the wiki is like finding out that an extra three novels were published when you weren't looking.
posted by painquale at 6:25 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


They show what a good editor can do.

Shit, you just take out the automatic thought of "Dark wings, dark words" that everyone has when a raven shows up, and substitute "a lot" for every instance of "much and more" and you'd shave a couple hundred pages off the length of the series.

Reading the wiki is like finding out that an extra three novels were published when you weren't looking.

Those are the three books of Dunk & Egg tales.
posted by LionIndex at 6:32 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


I've got a family friend who is a retired U.S. Ambassador, and has performed those duties all over the world. When I was a kid my siblings and I would do joking impressions of his "weird English accent" a lot, and my parents pointed out that he wasn't English, or even British. He just spoke... proper.

While he doesn't particularly sound like Tyrion, he does sound like he comes from the same Platonic region of non-midatlantic, non-British "proper" as Tyrion, and so it works for me.

Then again, I'm no real expert on British regional dialects distinguished any more finely than the broad nationalities. What is Daenarys supposed to be, just a super-posh RP?
posted by Navelgazer at 6:33 PM on May 7, 2013


I'm pretty sure Emilia Clarke just uses her regular accent.
posted by Justinian at 6:36 PM on May 7, 2013


Oh, and my award for best American accent by a Brit goes to Idris Elba.
posted by Navelgazer at 6:40 PM on May 7, 2013 [6 favorites]


The only change I'm concerned about is the elimination of the Tower of Joy sequence. How are they going to introduce it? Have Jojen Reed monologue something his dad told him?

The books have largely shied away from flashbacks (if you discount Dunk and Egg), but the show could dip into a single episode set during Robert's rebellion. I can't decide whether this would be clumsy or really exciting.

I can see why the books don't include flashbacks. Part of the fun of the series is that everyone lacks information, histories are incomplete, no one is sure whether magic even exists, etc. So, the books are written through the POV of various characters, and narration is biased and fallible. The show gives the viewer a more objective, third-person eye, so an episode in the past might not feel like such an authorial betrayal. Also, we don't have access to characters' memories (except through dialogue), and that has to be made up somehow.

All that being said, aDwD also introduced something that makes it a little easier for GRRM to write about events in the past; I bet this is how the all the Tower of Joy secrets will be revealed in both the books and the show.

Those are the three books of Dunk & Egg tales.

The Dunk and Egg books only fill in a a bit of history from Aegon II to Maekar I (most importantly, Bloodraven's history and the rebellion of the Blackfyre pretenders). Most of that was already in the novels, and there is a lot more history in the novels besides.
posted by painquale at 6:47 PM on May 7, 2013


Yeah, it's funny that such an impressive feat of acting with an accent (Idris Elba's in the The Wire) occurs alongside a failure streak as long and varied as Dominic West's. Just another reason why Idris Elba is the best, I suppose.
posted by invitapriore at 6:49 PM on May 7, 2013


I managed to finish the third book last week -- holy SHIT -- and am about halfway through the fourth. (Yes, it introduces a lot of new characters and takes the focus away from some favourites, but I'm actually enjoying the wider scope and slower pace. This is high praise from someone who threw the first volume of Lord of the Rings against the wall once Bombadil showed up. Feh!)

I've read that the show isn't trying to cover all of book 3* and that the last chunk will be covered in the fourth season, but at the pace this season is going, I'm wondering if they will make it to the end of the third book this year.

*(Yes, I don't remember the fucking titles. A Bagful of Nonces. A Flurry of Flounces. Croak Says the Raven. A Pavane of Prats. Whatthefuckever. Until I get back on Concerta, counting to 5 is all that I'm asking of myself.)
posted by maudlin at 6:54 PM on May 7, 2013 [4 favorites]


I for one would read A Bagful of Nonces, but what's funny to me is that the titles as they are only have the most cursory glances at the actual content.

A Game of Thrones: Okay, fine. Makes some sense.
A Clash of Kings: Yeah... the war of the five kings is starting up, awesome.
A Storm of Swords: Okay, cool, where things really get going with that... wait... where exactly is this swornado we've been warned about? Lots of great stuff, and a lot of it bloody, to be sure, but almost no swords. More like "Four Weddings and an Assload of Funerals."
A Feast for Crows: Lyrical and evocative to be sure, but not super-fitting for a book mostly focused on women in a man's world and the ways those struggles differ.
A Dance with Dragons: The dragons are cool, but to be honest, I could have used more dragons.

So instead I just try to remember the books based on which focus character was getting the school-of-hard-knocks lesson in how impossible it is to actually do anything with power once you've got it. Therefore:

Book One: Eddard
Book Two: Tyrion
Book Three: Tywin
Book Four: Cersei
Book Five: Dany & Jon
posted by Navelgazer at 7:04 PM on May 7, 2013 [6 favorites]


The funniest thing about A Dance With Dragons is that it gets its name from an event from Westeros's past, and Martin has intimated that there is going to be another Dance with Dragons in the story that we're reading. It looks like he revealed the title of the fifth book, intending it to contain Westeros's second Dance with Dragons, but he got stuck in the Meereenese Knot, and now the Dance is going to take place in a later book. One with a different title.
posted by painquale at 7:15 PM on May 7, 2013


Navelgazer: I for one would read A Bagful of Nonces

A Bagful of Nonces sounds like it should be the Chris Morris adaptaion, in which three paedos decide to re-enact Monty Python's quest for the Holy Grail. With dragons.

scody: oh, I'm aware of Robson and Jerome. I just choose to consider it part of an alternate universe.

Tsk. Paul Weller is disappoint at your lack of support during the great Britpop wars of 1995.
posted by Len at 7:25 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


I've complained before about how I read the early books so long ago I couldn't remember who anyone was when i got to the later ones. But I'm only just catching up with the TV show on Netflix and this has actually been a plus because I don't remember what happened to any of the minor characters so it's still suspenseful.

"Oohh, that guy, I forgot about him. What happened to him? Died horribly I suppose. Maybe he'll be luckier on the show. Probably not."
posted by interplanetjanet at 8:02 PM on May 7, 2013


Does the series stand on its own as worth watching, for someone who enjoyed the books but doesn't feel the need to consume more related media for its own sake? I'm sort of worried about being unable to prevent the TV images from replacing the ones I came up with in my own head (which are obviously More Correct since they come from me me meeeeeeeeeeee).
posted by threeants at 8:32 PM on May 7, 2013


I like the show quite well, personally, although I'm fonder of the books (mostly because I *like* excessively twisty doorstops with far too many characters.) The acting is serviceable to quite good, it's an adaptation of the books done sensibly, and I think a lot of the character development (especially for initially unsympathetic characters like Sansa and Cersei) is actually better done in the show.

You do have to be able to take the sexposition with an eyeroll, though. I think it makes the series seem even more problematic on gender issues than it would have been otherwise.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:38 PM on May 7, 2013 [2 favorites]


Oh, and my award for best American accent by a Brit goes to Idris Elba.

My award for best everything ever goes to Idris Elba. Mr Elba please come retrieve your award from my pants.
posted by elizardbits at 8:42 PM on May 7, 2013 [14 favorites]


I sometimes kind of wish I'd read the books, just to have a clearer understanding of what the heck is going on and who that guy is and so on. To wit:

[spoilery things ahead]

This Saturday, I happened to watch a youtube video of someone whining about stuff that's in the books and not in the show (which, whatever), wherein I serendipitously saw this at exactly the right time to suddenly start giving a crap about that whole deal with Theon; lo and behold, shy-guy-from-Misfits doesn't waste any time getting to it. Shit is about to get real, y'all!
posted by Sys Rq at 8:48 PM on May 7, 2013


My entry in the "such a bad accent it didn't even occur to you that they might be trying" would be Jean-Claude Van Damme in Street Fighter, because, damn, that's a pretty bad accent on a character who LITERALLY HAS AN AMERICAN FLAG TATTOOED ON HIS SHOULDER
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:52 PM on May 7, 2013


Sys Rq: There are some visual cues in the episodes so far to help suss out that dude's identity. The fact that he wakes Theon up with a horn is no coincidence, either.
posted by dhens at 9:05 PM on May 7, 2013


All this talk of Hugh Laurie and America reminded of the fabulous America.
posted by juiceCake at 10:06 PM on May 7, 2013 [3 favorites]


I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that Jojen Reed is the same kid who plays the Love Actually Kid and he's TWENTY. TWO.
posted by specialagentwebb at 5:17 AM on May 8, 2013


I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that Jojen Reed is the same kid who plays the Love Actually Kid and he's TWENTY. TWO.

He turned up in an episode of Inspector Lewis a year or two back. That he looks exactly the same is really disarming, particularly because I'm atrocious at recognising actors.
posted by hoyland at 5:41 AM on May 8, 2013


Scottish actor Richard Wilson in One Foot In The Grave, because Dinklage's accent is – consciously or not – an almost exact replica

I do not have words to describe just how startlingly, completely correct this is. I shall now never be able to separate the two. Crikey.
posted by ominous_paws at 5:52 AM on May 8, 2013 [4 favorites]


but the show could dip into a single episode set during Robert's rebellion.

OK, here is where we speculate on the casting for Young Eddard. While we're about it, we might as well cast Young Robert and Rhagear for Ruby Ford.
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:53 AM on May 8, 2013


Two accent decisions I really don't understand are:
1. Why do the Wildlings not have Scottish accents? The Wall is obviously based on Hadrian's Wall, which is as close to the Scottish border as makes no difference.
2. Why don't the Ironborn have Irish accents? I would have assumed Iron Islands = Ireland.
posted by Acheman at 6:43 AM on May 8, 2013


Speaking of One Foot In The Grave, this clip is quite good. Press 7 to jump to 4:13 if you don't have the time for all of the six minutes. But it's worth it watching the whole, I think. And there's the classic Victor Meldrew phrase right at the beginning of the clip.

Now, if we just could get the line "I don't believe it." from Tyrion in Game of Thrones...
posted by tykky at 7:17 AM on May 8, 2013


Ahhhh haha, Acheman, you just caused me to envision (enhearen? enaudiblize?) the Iron Islands as having ... a French accent.

[sneering ] Did you pay ze gold price? Or...ze Iron Price?
posted by Xoebe at 7:31 AM on May 8, 2013 [3 favorites]


Ze only fair price eez ze fer-price.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:42 AM on May 8, 2013 [11 favorites]


I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that Jojen Reed is the same kid who plays the Love Actually Kid

I'm always a little thrown by the fact that Margaery Tyrell is actually Anne Boleyn from The Tudors, in part because I keep expecting Jonathan Rhys Meyers or James Frain to show up and randomly bellow at somebody (or, in Frain's case, randomly bite someone on the neck and make a snide remark about Vampire Beeeell).
posted by scody at 11:01 AM on May 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


Don't know BSG, but wouldn't sci-fi milieux vary depending on communications technology etc., as compulsory education and the mass media have certainly culled a lot of the variety in UK accents. Maybe in some mad future with holo-telly we all have the same flat digital Speak-and-Spell monotone.

It's possible, I suppose. But Canadians consume mostly American media and we still have accents that are distinct from those of the United States. So, sure, the diversity of accents lessen as groups become less insular and communicate more with one another, but they don't disappear entirely (at least, not particularly quickly).
posted by asnider at 11:41 AM on May 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


It's possible, I suppose. But Canadians consume mostly American media and we still have accents that are distinct from those of the United States.

Many Canadians sound like Michiganders to me.
posted by evilensky at 1:19 PM on May 8, 2013


But Michiganders still don't sound like Hollywood.
posted by small_ruminant at 1:59 PM on May 8, 2013 [2 favorites]


It's possible, I suppose. But Canadians consume mostly American media and we still have accents that are distinct from those of the United States.

I never noticed it when I grew up in Canada, but now whenever I go back, I'm shocked by how thick the Canadian accents are on TV, on the radio, in commercials, in music, and pretty much everywhere. The American movies and TV you watch are only a small part of the Canadian mediasphere that engulfs you.
posted by painquale at 3:00 PM on May 8, 2013


Heh. I'm the only person I know who kind of likes Cersei. Mainly when she's drunk and telling it like it is.

"Please, father, don't make me do this again" was brilliant. Not to mention stuff that happens in the books.

Also, my gf just promised not to watch the previews for the rest of the season. *Glee*
posted by ersatz at 5:35 PM on May 8, 2013


Now, if we just could get the line "I don't believe it." from Tyrion in Game of Thrones...

He's said it. I know he's said it. Now I'm beginning to wonder if it was an intentional thing.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:16 PM on May 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


I have been obsessed with Game of Thrones (and ASOIAF generally) for a while now. I read A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons a while ago, but skimmed over the parts in the Iron Islands and Dorne. Recently, I've been listening to the audio version of AFFC, and while it's enjoyable, some of the accents the reader (Roy Dotrice) uses are just laughable—particularly the women. They're not bad accents, per se, but often it seems like he thinks women all sound like they're from one region, and men are from another which is just jarring. For example, Jon Snow sounds lordly, but Sansa and Arya sound like hicks.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:52 PM on May 11, 2013 [1 favorite]




My only quibble with last night's episode was that when Jaime jumped into the bear pit, he was not immediately followed by Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 news team.
posted by scody at 10:34 AM on May 13, 2013 [3 favorites]


Game of Thrones Character Was Fastest-Rising Baby Name in 2012

As soon as I learned that there was going to be a Game of Thrones television show I knew that was bound to happen. After reading the books I was like "Arya would be a great name!" I still like it, but I plan on avoiding overused names for my future children. Fortunately, I'm single with no potential baby in sight so it's all academic at this point.
posted by Green With You at 10:48 AM on May 13, 2013


I'm disappointed that "Grey Worm" hasn't caught on.
posted by homunculus at 11:04 AM on May 13, 2013 [1 favorite]


Here's Underwire's recap with book spoilers redacted:

In Game of Thrones, The One True God Is Death
posted by homunculus at 11:31 AM on May 13, 2013


Game of Thrones Character Was Fastest-Rising Baby Name in 2012

Arya is a great name, although I have to say I really like the slightly-skew male names in general. Perfect flavor of a preliterate culture, where accents morph common names just enough that they get spelled differently.
posted by restless_nomad at 12:31 PM on May 13, 2013


Game of Thrones Character Was Fastest-Rising Baby Name in 2012

What's wrong with Bran? God forbid your child should lead a regular life.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:13 PM on May 13, 2013 [2 favorites]


It's even short for Brandon! Jeeze, people.

I really like Underwire's recaps of the show. When they cover the coming Internet Shitstorm, it's gonna be great.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 5:42 PM on May 13, 2013


When I was a kid, one of my favorite books had a character named Bran, along with a Fiona and a Finn.

nobody died horribly in that one. I'm going to go read it again.
posted by jb at 7:13 PM on May 13, 2013


I really like Underwire's recaps of the show. When they cover the coming Internet Shitstorm, it's gonna be great.

I wish the Shitstorm would get here already, dodging spoilers is getting exhausting.
posted by homunculus at 7:21 PM on May 13, 2013


The shitstorm is in the next episode. And I can't wait for it either because I've read all the books and my boyfriend hasn't. Watching the show together is hard--I've accidentally spoiled him for SO MUCH.
posted by elsietheeel at 7:24 PM on May 13, 2013 [1 favorite]


Aha! Thanks for the head's up.
posted by homunculus at 7:25 PM on May 13, 2013


All I know is that a shitstorm is coming. I have no idea of the details.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:26 PM on May 13, 2013


Judging by the episode titles, the real shitstorm is the June 2 episode.
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:14 PM on May 13, 2013


Dammit, now I have "The Rains of Castamere" in my head. Gloomiest earworm ever.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:47 PM on May 13, 2013 [1 favorite]


Note: A subtle poop joke may cause the majority of successive comments to contain the word "shitstorm."

Good to know.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:15 PM on May 13, 2013


... I can't believe I missed that.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:42 PM on May 13, 2013


So what happened to the bear, anyway? Did they get the crossbow bolt out before the wound got infected?
posted by homunculus at 10:18 PM on May 13, 2013


Hmm, I guess the shitstorm is next week.
posted by homunculus at 10:14 PM on May 19, 2013


Nope, June 2, not next week. (There's no new episode next week.)
posted by ocherdraco at 11:26 PM on May 19, 2013


Oh, right. How annoying. Maybe some kind soul at HBO will leak it.
posted by homunculus at 12:03 AM on May 20, 2013


I think I shall name a son after Ned Stark. No, not "Eddard." Just Ned Stark.
posted by Apocryphon at 12:40 AM on May 20, 2013


I wonder if someday, after the Dragons have gotten older and begun to multiply, Daenerys will need to call on the professional services of a person like this.
posted by homunculus at 1:47 AM on May 20, 2013


House Mefi: "A Shitstorm Is Coming." Sigil: a plate of beans.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:41 AM on May 20, 2013 [3 favorites]




Re: this last episode -- did I miss it, or did Samwell really fail to retrieve that thing as he was leaving?
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:04 AM on May 21, 2013


Yeah, no, he totally just left it there. Big, big WTF.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:42 AM on May 21, 2013


(That said, it wasn't quite as annoying as his girlfriend with her hamfisted foreshadowing "What does it do?" shtick. Well, it's a knife, so... Knife stuff?)
posted by Sys Rq at 7:48 AM on May 21, 2013








Ah. I'm guessing that ugly business tonight was it? Ouch.
posted by homunculus at 6:58 PM on June 2, 2013


That was it! The Red Wedding.
posted by painquale at 7:02 PM on June 2, 2013


It happened right in the middle of the novel, so it was much more unexpected for a major event to happen then than right near the finale of a TV season. I'm curious to see how viewers will react. My Unsullied girlfriend was shocked. (When The Rains of Castamere started playing, she said, "weird choice," but didn't suspect anything.)
posted by painquale at 7:05 PM on June 2, 2013


As soon as The Rains of Castamere started playing, I knew it was a trap, but I still didn't expect it to be quite that bad. But it had to be, it makes sense. Damn.

I wish the wolf had gotten away.
posted by homunculus at 7:17 PM on June 2, 2013




I liked the way this played better than the book, because in the book, you pretty much knew something bad was coming because of the description of how Grey Wind was freaking out. Was the bread and salt reference clear to those who hadn't read the books?
posted by Dr. Zira at 8:31 PM on June 2, 2013


Was the bread and salt reference clear to those who hadn't read the books?

Not me. I knew it meant something, but not what.
posted by homunculus at 8:46 PM on June 2, 2013




By the old gods and the new: HOLY SHIT.
posted by scody at 9:58 PM on June 2, 2013


New throne
posted by homunculus at 10:16 PM on June 2, 2013


throne thread.
posted by homunculus at 10:18 PM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]


A game of threads.
posted by painquale at 10:31 PM on June 2, 2013


When you play the game of threads, you're favorited or you're deleted (or both).
posted by homunculus at 12:43 AM on June 3, 2013


« Older I've come twenty-seven hundred miles from Chi...   |   RIP Ray Harryhausen Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments