HBO: A Game of Thrones (ASOIAF)

[Leifmk]

Are dwarves in the series just like dwarves in real life, just genetically that way, or is there some other reason? How do they differ from real life?

They do not appear to differ from real life at all; dwarfism is any one of a whole slew of genetic/medical conditions resulting in unusually short stature. In a pre-modern society, like anyone else who visibly differs from the norm, dwarfs are often subject to prejudice and superstition (and I believe Tyrion says as much that if he weren't noble he might have been left in the forest to die as an infant).

 

[PeteAtoms]

That makes sense. I'm just a little lost, not having read the novels, and my only past experiences with dwarves in fantasy literature had been Tolkien

 

[PeteAtoms]

What's with all the incest anyway?

 

[GoodSarmatian]

What's with all the incest anyway?

All the incest ? There's just one case of incest so far, and in the backstory Targaryen kings traditionally married their sister, but that's it.

 

[Kraznaya]

What's with all the incest anyway?

Dare to be above the law.

 

[Scratch]

A fairly quiet episode last night, no one got killed.

I get fairly freaked out by getting anywhere close to the edge of a great height, I'd never be able to pee off a wall like Tyrion Lannister did.

 

[PeteAtoms]

All the incest ? There's just one case of incest so far, and in the backstory Targaryen kings traditionally married their sister, but that's it.

Oh. Maybe I misread the scene that those ousted blonde siblings, the first scene they show up in and she takes off her clothes... It had an incestuous vibe to it, I dunno.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Oh. Maybe I misread the scene that those ousted blonde siblings, the first scene they show up in and she takes off her clothes... It had an incestuous vibe to it, I dunno.

You didn't misread it, that was quite intentional.
As I said, the Targaryens used to wed brother and sister.
There's no incest going on between Viserys and Daenerys (possibly only because in the books Daenerys is 13 when she marries Drogo), but Viserys is quite pissed about the fact that his sister, who should by all rights be his wife, has to marry a savage so he can have an army.

 

[Truronian]

A fairly quiet episode last night, no one got killed.

I get fairly freaked out by getting anywhere close to the edge of a great height, I'd never be able to pee off a wall like Tyrion Lannister did.

Syrio was fantastic while my affection for Jorah grows with each episode, even if he looks set to be a betrayer (what with all the sneaking off).

 

[Scratch]

Yeah, I should have mentioned the dancing lessons with Syrio scene. That was excellent. You have to learn how to dance if you want to stick'em with the pointy end.

 

[Annex]

A fairly quiet episode last night, no one got killed.

I get fairly freaked out by getting anywhere close to the edge of a great height, I'd never be able to pee off a wall like Tyrion Lannister did.

I think I could do it as long as it wasnt really really windy.

 

[Leoreth]

This goes for peeing at any height

 

[GoodSarmatian]

And don't forget the cold.
I don't want any icicles.

 

[NovaKart]

I saw the latest episode last night. I wonder what language the Dothraki are speaking, I mean in real life, the actors. It sounds like Arabic but I didn't recognize any words so perhaps it's just a made-up language made to sound like Arabic.

 

[Scratch]

I saw the latest episode last night. I wonder what language the Dothraki are speaking, I mean in real life, the actors. It sounds like Arabic but I didn't recognize any words so perhaps it's just a made-up language made to sound like Arabic.

It's a constructed language! You can read about it and how to start learning it here.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Ha, yeah !
In the books I thought they're mongol or hun analogues and they should look asian (I write this in every forum I'm active in and probably have mentioned it somewhere on civfanatics) and their language should sound mroe like turkish, but the pseudo-arabic is kind of fitting.

 

[Supr49er]

I just saw the two episodes recently, and have to say I am a little confused on the backstory.

That one effeminate blonde guy that marries his sister to the half naked barbarian was the heir to the throne back where the Starks (sean bean clan) live? Is this what is meant when the pudgy king remarks that a lot of his nobles refer to him as a usurper?

Is there some sort of magical element to the story's setting? I don't expect to see many wizards or ghosts. It seems like the characters themselves believe in the supernatural and mystical forces, but does is it just superstition not based on the setting's reality?

Dragons, real or no? Extinct? Are those real fossilized dragon eggs?

Spoiler :

People have answered about Viserys already. There is not much magic. The dragons are real and appear later, hatching from the eggs.

 

[Leoreth]

It should be noted that while there's low magic in the main plot, the supernatural is definitely presented as at least possible. Self-proclaimed magicians, prophecies and divine visions are presented ambiguously, either as what they're seem to be or caused by dreams / obfuscation / drugs / dehydration.

People do however, see the description of magic in stories of the past as true, and generally assume something has caused the magic to "wane" from the world. This has still to be conclusively answered in the books.

 

[NovaKart]

It's a constructed language! You can read about it and how to start learning it here.

Wow, the actors speak it so well I thought maybe it was their native language but I guess that's why they're actors. It sounds like Arabic but I didn't recognize any words so I thought maybe it was a local dialect in which case I perhaps wouldn't understand anything.

I checked out the website, some people just have no life at all.

 

[Scratch]

Wow, the actors speak it so well I thought maybe it was their native language but I guess that's why they're actors. It sounds like Arabic but I didn't recognize any words so I thought maybe it was a local dialect in which case I perhaps wouldn't understand anything.

I checked out the website, some people just have no life at all.

Remember, you aren't really seeing those actors speak the language like people do in everyday life. There are probably multiple takes of the scenes and we haven't even really seen extended dialogues or a monologue in Dothraki. Plus none of us speak Dothraki, so that makes it very hard for us to judge the quality of what's being spoken -- we have no real internalized standards to judge it with.

Still, it's impressive that a language has been constructed for the series.

I suppose it's a bit odd that there are people who are trying to figure it out, but that's only because Dothraki doesn't have a real-life population and region or country of existence. So it's no more strange than people who learn Klingon or Navi.