Since it has been awhile, I had to begin with my fave character, Jon Snow, saying the second most popular JS phrase (the first one "You know nothing Jon Snow" courtesy of Ygritte), "To me, Ghost".
So, now to the trailer, I loved it! The books are amazing, but there are some moments that have been extremely well done in the series, ie. Ned's death, that are amazing in film. In that case, if you read the book, Ned was in full Direwolf Northman gear when he died, (which I wish they had done in the series), but it was from the POV of Arya, from a distance. I felt how horrifying it was through her, but she was also in a situation where she was running from the Queen's people, and her sadness, fear, and will to live, enabled her to get out of dodge, and fast. Of course Sansa; well that's another post altogether, which will be part of my ADWD postings.
You could not feel the pain, the betrayal as strongly, and the love Ned had for his children, as you did when his eyes met Arya's and she knew he was going to die. In the books it was difficult, because he was a POV character, and there was never one where we had his last thoughts and how he knew that he was going to die, like Sean Bean did in "Baelor". Again, that man was robbed of an award; robbed of an award. I mean really, "Mad Men", again??
The reason for this long introduction, is that Stannis is not a POV character, but he is a strong presence, as soon as Ned names him the rightful heir to the throne. We know he is sooo the middle child: Robert: strong, big, good looking, did whatever he wanted, almost like a bully. Renly: not portrayed truly in my opinion on the show, why? Well he is a large sexy man, charismatic, and was one of the people who laughed his ass off in the infamous scene where Joffrey was unmanned by Arya and Lady was killed instead of Nymeria. He made fun of Joffrey so much, he had to leave. Plus, he was known as a great soldier and knight; he was not afraid of blood. I know Robert scolded Joff, but as we know, and some said in the book, that Joff was going to become a King worse than "Aerys, The Mad King".
Again, I digress: we know that Stannis is a presence, he feels slighted by both brothers: Robert for not giving him more credit for his part in the war, and the Iron Islands Rebellion. Then, everyone loving his good looking, charismatic brother (like Jaime in a way, but not as self-loathing), had Bannermen flocking to his side. But he respected the Iron Throne, Jon Arryn, and believed Ned Stark was murdered by the Lannisters; which I agree with wholeheartedly.
(spoilers from this point forward!!!)
So, for those who have read all the books, you know that as much as people felt he was under Melisandre's spell, he trusted Davos (Liam Cunningham yeah!!), the smuggler, more than anyone, to tell him the truth. Stannis had cut the tips of the man's fingers off for smuggling, but he was right to trust him. In fact Stannis wore them around his neck in a pouch for good luck. Stannis would hear Melisandre, who was sometimes on the money, and then often go to Davos.
But then this whole Melisandre thing....again for more discussion later. He was sleeping with her, I don't think he loved her, and honestly I am not completely certain he bought completely into the whole AA bit. He needed something different to make him stand out, because he knew that he was not Mr. Personality. But the one thing that stood out for me, I think in "Clash of Kings" was when he tells (I can't remember who), he had a dream that he killed his brother, and it freaked him out because it was so real. It is the only crack in his armor that I ever see, but I remembered it. We also know the man has feelings, as he did not want to kill his brother, he wanted him to "bend the, ever so popular, knee.". Obviously Melisandre did something to him while he was sleeping, so that he did do it. She used him, just as he uses her; and he is not as beguiled and under her spell, as people think. Even I thought (until my re-read, which again, I HIGHLY recommend, as reading the books in one swoop is awesome! ) she was controlling him. Melisandre's greatest power is sorcery and magic; not seeing the future. As Val says "the flames are fickle", or something to that effect. Again for the ADWD discussion.......
Well, what does all of this have to do with the trailer? Well, I am sooo excited that they have clearly chosen the right actor to play Stannis. The way he narrated that trailer, the tone, the strength, and a touch of cruelty in his words, was Stannis to perfection. You could feel how dangerous he was, and his conviction in how he is RIGHT. This is so fab, as bringing Stannis to life, was something that could have been easily messed up, as he is not a POV character. His coldness is described by others, and he could so easily be portrayed as boring. But to hear him in that trailer, made me sooo psyched! But they seem to be great at casting in this series; well except with Sarah Connor as Cersei; perhaps she will be better in S2.
This is why I mentioned "Baelor" in the beginning of the post, because the writers brought to life a horrific moment in the book, in a big, big way. It made the moment actually even better than how it was originally written. This is how I felt about Stannis' words in that trailer: perfection!! Plus, we know from trailer #1 "The night is dark and full of terrors" are the words from the priests of R'hllor, right? That Melisandre better be pretty damn good...
See you in Season 2!
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