Let's talk about crows a little.

I recently mentioned the crows in a comment on the post Mariah made about the book versus the HBO series, and she responded with a comment of her own that jolted me back to realizing some details I had forgotten about or deemed otherwise unimportant.

The crows, as mentioned in the comment strand, are harbingers of death and suffering, with Old Nan warning Bran about how they would peck his eyes out, but he knew that they would do no such thing since he'd fed them from his hands when he would climb the towers in Winterfell.  The harbinger of death aspect can be seen clearly in what happened to Ned (RIP to one of the few honorable characters of this series), and... well, we just know that the Starks have some bad luck regarding maintaining their health and keeping their heads on their shoulders.  I feel like we should talk about the crows a bit, and mention that they're present away from the Starks as well.

--SORT OF SPOILER ALERT FOR THE SHOW, JUST PUTTING THIS HERE IN CASE IT'S RELEVANT, I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL ANYTHING, WHAT I'M GOING TO MENTION HAPPENS LATER IN SEASON 2 WHEN A CERTAIN WILDLING IS INTRODUCED-

Okay, so sorry for the huge alert, I don't want to wreck anything in case I mention some actual spoilers.  So, we know that Ygritte comes on the scene in S2 of the HBO drama, and she calls Jon and all of the other men who have taken the Black or work at Castle Black or otherwise guard the Wall "crows."  I'm fairly certain this also happens in the books, but I want to talk about this as well.  Since in the past we've seen crows mentioned whenever something terrible is about to happen, or Bran is having one of his prophetic dreams with the three-eyed crow.  Do you guys think that there's going to be some big disaster or something around the men of the Night's Watch?

-END SPOILER ALERT-

So, in the below comment, everyone was talking about POVs and how they hate the jump between them. This isn't from the first book, but it is the first time that there is a chapter from Jaime's POV. I don't know about anyone else, but I think it's really funny that the first page is all about Cersei (I don't know about the rest of the pages). One of my favorite things about the different POVs is that they show you all of the different opinions that various characters have, but it's very rare that any of the characters are in the same place. They all seem to be scattered around; with Ned, Arya, and Sansa being the exceptions. I like that we can see into the different places in the story and that we can see into the heads of all the different characters. For the most part, I'm of the opinion that George R. R. Martin executed the different POVs flawlessly.

BACK TO ENGLISH CLASS

So we finally have a B day. Joy!
So I know as our journey of Game of Thrones comes to and end, I'd like everyone to say how far they got, predictions for the rest of the book, and how you would rate it.
I got to the first rewarding death of the novel, and one of the only in the book.
SPOILER ALERT:
Viserys gets his golden crown :)
I kinda like the way the book is written but it's super daunting. The series is just so compelling, but there is just so much. Maybe if the series was rewritten each book could have more focus on a house or character. Just an idea. Anyways, the books I would give an 8/10. Can't wait to finish!

Ambush on Catelyn's Journey to Eerie

I'm not really sure how far everyone is in the book at the moment, but I would like to focus on the part when Catelyn Stark is heading down to Eerie with her hostage. Tyrion Lanister is the hostage and isn't being treated to well, however when they are being ambush he makes his first kill in the book to save Lady Stark. I find this event rather astonishing because Tryion never seemed to be one of the aggressive and killing type. What do you guys think about it and should he have saved her even though he was her hostage?

Trust

(Via Robbertopoli.deviantart.com)

(Via gothicspork.deviantart.com)

The Starks are screwed. Of that, we are all aware by now. While I do not actually know the exact manner of said screwing, I know that their trust of these two is completely misguided.
Varys has absolutely no reason to help them, other than it would be the right thing to do. Ned Stark seems to be unaware that Varys is completely unconcerned with what is the right thing to do. He is a collector and seller of information, and they by nature tend not to stick to any single side.
Littlefinger, on the other hand, believe will help them because of his long-burning crush on Catelyn. The fact that she is already married suggests that an end in which Catelyn is left widowed and vulnerable is what he is looking for.
The Starks are not the only ones who are putting their trust in the wrong hands. I was surprised when I found out Jorah was giving the crown information about Dany's status. In hindsight, it's obvious that he has no real reason to care about Dany and the Dothraki, and that selling them out would be a fast way back to his coveted home, but it didn't click in my head until after the reveal.
Robert Baratheon, on the other hand, may have too little trust in him. He rightly distrusts his in-laws and "son", but is not trusting Ned when Ned is all he has on his side, really.
Who do you think deserves and does not deserve trust? Do you agree/disagree with anything I've said?

T.V. Series VS. Book

This question is for those of you who have seen the T.V. series of The Game of Thrones. So far, I believe that the show has been pretty accurate towards the book. What Scenes do you guys like better in the book or the show? Not only that, but how do you think the characters change from the book to the show and which one do you like better?

So, I just want to talk about Catelyn  for a second. I know that we had a whole post talking about her already. But that part where she was on her way to the Eyrie and stopped at the tavern gave me the tingles. She had really been a strong person until then, but to me that just displayed her ability to work for herself even more than any of her actions previously. (I can understand hating her on Jon Snow's behalf, but you have to admit she has no problem standing up for what she believes in)  I like that she had enough evidence for herself. Tyrion/ the Lancasters had supposedly attacked her kid and she was not going to stand for it, especially not when they were responsible for his fall and resulting injury. I just love that she's so fearless and yet she knows the consequences of her actions and fully accepts whatever they may be, just so that she can protect her children.