Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman is counting down his top 10 favorite episodes of the show over on Twitter. He already live-tweeted his number 10 episode, Season 1’s “Fire and Blood.” Now he’s weighed in on the Season 4 premiere, “Two Swords.”
In truth, these #9/10 slots were the hardest to fill — considered quite a few: KILL THE BOY, THE WATCHERS ON THE WALL, A GOLDEN CROWN…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… but I went with this one as I think it's probably our strongest premiere episode. They are VERY tricky to get right.
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
I gotta agree. The show’s premieres are generally pretty good, but “Two Swords” sits at the top of the pile. It didn’t have a lot of setup to do and could run with the momentum from the end of Season 3.
Starting with this cold open. The Stark sword 'Ice' being melted down into the two Lannister blades. One of @GRRMspeaking's inspired beats
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
and a great way to reset after the bloodbath of Season 3. Ramin beautifully weaves together the Stark and Lannister themes here. #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
Is Cogman saying that George R.R. Martin contributed that beat to the script, or only that the idea to melt down Ice was a great one? Either way, that opening rocked.
S4 was a lot of fun to write. Particularly the King's Landing scenes, as it was the 1st time all the Lannisters lived under the same roof.
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
Dysfunctional families must be a scriptwriters’ dream come true.
Ah, Oberyn. @PedroPascal1 is missed by all of us. A gentleman and an amazing talent. #TwoSwords #Got_BC_TopTen
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
The hope was (for viewers who hadn't read the books) was that he would make a huge impression. That people would expect him to stick around
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
for years to come. It worked! When he was killed in 408, my wife (who didn't know the story) screamed and punched me in the arm in anger.
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
Yeah, it worked. Thanks for ripping open that wound, Cogman.
We decided to streamline the tale a bit and make the big rivalry between houses Martell and Lannister (as opposed to Martell vs Tyrell)…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… mainly because there was so much backstory to get out in this episode about the death of Oberon's sister and her kids. Thankfully…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… Pedro and Peter make this heavily expository dialogue (no disrespect to my bosses!) highly entertaining! #TwoSwords #GoT_BC_TopTen
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
It’s always good to hear that the producers are at least aware that the Tyrells and Martells have a rivalry on the page. Switching it up a bit worked for the show, I think.
The trick with these scenes (especially in a premiere) is tracking where all the characters are emotionally without burdening the scenes
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
with "as you know when such and such happened" kind of dialogue. It's an easy trap to fall into in a show like this with so much story…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… so many characters, etc. #TwoSwords #GoT_BC_TopTen
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
Cogman should teach a screenwriting class.
One thing that strikes me, watching this one back, is how the Lannisters largely became the protagonists of Season Four. #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
And many fans consider Season 4 the best of the show. Coincidence?
We were happy to get Owen Teale back as Ser Alliser. We'd originally planned to have him appear in King's Landing in S2, reporting…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… about the wight that attacked Mormont. But there was a scheduling conflict, so we couldn't use him (ended up having Mormont send a…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… raven to the small council instead). But he was a huge part of the success of Season Four's Wall storyline, imho. #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
Interesting! We could have had more Night’s Watch-Iron Throne interaction in Season 2.
This Joffrey/Jaime/Meryn scene was written later in the process. We realized Joff had no major scenes before his final episode! #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
Yes, let’s all give that rotten psycho his due.
Oof. A hundred and sixty-three crucified kids. This show is fucked up. #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
He’s gotta be referring to Daenerys’ trek to Meereen here. As for the show being f**ked up…well, you said it.
Ah, now we come to my fave part of the ep (I suspect most people's): Arya and the Hound. #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
Their season was modeled on westerns. And, oddly, enough, on the classic movie 'Paper Moon'! #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
As I have mentioned before, for S4, I was assigned a few storylines to 'break' on my own before we met in the room. Arya's was one of them.
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
Well, the Arya-Hound scene in “Two Swords” is definitely my favorite scene from the episode. The tense standoff totally gives me “western.” And while I wouldn’t have thought of Paper Moon as a point of comparison…yeah, I can see it.
In my original outline, this bar fight didn't happen til later in the season. The opening sequence I conceived involved Hound/Arya…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… encountering a Frey patrol, getting into a scrape, & Arya managing to steal her own horse (after complaining she didn't have one).
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
But D&D very wisely said that it was a stronger choice to open the season with this fight, revenge for Lommy, and the retrieval of Needle.
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
“What the f**k’s a Lommy?” is one of Cogman’s favorite lines, and I imagine he’s in good company.
D&D knocked it out of the park with this scene, as directors. It's one of the best fights in the series, very kinetic. #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
Fun fact: this is one of two Game of Thrones episodes that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have directed. The other was Season 3’s “Walk of Punishment.”
We made the choice to slow down Arya's journey to being a 'killing machine' as compared to the books — her final scene in S3 and this one..
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… were designed to launch her into the next act, so to speak. #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
And now she’s in that next act, being blind and murdering people out of turn.
God, I love @Maisie_Williams. We she slowly drives that sword into the dude, then looks up, ready for the next kill. GOLD! #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
He speaks the truth.
What's wonderful about @Maisie_Williams, is that she 'got' Arya's dark side from the beginning. Rewatch 'The Kingsroad' from S1, the…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… scene where she has the sword pointed at Joffrey. The look in her eyes in that scene. Huge foreshadowing! Love her. #TwoSwords
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
The young actors on the show have done great work, but Williams is the one who’s stood out most to me. She should have a long career.
This Hound/Arya storyline in S4 also gave us the opportunity to show how the war affected the poor folk and the countryside. Starting w/…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… this last shot, then continuing w/ the Farmer story in 403 and the old dying man in 407. We had one or two scenes planned for…
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
… seasons 2 & 3 which showed some of the ravaged Riverlands but we had to lose them in prep, so I was happy to explore some of it in S4.
— Bryan Cogman (@b_cogman) March 22, 2016
I gotta admit that I missed that exploration of the war’s fallout in Season 5.
Head here to see more of Cogman’s comments. He’ll be back in a few days to discuss his #8 pick.
We’ve got a couple more tidbits. Gwendoline Christie (Brienne) has scored a new gig on the second season of BBC2’s Top of the Lake. Between this, Thrones, and appearing in the next Star Wars movie, Christie may be the busiest of the very busy Game of Thrones cast members. And if anyone thinks that appearing in Top of the Lake means that Christie may not be returning to Thrones, we can put you at ease. The second season of the BBC show will run only six episodes, and starts filming this week. Christie should be done in plenty of time to film Game of Thrones Season 7.
Finally, Men’s Journal has a report on Kit Harington’s workout routine. Hit the link if you want specifics. For our purposes, we’ll just ask why he’s bothering to stay in such great shape if he’s not going to be running around a major film set swinging swords and performing stunts.
h/t The Guardian
Via http://winteriscoming.net/2016/03/22/got-writer-bryan-cogman-talks-two-swords-gwen-christie-gets-a-new-gig-and-more/
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