Game of Thrones (HBO) - Time to jump on board

Book readers after the last few episodes who know what's coming:



I'll argue only the first 4 seasons really count:

 

To be clear, the above posts are not out of anger. I'll watch to the end obviously. Why not?

It's more a mood of bewildered amusement.

 

If you're looking for logic and consistency, you've come to the wrong place.

 

That episode was a bit of a hot mess. I have lots of complaints. Not complaints about which direction they've gone or whom they have or haven't included etc, just basic storytelling, directing, and editing complaints. I don't give a **** how much you spend on CGI for dragons, just give me a coherent ****ing episode. They should be embarrassed.

Truly one on every damn corner.

 

What a mess that episode was

“I’ll have a Dornish red, and my friend will have a grande no-foam frappamochachino with three splendas, hold the storyline”

 

Emilia Clark was on Jimmy Kimmel last week. When he said that episode 3 must have been the really big episode considering how long they filmed it and how much was happening, she said nope. Episode 5. He asked her, "really?" And she said "Find the biggest TV you can." She seemed really certain that this was THE episode.

Now, I'm assuming she means in terms of sheer spectacle. The plot is already off the rails. So I'm going to try to just turn my brain off. All bets are off once it's over though.

 

I saw a post on Reddit that I think is the perfect theory as to what's happening with the show, and how to view it without losing your mind.

Paraphrasing somewhat, maybe expanding on the premise (Can't find the quote ATM):

The Books and the show both exist in the same universe. Both are versions of the events that happened as told a couple generations later.

The books are written by Maesters (Sam) with meticulous detail and an effort to get everything as accurate as possible.

The show is the story as told by your alcoholic uncle. He starts telling the story completely sober, but is drinking heavily. Season 4, he's feeling the effects and occasionally stumbles on some points. By season 5, he's drunk. Season 6, he's 3 sheets to the wind. By season 7 he's completely tanked. And season 8, he's drooling, slurring incomprehensibly, half passed out and can't remember what he just said.

 

This is absolutely perfect.

 

I wish I could take credit, but someone more creative than I wrote the original post. I also wish I could give him/ her credit, but I lost the original post. I'll update if I come across it again.

 

Ah. Here it is.

 

I guess someone had to do it. LOL

 

Pre-game! I thought these 2 were fitting for tonight.

I always wondered why they gave the smokiest scotch to House Lannister. But I think that may make sense after Dany torches them tonight.

 

Oh. My. Old gods and new...

Every horrible leak I read was true.

And they're coming for Star Wars next...

 

It’s funny.... the one thing that feels right to me is probably the thing that’s going to piss everyone else off the most. However, I just think the Dany storyline works. It makes sense to me. The rest was an overblown, over-explody Hollywood CGI fest. The USAF ain’t got nothing on a dragon.

 

I'll politely disagree.

Not that Dany shouldn't become mad. That may very well be how she ends up in the books.

But that they EARNED her becoming mad.

Dany snapping? Sure. But not this way. And I don't want to hear one person say "hurr durr, she was always showing signs of madness." Dany in the books (and show) has many faults. She's entitled. She's naive. She's easily influenced. But "cray cray?" No.

Every example someone states to prove she was mad the whole time is hypocritical as you can point to any supposed hero on the show and find the same action.

Don't focus on her burning people. She's executing them, and burning is her method. And she's executing them in a world where those executions were EARNED. It's not like she was killing people willy nilly out of paranoia or executing rashly out of a lack of sympathy. Betray her (aka, betray your king or queen) the sentence is death regardless the character. Hell, she showed mercy in instances where a sentence of death should be a foregone conclusion. And if her executing people for offenses that warrant death everywhere in that world is "madness," then they're all mad: Ned Stark, Jon Snow, Sansa, Arya, Stannis (don't get me started), Tyrion, Greyworm, Khal Drogo, Robert Baratheon, etc etc etc...

Yes, yes. She executed the Tarlys. She gave them a choice. She gave them an out. In that world, you don't allow your enemy to live if they won't yield. The one and only criticism here is she should have allowed them the choice to take the black.

She burned an old woman alive in season 1! You mean the witch who killed her baby and Drogo? Also inadvertently possibly helping hatch the dragon eggs?

She burned down the House of the Undying!! Ummm... the ones trying to steal her dragons and imprison her forever?

She killed all the slavers in Astapor! And we all cheered her for it. They had it coming.

Oh, but she crucified other slavers! Yes as retribution for their crucifying children. An eye for an eye, or punishment fitting the crime doesn't = madness.

But.. but.. she wanted to burn the Red Keep as soon as she got to Westeros! Yes. And there would have been far less loss of life than what we ended up getting. Especially since Cersei didn't have time to prepare. Tyrion burnt down half of King's Landing defending it against Stannis. Is he mad?

Until tonight, she always avoided killing innocents as much as possible. She used her dragons sparingly. She took the 3 Slaver's Bay cities with minimal bloodshed.

Not that any of this prevents her from becoming a mad queen. But the descent was too rapid. That whole "coin toss" thing was already mentioned, and decided she came down on the right side in both books and show. Now they throw it out there again to try to justify her going mad? The problem is they rushed it and it seems way too forced.

And it's pointless that it ended up this way. They had PLENTY of time to sell it. But they got lazy and wanted to rush to the end. HBO even wanted more episodes (10 seasons).

 

We'll just add Dany to a long list of characters Dumb and Dumber ruined, spit on, handled sloppily, or flat out gave character assassination:

Jaime: what was even his point?

Renly: hurr durr, I'm gay and want to be king.

Loras: LOL, I'm gay too! That's all you need to know.

Stannis: it's a crime how dirty they did him. Show Stannis has nothing in common with book Stannis except his name.

Shae: maybe it was just their choice of actress. But she was all wrong from the jump.

Arianne Martell: The most important character in Dorne, and they didn't even bother to put her in the show.

The Sand Snakes: if you were going to be this bad with them, why even bother including them?

Doran Martell: I sit in a wheelchair. That's my only defining characteristic. Oh, and I'm easily fooled. WTF???

Elaria Sand: maybe the only pacifist in the book turned into a blood thirsty harpy.

Yara Greyjoy: <gag> It's ASHA!!! But I guess it's fine they changed her name since they changed everything else about her.

Lady Stoneheart: New phone, who dis?

Littlefinger: Cunning, scheming, always 3 steps ahead, master manipulator. No one ever knows what he'll do or even what he wants. Instead on the show, announces his intentions to everyone and brags when he fools someone.

Maergery Tyrell: out with a whimper.

Strong Belwas: another new phone. Who dis?

Barristan Selmy: greatest swordsman in the realm. Reduced to fatherly figure who's bested by a couple street thugs with steak knives.

Victarion Greyjoy: oh, we never knew you.

Euron Greyjoy: Dark, sinister, possibly supernatural? Trained to be a Warlock. Reduced to a half baked pirate with a lusty mind.

The White Walkers: incredibly fast. Near impossible to kill. Control a force that can overwhelm the world and create a night that lasts a generation or longer. Suffers Death Star vulnerability.

 

HOLY @#$!!!!!!!

Please, please, please let this be true!!!!

(Already queued up to the relevant question. The actor who played Barristan Selmy at a convention just 2 weeks ago. Only takes a minute or 2)

(I swear I'll forgive the long wait, and even this craptacular last season if true)

 

Agree with all that you said about the other characters Ray, but for Dany I think it makes sense. Did D&D do enough to show what was going on in her mind? Probably not. It needed to be a bit of a surprise for the non-book reading majority to give them their OMG moment. It all makes sense though. Without going into too much typing - all she ever wanted to was to overthrow the usurpers and be the beloved queen like she was in the East. Except, when she got to Westeros nobody loved her. She was just an outside invader with scary dragons. Instead of taking the throne quickly, she did the right thing and fought the threat from the North... and lost a child for it. She found love for the first time since Khal Drogo, but the people who love John never loved her. Hell, even after all of that they were still treating him like a king when he was still a bastard with no claim. At least he loved her, right? Whoops, not anymore. No nookie for auntie, she’s just auntie now. Now he’s the rightful king, and even though he claims he doesn’t want it, it’s going to pushed on him, and she’s going to be pushed out. Everybody is against her. She’s lost two of her three children fighting for these insolent Westerosi, and they don’t @#$&ing care. They love their own “bastard” hero, and she’s still the foreign invader. I knew she was going to go off the rails at the post-battle banquet in Winterfell. It wasn’t sudden to me at all because of all she’s lost, and all she had left to lose. “Let it be fear.”

I agree about everything you said about the other character arcs though.