[TV/BOOK] *SPOILERS* Game of Thrones Discussion - Page 143

On June 04 2012 14:32 Tewks44 wrote:
I gotta say, I am hugely disappointed about a handful of things

1. The way they handled Jon Snow's betrayal of Quhorin Halfhand was AWFUL. Jon was originally written as a noble figure, a "good guy" who only betrayed his sworn brethren because he was ordered to as a selfless act on Quhorin's behalf. In the show he got butthurt because Quhorin talked smack about his mom, so he stabbed him in the heart, killing him instantly... COOL.

2. Sure, they recast Xaro Xohan Daxos as a "bad guy" but come on! Even a "bad guy" won't build the most indestructible safe in the world to protect... absolutely nothing! I mean they could have just as easily rewritten that scene so Dany and her retinue loots Xaro's safe to get their money. Instead they were like "well herp derp, Xaro built this safe for no comprehensible reason whatsoever, oh well, let's steal everything from Qarth, because it's not like there' any guardsmen around" It's b.s. Just because the creepy magician and Xaro are dead doesn't mean the entire force of city guard in Qarth disappeared in a matter of hours... it's absurd to suggest her 50 something troop could loot the entire palace without any contest at all.

3. This kind of goes hand in hand with quip number 1, but the show writers ruined Quhorin for me. He was meant to be a selfless character who gave his life for the good of the watch. Instead he's some butthurt asshole who picks a fight with Jon for no reason other than that Jon hurt his wittle feelings... COME ON!!! The rewriting of Quhorin hurt both his character and Jon's character for no reason whatsoever

On June 04 2012 14:56 scudst0rm wrote:


....

Qhorin explains his plan pretty explicitly to Jon:

Q: Mance is going to march on the wall. When he does, one brother inside his army will be worth 1000 fighting against him.
J: They'll never trust me
Q: They might, if you do what needs to be done
L: WOT?
Q: I SHOULD A KNOWN BETTER THAN TRUSTING A TRAITORS BASTARD! *kick*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-W8l3E4NVw&feature=g-user-u#t=1m8s

What I Liked

Three horn blasts – Wow at that ending, they really went for it! I thought we’d get the three blasts and then Sam’s reaction and maybe a far away shot of a bunch of walkers. Instead we got the Walking Dead all up in here. From the moment the third horn blast sounded and the snow started billowing and the music got louder, the whole scene took on an eery feeling, and then, the wights start shuffling in, and I thought that would be all, but no. The hooves of a horse, the camera pans up to reveal flesh and blood hanging from the horses neck and then further to the ancient-looking White Walker on his back, crystal sword in his hand. E-P-I-C!

Tyrion and Shae – That was a surprisingly touching scene. For a minute there, I thought they might have Tyrion actually head to the Free Cities! But no, he stays and Shae demonstrates her devotion by staying with him. It will be interesting to see how this relationship develops next season.

The House of the Undying – I really liked the House of the Undying. Yeah, it was changed from the book, but I knew going in there was no way they would show all the visions that they showed in the book. I was just hoping for something creepy and atmospheric. And that is what we got. First, the haunting scene in the destroyed throne room of the Red Keep. Just beautifully shot. Hats off to Alan Taylor on this and many other shots in the show. And then… Drogo! I knew Jason Momoa had been on-set to film a scene but totally forget about it when watching the episode. No lie, I started to tear up in that scene. And I don’t ever cry when watching movies or TV shows. And then Dany finds her dragons and we actually get a reason that the warlocks want the dragons and why they want Dany there with them. I don’t remember that from the books. And then the twist at the end, with Xaro and Doreah, was very well-done. Tied up all the loose ends in Qarth in a satisfactory way, that was fitting for a TV season finale. Great adaptation.

Jaqen says farewell – The face changing was creepy! Wish they could have had Jaqen actually wave his hand over his face, but I guess that would have cost too much. I’m just glad they kept it in, because there was a moment there where I thought he was just going to leave without changing his face.


What I Didn’t Like

Theon loses Winterfell - I really liked the scene between Luwin and Theon. I didn’t like the way Theon eventually lost Winterfell. Dagmer knocking him upside the head was not nearly as dramatic as Reek, who he assumed was his savior, betraying him and burning Winterfell to the ground. I really liked how they handled Theon’s storyline up to this point, but felt that the payoff here was not as good as it should have been.

Jon and Qhorin – I had been holding off on saying anything about this storyline, waiting to see where the writers were going with it, but damn if they didn’t completely mishandle this one. Now maybe my judgement is clouded by the fact that the Halfhand is my favorite minor character in the whole series, but I felt like the way this played out in the book was much more epic, more cinematic, more dramatic and, most of all, made sense to the reader. The show gives us Jon screwing up at every turn and then in the end somehow getting the best of Qhorin in a scene that I’m sure at least a few new viewers found totally confusing. Why not have Jon remain with Qhorin? Allow Qhorin to be the mentor he should be to Jon. Get the viewers invested in Qhorin as a character. And then, have the tension mount as Jon and Qhorin flee. We care about both of these characters and we don’t want either of them to die. But it looks like one will have to. “Is your sword sharp, Jon Snow?” And then, make it clear in their final showdown that Qhorin is sacrificing himself. In the show, we get Jon screwing up left and right, flirting with Ygritte for a couple episodes, and then killing Qhorin out of what seemed like nothing but self-defense. Seriously disappointed that this storyline wasn’t as epic and emotional as it could have been.

On June 04 2012 15:07 Falling wrote:
Ok, I can't remember anymore. How did the actual sacking of Winterfell go. Because it make no sense in the TV version where there's a besieging force was there, Theon's men are gone so I would've thought Winterfell could be liberated and even if it was burning Bran wouldn't have to flee particularly with no soldiers.