SPOILER WARNING If you only watch the show, this thread will spoil you of future events in HBO's Game of Thrones. Thread contains discussion of all books of the series A Song of Ice and Fire Click Here for the spoiler-free thread.
I honestly expected better. The battle was greatly done, but damn if it wasn't predictable. I knew what would happen of the elders 30sec after they've been introduced because of how cliche they were. The Danny/Tirion thing is really badly rushed, doesn't feel natural at all.
Feels like to me people are in awe because this was the first episode in a while with some budget put to use.
On June 02 2015 00:19 Noocta wrote: I honestly expected better. The battle was greatly done, but damn if it wasn't predictable. I knew what would happen of the elders 30sec after they've been introduced because of how cliche they were. The Danny/Tirion thing is really badly rushed, doesn't feel natural at all.
Feels like to me people are in awe because this was the first episode in a while with some budget put to use.
Or maybe you're over-analyzing. The Tyrion-Dany scene didn't feel rushed at all, I don't know what you're talking about. The fact that you 'knew' what was going to happen is just hindsight on your part. I expected Tormund to die but he didn't, I expected the Thenn to flee and the wildling woman to survive actually.
On June 02 2015 00:19 Noocta wrote: I honestly expected better. The battle was greatly done, but damn if it wasn't predictable. I knew what would happen of the elders 30sec after they've been introduced because of how cliche they were. The Danny/Tirion thing is really badly rushed, doesn't feel natural at all.
Feels like to me people are in awe because this was the first episode in a while with some budget put to use.
Or maybe you're over-analyzing. The Tyrion-Dany scene didn't feel rushed at all, I don't know what you're talking about. The fact that you 'knew' what was going to happen is just hindsight on your part. I expected Tormund to die but he didn't, I expected the Thenn to flee and the wildling woman to survive actually.
I dunno, I really didn't feel like Tirion had any good enough arguments to make a 5min discussion go as smooth as that. I think its for the better tho, as taking too much time on that would be silly and not adapted for a tv show format restrictions.
I guess I'm a bit hypocritical. That battle was great. I REALLY like that they didn't went with too much CGI for the amount of people represented there. I'm getting sick of the army battles of the same model copied a thousand time ( wink wink the Hobbit ) so that's a plus in my book.
Still, my first reaction when seeing the savage folk leader women was " Oh, here's who die this episode".
On June 01 2015 19:14 Emon_ wrote: Tyrion and Danny talking around a table in a multi million dollar production... was disappointing. Do it on the back of Drogon. GIVE ME SOMETHING! Where is the love
Regarding WInterfell/Stannis, some new details were revealed tonight. Roose has provisions for 6 months for his men inside Winterfell. Stanns men are starving. A march that should've taken 16 days has taken 52 and snow is waist high. The captains are eating cold horse meat and the lesser soldiers have started eating their dead. We got a number for Stannis forces at 3000. Half of what Bolton has.
Ramsay wants to ride out with 20 men. Now we're in a bit of a fork in the road. Theon and "Arya" escape before Ramsay leaves to fight Stannis.. because Theon has a conversation with Stannis and warns him that Ramsay is coming. Something tells me Theon and Sansa will escape when Ramsay leaves for battle on the TV show. A slight deviation.
Should bring us to the same point: The pink letter sent to Jon Snow. It was sent after Ramsay did battle with Stannis. He wanted his bride, Reek and called spoke of killing Mance/Abel and his washerwomen. Now we know the battle was significant only in that it got Jon Snow to ride south (and get killed). As for Stannis taking Winterfell - Roose can wait inside while they all starve. Things are starting to look GRIM. Bloodmagic should be an option (if Melisandre is with him in the books) and Theon the likely sacrifice. Also, the ravens around Stannis can be of use as well.
I never thought of the possibility for Melisandre to sacrifice Theon Greyjoy (kingsblood) to resurrect Jon Snow. That would be awesome. Theon would sacrifice his life for all the ill things he have done and gets redemption.
I forget, did arya change her face in the books when selling oysters? Didn't she spend most of the books with a different face from this point on? I was wondering how the show would handle that because that would mean benching a main star of the show to use different actresses for her face change parts.
On June 02 2015 02:22 Canucklehead wrote: I forget, did arya change her face in the books when selling oysters? Didn't she spend most of the books with a different face from this point on? I was wondering how the show would handle that because that would mean benching a main star of the show to use different actresses for her face change parts.
She was Cat of the canals for a time with her regular face. Then she was blind for a while and then she got her first new face (the girl with a broken face or something like that). They are putting her story in light speed.
On June 02 2015 02:22 Canucklehead wrote: I forget, did arya change her face in the books when selling oysters? Didn't she spend most of the books with a different face from this point on? I was wondering how the show would handle that because that would mean benching a main star of the show to use different actresses for her face change parts.
She was Cat of the canals for a time with her regular face. Then she was blind for a while and then she got her first new face (the girl with a broken face or something like that). They are putting her story in light speed.
They're condensing pretty much every plot this season, for various reasons. I doubt we will see Arya getting blind. She'll probably get her new face right away in the next episode and then go and kill Meryn Trant.
I will say that even though this was a good episode, the degree to which they are rushing everything is pretty absurd. GoT is supposed to be an epic fantasy show with a good dose of drama, but for all the scenes which involve no action, I feel that there isn't enough character development.
This episode was a good example. Tyrion becomes Dany's advisor in like, what, two and a half scenes? Come on. Sometimes I get the feeling that D&D put themselves on some sort of insane clock to finish the story as fast as possible. I wish they would take their time a little more.
On June 02 2015 04:04 Spaylz wrote: I will say that even though this was a good episode, the degree to which they are rushing everything is pretty absurd. GoT is supposed to be an epic fantasy show with a good dose of drama, but for all the scenes which involve no action, I feel that there isn't enough character development.
This episode was a good example. Tyrion becomes Dany's advisor in like, what, two and a half scenes? Come on. Sometimes I get the feeling that D&D put themselves on some sort of insane clock to finish the story as fast as possible. I wish they would take their time a little more.
Is that so unbelievable? It didn't take her very long to employ Barristan Selmy either, and Tyrion is capable of quickly showing his intellect and knack for politics. After Jorah's exile and Selmy's death, who exactly is her council? Daario, Grey Worm, Missandei, and however many Meereneese she lets suck up to her? Tyrion is right in that he's the only one that knows anything about Westeros, and he knows quite a bit, definitely more than Selmy when it comes to politics. Hopefully in the books they are both given a chance to advise her simultaneously, because I think that would be fun to see.
On June 02 2015 04:04 Spaylz wrote: I will say that even though this was a good episode, the degree to which they are rushing everything is pretty absurd. GoT is supposed to be an epic fantasy show with a good dose of drama, but for all the scenes which involve no action, I feel that there isn't enough character development.
This episode was a good example. Tyrion becomes Dany's advisor in like, what, two and a half scenes? Come on. Sometimes I get the feeling that D&D put themselves on some sort of insane clock to finish the story as fast as possible. I wish they would take their time a little more.
Yeah to me it looks like they are just like the fans who bitch about AFFC/ADWD. They loved the first three books (mostly ASOS) and wanted to adapt it very badly, but then they weren't really interested in the later books anymore. Now they obviously have to finish the story, but they wanna do it with the least amount of time possible. This obviously is only speculation (and would only be a part of the reasoning, child actors getting older, actors wanting more money, general hype dying down, etc are all reasons as well), but i really feel like this is a big part atm.
There simply is no nuance left in the show for the most part, which is a shame. Apparently people in general don't give a fuck though, when i read (on reddit, but still, /r/asoiaf is usually pretty nice) that the battle last episode completely neglects D&D's mistakes, well then i am not surprised that AFFC and ADWD were "boring" to most people.
very cool episode, hell of a battle sequance for an episode 8, given how both 9 and 10 are suppoused to have big graphic scenes as well.
It was good to see Tyrion with Danny, the wildling women who was introduced was quite charming, first i thought she's like Val or a caharcter along that line, but then she said "Go, I ll be right behind you" it was clear what her role's gonna be :/
Also, not much of a reveal, but it's nice to have a confirmation that dragonsteel = valyrian steel, i mean it was like 99%+ sure that it is, but it s cool to see, that it not only stand against the Walker's blade, it does shatter them just like obsidian.
On June 02 2015 04:04 Spaylz wrote: I will say that even though this was a good episode, the degree to which they are rushing everything is pretty absurd. GoT is supposed to be an epic fantasy show with a good dose of drama, but for all the scenes which involve no action, I feel that there isn't enough character development.
This episode was a good example. Tyrion becomes Dany's advisor in like, what, two and a half scenes? Come on. Sometimes I get the feeling that D&D put themselves on some sort of insane clock to finish the story as fast as possible. I wish they would take their time a little more.
Yeah to me it looks like they are just like the fans who bitch about AFFC/ADWD. They loved the first three books (mostly ASOS) and wanted to adapt it very badly, but then they weren't really interested in the later books anymore. Now they obviously have to finish the story, but they wanna do it with the least amount of time possible. This obviously is only speculation (and would only be a part of the reasoning, child actors getting older, actors wanting more money, general hype dying down, etc are all reasons as well), but i really feel like this is a big part atm.
There simply is no nuance left in the show for the most part, which is a shame. Apparently people in general don't give a fuck though, when i read (on reddit, but still, /r/asoiaf is usually pretty nice) that the battle last episode completely neglects D&D's mistakes, well then i am not surprised that AFFC and ADWD were "boring" to most people.
It doesnt neglect all their mistakes, obviously. But the whole Tormund-Jon-wildlings interaction was cool, even before teh fight. In the books we know, that Hardhome was attacked by the Others, but we wont get even a real description of the -much small scale - fighting that occured, and here we got a really well done battle, with an epic scenery.
Like seriously, it's not even the fighting itself, but the scenery, ships in the half-frozen, wind-battered bay, against the snowy mountains that start to hurdle downwards snow and death, tearing through the wildling camp, and after the early waves even the most badass fighters of the north run like children, with tears in their eyes, knowing there are two options, reach those ragged boats in the freezing water or get butchered.
On June 02 2015 02:22 Canucklehead wrote: I forget, did arya change her face in the books when selling oysters? Didn't she spend most of the books with a different face from this point on? I was wondering how the show would handle that because that would mean benching a main star of the show to use different actresses for her face change parts.
She was Cat of the canals for a time with her regular face. Then she was blind for a while and then she got her first new face (the girl with a broken face or something like that). They are putting her story in light speed.
They're condensing pretty much every plot this season, for various reasons. I doubt we will see Arya getting blind. She'll probably get her new face right away in the next episode and then go and kill Meryn Trant.
I'm actually wondering if she'll see an opportunity to kill Meryn Trant and take it, and then be blinded for that. Could be a good setup for next season for her storyline for this season to end on that note.
On June 02 2015 04:04 Spaylz wrote: I will say that even though this was a good episode, the degree to which they are rushing everything is pretty absurd. GoT is supposed to be an epic fantasy show with a good dose of drama, but for all the scenes which involve no action, I feel that there isn't enough character development.
This episode was a good example. Tyrion becomes Dany's advisor in like, what, two and a half scenes? Come on. Sometimes I get the feeling that D&D put themselves on some sort of insane clock to finish the story as fast as possible. I wish they would take their time a little more.
I agree that the plot feels kinda rushed, but what are they going to do? They only have so much time to tell the rest of the story, and the story is far from over. There's so much left to do that people are wondering how GRRM could possibly fit it all in just two more books, and in the same vein it will be quite hard to put all that plot in just two more seasons. But unlike GRRM, the producers would have a much harder time adding another season or two (not that I'd mind that, personally).
Do we have any idea what the rules of the Others' necromancy are? From the scene, it looked like they only raised the newly dead wildlings, with the defeated wights staying down. It also appears (and is highly convenient) that the wights can be brought down with blows that would be fatal to humans, when in the books I recall that fire was the only certain way.
If those two assumptions bear out, then I find it rather amusing that the fully skeletal wights are the "veterans," having been reanimated long enough to lose all of their flesh and organs.
On June 02 2015 04:04 Spaylz wrote: I will say that even though this was a good episode, the degree to which they are rushing everything is pretty absurd. GoT is supposed to be an epic fantasy show with a good dose of drama, but for all the scenes which involve no action, I feel that there isn't enough character development.
This episode was a good example. Tyrion becomes Dany's advisor in like, what, two and a half scenes? Come on. Sometimes I get the feeling that D&D put themselves on some sort of insane clock to finish the story as fast as possible. I wish they would take their time a little more.
I don't disagree with that but I also have a lot of sympathy for the position the writers are in. We all know Tryion is awesome and would make a great adviser to Dany. We also know that Dany is in need of an adviser who knows Westeros, so it's a perfect fit. The way the match is handled in the show is rather utilitarian, a quick reminder why the match is a good one, which lacks honest characterization of the event. But the alternative of belaboring the audience with what they already know is hardly ideal either.
I like to think that somewhere between GRRM's AFFC/ADWD and HBO's interpretation is a happy medium we can all fantasize about.