[TV] HBO Game of Thrones - Page 1386

On June 06 2015 02:49 pure.Wasted wrote:
Yes! I have found a place to vent about GoT that doesn't require signing up on any new forums!

Holy shit has this season been awful. I'm not talking "this doesn't quite deserve the 92 it got on Metacritic" awful, I'm talking "this isn't renewable" awful. I'll leave my criticisms to just one story right now, the Faith Militant.

1. There's suddenly a religion in King's Landing? It turns out? That's interesting, because in five seasons of show, no one in KL has expressed any interest in religion or prayer or anything of the sort, certainly not to a degree that would warrant a religion taking over the entire city, and suddenly in the space of two episodes it took over the entire city. Because apparently the people are unhappy... because... I don't know why the people are unhappy, we haven't seen any regular people in King's Landing since before Joffrey was killed. I would have assumed that the saintly, Mother-Theresa-esque Margaery being Queen would have placated the masses, but uh... turns out no? Because unproven allegations of incest > all? K.

2. How is the Faith Militant untouchable, exactly? They're a bunch of dudes, wearing dresses, armed with cudgels. Surely between the Lannister army, the Tyrell army, the King's Guard and the Gold Cloaks, there's enough army to beat a couple hundred armed, starving peasants? You'd think? Cersei's explanation that "they might kill Margaery" might have fooled Tommen, if he's really dumb, but it doesn't fool me and it shouldn't fool any Tyrells who remain free. The Faith obviously cares about the letter of the law more than the spirit of the law, they wouldn't start executing prisoners just because another branch of government becomes corrupt (in their eyes) and tries to take them on.

Littlefinger takes Olenna's threat that her people will track him down and cut him up into little pieces seriously, even though he's got a kingdom and a personal army and he's the most elusive man on the planet. But the Faith Militant, untrained nobodies, these guys have nothing to fear? Assassins who can stealthily sneak into the temple and rescue Margaery have stopped existing? Olenna can't pay someone to fake converting to the Faith and rescue Ser Loris and Margaery from inside? How is any of this a fucking problem to people who literally own kingdoms and have servants who will gladly die for them?

3. How did the Faith Militant get so popular with the common folk, anyway? The Faith dislikes sex, alcohol, and Margaery Tyrell. Pretty sure those are three things that the common folk like very much, and the worst charge laid at Margaery so far is... an unproven, white lie? Yeah, that'll sure turn the country against her after everything she did for them during Joffrey's reign.

4. Speaking of weak accusations, why did Ser Loris get all huffy and puffy when his squire, the one who personally dresses him, proved nothing more than that he has seen Ser Loris naked? Isn't the correct response to say "he's my squire, duh"?

5. Why did Margaery go to the hearing without an army, if she knows that this sect is crazy enough to kidnap her brother? Bad PR? There aren't any cell phones in King's Landing, she's not in danger of being overheard. If she says the High Sparrow became corrupt and tried to kill everyone and she had to put him down, no one will know otherwise. She's got a good resume while the High Sparrow is an unknown new entity coming into boatloads of power that he never had before, I don't see why she's terrified that people wouldn't believe her.

6. What were Cersei's motivations this season, exactly? The usual line is "she cares about her children more than anything," except when her only child in King's Landing tells her in no uncertain terms that he is perfectly miserable and despondent because Margaery, the love of his life, is gone, her response is to... give precisely zero fucks? Because apparently screwing Margaery over is more important than her children this season? Uh, OK.

7. So... how fucking dumb is Cersei? The best/only way to go after Margaery that she considered was arming and unleashing an autonomous militant religious sect on the entire city? And crossing her fingers that it wouldn't go after her... or anyone she likes... or anyone that she merely needs and would be inconvenienced to see in a prison cell? That is the best way she could think of to get rid of a human being she doesn't like for dumb reasons? What's the next step in Cersei's diabolical plan, crossing her fingers that Tommen never again in his life sleeps with a woman who might influence him against her? Like ANY sane woman would do? Like what is this I don't even.

8. And how dumb is Olenna Tyrell? The High Sparrow had to explain to her like 10 times, using different words but saying the same thing, that he doesn't care about money. Revolutionary concept. OK, I get it, head of a rich family, this is brand new territory to her (really? She has never in her very long life met anyone who had other priorities than money? Like her servants?), but it takes his ten times repeating it for her to clue in? Surely, as a shrewd and manipulative woman, one of the first lessons she learned was NOT TIPPING HER HAND? As in, not allowing her enemy to see her grasping when she has no idea what this enemy wants? Which is exactly what she does in that scene, like a pathetic amateur?

9. Why has everyone in King's Landing forgotten that they can torture people? Why doesn't Olenna covertly capture the High Sparrow while he's walking around town, and torture the living daylights out of him? I'm talking digging splinters under fingernails, sleep deprivation, capturing the High Sparrow's living family members and doing that shit to them while telling him that the only way to stop it is by releasing Margaery and Loris? Sure, it could turn out to be the case that the High Sparrow is so principled even the torture of his loved ones won't work (in which case kill him, capture another higher-up within the organization, and rinse and repeat; eventually someone will crack; they're religious, not aliens). But at least it would feel good.

This is the most absurdly preposterous storyline in a season filled with preposterous storylines, and it's absolutely unforgivable because the writers KNEW WHERE THE STORY WAS GOING YEARS IN ADVANCE. They KNEW that "what the people of King's Landing think" is important and deliberately chose not to give us any of it until the very last possible second. They KNEW that the state of religion in King's Landing is important and deliberately chose not to make it a factor on the show until the very last possible second.

Why should I care about what happens in King's Landing, to any of these characters, when they're all clearly too dumb to live? I thought these guys were supposed to be players in the game of thrones. Instead, their scheming and problem-solving skills are decidedly elementary-school grade.

On June 06 2015 04:07 pure.Wasted wrote:


So Winterfell and King's Landing are interchangeable? If the Starks pray to the gods every day, then I should take that to mean that every character in King's Landing, including the unnamed masses from whom we see and hear virtually nothing, is also very religious? And by "very religious" I mean "religious enough to want to see Biblical-style Judgement passed down on sinners"?

Because I thought the different lands in this world were actually different, the different characters were different, and the different religions were different, and I shouldn't assume anything about anyone unless I've seen it. And I also thought that religion in the real world, which GoT attempts to imitate, is a complicated thing, and saying thanks before eating dinner (the extent of religion in the show outside of Mellisandre's fire magic voodoo) doesn't automatically mean you want to see heretics burn.



How do you know that there are thousands of Sparrows in the city? We certainly haven't seen that many, and I can't recall being told that there are that many. Where did they all come from? Have they always been there or are they a result of the war with the North? What sort of power did they have before Cersei empowered them? All questions I would have liked to know the answers to before these people came out of nowhere to take over the most important political location of the last 5 seasons.



The common people will have even less once the Sparrows outlaw alcohol and whore-houses.

See, the difference between us is you're cool with just filling in the gaps for the show, whereas I'm actually expecting it to live up to its reputation. You know what happens in the real world? Poor people who live in the booneys in the U.S. vote for the Republican party which is pro-business and anti-welfare, because the Republican party has great PR. The real world is complicated. When something happens of a magnitude as huge as "the face of King's Landing has irrevocably changed," I want to see that change, I want to know why Margaery's reputation no longer means shit, I want to see rumors spread that Tommen is an incest-child and turn the population against him. I want this city to feel like an actual living, breathing city, instead of being told "don't worry about it, the Sparrows are in power now."



OK, Loras says that his squire must have met this prostitute and told him about the birthmark. Or he says that this prostitute is actually his squire, since he's been masquerading as one long enough to have a resume. Pretty much anything would have been better than "LIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!"



What war? In what scenes? I haven't seen or heard of any wars since Robb died back in season 3. And if this is true, why does Littlefinger take Olenna's threat seriously, if he has an army and she does not?



Because no one has dreamed of taking Loras into custody for 30 years, and yet here we are. Things are obviously changing.

You're basically telling me that the Tyrells have zero clue about this Faith Militant movement, that is apparently as you say thousands strong, and yet they have no idea that these guys are legit and for real and will do anything to get their way. Even after Cersei officially gave them power (what, did no one else in the government or among the nobility hear about this? Is this a secret?) Even after they kidnapped Loras, no one in the Tyrell family bothered to do some detective work and find out some information on who it is they're going to be going up against in a trial?



So if next season, Cersei concocts a scheme to let the White Walkers into King's Landing, you're going to be cool with that because she'll be "plotting and scheming" and her plan will have no "long term value"? As long as she's scheming dumbly, it doesn't really matter what she's scheming about, we're good and she's in-character?

What I am saying is that I do not understand what she thinks in her head. I do not understand why her petty grudge against Margaery is suddenly more important to her than the happiness of her child. I also don't understand why this woman who "thinks she has absolute power" had to invent a brand new branch of government to get rid of a single nuisance human being. What's wrong with poison?

It's one thing not to have forethought, it's another to be paranoid about people finding out that you're fucking your own brother, and then a few episodes later unleash a sanctimonious religious cult that answers to no one onto the city without a care in the world. You don't need to be as smart as Tywin to see that the religious cult may in fact find out about that thing you're paranoid about and then completely and totally ruin your life. Just being not the dumbest person on the planet should be enough.



A mayor? In what country do you live in that mayors have absolutely no idea what goes on in their cities and what the people are like? Again, in defending Game of Thrones, you make the show seem shallow and insipid. More shallow than it actually is. What about Ned Stark? He was a lord with power, did he only listen to the rich and powerful, and similarly try to solve every problem by throwing money at it? Why should I assume that Olenna is a moron who just throws money at every problem, when that's not how all Lords have shown to behave on the show, and it explicitly contradicts the cunning and subterfuge she showed in dealing with Joffrey?