HBO's adaptation of Game of Thrones - Thread 2. There are a lot of nerds.

booooooo

ramsay's apple slicing skills are v suspect. the end was cheese city

I wouldn't have guessed I would get sick of Jonathan Pryce prattling on but ok, enough, I'm ready to confess, please

or convert

A lot of Dhany's victories come from her having dragons and/or being able to withstand flames (I always forget about that one...good job GoT for not overdoing it), plus the music was terrible and I always slightly groan at all the bowing-before-the-Queen business (even though I get it, she killed all the Khals and withstood fire).

AND YET I still get a thrill from Dany being a total badass in just the right way. "You are all small" etc was just perfect.

Will be interested to see what happens when her pro-slavery Dothraki hordes start hanging in Mereen. Or what she's going to think of Tyrion's "negotiations".

I liked the High Sparrow's speech. Feel like they would normally have written him off as just the villain by this point waiting to be dispensed with but they're admirably sticking with it and trying to flesh out his character. Plus Pryce is too good.

Fuck that Osha/Ramsay scene.

Also, Story Movement!

ramsay's apple slicing skills are v suspect. the end was cheese city

Think it was meant to signal it was a blunt knife?

uuuuuugh bringing Osha back just for that was the goddamn worst

Oh, looks we'll get to see the whole ironborn primary season. Yay.

best ep in a while

i like the high sparrow its good how he tortures royals

the khal fire was very satisfying

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best ep in a while

― lag∞n, Monday, May 16, 2016 3:57 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

agree

jon arron continuing the tradition of hateable snotty nosed tyrant brats

that was a good one. it would be cool if daenerys would just permanently surround herself with fire.

Was that fire supposed to spread by itself or was the ground covered in something flammable?

Poor Osha.

I thought the Brienne, Davos and Melisandre scene was interesting, totally forgot about that possible conflict. Didn't realise Davos still doesn't know about Shireen. Wonder what he'll do if he finds out.

Was Tormund making eyes at Brienne?

Oh yeah totally. Tired of bears I guess

wld watch tormund-brienne romcom

I loled especially because people have been shipping Tormund and Sansa for awhile now

Was that fire supposed to spread by itself or was the ground covered in something flammable?

I thought about this too - assuming those were oil lamps, then the fire was just spreading across the spilled fuel. Though why nobody had ever had an accident with them in that tinderbox of a temple before Dany showed up is anyone's guess. Or maybe that building is just the Dothraki version of Gävlebocken and they just count on that door never being locked from the outside.

I thought maybe the boys snuck in and spread oil or something, but then I thought that would have a noticeable smell, then I thought I was thinking too hard about it.

ha i had not noticed it was a dull knife. that's a pretty cool plan by rams. sit around in your room and cut through a bunch of apples with a cheese knife while the real knife hides somewhere out of frame.

i thought that was the inference, given that the scene starts/ends with him peelin that apple

Dany's plan did seem a bit risky for her to be so confident.

this was better than it's been and it was still kinda not so good.

p much just a tv show now. thx for that link btw brakhage -- hits on a lot of what what mad that scene such a disappointment

So it sure seems like the High Sparrow told Tommen that Margaery was going to do the walk of shame, knowing that he would tell his mother, who would enlist the Tyrells to march into town to stop him, and then he also sent Margaery to see her brother knowing that Loras was past all hope. The way these things are presented to the audience we're meant to believe Margaery is actually going to "atone" via the walk but there's no affirmation of this whatsoever, it's all second or third hand.

I just can't figure out what his endgame is for having the Tyrells march into town unless he really thinks he can get Margaery to greet them at the front door as a septa.

only cersei said marg would be doing the walk tho right? we didn't hear that directly from either the HS or tommen i thought?

Odd that Davos hadn't been more persistent in asking Melisandre what happened to Stannis, his wife and Shireen.

Maybe high sparrow wants to be martyred?

The really weird thing about the Rickon scenes is that everyone is supposed to think that him and Bran are dead, yet nobody comments on that. Neither Sansa or Jon seems to think it weird, or asks themselves where Bran might be.

Odd that Davos hadn't been more persistent in asking Melisandre what happened to Stannis, his wife and Shireen.

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Monday, May 16, 2016 2:35 PM (22 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's probably just that the writers didn't find it convenient to show him doing this until after Brienne arrived, so that they could have her intervene in the way she did.

I think he already asked twice and probably assumed by her manner that everyone was dead. But considering how long he's served these people I thought he'd ask more.

Terrific and really well thought out review of the Tower fight scene

― Brakhage, Sunday, May 15, 2016 8:31 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have some issues with this. Two main rebuttals:

1) There was only so much time allotted for this scene. They made it exciting and kept things moving. It indeed flirted with Darth Maul style silliness but they admirably didn't have his foes attacking one at a time and overall was not anywhere near as choreographed looking to me. So it felt tense and dramatic and lasted exactly as long as it needed to.

2) Arthur Dayne is supposed to be one of the most skillful fighters who has ever lived in this fantasy universe. In fantasy universes, we can safely assume that the most skillful fighter that ever lived has abilities that compensate and go far beyond the restrictions and resourcefulness real life sword fighters need to rely on. Therefore, complaining that his fancy moves and stances left him too exposed, or that his techniques (down to using two swords in the first place) aren't correct- it all can be explained by just saying "Well he is at a mythical level of skill in a fantasy universe and what doesn't work for the greatest possible Earthling swordsman works for him."

Except he ended up dead...

He was a great fighter, but like everyone else in this dang show he is extremely vulnerable to being stabbed in the back.

Sure, so maybe insanely skilled fighters can be vulnerable to enemies they thought they already killed. I don't think that takes does his reputation any harm.

oops, delete "takes"

When the guy who played Barristan Selmy was on the UK aftershow he was quite up front about being pissed off and disagreeing with the decision to kill off his character (still alive in the books). I thought it might become clear why they did it but it seems like a bad decision to me.

Sure, so maybe insanely skilled fighters can be vulnerable to enemies they thought they already killed. I don't think that takes does his reputation any harm.

Nah he sucked at fighting and deserved to die

Too many characters supporting Dany for her storyline. Trying to pare it all down + adding stakes to the Harpy threat. I imagine. Now that they're free from the books you can see they're moving towards the endgame with some level of pace.

Sure, so maybe insanely skilled fighters can be vulnerable to enemies they thought they already killed. I don't think that takes does his reputation any harm.

― Evan, 16. maj 2016 21:32 (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I really don't think this is the first time in military history that someone wounded has turned up not dead. Seems like something the best fighter in the realm should consider.

do people watch this show for the realistic swordfights?

Honestly, I feel as if almost every scene could be nitpicked to death at this point on this show. Why did Dayne use two longswords? Why is nobody surprised Rickon is dead? Why didn't Davos ask Melisandre before? Etc. On the other hand, I kinda like it, it makes it seem as if the books will have a lot of details to fill in. + I image GRRM sitting in his sofa yesterday, with four chapters written slowly describing Daenyrys rediscovering her invulnerability to fire, getting her hands on bottles of wildfire through complicated dealings, looking at the last scene in Vaes Dothrak and going 'Oh, fuck you guys!'

The sword fight thing doesn't bother me at all. Even films devoted to martial arts sacrifice realism and practicality for spectacle and that's what I'd do too.

That said, I would like to see films with swordfighting the way that woman envisions it.

so re the tower of joy thing... the battle was a little underwhelming and shot pretty flat but I don't think much was lost for pure show-watchers. for anyone who had read the books, the appearance of Ser Arthur Dayne and his legendary greatsword would have been a much-anticipated Big Deal so seeing him get the Holy Grail treatment would be understandably disappointing.

given how much crap Frederik B takes, and that iirc we've locked horns in this thread, I want to be the first to offer a hearty OTM. looking forward to reading Winds as its own thing whenever it happens.

do people watch this show for the realistic swordfights?

― 龜, Monday, May 16, 2016 3:48 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Exactly. All that matters is that it holds a sense of risk and tension. It shouldn't be designed to satisfy fencing professionals or medieval arts experts. If you want it to be realistic, have the larger party all run at their enemies with swords pointed forward until those enemies are helplessly and pathetically overwhelmed, all while various fighters with throats already cut reel around on the ground gurgling horribly. Is that the kind of exciting "epic" showdown we want to watch on TV? Should we celebrate its realism at the expense of theatrics? A happy in-between is probably best.

Agreed with Robert.

re Rickon. Did Theon confess to Sansa what he'd actually done? I seem to recall him confiding to someone but might be mistaken.

theon told sansa the truth, yes