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

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

Rewatched and this time I noticed that when Brienne enters, Tormund is agape.

Glad to see Sansa meets Littlefinger in the next episode. Bran surrounded by white walkers.

best line of this was "this is good soup"

best shot was maister whoever taking a full 10 secs to shuffle out of a room

So much throat stabbing in GoT currently. I swear an average of two throats get stabbed per episode.

Dany's shit at the end was quite exciting but only about a fifth as exciting as when she killed the Masters in season 3.

i found jon and sansa's reunion weirdly touching, not that it was particularly well done or that i even remember their interactions before, but five whole seasons having passed since they were last onscreen together lent some serious weight to it

Yeah it was nice.

liked the way jorah couldn't resist gawping up at naked dany

dany needs some fireproof clothing if she plans on making a thing of this superpower

Apparently (according to the HBOGO thing after the show) Jon and Sansa had NEVER been on screen together before.

And NO CAPES (x-post)

TBH this was an episode that I felt like I "noticed" the sets in a way I hadnt before. There was a scene with Daario and Jorah running around some narrow streets in wherever Dany was holed up, and my immediate thought was "lol this looks like a Star Trek episode".

Feeling pretty cheap these days. Wonder what thy're saving the money for...

contracts w/ the principals have presumably ballooned big time, is one thing

But the show must also be raking it in so yeah maybe we're up for some major CGI scenes ala Hardhome (which would have cost a bomb to make).

I don't think there's any part of HBO revenues that are directly tied to GoT

How do shows this big afford to do what they do then? I mean someone must be budgeting for it.

(that may be a massively dumb question sorry, I dont know much about how cable tv works)

Just coming in here to quote myeself and go nahnahnah for a sec

Pfffft. Daenerys is the liberator. She's not "getting rescued." She'll get all of those crazy widows to bow before her and march on whoever stands in their way.

― human and working on getting beer (longneck), Tuesday, May 10, 2016 5:25 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Also hoping Daenerys never gets fireproof clothing.

Good episode with lots of moments though. Ramsey's letter was pure ether by horseback.

well let me walk that back - they probably make money on GoT through merchandising, DVD sales, etc.

but it's not like the superbowl where revenues are tied directly to viewership numbers - there are no ads! that's the whole premise of HBO, innit? you pay a monthly subscription fee and you get ad-free prestige TV programming.