Game of Thrones

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Episodes are usually about 55 minutes long. The finales, apart from in season one, have been about an hour and 5 minutes long.

 

[Jockney]

Rape, paedophilia and kiddy burning. Dark. Deep. Edgy, man.

Losing patience.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Ellaria: The word of a Kingslayer? *gets up and walks out after pouring her drink on the floor*

Writers: shit we're running out of time to wrap this crap up

Ellaria: Maybe you're not so bad after all, i'm over it now kk xx

 

[markwwfc1992]

If I was to be pedantic, when Jorah took Dany's hand to jump onto the sand in the coliseum, wouldn't she have notice that his wrist/arm has been infected from that stone disease thing?

 

[SaddlerJonny]

If I was to be pedantic, when Jorah took Dany's hand to jump onto the sand in the coliseum, wouldn't she have notice that his wrist/arm has been infected from that stone disease thing?

He has it covered, you see that in episode 8. Also lot's of people are saying that Dany will get greyscale now that Jorah touched her, which is false as IIRC you have to touch the disease with bare skin to contract it.

 

[G.B]

If I was to be pedantic, when Jorah took Dany's hand to jump onto the sand in the coliseum, wouldn't she have notice that his wrist/arm has been infected from that stone disease thing?

He grabbed her hand with his right hand. It's his left wrist that is fucked up, and he covered it with a big ass strap dealy. Though it's a bit weird they did a close up shot of her holding that other bints hand right after.

 

[markwwfc1992]

Ah fair enough, thanks for clearing it up

 

[.V.]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-daughter-in-season-5-episode-9-10304780.html

 

[M Dogg]

Looking forward to seeing how this series ends...

There is the one obvious thing that I keep reading about. Interested to see how the Sparrows plot plays out though.

 

[Jockney]

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...-daughter-in-season-5-episode-9-10304780.html

'people didn't care enough about the shitty, meandering stannis storyline that wasn't going anywhere so we had to artificially up the stakes (pun intended, cos we're cretins)'

 

[thespus]

And how pointless has the Dorne storyline been

It hasn't been executed well, but I thoroughly believe Doran has a plan. Trystane and Marcella will be back at King's Landing serving as his eyes and ears for the proper time to exact revenge.

I don't understand the hatred of the Stannis and Shireen incident. It's been foreshadowed in previous seasons, and if Stannis truly believes he is "Azor Ahai", or the "Prince That Was Promised"—I personally think it will be Jon Snow—then he is once more utilizing this magic of Melisandre (worked for him before) to ensure his destiny is fulfilled. He views it as a personal sacrifice for the greater good (note the similarities in that reasoning to what Sam explained to Olly re: Jon Snow and the Wildings). It's a complex theme and draws on the power religious/occult beliefs had over people in darker ages. Of course no one enjoys seeing a little girl burned alive, particularly at the will of her father, but the range of emotion and the moral complexity of that scene is tremendous. Selyse, often seen as a pawn to Melisandre's fanaticism, finally showed human emotion to her daughter, but only after it was too late. The interaction between Davos and Shireen was fascinating, too. You could tell Davos knew this would be his goodbye. I can't imagine he'll return to Stannis at this point. I'd like to see him become a mentor to Jon Snow.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

I suppose if sacrificing Shireen means becoming king in time to stop the long night and everyone in the world dying then it's not so bad.

 

[thespus]

'people didn't care enough about the shitty, meandering stannis storyline that wasn't going anywhere so we had to artificially up the stakes (pun intended, cos we're cretins)'

I don't see how it is artificially upping the stakes any more than any plot twist or shocking moment in Game of Thrones or any other fantasy story. It's not as if they wrote 8 episodes, realized people were a bit bored of the Stannis story line, and a panicky intern suggested "burn the daughter!". This will have been under consult with GRRM and I imagine something similar will happen in the forthcoming books.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

It was poorly handled though. His struggle was essentially off-screen. His decision was made far too quickly and far too easily. This should have been something he was struggling with on-screen for a few episodes at least.

 

[thespus]

I agree it wasn't executed (intended, of course) well. I just disagree that it holds little plot value, or that it was some artificial insertion. It holds the same significance as the return of Drogon to Dany. In no way is it similar to the unnecessary Ramsay/Sansa/Reek rape scene. Everyone knew Ramsay was a cretin, Sansa didn't care for him, and Reek is a man without courage. There was no plot or character building; just rape.

 

[Jockney]

I don't see how it is artificially upping the stakes any more than any plot twist or shocking moment in Game of Thrones or any other fantasy story. It's not as if they wrote 8 episodes, realized people were a bit bored of the Stannis story line, and a panicky intern suggested "burn the daughter!". This will have been under consult with GRRM and I imagine something similar will happen in the forthcoming books.

It was under direct consulation and that's part of my point; I believe Martin is planning to do something similar with Shireen in WOW. This is the trouble with epic narrative arcs, they come with grand ambition but need constant, inorganic stimulation to keep the reader's interest. I completely buy Stannis's bloody singlemindedness. I don't buy that he'd sacrifice his bloodline for uncertain rewards. Additionally, I think this season has been bogged down by poor, pulpy writing and the on-screen drawn-out, tortuous murder of a child is less thematic resonance than it is part of a larger motif of gratuitious and lingering scenes of violence over the course of the series. Particularly against women.

 

[thespus]

It was under direct consulation and that's part of my point; I believe Martin is planning to do something similar with Shireen in WOW. This is the trouble with epic narrative arcs, they come with grand ambition but need constant, inorganic stimulation to keep the reader's interest. I completely buy Stannis's bloody singlemindedness. I don't buy that he'd sacrifice his bloodline for uncertain rewards. Additionally, I think this season has been bogged down by poor, pulpy writing from the and the on-screen drawn-out, tortuous murder of a child resonates less thematically than it is part of a motif of gratuitious and lingering scenes of violence over the course of the series. Particularly against women.

You don't buy he'd sacrifice his bloodline? He's already had his brother murdered and saw Shireen's death as inevitable with winter coming.

Awful violence against women? It's a show set in a fantasy world similar to our dark/medieval ages - awful violence, especially against women, isn't that surprising to me given the awful violence against women throughout history. This is a fiction television show. If you don't like how it portrays violence, don't watch it. I can be horrified by the visuals; but I don't visually enjoy seeing scenes from concentration camps or scenes from 12 Years a Slave, either - and those are actually based on real historical events! There are a few scenes which were unnecessary, and the importance of this sacrifice to the plot is documented, but this seems like moaning for the sake of moaning. This is not a lingering scene of violence "just because" like Sansa's rape.

 

[BCFC Jordan]

I saw someone saying that the actual Azor Ahai killed his wife in order to gain power or something along those lines. I guess that's what the argument behind the scene could be, but it was still awful and completely out of character (maybe not so much in the TV series version of Stannis but D&D have portrayed him in a negative light from the beginning).

I don't know why they even bothered with the initial scene between him and Shireen, earlier in the season, because it just causes the act to be even more out of character Now it's a good juxtaposition of how Stannis should be portrayed, and how he shouldn't.

 

[thespus]

I saw someone saying that the actual Azor Ahai killed his wife in order to gain power or something along those lines. I guess that's what the argument behind the scene could be, but it was still awful and completely out of character (maybe not so much in the TV series version of Stannis but D&D have portrayed him in a negative light from the beginning).

How is it out of character if this is how his character has behaved in the television show all along? If people prefer the books and dislike the show, read the books and don't watch the show. They're separate entities and there is no changing that. Moaning isn't going to change much except your blood pressure.

 

[Jockney]

You don't buy he'd sacrifice his bloodline? He's already had his brother murdered and saw Shireen's death as inevitable with winter coming.

A brother (who he barely knew) he was in direct opposition with and the child he wouldn't abandon despite the social stigma it caused him. Not directly comparable. Stannis is 'honourable', if that counts for anything within the ASOIAF universe. Far from opening him up to new character possibilities, I can only see how they've narrowed. His storyline is now just a power dynamic with Melisandre -- so now we're just waiting for the penny to drop (or fucking drag and drag and drag and then drop).

Awful violence against women? It's a show set in a fantasy world similar to our dark/medieval ages - awful violence, especially against women, isn't that surprising to me. Women were burned as witches not all that long ago There are a few scenes which were unnecessary, but this seems like moaning for the sake of moaning. This is a fiction television show. If you don't like how it portrays violence against women, don't watch it. I don't enjoy it; but I don't enjoy seeing scenes from concentration camps in incredibly moving WWII film scenes, either.

That old 'if it offends you, ignore it' bollocks argument. It's the most popular cable drama of all time, one that sells itself on the strength of its writing (in particular the complex dealings of otherwise nuanced three dimensional ensemble), so it deserves to be criticised if it peddles offensive, outdated schlock in favour of dealing meaningfully with its characters. 'Historical' setting, modern audience.

 

[thespus]

A brother (who he barely knew) he was in direct opposition with and the child he wouldn't abandon despite the social stigma it caused him. Not directly comparable. Stannis is 'honourable', if that counts for anything within the ASOIAF universe. Far from opening him up to new character possibilities, I can only see how they've narrowed. His storyline is now just a power dynamic with Melisandre -- so now we're just waiting for the penny to drop (or fucking drag and drag and drag and then drop).



That old 'if it offends you, ignore it' bollocks argument. It's the most popular cable drama of all time, one that sells itself on the strength of its writing (in particular the complex dealings of otherwise nuanced three dimensional ensemble), so it deserves to be criticised if it peddles offensive, outdated schlock in favour of dealing meaningfully with its characters. 'Historical' setting, modern audience.

Character growth isn't always for the better; Stannis' character has grown more and more consumed by his desire for power. I prefer character growth, positive or negative, to stagnate crap. I don't see any plausible plot-line which perished with Shireen. Was Stannis going to forget his burning desire for power and retire to the countryside a family man before his impending doom? That seems more artificial than a foreshadowed sacrifice.

It's not a bollocks argument; it reigns pretty accurate - why waste your time, finite, on something which makes you angry? The only retort to this logic is to call it a bollocks argument and other fallacies. No one ever explains "I watch things I know offend me because..." It seems some follow a popular culture phenomena with a determination to find reasons for which it can be disliked. I could critique the most popular music artists of our generation if I'd like, but I'd rather just listen to the music I prefer. I could critique my aunt's unwavering faith to Jesus, but instead I don't and let her live her life. It's quite enjoyable not to subject myself to (anticipated) frustration.

I'm curious why you made a gender distinction earlier. There has been horrific atrocities towards both genders. Is it the actions or the gender of the victim which are truly appalling? Mance Rayder was also being burned alive until the archetypal hero Jon Snow showed mercy. Stannis has never been intended to be an archetypal hero in the show. The incidents with Oberyn and Theon lingered much more than Shireen's screams. I don't think the writers have any sort of gender agenda; they simply show (plausible) human atrocities.

I wouldn't give much credence to Band of Brothers had they arrived at a concentration camp with a dozen recently bathed prisoners having tea and gardening. I don't understand your intention when you say "historical setting, modern audience". Violence, like it or not, has character meaning and has had a role in shaping civilization before anyone thought to record history.

 

[SALTIRE]

Bryan Cranston to appear in series 6 - if true that is superb news!

http://intvseries.com/bryan-cranston-will-star-in-the-game-of-thrones

 

[Don Tonberry]

That "news" is utter Bobba.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Bryan Cranston to appear in series 6 - if true that is superb news!

http://intvseries.com/bryan-cranston-will-star-in-the-game-of-thrones

Please tell me you didn't actually read the article.

 

[SaddlerJonny]

Season 5 Episode 10 Spoilers!! DON'T CLICK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, SERIOUS SPOILERS!

Spoiler

Leaked images

Keep in mind the bottom picture of Jon is definitely photoshopped, so take that one with a pinch of salt.

 

[Cashis]

MUST... NOT... CLICK

 

[BCFC Jordan]

Season 5 Episode 10 Spoilers!! DON'T CLICK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, SERIOUS SPOILERS!

Spoiler

Leaked images

Keep in mind the bottom picture of Jon is definitely photoshopped, so take that one with a pinch of salt.

Spoiler

What's the pic to the left of Cersei supposed to be? Wouldn't it be funny if Jon actually dies in the show, just like they've done with Cat.

 

[SaddlerJonny]

Spoiler

What's the pic to the left of Cersei supposed to be? Wouldn't it be funny if Jon actually dies in the show, just like they've done with Cat.

Spoiler

Stannis' wife Selyse, either hanged by the Boltons or most likely she commits suicide.

Oddly related to my favourite Stannis book quote.

"Outlaws killed him,” sobbed Lady Amerei. “Father had only gone out to ransom Petyr Pimple. He brought them the gold they asked for but they hung him anyway.”
“Hanged Ami. Your father was not a tapestry."

 

[Nath]

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

I predict that people will hate the finale for these spoilery reasons:

Spoiler

- Jon will get Omar'd by Olly underwhelmingly.
- The producers will go PG-13 with the walk of shame.
- Stannis will either lose to the Boltons, or win but get killed comically by Brienne.
- We'll waste precious minutes in Dorne
- Arya will seduce Meryn Trant and scar us all for life.