HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones - will this be just for nerds? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

I'm not getting any of this confusion, tbh. I mean, for Arya's reasons for going, at least. Now we are experiencing things through her eyes, as a stranger in a strange land, and the mystery is deliberate. And that's fine.

But if Arya's hell-bent on avenging her relatives, why has she set sail to Braavos so she can hang around a dank labyrinth trying to forget who she is?

She knows she needs the skills first. She's pretty patient is Arya.

she has wanted to be a killer since p much the start, and they did spend several episodes showing how shit hot at killing people that jaqen guy was.

ah, alright then.

I was wondering whether deciding not to throw Needle away was due to sentimentalism, or just that she was thinking, 'this Faceless Men thing may turn out to be bs, I need a back-up plan'. Or a bit of both.

didn't ned give it to her? seems it'd be p hard to throw away the weapon your murdered father passed on.

Ned or Jon Snow? Or did Jon just help her name it or something?

I thought Ned gave it to her - didn't he find she was trying to learn to fight, get annoyed, then change heart and give her the sword?

ned got her some sword lessons. jon had the sword made for her

Oh yeah, it's coming back to me - Ned found the sword amongst her stuff in King's Landing, was pissed off at first then relented and sorted Syrio out to give her lessons.

ah right - presume they're just keeping the sword in the picture so she can kill jon snow with it then

she wants to kill jon snow?

nah i'm just imagining a future scenario in which that might be the case

i haven't read the books

Arya's kill list as it stands: "Cersei, Walter Frey, the Mountain, Meryn Trant"

why is the mountain on it again?

i think he was commanding the torturers in that ruined city when she was captured there. i assume that was when his name got on the list

so that's what she was saying. I heard 'marlin trout' and thought she had it in for a fish. who the fuck is meryn trant?

he killed Syrio

figured it wasn't RDJ's fault

He's in it quite a lot but rarely says anything - hatchet-faced kingsguard who's always lurking around Cersei.

Haven't they been showing us Arya staring at that coin and reciting names for two seasons before this one? This is not a case of a show not setting up a character motivation

yes, they have. i know because i've been really bad jokes about arya spending it on a hot dog for a couple years now

You mean some brown stew in Hell's bottom

Shit, show merge. Uh, Bottom's Kitchen

What's thatp lace called. The place with the stews

In Flea Bottom we called them 'bowls of brown'.

Right. Hell's Fleas

Flea Bottom, Flea Bottom, talk about brown bowls, the Red Keep's got 'em.

Haven't they been showing us Arya staring at that coin and reciting names for two seasons before this one? This is not a case of a show not setting up a character motivation

― Is It Any Wonder I'm Not the (President Keyes), Wednesday, April 29, 2015 3:47 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It was more the fact she was supposed to be out for revenge but instead decided to go to a house in the remotest of nowhere, throwaway her possessions (including, ostensibly, her sword), so she could hang around and mop a floor while forgetting who she is. I don't remember a bit in S4 where she made up her mind to go to Braavos or the b/w house but maybe I'm forgetting it. It was a year ago.

as an aside, i like it when people call it 'games of thrones'. especially if they've been following it for years.

xpost approaching tuomas-level deliberate obtuse

i felt like Aria's drive for revenge was waning – because all these people on her list were getting killed constantly by other people. i know she was still reciting her names, but i feel like she is more willing to put all that on the backburner.

and just hang around.

she wants to become an assassin. she knows one dude in the world who is one. I wonder why she goes to find him?

yes that's clearer now, but it wasn't before.

and besides, all this mr miyagi nonsense 'you can't come in. now you can come in' / 'now sweep the floor for days on end', is a bit played out and feels like an excuse to draw a simple plotline out over a series where not enough happens.

^^^

i think it would be pretty interesting if they were willing to pare back the number of storylines per episode...like maybe just follow one or two, allow them to develop without so much interruption and stalling.

but they can't develop storylines without running into the brick wall (the end of the books).

really the best solution is for this show to take a breather until 2020 or so, i'm sure everyone would be fine with that

the amount of expository back-story-retelling in this show is ridiculous

really the best solution is for this show to take a breather until 2020 or so, i'm sure everyone would be fine with that

― Karl Malone, Wednesday, April 29, 2015 12:18 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

All of the actors will age normally except Bran, who at his current rate will be a decrepit old man by that point.

just think, first episode could be tyrion and dany until they (presumably) meet. episode two: arya and sansa's storylines so far. episode three maybe cersei and jon snow? or whatever. it's all so choppy and dissatisfying dramatically right now.

i remain confused by how frustrating this is to people, i mean to each his/her own obvs but the sprawl and the crosscutting has been embedded in the show's blueprint for most if not all of its run

but they can't develop storylines without running into the brick wall (the end of the books).

well, since they aren't going to be going entirely according to GRRM's plan out of necessity, i'm not sure this is a factor exactly

yeah book diversion is already a thing, they can do whatever they'd like at this point

True, but they're not doing it very well is the thing.

the only change i've really disagreed with is how that scene with cersei and jaime in the sept went and only bc it made an already unsettling occurrence that much worse

like what has really bothered ppl?

this is a slow-paced show, it is basically the wire with swords and magic and a lot more nudity, always has been, things unfold at a v measured pace until they explode and they always explode eventually

xpost
eh, i mean they have artistic license to explore different directions that aren't in the books, especially while they wait for the new ones, but does anyone really think they're going to introduce a new storyline that would have a major effect on the overall plot? one that kills off a main character, or results in one house destroying another or something? nah- any new non-book storyline is gonna have to be like a optional sidequest that the characters do for bonus XP