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

I'm not going to go all GoT apologetics here but I imagine that extras in normal clothes / suits on the Veep set takes WAY less logistics than GoT extras in more elaborate wardrobe/make up on location.

shout out to anyone with the patience and generosity of spirit to sincerely engage with josh in chiacgo's feeble trolling on this thread, you are truly the best of humankind

I'm not trolling, and I really don't think I've been that objectionable on this thread, tbh. It'd be a heck of a thread if it was limited to day-after reactions of "omg, that was so rad! #holdthedoor." I like learning how these adaptations come to be, I like discussing why things turn out the way they do or don't, I like relying on the expertise of people who understand the story better than I do and have something to offer. I enjoy the show enough, which is why I'm still watching it. I've not said anything personal about anyone, I'm not making fun of people watching it. I honestly don't know what the problem is. Just posting too much? Get in line.

xpost I dunno, I can see why it might seem complicated, but I'm not sure it is. The Walking Dead seems to do ok with big hordes of shambling things in the background, and it's a fraction the cost of GoT. I think a few dirty people wearing rags in the background (Monty Python and the Holy Grail style) would go a long way; detailed makeup and fancy costumes only matter for the stuff closer to the foreground. And yeah, the show's pulled it off before, but saying there are hundreds of thousands of people and not ever showing them is similar to talking about dragons and not showing them. It's getting kind of conspicuous, and honestly I think it's weird that everyone is just so inside baseball/blasé about the budget. "Oh, they killed the wolves because they don't have the money." "Oh, this episode was just three people talking because they are saving their budget for a big battle." "We don't see the dragons because dragons are expensive." That to me in a way breaks the illusion as badly as poorly done effects.

The show isn't about dragons, it's about the complicated power struggle between everyone in the shadow of an apocalyptic common looming threat. I feel like budget concerns certainly help them plan dragon scenes more carefully, but story-wise they are going to be more of a major player in the most climactic moment of the entire show. Them being sparingly deployed at this point certainly helps, because the fact that they only show up in critical moments just adds more gravitas to their power and mystery. If we saw Dany taking them to the dog park every few episodes they'd be much less striking and their dramatic appearances would be diminished. Part of their allure is that we're never sure whether she has any control over them, so having them doing their own thing makes us feel like they're not a reliable crutch for when things get hairy for her.

when she was surprised by her big dragon pal on the roof a season or so ago it looked so wild it felt like it might just suddenly gobble her up bc who knows whats going on in that spiky hot head. dany being eaten by her own dragons could be a good ending for her imo, I think a straightforward jon/dany/tyrion sort it out ending wouldn't be in keeping with the rest of the show so I'm hoping for some delicious undoings

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/game_of_thrones_hodor_door_stoppers

I don't mind not seeing the dragons too much. They never look good enough to carry too many scenes and I don't expect even a huge budget tv show to do it if films rarely manage it either.

I think a straightforward jon/dany/tyrion sort it out ending wouldn't be in keeping with the rest of the show

it's interesting how much of the narrative seems to point like a blazing arrow to Dany re-instituting her family's empire (possibly on both continents this time) but then along the way there's been a series of trap doors designed to subvert audience expectations so that by this point it instinctively feels like it couldnt possibly be that easy.

another seemingly likely possibility is Dany arriving just as the white walker shit hits the fan and thus agreeing to an alliance with then "warden of the north" jon snow--and then further obvious revelations will deepen that relationship.

I think in many ways the show (erratic thought it may be) is kind of a fascinating exercise of subverting expectations, running parallel but also sometimes perpendicular to these immense, detailed novels, overlapping and diverging but often in ways that no one but the show runners and author know. They may (or may not) have a common destination but are taking different routes. Or not. For example, the Hodor time travel thing was sort of ridiculous, and introduces the same sorts of paradoxes that course through lots of hoary sci-fi, but apparently Martin has said that's how he was planning to reveal it all along!

I get the general importance of the dragons, but while the show isn't about them, per se, they are in many ways the prime mover and crux of the whole thing, part and parcel with the apocalyptic common looming threat, which, in the form of the White Walkers, is still pretty chaotic, but in the form of the dragons seems a lot more ... directed. Like nuclear weapons, as someone astutely pointed out. So as much as I would love to see them out taking their dragons to the dragon park to chase balls and sniff butts, I'm not a fan of them being brought in only for big, dramatic deus ex dragon sequences. Tyrion a couple of episodes back unchained them in the dungeon. Are they still in the dungeon? Are they out flying around? I have no idea, and you'd think given their import to the plot, both present and future, and their danger, and how much people talk about them, the show would occasionally check in with them. The White Walkers are without a doubt the bigger threat, but a truly looming threat. Imo we should be seeing more of the dragons, if only in passing, and less of the walkers, but at this point no one really knows where the show is heading, and how quickly.

But again the "unpredictability" of the dragons was always emphasized. The deus ex dragon element was obviously going to be the outcome of the Harpy ambush in the fighting arena, but they're still working hard to make us feel like they may not be a reliable weapon during every moment that threatens Dany. I think rather than them eating Dany, a better trajectory shift would be Dany accepting that reclaiming the throne is not her actual destiny, but instead it is teaming up with Jon to fight the white walkers.

dany reaching westeros and realizing it is foreign to her, and then deciding to return east after the walkers are defeated, would be plausible and pretty satisfactory as an ending

Westeros is declared a Republic, Podrick sworn in as President.

http://orig07.deviantart.net/4c8c/f/2016/117/6/a/podrick_by_funnacosplay-da0h93g.jpg

pod person

Rachel Dratch cosplay.

I know what the ending is gonna be

Dany reaches Westeros, teams up w/Jon, Walkers are defeated. Dany realizes that she doesn't want to rule and the monarchy is dissolved, sowing the seeds of

of a democratic style of gov't.

CUT TO:

2000 years in the future. Kings Landing is a sci-fi megatropolis with flying cars and tall skyscrapers. Citizens ride hover boards and walk their pet dire wolves and miniature dragons on leashes down the street. Giant holographic billboards advertise over-the-counter grayscale medications and vacation cruises in the Summer Isles.

Two figures stand out: Littlefinger and Varys, now cyborgs, walking together and dryly musing on how dull things have become over the centuries. Suddenly a spaceship comes out of the sky and hovers over the Red Keep. Everyone waits with baited breath as the president of Westeros, Tyrion Jon Lannistark III, comes to greet the visitors. The doors to the ship open and out come five humanoids cloaked in mysterious black garments and helmets. The apparent leader walks up
to the president. "Greetings! My name is..." He pulls off his helmet. "...Benjen Stark. These are my companions Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael. We have come to make Sonic the Hedgehog pregnant with the help of Harry Potter. Hail Hydra!"

http://th06.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/238/c/8/amy__s_pregnant___and_so_is_sonic__by_bobblywack-d5ck02b.jpg

The End

Littlefinger and Varys, now cyborgs, walking together and dryly musing on how dull things have become over the centuries.

is this a BSG reference

I'm disappointed you have to ask.

Wait when does my character show up you left out my character WHERE IS THOMAS HARDMAN

you're a shitty DM and you look stupid in that hat

here's some cognitive dissonance for you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQsEzrLp1hQ

He's fantastic in the show!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtH2YSD7kNE

Of course, that's where I recognised him!

latebloomer for presnident! of thrones

Dany accepting that reclaiming the throne is not her actual destiny, but instead it is teaming up with Jon to fight the white walkers.

could she not have both?

it'll prob lean more toward the latter tho

just caught up with the show and (most of) the thread and hooooollly bejesus there are a lot of nits being picked in a manner that resembles the worst imagination of network/studio execs giving notes and wondering who'll save the cat

also a lot of just lampooning of such nitpicking and i applaud the noble efforts of all involved

i like the idea of the white walkers as a virus meant to cleanse the earth of humanity - a bioweapon that mutated out of control. not the most complex metaphor, obv, but a good one, and in keeping with the show's central idea of ultimately little factions with their ultimately little struggles ignoring the wight-elephant in the room that'll kill everything

I did wonder if the lampooning would continue over into the next episodes and everybody would be confused

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/flx-editorial-wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/AnimalHouseLampoon.jpg

^^^ Euron during his travels in Essos.

Parts of this thread:

http://i.imgur.com/PJsF0rB.png

Aegon tease was solid

cold hands kind of!

I hope somebody does a frame-by-frame of the Brantage sequences in this one.

Gilly cleans up nice. Loved Sam waddling out of the bedroom, then barging back in and deciding to hustle off with the family sword. You go, Tarly.

Totally called Benjen Coldhands in this thread. Also didn't someone call the Margaery / Tommen conversion?

This week's prediction for next week: Cleganebowl cliffhanger.

Question: how are they going to make it plausible when Arya drops the waif? How is that supposed to work?

Why wouldn't she have a chance?

Becoming clearer that Dany might become a villain.

With all the emphasis on undead/resurrected characters this season and with the Freys back in the mix, are they possibly setting up Lady Stoneheart?

they did mention the Bw/oB fucking with the Freys' logistics

Why wouldn't she have a chance?

The waif is a better fighter and has all the tools of the house of B&W at her disposal. Arya has Needle and, like, a candle.

Reddit is on the frame by frame game, of course: https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/4lnfd7/spoilers_everything_screenshots_of_an_event_from/

re: stoneheart, hope is alive:

oh well I guess if brienne's getting sent to the riverlands there's another thing that could happen...

― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Sunday, May 22, 2016

Someone post that one lolpic of Skins-era Gilly, pls.

http://i.imgur.com/oIFt7W2.png

Parental caution: full frontal fire nozzle glands

This was Emilia Clarke's best bit of acting so far.

Looks like my Maester Swearengen prediction is coming to pass!

Little Sam is a good baby actor!

This felt like the nadir: loads of ill considered melodrama that needs another scripting pass, the reintroduction of characters no one missed, roulette wheel storytelling and swapped allegiances executed aimlessly and without obvious meaning. Gonna sign off on this show and binge through end of year to see if it picks up and for cultural touchstones but it's been a season of ashes and a deus ex machina in every plot. I doubt it's gonna hard turn back to strong storytelling in the last few lengths.

lol I gave up last ep but this one was fine. benjen wasn't quite ex machina - as an instrument of the raven he was presumably called for right?

low point for me was poor Diana Rigg being forced to explain "in this scene the high sparrow is winning, do you see?" that kinda shit never would have happened in seasons 1-3...

I think Margaery is pretending but I do think it's weird that Tommen's family can't slap him in the back of the head about this.