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

There is huge vein of pyrite underneath Kings Landing that makes it strategically valuable

It's Dikembe Mutombo, not Manute Bol that did the finger wag.

Like if Daenerys has power over Dorne, the North, The Stormlands, Riverrun, the Reach and the Vale, as the show seems to suggest, who gives a shit about the Iron Throne? She has actual power over 80% of the continent.

i think it's just that people with power like to pass their power on to people they trust, after they die, and it's easier to pass that power on to someone who has a claim to be heir to the throne

Is the dragon an heir to the throne?

at least, that was the reasoning of charlemagne during the famous "why are you so obsessed with being the king?" debate of 792

xp

She can pass the power to whoever she wants, just why does it need to be on the Iron Throne?

A history of anemia?

CAN'T YOU SEE THIS IS ALL A SHAM

She should have Gendry forge her a new Iron Throne and just sit on it outside Kings Landing

underrated moment: two minutes of screen time being dedicated to a scene right out of the ending of a mediocre romantic comedy, that OMG KNOCKED UP realization for Jon Snow when he hugged Gilly

xpost https://cdn.instructables.com/FLF/HTYY/IT22MYGB/FLFHTYYIT22MYGB.SQUARE3.jpg?auto=webp

King's Landing is placed really strategically, right in the middle of everything, so it's hard to leave alone. If you don't have the Iron Islands, it's not really that big of a problem. But King's Landing, you need that.

Anyways, that's how it used to be, until time and space stopped making sense around season six.

I think you can leave King's Landing alone if you want to, it is a matter of perspective.

It's her father's throne, right?

ottomans were p keen to take constantinople back in the day

It's like taking Britain but leaving London. It's going to be a problem...

We are talking about several nations worth of people vs one large city. It's more like if you have Britain Germany Benelux Spain France then yeah, London is still important but not that important.

I don't think it is very important. I just think the show failed to demonstrate why KL is so much more important than the rest of the continent combined, especially after all that happened.

it's important for Daenerys to...exercise her sovereignty

it’s the throne of the seven kingdoms!

like half the people bowing to you are thinking “you’re _our_ queen, but not _the_ queen”

no matter how many realms you have, unless you rule the united realm you’re not recognized by history. it’s like all the poor suckers history calls “the antipope” because they weren’t vested with whatever token of legitimacy the so-called real pope had

“Power lies where suckas think it do” or however that quote goes.

King's Landing is at the best road of the continent, at a river that gives easy access to large parts of the Riverlands, and has a great harbour. You leave King's Landing, you leave yourself open.

But again, that would make sense if Westeros was still a place with any semblance of real geography.

underrated moment: two minutes of screen time being dedicated to a scene right out of the ending of a mediocre romantic comedy, that OMG KNOCKED UP realization for Jon Snow when he hugged Gilly

Now, every time I see Kit Harrington with that "just smelled a fart" look on his face for these last few episodes, I'm going to imagine that Jon Snow is stuck thinking, "Sam fuccs."

now that someone’s theorized it, it’ll probably be a false lead, but:

Jon abdicating his title and becoming like the Targaryen who was in the Night’s Watch could be a direction they take. He ends up back at Castle Black or living beyond the wall, having more in common with the free folk than anyone else

I’d like it because Aemon, and to a lesser extent the guy who was leading the free folk, were good characters

at least he'd be doing right by Ghost

ghost needs to just tell the starks to fuck off and go find a nice little shephard family to spend the rest of his days with in peace and quiet

he's with Tormund now

think jon needs to die for a cause bc he was brought back to life, back to reality, back to the here and now yeah.

ben lindbergh in the ringer: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’s Rush to Finish ‘Game of Thrones’

https://www.theringer.com/game-of-thrones/2019/5/9/18537794/game-of-thrones-ending-too-quickly-pacing

The perplexing part of Thrones’ hurry to remove itself from our screens is that almost no one was rooting for a rapid resolution. Viewers don’t want it to end. The media doesn’t want it to end. HBO doesn’t want it to end. Only the showrunners are ready to wrap things up. In an interview published before the final premiere, D&D made it clear that they were the ones insisting on stopping at eight seasons and limiting the last two to a total of 13 episodes. “HBO said, ‘We’ll give you the resources to make this what it needs to be,’” Weiss said. Benioff added, “HBO would have been happy for the show to keep going, to have more episodes in the final season.” But the showrunners refused. “We always believed it was about 73 hours, and it will be roughly that,” Benioff continued. “As much as they wanted more, they understood that this is where the story ends.”

It’s long been evident that D&D are less besotted by the fantasy elements of the series than many fans who fell in love with the books, but lately they’ve been slipping in the places where we expect them to excel. If we can’t count on complex characters or satisfying storytelling, we’re left with little except obligatory battles, box-checking death scenes, and CGI spectacle (provided direwolves aren’t involved).

i think the problem is it wasn't D&D who have excelled at the storytelling, it was Martin. The first four seasons are to varying degrees very exceptional bc they followed the novels very closely and didn't pull any punches, and the show slipped when the storytelling was largely turned over to the imaginations of these two dudes, who aren't drawing from deeply researched medieval history for inspiration or trying to upend fantasy tropes, they're drawing from big budget superhero flicks and TV cliches and the darkness of this show is pretty much gone.

That essay is OTM. This season as I know it is playing out like a show past its prime, with a shortened episode order and a desperate rush to wrap things up before the lights go out. But that is exactly the opposite of the apparent situation, which is inexplicable. They seemingly had all the time, money, and fan/network interest in the world, yet decided to cut and run.

if they weren't interested in doing the show anymore, they should've given the job to Bryan Cogman and ran

i appreciate something ineffable about the show has changed since jon snow got done in, but find myself not caring and enjoying it, albeit being happy that it's ending soon

i agree with everything in lindbergh's essay, but it's been getting worse for years and years now, not just all of a sudden here at the end. would i really want 3 more seasons of late-stage Game of Thrones? they really stepped in it once they started going past the source material, and i don't think they were going to suddenly figure it out anytime soon

one thing that the show is missing is that the first several seasons especially had the feel of a fully-populated and realized world, with a world history that was fully entrenched in the decisions being made, the lead characters were never stupid as much as they were naive to the realities of betrayal and dishonor, and for awhile many large battles were kept offscreen because the narrative intrigue was so strong that it kept the story moving along beautifully (even at its relative slow pace of world-changing events occurring). these dudes are doing the opposite: they want the major setpieces burnished with the veneer of half-assed intrigue that comes about because characters say stupid things because that's the only way to keep the story going to whatever end point they decided upon.

the battle episodes have largely owned, mind you, but they're examples of spectacle over any plotting. i bet the dudes love the big battles because they can write an episode where everything is put on hold except for who get their head hacked off and who the hero winds up being in the end.

been watching the show for the first time the last couple weeks and I'm up to the middle of season 4. honestly enjoying the show so much i might go to the source material and read a fantasy novel for the first time in my life. have had so many people tell me the show dips after season 4 so kind of sad that I've watched most of the purported peak of the show

It's all kinda heartbreaking since GRRM all but promised we wouldn't get a Lost/Battlestar ending, and that GoT would "stick the landing.". I guess he's right in that it won't be an anger-inducing WTF-style ending, but (and this is even worse) it looks like we're going to get a big dumb loud ending which ignores the smaller and bigger themes of GoT in favor of rooting for Jon to "win" the game.

xpost I read the first two books, and in my opinion the shows did a pretty good job with the material. At the same time, I didn't think they were particularly good or want to read any more of them.

xpost or for that matter even bothers to explain the magic and mythology the show has introduced.

jim, if you're interested in the world of the show and want to know more, definitely read the books. it's essentially the same plot, but the world is rendered under a microscope, instead of a magnifying glass

the books are pretty terrific in terms of plotting, up to the point that i read them. and many of the characters go in vastly different and more complex directions.

omar OTM - plotwise the books are a tour de force

Honestly my biggest gripe with the latest episode was how did Bronn just stroll into Winterfell with a crossbow.

I feel like even with the accelerated pace, the show could still be good with people that aren't colossal dumbshits in charge of it

I'm in full of agreement with D&D that the show has run its course and more than 73 hours is too much. I think they understood the more they take big narrative decisions in this universe, the more the franchise will be cheapened. They just ain't GRRM and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as they don't stretch it too far.

Given by how rushed this new stuff has felt, I don’t think the show has “run its course”, it just feels like these guys know they’re not particularly great at running this on their own and want to be rid of it.

Also lol at arbitrarily picking 73 hours as the sweet spot.

But like Karl or someone above said, I don’t need more of this if this is how pathetic it’s gonna be.