Game of Thrones General (Non-Book Related) Discussion Thread - Part 1

[Fist of Khonshu]

Any thoughts on how Arya's new weapon will work?

 

[BatLand]

 

[Deck Rickard]

LOL

Speaking of which, did any of you spot Mac in this week’s episode?

 

[The Big G]

bless the r/freefolk

 

[Lencho01]

Arya: "I could be your family!"


She was clearly interested in him even back then.

Eh, I took it as a friend/brother type of thing since they were so young and Arya was pretty tomboyish compared to someone like Sansa, who was initially deadest on some fantasy of what love truly entails.

EDIT: I haven't read the books, but I will add that it's my understanding they aged up some of the characters for this show and the books allow you to know the thoughts of the characters.

Also, they don't exactly give us a concrete idea of what year the events of the show take place or how much time has passed for these people to develop such feelings for one another.

 

[Marvolo]

Eh, I took it as a friend/brother type of thing since they were so young and Arya was pretty tomboyish compared to someone like Sansa, who was initially deadest on some fantasy of what love truly entails.

EDIT: I haven't read the books, but I will add that it's my understanding they aged up some of the characters for this show and the books allow you to know the thoughts of the characters.

Also, they don't exactly give us a concrete idea of what year the events of the show take place or how much time has passed for these people to develop such feelings for one another.

In the show each season is more or less like a year. Season 2 and 3 was probably 5 years ago for Arya. Shes been through a lot, grown a lot, killed people, shes a young woman and unless shes gay shes attracted to men. I thought her interaction with Gendry was cute and expected or at least not forced or unnatural. In the case of Gendry tho I doubt he's seeing her that way at that moment. Gendry picks on her about the My Lady thing and that can be flirtatious and playful but I think he still very much sees himself as a bastard blacksmith and her a lady. If anything is going to happen between them Arya is going to have to take the lead and not back down. Which if we are being honest, Arya isnt afraid to take the lead and she is stubborn when she wants to be.

 

[Lencho01]

In the show each season is more or less like a year. Season 2 and 3 was probably 5 years ago for Arya. Shes been through a lot, grown a lot, killed people, shes a young woman and unless shes gay shes attracted to men. I thought her interaction with Gendry was cute and expected or at least not forced or unnatural. In the case of Gendry tho I doubt he's seeing her that way at that moment. Gendry picks on her about the My Lady thing and that can be flirtatious and playful but I think he still very much sees himself as a bastard blacksmith and her a lady. If anything is going to happen between them Arya is going to have to take the lead and not back down. Which if we are being honest, Arya isnt afraid to take the lead and she is stubborn when she wants to be.

Yeah, their previous interactions is why I got a friend/brother vibe from them. Like you said, how Gendry would joke around and whatnot. It's why I was a little surprised to learn she loved him in a romantic way back then.

And the way time and distances aren't exactly consistent (especially as the show started to wrap) just throws off the age aspect of things for me. Couple that with how old the actors are/look. Like I looked up Rickon and he was supposedly 11 years old when he died. But dude looking at least 30.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[godisawesome]

Any thoughts on how Arya's new weapon will work?

I believe it’s probably just a double-headed spear in general, but one that has a detachable spear head in case the weapon gets wrecked and she needs to improvise, or if she wants to throw the dagger at someone.

 

[Fist of Khonshu]

I just checked and the last time Ghost made an appearance was in the third episode of season six, right after Jon was resurrected. He was supposed to have a scene with Jon last season (which was written and filmed) but it was cut for some reason. He better not be excluded from the upcoming battle!

 

[BatLand]

In the show each season is more or less like a year. Season 2 and 3 was probably 5 years ago for Arya. Shes been through a lot, grown a lot, killed people, shes a young woman and unless shes gay shes attracted to men. I thought her interaction with Gendry was cute and expected or at least not forced or unnatural. In the case of Gendry tho I doubt he's seeing her that way at that moment. Gendry picks on her about the My Lady thing and that can be flirtatious and playful but I think he still very much sees himself as a bastard blacksmith and her a lady. If anything is going to happen between them Arya is going to have to take the lead and not back down. Which if we are being honest, Arya isnt afraid to take the lead and she is stubborn when she wants to be.

I thought it did feel forced mainly 'cause we haven't seen Arya ever show any interest to romance at any point and when they last saw each other I really never got the vibe there was any romantic foreshadowing. Also I've always felt that Arya does not need or want a love interest and that her only interest is the list and now protecting her family.

 

[Reek]

I can promise you ghost is in this season... oh and

 

[jolldan]

 

[Marvolo]

I thought it did feel forced mainly 'cause we haven't seen Arya ever show any interest to romance at any point and when they last saw each other I really never got the vibe there was any romantic foreshadowing. Also I've always felt that Arya does not need or want a love interest and that her only interest is the list and now protecting her family.

I think youre underestimating the effects of hormones, physical attraction, and in this particular situation impending death.

Arya isnt A-sexual. She just never wanted to be a proper Lady married to some Lord. She didnt want to be tied down. She wanted freedom and adventure. Gendry is exactly the sort of person an older Arya would be attracted to.

And I think youre overthinking what it could mean. No ones talking about relationships or love interests. Sometimes a shag is just a shag. And sometimes attraction and lust is just that. No reason to start hearing wedding bells and vows of commitment.

On another note:

 

[Marvolo]

I just checked and the last time Ghost made an appearance was in the third episode of season six, right after Jon was resurrected. He was supposed to have a scene with Jon last season (which was written and filmed) but it was cut for some reason. He better not be excluded from the upcoming battle!

Based on this show's track record, Ghost will show up just long enough to die.

 

[BatLand]

I think youre underestimating the effects of hormones, physical attraction, and in this particular situation impending death.

Arya isnt A-sexual. She just never wanted to be a proper Lady married to some Lord. She didnt want to be tied down. She wanted freedom and adventure. Gendry is exactly the sort of person an older Arya would be attracted to.

And I think youre overthinking what it could mean. No ones talking about relationships or love interests. Sometimes a shag is just a shag. And sometimes attraction and lust is just that. No reason to start hearing wedding bells and vows of commitment.

On another note:

I dunno for me it would just feel out of character for Arya to suddenly want the D from anyone, since she's never shown any interest to anyone in the show before.

And if it's just a random shag then it would be even more pointless. The only point I could see in Arya getting it on with Gendry is that they'd develop feelings for each other and then Gendry dies so we get a dramatic scene out of it.

 

[Elayis]

Agree to disagree. Your love for the books I think is making you unreasonable in how you judge the series. You don't evaluate based on what's there but what is different. Television is a different medium and many of the changes, at least in the early seasons, you dislike are the natural outcome of a different medium adapting a story (in my opinion quite well). Also, the idea that Benioff and Weiss hate the Starks is nonsense. If anything they adore Arya and Sansa (maybe not Bran, so much...).

I actually agree the last two seasons, more so Season 7, have been so plot driven that Benioff and Weiss have taken narrative shortcuts to get to their desired outcome, leading to characters making bizarre choices, the most glaring of which being Arya considering killing Sansa, Dany being able to get to Beyond the Wall in a day, and so on. But generally these shortcomings are just that: shortcomings, flaws in a show that is still quite great, even if it is no longer the phenomenal piece of storytelling it was in the first four seasons.

And here's the kicker: D&D might take shortcuts George never will, but D&D are about to finally finish the story, complete with more or less George's intended ending. I'm happy to see it, because I don't think George will ever finish his novels.

My comments on the show may have come off as more critical than I intended (at least concerning seasons 1-4), given that I only focused on things I disliked. There are still plenty of things I like about the early years of the show, even the more recent seasons as I wouldn't still be watching it otherwise. As I mentioned before, I can understand that certain elements of the story had to be handled differently due it being a TV show, and some of the changes I even liked. More scenes with Robb, Oberyn and Olenna helped flesh out their characters and give the audience more to care about. The dialogue-less intro of the Blackfish and Edmure was terrific, and a perfect example of translating the essence of the book to fit the new medium. And as a concept Shae replacing Tysha could've worked if handled better, but her abrupt betrayal of Tyrion was sloppily constructed and seemed to go against her established onscreen characterization. If only the show had given us her perspective on things, instead of manufacturing a shocking revelation to catch viewers unawares.

If Benioff and Weiss adore Arya and Sansa then they have an odd way of showing it, given how they've turned the characters into near villains with few redeemable qualities left. The season 8 premiere almost gave me whiplash with how different those two were handled compared to the previous season when they were at each others throats over trivialities.

I can understand people enjoying the first half of the show because I still do, warts and all. Indeed, it's what inspired me to read the novels. It's the enjoyment and praise of season 5 onwards that I find confounding. Sure, the broad strokes are fine, but there's no internal consistency to either events or character actions. Things happen because the plot demands, not due to cause and effect. It's why characters like Jon and Arya can what would be fatal mistakes in earlier seasons and still come out alive, there's almost no consequences to a character's actions if they are deemed important by the writers. And again, I hate to keep harping on this point, but the dialogue has taken a nosedive in the last few seasons. I can't even blame it on the lack of books, since D&D showed in earlier seasons they could craft original scenes that were good in their own right (Cersei and Robert, Tywin's many additions, etc.). It comes off as a lack of interest, like their pandering to the crowd that only cares about dragons and CGI battles.

Nomally I'm not of fan of people posting lengthy articles to prove their point, when it's almost certain that they will go unread, but the writers at The Fandomentals do an excellent job of critiquing the show on its own merits and laying out how broken its storytelling methods are. One is a breakdown of what they think are the nine worst elements of the show, and the other is about how fundamentally GoT misses the thematic and moral messages of the novels. Even if you don't agree with their arguments,

Why Game of Thrones is a Bad Show 101
Game of Thrones and Acedia

 

[Leo Zelinsky]

They hint at it kinda in the books.

Imo they just waited for Maise to age up so it wouldn't be that big a deal

 

[Leo Zelinsky]

M


Why Game of Thrones is a Bad Show 101
Game of Thrones and Acedia

God damn... This dude spends so much time talking about how the show sucks. Why would someone waste so much time typing about something he hates. Gotta put this guy on ignore.

 

[P Supreme]

I'm honestly afraid that they'll leave all of Night King's reasoning for the prequel show. They could probably get by in this series with Bran warging back in time, and finding out what the NK wants. I hope they don't go that route though. It's been 8 seasons. It's time we hear from the NK in my opinion.

to be fair we saw the NK introduced in season 4 so 4 season it's time we hear from him
and to touch on the northern politics that whole scene was infuriating I mean if one man deserves
more trust is JON

 

[DACrowe]

I thought it did feel forced mainly 'cause we haven't seen Arya ever show any interest to romance at any point and when they last saw each other I really never got the vibe there was any romantic foreshadowing. Also I've always felt that Arya does not need or want a love interest and that her only interest is the list and now protecting her family.

In the books, it's debatable but I think there was some unconscious crushing going on (like the scene where she gets dirty playing with Gendry at some stables or something and an innkeeper makes some comment about being young), she is just too young to know what those feelings are. She just is terrified with betrayal when he leaves.

In the series, it is both less obvious than the book scene I'm thinking of but also more pronounced, because there are moments of Maisie's Arya definitely checking out Gendry. It's there, but I always took it as she was crushing on him and he treated her like a little sister. Still, I think there's precedence, and honestly they had a better chemistry Sunday night than Harington and Clarke. Ahem.

 

[DACrowe]

My comments on the show may have come off as more critical than I intended (at least concerning seasons 1-4), given that I only focused on things I disliked. There are still plenty of things I like about the early years of the show, even the more recent seasons as I wouldn't still be watching it otherwise. As I mentioned before, I can understand that certain elements of the story had to be handled differently due it being a TV show, and some of the changes I even liked. More scenes with Robb, Oberyn and Olenna helped flesh out their characters and give the audience more to care about. The dialogue-less intro of the Blackfish and Edmure was terrific, and a perfect example of translating the essence of the book to fit the new medium. And as a concept Shae replacing Tysha could've worked if handled better, but her abrupt betrayal of Tyrion was sloppily constructed and seemed to go against her established onscreen characterization. If only the show had given us her perspective on things, instead of manufacturing a shocking revelation to catch viewers unawares.

If Benioff and Weiss adore Arya and Sansa then they have an odd way of showing it, given how they've turned the characters into near villains with few redeemable qualities left. The season 8 premiere almost gave me whiplash with how different those two were handled compared to the previous season when they were at each others throats over trivialities.

I can understand people enjoying the first half of the show because I still do, warts and all. Indeed, it's what inspired me to read the novels. It's the enjoyment and praise of season 5 onwards that I find confounding. Sure, the broad strokes are fine, but there's no internal consistency to either events or character actions. Things happen because the plot demands, not due to cause and effect. It's why characters like Jon and Arya can what would be fatal mistakes in earlier seasons and still come out alive, there's almost no consequences to a character's actions if they are deemed important by the writers. And again, I hate to keep harping on this point, but the dialogue has taken a nosedive in the last few seasons. I can't even blame it on the lack of books, since D&D showed in earlier seasons they could craft original scenes that were good in their own right (Cersei and Robert, Tywin's many additions, etc.). It comes off as a lack of interest, like their pandering to the crowd that only cares about dragons and CGI battles.

Nomally I'm not of fan of people posting lengthy articles to prove their point, when it's almost certain that they will go unread, but the writers at The Fandomentals do an excellent job of critiquing the show on its own merits and laying out how broken its storytelling methods are. One is a breakdown of what they think are the nine worst elements of the show, and the other is about how fundamentally GoT misses the thematic and moral messages of the novels. Even if you don't agree with their arguments,

Why Game of Thrones is a Bad Show 101
Game of Thrones and Acedia

Eh, I don't agree with those articles because they take a hyper-partisan position that takes genuine critiques and then blows them out of proportion to make sweepingly stupid proclamations, such as "Game of Thrones is a bad show" or "Game of Thrones misses the thematic meaning of the novels."

Whether you are disappointed with it as an adaptation or not, it is very much in keeping with the themes and tones (yes, even if they have mangled Martin's emphasis on consequence of actions in the later seasons) about power, pragmatism, the brutal indifference of politics, and the dread of death and mortality while keeping you invested in the outcome of its varying families, most notably House Stark. And if it was a bad show, not an overrated show or a show that failed to capture the full complexity of Martin, but a bad show, it wouldn't be a series everyone writes thousands of words about, including these folks, as it wins awards and the entire television industry grapples with its own existential crisis because it's ending.

... I think it's a great show. It has gone somewhat downhill, including in the dialogue, but I think it still superb television and I think as a whole it does justice to Martin, even if the books are better. Unlike the books, we will see this show's end, and I can live with separating the two in my head. That is the key difference here, I believe.

 

[The Big G]

mmm tasty memes

 

[kane9321]

where the fcuk is howland reed?

 

[kane9321]

I think we're going to find out exactly what Tyrion and Cersei discussed in her office. Bran probably went back and listened in on their conversation once he found out a Lannister army was coming to Winterfell.

I'm thinking the same thing