"A Game of Thrones" discussion thread

[Fulcrum29]

Oh sweet lord...

Then why argue semantics?

 

[Naks]

Fully agree!


Game of Thrones cinematographer insists Battle of Winterfell wasn’t “too dark”
"A lot of the problem is that a lot of people don’t know how to tune their TVs properly"

https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/04/game-of-thrones-cinematographer/

 

[Suspect99]

Fully agree!


Game of Thrones cinematographer insists Battle of Winterfell wasn’t “too dark”
"A lot of the problem is that a lot of people don’t know how to tune their TVs properly"

https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/04/game-of-thrones-cinematographer/

Why should anyone have to tune their TV to watch anything. When everything else looks perfectly fine

 

[LD50]

Will Bran take over from the Night King as the bad boy

 

[greg0205]

Then why argue semantics?

I’m trying to point out that conquest and civil war are inherently different... Both see power usurped, but they’re different.






... and I think Robert was a usurper.

 

[greg0205]

EDIT:

Why and how did he elevate House Tully and House Tyrell, and no, the Greyjoys was elected by the Ironborn after defeat of the pretenders if you know the Hoare legacy. Though Lords Paramount they were still nothing more than 'conquered' vassals.

The Tullys rebelled against Harren to support Aegon and as a reward, Edmyn was named Lord Paramount of the Riverlands.

With Harren and his sons dead at Harrenhal, the surviving Iron Born submitted and Aegon allowed them to chose Vickon Greyjoy, who he named Lord.

You spoke about the Field of Fire... Then you’d know that after Mern burned, Harlen surrendered Highgarden and was rewarded as Lord Paramount of the Reach.

Aegon beats and Aegon loves.

Yes they were conquered, but they were still powerful, and Aegon pretty much let them be after that.

 

[Naks]

Why should anyone have to tune their TV to watch anything. When everything else looks perfectly fine

Let's not go down that rabbit hole.

But the gist of it is that TVs are not configured properly when they are built, and definitely not when in the store.

There are guides on how to setup your panels properly according to defined standards.

 

[Sinbad]

@biometrics

 

[The Voice]

Funny thing is, don't think anyone who downloaded the episodes (files copied from source, I imagine) complained about it being too dark. And if played back on television and it looked darker than it was meant to be, just turned up their brightness and turned off the HDR. So don't think any fingers can be pointed at the cinematographers or HBO.

And all the comments regarding how their defensive strategy was terrible? Well, a force like the Dothraki dominated all battles they were in because they were on horseback and usually outnumbered their enemies by the thousands - who were all flesh and blood and alive, like them. And this is key. Every foe almost everyone at Winterfell had ever gone up against was alive - they bled, got tired, were afraid, etc. And that's why the Dothraki (foolishly) just charged in - because that's how they'd always done it. Until their front line ran straight into the dead army, and realised they were in for a bad time (highlighted by the guy in front who went into the giant, looked up and was like "well ****..."). And with the majority of their frontline now decimated, the rest of the defences went to ****, because again, while the living may have been reluctant to run towards a wall of shields and spears, it doesn't really matter when you're already dead.

 

[alanB]

I only saw the latest episode last night after Showmax seemed to crash completely on Monday night!

Very enjoyable episode in which all hell (literally) broke loose!

But I also have a few quibbles (although they are only minor)

1) Arya is one of my favourite characters, so I was very pleased it was her to kill the Night King. But I was a bit disappointed in the story telling. It was a bit lazy IMO to have her just appear in the nick of time right behind the king. How did she get from the hall where we last saw her, which was presumably far away, with many risen dead between her and the king, how did she get past the deadly Night Walkers, who were standing in her path about a meter behind the king? How did she get her knife back, which she gave to her sister? Normally I wouldn't worry about all this sort of stuff for a minor part in a hugely confused battle, but her killing the Night King was the crux of the whole episode, and all these questions flashing in my mind detracted from what was otherwise a hugely satisfying moment.

2) The episode was very dark on my Samsung TV.

3) Also commenting on who has the best claim to the throne, I was also thinking the the bastard son of Robert had the best claim, being the direct heir to the previous King, who claimed the throne via conquest. Jon Snow has less of a claim IMO, because his father was defeated by Robert. The dragon queen has even less of a claim IMO. I suspect this issue may emerge in future episodes? After Robert died, the line of incumbents was illegitimate due to them not being his sons, so his own real son takes precedence IMO. Of course any new claimant has to first unseat Cersi who claimed the throne through her own "conquest" (which may be argued to be illegitimate, due to her not having defeated the previous incumbent in battle or anything like that - she just took it because a vacancy "opened", without allowing any other claims at the time - which is a sort of conquest. Although I think in this sort of environment, anyone who can get on that throne and keep it, sort of has a defacto right to be there).

4) Also think their defensive tactics were a bit thick. They lost a huge proportion of their army in a few minutes after the start of the battle, for zero gain - those forces may as well not even been there for all the good they did. It wasn't as if those in charge had never faught the army of the dead before, so they should have adapted accordingly. Although one wonders what the best strategy would be. Definitely it should be to avoid any one-on-one trials of strength between opposing divisions, given all the problems with fighting the dead. Probably something along the lines of building many more fire trenches in onion rings around the castle to try delay and consume as many of the enemy as they cross those, while conserving your own forces behind the defences, and using the dragons to burn all those waiting to cross each trench - something along those lines? The overall strategy did work in luring the Night King and then killing him, but it was very expensive in the way they did it.

But overall it's all living up to expectations.

So far, two of my three favourite characters are still alive (Arya and the Hound, Tywen being the third). Wonder how long that will last?

 

[thestaggy]

The only reason the North received titles of Lord Paramount was due to their submission.

All that counts. They bent the knee, acknowledging Aegon as their king, legitimising him.

House Targaryen, through Daenerys and Viserys, never submitted, never surrendered their claim to the throne. That is why Robert wanted them dead, because he knew they held a valid claim and that that claim could in future be used to rally support in Westeros. Something Cersei learned when Dorne, Highgarden, the Vale, the North and the Iron Islands (at least Yara's faction) rallied to Daenerys' banner.

 

[Polymathic]

I feel sorry for those who binged on the previous 7 seasons before this season started.

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

I feel sorry for those who binged on the previous 7 seasons before this season started.

You don't like it, we get it...

 

[SaiyanZ]

Yeah he didn't like it but many did. He also though season 7 was the worst when I thought it was the best. Different strokes for different folks.

I admit some things were out of place like people moving across Westeros too fast in season 7 which made the world feel small. One episode in Dragonstone, the next north of the wall, then back again, then the next in Kings Landing. But they couldn't spend an entire season trekking to and fro from each place. The story has to move along.

 

[stefan9]

I only saw the latest episode last night after Showmax seemed to crash completely on Monday night!

Very enjoyable episode in which all hell (literally) broke loose!

But I also have a few quibbles (although they are only minor)

1) Arya is one of my favourite characters, so I was very pleased it was her to kill the Night King. But I was a bit disappointed in the story telling. It was a bit lazy IMO to have her just appear in the nick of time right behind the king. How did she get from the hall where we last saw her, which was presumably far away, with many risen dead between her and the king, how did she get past the deadly Night Walkers, who were standing in her path about a meter behind the king? How did she get her knife back, which she gave to her sister? Normally I wouldn't worry about all this sort of stuff for a minor part in a hugely confused battle, but her killing the Night King was the crux of the whole episode, and all these questions flashing in my mind detracted from what was otherwise a hugely satisfying moment.

2) The episode was very dark on my Samsung TV.

3) Also commenting on who has the best claim to the throne, I was also thinking the the bastard son of Robert had the best claim, being the direct heir to the previous King, who claimed the throne via conquest. Jon Snow has less of a claim IMO, because his father was defeated by Robert. The dragon queen has even less of a claim IMO. I suspect this issue may emerge in future episodes? After Robert died, the line of incumbents was illegitimate due to them not being his sons, so his own real son takes precedence IMO. Of course any new claimant has to first unseat Cersi who claimed the throne through her own "conquest" (which may be argued to be illegitimate, due to her not having defeated the previous incumbent in battle or anything like that - she just took it because a vacancy "opened", without allowing any other claims at the time - which is a sort of conquest. Although I think in this sort of environment, anyone who can get on that throne and keep it, sort of has a defacto right to be there).

4) Also think their defensive tactics were a bit thick. They lost a huge proportion of their army in a few minutes after the start of the battle, for zero gain - those forces may as well not even been there for all the good they did. It wasn't as if those in charge had never faught the army of the dead before, so they should have adapted accordingly. Although one wonders what the best strategy would be. Definitely it should be to avoid any one-on-one trials of strength between opposing divisions, given all the problems with fighting the dead. Probably something along the lines of building many more fire trenches in onion rings around the castle to try delay and consume as many of the enemy as they cross those, while conserving your own forces behind the defences, and using the dragons to burn all those waiting to cross each trench - something along those lines? The overall strategy did work in luring the Night King and then killing him, but it was very expensive in the way they did it.

But overall it's all living up to expectations.

So far, two of my three favourite characters are still alive (Arya and the Hound, Tywen being the third). Wonder how long that will last?

2. Bastards have no claim. Unless he gets legitimized gendry has no claim.

 

[Polymathic]

Yeah he didn't like it but many did. He also though season 7 was the worst when I thought it was the best. Different strokes for different folks.

I admit some things were out of place like people moving across Westeros too fast in season 7 which made the world feel small. One episode in Dragonstone, the next north of the wall, then back again, then the next in Kings Landing. But they couldn't spend an entire season trekking to and fro from each place. The story has to move along.

You'd probably hate the books.

 

[The Voice]

Snip

The dagger she gave Sansa was made of Dragonglass. The one used to kill the NK has been around for a while in the show, is made from Valyrian steel and was also the one used to cut Littlefinger's throat.

 

[Nick333]

I only saw the latest episode last night after Showmax seemed to crash completely on Monday night!

Very enjoyable episode in which all hell (literally) broke loose!

But I also have a few quibbles (although they are only minor)

1) Arya is one of my favourite characters, so I was very pleased it was her to kill the Night King. But I was a bit disappointed in the story telling. It was a bit lazy IMO to have her just appear in the nick of time right behind the king. How did she get from the hall where we last saw her, which was presumably far away, with many risen dead between her and the king, how did she get past the deadly Night Walkers, who were standing in her path about a meter behind the king? How did she get her knife back, which she gave to her sister? Normally I wouldn't worry about all this sort of stuff for a minor part in a hugely confused battle, but her killing the Night King was the crux of the whole episode, and all these questions flashing in my mind detracted from what was otherwise a hugely satisfying moment.

2) The episode was very dark on my Samsung TV.

3) Also commenting on who has the best claim to the throne, I was also thinking the the bastard son of Robert had the best claim, being the direct heir to the previous King, who claimed the throne via conquest. Jon Snow has less of a claim IMO, because his father was defeated by Robert. The dragon queen has even less of a claim IMO. I suspect this issue may emerge in future episodes? After Robert died, the line of incumbents was illegitimate due to them not being his sons, so his own real son takes precedence IMO. Of course any new claimant has to first unseat Cersi who claimed the throne through her own "conquest" (which may be argued to be illegitimate, due to her not having defeated the previous incumbent in battle or anything like that - she just took it because a vacancy "opened", without allowing any other claims at the time - which is a sort of conquest. Although I think in this sort of environment, anyone who can get on that throne and keep it, sort of has a defacto right to be there).

4) Also think their defensive tactics were a bit thick. They lost a huge proportion of their army in a few minutes after the start of the battle, for zero gain - those forces may as well not even been there for all the good they did. It wasn't as if those in charge had never faught the army of the dead before, so they should have adapted accordingly. Although one wonders what the best strategy would be. Definitely it should be to avoid any one-on-one trials of strength between opposing divisions, given all the problems with fighting the dead. Probably something along the lines of building many more fire trenches in onion rings around the castle to try delay and consume as many of the enemy as they cross those, while conserving your own forces behind the defences, and using the dragons to burn all those waiting to cross each trench - something along those lines? The overall strategy did work in luring the Night King and then killing him, but it was very expensive in the way they did it.

But overall it's all living up to expectations.

So far, two of my three favourite characters are still alive (Arya and the Hound, Tywen being the third). Wonder how long that will last?

1. Arya is magic. Seriously. I don't know why people are taking issue with this. She is a faceless man, or at least has their powers, and is essentially the most powerful warrior in Westeros. Incidentally, the knife she killed the Night King with looked like dragon glass to me, not her valerian steel dagger.
Anyway, I think she had plenty of time to do whatever before turning up in the gods wood. My problem is that she needed to be rescued by The Hound and Berric in the first place. Although, maybe that was just about her having a moment of self-doubt which is then dispelled by the red priestess.

The Long Night is basically the same story as Helmsdeep. We know Gandalf/Arya is going to save the day, but instead of watching how they go about it we watch everyone else fighting 'til the last breath. Like I said, Arya, like Gandalf is magic, and she works in mysterious ways. The trick that has to be preformed in a story where everyone knows that the day will be saved (because that's how stories work) is making the audience forget that they know it on an emotional level, or at least make them doubt it. The way they did it here, and in Helmsdeep was by showing all the good guys being beaten, killed, and losing hope, instead of showing the plucky John McCane/Arya slogging his/her way towards the villain before the boss fight. The major flaw/beauty of fantasy is that you can solve any problem with magic. The problem then becomes how do you make the audience want you to solve the problem with a wave of a wand? The answer in the Long Night, and Helmsdeep is that you fill them with enough despair that they're begging for the inevitable miracle.

 

[Nick333]

The dagger she gave Sansa was made of Dragonglass. The one used to kill the NK has been around for a while in the show, is made from Valyrian steel and was also the one used to cut Littlefinger's throat.

Ah. My mistake. It was dark.

 

[Nick333]

2. Bastards have no claim. Unless he gets legitimized gendry has no claim.

I'm not sure I even care anymore. The fact is that to defeat Cersei all they have to do is send Arya to King's Landing. My question is how are they going to make the next three episodes interesting given that fact.