Game of Thrones [SPOILERS]

[Shannow]

That fight was f'ing awesome.

[schild]

Fucking giant meh.

[Samwise]

Fucking giant meh.

Nobody could have predicted this reaction.

Was that bit with the wights in the book?  If so I definitely don't remember it being so, um, Raimi.

[schild]

Yea, the stop motion animation or whatever the fuck they were channeling there was horrific.

I don't think this show would be such a pile of shit if the characters were equally awesome. It's a giant ensemble cast and so many of the stories are incredibly weak and should've been completely different books, much like The Silver Spike was separated from the primary storyline of The Black Company. Arya's bullshit should've been a series called The House of Black and White and the shit up north should've been The Wall and as far as I can tell it could've been totally divorced from the core book series.

Frankly, this is nothing more than an incredibly poorly structured Dragonlance for people who want slightly better writing. Except instead of 350 pages at a time it's 1200 pages with terrible pacing that transfers perfectly to TV resulting in a terribly paced TV show.

Basically, Tasslehoff is great and the rest fucking blows.

[K9]

Was that bit with the wights in the book?  If so I definitely don't remember it being so, um, Raimi.

I'm pretty sure that the last stretch before the Weirwood tree involved a dash away from pursuing wights, although I think Coldhands had more to do with driving them off than the Children of the Forest and their magical grenades

[Tannhauser]

Can someone tell me what Clegane said about Waterdancing and 'Big Bitch' saving her.  There's a gump or something in my audio.  Just can't get it.

SC:  Big Bitch saved you.
AS:  I don't need saving.
SC:  ...**bargle Waterdancing**..** your sword.

Thought the wights were fine, best scene of the night.  Always good to see some fantasy in this fantasy series.  Never been a big fan of Bran's storyline before though.

Jamie and Tyrion was fine.  I hope the book readers are rending and tearing their garments over the omission.  Can't wait for the show to pass the books so the readers won't have anything left to spoil/be smug over.

Overall a fairly mediocre season that was over-hyped.  They put all the good stuff in the last two or three episodes.  Even Joffrey was not as satisfying as hoped.  I was glad of almost all of the outcomes of the storylines, even ones that the 'good' guys lost.  Hated 'Peoples Court with Kelly C' though it seems the showrunners hands were tied there.

What they did manage to do was get me interested in seeing next season.  Which was a real problem last season.

[eldaec]

They've pretty much stated they are not going that far in season 5. I'd assume they'll take it all the way through feast and dance up to the point where dance starts including feast characters. They only need to keep her busy for about 5 scenes across ten episodes really.

[Teleku]

I loved everything they changed from the books in this episode!  Just as I felt the change in Sansa's story was better than the books, they continue on the right path.

As to the scene I think you were all expecting and hoping for:
As to the changes to Tyrions departure:
All the changes are for the best, imo.  

Though not sure about the hatred for Brans story.  Thought them finding the tree and the child was pretty neat.  I always look forward to those chapters in the books because I really want to know more about the First Men/Children/Others.  I'm sure I'll be disappointed when he finally reveals all the secrets, but its one of the more intriguing aspects of the world for me that hasn't had all its mysteries revealed.  Though I also guess this somewhat spoils that Jojon doesn't have anything major left to do in the book series.  

[Bunk]

For a minute I thought that
Schild - why are you actually watching this?

[Thrawn]

Schild - why are you actually watching this?

He loves the show and everything about it, haven't you been reading?  He watches reruns of it all week while playing arena in Hearthstone.  Season ended exactly where I expected, but was certainly a fan of the changes I could notice.  Although I was hoping maybe Bran would just die so that entire awful story line could just go away.

[Merusk]

As to the scene I think you were all expecting and hoping for:

[schild]

Schild - why are you actually watching this?

http://www.danbarham.com/dinklage/

Edit: The real question is, why are any of you fuckers still reading the books or putting up with this nonsense? I assume the answer is the same.

[Threash]

Because even the shitty parts are better than 99% of what's out there.  Same goes with the show.

[HaemishM]

I liked most of it.

But... what the fuck was that scene with Bran? And have I just totally missed Coldhands? I just started Read ADWD and that scene confused the fuck out of me. Also, LIGHTNING BOLT LIGHTNING BOLT!

[angry.bob]

Can someone tell me what Clegane said about Waterdancing and 'Big Bitch' saving her.  There's a gump or something in my audio.  Just can't get it.

SC:  Big Bitch saved you.
AS:  I don't need saving.
SC:  ...**bargle Waterdancing**..** your sword.

SC: Not you... you're a real killer, with your waterdancing and your needle.

*edited: Just rewatched the scene and corrected it to an exact quote.

[Zetor]

I liked most of it.

But... what the fuck was that scene with Bran? And have I just totally missed Coldhands? I just started Read ADWD and that scene confused the fuck out of me. Also, LIGHTNING BOLT LIGHTNING BOLT!

The fireballs reminded me of Tim the Enchanter 

[Samwise]

I liked most of it.

But... what the fuck was that scene with Bran? And have I just totally missed Coldhands? I just started Read ADWD and that scene confused the fuck out of me. Also, LIGHTNING BOLT LIGHTNING BOLT!

The fireballs reminded me of Tim the Enchanter 

From the very first fireball.

[Abagadro]

The skeletons made me think of Army of Darkness. Needed more Three Stooges action though.

[apocrypha]

I think it was just an homage to Ray Harryhausen.

[Tale]

I liked most of it.

But... what the fuck was that scene with Bran? And have I just totally missed Coldhands? I just started Read ADWD and that scene confused the fuck out of me. Also, LIGHTNING BOLT LIGHTNING BOLT!

The fireballs reminded me of Tim the Enchanter  

From the very first fireball.

I thought the skeletons were old reanimated corpses, perhaps dead reanimated by White Walkers, used by the Children as a trap.

And I thought the Child was throwing explody objects, which seems possible in a world where wildfire exists. She (?) seemed to run out of them at the end.

[Khaldun]

They've pretty much stated they are not going that far in season 5. I'd assume they'll take it all the way through feast and dance up to the point where dance starts including feast characters. They only need to keep her busy for about 5 scenes across ten episodes really.

Where have they stated this? Because as I'm seeing it they're pretty much beyond the books with over half their characters. Next season has to be pure invention/informed by GRRM's notes in many cases. I'd just as soon have them tell Martin's story from here on out since they're on the whole better custodians of it than Martin is.

Let's look at the list:

 

[Rendakor]

You forgot all of Dorne, which is at least a third of Feast. If they shift the focus to Dorne and the Ironborn, they'll have enough content to fill a season; of course that will mean only cameos from most of the characters on your list.

[eldaec]

I've seen interviews say more than once that the problem they had designing season 5 is the lack of a battle to show in episode 9, and the implication they are doing something either smaller scale or off-book.

You can plan it out, they usually do 5-6 things in a show, 1 or 2 is normally just character waffling.

If you think through events in Dorne, KL, the iron islands, the wall, braavos, the riverlands, the north, the far north, that journey on a river, plus bonus set pieces on dragonstone, with the manderlies, they are not short of plot.

Dany next season could happily get by with a scene more or less every other episode, toward the end Essos events outside the city would fill the gaps...

[Khaldun]

I've been assuming that they're not going to go completely ADHD like Martin does and focus on a bunch of completely new characters. Yeah, I know, Sand Snakes are cast, so there will be *some* Dorne, but a season of "oh hai, here's some pirates, and oh hai here's some Spanish/Muslim people" while the expensive contract actors playing the characters that most of the audience cares about just show up in cameos? Fuck that noise, not only would it be shit, it isn't what the showrunners have done so far. The books gave them every reason to send Theon away for two whole seasons and they chose not to, I'm sure in part because that's not how actors' contracts work in movies and TV but also because it's not good storytelling for a 10-episode TV season. (or for a book, but leave that for another thread)

[Threash]

The thing is the "regular" cast has been getting regular trims every season, there is plenty of room to add more characters at the rate the old ones die off.

[eldaec]

I honestly can't see them skipping much Dorne.

There isn't as much of it as people seem to think anyway.

The plot at Riverun is more complicated than the one at Dorne.

[Ingmar]

I don't really understand why doing a bunch of Ironborn stuff would be "boring". Those are some of the more interesting sections in the later books, to me.

[proudft]

Yeah, Victarion is the shit.  He's like a refugee from some other fantasy series.  

[Khaldun]

I think Victarion is sort of an interesting character in the books, but he's also about as plot-functional a character as exists in the series--he's kind of the narrative equivalent of a Fed Ex quest. In the series, Dany doesn't have the problem of not having a fleet--she's got one already.

I think if a Greyjoy is going to go to fetch someone, it's going to be Yara (aka Asha).

[Speedy Cerviche]

I think Victarion is sort of an interesting character in the books, but he's also about as plot-functional a character as exists in the series--he's kind of the narrative equivalent of a Fed Ex quest. In the series, Dany doesn't have the problem of not having a fleet--she's got one already.

I think if a Greyjoy is going to go to fetch someone, it's going to be Yara (aka Asha).

Yeah, Victarion is the shit.  He's like a refugee from some other fantasy series.  

[eldaec]

I don't really understand why doing a bunch of Ironborn stuff would be "boring". Those are some of the more interesting sections in the later books, to me.

I agree but wouldn't be surprised if they cut it. There are any number of ways they can handle MacGuffin delivery, then everything else ironborn is self contained, if Victaron becomes important later he'd be easy to add nearer the time. He could just show up out of the blue where he is at the end of dance and you'd need maybe 3 lines of dialog to explain it.

[angry.bob]

You people saying that the skeletons bore any resemblance to Ray Harryhausen stop motion stuff are fucking insane. I grew up with that crap being state of the art until Star Wars came along. Those skeletons in GoT were light years beyond anything that he did, on every level. He was the best with the technology of his time, but if you believe there was any resemblance between the two other than "skeletons" you literally have no fucking idea what you are talking about. None, at all. If you think you do please go watch the skeleton scene in Jason and then the skeletons in GoT, and then swallow your tongue in shame.

[schild]

Eh. Those skeletons were pretty clearly inspired by Harryhausen stuff. Yea, obviously it was fucking light years ahead of the older shit. Moore's Law guarantees that. But it was certainly some of the most obviously stop-motion inspired bullshit since well, stop-motion crap.

Edit: They could've made them move like the ones in The Mummy. But they didn't, they very purposefully made them look like Harryhausen trash. If you can't see that, you're the crazy one. Btw, here, so no one has to go searching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF_Fi7x93PY

[Ingmar]

The show creators have specifically said in an interview they were meant to be an homage to Harryhausen.

[apocrypha]

You people saying that the skeletons bore any resemblance to Ray Harryhausen stop motion stuff are fucking insane. I grew up with that crap being state of the art until Star Wars came along. Those skeletons in GoT were light years beyond anything that he did, on every level. He was the best with the technology of his time, but if you believe there was any resemblance between the two other than "skeletons" you literally have no fucking idea what you are talking about. None, at all. If you think you do please go watch the skeleton scene in Jason and then the skeletons in GoT, and then swallow your tongue in shame.

Edit: You know what, he's too ignorant to bother with. Bob, you're an idiot.