Game of Thrones Discussion

[skullman80]

There are a ton of people who still give a **** about it. I think the internet (specifically Reddit) makes the backlash seem much louder than it actually was/is. It's still one of the most watched shows on HBO Max. The two House of Dragon trailers are the 4th and 5th most watched videos on HBO Max's YouTube with 17m views each (and the latest trailer was just released 2 weeks ago). The hype is real and HBO would not greenlight so many damn spin-offs if the demand wasn't there.

I guess I meant more in the mass scale side of things. Obviously things are picking back up now that the prequels are coming out, and people are still going to watch.

It was basically a huge phenomenon and then just kind of went away after the last season. Maybe that happens more often than I imagine when shows end, but to me at least it seems the last season of the show made it lose its luster in how its was perceived after the fact.

[DigitalGypsy66]

...and the first annual Game of Thrones convention is coming in LA this Fall. That should've happened about 5 years ago imo.

But with the world that GRRM built, this prequel could be good if the show is well executed. It looks good, which is important. Not cheap SFX/CGI, and the production value looks very high. Now if the showrunning/writing matches that, we'll be all set. I think.

[shafnutz05]

I've read the fan theory/suggestion for how GoT should have wrapped, and man it was good. It basically makes Bran a big bad towards the end as it comes out that he was using his powers for his own personal gain.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

that sounds pretty cool. For a universe where everyone is flawed, the Starks were too honorable. They were effectively the main characters so I understand why they were written that way but it was almost artificial

[Dickie Dunn]

It really is a shame that HBO let D+D get away with racing to the finish line. There is some really dumb **** in the last seasons, but a lot of stuff could be fixed if it were properly fleshed out rather than speeding from plot point to plot point.

They needed to get the **** out so the could write and direct their Star Wars trilogy Leslie Jones standup special. GOT just wasn't worth it anymore.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I’d love to see a prequel about the rise of Varys and Baelish. I love their characters’ symmetry (Baelish is a sex fiend, Varys is a eunuch; Baelish wants to sit on the throne, Varys is more about influencing others but doesn’t want to be king etc)

it’d be hard because you’d need great actors; I think Conleth Hall and Aiden Gillen did wonderful jobs

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I watched all of season 4 yesterday and my god is it still great. Might be my favorite season of television ever

I think I’m gonna re-watch seasons 5 and 6 and then stop. Funnily, came across this article today

https://www.ign.com/articles/george-rr- ... es-seasons

George R.R. Martin Was 'Out of the Loop' in Later Game of Thrones Seasons
The author took a back seat towards the end.

not something we couldn’t guess but still, what a bummer. That article says that he has much more of a role in the new series so maybe it’s not gonna be all bad

[Dickie Dunn]

Dude was too busy writing one sentence a month.

[Kane]

I'm glad that ASOIAF didn't move the needle for me. I'd hate having to wait like that.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I never read the books because I’m illiterate but it seems like once the show came out and they realized it was a massive hit, Martin stopped caring about the books and wanted to invest his time into the show/the new show. It’s like he realized tv is a better medium for his stories than the books

[robbiestoupe]

The books are some of the best fiction I've read, but that isn't saying much. Similar to the show, the storyline/plot started to go downhill towards the end.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

if you’ve ever wondered the exact moment the show started going down hill

[meecrofilm]

Lolol

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

the end of the show is so bad. why would the other houses be ok with Sansa saying “the north will be independent”?

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

Yep. Especially since Dorne and the Iron Islands had a recent history of independence or fighting for it.

[shafnutz05]

Yep. We want to be independent but also want our family to rule yours.

[meecrofilm]

Yeah, a dumb thing in a sea of dumbness for sure.

[nocera]

House of The Dragon early reviews are pretty decent for the most part.

[Shyster]

The "Bran becomes king" ending is stupid because it doesn't solve anything. Yes, he's the Three-Eyed Raven and will presumably be able to rule capably because he can see any treachery coming, but he won't live forever, and with his paralysis he most likely won't have children. And even if he did, that still wouldn't solve the issue.

The reasons the Targaryens were pretty successful as rulers and were able to rule (mostly) peacefully for centuries is because they were not from Westeros. All of the families who used to be kings themselves could at least reassure themselves that they were not kneeling to another Westerosi king. I'm not sure if its in the show, but in the books there's a part where Maester Aemon was talking to Jon and describes how there was hardly a year pre-Targaryens where at least two or three of the various kingdoms were not at war with each other, but the Night's Watch kept their oaths and took no part in the fighting even though it was their people and families who were at war. When the Targaryens came along and conquered everyone, all of those families who used to be kings could at least say to themselves, "Well, at least I'm not kneeling to a [Stark, Arryn, Martell, Gardener, Durrandon, Lannister, Hoare]. I hate those jerks. We've been fighting them for centuries."

Putting a Stark on the Iron Throne just perpetuates that problem. Why should anyone kneel to someone whose family is, at absolute best, the equal (but absolutely not the better) of their own?

[nocera]

That was awesome. I’ll have more to say tomorrow but damn what a great first episode.

[skullman80]

Yeah that was reallllly good. I've been sucked back in.

[skullman80]

the C-section part made me turn away...nope nope nope.

the dragon cgi was also a bit meh.

I don't really have any complaints overall though. Really strong first episode. Fading out to the got theme for the credits was a nice touch.

[the wicked child]

I somehow managed to forget the first episode was tonight... Glad to hear it was good. I'll check it out when I get a chance.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I thought it was fine. Some good, some bad (CGI seemed much cheaper)

It’ll be interesting to see how the story develops. GOT was such a complex series with all the characters with a staggering amount of plot threads. HOD seems much more tightly focused; which isn’t a bad thing in itself but the complexity of GOT is one of my favorite things about it

[nocera]

The biggest compliment I can give it is that it felt like Game of Thrones, maybe even more so than the last two seasons of Game of Thrones. It didn't feel like a fan film or a cheap knock off. The cinematography is beautiful, along with the score. I agree that some of the dragon CGI looked iffy but it didn't bother me. The production level is still on a totally different level than most TV. Compare the look of this show with any Marvel or Star Wars series. It's not even close.

It does seem more tightly focused, but then so did GOT after one episode. Even if this show doesn't expand in the same way, I wouldn't complain about more streamlined storytelling. I'll be happy watching Matt Smith go more and more mad.

It's fun to have actual appointment television again.