Game of Thrones on HBO

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Jon

Bran was far from the safe choice. He was unexpected. I also think GRRM would go that route (and has confirmed he told the showrunners the ending, even though he might have gotten there differently). GRRM is very cynical about power, and those who seek it. He also believes that the good rulers would be (1) those who don't want power or actively seek it and (2) have the benefit of the past and the present. Bran fits that description. And, lest we forget, Bran was the first real chapter in the Song of Ice and Fire book series. The showrunners just didn't develop the character in the show properly.

I think it was a safe choice. It allowed most of the main characters to get their happy ending. Sansa could be the Queen of the North. Tyrion could be the Hand of a kind ruler. All the good guys get to control their land and live happily ever after.

Choosing a realistic ending that fits the show would have taken guts. This ended up being good guys win and bad guys lose. We all go home happy. It's an Avengers movie.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I think it was a safe choice. It allowed most of the main characters to get their happy ending. Sansa could be the Queen of the North. Tyrion could be the Hand of a kind ruler. All the good guys get to control their land and live happily ever after.

Choosing a realistic ending that fits the show would have taken guts. This ended up being good guys win and bad guys lose. We all go home happy. It's an Avengers movie.

To be fair, the Avengers had a whole lot more plot armor

[Pyser]

Game of Thrones Season 8 Pitch Meeting - YouTube

[Izulde]

I have a difficult time calling it a happy ending unless you’re anyone but a Starkphile. It was equal to HIMYM finale bad. Pretty much ruins the whole series.

[Dodgerchick]

I wanted blood and violence, not flowers and kitties.

I think i'm over the ending, though. my coworker is on the Hodor part and it brought back all kinds of feelings.

So yeah, i'm cool with the ending, now.

[Edward64]

I finally got to watch the finale. No surprises as I've read the reviews the past week.

I enjoyed the episode. Other than the King/Queen's council being off and the miraculous re-population of Unsullied and Dothraki, I thought it was a solid episode. The selection of Bran the Broken was okay too, didn't see that coming.

Didn't like the NK or King's Landing episodes because they were too "quick" after such a long buildup.

[tyketime]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I hope it is the adventures of Arya out west

I was hoping for the same as well as she was my favorite character. But it certainly seems like they've ruled it out (for now...):

Unfortunately, HBO boss Casey Bloys put an end to that speculation in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “Nope, nope, nope,” he said when asked about a possible sequel to the show. “No. Part of it is, I do want this show—this Game of Thrones, Dan and David’s show—to be its own thing. I don’t want to take characters from this world that they did beautifully and put them off into another world with someone else creating it. I want to let it be the artistic piece they’ve got. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not trying to do the same show over.” Bloys added that a sequel simply doesn’t “make sense” for HBO.

[flere-imsaho]

Yeah, so there's going to be a sequel/spinoff focusing on Jon Snow: The Jon Snow Spinoff and the Future of ‘Game of Thrones’ - The Ringer

[Lathum]

House of the Dragon premiers tonight. Haven't seen a ton of buzz about it. Anyone going to be watching?

[stevew]

Boycotting this one. Might look into the Jon Snow one.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Lathum

House of the Dragon premiers tonight. Haven't seen a ton of buzz about it. Anyone going to be watching?

I'll probably re-up my HBO Max subscription to watch this. Fuck the Jon Snow spinoff though

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Lathum

House of the Dragon premiers tonight. Haven't seen a ton of buzz about it. Anyone going to be watching?

I’m definitely in! So far, I’ve heard decent things!

[flere-imsaho]

I'm still scarred by Season 8.

My head says yes, though. Not the same showrunners who ruined GOT. I liked Sapochik's episodes. Isn't going to have to deal with suddenly not having GRRM's content not be available. As long as the writers are up to it, everything else should pan out.

But my heart says no. There's a quote attributed to Terry Pratchett:

It's amazing how much of fantasy is rearranging the furniture in Tolkien's attic.

What was refreshing, amazing, and compelling about reading ASoIaF back in the day (uh, 20 years ago) was how much GRRM took fantasy in another direction. Plus, so much richness, so many interesting subplots, so much hinting, so much showing, not telling.

Obviously this was one of the super great weaknesses that led to the problems in Seasons 7 & 8. So while I'm optimistic that D&D aren't in charge, and clearly the money, directing, and acting is all there, it's really going to hinge on the writing, and that's a pretty tall order for those writers. Hopefully they'll be able to do it, but I'll wait and see.

[Mota]

I first read Game of Thrones about 20 years ago. My wife was in the room with me and I threw the book across the room. She asked what happened, but I couldn't really explain it. Many years later, we watched season 1 of Game of Thrones, and when Ned got the axe, I just pretended to throw a book across the room and she knew exactly why I did it.

The rules were changed when that happened. No one was safe. Who we THOUGHT were the main characters in book 1 weren't. Not even close, even the 2nd layer of characters weren't the main characters, for the most part.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Just watched the first episode. I enjoyed it!

[Edward64]

And what about Book 6?

(I know the answer. Frak GRRM)

[Mota]

Originally Posted by Edward64

And what about Book 6?

(I know the answer. Frak GRRM)

It's never happening. Ever. Somewhere, years ago, he wrote himself into a hole, and hasn't been able to dig himself out of it. And he probably gave up. He's going to give little hints of a release, and dangle it around every few months to keep people off his back, but we'll never get that book, and certainly not an end to the series.

[Edward64]

Brandon Sanderson will finish it after GRRM passes

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Brandon Sanderson will finish it after GRRM passes

No one cares about those damn books at this point. Also, now with the HBO series they have jumped the shark on the books. I agree there is no way GRRM is still working on them.

[RainMaker]

I think he's just old and likes going to conventions, making video games, and being on set for big budget TV shows more than writing a book he stopped caring about a decade ago.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Galaril

No one cares about those damn books at this point. Also, now with the HBO series they have jumped the shark on the books. I agree there is no way GRRM is still working on them.

I would still enjoy reading them. I think GRRM and Patrick Rothfuss are my top 2 writers with their plots, prose & imagination.

Unfortunately, both have the same "writer's block/distraction" issue. I have given up on GRRM but holding out hope that Rothfuss will come through.

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I think he's just old and likes going to conventions, making video games, and being on set for big budget TV shows more than writing a book he stopped caring about a decade ago.

Think this is pretty much spot on.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Just watched the first episode. I enjoyed it!

It was really good, but I had low expectations. It definitely had more of a first 4 seasons of GoT feel to it.

[Izulde]

Saw it was 40% for a year subscription to HBO Max, so bit the bullet. Loved the first episode, though we went 0 to 100 real quick. Definitely agree that it's an S1-4 feel so far

[Pyser]

definitely a promising start

[Mota]

If only they had modern medicine. Some antibiotics for his wound, and a c section and it would have been a happy ending to the series after one episode!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Think this is pretty much spot on.

Agreed. He clearly had the first three books firmly mapped up and understood. Then he had success and combine that without a firm grasp of what happens next... Then the pressure mounts and, like whenever you have a big, massive project that needs to finish, all of a sudden you become super productive on everything else. I never get more things done than when I have some large assignment at work. You end up expending your energy on everything but, because that big project is so daunting. You keep putting it off, but don't feel like you're not doing anything, because you are.

There are no books that gave me as much joy and pleasure as those first three. His books than spawned a show that provided some really great and amazing television moments. He's done more than right by me. He doesn't owe me a thing, I owe him.

Looking forward to more of this series!

[Groundhog]

If he had wrapped it up after book 3 as was the original plan, it would have been a perfect series.

[BishopMVP]

Solid ep 1, though I'm a little worried about the rumoured time jumps.

[bhlloy]

I thought it was definitely solid, if a little formulaic and predictable. I guess after how the final season was panned they wanted to get back to what made the early seasons good and didn't want to push the envelope too far. Certainly solid enough to keep watching, which wasn't a given how they ended the main series.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Agreed. He clearly had the first three books firmly mapped up and understood. Then he had success and combine that without a firm grasp of what happens next... Then the pressure mounts and, like whenever you have a big, massive project that needs to finish, all of a sudden you become super productive on everything else. I never get more things done than when I have some large assignment at work. You end up expending your energy on everything but, because that big project is so daunting. You keep putting it off, but don't feel like you're not doing anything, because you are.

I agree with almost all of this except I actually think that by now he does have how the rest of it ends mapped out in his head and so not only does he have the daunting task of actually finishing all that writing, but a lot of it is just going to be filling in all those details, which is likely boring by comparison. In addition, I'm sure he feels a need to write the remainder just as richly as the first few books, which just adds to the whole daunting thing.

There are no books that gave me as much joy and pleasure as those first three. His books than spawned a show that provided some really great and amazing television moments. He's done more than right by me. He doesn't owe me a thing, I owe him.

I agree with almost all of this except I will admit to getting annoyed the number of times (though he seems to have stopped now) where he would say "it's almost done", or "it'll be with the publishers likely in November". Like, don't make promises you can't keep. Just say "it'll be done when it's done" and I can live with that. And that's even with my guess that he'll never actually finish the series.

[PilotMan]

The most recent episode was very, very good. Lots going on, and it finally laid down the rest of the work in Act 1. After reading back through the Wiki and knowing where a lot of the story goes, I am very excited to see it all play out. It clearly goes in many different direction, and frankly, I'm happy that people are pissed about the time jumps and the exchange of actors. They are but a minor detail to the overall story.

[Coffee Warlord]

Aside from the fact that a third of the episode was pitch black, of course.

[Atocep]

House of Dragon has been outstanding and the time jump went better than I expected. The last episode was annoying dark, but the tension throughout the episode was really well done.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Aside from the fact that a third of the episode was pitch black, of course.

Yep, you would have thought they learned, but no. Oh well. I thought my TV sucked or because my room was so bright. Glad other people had the same issue.

[Izulde]

The show has been terrible since the timeskip, but finally started picking up again about midway through the episode with the thing with the kids. I was just about the point of bailing until then.

They never should have switched actors - especially Rhaenyra. Milly Alcock was amazing and the chemistry between her and Matt Smith was fantastic. Emma D'Arcy has been absolutely abysmal and has zero chemistry with Smith. Spoiler forthcoming:

Spoiler

Milly + Matt incest scene = tense, passionate, riveting
Emma + Matt incest scene = a paint dry sense of "Wanna fuck?" "Sure. Nothing else to do, I suppose."

D'Arcy always sounds tired and like she has a head cold. No range or vitality to the acting at all.

Emily Carey was better as Alicent, but at least Olivia Cooke does a good enough job at retaining the continuity of the character, so I actually don't hate that change.

I have a feeling the show is going to take an even bigger nosedive once Viserys dies. Right now, he's the only reason I'm still watching. Fantastic character and actor who is really the glue precariously holding it all together

[Groundhog]

The actor swap didn't bother me so much - I agree it was probably not needed, especially when handled pretty inconsistently - basically all younger actors changed. Feels like they could have hired a slightly older cast to play the younger versions of themselves in most cases. Still, D'Arcy as Rhaenyra for me is just playing an older and more mature character. I thought Alcock was great though, but it's not distracting me as much as I thought.


Overall though I'm really enjoying it. It's fun having stories in this world without the baggage of GRRM's many, many plot threads. It's definitely different to GRRM's stuff, but fun all the same. Enjoying it a heck of a lot more than Ring of Power, which I think we're now 2 episodes behind and honestly unlikely to pick it up again.

[thesloppy]

I've gone back and forth on how I feel about House of the Dragon. I dunno if I just wasn't paying enough attention, but the death of the Strongs seemed really glossed over & I had to watch it several times to understand what had happened.

[sovereignstar v2]

Awesome episode. This series almost makes up for the travesty that was the final season of GoT.

[PilotMan]

Hate to tell you this, but there is another time skip coming and omg, the kid actors are gonna be gone. Then it begins.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Hate to tell you this, but there is another time skip coming and omg, the kid actors are gonna be gone. Then it begins.

FFS. Well, at least it can't get much worse.

[PilotMan]

Relax, in spite of your protests, the show is good. The real story is about to begin. Unfortunately, for you, it starts after Viserys kicks it.

[flere-imsaho]

I'm not watching because a) I don't have an HBO subscription currently and b) I'm kind of waiting for it to get a long way down the road and see if the verdict is that it's worth it, not wanting to go through Season 8 again. To be fair, this is the same delayed path I'm taking on LOTR on Amazon, too.

But anyway, talking about actors, I remember reading a bunch of stuff online about whether Matt Smith was going to work in a compelling, slightly dangerous/edgy character, written mainly by people who had either a) never seen him in anything or b) only seen him in Dr. Who or c) clearly hadn't seen him as Prince Philip in The Crown, where he is absolutely compelling, playing a reasonably edgy character.

I think I just wanted to share how much I've liked The Crown.

[flere-imsaho]

@PM: Do we know how many seasons it's supposed to run?

[PilotMan]

I don't know. Like GoT, it depends on how long they take to cover the source material. GoT could have been 15 seasons if they'd gone even twice as fast as the books. No idea if there's a set plan.

[sabotai]

I was worried with Matt Smith playing a character like Daemon. If he did his "Doctor Who Angry Face", I wouldn't be able to take the show, at least his parts, seriously. It took me several episodes of Breaking Bad to stop seeing Bryan Cranston as Hal from Malcolm in the Middle and start seeing him as Walter White. Same thing happening, he's done a great job so far.

As for the series overall, I have enjoyed it so far. The time skips and actor changes haven't bothered me. It's been a steady level of enjoyment for me.

[bronconick]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I don't know. Like GoT, it depends on how long they take to cover the source material. GoT could have been 15 seasons if they'd gone even twice as fast as the books. No idea if there's a set plan.

The rumor at the beginning was 3-4 seasons

[PilotMan]

Wow, that was a heavy episode. So much going on, and very well done. Really, really happy with how the season is developing.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Wow, that was a heavy episode. So much going on, and very well done. Really, really happy with how the season is developing.

+1

This show knows how to set up tension and deliver.

[Mota]

If this was season 8, they would have fought at least 3-4 wars by now.

Lots of time has still passed, but everything has been left to simmer. I thought it was going to explode this week, yet somehow the king pulls off a magic trick and keeps everybody together.

Excellent first season for sure!