Anyone watching Game of Thrones? (spoilers)

[peevemagpie]

Been a fan since season 1, I actually read the book. You got to check it out, you'll get hooked.

 

[cpscdave]

Spoiler: Episode 3 Spoilers !

What is Jon going to do now?!
I'm thinking he is going to head south and go say hi to Ramsay!
But who is going to lead the battle against the white walkers now?!

 

[Dotini]

Spoiler: Episode 3 Spoilers !

But who is going to lead the battle against the white walkers now?!

Sheer guess:

Spoiler

Bran. But he will try to negotiate peace.

 

[axmls]

Spoiler: Episode 3 Spoilers !

What is Jon going to do now?!
I'm thinking he is going to head south and go say hi to Ramsay!
But who is going to lead the battle against the white walkers now?!

Unfortunately...

Spoiler

He has to leave right when Sansa starts making her way to Castle Black! It seems like Sansa's going to pull an Arya and always be a step too late to actually meet up with her family.

 

[cpscdave]

This the first season I've watched as it broadcasts. I usually would wait till the season was over and binge watch it.
The week wait is killing me

 

[Marcus-H]

Was it ever revealed what happened to Jon Snows uncle after he went north of the wall?
Season 6 is torturous to watch on a weekly basis! I just want to see 'the mountain' do something cool!

 

[Dotini]

Was it ever revealed what happened to Jon Snows uncle after he went north of the wall?

No, neither in the books nor in the show.

Spoiler: Book speculation

Speculation has it that he might be "Coldhands"

 

[JorisL]

No, neither in the books nor in the show.

Spoiler: Book speculation

Speculation has it that he might be "Coldhands"

I don't know if its a hoax but reportedly the editor of the books wrote that same question in the margin of a book to which Martin replied "No".

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I was devastated by the end of this last episode.

 

[Battlemage!]

I was devastated by the end of this last episode.

Spoiler

Hodor.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/...son-6-episode-2-recap-home-jon-snow/83806622/

Can I just say the continuing complaints about the treatment of women I'm seeing in commentaries about the show are starting to get on my nerves? The show spares no creativity in tortures and deaths and most are of men, but it's the less common bad treatment of women (and generally, the popular women) that causes the outrage? Annoying double standard.

The only thing that irks me about that is that Martin has said from day one he wanted to faithfully reflect the brutality of human history, in particular the dark ages/Middle Ages in general. Considering that even today women are treated like goats in parts of the world, I would say he's being somewhat egalitarian the way so many woman characters have so much power in these medieval societies.

But the point is, just because it's high fantasy doesn't mean the human aspect has to be unrealistic given the historical precedents of medieval society experienced in the real world. The dragons and such are only plot devices used to examine the human condition when brutality is left unchecked by an ignorant society. If you want the story to have maximal emotional impact, it needs to be as believable as possible. This is the same reason video game makers keep striving to make games look and feel more and more realistic. A medieval time setting in a fantasy story needs to have the gritty brutality of those times if it's to maximize its emotional impact.

 

[Dr Wu]

I've never knowingly watched Game of Thrones, so I can't possibly comment in any direct way about its treatment of women. All I can say on a general level is that authenticity to a given period's norms and values is one thing: their celebration - or at least a casual indifference towards them - could very well be something else again. A thought experiment: substitute the abuse of women in GOTh for what the Nazis perpetuated against the Jews and see if this distinction still holds (Oh, all right, if one wishes to remain true to to the series' mediaeval setting, apply this substitution to what Genghis Khan and His Golden Horde did to other Eurasians of whatever ethnicity, age and gender). Or am I being slightly OTT here? That's also possible, of course.

 

[Battlemage!]

I've never knowingly watched Game of Thrones, so I can't possibly comment in any direct way about its treatment of women. All I can say on a general level is that authenticity to a given period's norms and values is one thing: their celebration - or at least a casual indifference towards them - could very well be something else again. A thought experiment: substitute the abuse of women in GOTh for what the Nazis perpetuated against the Jews and see if this distinction still holds (Oh, all right, if one wishes to remain true to to the series' mediaeval setting, apply this substitution to what Genghis Khan and His Golden Horde did to other Eurasians of whatever ethnicity, age and gender). Or am I being slightly OTT here? That's also possible, of course.

What would you say of an implied rape that isn't actually shown on screen? I would say they were not celebrating the violence at all if they were to do this, but rather including it because the world the plot is set in requires such brutality.

Would you agree with that or not? If so why or why not?

The reason I ask is because that is exactly what happened with the massively controversial rape scene of last year. They didn't even show it. They panned to the other torture victim who was forced by the psychopath to watch, completely avoiding filming the actual rape (the event in the books goes into extreme disturbing detail, including the use of animals- none of which is shown in the show). I am convinced they did it for two reasons: (1) the book actually has the character Theon being forced to watch his childhood friend endure it (although they replaced the victim with a main character), and (2) they did NOT want to make the scene any worse than it had to be in order to remain faithful to both the world the plot is set in and the story originally written (with the obvious replacement of a minor character with a major one).

It seems to me that this most controversial scene (the one that had many people "swearing off" the show) was consciously filmed in the least "celebratory" way. They appeared to go out of their way to NOT show it without removing the event from the plot.

 

[Dr Wu]

Well, of course, all other things being equal, any representation of a violent act does not have to depend on whether it's depicted visually or implied by some sleight-of-hand way. Both can be equally suggestive. The grisly blinding of Gloucester in 'King Lear', a scene enacted live on stage ("Out, vile jelly!") is certainly one I shall never forget. Sometimes, though, the mind - that is to say the human imagination - can more than compensate for what the eye is not permitted to see. For this reason I find many novels (e.g. 'The Lord of The Rings') far more visually stimulating than their movie versions.

Even so, battlemage!, I take your larger point with regards to Game of Thrones. The 'noises off' mode of presentation as it is applies to this particular rape scene would seem to deny a celebratory enjoyment of violence for its own sake, while at the same time retaining its full horror. Yet even this can play both ways. Kubrick's masterstroke in implicating the viewer with his deft camera positioning during the gangbang rape scene in 'A Clockwork Orange' is a case in point. You see the violence (if glancingly) and you are part of the violence, albeit unwittingly, and for me at least, it's about as uncelebratory an act of violence to be had this side of Tarantino, or dare I suggest Shakespeare? I guess I'll just have to go and watch GOTh myself before spouting off any further about a TV series I've never seen before.

 

[Battlemage!]

Well, of course, all other things being equal, any representation of a violent act does not have to depend on whether it's depicted visually or implied by some sleight-of-hand way. Both can be equally suggestive. The grisly blinding of Gloucester in 'King Lear', a scene enacted live on stage ("Out, vile jelly!") is certainly one I shall never forget. Sometimes, though, the mind - that is to say the human imagination - can more than compensate for what the eye is not permitted to see. For this reason I find many novels (e.g. 'The Lord of The Rings') far more visually stimulating than their movie versions.

Even so, battlemage!, I take your larger point with regards to Game of Thrones. The 'noises off' mode of presentation as it is applies to this particular rape scene would seem to deny a celebratory enjoyment of violence for its own sake, while at the same time retaining its full horror. Yet even this can play both ways. Kubrick's masterstroke in implicating the viewer with his deft camera positioning during the gangbang rape scene in 'A Clockwork Orange' is a case in point. You see the violence (if glancingly) and you are part of the violence, albeit unwittingly, and for me at least, it's about as uncelebratory an act of violence to be had this side of Tarantino, or dare I suggest Shakespeare? I guess I'll just have to go and watch GOTh myself before spouting off any further about a TV series I've never seen before.

Well there is certainly gratuitous violence, horror and sex, so if you do come with a strong stomach.

 

[russ_watters]

Since I wouldn't know Ed Sheeran if I tripped over him, all I kept thinking last night was "Why isn't Arya killing those wussy Lannister soldiers?"

Good start, rest of it slow, way too much poop.

 

[guigabyte]

Hahah nice Arya scene in the beginning though [emoji1]

 

[Dan8420]

Anyone have thoughts on the time-frame it took them to build 1,000 ships at the Iron Islands? Seems a huge plot hole there for me.

 

[russ_watters]

Anyone have thoughts on the time-frame it took them to build 1,000 ships at the Iron Islands? Seems a huge plot hole there for me.

Yes, and the show is getting [in]famous for that. For how much longer are the white walkers going to be walking south until they get to the wall? Didn't take a cripple on a sledge long to get there!

 

[Dan8420]

Yes, and the show is getting [in]famous for that.

Seems the way the whole show is going to have to operate over the next two compressed seasons. Sad tho, a lot of these time line related mistakes could have been easily avoided.

 

[Anon5000]

I just finished season 1! I'm a huge fan now!

I did but only out of a lack of anything else. Dark ages, with bad weather, ugly armour, ugly weapons, and mostly basic human cruelty? The show's nihilistic and not fun. There might be a place for this kind of story, but only a place. LOTR is a form of Classic Art that emphasizes beauty. GOT...not so much. Just depression.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Season 7 felt short because it was, but overall pretty good. The plot sure has sped up. Good ending to season 7. Stinks we have to wait 2 years for the final season. Hope it's worth it!

 

[Borg]

I had never seen Game of Thrones before this year. We changed our cable provider and got free HBO for a year. I decided to see what all the fuss was about and really enjoyed binge watching all of the seasons over the course of a month. I guess that I'll have to pay for HBO at the end of the final season so that I can see the last of it.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I just finished my second run through the first 7 seasons. I am obsessed with this show. I am so excited for tonight's premiere of the last season. I think it's going to be insane and slightly sad that I bet a few big characters will die. Also sad this is the last season. Anyone else looking forward to tonight?

 

[Borg]

I had HBO two years ago on the previous season and binged all 7 seasons. I don't have HBO anymore but I've been considering it just for these last 6 episodes. Maybe in a couple of weeks.
Edit: I thought this was a new thread but I just saw my previous post.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I thought the premiere was okay. Really just a big setup and reunion piece. Hoping next episode gets more action.

 

[BWV]

Does anyone believe we will ever see another book in the series, and if Winds of Winter ever does come out, will you read it? I gave up on GRRM a few years back and turned to GOT to see this story play out. I do not think George is capable of finishing the series.

Good setup for new conflicts and wrapped up old ones.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

If he lives another ten years I think they will. There has been a little news about "The Winds of Winter" and "A Dream of Spring" lately. I would read them because I bet there is so much more information than the TV series.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

WOW! S8 E3 was amazing! One of the best episodes of any fantasy franchise or movie. Well done HBO!

 

[BillTre]

Today I Learned:

 

[Borg]

Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if Tyrion ends up on the throne because everyone else dies.

BTW, anyone else care to guess who comes out on top?