Dan H.

I hate that they turned Arya into a fucking dumbass just to artificially create conflict

19 hours ago, Bono said:

Nobody wants Boba Fett but yeah,  of the Yoda, Fett and Jabba, Boba Fett is the only one that makes sense and has potential to not ruin shit.  I suppose with a Boba Fett movie they could essentially do anything they wanted so I guess it could be cool, it's just nobody gives a fuck. 

Yeah, I wouldn't have high hopes for a Boba Fett movie, but it is the most inviting to the possibility of new characters and experiences.

Honestly the best spinoff we could get is an Old Republic fantasy epic. It could canonize some of the best bits of the EU, and be shot and presented as a Game of Thrones or LotR epic fantasy. It would be contained and doesn't effect the legacy if the OT, and could be a big draw not only for the die hards, but for the masses as well. The Planet of the Apes trilogy is a great model for slipping in some sly but not too over the top references and goodies that give it a touch of the OT, but would mostly be forced to stand alone.

There's already a decent script that could be salavaged from KOTOR's messy story and converted smoothly into a film. It would have to lose a little of the Revan focus though, as he is too delicate of a character to gamble on.

I'd play, but we need to set it up soon don't we?

Boba Fett is the only one that makes sense if done right. I mean, he's pretty much a blank slate in cool armor. Mucking with his back story would be pretty contained and couldn't ruin anything else in the SW universe.

Jabba would be fucking dumb. If you merged a Boba Fett and Jabba story then that could work, but no way are we gonna find a fat slug mobster to be interesting or relatable. 

Sad to say this, as many people here are championing a Kenobi movie, after thinking about it I just can't see any way that its worth the risk. Ewan McGregor did a fine job as Kenobi, and given how awful the prequels were it made his performance stand out a bit. I just don't see that character being able to carry an entire film, or how it could be worth it in the long run. I think it's a bad idea, and Kenobi is best left in the 6 Lucas films where he belongs.

Also please leave Yoda alone. He was a perfect supporting character for Luke in the OT but that's it. I can't imagine anyone is really holding there breath to find out what Yoda's childhood and teen years were like. He's a wise old sage that helps guide Luke to a more clear view of spirituality, and I think that's all his character is capable of being.

I wonder if Gendry will die abruptly next episode. The trailer shows The Hound swinging his warhammer

It was a good film and the performances really carried this one, which is pretty refreshing.

They sold the story really well, and the underpreparded amatuer superhero aspects were believable and reminded me of the Sam Rami films.

2 hours ago, Gracii Guns said:

But powerful flashes of pro phootgraphers from the front row for publicity shots isn't distracting at all?

I doubt there are professional photographers at any Tracii Guns shows

I'd use the spoiler tags anyways just to be safe

You're right it doesn't ruin Arya, but she's a fan favorite so people are more sensitive about her arc.

Using Brienne to demonstrate her badassery was efficient, and I can see why they did it. My only thing with Arya this season that is a little nitpicky is that there should have been a confrontation in the Ed Shireen scene, where we get a demomstration of Arya's skills even before she spars with Brienne to make it less jarring. Plus we'd see Ed Shireen die, and it would end the first episode with some light fan service.

Anyways, I'm eager to see where we go from here. For people who have read the spoilers only:

29 minutes ago, downzy said:

Nothing in that clip can be interpreted as an explanation of how the process works.  

Look, the point still stands that there are a lot of weird shit that happens in this show that most viewers just accept and don't need a full explanation.  We know that Bran became the Three Eye Raven, but other than hanging out with his predecessor, we still don't know how that process works.  We don't know how people are brought back from the dead other than through the power of prayer (but for some reasons, it only works on certain people).  Hell, how does a dragon generate fire in its mouth?  Finding rhyme or reason in the this world has always been a stretch.  Mystical elements have a big role in Westoros but somehow some want take issue with how Arya becomes adept at changing faces (despite the fact that she spends a year or more at the House of Black and White).  It makes no sense to accept some of the show's mysticism but rejecting others.

I think people are mad about the House of Black and White because the whole storyline is nonsense. It doesn't bother me too terribly that we don't see the process of the mask making (although would it really have been that hard to throw the audience a bone during that grone worthy sideplot?).

I suspect the Many Faced God has some kind of connection to Mel's Red God, and there may still be time to shove in some exposition around it. All we know right now is that there is very little straight up magic in Westeros. Most if not all of it are these so called Gods (the WW "Old Gods" who are mysterious and scary and Mel's Red God who has some sort of dominion and accountability for the dragons, wildfire, shadow demon, etc) working through prophets and priests.

I dunno. All I know for sure is that plotline was incredibly disappointing, and I never got the sense that Arya really learned anything, or that the literally two people living in that giant temple had any kind of motivation or purpose. I still don't understand why Jaqcen or whatever was at Harrenhal in S2. Plenty of people to sacrifice in Braavos.

Did you think it was better than Hardhome? The writers introduced a female wildling side character and gave her an arc and tragic death all in one scene (perhaps the best writing the show has had ever IMO), while adding convincing horror and a tangible sense of doom and painful death. Plus CGI and choreography that was just as good as S7E4.

When the avalanche comes down the mountains and you hear the wildlings screaming on the other side of the gate and then... silence. That scene may be in my top 5 of any TV show

5 hours ago, downzy said:

Also, is it not possible that Tyrion caught a ride with Danny and Drogon to the battle? 

Absolutely not, unless its shown and explained, as its been established that touching a dragon and mounting it are too very very different things.

The show has bad writing. Its not a huge deal, the production and direction carries most of the weight in the show, and thats fine. Ep4 was a great episode, but not nearly as thrilling as Hardhome, Bastards, or Blackwater which had excellent build up and earned their battle scenes.

This one was fine, but sloppily written. And like I said earlier in this thread, they simply do not have enough time to write the ending properly. I can't think of any writer would could pull off so much in so little time.

12 minutes ago, Georgy Zhukov said:

HBO's got other shit to do. Deadwood reunion and Confederate. 

And other Ice and Fire shows too apparentally. Can't even get their first one off properly and they're already teeing up for the next one.

One of em better be Roberts Rebellion and the Greyjoy Uprising or I'll be sad.

It would be easy to dismiss this stuff as nitpicking too, if it wasn't for the fact that the books and even parts of the show took this kind of stuff into account in earlier seasons.

I wish they would've just ran the damn thing for two more full 14 episode seasons. Why not milk it longer and give yourself more time to wrap up without rushing?

2 hours ago, Georgy Zhukov said:

 

I just call her Anne Frank.

 

I bet Howland won't show up. Jon will get burned by dragons and they will realize he isn't burned so he must be a Targaryan. Something lame like that.

Howland certainly won't show up. They're already fighting an uphill battle keeping casual viewers interested in the characters they already have. Adding another just for a few episodes and one piece of exposition doesn't seem plausible.

Side note: not ALL Targs are fire resistent right? Didn't Maegor or one of 'em set himself alight with wildfire in an attempt to become a dragon? Perhaps wildfire isn't quite the same as regular fire though, idk.

15 hours ago, Georgy Zhukov said:

 

Yeah, I particularly like the Hungarian Horntail

  Hide contents

Where does Dany keep all the Dothraki?

 

Anyone else love the sound design for the dragons in this show? The guitar noise before they shoot fire gets me hyped

Most entertaining episode this season, by far. 

17 minutes ago, Georgy Zhukov said:

I still think Dany will be the villain by next season. 

I think that would be absurd at this point, but you may still be right. The media would hate it though, and this show isn't exactly edgy.

If I were writing this show, I don't see how making Dany an exact clone of her father says anything about the story.

Just now, AtariLegend said:

Both were related to the books and neither do I think or happening on the show either.

Hard to tell where the books may go. Literally anything could happen over hundreds of pages. I think anything is possible on that front.

But again, presuming we'll ever get a GRRM penned end to the books is a bet I wouldn't dare take. We may get Winds of Winter at best.

6 minutes ago, AtariLegend said:

Reading through nonsense on 4chan, but I seen very, very rare good point made by one of the trolls there. They think

  Hide contents

 

Danny in the books is going to get killed, because she's a foreign invader burning everyone. In the show D/D will change it so that she dies saving the world instead, because she's a feminist icon. Now I personally actually think that would make sense, considering what the show runners have turned Cerseri (who's essentially a scheming Disney villain that isn't too bright) into this smart strong character. 

Does it really make any narrative sense for a character who's detached from 3/4 of the story to sweep into a foreign land at the end and save the day? Even if Danny she isn't a principle villain (which we can safely rule out in the show).

 

One last thing I think was being set up in ADWD that's never going to happen in the show;

  Hide contents

(Tyrion's totally going to betray Danny or change his mind after meeting her, as per Quaithe's warning). 

 

I find both of those theories to be highly unlikely. Its too late in the game to justify those kinds of twists with characters who are already well on their way to an arc.

The Dany thing is plausable for one last epic gotcha moment, but I think its honestly less likely than her becoming a villain. They've set the table now and they need to play out what we already have, not add nonsense twists.

I hope they leak the whole damn thing so we can get this over with.

58 minutes ago, Georgy Zhukov said:

 

Edmure has disappeared from the show. We are left to assume he returned to the Twins. You can't expect these writers to have good memory. Maybe he's back at Riverrun, loyal to Jamie? 

 

If Dorne was cut from season 5 they could have focused on other storylines. Instead we had two horribly written seasons, now it seems like this one will be no different. Season 4 was the last good season. How this fucking show keeps winning Emmy's for writing is beyond me. 

 

As for the Tyrell army, according to the showrunners, the Tyrell Army fought and lost as they were just weren't good fighters in the first place. No idea where that came from, Tarly defected to House Lannister. I guess Tarly's men were the best soldiers because he defeated Robert once. They chose to portray the Casterly Rock sequence so they can surprise the audience that it was a set up. Odd how Jamie anticipated that they would attack such a pointless castle. Jamie knew that they wouldn't be able to hold it and they were too close to the Greyjoys. Then again, Tyrion admitted he was new to military strategy. Jamie was raised to lead armies, Tyrion was not. Also, these Unsullied are not replaceable. Sooner or later it will just be Grey Worm and a few other nameless soldiers.

Yeah, I've been wondering since the end of season 6 how they can possibly have the time to fit in a lot of crucial pieces of information effectively in the final seasons in order to hit the right notes.

It appears that they aren't gonna be able to do that, and instead are opting for a bizarre combination of fast forwarding certain plots and events, while also leaving in long stretches of expositional dialogue to keep the casual fans from being too confused. Unfortunately for fans like me and you, it just feels like a terrible waste of time, and leads to gaping logical gaps like the ones you laid out.

Season 6 seemed like it was the start of a new stride for D&D and it moved fairly effeciently to my surprise, especially after season 5. But these 3 new episodes are barely moving the pieces towards the inevitable big showdowns. We have so much that needs to be wrapped up, with only what, 11 episodes? At this point it seems impossible to pull off without choking.

The show has almost totally lost the critical sprawling "chess board" feeling that drew me in. Its just a bunch of plotting and obvious dialogue that really doesn't excite me. It doesn't feel as high stakes, or with such severe consequences as the books and the best moments from the show have felt.

I think a big part of that is that we lost a lot of excellent characters and actors, and are left with some of the weakest ones, like Emilie Clark's Dany and Kit Harrington's Jon. We still are getting great material from Sandor, Thoros, Davos, Littlefinger, and occasionally Tyrion, but tbh the Starks and half of Dany's crew fucking suck. Arya is okay, but all of her charm was leeched out for me by the tragically poor writing choices made during her Faceless man subplot. Jesus Christ that was sad to watch, almost worse than Dorne.

In the shows defense, it hasn't been very well written for a few seasons now. Thats fine and all, I mean it makes up for the writing with great direction and in fairness to D&D adapting these books for a mainstream audience with a hard timestamp and only 70% of hard source material is a daunting task and they've done a fine job.

I think the most glaring and tragic mistake was all the time wasted in season 5. If they pumped the gas a little harder and cut or tweaked a few of the loose and unneccisary storylines, we could have had more room for better pacing here at the end. 

I suppose we got some decent material from this episode, specifically Jon and Tyrion's reunion, which was the only merging of storylines this episode that felt fulfilled and satisfying.