Television Game of Thrones (TV) • The watch has ended

The only thing that could ruin it would be getting rid of the whole regularly killing popular characters thing. That was a bit different and kept you on your toes.

When’s the last time they did this on the show? Struggling to remember any deaths like that since season 4.
 
Peter Dinklage said in his recent interview that he wasn't interested in doing "a fantasy show" when they offered him a role in GoT because they're usually "heavy on the dragon and light on the characters", so when he read the script he was pleasantly surprised when this show was the other way around. I wonder how he would feel knowing then that the show would just become another fantasy show.

That's the problem: if this was a generic fantasy show from day one then there would be very little to complain about. Expectations would be different - the thematic lines would have been drawn from the very beginning and you would know where you and the show stood. When the show started if was simple: "it's got fantasy stuff but not too much, and seems much more realistic compared to medieval life". Ok, cool.

The books are a little different. "It's got a lot of realism, but it also has magic crystals that are like telephones. Ok, still cool. Harry Potter, LotR, a Tory promise. All works of fiction but from the get go it makes you accept that what is in front of you is the reality you are being brought into.

GoT set itself up as a completely different style of show when it began. I get that shows evolve but evolution usually maintains some of the previous versions swings. In this case, the intrigue, deception and poetry seems to have all been forgotten. The previous seasons didn't have enough money to show you the battles so instead of Rob ambushing Jaime and showing it, it relied on smooth transitions between scenes and building up emotional expectations. Now that the budget allows them to show all of the big shiny stuff they have taken the easy way out.

This season looks like it's building up towards the great war against the WW and Cersei being the focal points of the show, which I can guarantee both of my remaining balls is completely missing the point of the books and what will be the key aspects of them. Much like The Walking Dead, which began with the message that "the real enemy isn't the one that seems obvious when it's staring you right in the face".

It was clear very early on that the undead would play a pivotal role in the final run in of the show. It was always clear as day that Dragons would be part of that. It was always going to end up being a fantasy ending because it's been slapping everyone in the face from the Pilot. I'm generally baffled how people can complain about the show changing when it's been the main storyline of the entire show and it's been building to this from Season 1. It's not like the White Walkers were introduced later on, they were in the first scene and Dragons have been the main talking point since Daenerys got her eggs early on in Season 1.

It's not like the show was written like Rome and then suddenly the writers threw in a dragon and a few zombies. :p
 
“You’re a cold little bitch aren’t you?”

He’s always the highlight in any episode he’s in :lol:
 
When’s the last time they did this on the show? Struggling to remember any deaths like that since season 4.

They blew up a whole church full of characters at the end of season six. Did they count as popular though?
 
They blew up a whole church full of characters at the end of season six.

Yeah but none of them were particularly popular or even central to the plot were they? Maybe Margaery but in a showdown with Cersei her dying was always the more conventional path to take.
 
Actually feck the church full of people, poor auld Hodor got killed in season six too.
 
I really don't get it. If you're coming in to the game of thrones thread after you know an episode has aired, what exactly are you thinking?

I hadn't seen the episode till tonight, so didn't go near the thread because obviously it'll be full of spoilers. I don't get why people can't just avoid the thread when an episode has come out.

This is a big and diverse thread. People participating in it have different needs and requirements. Some are comfortable with aired episodes being outside spoiler tags, others aren't. We need to respect each other's wishes.
 
She also tutted at male characters and rolled her eyes a lot. Guess you should go back and rewatch some of the episodes.

She did, but that wasn't all she spent her time doing, and at least she was tutting at genuinely stupid male characters (rather than ones previously established as intelligent) and did it with some sort of definable personality.

Like @Art Vandelay said, this episode was basically a competition from the female characters of who can do the iciest stare.
 
This is a big and diverse thread. People participating in it have different needs and requirements. Some are comfortable with aired episodes being outside spoiler tags, others aren't. We need to respect each other's wishes.

I really can't understand why anybody would feel the need to go in to a discussion thread about game of thrones and not expect to see spoilers about the most recent episode of .. game of thrones.

If that's the way people wanna roll, then fair enough, but to me that makes zero sense. Anybody remotely sensible would avoid this thread like the plague if they haven't caught up.
 
Actually feck the church full of people, poor auld Hodor got killed in season six too.

Hodor was always the sort of character you'd expect to die though, or who was at least expendable. Last major one I can think of is Stannis...but even then he was sorta expendable in the end. Other big name deaths have been villians.
 
Viserion the dragon was probably the biggest death last season.

Aye, one of the problems with last season was the low death count. Or rather the low death count as compared to the amount of times the show wanted you to think a character was threatened by death. The journey beyond the wall episode being the lowpoint, where a load of randomers and Dennis Pennis were the only human casualties
 
Viserion the dragon was probably the biggest death last season.

Technically that thing is pretty much alive. How else would you explain him being capable of making a mockery of a wall that has overseen 999 lord commanders of the night's watch?
 
The journey beyond the wall episode being the lowpoint, where a load of randomers and Dennis Pennis were the only human casualties

I only noticed that watching it the second time (almost 2 years later). They bring like 5 randomers and they all die horribly :lol:
 
This is a big and diverse thread. People participating in it have different needs and requirements. Some are comfortable with aired episodes being outside spoiler tags, others aren't. We need to respect each other's wishes.

No we don't, the spoiler policy in the entertainment forum is clear, if an episode has aired it will be discussed. If you haven't seen it stay out of the thread, it's not rocket science.
 
No we don't, the spoiler policy in the entertainment forum is clear, if an episode has aired it will be discussed. If you haven't seen it stay out of the thread, it's not rocket science.

Well yeah, tell that to the mod who has threadmarked a 24h spoiler tag request which resulted in 10 pages of spoiler tags. My take:

This spoiler policy for aired episodes is seriously lame. The feck is the point? Aired episodes aren't future/speculation talk. Those that haven't watched and don't want it spoiled have absolutely no business in the latter parts of this thread.

Just seen the episode and came here for the reactions. Met with 5 pages of spoilers. That's over 200 unnecessary clicks opening all the tags, not to mention the tags in the quotes also need opening for context. Gave up fairly quickly because quite frankly that's a tiring and pointless process.

What's next? 24h spoilers in the matchday forum?
 
I miss the most (potentially) gimmicky character, Tyrion, having the best lines and most complexity.
The lookers were superficial in comparison to the real characters. It has turned a bit Westeros 90210.
I can't remember the last revelation that wasn't signposted with a virtual drum roll.
 
I miss the most (potentially) gimmicky character, Tyrion, having the best lines and most complexity.
The lookers were superficial in comparison to the real characters. It has turned a bit Westeros 90210.
I can't remember the last revelation that wasn't signposted with a virtual drum roll.

Tyrion's basically done nothing for about three seasons. Shame.
 
It was clear very early on that the undead would play a pivotal role in the final run in of the show. It was always clear as day that Dragons would be part of that. It was always going to end up being a fantasy ending because it's been slapping everyone in the face from the Pilot. I'm generally baffled how people can complain about the show changing when it's been the main storyline of the entire show and it's been building to this from Season 1. It's not like the White Walkers were introduced later on, they were in the first scene and Dragons have been the main talking point since Daenerys got her eggs early on in Season 1.

It's not like the show was written like Rome and then suddenly the writers threw in a dragon and a few zombies. :p
I too am baffled how you've completely missed my point :)
 
Well yeah, tell that to the mod who has threadmarked a 24h spoiler tag request which resulted in 10 pages of spoiler tags. My take:

The Admin who asked people (no threat of punishment if you didn't) to be courteous and use the spoiler tags as there were special circumstances due to the anticipation and timing in the UK of the first episode. Most seem happy to do so, the 24 hrs is very nearly over and there are no plans to repeat it next week.

At this point the term first world problems leaps to mind.
 
ffs @Wibble it's your own bloody policy you're going against!! :wenger:

The current pathetic watered down version of the spoiler policy isn't strictly mine ;)

I'm joking as I know a stricter policy isn't manageable/enforceable even if it was considered desirable.
 
Ran out of use for the character .. he's just an adviser now who let's face it, gave a shit ton of terrible advice last season.

Yeah, that's the baffling thing. I have no idea why Daenerys trusts him, or why she regards him as her central adviser. She'd known him for about 5 minutes when she fecked off with her dragon, then left him to run Meereen which was in ruins when she came back, and then in Season 7 his tactical approach lost her Highgarden almost instantly. There's no reason as to why she should place so much faith in him, even if she trusts him.

The problem is though that they've sort of fecked up the character. They've turned him into a fairly noble sage who's a bit cheeky and sarcastic once every few episodes, instead of the fairly bitter and broken but intelligent chessmaster he is in the early seasons who uses humour, alcohol and whores to cover up his own self-doubt.

An episode like that one there should've ideally been perfect for him to serve as a mediator and negotiator since he's generally on decent terms with all sides of the conflict. Instead he didn't really speak to Daenerys or Jon once and just sort of kicked about doing nothing in particular, except inciting the Starks further when he said his family was coming north to help out.
 
Great first episode. Looking forward to #2 already. John Snow literally knows nothing.
 
The current pathetic watered down version of the spoiler policy isn't strictly mine ;)

I'm joking as I know a stricter policy isn't manageable/enforceable even if it was considered desirable.

I like the simplicity of the "stay out until you're up to date" policy.
 
I like the simplicity of the "stay out until you're up to date" policy.

I know and generally so do I but a number of people expressed worry that the air time would hugely increase the chance of the first episode being spoiled that it seemed like a good idea as a one off.

Plus I might have gone postal if it had been spoiled for me since the episode dropped 7 hours before I get home from work.

Again joking - I kept out of here.
 
Boring episode.

Too much screen time for boring characters discussing boring things.

There's 6 episodes left and they wasted an entire one on boring people walking about being boring
 
I like the simplicity of the "stay out until you're up to date" policy.
Boring episode.

Too much screen time for boring characters discussing boring things.

There's 6 episodes left and they wasted an entire one on boring people walking about being boring

I didn't mind it as a season opener. It's early setting things up. Did people just expect to be plunged straight into a huge battle?

That said the whole Jon riding a dragon segment was fecking awful.