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Game of Thrones *NO BOOK SPOILERS* |OT| Season 5 - Sundays on HBO [Read the OP]

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CLEEK

Member
Do you think that the Dorne storyline is finished for this season?
Nothing happened there in the whole season.

Nothing? NOTHING? Two very important things were shown, making up for the stupid plot arc.

RE:Melisandre, why didn't Stannis bang her and give her another ghost demon baby? Or why didn't Melisandre tell Stannis that Jon Snow have magic sexy powers? Then the season finale could have been Stannis capturing Snow and making him fuck Melisandre. For like 40 minutes on screen. And then have Jon Snow do a massive spunk and it cuts to all the Boltons falling over dead. And then Jon and Melisandre bang again.

Are there any script writing vacancies for season six?
 

Jobbs

Banned
Let's be real, you've been "starting not to care" for nine episodes now. :p

Sorry if it seems like I'm picking on you. It's just that your season five rant is pretty predictable at this point!

I don't know if I have the time or inclination to do so, but I'm curious what the result would be if I rewatched the early seasons. I recall thinking the show was a better show than I now think it is. It seems like at some point it started to become a "silly" show, for lack of a better word, but maybe I'm mis-remembering and it was always like this.
 
Foreshadowing what?



At every task this season they have been pretty inept at dealing with rich people with daggers. Like, where the fuck were all the guards making sure nobody brought weapons in, or simply doing simple lookouts for those dudes with golden masks?

Fucking TSA could have done a better job.

I thought the harpies were arena fighters who rebelled? If that's the case I can see why they would have an advantage. The unsullied have trained but the arena fighters did it for a living and are still alive because they are great fighters.
 
I thought the harpies were arena fighters who rebelled? If that's the case I can see why they would have an advantage. The unsullied have trained but the arena fighters did it for a living and are still alive because they are great fighters.

Why would ex-arena fighters go and execute the Queen at the grand re-opening of the arena pit?
 
Aren't the Unsullied only really trained for war, grand scale battles, sieging, that sort of thing? It doesn't seem too shocking that they can't react well to guerrilla tactics.

They are trained to use shortswords for close combat.
The Unsullied were used as guards as well.
And they killed all the slave owners and masters when Darenrys freed them.

They were also capable to infiltrating Yunkai with a small group of men.

All from the Wiki.

They are warriors in all senses.


I forgot how strongly they were depicted in the earlier seasons before I just read the wiki.
 

FlowersisBritish

fleurs n'est pas britannique
Not really. They spend most of their time practising general close quarters combat. Guy comes at you with a sword, you respond with your own weapon. It's what they've had to prepare for, probably hundreds of thousands of times, day in day out their entire lives, and yet, on screen it all just seemed like bollocks.

Don't even get me started on Barriston Selmy's death. One of the greatest Warriors of all history, could cut down 5 kings guard like butter and all the rest, killed in the most sombre way. D&D basically do not value lore or past context, they do whatever needs to be done, only to propel their own version of events, irrespective of it's narrative legitimacy.

So the arguments about the Unsullied and Barriston kind of lose steam here for me. If there's one thing the harpies have is numbers, and in a fight if you have more numbers than your side tends to win. That's just kind of how it works. You can be one of the greatest swordsmen in the world, against like 10 farmer boys with swords in an open field, and you'll still probably lose. The thing about it is with those numbers, it's impossible to guard your blind spots, and people have a lot of blind spots. A lot of the kills we see of the Unsullied kind of show that; they get out numbered, a guy hits them at an odd angle, sneaks up behind, the Unsullied is too busy with a dead guy on his spear... I actually like Barriston's death if because he took on like 10 guys at once and almost fucking won. That's really tough unless you get them in some kind of narrow hallway or something. Sword fighting (and really any martial art) is really fucking tough when once you get to 3+ vs you.

Anyway the real anger question you should all be asking is how are there so many Sons of the Harpy? I find it tough to believe that there are enough people in all these rich families to keep a movement like this moving.
 
Just got around to watching last night's episode and man, what a fucking rollercoster of emotions that was for me. Felt sick to my stomach from Meryn Trant's scene, it was really hard to watch, so much so that I started seriously questioning if that was a bit too overboard. I applaud the actors for doing a scene like that and actually making it convincing, though. I hate Trant, but Ian Beattie plays him so well.

Then there's that scene. My mouth was agape from the moment Stannis whispered "forgive me" into Shireen's ear. I have to commend the young lady who plays Shireen, she did a good job of making me feel like I was being punched in the stomach. Those pleads followed by those screams. Man, I won't be forgetting that scene anytime soon. I guess I'd been in denial this whole time about how brainwashed he really was. Just as I was warming up to him, too...

And then HOLY SHIT. Drogon wreaking havoc upon those bitches was fucking incredible! Great CG on Drogon, fucking brutal, merciless slaying of those masked bitches, the face off/reuniting with Daenerys. Just a great scene.

And then my awe turned to laughter the moment she climbed on top of Drogon. Those effects looked cheap as hell. Cringe-worthily bad. And lmfao at her just up and leaving her crew to fight for themselves. What the hell?

All-in-all, a weirdly hilarious end to an otherwise fantastic (and pretty fucking appalling) episode. Season 5 delivers.
 

Nameless

Member
Why do so many people assume that the Harpies are Masters with knives when we've seen A. They clearly know how to fight. B. They've used a range of weapons including spears and swords.

Wouldn't it be more reasonable to assume that the wealthy elite of Meereen are paying fighting men/sellswords to their bidding? Rewatch the fighting pit scene, there were some huge fucking Harpies out there.
 

Five

Banned
I don't know if I have the time or inclination to do so, but I'm curious what the result would be if I rewatched the early seasons. I recall thinking the show was a better show than I now think it is. It seems like at some point it started to become a "silly" show, for lack of a better word, but maybe I'm mis-remembering and it was always like this.

Yes and no. Dany's been pretty silly ever since she started doing "where are mah dragons!!!?"

The other thing is that slower episodes are a lot more appreciable when binge watching and/or when you know what's coming, so I'm not sure whether rewatching the earlier seasons would give as much insight as you think.

I think the show promised us in the very first episode that it would have both political intrigue and wild fantasy elements, and it's only very recently that it's making significant headway on the latter. Because the fantasy element sat in the back for so long, it turned into a monster from a horror movie for some people where teasing it is more enticing than just straight showing it.

And it also becomes harder to reconcile the political drama now that fantasy is coming to the fore. The backstabbing and conniving seems to mean less and less as the show moves more and more towards dragons and white walkers. For some, this is really interesting, but I can also see why it would fall flat for others.
 

Avallon

Member
When does the most recent episode hit HBO GO? I thought it was supposed to be available, but my wife just tried to watch it and it's only a preview.
 

TheContact

Member
Did Dany summon the Dragon with her mind or the dragon sensed her fear, a connection between them?

Accord to the "inside of the episode" she
closed her eyes because she was about to accept death
but I can see how the dragon sensed her danger

When does the most recent episode hit HBO GO? I thought it was supposed to be available, but my wife just tried to watch it and it's only a preview.
Instantly. Right as soon as it goes live on TV it's on HBO go
 
Why do so many people assume that the Harpies are Masters with knives when we've seen A. They clearly know how to fight. B. They've used a range of weapons including spears and swords.

Wouldn't it be more reasonable to assume that the wealthy elite of Meereen are paying fighting men/sellswords to their bidding? Rewatch the fighting pit scene, there were some huge fucking Harpies out there.

Yeah I haven't assumed they were just rich people with swords. The show has been pretty mum so far with regards to their story so I guess we're supposed to suspend our disbelief momentarily? Which has been difficult.
 

CLEEK

Member
Aren't the Unsullied only really trained for war, grand scale battles, sieging, that sort of thing? It doesn't seem too shocking that they can't react well to guerrilla tactics.

Obviously the reason Grey Worm was selected as the commander of the Unsullied was because he is the only one who knows how to fight. The rest just knew how to stand still holding a spear and shield.

And why did Dany think it was a good idea to sit out in the open without being surrounded by guards when she knew the harpies were wanting her dead.

Stannis stuff aside, I was underwhelmed by that episode. I don't care about the current Arya, Dany or Dorne arcs. They're the reason most of this season has fell flat.
 

Lorcain

Member
In an interesting twist of fate, Arya will bungle her assassination attempt on Meryn Trant, but be saved by Gendry, who happens to be delivering newly made flatware to the brothel.
 

CLEEK

Member
So the arguments about the Unsullied and Barriston kind of lose steam here for me. If there's one thing the harpies have is numbers, and in a fight if you have more numbers than your side tends to win. That's just kind of how it works. You can be one of the greatest swordsmen in the world, against like 10 farmer boys with swords in an open field, and you'll still probably lose. The thing about it is with those numbers, it's impossible to guard your blind spots, and people have a lot of blind spots.

I hope that your username means something else, and you're not really British.

There are numerous military victories where the side vastly outnumbered has won. Due to being the better fighting force with better tactics, training and discipline.

Battle of Agincourt - 8,500 British troops beat ~30,000 French troops in France

Rorke's Drift - 150 British troops, many of them injured, fought and won again ~4,000 Zulus.

North Africa in WWII, saw 300,000 Italian troops surrender against 30,000 British.
 

Vashetti

Banned
In an interesting twist of fate, Arya will bungle her assassination attempt on Meryn Trant, but be saved by Gendry, who happens to be delivering newly made flatware to the brothel.

Then, Littlefinger walks in to recruit new whores

Suddenly all of Westeros and Essos is gathered in this brothel
 

zma1013

Member
I think Arya's plot for the next episode is rather easy to predict. My guess is
that she'll get a new face from the face vault and then pose as a new girl for that guy and then kill him in the room.
 
I think Arya's plot for the next episode is rather easy to predict. My guess is
that she'll get a new face from the face vault and then pose as a new girl for that guy and then kill him in the room.

It would have actually been awesome if we no longer saw Aria after they showed that young girl then she killed the dude and tore her face off to reveal she was Arya.

=o
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Just saw the episode... fucking hell Stannis. How the fuck could you burn your own daughter? I hope Davos stab you in the back when he returns, you fucking asshole. Hearing her cries made the whole thing hard to watch. I expected him to change his mind at the last second, not his wife.


And lol at Dany just leaving her allies behind at the end. Way to go girl!
 
Just saw the episode... fucking hell Stannis. How the fuck could you burn your own daughter? I hope Davos stab you in the back when he returns, you fucking asshole. Hearing her cries made the whole thing hard to watch. I expected him to change his mind at the last second, not his wife.

Your avatar reminds me of that new Scream mask.




OT, yeah .... poor Shireen. How old was she? :x

And what are they going to sacrifice next if they need another lamb for the slaughter?
 

FlowersisBritish

fleurs n'est pas britannique
I hope that your username means something else, and you're not really British.

There are numerous military victories where the side vastly outnumbered has won. Due to being the better fighting force with better tactics, training and discipline.

Battle of Agincourt - 8,500 British troops beat ~30,000 French troops in France

Rorke's Drift - 150 British troops, many of them injured, fought and won again ~4,000 Zulus.

North Africa in WWII, saw 300,000 Italian troops surrender against 30,000 British.

You kind of prove my point with all your examples? I don't know what I would say about the training and discipline part(they help don't get me wrong), but tactics are what make and break a battle. All of your examples are of people who understood they were vastly outnumbered, so used their environment to limit the overwhelming advantage of numbers as best they could; bring the fight to enclosed, defendable spaces. That's literally the only way you can beat numbers. Why did they do this? Why didn't they go mano a mano in a big open field, waving their big muscle trained and disciplined dicks in the air? Because they would have lost because it's really easy for five guys to kill one. Look at the Harpy's tactics; all they've really done is blitzkreig small groups of the unsullied when they weren't prepared. The Harpys used their numbers they way you use numbers, and overwhelmed the Unsullied by surrounding them and stabbing at their blind spots. Look at any scene and you can see what I mean.

I'm not actually British, I'm a horrible liar haha. The username was inspired a few years ago by an in-joke/spoiler]
 

Dryk

Member
Eh, Unsullied are soldiers. They're meant to be meat on the battlefield and trained with shields and spears, not deal with insurrections by knife wielding thugs in back alleyways. They're not a police force and Mereen is a huge city so they're no doubt spread thin. Don't really see how that's "lazy" writing.
I was willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt regarding the portrayal of the Unsullied, but this is the moment it lost me

tumblr_nj1b3gh3oz1r1pxrwo1_r4_500.jpg


There is no reason they can't close ranks in that scene, there's more than enough of them to form a tight ring around the people they're protecting. But they stand 3 feet apart from each other instead.
 

Vashetti

Banned
I was willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt regarding the portrayal of the Unsullied, but this is the moment it lost me

tumblr_nj1b3gh3oz1r1pxrwo1_r4_500.jpg


There is no reason they can't close ranks in that scene, there's more than enough of them to form a tight ring around the people they're protecting. But they stand 3 feet apart from each other instead.

Notice Tyrion missing from this shot. They CGI'd him out of the promo material prior to the season so we wouldn't know he meets Dany.
 

Dennis

Banned
I couldn't be more proud of my man Jorah. Redemption complete.

Dragon CGI was awesome. Looked a little amateur when Dany was riding it though but fuck it, this is TV it is forgivable.
 

Curufinwe

Member
A lifetime of the most intense training, man parts chopped off and all, and they're still no better than random rich masters donning face masks.

Why do you assume it's just the masters wearing those masks and not professional fighters and sellswords paid by the masters?
 

sangreal

Member
I think Arya's plot for the next episode is rather easy to predict. My guess is
that she'll get a new face from the face vault and then pose as a new girl for that guy and then kill him in the room.

The real question is how that will go over with Jaqen

There is so much shit left to get through in 1 episode
 
OT, yeah .... poor Shireen. How old was she? :x

Kerry Ingram has just 16, apparently. I always though Shireen was meant to be between 10 or 12, possibly even younger in the novels. Her performance has been consistently amazing this season though.
Can't say I'm entirely surprised by Stannis's actions, though I was hoping stone men / dragonscale couldn't burn. There were clear 'something's up' signs before after all.

The scene with Arya was also a big 'no no no nope'.
 

Dennis

Banned
Is there some reason Shireen had to be burned while conscious? Couldn't they have drugged her or knocked her out or something?

The Lord of Light seems like an asshole.
 

Ferrio

Banned
I think Arya's plot for the next episode is rather easy to predict. My guess is
that she'll get a new face from the face vault and then pose as a new girl for that guy and then kill him in the room.

No way that'll happen, she doesn't know how to yet.
 
Kerry Ingram has just 16, apparently. I always though Shireen was meant to be between 10 or 12, possibly even younger in the novels. Her performance has been consistently amazing this season though.
Can't say I'm entirely surprised by Stannis's actions, though I was hoping stone men / dragonscale couldn't burn. There were clear 'something's up' signs before after all.

The scene with Arya was also a big 'no no no nope'.

Thanks. I meant the character. I wanted to know how old Princess Baratheon was when her father burned her alive.

:<

Her scream was harrowing. That final one, with the long and keening pitch :<
 
btw, if someone has too much time on their hands, the grand tale of King Friendzone set to Carry On Wayward Son would be a solid Supernatural collision at this point.

As for Shireen's age in the novels: she's ten in Clash of Kings, which would be her first appearance if I recall correctly.
 
btw, if someone has too much time on their hands, the grand tale of King Friendzone set to Carry On Wayward Son would be a solid Supernatural collision at this point.

As for Shireen's age in the novels: she's ten in Clash of Kings, which would be her first appearance if I recall correctly.

>:O now you got the song stuck in my head!!!! >:O

RIP Shireen

:<

Selyse cant bear any other children, can she? But can Stannis name someone his heir? Or must it only be his blood relatives, i.e. bastard children?
 

Woo-Fu

Banned
HAHAHA... now that's something... I guess Renly was a real treat to the world..

Stannis... our true savior

You're joking about Renly but in all truthfulness there is very little more dangerous to a realm than a weak king. Renly would have enjoyed being called king but would have never been kingly.

And hey, I still like Stannis. He's making the hard choices to do what he sees as right and what is required to save the realm from the long night. I don't think he believes any of that lord of light stuff, but what he does believe is the the red woman has power, power that he can use for good. It is basically the age old question of "does the end justify the means?" Sacrificing a princess to save the kingdom isn't exactly uncommon. Sure, burning her at the stake might be more unpleasant than marrying her off to Ramsay Bolton, but then again maybe not? On top of that she has grayscale and it is common knowledge that there is no cure and the victims die madmen.

That said I fully expect the onion knight to stick a knife in his back before everything is said and done. Stannis gave him his honor, maybe he'll give Stannis his freedom.
 
Why do people keep assuming the Harpies are noble men with no fighting experience instead of fighters hired by the wealthy people of Mereen?

Also, I think I saw a Dothraki in the fighting pits. Can anyone confirm this?
 
So my uncle just watched the Game of Thrones episode where Sansa gets raped and said "well if anyone deserves it [to be raped] it is her." And then when I acted incredulous that he had said something like that he said it was because she didn't fight back.

I've never been more disgusted with someone in my life. Now I've no real context here, I've read the books but not really watched the show. Did they somehow change Sansa's character to be completely vile and despicable, because then perhaps I could see why my uncle would say that.
 

Ferrio

Banned
So my uncle just watched the Game of Thrones episode where Sansa gets raped and said "well if anyone deserves it [to be raped] it is her." And then when I acted incredulous that he had said something like that he said it was because she didn't fight back.

I've never been more disgusted with someone in my life. Now I've no real context here, I've read the books but not really watched the show. Did they somehow change Sansa's character to be completely vile and despicable, because then perhaps I could see why my uncle would say that.

No. Only thing she ever did was be a little shit to her sister, rat out daddy, and act all uppity until King's Landing taught her a thing or two.
 
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