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*UNMARKED SPOILERS ALL BOOKS* Game of Thrones |OT| - Season 7 - Sundays on HBO

KHlover

Banned
Who is going to be the one to break Sanctuary's heart and explain to him dragons aren't real and there's no such thing as a "dracolich"?
Maybe one day, but not in a thread where the distinction is relevant. WW turn creatures into Undead, they don't change their biology. The wights don't shatter when you kill them and don't have the cold aura of the WW, why would the dragon corpse suddenly turn into a frost dragon? My money is in Viserion still being able to breathe fire.
 

Brakke

Banned
Maybe one day, but not in a thread where the distinction is relevant. WW turn creatures into Undead, they don't change their biology. The wights don't shatter when you kill them and don't have the cold aura of the WW, why would the dragon corpse suddenly turn into a frost dragon? My money is in Viserion still being able to breathe fire.

Eh. NK turns men into Walkers by touching their forehead. He turns men into wights by lifting his arms all cool-like. For the dragon, he touched the head.

It's fucken magic. It does whatever they want it to.
 

Sanctuary

Member
Eh. NK turns men into Walkers by touching their forehead. He turns men into wights by lifting his arms all cool-like. For the dragon, he touched the head.

It's fucken magic. It does whatever they want it to.

By that logic, why wasn't the polar bear spewing frost or flying? Why didn't it shatter into ice cubes when hit by Jorah's dagger? You know, magic? I won't be surprised at all if the dragon starts breathing frost, but it will be stupid as hell anyway.

edit: That assumes the bear wasn't just a wight. It probably was though.
/shrug
 

dabig2

Member
Weren't there undead giants in Bran's episode 1 vision? I wonder why they weren't at the ice lake.

Combination of CG expense and that they're useless on a frozen lake. Then again, going back to what I want from these guys, fashion the giants with some weirwoodbows and they would've destroyed Jon and co. from afar. And I still think they'd fuck up a dragon too with those.
 

Burt

Member
Do you guys believe this is intentional or even a thing?
https://www.reddit.com/r/gameofthro...thing_three_battles_three_waters_three_dives/
The Jon one is pretty different than the other two though.

In the 'Making the Episode' bit or whatever it's called, they made it pretty clear that the entire episode -- if not the entire season - was structured around that blue dragon eye opening and reverse written from there. I'd find it hard to believe that it was anything more than 'jumping in water is a super convenient escape' and Jamie's usually in a warmer climate, Theon's generally out to sea as an Ironborn, and it's cold in the North where Starks hang out.
 

Tuck

Member
Maybe one day, but not in a thread where the distinction is relevant. WW turn creatures into Undead, they don't change their biology. The wights don't shatter when you kill them and don't have the cold aura of the WW, why would the dragon corpse suddenly turn into a frost dragon? My money is in Viserion still being able to breathe fire.
Wouldn't make sense for a dead dragon to breathe fire. The whole point of the white walkers is that they're icey cold.

The dragon will breath flames. But they'll be blue flames that turn things to ice.
 

KHlover

Banned
Eh. NK turns men into Walkers by touching their forehead. He turns men into wights by lifting his arms all cool-like. For the dragon, he touched the head.

It's fucken magic. It does whatever they want it to.
"It's magic" isn't the catch-all explanation for breaking logic you seem to think it is. Internal consistency is still a thing. It doesn't have to make sense in our world, but it should still follow the established rules in the GoT world. If it doesn't it's poor writing, magic or not.
 

Zabka

Member
Pretty sure the Night King can't turn full grown men into White Walkers and that they need to be babies.

ETA: When it comes to Viserion I wouldn't get hung up on it since it's a unique event.
 
Maybe one day, but not in a thread where the distinction is relevant. WW turn creatures into Undead, they don't change their biology. The wights don't shatter when you kill them and don't have the cold aura of the WW, why would the dragon corpse suddenly turn into a frost dragon? My money is in Viserion still being able to breathe fire.
If he breathes blue fire though, that's even hotter than yellow fire. The Knight king will kill his own army faster than Jon & Dany could.
 

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
Weren't there undead giants in Bran's episode 1 vision? I wonder why they weren't at the ice lake.
The NK is a greenseer and was having the giants drag those chains there so they could use them at the end of the episode. It's obvious!
 
Blue fire would be confusing. Half the audience would think it was ice.
blue fire is real though, i don't think i've ever seen a whole flame lit blue but when you're cooking stuff the bottom is always the hottest. blue stars are hotter than yellow stars like our Sun.

main-qimg-a3f447daac4785a809d8e6b0e359e5c4-c
 

mantidor

Member
You know I'm rewatching Battle of the Bastards and the Loot Train Attack and I think this last episode's biggest flaw among many is that the direction was just bad. The writing has been atrocious for quite a while (I mean, they are called the freaking "battle of the bastards" and "loot train attack" just to start), but those two set pieces made up for it somehow, as inane the writing was to get us there for a moment you forgot about it. Small details make all the difference, Jon almost drowning in dead bodies, Jaime looking at the ashes. It's really freaking hard to keep those moments dramatic and not cheesy, but the directors pulled it off more or less, the frozen lake attack was just urgh, a freaking dragon dies and it doesn't feel at all special, just cheesy... and yes it is also officially called the freaking "frozen lake battle", these writers are inspired as hell.
 

EktorOni

Member
Alan Taylor treated the episode with the same care as a mid-season episode of the Flash.

Which is weird, considering the stuff he did with both Baelor and Fire and Blood in Season 1, and those four chapters in Season 2.

Must've been his time doing D-tier Hollywood smack.
 

Azzanadra

Member
Which is weird, considering the stuff he did with both Baelor and Fire and Blood in Season 1, and those four chapters in Season 2.

Must've been his time doing D-tier Hollywood smack.

Yeah, I heard the "Alan Taylor is a hack" thing before the episode even aired, which I was puzzled at because he directed great episodes before... than I checked his Wikipedia page to find out he directed Thor: The Dark World :/ Maybe he's just better with non-hollywoodesque action material?
 

WaffleTaco

Wants to outlaw technological innovation.
Which is weird, considering the stuff he did with both Baelor and Fire and Blood in Season 1, and those four chapters in Season 2.

Must've been his time doing D-tier Hollywood smack.
Yes but D&D wrote and you can't fix people who simply don't care anymore.
Yeah, I heard the "Alan Taylor is a hack" thing before the episode even aired, which I was puzzled at because he directed great episodes before... than I checked his Wikipedia page to find out he directed Thor: The Dark World :/
Are we acting like directing is the same as writing? I mean most people only notice direction, if it's good. Thor: the dark world had more problems to do with the script.
 

Aikidoka

Member
Did they not have any dragon glass arrows? Probably could have put pressure on the Night king to make dragon slaughter a bit less casual.
 

Zabka

Member
Yes but D&D wrote and you can't fix people who simply don't care anymore.

Are we acting like directing is the same as writing? I mean most people only notice direction, if it's good. Thor: the dark world had more problems to do with the script.

I think there's a bit of bleed over when it comes to directing set pieces in GOT. Neil Marshall had a bunch of input on his episodes.

ETA: At the very least Alan Taylor was in a position during the prep for this episode to say "Hey, how about we write a line for Benjen to say that isn't dumb as fuck?" or "What if the Night King changes his target from Drogon to Viserion because Viserion is about to fire blast him?"
 

Brakke

Banned
"It's magic" isn't the catch-all explanation for breaking logic you seem to think it is. Internal consistency is still a thing. It doesn't have to make sense in our world, but it should still follow the established rules in the GoT world. If it doesn't it's poor writing, magic or not.

But dragons playing by special rules *is* consistent. Bears are just animals. Dragons have human-level (or better) intelligence and start off with their own magic to boot. It's totally fine to have WW magic interact with Dragon magic and corrupt fire-breath into ice-breath.
 

mantidor

Member
I think there's a bit of bleed over when it comes to directing set pieces in GOT. Neil Marshall had a bunch of input on his episodes.

ETA: At the very least Alan Taylor was in a position during the prep for this episode to say "Hey, how about we write a line for Benjen to say that isn't dumb as fuck?" or "What if the Night King changes his target from Drogon to Viserion because Viserion is about to fire blast him?"

I've seen so many only liners all around the internet that can fix stuff, Benjen saying "I would only slow you down" fixes the insanity of his sacrifice, somewhat.
 

Jombie

Member
I watched it again tonight and it's a frustrating episode. There's a GREAT episode in there somewhere, but it's hampered by putting spectacle before writing and basic logic. There were some easy fixes but they were neglected for whatever reason.

I've enjoyed the season but it's mostly just cumshot.
 
I watched it again tonight and it's a frustrating episode. There's a GREAT episode in there somewhere, but it's hampered by putting spectacle first and writing and logic dead last. There were some easy fixes but they were neglected for whatever reason.
I wrote this in the other thread, (if you feel like reading) tell me if you vibe with it
yeah there are a lot of good points in that article. this episode could have been much better if some of the events were just rearranged.

first off, why did they make Gendry seem like a doofus? he ain't one. "your lips are moving and you're complaining about something. that's whinging." and then, what, the brotherhood are supposed to be in the right in this situation? if i were gendry i would've been like "listen to me you big fuck, they didn't kill me because ser davos smuggled me out of the damn jail cell! otherwise, YES, she would've killed the shit out of me you motherfuckers! so fuck you!" i'll get back to Gendry later.

second off, I get that there were a bunch of important conversations that had to take place, I get that, but never should there have been a moment where the tension is just killed off so much. it should've never stopped snowing. it didn't have to be a blizzard the whole time - for instance, when the zombie polar bear showed up, and they killed it, at that point maybe the blizzard could've chilled down to the snowstorm that I linked, idk if in this episode the snow was CGI or not,

but all the shit should've hit the fan once the polar bear showed up. it comes in, kills a guide, and then kills Thoros. He should've just died there. ALL of the important convos, should've happened before the zombie polar bear shows up. it's a blizzard, the zombie bear comes, attacks and kills a scout and Thoros, and is taken down by dragonglass (btw why didn't the zombie drop dead once it was lit up?), after that point the blizzard tames to a regular snowstorm so that they can see, and they see that the rest of the dead are not far, so they do what they have to do - get their one zombie prisoner and then move their asses onto the lake.

the whole "send Gendry back to Eastwatch" was bullshit. Come on... they shouldn't have made Gendry a doofus and they shouldn't have had Gendry leave the squad. He should've been there, with the posse the whole time and in between cutting to Dany & Tyrion, they should've just shown a scene of her being so damn worried that she just goes "ok i can't take it anymore. something doesn't feel right, i'm going to to the north myself and i'm bringing my dragons with me" (of course, played out in a more eloquent way) and then we could've avoided another stupid plot point of fast travel/teleportation and instant messenger ravens, AND we would get more of Gendry kicking ass since he'd stay with the team.

i'm kinda torn about the whole "dumb cunt" thing with the hound. on the one hand it was cool when he knocked the zombie's jaw off but on the other hand, again i don't like how they killed tension by having a segment of the team on an island as a "safe zone" for time to pass in the episode. at best they should've been depicted as being there for like, 20 to 40 minutes and then Jon makes everyone fall back, feel hopeless until the dragons come.

i'm not even gonna get into the whole stupid Winterfell drama. The only reason I don't mind it is because I like the chemistry (even if it is an animosity) that the Stark actresses have together. I liked Sansa's portrayal this episode, the way she talked about Jon & the North when she was alone with Petyr but I feel like she should've been able to at least suspect that it was he who was responsible for having that letter reach Arya's hands. And it's indefensible how Bran is not in this episode; he's definitely going to be in the season finale so his absence was just to not interrupt the buildup of this stupid drama. Sansa's the only Stark who's not annoying to watch. Arya and Bran? smh. At least Arya's acting is better.

I'm not gonna get into the Jon x Dany stuff other than I'm not happy about Jon bending the knee, and there wasn't even any King's Landing in this episode, was there? Or maybe there was and I'm mistaken

edit: and the last big issue for me was how Viserion got killed. If the Night king is superhuman enough to throw a javelin with significantly more velocity than Qyburn's scorpio then he's so OP that he doesn't even need to worry about fighting humans on his own. Even though Jon has killed multiple white walkers. What they should've shown in my opinion, was him doing something similar to what Jaime did, except come out successful from it. Charge at Viserion on his zombie horse at the edge of the frozen lake, then either jump off the zombie and throw the spear & cut to a summersault after Viserion is hit, or throw the spear on the horse. I think that would've been much better than the throw. The only thing I can see how this wouldn't work is that it would be "out of character" for the Night king to behave like that when normally he acts calmly and not rash - but, we don't really know much or anything about this character and what he's physically capable of so a charge and leap off wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility in my opinion.
 

Zabka

Member
I wrote this in the other thread, (if you feel like reading) tell me if you vibe with it
the whole "send Gendry back to Eastwatch" was bullshit. Come on... they shouldn't have made Gendry a doofus and they shouldn't have had Gendry leave the squad. He should've been there, with the posse the whole time and in between cutting to Dany & Tyrion, they should've just shown a scene of her being so damn worried that she just goes "ok i can't take it anymore. something doesn't feel right, i'm going to to the north myself and i'm bringing my dragons with me" (of course, played out in a more eloquent way) and then we could've avoided another stupid plot point of fast travel/teleportation and instant messenger ravens, AND we would get more of Gendry kicking ass since he'd stay with the team.

Nahh this sounds pretty cheesy to me. A vague feeling is no better than Benjen showing up outta nowhere and pulling a Saw Gerrera. To start, they just needed to spend more time showing Gendry's journey back to Eastwatch to show how arduous it was to run that distance in those conditions.

Re: Dany, either have her follow them to Eastwatch or pull some Bran bullshit to get her in the air. He's capable of instant surveillance and communication. He's a god damn cheat code. Use him!
 

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
Ah, thanks for the clarification. Usually I don't have a problem with these kinds of illusions and can see them both ways. With the ballerina though, I can only see clockwise and with Jon counterclockwise.

edit: Haha, nvm. I can now see Jon both ways. Now with the ballerina too as long as I first close my eyes and think she's spinning the other way first.

What? They're both obviously counterclockwise.
 

Jombie

Member
I wrote this in the other thread, (if you feel like reading) tell me if you vibe with it

My answer for Gendry would be that there should be no Gendry. He's there because of fan service and nothing more. He's a cool guy, but that's not enough reason to shoehorn in another character this late in the game.

Yeah, other than the obvious problems, pacing has been an issue all season and the scenes are all over the place. The Hound only exists now to rattle off one liners for reddit memes.

I've said before and I doubt I'm the only one, but I wish Jamie had been captured (fucking Bronn dies) by Dany and is sent to Eastwatch to help find the wight to convince HIM. Bran should have been involved, maybe warging into different animals to help find a scouting party near Eastwatch. Still dangerous but not outrageously stupid. They should have bypassed ALL of the reunion shit in KL.

As silly as the episode is, it's sillier that any of those charcters would be found dead in KL.
 

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
Dragon gonna burn blue fire to melt down the wall. Seriously what purpose would an ice breathing dragon even serve against fire breathing dragons? Y'all know fire melts ice right?

Just get Euron on the case.
 

Azzanadra

Member
Dragon gonna burn blue fire to melt down the wall. Seriously what purpose would an ice breathing dragon even serve against fire breathing dragons? Y'all know fire melts ice right?

Just get Euron on the case.

Even if they could just physically break the wall, what of the magic runes that hint at a more magical barrier to the walkers? They would have to literally destroy all of it I imagine.
 

Jombie

Member
Dragon gonna burn blue fire to melt down the wall. Seriously what purpose would an ice breathing dragon even serve against fire breathing dragons? Y'all know fire melts ice right?

Just get Euron on the case.

Given that the wall has magical defenses seeped into its walls, it doesn't make sense for a magical creature who was resurrected using magic using magic breath to try and melt it.
 
Nahh this sounds pretty cheesy to me. A vague feeling is no better than Benjen showing up outta nowhere and pulling a Saw Gerrera. To start, they just needed to spend more time showing Gendry's journey back to Eastwatch to show how arduous it was to run that distance in those conditions.

Re: Dany, either have her follow them to Eastwatch or pull some Bran bullshit to get her in the air. He's capable of instant surveillance and communication. He's a god damn cheat code. Use him!
well, even if the vague feeling were to be the case, it'd have played out far more eloquently than just the way I typed it out. But Bran not being the episode is its own fucking problem considering the stupidass Winterfell drama.

But I also didn't mind Benjen showing up. I think the show just wanted us to be surprised because people were wondering a. the last time we saw Benjen was when he left Meera & Bran so when will see him again and b. (which dates backs for seasons) when will Jon see Benjen again and they kill 2 birds with 1 stone technically and left an element of surprise since we don't know what Jon's gonna do while he's dying from hypothermia and an army zombies are running towards him again
My answer for Gendry would be that there should be no Gendry. He's there because of fan service and nothing more. He's a cool guy, but that's not enough reason to shoehorn in another character this late in the game.
I will admit that yes Gendry being suddenly back is absolutely rubbing off as fan service, but come on...he was a good character back in the day and they wrote reasons to bring him back. The first time he met with Jon, that could be the start of a great new alliance and callback to Ned & Rob being together.

Yeah, other than the obvious problems, pacing has been an issue all season and the scenes are all over the place. The Hound only exists now to rattle off one liners for reddit memes.

I've said before and I doubt I'm the only one, but I wish Jamie had been captured (fucking Bronn dies) by Dany and is sent to Eastwatch to help find the wight to convince HIM. Bran should have been involved, maybe warging into different animals to help find a scouting party near Eastwatch. Still dangerous but not outrageously stupid. They should have bypassed ALL of the reunion shit in KL.

As silly as the episode is, it's sillier that any of those charcters would be found dead in KL.
Dany capturing Jaime and sending him to the wall is an interesting idea. Although since Tyrion was there with her I'm sure he would just want her to bring him back with them to Dragonstone. But yeah, pacing of this season was the worst. That's a given. Episode 5? Jesus. Pacing was practically the only damn problem with that episode. Had it been 2 hours instead of one it'd probably be fine.
 

mantidor

Member
Just to not be a total bummer, Tormund almost dying was pulled off fine, with the ridiculous amount of plot armor everywhere that scene stood out, you really thought he was a goner.
 

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
Even if they could just physically break the wall, what of the magic runes that hint at a more magical barrier to the walkers? They would have to literally destroy all of it I imagine.

Given that the wall has magical defenses seeped into its walls, it doesn't make sense for a magical creature who was resurrected using magic using magic breath to try and melt it.

It's obviously what's going to happen. And why doesn't magic destroying magic make sense? What?
 

Sanctuary

Member
Even if they could just physically break the wall, what of the magic runes that hint at a more magical barrier to the walkers? They would have to literally destroy all of it I imagine.

So what would have been the point when they previously attacked Castle Black then if they would not have been able to go beyond it anyway? Were they all just going to camp there for a few months or years, tearing the wall down? I still don't know why people could turn into wights inside Castle Black either.

Just to not be a total bummer, Tormund almost dying was pulled off fine, with the ridiculous amount of plot armor everywhere that scene stood out, you really thought he was a goner.

Already posted this, but even those that wrote the script thought he was a goner too!
So much fucking ego-stroking, my god.

Personally, I didn't think he was going to die. They built him up too much as comic relief, and with how bad that episode had been going up to that point, I seriously expected him to be saved. Sandor had to be redeemed you know? To me it was completely obvious what was going to happen.
 

Neece

Member
Nahh this sounds pretty cheesy to me. A vague feeling is no better than Benjen showing up outta nowhere and pulling a Saw Gerrera. To start, they just needed to spend more time showing Gendry's journey back to Eastwatch to show how arduous it was to run that distance in those conditions.

Re: Dany, either have her follow them to Eastwatch or pull some Bran bullshit to get her in the air. He's capable of instant surveillance and communication. He's a god damn cheat code. Use him!

It wouldn't really have to just be a vague feeling.

She had a vision in season 2 that she would end up at the wall. Perhaps she could have been in the caves looking at the white walker paintings and then recounts the vision she had to Tyrion. And based on her vision, her fear for Jorah and Jon, and a gut feeling while looking at the white walker paintings, she decides on her own that she needs to see it for herself to see if it's all true. And then it turns out that her gut feeling heroics come at the cost of her child.

It would be slightly thematic too, given that she also saw her dead child with Drogo once she went past the wall in her vision. It's a better character moment than needing Gendry to send a raven.
 
Meh. Makes no sense at all. He's the 3 eyed raven. That should be enough. He will play a part in ending the war. That may be entering the night king by warring or some other process, but he isn't the night king. The show has already shown his origin.

Eh. I see it. Apparently GRRM told them about Hodor. Time fuckery and weirwood net is an explanation for it happening since they've established it. I mean, seems like The Night King is a super warg. Would be better if it was Bran the Builder -> Current Bran too.

It's poetry.
 
Even if they could just physically break the wall, what of the magic runes that hint at a more magical barrier to the walkers? They would have to literally destroy all of it I imagine.

That's where Brans Brand connection with the Night King comes in.

Bran will go to the wall, drawn there...and the NIght King will be on the other side. Then Bran will try to warg into the Night King, but the ensuing psychic battle will force Bran to shut down the Night Kings mind, and the lingering fractured pieces of the Night Kings mind will have corrupted Bran, and his lashback of power will render the wall destroyed. And Bran, having been corrupted fully by the Night King, will reawaken as Onslaught!
 
well, even if the vague feeling were to be the case, it'd have played out far more eloquently than just the way I typed it out. But Bran not being the episode is its own fucking problem considering the stupidass Winterfell drama.

But I also didn't mind Benjen showing up. I think the show just wanted us to be surprised because people were wondering a. the last time we saw Benjen was when he left Meera & Bran so when will see him again and b. (which dates backs for seasons) when will Jon see Benjen again and they kill 2 birds with 1 stone technically and left an element of surprise since we don't know what Jon's gonna do while he's dying from hypothermia and an army zombies are running towards him again
I will admit that yes Gendry being suddenly back is absolutely rubbing off as fan service, but come on...he was a good character back in the day and they wrote reasons to bring him back. The first time he met with Jon, that could be the start of a great new alliance and callback to Ned & Rob being together.

Dany capturing Jaime and sending him to the wall is an interesting idea. Although since Tyrion was there with her I'm sure he would just want her to bring him back with them to Dragonstone. But yeah, pacing of this season was the worst. That's a given. Episode 5? Jesus. Pacing was practically the only damn problem with that episode. Had it been 2 hours instead of one it'd probably be fine.
Gendry's had a consistent role in the books so they probably had to find a way to bring him back in the show, but it just doesn't work.
 

watershed

Banned
Well, I just came across the fan theory that Bran is the Night King and it's pretty interesting. I could see it happening especially because Bran has been totally fuckin useless this season and his character needs somewhere interesting to go.
 
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