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I finally caught up with this season after re-watching everything leading up to it over the last month.  It keeps being brought up again and again but I actually really like how this show handles character deaths. They're not actually for shock value, and they're not to defy audience expectations. In-fact, with hindsight they're usually incredibly obvious. Death in this show is an integral part of a character, and the story at large. Every single death is the direct (if often unintended) result of that character's own decisions. More than that, every decision which leads to that death is the result of fundamental aspects of their character. They literally can't escape them without being some one else. As a few examples: Ned had countless opportunities to avoid his death, and seize power. However if he had taken those opportunities, he wouldn't have been Eddard Stark. Warning Cersei to take her children and run, putting his faith in the rule of law and the (dead) king's orders, turning down Renly's offer, trusting Littlefinger and his gold cloaks, all defines who Eddard Stark is. Robb was his father's son. He learned all the lessons his father taught him, and lived those lessons even more than his father did. When faced with the same trail Ned faced (~finding love on the battlefield~), he married his lover instead of fathering a bastard, doing what his father couldn't. And in living those lessons his father taught him, he died pretty much just as his father did. He had countless ways to avoid this death, but if he had he wouldn't have been Robb Stark, the perfect son of Eddard Stark. Now looking at this most recent episode: Oberyn Martel was a man ruled by his passions who spent over a decade obsessing over the murder of his sister, and getting revenge on not just the man who did the deed (The Mountain), but the man who ordered it as well (Tywin). When he came to king's landing, Twyin tried to give him the real politik concession: he'd give up The Mountain but not him self. If Oberyn was a calculating man he would have accepted this as a win and moved on, but he not. He's The Red Viper of Dorne. He gambles everything on an insane impromptu plan to somehow wring a public confession out of The Mountain in a duel any man would be lucky to survive. Doing the sensible thing (killing the Mountain quick and sure, or better yet never fighting him at all) simply isn't in his character.
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Jun 4, 2014 03:55
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Shath Hole posted:That was pretty funny to me as well. All that build up, she gets to her captive brother and after 1 sign of adversity says v If you want the scene to make sence, then Yara didn't leave because they ran into some dogs, or even Ramsay and his men. She left because of Reek. She wasn't just being melodramatic when she said "Theon's dead", he is effectively dead to her. She was smart enough to realize she couldn't save some one who didn't want to be saved, and decided she wasn't going to send any more of her men to their deaths to save Reek. The only person who can save Theon is him self, something in him has to snap again and give him the strength to beat Ramsay. The rescue scene could have been done a lot better, it was pretty poorly done by GoT standards. Edit: paperchaseguy posted:One aggravating thing about GOT is how every new group is introduced as The Most Badass, Terrifying, Lethal Killers Ever. New ones keep getting introduced to prevent you from realizing the old ones never did anything. Its almost like people like to talk big  The Ironborn are raiders. A few years prior to the show they rebelled, made some big victories in surprise attacks, then got promptly crushed. In the current war they've rebelled again, made some big victories in surprise attacks, and things ain't looking so hot now. Seems like there might be a pattern here. The couple dozen wildlings we're seeing are... a couple dozen wildlings. They're an advance group sent over the wall to cause havoc and get the gates unlocked for the 100,000 trapped on the wrong side. We haven't seen the wildling army yet outside of the vista of their camp way back when John was captured. OtherworldlyInvader fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Jun 6, 2014 |
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Jun 6, 2014 01:04
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v welp, let's head home boys!
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double negative posted:Out of all of that poo poo, her not at least attempting to mercy kill him was maybe the most egregious, especially given how we're supposed to view the Ironborn. Between that and the build up, it might've been the clumsiest sequence of the series. I can understand her not doing that for a number of reasons, but it sure would have been nice to see her have that conflict!
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Jun 6, 2014 01:21
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I'm pretty sure the white walker army moves at the speed of winter (aka the speed of plot). They're not actively marching south 24/7.
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Jun 6, 2014 07:36
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Irish Joe posted:They could have ganked the Wildling army anytime, though. The White Walkers are waiting for something. The only question is what? I think they're more like a force of nature than an army. They're probably going to advance with the seasons, not some sort of military time table. The maesters declared summer over back in season 2 or 3, and the summer lasted something like 9 years. Winter is on its way but it hasn't arrived yet. Presumably the great threat of the white walkers isn't from swords or sieges, it's from a winter no one can survive.
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Jun 6, 2014 18:35
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