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Chemtrailologist posted:My reading was the same as yours. It made me think of the protests from 2020. Cops were emboldened and felt they had to instill fear amongst the public to silence any criticism. There's a lot of footage where they were just attacking random people rather than protesters. HBO has a long history of shows that make pretty overt references to current events and modern themes even if they are set in different time periods. "Police force gets its rocks off on terrorizing people they view as vermin" isn't exactly subtle. I had low expectations going in and the pilot definitely impressed me, perhaps as a result of that. I've never seen Matt Smith in anything before so I thought he was great as Daemon. The cast overall was really strong- no "cute kids that grow up to be terrible actors" to worry about here. And no obvious Kit Harrington charisma black holes either- though the guy who plays Criston Cole could end up that way. I'm optimistic about the show.
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Aug 22, 2022 14:41
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DarkCrawler posted:
I don't think this is the case. There have been one or two deaths in melees and each time, it's presented as a shock / accident / tragedy. This melee featured multiple purposeful killings which seemed very weird and not in keeping with the "they use blunted weapons to avoid hurting one another" vibe that is present in the books.
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Aug 22, 2022 17:02
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timp posted:resisting that impulse and just enjoying the show as it comes. I'm choosing this path, as much as I can manage.
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Aug 22, 2022 17:19
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CapnAndy posted:I've read two separate reviews now saying that Viserys chooses between the lives of his wife and child in the birth scene, and... jesus, why is watching TV shows and listening to the words that people say out loud apparently too hard for some TV reviewers? The maesters flat out loving tell him that Aemma is dead no matter what and his choices are to either consent to them killing Aemma and saving the baby, or to pray for a miracle because right now they're both gonna die. The maester says something along the lines of doing nothing would leave her life "in the hands of the gods" which I think is meant to be purposefully vague. My own interpretation is that he's saying there's still a chance she could live (other wise he would just say there's absolutely no way she can survive) but someone else could easily lean the other way, and that this was the diplomatic way of saying she would never make it. That's good writing because the maester is going to want to retain some plausible deniability in that scenario. And it leaves it up to the viewer to decide what he really meant. I think it's pretty clear that Viserys valued the life of the child as much or more than his wife's, and that his choice was a foregone conclusion.
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Aug 22, 2022 19:23
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Yeah, the helmet is so loving goofy when viewed from the front. The prop masters could have created something so much cooler ala the Hound's helmet and made it actually functional but instead we get this open faced piece of poo poo that looks like something you could buy at a discount Halloween shop. Just have an armorer craft a menacing barbute helmet with wings on it. Done.
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Aug 23, 2022 02:16
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Toplowtech posted:house fuckwit and house blackdick Just want to say this made me laugh so hard I pulled a muscle
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Aug 23, 2022 17:00
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grittyreboot posted:I didn't like that they had a child actress tell a middle aged man she could bear him kids. I don't care if it's historically accurate, it's really gross. I hope they move away from that ASAP The explicit, cold blooded torture and murder of innocent merchant sailors can stay though.
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Aug 29, 2022 16:27
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They should have done a cool series of CG mosaics depicting the height of Valyria, the Doom and the conquest leading up to "present day". Super cool artwork to show the Targaryen dynasty history and preview what the coming war will look like. The CG blood running down a weird model of maybe the city I don't know looks terrible and is not interesting at all visually or thematically. We are all aware that will be blood, that's why we're watching the show. Couple it with the exact same game of thrones theme and it was by far the most disappointing part of the show. I mean at least use some different instruments or something. Maybe some big wardrums and dulcimers or some other cool poo poo.
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Aug 29, 2022 23:24
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Sentinel Red posted:
The volcanos play a part but it's also hinted that the Valyrians hosed around with some dark, dangerous blood magic and finally went too far with it, unleashing earthquakes, eruptions, plagues, etc. One of the reasons no one goes to the ruins is that it's full of heinous monsters / demons that the Valyrians created / summoned during their reign and now infest the whole region, even centuries later. Like insects with human faces and snakes with human hands that lay eggs in your body type poo poo. All of it is supposedly related, though it's left intentionally vague as to what triggered it all.
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Aug 30, 2022 10:51
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Clyde Radcliffe posted:A bunch of nobles just wailing on each other with last man standing rules and no political consequences is insane. Agreed - I think it was a scene-specific choice to conflate the violence of the tourney with the violence of the birthing room. I think the writer/director chose to sacrifice narrative consistency for a fairly heavy handed thematic comparison. It was the payoff for the queen's speech to the princess about a woman's role in their society. If anything, I think the choice to make the tourney a bloodbath was a misfire because it overstated the level of violence usually experienced by men in the setting. Women presumably die fairly often in childbirth in Westeros, whereas men rarely die in battle. The show could have leaned into that and showed how fake and absurd the level of "violence" of the big boy dress up games is, and that could have made a pretty strong statement about how the violence women face is much more real and prevalent.
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Aug 31, 2022 21:38
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Commander of the KG is played by Graham McTavish, who among other great roles played Dracula in the NF Castlevania series, and Dwalin (the bad rear end dwarf) in the Hobbit series. Great Scottish actor.
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Sep 1, 2022 15:28
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The books are definitely worth reading and are much more nuanced and well written than the show was. The show has some outstanding moments and performances, but the characters are far more developed and the plots are better in text form, IMO.
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Sep 2, 2022 17:24
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This episode was better than anything from the last five seasons of game of thrones.
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Sep 5, 2022 03:16
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Gladi posted:Why make the battle so bad? That was literally somebody putting together some scenes some producer (or director) dreamed of. If that was replaced with dozen still images, it would be an actual improvement. Nah it ruled and anyone who shits on this but loved Battle of the Bastards (which was at least 3 times dumber) is whack.
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Sep 5, 2022 05:45
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It's hilarious to watch that episode and see goons coming here to ask poo poo like "what is this show even about???". Just lol Paddy Considine is really great in the role of Viserys. I've never really seen a show depict how burdensome a kingship can be this effectively. He's worn down and it really does show. His conversations with Alicent and Raenyra were both incredible scenes. He's a decent man who just doesn't want to hurt the people he loves- but being king requires him to do so. "Ineffective goony king" isn't an archetype that most shows could make interesting, but this one has.
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Sep 5, 2022 19:11
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Arrows also lose velocity at long range which is why war bows are only capable of piercing plate armor at very close distances. Sure they were firing from an elevated position but they were also a far distance away. Also, it's not like hundreds of guys were firing volleys at him- I counted and there were 12 archers. Hitting a moving target at that distance isn't easy, even in a volley. Something I liked is that some of the shots missed by a lot, which is what would happen when you have 12 guys trying to anticipate where a guy will be in the 6 seconds it would take for your arrow to reach him, 300 feet away. When he finally does take a couple hits, it's because he'd stopped to grapple with an enemy and became a stationary target. That's pretty excellent direction IMO. The scene was fine in my opinion. Bows are not rifles and the strong ones that would be used in combat against people were even less accurate due to the strong draw weight needed to be a threat to anyone in armor. Also, the director went out of his way to show Crab man constantly scanning the ridge line, anticipating the dragon. He wasn't surprised by it- he expected it. What he didn't expect was Daemon to so recklessly put his own life at risk by taking on a bunch of his men alone, which yeah I get that it's a bit of a trope but I feel it's earned. This was Daemon at his best, motivated purely out of desire to be seen as his own man, capable of literally fighting his own battles. The men he's killing are sailors and thieves (pirates) not hardened soldiers. He's wielding a valyrian steel sword and wearing high quality plate. It was fine. E: ok there are like 20 archers total, not 12. A later, wider shot shows more on the ridge. That same shot also shows that they are more like 500 feet away, which makes it even less likely that they'd be able to hit Daemon. FLIPADELPHIA fucked around with this message at 20:36 on Sep 6, 2022 |
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Sep 6, 2022 20:18
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Yeah I mean the entire thing is basically a fantasy Wars of the Roses, and many of the main characters are based heavily on historical figures. (Robert = Henry VIII, Aegon = William the Conqueror, Aerys = Charles VI, etc.)
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Sep 9, 2022 22:00
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TeaJay posted:So did Daemon back out because he was surprised Rhaenyra was so into it and couldn't just dominate her like he thought? His drunken stupor afterwards was great, though, as was everything with King Goon. That this question can be asked and any number of plausible responses could work is proof that the show is top notch tv. My own interpretation is that Daemon really does love his brother and he knows if he has sex with Rhaenyra, the king will hate him forever. It's the line he won't cross because for all of his many faults, he actually does want his brother's love and trust in return. He wants her but he knows that if he takes her without Viserys's permission / blessing, it will permanently destroy their relationship. When he appeals to Viserys in the throne room to have them married, it really is what he wants. The real difference between the brothers is that Viserys is trying very hard to honor the traditions of Westeros in order to keep the realm stable. That the writers have done this in conjunction with the prophecy is in my opinion, very cool because it explains why Viserys is obsessed with not taking risks, not making enemies, etc. Daemon doesn't give a poo poo about any of that and thinks the Targaryens can and should do whatever the gently caress they want. This combined with his impulsive nature is the source of their conflict. It's a great portrayal of a brotherly relationship and it's the heart of the show so far.
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Sep 12, 2022 19:10
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CapnAndy posted:My read is that Daemon reels off an extremely cogent political argument while so dead drunk he can't get his face off the floor, which leads me to believe that's something he thought up ahead of time. So at the very least, "call Rhaenyra's virtue into question so I can nab her as soiled goods" was premeditated. This interpretation kind of requires Daemon to have been playing a long con on Rhaenyra for many years, including the time before she was named heir. It's possible, but it wouldn't be very good writing IMO.
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Sep 12, 2022 20:00
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nooneofconsequence posted:the show abandoned all plot complexity and devolved into who could deliver the biggest There's a video of the cast reading the battle of winterfell script and when it gets to the "Arya kills the night king" part they all hoot and cheer like a bunch of complete morons and Maisie beams like she's just won the superbowl. It's a cute moment until you realize just how shallow and vapid the whole thing is. There's a video series out there where some random nerd lays out his ideas for the final season and it's shockingly better than what they did. He's not even a book reader, just a dork who took a second to think about some good ways to wrap up individual plot lines. E: here's the link in case anyone's interested. It's not a masterpiece retelling but it's far superior in just about every way.
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Sep 13, 2022 19:46
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100% agreed. Show intros are not something I generally even care about, but in this case it really is the worst part of the show.
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Sep 18, 2022 14:17
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The worst tv trope of all time is "person somehow figures out an important secret through telepathy and is also 100% certain their telepathy is correct" and they went with it with this episode. Great episode other than that, but man I really hate that poo poo.
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Sep 19, 2022 06:16
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stev posted:Huh? Who did that? Sorry, didn't mean to be vague. I meant Joffrey (the guy criston killed) He spends 2 seconds at a huge party looking at criston and immediately knows with full certainty exactly what the omniscient viewer knows. It's really lazy writing and the character's decision to immediately give up that information is equally dumb. Didn't come close to ruining the episode for me, but it was a big time stumble IMO. On the other hand, criston murdering him at the party was excellent.
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Sep 19, 2022 14:19
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yeah that's always been one detail that seemed off about the KG. We rarely if ever hear about 70 year old knights using canes to get around the palace when in reality, you'd have that be quite frequent. Seems like a very dumb tradition if you actually do care about the safety of the royal family.
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Sep 19, 2022 16:49
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PostNouveau posted:Maybe the 70-year-old kingsguard get squires who are ringers. lol good poo poo
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Sep 19, 2022 18:40
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Xiahou Dun posted:Do you often think about invisible things. Honest question. The scene stops mid speech, the queen enters alone, the entire room watches her make a dramatic, scene-stealing entrance. The king looks sad, devastated even. The queen nods to her family as she passes them in the hall. They nod back, obviously beaming with pride. Camera centers on two characters, one of which asks "The beacon on the hightower, do you know what color it glows when Old Town calls its banners to war?" the other replies, with a grin, "green" What do you think a color blind viewer should infer that they are talking about? Specifically.
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Sep 19, 2022 21:26
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Xiahou Dun posted:I went, “O so they’re doing that part of the book? Okay, then I’m guessing the dress must be green.” That's not really an answer to the question. What should a colorblind viewer (not you) infer from that dialogue? What should a colorblind viewer think they are talking about?
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Sep 19, 2022 21:40
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Xiahou Dun posted:Do you usually harass people like this. It was not my intent to harass, I just wanted you to think about why the writers put that dialog in. I can't think of a single other thing a typical viewer might interpret the reference of green to be, other than the dress. I could very well be wrong. But if you can't either, maybe revise your opinion instead of being so defensive about it?
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Sep 19, 2022 22:34
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Jerkface posted:https://twitter.com/boneysoups/status/1572064440370987011 Ser Scott of House Stapp
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Sep 20, 2022 14:21
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Phylodox posted:Pretty sure it’s just a straight up lie, since I remember her flat out saying “I swear to you that I’m still a maiden” at one point. She swore that Daemon "never touched me" which is still a lie but not "I'm still a virgin".
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Sep 20, 2022 19:34
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Boris Galerkin posted:
I suppose you could look at it that way, but Corlys seems pretty loyal / allied to Daemon. He argued for Daemon being the obvious heir when the succession was brought up, and he's relied on Daemon to be his proxy a few times in dealing with the king. I interpreted it more like a "maybe we need to reconsider this whole idea and maybe pack up and go home" kind of deal, rather than a near-coup.
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Sep 20, 2022 21:33
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I mean, can you blame them? Even mild subtlety flies over the heads of far too many viewers. This is a show designed from the ground up to re-capture a demographic that is pretty notorious for needing to be told almost everything.
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Sep 21, 2022 14:45
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Typo posted:as it turns out, decent writing is a lot rarer than good CGI nowadays, and the audience do care about the former Ah yes, this is a great person to cite for an honest opinion. I sure hope writers everywhere take heed and do what this guy wants.   A bastion of fair criticism and totally not a chuddy grifter, for sure.
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Sep 23, 2022 01:15
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I said come in! posted:You’re probably right but this is also standard for YouTube thumbnails and headlines. Its what is required for the algorithm and to get any views at all. You have to call people showing solidarity for minority casting as "cope" to get views? I mean, even if you're right, that just means that youtube isn't a valid source of insightful commentary at all. Marsupial Ape posted:That’s disappointing. I had watched a couple of his bow videos and found him fun. Still waters run chuddy, I guess. Yeah. I've found that the Venn Diagram of "has interest in medieval weaponry" and "hates women/minorities" is basically a circle. It sucks, because there are people out there who have these interests but aren't lovely- but we're vastly outnumbered.
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Sep 23, 2022 01:20
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He's an obese man who wears coke bottle glasses and a hoodie with a chain mail graphic on it. Although, he is somehow better than the dude who does the same schtick but in front of a huge wall of dolls.
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Sep 23, 2022 14:42
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There's a decent chance he finishes his next book. But the chances go way down that he finishes the series finale, which is supposed to be the next book after. "Lol he's never releasing another book" is justified low bar setting from fans who've had to wait literal decades for progress on some of the character/plot lines. There hasn't been a new Arya chapter since 2005, for example. FLIPADELPHIA fucked around with this message at 17:26 on Sep 23, 2022 |
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Sep 23, 2022 17:23
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lol that would unironically own so hard that fat old fucker
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Sep 23, 2022 23:04
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Lol where did this idea that people completely forgot about dragons come from?
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Sep 25, 2022 21:27
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It's one actor playing twin characters.
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Sep 26, 2022 04:11
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Laena was a serious bad rear end who deserved more screen time. And Daemon seriously didn't deserve her. What an rear end in a top hat. (Though in his defense, he was obviously going to say "no" to the choice of cutting her open)
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Sep 26, 2022 21:23
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