Winter is Here
Jul. 1st, 2016 12:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
netgirl_y2kI managed to peel myself away from the fall of the British government in real time (good fucking grief) long enough to watch the season finale of Game of Thrones.
I have really, really enjoyed the sixth season, especially after finding season five excessively weak. And I do think that one of the biggest problems with it, and to a lesser extent season four, was that they were pootling around in gentle circles hoping that Martin would publish another book. And that once they gave up on that, it was full steam ahead.
The big thing I think the show did really well this year was pare down a dozen separate plotlines down to basically three.
1) Starks in the North
2) Mad Queen Cersei
3) Everyone else falling into line behind Dany
-Starks/the North
Of the many, many character deaths this season brought the only one that really surprised me was Rickon's. I think I'd read too many fics over the years where he turned up just to be the deus ex Stark in Winterfell. But, of course, Sansa was right, once Rickon was in Ramsey's hands there was no saving him. And I think it was one of the most interesting things about Sansa this season was how clear-eyed/cold-hearted (delete according to preference) she was about that.
On Jon being King in the North I have mixed feelings. I always figured that the Sansa as Queen in the North stuff was pie in the sky wish-fulfilment, and honestly going forward it's going to be the war against the Others, and Jon's the guy you want in charge for that. But. But Sansa was the driving force behind taking back Winterfell, she had the best read on Ramsey as an opponent, and she's the reason the Knights of the Vale came. Jon was right when he said that she should be Lady of Winterfell. I'm not sure there should even be a King or Queen in the North. Does nobody remember what happened with the last King in North debacle? Lyanna Mormont has been one of the best things this season, but maybe this is why you shouldn't let angry ten year olds be kingmakers.
Fuck off, Littlefinger. Don't listen to him, Sansa! I really, really hope that they aren't going to go for a sort of Sansa versus Jon power struggle. She doesn't seem entirely to be buying what Littlefinger's selling, but she doesn't seem entirely sold on the White Wolf/King in the North stuff either. I hope Brienne gets back soon, at the very least to be the angel on Sansa's other shoulder.
Bran is essentially the exposition fairy now, which I don't mind because I am easy for narrative momentum and we've got to get this show on the road!
Arya and Frey Pies was an awesome little book nod. Although I am still not sure how she is not dead of those sucking abdominal wounds. Truly, her plot armour is strong.
-King's Landing
I know this season has been confirming fan theories hand over fist (I think this is less laziness on the part of the showrunners, and more that with all the time between books fans have figured out out most of the salient plot points) but the Cersei destroys King's Landing with wildfire theory was never one that I'd paid much attention to. Partly because I've never been over-invested in events in King's Landing, and partly because I'd just assumed that Cersei's trial was going to end in Cleganebowl. But of course once the High Sparrow had disallowed trial by combat there was no other way it was going to end. And, hey, at least she confined herself to only burning the Great Sept and not the whole of King's Landing. Faint praise, I know.
Tommen's suicide felt a bit ad hoc. Like they knew they wanted to end the season with Mad Queen Cersei, and had to kill her last remaining child to get her there.
I am glad that Margaery got her last moment of figuring out what Cersei was up to, even if it was too late.
-Dany/Everyone Else
The other reason Margaery's death didn't bother me was that I really appreciated the way they showed that all these other plots (the Tyrell deaths, the Kingsmoot, whatever the fuck was going on with Dorne) as being reasons that all these disparate Houses would support Dany.
I think we can all agree that Dorne was the worst part of a generally weak fifth season. And I feel like killing off the lion's share of those characters and then ignoring it for nine episodes was a good adaptation impulse. But it redeemed itself ever so slightly with me for having the iconic 'vengeance, justice, fire and blood' line delivered from Ellaria to Olenna. And one of the reasons I am sad that they didn't go with Sansa as Queen in the North is that apart from Jon all the other major players now are women.
Dany breaking up with Daario by giving him a city was a bit weird. On the one hand Daario is pretty much the worst person to leave in charge of Meereen, on the other GRRM has been trying to disentangle Dany from Meereen for twelve years and the show managed it with one (admittedly terrible) line. And trumping all that, Dany is on her way to Westeros. She has her fleet, her dragons, the Unsullied, and the Dothraki. Of course, she had all those things at the end of season four; which is what I mean when I talk about the show treading water for two years. But that final scene was kickfuckingass!
The mildly depressing thing is that as soon as the show overtook the book I felt my interest in eventually reading The Winds of Winter diminishing. Cynically though, I'm pretty sure that any lingering interest GRRM may have had in finishing the series pretty much vanished as soon as the show overtook him.
More cheerfully, I am excited that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
got_exchange is back up and running just when I'm getting excited about the fandom again.
I have really, really enjoyed the sixth season, especially after finding season five excessively weak. And I do think that one of the biggest problems with it, and to a lesser extent season four, was that they were pootling around in gentle circles hoping that Martin would publish another book. And that once they gave up on that, it was full steam ahead.
The big thing I think the show did really well this year was pare down a dozen separate plotlines down to basically three.
1) Starks in the North
2) Mad Queen Cersei
3) Everyone else falling into line behind Dany
-Starks/the North
Of the many, many character deaths this season brought the only one that really surprised me was Rickon's. I think I'd read too many fics over the years where he turned up just to be the deus ex Stark in Winterfell. But, of course, Sansa was right, once Rickon was in Ramsey's hands there was no saving him. And I think it was one of the most interesting things about Sansa this season was how clear-eyed/cold-hearted (delete according to preference) she was about that.
On Jon being King in the North I have mixed feelings. I always figured that the Sansa as Queen in the North stuff was pie in the sky wish-fulfilment, and honestly going forward it's going to be the war against the Others, and Jon's the guy you want in charge for that. But. But Sansa was the driving force behind taking back Winterfell, she had the best read on Ramsey as an opponent, and she's the reason the Knights of the Vale came. Jon was right when he said that she should be Lady of Winterfell. I'm not sure there should even be a King or Queen in the North. Does nobody remember what happened with the last King in North debacle? Lyanna Mormont has been one of the best things this season, but maybe this is why you shouldn't let angry ten year olds be kingmakers.
Fuck off, Littlefinger. Don't listen to him, Sansa! I really, really hope that they aren't going to go for a sort of Sansa versus Jon power struggle. She doesn't seem entirely to be buying what Littlefinger's selling, but she doesn't seem entirely sold on the White Wolf/King in the North stuff either. I hope Brienne gets back soon, at the very least to be the angel on Sansa's other shoulder.
Bran is essentially the exposition fairy now, which I don't mind because I am easy for narrative momentum and we've got to get this show on the road!
Arya and Frey Pies was an awesome little book nod. Although I am still not sure how she is not dead of those sucking abdominal wounds. Truly, her plot armour is strong.
-King's Landing
I know this season has been confirming fan theories hand over fist (I think this is less laziness on the part of the showrunners, and more that with all the time between books fans have figured out out most of the salient plot points) but the Cersei destroys King's Landing with wildfire theory was never one that I'd paid much attention to. Partly because I've never been over-invested in events in King's Landing, and partly because I'd just assumed that Cersei's trial was going to end in Cleganebowl. But of course once the High Sparrow had disallowed trial by combat there was no other way it was going to end. And, hey, at least she confined herself to only burning the Great Sept and not the whole of King's Landing. Faint praise, I know.
Tommen's suicide felt a bit ad hoc. Like they knew they wanted to end the season with Mad Queen Cersei, and had to kill her last remaining child to get her there.
I am glad that Margaery got her last moment of figuring out what Cersei was up to, even if it was too late.
-Dany/Everyone Else
The other reason Margaery's death didn't bother me was that I really appreciated the way they showed that all these other plots (the Tyrell deaths, the Kingsmoot, whatever the fuck was going on with Dorne) as being reasons that all these disparate Houses would support Dany.
I think we can all agree that Dorne was the worst part of a generally weak fifth season. And I feel like killing off the lion's share of those characters and then ignoring it for nine episodes was a good adaptation impulse. But it redeemed itself ever so slightly with me for having the iconic 'vengeance, justice, fire and blood' line delivered from Ellaria to Olenna. And one of the reasons I am sad that they didn't go with Sansa as Queen in the North is that apart from Jon all the other major players now are women.
Dany breaking up with Daario by giving him a city was a bit weird. On the one hand Daario is pretty much the worst person to leave in charge of Meereen, on the other GRRM has been trying to disentangle Dany from Meereen for twelve years and the show managed it with one (admittedly terrible) line. And trumping all that, Dany is on her way to Westeros. She has her fleet, her dragons, the Unsullied, and the Dothraki. Of course, she had all those things at the end of season four; which is what I mean when I talk about the show treading water for two years. But that final scene was kickfuckingass!
The mildly depressing thing is that as soon as the show overtook the book I felt my interest in eventually reading The Winds of Winter diminishing. Cynically though, I'm pretty sure that any lingering interest GRRM may have had in finishing the series pretty much vanished as soon as the show overtook him.
More cheerfully, I am excited that
got_exchange is back up and running just when I'm getting excited about the fandom again.
no subject
Date: 2016-07-12 11:16 pm (UTC)A Podcast of Ice and Fire has the wrongful host (and it's got an ungodly long archive, being mostly book-fandom-based and having a lot of episodes about people doing a reread and discussing chapters or whatever) -- I mention it because it's apparently a big deal and if you go looking for ASoIaF podcasts you'll probably run across it.
The Boiled Leather podcast is a keeper, and there's one I need to check out called Boars, Gore and Swords. I haven't really run across any others, aside from this one that only posted a very few episodes and hasn't done much for a year or two.