See, I still think it's probably going somewhere, but the hints and signs are very sparse. If I didn't have it on the authority of people I trust that it goes somewhere eventually, I'd have given up on it.
How are the signs sparse my dude? I think its pretty damn obvious that some serious shit is brewing in the land. My favorite foreshadowy sort of trend is what Nuri mentioned, the gradual inclination of magic and God level shit. Reminds me a lot of BSG's pacing and plot development, though honestly the payoff in that example wasn't that great. I kind of like "non-endings" for that reason, cause sometimes its super hard to really deliver when you've done such a good job at building tension.
BSG had a far heavier intrusion of the "Big Thing" into the primary plot threads. I mean, shit, the angels were there from the first episode.
There's a slow escalation of magic, yes. It's not obvious that it's tied to the season change, and it's also not pointing at anything in particular. And even then, the house infighting drama isn't reacting to it. It's as though it doesn't exist for them - even though many have presumably lived through winters before, and should expect such things to be happening.
So sure, it's there. A bit. But it's not doing anything, and nobody seems to care about it. It's basically posturing.
In the book it was brought up during the fight at Kings Landing. The priest who made the (Greek fire) stuff asked Tyrion about Dragons because the fire was potent again. One of the reasons there was so much death in the water is because they used so much of the stuff expecting lesser results.
Magic faded away following the Doom of Valyria, since there has been no record of its use in Westeros since that time which was about a 100 years before the Targaryens took over Westeros. Anyone who mentions magic in the south is considered mad or a liar. There have been winters without Magic, Dragons and White walkers. Winters just mean lots of starving people. I also assume that winters are as bad in the south then in the north.
I'm not saying it's a bad show. I'm saying that this road it's on? It goes nowhere.
See, there are a few things I've gotten out of the parts of GoT I've watched or read about. It's about showing more realistic politics and character arcs than we get in most fantasy books. (Indeed, GRRM said the events of the last episode were some of the most important to him, because he wanted to undercut the "son avenges the father" trope almost as much as the basic "noble hero saves the day" trope). It also strongly reflects all of the ways that actual medieval times were shit, which is not surprising considering GRRM's background.
If it's saying anything specific about life and humanity, though, it's that life is random, everyone is always (or should be) looking out for number one, people can get crushed by bigger events they had nothing to do with initiating, power corrupts, and inflexibility and/or excessive devotion to goodness or honor is likely to be punished, at least in a medieval world.
It's an interesting study of how backwards, warring cultures perpetuate themselves, I guess, but in general it doesn't really do all that much for me. When I do watch the show, I mostly enjoy the setting and occasionally feel mild excitement to see who's going to screw who successfully.
BSG had a far heavier intrusion of the "Big Thing" into the primary plot threads. I mean, shit, the angels were there from the first episode.
There's a slow escalation of magic, yes. It's not obvious that it's tied to the season change, and it's also not pointing at anything in particular. And even then, the house infighting drama isn't reacting to it. It's as though it doesn't exist for them - even though many have presumably lived through winters before, and should expect such things to be happening.
So sure, it's there. A bit. But it's not doing anything, and nobody seems to care about it. It's basically posturing.
YOU WATCHED ALL OF BSG AFTER IT AIRED. You didn't have to wait a week between episodes or several months between seasons. If you had watched BSG like that, it would have seemed SLOW AS SHIT. Take it from someone who did watch it like that.
The house infighting drama is just starting. Besides, it's mostly just a distraction that allows the Powers to gain a foothold. Remember that whole big deal the Night's Watch made in the first episode about needing men? Remember how all the men were needed to fight the bullshit petty succession war? Remember how Osha was telling Robb's army they were marching the wrong way? VERY FUCKING IMPORTANT.
True, I did get to marathon BSG - so there is that perspective. However, I've got nearly as much GoT to watch in one shot, and I've watched it all pretty recently. I think I can make a pretty fair assessment of the pacing of each show - and GoT is far, far more plodding than BSG.
"The house infighting drama is just starting." Uh, hasn't this been going on since the first season? Episode one, technically? Jamie trying to kill Bran? The Lannisters plotting to usurp the throne? Like, right out the gate, it was petty backstabbing and intrigue and shit.
Which is fine - you need to set that up and show how people have become focused on themselves and their petty bullshit. I'm just pissed that it's taken 30 hours of television to get the plot to the point where things might actually start happening that break out of the petty bullshit. Yes, I get that setting up the succession war is necessary to leave people vulnerable for the inevitable invasion of Winter - at least, I hope that's where this is going - but it could've moved a good bit faster than it did.
Maybe cut out like 4/5ths of the gratuitous nudity and sex - you could fill that space with plot and still have tits to spare.
Oh Pete, you sweet summer child. The house infighting gets a bit more intense in the near future...
Also, the whole thing about magic not being believed is very much true. As shit starts hitting the fan, more and more interesting magical stuff might happen ;-)
Also, Maesters.
Also also, Dornishmen will eventually feature in the show. And Varys is the best character.
The good future parts wouldn't be nearly as good without the context leading up to them. There's plenty of good stuff in the early stages. Remember Syrio Forel? Remember when Dany hatched some fucking dragons in a funeral pyre? Remember Melisandre's crazy shadow baby?
All of which make me wonder why anyone in that world would dismiss the importance of magic in favor of squabbles over easements. The response to the rumors about Danaerys should've been "OH FUCK SHE HAS DRAGONS SHIT SHIT SHIT."
Which is part of the reason I like her plot line. People are all like "lol dragons w/e" and she's all like "Khalessi don't give a fuck." Then you're on fire.
No there have been plenty of good stuff through the whole series, it's just when people make a comment about a certain scene being pointless, the answer is maybe you haven't reached the payoff of that certain scene. There are plenty of awesome moments in the TV show and in the books but also plenty of times wondering why are we looking at this moment, until a few 100 pages later you realize why there was focus there.
Just want to chime in and say that I find it a bit silly to read a few thousand pages of R. Scott Bakker and then complain about the burden of reading A Song of Ice and Fire. The latter is shorter, but also far more complex and time-consuming.
It's like reading all of LotR and then bitching about how much Earthsea there is to read.
All of which make me wonder why anyone in that world would dismiss the importance of magic in favor of squabbles over easements. The response to the rumors about Danaerys should've been "OH FUCK SHE HAS DRAGONS SHIT SHIT SHIT."
Did you miss the part where dragons had been misbred to the point of being the size of dogs?
Remember the book you liked that got adapted to screen and wasn't what you expected? The Game of Thrones HBO series has been like that for every fan of the books. Missing characters, characters names being changed or their roles being changed? Check. Missing plot points that would make something you saw make more sense? Check. Reading the books is a chore, even listening to them on audiobook is a chore, but seeing Sam slay an Other with only Gilly to bear witness? That makes ASoIaF fans groan. Last year the Blackwater episode focused on a handful of characters, and you see how it has affected various characters in the show. Winter is coming and it is coming with a vengeance.
Comments
There's a slow escalation of magic, yes. It's not obvious that it's tied to the season change, and it's also not pointing at anything in particular. And even then, the house infighting drama isn't reacting to it. It's as though it doesn't exist for them - even though many have presumably lived through winters before, and should expect such things to be happening.
So sure, it's there. A bit. But it's not doing anything, and nobody seems to care about it. It's basically posturing.
If it's saying anything specific about life and humanity, though, it's that life is random, everyone is always (or should be) looking out for number one, people can get crushed by bigger events they had nothing to do with initiating, power corrupts, and inflexibility and/or excessive devotion to goodness or honor is likely to be punished, at least in a medieval world.
It's an interesting study of how backwards, warring cultures perpetuate themselves, I guess, but in general it doesn't really do all that much for me. When I do watch the show, I mostly enjoy the setting and occasionally feel mild excitement to see who's going to screw who successfully.
The house infighting drama is just starting. Besides, it's mostly just a distraction that allows the Powers to gain a foothold. Remember that whole big deal the Night's Watch made in the first episode about needing men? Remember how all the men were needed to fight the bullshit petty succession war? Remember how Osha was telling Robb's army they were marching the wrong way? VERY FUCKING IMPORTANT.
"The house infighting drama is just starting." Uh, hasn't this been going on since the first season? Episode one, technically? Jamie trying to kill Bran? The Lannisters plotting to usurp the throne? Like, right out the gate, it was petty backstabbing and intrigue and shit.
Which is fine - you need to set that up and show how people have become focused on themselves and their petty bullshit. I'm just pissed that it's taken 30 hours of television to get the plot to the point where things might actually start happening that break out of the petty bullshit. Yes, I get that setting up the succession war is necessary to leave people vulnerable for the inevitable invasion of Winter - at least, I hope that's where this is going - but it could've moved a good bit faster than it did.
Maybe cut out like 4/5ths of the gratuitous nudity and sex - you could fill that space with plot and still have tits to spare.
Also, the whole thing about magic not being believed is very much true. As shit starts hitting the fan, more and more interesting magical stuff might happen ;-)
Also, Maesters.
Also also, Dornishmen will eventually feature in the show. And Varys is the best character.
The good future parts wouldn't be nearly as good without the context leading up to them. There's plenty of good stuff in the early stages. Remember Syrio Forel? Remember when Dany hatched some fucking dragons in a funeral pyre? Remember Melisandre's crazy shadow baby?
Which is part of the reason I like her plot line. People are all like "lol dragons w/e" and she's all like "Khalessi don't give a fuck." Then you're on fire.
That's how you get shit done.
It's like reading all of LotR and then bitching about how much Earthsea there is to read.
Last year the Blackwater episode focused on a handful of characters, and you see how it has affected various characters in the show.
Winter is coming and it is coming with a vengeance.