Game of Thrones s. 6

JayzusB.Christ · 27 April, 2016, 12:10:49 PM

I can't believe nobody's started a thread about it till now!

Anyway; I liked the first episode, though not much really happened, apart from an extended recap of all that's gone before - [spoiler]Jon's fairly dead, it seems, Theon and Sansa are still escaping, Daenerys is still captured by Dothraki [/spoiler] - with the only big events happening being the [spoiler]coup in Dorn[/spoiler] (which is failing to grab my attention) and the [spoiler]revelation of the true appearance of the Red Woman[/spoiler], which was very disturbing and Shiningesque.

More than anything it's left me excited about what will happen next. It's still very hard to see how Jon Snow [spoiler]can come back from the dead[/spoiler], despite what they're screaming from all corners of the internet.

radiator · 27 April, 2016, 04:54:59 PM

It was a promising start, I thought, with a couple of unfortunate groanworthy moments and some really sloppy writing.

The less said about the whole Dorne mess the better, but yeesh, what a disaster that whole plot has been. [spoiler]What a sad waste of some great actors (including the paramedic dude from Dredd, who goes out like a bitch) and stunning locations. Well, we'll always have Oberyn.[/spoiler]

But yeah, the last shot was fantastic. It was creepy, shocking (even to me, who has read every book in the series multiple times) but also sad and quite moving, giving some real depth to a character who up until now has been a little one-dimensional. A really powerful moment.

Jim_Campbell · 27 April, 2016, 05:28:17 PM

I'm well behind the TV series as far as reading the books goes, so my uninformed speculation — [spoiler]I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the last of Jon Snow. It occurs to me that either:

There has to be a reason Melisandre returns to Castle Black... also the whole Brotherhood Without Banners thing from S2 is a little random, other than to establish that followers of the Lord of Light can bring people back from the dead and keep them that way... although that might equally mean that Stannis could be a lot harder to polish off than previously thought. It would also be hilarious if Brienne failed to keep yet another oath.

Alternatively, GRRM doesn't seem to be one for prophecies/visions actually failing to come true, but the banners coming down at Winterfell and Jon Snow fighting a battle there doesn't actually require him to be alive...[/spoiler]

Anyway... still more or less the best thing on TV, and it's great to have it back.

Cheers

Jim

radiator · 27 April, 2016, 06:00:05 PM

Jim - [spoiler]it's fair to say that in the books there is far more foreshadowing of Jon's possible return, amongst other things perhaps the biggest hint is that another dead character has also previously been resurrected (a storyline that they are not doing in the TV show), but for me the biggest takeaway is that Jon Snow's story isn't finished. Most of the 'shocking' deaths in the series, like Ned of Robb, in retrospect were inevitable because there was nowhere else for those characters to go. With Jon it very much feels like he still has stuff to do. The long-teased revelation about the identity of his mother, for example, is only really relevant to the story if he is alive to discover it.[/spoiler]

There's no way that Stannis [spoiler]is coming back though. He may stick around a little longer in the books but far as the TV show goes, he's 100% dead.[/spoiler]

radiator · 27 April, 2016, 06:29:54 PM

The showrunners have said that they only envisage another 13 episodes after this season to wrap everything up, so I expect we are going to see an even higher than usual bodycount this season, and a lot of storylines converging and contracting at a faster rate than most people anticipate. I think we're going to see a lot of big hitters go, including some characters that have been with the show since the very beginning.

It's actually easier to list the handful of characters that I think have 'plot armour' and are safe (for now):

[spoiler]
Dany
Tyrion
Sansa
Arya
Bran
Samwell Tarly
Gilly
Yara Greyjoy
Brienne
Night's King[/spoiler]

and outside of that, all bets are off as far as I'm concerned.

moly · 27 April, 2016, 06:46:13 PM

Thought the first episode sets the series nicely and by the time they finish the series I don't think there will be many left alive

radiator · 27 April, 2016, 08:00:25 PM

Maybe its overreaching, but I wouldn't be surprised if this season ends with the dual cliffhangers of:

[spoiler]The long-awaited arrival of Winter and the White Walkers in Westeros.[/spoiler]

and

[spoiler]Dany finally setting sail for/arriving in Westeros.[/spoiler]

(I expect that they will probably skip over the [spoiler]siege of Mereen/Battle of Fire[/spoiler]. Not entirely surprising as I don't think even this show's lavish budget could stretch to what looks like a full-on [spoiler]Minas Tirith situation[/spoiler] currently unfolding there in the books).

Jim_Campbell · 27 April, 2016, 08:12:31 PM

One thing... since this is a thread about the TV series, can I ask that we either avoid book spoilers, or flag them up very clearly? I'm sure there are people on here who aren't reading the books at all (making book spoilers potential spoilers for the TV show) or a tiny number (possibly one) like me, who are deliberately lagging a couple of books behind the TV show...

Thanks!

Jim

Pyroxian · 27 April, 2016, 08:18:34 PM

I'm pretty sure the TV show has covered everything in the books now, and we're treading new territory.

Jim_Campbell · 27 April, 2016, 08:31:53 PM

Quote from: Pyroxian on 27 April, 2016, 08:18:34 PM
I'm pretty sure the TV show has covered everything in the books now, and we're treading new territory.

Well, Radiator mentions stuff that impacts on this series from the books that I haven't read, hence the request.

Cheers

Jim

Dog Deever · 28 April, 2016, 06:31:28 PM

Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 27 April, 2016, 05:28:17 PM
[spoiler]... the whole Brotherhood Without Banners thing from S2 is a little random, other than to establish that followers of the Lord of Light can bring people back from the dead and keep them that way... [/spoiler]

That's was what I was thinking. I have read the books and (without giving anything away) I still don't see the relevance of the Brotherhood other than to establish this.

Grugz · 28 April, 2016, 07:27:18 PM

the red woman thing was quite a moment! I wonder what stannis would have thunk if he'd known?

I cant remember where ,but I'm sure I read that [spoiler]snow has been filmed in stark armour, which if he does come back ,is possible as he has died and thus his oath is complete[/spoiler] plus shouldn't he have resurrected as a bue eyed zombie by now?

radiator · 28 April, 2016, 11:43:44 PM

QuoteThat's was what I was thinking. I have read the books and (without giving anything away) I still don't see the relevance of the Brotherhood other than to establish this.

I always liked the BwB chapters purely as a nice little vignette for Arya to get tangled up in and tbh I assumed at the time that we'd never see them again. The brotherhood is made up of some colourful, likable characters (Thoros in particular is one of my favourite characters in the whole series) and they're one of the few factions who are apparently fighting for a worthwhile cause.

MILD BOOK SPOILER: [spoiler]I must admit I was a little narked by the way that they were twisted slightly in the portrayal on the TV show - they came across as a little more sinister and mercenary than they do on the page (even ending up on Arya's shitlist for their trouble), though I suppose that somewhat foreshadows their (equally fascinating) turn towards darkness later on in the series.[/spoiler]

Dog Deever · 29 April, 2016, 01:01:52 AM

Quote from: radiator on 28 April, 2016, 11:43:44 PM
I always liked the BwB chapters purely as a nice little vignette for Arya to get tangled up in and tbh I assumed at the time that we'd never see them again. The brotherhood is made up of some colourful, likable characters (Thoros in particular is one of my favourite characters in the whole series) and they're one of the few factions who are apparently fighting for a worthwhile cause.

Yes, [spoiler]and it felt like something of significance was being built with Dondarion and a supporting 'cast', then it just tailed off. I think its seeming importance is the thing I can't shake off- perhaps it wasn't about Arya, the Hound, the Brotherhood or any of that- that was the background, it might really have been about the Red Priest's resurrection capabilities, heavily disguised as being something else. [/spoiler]

however, I must add that I was quite heavily medicated at the time of reading so I'm in no way claiming to have detailed recollection of the books. I hadn't read a novel in around 20 years or more; my son had gradually bought them to read himself- I was signed off work for months and had nothing to do at all, so I read the entire series back to back to stop myself from zoning out, but it was watching the first series on a rerun that persuaded me to read them.

Theblazeuk · 29 April, 2016, 12:36:28 PM

The BWB Is one of the best parts in the books but it works by weaving through the background of many books and events. "Dondarrion died at the Crossing" "No I heard the Mountain gutted him at Black's Keep" "You're both wrong, Dondarrion raided the Lannisters just last week" - not something the TV show could really pull off.

In the books it leads to [book] [spoiler]Catelyn being resurrected after the Red Wedding and the subsequent effects on Brienne and Jamie's story[/spoiler] [/book] but they've said that won't be part of the TV show and they've moved things around in other areas to compensate. In the show I think it might have been a bit of a 'not exactly sure where we're going compared to the books' moment, as seen with the Iron Born and the Dornish.