Neil Simon Could School GOT
In Neil Simon’s 1976 film Murder by Death, Truman Capote has some pet peeves. He berates his dinner guests, who are all mystery writers, about how they’ve cheated their readers over the years. His character puts it like this:
“You've tricked and fooled your readers for years. You've tortured us with surprise endings that made no sense. You've introduced characters at the end that weren't in the book before! You've withheld clues and information...”
I was reminded of this scene today because I just discovered who rose to the Iron Throne last night on Game of Thrones. I didn’t watch the series (so I could be a little off in my analysis), but I am sensitive to the mistake the writers made that fans are complaining about. It’s an age-old maxim in good writing. Don’t cheat your readers (or in this case, your viewers).
*** Spoiler Alert ***
During the series, Bran’s character never seemed to be on a path to becoming king. There weren’t events in the plot or apparently character motivation that would lead the fans of the series to see the ending as organic and reasonable. The ending was dropped in out of nowhere with nothing in the story to back up this reveal. That makes the finale feel like deus ex machina which is a bad thing for any writer to employ.
A good story needs to have a solid, logical build to the climax. Even if you give it a twist and take things in an unexpected direction, it has to be supported by the plot the writer(s) have laid out. There are plot devices that can be used that will make a surprise ending pleasing to fans that everyone will be onboard with. As it is now, it looks like there’s a new revolt in Westeros before King Bran can even make his first decree.
“You've tricked and fooled your readers for years. You've tortured us with surprise endings that made no sense. You've introduced characters at the end that weren't in the book before! You've withheld clues and information...”
I was reminded of this scene today because I just discovered who rose to the Iron Throne last night on Game of Thrones. I didn’t watch the series (so I could be a little off in my analysis), but I am sensitive to the mistake the writers made that fans are complaining about. It’s an age-old maxim in good writing. Don’t cheat your readers (or in this case, your viewers).
*** Spoiler Alert ***
During the series, Bran’s character never seemed to be on a path to becoming king. There weren’t events in the plot or apparently character motivation that would lead the fans of the series to see the ending as organic and reasonable. The ending was dropped in out of nowhere with nothing in the story to back up this reveal. That makes the finale feel like deus ex machina which is a bad thing for any writer to employ.
A good story needs to have a solid, logical build to the climax. Even if you give it a twist and take things in an unexpected direction, it has to be supported by the plot the writer(s) have laid out. There are plot devices that can be used that will make a surprise ending pleasing to fans that everyone will be onboard with. As it is now, it looks like there’s a new revolt in Westeros before King Bran can even make his first decree.
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