Game Of Thrones

[Vavita]

Mande wrote: "Maybe they should just wait for that fat arrogant piece of sh** to finish."

Mande, could we please be more respectful?
I understand being angry with a writer after spending money and time on his books and then feeling disappointed, but I come here to have a good time discussing the topics I love and this type of comment really puts me down.
Thanks

[Walter]

It can be a painful thing to be a writer caught between the excess of riches that occurs when one's work is appreciated and the need for the time required to similarly reward readers clamoring for one's next magnum opus.

Maybe we should just remind ourselves that there is a world's worth of great books out there, waiting for us to discover them, and distract ourselves accordingly. Believe me, authors capable of writing the kind of work on the level of Martin's GoT series know when they're doing their best work, and when they're struggling to produce same. For writers, that knowledge is just as painful for them as it is for their readers, trust me on this.

[Holly]

I recently started re-watching Deadwood and I am bummed out by the fact that Sandor Clegane stole his best threat from Wild Bill Hickock.

[Myst]

Finished S6 last night. (I've yet to read the books.)

Bran I think needed more work this season. He was basically gone last season, and this season we get teasers about what he's doing, but I don't think it's clear what his role is to be. If one of his predecessors was the one who created the white walkers, does that mean he can (eventually) control them? What's going on with all those dreams of his dad? There is some sort of secret regarding the baby, but I couldn't tell whose kid it was (too many characters, and I don't have family trees to figure it out).

Part 2 of Bran's story that I'm confused about is Hodor. He used to be a normal guy, had a 'seizure' (visions from the future?) and turned into the mentally challenged guy who is essentially Bran's care giver. And we finally figure out his 'name' from the seizure and beyond means "hold the door". I presume he didn't survive holding the door. But what was the 'seizure'?

What the heck is going on with Arya...she seems to be doing nothing, and not dying of that massive gut wound she got? They spent all that time focusing on her, and now she seems to have less purpose than Sansa, who was a wet dish rag for 4.5 seasons. An observant wet dish rag, but a wet dish rag none the less.

And I refuse to believe those wolf pups the kids all got in the first episode of S1 have no real use except as 'pets' to be randomly killed off. There was too much focus on the kids getting them to have no purpose in the end.

[Canavan]

Myst wrote (in part):

There is some sort of secret regarding the baby, but I couldn't tell whose kid it was (too many characters, and I don't have family trees to figure it out).

I think the show’s writers have probably given viewers enough hints to make an educated guess as to the baby’s identity and parentage, but if you want this made more explicit then google (view spoiler)[“r+l=j” (hide spoiler)].

[Canavan]

Myst wrote (in part):

What the heck is going on with Arya...she seems to be doing nothing, and not dying of that massive gut wound she got? They spent all that time focusing on her, and now she seems to have less purpose than Sansa, who was a wet dish rag for 4.5 seasons. An observant wet dish rag, but a wet dish rag none the less.

Well, Arya didn’t exactly come off as a “wet dish rag” when she was carving up Walder Frey (an incident which was a departure from the book). Seriously, I know quite a few viewers have been impatient with this Braavosi interlude, but I’ve been largely okay with it.

[Canavan]

Myst wrote (in part):

Part 2 of Bran's story that I'm confused about is Hodor. He used to be a normal guy, had a 'seizure' (visions from the future?) and turned into the mentally challenged guy who is essentially Bran's care giver. And we finally figure out his 'name' from the seizure and beyond means "hold the door". I presume he didn't survive holding the door. But what was the 'seizure'?

I never try to over-analyze these “time loop” phenomena — doing so hurts my brain. Be that as it may, here is my very rough understanding of what was going on, but I freely admit I may be way, way off base. We already knew from a prior episode that Bran’s “visions” of the past were more than just that — specifically, he was somehow present as indicated by the fact that young Ned Stark could somehow hear or sense his yet-to-be-born son.

During the sequence at issue Bran visits the past and witnesses young Hodor (Wyllis) along with some of the Starks. When the Night’s King and his minions attack, Bran wargs into present-day Hodor but he is somehow simultaneously still in the past with Wyllis et al. And when Meera repeatedly entreats present-day Hodor to “hold the door” Bran somehow acts like a conduit to the past and Wyllis hears (and reacts to) this message as well. It’s not quite clear why this should have such a dramatic effect (i.e., a seizure) on Wyllis, but that’s my best take on what’s going on.

[J.]

I've been trying to decide if GoT is the kind of saga that I should add to my to be read list. I've read a lot of reviews, mostly favorable, and seen a TED vid comparing the Lannisters and Starks to the Lancasters and Yorks. I was told that there is some prophecy about the return of the king who stopped the first winter, and that has bothered me. Does that mean that the saga is building to a "once and future king", and the fate of a kingdom that was united under the reign of a house whose symbol is a red dragon?

[Bill]

Meow Wolf: DIY Artists Paint The Town Strange, With Some Help From George R.R. Martin

I'm proud to be a neighbor of George R. R. Martin (well, he lives about an hour away).

If you're near Santa Fe, or even if you're not near, go see Meow Wolf. Don't think about. Just go. Meow Wolf

[Bill]

Steve wrote: "Mande wrote: "Maybe they should just wait for that fat arrogant piece of sh** to finish. I royally hate that man. He created an amazing world with so much potential and not only did confuse himself..."

You tell'em, Steve.

[Myst]

Canavan wrote: "Myst wrote (in part):


What the heck is going on with Arya...she seems to be doing nothing, and not dying of that massive gut wound she got? They spent all that time focusing on her, and now she..."

I'm not calling Arya a wet dish rag. She was training to be an assassin? and then gave it up when she didn't agree with the mission. I can't figure out where her story is going to end up. I thought maybe she'd be like Bryenne, but I'm not so sure now.

I thought the 'time travel' sequence when Hodor "became" Hodor with the seizure thing was a separate time travel sequence. I thought Bran and Hodor weren't "connected" during the 'Hold the Door' sequence, which is why I don't get how Hodor got the 'information'. Maybe I need to re-watch, but I don't think it was clear *how* Hodor "became" Hodor. This might be due to most of Bran's training being off screen.

[Steve]

I am watching from the very start again. I will read the books when the TV series is finished.

[Holly]

Myst wrote: "Canavan wrote: "Myst wrote (in part):


What the heck is going on with Arya...she seems to be doing nothing, and not dying of that massive gut wound she got? They spent all that time focusing on h..."

I believe that Arya's sojourn in the House of Black and White was a self-discovery arc. She thought she knelt at the altar of death only to realize she did not care for the cold impersonality of it; taking the lives of both the good and the evil indescrimenantly. She realized that she doesn't want to kill people like Lady Crane; what she really wants is lethal revenge for those she deems deserving of it.

[Canavan]

Holly wrote:

I believe that Arya's sojourn in the House of Black and White was a self-discovery arc. She thought she knelt at the altar of death only to realize she did not care for the cold impersonality of it; taking the lives of both the good and the evil indescrimenantly. She realized that she doesn't want to kill people like Lady Crane; what she really wants is lethal revenge for those she deems deserving of it.

Not disagreeing at all, Holly, but in a way your characterization of Arya’s story arc crystallizes exactly why some viewers found the portion of it taking place in Braavos so unsatisfying. It’s a two-season-long interlude and at it’s conclusion she finds herself emotionally at almost the same point she was when she opted to travel to Braavos to seek out the Faceless Men — i.e., she has her list of those she wants to kill. The only real difference is that she’s now a more skilled killer, but maybe that’s the point.

[Canavan]

Steve wrote:

I am watching from the very start again. I will read the books when the TV series is finished.

As a long-time fan of Martin (dating way back to the time when he was writing science fiction and horror), it pains me a bit to admit this, but it’s possible — maybe even probable — that I’ll never get around to reading his magnum opus. Two reasons. One, my general rule (although I occasionally break it) is to avoid reading a multi-volume series until the author has finished it. (I sometimes refer to this as the “Amber” rule after Roger Zelazny’s Amber series.) Two, even if Martin somehow, someday manages to finish work on his epic, reading it is going be an incredibly time-consuming task, especially for someone like me who is a bit of a slow reader. For all of its flaws and deviations from the source material, I suspect that watching HBO’s Game of Thrones will for me be a “good enough” substitute.

[Holly]

Canavan wrote: "Steve wrote:


I am watching from the very start again. I will read the books when the TV series is finished.


As a long-time fan of Martin (dating way back to the time when he w..."

I would still recommend reading the books; the world building is so richly detailed and full of wonderful minor characters who never appear in the show.

Although I do want to be able to read the rest of the series some day........... I will be just fine if they are never published because I know how I want it to end, and I doubt I would get that ending from GRRM, so it works for me either way.

[Canavan]

Holly wrote:

I would still recommend reading the books; the world building is so richly detailed and full of wonderful minor characters who never appear in the show.

Although I do want to be able to read the rest of the series some day........... I will be just fine if they are never published because I know how I want it to end, and I doubt I would get that ending from GRRM, so it works for me either way.

Your attitude about whether or not Martin finishes his series strikes me as quite a healthy one.

My general reluctance to read an unfinished series has less to do with the possibility that it will won’t be completed than with the issue of memory. Specifically, I prefer to read all of the individual books in a series within a relatively short, concentrated span of time. It really tempers my reading enjoyment if, when reading a book in series, I’ve forgotten the vast majority of information culled from the immediately preceding book (or books) that I’ve read 2 or 3 years previously.

[Steve]

Holly wrote: "Myst wrote: "Canavan wrote: "Myst wrote (in part):


What the heck is going on with Arya...she seems to be doing nothing, and not dying of that massive gut wound she got? They spent all that time ..."

Spot on Holly

[Steve]

Holly wrote: "Canavan wrote: "Steve wrote:


I am watching from the very start again. I will read the books when the TV series is finished.


As a long-time fan of Martin (dating way back to the..."

I will read the books but have got about a thousand in front of this! I also want to read the Walking Dead comics but only up to where the show is. The Walking Dead is marginally better in my eyes.