I’m way too invested in Game of Thrones to stop at this point, but season 6 has been a big letdown for me so far. So was season 5 for that matter.
Why am I still watching this show again?
Maybe it’s my imagination, but it feels like the general writing in Game of Thrones has just gone down a notch. The dialogue is clumsier, it’s far more laboured. The stories are far more likely to use tropes. I don’t know — it just all feels a little off.
Am I barking up the wrong tree here?
Comments
51 responses to “Off Topic: Game Of Thones”
I think the hype train gets a bit carried away in regards to the show. And it build up again every week. There’s certainly been some pretty interesting plot points and I’m
really looking forward to see what Jon decides to do now.He’ll go and take back winterfell like Melisandre saw in the flames…Either that or start a pop up frozen yoghurt shop.
Yes, looking forward to how it all plays out.
Nope. Can’t be bothered with it either and lost interest halfway through last season, only just caught up on the last few episodes of season 5. Still looking forward to the next book, think the series having caught up with them might have something to do with the drop in quality
Yeah, I think it would be easier to select material from a book and adapt it rather than write fresh stuff, even with input from GRRM.
But hang on, is Mark complaining about a show that he pirates!? Talk about entitlement issues!
😛
EDIT: And also keep an eye out, everyone. They are finally making a series for Wheel of Time!
We should all listen to Sephiroth, who only wants the best for us.
Can’t wait to see Perrin Golden Eyes and hear tell of the Trolloc Wars. Also Aes Sedai…
Not to mention the
Min / Elayne / Aviendha love triangle!( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)The first two seasons were solid after that I believe the show has gone to hell in a handcart, the rest of the seasons don’t seem to make any real attempt at setting up any major plot points relevant to be introduced later in the seasons
I think I lost interest after the 2nd Season. Then became more interested once again in Season 5…though I have to agree, Season 1 and 2 were by FAR, the best.
It’s funny because I only watched the first 2 seasons and was pretty content with that. One day I’m sure I’ll catch up. One day…
You probably got the best out of it Transient. I re-watched those first two seasons (and three) but haven’t done so for the rest. When I watched the first episode of the first season I was a bit:
“Oh a fantasy show that has good production values, I’m going to enjoy this because I’m a filthy nerd, it’s a shame no-one else will”.
Looks like I know nothing…. heh.
??? I was thinking the complete opposite about this season compared to 5. Five felt slower and had more political intrigue until near the last third of the season where all the action goes down. Already so far in Episode 3 of Season 6 we’ve had *quite* a few shifts in power that will be setting up for the rest.
Mark, are you playing devils advocate here? Stirring the pot a tad to see what kind of goodness comes out? 😛
E: I do feel like they need to cut the amount of different stories out though. Last night we had 7-8 different PoV’s crammed into 48ish minutes. 4 or even 5 would be better – allowing for more screen time with characters we like.
Insulting GOT seems like a great way to guarantee pageviews.
And wasn’t Serrels the guy who was willing to literally commit a crime to see GOT like a week ago?
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/04/i-refuse-to-feel-guilty-for-downloading-game-of-thrones/
I’m not so phased about the ‘committing a crime’ part and frankly I think that argument is blown out of the water in mega proportions.
Oh no doubt – my sarc clearly doesn’t come across in text. I’m Team Pirate all day.
Ooooooh nah my bad m8 I’m useless at detecting sarcasm haha :3
Last nights ep had way too much crammed into it. They need to flesh out a couple of distinct plot points per episode, rather than racing between places and people like crazy. It felt rushed.
I’m enjoying it overall but I feel like I’m only invested in half the show now. Some of the plot threads get way too much screen time for what they’re worth (ie Dany, Martells).
I feel like I’m watching the aerobics so I can get to Pokemon.
Ah the good old days of getting up to watch Cheez TV, only to find you’ve gotten up too early
Mark, I honestly think you’re completely wrong. I don’t even know where to begin. Are you sure you didn’t start rewatching season 5 by accident? so much more has happened this season than by episode 3 of the last two seasons, easily, and has set up for some amazing developments that so far have just been fan speculation and will finally see a payoff.
Maybe at this point the show is just better for people who have read the books. I imagine it would be sort of hard to follow otherwise, even though the show has become quite different.
I actually enjoyed last night’s episode, but I certainly don’t think the last couple of seasons have been up to the same standards as the first three seasons.
Also they cheapened the whole Tower of Joy thing by turning Ser Arthur Dayne into a stereotypical fantasy action hero, which was my one disappointment of the episode and a crying shame.
I think we should we blame Mark for this.
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2016/05/hbo-is-coming-after-australian-game-of-thrones-pirates/
I thought last season was a bit of a let down but this season has been alright so far. Enjoying the small snippets we get with Both Bran and Sansa/Brienne but wish we got more of both.
Kings Landing story is moving a little slow so far though, really wish they had gone with the last few chapters from the books – and then gone in their own direction – instead of the story they’re telling there atm, Kevan has only had about 2 minutes of screentime 🙁
Also was a little sad to have the last bit of risidual hope for Aryas warg powers dashed. Expected it but still sad.
I suppose there’s no reason Arya can’t discover the ability to warg later but maybe it would just be cooler if she genuinely became an expert assassin and leave the warging business to Bran. They haven’t really touched on her “dreams” where she supposedly wargs into Nymeria either.
That’s what I thought. I figured it had been cut to make Bran a bit more unique when they never showed the dreams but with the eyesight bit last night it just kinda confirmed it for me. Not really a big issue as I’m not sure it’ll go anywhere in the books anyway and what they’ve been doing with Arya on the show is pretty awesome.
(That short fight scene with her last night was better then all the Dorne stuff together)
Wargs….
Can’t stop hearing Christopher Lee/Saruman. Send out your Warg riders
*evil, metalhead-wizard smirk*
Then he wails on a BC Rich Warlock off screen.
I had a point..
Doesnt matter, that image in my brain was enough 🙂
This season has been awesome.
I agree, not sure what people are wanting but it’s delivering for me. I would like to expedite the current QoD path though to know where the hell it’s going. That one sends a bit dull right now.
So, you illegally download a show you’re not even into? WTF man!! Does that make you more or less entitled now??
You have a job, harden the eff up and open your wallet and do the goddam right thing and pay the provider who is supplying the programme. And no, I do not work for that pay TV company.
People like you are the reason why I am paying more. Thanks. A real lot.
As Mark has said, he has paid for a service. And then downloaded it anyway because the quality was so bad.
I nearly did the same thing last night as the foxtel recording was so horribly artifacted and a few minutes were missing thanks to a storm. But then I found it in the foxtel catchup at 2.4GB for the episode and that was OK quality.
Rofl look how mad this guy is over someone else downloading a TV show.
Legal does not equal right.
This guy liked the ghostbusters reboot trailer he can’t be trusted. Haha, no it’s a little underwhelming atm agreed. However it’s still one of the best shows airing right now if not the best. Enlighten me what is a more interesting watch
House of Cards is up there. The marvel shows on Netflix are also pretty great.
Not many shows hold my interest after 3 or 4 seasons. I’m undecided on GoT
GoT needs to hurry up and end or something. People seem to be dying at random now with no build up. The plot seems without any clear direction and I’m getting kind of bored with it. I’m much more excited about S3 of Silicon Valley right now. So good!
?
???
The only people who died without a “build up” were in a flashback, and those characters pretty much all went unnamed because it was just a short battle scene. The encounter was slightly important (to establish that the Kingsguard were stationed somewhere protecting something other than the royal family for some reason) but what’s more important is what’s in the tower. The people who were executed at the wall were the people who murdered Jon last season, so it’s not like that was unexpected.
Mmm, I dunno… deaths of both
Doran Martell and Roose Boltonwere pretty underwhelming and rushed. First was intro’d with terrible dialogue –“oh, wouldnt I have been a bad warrior! And Oberyn a bad leader! Ho ho ho!”and then the second by some pretty rushed plot –yes, we’ve known Roose was tryin for a baby for ages, but like… to mention it every now and then and then unceremoniously have Roose killed off?Just feels like both these instances is the show not knowing how to frame the events properly and passing them off mid episode as uninteresting plot points with a little dramatic music.
I was referring specifically to last night’s episode. I don’t think Doran’s murder was that unexpected but it felt like it because the objective of the Sand snakes was so poorly introduced last season, like they wasted a lot of time on that “bad poosay” nonsense”. I liked Roose but it made sense from a story and character perspective for Ramsay to be in charge of Winterfell. He’s not nearly the tactician Roose is, so this is simply part of his undoing, while also being internally consistent with being protective of his status as “Lord Bolton”. Any chance that Roose would go back to considering him a bastard (which is plausible given that he’s a bloody psycho, even by the standards of a house that has a flayed man on their banners) needed to be eliminated.
Yeah like… the isue isnt so much in *why* these deaths happened, that’s generally pretty clear and understandable in the context of the show. The problem in the last few seasons is really in the buildup and delivery. It’s just getting lower and lower in quality, to the point where it’s meant to be appreciated on the basis of the *why*. I’m someone who is more drawn in by the way its handled, and in this case its been pretty poor.
I sit there watching the 500th brutal murder/rape/whatever and I think “why do I do this to myself?” and then every week my friends are on FB saying “OMG CAN’T BELIEVE IT” and then I find myself watching it again.
i think as we start to move off book material we will see a sharp decline in writing strength.
As much as enjoyed the books I’m kinda getting sick of people treating the words of GRRM like it’s holy gospel. He’s woven an interesting web but his writing isn’t all that. I think the showrunners have achieved something greater than he.
I’m still waiting for the dragons to finally step into action and watch the madness unfurl.
I still think it’s of a quality that is on par with the best of tv out there, if not the clear winner anymore. Everyone watches so many shows, I’m sure thrones still deserves a big part in their rotations!
Personally I still think the world is a great one and I think the payoff will be worth any pacing issues there are.
Mark, how interested would you be in leading a book club sorta thing for the novels?
I’m talking right from the start, but at least Book 1 could be a nice test case.
*season 6 is only 3 episodes in*
“This season sucks!”
ohh… kay?
I tell you, when we were 3 episodes into 3 five I was thinking “I can’t believe there are only 7 more episodes” because I felt like we’d made so little progress. This year I’m more like “I can’t believe we’re only 3 episodes in and there’s still seven to go!”.
Season 6 has been blowing s5 out of the water so far, but they are both significantly worse than s1 and 2 where they felt more loyal to the books and rooted in realism. The dialogue is definitely getting worse, that’s not anyone’s imagination and all of the changes from the books have been for the worse in my opinion (except shortening Tyrion’s apocalypse now river cruise, that was a welcome change, terrible shame they cut a certain character out of the story along with the trip though).
The show seems to lean more towards “shocking” moments now, but without the lore and fleshed out universe that they seem to avoid now the impact of these moments tends to fall far flatter than Ned Stark’s death did. I also desperately wish there was more in the way of politics and less in the way of poorly choreographed fights, but at least the scene outside the tower of joy wasn’t cutting to different angles every second, so I’ll take the victory on that front, however minor it is.