Poll: Winter Is Coming - HBO's A Game of Thrones [READ WARNING]
- Thread starter Hostile_18
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Or we're just used to the quality of writing seen in earlier seasons and expected more of the same thanks to the hype?
Honestly, this season is a tragic mess from 2 writers who dont have enough creativity without GRRMs notes to guide them.
Trying to wrap up 2 seasons worth of content into 6 episodes was bad enough, but then the simply bad writing compounds that into something that, dare I say it, will ruin the entire show because the ending wont be accepted by anyone who can see the blatant shift from "anyone is fair game to die" to "lol impossible odds but whatever you can stay alive for no reason"
It's really sad honestly. D&D aren't perfect but Martin has essentially cut off their hands with how he's handled the books. He hasn't released a single book in the 8 years the show has been running unless you count ADWD that came out a couple of months after the show aired. D&D's adaptation of the books was almost perfect (with a few missteps here and there) but they just can't write the way Martin can.
I'm now just looking forward to how the books end despite never reading them. If they end that is.
Associate
H-h-how can you criticise the writing. You're all acting like spoilt brats.
Soldato
More like so many people with plain old simple common sense
- While I love the cinematic effect of the Dothraki charge, instead of the correct use in this situation which is flank attacks which funnel the enemy into a pre-determined killing zone, it was tactically stupid.
- While I understand the use of the Unsulled as "hold the line" troops, putting them infront of the static defences, and therefore allowing the melee-attack based enemy to close to swarming range unhindered, was tactically stupid.
- While I understand the show wanted to use Trebucets, putting them infront of the static defences and infront of the Unsulled was tactically stupid.
- While I understand the CGI budget would have stopped them filming 'proper' layered defences, with multiple lines of flaming trenches, obstacles, a reconnaissance force and fires lit at set ranges to aid the trebuchest and archers all of which would slow down, break-up and light-up the melee-attack based enemy (allowing the ranged weapons more time on target), what was shown with one 4ft wide trench with a few wooden spikes was tactically stupid.
- While I understand that the CGI budget would have stopped them showing the thousands of archers keeping up a ranged barrage of flaming arrows on the wights (no need for dragon glass then), only having the archers engage close range targets negates the primary power of their ranged weapons and was tactically stupid.
- etc etc
The list could go on but, while I can see the huge tactical flaws in the defence of a static location vs a melee-attack based enemy, I know it's just a TV show with non-military folks simply writing stories, who are limited by budget and doing the best they can, so I can't complain when what they do was tactically stupid, but I can't be jumping for joy over it either
Caporegime
More like so many people with plain old simple common sense
- While I love the cinematic effect of the Dothraki charge, instead of the correct use in this situation which is flank attacks which funnel the enemy into a pre-determined killing zone, it was tactically stupid.
- While I understand the use of the Unsulled as "hold the line" troops, putting them infront of the static defences, and therefore allowing the melee-attack based enemy to close to swarming range unhindered, was tactically stupid.
- While I understand the show wanted to use Trebucets, putting them infront of the static defences and infront of the Unsulled was tactically stupid.
- While I understand the CGI budget would have stopped them filming 'proper' layered defences, with multiple lines of flaming trenches, obstacles, a reconnaissance force and fires lit at set ranges to aid the trebuchest and archers all of which would slow down, break-up and light-up the melee-attack based enemy (allowing the ranged weapons more time on target), what was shown with one 4ft wide trench with a few wooden spikes was tactically stupid.
- While I understand that the CGI budget would have stopped them showing the thousands of archers keeping up a ranged barrage of flaming arrows on the wights (no need for dragon glass then), only having the archers engage close range targets negates the primary power of their ranged weapons and was tactically stupid.
- etc etc
The list could go on but, while I can see the huge tactical flaws in the defence of a static location vs a melee-attack based enemy, I know it's just a TV show with non-military folks simply writing stories, who are limited by budget and doing the best they can, so I can't complain when what they do was tactically stupid, but I can't be jumping for joy over it either
The thing is though, it's not as if they couldn't have hired a few freaking consultants! Shows such as Band of Brothers managed it...
Soldato
- Joined
- 25 Nov 2005
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- 12,453
I guess when the Night King doesn't exist in the books as well it makes sense, must be hard to write a story that is in somebody else head
Soldato
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Which subreddit ?
Soldato
So many people from fantasy WWF.
I have no doubt that the writers were up against it, trying to write something visually impressive and coherent when so much of it was reliant upon complex and expensive CGI, which still has limits even if you have infinite time and money. But that just makes it all the more important to get your thinking hats on early to try and tell the story well without resorting to shortcuts like Robb riding out of a wood, declaring victory from an unseen fight. They couldn't get away with that now expectations were so high from a much broader audience. But to make such a glorious spectacle of such monumentally lousy tactics in the most important battle fought on Westeros for 8000 years (give or take) is... well, disappointing.
I think I'll go rewatch the start of Gladiator again, just to remind myself what a satisfying battle looks like. (Nobody tell me if it's equally shocking... I don't want any more of my illusions shattering this week!
)Amazing this hasn't happened before, and perhaps inevitable now the stakes are so high for attention. Thanks for the warning.
Oh, and thanks for the Angry Joe link. I'm not much of a YouTube commentator watcher but I NEED an Angry Joe in my life at the moment.
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Soldato
- Joined
- 25 Nov 2005
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- 12,453
Best summary
Soldato
Go watch some Spartacus too! Epic battles that look tactically sound. At least until they go sideways
Nah, Season 6 was much better than 5Best summary
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Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Jun 2014
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- 5,066
The show definitely jumped the shark years ago. But I think I've actually made peace with that now. Otherwise I'd be angry watching each episode, and life's too short for that ****.
That was the original plan for Melisandre, she was meant to be rallying witches to assist with the upcoming battle but Carice Van Houten fell pregnant during shooting so they couldn't film certain scenes that they original wanted to.
- When Melisandre departed in Season 7, she said that she was going back to Essos to retrieve other magic-wilding Red Priests - but in this episode, she inexplicably returns to Winterfell, alone. There may have been external pressures on her plotline: actress Carice van Houten became pregnant during the break between seasons, then suffered from withdrawal issues for a time afterwards, which may have impacted scenes they originally intended for her to film.
Soldato
Understandable but they didn't really "need" to film any scenes of her actually collecting witches. She only had to arrive at Winterfell with them, instead of being alone, with a simple line of exposition "I collected as many red witches as I could find" and the audience would had understood what her purpose was, but I'm guessing that'd be more CGI, more actors & horses, more filming etc and the show doesn't have the time/budget anymore for those "nice but not 100% necessary" bits.