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TV Chat: Game of Thrones S6

    • 394 posts
    June 11, 2016 4:06 AM EDT

    HODOR! Hodor, hodor hodor hodor, hodor hodor; hodor hodor (hodor) - hodor

    @Hodor: hodor hodor hodor, hodor hodor? Hodor! 

    Hodor 

  • Tom
    • 624 posts
    June 11, 2016 4:38 AM EDT
    • 268 posts
    June 11, 2016 5:35 AM EDT

    Too soon?

  • Tom
    • 624 posts
    June 11, 2016 5:39 AM EDT

    Someone texted me a similar image in the middle of my week. It was a terrible day for rain.

    • 394 posts
    June 11, 2016 5:57 AM EDT

    Haha - superb! If only....

  • Mr.
    • 763 posts
    June 12, 2016 2:00 PM EDT

    [Book spoilers] I didn't notice it until I saw an article talking about it, but Lem Lemoncloak showed up last episode. The actor confirmed his character's name is Lem Lemoncloak. Should we expect Lady Stoneheart?

  • June 12, 2016 3:05 PM EDT

    Fingers crossed. Though I feel it may be too late to introduce a character with that much impact on the story (regarding Brienne and Jaime).

    • 321 posts
    June 12, 2016 5:34 PM EDT

    I saw dead bodies getting hanged so it might be. But there's one thing I know that's possibly coming.............. CLEGANEBOWL!

  • Mr.
    • 763 posts
    June 12, 2016 11:03 PM EDT

    [GOT S6 EP8 spoilers] I don't like show Jaime Lannister anymore. I thought we'd get Clive Russel for good on this show... He was perfect as the Blackfish. I really hope we get Stoneheart to set things right...

     And Cersei's burning King's Landing. That bitch. I don't know how people prefer her over the High Sparrow.

  • Tom
    • 624 posts
    June 13, 2016 12:46 AM EDT

    Disappointing and boring episode, like the last one.

    Jamie's character is entirely screwed up now. Blackfish flopped. Siege of Riverrun was entirely pointless. Blackfish dies off-screen because he's a stubborn jackass. Fuck Beinoff and Weiss. They screwed over three great characters here. Blackfish, Jamie, and Edmure. There's supposed to be plots going on and escapes. I came to this episode expecting Brienne to get the Blackfish, or Edmure to convince the Blackfish after talking to Jamie, to take his men and flee the castle. Tully men would go north to defend their fucking niece and rescue their nephew and king.

    Hound was disappointing. No sweet revenge and apparently Lemoncloak is a bad guy now? What's the words I'm looking for to describe the writers? Thanks Sandor.

    Bored as fuck start to finish, with a "how the fuck are you alive" with Arya tumbling through the Bravosi gutters with open gut wounds and not being dead or septic yet.

    • 1441 posts
    June 13, 2016 12:52 AM EDT
    Because plot armor
    • 773 posts
    June 13, 2016 8:16 AM EDT
    You're not having a good day are you?

    What with no ESVI announcement at E3 and an admittedly flat GoT, you probably ought to go and lie in a darkened room for a while!
  • Mr.
    • 763 posts
    June 19, 2016 11:26 PM EDT

    [Spoilers for Game of Thrones S6 EP9] Beautifully directed episode. Should expect nothing less from the director who was behind the "Hardhome" episode last season. I don't remember his name.

     So, let's start by acknowledging how shitty of a tactician Jon Snow is. Yes, yes, emotion and all that, but really? Fuck. And now let's acknowledge how... good of a "tactician" Ramsay Bolton is. He isn't, really, but he did know how to play with his enemies, and that was key to the battle.

     I love some knights' charge, it's always a pleasure to watch it, both on movies/series and games (Total War!). Cavalry is my favorite military force, and my favorite way of waging war/winning battles... Before WW1, clearly.

     Sad for Wun-Wun, but I am happy that both Davos and Tormund are still alive, I thought at least one of them was going to bite the dust.

     Back to the Bolton boy. Man, how satisfying it was to see him meet with Snow and his own dogs. 1% of me wanted revenge for what Ramsay did with Sansa, Rickon, Osha, Shaggydog, Roose and the Old Lady from S5, but 99% of me wanted revenge for what he did to Fat Walda and her baby. What the fuck?!

     Now, to Meeren. I must say, I dislike Daenerys. I like her a bit more on the show, both because of the actress (I'm not referring to her acting skills ) and also, in the show, we don't get to see how much of a sucker she is as a ruler.

     Why did I write about that? I don't know. But I really liked the scenes with the dragons, and I must find a picture of Daenerys standing next to Drogon, that'll be my new wallpaper.

     And Tyrion talked about the Mad King and his plan to burn King's Landing. Cersei's trial is next week. I'm calling it now, we're about to lose an entire core of actors. I hope the Sand Worms made it in time!

    • 1595 posts
    June 19, 2016 11:40 PM EDT

    That was a brutal episode. 

    • 321 posts
    June 20, 2016 10:01 AM EDT

    It's so satisfying to see him finally get a taste of his own medicine...

    Best way to celebrate Hug a Werewolf Week!

    • 641 posts
    June 20, 2016 11:58 AM EDT

    I may have missed it but did Sansa ever tell Jon that she had Little Finger on speed dial and he was coming with back up?

  • Tom
    • 624 posts
    June 20, 2016 1:39 PM EDT

    After watching last night's episode, I got into a two hour exchange with one of my buddies about this episode. I have intentionally avoided reading other people's reviews since.

    Let me start with the good, because I don't want people to get the impression I hate the show outright. I really liked Danny and the Dragons. Great visuals, great emotional satisfaction to see her embrace that destructive conqueror she is and burn her enemies to the ground.

    Now the bad. And there's a lot of it.

    Everyone seems to have a case of the retards. It might just be something that happens when characters march on Winterfell, but whenever a major character does they suddenly become incredibly stupid for some reason. Stannis went full retard, now Jon as gone full retard. Neither of these characters have proven to be stupid tacticians in the past, and unless Davos is slipping them stupid juice, I can't fathom the reasoning behind either of their actions. They are incredibly outnumbered and with far inferior troops, yet they insist on a suicide attack on an enemy with far more numbers and a goddamn fortress to retreat to. We're told they must press the attack, but why? There are other ways to engage the enemy beside a formation in an open field. Freaking retreat and regroup if you must, but holy shit.

    Sansa seems to have caught the stupids too, and I think her stupidity is the most unforgiveable. She's vocalized numerous times this season that they don't have enough men, to which Jon goes full retard and states it doesn't matter, they have to attack, and I think it's only because he's read the script and knows D&D want a fucking Emmy for episode 9. Now, she knows there's an army from the Vale at Moat Cailen, which incidentally means Ramsay is stupid for not knowing the most strategic plot of land in the North was taken by a foreign army some thousands strong. Like what the fuck?

    Anyway, she knows there's an army there, but doesn't fucking tell Jon. She whines the whole season about needing more men, but when she has a FUCKING ARMY she refuses to inform Jon. Why? Because Littlefinger's a prick? She's willing to risk thousands of men's lives, including Jon and Rickon's because she doesn't like Littlefinger? That doesn't fly. It gets even worse though. She sent a raven to Littlefinger last episode? Two episodes ago? Which means she knew they were coming days (I'd say weeks, but everyone in this fucking show has a jetpack now, including horsed knights) before the battle, and she still didn't fucking tell Jon. They were already on the way. WHY IN THE FUCK WOULDN'T SHE TELL ANYONE OF THIS? It would've changed their entire fucking battle strategy. They could've sent men to meet with the Knights of the Vale to better plan their attack.

    This is the stupidest fucking writing I have ever witnessed in this show. Yes, even worse than bad pussy. Because bad pussy came from the lips of a terrible character. Sansa is not, except in this instance, and I'll explain why.

    These assholes writing this show wanted a second Deus Ex Cavalry. They hijacked characters, made them go full retard, just for that ending we all knew was going to fucking happen. Like Stannis, we get another army to save Jon Snow's ass. The entire build up of complaining about the number of men was tailored for this "reveal". They butchered characters for their stupid gimmick. I wish a thousand terrible fates upon D&D and their writing team for this abomination. It was jarring, infuriating, and insulting.

    Now for the lesser instances of stupid.

    Like Rickon running in a straight line. 

    Davos still doesn't know what the fuck happened to Shireen? What. The. Fuck.

    How fucking useless is Winterfell if losing one gate is enough to lose the fortress? Did Bolton throw his entire army at them, leaving a half dozen archers in his fortress?

    How in the fuck did Jon's cavalry get to Bolton's at the same time as Jon? Jon galloped forward to meet Rickon (who ran), then galloped forward after Bolton. This made no sense.

    I'm also pretty fucking sure arrows don't shoot that far. Their armies are like half a mile apart.

    Apparently the other Northerners are fine with Bolton ordering his archers to shoot their own men beside Jon's.

    Now here's what I wanted to happen, but never got.

    Jon and his men are screwed. When the infantry charge in under Umber, I was expecting them to turncloak and attack Bolton's men. They drop hints all over that the North Remembers, and "...knows but one king in the north, whose name is STARK". But that's apparently a croc of bullshit. The other Northerners are totally cool with following the psychopath bastard of the man who betrayed them and their king. Who murdered their loved ones and slaughtered their armies. Who murdered their lord's youngest son and true king.

    Yeah. Totally fine with it.

    This next one isn't so much a flaw as I wish it happened this way because it would've been soooo much more cathartic and great fucking symbolism. It shouldn't have been his dogs that kill him. It should've been Ghost. Jon could be there and silent, but Sansa should dominate the scene and do the talking. She should've been inside the kennel too. While she's talking, we should've seen the red eyes and pale shadow of Ghost coming out of the black behind Ramsay. The hounds eating him alive was good, but the metaphorical and literal symbol of House Stark eating him alive would've been so much more powerful. Even if you want to argue it would just be Jon's proxy murdering him, the title of the episode is "BATTLE OF THE BASTARDS", it's fine. Ghost is the last Direwolf. Hell, make it even better by sticking Ramsay on a rack like his own fucking sigil.

    • 394 posts
    June 21, 2016 4:20 AM EDT

    There have been a lot of plot developments and situations in this series that very much test, and break, one's abilities to suspend belief, but overall I think it's been superb.  The complexities of the plot twists, the intricate interplay of characters and locations, shifting alliances, new characters. I've loved it. 

    I wonder though if the TV  show having gone beyond the (finished) books is a major reason for the weakness of believability in this and also the previous series? 

  • June 21, 2016 9:39 AM EDT
    I like your idea with Ghost. That would've been badass.
  • Tom
    • 624 posts
    June 26, 2016 10:55 PM EDT

    So this was a very, very exciting finale. I liked it a hell of a lot more than the last episode, and I think it's this season best episode. My complaints, and of course I have complaints I'm Tom, are with how things were presented to us (Varys going from jetpack to warp speed). But overall really great shit.

    Except DA KIN IN DA NORF. Reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaalllly dropped that ball. Should've been Sansa.

    • 557 posts
    June 26, 2016 11:09 PM EDT

    Episodes 9 and 10 were fantastic episodes, but this one was - by far - my favorite episode of the season. So many fantastic things happened and I'm still trying to process some of them. 

    As far as the King in the North goes, I have mixed feelings about it. I think Sansa is the rightful ruler there, but I also believe that Jon is the more practical choice. I don't dislike the decision. 

  • Mr.
    • 763 posts
    June 26, 2016 11:34 PM EDT

     I was going to write a long reply on why I didn't agree with your views on this episode and how calling it the worst writing in the series was far from fair, but then these guys (whom I found out about through you) made a vídeo that covered most of my points, like:

     How Jon was played by Ramsay, just like Sansa warned him, and him charging in to rescue Rickon was exactly what the Bolton boy wanted. It was not their battle strategy, as they had discussed the previous night (where Davos says they shoud let the Bolton army charge them).

     How Sansa didn't tell Jon about the army because, a episode or two before Littlefinger planted ideas on her head on how she didn't have an army, Jon did, and she should have an army of her own. Besides, if she did tell Jon about the Knights of the Vale, Ramsay wouldn't come out and he could very well wait for winter to do its job on the forces besieging Winterfell. No giant would breach a manned Winterfell

     How Ramsay did get his entire army out there, because he was overconfident and that him taking his entire army with him is exactly what Ramsay would do. He did leave half a dozen archers at the walls. A castle is only useful when manned, especially when the enemy has a giant.

     Now, for things not covered in the video:

     The arrows didn't fly across the entire field, it hit them right in the center, within a longbow's range.

     Agreed on Bolton boy not knowing about the Knights, about Northerners fighting for Bolton even after all he did prior and during the battle and Ghost.

     I ended up writing, after all... And don't get me wrong, I too dislike the writing and many D&D's decisions. Especially when it comes to Stannis (a character they openly disliked), Dorne and the poor excuse of a fighting scene they made up to kill Barristan.

  • Tom
    • 624 posts
    June 27, 2016 2:50 AM EDT

    While I do enjoy Gil and Itamar, and they make good points about the series, Preston Jacobs goes much deeper. Preston brings up most of my issues, if I recall, and adds many, many more.

    Here's his review of Episode 9.

    PS: Thanks for replying. Hardly anyone seems to want to discuss this show more.

    • 1441 posts
    June 27, 2016 2:58 AM EDT

    I just had a weird thought. Am I the only one who thinks an unmasked Kylo Ren kinda looks like Jon Snow, minus the beardage?

    • 71 posts
    June 27, 2016 11:37 AM EDT

    Damn. This changes everything.