I am not one of those signing petitions, but I thought season 8 could have been better. Got me thinking if you were the writers how would you have ended it. I would have had Cersei win. I would have had Brienne fall madly in love with Jamie and the two of them run off to fight for Cersei. Ultimately they would have all fallen in battle except Cersei. Final scene cut away to an older Cersei assisting a young man getting ready for his coronation. It is her and Jamie's son, but he is named Greyjoy after Euron as Cersei pretends that is his father. He has the Lannister blond though so we all know. She is just telling her son the story of the final battle we just watched and how brave his uncle Jamie was. As her son gets up and leaves the room to go to his coronation Cersei looks at the iron throne and then turns and looks at all of us and gives us one of her wicked smiles. Cut to black and the Rains of Catamere plays. How about you, what would you have done?
Of couse it could be better. It was great series and great books. But then there were no more books to finish the series. So they were improvising. And it showed. I've also heard that the producers were in a rush to finish the series as two will be working on new Star Wars trilogy...
The last season moved way to fast but I was OK with the end. Not what I would have chosen but they went by George R.R. Martin's outline of the ending. It's been known for a long time that it would be a bitter sweet ending. I hated that Dani went crazy and had to die but Jon did the right thing.
What the hell is wrong with people? ..its TV and like all forms of mass entertainment its role is to preoccupy the masses unproductively when they are not at work. That way you talk about sports, movies, TV etc instead of things that might actually matter or even worse still make a difference. Complaining about any of these forms of entertainment is like putting up your hand and repeatedly ...... shouting I'm a sheep in the hope that the State will sympathetically pat you on the head to reassure you.
So you spend all your free time fighting against the oppressive State, never taking a well-deserved rest because you don't need any? Or are you so enlightened you're above the childish concerns of lesser beings? Yeah, I know I'm being snarky, but I'm not the first to do so here. Maybe you could have simply remained silent?
This is a really good analysis of why the last season has caused so much angst. The Real Reason Fans Hate the Last Season of Game of Thrones It's not just bad storytelling—it’s because the storytelling style changed from sociological to psychological. https://blogs.scientificamerican.co...fans-hate-the-last-season-of-game-of-thrones/
Life is about far more than work. GoT was a uniquely written saga that grasped the hearts and imaginations of countless people across the globe. We spent 9 years invested in the story and got screwed over because they ran out of source material and changed how the story was told (to a typical Hollywood style) and lost the momentum right at the end. It was like millions of fans got a ruined orgasm after some really good sex.
Thanks very much for the link. I don’t watch GoT but my son does and he is annoyed at the latest series. I’ll definitely send him this blog.
As I say in a post above, I don’t watch GoT myself, but the link to the Sci American Blog @Jessica Alexander provides in her post illustrates one argument against not only your devaluing of GoT, but also your valorising of the individual’s agency versus sociological conditions. I’d be interested in your view of that blog (as I said, you don’t need to watch GoT to appreciate the argument in the blog).
I had read all the posts inthis thread and the blog by Jessica Alexander. What is my view of the blog. Well written and some interesting points raised. Several story anomalies were pointed out and suggestions made of how it could have been better. It was also pointed out that a lot of people had invested a lot of time watching the TVseries and made some imaginary connections with some.of the characters. Of course they did. The author of the book is free to do with the characters and story line as it thinks fit. The adaptation of a book or series of books for film or TV is almost always an adaptation based on the directors perception of how to make the production loosely follow the story whilst at the same time creating addictive entertainment. When it comes right down to it Game of Thrones the TV show is fiction and in fiction anything can happen, because it is fiction. Some people a great many I think got a little confused about the difference between fiction and reality and the real importance of both. I refer to my previous post .... Mass entertainment of any kind ...Sporting events, TV, cinema etc. are simply the modern day versions of the roman circus.. or spectacles from the arena they provides a distraction during the experience and both before and after by the way of pre-hype and discussion and then the post reflections and discussion. It would not surprise me if the documentaries and other programmes about GoT eventually add up to as much listening and/or viewing time as any of the individual series. As a mark of success GoT has done its job. The production outlay was justified because it continues to do its job. In so far as the attention of the masses has been and is being distracted. Time, and arguably the production cost, that could have been potentially better utilised to discuss and even address some of the issues that affect real people and situations. Hunger, thirst, pollution and the general abuse of both people and the planet are perhaps some examples. It was a work of fantasy fiction generated by the imagination of one person and turned into a TV show. To anyone that is still stressing about or perhaps even just discussing GoT I respectfully suggest that you might not have realised that you need more help than you have been getting. And don't fret too much doubtless when GoT and its effects have run their course some new time occupying distraction will be provided. Panem et circenses
Thanks for your reply. I am sympathetic to the “hijack of scarce attention” point you make. We all need to be vigilant; ask cui bono etc. However, to redirect attention to the ills you mention requires either that viewers cease to trust the wisdom of watching/discussing GoT (your approach) or that they begin to care more about (“believe”) your concerns, and they will only believe what you say to the extent it coheres with what they already believe. In other words, coheres with a vision of humanity as set out in GoT. Better start watching!
Interesting, didn't really mean for it to become a debate on the merits of the show or entertainment in general. Guess that happens though. When my niece was younger she shared a love of the lord of the rings books with me. She got involved with some web platform (I think fanfic?) where fans of fiction wrote side stories or alternate endings to works of fiction. She made a variety of side stories to LOR that I really enjoyed. Without writing a whole screen play, I'm just curious if any of you (that liked the show) had an alternate ending in mind. Or to borrow from @Jessica Alexander link, what would the sociological ending have been?
Without any sense of irony or self awarenes, you rail against people for discussing entertainment (because it isn't important enough to discuss). And you do this on a site where you spend your valuable time discussing a sexual fetish?
I do this on a site that whilst in the true sense it does entertain is in itself not passive entertainment like watching mass events like sport or TV or Movies etc. A documentary is entertainment as is a soap.. I know which I would rather watch and possibly feel better for watching. I do not rail against anyone, their choice is their choice my view of their choices is my view and not intended as a criticism od anyone else as such. I merely pointed out that most people do not realise that the concept mass entertainment form the 20th century onwards is a thought out and contrived thing designed to distract. In letting people know this I am in some small way enabling them to make a more informed decision about their entertainment choices.
You say this like the government (like in Rome) is trying to keep the masses paciified. People chose entertainment for their own reasons. A lot of life sucks and it's nice to escape for a bit and not worry about the ills of the world or my own life. A little escapism can be good for mental health. GoT is probably one of the most complex stories that anyone has ever done on film and it's a far cry from most of the rot on TV.
I'm not disputing your views on GoT in fact it just shows how successful it has been as a form of entertainment and distraction. People do choose entertainment for their own reasons and I assure you the State ( well those that control the State) will always ensure there is sufficient variety to choose from and tempt you to choose. A little escapism may be good for you ... I imagine we almost all do indulge in that ... but I would suggest that 'little' is or should be the key word. Ironic is it not that the couch potato escapes constantly and yet remains stationary.
GOT, HBO, and the production entities are all private, no affiliation with the State unless you want to include taxes or offsets they may provide. This isn't 'bread and circuses' at all. A Roman metaphor would be more like a 'traveling circus showing oddities and rarities from far away lands'
Loved the books and enjoyed the series. I was fine with everything except that it ends with Sam reading “the book” of the entire event named after the series that we as readers have been reading. Then John rides off into nothingness. The idea that two of the major fantasy novel series would end the same was just lazy. I was expecting Bilbo to come running out. Always remember in fantasy novels it is necessary for the good side to be weaker than the bad side. Strong good forces need to suffer massive losses to face tough odds to ultimately win. It was not going to end with a strong force ruling. Instead it ends with the weakest physical character ruling. This is obvious at all moments of GoT. Needed to go north to weaken force. Take leftovers to fight. Down to one dragon and defeat everything. Suddenly the dragon queen’s army seems so strong. Gotta kill her off. For some reason we just can’t accept a strong good force. Kind of odd when you think about it. Keep your cock locked because in order to be good you need to be weakened and humbled. There, I brought it back to the theme of the site.
Now I have an image of Drogon in a cage and Danny with a key around her neck. "If you ever want out of that cage you have to shoot fire every time I say dracarys."