Re: GOT-Tennis anyone?

Mark S. Moore wrote:

This.

I felt like there two episodes with somewhat proper pacing. The second episode which was full of tension and character development and the finale. This could also be because the pacing was so piss-poor in the rest of the season that these shined through.

Everything felt rushed which left the viewer needing to piece things together when there was so little to go on. Over-reliance on fade-to-black scenes left out pivotal dialogue. They could have easily stretched this another season+ and it would have been much more satisfying. The turns would have made more sense, the payoff would have been better.

The NK "twist" for me will always be a bit of a let down because it seems to fly in the face of the overall narrative of the entire story, though. If Martin's books really were an allegory for climate change with the NK being the bigger threat it was a shame to see that petty human politics didn't have to be resolved to combat it and in the end, it became a footnote after so much build up.

I fully share your sentiment about the NK. That episode dragged for me as nothing important happened until the end, and then it felt like a massive plot hole. But again, if you imagine the battle against the white walkers lasted several years as opposed to 1 night, it’d be much more satisfying.

Also Bran didn’t get a chance to show the significance of the three-eyed raven. If he made himself somehow useful during the battle... I suppose the moral of George RR’s story was that before building a “new world” we should learn from history...

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27 Reply by John Hamler (edited by John Hamler 2019-05-21 03:12:01)

Re: GOT-Tennis anyone?

Yeah, they blew it. Plain and simple. I came and got stimulated, entertained, but ultimately left unsatisfied and full of regret when all was said and done. Kind of like having bad sex is still HAVING SEX and always worth a go, but...

Is it really? It's better to have loved and lost, they say, than to have never loved at all, but...

Well, I just don't know anymore. Eight years is a long time to be with, let alone in love with, someone. Only to be served divorce papers in the bitter end.

Anyway, about the pacing some of you have mentioned. Three more episodes, me thinks. Just three measly more hours of the exposition and skullduggery, dastardly brinkmanship and heroic compromises --the stuff that made the story so engrossing in the first place-- and that might've fixed it.

It was always gonna be a deadly/death-defying crash landing (how do you even begin to explain all that Three-Eyed Raven baloney, never mind the abrupt establishment of a quasi-democracy?) but they could've kept that dragon in the air a bit longer and (like Sully on the Hudson) brought it down over polluted waters. Instead of, say, headlong into a pure and solid wall of ice that serves no purpose anymore except to provoke fire and promote nihilism.

Okay, I'm getting carried away with the inside-baseball and whatnot but I don't even know if I wanna invest the time and money and energy into reading (and reading into) the last two books now. If Martin ever gets around to even giving me the opportunity, that is.

Bitter about the ending, I am, but still sweet on the memories. They're apparently gonna try and expand on the Westerosi universe with prequels and spinoffs and shit (like Star Wars) but I'll be girding my loins this next time around. Especially since a severe over-correction, in the face of all this vitriol, could actually spin around on them and wind up spelling utter damnation.

(P.S. As many quarrels and bones to pick I've got with the writers of Game of Thrones; I've got no time for, and will give no quarter to, the PC police who've been accusing them of neglecting modern social mores and glamorizing violence and sexual misconduct. They are under no obligation to be politically progressive. Period. It would only amount to lip service, anyway. Especially within the context of this universe. You wanna read or watch a story where women and minorities are given agency and the due process they deserve before getting down in the dirt before getting uplifted and more? Well, fuck off somewhere and write it yourself! Period.)

And this coming from a staunch liberal, mind you!

Anyway... Thank y'all for commiserating with me in this forum. On to the next pop culture sensation. Hopefully one that's been created, and curated, right here in this digital crucible. You never know. Could be YOU. Right?

Cheers and Godspeed, fellow fictioneers

John

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Re: GOT-Tennis anyone?

The last season of GOT sounds a lot like the last episodes of the British Merlin TV series. It was based on a young Merlin (late teens/early twenties) who serves a young Arthur in a land where magic is forbidden on pain of death (burning!). Merlin had some great episodes, lots of references to Merlin's and Arthur's destinies, a dragon, and supporting characters from the real-life legends of King Arthur and his knights. It built up to a near-hopeless battle against the magic-wielding Morgana and her forces. I won't give away the ending because some of you may be casting around for new shows to watch and I recommend it. However, the final episode is primarily about Merlin and Arthur really getting to know each other than it is about wrapping up the series. They do that, too, but it felt unimportant compared to the Merlin/Arthur arc. I've watched the last episode about a half dozen times. Merlin ran for five seasons and is currently streaming on Netflix.

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29 Reply by John Hamler (edited by John Hamler 2019-06-01 04:10:54)

Re: GOT-Tennis anyone?

After a week or two basking and barfing in the aftermathic glow of Game of Thrones...  I'm honestly struck dumb and disappointed by the dispassionate weakness displayed in this here particular forum thread. Game of Thrones, for chrissakes, was the biggest and most belligerent piece of fiction (fantasy or otherwise) to come down the pike in the past twenty years and yet; the response around here, on TNBW at least, leaves a lot to be desired. Leaves me concerned, too. Despite the abominable ending, you people do realize that GOT is the GOAT and the GOAL y'all oughta be aiming for. Right?

Jesus H. Christ, fellow writers. You gotta imbibe, interpret, and then integrate the lessons (in action, dialogue, comedy, gravitas, and germane narrative) taught to you by GOT. You gotta reckon what worked, and what didn't work, in order to rework your own work. If you know what I mean.

For everything is derivative to some extent. As GOT was derived from LOTR, you'd do well to divine your own path from something that demands discussion and movies made.

I dunno. Maybe I'm crazy, but... No matter the medium, I want the people informing the medium (all y'all next big writers, for instance) to be informed. Before you attempt to try and inform (or entertain) the rest of us.

Cheers

John

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Re: GOT-Tennis anyone?

John Hamler wrote:

I dunno. Maybe I'm crazy, but... No matter the medium, I want the people informing the medium (all y'all next big writers, for instance) to be informed. Before you attempt to try and inform (or entertain) the rest of us.

Cheers

John

Yes, John, I think you're onto something there, lol. Jeez, it's hard to get excited about something you've never seen or desire to see, GOT Milk? Now, that's something to toast anyway. Hmmm, guess those writers of GOT had a cow, or didn't have a cow, who knows. Take care. Vern

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Re: GOT-Tennis anyone?

Yeah, I got carried away. I'm being indignant for no good reason, really. It's just that I care about storytelling, as an English language tradition, and, since I myself am incapable of carrying on said tradition, I would love it if one of y'all could maybe take up the mantle. But you gotta hear and heel to, if not adhere to, the greatness come before.

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