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Phendrift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,267
It's a shame because the episode itself was great on its own. Very tense and beautifully shot.

The writing was just not good.... it made so little sense for Dany to do that.
 

thermopyle

Member
Nov 8, 2017
2,981
Los Angeles, CA
Oh god people are actually engaging with this troll lol

The best part is that one user who kept calling everyone nerds for daring to criticize the piece of crap writing
 

Niks

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,296


This.
Even the actors knew shit was shit.


There was NO WAY to make Dany go mad queen in a believable way in 6 eps.
Suspension of disbelief was shattered by the shitty writers.

suspension of disbelief
"The term suspension of disbelief or willing suspension of disbelief has been defined as a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe something surreal; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment."
 

Sei

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,702
LA
Every other character was coming apart seasons 6 and 7. Tyrion, one of the smartest people in the show, now dumb as a rock. Jamie's storyline, wasted. House Martell? The Citadel and Samwell? Euron turned into a clown. Bran, wheelchair expert.

Now finally, Daenerys turn to showcase D&Ds terrible writing. Oh the show NOW is bad.
 

Phendrift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,267
For those who didn't like what Dany did....genuine question...did it bother you when she suggested doing the very thing she did last episode? Because she'd already run through the possibility of burning KL to the ground, and fuck the townsfolk because they aren't innocent if they stand by Cersei (her reasoning in earlier episodes). While I think it could've been done better, I wasn't surprised she followed through on something she's been wanting to do. I just don't remember seeing anyone complain about her wanting to burn the innocents before.

For someone like Dany, whose #1 priority is ruling, I can see how she did this fucked up thing. Innocents are important. Saving people is important. But not before ruling.
The big difference for me was that I was kind of assuming she'd do it in order to win the war.

She had already completely demolished cersei's forces and they had surrendered by the time she started killing all of the innocents
 

Zen

The Wise Ones
Member
Nov 1, 2017
9,655
The big difference for me was that I was kind of assuming she'd do it in order to win the war.

She had already completely demolished cersei's forces and they had surrendered by the time she started killing all of the innocents
Probably a choice made to eliminate any plausible deniability or rationalization of her decision.
 

RDreamer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,102
Really enjoyed it personally. The big twist was telegraphed from a mile away, so I'm shocked that others are shocked. For the complaints about characters "teleporting" from one side of the map to other -- do we really need to see what happened to them along the way? Is that minutia really germane to the plot as a whole?

It can be, yes. There's an incredible amount of time being skipped. Characters can have revelations and/or important conversations that let us into where they're at while traveling. Development happens while traveling. Without anything, it feels like setpieces strung together.

In the beginning of the show a lot of character development happened while traveling. Arya's development largely comes with her traveling. She finds the brotherhood, goes to Harenhal and then travels with the hound. They didn't NEED to show a lot of that, but they did and it helped develop her character a lot.
 

Zen

The Wise Ones
Member
Nov 1, 2017
9,655
Yeah my biggest criticism with the show this season and really the past few are how assumed time skips start happening more and more because all the events take place at important locations that are all far from each other. It's jarring compared to the first half of the show where travel took half the season to get somewhere and a lot of things happen during it.
 

Mendrox

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
9,439
People had to wait two years for that shit. Episode was a rollercoaster of emotions in regards to "but why does he do this?" "why the fuck does she handle it like this" and more and people expected it to be more in line with how the characters were build up in all those years.
 

Choa

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
89
I wonder if the plan was always to have the second dragon die in the previous episode. As many people have pointed out, having a dragon go down during the sacking would have made a lot more sense on how this episode panned out.

I think in the main thread a few people linked to a tweet where a guy was coyly claiming to know about a lot of drama that went on during the production of this season. It is probably the tweeter just seeking attention, but I do wonder if they changed it up to give David Nutter a big moment for his episode.

Overall though a well-directed episode. The point of view of Arya on the ground during the "bombing" gave me WW2 vibes. I imagine that is something like what the civilians would have gone through during the carpet bombing of Europe or the firebombing of Tokyo.
1024px-Firebombing_of_Tokyo.jpg
 

Flame Flamey

Member
Feb 8, 2018
4,624
How can people actually think that Dany was always a crazy megalomaniac with a god complex from the beginning; that she was always exactly like Viserys and her father? She's always had a compassionate streak to her, do people really think she did things like sparing Mirri, liberating the Unsullied and other slaves, locked up her dragons because they killed a child, etc, because she wanted good PR? She has a ruthless streak, sure, but the issue people have is that the buildup to this was far too rushed and forced.

I am not a Dany stan by any means, and back in the day I used to argue with people who believed Dany could do no wrong and was a perfect saint. But to say she was always the Mad Queen from day one is excessive. That's a conflict in her character, between the good and the bad; if you say that Dany was always an egomaniac and deny that there was anything altruistic in her character, then you're getting rid of that conflict. In which case I perfectly understand why you'd like this development, because for you it wasn't a development, it was something she was always going to do. Which of course runs counter to what the showrunners are saying themselves, they believe this is a turn too; I just don't think they did a very good job at showing it.
 
Oct 25, 2017
4,760
If it ends with Dany riding on top of her dragon and getting transported to modern day NYC in monochromatic color and her dragon gets shot down be fighter jets and impaled by the empire state building, i'd say this whole thing was worth it.
 

Deleted member 21709

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
23,310
If it were telegraphed from a mile away, people wouldn't be upset.

The problem is that it wasn't. Literally near the end of the previous season, Dany was making a speech reminding the audience that she's there to save the innocents. She's constantly talking about saving the innocents.

For seemingly no reason, she disregards that because of some bells.



Regarding that youtube video, taking the actor's reactions/comments completely out of context to try and make a point is fucking nasty.
 

PHOENIXZERO

Member
Oct 29, 2017
12,045
I blame #TeamDany stans

They were in denial the whole time until Dany was who we thought she was.
Pretty much. The writing is shit but the writing has been shit since at least season five when story telling completely fell off a cliff and plenty could argue the writing was shit before that too. There was plenty to go on that Dany had it in her just from the first season, never mind the visions in season two or the other stuff. The execution sucked but it's not as if it came out of no where.
 

Salmonax

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,088
One of the best-realized episodes of television I've ever seen in service of really awful storytelling. Everything but the story deserves to be heaped with unlimited praise.

But yeah, too bad about the storytelling.
 

Bio

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,370
Denver, Colorado
I love this season on its own merits. The seemingly infinite amount of salt generated by people who apparently have not been paying attention for the last eight years is just icing on the cake.
 

OutofMana

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,067
California
The whole season is a mess and feels rushed. It's Walking Dead levels of storytelling at this point. Which is a shame when compared to the first couple of seasons.
 

pants

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
3,165
How can people actually think that Dany was always a crazy megalomaniac with a god complex from the beginning; that she was always exactly like Viserys and her father? She's always had a compassionate streak to her, do people really think she did things like sparing Mirri, liberating the Unsullied and other slaves, locked up her dragons because they killed a child, etc, because she wanted good PR? She has a ruthless streak, sure, but the issue people have is that the buildup to this was far too rushed and forced.

I am not a Dany stan by any means, and back in the day I used to argue with people who believed Dany could do no wrong and was a perfect saint. But to say she was always the Mad Queen from day one is excessive. That's a conflict in her character, between the good and the bad; if you say that Dany was always an egomaniac and deny that there was anything altruistic in her character, then you're getting rid of that conflict. In which case I perfectly understand why you'd like this development, because for you it wasn't a development, it was something she was always going to do. Which of course runs counter to what the showrunners are saying themselves, they believe this is a turn too; I just don't think they did a very good job at showing it.

I think there are people who conveniently claim it was there all along, just as there are those who claim it goes against everything she stands for. But its much more complicated than that.

The real tragedy of her character is its impossible to draw the line between how much of her turn was just grief and isolation in need of an outlet, how much was the expectations of others, and how much was always lurking under the surface and destined to happen. I dont think it had to be this way, but sadly we'll never know.

Dany had an identity built on many threads - conqueror, liberator, mother, destroyer - and my read was that she was backed into a corner where she felt (in her own mind) her only surefire move was to trust herself and her instincts and go full dragon. Under other circumstances she would have made a great ruler, as she was never devoid of compassion.

Theres definitely an argument to be made that her turn wasn't earned on screen, or that it needed more time to deliver, but to me it still feels believably human after what she has been put through.
 

Ploid 6.0

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,439
Too bad HBO's Game of Thrones wasn't a game where a nonsense script or plot could easily be propped up by graphics, gameplay and great acting. "Oh, she's torching all of Kings Landing.. Well at least it's challenging, epic, immersive, and fun to try surviving."
 

JaseC64

Enlightened
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
11,008
Strong Island NY
This.
Even the actors knew shit was shit.


There was NO WAY to make Dany go mad queen in a believable way in 6 eps.
Suspension of disbelief was shattered by the shitty writers.

suspension of disbelief
"The term suspension of disbelief or willing suspension of disbelief has been defined as a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe something surreal; sacrifice of realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment."
But guys you just hating and not appreciating the spectacle! Everyone loves this only era is being z whiny baby once again!
 

Jinaar

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,296
Edmonton AB
I think she didn't have a choice but to burn KL down and send a message. If she stopped when the bells rang, that's it for her reign. Varys has sent messages out about who Jon is. Everyone in the 7 Kingdoms will want him as the true heir to sit on the throne. Dany would not become ruler as she has worked towards.

Fear. She will keep it all thru fear. That is how I see it. But who really knows until next Sunday.
 

Hyun Sai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,562
Dany killing thousands of innocents because she was mad queen from day one makes as much sense as Jon becoming the Night King in the finale because he was resurrected not so long ago. No surprise here !

The justifications of the shittiest writing of the decade are hilarious.
 

Zen

The Wise Ones
Member
Nov 1, 2017
9,655
Dany killing thousands of innocents because she was mad queen from day one makes as much sense as Jon becoming the Night King in the finale because he was resurrected not so long ago. No surprise here !

The justifications of the shittiest writing of the decade are hilarious.
It makes sense to me and apparently more than a few people even if it was rushed as hell. She developed into it from a base impulse that had always been there, not literally evil queen from day one.
 

IIFloodyII

Member
Oct 26, 2017
23,938
Sure, but that episode was not the worst in the ENTIRE SERIES. No way in hell. Reviewers are pissed at S8 as a whole and just tanking each episode no matter if it's actually good on its own or not.
Where the episode is, is a massive factor in how people will react. That's how the "game of thrones" 8 years of build up, almost every major character having a role at some point or another, is just for 1 dragon (which they've shown aren't unkillable last episode, which was dumb) wiping out a city and a massive army, because "fuck it let's get this done, we don't care, oh and Dany is super evil now bye." Like what a complete waste of time everything revolving it was.

Yes, but some can't seem to grasp others not liking their favorite show now and they are just "angry nerds, the show is fine" as some sort of counter, instead of just enjoying the show they still enjoy, ignoring the "haters".
 
Oct 25, 2017
8,257
The Cyclone State
Where the episode is, is a massive factor in how people will react. That's how the "game of thrones" 8 years of build up, almost every major character having a role at some point or another, is just for 1 dragon (which they've shown aren't unkillable last episode, which was dumb) wiping out a city and a massive army, because "fuck it let's get this done, we don't care, oh and Dany is super evil now bye." Like what a complete waste of time everything revolving it was.


Yes, but some can't seem to grasp others not liking their favorite show now and they are just "angry nerds, the show is fine" as some sort of counter, instead of just enjoying the show they still enjoy, ignoring the "haters".
https://twitter.com/Darren_Mooney/status/1127982253546643457
 

Avitus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,898
Sure, but that episode was not the worst in the ENTIRE SERIES. No way in hell. Reviewers are pissed at S8 as a whole and just tanking each episode no matter if it's actually good on its own or not.

Uhh E5 dumpsters multiple major characters in the most unsatisfying way possible. It doesn't matter how good the Michael Bay style theatrics are if you fuck up that many seasons of story.
 

Zen

The Wise Ones
Member
Nov 1, 2017
9,655
Yes, but some can't seem to grasp others not liking their favorite show now and they are just "angry nerds, the show is fine" as some sort of counter, instead of just enjoying the show they still enjoy, ignoring the "haters".
Conversely, there are people not so subtly expressing their disdain for people who dare to say they enjoy the show or actually discuss the characters with snide comments about justifying shit writing when the poster was discussing within the context of what the show has presented, or trying to shut down such discussion by telling them that there's nothing worth discussing, or even straight up insulting them by stating their taste is the bottom denominator or generic blockbuster crowd. Oh yeah, it's just the people who like the show that can't stand others not enjoying it huh? The critics are just politely and calmly expressing their disappointment and problems with the show.