Game of Thrones

[Very Legal & Very Cool]

Given the last seasons, I think everyone should be prepared to be disappointed.

[RINO Tom]

Given the last seasons, I think everyone should be prepared to be disappointed.

I think the last two seasons (post-book) will be vindicated if there is a satisfying reveal/tie-back as it relates to the White Walkers' motives and stuff like that.  For example, if we learn for sure that the Night King getting the dragon was a trap and he knew (somehow) they'd be there, that makes that episode a little better, "critic-wise."  Either way, I am excited for the return in the spring!

[nicholas.slaydon]

Given the last seasons season, I think everyone should be prepared to be disappointed.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Given the last seasons, I think everyone should be prepared to be disappointed.

[emailking]

I wrote this in 2020 after a 2 week binge watch on a staycation (COVID shutdowns started happening in the middle of it).

Game of Thrones is a wonderful fantasy series, revolving around control of power for one continent on an alternate Earth-like planet. It involves a vast array of royal characters with multiple schemes and goals at all times, and no one is really good. The division between right and wrong is blurred continuously.

A political junkie or an enthusiast of military history or fantasy stories will find themselves right at home. The setting is akin to the Middle Ages in Europe. While it makes it through 1.5 seasons without any overt violation of the laws of physics, alas it cannot take place in our universe. Too much mystical/magic ultimately takes place.

This society has a vast and very rich history that you learn about over time. It is very intricate and well thought out, and almost hard to believe that one person came up with all of it. He (the author) is in several of the special features and is a pleasure to listen to, discussing the world he created.

The show has powerful opening credits and a very addictive theme song that sets the mood perfectly.  I will miss hearing it.

While I very much enjoyed this series, there is much to criticize. Typically there are 4-5 separate storylines being explored at once. One of these moves at a snails pace and is completely disconnected from the rest for half the series. While this was not a problem for me, it must have been very monotonous for those watching over several years. Other storylines move at a snails pace over several seasons and ultimately go nowhere. I am pretty sure they cheat on time frames sometimes, when characters seemingly cross the continent overnight when it takes weeks or months at other times. Finally, a logistical problem is that some of the child actors age too much, especially for some of the seasons that had years between them in real time. This was very distracting.

As I mentioned the first season was very confusing. But this gets much better once you are familiar with all the people and places. The amount of background you get to the huge history is a bare minimum and not really enough.

The show features some pretty amazing performances from several actors, most notably Peter Dinklage, Charles Dance, Sophie Turner, Rose Leslie, Diana Rigg, and Iwan Rheon.

While I would tentatively recommend it, it is not a must see like Lost. You also have to be prepared for a very long buildup to the last 2 seasons, where everything finally comes together. Without a binge watch, you should probably approach each episode as a standalone medieval fantasy adventure which may answer very few if any questions you may have about what's going to happen. Part of me thinks this may have been better served by a series of movies like Harry Potter. But the author felt movies would cut too much out, so it's an HBO series. (There are several 1000 page books, with more coming.)

[emailking]

Some other misc items.

I liked season 8, lol.

I own season  1 & 8 on UHD and the rest on Blu-ray. UHDs for the whole series were not available yet.

For a first time viewer, I recommend watching the special features for season 1 before actually starting the series. While it spoils season 1, it gives you a good introduction to the characters, world building, mythology, and geography of the GOT world.

I own HOTD S1 on UHD and liked it a lot.

This is the best Game of Thrones map I have found:
https://atlasoficeandfireblog.files.wordpress.com/2019/12/asoiaf-known-world-new-mountains.jpg

[Hindsight was 2020]

There are two big mistakes that seemed to of doomed the show once they ran out of source material: Removing FAegon and the changes to Sansa/Stannis storylines in S5. Book readers used to hate the FAegon plot because it felt like such a late addition but without him as we saw in the show Varys storyline and Danny’s downfall into madness both suffered greatly. An on the flip side Sansa/Stannis storylines completely did dirty one of the shows man characters and ruined their development for shock value (Sansa) along with butchering a plot live that was rich in the political drama that the show was known for (Stannis)

[Frodo]

Given the last seasons, I think everyone should be prepared to be disappointed.

I think the last two seasons (post-book) will be vindicated if there is a satisfying reveal/tie-back as it relates to the White Walkers' motives and stuff like that.  For example, if we learn for sure that the Night King getting the dragon was a trap and he knew (somehow) they'd be there, that makes that episode a little better, "critic-wise."  Either way, I am excited for the return in the spring!

That is assuming George R. R. Martin remains alive and well enough to finish his Song of Ice and Fire book series.  Looking at him and his age, I have my doubts. 

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The most worthless stupid f[inks]ing epic fail dumpster fire of a TV show ever made.

[emailking]

The most worthless stupid f[inks]ing epic fail dumpster fire of a TV show ever made.

Tell us how you really feel.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The most worthless stupid f[inks]ing epic fail dumpster fire of a TV show ever made.

Tell us how you really feel.

[emailking]

If you don't like season 8, you shouldn't let that color your judgment of the rest of the series or HOTD.

[Frodo]

Just watch the first six seasons, and call it a night after watching Daenerys' fleet sail toward Westeros.  Let that be the last image you will have of the series, and pretend the last two seasons don't exist.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

If you don't like season 8, you shouldn't let that color your judgment of the rest of the series or HOTD.

Just watch the first six seasons, and call it a night after watching Daenerys' fleet sail toward Westeros.  Let that be the last image you will have of the series, and pretend the last two seasons don't exist.

The problem is then there's no ending and it doesn't get tied up. It's not like watching the original Star Wars trilogy and pretending the Disney movies don't exist because it has a satisfactory ending....S6 of GoT doesn’t.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Just watch the first six seasons, and call it a night after watching Daenerys' fleet sail toward Westeros.  Let that be the last image you will have of the series, and pretend the last two seasons don't exist.

Season 6 also sucks

[Frodo]

Just watch the first six seasons, and call it a night after watching Daenerys' fleet sail toward Westeros.  Let that be the last image you will have of the series, and pretend the last two seasons don't exist.

Season 6 also sucks

Not as bad as the last two.

[emailking]

If you don't like season 8, you shouldn't let that color your judgment of the rest of the series or HOTD.

Just watch the first six seasons, and call it a night after watching Daenerys' fleet sail toward Westeros.  Let that be the last image you will have of the series, and pretend the last two seasons don't exist.

The problem is then there's no ending and it doesn't get tied up. It's not like watching the original Star Wars trilogy and pretending the Disney movies don't exist because it has a satisfactory ending....S6 of GoT doesn’t.

Then just look at it as a history story. History never ends and there's always a cliffhanger upcoming, but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy what's already there.

[RFK Jr.’s Brain Worm]

Season 7 and part of 8 were pretty choppy, but it could’ve at least ended well if the last three episodes weren’t “Suddenly Dany goes berserk.” Like, the show definitely declined once it got past book material, but I think it could’ve been good enough if the last three episodes were redone and most of the major character endings changed.

[Neo-Malthusian Misanthrope]

Season 7 and part of 8 were pretty choppy, but it could’ve at least ended well if the last three episodes weren’t “Suddenly Dany goes berserk.” Like, the show definitely declined once it got past book material, but I think it could’ve been good enough if the last three episodes were redone and most of the major character endings changed.

I was pretty disappointed by the "long" night too. I remember saying "that's it?" after Arya sneak-attacked the Night King anticlimactically, not to mention the fact that there were practically zero consequences to the whole thing. Now, if Arya had saved Jon against the Night King like how Howland Reed saved Ned at the Tower of Joy, that would have been like poetry but here we are. I've spent far too long thinking about this damn show and those unfinished books, like I'm reliving a failed relationship that I thought was going to last forever and wondering where it all went wrong. Interestingly I was going through an extremely rough breakup while season 8 aired as well, I wonder if there's actually some kind of psychological element to it.

House of the Dragon is pretty good though. Maybe there's hope for this franchise (and my romantic prospects) yet.

[emailking]

It's part of Martin's plan, apparently, for Danny to lose it, fwiw.

https://www.quora.com/Did-George-R-R-Martin-always-intend-for-Daenerys-to-go-mad-and-burn-Kings-Landing-to-ashes

[Hindsight was 2020]

It's part of Martin's plan, apparently, for Danny to lose it, fwiw.

https://www.quora.com/Did-George-R-R-Martin-always-intend-for-Daenerys-to-go-mad-and-burn-Kings-Landing-to-ashes

Dany going mad isn’t the issue as much as how quick it does and the series of events leading to it. Case in point there is absolutely in-show logic why in the general public was so hostile to Dany, Cersei had used her status as queen mother just seized the thrown in a world where any distant male cousin of Robert would be viewed as more legitimate and had just nuked the equivalent of the Vatican in the process killing a popular religious figure (high sparrow) and “the people’s queen” (Margaery). By all accounts Dany should of had a sizable part of the general population welcoming her as a liberator but because George intents for the public to reject Dany to set her down a crazy path the show stuck to this idea even though there is a reason in-book for this to logically happen that the show got rid of (FAegon)

[Antonio the Sixth]

Just watch the first six seasons, and call it a night after watching Daenerys' fleet sail toward Westeros.  Let that be the last image you will have of the series, and pretend the last two seasons don't exist.

Season 6 also sucks

As does season 5.

Really, you're better off watching the first three seasons and leaving it there. They form a fairly complete narrative arc on their own.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Just watch the first six seasons, and call it a night after watching Daenerys' fleet sail toward Westeros.  Let that be the last image you will have of the series, and pretend the last two seasons don't exist.

Season 6 also sucks

As does season 5.

Really, you're better off watching the first three seasons and leaving it there. They form a fairly complete narrative arc on their own.

First four.  Danaerys' arc in season 4 sucks, but season 4 completes the John/Ygritte arc with one of the most awesome episodes of the entire series, it completes the Arya/Hound arc in a very satisfying way, and of course the goings-on at King's Landing in season 4 are probably the best storyline in the entire run of the show.  It also has Pedro Pascal's best performance of his career.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Just watch the first six seasons, and call it a night after watching Daenerys' fleet sail toward Westeros.  Let that be the last image you will have of the series, and pretend the last two seasons don't exist.

Season 6 also sucks

As does season 5.

Really, you're better off watching the first three seasons and leaving it there. They form a fairly complete narrative arc on their own.

First four.  Danaerys' arc in season 4 sucks, but season 4 completes the John/Ygritte arc with one of the most awesome episodes of the entire series, it completes the Arya/Hound arc in a very satisfying way, and of course the goings-on at King's Landing in season 4 are probably the best storyline in the entire run of the show.  It also has Pedro Pascal's best performance of his career.

Fair, I think season 4 isn't as good as the first three but it's still solid television. Everything after that... not so much.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Just watch the first six seasons, and call it a night after watching Daenerys' fleet sail toward Westeros.  Let that be the last image you will have of the series, and pretend the last two seasons don't exist.

Season 6 also sucks

As does season 5.

Really, you're better off watching the first three seasons and leaving it there. They form a fairly complete narrative arc on their own.

First four.  Danaerys' arc in season 4 sucks, but season 4 completes the John/Ygritte arc with one of the most awesome episodes of the entire series, it completes the Arya/Hound arc in a very satisfying way, and of course the goings-on at King's Landing in season 4 are probably the best storyline in the entire run of the show.  It also has Pedro Pascal's best performance of his career.

Fair, I think season 4 isn't as good as the first three but it's still solid television. Everything after that... not so much.

The heart of the show is Tyrion's shenanigans in King's Landing.  Seasons 2/3 are the best because they have the most Tyrion in King's Landing content.  Those scenes have the best dialogue, the most intricate plots, the most humor and the best acting, they're some of the best TV ever produced.

Season 4 is the climax of that storyline.  After that the show completely falls apart.