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*UNMARKED SPOILERS ALL BOOKS* Game of Thrones |OT| - Season 5 - Sundays on HBO

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Speevy

Banned
What do you think would happen if the showrunners killed off a character who was really crucial to a plot in the books?

Do you think GRRM would just shrug or do you think he would be vocal about it?
 
What do you think would happen if the showrunners killed off a character who was really crucial to a plot in the books?

Do you think GRRM would just shrug or do you think he would be vocal about it?
Immediately after the episode aired there would be an interview up on Variety or EW or Esquire titled "George R R Martin discusses last night's shocking Game of Thrones" in which he says "Da show is da show and da books are da books."
 

Real Hero

Member
Immediately after the episode aired there would be an interview up on Variety or EW or Esquire titled "George R R Martin discusses last night's shocking Game of Thrones" in which he says "Da show is da show and da books are da books."

We are definitely getting those this season. Probably mention of the butterfly effect too
 

Speevy

Banned
I think that if Mr. Martin is alive in 10 years, we'll have an incredible story of all the differences and disagreements.
 

Massa

Member
I think that if Mr. Martin is alive in 10 years, we'll have an incredible story of all the differences and disagreements.

post-47698-GRRM-middle-finger-gif-Imgur-G-ke9v.gif
 

Speevy

Banned
Yeah I saw that interview too, but the truth is that no one lives forever. I find it odd that someone so at peace with the themes of every character's mortality would be so sensitive about his own.
 
Yeah I saw that interview too, but the truth is that no one lives forever. I find it odd that someone so at peace with the themes of every character's mortality would be so sensitive about his own.

It's odd that he's ok with killing off fictional characters but worries about his own health?
 
So, did anyone else get HBO Now just to watch this show and find that it's complete trash? The Web player doesn't work at all. I get about 2 minutes into a video before it becomes unwatchable and stuttery. I'm gonna be real pissed if I can't watch GoT this Sunday.
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
jett said:
I wonder if they will go full retard like GRRM and end with the cliffhanger of Jon's death.
Does that still qualify as cliffhangers anymore? I can't remember a single character that has a chapter end with is/isn't? "death-scene" and doesn't turn-up alive after - it happened at least 3 times in last book alone.
 
What do you think would happen if the showrunners killed off a character who was really crucial to a plot in the books?

Do you think GRRM would just shrug or do you think he would be vocal about it?

He'd probably whine on his Live Journal and then hock some rain damaged merchandise at his movie theater.
 
So, with the confirmed premiere dates of True Detective, Ballers, and The Brink and HBO's schedule now showing through episode 8 (no episode title list yet), HBO isn't skipping memorial day weekend for their original programming this year.
 

Showaddy

Member
So this is the rhetoric we get for the next few years? Got it.

Yeah pretty much. As much as I agree that the hack job done to Feast/Dance is necessary for the sake of watchable TV I get the feeling most of these reviewers haven't actually read them and are just regurgitating other peoples "Feast & Dance are too fucking long" opinions.
 
Yeah I saw that interview too, but the truth is that no one lives forever. I find it odd that someone so at peace with the themes of every character's mortality would be so sensitive about his own.

Well, I mean. Would you be content with people talking about your death? Be like "Yeah, let's hope he'll still be around for long enough to finish up his books"?
 

hoos30

Member
Yeah pretty much. As much as I agree that the hack job done to Feast/Dance is necessary for the sake of watchable TV I get the feeling most of these reviewers haven't actually read them and are just regurgitating other peoples "Feast & Dance are too fucking long" opinions.
Err, people don't complain about Feast and Dance being long... They complain about them being terrible.
 

Speevy

Banned
Well, I mean. Would you be content with people talking about your death? Be like "Yeah, let's hope he'll still be around for long enough to finish up his books"?

They do it with any work of art that has any merit.

I would be so flattered that people wanted my work so badly that they'd ask me every time they saw me "When are you going to finish the next one?"

He has breathed life into a fictional universe that not only resonates with people, but people can't stop thinking about it. So many characters and locations, so many intriguing combinations of possibilities.

Would GRRM rather we say "Ah well, the last two books kinda sucked. I really don't care if he writes another one."

The book's fans made GRRM one of the most talked about writers in all of fantasy, and the television series have made the man a national celebrity.

Who cares if he has a limited number of years left? They want him to write more of the work they love. If he were a painter, they'd want him to paint more landscapes. If he were a musician, they'd want him to release more CDs. If he were an actor, they'd want him to star in more movies.

However, unlike any of those professions, his work continues to grow into something that is greater than the sum of its parts. There are actors who base their career on being a part of something that he created. There are musicians that want to score the scenes he imagined. There are artists who want to envision the locations he described.

That we have claimed this 66 year old man as our own is no crime. It's not insensitive or morbid, and he needs to get the hell over it. Half the celebrities out there have people wishing they WERE dead.
 

Speevy

Banned
It's odd that he's ok with killing off fictional characters but worries about his own health?

It's odd that he gets upset when people ask him completely reasonable questions.

I wondered if Christopher Lee would survive the filming of those Hobbit movies. Does that make me a bad person? I just wanted to see him in another film. I'm sure he wouldn't have minded the concern.
 

joliefaire

Neo Member
They do it with any work of art that has any merit.

I would be so flattered that people wanted my work so badly that they'd ask me every time they saw me "When are you going to finish the next one?"

He has breathed life into a fictional universe that not only resonates with people, but people can't stop thinking about it. So many characters and locations, so many intriguing combinations of possibilities.

Would GRRM rather we say "Ah well, the last two books kinda sucked. I really don't care if he writes another one."

The book's fans made GRRM one of the most talked about writers in all of fantasy, and the television series have made the man a national celebrity.

Who cares if he has a limited number of years left? They want him to write more of the work they love. If he were a painter, they'd want him to paint more landscapes. If he were a musician, they'd want him to release more CDs. If he were an actor, they'd want him to star in more movies.

However, unlike any of those professions, his work continues to grow into something that is greater than the sum of its parts. There are actors who base their career on being a part of something that he created. There are musicians that want to score the scenes he imagined. There are artists who want to envision the locations he described.

That we have claimed this 66 year old man as our own is no crime. It's not insensitive or morbid, and he needs to get the hell over it. Half the celebrities out there have people wishing they WERE dead.

A good perspective. I like it very much and it certainly has weight and merit. I kept nodding my head as I was reading it. On the other hand, I'm sure he has rabid fans yelling at him to 'lose some fucking weight!,' and 'quit drinking, get off the sauce and finish the goddamned books!'' And worse, I'm sure. I remember reading a piece where he talked about some stalker fan who kept trying to sneak up on him at a book signing, with a pair of scissors, trying to snip a piece of his beard. Scary, ugly stuff. He's just a man like any other, and I can say from personal experience that once the original obsession to get your story down on paper, finally exhausts you and fizzles out, as everything does eventually, sex, love, any all-consuming obsession, then its a nightmare to keep going forward. You wake up one morning and your imagination that was so afire, for so long, is suddenly... depleted. Drained. To force yourself to write even another paragraph from that point is just tortuous, and I believe that's where GRRM is now. And to be in that position and still have to face rabid fans, knowing the ASoIaF world is clamoring... well, I'm glad I'm not him, is all.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Worth noting by spoiled I mean it's a drastic change from book to show.

Like, the biggest change in the entire series thus far.

On a scale of "Your sister" to Jon Snow's characterization, how big is it?

So, with the confirmed premiere dates of True Detective, Ballers, and The Brink and HBO's schedule now showing through episode 8 (no episode title list yet), HBO isn't skipping memorial day weekend for their original programming this year.

Good! :D

Yeah pretty much. As much as I agree that the hack job done to Feast/Dance is necessary for the sake of watchable TV I get the feeling most of these reviewers haven't actually read them and are just regurgitating other peoples "Feast & Dance are too fucking long" opinions.

Even though that Atlantic writer has read the books, there's certainly a lot of "For some reason I now get the sense that the show is totally different from the books I've never read!" comments in the other articles I've read. Like, many of these critics have avoided the books specifically because they want to be able to judge the show based on its own merits, and yet they can't help but talk about the books anyway, often basing entire think pieces off the opinions of their friends. (like that embarrassing Andy Greenwald piece)

It's really bizarre.
 

Ratrat

Member
Worth noting by spoiled I mean it's a drastic change from book to show.

Like, the biggest change in the entire series thus far.
Have you followed S5 speculation and discussions? Nothing in there is something that hasn't been suggested by trailers...
 
They do it with any work of art that has any merit.

-snip-

I understand that. But still, you can't expect that even as an artist, he has to just accept people, especially his fans, talking about his death. Even if I, as a musician, would be popular, I would not just be able to have people talk about the end of my life, and me potentially not ending my life's work. It would make me uncomfortable.

I do not blame GRRM for feeling uncomfortable when people talk about him dying. I feel like it's even kinda rude. But maybe that's because I don't obsess over his work, albeit being a big enthusiast of it, and because I still see GRRM as a human with emotions, rather than a lifeless manufacture of stuff I like. So I can appreciate him making his feelings clear about this topic.
 

RaidenZR

Member
Err, people don't complain about Feast and Dance being long... They complain about them being terrible.

The article that was referenced goes a long way into making hyperbolic and somewhat premature judgments about plot threads that are incomplete in the books. Saying that the Hound and Brienne fight fixes flaws in their book plotline is quite audacious. It hasn't fully played out yet and it's a sensational opinion about show plot threads to hype up a new season (that I'm guessing) won't be finished in the four screener episodes either.

That said, the Brienne and Hound fight was fucking amazing.
 
The article that was referenced goes a long way into making hyperbolic and somewhat premature judgments about plot threads that are incomplete in the books. Saying that the Hound and Brienne fight fixes flaws in their book plotline is quite audacious. It hasn't fully played out yet and it's a sensational opinion about show plot threads to hype up a new season (that I'm guessing) won't be finished in the four screener episodes either.

That said, the Brienne and Hound fight was fucking amazing.

I enjoyed the fight as well, but the whole gravedigger mystery is a lot of fun, even if they don't give us closure. That's something the show can't really pull off (like the Barristan reveal).
 
I was kinda hoping they'd pick up Sandor on the road down and that he'd end up bodyguarding Sansa at Winterfell.

I mean how SICK would that Hound/Ramsay dynamic be.
 
So this is the rhetoric we get for the next few years? Got it.

Apparently so. Grantland's nonbook reader review had some rather asinine comments about the last two books, and Martin. Granted I do think Martin has made a mis-step in terms of basking in the spotlight. His big news about coming up with a huge twist the show couldn't possibly do reminded of a nerd who doesn't get invited to the big party, and instead offers to have a less interesting party at his parents' house. Like...really desperate, and something I didn't want to hear. I'm sure it'll be cool, in fact I think TWOW will be amazing...but I can do without attempts to steal the spotlight from the show.

Martin can't be pleased with this...but he brought it on himself. I think AFFC and ADWD were great but I understand why they get shit on. And I can sympathize with the argument that Martin made a mistake by expanding the world immediately after his greatest accomplishment (the ASOS climax). I have no idea why Martin thought the show would follow his bloated ADWD blueprint with a limited budget; AFFC was already out before the show so there was nothing to do about that.

I liked Tyrion's arc well enough in ADWD but it could have been more entertaining. I wish Martin would just skip the travelogues, or at least shorten them. Not a fan of Dany's ADWD arc and it really bogs down the book. I liked Jon's arc but...as with nearly every major plot in the book, it's just a bunch of plotting and planning for something that never happens. Tyrion doesn't meet Dany, the Wall isn't attacked, Dorne's major plan blows up in Quentyn's face (literally), Stannis and the Freys don't engage, etc.

I'll continue defending the books, and yea these snarky reviews rustle my jimmies...but at the same time I understand. And hopefully Martin does too. With two books left he really doesn't have anymore time to world build at the expense of moving towards his endgame.
 
Yeah, they discussed that on the "Watch the Thrones" Grantland podcast. Speaking with one of their writers that has read the books, he thought (and I agree) that Martin's kind of out of nowhere announcement that he has some twist that the show wouldn't be able to do was an outburst of frustration from Martin that he is now in this situation (knowing that he put himself in this situation of course).
 
Yeah, I just saw talk about it too I'd say stupid HBO for letting those screeners out but they're still probably going to breaker viewership records with this further drumming up hype. Leaking so late probably isn't going to mean much, people who want to watch legally in the first place area already signed up for at least a month that those leaked episodes will fall into.
 
From the other thread:
To be perfectly clear here, if people continue to discuss which episodes might have leaked, how the 'reported' quality is, how 'your friend' found them, make up fake spoilers, etc..., I'm going to start handing out bans. Find somewhere else on the internet to chat about it. Thanks.
 
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