90 replies to this topic

[CrypticWeirwood]

A Non-Moronic Quentyn, on 23 April 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

"Panting, she squatted and spread her legs. Blood ran down her thighs, black as ink.

Interesting that her blood was black, just like the black hands of the ice wights (including Coldhands), who are dead.  I still think Melisandre is a long-dead fire wight.

[So1ar]

salt, on 23 April 2012 - 04:31 AM, said:

Dragons screech.  A shadow version of Stannis should not.

The end of the first book specifically mentions the air being filled with the song of dragons for the first time in a hundred years.  ACOK definitely did not mentioned the shadowbaby sounding like a Harry Potter monster.

well it's not a shadow is it? it was in the books, but on the show it was a vagina smoke creature. so what cares if it made a sound. honestly, i thought people would be more upset with stannis being aware that mel was going to kill renly. iirc, in the books stannis was really upset over renly's death and felt like he had some part in it, but wasn't sure how.

Edited by So1ar, 24 April 2012 - 02:34 PM.

[Andrés Garcia]

I don't even understand the point that shadows don't make sounds. Shadows don't kill people either. This is obviously not a shadow as much as it is a shadowy creature. Also, re-read the description of the birthing scene in the books. The way it was portrayed in the tv-show is perfectly consistent with that description.

[howland_reed]

While I liked the CGI, the scene reminded me of what I hated about it from the books:

The shadow baby is the worst deus ex machina GRRM has introduced in the series.  I eventually got over it since it was hardly brought back again, but even with Melisandre's POV in Dance, we never really got an explanation of how she's able to perform magic to this scale.

But seeing it on screen, while it looked great, only reminded me of the sloppy way GRRM got rid of Renly's character.  I notice some non-readers have felt the same about this, some even going as far as saying GoT "jumped the shark."

[Dornish Hen]

I didn't really even notice the screech sound the shadow made.  I was too horrified by the "wet" sounds it made as it was coming out.  Somehow in my mind, it was more realistic for a shadow to screech than for it to make birthing sounds.  Ridiculous, I know.

[NomadicDirewolf]

yh i thought it was really good, i wanted to see what they would do with it cos i couldnt think of anything and i thought an actual shadow would just look a bit naff

[BarrileteCosmico]

Some of you are missing that the entire point of the scene is that it's so hard for us to watch, yet so easy for Joff. That's why it drags on for too long.

[Free Northman]

I'm concerned that the overtly "fantastical" depiction of the Shadow Birth is going to lose the series some viewers too early into the 7 book saga.

I'm imagining that a lot of "mainstream" viewers enjoy GoT for it's realistic depiction of politics and medieval war. Basically, the King's Landing storyline.

To retain these more level headed viewers - who aren't hardcore fantasy enthusiasts, and who may even sneer slightly at the magical aspects of the story - it would have been better to have the Shadow Assasination be more ambiguous. This could have been done by not showing the Mellisandre birthing scene at all, but rather having her simply predicting that Renly will die before the dawn, and then cutting straight to Catelyn meeting with Renly, only for a shadow against the wall to fleetingly appear and disappear and in the confusion to have Renly collapse with his throat slit.

Then the mystery of what exactly had happened could have remained, without going into Dungeons and Dragons type of stuff with the 3D shadow baby popping out between Me'l's thighs and all that.

That would have been how I would have done it.

Edited by Free Northman, 27 April 2012 - 06:14 PM.

[Ser Plissken]

Fuck the sneerers, Shadowbaby was awesome.

[Balefont]

Free Northman, on 27 April 2012 - 06:13 PM, said:

I'm concerned that the overtly "fantastical" depiction of the Shadow Birth is going to lose the series some viewers too early into the 7 book saga.

I disagree based on anecdotal evidence.  A co-worker of mine - who never reads non-fiction - decided that not only would he finally take my advice to read the books, after seeing the shadowbaby birth he actually bought A Game of Thrones rather than borrow it from the library.

[hombay]

The Shadowbaby will alienate viewers, sure. But it also alienated readers - the conflict between realism and fantasy was there for the readers as well. I believe a vast majority of the viewers will like the Shadowbaby.