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[Book spoilers] Thenn Cannibalism


averde

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I am fine with the portrayal of the Thenns, actually I think I prefer them this way. Loved the ritual scars.



It makes sense, like people have already mentioned, to show that the threat of the Wildlings is actually a real threat. Nice jolly people in furs does not constitute such a danger, they're not portrayed unreasonable, you'd wonder why they don't all cooperate in some way. The cannibals show you why. They put the wild in Wildlings ;) (sorry lame joke)

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Mel_Rose,



The problem is that at the end, the point of the story is that those wildlings were not the real threat and that they were not that bad. The entire plot of ADWD revolves around this. If they are not significantly better than the White Walkers, why should Jon ally with them.



Also, Alys Karstark is supposed to marry one of those men. They are people, no mindless savages.

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I don't think the impression left was that these Thenns are "mindless savages". They clearly are cunning warriors and formidable foes for the NW. They've cuddled up too many of the Wildlings, there needs to be legit villains within the group for the NW to face off against.



Not to mention that in the books, Styr was a massive asshole who deserved to die and the Thenns were all hated by the other Wildlings. I'm not sure why everyone is retroactively characterizing them as some kind of noble entity.



I'll bet someone a million internet dollars that Alys Karstark isn't on the show on account of her story not being important at all.


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Hairy Bear,


I agree with King Tommen above. I don't think they look like "mindless" savages. They do look terrifying though. And they are a threat because they eat people. And in the end, they might be not different from us all, but at the moment, in the show, they have to show a more formidable enemy for the battle of Castle Black. It might not be very accurate to the books, but personally I liked it.



I doubt Alys Karstark will be on the show, too.

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Mel_Rose,

The problem is that at the end, the point of the story is that those wildlings were not the real threat and that they were not that bad. The entire plot of ADWD revolves around this. If they are not significantly better than the White Walkers, why should Jon ally with them.

Also, Alys Karstark is supposed to marry one of those men. They are people, no mindless savages.

They're as bad as the people of Westeros and that's pretty bad. There's a reason Jon doesn't want them getting over the wall and it's not just his oath, it's that they're going to lay waste to the North and as much of the Seven Kingdoms as they can.

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I love the cannibalism change. It was to make sure to the viewers that the wildings are not plucky free folk characters, some of them are very disturbing individuals like in the books. Hope we get to see the Weeper next season :-) . I also love the Thenn look and also the music that accompanied them. The OST is getting better and better every season.


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When I saw the Thenns, all I could think of was "Poor Alys Karstark." Then I realized that that storyline is so far into the future and so minor that they obviously cut it.



Also, didn't I see these guys in the 13 Warrior. #FailD&D #whatbutchery


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From this site's own Wiki:



The Thenns are savage fighters, but because of their belief in the Magnar as their god they are absolutely obedient and more disciplined than other free folk. They are often better equipped than most free folk, with bronze helms, axes of bronze and a few of chipped stone, short stabbing spears with leaf-shaped heads, shirts sewn with bronze discs, and plain unadorned shields of black boiled leather with bronze rims and bosses



Yeah they aren't cannibals and they certainly changed their look up but I really don't get what the big outrage is here. What did people expect? The Thenns are clearly the rigid asshole villains of the Wildlings and they need to build up Styr as a major antagonist for Jon during the battle as we know they engage in one on one combat there.


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Styr. In the books, Sigorn is his son but I imagine he won't be on the show. Joseph Gatt is an actor of some note and he was cast as the Thenn warg (henceforth known as owl-boy). If there is another Thenn that they will distinguish from the extras besides Styr, it's him. I don't think he has a name at this point.


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From this site's own Wiki:

The Thenns are savage fighters, but because of their belief in the Magnar as their god they are absolutely obedient and more disciplined than other free folk. They are often better equipped than most free folk, with bronze helms, axes of bronze and a few of chipped stone, short stabbing spears with leaf-shaped heads, shirts sewn with bronze discs, and plain unadorned shields of black boiled leather with bronze rims and bosses

Yeah they aren't cannibals and they certainly changed their look up but I really don't get what the big outrage is here. What did people expect? The Thenns are clearly the rigid asshole villains of the Wildlings and they need to build up Styr as a major antagonist for Jon during the battle as we know they engage in one on one combat there.

Just standard Westeros foot-stamping about the show not being the books.

Personally, the Thenns are my favourite character introduction in the show thus far.

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Honestly the Thenn introduction was one of my favourite parts of the episode. When you're introducing new minor characters at this point, you can't afford for any to be Milquetoast. So the scars and the cannibalism worked for me to make them identifiable. The Thenns are still very savage in the books, but they also have metalworking and a more unified government, which makes them very dangerous.



I tend to think the Thenn marriage to Alys will still be in, otherwise there's little point in introducing Styr at all. We'll see I guess, maybe he's just there for flavour for one season, but they don't really have the time to do that imo.


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I didnt like them. If D&D want to create a creapy wilding group create a name of their own. Or any other insted of the group more westerosi alike of the entire gang.

I mean, why do people care so much about minor details like this? The Thenns are only of passing importance in the books. Yeah, they've been changed on the show, but in the grand scheme of things it's not a change that really has any serious future implications (any wildling can marry Alys Karstark, if she exists). It's simply there to make the wildlings look like the threat they were in the books.

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