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kevinbgwrites

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About kevinbgwrites

  • Birthday 05/06/1991

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    Writing, Fitness, Reading, Walking

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  1. I posted this in its own thread, but with the series done its become so glaring how poorly handled Bran and the NK's arc were: I think the following elements would have been absolutely essential to make the whole Bran/NK arc not fall flat:1. Since the NK is just a killing machine, play into that hard and make him act like it. Maybe another flashback or some way for just a trickle of lore to establish that. More importantly- Have him be absolutely merciless, no wights standing around in a circle when they could be swarming Bran, or him approaching in slow mo, and no wights meandering around libraries. The dead should be the same unstoppable wave that we see in hardhome.2. More of a cost to the war. First of all the armies should actually be depleted as opposed to replenishing after the fight and it being casually addressed. People should die when they are put in the in the "eight wights on you at a time" circumstances of the characters in episode 3. Winterfell should have certainly been lost with a desperate retreat needing to be made, perhaps during which the characters we see die in the episode sacrifice themself to make it happen. Mel could even do something like a final fire spell that makes an immense firewall that is so powerful she dies, but stalls the army enough for some to escape. The hidden tunnels in the crypts could be used as an escape for the cast members not in the battle proper. They even set this up with the ice creeping down to winterfell in the episodes intro, which is a great idea to have continue to spread as the army advances.3. Sensical conclusion- If you want Arya to kill the NK, get there in a logical way, not just wind whipping a White Walker's hair as she teleports past the host of the undead. Also in general have everything be sensical, as opposed to meaningless death charges. Have the army of the living go into the battle with a truly thought out plan and lose in spite of it not because of it, solidifying the NK as a formidable opponent. Hell, if the struggle is as traumatizing as it should be, it would actually be the perfect setup for Dany to start losing it.4. Very importantly have bran play a role- A BIG one- The show explicitly states in earlier seasons Brans training and ascension to the raven is key in the battle against the NK, not to be an info dump. He needs a powerful ability thats a big problem for the NK and necessitates going after him. As it is it just makes no sense why he'd even care about going after him in person as opposed to just letting his horde or generals kill him. If they did build it up in a way that presents a believable reason for him to want to do it personally, it would still make sense for the area to be totally secured- Again, if he is being presented as the embodiment of evil and a borderline machinelike engine of death it doesn't mesh with nonsense decisions. Again there needs to be a damn good reason for the NK to want to get Bran beyond being the memories of mankind. Imagine if when Bran said "I'm going now" any of the following happened: 1. He Wargs into one of those White Walker generals standing in a row on the backline and it kills the general next to it, killing a portion of the army while also turning the undead under its control against the rest of the undead army until it's killed. This would be a huge problem for the NK and necessitate killing him extremely quickly.2. Bran Wargs Viserion, throwing the NK off his back. Viserion then either needs to have control mentally wrested back to the NK, or be put down by the NK.3. I like option 1 more, but if there was some build up leading to the fight of Bran doing "something" during episodes 1 and 2, when he wargs in episode 3, suddenly it would be revealed Bran was actually gathering all manner of animals into an army which crashes into the AoTD.Again giving him something game changing not only makes the NK wanting him dead very badly makes sense, but is a great payoff to his extremely long arc that sadly doesn't have payoff in what we actually got.
  2. One thing thats funny is seeing people on my FB feed or social media in general defending the season thinking that people are only raging about the Dany turn. Shows what a funny bubble we/they respectively exist in. I really cant believe that the masses at large weren't up in arms after the wight plot/beyond the wall from last season which I truly believe is the most jarring and painful to watch episode. I will certainly rewatch some of this season for the character moments and certain scenes but thats truly the one episode I'll alway skip. I guess it took hype crashing and burning to get people disenchanted.
  3. While there were some impressive visual moments (swords lighting up, the undead crashing into the living, the storm of ice in the background while dragons breathed fire into the undead), and the music was stellar to the point of still being stuck in my head, the story that accompanied it was a dumpster fire. Despite all its budget and potential, the sum total of it is less than the battle of the blackwater or the wall. Even hardhome was better in terms of conveying the threat of the dead. In terms of while I was watching it, with a drink in hand it was a 6/10 in raw enjoyment. However when you truly reflect on it and consider that it is the payoff for the scene that started the series and has been built up through every season, as well as uncharacteristically filled with plot armor, unresolved plot threads like Bran and the NK, TPTWP, etc. it is hard to view it as anything other than an abortion of the series. It is like the mishandling of the LF plot line only on a much grander scale due to the scope. It is the rare kind of episode that makes me feel worse about the series as a whole including all the episodes leading up to it, and thus cant honestly be anything but a 1.
  4. There is zero, and I mean zero chance it plays out anything like this. First of all at the core of the problem is that it is to convince Cersei, and not just that, that it was proposed by Tyrion. Wont happen, GRRM knows his characters. This is the core of why people don't like this plan, if it was a great plan for a good reason, the fan fiction team, bending of time etc. wouldn't be so grating. Second the plan would be carried out better, they would have horses, supplies. If Jon went the plan would be solid enough that it would be believable that he(if he's the king in the north) would join, and theres pretty much no chance a lot of these other characters would join. Even if it were to be set up nearly the same way, the events beyond the wall won't involve finding a patrolling WW, killing them, having all but one wight die, securing it, then being attacked and forced onto a stone in a frozen lake. D&D confirm its their own invention. And even if all the stuff beyond the wall happens, George respects time in his world and would not have Gendry get to the wall, send a raven, have it get to Dany to save the Day, and throw away Colhands as the cherry on top. Again, to be clear the idea of getting proof for the realm is a fine idea, totally possible book material but the execution would be unrecognizable. The characters not acting like themselves, fan service, teleporting, and contrived plot just all overlap in this one case.
  5. 3, definitely the worst episode. I was spoiled going into it which had me prepared for the lack of logic, but even still, wow this show got so weird so fast. The whole shoehorned plot of catching an undead specimen to force a really contrived situation was crude, and really takes a lot of suspension of disbelief. To go on such a risky quest to get something to convince CERSEI of all people is preposterous. The writers clearly wanted Night King to have a dragon going into the final war, and clearly wanted all these characters to interact in the same group, which while they have a lot of interesting connections, comes across as super fan fictiony and contrived. Even Benjen showing up to be killed was extremely lame. The show can still have great scenes as earlier episodes in this season proved, but this was definitely a serious two episode rough patch which just feels weird so late in the game and involving such main characters and decisions... Dany now has one less of her children and the NK's army is bolstered for the silliest plan thats just going to involve walking into a trap of cerseis making it an utterly irrelevant trip, aside from Dany knowing they're real.
  6. So I was spoiled going into it which had me prepared for the lack of logic, but even still, wow this show got so weird so fast. The whole shoehorned plot of catching an undead specimen to force a really contrived situation was crude, and really takes a lot of suspension of disbelief. To go on such a risky quest to get something to convince CERSEI of all people is preposterous. The writers clearly wanted Night King to have a dragon going into the final war, and clearly wanted all these characters to interact in the same group, which while they have a lot of interesting connections, comes across as super fan fictiony and contrived. Even Benjen showing up to be killed was extremely lame. The show can still have great scenes as earlier episodes in this season proved, but this was definitely a serious two episode rough patch which just feels weird so late in the game and involving such main characters and decisions... Dany now has one less of her children and the NK's army is bolstered for the silliest plan thats just going to involve walking into a trap of cerseis making it an utterly irrelevant trip, aside from Dany knowing they're real.
  7. 3/10 on a first viewing since it was a sketchy set up episode. My least favorite episode on a first viewing by far. This one felt rushed and very flat. I'm hoping they've set up incredible plots and scenes and this was just an awkward stumbling block to get there but between the rapid fire hopping around, the main characters bumping into eachother non stop, and the kind of ridiculous plan they have it feels a little off. If the story plays out strongly then its the kind of episode that will in retrospect be fine and more of a 5 or a 6, or if it is a mess will mark a decline. While the winterfell story is weird, I do like the idea of Baelish recalculating to deal with the Starks, again if his plans prove interesting this is a cool setup. Why is the old letter Sansa wrote under duress relevant though? More than anything this episode really set up the knights king being dealt with before cersei, with her being the final villain, or her pulling a mad king when they come to present proof. I did like the cersei being pregnant development, since it gives her something more to fight for.
  8. I didn't like this episode much at all. Episode 1 I thought had strong writing, episode 2 and 3 was a drop off but I thought were competent episodes with some decent action and scenes, and 4 obviously ended strong and intensely. This one felt rushed and very flat. I'm hoping they've set up incredible plots and scenes and this was just an awkward stumbling block to get there but between the rapid fire hopping around, the main characters bumping into eachother non stop, and the kind of ridiculous plan they have it feels a little off. If the story plays out strongly then its the kind of episode that will in retrospect be fine, or if it is a mess will mark a decline. While the winterfell story is weird, I do like the idea of Baelish recalculating to deal with the Starks, again if his plans prove interesting this is a cool setup. Why is the old letter Sansa wrote under duress relevant though? More than anything this episode really set up the knights king being dealt with before cersei, with her being the final villain, or her pulling a mad king when they come to present proof. I did like the cersei being pregnant development, since it gives her something more to fight for.
  9. Thats not a trigger though. No new information was presented. Sure you could argue he was brooding with anger at his father during his time in holding before execution, but you could more realistically argue that he was meditating on his imminent death, which is what his reaction to Jamie's arrival indicated. One second he's besides himself with relief at the prospect of being freed and the next he is marching to his death(which it would be 99% of the time if not for perfect circumstances in both the book and show- but at least in the books its inspired by temporary insanity. I don't care about the Tysha subplot, I don't care about the brothers being on good terms, but I do care about one of the most pivotal scenes feeling incredibly contrived. There had to be something, and there just wasn't. Add to it the fact that it was rushed and Tyrions knowledge of the hidden tunnels not explained and it is just such a wasted opportunity. I don't hate this episode like many seem to, but this is one thing that really took me out of the episode.
  10. Um... Trigger? He had no trigger because the moment he decides to go and most likely die is when he is standing at the base of the steps. When he had no reason to suspect Shae being in the chamber.
  11. Its just... I write for fun, and certainly not with the consistency of the people running this show, and yet the first thing I do on a proofread of a chapter is remove the instances where the same word, or a variation of it are used in quick succession. I cannot even fathom how something with so large a team let that line slip.
  12. Thanks, I think its a pretty exhaustive list of issues both big and small.
  13. I agree some are being excessively harsh, but I don't see how my complaints, other than the ones I acknowledged as nitpicks, are nitpicking and not pretty serious problems with the show.
  14. I gave it a 7. It is the first episode where I really feel reading the books ruined it for me. Even so I acknowledge it as technically the best finale, perhaps with the exception of 1's and is undeniably WAY better than last season's finale. The Stannis and Mance scenes were pretty well done in a short amount of time. The only complaint I have is the lack of the chant in some form(complain #1 stemming from reading the books). I like the Cersei scenes, primarily the first two. I've always viewed Tywin as a tragic character, despite him being an awful person, and thought Tywin learning about his children's incest drives this theme home. Mountain not suffering is a weird decision since all they needed to do is show him being drugged heavily after screaming for a minute. This is a complaint unlike most of mine, in that its worse for those who haven't read the books since we know what he was going through. Like the chant this is a minor exclusion. Really like Qyburn, his actor makes him far more distinct than in the books. Bran's stuff was off for me. The fight in the books was more of a mad struggle towards the tree while far too many undead to ever hope to fight off swarmed them. I don't mind Jojen's death- at all actually- except for how it was done. It was shot weirdly, and the way he was stabbed was very unimpactful and looked lazy as hell. Him being blown up also didn't make ANY sense. If the fear is that later on he will be reanimated then why not just blow up one of the already animated skeletons that are coming at you instead, or just get in the tree since you know they can't follow. They should have stuck with the massive number of undead coming from all sides, and had Jojen be claimed that way instead, being dragged into the swarm. Heck, if they are deadset on blowing him up at least then this is a better reason, with him being an unintended casualty of firebomb meant for the undead. These are both book reading complaint #2 and general complaints about the scenes problems. Bloodraven I didn't hate, however in the scene preceding him the line "the power that moves them is powerless here" is just terrible and totally amateur stuff, Likewise BR not having one eye but referencing one eye is equally amateur. As for the much anticipated "but you will fly" line, which is arguably one of Bran's most memorable book moments- it fell way short of what I was expecting instead of being a goosebump inducing scene. Book complaint #3, and particularly one that wouldn't have bugged me had I not read the books. Dany's scenes have been equivalently awful as Jon's in season 2 this season so it was refreshing to see pretty decent scenes from her that didn't overstay their welcome. I am also proud of D and D for finally keeping her far away from the ending scene for once. Brienne, hound and Arya I'm split on. I don't care that it didn't happen in the books, but it just seems too contrived that we get yet another meeting of main characters on what looks to be open terrain no less and that the hound and Brienne end up fighting rather than discussing things. If Brienne at least had some reason to suspect Arya was being held hostage I could see it... but as is. ugh. The good news is that the start and circumstances was(almost) the only bad part. The fight itself was very good and extremely intense, and certainly a suitable "death" for the hound. The follow up scene with Arya was absolutely excellent with the exception of the hound suddenly being in a good place with Brienne despite fighting to the death. I think the justification they used was that it was better to gamble on going with her than being guaranteed to die traveling alone, but this was expressed terribly(and perhaps I'm misremembering them justifying it at all). Tyrion's scenes were a mixture of being watered down by book expectations and poor decision making. The release was very hasty and almost came across as saying "lol you actually thought Tyrion had a chance of dying?" to those who didn't know what was coming, as if there was never any danger and Oberyn's death and all the build up was therefore pointless. And of course expecting a dramatic goodbye and getting a hug and kiss instead was very off-putting. But more importantly than its effect on Jamie/Tyrion's relationship(which I don't mind) is the effect it had on the following scene- seeing as his decision to confront Tywin should only come from momentary insanity/extreme anger because of the fact it could easily have been marching to his death. He seemed like he was, and should have just been happy to have been set free. Instead the average viewer's reaction would be "Wait does he think Jamie betrayed him?" "Where is he going?" "Huh, how'd he know there was a hidden path to the hand's tower?" It was inconsistent with TV Shae to go for the knife to kill Tyrion. Why did they even bother changing her if this was the direction they were going? And because of the lack of reasonable motive for going after Tywin, the confrontation with him fell flat. As for the concluding scene, it was fine but.... No Stoneheart was a massive disappointment and the fourth thing that reading the book caused. With all the in-show hints pointing to her coming(see bran's season 2 vision, all the cat references, inclusion of Beric, having Brienne with Pod and alive etc. etc.) it was the perfect time to reveal her. If they start next season with her, I will probably be able to forgive this, but it seems as if she is cut based off certain interviews, so I am even more bitter about this. All in all a good episode, watered down significantly for me by having read the books. If they start with SH next season it'll gain half a point for me in retrospect, but otherwise I honestly hope they just totally abandon the source material so I can just divorce the two in my mind, even though they've already done most the big moments.
  15. Posted my review here... totally missed the dumb being married in the seven. I guess it could be viewed as the gods Tallisa took up? Or only priest was of the seven? idk
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