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Yet another balanced review of Stannis [Book Spoilers]


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ep5

" You dont just walk into the IB and ask to see a rep." -Tywin ( paraphrase)

ep6

Well, Stannis does...

I admit I laughed at this, but I think Tywin's point is you don't reason with the IB when you can't pay them back. Can threaten or buy off a rep to "forget" the debt. You owe you owe and they will collect and there is no reasoning with them.

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If anything, it was nice for Davos to remind non-book readers why he's with Stannis in the first place....

And I think the problem that its now necessary to remind people of this ...

As Stannis episodes go, this one was not offensive as much as it represented yet another "lost opportunity" to show the viewers what makes Stannis such a worthwhile leader; other than the Balckwater (and yes, I grant you, Stannis was 50000 kinds of bad-ass that episode) the show seems to go out of its way to show Stannis at his most petulant, most irritating, most weak. And to contrast that the show... has done almost nothing.

Here, in Braavos, there was yet again an opportunity for Stannis to show the viewer his nature and what makes him a great leader. Instead? No signs of his iron-will; no sign of his ability to win over people who dislike him; no sign of his strength. I even thought I saw him sulk again... I mean, at least it was not as bad as Season 3 and Stannis did not beg the Iron Bank like he did Mel "Oh come on!!!! I'll be your friend!"

And if the show DOES do a grand turn-around once Stannis hits the Wall, it may work, but they have to give it ROOM to work, and TIME and energy and the writing the character requires- these are things the show has NEVER done with Stannis. IT could still work. I just wish the show had STARTED this work earlier....

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Stannis having money so early changes the great scheme of thing because there are sellsword companies that can actually be hired (not sailing to Meereen) and Sallhadorsaan has no reason for abandoning Stannis.



I only whish Stannis uses his new found wealth to buy a peach farm in the summer isles.


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I did not like that they invented this journey to Bravos at this time. I found the ironbank terrible overdone. While they might get inspired by the overboarding financial institutions of our times, this looks totally out of place to me. Introducing Bravos with Arya getting there and maybe approaching the temple in E10 would have been a nice way to get a interesting finale and create anticipation for next season.



I do have an issue with Bravos beeing placed so much north at the Essos coastline. The distance to be covered by ship is terrible long. This is of course not an issue of the show. Is there any story of something like a gulfstream? Otherwise the climate should be almost like the north of Westeros and sailing there would be a pain too.



I am unsure about all this bad invention of storyline for the show. What is Asha/Yara doing there? Isn´t there enough material already? Personally I would go along if they drop Miss Poole as fake Arya from the show and just invent other reasons for actions.



The trial was nice.



When will Jorah get disgraced? I can not believe that they will drop that completely.


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I did not like that they invented this journey to Bravos at this time. I found the ironbank terrible overdone. While they might get inspired by the overboarding financial institutions of our times, this looks totally out of place to me. Introducing Bravos with Arya getting there and maybe approaching the temple in E10 would have been a nice way to get a interesting finale and creat anticipation for next season.

I do have an issue with Bravos beeing placed so much north at the Essos coastline. The distance to be covered by ship is terrible long. This is of course not an issue of the show. Is there any story of something like a gulfstream? Otherwise the climate should be almost like the north of Westeros and sailing there would be a pain too.

I am unsure about all this bad invention of storyline for the show. What is Asha/Yara doing there? Isn´t there enough material already? Personlly I would go along if they drop Miss Poole as fake Arya from the show and just invent other reasons for actions.

The trial was nice.

When will Jorah get disgraced? I can not believe that they will drop that completely.

While discussing Dany at Tywin's small council meeting they brought up Jorah. Tywin then tells Mace to "fetch" his quill and ink. Me thinks, Tywin snitches him out...

Causing some tension in Dany's camp.

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While discussing Dany at Tywin's small council meeting they brought up Jorah. Tywin then tells Mace to "fetch" his quill and ink. Me thinks, Tywin snitches him out...

Causing some tension in Dany's camp.

Best guess I think since Varys mentions that Jorah has stopped spying and does fully support Dany.

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In this episode Stannis proves he'd be utterly screwed without Davos around.


Stannis - "Blah blah blah, my rights, the law, and so on."



IB: "Nope. Not impressed."



Davos: "Well, you see guys ..."



... and 10 minutes later, they have enough gold to hire some ships. Davos rocks !

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I am not enjoying how they've restructured ASOS when it comes to Stannis. He only appears in three chapters on Dragonstone, which they somehow managed to severely cut, and each chapter, I feel, has a lot of powerful scenes and lines that tell you more about Stannis than any other series of chapters.



"Then we will make new lords."


"I chose blood over honour."


"I never bested him at anything. The Lord of Light should have made Robert his champion. Why me?"


"I know the cost! ... I saw a king, a crown of fire on his brows, burning... burning, Davos."


"Swear it on your life, for I promise, you shall die by inches if you lie."



And then there's the ending, as well.



Yet, with almost an entire season's worth of free time to showcase some of these aspects, they instead show that Stannis is... frustrated he isn't king, Braavos version. Gee, hadn't nailed that part down.



And what's this about having four thousand soldiers and 33 ships? That's more men and ships than he had in the books. What has he been doing?





In this episode Stannis proves he'd be utterly screwed without Davos around.


Stannis - "Blah blah blah, my rights, the law, and so on."



IB: "Nope. Not impressed."



Davos: "Well, you see guys ..."



... and 10 minutes later, they have enough gold to hire some ships. Davos rocks !





Yes, lol, every good idea on Dragonstone needs to come from Davos. Defending Edric? Davos. Testing Melisandre? Davos. Hiring sellswords? Davos. Winning the Iron Bank? Davos.


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And what's this about having four thousand soldiers and 33 ships? That's more men and ships than he had in the books. What has he been doing?

The show seems very generous about numbers of ships. In the books, Dany couldn't cobble together half a dozen ships when she needed some. In the show, Daario captures enough for her to load all her Unsullied in. :dunno:

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I'm worried D&D may ruin Stannis still a bit more in the Wall. I have the bad feeling they may have him arrest Jon for being a traitor (maybe being convinced by Thorne and Slynt), and then next season have the Night's Watch elect Jon as the Lord Commander to piss Stannis off.


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I'm worried D&D may ruin Stannis still a bit more in the Wall. I have the bad feeling they may have him arrest Jon for being a traitor (maybe being convinced by Thorne and Slynt), and then next season have the Night's Watch elect Jon as the Lord Commander to piss Stannis off.

nah, come on. This show makes some dumb choices, but why would Stannis arrest Jon? And I think Jon will be elected LC this season anyway...

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Tbh, I don't really imagine Stannis saying anything after being turned down. Less so pleading for gold. Stan is imo not the person to ask for stuff. Sure, he'll go out of his way to make a point that something belongs to him (Storm's End (to Robert)/7 Kingdoms (to the rest of Westeros)), but this is not really the case here. And besides ... there were theories Stan had Asperger's. Him freezing when he has to ask people (he doesn't know and are not in any way inferior or in debt to him) for their help is something I can easily see happening.


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Remember, going to Braavos is Davos's idea. Stannis doesn't look mad, he just looks like they said what he expected they'd say after he said what he knew he'd say. If Stannis was better at dealing with people, he probably wouldn't have had to deal with his younger brother trying to steal his crown.


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