[Book Spoilers] Nitpick With Impunity

[boojam]

- The eyes thing did basically happen in the book. And this is the Mountain - he's like an evil Andre the Giant, so I wouldn't pout it past him.

Andre the Giant is dead.

The Mountain DIED in Feast from his wounds, do they have time for that in Ep 10? Or next year then?

[boojam]

I truly don't want to be nitpicking on here but D&D are getting soo bad aren't they?

Let's see how episodes 9 and 10 go.

[Croyd]

Shit on a Shingle served to the viewers, enjoy every mouthful and dont be shy about asking for seconds.

Do you want salt and pepper on that, don't bother , it'll still taste like shit.

[The ~ Red ~ Viper]

Mormont says "This is the work of kywin Lannister" not Tywin, this really bugs me.How could they not hear that and do a retake.

haha I just noticed that it's sounds like thats what he said,maybe he was thinking what was the meaning of that Beatles scene,and the crew were thinking that too that they didn't notice he fucked his lines up.the arya scene was another scene that looks wrong,it looks like a blooper scene

[LilJonUmber]

I truly don't want to be nitpicking on here but D&D are getting soo bad aren't they?

So "bad" that a mid-season ep had higher ratings than the finale of HBO's (previous) crown jewel: Sopranos.

I know this is a "nitpick without impunity" thread, but you sound like you're trying to gain acceptance with the book purists, rather than expressing genuine disappointment.

[Tetro]

It would have been fun if Jaime mentioned that he actually killed a cousin during that never-ending talk with Tyrion. I guess stupid show-only stuff is easily forgotten.

[Florina Laufeyson]

It would have been fun if Jaime mentioned that he actually killed a cousin during that never-ending talk with Tyrion. I guess stupid show-only stuff is easily forgotten.

Kinda thought his thing about cousin killing was sorta just that?

[Tetro]

Kinda thought his thing about cousin killing was sorta just that?

I guess, I probably mentioned that just because I still can't get over it =D

But it's weird that they would talk about such things, with Jaime mentioning killing cousins, and he has not the slightest emotion showing. What they could have done maybe was Tyrion would actually bring killing cousins up, and Jaime goes pale, Tyrion would follow up by saying "Come on, you didn't actually kill a cousin of ours ?". It would have built up on the anger that Tyrion might feel towards him when Jaime tells him about Tysha (If that scene ever happens).

At least it would have given some point to this whole scene.

[binga]

I think the beetle thing was alright. It just didn't need to go on for ten hours, they could have just finished it in a few sentences to be honest.

[Psychedelic_Cheet0s]

You guys are ridiculous. Book Purists should be rounded up for e-execution (I'm talking banned - don't get righteous e-boners on me now). D&D aren't phenomenal, but they're getting the job done and are providing an entertaining adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire. I realize this is a nitpick with impunity thread, but some of the sentiments you guys espouse make me wonder if you're all masochists coming back watching the show week after week.

Edit - Oh, and the Beetle Scene was overdone, but it wasn't particularly bad. I didn't find it as "cringeworthy" as some of the folks here did.

[teemo]

lol the beetle scene was awful. pls.

[SerMixalot]

The whole WWE moment of Gregor swiping the feet out from under Oberyn

[Bear Island]

I'm normally not that much of a nitpicker, but although the episode was great from a TV perspective it really irritated me as a book reader.

My first, and biggest gripe:

Grey Worm perving on the aged-up Missandrei.
When I first saw it I couldn't believe they were going through with it. I thought it was corny and silly to give Missandrei and Grey Worm their little romance angle in the previous episode, but this took the cake. At first I thought they might be retconning the 'neither root nor stem' thing, but then Dany and Missandrei confirm that actually, no, that's correct. They're cut before the onset of puberty so it makes no sense for Grey Worm to feel aroused by naked Missandrei. I wondered briefly if it was a hint Grey Worm isn't actually a eunuch, but the chat he had with Missandrei afterwards nixes that idea. It's completely shoe-horned in and unnecessary. It feels like that's the only reason they aged up her character, to give her a dumb love story and flash tits. Viewers would probably care about her far more if she was the sweet little girl who Dany let her guard down around and shares her bed with.

Over 40 Oberyn-free minutes in an episode called 'The Mountain vs. The Viper'.
They dedicated 5 minutes to the fight, and gave Oberyn only a handful of lines and one brief scene. This was his last episode and I wish they'd taken some time to give us one more scene with Oberyn and the obscenely talented Pedro Pascale. Not anything that would hint at the fact he would be dying, just a scene with him visiting Tyrion or talking with Ellaria about Dorne or his time in the Second Sons, just a little more time with him before they oust him forever.

LF having no control over Sansa, who lies to cover up for him.
That was weird for me. In the books Littlefinger has a clear plan as to how to get the Lords of the Vale to do what he wants them to do (arbor gold and lies), and does it very smoothly in a way that makes the Lords of the Vale think the plans and ideas were all their own. Even without Marillion to blame I fully expected to see LF enact his plan to control the Vale, for him to bribe Cobray and then feed them lies and Arbor Gold until he was safe. In the books, he does this without letting Sansa in on his plans in advance and Sansa of course never reveals herself as Sansa.
To see Petyr totally our of control was uncharacteristic for the show, for a man who thrives on unexpected twists and turns. Sansa was way too comfortable lying on the show compared to how she is in the books, and in the books she never really lies of her own volition unless they're small lies she tells herself are 'kindly meant'. It feels like they're setting up Sansa to be Littlefinger's equal or possibly apprentice in a very heavy handed way.

Ser Barristan discovering Jorah is a traitor.
From the earlier episodes when Ser Barristan has just joined the Queensguard I'm 99% sure I remember him saying something to Jorah that basically equated to 'I know you were spying on Dany but I'm not telling'. Am I going crazy? I could have sworn Barristan intimated that he knew Jorah hadn't been loyal and told him as much, but when he gets the pardon sent by Tywin he acts as if this is all news to him. I freely admit I could be wrong about this, though.
Speaking of Jorah's dismissal, I expected to actually tear up over it, but to me their responses (Dany's and to a lesser degree Jorah's) didn't get across just how utterly devastated both of them are when this happens. I know Dany manages not to cry and manages to be strong in the book but I didn't see any hint of the panic or fear or hurt or sadness she's struggling to hide, either. Jorah didn't seem like a broken man, either, though he wasn't 100% broken until Yunkai in the books.

ETA: I think people who come to the nitpick with impunity threat to nitpick about people nitpicking should be banned. It's 'nitpick with impunity' and that's what we're doing. ;)
You can write an essay about the things that are wrong with a piece of media but it doesn't mean you dislike it or you're punishing yourself by watching. There was plenty that I liked about the episode too, and I defended it as a whole in one thread. I just like analysing the little details that irk me with other people who like analysing little details that irk them.

[Psychedelic_Cheet0s]

As a huge Littlefinger fan, I had a huge problem with Baelish being so reckless with Lysa's murder. It's simply asinine not to portray a man of Littlefinger's nature having no back up plan after killing the most powerful lady in the Vale.

[Mark Antony]

Gods I hate coming back into this thread just to see people bitching about the nitpickers everytime :(

[teemo]

LF having no control over Sansa, who lies to cover up for him.

That was weird for me. In the books Littlefinger has a clear plan as to how to get the Lords of the Vale to do what he wants them to do (arbor gold and lies), and does it very smoothly in a way that makes the Lords of the Vale think the plans and ideas were all their own. Even without Marillion to blame I fully expected to see LF enact his plan to control the Vale, for him to bribe Cobray and then feed them lies and Arbor Gold until he was safe. In the books, he does this without letting Sansa in on his plans in advance and Sansa of course never reveals herself as Sansa.

To see Petyr totally our of control was uncharacteristic for the show, for a man who thrives on unexpected twists and turns. Sansa was way too comfortable lying on the show compared to how she is in the books, and in the books she never really lies of her own volition unless they're small lies she tells herself are 'kindly meant'. It feels like they're setting up Sansa to be Littlefinger's equal or possibly apprentice in a very heavy handed way.

^ So this, thank you. It's uncharacteristic for Sansa to be more in control of things than LF. Hated it.

[Tetro]

You guys are ridiculous. Book Purists should be rounded up for e-execution (I'm talking banned - don't get righteous e-boners on me now). D&D aren't phenomenal, but they're getting the job done and are providing an entertaining adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire. I realize this is a nitpick with impunity thread, but some of the sentiments you guys espouse make me wonder if you're all masochists coming back watching the show week after week.

Edit - Oh, and the Beetle Scene was overdone, but it wasn't particularly bad. I didn't find it as "cringeworthy" as some of the folks here did.

I give the show credit when it deserves it, the fight was very satisfying imo and it's probably the strongest rush of emotion I felt with the show so far.

But let's be honest here, if you're being unbiased with the entire episode and not just its ending, then it was just full of emptiness.

[RavenKing23]

Bronn lied, the duel set was were he fucks that screamer and he said no one hears her. Everyone heard Oberyn scream

[teemo]

You guys are ridiculous. Book Purists should be rounded up for e-execution (I'm talking banned - don't get righteous e-boners on me now). D&D aren't phenomenal, but they're getting the job done and are providing an entertaining adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire. I realize this is a nitpick with impunity thread, but some of the sentiments you guys espouse make me wonder if you're all masochists coming back watching the show week after week.

Edit - Oh, and the Beetle Scene was overdone, but it wasn't particularly bad. I didn't find it as "cringeworthy" as some of the folks here did.

Actually, I just watch the show to hate-watch it. It's so bad it makes me want to vomit. They have no idea what they're doing and butchering books I've been reading way before the show existed. The writing is bad. It's mostly filler. And they have no respect for GRRM's work. If you call almost an hour of bad filler and a lame story about a beetle and a romance between a eunuch and an aged-up girl they're using just to show her tits then that's your deal.

[BearQueen87]

I'm normally not that much of a nitpicker, but although the episode was great from a TV perspective it really irritated me as a book reader.

My first, and biggest gripe:

Grey Worm perving on the aged-up Missandrei.
When I first saw it I couldn't believe they were going through with it. I thought it was corny and silly to give Missandrei and Grey Worm their little romance angle in the previous episode, but this took the cake. At first I thought they might be retconning the 'neither root nor stem' thing, but then Dany and Missandrei confirm that actually, no, that's correct. They're cut before the onset of puberty so it makes no sense for Grey Worm to feel aroused by naked Missandrei. I wondered briefly if it was a hint Grey Worm isn't actually a eunuch, but the chat he had with Missandrei afterwards nixes that idea. It's completely shoe-horned in and unnecessary. It feels like that's the only reason they aged up her character, to give her a dumb love story and flash tits. Viewers would probably care about her far more if she was the sweet little girl who Dany let her guard down around and shares her bed with.

Over 40 Oberyn-free minutes in an episode called 'The Mountain vs. The Viper'.
They dedicated 5 minutes to the fight, and gave Oberyn only a handful of lines and one brief scene. This was his last episode and I wish they'd taken some time to give us one more scene with Oberyn and the obscenely talented Pedro Pascale. Not anything that would hint at the fact he would be dying, just a scene with him visiting Tyrion or talking with Ellaria about Dorne or his time in the Second Sons, just a little more time with him before they oust him forever.

LF having no control over Sansa, who lies to cover up for him.
That was weird for me. In the books Littlefinger has a clear plan as to how to get the Lords of the Vale to do what he wants them to do (arbor gold and lies), and does it very smoothly in a way that makes the Lords of the Vale think the plans and ideas were all their own. Even without Marillion to blame I fully expected to see LF enact his plan to control the Vale, for him to bribe Cobray and then feed them lies and Arbor Gold until he was safe. In the books, he does this without letting Sansa in on his plans in advance and Sansa of course never reveals herself as Sansa.
To see Petyr totally our of control was uncharacteristic for the show, for a man who thrives on unexpected twists and turns. Sansa was way too comfortable lying on the show compared to how she is in the books, and in the books she never really lies of her own volition unless they're small lies she tells herself are 'kindly meant'. It feels like they're setting up Sansa to be Littlefinger's equal or possibly apprentice in a very heavy handed way.

Ser Barristan discovering Jorah is a traitor.
From the earlier episodes when Ser Barristan has just joined the Queensguard I'm 99% sure I remember him saying something to Jorah that basically equated to 'I know you were spying on Dany but I'm not telling'. Am I going crazy? I could have sworn Barristan intimated that he knew Jorah hadn't been loyal and told him as much, but when he gets the pardon sent by Tywin he acts as if this is all news to him. I freely admit I could be wrong about this, though.
Speaking of Jorah's dismissal, I expected to actually tear up over it, but to me their responses (Dany's and to a lesser degree Jorah's) didn't get across just how utterly devastated both of them are when this happens. I know Dany manages not to cry and manages to be strong in the book but I didn't see any hint of the panic or fear or hurt or sadness she's struggling to hide, either. Jorah didn't seem like a broken man, either, though he wasn't 100% broken until Yunkai in the books.

ETA: I think people who come to the nitpick with impunity threat to nitpick about people nitpicking should be banned. It's 'nitpick with impunity' and that's what we're doing. ;)
You can write an essay about the things that are wrong with a piece of media but it doesn't mean you dislike it or you're punishing yourself by watching. There was plenty that I liked about the episode too, and I defended it as a whole in one thread. I just like analysing the little details that irk me with other people who like analysing little details that irk them.

I don't have a a huge issue with aging up Messandi, and I think the commentary on Gray Worm and her would be an interesting story if it didn't lead down the path to some sort of "new" romance; what I have an issue with is that they felt the need to do it THIS episdoe. Which brings be to your point about Oberyn: the fact that the episode only focuses on Obery for about 10 mins altogether is a a major flaw. There was stuff that could have been reduced or cut altogether. Cut the Gray Worm and Messandi storyline and save it for next season. Reduce time spent on the beetles.

As for the Dany/Jorah scene, I did think it had an emotional punch--particualrly from Iain Glen's performance--but I do wish they had used some of the really hard hitting dialogue from the book. Especially:

"I wanted to go home"

"And I was going to take you there."

That's sort of the core of their relationship, they want the same thing: home. To not have "home" being tossed around in that moment felt like a bit of a disservice to the scene.