The Problem with the King's Landing story

[HellasLEAF]

Don't know about you but I am loving High Sparrow making all these high born entitled chair sitters eat humble pie.

He is perfectly cast as well.  He has been a convincing character and I like the speeches he has given. 

[Neds Secret]

11 hours ago, Kiwi said:

I think it's quite clear that Margeary is not having a "180", but rather putting on a show for HS and Tommen, so that HS thinks he achieved his goal (getting to Tommen) and she gets her freedom back.

Also, viewers never had any particular reason to believe Loras to be emotionally strong. Aaaand I'm pretty sure that being broken under imprisonment, torture, starvation, beating and religious mumbo-jumbo is not a sign of weakness.

Aaaaaalso, homosexuality is forbidden by the rules of faith of the seven. And so is alcohol, apparently. Homosexuality is not banned by law in Westeros, but I don't think the situation here is under real, physical control of the state. I don't see any inconsistencies here

I hope that cleared it up a bit. The show has its flaws, but I don't see a reason to consider anything you mentioned a real flaw.

That cleared up nothing except for the fact that you are able to honeypot and hand wave away things that do not make sense to other viewers. 

[Rubicante]

The biggest problem is that none of these characters undergo any form of real growth.  They are all static characters

I want Cersei on the show dead.  I can't stand her presence in a scene, not even for a second.  I root for whoever is able to accomplish this

[LordPathera]

A bigger problem is that the show wants us to care about Cersei when she's utterly unlikable while painting the Faith Militant as the bad guys.

Honestly, what makes the Faith Militant into antagonists when compared to the stuff that the Tyrells, Lannisters and etc have pulled in previous seasons? I can't be the only one rooting for the Faith Militant. It's about time that all of the scheming, backstabbing and warmongering generated an opposite and equal reaction.

[Good Guy Garlan]

1 hour ago, Rubicante said:

The biggest problem is that none of these characters undergo any form of real growth.  They are all static characters

I want Cersei on the show dead.  I can't stand her presence in a scene, not even for a second.  I root for whoever is able to accomplish this

This. People are complaining about Jaime doing nothing this season, but what has Cersei done? She's equally useless. She's just walking around and talking softly through her teeth, like she's literally the new Master of Whispers. 

And I'm sorry, but Lena Headey is practically sleepwalking through the role now. Book!Cersei might be an over the top asshole but one thing she ain't is boring, while show!Cersei is a completely snooze. Of course, it doesn't help that they gave her puritan act in the books to Margaery, but still. 

[Neds Secret]

3 hours ago, LordPathera said:

A bigger problem is that the show wants us to care about Cersei when she's utterly unlikable while painting the Faith Militant as the bad guys.

Honestly, what makes the Faith Militant into antagonists when compared to the stuff that the Tyrells, Lannisters and etc have pulled in previous seasons? I can't be the only one rooting for the Faith Militant. It's about time that all of the scheming, backstabbing and warmongering generated an opposite and equal reaction.

I'm inclined to agree with you!

 

2 hours ago, Good Guy Garlan said:

This. People are complaining about Jaime doing nothing this season, but what has Cersei done? She's equally useless. She's just walking around and talking softly through her teeth, like she's literally the new Master of Whispers. 

And I'm sorry, but Lena Headey is practically sleepwalking through the role now. Book!Cersei might be an over the top asshole but one thing she ain't is boring, while show!Cersei is a completely snooze. Of course, it doesn't help that they gave her puritan act in the books to Margaery, but still. 

Can you just elaborate  a little about what you mean by this?

[Maid So Fair]

Honestly, they have drawn out this nonsense for so long that the only thing I will actively cheer for is Carol finally recovering book personality, choosing violence and burning the place to the ground. 

I agree that none of the characters is especially compelling, but I think that if this was done better/differently this could have worked out. What happens in KL and who ultimately controls the IT has implications for a number of characters we should care about like the Starks and Dany. I think the issue is that ju went with the tired old formula of if the audience doesn't knows going on this makes it mysterious. Except it doesn't. It just makes it infuriating. After watching the HS for about a season worth of episodes I still have no idea what he truly wants. Prohibition and gay-free Westeros? Freedom to parade naked women through the streets?  Unlike his book counterpart he seems to have no real political goals. What do Olenna and Kevan make of the HS? I understand Ceraei is now anti-Fqith but does that take priority over messing na with Marg? Similarly, while I vaguely sympathise with Marg as she hasn't done anything wrong, I have no idea what she's up to right now. I'm assuming she's faking (how does this help HS? And why was he seeming with Tommen?) but my dad, having watched the same episode came to the consuls ion that she's genuine in her conversion. Seriously the only interesting thing in this storyline happened offscreen. This is just bad writing. 

[Good Guy Garlan]

4 hours ago, Neds Secret said:

Can you just elaborate  a little about what you mean by this?

Show!Cersei is freaking boring, that's it, due in part to Lena's subdued and restrained performance. She lacks the fire and explosive personality and general pzazz of Cersei from the books. Like, there's such a thing as being too understated, know what I mean? I don't want her to chew the scenery and scream her way through the role like a banshee from hell, but she's soooo whispery and flat, like she's about to fall asleep in every scene. 

[Kiwi]

11 hours ago, Neds Secret said:

That cleared up nothing except for the fact that you are able to honeypot and hand wave away things that do not make sense to other viewers. 

Sorry, but I still don't see how do these things even manage to not make sense to you. Care to elaborate?

[TickTak7]

On 02/06/2016 at 6:01 AM, RedShirt47 said:

Do we need black and white characters everywehere? Should it always be good guys and bad guys? Some folk will root for Tommen as he's a relatively nice guy. Some will root for Marg. Some for HS as they hope he will help the smallfolk. Some may even like Cersei. Some won't root for anyone.

Can't we just enjoy the story and see where it goes? Only the North has good guys and bad guys but most other stories are more grey. Who do we support on the Iron Islands? They're all pillaging raiders. Are we really supposed to root for Dany? She intends to bring a horde of pillagers to Westeros, that really can't be good for too many folk. Do we root for Littlefigner or Robin Arryn? Surely there is nobody in Dorne to root for?

If they aren't black and white characters, then it sure as hell should be interesting and compelling - that's how you get viewers to buy into a story arc.

It's also the primary reason why so many ppl had issue with everything Dorne-related last season. 

Kings Landing isn't compelling or interesting at all. It's confusing, Boring, and full of characters we care very little about. 

AND this is all despite Jonathan Price just *killing it* as the high sparrow. 

[Tagganaro]

8 hours ago, Maid So Fair said:

Honestly, they have drawn out this nonsense for so long that the only thing I will actively cheer for is Carol finally recovering book personality, choosing violence and burning the place to the ground. 

I agree that none of the characters is especially compelling, but I think that if this was done better/differently this could have worked out. What happens in KL and who ultimately controls the IT has implications for a number of characters we should care about like the Starks and Dany. I think the issue is that ju went with the tired old formula of if the audience doesn't knows going on this makes it mysterious. Except it doesn't. It just makes it infuriating. After watching the HS for about a season worth of episodes I still have no idea what he truly wants. Prohibition and gay-free Westeros? Freedom to parade naked women through the streets?  Unlike his book counterpart he seems to have no real political goals. What do Olenna and Kevan make of the HS? I understand Ceraei is now anti-Fqith but does that take priority over messing na with Marg? Similarly, while I vaguely sympathise with Marg as she hasn't done anything wrong, I have no idea what she's up to right now. I'm assuming she's faking (how does this help HS? And why was he seeming with Tommen?) but my dad, having watched the same episode came to the consuls ion that she's genuine in her conversion. Seriously the only interesting thing in this storyline happened offscreen. This is just bad writing. 

huh?  Unlike his book counterpart, the HS on screen has accomplished great political goals.  He's done the opposite of what you say he seems to want.  In short time he's basically turned the Sparrows into the top political power in King's Landing- How is that having "no real political goals?"  It seems pretty clear to me that the Sparrow couches the same old ambitions of power/political control in religious terms in order to get what he wants.  

How does Marg faking help the HS?  Seriously?  It gives him every bit of power he's always wanted.  But I'm pretty sure he has no idea she's faking, as he wasn't privy to her conversation with Loras which should make it clear she is playing everyone (as well as her facial expressions when the Tyrell army showed up.)

Have you ever heard the enemy of my enemy is my friend?  That's what Cersei is thinking with respect to Margs.  She still hates Margs, but she hates the HS even more and sees him as the more immediate threat.  And why shouldn't she?  This is entirely logical.

Margs is clearly "up to something", give the show time to show what it is.  I'd guess that she was presented with a number of bad options once she saw the deplorable state Loras was in and how close he was to breaking down.  She picked her best option to avoid doing the Walk of Shame and presumably to protect her brother as well.  She was not expecting the Tyrell army to show up and save her (why should she?  She had no communication with the Queen of Thorns or anyone else indicating that was in the plans.)

[Maid So Fair]

2 hours ago, Tagganaro said:

huh?  Unlike his book counterpart, the HS on screen has accomplished great political goals.  He's done the opposite of what you say he seems to want.  In short time he's basically turned the Sparrows into the top political power in King's Landing- How is that having "no real political goals?"  It seems pretty clear to me that the Sparrow couches the same old ambitions of power/political control in religious terms in order to get what he wants.  

How does Marg faking help the HS?  Seriously?  It gives him every bit of power he's always wanted.  But I'm pretty sure he has no idea she's faking, as he wasn't privy to her conversation with Loras which should make it clear she is playing everyone (as well as her facial expressions when the Tyrell army showed up.)

Have you ever heard the enemy of my enemy is my friend?  That's what Cersei is thinking with respect to Margs.  She still hates Margs, but she hates the HS even more and sees him as the more immediate threat.  And why shouldn't she?  This is entirely logical.

Margs is clearly "up to something", give the show time to show what it is.  I'd guess that she was presented with a number of bad options once she saw the deplorable state Loras was in and how close he was to breaking down.  She picked her best option to avoid doing the Walk of Shame and presumably to protect her brother as well.  She was not expecting the Tyrell army to show up and save her (why should she?  She had no communication with the Queen of Thorns or anyone else indicating that was in the plans.)

Please tell me what that is. I'm not even joking. His level of power over KL has been pretty constant once he imprisoned Cersei and Marg. And yet - what has actually changed in KL? What are his demands? MOAR POWERZ is not a political goal. In the last episode, he achieved a 'union between the Faith and the Crown's, but what does that even mean? Presumably he's going to make Tommen do something but what it is I have no idea.

Except it doesn't give him the power he wanted. If she can bring Tommen to side with the Faith, and if she's the only one who can do so, she can make him turn against the Faith (or even just oppose HS's efforts to manipulate Tommen) just as easily and by releasing her he's giving up his power over her. Sure, he holds Loras for now, but he's at least 60% Reek (Leek?). They can't treat him much worse and one day he will have to release or kill him and the second that happens Marg becomes a free agent with every reason to hate the HS. He didn't have to be privy to their conversation (though I can't see a scenario where no one was listening surreptitiously ), their own conversation is enough. At no point prior to this scene has Marg shown anything but defence and strenght of will. She wasn't convinced by Septa Unella reading the 7 Pointed Star at her, nor did she seem impressed with HS's sob story. What possible reason would the HS have to believe she's suddenly changed her mind and is now his devoted worshipper? He'd have to be a complete moron.

I'm on board with destroying the Sparrows, but why is it a threat to Marg's dignity that forces her to act? I mean, isn't Marg undergoing a WOS what she wanted from the very moment she set this plot in motion by arming the Faith?

How long has she been imprisoned? 8-9 episodes now? That's plenty of time fow the show to show me what's going on with Marg. This is supposed to be a the resolution of the main conflict of her arc. At this point neither of us  should have to guess what she is up to.

[Tagganaro]

9 minutes ago, Maid So Fair said:

Please tell me what that is. I'm not even joking. His level of power over KL has been pretty constant once he imprisoned Cersei and Marg. And yet - what has actually changed in KL? What are his demands? MOAR POWERZ is not a political goal. In the last episode, he achieved a 'union between the Faith and the Crown's, but what does that even mean? Presumably he's going to make Tommen do something but what it is I have no idea.

Except it doesn't give him the power he wanted. If she can bring Tommen to side with the Faith, and if she's the only one who can do so, she can make him turn against the Faith (or even just oppose HS's efforts to manipulate Tommen) just as easily and by releasing her he's giving up his power over her. Sure, he holds Loras for now, but he's at least 60% Reek (Leek?). They can't treat him much worse and one day he will have to release or kill him and the second that happens Marg becomes a free agent with every reason to hate the HS. He didn't have to be privy to their conversation (though I can't see a scenario where no one was listening surreptitiously ), their own conversation is enough. At no point prior to this scene has Marg shown anything but defence and strenght of will. She wasn't convinced by Septa Unella reading the 7 Pointed Star at her, nor did she seem impressed with HS's sob story. What possible reason would the HS have to believe she's suddenly changed her mind and is now his devoted worshipper? He'd have to be a complete moron.

I'm on board with destroying the Sparrows, but why is it a threat to Marg's dignity that forces her to act? I mean, isn't Marg undergoing a WOS what she wanted from the very moment she set this plot in motion by arming the Faith?

How long has she been imprisoned? 8-9 episodes now? That's plenty of time fow the show to show me what's going on with Marg. This is supposed to be a the resolution of the main conflict of her arc. At this point neither of us  should have to guess what she is up to.

Do I really have to explain to you how political power works?  "Moar Powerz" is how politics works lol.  You get your power acknowledged in front of the entire city, cheering you, and you get the one threat to your power (the Tyrell army) having to acknowledge that and back down.  Having direct control of the King, acknowledged publicly, is the end goal for ANYBODY involved in the Game of Thrones (short of being king yourself), which is pretty much what the HS just achieved.  

Again, to answer your 2nd paragraph, how is not having direct control over the King, publicly acknowledged, not power that the HS would want?  The HS doesn't have to believe Margs's conversion is genuine.  In fact he might not believe that it is genuine.  Why should he care?  He's already gotten what he wanted which is public acknowledgement in front of the whole city (cheering him) that the Sparrows and the Throne were essentially the same thing now.  The only threat to him (again), is the Tyrell army, which was just forced to go along with the whole thing.

Two things about Cersei- (1) She hates the HS and wants revenge and (2) She's an idiot and her plans never work.  Cersei doesn't need an impetus to act, she already wants to.  She just needs a reason to get the Queen of Thorns behind her.  That's where the WOS comes in.  Cersei couldn't care less about that, she cares about destroying the Sparrows and sees her chance here to get Tyrell army to do the dirty work because the Queen of Thornes won't let her granddaughter be shamed.  

Except we should have to guess what Margs is up to if that's what the show wants us to do?  Like again, why does every single thing need to be resolved right away.  The show wants it to be up in the air what Margs is up to, although for most careful observers it's pretty obvious she's mostly concerned with saving Loras at the moment and isn't genuine in her conversion.  We have to see how that plays out before judging it.  

[Maid So Fair]

1 hour ago, Tagganaro said:

Do I really have to explain to you how political power works?  "Moar Powerz" is how politics works lol.  You get your power acknowledged in front of the entire city, cheering you, and you get the one threat to your power (the Tyrell army) having to acknowledge that and back down.  Having direct control of the King, acknowledged publicly, is the end goal for ANYBODY involved in the Game of Thrones (short of being king yourself), which is pretty much what the HS just achieved.  

Again, to answer your 2nd paragraph, how is not having direct control over the King, publicly acknowledged, not power that the HS would want?  The HS doesn't have to believe Margs's conversion is genuine.  In fact he might not believe that it is genuine.  Why should he care?  He's already gotten what he wanted which is public acknowledgement in front of the whole city (cheering him) that the Sparrows and the Throne were essentially the same thing now.  The only threat to him (again), is the Tyrell army, which was just forced to go along with the whole thing.

Two things about Cersei- (1) She hates the HS and wants revenge and (2) She's an idiot and her plans never work.  Cersei doesn't need an impetus to act, she already wants to.  She just needs a reason to get the Queen of Thorns behind her.  That's where the WOS comes in.  Cersei couldn't care less about that, she cares about destroying the Sparrows and sees her chance here to get Tyrell army to do the dirty work because the Queen of Thornes won't let her granddaughter be shamed.  

Except we should have to guess what Margs is up to if that's what the show wants us to do?  Like again, why does every single thing need to be resolved right away.  The show wants it to be up in the air what Margs is up to, although for most careful observers it's pretty obvious she's mostly concerned with saving Loras at the moment and isn't genuine in her conversion.  We have to see how that plays out before judging it.  

But this is not a democracy - public approval rating is nice, buggy no means essential.

HS'spower is the definition of indirect - it depends on his ability to control Tommen. And this further depends at least partially on his ability to control Margaery as it's clear that it was her efforts that convinced Tommen . And she's his wife - she's there to stay. He should very much care whether her conversion is genuine because that determines whether she's working for him or against him.

Yes, he got Tommen to publicly announce an alliance. That's nice, but how does that actually alter the HS's position in any real way?  he get more quality time with Tommen? Seat on the SC? There's no indication f what's actually on the table here. Tommon has committed himself to absolutely nothing (maybe he has some Tywin genes after all). And more importantly, what is he planning to do with this power (?) he gained? How is this going to change the lives of the characters we follow and everybody else in Westeros? In other words, what does this mean? This is a major plot development in one of the main storylines, one that we have been following for more than one season. I feel it should elicit some emotion besides confusion. 

I am all for Cersei burning Sparrows to the ground. Yet, if that is her goal, it shouldn't she have been plotting from the very beginning? And did the Tyrells seriously have no motivation to act before this? Most importantly, by doing nothing Cersei gets exactly what she wanted - Marg completes a WOS, which gives the Tyrells and/or Tommen every reason to take revenge against the Sparrows. Two birds with one stone.

Or maybe we should want tth show to be better written? This is hardly right away either. We have been following this storyline, with Marg as the main focus, since the beginning of this season. It's hardly expecting things to be resolved straight away. And I'm not even talking about the ultimate resolution here - just a clear indication of character motivation so that the viewers can actually appreciate what the stakes in this conflict are. Take Loras - we have no idea what the crux of the agreement between Marg and HS was. 

 

 

 

[Tagganaro]

6 minutes ago, Maid So Fair said:

But this is not a democracy - public approval rating is nice, buggy no means essential.

HS'spower is the definition of indirect - it depends on his ability to control Tommen. And this further depends at least partially on his ability to control Margaery as it's clear that it was her efforts that convinced Tommen . And she's his wife - she's there to stay. He should very much care whether her conversion is genuine because that determines whether she's working for him or against him.

Yes, he got Tommen to publicly announce an alliance. That's nice, but how does that actually alter the HS's position in any real way?  he get more quality time with Tommen? Seat on the SC? There's no indication f what's actually on the table here. Tommon has committed himself to absolutely nothing (maybe he has some Tywin genes after all). And more importantly, what is he planning to do with this power (?) he gained? How is this going to change the lives of the characters we follow and everybody else in Westeros? In other words, what does this mean? This is a major plot development in one of the main storylines, one that we have been following for more than one season. I feel it should elicit some emotion besides confusion. 

I am all for Cersei burning Sparrows to the ground. Yet, if that is her goal, it shouldn't she have been plotting from the very beginning? And did the Tyrells seriously have no motivation to act before this?

Or maybe we should want tth show to be better written? This is hardly right away either. We have been following this storyline, with Marg as the main focus, since the beginning of this season. It's hardly expecting things to be resolved straight away. And I'm not even talking about the ultimate resolution here - just a clear indication of character motivation so that the viewers can actually appreciate what the stakes in this conflict are. Take Loras - we have no idea what the crux of the agreement between Marg and HS was. 

 

 

 

Again though...you're complaining about stuff that hasn't actually happened yet.  You ask how this alters the HS's position in any way before the show has given us a chance to show that...based on previews in the trailer, it will mean the Sparrows presence everywhere in court, and probably on the Small Council.  We've already seen the King's Guard has converted their armor, which is a quick simplistic way for the show to portray that change.

I don't care what kind of political system you have...public approval is entirely essential.  We've already seen glimpses of this with the King's Landing riots in Season 2/A Clash of Kings.  This public approval is why Olenna declared the day lost once the HS announced the union between the Sparrows and Tommen.  They had the crowd on their side.

You're asking what the HS plans to do with the power he gained...again before the show has had ANY chance to show it lol.  

Again, every single complaint you have about this is you being impatient and demanding answers before the show has had any chance to show these things.  We're gonna find out what the "crux of the agreement" between Marg and HS was.  We're going to find out how that changes things.  We're gonna find out what Marg was after/what she was planning.  We're gonna find out how this changes people's lives.  We're gonna find out whether Margs's conversion was genuine and what the extent of her plans and the HS's plans are.

[Morgana Lannister]

21 hours ago, HellasLEAF said:

Don't know about you but I am loving High Sparrow making all these high born entitled chair sitters eat humble pie.

He is perfectly cast as well.  He has been a convincing character and I like the speeches he has given. 

As characters go he is very well thought out and the actor does a great job.  However, despite the fact that he might even be sincere in sticking out for the poor he is also clearly power hungry and very controlling and manipulative.  I guess he represents what happens when a group instigates a revolution with initial good intention but goes too far.  The French and Russian revolutions come to mind and, of course, but so does the faith of the Lord of the Light, the Spanish Inquisition, but I guess it is hard to create a political situation that cannot be compared to something that, at some point, happened in history.  Still, because of how dangerous this guy is I am beginning to root for the nobility more than for him or his set of rules but then again I just hate any regime that tries to forbid anything remotely fun.  Another historical period that comes to mind with him is also Oliver Cromwell of course.  I will be glad when he gets his comeuppance but I am also enjoying the complexity and cleverness of the character

 

[Morgana Lannister]

50 minutes ago, Tagganaro said:

Again though...you're complaining about stuff that hasn't actually happened yet.  You ask how this alters the HS's position in any way before the show has given us a chance to show that...based on previews in the trailer, it will mean the Sparrows presence everywhere in court, and probably on the Small Council.  We've already seen the King's Guard has converted their armor, which is a quick simplistic way for the show to portray that change.

I don't care what kind of political system you have...public approval is entirely essential.  We've already seen glimpses of this with the King's Landing riots in Season 2/A Clash of Kings.  This public approval is why Olenna declared the day lost once the HS announced the union between the Sparrows and Tommen.  They had the crowd on their side.

You're asking what the HS plans to do with the power he gained...again before the show has had ANY chance to show it lol.  

Again, every single complaint you have about this is you being impatient and demanding answers before the show has had any chance to show these things.  We're gonna find out what the "crux of the agreement" between Marg and HS was.  We're going to find out how that changes things.  We're gonna find out what Marg was after/what she was planning.  We're gonna find out how this changes people's lives.  We're gonna find out whether Margs's conversion was genuine and what the extent of her plans and the HS's plans are.

One thing I have to agree with is that yes, public approval or at the very least public tolerance is absolutely essential to any regime not just to democratic ones.  Okay, they don't have elections but still the peasants outnumber any other force even if they are unarmed and untrained.  The HS said quite pointedly something like "we are poor but together we can overthrow an empire" which I thought it was rather telling, although at this stage I think he much prefers for the crown to "co-operate" than having to depose them by force.  History, as I have commented in another post has shown us tons of instances where the masses have overthrown the ruling undemocratic power, anything from French revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union.  As for the HS, well one of the reasons that he worries me despite his probably genuine concerned for the poor, is that he is convinced he is in possession of the absolute truth (like all religious fanatics always are) and the fact that often times a bad regimes get supplanted by one just as bad or even worse.  One thing that came to my mind is what happened in Slavers Bay when the former slaves became just as cruel if not worse than the ones Dany had managed to bring down.  Can't remember which city it was right now.

[Maid So Fair]

45 minutes ago, Tagganaro said:

Again though...you're complaining about stuff that hasn't actually happened yet.  You ask how this alters the HS's position in any way before the show has given us a chance to show that...based on previews in the trailer, it will mean the Sparrows presence everywhere in court, and probably on the Small Council.  We've already seen the King's Guard has converted their armor, which is a quick simplistic way for the show to portray that change.

I don't care what kind of political system you have...public approval is entirely essential.  We've already seen glimpses of this with the King's Landing riots in Season 2/A Clash of Kings.  This public approval is why Olenna declared the day lost once the HS announced the union between the Sparrows and Tommen.  They had the crowd on their side.

You're asking what the HS plans to do with the power he gained...again before the show has had ANY chance to show it lol.  

Again, every single complaint you have about this is you being impatient and demanding answers before the show has had any chance to show these things.  We're gonna find out what the "crux of the agreement" between Marg and HS was.  We're going to find out how that changes things.  We're gonna find out what Marg was after/what she was planning.  We're gonna find out how this changes people's lives.  We're gonna find out whether Margs's conversion was genuine and what the extent of her plans and the HS's plans are.

I'm not talking about things that have or may yet happen. I'm talking about character motivations and general set up. There is no real conflict - it's just stuff happening. There are no stakes. When HS unveils his power play I should be happy, excited, concerned, angry, whatever. It's a climax of 6+ episodes worth of content.  But as this whole thread proves, many people are underwhelmed at best. There was plenty of time to show these things. Again, you shouldn't have to guess or watch the trailer to be able to predict what difference this will make. Contrast the book HS who has now repeatedly stated his demands - if he ever gets into a position of (more) power, we know excatly what would be his first (and second, third etc) thing to do once he had a chance. Show HS?  Just wait and see what happens is not good enough at this point - why should I care about anything that happens with no ide what's actually going on and no one to root for/against?

Er, no. Olenna didn't give a damn about  the mob thought. They backed off because they couldn't/wouldn't publicly to against the King.

[lakin1013]

Another problem that makes KL 'boring' is that the show has dropped several storylines.  Myrcella was murdered.  Does anybody care?  Has some sort of investigation been carried out?  Was there even a funeral? (seriously - was there?) The Sand Snakes are presumably in KL.  Is anybody looking for them, has any action been taken?  What about the little birds?  Have they produced any information of value?  If the show is going to drop these stories, then why should we, as viewers, care?  

We have unpleasant characters, dropped stories, unacknowledged deaths, unsolved, unmentioned murders, and a religious zealot - it all adds up to nothing very interesting.

[House Cambodia]

On 01/06/2016 at 5:23 AM, TickTak7 said:

Is that there's no one to cheer for. 

Are we meant to cheer for the High Sparrow? Religious figure who wants to give back to the smallfolk, but quite clearly a manipulative individual who seems hungry for status and position.

Are we meant to cheer for Cersei? She was humiliated by the faith and she lost her daughter, but she's not exactly been a sympathetic character this season. 

Are we meant to cheer for Jaime? Maybe, but he's too busy being Cersei's lapdog that his redemptive arc has been forgotten. 

Are we meant to cheer for Marg? No one really even knows what is in Marg's head right now. Has she converted fully to the faith, or is she simply manipulating?

Are we meant to cheer for Tommen? LOL. 

My issue with the King's Landing, beyond the fact that it just isn't all that interesting, is that there's no obvious party to cheer for, and because of that, it's hard as a viewer to really give a damn about what happens. Compare that to a Jon or Sansa or Arya storyline, where we know what we want from the characters. Do we get that from King's Landing?

 

I think that's deliberate. As the epicentre of the eponymous 'game of thrones' where 'you win or you die', the conclusion is inevitable - nobody wins, everybody dies. Thanks Cercei.