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Scratching the Surface of Epic Events in AGOT


One-eyed Misbehavin

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In a series overloaded with cool and epic sequences some of my favorite include

The Battle of the Bastards (even though they made Jon tactically incompetent for no reason) 

Blue Eyes Wight Dragon (definition of epic)

Arya vs. Brienne

Blackwater Bay

Jon petting Drogon was way too awesome 

I didn’t love the tower of Joy scene especially with Arthur Dayne’s peculiar portrayal but it was still a cool scene 

Hound vs Lord Beric

Prince Oberyn vs. Ser Gregor 

Gendry’s War Hammer!

Every scene that has Tormund

 

 

This show has things to appreciate every episode. I could do this all day  and find something I find really cool for every episode. What are your favorite scenes that stood out? 

 

 

 

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Not on these boards. Bashing the show is an amateur sport around here.  

While not "epic", one of my favorite scenes from early in the series (that doesn't appear AGOT) is the first scene with Tywin.  In that one scene you learn almost everything you need to know about Tywin (the man) and his relationship with Jamie. The visual of the deer being skinned is arresting as well as symbolic.

Brilliantly written; brilliantly executed.

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16 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Not on these boards. Bashing the show is an amateur sport around here.  

While not "epic", one of my favorite scenes from early in the series (that doesn't appear AGOT) is the first scene with Tywin.  In that one scene you learn almost everything you need to know about Tywin (the man) and his relationship with Jamie. The visual of the deer being skinned is arresting as well as symbolic.

Brilliantly written; brilliantly executed.

This was a great scene.

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I saw the first several seasons before reading the books, so some of the earlier scenes really impacted me most strongly.  What I would consider the most "epic" scenes (not my favorite, as I have favorites that would not be considered "epic" and actually had quite a negative reaction to some of these) are as follows...

  • Cersei and Ned's S1 talk in the garden when Ned confronts her about the twincest
  • Ned's beheading (this is #1 for everyone, right?!)
  • Drogo's funeral pyre / the birth of the dragons
  • Melisandre's night time boat ride and shadow birth with Davos (I mean, at the time, what in the actual fuck)
  • Daenerys claiming the unsullied army
  • The entirety of the Blackwater episode
  • Ramsay having the 2 chicks get Reek nice and prepped for his castration (ugh, I will never shake any of those torture scenes)
  • Robb beheading Arnolf Karstark
  • The Red Wedding
  • The Purple Wedding
  • Jaime raping Cersei beside Joffrey's dead body
  • Tyrion's trial, particularly Shae's testimony and Tyrion's defiance at the end
  • The Mountain vs. The Viper
  • Sansa lying to protect Baelish when questioned by Bronze Yohn after Lysa's death, and her subsequent walk down the stairs in that black feather gown
  • Tyrion and Jorah's boatride through Valyria
  • Stannis hugs Shireen
  • Hardhome massacre, particularly as the fog first fell outside the gates with that deafening silence and the end with the NK raising all the recently dead
  • Stannis burns Shireen
  • For the Watch
  • Melisandre is old as fuck
  • Daenerys claims the Dothraki in a blaze of fire and nudity
  • Cersei has literally everyone killed and then herself crowned
  • Jaime almost kills Daenerys because Jaime is a badass with no fear of death after a dragon takes out almost all of his army
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2 hours ago, Lucius Lovejoy said:

I saw the first several seasons before reading the books, so some of the earlier scenes really impacted me most strongly.  What I would consider the most "epic" scenes (not my favorite, as I have favorites that would not be considered "epic" and actually had quite a negative reaction to some of these) are as follows...

  • Cersei and Ned's S1 talk in the garden when Ned confronts her about the twincest
  • Ned's beheading (this is #1 for everyone, right?!)
  • Drogo's funeral pyre / the birth of the dragons
  • Melisandre's night time boat ride and shadow birth with Davos (I mean, at the time, what in the actual fuck)
  • Daenerys claiming the unsullied army
  • The entirety of the Blackwater episode
  • Ramsay having the 2 chicks get Reek nice and prepped for his castration (ugh, I will never shake any of those torture scenes)
  • Robb beheading Arnolf Karstark
  • The Red Wedding
  • The Purple Wedding
  • Jaime raping Cersei beside Joffrey's dead body
  • Tyrion's trial, particularly Shae's testimony and Tyrion's defiance at the end
  • The Mountain vs. The Viper
  • Sansa lying to protect Baelish when questioned by Bronze Yohn after Lysa's death, and her subsequent walk down the stairs in that black feather gown
  • Tyrion and Jorah's boatride through Valyria
  • Stannis hugs Shireen
  • Hardhome massacre, particularly as the fog first fell outside the gates with that deafening silence and the end with the NK raising all the recently dead
  • Stannis burns Shireen
  • For the Watch
  • Melisandre is old as fuck
  • Daenerys claims the Dothraki in a blaze of fire and nudity
  • Cersei has literally everyone killed and then herself crowned
  • Jaime almost kills Daenerys because Jaime is a badass with no fear of death after a dragon takes out almost all of his army

I really like these a lot very nice eye. For the bolded...

1. Ned’s surprise execution was surely a huge plot twist for everyone. I actually like sandor clegane’s quote about Ned (paraphrasing) “he was the warden of the north whose family went back thousands of years but was killed by Ser Ilyn’s sword the same as anyone else” really intriguing for me

2. Shadow baby is best described by yourself. What in the actual fuck? Lol 

3. I loved Tyrion’s trial and the way Dinklage can pour himself into the role. I think this scene made it impossible for the show to make Tyrion as morally ambiguous compared to in the books. Really really liked Dinklage 

4. Sansa enters the game. I think the show did well with Sansa before the Ramsay Snow disaster.

5. The complexity of Stannis shines through despite the show’s best attempts to ruin his character 

6. Hashtag oh shit. This along with the blue eyes wight dragon resurrection were absolutely epic

7. The only thing that can make this more badass is the fact he is jousting one handed with his off hand 

Also the Mel necklace glamour  thing was really crazy. It would have been very awkward if the necklace slipped off while she was....advising.... Stannis. 

 

 

 

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Hmmm, regardless of my feelings on the show's story telling quality going down hill, down the drain, past the pipes and into the sewer.......I still can't believe I haven't seen the battle from Spoils of War last season listed here for Epic Events.  It is a stunning scene, all on it's own.  The fact that the real Jaime showed up for it, too, is a bonus.  The sound of Drogon's first scream, Jaime's double take, set the scene perfectly. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_-wyiJgzm8

 

I do just wish the show delivered on the characters and story consistency the way they deliver on some of this stuff.  Granted, I wonder if I'd have been as moved by the scene without being able to get show amnesia and see the Real Jaime peeking out from Larry the Lunkhead's visage.  I know how much the burning would bother Book Jaime, so I think my knowledge helps, but.....I can't deny it was an impressive scene regardless. 

Anyway, I thought the scene needs a mention. 

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1 hour ago, Lady Fevre Dream said:

Hmmm, regardless of my feelings on the show's story telling quality going down hill, down the drain, past the pipes and into the sewer.......I still can't believe I haven't seen the battle from Spoils of War last season listed here for Epic Events.

(SNIP)

Anyway, I thought the scene needs a mention. 

Uh... I definitely did mention it...

On ‎5‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 12:23 PM, Lucius Lovejoy said:

 

  • Jaime almost kills Daenerys because Jaime is a badass with no fear of death after a dragon takes out almost all of his army

The whole scene was a spectacle but Jaime's facial expressions and actions during the chaos were the highlight for me.  I really didn't think anyone was in real danger until the very end when Jaime went for the kill to end Daenerys' war.

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16 minutes ago, Lucius Lovejoy said:

Uh... I definitely did mention it...

The whole scene was a spectacle but Jaime's facial expressions and actions during the chaos were the highlight for me.  I really didn't think anyone was in real danger until the very end when Jaime went for the kill to end Daenerys' war.

Yeah, you mentioned it, but it seemed to me it was more about that one second attempt on Jaime's part (which yes, is wonderful) but not the entirety of the scene, which is why I guess that statement didn't stand out to me, no offense.  I actually kept checking the thread to see if anyone had anything else to say about it.  It was a real long scene...with that scream setting it off.  I just thought the whole thing was epic, not just Jaime's dumb, but valiant dash at Dany, LOL 

ETA:  I didn't really think anyone there would die either, and it was Jaime's expressive feelings in general that added to the depth, my knowledge of what his feelings would be from the books, that is.  The whole damn scene was impressive, though. 

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17 hours ago, Lady Fevre Dream said:

Yeah, you mentioned it, but it seemed to me it was more about that one second attempt on Jaime's part (which yes, is wonderful) but not the entirety of the scene, which is why I guess that statement didn't stand out to me, no offense.  I actually kept checking the thread to see if anyone had anything else to say about it.  It was a real long scene...with that scream setting it off.  I just thought the whole thing was epic, not just Jaime's dumb, but valiant dash at Dany, LOL 

ETA:  I didn't really think anyone there would die either, and it was Jaime's expressive feelings in general that added to the depth, my knowledge of what his feelings would be from the books, that is.  The whole damn scene was impressive, though. 

It was an amazing scene, but because of the low stakes (that sounds weird to type considering the scene, but keeping in mind that neither of us thought any characters were in real danger, or that Daenerys was going to win the war right then and there) and the problematic logistics of a horde of Dothraki screamers showing up without warning from scouts, took a bit of the shine off of it.

Since GRRM has finally made peace with the fact that he will never finish TWOW, I wish we could retroactively have him back on the writing team from mid-S5 when the train went off the rails through now.  I couldn't really enjoy this and other "epic" scenes (like the Battle of the Bastards) as much as I should have because they circumstances around them and execution of them were so ridiculous.

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2 hours ago, Lucius Lovejoy said:

It was an amazing scene, but because of the low stakes (that sounds weird to type considering the scene, but keeping in mind that neither of us thought any characters were in real danger, or that Daenerys was going to win the war right then and there) and the problematic logistics of a horde of Dothraki screamers showing up without warning from scouts, took a bit of the shine off of it.

Since GRRM has finally made peace with the fact that he will never finish TWOW, I wish we could retroactively have him back on the writing team from mid-S5 when the train went off the rails through now.  I couldn't really enjoy this and other "epic" scenes (like the Battle of the Bastards) as much as I should have because they circumstances around them and execution of them were so ridiculous.

Maybe it was the extra addition of the dragon or something, the visually stunning effects (all the money did show) and the sounds of that first scream from Drogon that made it something epic to me.  Well, all that and Jaime was a good call for the scene cause if Cersei was there, I might have been willing to sacrifice Jaime to get rid of her, know what I mean.  But, all of that to say......I agree, there wasn't anything epic in Battle of Bastards, or Hardhome even, those don't appeal to me.  They even seem stupidly contrived, probably because most of those scenes seem to require Jon leaving his brains behind.  He sure doesn't bring them with him.  I really didn't enjoy most of the Ds ideas of Battle Epicness in these later seasons.  There was just something different about the Drogon one here for me. 

As far as the books getting finished, I have my doubts.  I've always thought we'd get something for TWOW, it's the ending I wondered about.  Now, though, I'm not certain on that either.  But, there's nothing I can do about it.  I'll watch the ending here on the show just to see it.  There may be glimpses of enjoyment, but I also suspect I'll be snickering at it.  As far as the book story, I think I'll be leaving my book characters in some kind of limbo, with ever ending possibilities.  That's all I can do, really, and it may be better than knowing what GRRM's outcome might have been.  I can only control me in this situation, so that's what I'll try and do. 

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11 minutes ago, Lady Fevre Dream said:

Maybe it was the extra addition of the dragon or something, the visually stunning effects (all the money did show) and the sounds of that first scream from Drogon that made it something epic to me.  Well, all that and Jaime was a good call for the scene cause if Cersei was there, I might have been willing to sacrifice Jaime to get rid of her, know what I mean.  But, all of that to say......I agree, there wasn't anything epic in Battle of Bastards, or Hardhome even, those don't appeal to me.  They even seem stupidly contrived, probably because most of those scenes seem to require Jon leaving his brains behind.  He sure doesn't bring them with him.  I really didn't enjoy most of the Ds ideas of Battle Epicness in these later seasons.  There was just something different about the Drogon one here for me. 

As far as the books getting finished, I have my doubts.  I've always thought we'd get something for TWOW, it's the ending I wondered about.  Now, though, I'm not certain on that either.  But, there's nothing I can do about it.  I'll watch the ending here on the show just to see it.  There may be glimpses of enjoyment, but I also suspect I'll be snickering at it.  As far as the book story, I think I'll be leaving my book characters in some kind of limbo, with ever ending possibilities.  That's all I can do, really, and it may be better than knowing what GRRM's outcome might have been.  I can only control me in this situation, so that's what I'll try and do. 

I thought Hardhome was great.

Battle of the Bastards, not so much, because both Jon and Sansa behaved like idiots.  Jon drew up a sensible battle plan which he immediately disregarded, while Sansa never bothered to tell him that she had an army riding to the rescue.

Cersei's destruction of the Great Sept was outstanding, as was the Field of Fire.

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Hardhome and the loot train battle are hard to beat for sheer epic-ness.  The Hound/Arya at the inn was great too.  The Red Wedding was every bit as crushing to watch as it was to read.

Some more scenes that come to mind, not for scale but just for the interplay between the characters:

1. The wildfire reveal scenes with Tyrion, Bronn and the pyromancer. Bronn is memorable. The pyromancer incidentally is played by Roy Dotrice of ASOIAF audiobook fame.  He passed away recently with not much of a mention on these boards.  His reading of the ASOS epilogue is one of my favorite things.

2. Tyrion, Bronn and Varys planning the defense of KL from Stannis.  I don't think this scene appears in the books.  Bronn again stands out.

3. Catelyn and Tallisa talking about Jon Snow.  The reveal gives Catelyn considerably more depth as a character.  Michelle Fairley crushes it in that scene.

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On 5/22/2018 at 10:43 AM, SeanF said:

I thought Hardhome was great.

Battle of the Bastards, not so much, because both Jon and Sansa behaved like idiots.  Jon drew up a sensible battle plan which he immediately disregarded, while Sansa never bothered to tell him that she had an army riding to the rescue.

Cersei's destruction of the Great Sept was outstanding, as was the Field of Fire.

Hardhome was better than Bastard, for sure.  But, I guess I just don't find it exceptionally epic as I don't really have the slightest interest in checking it out again.  Field of Fire 2.0 seems to beg for a second, third, fourth look.  As a stand alone, I find it impressive. 

I have mucho problems with Cersei and The Sept.  One thing that takes away from the scenes for me are........the fact that Cersei blows up what looks like the entirety of the noble class in KL, as well as lots of others, but.....somehow the throne room is repopulated with unknown nobles for her ridiculous crowning. 

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Hardhome was probably the best 20 minute sequence in the show.  When the fog first fell and they were trying to get everyone inside the gates and ultimately closed them and then it just went silent it was super chilling.  Losing the bag of dragonglass blades seemed to be actually consequential at the time - I thought for sure they would be important at the end of the story and they were not.  Jon's battle with poor Puddles when we saw Valyrian steel hold up against the WW ice blades and ultimately kill the WW was great.  Karsi was the best single episode character the show has ever had (Brigit Hojort Sorensen had just starred in Pitch Perfect 2 which came out like 3 days before this episode so kickass weekend for her) and when she saw the child wights and sort of gave up that was incredibly moving, and of course the Night King reveal at the end was great (if I recall correctly this was the 1st time we saw him after the Craster's baby episode when he was first revealed).  Now if I knew Jon would spend every conversation from here on out talking about how he looked into the night king's eyes then I would have preferred not to see this, but in the moment it was awesome.

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