[SPOILERS] Rhaegal

[Prince of the North]

And no way was that scorpion/ballista large enough to propel a bolt that size on that trajectory over that distance!  No way!  I mean, it stretches credulity.  That'd be like, I don't know, characters teleporting all over Westeros in the blink of an eye to magically be wherever the plot needs them to be.  Or fleets of ships being able to hide behind a rock and jump out suddenly to ambush unsuspecting enemies.  Oh, wait! 

[dbunting]

1 hour ago, SuperMario said:

Scorpion fired from land against another object on land is much easier than firing one from a moving ship against a flying/moving object.

Ever hunted before? I'm shooting a compound bow while in a tree stand against a walking or standing deer below me. Then I'm shooting a compound bow while standing in a rocking boat against a bird flying in a zig zag pattern in the air. What sounds easier?

Except it wasn't zig zagging, it was gliding unaware of the danger. The seas were calm and you are comparing a compound bow, when you should be comparing a mounted cross bow, which is amazingly more accurate. I am horrible with a bow, but a crossbow even hand held I can hit the target and have. Anyone who has shot them or even a hand held gun compared to a gun on a tripod knows there is a huge difference.

[dbunting]

53 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

I don't remember anywhere a mention of giants having skins so tough, no blade can pierce them.

Where is that stated in the show? You guys keep blending book statements and show issues and that makes the arguements make no sense. We have already been shown that SHOW dragons are not nearly invincible like in the books. When Drogon came to Dany in the pits he got hit with spears and the stuck in his skin. A simple hand thrown spear.

SHOW dragons do not have armor like skin, they are vulnerable.

[Corvinus85]

2 hours ago, dbunting said:

Where is that stated in the show? You guys keep blending book statements and show issues and that makes the arguements make no sense. We have already been shown that SHOW dragons are not nearly invincible like in the books. When Drogon came to Dany in the pits he got hit with spears and the stuck in his skin. A simple hand thrown spear.

SHOW dragons do not have armor like skin, they are vulnerable.

The part in the arena happened in the books, too. So yes, the dragons are different in the books, but I find it sad the show can't even respect book lore. It's all for convenience.

[SuperMario]

14 hours ago, dbunting said:

Except it wasn't zig zagging, it was gliding unaware of the danger. The seas were calm and you are comparing a compound bow, when you should be comparing a mounted cross bow, which is amazingly more accurate. I am horrible with a bow, but a crossbow even hand held I can hit the target and have. Anyone who has shot them or even a hand held gun compared to a gun on a tripod knows there is a huge difference.

Except even in calm seas boats aren't completely stationary. And true, a mounted bow would be more accurate. But it's still hitting a moving object hundreds of yards away in the air. And if I remember correctly, right before it was shot, it made a large swoop down and then up. Regardless, the scene was completely dumb.

[Dragons 7th Eye]

17 hours ago, dbunting said:

Except it wasn't zig zagging, it was gliding unaware of the danger. The seas were calm and you are comparing a compound bow, when you should be comparing a mounted cross bow, which is amazingly more accurate. I am horrible with a bow, but a crossbow even hand held I can hit the target and have. Anyone who has shot them or even a hand held gun compared to a gun on a tripod knows there is a huge difference.

I have trained to hit stuff with a semi modern anti-air cannon which fires a gazillion rounds a minute and which is very well mounted and not moving at all. A Finn mandatory military service and lucky circumstances etc.

The whole ballista scene is complete utter total and 100% BS. Hitting flying targets in a 3D space even with a fraction of bullets with mechanically far far superior device is bloody hard and, with the bullets you can kind of trail the target and adjust real time. I am a trained sniper and I can shoot, it's not that. I am 100% sure that I can shoot better than any quasi-medieval warrior ever did - except Euron apparently

With the ballista Euron fired and waited to see if it hit while also waiting for the ballista to magically reload in seconds. Those hits on the dragon were one in a thousand and that is being very generous. There were what - four in a row? It was a BS plot device.

[Lordsteve666]

Add in the fact that the projectile would loose power and speed all the time as it fights gravity, plus it's going to be literally impossible to hit a any moving target at range if you aim directly at it unless your weapon is firing almost instant hit projectiles like a railgun, or perhaps a laser weapon.
The target would have moved way beyond the location you pointed the crosshairs at and with those weapons you don't have a mechanically fed autoloader to give you more rounds milliseconds later. It's a single shot weapon with at least several seconds if not minutes between rounds, not a bloody automatic weapon lighting up the sky with projectiles.

There's no way those filthy ironborn would be that good at leading a moving target without some serious training, and even then their weapons simply were not built for that sort of engagement.

[dbunting]

The funny part is we are all discussing real world physics in a forum about dragons and giants and wargs!

A good comparison to shut it down would have been the U.S. Vietnam war. It took a long time for the Vietnamese to learn how to shoot at the helicopters as they were moving, had to train on leading them. Same would apply to midevil people learning to shoot down moving objects, although based on the angle that the "arrow" hits the dragon it appears to have come from the front, which would be a slightly easier shot.

[Hodor's Dragon]

22 minutes ago, dbunting said:

The funny part is we are all discussing real world physics in a forum about dragons and giants and wargs!<snip>

As well we should be! As fantasy readers, we permit our disbelief to be suspended within the magical framework the story presents, and no further. If, suddenly, no rules of reality are to be respected at all, the story quickly becomes uninteresting.

ASOIAF, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Game of Thrones, are deeply grounded in reality, and we know when we are being asked to suspend disbelief in certain identified or identifiable types of magic. It is by no means a loosy-goosy, anything-goes environment--or at least the books aren't.

As I like to say "Real life doesn't have to be believable, but fiction damned sure does."

[dbunting]

12 minutes ago, Hodor's Dragon said:

As well we should be! As fantasy readers, we permit our disbelief to be suspended within the magical framework the story presents, and no further. If, suddenly, no rules of reality are to be respected at all, the story quickly becomes uninteresting.

ASOIAF, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Game of Thrones, are deeply grounded in reality, and we know when we are being asked to suspend disbelief in certain identified or identifiable types of magic. It is by no means a loosy-goosy, anything-goes environment--or at least the books aren't.

As I like to say "Real life doesn't have to be believable, but fiction damned sure does."

I don't disagree with this at all. I am also surprised that there was not much disbelief in Theons abilities given that he was supposed to have a finger or two chopped off each hand, but could rapid fire a bow accurately. I just like to laugh off / eye roll those things and just enjoy the show.

[snow is the man]

This was poorly done. In truth they would have been better off having rheagal killed at the battle of KL. I do hope that at the end of the series we see dany "birth" more dragons like she did with her three. I am sure she can find someone to sacrifice and there are other dragon eggs around. The targs lost there power when they lost their dragons. Up until that point the only thing that could beat a targ was another targ.

 

Also dany was right there after rheagal was shot and could have killed ALL those ships but went back for some reason. Also I love how noone saw those ships. And How they were able to shoot so well. The people who operated those things were well paid and specialists and still couldn't shoot like that. You would have to factor in range,gravity,wind,and the ship bouncing around on water. He might have gotten one hit if he was lucky and shot a dozen bolts or more.

 

I really hate it when the dragons die and make that horrible sound.  I really hope dany takes missandeis advice.