Rockroi Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 In a story that should be a shocker to precisely nobody, Game of Thrones Showrunners/defilers, D.B. Weiss and David Benioff admitted that they had no idea what they were doing. The article - which is a recertatiom of a single Twitter thread detailing their comments - states that D&D did not understand how to write a script (check), did not understand characters and left them largely to the actors (no kidding), and were stunned that Martin would entrust his life work to them (well, I mean, if you want somebody else to finish what you started, why not?). Quote The most prominent report from the event came from a now semi-viral Twitter thread from user ForArya, who revealed what appeared to be an incredibly frank display from Benioff and Weiss about how thoroughly unprepared they were to guide what would become one of the smash-hit TV phenoms of recent history. NO!!! You don't say?!?! ( we really need a sarcasm font). Quote It just seems like even as the show evolved into the success it became, the duo—who scripted the vast majority of the series, taking on even more work when the show began outpacing the source material from George R.R. Martin—were still, apparently, largely unsure about anything they were doing. This includes understanding the characters they wrote (something they mostly left to the actors inhabiting those roles, in earlier seasons), or even production details... So, are you telling me that these two guys with absolutely no TV experience whatsoever were making it up as they went along? I mean, that the two men who, among other things, destroyed the most important redemption arc in the show by showing Jaime raping Cersei, then compounding that failure by not knowing what rape was; who, to this day, have NOT explained who sent the cutthroat to Bran's room in Episode Two; who performed the worst heel-turn in TV History and then had the most nonsensical, slap-dash final episode since the Bible - these same two men did not know what they were doing? I mean COME ON!?!?! I have been saying this since Season Two and how they did not understand the characters and that the show went into free-fall when D&D ran out of source material. And now, finally, they have admitted it. That Star Wars show they are doing is going to suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryk Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 The blasé manner in which they talk about it is what really stuck out to a lot of people about that panel, but it fits in with their general demeanour in interviews where they basically like "yeah we dont know what we're doing and nor do we care, lol". Worst comment was when they say they didn't try to understand the book as a whole because it was "too broad" and they just focused on each scene and making it about power. Explains why the latter seasons were so disjointed with no sense of direction or an overall story arc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The hairy bear Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 10 hours ago, Rockroi said: That Star Wars show they are doing is going to suck. Fortunately for all involved, they have dropped the project. They were hired at the height of their fame. I can't help assuming that someone in Disney realized how unprepared they were for the task and invited them to leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It_spelt_Magalhaes Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 9 minutes ago, The hairy bear said: Fortunately for all involved, they have dropped the project. They were hired at the height of their fame. I can't help assuming that someone in Disney realized how unprepared they were for the task and invited them to leave. Oh. I was still lowkey hoping for the unholy trifecta of them poisoning the well at HBO, Netflix and Disney. By then enough people in the business would be slapped in the face with how not deserving of those ridiculous accolades they are. Still, that proves Disney's people are more on the ball than HBO proved to be over the years. Sinking ever more resources into spinning the unhappiness of the fans as a fringe phenomenon even as it grew to the point where even mainstream media now goes 'they're saying what?!', can be seen as a very bad decision, especially for their prequels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockroi Posted October 29, 2019 Author Share Posted October 29, 2019 2 hours ago, Darryk said: Worst comment was when they say they didn't try to understand the book as a whole because it was "too broad" and they just focused on each scene and making it about power. Explains why the latter seasons were so disjointed with no sense of direction or an overall story arc. I must have said countless times on the Reaction Threads that all they seemed to care about were 'splosions and having these pay-off moments that had no build up- just empty spectacle. Assuming these comments are legit, they completely validate my suspicions that they were clueless; that the books were too big so they did not carry narratives through; that they did not understand the characters; and that they were more for the big payoffs than the work of creating story. The fact that for 65% of the time they could hide behind Martin's work obfuscated this is no surprise. And that story about Star Wars dropping right now is sort of startling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 10 hours ago, Rockroi said: Assuming these comments are legit Here’s the audio of the panel, where you can listen to David and Dan in all their... erhm... glory explain how they didn’t have a clue about anything. Real shocker! /s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crona Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 I don’t know about this statement. I think it’s layered. I know they didn’t about the story and I think their realization they didn’t know about the story came during the middle and end of the series. But I think in the beginning D&D thought they knew the story. Otherwise if they didn’t know the story then why did they disagree with George about Stoneheart? If knew they didn’t know the story then they would have taken George’s direction. Seems more like D&D thought they knew the story and wanted to take fantasy elements and other elements out because they thought it wasn’t needed. Then towards the end realized they didn’t understand the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crona Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 Double Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryk Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 On 11/2/2019 at 3:51 AM, Crona said: I don’t know about this statement. I think it’s layered. I know they didn’t about the story and I think their realization they didn’t know about the story came during the middle and end of the series. But I think in the beginning D&D thought they knew the story. Otherwise if they didn’t know the story then why did they disagree with George about Stoneheart? If knew they didn’t know the story then they would have taken George’s direction. Seems more like D&D thought they knew the story and wanted to take fantasy elements and other elements out because they thought it wasn’t needed. Then towards the end realized they didn’t understand the story. Because they're arrogant and ultimately believed it was all beneath them anyway? This comes across in interviews with them, where it's clear they didnt put much thought into anything and were happy to just talk out of their ass. From season 2 onward they were making changes that didn't need to be made, because they'd got it in their heads they could do a better job than GRRM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej6 Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 On 10/29/2019 at 6:30 PM, kissdbyfire said: Here’s the audio of the panel, where you can listen to David and Dan in all their... erhm... glory explain how they didn’t have a clue about anything. Real shocker! /s I hope GRRM listens to these two hacks own-up to the fact that they didn’t know much about the books and the characters and did not care to read or know more. Perhaps this will give GRRM the impetus to finally come out and say that D&D’s version was BS and his books were and will be in no way the same story as these two idiots showed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej6 Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 On 11/1/2019 at 9:51 PM, Crona said: Otherwise if they didn’t know the story then why did they disagree with George about Stoneheart? If knew they didn’t know the story then they would have taken George’s direction. As @Darryk said, D&D’s arrogance knew no bounds. As the show became popular, so did their arrogance and misplaced confidence in their self-worth. They thought the story written by GRRM was beneath them (themes are for 8th grade book reports) and they could do a far better job. But they always thought they knew better even with the earlier seasons. In S1 they decided to give Cersei a baby with Robert that she loved and who died in infancy when the books clearly say the character made sure she got rid of any chance of getting pregnant with Robert’s child. They wanted to humanize Cersei but in doing so, they made a huge mess of the character and every other character that interacted with her (especially Jamie). GRRM was fooled by them because they guessed Jon’s mother correctly. The problem is they probably got this right not because they knew the books intimately but because they found this info on this website or somewhere else online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 4 minutes ago, teej6 said: As @Darryk said, D&D’s arrogance knew no bounds. As the show became popular, so did their arrogance and misplaced confidence in their self-worth. They thought the story written by GRRM was beneath them (themes are for 8th grade book reports) and they could do a far better job. But they always thought they knew better even with the earlier seasons. In S1 they decided to give Cersei a baby with Robert that she loved and who died in infancy when the books clearly say the character made sure she got rid of any chance of getting pregnant with Robert’s child. They wanted to humanize Cersei but in doing so, they made a huge mess of the character and every other character that interacted with her (especially Jamie). GRRM was fooled by them because they guessed Jon’s mother correctly. The problem is they probably got this right not because they knew the books intimately but because they found this info on this website or somewhere else online. I think Linda Atonsson was correct that the Qarth storyline showed how they were getting it wrong, when they wrote their own material. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej6 Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 5 minutes ago, SeanF said: I think Linda Atonsson was correct that the Qarth storyline showed how they were getting it wrong, when they wrote their own material. Yeah Linda hated their changes from the very beginning and called it early on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teej6 Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Listening to their Austin talk, I now think Weiss is a bigger piece of shit than Benioff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Varys Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 The first season was shitty, too. Drogo raping Daenerys in their wedding night? Varys actually wanting to kill Daenerys? Mago being killed by Drogo? Weirdo ramblings by Alliser Thorne? Cersei actually loving Robert (and then they much later contradicting that, by claiming she 'loved' Rhaegar, as happens in the books)? Jorah being some nice guy rather than a (reasonably) competent creep? Ned being a great swordsman? It was not as bad as season 2, sure, but they had some silly ideas back then, too. George certainly was fooled by these two hacks - as was HBO, up to a point - but it doesn't really matter. George knows how the business works - he did not sell his property because wanted a faithful adaptation more than everything else. He sold it for money. And that he got. If he had truly wanted a faithful adaptation more than the money he got he wouldn't have signed the deal he signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackLightning Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 On 10/29/2019 at 8:01 AM, Rockroi said: I must have said countless times on the Reaction Threads that all they seemed to care about were 'splosions and having these pay-off moments that had no build up- just empty spectacle. Assuming these comments are legit, they completely validate my suspicions that they were clueless; that the books were too big so they did not carry narratives through; that they did not understand the characters; and that they were more for the big payoffs than the work of creating story. The fact that for 65% of the time they could hide behind Martin's work obfuscated this is no surprise. And that story about Star Wars dropping right now is sort of startling. No it isn't. Star Wars, as a franchise, is floundering right now. They made several big mistakes with the first two movies in the recent trilogy and now anticipation for the finale is at an all-time low. They spent a lot of money on it and they want to be able to make sure it is a viable for decades to come. They want the best of the best to help them turn it around... On 11/1/2019 at 9:51 PM, Crona said: I don’t know about this statement. I think it’s layered. I know they didn’t about the story and I think their realization they didn’t know about the story came during the middle and end of the series. But I think in the beginning D&D thought they knew the story. Otherwise if they didn’t know the story then why did they disagree with George about Stoneheart? If knew they didn’t know the story then they would have taken George’s direction. Seems more like D&D thought they knew the story and wanted to take fantasy elements and other elements out because they thought it wasn’t needed. Then towards the end realized they didn’t understand the story. Yes. I think also towards the end they realized that the magic and the fantasy elements were not only needed but vital. On 11/3/2019 at 6:32 AM, Darryk said: Because they're arrogant and ultimately believed it was all beneath them anyway? This comes across in interviews with them, where it's clear they didnt put much thought into anything and were happy to just talk out of their ass. From season 2 onward they were making changes that didn't need to be made, because they'd got it in their heads they could do a better job than GRRM. Wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aFeastForDragons Posted November 15, 2019 Share Posted November 15, 2019 Someone joked on this forum years ago that they read up until the Red Wedding and then stopped. It gets more and more believable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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