Your Opinions 5: Is GRRM a "bad writer?"

[Daeron the Daring]

31 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Well, now we live in a world where HBO may be making a “Jon Snow sequel” that will essentially be season 9.

I'm in the dark here. Is it really happening? No way, surely. 

Edited June 21, 2022 by Daeron the Daring

[Takiedevushkikakzvezdy]

24 minutes ago, Ran said:

I don't think character ages have anything to do with the hold up. George has never indicated it's a problem with the progress of the story. 

Wasn't it one of the main reasons George wanted to do the 5-year gap? 

[Angel Eyes]

1 hour ago, frenin said:

The first he himself refused to, the rest what?

In the case of Brandon Catelyn might not have cared; she knows men sire bastards, but the big problem she had was Ned bringing Jon home with him to raise. Personally I've wondered if Hoster's dislike of Walder Frey played into it since Walder does the same thing.

Edited June 21, 2022 by Angel Eyes

[Ran]

38 minutes ago, Takiedevushkikakzvezdy said:

Wasn't it one of the main reasons George wanted to do the 5-year gap? 

It was one reason he wanted to do it, but it was further down in priority than other reasons, and in the end that he didn't do it suggests he felt they were not, in fact, the greatest priority.

[sifth]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

I don't think character ages have anything to do with the hold up. George has never indicated it's a problem with the progress of the story. 

Seems like a head canon thing. As with this "Jon Snow sequel = Season 9". If it were "Season 9", Benioff and Weiss would be involved, so... yeah, no.

So we even know who the showrunner of this possible new show is? I mean for all we know right now, it could be them..............as scary as that might sound.

[Angel Eyes]

Some locations flummox me a bit; for example, during Robert's Rebellion, how was Ned able to move the Northern army into the Riverlands without incurring a toll from Walder Frey? Of course you could ask the other way with why Robb had to pay a toll via marriage when Ned didn't have to (unless Howland's wife is a Frey for all we know).

And then there's the Battle of the Trident. Ned was halfway through the Riverlands at this point or less, while the Westerlands were on the other side of Westeros; how did he not intercept Tywin at any point where he would have had less time to mobilize after the Battle of the Trident?

[butterweedstrover]

Honestly, these technical issues about scale, timing, world-building don't bother me. 

Story's are about emotional resonance, these mathematical discrepancies hold too much sway due to Tolkien.  

[Ran]

12 minutes ago, sifth said:

So we even know who the showrunner of this possible new show is? I mean for all we know right now, it could be them..............as scary as that might sound.

It's not them because they have an exclusive deal with Netflix and they are working on The Three-Body Problem which is already in production.

[The Bard of Banefort]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

I don't think character ages have anything to do with the hold up. George has never indicated it's a problem with the progress of the story. 

Seems like a head canon thing. As with this "Jon Snow sequel = Season 9". If it were "Season 9", Benioff and Weiss would be involved, so... yeah, no.

Setting aside all the sexual stuff,* if Bran really is going to be chosen as king via Great Council, then that’s going to be very difficult to pull off for a 12-year-old. There isn’t even a precedent for this in the supplementary material—on the contrary, one of the reasons Viserys was chosen over Laenor, despite Laenor having the stronger claim, was because Viserys was a grown man and Laenor was a child.

We don’t know if they’ll make the Jon Snow show, although I find it quite likely. Obviously it won’t be called Game of Thrones Season 9–as you mentioned a few days ago, doing a full retcon would be admitting defeat—but I do think it will be used as a way to temper S8, the same way Star Wars has been creating material for 15 years to temper the prequels (and will probably start doing for the sequels soon enough). 
 

*Was the implication supposed to be that Raff is a pedophile? Because if not, then I have a very hard time believing a grown man would be successfully seduced by a pre-pubescent girl.

[The Bard of Banefort]

25 minutes ago, Ran said:

It was one reason he wanted to do it, but it was further down in priority than other reasons, and in the end that he didn't do it suggests he felt they were not, in fact, the greatest priority.

Can you share what the other reasons were (or what you think they were)?

[Takiedevushkikakzvezdy]

14 minutes ago, Angel Eyes said:

Some locations flummox me a bit; for example, during Robert's Rebellion, how was Ned able to move the Northern army into the Riverlands without incurring a toll from Walder Frey?

Technically, it's possible to follow the Kingsroad right to where the three forks meet and then just turn west towards Riverrun.

[SeanF]

6 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Setting aside all the sexual stuff,* if Bran really is going to be chosen as king via Great Council, then that’s going to be very difficult to pull off for a 12-year-old. There isn’t even a precedent for this in the supplementary material—on the contrary, one of the reasons Viserys was chosen over Laenor, despite Laenor having the stronger claim, was because Viserys was a grown man and Laenor was a child.

We don’t know if they’ll make the Jon Snow show, although I find it quite likely. Obviously it won’t be called Game of Thrones Season 9–as you mentioned a few days ago, doing a full retcon would be admitting defeat—but I do think it will be used as a way to temper S8, the same way Star Wars has been creating material for 15 years to temper the prequels (and will probably start doing for the sequels soon enough). 
 

*Was the implication supposed to be that Raff is a pedophile? Because if not, then I have a very hard time believing a grown man would be successfully seduced by a pre-pubescent girl.

Raff is a paedophile.  

[The Bard of Banefort]

1 minute ago, SeanF said:

Raff is a paedophile.  

I haven’t read Arya chapters in years. Was this revealed in Mercy or was it in ACOK?

[SeanF]

34 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I haven’t read Arya chapters in years. Was this revealed in Mercy or was it in ACOK?

I think, Mercy.  Another guard expresses disgust at how young Raff likes them.

[BlackLightning]

57 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Setting aside all the sexual stuff,* if Bran really is going to be chosen as king via Great Council, then that’s going to be very difficult to pull off for a 12-year-old. There isn’t even a precedent for this in the supplementary material—on the contrary, one of the reasons Viserys was chosen over Laenor, despite Laenor having the stronger claim, was because Viserys was a grown man and Laenor was a child.

I don't think Bran is going to be chosen as a king by a Great Council. Not in the way Viserys or TV-Bran were chosen at least.

 

Bran can simply become king by matter of inheritance.

• Let's say that Aegon is fake and that Jon is the true heir of the Targaryen dynasty. Dany would naturally be his heir until he has a child of his own (by her or someone else)
• If something happens to Jon and Dany, then the rulership of Westeros would pass to Jon's next of kin. Since there are no more Targaryens, Jon's next of kin would be the Starks of Winterfell, from most senior to most junior.
• According to Westerosi laws of succession, the most senior member of House Stark is...drumroll please...Brandon Stark.

Bran's telepathic powers and the ongoing apocalyptic circumstances would only make the people of Westeros that much more receptive to Bran's claim. Might makes right, right?

And Bran would also be the rightful Lord of Harrenhal which due to its size and its central location makes for a perfect (if not ominous) royal seat.

Voila!

[Angel Eyes]

1 hour ago, Takiedevushkikakzvezdy said:

Technically, it's possible to follow the Kingsroad right to where the three forks meet and then just turn west towards Riverrun.

And for some reason nobody thinks of these?

[The Bard of Banefort]

4 minutes ago, BlackLightning said:

I don't think Bran is going to be chosen as a king by a Great Council. Not in the way Viserys or TV-Bran were chosen at least.

 

Bran can simply become king by matter of inheritance.

• Let's say that Aegon is fake and that Jon is the true heir of the Targaryen dynasty. Dany would naturally be his heir until he has a child of his own (by her or someone else)
• If something happens to Jon and Dany, then the rulership of Westeros would pass to Jon's next of kin. Since there are no more Targaryens, Jon's next of kin would be the Starks of Winterfell, from most senior to most junior.
• According to Westerosi laws of succession, the most senior member of House Stark is...drumroll please...Brandon Stark.

Bran's telepathic powers and the ongoing apocalyptic circumstances would only make the people of Westeros that much more receptive to Bran's claim. Might makes right, right?

And Bran would also be the rightful Lord of Harrenhal which due to its size and its central location makes for a perfect (if not ominous) royal seat.

Voila!

Wouldn’t the next in line be whoever had the most Targ blood (the Baratheons, the Penroses, whichever houses Egg’s sisters married into, etc.)? The Starks never had a claim on the Iron Throne.

[BlackLightning]

1 minute ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Wouldn’t the next in line be whoever had the most Targ blood (the Baratheons, the Penroses, whichever houses Egg’s sisters married into, etc.)? The Starks never had a claim on the Iron Throne.

Maybe. The Baratheons would be long gone by that point.

I doubt the Penroses and other such Houses will survive the Long Night or have the proximity and wherewithal to challenge the Starks.

 

Another way of looking at it is that Bran is the King of the North and the Trident (and probably the Vale).

The lords and knights from the other kingdoms could just ask him to rule over them in their absence of a clear claimaint.

[Takiedevushkikakzvezdy]

5 minutes ago, Angel Eyes said:

And for some reason nobody thinks of these?

I guess it's easier to pay toll to the Freys than traveling hundreds of extra miles.

[Hugorfonics]

3 hours ago, frenin said:

I know you dislike Ned but even you know that he's not viewed like that in or out universe

I dislike Trump but I'm currently watching day 4 of the investigation and it seems like lots of people in our universe like Trump despite his clear cut atrociousness. 

3 hours ago, frenin said:

and that the writer purposefully made him the paragon of virtue.

Writer has him execute an innocent mentally unstable person in our first meeting. I definitely do not see him as a paragon of virtue. (Brienne and Davos are the goody two shoes)

3 hours ago, frenin said:

the rest what? 

None of Cats business 

3 hours ago, frenin said:

He got to be in that position because Robb trusted him as one his top advisors and generals.

No, he got into that position because in Westeros the options are extremely limited so it's either Roose or Greatjon, who would have totally decimated half of the northern army the first day. (Probably Tyrion too though)