Jump to content

[Spoilers] Episode 101 Discussion


Ran
 Share

Recommended Posts

1 minute ago, Syri0_F0rel said:

The Dornish and the Marcher Lords were in a near constant state of war.  I find it unlikely that a Marcher Lord's steward was Dornish. 

They raided each other's countries for thousands of years, stealing each other's women and crops. They must be all the same by now.

That said, after decades of peace between Dorne and the Iron Throne the idea that some steward at Blackhaven would take a Dornish wife isn't exactly far-fetched.

And, you know, Beric Dondarrion was betrothed to a Dayne ... and walked around with Dornish squire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Syri0_F0rel said:

The Dornish and the Marcher Lords were in a near constant state of war.  I find it unlikely that a Marcher Lord's steward was Dornish. 

Speaking as a Medieval historian, constant states of war are usually where the MOST crossover happens. Just ask what the Kingdom of Jerusalem's relationship to Muslim citizens was.

Or Spain before the Reconquest.

Certainly, during the 100 years war, French influence didn't exactly get smaller.

Edited by C.T. Phipps
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is quite weird. Now that I think about it, though, didn't Borros also called Jocelyn his great-aunt instead of his aunt, back in F&B? What is going on with the Baratheon-Targaryen relation during the Dance era? It's in times like this when I wish GRRM had some appendix where he showed characters date births (or at least their age).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Rockroi said:

" I'm talking about for us, the viewer,

 You seem to have missed the commentator here who said watching this with his pregnant wife was anything but fun.  How old are you?  What do you know of women, pregnancy, childbirth, reproduction? how in the frackin world can you call that fun?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Obviously it’s only been episode, but the fandom definitely feels smaller this time. Just as rabid, but not as big. (I’m not saying that’s a bad thing either).

I wonder which episode it was that turned off some critics? I didn’t get the impression that it was the premiere from their reviews.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, C.T. Phipps said:

10,000,000 viewers of the first episode and that's just the people who watched it in America.

It seems the love of Westeros is still strong.

I expect a renewal after the second episode.

Granted, they did run a $100 million marketing campaign and launched a huge deal on HBO Max subscriptions only a few days before HOTD premiered. But yes, the audience was huge. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Granted, they did run a $100 million marketing campaign and launched a huge deal on HBO Max subscriptions only a few days before HOTD premiered. But yes, the audience was huge. 

That's about five times Better Call Saul.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Yes, the thing I've issue with is not so much Daemon-Criston (although there it is also kind of presumptuous to assume Cole would dismount just because Daemon couldn't stay in the saddle - he could have dismounted in a chivalric gesture, though, but not because Daemon 'wanted to continue the fight on foot') but the wanton killings later on. There is no point to this, since it is clearly not a melee and they are not there to kill each other.

 

Tournament fighting is the only example I can think of of the upper classes engaging in a dangerous contact sport, for the amusement of the lower classes (as well as highborn ladies).  Almost always, the reverse is the case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, SeanF said:

That's about five times Better Call Saul.

Five times the spending? I suppose that makes sense. BCS is (I believe) a courtroom drama, and it probably only costs a fraction of what HOTD does (although the actors might make more).

Something I find annoying is when people claim that GOT is the most popular show ever. It’s the most popular premium show ever, but there are a dozen other cable shows that consistently pull in larger audiences.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Five times the spending? I suppose that makes sense. BCS is (I believe) a courtroom drama, and it probably only costs a fraction of what HOTD does (although the actors might make more).

Something I find annoying is when people claim that GOT is the most popular show ever. It’s the most popular premium show ever, but there are a dozen other cable shows that consistently pull in larger audiences.

I meant five times the viewership.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, C.T. Phipps said:

Wait until the rest of the White Walkers come back in Snow.

After all, maybe it was only the Night's King's forces that they wiped out.

Yea, honestly, that's probably why they decided to beat the on "ice and fire" prophecy drum - they are creating a potential set-up for "Snow", where Jon will get his high-fantasy arc against the Others that was excised from GoT, and the outcome of that last is going to be treated as merely a respite, a False Spring. What else of interest is there still for him to do? Overthrow Sansa?:rolleyes:.

In hindsight, it seems that GRRM's subversion intent has always been limited to a Fisher King archetype becoming the "high king" rather than an  Arthurian archetype, who would be the the prophesised savior, but remain largely unknown and unaknowledged. The idea that a woman might play either of these roles was clearly a step too far for him and only used as a diversion. 

In fact, the initial outline* spells rather clearly IMHO that Tyrion, Jon and Bran - i.e. "dwarfs, bastards and broken things"  were supposed to be the overall main characters, with everybody else being merely a source of conflict or motivation for these 3. So, "Snow" could just go back to the roots, as it were, and somewhat redeem all the various set-ups of the Others, the Long Night, the prophecies, etc. Since the main political part is done, and Dinklage is unlikely to want to come back, they could even dispense with Tyrion at this point.

*Which clearly demonstrates, along with WoIAF an FaB that GRRM's "gardening", despite all the annoyance and delays that it caused, tends to greatly improve on his original ideas. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really hate to nitpick at such an early stage as overall I liked the episode a lot and it felt great to have a show like this back on TV...

But Viserys' crown with the sigil that we've all seen on a million bits of merchandise over the years - did anyone else think that looked like it was designed for an online shop rather than a the monarch of the realm? I didn't like it :lol:

Apologies if it's just me!

The cast was good, the music is as excellent as ever.  I've definitely moved from ambivalent to cautiously optimistic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I, too, would have preferred Viserys's proper crown, which was that of Jaehaerys. There's a photo somewhere where at one point Paddy Considine has the crown on wrong, with the Targaryen sigil at the side of his head... I'm guessing that was either a joke or a mistake they caught. Would be funny if they had to come back for reshoots just because the king didn't know how to wear his crown.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...