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[Book Spoilers] Volantis and Talisa


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Talisa provided a lot of world building for the show, but it does feel like there's to be more of a payoff for the change from Jeyne of the Westerlands to Talisa of Volantis. The letters have a Chekov feel to them. Plus her noble family, her brother that almost drowned, etc. Total crackpot, but I wonder if there will turn out to be a connection with the Maegyrs and Young Griff.

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I hope not

I want Talisa's existence to just be erased. All of it.

I can't stand her character and story line

Same. Also, her being brought to the wedding made absolutely no sense since it was insulting to the Freys.

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Same. Also, her being brought to the wedding made absolutely no sense since it was insulting to the Freys.

I think they were starting to feel the heat about her and what better way to get rid of her than to have her butchered in such a savage and shocking way

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But I'm not entirely sure Talisa wasn't planted there by Tywin. When she first met Robb, she was a virulent anti-war type person and perhaps Tywin convinced her that seducing him would break his alliances and put an end to the war.....In the end she was the same honey pot roll that Jeyne played....just a hunch on my part.....but someone like Talisa doesn't meet Robb on the battle field by accident

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I'm very disappointed Talisa is not a spy. They had been giving hints all through the last two seasons. Now we are left with this wildly unrealistic character that makes no sense at all. What do we make of Oona's shooting bow and arrow comment?

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I'm very disappointed Talisa is not a spy. They had been giving hints all through the last two seasons. Now we are left with this wildly unrealistic character that makes no sense at all. What do we make of Oona's shooting bow and arrow comment?

You honestly expected there would be a point to her story? She was horrible right from the get go. Good riddance she is gone. But.. the death was pretty brutal.

Maybe she was just learning to hold a bow? If I was on a show like that I'd definitely want to practice holding/shooting a bow lol.

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I said I wouldn't defend Talisa's story line... so meh. No defense, Talisa-haters outnumber the Talisa-don't-minders. And the Talisa-lovers, aka, grumpkins and snarks, can defend her.

But I do think its a good idea and opportunity for the showrunners to make something of her death. Jeyne's family seems insignificant to the story line, but Talisa is so mysterious with her past that an angry Volantis could be easily worked in the story. not sure how I like Volantis replacing Mereen. Just seems like too big of a plot point in Dany's story to pass up. But Volantis is close to Valyria, and just as the above said, would be a good expository moment for the Doom.

Another small criticism, where is the talk of Valyria? I really love Emilia's acting, and I loved when she said "hen Valyrio Uēpo ānogār iksan"(of the blood of Old Valyria) but its kind of strange. non-book readers probably have no idea what she meant by that.

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I'm very disappointed Talisa is not a spy. They had been giving hints all through the last two seasons. Now we are left with this wildly unrealistic character that makes no sense at all. What do we make of Oona's shooting bow and arrow comment?

That she was probably doing it for fun on her own time, like normal people do haha.

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Maybe the showrunners will keep "Volantis taking up arms against Freys/Lannisters" as a backup story if they decide to come up with an own ending to the show, independent from the books. I think I'd actually like to see that

Yes, they maybe have some of their own storylines planned in case they overtake GRRM.

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People want to give meaning to Talisa's shitty unbelievable story line

Nope, not happening

Yes her story was that stupid and she's dead now (awful, even tho I hated her, I felt bad about the whole thing) let her RIP (good riddance)

She got in the way of Robb and Cat's tragic ending/mother and son bonding

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I thought her death was brutal and very sad. Even if I've been indifferent towards her the whole time...

But I'm glad she wasn't a spy: I would've hated that storyline if she had worked in the RW and all...

But even if she had this ending then why replace Jeyne Westerling in the first place? Unless they're bringing Volantis into the North storyline.

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People want to give meaning to Talisa's shitty unbelievable story line

Nope, not happening

Yes her story was that stupid and she's dead now (awful, even tho I hated her, I felt bad about the whole thing) let her RIP (good riddance)

She got in the way of Robb and Cat's tragic ending/mother and son bonding

I don't think it got in the way at the end. Robb looked to her and his last words were mother. The look of devastation on Cat's face was just so agonizing... At that part Talisa is already a thing of the past and all focus is on Cat and her desperate bargaining for her sons life.

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I just wish they kept Jeyne Westerlings behavior and characteristics when they changed her to Talisa. JW was a thousand times more likable than Talisa and in comparison had a hilariously short amount of (screen/page?) time to do so. JW was quiet and meek and overall just a sweet young girl. Talisa on the other hand was a bad ass independent healer woman from back-end of nowhere that talked back to the king. From day one Talisa was just getting in the way of everything and always seemed out of place like chocolate in pizza, especially sitting on Robbs fucking war counsels. I mean seriously, who the fuck is this chick from volantis that is privy to the King's war counsels? and gives more advice than catlyn or anyone else? especially the infuriatingly absent Northern Bannermen?

Anyway, D&D's bungling of the Robb-Talisa arc cut half of the emotion out of the RW for me. I didn't mind them killing JW/Talisa off as she seems to have run into a dead end in the books and it would indeed have been surprising for us bookies, but they could at least have made me give a shit about her before she was (ridiculously) prison shanked.

Another thing that slightly messed up the intrigue of the RW was the lack of Freys in season 2 and this season (up until episode 5 or 6). They could at least have shown the Frey army departing in anger after the Robb-Talisa wedding. And to any idiots that would say that "it would have been too much foreshadowing!!", the betrayal of the Karstarks would easily cover it up & the unsullied would think that despite winning all his battles, Robb was coming to terms with the difficulty of being a King and was essentially failing at the game of thrones.

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Sometimes .. it just feels that people are anti-Talisa for the simple reason that she replaced Jeyne in the books & that it brought a conclusion to a lot of Theories & stuff ... I would have been truly upset if there was a replacement of the character 'HAD THE SHOW BEEN NOT CONNECTED with GRRM .. But since GRRM who obviously has a hand over the mythos of this Saga considers Talisa as appropriate .. I am fine with it .

This episode ( of all other episodes ) .. was the most important one for G.R.R.M. & for the show creators as well ... I mean they literally brought the rights of the show to execute these 10 minutes .... It obviously was with the approval of GRRM .

For people who consider her story line ridiculous ... I doubt it was more ridiculous than Robb falling in love with a low Lannister house ... and his in-laws plotting with Lannister to kill their son-in-law who is a king & their unborn grandson/daughter who might be the next big shot ... They would be doing everything detrimental to them .!!

I think GRRM had a big say in casting Talisa as Jeyne & building another practical plot line to avoid a few 'mistakes' that might have cropped up with the original story-telling . The amount of ridiculous theory that the Red Wedding caused in the books involved Robb warging just because he used 'Greywind' as his last word ... & that he may be alive as Reynald's body was not found ... Then the pregnancy & hip theories ....

The way I see it .... He is lucky he's got a chance to redo the history of his character !!!!!!

Anyways .. People would always find a reason to criticize.

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Never believed that Talisa was a spy (never really crossed my mind) so I am glad that she did not turn out to be one. Robb was betrayed by Freys, Karstarks, Boltons, Theon and to a degree his own mother. No need for him to be betrayed by his wife as well.

I do not like the character Talisa though I do not share the universal hatred of her. Swapping the bland Jeyne Westerling for a beautiful foreigner that Robb will fall in love with was a smart move IMO. It makes perfect sense that they wanted a proper love story and they did not want to get into the whole” lesser house/Tywin’s bannermen/plotting mother in-law” thing. Needles to say, watching Talisa/Robb interactions in season 2 was painful. The lines were cheesy, out of place and so “not GoT” with the beyond obvious telegraphing that “these two will hook-up soon”.

Nevertheless, I think it boils down to the actress. If Oona was great and gave the character some depth I would have liked Talisa much more. Instead she has the exact same expression whether she is sawing off someone`s leg, flirting with the king or giving war advice. Not a single scene with her (well except for the last one I suppose) is particularly memorable.

It has become fashionable on this site to blame writers for any bad acting but I cannot agree. Good/bad writing and directing will surely affect the performance but it is up to the actor/actress to embody and flesh out their character. Characters like Viserys, Joffrey or Tywin are considerably more interesting on the show compared their book counterparts not because the writers are giving them all the badass lines but solely because of the actors portraying them and giving them so much additional depth.

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