It doesnt have to totally follow the books. The show is great because it followed a great story (ie: the books). Once HBO was green lit to write their garbage, it went to ****. Yes, sure, its better than any TV out there. But GRRM wouldn't write one dimensional characters like the Night King, or teleport armies all over the continent, or hole up all the women in children in a crypt full of dead people that we all knew would be brought to life. Should I go on?
He wouldn't write anything at all... because he didn't have an earthly idea of what to do (or how to get there) once he finished the last book. I honestly think those overly loyal to the source material would rather there be nothing further on screen, vs. something....
Yeah it's abundantly clear GRRM has no better way to finish the story than the HBO writers do. He wrote the first 3 books (the only truly great part of the story writing wise) in rapid order. Now he's been twiddling his thumbs for 20 years. The last 2 books showed no quality plot progression either. Both books were him just shuffling stuff around yet readers still trying to canonize him as a master of quality plot weaving. That's not to say HBO's writing has been good, it hasn't, but if Martin had a true quality idea to finish this stuff out, he would have told them.
GRRM's writing has been drained from all the fangirl bjs he gets at the 20 something conventions he goes to every year. Can't really fault him for that.
Agreed. I certainly think HBO writers have done what they can... and on paper, things are actually quite well articulated, but I can see why some find fault with the execution of the ideas. The fact remains that they don't have another 5 seasons or 15 episodes/season to work it all out. I've also seen plenty here complain about when "nothing happens", or an episode devoted to character development gets lampooned. Now you have an episode where its non-stop action, and people start spouting off at deus-ex-machina, or "cheapening out", when there is literally no other way to end this battle (either the NK kills everybody, or he gets killed... and they've well established the one way of killing a WW).
Hey I said I get it. I’m not saying people shouldn’t have a gripe or feelings toward what HBO has done. I’m just saying for me, I’m good with it. Anything can be picked apart. But the stories weren’t finished, no? What can you expect them to follow if not?
Yes of course. I have no problem with Jon ignoring what was happening around him to get to the NK. I think it makes perfect sense for Jon's character in that scenario and was a great touch. Shows you how dire the situation was that Jon Snow of all people would not help a friend in need. Just thought he would be one to hustle/run to try and finish the job since the NK was on ground level for Jon to go to combat with but the scene wouldn't have looked as cool as it would have been moving too fast. Not to mention there were obstacles/wights in his way.
This is 100% true. GRRM wouldn't, and will not, write any more good ASOIAF books. Books 1-3 were great, and then the story became too big for him.
Nonsense. Something can happen when nothing is happening. Like episode 2. Or half of episode 3. As another poster pointed out, episode 1 spent the entire time undoing the end of season 7. My belief is the HBO off source writing is going the opposite direction of GRRM. GRRM kept it real. Good and bad things happen to everyone. Sometimes the good king gets his head cut off and a wolf's head sewn to his body. Sometimes the kings mother gets killed and thrown into the river. And sometimes when you're a complete dick to your dwarf son, he will shoot a bolt into your chest. The cheap fair weather fans do not want the good guys to die so therefore the TV show writers will keep them alive. When was the last time we've seen a major 'good guy' character die? I will not be surprised if all the good guys make it to the end. This is not what made GoT great.
I think a better way to off the Night King would have been when he fell off his dragon and Jon was charging after him. He was alone then and they could have done a battle then and at least Arya could have snuck up then. At least we would have seen Jon and NK 1v1 for a bit.
What's the Rock-Paper-Scissors of Lord of the Rings. Gandalf beats all armies; the Lord beats Gandalf; and Gollum slipping on a rock beats the Lord.
I enjoyed the episode a lot. That was a freaking television landmark. I know it's not even fair to compare HBO to TV, but cripes, that was impressive. Everybody that died had some great scenes in the series. I was worried about everybody. Much different from most series, where I'm basically hoping someone gets shot in the face at all times. lol Haven't felt quite like that since the last season of Spartacus, or actually the last beyond-the-wall teamup, probably. Night King was a smug **** to the last. One of the most indomitable TV villains ever. Shame about that magical weakness, guy, you were so close! People have been whining about the show since at least season four, and yet they can't stop watching. That in and of itself is pretty impressive to me. I'm sure more and more people will be screaming about how the show sucks the closer we get to the end. People always hate the way shows and series end. It was all people could do to come up for air once in while huffing the dongs of Mad Men and the Sopranos so hard for YEARS and of course, by the end, they are all like "WAAAHHHH THIS IS GARBAGE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER!" I still look forward to this show every week and I usually rewatch every episode at least once. It's really fun. I kinda pity all the amateur behavioral scientists out there who can't help but pick apart everything that happens, but I'm sure that's some kind of fun for you, too. Wish we had more episodes left.
At some point, you can’t just keep killing off main characters...GRRM himself realized that and had already dictated who “makes it” to the show-runners before the last two seasons. There’s also a point where plot twists rooted in betrayal tends to lose its effect... that being said, still plenty more time for deaths and betrayals. In the end, would have been much easier if GRRM had just finished the story... but he didn’t. At least there is no longer the endless book devoted criticism of how they interpreted certain plots.
