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Game Of Thrones [Spoilers]

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Yeah, it was a bit weird in the same way as I enjoy viewing Hermione Granger's adult body in Harry Potter - "We watched her as a 10yo; now I want to see her in the shower" (quote: some microceleb whose name eludes me). Anyway, she's fit.
 
One of my favourite scenes in the series will always now be the one in front of the
fireplace where everyone gets on the grog and Jaime knights Brienne. So exactly the way I'd prepare for the long night. Piss up with mates, making new friends by the fire, wine in the belly.
 
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Something of a nothing episode, as it's all about the lull before the storm. Still some nice interaction and witty dialogue between characters wondering if they're about to die. Bit surprised at Maisie's (semi) nude scene!
Can't wait for next week!
 
Lot of commentators opining ep2 is a farewell and a tribute to the many characters who will be deceasing in 5 days. Too much talk of death pools. Let the chips fall where they may. I want to be shocked, not affirmed. That's why I watch the damn show.

And now the complete contradiction: A speculation.
We've heard (and apparently it's in the books) that there are myriad tunnel structures between Winterfell and Wintertown and all about. I'm guessing the dead will not attack from the front but from below. They'll swarm up from the crypts. The dragons will have to light up the castle to defeat them. gulp
 
Anyone who has ever played the pc game series Total War would not have approached battle like that.

Throwing your cavalry away in a headlong charge at night and having your siege/artillery at the front of your army. My wife was moaning at me for rolling my eyes during the whole thing. Also, IF you're going to be fighting for hours why not ditch the heavy two-handed weapons? Great against armoured knights and cavalry but reanimated skeletons?

Also how much did he rip off Tolkien and Moorcock? I tried reading his stuff once but found it a bit shite.
 
That episode was exciting to watch* but a bit of a let down in terms of the overall narrative.

*And dark, literally
 
Big money does not always = quality product, but I was breathless in the last 20min. So many payoff moments. Loving where it's going. Looking forward to next week.
 
That episode was exciting to watch* but a bit of a let down in terms of the overall narrative.

*And dark, literally


Yep, I felt it was like the old budget horror film productions. If you are shooting a film and you're skint then shoot it at night.
 
There was something quite Bruegel-like in the scenes of flames, combat and masses of dead.
Unmissable TV and some of the best surround-sound effects I've ever heard outside of a Blu-Ray!

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It was called the Dark Ages for a reason.
 
I've just watched it again, more dispassionately this time. Bloody good, lots of sleight of hand though, and they did bugger up the brightness level for the first 40 minutes. Anyway...
Hats off to the showrunners for one of the best story-arc Macguffins of all time - the Whites. The big bad is clearly actually someone or something else. Winter has been and gone again.
 
Just watched it for the second time too. Much less stressful this time round.

I still can't quite believe that it's a TV show, not a movie. The lines are very blurred nowadays, not a bad thing.

An incredible 85ish minutes of entertainment.
 
I thought that was abysmal, couldn't see what was going on for most of it, piss poor tactics from both sides, prioritisation of surprises over any actual storytelling.

Can't believe I renewed my NowTV subscription for this... this is what happens when you experiment with legal downloading.
 
I thought that was abysmal, couldn't see what was going on for most of it, piss poor tactics from both sides, prioritisation of surprises over any actual storytelling. Can't believe I renewed my NowTV subscription for this... this is what happens when you experiment with legal downloading.
I must agree. I can't see any value in the whole strategy of deploying all those poor guys outside the walls to die stupidly. Couldn't they feed them all? Is that why they threw their lives away pointlessly? Or perhaps John Snow was demonstrating his usual tactical genius as seen at the Battle of the Bastards? It would have made far more sense to keep everyone within the walls, and had the flaming moat closer to the structure. Also, given that they know their enemy by now, why nothing to sweep the walls clear of zombies as they climb up? I think a big log thresher or two swingling back and forth might have been very useful.

There is also the marked stupidity of the White Walkers using bodies to breach the flaming moat, and not taking the time to haul down a tree or two to make improvised ladders. Frankly the only reason that zombies can climb walls that way is because they don't tire, but it would have been hell on their fingernails.

I confess that I initially thought that the big surprise would be that Arya had disguised herself as Bran for the purpose of assassinating the White Walker leader.
 
...piss poor tactics...

I disagree. The goodies had to provoke a fight, or the Whites would simply have surrounded Winterfell just outside the fire ditch, then starved them out.

The Dothraki appeared to charge spontaneously, with no order having been given. That was suboptimal, but it broke the logjam.

The goodies' air superiority could have been better employed.

maximus otter
 
I disagree. The goodies had to provoke a fight, or the Whites would simply have surrounded Winterfell just outside the fire ditch, then starved them out.

The Dothraki appeared to charge spontaneously, with no order having been given. That was suboptimal, but it broke the logjam.

The goodies' air superiority could have been better employed.

maximus otter

They could have still used the cavalry to harass, flank and use the feigned retreat to provoke a fight - Actual light to medium cavalry tactics.

I get screening troops, but that's not done in the middle of the night. All you've done with the reckless charge is just provide the Night King with fresh bodies to reanimate. There was nothing in the show to suggest that mass suicide was on the cards or a race based on the Mongols, (highly trained and disciplined horsemen), would do this. Their job was flanking, encirclement, feigning etc.

Also, the Whites could have swallowed up the cavalry and still done the whole waiting game to starve them out.

Like I said above if I tried that calvary tactic in any real-time strategy game I would lose. It was such an idiotic strategy it spoiled the episode a lot. Also sticking trebuchets in front of your army is a basic no-no in games like Total War.
 
Yes, I was expecting realistic battle strategies in a show about dragons, giants, fire magic and undead hordes too.
 
Yes, I was expecting realistic battle strategies in a show about dragons, giants, fire magic and undead hordes too.


Yeah but with that logic then arm them with Death Stars and ray guns?

Fantasy still has to have a basis in some sort of reality. That's why people like Tolkien, Donaldson, Abacrombie, etc sell books.
 
Yeah but with that logic then arm them with Death Stars and ray guns?

Fantasy still has to have a basis in some sort of reality. That's why people like Tolkien, Donaldson, Abacrombie, etc sell books.

None of the Commanders were particularly experienced in that type of warfare - Jon Snow previously led a small group of guards manning the wall, Brienne was basically a bodyguard, the wildlings were guerillas, Lyanna was 12..... the only person with any real experience was Jamie and nobody trusted him enough to lead.
 
I still thoroughly enjoyed the episode but, given how ridiculouly fragile the White head honcho was - just so much as a scratch from a splinter of dragon glass destroys him, shouldn't he have stayed away from the action?

The hordes of dead seemed to be winning the battle quite easily without his personal intervention.
 
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I still thoroughly enjoyed the episode but, given how ridiculous fragile the White head honcho was - just so much as a scratch from a splinter of dragon glass destroys him, shouldn't he have stayed away from the action?

The hordes of dead seemed to be winning the battle quite easily without his personal intervention.

It wasn't a scratch - Arya stabbed him in the heart with dragonglass, destroying the splinter of dragonglass that the Children of The Forest put there to turn a human into the Night King.
 
It wasn't a scratch - Arya stabbed him in the heart with dragonglass, destroying the splinter of dragonglass that the Children of The Forest put there to turn a human into the Night King.

Just watched it again and it looked like she stabbed him just below the ribs on the left hand side.
The stabbing thrust didn't look enough to be a fatal blow, if the knife hadn't had magic properties.
Was it "dragon glass" or "Valyrian steel" BTW?

My point though was that the White king was such an obvious weak link in the white walker army's grand strategy. Their vast numerical superiority and ability to turn dead good guys against their own army, counts for nothing when the leader gets pricked by a flying Arya appearing out of nowhere.
 
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Wasn't it the valyrian steel dagger that Tyrion used to own?
There was likely something with Bran that the Night King needed to do personally. Perhaps a vulcan mind meld.
 
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