HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones - will this be just for nerds? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

peggy killed stannis.

Or, they just decided to choose the POV angle for his death blow? Is that so ridiculous? Why all the denial?

Stannis sent off to recuperate with The Hound and Benjen Stark and Catelyn's uncle and gendry. Can't wait for that B-team to step up in season 8.

he does have the exasperated look of a sitcom patriarch

― let he who has not approved of the ronaldinho bottle opener cast the (sarahell), Monday, 15 June 2015 20:48

My favourite post today.

Or, they just decided to choose the POV angle for his death blow? Is that so ridiculous? Why all the denial?

bc in genre fiction if you don't see the person die you better believe they're still alive

>next season should just be all the dead characters wandering around in purgatory

MAYBE THIS *IS* WHAT WE ARE WATCHING!

nb it could very well be that this is another one of GOT's genre defying moments just to screw with the audience, but any genre savvy watcher/reader is going to skeptical of a death that isn't shown

Do we know Robert Baratheon is dead? It didn't happen onscreen.

― Is It Any Wonder I'm Not the (President Keyes), Monday, June 15, 2015 4:40 PM (23 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i guess i could break down exactly why stannis dying here is different than robert dying in season one (i can think of like four reasons off the top of my head) but if you don't get the feeling that the quick camera break away was concealing some narrative trickery than i'm probably not going to convince you

Didn't King Robert have a funeral with the body there?

I don't get that feeling here. It's pretty conclusive story-wise for Stannis. The tragedy of the ultimate sacrifice of his army and his daughter and his wife not playing out, and then the one principal he holds above everything (duty) being the reason he dies, it all closes his chapter very nicely.

xpost

i was so disappointed in dorne this season. I was hoping dr bashir would be getting an army or doing something actually interesting but he just wound up a dornish patsy while the sand snakes lamely conspired behind his back to kill teenage girl.

*principle (autocorrect)

Didn't King Robert have a funeral with the body there?

no

yeah i don't know if i agree w/ that at all. i think it's certainly possible that Stannis is dead, but if he is it represents yet another tremendous anti-climax to a narrative that was developed over the course of a number of seasons. xxp

Not saying it was very climactic, just that I don't see them dragging his story out any further. Nothing about Brienne's motivations cues to me that there would be any incentive for her to not kill him.

They rushed his downfall which is why it felt like a throwaway imo

i don't think it felt rushed, it felt like the appropriately banal and inevitable end to his megalomaniacal crusade

Pretty much every character in this series in thrall to hubris, which is why they inevitably have some horrible fate/setback befall them. I don't see why Stannis would be an exception, particularly after burning his daughter alive.

either he ends up having cross country adventures with Sansa and Theon or he's dead -- could go either way, but it is noteworthy that you don't see him die.

What I mean is that he seemed to have his shit together as recently as when he was hanging out at Castle Black. Went downhill very quick after that.

xxp

but it is noteworthy that you don't see him die.

― let he who has not approved of the ronaldinho bottle opener cast the (sarahell), Monday, June 15, 2015 5:22 PM (25 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Again persoanlly, I sincerely believe that they'd be somewhat surprised that people are reading into what was probably simply a choice to use a POV angle and nothing more. Occam's Razor kinda stance for me. That's where I'll leave it.

At least Jon Snow got to smile at least once before he died: his little joke with Sam, "I'm glad the end of the world is being enjoyed by someone"

Without spoilers, is it just Arya's story that is more advanced in the books? (I've read them all but can't actually remember).

Robert being dead is quite obviously a thing on account of multiple characters saying and then acting as if he has died. How is this the case with Stannis?

There's every reason to doubt Stannis' death until we see receipts.
xps

What I mean is that he seemed to have his shit together as recently as when he was hanging out at Castle Black. Went downhill very quick after that.

xxp

― Evan, Monday, June 15, 2015 9:22 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Without spoilers, is it just Arya's story that is more advanced in the books? (I've read them all but can't actually remember).

Bran's, kinda sorta. Most of the others are caught up or just so different it's hard to say.

xpost maybe someone thought that two scenes of major characters bleeding out into the snow was one too many for a single episode

the thing about Robert was a joke guys jeez

hah sorry misfire. was going to reply "and every decision he's made since leaving has been heinous"

it was pretty clear how bad he fucked up when he army went out to meet the boltons. dude had nobody left following his dumb ass.

Did the soldiers who deserted Stannis do so because they were disgusted by the burning or just that they knew they'd lose the battle?

I suspect the burning was the issue. I'll miss stannis, he was part of some great scenes. And yeah like his gloomy Michael Gross thing.

I liked*

The High Sparrow seemed pleased that Cersei wasn't going to admit that her children were Jaime's. What going on there? Does he want Tommen to remain on the throne?

xp
I assumed they deserted mostly for self-preservation.

I think the "torture the watch who missed Bolton's men and then kill them"/"watch me burn my daughter for good luck" 1-2 combo was not the morale booster Stannis thought it would be

The High Sparrow seemed pleased that Cersei wasn't going to admit that her children were Jaime's. What going on there? Does he want Tommen to remain on the throne?

Maybe he wants to have a trial because he has other proof.

I do like the phrase "self swords"

it's sell swords

Varys slinking out from the shadows was the episode's highpoint. Tyrion running Mereen, w/Varys and Grey Worm, should be interesting to see.

lol at Daenerys' storyline ending back at square one. I hope she spends the next five seasons slowly rising back to power.

suspect the dothraki are gonna be impressed with her dragon

Gwendoline Christie (Brienne) is so fun and charming on the extra interview shows. Only other things I've seen her in are small parts in Terry Gilliam films where I didn't notice her.

Ah yes, sell swords.

shell swords

they're swell swords when they're not being smell swords

wish they'd shown the set-up for Jon's death
"That Jon Snow needs taking down a peg or two. I've got a plan..."

"what shall we tell him? There's a white walker here to see him? but like a really hot lady one?"
"nah, just make up some shit about his family"

"and what is it really, again?"
"a plank of wood with 'traitor' scrawled on it"
"brilliant, brilliant. His face when he sees that!"

Cersei sells self swords by the narrow seashore

Magical assassins, witchy women, zombie monsters, dragon riders, wanton abuse and sadism, damsels in distress, actual cliffhangers.

Bah.

hearty lols at the piece of wood with TRAITOR carved into it

Yep, in case we didn't get it.

It did need an arrow pointing to a crudely drawn picture of Jon, though.