Game of Thrones, Season 3
Feb. 2nd, 2015 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroJethrien and I, as you’ve probably guessed from the title, are running a bit behind on Game of Thrones. (Or, at least, I am—she’s read all the books, so it’s not like a lot of things are going to surprise her.) I’m sure we’ll buy Season 4 soon, if only so that season 5 doesn’t leave us completely in the dust.
The Red Wedding (which I’d heard about, but it wasn’t clear whose wedding it was or which plotline it was part of) was an interesting and effective plot twist (especially following Ned’s death in Season 1), though it did turn a lot of Rob and Cat’s plotline into a shaggy dog story. Was it an important plot event, and was the emotional impact greater because of the time spent on those characters? Sure. But all the same, it ends an entire thread on a sour and unfinished-feeling note.
There are several characters who seem to walk out of the plot on what could be their final note—Arya’s friend the baker and the youngest of the Stark boys, to name two. GoT seems unwilling to do the, “Hey, remember this person from two seasons ago? Well, now they’re dead” TV convention, which implies that being offstage for as long as possible is good for your longevity. I actually wondered if Sam’s plot was done too, given that he seemed to reach a convenient emotional stopping point and delivered a key MacGuffin to Bran, but Jethrien assures me he has more to do.
The torture of Theon went on way too long—they had established what a nutjob sadist Bolton’s bastard was after the Prisoner-like escape scene; they didn’t need to spend three episodes gorily trying to top it. (I also was fairly sure that Theon’s father was responsible for his torture, because the plot set up only two people with motivation to hurt him, and Rob would never go in for that sort of torture. Bolton’s bastard was set up as a throwaway thing; some of the time spent on Rob might have been better spent dropping hints that Bolton was more important than he seemed.
I have a sneaking feeling that Arya’s plotline in future seasons is going to become, “Arya stabs a dude. Arya stabs a different dude. Arya drops bricks on a dude because the stabbing was getting repetitive.” Then again, many of the plotlines would be well-resolved if they ended with, “And then Arya stabbed him.”
Joffrey and Lord Greyjoy are clearly both slated for death, given the Red Woman’s demonstrated effectiveness. I have no idea how Lord Greyjoy will die, but that sets up his daughter to be a really nasty complication for somebody, probably Bolton. Joffrey could be killed by pretty much anybody who’s met him, but my money’s on either the Tyrells (assuming Marjory can convince him to have sex with her first), or an as-of-yet unforeseen complication. The other Lannisters all want him dead but are smart enough to know they can’t let him die [yet]. The small council doesn’t seem to have reason to risk it, Rob is gone, and Stannis doesn’t seem to currently have either the manpower or the magic available to do it directly.
I feel like they’re getting freer with the male nudity than they were in the early seasons; which I think is fine and better for a balanced audience to appreciate.
The Red Wedding (which I’d heard about, but it wasn’t clear whose wedding it was or which plotline it was part of) was an interesting and effective plot twist (especially following Ned’s death in Season 1), though it did turn a lot of Rob and Cat’s plotline into a shaggy dog story. Was it an important plot event, and was the emotional impact greater because of the time spent on those characters? Sure. But all the same, it ends an entire thread on a sour and unfinished-feeling note.
There are several characters who seem to walk out of the plot on what could be their final note—Arya’s friend the baker and the youngest of the Stark boys, to name two. GoT seems unwilling to do the, “Hey, remember this person from two seasons ago? Well, now they’re dead” TV convention, which implies that being offstage for as long as possible is good for your longevity. I actually wondered if Sam’s plot was done too, given that he seemed to reach a convenient emotional stopping point and delivered a key MacGuffin to Bran, but Jethrien assures me he has more to do.
The torture of Theon went on way too long—they had established what a nutjob sadist Bolton’s bastard was after the Prisoner-like escape scene; they didn’t need to spend three episodes gorily trying to top it. (I also was fairly sure that Theon’s father was responsible for his torture, because the plot set up only two people with motivation to hurt him, and Rob would never go in for that sort of torture. Bolton’s bastard was set up as a throwaway thing; some of the time spent on Rob might have been better spent dropping hints that Bolton was more important than he seemed.
I have a sneaking feeling that Arya’s plotline in future seasons is going to become, “Arya stabs a dude. Arya stabs a different dude. Arya drops bricks on a dude because the stabbing was getting repetitive.” Then again, many of the plotlines would be well-resolved if they ended with, “And then Arya stabbed him.”
Joffrey and Lord Greyjoy are clearly both slated for death, given the Red Woman’s demonstrated effectiveness. I have no idea how Lord Greyjoy will die, but that sets up his daughter to be a really nasty complication for somebody, probably Bolton. Joffrey could be killed by pretty much anybody who’s met him, but my money’s on either the Tyrells (assuming Marjory can convince him to have sex with her first), or an as-of-yet unforeseen complication. The other Lannisters all want him dead but are smart enough to know they can’t let him die [yet]. The small council doesn’t seem to have reason to risk it, Rob is gone, and Stannis doesn’t seem to currently have either the manpower or the magic available to do it directly.
I feel like they’re getting freer with the male nudity than they were in the early seasons; which I think is fine and better for a balanced audience to appreciate.
