Oh god, more t.v. I blame this on the blizzard last weekend that kept me stuck inside for basically three straight days. Because of this Katie and I zipped through the second season of Game of Thrones very quickly. As the season started off, I was worried that the series was starting to lose me- there were simply too many characters with too many of their own motives for me to make sense of it all. Eventually though after a conversation with Stan it all mostly fell into place and my love for the series remains strong. I have a feeling that I will enjoy watching season 3 more than 2, though, even if the quality isn't as good, because I'd like to take some time between episodes to make sure I understand what all the characters are up to. Does that make Game of Thrones one of the rare series that's better on tv than DVD? Perhaps! I'll find out starting next month.
It's a delicate business, this Game of Thrones stuff, because you want to search the Internet for recaps and reviews of the sprawling fantasy series you're watching, but you want to be careful not to spoil anything for yourself. Having read the books, which NEVER stop introducing new characters, I can imagine the show will continue to throw new characters and situations at its audience; maybe the fact that the third book is being stretched into two seasons means they'll be able to spend more time on introductions and expositions; then again, maybe it just means they'll add in more bad plot lines like here in Season 2 when Daenerys loses her dragons, something that never happens during her five-chapter Book 2 journey.
ReplyDeleteThere's entirely too much screen time for Daenerys in this season despite her story going nowhere. This is never more clear then when they end one of the episodes with the aforementioned revelation that her dragons have been stolen like it is supposed to be some monumental shift. No one cared. That reveal is right up there with the reveal of Eve as the fourth competitor in that women's match at Royal Rumble 2011. Daenerys is a whiny, entitled bitch. They need to stop focusing on her when she's pretty much the least interesting part of the story.
ReplyDeleteWhoa Whoa. Keith. She's not whiney. She's simply on a quest for the throne just like the rest of them. I feel like all the characters going after the throne (minus Rob Stark) feel an entitlement to the throne. I think you HAVE to feel some sort of entitlement to go after that position. So lay off Daenerys.
ReplyDeleteWell, since we're all lending opinions...
ReplyDelete1) I never got half the whiny entitled bitch vibe from Daenerys that I got from her older brother, or worse yet Joffrey. I'll agree that she's the least interesting part of Season 2, though, which is a shame since she was one of the strongest parts of Season 1. I can assure you that she has more to do in Book 3 than she did in Book 2, so hopefully the show doesn't come up with convoluted go-nowhere crap this time just to keep Emilia Clarke involved. Actually, I'll go one step further even and offer this defense of Dany: she's supposed to be fifteen in the show. Hell, in the books she's thirteen. She has also spent her entire life listening to her brother talk about how the throne is his right, and how the people back in Westeros yearn for a true Targaryen ruler. This is obviously bullshit, but the brainwashed 15-year-old doesn't know any better, so what it's easy for us to see as "entitlement" may in fact be a confused hormonal teenager experiencing all kinds of pressure to live up to her namesake or whatever. Yes, the character is annoying at times, but I empathize with her and blame the show's writing, not the character. (I realize that doesn't make a ton of sense, but maybe it comes with having read the books. Dunno.)
2) I don't think Robb is "going after the throne" as much as he is seeking Northern independence and revenge against the Lannisters. The Starks have always been Winterfell-first type people who value family, tradition, and honor more than power, so it never seemed to me during Book or Season 2 that Robb was after the Iron Throne as much as he was just trying to raise hell and kill Lannisters. (No comment on what he ends up doing going forward; I'd never spoil his future actions, I just think his current motives don't include the throne.)
3) Seriously, I'm pumped as hell for Season 3. The first two seasons (and books) were great, but this next batch of episodes is going to blow all of you non-readers away.