tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post2348521294180450778..comments2024-03-22T04:20:11.870-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: Game of Thrones 7x04: The Spoils of WarAustin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-43125857611032583662017-08-17T12:06:11.430-05:002017-08-17T12:06:11.430-05:00I've read the first three books, and the third...I've read the first three books, and the third book is where the identity of Bran's assassin is *sort of* revealed. Tyrion comes to a conclusion (in his head) of who it probably was, and it makes sense, so that's what most book readers have settled on as the answer. But it was never explicitly confirmed, and technically, Tyrion could have been wrong. <br /><br />So it's one of those things where, maybe GRRM confirms for sure at some point, or offers up another answer, but if he doesn't, we can go with Tyrion's explanation as the answer. But in the meantime, it's technically still up in the air.<br /><br />So I think Benioff & Weiss are taking advantage of that - either of their own volition, or because GRRM told them it's going to be someone other than who Tyrion suspects. <br /><br />If it *is* who Tyrion suspects, it seems weird that Benioff & Weiss would draw attention to the mystery now, so maybe they are planning on swerving. Or maybe they just feel like, since the show hasn't even gone as far as the books in offering up a suspect, they need to provide some closure to the audience, especially since it's one of the series' initial mysteries. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-76802940166417251772017-08-17T11:45:53.232-05:002017-08-17T11:45:53.232-05:00I haven't read the books, but I have read abou...I haven't read the books, but I have read <b>about</b> them, and apparently it was settled quite a while back who sent the assassin after Bran -- like, even way back before Tyrion left King's Landing, he and Jaime had both deduced it.<br /><br />I won't spoil that here, but I find it interesting the show is treating this as a big mystery when it was seemingly resolved, pretty matter-of-factly, long ago in the books. Makes me wonder if they're going a different direction with the answer here.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-54339558366922411822017-08-15T11:30:25.414-05:002017-08-15T11:30:25.414-05:00It may also change the mythos of Westeros but I do...<i>It may also change the mythos of Westeros but I don't know much about that.</i><br /><br />Nah, it's pretty consistent with the history - the First Men arrive, start cutting down magic trees, piss off the Children of the Forest. So the Children make the White Walkers to fight the First Men. Then the Children realize their cure is worse than the disease, so they strike a truce with the First Men to defeat the White Walkers and beat them back into the far north, after which the Children erect the Wall and the men agree to guard it, forming the Night's Watch. Men agree to stop cutting down magic trees, the Children agree to let them live on the continent, and everyone is happy. <br /><br />Also, some people have suggested (mostly in jest) that Jon just drew those cave paintings himself, like five minutes before showing them to Dany, and I really love the idea of Jon with a hunk of chalk in his hands, trying to get the White Walkers *just* right. :) <br /><br /><i>I get some enjoyment out of the characters but, at the end of the day, they're both evil so I really wouldn't mind seeing them get their comeuppance either.</i><br /><br />Yeah, I mean, Bronn is evil but in an entertaining to watch way, so I'd miss him, but I also wouldn't have minded if he was this battle's token "character you give a shit about" death. As for Jamie, I would have been bummed if he'd died here not because he's a great person or anything, but because it seems like there's more to his story/his involvement in the larger story, such that dying here would have been a waste. <br /><br />Or, to put it another way, he deserves some comeuppance, but I want it to be bigger than "dying while stupidly charging a dragon while on horseback". <br /><br /><i>But did Jon Snow's advice help devise this "brilliant" plan at all?</i><br /><br />Presumably it added to the chorus of "don't burn civilians" and helped convince her to take out her rage on military targets. <br /><br /><i>So Cersei is going to pay back her loan to the Iron Bank only to take out another loan.</i><br /><br />She's as fiscally responsible as I am! <br /><br /><i>Bran should know who is responsible for sending the assassin after him, right?</i><br /><br />Probably? I think the idea right now is that Bran has access to all the world's knowledge/history/whatever, but can't yet make sense of it all. So somewhere in his brain is the knowledge of who sent the guy to kill him with the fancy dagger, but he may not be able to access/understand/interpret it yet. <br /><br />At least, that seems to be the crutch the creators are using to prevent him from just being this all-knowing deus ex machina who can just tell everyone exactly what to do to save the day. <br /><br /><i>What is going on in Dorne right now? Who is in charge? </i><br /><br />Ditto the Reach/Highgarden as well (and for that matter, the Frey holdinds in the Riverlands and the Baratheon seat of Storm's End). Presumably, in the wake of Ellaria's coup, she left some kind of regent in charge while she and her daughters jetted off to Essos/Dragonstone, and said regent is still in charge. Who knows if said Regent is as eager to throw in with Dany, or, lacking the personal enmity towards Cersei/the Lannisters as Ellaria, is more content to just go back to sitting out the war safely behind their mountains and deserts like usual, especially in the wake of all the recent political upheaval there. <br /><br />Still, it'd be nice for the show to mention that. Or at least change Dany's line from "I've lost Dorne" to something like "with Ellaria captured, the remaining government of Dorne is no longer interested in backing me". Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-59012827006946320102017-08-14T11:54:36.102-05:002017-08-14T11:54:36.102-05:00Hopefully that giant arrow that hit Drogon wasn...Hopefully that giant arrow that hit Drogon wasn't poisoned...wwk5dnoreply@blogger.com