Ok, I am a new watcher of Game of Thrones... new as in I started it at Christmas time, got hooked after two or three episodes & finished it by April, in time for the final season. But I have seen all of it!
I think the show has been great this season & I love it. I think the show was great every season. Yes, I said EVERY season. Seasons 1 through 8…. 8 and 7 and 6 and… you get the picture.
Right now, I am SO SICK of seeing all the complaining on social media. In my opinion, I don’t think how the plot and/or characters have played out has been that off target. If you think about things, if you look back on things, if you even examine human nature... if you ever took a class in literature where you analyzed plot & characters, none of this is that off base. If you’ve ever watched a dramatic and suspenseful movie or TV show, you wouldn’t think these things are wrong.
You know what I think all this complaining is about? I think the complainers want certain things to happen & of course, they definitely know how it should all go, exactly how everything should unfold, step-by-step & how GOT should end & if it doesn’t go THEIR way, they are unhappy!
(By the way... character development & plot turns are very subjective... just because you don’t like it, that doesn’t make it wrong.)
I mean, let’s just look at a few of the complaints I’ve seen on social media about the plot and/or characters.
[FROM THIS POINT ON, SPOILERS AHEAD]
People have complained about Jamie Lannister’s decision to go back to Cersei after he was with Brienne. People have said oh, he wouldn’t do that, how could his character do that, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.
C’mon, is it really that off base? Cersei is his twin sister, who he grew up with and loved his entire life and has had multiple children with…. the ONLY woman he has ever loved. You may remember, Jaimie was in the Kingsguard, where he couldn’t marry and have kids, but he loved her and had kids with her, surreptitious and gross as it was, because she is his sister. She was the love of his life. He was with Brienne one time and yes, they had heart-to-hearts and shared intense experiences, and his good side came out with Brienne, but that doesn’t instantly erase a lifetime of love with his twin sister.
Besides, I'm sure (insert sarcastic tone here) none of us have known anyone or even been the person who had a relationship and then broke up with that person, hooked up with someone new but then went back to our former love. No, no one has ever done that, even when the relationship with the former flame was toxic. C’mon, it’s a common occurrence, how can you be shocked? Maybe if Jamie had more time with Brienne and away from Cersei, MAYBE the character wouldn’t have felt the pull to go back to her, but he didn’t have that. Going back to a former flame… especially a first love… not such a crazy move.
Other multiple complaints I’ve read have to do with what the show is not revealing to us. People bitched that we didn’t see Sansa and Arya’s reaction when John Snow told them who he really is. Right. And?
Do you not think that they kept that from us purposely? TV shows and movies tell us only what they want us to know. Yeah, I know we all wanted to know what the sisters’ reactions were. But guess what? Too bad, we don’t get to know! At least not in that moment and maybe never. Geez, get over it.
Along those lines, people complained that they didn’t see step-by-step how Arya proceeded to sneak up on the Night King and offed him. No kidding? Because movies and TV shows constantly show every single action a character takes, correct? If they showed us exactly what Arya was doing, then it wouldn’t have been a surprise to us, you idiots!
Oh, and let’s stay with Arya for a minute. People are complaining that when she was in the Red Keep with the Hound, she did heed his warning and turned back, instead of pursuing Cersei. Again, I heard… oh, that character killed the Night King, she is brave, she wouldn’t have done that.
Oh, really? Well, let’s look back at Arya’s actions during the Battle of Winterfell, shall we? You remember how brave she started out and then, do you remember how she became scared and tried to flee the White Walkers as they stalked her in the library? Girl was freaking scared at that time. Scared out of her mind. The fragility of her own mortality at that moment finally hit young Arya, and she became human and she was terrified.
Then, the witch came around, gave her that pep talk… brown eyes, green eyes, blue eyes, blah, blah, blah and the next thing you know, Arya is lunging at the Night King, game over!
So, yeah, brave Arya is human and gets scared sometimes and here she is in the Red Keep… bravely going for it until the Hound stops her. This time, it’s not a pep talk, it’s a dire warning that she will die. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, she WILL die, because he knows he will die trying to kill his brother and she knows he doesn’t care.
So, she actually listened to him… like she listened to the witch. And she did the smart thing and turned around. Again, why is this such a stretch? If you think about the character of Arya, I don’t think it’s that crazy. We know she is a patient young woman, that’s why she is such a deadly killer. Oh, wait… you wanted to see her get her revenge and put an arrow through Cersei’s throat, so you’re angry you didn’t get your wish. You know…. me, too. I wanted a much more painful and gruesome death for Cersei, at the hands of Arya. I also wanted to win almost a billion dollars in that big Powerball drawing and didn’t get it, so it sucks for me and the rest of you counting on that AND on seeing Cersei suffer and bleed.
Let me address the biggest complaint I am reading about GOT’s Sunday episode. People just can’t believe Daeneyrs torched King’s Landing and killed so many innocent people. Her character would not do that, etc., just fill in the blank of this tired argument.
Really? Because she’s been so kind and nice and generous every single season past? C’mon, Daeneyrs is a conqueror. Granted, as conquerors go, she hasn’t been too bad but she ain’t so innocent and pure, not by a stretch.
Do you not remember how she fried Samwell Tarly’s dad and brother because they didn’t bend the knee? Remember that? Girl didn’t even arrest them and starve them for a week to give them a chance to change their minds. She just boom, turned them into ashes. Kinda harsh, dontcha think? And don’t think she wouldn’t have done it to John Snow if he hadn’t come around. Well, maybe his good looks got him through that one… but my point is, she has had her moments.
Even when she’s conquered cities, there were times she had to be reminded that there were innocent people who didn’t deserve to die. You know what… I’m going to defer on this point to a column written by Mary McNamara for the LA Times, that can explain it way better than I can.
Look, I’m not saying this season is perfect. None was. It’s had its ups & downs but every season has... you may not remember, but it’s all fresh in my mind... some episodes are slower than others...some story lines went on too long or not long enough.
Bottom line though, I would stack this season up against any other. Any other.
Maybe the real bottom line is that it might have been a bad thing we got what we wanted when they defeated the Night King because now, everyone is bitching that the characters & plot aren’t going the way they think it should, after getting the thing we most wanted.
I just wish these idiots on social media would just shut up & just enjoy the ride & stop killing the buzz the rest of us have. Geez.