The first three episodes passed as remembered: excellent development. The next few were rushed. Meaningful things passed too fast to process. Storylines I cherished pivoted like they were penultimate to the season ending, but this was mid-season when I still needed to be building my understanding. I needed to comprehend the context, then relish the pivot, then process the consequences. I know Game of Thrones is brutal on the viewer; more on that later. The mid-season kept pulling the rug from under me; maybe this feels honest and satisfying to the writers, but it ruined the investment I'd built in the show. Which seems counterproductive for showrunners.
Then there are the last two episodes, escalating the trend. So much of my dear investment ripped out. What can propel me to next season if not the Stark arc with Ned at the helm? He was the heart. And that's not the only curtain rent. Several deaths felt like hasty anticlimax, ruining anticipative arcs. I can imagine a theory there that I respect: fidelity to history or to the novel, maybe deliberate destruction of the viewer's micro-expectations to divert their attention to greater arcs. But it objectively damped my excitement for season 2, which I may now avoid without too much fuss.
Was it worthwhile to the writers? I understand sacrifice of core elements for a higher cause, but it happened repeatedly and, more importantly, too fast. One gives up. They may have lost my viewership for it.
What could keep me on? No house's struggle. Just two things: winter and dragons. The lord at the wall was right: when winter comes it won't matter who's on the throne. That's a stark symbol for our own lives.
Ideas that struck me:
- trusty right-hand man
- sense of home in Winterfell
- loyalty to family and country
- it all ends
Fight for family and honor, but don't expect it to last. Relish beauty; expect transience.
The beauty of S1 is that it matches course w/ A Game of Thrones. The saga deviates from the show afterward. I like reading it because it's a pleasant world to be in; the show is very cozy, so I can recall the moments as I encounter them on the page, and try to expand them. Not sure it'd go that way for you though
ReplyDeleteI'm very interested in skimming the books. It'd probably be mentally impossible for me to fully read the series anytime soon, but I'd love to get my hands on them anyway. Btw, yes, people do seem to think the show is "cozy"... For me, it felt like just making it through was paying the iron price. Up until my beloved S8, that is. But I agree, it's an ironically pleasant world to be in, so maybe it is cozy.
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