In defense of the show
I'm a book reader, but I don't get all the hate towards this last season. What I'm going to say is controversial, but after the 3rd book, the 4th and the 5th weren't that compelling anyway. There's lots of subplots and secundary fourth born stories that I have forgotten about. This is what I remember though:
I remember the walk of shame, which the show has delivered surpassing all expectatives.
I remember the fighting pits of Meereen, and Danny riding Drogon.
I remember Jon beeing stabbed in a Cesaresque way (which the show has highlighted with Olly).
I remember Robert Strong (Frankenmountain)
I also remember Myrcella beeing burned because of Doran's daughters, and the Sand Snakes in prison, which I personally liked more than how they handled it in the show.
I remember Jorah and Tyrion broing their way to Meereen.
Point and case, I'm not deffending all the decisions of D&D, but they're doing a hell of a good job adapting such massive series into 10 hours of TV enterteinment. And they're bringing the Greyjoys into the next season, so no complaints there.
Comments
Two things not quite right: Myrcella wasnt burned but she was viciously attacked and almost killed, and Jorah and Tyrion werent broing their way anywhere, lol. Jorah was hostile towards him, beating him frequently, until they got caught by the slavers, then he was as sullen and uncommunicative as stone.
But as to your point, i think they hit a lot of the book points pretty well. The complaints i heard were that the show was too slow, meaning not enough jump out of your seat moments like last season, and people are mad when their favorites get killed. There was also that controvery about Sansa. I personally think it has been an enjoyable season and well adapted, considering GRRM has not given them any new book material to draw from.
I have no love for the Greyjoys though. They can keep them.
The problem with this season is they've lost the spirit the show had before. After the show gained more and more popularity D&D saw that what people discussed most was the shocking character death. Every single death in ASOIAF is justifiable, you can see why it happend and what could have been done to change it (EX: Ned; Robb; Jon). But in the show this no longer applies.
The world of ASOIAF was so good because it was realistic not because it had shocking character deaths, sometimes the good guys win sometimes they don't thats the world. Its not about "breaking the internet" its about telling a tale in a fantasy world that could have happend in medieval times (minus the dragons and magic) I really hope they don't follow the trend and start killing characters left and right to shock the audience that would only shows that they never understood the series.
Stannis' character those last two episodes was so different. That was terrible.
I dont see either of those as more shocking than what we get from the books, especially not Stannis who's end has been telegraphed for awhile with Brienne vowing to kill Stannis way back in season two. You could say their desths werent as dignified as some fans would like, but they werent shock value level. In any case, it is a tv show and thinks have to be ramped up to a degree to, yes, get people talking so they tune in. That IMO is not a bad thing. The books are still there for people who want experience the world in a different, more in depth way.
Not really. Remember Blackwater? Stannis has always had a gambling problem.
You shouldn't judge the show by how the books were, let them be two sepearate things. I loved this season although I will admit it started a bit slow.
couldn't agree with anything more than I do these two points... the show has fled from what the book has been. Stannis would never have done what he did in the show, in the book. he is actually going to win that battle in the book (I think he will anyway), even against the odds he is facing (and without sacrificing his daughter, who is still at the wall with Melisandre and his wife, which he would NEVER do). it's absurd what they did with some of the characters. and if Jon is gone for good, that would mean he isn't an important part of the end of the ASOIAF story, and I find it hard to believe that is the case. unless Kit Harrington and D&D are trolling everyone because of how easily accessible information is in this age of the internet (Kit says he has not been told to come back for Season 6, and D&D both said they wanted that scene to be "Unambiguous"), I think what they did is completely against the point of the ASOIAF story.
Stannis felt like he was stuck between a Rock and a Hard place,
If he went back to Castle Black he'd be conceding defeat and due to his sense of honour and entitlement as the "one true King" that was not an option.
If he did nothing, or if he proceeded to Winterfell everyone (including Shireen) would have died from the cold of winter.
So reluctantly he was convinced to sacrafice Shireen, until afterwards when he realised that any option but the latter would have been a better option, Hence the complete change in his character and that no longer cared for anything, ..... his men who left, his wife's death, winning the battle, even his own life.
Plus do people really think Stannis is Dead?! I wouldn't be so certain.
Redemption will be coming for Stannis in the next season.
I honestly think Stannis WILL die in the battle of Winterfell. Mel and Selyse will burn Shireen to try and revive him, begging the Lord of Light to bring back Azor Ahai, and Jon, who's body is kept in one the ice cells by Mel for preservation, will be revived.
Can we all agree Dorne sucked?
This made me laugh a lot.
I've heard theories that he's going to take the role of Hyle Hunt, minus being a former suitor for Brienne, if he is indeed alive. I don't find it likely, though.
My main problem with this season was that many just were there without any real preparation, logic or justifications (even with characters going against themselves sometimes). To give 3 fair examples:
Daenerys marriage: in the books this is something that is almost imposed to her by the Grace. Is something that she does not want to do, but is presented (time after time) as the only solution. In the show she comes with that out of nowhere and without any real justification about why it would have any effect.
Jaime going to Dorne: so Myrcella is at risk in Dorne and, in order to avoid a diplomatic tension that could arise by calling her back to the capital (and I don’t see why it would since you could say that the queen was heartbroken due to the death of her son and needed her daughter around), you send Jaime to kidnap the princess and take her back to the capital? Really?!? Isn’t that even worst? This would certainly cause a diplomatic problem as soon as the kidnapper was revealed.
Cersei putting her son into danger: the show tells us (even more than the books) that Cersei care a lot for her kids. But, despite that, she tells him to go talk to the High Sparrow if he wants Loras to be release. She sends her only son into the lion’s den, to a place full of religious fanatics that have no trouble acting the nobility and the clergy, with a smile on her face.
There were changes during these last seasons that I liked and others that I hated (and some others that I was like… “meh”). But the problem with this season was due to a level of bad writing.
PS: Even Jon’s death (and some other moments on the Wall) looked a little because they decided to use one statement instead of the other. For example, the conspiracy to kill him would had sounded more likely if he had accepted Davos proposal to send the wildlings to help Stannis.
But consider the bad pussy.
(Yes.)
This is in line with what i've been thinking. Although i think Stannis May survive the battle to recapture Winterfell only to be 'betrayed' (if you want to call it that-i don't consider it a betrayal but i'm aware that some would) by the Northmen and either sent packing or killed by them. There is still the matter of the King in the North's missing will and heir to be resolved. So, i'm quite sure that Stannis will not rule the North, i don't think that the North would accept him.
But the rest of what you say, makes perfect sense. Especially with how -in the books- Stannis is planning to fake his death. So, if Mellissandre tries to resurrect someone who isn't even dead, where will that power go? Probably into the next body in the vicinity in need of said power. Dead dead or 'seemingly' (coma) dead, probably makes no matter.
Well, she has a knack for just stumbling into people. Maybe she'll find Benjen. It's ironic since in the books she seems to never find the people she's looking for.
I don't read the books, and personally I have no complaints about the show.
This was a moment I enyojed in Dorne:
"Brothers, oh brothers, my days here are done,
the Dornishman's taken my life,
But what does it matter, for all men must die,
and I've tasted the Dornishman's wife!"
I think the show left a lot out in the last episode. I mean they could easily have made longer frequences of each deaths and perhaps splitted it in to 2-3 episodes. The 'massacre' at winterfell was quite poorly portrayed I thought because it was purely an idiotic move by Stannis. Neither did we get any explanations how the Boltons managed to get hold of thousands of horses for their army. Did they steal the one's of Stannis or did the sellswords simply swap side?
Did Sansa and Theon survive the jump from the wall? Where would they even go with Jon Snow dead? I think that one option is that Sansa will lead an rebellion against the Boltons with the help of Davos. But then again I find that highly unlikely. I think the main reason for the deaths of likeable characters are not realism but to get controversy and getting the internet exploding like you said. The 'bad' guys rarely gets what they truly deserves even though in a realistic situation they would.
I didnt hate as much as everyone else. People seemed to hate it before it even got started though.
The amount of men the Boltons had all of a sudden had me scratching my head aswell. It is not like they can rely upon the North to back them in force cept for their own vassals. If it was not for the fact that Littlefinger could never have got there in time I would almost think he double crossed Cercie and het the knights of the vale join Boltons side of the war.
But thats unlikely either so its a bit of a mystery to me.
There execution of the dorne plot and the north plot is borderline embarrassing.
Dorne sucked in the books too though.
Yeah, I prefered the Greyjoys much more.