re: I have the disquieting feeling that the GoT TV series is starting to drift

Same problem James Bond ran into. When they ran out of books, the films started to lose focus and the scripts got worse. It took getting back on the books to resurrect the series a la Casino Royale.

BOOK SPOILERS



The show is totally exposing it's weakness in writing when it does steer off completely away from the books. Here's just a couple of examples.

Last season, the scene where Yara (Asha) goes to try to save Theon was rushed and sloppily done.

The scene where Jon and some guys go to Craster's Keep to kill the mutineers was something straight out of Hollywood. It was so un-game of thrones-like and cliche it made me embarrassed for the writers. Also, the Ygritte dying in Jon's arms thing was horrible.

Now this season where we have this Dorne thing. I was intrigued by the show putting Jaime in Dorne because I didn't like Jaime in the Riverlands in the book. But, at least it was still smart and political and not just cliched action. When I saw that Jaime was going to be in Dorne, I thought he would go diplomatically to visit and try to mend relations, and visit his (daughter). And maybe try to sneak her out that way. Maybe he would take the place of Arys Oakheart, or the storyline would be similar to that.

He wouldn't just smuggle into Dorne on a ship and just randomly run out to her in the middle of the garden while she's with her fiance, and is all like, "Come on, let's go!" By the way, what the hell is up with Myrcella and Trystane? All they do apparently is walk up and down the water gardens all day and talk about how they are getting married. And Myrcella has been there for like years now. And apparently all Doran does is sit in his wheelchair and look at the water gardens all day. The Dorne stuff has been so stupidly, sloppily done that it really makes me fear for this show.

The best parts of Game of Thrones are the sneaky underhanded politics, the complex characters, the complex narratives, etc. The fights are supposed to be more of a product of tension, not flashy 3v2 or 8v1 unrealistic, badly choreographed, rushed, sword fights.

Unless they bring in some new writing or get a lot more major input from George RR Martin, I predict the show will severely drop in popularity after the next season.

Hahahahaha

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by apfour21
The characters and each of their storylines are all too separate and have nothing to do with each other. There are too many storylines that just feel like filler when they are on the screen.

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I don't yet know if te stories have nothing to do with each other. Have to see how things turn out. But I enjoy having so many stories. No other show does that and it's different. But in this world that's been created, there certainly should be many simultaneous stories going by people jockeying for power. It's great.

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KorrBG20

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I disagree with pretty much everything you said.

Jon's mission to kill the mutineers is more than Hollywood throw away action. It shows that the Night's Watch takes care of its own and gives the men of the Night's Watch the chance to avenge Mormont. That Jon has a one on one showdown with Karl you knew was coming and showed his bravery and prowess with the sword (or lack thereof). It is a stepping stone to his becoming the Lord Commander.

Jon holding Ygritte in his arms did more to evoke the love between them than anything the book did. That whole scene was fantastic. The kid killing her and giving Jon a nod. Jon unable to do anything to the kid. How that impacts his relationship with him, particularly now that the kid is his Jon's steward. All well done to show the link of the characters and give catharthis to the audience.

I'm fine with Jaime getting captured. It is his nature. He even says that he likes to improvise and, of course, that shite goes awry. Now, the fight with the Sand Snakes was fricking horrible, but the truth is that that short-circuited a bunch of new characters that couldn't be cast (though I wish they had brought in Darkstar). Point being, that it fit within all of the characters' normal behaviors. The only thing that I didn't like was how fortuitous and, frankly, abrupt it was. But that's what happens when the material is simply too damn long and has too much going on. It is inevitable that, even despite cuts, some events will feel rushed.

Anyway, you wrote a novel that I won't respond to point for point, so I will leave it as: you need to worry less about the books and simply enjoy the show.

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makes me feel like the show is starting to jump the shark.

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yup.

It's not all the plot lines going on that is the problem.

It's that they are going no where quickly. We basically got an overview of all the major plots (except Snow's and we saw him in the previews for next week). It just jumped around too quickly.


Hell I hope they off half the characters so we can stop watching all this filler and get to the main two or three that are actually going to make a run at the iron throne.

Everyone else is fluff.

The show is in a tailspin from the first ep this season.
was fun while it lasted.

Truth is, D&D suck.

Thank God for Silicon Valley.

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I vehemently disagree with this. I hated to see it, but it broke Ramsay's grasp over Theon and it has finally hardened Sansa into being able to deal with the harsh realities of the world in the 7 Kingdoms


Finally hardened her?

Watching her dad's head get chopped off, her entire family murdered, little brother's burned and living with Joffrey for that long wasn't enough?

Cmon bro.

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As a couple of us have speculated (and it is pure speculation) in the episode thread, the only way I can see that this scene was necessary if they are positioning Sansa as a half crazed Lady Stoneheart type character rather than a straight tough heroic "rally the North" character.

I know its kind of a long shot but that would make sense. Everything she's undergone (and no telling what else she will undergo) could have the effect of unhinging her to that degree.

Double post