The season finale of Game of Thrones finally aired and I have to say, that was one seriously confusing season if a fan did not read the books. This fan did not, and hence, even though I watched every episode through this season season for specific story lines, I found myself confounded enough to get a little lost. (So this is NOT a full recap, nor a valid review of sorts. But what I do address, are the few points I did follow! Do take note of the light-hearted style here though!)
My Game of Thrones confusion comes from the addition of so many new characters that came out of the wood-work and though their inclusions started to slowly settle into the story and start to make a little sense, it made the series hard to watch and follow. My wife would have bailed long ago, but I kept turning it on… hoping that new details would fill in events that popped up in previous eps. Though I am hesitant to commit to any character because now I know that who ever I might get attached to will probably lose their head!
And at some point, I thought I had some mental issue because I couldn’t keep track of all the new characters, never mind pronouncing their names.
But even the showrunners were worried about adding too many characters and story lines. They made note that Game of Thrones has the largest cast on TV right now, and they realized they introduced dozens of new characters this season.
Show runner David Beinoff said that
“We need to be just as mindful of the audience members who have never read the books as we are of the readers; the series will fail if we only appeal to those who already know the characters.”
And I can attest to this, because right now I’m on the bubble and ready to walk from the series. I’m not totally clear who attacked who and who stole what and, well, that’s more or less how it all came at me this season, in a blur.
Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray]
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW
After the season finale, here’s all that I do know:
- Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is off in the icey tundra with some wild bunch;
- Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) lived through his little foray but is no longer ‘Hand of the King’;
- That little weasel child-king, Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), will be marrying a woman who gives birth to smoke demons. (I think);
- Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) has her little fire-breathing dragon babies back;
- And it was nice to see a quickie appearance by Jason Momoa!
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At least in the third and fourth seasons, they will be slowing down the rate at which the story progresses as both seasons will encompass the story told in book three of Game of Thrones.
As it stands, the closing scene of The Walk… Game of Thrones ended with three horn blasts and an invasion of zombies that looked like a steampunk moment from an episode of The Walking Dead. (Hey!!! Crossover episode?) Had my buddy not told me about the three horn blasts in the season previews way back when the season started, I would never have known what was going on.
Though I must say, if it weren’t for the show, I would not have become a fan of Peter Dinklage. The dude’s cool! Any way, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
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[Forbes]
About Bruce Simmons
I've been writing newsletters since 1999. Of late, I've been focusing on the entertainment consumer angle on mostly the sci-fi, fantasy and action genres of TV, movies and books.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
You are wrong , Jeoffrey will not be marying a woman who gives birth to smoke demons . The woman you are talking about is the Red Priestess but she is on Stannis Baratheon’s side.
I guess I made my own point Mosu… I got my hot chicks messed up because there was so much thrown at this book series non-fan, that it all started to blur into a swarm of placebo character place-holders!!! (To be read meaning I’m confused.) Thanks for sorting that out for me!
I never read the books or even heard of the books until I started watching the series; and I’m confused on your lack of clearness. Apparently this series is too perplexed for you; based on your own admission that you cannot distinguish the difference between 2 female characters who are in completely opposite camps. This might be one of HBO’s best series ever. If you can’t keep up, maybe you should watch Spartacus on Showtime. I’m guessing it has less characters that you would have to follow. . .
Thanks for your kind and supportive words Lash. Duh! I thought it was pretty evident. But hey, thanks for chiming in anyway… Appreciate the polite comment that moves the conversation forward.
Though if you’re going to come at someone about some perceived or admitted flaw, you might want to double check where SPARTACUS airs.
I didn’t read the books and won’t, but I didn’t had any kind of confusion. Maybe it’s because you watch a larger number of series and movies. I watch some movies now and then, but the only tv series I follow every week, is Game of Thrones.
And boy, you really got confused there. The girl you said that gives birth to smoke demons, actually had her husband murdered by the smoke demon… !
Wow… The scene of the red priestess trying to make Stannis see something in the fire must have been very confusing to you, them. And a lot of other things as well… No wonder you feel the series have been hard to keep up with.
On the bright side, aside from my stand-out confusion point, I do follow a few of the story lines well enough and I definitely know I would really enjoy watching Joffrey fall down a well, where even Lassie can’t find him!!! LOL…
All joking aside, I was doing OK with the first season, but lost it when so much was added this season… And the names, well, without going into too much detail, names are a challenge for me, period, in my day-to-day existence, so there’s that too.
Yep… I’m a three to five story-arc kind of guy… sigh.
Thanks for coming by Marcs…
(Dang, I’m getting pounded here on this one! LOL)
It’s ok everyone can get confused sometimes
it is not a crime. I have agree I am in love with Peter too!! He is soo great in this show!
Bruce, sad to see that you are finding it tough going, but I think that this is the best TV I’ve seen in ages. Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica was the last one I enjoyed. But the evident budget cuts tarnished that a little, but I digress. Having read the books, I can’t see how they could have cut the number of characters by much more as the story is not told in the traditional chapter structure, but from each characters POV. If you cut a character, you cut out large chunks of the time line, so in essence all the characters are important, just that some are more important than others.
Gone on a bit, but I hope you persevere, try re-watching some before the next series – excellent fayre if you are stuck in with a cold or something – sometimes the difficult stuff is the most rewarding, given the love and care they’ve given this, in the end I don’t think it will be a disappointment.
Bruce, this is the kind of show that has incredibly deep characters, rich storylines, and proposes serious moral questions. The only issue is that it’s unforgiving to viewers who are only half paying attention or don’t want to commit some time into researching the answers to their questions.
For example, HBO’s website offers fantastic resources to help confused viewers learn character names and relations, story locations, some history, etc. Basically, you can delve as deeply into the backstory as you want, but at the very least you should be learning who the main characters are.
I think that now that you’ve watched the season and your mind is primed to the fact that there are many more major characters this season, re-watching the season would help you get more into the story and help you differentiate between characters, locations, and storylines.
Valar Morghulis
Thanks for the understanding guys… mucho appreciated. And no, I haven’t given up on the show… I’m persevering!
Well having just finished the season 2 show… I always find that watching the show or movie first. It allows me to enjoy the movie more.. simply because you cannot fit as much detail (or catch it all) on film versus a book. Also if you read it first, usually you pay more attention to how upset you are for them leaving out very important facts or character development points. Ergo, Eragon. Fortunately I watched the movie first and enjoyed it, read the book… enjoyed it more, then hated the movie. This show so far in my reading( went and bought the series, too impatient for season 3) is pretty well aligned with the book, which has so many things going on in it, its almost better that it is in-fact a multi-seasonal series .You may miss some things the first time through, but its one of those shows you can watch again and enjoy it more the second time around. Or do as I am and read it. Either way, I am most interested in the up coming role Bran will play as his ability to foresee the future, especially with their journey toward the wall now. Also looking forward to more of Tyrion and his games… and how Daenaras Stormchaser will grow into her new role and ability as her dragons grow. And how did Jon Snow avoid the others. Definately in my top 5 of favorite shows.
i was also confused, but i watched through both seasons and more and more makes sense now. i suggest you do the same
That’s exactly what I did Danny… thanks for chiming in! I appreciate the thought and support!
I can’t wait for season 3. I never read the books, and its so hard to visit any fan site without spoilers. I want to know more about the faceless man and the dancing swordmaster Syrio Forel. I hope those 2 charactors don’t go away
well i’d assume you have seen at least the end of season 2… syrio died allowing arya a chance to slip out and eventually out the red keep and kings landing.. reverting back to a previous comment… unfortunately like you said.. there is sooo many characters..and to leave anything out…even a lowly singer..will prohibit story progression later on as you will see.. no doubt in season 4…. i won’t even go into addressing the butthurt that will follow the obvious ending to season 3… one thing i learned about Martin is he loves to build us up a false heroine then strip them violently away…which has kept me up till 4 am reading the books..my fear is as i near the end of the massive book 5…ill have to wait years to find out what happens next…unfortunately at the slow rate of series progression…they may have to recast halfway through…if they take 2 seasons for book 3 … they’ll need another 3 or 4 just for books 4&5 which parallel each other and are each 1000 pages long…the characters age but a couple years..where the actors don’t have that ability.
they did not show syrio’s death in season two. he defeats the 3 guards then the main guard draws his sword(the big guy, i forget his name) and syrio tells aria to run. syrio and the guard are standing there looking at each other. he asks area “what do we say to the god of death” and she says not today then the scene ends.