Game of Thrones - TV Series (NO BOOK SPOILERS)

[sactoking]

woah, easy with the racial slurs.

It's ok, he didn't use Fred's last name...

 

[AstroManLuca]

So I'm a bit confused, they said many times that Castle Black only had around 100 men and that all the other fortresses along the wall were abandoned.

I believe they also pulled everyone back to Castle Black a while ago and have purposely stayed put even as wildlings raided the surrounding villages in an attempt to draw them out.

So why are there only 100 Night's Watch? You'd think that in an area as big as the Seven Kingdoms, full of bad people, that there would be no shortage of criminals who would choose to join the Night's Watch when the alternative is execution. I could understand if they were still shorthanded; perhaps most convicts who chose service over death were conscripted into the armies to fight in the War of the Five Kings, making the Wall an oversight. But 100 just seems a little too low.

 

[Train]

So I'm a bit confused, they said many times that Castle Black only had around 100 men and that all the other fortresses along the wall were abandoned.

I believe they also pulled everyone back to Castle Black a while ago and have purposely stayed put even as wildlings raided the surrounding villages in an attempt to draw them out.

So why are there only 100 Night's Watch? You'd think that in an area as big as the Seven Kingdoms, full of bad people, that there would be no shortage of criminals who would choose to join the Night's Watch when the alternative is execution. I could understand if they were still shorthanded; perhaps most convicts who chose service over death were conscripted into the armies to fight in the War of the Five Kings, making the Wall an oversight. But 100 just seems a little too low.

I'm pretty sure it was 1,000 not 100

 

[manimal]

Mormont led over a hundred if I remember correctly at the fist of the old men or w/e that place where he found obsidian at. Thats a battle we should have been shown damn you budgets.

A few hundred garrisoning a castle that hadn't had any actions in a hundred years seems like a plausible scenario.

 

[silverpig]

Yeah I remember that line. Something like we already put 20 arrows in it

Aim for the face.

 

[sactoking]

You'd think that in an area as big as the Seven Kingdoms, full of bad people, that there would be no shortage of criminals who would choose to join the Night's Watch when the alternative is execution.

That's only an option if someone from the watch is there to escort you, or if you're sufficiently important to merit some other escort. If you're caught raping in, say, Highgarden, you're not going to get the option of going to the wall because the Tyrells won't waste the manpower ensuring you get there.

 

[smackababy]

That's only an option if someone from the watch is there to escort you, or if you're sufficiently important to merit some other escort. If you're caught raping in, say, Highgarden, you're not going to get the option of going to the wall because the Tyrells won't waste the manpower ensuring you get there.

Not to mention, basically outside of the North, nobody gives two shits about the Wall. King's Landing has never seen a wildling raid. Occasionally, someone from the NW's will make it there and get access to their dungeons, but generally nobody cares.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Uh, so? are you implying that Sam living or dying is somehow different from what GRRM wrote?

or just his comment "I promise to return! boohohoohoo!" That, I can concede.

since it could be a spoiler either way, I'm not going to comment on what is different, but the show, while very faithful to the books, it is also very different in some regards. Basically, don't blame anything that happens or doesn't happen in the show solely on GRRM unless he also wrote the episode, the show has been cheesier in some regards, but also far more brutal and unforgiving in others.

 

[smackababy]

since it could be a spoiler either way, I'm not going to comment on what is different, but the show, while very faithful to the books, it is also very different in some regards. Basically, don't blame anything that happens or doesn't happen in the show solely on GRRM unless he also wrote the episode, the show has been cheesier in some regards, but also far more brutal and unforgiving in others.

I kind of disagree. The end game of all characters is how GRRM wrote it. The journey there might be slightly different. but the result is the same. I don't see GRRM letting the show kill off, or keep, any characters that suffered different fates in the books.

I think most of the changes are because the books are written primarily through one character's eyes at a time. The show is more of an ominous audience perspective.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i've never seen so many flaming arrows shot in a show before.

there's plenty of reasons against flaming arrows, and the only good reason for is to burn a ship. i didn't see any ships at castle black

 

[lozina]

i've never seen so many flaming arrows shot in a show before.

there's plenty of reasons against flaming arrows, and the only good reason for is to burn a ship. i didn't see any ships at castle black

Yeah I didn't get that either... maybe they wanted to see the trajectory as they fired? Sort of like tracer rounds...

 

[smackababy]

Yeah I didn't get that either... maybe they wanted to see the trajectory as they fired? Sort of like tracer rounds...

Yep. They were shooting arrows hundreds of yards into the darkness. Being able to see where they were hitting is pretty valuable. Plus, there is the off chance you catch something on fire, so that is a bonus. And, everyone knows fire adds +3 damage to an arrow attack.

 

[Train]

I got mixed messages as to the height of the wall. Haven't they said it was 700 feet? At that height a standard bow would be about useless. The slightest wind would make the arrows go so far off course. Even the giant's arrow wouldn't have the kind of force it did at the top of the wall.

Climbers getting up there was also kind of dumb. The world's best climbers wouldn't be able to attack 700ft of ice with just picks.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

nah, flaming arrows is pure hollywood. due to the weight, balance and drag, a flaming arrow flies very poorly. now if they had tied dynamite to the arrows, that has proven to be an effective weapon in many episodes of the dukes of hazard.

 

[sactoking]

English longbow max range was ~350 yards (per the always-correct Wikipedia). 700 feet is 233 yards. Seems like it wouldn't be that bad, at least for a downward shot. A shot straight out might be a different matter...

 

[JEDI]

Yeah I remember that line. Something like we already put 20 arrows in it

I didn't see any arrows in him at any point??

 

[smackababy]

English longbow max range was ~350 yards (per the always-correct Wikipedia). 700 feet is 233 yards. Seems like it wouldn't be that bad, at least for a downward shot. A shot straight out might be a different matter...

They don't look to have longbows, at least, the wildlings don't. Their arrows didn't make it to the top of the wall. I don't have a huge problem with the NW's being able to "rain down arrows" though, but them actually hitting anything I have a problem with.

I didn't see any arrows in him at any point??

That is just what was said.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Worst. Episode. Ever.


Seriously, WTF was that shit? No King's Landing, no Aerie, no Khaleesi, no Tyrion, no Sandor/Arya, no Sansa/Petyr, no Brienne/Podrick, no NOTHING. An entire episode wasted, 10% of the season shot and it didn't advance the storyline one iota. It was just a minor skirmish that didn't solve anything.

Gotta think that episode was put in just to appease some small minority that was whining that there was not enough fighting. They could have covered every important event that happened in that episode with a 10 minute arc and used 50 minutes for something else, anything else.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Worst. Episode. Ever.


Seriously, WTF was that shit? No King's Landing, no Aerie, no Khaleesi, no Tyrion, no Sandor/Arya, no Sansa/Petyr, no Brienne/Podrick, no NOTHING. An entire episode wasted, 10% of the season shot and it didn't advance the storyline one iota. It was just a minor skirmish that didn't solve anything.

Gotta think that episode was put in just to appease some small minority that was whining that there was not enough fighting. They could have covered every important event that happened in that episode with a 10 minute arc and used 50 minutes for something else, anything else.

i think the real problem is there is too much story to coherently cram into 10 1-hour chapters. if last night's show was 1/15-20 instead of 1/10 of an entire year's worth, it would be perceived better. like i said, blackwater was a much more well-rounded episode and holds up better on its own and in the larger context.

 

[BladeVenom]

Uh, so? are you implying that Sam living or dying is somehow different from what GRRM wrote?

or just his comment "I promise to return! boohohoohoo!" That, I can concede.

The promise to return was the work of the TV show writers.

 

[BladeVenom]

I got mixed messages as to the height of the wall. Haven't they said it was 700 feet? At that height a standard bow would be about useless. The slightest wind would make the arrows go so far off course.

There's a group of 100,000 wildlings to aim at. So you don't need pinpoint accuracy.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

i think the real problem is there is too much story to coherently cram into 10 1-hour chapters.

That's my point. There are a shitload of things happening all over the place, you've got the Wall and the war between the Ironmen and Bolton in the North, Sandor/Arya and Brienne/Podrick god knows where, Sansa and Petyr trying to pretty much steal control of the Aerie, Danny and her dragons, Messandrei bathing, Stannis doing something else and the fallout of the Mountain vs the Viper and they cover NONE of it to focus an entire episode on what exactly? A minor skirmish that was not even a decisive victory for either side. So much story to coherently cram into 10 1-hour chapters and now they have to cram the same story into only 9 1-hour chapters because they pissed away an entire chapter on nothing.

 

[irishScott]

Not to mention, basically outside of the North, nobody gives two shits about the Wall. King's Landing has never seen a wildling raid. Occasionally, someone from the NW's will make it there and get access to their dungeons, but generally nobody cares.

Also they originally had several hundred at Castle Black, the vast majority of those got killed off in season 3.

 

[irishScott]

Worst. Episode. Ever.


Seriously, WTF was that shit? No King's Landing, no Aerie, no Khaleesi, no Tyrion, no Sandor/Arya, no Sansa/Petyr, no Brienne/Podrick, no NOTHING. An entire episode wasted, 10% of the season shot and it didn't advance the storyline one iota. It was just a minor skirmish that didn't solve anything.

Gotta think that episode was put in just to appease some small minority that was whining that there was not enough fighting. They could have covered every important event that happened in that episode with a 10 minute arc and used 50 minutes for something else, anything else.

Right, because a wilding army 100,000 strong isn't any threat at all, and would have no effect on any other part of the story if it broke through!

Just because you find a particular plot-line boring doesn't mean it isn't vital to the story. The storyline was advanced in terms of just how fucked the Knight's Watch is with character development for Jon and Sam. Basically if Jon can't stop the wildlings somehow, the wildlings WILL get through. I'm sorry you thought a battle the size of the Normandy Landings didn't warrant its own episode.

 

[Printer Bandit]

couple giants and a mammoth to take down the gate?

the wildlings ain't too smart.