Doc McCoy

18 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

I have a feeling a certain portion of the audience see Jon and Tyrion differently now.

So, clowns, making a comeback or overly used tropes for GOT Memes?  Discuss.

18 minutes ago, comix4fun said:

It got silly even before that.

Several portions of the dialogue and plot would have been well at home in any of several assorted Wrestlemanias, 

4 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

Yes, because 90% of their audience got Picasso, Shakespeare, Michelangelo, or Mozart on the first go.

Not that I'm saying D & D are in that league.  Just pointing out that quality isn't always immediately self-evident.

  Maybe if Picasso, Shakespeare, Michelangelo or Mozart had an after-show 

8 minutes ago, comix4fun said:

 

I agree 100% with everything else you posted, but the bold part I can't.

If you remember the first season, the first time we meet Ned Stark he's called to attend to a deserting member of the Night's Watch. 

With very little ceremony and zero introspection, investigation or second thought he lops that dude's head off and makes sure his son's are there to watch and learn how those that betray their oath, duty, and loyalty are dealt with. 

That's a good point, Chris.  So yes, as far as Jon buying into Varys betraying his pledge to Daenarys, I agree, that probably did fall more in line with the Stark way of thinking for him to let it happen and uphold his duty.

47 minutes ago, Flaming_Telepath said:

Grey Worm's lack of emotion went by the wayside when Missandei came into his life. Watch his conduct at the Battle Of Winterfell...watch his expressions and his hesitations.

That is a man for whom life now means something, who values more than just his position. 

To find it...and then have it taken from him...brought him full circle to humanity.

This was a narrative I can buy into.   The problem with Daenarys last night was that she wasn't shown the same narrative favor.  And it could have been corrected easily.  They could have had a scene where Varys' little birds were delivering his letter throughout the 7 Kingdoms (or at least King's Landing), and shown the common people getting excited about there being a true heir to the throne from Rhaegar Targaryen, who was loved by the commoners.  Then it would have been an easy leap to her burning of Varys, her anger at Jon for letting his secret out (because she had told him it would lead to this) and her reason for torching King's Landing (a combination of Cersei's actions, feeling unloved by the people she thought would cheer her return and being spurned by Jon).

2 minutes ago, Flaming_Telepath said:

That USA Today review?

They haven't been watching the show.

Just one of many stupid observations...

'In a far more flagrant breach of character than Dany's rushed madness, Grey Worm, the most restrained man in Essos or Westeros, kills unarmed men in a rage.'

He may have been restrained, but that was before his entire world was stolen from him. As an Unsullied, he was previously an automatom but was given freedom by Dany and a reason to live by Missandei. He and Missandei have already concluded that there is nothing for them in Westeros, that they are viewed with distrust and hatred, and that they are going to leave. Kings Landing is where his life died, the soldiers of no consequence to him other than they serve the woman who slaughtered his love in cold blood.

These characters are not supposed to be paragons of virtue...that's not GoT and never has been...so why are 'reviewers' shocked when they act on base instincts?

I agree there, I can buy into his reaction because they properly built to it.  Daenery's reaction and motivations lacked the nuance that was given to Grey Worm.

3 minutes ago, Kon_Jelly said:

Agreed.  Except on the Clegane bros - while the fight was good it made no sense that the Mountain would all of a sudden gain agency and defy Cersei's instructions after no hint of that being inside of him.

If they fully embrace the Mad Queen arc I can see Dany killing Jon, cementing her spot on Arya's list. 

I just have to chalk that up to their mutual hatred for each other overriding whatever programing Qyburn had given him.  

Just now, Bosco685 said:

It's a thought. But after all the pain and betrayal Dany and her family experienced (real or imagined in certain cases), a young character like this can only handle so much before snapping. After the past few episodes, this was her camel's back moment.

I could buy into that if they had taken the time to build toward it more fully, but as the USA today article states, they spent so much time making Dany a hero, that they ultimately failed to address what would and could make her snap properly.  It just feels like they had to get her to this point so they are throwing it all out there as quickly as possible.

9 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

You mean like the Russo Brothers have had to do with Infinity War and Endgame? Those have gone over massively, yet the directors and writers have had to explain extensive details.

It's going to happen when you have a very complex story. Yet if you watch the video of her expression at that point in time, it's all there. Her feeling all the pressure of betrayal and pain over the years, represented by one big symbol: The Red Keep.

6 minutes ago, chrisco37 said:

Not the mad queen we need, but the one we deserve

In an alternate timeline, George R.R. Martin would have finished writing "A Song of Ice and Fire" before it was ever adapted to series. His seventh and final book would have been hundreds of pages that offered copious explanation for its hero's descent into madness and cruelty. And that long, complex and thoughtful book would be adapted into far more than six episodes of television. 

The problem with Dany going full Mad Queen isn't that she used to be a hero or that the show never foreshadowed it. There have been seeds, all the way back to Season 1 when she burned Mirri Maz Duur alive as vengeance for Khal Drogo's death. She has long been vain, ruthless and completely convinced of her own brilliance. 

But the show spent far more time making Dany a hero, if a rather boring one. Making her Mad Queen Dany now is rushed, unearned and emotionless.  

In the moment, it's also not clear what made her snap. Missandei? Rhaegal? Not getting her way? Being bored because she won the battle too quickly? Why did she destroy the whole city instead of going straight to Cersei? Where does she expect to live after destroying the castle her ancestors built?

More pressingly, what does Dany's turn even say about the show, thematically? That we're doomed to repeat the mistakes of our families? Dany's "madness" or whatever we want to call it is nothing like Aerys, who heard voices and acted out of fear and paranoia. Viserys was cruel but also petty and weak. Rhaegar wasn't mad or vicious at all. Hewas short-sighted but noble. Dany is just lamely sadistic. 

2 minutes ago, Bosco685 said:

Really interesting point made by one of the show-runners on what finally pushed Dany over the edge to go so extreme (3:25).

"And she sees the Red Keep which is to her the home that her family built when they first came to this country three-hundred years ago. It's in that moment on the walls of King's Landing where she is looking at that symbol of all that was taken from her when she makes the decision to make this personal!"

Wow!

If you have to explain your story and your story-telling decisions outside of the context of the story itself rather than just letting the story speak for itself then you failed in your narrative.  

Ryan Kelly, ladies and gents! Talk about elevating a theme! https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1548801

@Kevin Boyd saw a table listing for Artist's Alley on the website, but it didn't have the table numbers for "Featured, Special or Also Appearing" Comic Guests.  Will that be up soon or will you be able to post it here?  Thank you.

4 hours ago, jcjames said:

This also reflects when the series began to outpace the books.  Left to their own plot devices, combined with HBO’s budget concerns, along with looking ahead to spin-offs, the show runners appear to be limping to the finish.  Fingers crossed for a satisfactory ending (since it may be the only one we ever get) or a shocking announcement that George R.R. Martin has completed the “The Winds of Winter”. 

18 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

So Cersei and Dany decimate each other's armies and then Littlefinger swoops in with the Knights of the Vale to take the throne.  

I think there's a flaw in your theory 

2 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

So she knew before she hooked up with Euron?

Yep.  That's why she kind of gave the little knowing smile when he said he was going to put a prince in her belly.

8 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

Should we assume Cersei took the Westeros equivalent of the morning after pill after she got it on with Euron so we definitely know it's Jaime's kid?

Actually, Cersei told Jaime in Season 7 and Tyrion suspected last time he saw Cersei.  So I'd have to guess it's been at least a month or so.  Long enough for Jaime to travel from King's Landing to Winterfell and confirm it with Tyrion.

7 minutes ago, fantastic_four said:

Wow DID Tyrion know?

Jaime told him when he arrived at Winterfell

9 minutes ago, RedRaven said:

Varys and Tyrions discussion was the highlight of this episode for me. Everything else felt rushed and too engineered by the writers. Less of the writers telling a story and more of a sequence of engineered events to quickly arrive at a conclusion. Looks like next episode we will have two mad queens to deal with.

I'd like to give the writers the benefit of the doubt and say, well, there isn't much time left, so they are skipping over some exposition, but I don't think that's what's happening.  The "why" certain illogical things happen just doesn't seem to be that important to them anymore.  I wish that was just a Season 8 issue, but It's been ongoing for at least the last few seasons.

If that episode accomplished one thing, it solved HBO's dire wolf problem, I guess.

My newest "Iron" Throne commission by "Jamming" Jim Towe https://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=1544703&GSub=196335: 

19 hours ago, Rick2you2 said:

I had bought some OA which was sent via the post office, and it took almost 3 weeks to arrive. I have no idea why. The tracking was useless because it supposedly never left the originator’s post office for almost the whole time.

@Rick2you2 Yeah, it happens.  I sent a package out to Georgia two weeks ago.  Should have taken 2 days to get there.  It ended up taking 7 days to make the 6-7 hour trip.  It took 3 days alone to travel 45 minutes from my office to Orlando.

So fingers crossed that it's just a case of slow service by USPS.

*Update - Tracking has kicked in!  

So I heard back (after a mutual friend reached out to Paolo) and was told the piece went out the day after the shipping label was created, which would have been April 9th.  Asked to keep an eye out for it, because local outgoing tracking is spotty (Maspeth, NY).  

I would think that even if it didn't get scanned in leaving NY, at some point along the line (shipping to FL) it would have been, but you never know.  So fingers crossed that it shows up here sometime soon.  Without tracking, I really have no idea.

This is the piece I'm waiting for, a commission by Jim Towe:

8 hours ago, SquareChaos said:

The online equivalent of someone not answering the door while you can clearly see and hear them moving around inside the house.

@SquareChaos perfect analogy.

I've never had any issues in the past with Paolo.  He's always been good with communication and getting pieces shipped in a timely manner . . . maybe I was due.

I commissioned a piece from one of his artists January 18th.  He posted the completed piece to one of the Cadence Instagram accounts on March 26th.  By April 8th, I hadn't heard or received anything on when the piece would ship.  I emailed Paolo and inquired that day and got an immediate response that it would be shipping out soon along with the tracking number.  No complaints. 

So here's the rub. The package has been in pre-shipment since April 8th on the USPS website.  So I emailed yesterday morning, April 16th, to find out if it had actually shipped out or not.  If it hasn't that's fine, I would just like to know, so both the package and myself aren't in limbo.  As of this writing, no response.  And I would usually wait a few more days to hear something before making a post about it, but he committed what I consider to be the cardinal sin for any dealer yesterday:  he posted on his social media accounts throughout the day.  Posting on social media, whether from your phone or computer, but failing to answer a customer's email is just a huge "No No" to me.