Quote:
Originally Posted by cDnStealth
I've mostly enjoyed Game of Thrones for the acting and the production values of the show. Nothing else on TV comes close.
I think Martin is great at world building and creating interesting characters but I feel that he fails to deliver when it comes to the plot. He spends so much time building up an event only to chop it off at the knees before it hits the climax. I know some people are going to read that and immediately throw it back in my face suggesting I am upset over so-and-so being killed.
I am not mad or upset over characters being killed, nor am I outraged over certain scenes. I've watched it for six seasons so I know what Game of Thrones is all about. However, as I was watching Jon Snow get the Julius Caesar treatment it dawned on me that I've been viewing this show as I would a B-horror flick. To see who is going to be killed off next and in what way.
I've said it before but I haven't been shocked by a character's death since Ned's in season one. I've been shocked by the manner in which some characters have met their end but not by their deaths in sense of how it impacts the plot. Jon's death had zero emotional impact on me last night. I sat there and thought, so what? Is that how a major character's death should be received by the viewer/reader? Death has no meaning in this story because Martin wields it like a bulldozer.
One of my favorite fantasy authors routinely kills major characters and it's significant both emotionally and in terms of driving the plot forward. With Martin I feel that characters are killed haphazardly. Their deaths fall flat and the plot essentially get reset. None of these stories feel like they're going anywhere.
This isn't a rage-quit post. I like the show and will continue to watch it but I am not going to pretend that Martin is a literary genius. Some people are convinced he his but I just don't see it.
|
You may not agree with me, but the end of last season with Tyrion finding Shae in his father's bed, killing her, and then killing his father was quite an emotional turn for the character and the audience. I was particularly blown away by that turn of events.
As far as Jon Snow goes, he's been making his own bed for most of this season. Previous seasons he spent a lot of time with the Wildlings and even had a Wildling girlfriend which was already too much for some. Then he narrowly wins a close vote to become the youngest commander ever, having less than 50% of the support of the Watch. Then, as Stannis burns Mance Rayder against Snow's advice, he shows mercy to the Wildling king who led an attack that killed many in the Watch; not winning anyone over there. After that, he makes a peace treaty with the Wildlings who are the sworn enemy of the Watch, again pissing off many of his own people and probably losing some to the other side. He then goes on an expedition to try and bring the tribes behind the wall, ends up losing more of the Watch that was loyal to him in the battle, and further alienates the rest of the Watch by undermining every purpose the Night's Watch has been instilled with, keeping undesirables on the other side of the wall. It was only a matter of time before they viewed him as a threat to their very way of life and took matters in their own hands. In this universe, those who strive for doing what's virtuous while ignoring politics end up dead. Jon Snow should have paid more attention to this and took his chance to reclaim Winterfell instead of staying virtuous and remaining at the Night's Watch. He had poor instincts for self-preservation, just like his father and half brother.