You were literally defending the crap writing last week and accusing people of not understanding the source material. I'm not the only one to call you out on it.
Spoilers Game of Thrones: The Final Season
- Thread starter The Nth Doctor
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I never really thought of Dany as white. Given the latitude of Valyria on the map Valyrians should be much darker and have dark hair and eyes. I just assumed their pale appearance, hair and eye colour were related to whatever magic/genetics made them Dragon riders.
We don’t know, we will find out in the upcoming episode.
The writers claim that he is leaving to fight WITH her, but it could be a swerve.
I mean, they have light, Northern European-style skin, and Nordic-looking blonde hair. I honestly don't know how much whiter you can get.
I mean, this ultimately points to the fact that A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones are a work of fantasy, but from a metatexual perspective, it's pretty obvious that the Targaryens are coded as Nordic (hell, they even have an analogue to the Norman Conquest in Aegon the Conqueror, and the Normans were the descendants of the Nordics), the Dothraki are coded as a sort of mix of European stereotypes of "savage" Mongolians and Turks, the Mereeneese and Slavers Bay cultures are coded as pre-Islamic Middle Eastern, the Dornish and Braavosi are coded as a combination of Spaniards, Italians, and Greeks, the Wildlings are coded as Celts, and the Westerosi are coded as English.
Personally I find it far more insulting that the writers never gave Missandei any real agency or things to do. She was just "Dany's bestie" and then had an odd relationship with Grey Worm. The latter of which seemed mostly added just to fill air time.
Note that neither Missandei or Grey Worm were black in the books. Their race was never clearly stated, but probably just ambiguously brown judging by the way GRRM writes about the cultures in the books. And Missandei is supposed to be nine years old as well.
Note that neither Missandei or Grey Worm were black in the books. Their race was never clearly stated, but probably just ambiguously brown judging by the way GRRM writes about the cultures in the books. And Missandei is supposed to be nine years old as well.
I have to agree with those who are saying Dany always had a dark side. I remember people in this bbs predicted the "mad queen" a few years ago when she was still on Essos. As long as people bend the knee and call her "my queen" she is nice and a benevolent ruler. But if anyone dares to go against her in any way she is ready to throw a tantrum and burn them.
The conflict with Jon is a natural one since he has a better claim to the throne and is more loved by people in Westros. D&D would not be good writers if they ignored this and went for a happy "Jon and Dany rule together" ending.
The conflict with Jon is a natural one since he has a better claim to the throne and is more loved by people in Westros. D&D would not be good writers if they ignored this and went for a happy "Jon and Dany rule together" ending.
Yes, I remember early in the series there were several articles that mentioned this. At the time he was still hoping to finish the books before the TV series, but he told them his intended ending just in case he died and couldn't finish the books.
But I am sure GRRM may have come up with different ways to finish some story lines since then, which is natural for a writer. And D&D may have decided to deviate some story lines to match their storytelling sensibilities. If any of us were put in charge of the series i am sure we would make changes too.
And based on interviews I have read, I get the sense that GRRM wants the books to have a different (and hopefully better) endings that the TV series. He doesn't seem happy that the TV series is going to finish earlier, and he is hoping to come up with something better. He has mentioned several times that there are characters (e.g. Stannis) that are still alive in the books and he can do something different with them than the TV series.
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That in itself is a famous trope.
About the Mad Queen thing -- I think she's the victim of prejudice from her being the Mad King's daughter.
I kind of see it from her point of view sometimes. She believes in justice.
She lost one of her dragons, a close friend, and most of her army because she did the right thing, for someone else, saving Winterfell. The people she saved act as if they don't recognize what she did right in front of her. Sansa throws shade towards her.
Then she lost another dragon, and her best friend too. And that's because she listened to Tyrion and Varys again. Olenna advised her to be a dragon if that's what she was.
Then whenever she shows any type of anger, everyone (fans, theorists, Tyrion, Varys etc.) thinks she's going mad.
It may not be a big surprise if she does go berserk simply because she's angry.
Otoh, she had a tendency to say things the wrong way. She can sound entitled by the way she puts things, and the looks she gives doesn't help.
Idk, but during that feast scene when she's just staring and tuning out everything, where they saying she was beginning to hallucinate or get paranoid?
I always viewed the Targaryens (and by direct historical association, Valerians) as ancient Atlanteans, with the Doom of Valeria being analogous to the island of Atlantis sinking into the ocean after a massive natural catastrophe. Since many myths indicate the Atlanteans were the root race of all modern humans, they transcend all known ethnic groups, as they are literally “all of the above”. And yes, Dany’s complexion is noticeably darker than “Lilly White”.
As far as rentals go, I've had pretty much the same experience with DVD. However I found that washing them gently with Dawn fixed the problem most of the time.
For scratches, I've found that a kit to polish your car headlights works wonders (for DVD; haven't tried it or needed to for Blueray.) As headlights get older, any scratches make them vulnerable to UV and they yellow really fast. The kits use an extremely fine abrasive and a clear coat to fill and protect. I've had DVDs that seem trashed (either by my kids or used ones) come out perfect.
I always thought the colour of Targaryen hair was due to the incesting as opposed to it being a purely Valerian trait. Aren't most of the cultures in Essos derived from Ancient Valeria in some way?
Rarely watch DvDs now, but will definitely give this a go on the odd few disks I own which are problematic
Dany's arc has been in plain view of the audience since the first season. The plot used some pretty classic narrative devices to distract the viewer/reader. By placing Dany in a position of weakness at the beginning and filming her as a naive young girl it was easy to overlook things that happened very early on:
She asked to learn how to make love to Drogo properly in a way that he would genuinely become enraptured by her. Once she had his devotion, she nudged him along to declare that he would win the West for her and kill her brother (which we overlooked because he was abusive and sniveling). She allowed an entire people to be ransacked just so the Dothraki could by her fleet. She did stop the raping but there was never any hint that she was going to give the takings back to the people. And she paid the price for this when Drogo was killed. The lesson she learned in the second season had nothing to do with morality--it had to do with learning that she could gain power from just having others believe she had power. This got her very far but fell apart when she reached Westeros. Throughout the series she has been kind to those who are loyal to her, but ruthless and brutal to any who oppose her--and she was never afraid to threaten even those closest to her at a first sign of lack of loyalty.
Since she did "good" things like free the slaves and stand up to the merchants in power, she projected the image of benevolence but that was never her primary goal--her goal was to earn devotion from her followers.
Now we see her ambition clearly. Even though she knows that she is not the legitimate heir to the throne, she refuses to even consider giving it up. She dislikes Sansa simply because Sansa will not pledge undying loyalty to her. She was jealous of Jon because he inspires true loyalty and affection from his followers without having to display power to do it.
I assume any king or queen could legitimise people, at least as far as people who recognised that king/queen. Stannis offered to legitimise Jon even though only some of Westeros recognised him as a king at that point. Those lords in the hall seem to have been willing to accept Gendry’s new position though we are not sure if the Stormlands will, and if Cersei wins the Game of Thrones Gendry’s legitimacy will disappear.
He is not the rightful king because he has accepted legitimacy on Daenerys’ term ie he recognises her right to the throne. The big question is how will he reacts to Jon’s claim.
He is not the rightful king because he has accepted legitimacy on Daenerys’ term ie he recognises her right to the throne. The big question is how will he reacts to Jon’s claim.
What I mean is that if Gendry walks into the great hall and presents his credentials to the king's guard, would the have to turn on Cersei? The answer is no though, because the queen who legitimized him is no queen to them.
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