Rewatching all seasons before Season 8 arrives...

GS11

Sleepy wrote: »

Finished Season 5 last night. They really started to go off the rails once they finished the material covered in the books. So many tedious episodes with 5 minutes of great action.

I think season 5 is still from the books, but the quality does drop.

I think the Arya , Daenerys and Tyrion parts of Season 5 are fairly poor.

John Snow and Ramsey really carry it.

Sleepy

Parts of it are but most of it has diverged wildly from the source material.

homosapien91

GS11 wrote: »

John Snow and Ramsey really carry it.

I know we're supposed to hate Ramsay but I think he is a really great character and your man does excellent job of portraying him

.......

homosapien91 wrote: »

I know we're supposed to hate Ramsay but I think he is a really great character and your man does excellent job of portraying him

Personally I found him a bit to pantomimey and one of the few characters on GoT that doesnt have that much complexity to their character. He is basically just bad to the bone.

Hodor and the Mountain also have pure characters, in that there is little complexity, but I dont mind them so much.

With Ramsey I feel he would have benefited from showing some remorse or some connection to someone rather than just "smug evil Ramsey".

Pretty much everyone else on the show has good and bad in them, even the honorable Ned Stark was lying to Jon Snow his whole life.

razorblunt

Just watched the Battle of Blackwater bay last night, briliiant episode. From Stannis' one line follow me, to Tyrion's speech and then Theon's.
Brilliant acting from The Hound too, I forgot there was an "out" there for Sansa but she didn't trust him to take it.
Sansa's face when Margery Tyrell was announced as the next Queen in waiting, the little laugh and smile as she was walking off.

homosapien91

....... wrote: »

Personally I found him a bit to pantomimey and one of the few characters on GoT that doesnt have that much complexity to their character. He is basically just bad to the bone.

Hodor and the Mountain also have pure characters, in that there is little complexity, but I dont mind them so much.

With Ramsey I feel he would have benefited from showing some remorse or some connection to someone rather than just "smug evil Ramsey".

Pretty much everyone else on the show has good and bad in them, even the honorable Ned Stark was lying to Jon Snow his whole life.

Watched the episode where Miranda dies last night and he seemed genuinely upset about it like he really did love her, well up until he said feed her to the hounds!

Brief_Lives

I'm up to episode 1, season 7... and I'm sad that I'm here already...:D

TerrorFirmer

It's only when you rewatch them that there's a colossal shift in quality in the last season in particular. Everything was rushed and entirely surface level, with virtually none of the personal/political complexity that made earlier seasons so incredibly captivating.

Still entertaining as hell, but a poor man's Game of Thrones I felt. I hope they have the stones to make a bold last season full of the twists and turns, intrigue and betrayal...and just....utter unpredictable mayhem that made the show so engaging.

I'm just afraid after S7, they'll go down the road of a big, loud, brash 'Return of the King' type scenario which wraps everything in a neat and predictable bow where the bad guys all get their comeuppance and the line between good/bad is purely black and white, and characters on all sides are just a shadow of their former complex selves throughout seasons 1 through 5.

It's fine entertainment, but it's not Game of Thrones, and it's why S6 was such a let down to me.

Just up to the Battle of the B***ards episode! Wow, those battle scenes were harrowing, and then Ramsey after,meeting his end by his hounds!

harpstilidie

Currently on Season 2 Episode 10!

Average of 1.7 episodes per day. Really hope we can do it.

Might need to get a babysitter some Saturday or Sunday and binge watch a season or 2

RickBlaine

I'm rewatching too. Definitely helps to watch more during weekends than on weekdays.

I'm on season 6. Since the end of season 4, I get the sense that there is a lot of giving certain characters random stories so that other plots can continue. I think Dany (and by extension Tyrion) and Arya fall into this a lot. The main trust of season 6 is basically to get the characters in place for the Battle of the Basterds and Cercei's revenge. Dany is stuck with a stupid retrograde story about the dothraki, Tyrion's talents are wasted on Essos slavery politics, and Arya's blindness plot all just seems to be killing time. Ser Jorah kidnapping Tyrion and then both getting kidnapped by slavers in season 5 is another example of killing time. Unlike seasons 1-4 where everything seemed to be for a purpose and propelling the narrative.

I haven't read the books so I can't comment on those, but given a lot of the later seasons were original material, I think seasons 5 and 6 probably could have been condensed into a single season. No reason why Arya couldn't do her training in one season and Dany get ready from Mareen to move to Westeros in a single season too.

Still enjoying the rewatch a lot though.

Brief_Lives

Watched Season 1 Episode 1 last night....

why oh why Ed Sheeran... a talking/singing part... brings you right back to reality...

He should have been sitting in a square busking as some character of importance walks by.

Finished it the other day..

Good God, the dialog took a nose dive when they went off the book..
Season 6 wasn't great..Season 7 went to the dogs altogether..

CiaranW

Deleted User wrote: »

Finished it the other day..

Good God, the dialog took a nose dive when they went off the book..
Season 6 wasn't great..Season 7 went to the dogs altogether..

Season 5 was the worst to me. Just a depressing dark season.
But I mostly agree with you.
Season 7 has excellent set pieces and good action. Only finished season 7 episode 1 last night.

Fall_Guy

CiaranW wrote: »

Season 5 was the worst to me. Just a depressing dark season.
But I mostly agree with you.
Season 7 has excellent set pieces and good action. Only finished season 7 episode 1 last night.

Yeah I'm surprised to see so many pointing to season 6 as the start of the decline in quality, I'm midway through series 6 of the epic rewatch and for me its a marked step up in quality from season 5.

It's specifically the dialogue I'm talking about in season 6&7 as well though, and maybe the acting a bit..Khaleesi's acting especially..
It's like they asked a couple of teenage girls to write it..all 'ooohh, do you fancy him' etc..

TerrorFirmer

Fall_Guy wrote: »

Yeah I'm surprised to see so many pointing to season 6 as the start of the decline in quality, I'm midway through series 6 of the epic rewatch and for me its a marked step up in quality from season 5.

I agree that S6 was respectable, the culmination in Battle of the Bastards was fine TV.

In my previous point, every point I mention S6 I actually meant S7, just got mixed up as to where we are.

razorblunt

Tormund and Jaime really shine on a rewatch, as does The Hound.
Forgot how fantastic Ciaran Hinds was too.

Sleepy

On Episode 2 of Season 7 in the re-watch. Season 6 was far more enjoyable than Season 5 (despite Arya's parkour silliness). Enjoying rewatching 7 and actively trying to ration the episodes now over the next 3 weeks!

Cina

Just finishing season five now.

It's easily the worst in the show, in fact watching them all back to back for the first time really shows the stark contrast in quality between it and the first four seasons. I do recall enjoying season six more on first watch so hopefully it's better than this dull rewatch of five has been. Even this missus, who is watching GoT for the first time and has been loving it, has commented as to how poor season five is compared to the earlier ones.

Especially that damn High Sparrow plot, ugh.

Still, I will say one thing, Hardhome is amazing, and one of the best battle scenes ever, let alone on a TV show. Don't think it was eclipsed by the battles in the next two series either.

CiaranW

Cina wrote:

It's easily the worst in the show, in fact watching them all back to back for the first time really shows the stark contrast in quality between it and the first four seasons. I do recall enjoying season six more on first watch so hopefully it's better than this dull rewatch of five has been. Even this missus, who is watching GoT for the first time and has been loving it, has commented as to how poor season five is compared to the earlier ones.

Season 6 is really good. Much better than season 5.
I think the Battle of the Bastards is probably my favourite episode in the entire series. As Daenerys is on the other side with the dragons.

Sleepy

Re-watched S07E03 last night "The Queen's Justice". The pace really accelerates to a break-neck speed in this season and, while it's still enjoyable, I still think reducing this season to 7 episodes was a mistake: there's so much happening that would have benefited from having a little more meat on it's bones.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

I do this every year. I watch too much GOT... O.o

Paddy Cow

....... wrote: »

Their chemistry is so good.

And for Arya, the character she is playing is within her reach, its believable.

Later when she is supposed to be a cold blooded sinister assassin it just doesnt work as well (imo) and comes off a bit hammy.

Arya was fantastic with Tywin and the Hound. When she came back to Winterfell I wanted to slap her. She was so cocky and arrogant. Plus the way her and Sansa outwitted Littlefinger played out really badly. LF was the smartest man in Westoros and I don't think he would have been fooled that easily.

Paddy Cow

flazio wrote: »

I wonder just how much did Sean Bean know about the truth of Jon Snow's origins when acting out the scene where he and Robert discuss the mother or when he says goodbye to Jon as the latter heads to the wall. I get a sense of a man holding back big secrets whenever I watch those scenes again.

The line "you many not have my name but you have my blood" stands out.

Paddy Cow

I've watched the earlier seasons a few times but I don't find the later ones as engaging. Usually I do a recap by watching Ozzyman reviews on Youtube. They are amazing but he doesn't have them for the first three.

duploelabs

Paddy Cow wrote: »

I've watched the earlier seasons a few times but I don't find the later ones as engaging. Usually I do a recap by watching Ozzyman reviews on Youtube. They are amazing but he doesn't have them for the first three.

Try Alt Shift X

chris_ie

Just starting to watch it now (first time). People had my head wrecked so thought I'd give it a go! ha. Might take a while though, only 2 episodes in! Just 65 to go....

Dial Hard

chris_ie wrote: »

Just starting to watch it now (first time). People had my head wrecked so thought I'd give it a go! ha. Might take a while though, only 2 episodes in! Just 65 to go....

Anyone watching for the first time should definitely watch every episode but for those of you who are rewatching, the Irish Times is doing a good recap guide for each season, calling out the key episodes to watch. They're up to S3 so far.

Warning: spoilery as hell for first-timers, so don't be tempted to have a read.

www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/rewatching-game-of-thrones-back-to-the-start-1.3838820

Paddy Cow

chris_ie wrote: »

Just starting to watch it now (first time). People had my head wrecked so thought I'd give it a go! ha. Might take a while though, only 2 episodes in! Just 65 to go....

I was like that with Breaking Bad. I just never got round to watching it. The plus side was that when I did, all the seasons were out so I didn't have to wait to see how it ended

chris_ie

Yeah its good not having to wait week to week for new episodes I've seen many spoilers through the years, they meant nothing to me at the time so I'll have forgotten some of them but I know of a few deaths, and returns etc.. Also, seeing people on posters/ads you know they're still around!

.......

chris_ie wrote: »

Yeah its good not having to wait week to week for new episodes I've seen many spoilers through the years, they meant nothing to me at the time so I'll have forgotten some of them but I know of a few deaths, and returns etc.. Also, seeing people on posters/ads you know they're still around!

Yeah when youre not watching something you tend to miss some of the hype/spoilers around it but GoT is so big now that maybe its impossible to miss spoilers?

Personally Im coming off all forms of social media (and maybe the internet in its entirely) while its on.

harpstilidie

Onto Season 5 Episode 3 now.

Getting there slowly but surely. It'll be a push to get finished up before the new season starts so may have to skip a few episodes.

Sleepy

I've the opposite problem: watched Eastwatch over the weekend which leaves us all of 2 episodes left to last until Season 8 starts!

RobbingBandit

A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you'll know the debt is paid.

Kunkka

Things got messy.... 5 seasons in 3 weeks.... I may be getting divorced... but Winter is Coming.

Charles Dance was outstanding, and so was Pedro Pascal. Played those characters to perfection.

Kit Harrington really is a terrible actor at times

My all-time favorite actor and character, Sandor Clegane played by the brilliant Rory McCann. I forgot how good it was to find out he was alive.

Paddy Cow

Kunkka wrote: »

Things got messy.... 5 seasons in 3 weeks.... I may be getting divorced... but Winter is Coming.

Charles Dance was outstanding, and so was Pedro Pascal. Played those characters to perfection.

Kit Harrington really is a terrible actor at times

My all-time favorite actor and character, Sandor Clegane played by the brilliant Rory McCann. I forgot how good it was to find out he was alive.

I found season 7 pretty meh compared to the rest because a lot of the best actors are gone. I'm not that invested in either Jon or Dani and their two of the central characters.

Tazzimus

Kunkka wrote: »

My all-time favorite actor and character, Sandor Clegane played by the brilliant Rory McCann. I forgot how good it was to find out he was alive.

You think you're fooling anyone with that top knot?


Bald ****




The man spews out gold any time he talks.

lawred2

I've watched season 7 for the third time recently

Contemplating given season 6 a rewatch but I've just started Das Boot so I'm not sure...

duploelabs

Kunkka wrote: »

Things got messy.... 5 seasons in 3 weeks.... I may be getting divorced... but Winter is Coming.

Charles Dance was outstanding, and so was Pedro Pascal. Played those characters to perfection.

Kit Harrington really is a terrible actor at times

My all-time favorite actor and character, Sandor Clegane played by the brilliant Rory McCann. I forgot how good it was to find out he was alive.

Worth taking a look at his audition reel, his change in demeanour is brilliant
https://youtu.be/TIWX2fPx-5k

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Rewatching has been so good. As first time around you wait week to week and year to year (or two) for the story to unfold. But knowing all the character arcs already, freed me up to enjoy the stories in a different way. There's no trying to figure anything out, can just enjoy it for what it is.

Gotta love Tywin's character at 1:00, had me laughing so much. (Even though it's obviously a very serious scene)
Tyrion: All my life, you've wanted me dead.
Tywin: Yes. But you refused to die. I respect that. Even admire it. You fight for what's yours.

Dumb ****

homosapien91

10 more days woohoo!

Mokuba

Finished this today. Season 5 and Season 7 are so bad in comparison to the other seasons.

Virtually all of the worst plots of the show take place in these 2 seasons.

This probably made me look forward to it less if anything, watching everything so closely together made it more obvious when the quality took gigantic nosedives and more recently the quality has just not been good enough.

Paddy Cow

Mokuba wrote: »

Finished this today. Season 5 and Season 7 are so bad in comparison to the other seasons.

Virtually all of the worst plots of the show take place in these 2 seasons.

This probably made me look forward to it less if anything, watching everything so closely together made it more obvious when the quality took gigantic nosedives and more recently the quality has just not been good enough.

Season 5 is weak alright but Hardhome is my favourite episode. It's just epic.

I didn't actually think 5 was too bad watching it back..7 was atrocious..

.......

For me Season 7 was saved by (a) the first time the lannister army see the Dothraki and the dragons and (b) the final reveal about Jons parentage and his real name.

I was ridiculed by certain posters on this forum when I offered the opinion that we would see the Tower of Joy scene again but without the whisper that obscured Jons name in a later season after the initial tease of it in Season 6.

Mokuba

I thought the Aegon reveal was terrible because they intertwined it with an incestuous sex scene, and had Bran narrate the whole thing.

The S6 finale scene, with no exposition and with a brilliant transition from baby Jon to adult Jon was so, so superior.

Down to director choice, Miguel Sapochnik is far superior to Podeswa.

Wailin

^^^Agreed. That was a brilliant scene and that episode was one of the best in the series for me, even better than Battle of the Bastards before it.

Paddy Cow

....... wrote: »

For me Season 7 was saved by (a) the first time the lannister army see the Dothraki and the dragons and (b) the final reveal about Jons parentage and his real name.

I was ridiculed by certain posters on this forum when I offered the opinion that we would see the Tower of Joy scene again but without the whisper that obscured Jons name in a later season after the initial tease of it in Season 6.

Please can you explain to me how the decimated Lannister army managed to take High Garden? I'm not being sarcastic here. I always thought the Tyrell's had a far superior army and grain store, which is why Tywin wanted to forge an allegiance with them. High Garden should have been able to withstand a siege. Was it just poor writing to move the plot along or did I miss something? It's always bugged me.

Tazzimus

Paddy Cow wrote: »

Please can you explain to me how the decimated Lannister army managed to take High Garden? I'm not being sarcastic here. I always thought the Tyrell's had a far superior army and grain store, which is why Tywin wanted to forge an allegiance with them. High Garden should have been able to withstand a siege. Was it just poor writing to move the plot along or did I miss something? It's always bugged me.

I assumed large chunks of their army defected to the Lannisters after Cersei killed most of the Tyrrell's.
The Tarlys at least switched sides.