[tipp_Gunner]

Gods the writing was strong then!!!

Originally Posted by chang_su

My two favorite scenes both involve Varys talking about what he understands the "realm" to be.

First, there is the discussion between him and Littlefinger in Season 3, where Littlefinger drops his famous "chaos is a latter" quote, but I think what Varys has to say is equally interessting:

[They are inside the throne room in kings landing]

Varys:
A thousand blades. Taken from the hands of Aegon's fallen enemies, forged in the fiery breath of Balerion the Dread.

Littlefinger:
There aren't a thousand blades. There aren't even two hundred. I've counted.

Varys:
Heh. I'm sure you have. Ugly old thing.

Littlefinger:
Yet it has a certain... appeal.

Varys:
The Lysa Arryn of chairs. Shame that you had to settle for your second choice.

Littlefinger:
Early days, my friend. It is flattering, really, you feeling such dread at the prospect of me getting what I want.

Varys:
Thwarting you has never been my primary ambition, I promise you... although who doesn't like to see their friends fail now and then.

Littlefinger:
[stepping down from the dais] You're so right. For instance, when I thwarted your plan to give Sansa Stark to the Tyrells... if, I'm going to be honest, I did feel an unmistakeable sense of... enjoyment there. But your confidante, the one who fed you information about my plans, the one you swore to protect, you didn't bring her any enjoyment. And she didn't bring me any enjoyment. She was a bad investment on my part. Luckily, I have a friend who wanted to try something new. Something daring. And he was so grateful to me for providing this fresh experience.

Varys:
[angrily] I did what I did for the good of the realm.

Littlefinger:
The realm. Do you know what the realm is? It's the thousand blades of Aegon's enemies, a story we agreed to tell each other over and over 'till we forget that it's a lie.

Varys:
But what do we have left once we abandon the lie? Chaos. A gaping pit waiting to swallow us all.

Littlefinger:
Chaos... isn't a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some, who are given the chance to climb, they refuse. They cling to the realm. Or the gods. Or love. Illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is.

The second scene would be in season 8, episode 4 where varys and tyrion are discussing who their best option for a king is, however I can't seem to find a full quote, yet. Here's a snippet:

“She’s a girl who walked into a fire with three stones and walked out with three dragons. How could she not believe in destiny?” (Varys to Tyrion about Daenerys)

[tipp_Gunner]

Love this bit of dialogue between Stannis and Davos. Excellent. Both of them are amongst my favourite characters.

[TerrorFirmer]

I genuinely find it hard to watch, let alone enjoy, such clips from earlier seasons knowing the embarrassing shambles they made of S8.

[tipp_Gunner]

Originally Posted by TerrorFirmer

I genuinely find it hard to watch, let alone enjoy, such clips from earlier seasons knowing the embarrassing shambles they made of S8.

Yes i think perhaps they should have kept to the ten episode format but i disagre it was a total shambles.

Bit rushed perhaps but not an unbelievable storyline in my view.

[TerrorFirmer]

I didn't mean the storyline, I meant how rushed it was and how bad the dialogue was compared to earlier seasons.

Many characters, who delivered memorable, powerful moments in those seasons, barely opened their mouths in S8, and others, when/if they did, had nothing particularly intelligent to say either.

[Paddy Cow]

Originally Posted by TerrorFirmer

I didn't mean the storyline, I meant how rushed it was and how bad the dialogue was compared to earlier seasons.

Many characters, who delivered memorable, powerful moments in those seasons, barely opened their mouths in S8, and others, when/if they did, had nothing particularly intelligent to say either.

Tyrion was one of my favourite characters and his performance in his trial was outstanding. After he teamed up with Dany he became an incompetent mess.

I think the main problem towards the end was that all the major characters who fleshed the story out such as Joffrey, Tywin, the Tyrells etc were gone and the two stars of the show - Jon Snow and Dany were not played by strong enough actors to carry it. I know the writing was terrible but even if it had been great, those two didn't have the presence to be stand out characters. Having said that Emilie Clark was really good in the last couple of episodes. I preferred Dany in the books. Show Dany seemed really wooden/one dimensional.

[Loafing Oaf]

Watching this scene again on Sky tonight



Has tv ever bettered this?