Andrespetmonkey said:
Augen said:
Andrespetmonkey said:
I don't understand the last episode. Does that mean all that build-up was for nothing? Seems like a waste of screen time and a shitty end to that part of the story. I'm not even pissed about those characters dying really, just that it seemed pointless. Book readers, is there a point to it? |
That conventions of story telling don't confom to reality. The notion that life to have a "point" needs some ending is based on our custom of story telling. A Song of Ice and Fire is in certain respects a counter to traditional high fantasy tropes. We want our bright hero to slay our dark villain in glorious fashion, but that is not how life works. Westeros is more real than many other fantasy worlds because it is grim like medieval Europe truly was. Book readers do not know how this ends (least the honest ones admit that) and that is part of the joy for me. I have no clue who will sit on the Iron Throne and who will remain after this tumultous era. It is refreshing that book 5 threw another curve ball making me go "WHAT?" yet again so cannot wait for book 6.
I am not saying it is for anyone, but I adore it.
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I'm not saying I want the good guys to always win, I'm just saying killing off main characters for no reason seems like bad writing.
The writers can kill whoever they want, even my beloved daenerys (pls no), but if it's just for the sake of it then it seems like a waste and lost potential, even if it makes it more "real" at the same time. If you like it, awesome, but I don't buy your justification.
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I don't know how else it could be done though. You have literally 50+ "main" characters. Inevitably some have to die. It would be much worse writing if Martin continually introduced new characters only to have them killed off, so that we could hold onto the characters we've got to know. Whether the readers like it or not, I think the book's do a pretty incredible job portraying the harsh realities of medieval warfare. You lose friends and family, and have to just pick yourself up and carry on. Always makes me think how easy we have it.
