Christ, it’s dull!

Last nights, literally as you couldn’t actually see anything

They seem to have taken GOT and removed all the things that made it great (tits, dragons, massive battles, proper baddies and most of all… humour). They’ve sucked all the joy out of it. I think it’s because everyone seems to be taking it (and themselves) all so bloody seriously

It’s not Shakespeare, GOT was great because it was panto ( it’s behiiiiiiind yoooouuuu!!! Booooooooo!)

It’s just a lot of people, most of whom I can’t even be bothered remembering, they’re so instantly forgettable, stood around in dark castles, mumbling to each other

Dull. Dull. Dull.

Don’t think I can be arsed with any more of it

Double post

It’s suffering from trying to cover too much ground for sure, there’s so many characters and the time jumps mean it’s confusing and you never really care about a character. Apparently there’s another couple of time jumps to come (with 3 episodes left in the season).

I’m not really sure how they could have done it differently (as HotD needs to have a lot of characters in and you do need a fair bit of background to explain why an extended family ends up warring) but if s2 isn’t slower paced with better character development etc. then maybe basing the story on Fire & Blood wasn’t such a great idea after all

Cirtainly seems to have lost the appeal of the first GoT but….. When you watch that first series (which suckered us all in) and compare it to the last, the prequel is comparable.

My biggest issue istm there are no nice characters – everyone is evil, or miserable or has an agenda – the original GoT started with the Starks who you wanted to do well. Couldn’t give a damn about any of the characters in this.

When you watch that first series (which suckered us all in) and compare it to the last, the prequel is comparable.

Comparable to which, the first or the last?

It’s certainly not comparable to the first, which was a riot of plotlines, action and intrigue from pretty much the outset.

My biggest issue istm there are no nice characters

Surely the appeal of GOT isnt the nice people but the utter bastards (literally and metaphorically) in it? They’re like pantomime villains.

Everyone in this is just… meh.

There’s absolutely nobody i could give a flying **** about

the original GoT started with the Starks who you wanted to do well

was it just me who thought the Starks were almost as bad as all the rest then?! They were just as dependent on “the wheel” as all the other houses. Ned was weak and slavishly followed a bad king out of a misplaced sense of duty – which also made him cut an innocent lad’s head off in the first episode! The children were all selfish & entitled which led to the eldest getting himself & his mum killed! Not great 😬 Only Jon was what you’d call a “goodie” though it did make his character a bit boring after they’d transitioned him into the whiter-than-white golden boy. Note that he binned of his family at the end as he’d had enough of all the bullshit 😂

…the lack of characters is the issue. Dr Who’s doing his best but early GoT had charming Jaimie Lanister, uncharming the Hound and his big bro who didn’t say a right lot. Wicked Ceresi, whatever the guy’s name was who lopped off the todger of Lilly Allen’s little brother? He was really bad. Etc etc. Okay there were a few blank-faced non-actors (sansa sloane sorry, stark) but it did tonk along.

Here we have a young lad TWOCing a dragon (good) but really do we need 5 mins of footage with swelling music to follow?

And whilst having your most boring characters rowing off in a boat was a handy vehicle in later GoT, the fact that the guy from Famalam (wasted btw) has now shaved his head is the episode’s final and very telegraphed reveal? Really.

Still. Remains elf free so I’ll probably watch the next.

Dr Who’s doing his best

He’s now starting to rival James Nesbitt in the ‘arched eyebrows per episode’ stakes and that can never be a good thing

the lack of characters is the issue

there’s no standouts yet, it’s true. Slightly warming to the Dr now (although still think he’s not really the right actor for the part) because he really just does not give any ****. 😃 Also I think Alicent’s transition from mousy to vengeful pyscho was done well! (The new actress is a lot better). Both the 2 Targ lads had a good scene this week, the older one has taken to hitting the ale pretty hard and the younger, meek one has found his inner nutter (i.e. proper Targaryen) streak and I think both will become interesting characters!

Flipping heck! I keep reading here hoping it improves but seems I was right to sack it off after half an episode.

Here we have a young lad TWOCing a dragon (good) but really do we need 5 mins of footage with swelling music to follow?

Especially as I can’t be the only one thinking that now the little shit had hotwired a fire breather he would then go on the rampage, extracting vengeance and turning his enemies into charred, smoking lumps

But no…

Straight back to people stood around in dark rooms, mumbling to each other

Those saying that it’s getting going now…

We’re 7 episodes into 10 and absolutely nothing has happened apart from an inexplicable switching of half the cast and Paddy Considine has swapped his wig

maybe basing the story on Fire & Blood wasn’t such a great idea after all

Some things work in a book.
Some things work in telly.
Venn diagram of the above would put this thing in the unenviable position of being a book-only jobbie.

It’s watchable, expensive, but ultimately seems rather forgettable.

I really want to like HotD but it is so tedious. Lots and lots of nothing happening (see this episode’s balcony scene) and then key plot points crammed in to a few minutes.
As binners says, they’ve removed everything that made GoT great and replaced it with, well, nothing.

Some things work in a book.
Some things work in telly.
Venn diagram of the above would put this thing in the unenviable position of being a book-only jobbie.

Didn’t GRR Martin say that he deliberately wrote the ‘A Song of Fire and Ice’ books (GoT main texts) to be so complex as to be unfilmable? Perhaps having failed here, he is trying a different tack of making ‘Fire and blood’ so thin and dry so that no-one would try?

I thought there was something wrong with my telly this week, it was so flipping dull. The cinematic treatment matched the story. But it perked up right at the end, in like the last 5 minutes. Could have just had that and saved us all some time. Perhaps that’s actually the key to a successful new format?

As for the last 5 minutes; we saw a glimpse of Larry Strong last week, getting the condemned to agree to having their tongues cut out in exchange for freedom. He looks a lot more interesting as a character (and the actor seems a lot more natural too). Although why the character has to have an obvious impairment, I have no idea. I thought the days of the ‘evil cripple’ in films and tv were behind us. Perhaps there’s a backstory which explains why he’s such a nasty ****…

Comparable to which, the first or the last?

The last – dark, can’t hear what’s going on, characters no one likes and little appeal.

Surely the appeal of GOT isnt the nice people but the utter bastards (literally and metaphorically) in it? They’re like pantomime villains.

But when the audience doesn’t have any one to root for, it just becomes one big show of “couldn’t give a toss”. At least with GoT the stark kids each had a different sort of relatable appeal, HoD I could give a damn about any of them.

The last – dark, can’t hear what’s going on, characters no one likes and little appeal.

Fair enough. The main problem with the last series was the bizarre episode structure and most of the characters becoming someone completely different in order to drive it to an unsatisfactory conclusion.

we saw a glimpse of Larry Strong last week, getting the condemned to agree to having their tongues cut out in exchange for freedom. He looks a lot more interesting as a character (and the actor seems a lot more natural too). Although why the character has to have an obvious impairment, I have no idea. I thought the days of the ‘evil cripple’ in films and tv were behind us

yeah he’s one of my favourite characters so far, has the potential to be a right Littlefinger-esque devious bastard! IMO it makes sense he’s impaired as that gives him motivation given the nature of the society… he’s not a first-born son so he won’t inherit anything, and he isn’t able to become a famous knight which is the usual way a second son would make a name for themselves, so he has to get devious/murdery if he covets power (which he obviously does!) I don’t think they’ve used that trope before at least with a main character so I’ll give them a pass 😀

I’m a big fantasy fan and GOT was probably my favourite all time TV. This has got just enough going on to keep me interested and hopefully it’ll pick up as the characters and story develop. I’ll definitely stick with it although it’s not as good as rings of power or Wheel of time which I thought was great. Those who think it’s rubbish obviously aren’t Terry Goodkind fans and eagilly waited for The Legend of the seeker to come out 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

he’s not a first-born son so he won’t inherit anything

I thought he’d fixed that small problem?

Jesus it’s dull 2 episodes ago I thought right, the battle lines have been drawn and shit’s going to kick off. 2 hours later, nothing.

2 episodes ago I thought right, the battle lines have been drawn and shit’s going to kick off. 2 hours later, nothing.

I thought the kids’ fight was the highlight of the season so far.

Wheel of time

Surprised that didn’t get more discussion on here, I rate it far higher than both this drawn out incest soap opera and Lord of the Respins.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63130241

The show’s director said the dim lighting was deliberate as it added a “sense of mystery and intrigue”.

Lol! The only sense of mystery I had, was whether or not my telly was broken. What a load of bollocks.

I’m afraid this has been relegated to half watching when I’m supposed to be working.

CGI dragons have got more impressive.

Strong ITV4 drama vibes with the latest episode. I’ve no idea where the budget has gone but it’s not on stage sets, I’m sure I saw a castle wall wobble as someone walked past.

Impressive sword though. I could do with one like that for my boiled egg.

I thought it was a decent episode, although as others have pointed out, it still does suffer from the fact all the main characters are so unlikeable you don’t really care who dies (I think I’d be rooting for the Night King if this was happening during the GoT era).

Strong ITV4 drama vibes with the latest episode. I’ve no idea where the budget has gone but it’s not on stage sets, I’m sure I saw a castle wall wobble as someone walked past

The scathing comment from Mrs Binners during last nights episode:

“It’s like Hollyoaks”

Christ, the first 8 episodes should have been compressed down to 2. All they’ve done is some character development and scene-setting for the coming conflict. Are they ever going to actually get to the action. What’s the point of having Graham McTavish there if he doesn’t get to do some lopping off heads?

Targaryen Nick Fury is my favourite character now, he’s a cool dude 😎 The actor playing him (this week!) is so much better than Matt Smith too.

All they’ve done is some character development

ummm… that’s what made GoT good? I don’t think this series is for you 😂 Maybe try something on Disney aimed at people with a short attention span! 😉

ummm… that’s what made GoT good?

Yes, but GoT had compelling characters. The Lannisters were brilliantly nasty and bickering, the Starks were honest and decent, but too naive to survive somewhere like King’s Landing. This is just lame by comparison.

Another extra executed.

Anything else happen?

Anything else happen?

not really 😂 Bit of tension building. I mean, I’m enjoying it for what it is, but there’s two left for this season… if they leave it right until the close of episode 10 before everything kicks off properly and it’s “to be continued…”, I am 100% going round HBO’s house and hammering frozen sausages into their lawn

Honestly, do some of you like anything in your life? 🙂

Thought it was great fun last night and Smith is by far the best character!

phew glad its not me who finds it a bit dull…

stuck with it since it got stellar reviews at the beginning but ive not checked them since.

it has some great moments no doubt, but im lost – too many characters who all have similar names and look the same across too many time frames. i’ve absolutely no idea whats going on!

gutted Rhys Ifans character hasnt gotten his hands dirty yet. He was the one i was most excited about – turned out to be the most boring.

I want to like it, I really do but sweet mercy it’s dull.

Nice anatomical detail on the slice-up, though. 🙂

And the facial make-up/CGI on Paddy was where the production money went!

Episode 8 was very boring right up until the scene in the great hall. Fantastic decapitation, followed by that GoT humour; ‘He can keep his tongue’. 🤣😜 The king consolidates Targeryan power, the Hightowers suddenly realise their little play for power has now collapsed, and it’s set up for conflict between the king’s sons and their strong nephews. Damon showing that ‘if you **** with us, you’ll come a cropper’. So glad he offed that Valarian bloke; he was so irritating. It’s taken 8 episodes to get to where 2 max could have done. I’m so glad I’m not paying to watch it.

Nice anatomical detail on the slice-up, though. 🙂

And the facial make-up/CGI on Paddy was where the production money went!

I loved the tongue still intact in the neck of the torso. And the eye socket! 😱 Fantastic. Scared the babbies!