Why Season 1 of Game of Thrones Is SO GREAT
Vložit
- čas přidán 15. 05. 2024
- Season 1 is one of the best seasons of game of thrones, but what makes it one of the best seasons? In this video, I take a dive into why season 1 is such a great season and illustrate different points that make it one of the best seasons.
Thank you to my Patrons: Nicholas Kostecka, Jake Hall, Wes Makowski, k4nd17r33, Debbs, Matyáš Přenosil, Lauvelga, The_Henne, and Subliminal Transformation. www.patreon.com/user?u=20450805
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
5:18 Fewer* episodes. Not Less, fewer.
- Stannis the Goddamn Mannis.
you are a god
@@giogiolachance4313 No, there is only 1 God, and his name is Death.
underrated comment 🤣
@@DemBigOlEyes and what is the only thing we say to death ?
@@giogiolachance4313 Not today
Tywins death on the toilet was a metaphor for the fact that after his death the writing went to shit.
@Cersei Lannister you killed Robert. I hate you.
LORD SNOW yeah Robert was such a Chad.
@@moneymayweathera you killed Dany, I love you
Tywin's death in S4 was the last time GOT stayed mostly faithful to the books. S5 onwards adapted A Feast for Crows/A Dance with Dragons and did not do a good job of it at all. AGOT, ACOK, ASOS were relatively well adapted, especially AGOT.
@@Anon-nv7bp Absolutely. They started straying too far, too early. They could have stuck to the books for a great deal longer, but they had no idea how to handle the Dornish plots. Dorne was butchered, and that, too, was the beginning of the end. They never even ventured to the actual Vale plot, or to Highgarden. F'Aegon, hard as it could be to pull off, would have been a great new angle. The swan song, as far as I'm concerned, was the "Light of the Seven" episode. That was the last great thing about the series. I carried on through the next seasons because I wanted to see how it ended, I needed closure for those plotlines that they had come up with. Now, I'm not even excited for a rewatch, because I know where it goes, and it does not stand up to what it could have been.
Now, I stick to my rereads and hope for the rest of ASOIAF. GOT is dead, and didn't even get a nice funeral.
The show went from “When you play the game of thrones you win or you die” to “She mah queen”
Don't forget "l don wunt it"
lol I don't wunt it
She's McQueen
Alex SM ka-chow
" Because i have balls and you don't "
GRRM: "It will take 11 to 13 seasons to tell the full story."
D&D: "Great, so in like 7 or 8 seasons you'd get the gist of it."
GRMM: "What?"
This makes me soo mad. Imagine we could hv had 5 additional seasons maybe that would have had the potential of wonderful storylines
Honeslty they should’ve done 15-20 episodes per season if they were going to do it in 8 seasons. Would’ve made things so much better and no need for rushing thighs
@@rosean374 We could have those 5 additional seasons if GRRM actually finished the books
@@chickenmcnuggets9669 yes. so many story lines were rushed, the night king story should hv been a season itself even before they got to Winterfell.
I would have stayed for 13 seasons with dorne, euron, victorion, and young griff.
"After watching season 8 dozens of times"
I am so sorry to hear
Nobody deserves such an awful punishment
worse than capital punishment
@@reek4062 watching season 6 and 7 is worse becouse season 8 is only a conequence of them
I remember when it came to the red carpet *Huh yeah it was an interesting film* (Sarcasticly)
Well maybe the Boltons
why did you put yourself through such torture?
S1-7 "Winter is coming"
S8 "Winter came..for one episode!"
So was winter only bc of the white walkers?
@@fairlyliterary4771 who knows?
@@fairlyliterary4771 i am sure they were talking about the things which come with Winter including white walkers. If not then why they become sad and scared when they use this phrase?? winter season is not scary at all!
@@cyanide4456 except for people freezing to death
We needed more episodes for the white walkers!!! One of the biggest S08 disappointments.
Season 1-4: adaptation of the books Season 5-6: fan fiction of the books Season 7: fan fiction of the show Season 8: someone’s grandma who doesn’t watch the show tasked with writing an ending
Lmao 😂
Folks laugh, but what you wrote was the truth.
Bang on.
Season 7-8: Show runners had run out of material to base their story on and they wanted to finish the show because they had another offer to show-run another series. So, they rushed the ending and got everyone to just teleport throughout the 7 kingdoms.
Unfortunately for them, the last few seasons were so bad that the offer was rescinded and they didn't even get to do that other series. Everyone loses.
tjslam26 I thought that they just had a new deal instead of Star Wars. It’s not confirmed whether they were fired or not
My theory was that the limited budget for the earlier series forced the writers and directors to better utilize story telling compared to season 8’s boom boom dragons.
We only got like big battles from season 6 and onwards.
@@maltesko-nw4nf, season 6 really only had one episode of big battles though. S7 is when half the screentime just became battles, more so than S8
@@maltesko-nw4nf battle of the Blackwater and the wildling invasion were both pretty big
Thus, art through adversity.
I think D&d are pretty solid directors, even in the last seasons. It's the writing which they were incapable of handling. Even grrm himself couldn't have done it very well at one book a year, so these guys had no chance.
Also there was very little politics in the last two seasons. One of the big selling points for me was to see complex politics being played by realistic characters and have realistic consequences. It almost didn't feel like a story. It felt like history. The later seasons feel like a story of a blockbuster movie. Main characters get plot armors and the plans are all dumb as hell. Only Cercei and Danny are left who are still playing the game of thrones (badly) and then they both die and no one wants to play anymore. So Cercei's line from season 1 should be, "In the game of thrones, you either win or die, till all the players are dead, or don't want to play anymore."
Imagine watching a game of football with the greatest players in the world but before the end all the players get red cards and there's no one left on the pitch to play the match. And the referee decides he's won. How disappointing would that be!
Lol good comment
Bran in the last season was just ugh. Poor jojen,Meera and hodor and many others. I would have even rather had cersei in ruling. Bran is just an hypocrite who said he didn't want any power then straight up willingly sends Jon to the wall and becomes king. Petyr was killed so badly and stupidly,. Like they just didn't know what to do with a smart character like him also varys too. Tyrion became so dumb that he thinks hiding with dead bodies from a necromancer is a good idea. And everyone got teleportation
That's a good point. I think it's partially an unfortunate but inevitable consequence of many of the factions being eliminated or allying with other factions over time.
@@ankitsaikumar6866 Your remark about Bran sending Jon to the wall and becoming king, made me lol out loud haha
Season 1's dialogue was almost shakesperean
Season 8's dialogue was almost at a 5th grade level
Yep, it's because those dialouges were mostly taken out of the original books.
Take away the "almost" in both lines and i agree
"shes my my queen"
@@Kyoko1411 but the problem arose when the content from books stopped as GRRM took more than enough time to finish the books. So instead D&D was put the task of fabricating stories from the few cliffpoints given by GRRM as to how the story will go. D&D maybe good directors but they were terrible in creating a story with complex conflicts, character changes, brilliant dialogues and intricate plots that wove together. That was GRRM's specialty and he was unable to provide because he takes a lot of time to create those details.
@@ozymandias7372 D&D had plenty of book content they didn't use. The show became bad from season 4/5 on when they decided to not follow the book content anymore and simplified a lot, creating butterfly effects.
Bran in Season 8: "Yes I can. I am the King." Tywin in Season 4: "Any man who must say 'I am the king' is no true king".
Lol
Firstname Lastname um yeah I wouldn’t really use Robert as a shining example.
He very often said he wasn’t cut out to rule, actively neglected his responsibilities, and made everyone else miserable while doing it.
Technically season 3 episode 10 after the red wedding
@@ogge9304Robert reign was in peace because he has Jon Arryn as a King's hand.
@@ogge9304 true
I started watching Game of Thrones because of Sean Bean. I knew him from Lord of The Rings as Boromir and when I saw him as a similar character, the show got my interest. Season 1 was great but the moment I got hooked was the execution of Ned Stark. When I was watching the scene, I was saying "Nah, they will save him someway. They cannot kill the main character, this is how TV works" . When I realised I was wrong, I wanted to watch the rest of the series and know everything about GOT universe. Thanks to this, I read all the books and watched all seasons. In short season 1 is a masterpiece thanks to exceptional storytelling of George Martin, great choice of casts and their hard-work to get in their characters (of course Sean Bean takes the lead here) and smart use of limited budget. Every time D&D makes changes, they damaged the story and show. The funniest thing is , story was great when they did nothing. We all know what happens when they started writing story on their own.
One of the better scenes in the first season was written by d&d. That is the scene between Robert and Cercei where they discuss about their marriage and did it ever even have a change to succeed.
@@olenlotharjoo It is true that there are some great conversations that don't exist in the books but it is hard to believe those are written by D&D. I remember that they got a lot of help from George Martin and some others when they had started the project so it is possible that those conversations are written by someone else.
@@TheFool87 :D
@@TheFool87 you are just speculating. You have to give D &D some credit. All the Varys littlefinger scenes are not in the book and those scenes are unbelievably well written
@@olenlotharjoo They also have the support of GRR Martin with the writing the first 4 seasons.
Seasons 1-3 are my favorites. They are complex and deep without getting out of control. They are medieval and feel like an old world, unlike the later seasons that turn into high budget modern cosplay.
You described it the best. Season 1-3 had that medieval element. Onwards it lost that element and became a story of medieval times without the feel.
Season 4 is epic though ! Probably the most action packed season, while still being well written.
And 4 & 6.
Seasons 1 to 4 are the best. Seasons 7 & 8 are the worst.
@@captainmarvelwilson508 5 is worse than 7 imo
Because Sean Bean was so damn good as Eddard
Everyone was good, especially the kids. When Mark’s time was up, Charles stepped up to the plate.
He really was
@@dannythomas417 who's mark and who's Charlie
@o m Mark Addy(King Robert) and Charles Dance(Tywin)
@@dannythomas417 safe
Game of Thrones
The show where budget went up and the quality went down
creativity flourishes when resources are limited.
Lol
@@ThePereubu1710
Yes!! I've been utilizing that to build my own channel~
@@ThePereubu1710
I subbed you~*
isnt that how it goes though. Creativity is pushed by limitations. When you can do anything you focus on spectacle instead of character and your first idea tends to be the only idea because theres nothing to stop you.
I fell in love with GoT due to the dialogue. When that decreased, my love of the show vanished
It was so painful to watch deteriorate
No ofence but people tahat like it for that reson are the guy drooling dumb looking meme.becasue everuthing has to be sayed to the audience.LIKE keep up lazy asses
@@tristandimitrijev3195 you having a stroke buddy?
@@zZLemonGrabZz Are you a doctor?
@@tristandimitrijev3195 everuthing audience.Like dOcToR
Later seasons can only be summed up in one Francis Ford Coppola quote:
*We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane.*
If only the show itself had as thick plot armor as Arya, maybe it would have survived being violently stabbed to death by Dumb and Dumber
The plot armour in later seasons is thicker than the great wall of China. I could name countless times when Arya and Jon should have been dead.
I wish Elia Martell and Jeyne Poole had Arya and samwell tarly's plot armour
For the watch
still not as thick plot armor as Rey from Star wars had
@@user-nb3qg7ps6u I like your username but I prefer that with rice
I missed the times when Bran wasn’t some lifeless, useless rock that just weirded everyone out and was actually an interesting character that cared about his friends/family
Exactly
i also like the fact, they established his ability to change the past thus starting it all (Hodor) and never mention or use it again.
Bran was the show largest failure.
Dr4g0nSm4sH NOTHING meant anything. This is a drop in the Thrones privy.
@Michael Thornton Yeah I agree. The original Three-Eyed Raven had a personality. Yes, he was wise and all-knowing but it didn't make him detached to reality as Bran becomes.
I loved how the first few seasons portrayed warfare fairly realistically. Even though there were no battles in S1, there were scenes devoted to battle planning and negotiations (the whole reason Robb agreed to a marital alliance with the Freys was to get extra troops and a strategic crossing). Despite S7 and S8 featuring huge battles, the phrases "vanguard" and "supply lines" are never said, and the armies just appear wherever they're needed.
The Varys V Littlefinger scenes were some of the best in the whole series.... So much tension without the need of violence or action
Agreed. They embody the whole political/espionage aspect of medieval politics and make it much more interesting than just having kings fighting battles against each other.
Season 4 was the peak of the show for me, I get constant chills with every line and moment I rewatch it.
Yeah the series was a masterpiece till Tywin was alive
Same. And then it went to shit after that lol
@@haydenrodriguez4670 Just like tywin on the toliet
I think season 4 was everyone's favourite.
IMO Season 1 and 4 are the best. Also they shouldn't have cut the tysha reveal that was a Big mistake. Still a great season tho
Season 1: Mystery Novel "Who done it."
Season 8: A clown car of fire.
@Stiles White Ice???? not so much....a few cubes, maybe....
Why does this video feel so sad.. ah the nostalgia and disappointment have met each other...
BOOTIES
I think the problem with the later seasons is they "kind of forgot" that filler can be used to explore characters and their attitudes. Some might say Bran learning the houses and their words is filler but it shows us how bored he is but also goes into telling us about the other houses.
Season 1 : Who Done It
Season 8 : Done Wunt It
Used to love the line, "you know nothing Jon snow" and would be so happy to hear it
Now "done wunt it" is the only line associated with him and it makes me cringe and hurt inside
the stark contrast in dialogue between the first couple of seasons to the last ones is just mind-boggling
Bronn was truly a character who overstayed his welcome. He ought to have been written out at the end of S4.....have him sell Tyrion out to Tywin or something interesting, rather than just keeping him around for goofy one-liners and a buddy cop mission with Jaime.
Ugh yeah, keeping Bronn around for the fans and comic relief is so representative of the direction that the show took
He should have disappeared in the scene of the farewell with tyrion.
In the books, Bronn basically disappears from the story after the events of S4 and is only mentioned in passing afterwards
Briana of Stark wasnt any better.
Bronn s7/8 sucked. No one wanted him there
Going back to season one after needing to re-watch season 8 so many times must be like drinking a glass 40 years old scotch after chugging human urine for a year.
Och, 40 year old? 10 year old Laphroiag. Agree with the urine.
@@robinstevenson1098 Not bad. S1 was more like Laphroaig, you are completely right: with all kinds of layers of beauty, depth and sweetness hidden beneath that gritty exterior. S8 was like a bottle of ALDI single malt. You know that it's still kind of the same thing, but with no depth, no heart. Just a quick product for the masses.
If George manages to finish the books. HBO should make an animated series that is very accurate to the books. The last two seasons of GOT pissed me off. I want to see Arianne, Young Griff, lady stoneheart etc...
Seriously I wouldve loved young griff to meet doran or oberyn atleats they would be happy knowing their nephew is alive
I want to see ghost 😂
I want to see Casterly Rock in all it's glory.
@@toenailairconditioner7406 l understand you. I was so disappointed with Casterly rock we got in the show.
@@thedeadnightking9975 bro watch my Jon Snow tribute and let me know what you think
The introduction of Tywin Lannister is one of the best character introductions I’ve ever seen. It tells the audience everything we need to know about him in a short space of time. It’s up there with Captain Jack Sparrow’s introduction. Genius.
Bobby B after seeing what happened to the show after season 4 (and after Stannis' character assassination): STOP THIS MADNESS IN THE NAME OF THE KING... D&D, I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A SPIKE!
Stannis the Goddamn Mannis about season 8 : "I hate a great many things but i suffer them all the same."
@FORREST GUMP Agreed! I hate what the show did to Stannis and especially Shireen! Stannis would never sacrifice his daughter. In the books he even plans for Princess Shireen to be Queen of the seven kingdoms in the event of his death during the campaign of the north!
I mean, at least their version of Stannis was consistent in how ooc he was compared to the book character.
Which I guess isn't that much of a positive considering how awesome he was in the books.
@@roryedward2631 I'm pretty sure the writers have said that stan Stannis burns shireen in the books
GoT died on the toilet with Tywin. Battle of the bastards was good I'll give them that.
The episode after the Battle of the Bastards was amazing. My favorite in the whole series
Battle of the bastards is good as long as you dont care about battle tactics. Then it all flies out the window how stupid it is.
Hardhomme was pretty badass, too.
Battle of the bastards is overrated. Hardhome is ten times better
@@moneymayweathera yeah another amazing episode
I think season 4 was the best season objectively, but season 1 really had no filler scenes, you are right. Tywin was the quality of the show. After he died it was never the same.
I miss the "fights" between Varys and Little Finger. There was a cool relationship there that could've been hidden under the other stories while connecting them all
Season 1: Plots intrigues white walkers and stuff Season 8: I dOn WaN eT
“fInGeR iN tHe BuM?”
SHEZMAQUEEN
IM DYING READING THESE COMMENTS
*Varys coughs*
The demise of this show is so disgusting. At least it showed hollywood that a TV series can do just as good or even better than a film if you give them the team and budget to do it.
Winnie Wrong. Season One had less budget. Season 8 was full of budget. It shows that you can make anything great, no matter the budget.
except the creators still shit out a trash ending of a tv show with limitless budget to chase a big movie deal. What it showed is long term ambition is unsustainable because the creators will get lazy and bored
@@justanotherhotguy Season 6 had budget, and it was awesome.
@Bhavesh My ranking from worst to best: 8,7,2,1,3,6,5,4
@Bhavesh It's my opinion man. Get over it.
13:14 I finally know after so long what little finger's posture reminds me of, an emperor penguin.
Thank you for mentioning them basically teleporting from one place to the next. It probably felt like a minor detail to the writers but is actually really important. Especially in comparison to earlier seasons, it made the show feel even more rushed and, like you said, less grounded in reality.
D&D kinda forgot that they were adapting books to TV and didn't even read the last one.
How can they read it when it's not finished?
@@yashikazmi l meant the dance with dragons
@@soy.sauce.latte. ok
Why season 1 was so great ?
Because Bobby B was there
Thank the gods for season 1, and their tits.
sEnTiEnT
Bobby B: STOP THIS MADNESS IN THE NAME OF THE KING.... D&D, I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A SPIKE!
It’s hard to argue with her assessment
The last scene with the born of the dragons was so beautiful that at the time made me cry. After all what happened to Ned Stark, we got a scene with hope when Daenerys raised with her dragons.
So beautiful...but season 8 made the dragons (a sign of hope for the show) become sorrow
The art direction from the first season was better too. Everyone from their frizzy hair to their wardrobe and the lighting, felt more grounded in realism. The later seasons began perming their hair and making everything too clean and fashionable. It became too obvious we were watching actors in a show or play instead of being transported into that world. It lost its grip and the the illusion and immersion was broken far too easily.
My question is, Who were the people that directed or wrote the first season? They should’ve stayed to continue the rest of the seasons. I refuse to believe it was D&D. Season 1 was truly that good.
This is the comment I've been looking for! I've seen so many people bash on the hairstyles and dresses/outfits of the first season saying that their "ugly" but I personally loved it because it felt like something that was actually styled off of medieval beauty standards rather than modern day looks. Not to mention how everyone's hair in the later seasons looks like it's been done with a curling iron or something instead of what they would have had in a medieval setting.
The moment you realize Cersei was trying to seduce Ned in the book version of the “When you play the game of thrones you win or die, there’s no middle ground” scene and Ned still rejects the offer even though Cersei is supposed to be 💯 hot asf in the books. You can’t not love Ned, he is too great.
And non-show watchers and non-book readers hate Ned for killing Lady
Aron Sakhar bruh that was his northern morals working there and he showed us that he is a good man that would do things honorable and not let a butcher like Ser Illyn Payne kill a Direwolf. If you hate Ned for that in the books even though he thinks about that and regrets it 3 times or something and he thinks he cursed himself with that action because of all the “Old Gods sent the direwolves for the Stark Children”. Ned is great
Cersei Lannister how tf did i miss that part 😂
Yes, she put one hand in his lap.
The man was cold. Hahah
Ned is such a chad
There is only one bad thing about season 1: No Stannis
The ONE TRUE KING👑🦌🧡🔥
At least he gets mentioned....
He is there, after robert death, he shows up and talks to Ned to support his campaign to the throne
@@miguelrocha9573 that was his lil bro, the Usurper, Renly Baratheon😂
I'm literally here to say the same thing
One of my biggest surprises from re-watching Season 1 is that somehow (miraculously) Season 8 didn't destroy it for me; I enjoyed it as much as I ever did. That's how good and compelling it is: it could withstand the absolute abomination that the show's conclusion turned out to be.
I agree. If you love the first 4-7 seasons and hate Season 8, you shouldn't let the latter ruin the former for you.
@@artificialaceattorney6822 The rot started setting in with Season 4 for me. By Season 5 I actually quit watching the show, because it became so dumb by that point, but returned again by late Season 6 - mostly for the dragons, I admit LOL.
I just re-watched the first 3 seasons and they are still great but I struggle with season 4 and 5 and then give up
@@TurboMintyFresh Season 4 was the best
I was so saddened by the quick death of Ned Stark. With him on top, House Stark had so much potential. Ned wasn't the brightest but he was a great warrior and family man, and he would've taught all the second generation Starks so much, plus all of them would probably be alive and thriving since they were wealthy, eating well and had great people training them. If only he hadn't gone south :(
agreed. though it’s also what makes Ned’s death (and the events that happen to the Starks following that) one of the most effective tragedies in recent literature/media. i’m so damn SAD about them and wish we could return to that happy S1E1 time where all the Starks were together, in Winterfell, with nary a worry - but i also marvel at how EFFECTIVE the storytelling was in making us feel for them and mourn for them and root for them. we know what is going to happen - Ned is going to be honourable and make honourable choices and be *the* paragon of morality and virtue for both the audience and the characters, and that very honour is what’s going to get him killed because his fate also happened to rest on a psychotic man-child of a king - and yet we keep going back to it.
Because they almost exactly copied the first book in season 1 of got, after season 1 D&d are slowly starting to go away from the books, and then season 7 and 8 megh.
Exactly.
Yes, this. Honestly, I mean, whilst I agree with all of the criticisms of season 8 and dislike it, I cannot exactly fault D&D for their incompetence. Their ability at writing *original* stories in the ASOIF universe has been pretty much untested. Sure, in the first few seasons, there are plenty of events that were not in the books or differ, however, the purpose of these in my opinion seems to be to fill in what the reader infers throughout the book or expand on non-POV characters in the book that the reader learns about gradually.
My suspicion is that with season 7 and 8, D&D was basically given like a list of key plot elements that GRRM wanted to tell. However, without a written book, there was no narrative "glue" to connect these together and D&D did not seem to have the skill or seem interested in coming up with that themselves.
Season 2 and 3 took a fair amount of creative liberty. Them moving away from the book def played a part of the decline, but I think its more to do with a loss of interest. GGRM has yet to release the winds of winter because he knows how the story should end but doesnt know how to get there. He has been working on solving this riddle for years, D&D simply gave up. They know how to make quality, but it requires time, effort, and passion. D&D lost that passion and with it followed their effort and time. They were ready to pack it all up and move on, but contractually only they were allowed to end it but were required to end it. The problem however is that the contract never included giving a shit, and that was lost around season 5.
Not D & d Dumb and dumber
@@giancarlogonzalez7415 they could've left if they wanted, someone more competent like Brian Cogman would've made a better ending, but their ego didn't let them allow anyone else to finish *their* massively successful show
Season one is not only the greatest season of GOT. It's one of the greatest seasons of tv ever produced.
I just finished it and it bored me to death so I really hope it isnt actually the best season
@@nickthorn449 Everyone has got their own taste. That being said, tecnically dialogue and acting basically can't get any better than the first season og GOT.
@@martinolsen660 Personally, season 1 was one of the worst to me. It has its moments, but there was too much shitty writing. For example Viserys behaving like he is eager to be killed by Dothraki. Although he was threatened a couple of times, he insist to act stupid which was so obvious that Dothraki will kill him. Next issue is King being killed by a boar. I expect more creativity from writers when watching a show or reading a book. Also death of Khal Drogo was stupid. One of the greatest fighters in the show killed, because he falled in love in a girl, who lets suspucious which curse him.
@@ErenRaven I dissagree wholeheartedly.
The writing of season 1 is far, far superior to the other seasons.
Viserys is mentally ill. He was forced to be "the beggar king" as a child and later got used to being pandered to by Illyrio. When being treated like a peasant by the Dothraki, it takes him over the edge. It is absolutely in character and follows the book very closely. Harry Loyd who plays Viserys is also arguably the best actor ever on the show.
- "Killed by a boar" - did you follow what was going on? Cersei basically assassinated Robert, by having Roberts squire be Lancel Lannister, who kept Robert absolutely drunk during the hunt. Robert is selfish and arrogant - it is totally in character and once again follows the books closely.
Drogo's death was also pretty great. Drogo is a savage, moron, rapist, who gets turned more civilized by Dany and this newfound mercy and trust costs him his life and more importantly, forces Dany to seize power for herself, instead of being in the shadow of her brother or her husband forever.
Season 1 does have faults (They pale in comparison to the other seasons) but these certainly aren't any of them.
@@martinolsen660 I don't like that explanation of Viserys. Far more interesting plot would be him understading that he lost the power and then leave Daenerys and intrigue from other cities which she visited later in the series. Instead, we have angry, whining kid who was begging to be killed.
When you mentioned it, I recall that Cersei had something to do with Robert being killed by boar. But to me this is not convincing at all. King should be protected by guards and it sounds poor that they couldn't protected the King from a boar. If he was drunk, guards should focus more on protecting the King.
About Drogo and Dany, his death really has important consequences, but the way he died was poorly written in my opinion. It seemed like the deaths of 3 mentioned characters were forced because plot requires it. If concept of "plot armor" exists, which means saving character from impossible situations, then we should create a new one "plot death" which will mean "killing a character even though character shouldn't die". But it is a matter of taste I suppose. Also there was too much fucking scenes on the screen.
Season 6 ending, winds of winter is the series absolute peak... Those first 8mns are pure gold, music, plot, dialogue... But yes, the first season is great, the foreshadowing, the dialogs, the way things unravel against our expectations... Just shows the brilliancy of Martin as a writer
4:10 "Trust the intellect of the audience" is well put. Also a huge reason the later seasons were so disappointing.
Because it's close to the original books, with whole dialogues taken straight out of them. Here's your answer.
Not really, a lot of new scenes were made and new perspectives were explored. Yes, a lot of parts were adapted but a lot of things were also changed and added.
yes really. if you read the book, you'll see how little is changed. they follow almost everything, there are not a lot of changes. but also, they listened more to grrm, while later seasons, george was pratically ignored concerning the writing.
@@SirGeeSantos Not really, the whole entrance in Winterfell was created solely for the show, along with differing perspective that wasn't included in the books like Robert's talks with Cersei, Jaime and Barristan. Also, George parted ways during season 5 on good terms and because he wanted to work more on his own writing. D&D did ruin the writing of the show and I find it hard to give them any credit with how good the show went at the start but we have to acknowledge that the show at the start added a lot of new scenes and perspectives.
@@saasproductions3053 well they of course had to somehow adapt a fairly thick book to fit in 10 episodes of TV... changes were expected... but the point remains that they had the blueprint of a masterpiece of a book to work from.. hard to screw up when the source material is so good...
If you want to imagine how Daenerys should going insane with good writing, just look at Azula from Avatar The Last Airbender
Or maybe a Zuko character development since he was more of a main character than Azula, like Daenerys.
@@tynehazel007 But Zuko gets a redemption arc so he is Jaime if they don't throw his character development away and not always be in Cersei's side and then left again. Also, Zuko and Azula don't have Cersei and Jaime's relatioship.
In the honest trailer for avatar they compare Tywin to ozai Cersei to azula iroh to Tyrian and Jamie to zuko it’s not exactly 1:1 but it seems pretty accurate
@@haydenfreeman7685 Tywin is different from Ozai. Ozai is a power hungry monster who wouldn't let anyone, even his family, get in the way. Tywin is cunning and cruel, but his main goal is to preserve the Lannister name, house, and family. In that exact order.
@@haydenfreeman7685 Tyrion is a hedonistic drunk who also has a tendency for cruelty. His as far from Iroh as, let's say, Jet is to Aang.
Ah Game of Thrones. Seven seasons of suspense, intrigue, breathtaking scenery, epic battles and dazzling special effects. Truly a masterpiece in television history.
6 seasons
5 seasons max
4 seasons
3 seasons
@Wiseguy season 7 was horseshit, mate. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise
Season 1 is the season I rewatch the most, I love the writing of course but the character interactions (with Ned, Robert etc) just haven’t been beaten in my opinion.
Seeing this makes me sad when I realize what they did with later seasons, especially season 8... So much potential...
Yeah, it hurts the most. They had the best cast possible, perfect four seasons... and then at season 5 something started to break. Shit, how can someone fuck up so bad? Why does it still hurt after a year? ;o
JimmyBasquiat Absolutely! Imo it was the moment when Stannis dies. This set up the battle of the bastards, typical good vs evil stuff, and got was never like that. Here characters are never 100% good like Jon Snow or 100% evil like Ramsay. Imagine if Stannis had won, we would have had Jon vs Stannis I guess and it woulf be much more complicated just like it had always been in got. But even up to season 7 the show was still enjoyable at some point. Seasons 6&7 were becoming simplified but I really enjoyed them, even despite logical mistakes in season 7, but season 8 was just too much of a crap to digest... So ridiculous. If you havent read books I recommend. Currently reading a storm of swords and finally I can enjoy got again. I only hate the fact that the serious is unfinished:(
@@JimmyBasquiat It hurts after a year because you, probably like most people I knew, invested 8+ years of devotion to the show through watch parties, discussions, weekly waits and more, only for the directors to see other opportunities and run as fast as possible to those instead of properly closing what could have been one of the greatest series of all time. I parted ways after "The long night" episode. Season 7 had some pretty crap writing and, I was noticing the quickening of the story. Once The Long Night aired, I knew it was over. I suffered through the rest only to have my fears confirmed more and more as each episode aired. So much potential wasted.
Yeah, it makes me really sad too! It was the first real tv show I watched and it gave the strength to read all of the books super fast. Seeing this video talking about how great season one was makes it even worse 😔
Me, who actually enjoyed the entire series (including s8): 😐
"Trust the intellect of the audience." In 6 words, you described D&Ds greatest flaw; not just in the later seasons but in the first few as well. They didn't think we could handle all the characters mentioned in the books, so instead they had one character do the role of multiple; examples are numerous such as Gendry serving as both himself and Edric Storm, Loras as all three of the Tyrell sons, and Bronn taking on the role of jaslyn Bywater, Adam Marbrand, and even Ilyn Payne (Who was already cast in the show!) the problem with this technique is twofold: one, the world begins to feel less vast when you keep reusing the same characters, and two: you greatly limit what these characters can do later in the story because they'd be in conflict. For example! by collapsing all the Tyrell's into Loras, you remove him from his role of the kingsguard because now he must marry Sansa/Cersei, which removes the whole 'kingslayer soup' dynamic, good world building dialogue between Jaime and Loras in white sword tower, and Jaime's use of Loras to frustrate Cersei's usurpation of Tommen. This is just one small example, but it happened in near all of the plotlines, the most grevious felt having to be the omission of Davos' mission in the fifth book to bring house Manderly to Stannis' cause. Easily my favorite chapters in the entire book and they cut it so as not to confuse viewers and to end the show more quickly I expect. Bottom line, the show runners began to suspect the audience of being morons, and so changed the story and characters to accommodate this.
Uriah L tbf, I imagine the reduced character roster was driven more by budget than what they thought a tv audience could cope with
Not Top Cat true, but more characters in this case would necessitate more seasons and therefore more money to use on them. At least three seasons could have been been pulled from the last two books. Plus another three seasons to resolve the show, and the characters would have paid for themselves.
@@uriahl2331 It is not that simple. In books you can write anything you can imagine, but when making a movie or a show you are limited by budget. Especially when new show starts, it's hard to predict if it will be a success. I've read once, that a book writer was asked to write a story for a movie and he said something like that "I have already wrote 126 characters, but producers said that they have a budget only for 10".
@@ErenRaven thats true but hbo said that they wanted more season, which is a logical thing to do it means more money for them so I guess budget was not an issue right?
@@ironvicho20 at the end it wasn't, because show became very popular already. The problem was D&Ds who wanted to finish the show. But even if HBO had money to put in the next seasons, there is always a limit of resources. There is a video where George Martin mentioned that one scene in season one was poorly done because producers were out of budget and tight with schedule.
King Robert was such a blast to watch. His jovial and hearty laugh is contagious. 10/10 actor portrayal
Spot on "the dialogue scenes in season 1 are better than any action scene in the later seasons" ....i agree 100%. Unfortunately either general audiences are addicted to action or producers think they are. Hence most shows devolve rather than evolve
Sean Bean also did a lot of heavy lifting in season 1. I think i wouldnt be that interested in the series without his great performance that hooked my immediately
Same can be said of Charles Dance from S2-S4. He was a huge loss for the show.
A Season 1 Review? A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one
Is the last sentence a reference to some movie or a show,because l see it a lot but I don't get it
@@soy.sauce.latte. i believe it's the phantom menace
@@xanaxmkv thanks
It is indeed from The Phantom Menace. Palpatine says it after he has been promoted to chancellor.
"I love democracy"
I'm honestly learning so much about storytelling in general, so thanks for that!
13:08
Here's my theory about that though, Littlefinger and Ned Stark are obviously two very different characters, they wanted the viewers to see for themselves how foolish Ned Stark is, and that even though all the evidence were there, he still trusted Littlefinger.
But With Littlefinger, it's different, he is the most cunning man in Westeros, and if they built up to his assassination, people would say that the writers destroyed Littlefinger's character because the evidence were there, and they made him stupid.
The shock of the audience had to be as immense as the shock of Littlefinger. As he found himself in the situation with no escape, so did the audience.
The show went from political plots, mystery around character arcs like Varys, building and character development (for example, Cersei madness would have been so amazing) , secrets about the real stories before the current events that makes you wonder who is telling the truth, who is not and who is playing and how that person is playing, everything has a reason, everyone actions has consequences and they must face it, how the philosophy from one person influences another person (image how great would have been if Sansa played the game the same way as Little Finger), the cruelty in some scenes, etc and then from s6 we only have simple scenes, some plots at the end worth nothing (Jon bloodline. Like seriously, WASTED), the building around the white walker becomes absolutely nothing in one simple night, a mad queen without enough development, weak dialogue like "sHe's mA qUeEN" and more things... God, what a great show was back then.
(Sorry for the possible typos 😁)
Well said!
Seasons 1-4 is some of the greatest television of all time, from the complex plot and characters, to the dialogue to the acting, everything was phenomenal
One of my favorite parts of the show in the beginning was the dialogue between Varys and Little Finger. Glad you mentioned that
I think you nailed it when you said that one of the reasons S8 failed was because it was plot driven. S1 was character driven and sure we all wanted to know what would happen ahead, but we were there for the characters and for the ride. S1 was about the journey whereas S8 was about the destination and when one doesn't care how you get from point A to point B, you get either rushed and dumb dialogue or they straight up just skip the scene.
Honestly its amazing... it's been more than one year and I'm still bitter about this...
It's just painful.
Right now, I simply cannot recommend to anyone watching Game of Thrones
I wish I could say: just watch the first 4 to 5 seasons, and be done with it. Enjoy the masterpiece, while it still was a masterpiece.
But I know it's just not happening. Anyone that watches the first 4 seasons of the show are automatically watching the rest of it.
And experiencing the same pain and anger I experienced.
I just can't do it
I started watching about a month ago and seasons 1-4 I watched FAITHFULLY and loved it but now I’m in the middle of the 7th seasons and I don’t even want to finish, I watched the last episode with my dad and saw how frustrated he was and now I understand why,
Season 1 : engineer takes a dozen specialist tools to get the job done perfectly
Season 8 : guy takes a hammer to nail a screw and hits his head on the backswing
I’ve just discovered ur channel and ur vids literally made me wna rewatch the entire show again so I’m starting with S1 right now..lol
I gotta say man, I watched a few of your GoT videos tonight (enjoyed all of them), and man you hit everything on the spot with your explanations. You explained things that I didn't even realize I felt but once you said it I was like, wait whoa.. that is exactly why I felt this way
I think the last big action sequence I liked in GOT was that part when Mance Rayder's army attacks the wall. It's not just a cool action sequence, it feels like there's consequences and it's important to the plot. Meanwhile, the big action sequence where I was sure the show had jumped the shark was the battle of the bastards in season 6. It was nice to see how it ended because of how easy it is to hate Ramsey, but it really felt like I was just waiting for the twist that would let him win the battle.
Battle of Bastards was not satisfying from a military tactical POV and the writing leading up to it is questionable. Jon isnt the smart commander/leader we are used to see, instead he just wants to rush in and fight although he is outnumbered 2:1 and he has no strategy to win. Also Sansa says nothing about the Vale army she has in her pocket, which would change the whole dynamic of the battle and Jon's thinking. And there is no reason for her to withdraw that information, because Jon is on her side.
Hardhome was also pretty good
Looking back I never realized how much actually happened in season 1. It was packed with moments.
Efficient storytelling in characters, character relationships, and world-building ✔️
Familiar sub-genre in a unique setting ✔️
Interesting Dialogue that reflected the truest parts of characters ✔️
Slower pacing that benefitted the establishing characters ✔️
And the uniqueness of its storytelling that led to memorable moments ✔️
Don't mind me, just summarising for my benefit 😊
The shot at 6:56 is absolutely stunning. Just pause it and appreciate the outlay of characters in the scene. Reminds me of the highlands in Scottland.
To summarize GOT
Seasons 1-4 = 10/10 (amazing storytelling and production quality)
Seasons 5-6 = 8/10 (storytelling drops a bit in quality but the spectacle is amazing and there are really satisfying moments)
Seasons 7-8 = 4/10 (bad storytelling and unsatisfying character moments but some people got what their characters deserved and the spectacle is undoubtedly entertaining. Also the score is brilliant.)
Rob breaking his oath for love, not honour. Tysha reveal cut.
@@theblancmange1265 What's more is that in the Westerling storyline, Jeyne's mother is plotting against Robb and is conspiring with Tywin, this further adds to the circle of knives surrounding Robb, making his downfall even more despairing. Admittedly having Talisa, pregnant and murdered at TRW does make that scene a bit more harrowing, but you lose some of the intrigue that came with the Westerling betrayal.
Seasons 1-4 (agreed)
Seasons 5 (agreed)
Season 6 (significant decline from season 5, I'd give it a 6/10)
Season 7 (significant decline from season 6, 5/10 would be generous, 4/10)
Season 8 (It is genuinely difficult to imagine how this season could have been written worse without imagining aliens or something completely outlandish, I can only think of 1 thing in that entire season that I liked. Season 8 retroactively diminished the entire preceding series with its "storytelling" & catastrophic conclusion. Considering how far this show had fallen & how Season 8 tarnishes everything that came before it, giving it a negative score would be more than fair, neverthless... 0/10)
One thing that D&D taught everyone? Bad writing can kill ANY story
Season 1-4: A great masterpiece
Season 5-8: just like any other tv show
Season 5-6 are decent
@@filipberes319 they aren't
@@JasonWilliams89 They actually are. Not the masterpiece like the first four seasons, but it was stomachable in some way
Some of the highest rated episodes of the whole show belong to seasons 5 and 6. Think of "The Door" or "Winds of Winter". Season 7 and 8 went down south quite rapidly, but up to that point, the show was a masterpiece every season.
@@JasonWilliams89they are. Some of the finest episodes in TV history like Winds of Winter, Hardhorne and Battle of Bastards came out of them. Season 7 onwards is actually where the whole show became pile of rubbish.
great video, thanks for reminding me about the good parts of this show, most people forget because of season 8 but this show was amazing and I miss it so much.
I always preferred the first season to all the others because Ned's story being the main plot and the others being side plots worked best. While I know it wouldn't work the same way for the other seasons, it still always felt a bit like the structure of the show fell apart with Ned being out of the game.
Edit: I'm not shitting on season 2 or something btw. I'm only talking about his last point that this is what made season 1 feel special and most cohesive. It was natural for the storylines to go spread more after season 1.
Edit 2: It also made thematic sense that the show felt more chaotic when there's so much chaos emerging in the plot. It's just not as easy to watch as a neat plotline, and I'm hgenuinely indecisive whether you should want that sense in your show or not, just from a regular amateur viewer's standpoint.
“We also get more subtle reactions from rob jon and theon”
Theon: kicks head like soccer ball with an air of subtlety
Seasons 7 and especially 8 were strange because they have fewer episodes and are trying to wrap it up and feel very rushed and yet at the same time there are lots of scenes with characters walking around or looking off into the distance or repeating dialogue. How many times does Jon Snow have to say “she’s my queen” or “I don’t want the throne”. They rushed through parts while at the same time wasting much of the time they had.
thats my take as well. they literally had no ideas what to write anymore so they only picked 2 more seasons (7&8). and even in that limited amount of screentime they STILL didn’t know what to write. they shouldve hired more writers, but their narcissistic side wouldnt ever allow that
00:48 Effeciciency! Nailed it! Thanks for the 😆 👍
Excellent video man! Really enjoyed this and learned a lot from it.
The dialog in the travel scenes was the best. My favourite was when Jorah would be speaking to Daenarys and telling her about all wonderful lore of the GOT universe
Game of Thrones season 8 was rushed because of the directors when HBO gave them more time to finish it correctly
I still CANNOT understand why Dumb and Dumber rushed this show’s ending to work on Star Wars. The only good to come from the disaster that was D&D’s seasons was the fact that they’ll be remembered as the guys that ruined GoT.
It wasn’t rushed you damn idiot, they had the same amount of episodes on every season and it did fine, they just didn’t care to give us a good ending or they’re just completely incompetent do to so, but there was no rushing, the lack of episodes wasn’t the problem.
@@Archonsx how can you watch the last seasons and say it wasn't rushed? Everything from the plotlines to even the journeys were rushed in a mad leap to finish the show. Hell even s7&8 had fewer episodes compared to earlier seasons, not to mention the fact that hbo and george wanted to do more. Though isn't the only problem it's definitely a main one
@@Archonsx bruh there were supposed to be around 13 seasons, but D&D just finished it at 8 episodes...and ur saying it wasnt rushed. There were so many stories uncovered, that required time to be presented well... it was rushed
Bro... you're the best GoT analyzer I've seen. You literally took words right out of my mouth about why the first few seasons are so great. Not only that but you 1) organized it into discrete and easily digestible points; 2) gave visual, explicit proof (in the form of the clips from the show people might not remember so easily) to support your words; 3) take an honest, objective, and holistic view on what the show is like, 4) all the while being funny, entertaining, and actually having a point by the end.
I imagine you write great essays and get an A from your Lit classes. Well, I give you an A on this video (and in fact your other videos) for all the reasons I gave above. Keep up the good work!!
I am actually quite curious about how you do this so well. I also like analyzing books and shows but I have a very short attention span and am not as observant as I want to be to dissect huge works of art and literature effectively. Just want to know what your work process on creating this video consists of.
This video was super engaging all throughout. You are good at writing scripts yourself.
The one that got us all hooked
The main theme of got I LOVED was consequences... Ned's loyalty and honor got him PLAYED and killed, Robb's immaturity lost him his supporters (karstarks) and ofc the red wedding, Stannis and Melisandre, Jon + Wildling = For the Watch
Lol it can go on and on... s7 and s8 tho... threw it all out
Great video! Now I really need to see the 1st season again!
I would LOVE to see videos like that about the other seasons. At least until season 4.
I think you hit the nail on the head with how much the "Travel time" adds to the show and was missing from season 8. The final season could have been dramticly better if you just had one episodes worth of sceenes showing Danny's decline as she travels through down westeros and relases she has no love here. Plus this would help to explain the state of the rest of westeros during this time
So.. Basically season 1 is better because it is the season that is most similar to the book is is based on?
Exactly, every single plot that viewers enjoy comes from the books. Seasons 7, 8 just didn't have a book material
Micik 24 I mean season 7 was just average but yeah seasons 1-6 were the best
Yes. Afterwards it slowly fades away from the books (Jeyne Westerling becomine Talisa, Tyrion's reason for killing Tywin, Dorne). First four seasons are amazing and masterpieces. Season five, six, seven and eight are horrible.
Huell Babineaux what does it feel like to sleep on $80 million dollars?
@@LuanEevee six is still great tho
There is somthing so special about the cinematography in these earlier seasons that give the show a particular character in and of itself. The way the lighting hits the characters and the wide shots of the grand scenery really aids the tone of the writing in a way that could not be seen later on in the series.
Season 1 felt like a drama, and the later seasons feels like an action genre
Spoilers ahead so read with caution if you haven't finished the show!
Season 1 to 4 were fantastic. A few things were changed from the books yeah, but the storytelling was great and it was paced well. Season 5 is where everything began going downhill, it had some great moments (Battle of Hardhome) but god I hated the Dorne plot. Season 6 had some okay moments (Battle of the Bastards was pretty epic) and I would say it's slightly stronger than 5. Season 7 is where everything went to hell. It's like D&D stopped caring about what made this show great.
Just like sansa says about joffreys wedding, the later seasons "had its moments" (season 6 ep 9 and 10 are easily 2 of the best episodes). Adter that i dont understand what d and d thought. Unlike many people say they were able to create good scenes themselves (the arya tywin change from the book is great) but got just became some hollyqood shit with much budget but alle the complex side characters were suddenly just dumb and reduced to one thing (e.g. tormund being the funny wildling that loves brienne)
@@ruvend2581 I definitely agree with the switching Twyin for Roose when Arya worked as a cup bearer, the scenes between Arya and Tywin are some of my favourite scenes in the entire show. And I also agree with how they just completely destroyed some characters (Tormund was comic relief, Varys being dumb, Tyrion just always cracking jokes).
D&D actually stopped caring. Because they ran out of book material and their contract was to adapt it, they decided to rush it instead of stopping after season 6. Game of Thrones was to intense and complex so they wanted to move on with Star Wars and made a deal with Netflix. Sad how they went against everyone’s advice and hurt so many people. They put GRRM under so much pressure and literally broke thousands of people mentally.
season 5 arya storyline was a joke, literal fan theories ended up being better
Everytime someone says season 6 had good moments and chooses battle of the bastards as the example, i'm confused. The episode after that (season 6 episode 10) was a masterpiece, my favorite in the whole show. Not that battle of the bastards shouldn't be liked, but episode 10 was far better in my opinion and I feel like I never see it getting the praise it deserves
Taking advantage of this video I would like to post here my own example of how better the first seasons were.
For this, I'll compare two episodes: "The Long Night", and "Blackwater".
Both of these episodes are (almost) completely battle. But, what else do we have?
In "The Long Night", besides the actions shots, we see Sansa, Tyrion, Varys, and Missandei arguing whether Daenerys would be a good queen or not.
In "Blackwater", besides the battle shots, we can see Stannis and Davos discussing the siege of Storm's End and how it ended. We see Stannis whining because Robert gave the castle to Renly. We see Stannis' love towards Davos by naming him his hand.
And that is only in a single ship.
In the mainland, we have Shae almost being discovered by Cersei. Cersei telling Sansa "explicitly" how a queen should act. Sansa being afraid because Illyn Payne is present. Cersei caring for her children. We find out The Hound is afraid of fire. Tyrion's successful defense over the city establish how intelligent he is (battle oriented) and that he is truly brave.
Should I continue?
George Martin himself wrote the black water episode, which is why it’s so good
Also Sansa showing her strength through her femininity, and proving that she can survive shit and come out stronger and sly, instead of having shit thrown at her and suddenly becoming an expert in rulling. They used to develop characters in early seasons, and we were there to see it. They moved to telling us how they changed, and that undermined the whole thing.
We relate to characters because we care about their struggles or their plots, not because they're goodie two shoes or have been through a lot. The Hound is despicable, Littlefinger is worse and Tywin Lannister can be so emotionally removed from his decisions that he's an entire new level of scary, but readers still cared about what happened to them. They're not good people, nor do they aspire to be, but we fucking cared! Look what they did to Euron. The character that's supposed to be the freaking Anti-Christ was reduced to a fuckboy with expensive toys and a dick for a brain! I'm so aggravated by the butchering of so many great characters. Sansa went to the Vale to learn. She can become someone akin to the character in the show, but not by virtue of being raped. I suspect she'll learn what her Father never could, from Littlefinger of all people.
Rant over
pipitameruje you said the key expression: “they developed characters”.
Character development in Game of Thrones was... jaw dropping at the least.
The battle of the Wall :
- a long awaited battle, at a time in the show where characters and storylines could still be interrupted abruptly
- a great buildup, both camps are fully exposed with their goals, their power and their faults
- a well design battle environment with consistent and memorable geometry, where every important location is clearly shown and connected to the others, helping the battle to stay comprehensible without relying on plot armor to explain why the night watch is not losing yet
- a complex battle on two fronts (the wall and the castle), multiple tactical points that need to be defended at the same time (the gate, the tunnels, the courtyard, the stairs and corridors etc...), forcing Jon to run around and become an active participant in the battle
- two clever armies with different styles, strengths and weaknesses, different tactics, a nice game of action-reaction which lasts for the entire battle, creating rythm, diversity and a lot of tension
- an extra source of tension with the stairs and the elevator leading up to the top of the wall (because of their fragility and slowness, once again serving multiple roles)
- multiple named characters (protagonists, antagonists and neutral) in both camps, who each embody a specific group or concept, and whose deaths symbolize long-term consequences (the end of innocence among the Night Watch's survivors, the extinction of the giants and other wildling tribes, Jon's hope for a peaceful future is smashed into pieces, etc)
- multiple layers of conflict : because he's facing humans, Jon is not just fighting to survive. He is fighting for the Wall, for Westeros, for his friends, for his ideology. He is torn between love and loyalty, AND between his obedient personnality and the need to override hierarchy. His fight is physical, intellectual and emotionnal
- there's this majestic long shot showing the whole battle inside of Castle Black, with the camera following multiple ongoing fights, summing everything listed above while tying it up.
- many moments of tension, victory, grief... Each character gets to interact with their allies and enemies, in diverse ways. There's a good amount of character and plot development. The world of GoT is permanently affected by every single detail in this battle
- overall a brilliant lesson of complex storytelling that will make you forget how cheap it looks compared to recent seasons.
The Long Night :
- stupid plan, stupid defenses, stupid people in front of walls
- endless swarm of deadly knife zombies who conveniently turn into mosquitoes when facing characters that are still relevant to the remaining plot
- dragon fight costs half of the season's budget and serves no narrative purpose
- characters who were the most susceptible to be killed are killed
- the dead are way too powerful, then way too weak, then way too powerful again, then lethargic, with no justification other than the meta need to pace the episode in the laziest way possible
- suddenly ninja girl kill the bad guy and it's over
- there's no siege, no staging, no architecture, no strategy, no military 'dialogue'. Just some unilateral bullshit and dudes randomly swinging swords at zombie waves
- the only nice thing is the silent buildup around Theon in the godswood. And even though it's pointless to the plot, it makes the best character development and conclusion in the season
This was incredibly useful to watch to understand how to be creative in story telling and such.
The color scheme and aesthtics really stood out as well, I felt with the later seasons they went the warner bro route with their cinematography by making the undertones a lot more bleek and Grey so much so I could hardly see what was going on in most scenes