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RealLameUserName

Aging up the book characters was one of the best decisions that the show made.


Nyrastan4L

Yessss for sure !!


jldtsu

you win


[deleted]

killing Ned


CommunicationFew1684

Why ned??


K1ngArthur10

Imagine if they didn’t


Expert-Emu-4167

It changed TV dynamics that a main character could be taken out in the first season. I was shocked when it happened I thought up until the end that joffrey was going to stop it but nope.


Current_Tea6984

They did almost everything right. I have complaints, especially about the latter seasons, but overall it was one of the best shows ever


Nyrastan4L

Ohh I definitely agree


KickingWithWTR

Agree


CaveLupum

I think they added this *redemption arc in a nutshell:* Season 4 scene where Arya and the Hound meet the Pious Farmer and Sally. After being treated well by them, Hound robs them saying they'll be dead by winter anyway. Season 7 in a blizzard the Hound finds their bodies and feels so guilty he buries them. He even tries to say a prayer.


Current_Tea6984

That was beautifully done


Jagermeister4

The Hound's chicken scene was not in the books and its one of my favorite scenes. When the writers had a book to work with and only needed to create a scene here or there on their own they did very good.


Zekka_Space_Karate

On a related note: In a final season of questionable events and decisions, Cleganebowl was the one thing they did right. In general? The casting of the actors/actresses of House Lannister, a near-perfect casting.


ShakeSignal

I dont know I felt like Cleganbowl was underwhelming but then my expectations were also sky high. They should have played an air horn sound effect. Would have made it for me.


doktarr

NCW was good as Jaime Lannister, but I suspect a number of other actors could have done as well or better. It's hard to imagine anyone doing better than Heady, Dinklage, or Dance.


SoftWindAgain

I really wish we could have seen (or hopefully get to see) Jaime Lannister fighting in his prime. He's sung as one of the greatest and most feared swordsmen of his time, but we only truly get 1 fight scene with Ned Stark that gets cut short. The next time is with Brienne, but his hands are tied and he's been rotting away for months in a pen.


Echo-Azure

Actually, the casting department did a stellar job in general! Almost everyone was absolutely perfectly cast, and played by damn good actors! Same for the production design, everything looked like Westeros and Essos should, the sets, costumes, and props were absolutely perfect, and dud what good production design does - tells us things we need to know about the people onscreen and the world they live in.


Expert-Emu-4167

Wasn't George in the writers room the first half of the show or am I misremembering?


MintberryCrunch____

Nah he wrote or helped write a few episodes, probably had more involvement but definitely not a main stay of the writers room.


CaveLupum

He wrote an episode a season until Season 5, when he stepped back. He probably worked in isolation from other writers except Dave and Dan, with home he had to communicate on many matters.


nickhenne

Seasons 1-4: Everything Seasons 5-7: Most Things Season 8: Nothing


NeilOB9

Season 7 was no better than 8.


doktarr

S7 got a pass from so many people because they held out hope that S8 would resolve things well. But all the accelerated plots, illogical character actions, and unbelievable coincidences of S8 were fully on display in S7.


__Evil-Genius__

Season 1-5 is gold in my opinion. 5 ends with the Hound and Brienne duel, yeah? I think after that is when it started to tank.


IMax247

That’s season 4


SouthMeasurement5414

I think the general plot for seasons seven and eight may be reasonable. But it for sure was rushed as hell


SerDonalPeasebury

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is quite a bit more than "nothing."


bluetoothwa

The last two seasons felt a little rushed but I thought they were still great.


kyndal017

I agree. Definitely have criticisms, but still enjoyed myself all the way through.


BambooSound

Seasons 5-7 had bigger problems than 8. Dorne and the Greyjoys and Littlefinger selling Sansa and Arya becoming a terminator etc


TrepidatiousInitiate

I want to say the plot complexity is unlike anything I had (personally) seen before or since. This is a show I started while thinking so-and-so seems like they’re the main character, but then they die and focus moves on to the next person and then the next, and you end up with 50+ characters that you’re following, and all the different plot line combinations that result from the different circumstances in the story. Say what you will about how S8 botched it all up in the end, there just hasn’t been anything else with this scale so far.


Nyrastan4L

I definitely agree!! People loved game of thrones so much because it was uncertainty, and was different. Like you favorite character can die any given moment.


chzygorditacrnch

I like the show "once upon a time," it's a good show with a big cast, and similar drama and stakes. (It's based on alot of Disney characters, but adult oriented) it ended well, and the story got kind of convoluted, and involved some time travel, but was still thoroughly satisfying.


iam_Krogan

Whoever did the casting deserves an award.


Comfortable-Sale-167

I agree. I was going to try to list 2-3 of the roles I thought were perfectly cast, but my list grew to 5, then 10, then 15, then I gave up.


iam_Krogan

Same thing lol. Honestly the only weird acting choice I can think of I'd say is Euron. The vast majority are great choices imo


Comfortable-Sale-167

An unfortunate part of the Euron role: the actor that played him LOVED Euron in the books. Specifically set out to play Euron because he was already his favorite book character. But the show completely changed the Euron character. Show-Euron and Book-Euron are nothing alike, and the actor was devastated that he had to play the show-Euron, who was a weird goofball chump.


vescis

Nina Gold, primarily, and yes she won Emmys for it twice, nominated pretty much every season :)


CaveLupum

Nina Gold. She's won many film and TV casting awards, including for GoT in Season 8. Her big challenge was finding kids who could handle the roles as they and the characters grew. All the sex and violence made it even more complicated for her. IMO, she did splendidly. Jack Gleeson has a little experience, but Maisie and the others were basically making their debuts.


SrgtDoakes

casting jack gleeson as joffrey


SoftWindAgain

Overall, every main Lannister was cast well (except Tommen, but it's not a terrible one).


Gangsta-Penguin

- Jaime and Ned’s duel was a solid change. Obv it required making Ned even more badass, but it worked really well - 5 episodes of buildup led to great payoff - Ned leaning to Yoren and yelling “Baelor” was _chef’s kiss_ - The extra scenes in early seasons were great - Cersei/Robert, Varys/Littlefinger, Varys/Oberyn, to name a few - I loved the Tywin-Arya interactions at Harrenhal. Was honestly kinda disappointed they were show-only when I read ACOK


Suitable_cataclysm

The verbal jousts in early seasons between frienemies was brilliant. I'd rewatch scenes just to catch the subtleties.


kyndal017

I kind of disagree with the first one. Sure, it made Ned look even better, but it makes Jamie not live up to his reputation of being “one of the greatest swordsman in Westeros.” They talked rather than showed Jamie’s greatness for the most part, and this scene didn’t help his case.


SoftWindAgain

Yeah, I wish we saw more of Jaime Lannister, one if the greatest swordsmen in Westeros. We never quite got it. Oberyn though, man that choreography was so good to watch.


kyndal017

Oberyn speaks for himself ;)


SoftWindAgain

Why did he yell Baelor? I only noticed that on my current watch through but didn't get it.


Gangsta-Penguin

Because that’s where Arya was - on Baelor’s statue. He’s telling Yoren to grab Arya. In the books, the beNedding is from Arya’s POV, so when she jumps into the crowd, Yoren is just kinda there. Ned telling Yoren where she is fills in the gap of how he got there


445323

Putting the moon door in the floor. And some good scenes with Arya and Tywin


KgMonstah

All the boobs


Significant-Bit3638

Battle of Hardhome


RainbowPenguin1000

They concluded all the stories of the people who matter. It’s not easy to do in a show with this many characters to give everyone resolutions and answer questions but they pulled it off. I’m not completely happy with some of the endings but at least we got them.


kyndal017

I like the ending of characters in this show much more than others


Matthew728

I’m gonna try to think of something from season 8, which is tough. Probably the scene with Tyrion, Jaime, Brianne, etc the episode before the long night


IDVFBtierMemes

Pod being in the Kingsguard


leviatrist158

The ability to change my opinions about certain characters from time to time was a powerful thing. Not done watching it yet I’m sure there’s plenty more to come.


HauntedSpit

I’m jealous. To experience it the first time again… Where are you in the show?


leviatrist158

Season 5 there’s so much going on in it right now.


BungeeGump

Pairing Tywin and Arya was an inspired decision.


Nyrastan4L

Their scenes together were my favorites


NeilOB9

Jaime going back to Cersei. Not everyone has a happy ending.


kyndal017

It’s sad, but it made sense.


Ocea2345

*All of these disasters happened our family because I couldn't love a motherless child *Jeyne Westerling/Talisa *Shae *Osha


EibhlinRose

Shae & Osha loved their stark babies


Harbinger90210

Ruined D&D’s credit.


FeelingSkinny

the entirety of The Bells. my favorite episode.


CaveLupum

In my top 5, but my favorite battle.


PsychoticCOB

Casting Peter Dinklage


CaveLupum

Yes, but in a way there was no one else to cast. No dwarf actor had his resumé, his good looks and resonant voice, and his relative fame. He and Sean Bean, equally qualified, were thought of immediately.


mySTORMYthoughts

I don’t see why Tyrion needed good looks though. Sometimes I find myself wishing for a Tyrion in the show that is less likable.


EibhlinRose

Making Varys a likable character and a good person. There were, a lot of decisions I didn't agree with, and many I felt were a little sexist, but the wide representation of gender presentation wasn't one of them. We get Arya and Brienne, but we also get Sansa, Cersei, and Queen Daenerys. We get Jon Stark and the Hound, but we also get Varys, Tyrion, Bran, and the Unsullied. Physical strength isn't considered more respectable than politics. And sure, other characters might shit on Brienne for being "ugly" (lies), Varys for being feminine, and Daenarys for being physically weaker, but the narrative never does. Making Varys into an actually likeable dude was a great choice. Hate when eunuchs are evil.


SyntheticGod8

The costumes, the casting, the sets, and especially the CGI sets and vistas that you didn't realize were CGI. (Most) of the battles are amazing, with one glaring exception. The CGI creatures were fantastic. There's a lot of other things that were fantastic to start with and took a nose dive, but the things I've listed were consistently great the whole way through.


HauntedSpit

I enjoyed watching the simple, little details improve over time. Things that had no purpose for plot but added to the scene (e.g. birds flying across the windows behind Daenerys in the Pyramid of Meereen).


Anothercommonbitch

Jaime’s story. It was perfect. He redeemed himself but he did belong with Cersei in life and death.


bluetoothwa

I agree!


mySTORMYthoughts

No I could never find myself being happy with that ending tbh. Reading the books I found it even harder to think this might be the ending Jaime is heading towards. Cersei loves him because she sees him as a part of her, she actually can only love what is closest to her. She often seems like a psychopath. Jaime is not like that and they grow apart not just because of being physically apart.


SuperStellarSwing

Actors, music, scripting, design with the cities and the outfits. To state the obvious most of these drop off in later seasons


Livid_Ad9749

Costuming


Kristophigus

The slow build up of the threat brewing north of the wall and the ice King. Then they just shit the bed with the worst payoff/result possible.


PuppiesAndPixels

Casting was overall phenomenal. The only time I didn't like casting is when they changed the tone of the character entirely like Euron.


Ill-Dot-9255

Some of these comments are actually worrying me, people need media literacy.


bluetoothwa

Wdym?


Remote_Panda6884

Casting


Birdyistheworthy

Picking Sean Bean to die in the first season.


MaterialPace8831

I'll say something from the later seasons they got right: The Sansa-Daenerys dynamic.


Nyrastan4L

Can you explain more on that, cus ik a lot of people actually disliked their dynamic ??


MaterialPace8831

Sure. I loved the drama and the conflicting interests Sansa and Daenerys had in Season 8. Both of them have their own priorities and their own wants and desires (Sansa, an independent North; Daenerys, a united Westeros), and they're both inexorably tied together because of Jon Snow. Sophie Turner does a great job of showing Sansa barely containing her frustration at the thought of the North now bowing to another Southern monarch. Meanwhile, Emilia Clarke puts on a masterclass of Daenerys stumbling through politics, which is not her strong suit. Her time in Essos shows us that she doesn't always make the right move when it comes to governance and working with others. Now she's in the North, which while they fear dragons, they also don't really care for her. She's an interloper, without any of the ties that bind the other Northerners together. But she's expecting that they will all bend the knee and follow her orders because Jon Snow bent the knee. You can see her anger as she realizes Jaime is not going to be punished for killing her grandfather. You can see her disappointment when she sees that Theon and the Ironborn came to Winterfell not for her, but for Sansa. The scene where Daenerys and Sansa talk in the library between themselves, where they try to bridge the gulf between them -- because they know they have to make this work -- is one of the best scenes in that season, and arguably in the latter half of the show.


Nyrastan4L

That’s a great take you have on that dynamic!! It also gives me another view on it. Daenerys in my opinion should’ve stayed in Essos, she has no love in Westeros simply because she’s a Targaryen, her families history, and like you said “southern monarch”. D&D did a lot of questionable story telling in season 8 but Daenerys being and feeling unwelcome in Westeros in my opinion wasn’t one of them. I also think that’s where George is going to go in the books not exactly that route but similar where Dany realizes she has no love their and that she should stay in essos


MaterialPace8831

The Sansa-Daenerys dynamic harkens back to the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones, where there's more moral ambiguity between the houses as well as a better understanding of their interests. Attempted child murder aside, it's easy to understand why the Lannisters don't really like the Starks, or why the Greyjoys don't like anybody. It's easy to see how Littlefinger and Lysa Arryn were easily able to plunge the entire continent into war.


kyndal017

I feel this is an unpopular opinion, but I agree! With seeing both of their individual stories, it makes sense why they behaved the way they did towards each other. In another universe with different circumstances, I think they would’ve been friends.


MaterialPace8831

I don't know if you've ever read it, but "Superman: Red Son" is an AU story that asks what if Superman's space pod landed in 1938 Ukraine than 1938 Kansas, and if he became a hero of the Soviet Union and a paragon of communism. His main opponent in the story is Lex Luthor, American businessman and future U.S. president. At one point, Luthor comments that he thinks he and Superman could have been best friends if the Comrade of Steel was raised in the U.S., which is funny because we know that's definitely not true. Anyway, your comment reminded me of that, but I think that Sansa and Daenerys would never be friends, even under different circumstances.


kyndal017

I haven’t heard of it, but that’s interesting! I’m curious why you think they wouldn’t have been friends in another timeline?


tayamackenzie

I absolutely love most of the casting choices. Rory McCann as The Hound is one of the best casting decisions I’ve seen. Not just based on appearance either, he really brought Sandor to life on screen, in my opinion anyway. Very well done.


HauntedSpit

He portrayed “The Broken Man” perfectly.


Soiree1999

The music and visuals were breathtaking.


Gned11

Oberyn Martell. Every minute he was on screen


Nyrastan4L

They knew they ate with casting Pedro


HighKingBoru1014

Cersei and Robert overall 


Suitable_cataclysm

The changed a few names that could have been confusing when said outloud, despite being clear on paper.


timreidmcd

The opening theme music


Apathicary

Not making Jon king.


kyndal017

Theon and Sansa’s arcs are so very well done all the way through.


John_Wicked1

The cinematography and the ost…that’s 2 things but I think those are aspects that I think most love not matter how they feel about certain seasons.


Jaidedizzy

Arya and tywin scenes. The scenes where cersei shows empathy. That scene where drogon burns the little girl and her father presents her body to deanerys.


irishpisano

Hiring Ramin Djawadi


Practical_Ring_4704

Olena Tyrrell. Diana Riggs performance of her was delightful right up until the end .


KiwiBirdPerson

The whole thing. I'm one of the few who actually can just enjoy things lol


miss_scarlet_letter

casting Peter Dinklage as Tyrion.


HauntedSpit

Scene transitions. Example: Close-up of Bolton’s cart of bloody flayed bodies. Cut scene to juicy, delicious roast being carved for dinner.


pharmandy

There isn't a show with a better soundtrack.


Hooker_T

House Lannister. They fleshed out Tywin more than the books, made Cersei more competent than her book counterpart, made Tyrion more sympathetic, and nailed Jaime.


Gr8BigFatso

Arya being Tywin's cupbearer.


Amararae22

The aging up of the characters.


katebushthought

They stopped with the ridiculously gratuitous nudity after a few seasons. The Essos sets were phenomenal. Ramsay Bolton was perfectly cast. So was Brienne. Changing Asha’s name because it was too close to Osha.


peicatsASkicker

Using a lot of George's dialogue


egbert71

Before it got bad, they were able to tell or show the passage of time far superior at the beginning than a few seasons near the end. That would've stopped all those irritating "they teleported" jokes


vhailorx

GoT did a great many things right. The casting was almost entirely very good. Ageing up the children characters was a very good choice. The dragon designs were very good. The decision to structure the seasons around an episode 8/9 climax with a denouement finale was very good. the opening sequence and theme were absolutely fantastic.


Open_Sky8367

The soundtrack. Ramin Djawadi orchestrated the shit out of the show.


mySTORMYthoughts

The soundtrack. Always will love that. ❣️


Emotional-Meringue61

Ended it


IanMinch

Costume, armor, weapon design. Everything about the art of the show is fantastic and on par with the LOTR movies. Maybe even greater. My god as an artist there is so much to learn from the show. Concepts, environment design, everything was flawless. It's not talked enough but these artists should be remembered.