Instead of working through my watch list of things I need to see or finish (still have like 5 episodes of the Sopranos left) I decided to do a full rewatch of Thrones. Starting season 7 tonight. Just scattered thoughts:
Season 1: it's crazy how the lowest budget season is still the best of the bunch. Everything is set up and developed so well with moments of the show that reverberate with importance throughout the remainder of the series and really helps on a binge to think back on how differently events would have played out if any number of events/decisions hadn't happened/been made.
Season 2: I used to like Season 3 more than 2 but I think that really just came down to season 2 using a darker gradient in its shots whereas Season 3 was a lot more colorful. Another great season of prestige TV with a breathtaking battle episode in Blackwater. I think this is the last season I really got any true enjoyment out of Daenerys' storyline though the events in Qarth did drag a bit. Arya and Tywin's scenes together are so goddamn good.
Season 3: still a very good season but on reflection it's just a bit weaker than 2. It's the beginning of Dany's story just becoming multiple easy conquests in Essos which I actually found a little less compelling than some of the plotlines in Mereen. It's the start of Bran's stupid quest to become the Three Eyed Raven which, outside of the Hodor backstory and the flashbacks to pre-GOT events, is entirely stupid and a waste of time. Turion not having the power and influence to play the game and instead spends most time trying to survive tougher circumstances is still good but not as fun. But there's still some good here. Jamie and Brienne is strong the whole way through. Sansa's abuses/survival in King's Landing is stronger on rewatch than I remember when I recontextualize everything around how she basically a political pawn. And the Red Wedding is the Red Wedding. Jon's time with the Wildlings is effective in transforming him into the hero he eventually becomes.
Season 4: I've always felt this way and still do but I like Season 4 more than 3 but not as much as 1 and 2. Bran's journey still sucks. Dany's sucks but at least she's in Mereen long enough for some interesting political intrigue to be developed rather than "Dany shows up to one Essos city with slave masters one episode and has liberated it by the next one". The highlights to me are the murder of Joffrey and everything that follows. It sends tectonic shifts through every storyline aside from Dany, Arya, and Jon's. And Oberyn is such an outstanding wild card. All these years later and I still watched knowing what would happen but was still struck by how much he could be a force for justice against the Lannisters only to have that force stopped cold by his own hubris. I could say a lot about season 4 but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Battle for the Wall was kinda silly.
Season 5: is sort of an awkward season because it's the midpoint between the first half and the endgame and it's the season where the source material started running dry. In hindsight, I don't hate the Faith Militant storyline as much as I remembered. I thought the potential for the laws of Westeros to all of a sudden turn to a theocracy in practice was compelling and especially since it all truly started because Cersei tried to leverage the faith militant/high sparrow to screw over the Tyrells which backfired on her horrendously. That all worked for me on this rewatch. I really didn't mind the continuing rise of the Boltons. Jon's story still chugged along well with a great finish with Hardhome. But the rest is weak. Brienne's story seems a bit aimless and she seems to appear just to remind viewers that she's still around. Dany's struggles in Mereen are still more interesting that what happened in Yunkai, Astapor and the others, but it starts to get a bit tedious with just sporadic scenes where Dany needs to learn lessons about ruling that are never applied in Westeros. Bran's story still sucks out loud. But what really kills me is Arya's time in Braavos and Jamie's mission to get Myrcella. Arya's time training with the Faceless Men is really only used for the assassination of Walder Frey and his house, which is a great pay off but her story plods through so much "becoming no one" bullshit that it really feels like a story designed to pad out the runtime, which sucks considering how rushed the final season was. This does bleed into season 6 which I liked more but I'll explain further. Jamie's mission to "rescue" Myrcella is pure bullshit. I mean top to bottom. The justification that he needs to prove himself is so stupid. They could have just requested that Myrcella be brought back to the Capital or have Tommen issue a royal decree compelling her return. They sent her there to be a ward, they didn't give the Martells some ownership over her. That'd be like if Ned and Robert needed permission from Robert Arryn to leave the Eyrie to go back to their respective homes. What's the fear? That the Martells would kill Myrcella if they demanded her return? That would be an easy way to ensure a war. And then why the f*** did Jamie and Bronn have to sneak in? They could just walk in on official royal business. It's all so goddamn stupid it hurts to even think about it. Also the whole thing with the fighting pits is so dumb. It's written in just to give Jorah and Tryion a dramatic appearance before Dany. The King's Landing stuff is solid. Good not great. Mostly everything else is a plodding waste of time with a scattering of good moments.
Season 6: I think this season misses the mark of the first four but even after defending it earlier I still maintain this was a better season than 5 because at least a lot of plotlines are ramping forward towards the endgame. Jon and Sanaa re-establish House Stark being decimated by Ned's execution and the Red Wedding. Theon's redemption which is one of the stronger parts of the last 3 seasons kicks off in a good way, Dan's story finally moves her towards leaving Essos to invade Westeros (although her time with the Dish Khaleen is mind numbingly boring), the conflict between the Lannisters and the Faith is still pretty good. Some people don't like that Cersei went full on Mad Queen with the bombing of the Sept of Baelor but I think it works fine. Her experience losing two children and being abused by the Faith Militant seems like a fair reason to go from a more subtle villain with some shades of decency to a psychopath. I really don't see the problem actually. Bran's story still sucks but at least there's fun flashbacks to the past. Arya's story truly drags but at least it culminates with the assassination of Walder Frey which was great. I still think Battle of the Bastards is a great episode. In hindsight though, Sansa and Jon fighting between each other that they don't have the men to win and Sansa withholding that she has the forces of an entire major house in her back pocket is manufactured drama and stupid. I don't mind that the Knights of the Vale came in at the last minute to save the day. It's cheesy but I'm fine with it. It's the inane fighting about how they're not ready. Either way, it still feels good to see the Starks finally get a win and get their home back, manufactured drama notwithstanding.
I don't feel any differently about any characters through 6 seasons than I did before this rewatch. Maybe a bit more appreciation of Stephen Dillane's performance as Stannis.
Edit: it's just occurring to me now but if Euron Greyjoy managed to construct an entire fleet within, let's say months, and already had one of the finest fleets in the country if not the finest, and if we're assuming that they did a lot of raiding and pillaging because the Iron Islands are not good land for agriculture, why not just sell ships and engage in trade? The Iron Islands could've been Velaryon rich, no? Was Balon Greyjoy that much of a loser lord/"king"?
Season 1: it's crazy how the lowest budget season is still the best of the bunch. Everything is set up and developed so well with moments of the show that reverberate with importance throughout the remainder of the series and really helps on a binge to think back on how differently events would have played out if any number of events/decisions hadn't happened/been made.
Season 2: I used to like Season 3 more than 2 but I think that really just came down to season 2 using a darker gradient in its shots whereas Season 3 was a lot more colorful. Another great season of prestige TV with a breathtaking battle episode in Blackwater. I think this is the last season I really got any true enjoyment out of Daenerys' storyline though the events in Qarth did drag a bit. Arya and Tywin's scenes together are so goddamn good.
Season 3: still a very good season but on reflection it's just a bit weaker than 2. It's the beginning of Dany's story just becoming multiple easy conquests in Essos which I actually found a little less compelling than some of the plotlines in Mereen. It's the start of Bran's stupid quest to become the Three Eyed Raven which, outside of the Hodor backstory and the flashbacks to pre-GOT events, is entirely stupid and a waste of time. Turion not having the power and influence to play the game and instead spends most time trying to survive tougher circumstances is still good but not as fun. But there's still some good here. Jamie and Brienne is strong the whole way through. Sansa's abuses/survival in King's Landing is stronger on rewatch than I remember when I recontextualize everything around how she basically a political pawn. And the Red Wedding is the Red Wedding. Jon's time with the Wildlings is effective in transforming him into the hero he eventually becomes.
Season 4: I've always felt this way and still do but I like Season 4 more than 3 but not as much as 1 and 2. Bran's journey still sucks. Dany's sucks but at least she's in Mereen long enough for some interesting political intrigue to be developed rather than "Dany shows up to one Essos city with slave masters one episode and has liberated it by the next one". The highlights to me are the murder of Joffrey and everything that follows. It sends tectonic shifts through every storyline aside from Dany, Arya, and Jon's. And Oberyn is such an outstanding wild card. All these years later and I still watched knowing what would happen but was still struck by how much he could be a force for justice against the Lannisters only to have that force stopped cold by his own hubris. I could say a lot about season 4 but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Battle for the Wall was kinda silly.
Season 5: is sort of an awkward season because it's the midpoint between the first half and the endgame and it's the season where the source material started running dry. In hindsight, I don't hate the Faith Militant storyline as much as I remembered. I thought the potential for the laws of Westeros to all of a sudden turn to a theocracy in practice was compelling and especially since it all truly started because Cersei tried to leverage the faith militant/high sparrow to screw over the Tyrells which backfired on her horrendously. That all worked for me on this rewatch. I really didn't mind the continuing rise of the Boltons. Jon's story still chugged along well with a great finish with Hardhome. But the rest is weak. Brienne's story seems a bit aimless and she seems to appear just to remind viewers that she's still around. Dany's struggles in Mereen are still more interesting that what happened in Yunkai, Astapor and the others, but it starts to get a bit tedious with just sporadic scenes where Dany needs to learn lessons about ruling that are never applied in Westeros. Bran's story still sucks out loud. But what really kills me is Arya's time in Braavos and Jamie's mission to get Myrcella. Arya's time training with the Faceless Men is really only used for the assassination of Walder Frey and his house, which is a great pay off but her story plods through so much "becoming no one" bullshit that it really feels like a story designed to pad out the runtime, which sucks considering how rushed the final season was. This does bleed into season 6 which I liked more but I'll explain further. Jamie's mission to "rescue" Myrcella is pure bullshit. I mean top to bottom. The justification that he needs to prove himself is so stupid. They could have just requested that Myrcella be brought back to the Capital or have Tommen issue a royal decree compelling her return. They sent her there to be a ward, they didn't give the Martells some ownership over her. That'd be like if Ned and Robert needed permission from Robert Arryn to leave the Eyrie to go back to their respective homes. What's the fear? That the Martells would kill Myrcella if they demanded her return? That would be an easy way to ensure a war. And then why the f*** did Jamie and Bronn have to sneak in? They could just walk in on official royal business. It's all so goddamn stupid it hurts to even think about it. Also the whole thing with the fighting pits is so dumb. It's written in just to give Jorah and Tryion a dramatic appearance before Dany. The King's Landing stuff is solid. Good not great. Mostly everything else is a plodding waste of time with a scattering of good moments.
Season 6: I think this season misses the mark of the first four but even after defending it earlier I still maintain this was a better season than 5 because at least a lot of plotlines are ramping forward towards the endgame. Jon and Sanaa re-establish House Stark being decimated by Ned's execution and the Red Wedding. Theon's redemption which is one of the stronger parts of the last 3 seasons kicks off in a good way, Dan's story finally moves her towards leaving Essos to invade Westeros (although her time with the Dish Khaleen is mind numbingly boring), the conflict between the Lannisters and the Faith is still pretty good. Some people don't like that Cersei went full on Mad Queen with the bombing of the Sept of Baelor but I think it works fine. Her experience losing two children and being abused by the Faith Militant seems like a fair reason to go from a more subtle villain with some shades of decency to a psychopath. I really don't see the problem actually. Bran's story still sucks but at least there's fun flashbacks to the past. Arya's story truly drags but at least it culminates with the assassination of Walder Frey which was great. I still think Battle of the Bastards is a great episode. In hindsight though, Sansa and Jon fighting between each other that they don't have the men to win and Sansa withholding that she has the forces of an entire major house in her back pocket is manufactured drama and stupid. I don't mind that the Knights of the Vale came in at the last minute to save the day. It's cheesy but I'm fine with it. It's the inane fighting about how they're not ready. Either way, it still feels good to see the Starks finally get a win and get their home back, manufactured drama notwithstanding.
I don't feel any differently about any characters through 6 seasons than I did before this rewatch. Maybe a bit more appreciation of Stephen Dillane's performance as Stannis.
Edit: it's just occurring to me now but if Euron Greyjoy managed to construct an entire fleet within, let's say months, and already had one of the finest fleets in the country if not the finest, and if we're assuming that they did a lot of raiding and pillaging because the Iron Islands are not good land for agriculture, why not just sell ships and engage in trade? The Iron Islands could've been Velaryon rich, no? Was Balon Greyjoy that much of a loser lord/"king"?
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