Arya Stark and the Descent Into Disbelief

[@maximilianovazquez9988]

I will never get tired of watching video essays about the downfall of GOT.

[@Th0cast]

In the end, we just want more GOT 😭

[@maximilianovazquez9988]

@@Th0cast Personally, Im kinda burned out. Don´t know if I´ll even bother with the new show or the last two books (if they ever come out). But these essays just do it for me, for some reason XD

[@Silburific]

Personally, I always learn more from failure than success, and GoT has been a masterclass in what _not_ to do with your narrative.

[@LittleGrey]

Honestly, it’s videos like this that get me up in the morning

[@maninform3523]

@@maximilianovazquez9988 nah thats cope i did the same but you want more no matter how bad it hurt us

[@the98themperoroftheholybri33]

Not only did Brianne beat the hound, she also beat Loras Tyrell, and she beat a half starved Jaime Lannister in a fight, some of the best swordsmen in Westeros. But apparently she's no match for Arya

[@WoodSageSeaSalt]

Arya who had maybe a year of basic sword training in which she only used a wooden sword and not her Needle. Arya who then did nothing but waved broken tree branches at night to remember the basic while rarely ever having a sparring partner. The only other combat training she did was stick fighting while she was blinded, which lasted for a few months at best. The book even has Arya mention how Needle is just a child's toy at that point and only has value to her due to it being the final family connection she has. Yet the Writers called Needle the symbol of vengeance. Somehow that's enough for Arya to fight Brienne who had decade of training and experience.

[@akosszilagyi2656]

The one argument that could be made is that they were sparring, and Brienne wasn't actually trying. But it's still fucking stupid.

[@WoodSageSeaSalt]

@@akosszilagyi2656 Yeah the only believable argument is that they were just sparring. Even then, it didn't really look like it. A light sparring in which Brienne looks like she struggling with a practice sword as if it's much heavier just look forced. If anything, even if they were sparring, Brienne should have more advantages overall against a girl who has maybe 2 years of messy training regime that didn't even focus on sword fights.

[@Sexbott]

Equals not out matched

[@MitchJohnson0110]

Not to mention a smallsword like needle would be basically useless against someone in full armor. Sure, you could go for a gap but an experienced fighter is going to know that. Smallswords were specifically designed for unarmored fighting.

[@karabou_kawamel]

I'll admit. I was all for what was going on in the show with Arya... Until she was stabbed multiple times and had a knife TWISTED in her gut. Was really a "oh shit, characters get plot armor now" moment

[@lanceareadbhar]

I went from wow, they killed her, to wow, she won't be doing much for a while, to when did I accidentally turn on a Teminator sequel?

[@flankspeed]

I heard Syrio Forel's voice saying, "Dead. Dead. VERY Dead."

[@jackthehat1093]

My moment of clarity was at the start of season 6 when the Boltons catch up to Sansa and Theon. Brienne arrives in the nick of time (what are the odds???) but then Podrick is unhorsed and a Bolton soldier slowly advances on him with a stupid evil grin on his face. Every single person knew what was going to happen because we've seen it a million times before. Obviously the slowly advancing bad guy is stabbed from behind before he can deliver the killing blow. Thrilling stuff... :/ Also the hounds that were pursuing them are nowhere to be seen.

[@blowfish1702]

Once they ran out of books to mirror the show quickly slipped into high fantasy BS territory. Fear for character safety was out the window.

[@Slender_Man_186]

@@blowfish1702 they were changing shit well before they ran out of books to adapt.

[@Netherspark0_0]

I think George RR Martin probably told the showrunners that Arya would become a dangerous and skilled assassin, like a Ninja. But while George meant a *real* historical Ninja who would kill with stealth and subtlety, the showrunners took it as a *fantasy* Ninja somersaulting through the shadows and fighting enemies with flashy martial arts.

[@hollandscottthomas]

Yeah, GRRM is only quoted as giving them "the broad strokes". They started deviating from the books that were already published, so it's not about his ending plan at all.

[@iDeathMaximuMII]

​@@hollandscottthomasEven in Season 1, they cut some important stuff out. I love Season 1 ALOT but even all the way back then, they were fucking with the show

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Arya passes her training in the books because she's a Warg, and it's fucking terrifying because here is some House Stark Horror that the house of the many faced god hasn't accounted for. Like imagine if an assassin can possess a wolf or a snake or a shadowcat...

[@Dadecorban]

Others passed that training without being a Warg. It's not clear that she wouldn't have without it. Normals were likely meant to learn a different lesson, but because she was able to thrive with her imposed handicapped, she learned different lessons. The Faceless Men appear somewhat surprised. But it doesn't mean should wouldn't have passed as other non-wargs obviously had.

[@patrickcarr9906]

She fucks up all her missions in the books IIRC. There's something else going on.

[@jeremygilbert7989]

@@patrickcarr9906 She did succeed in killing the insurance man with the poisoned coin. If fact it was her idea to use poison to do it too iirc.

[@JamesSamson487]

@@Dadecorban I remember reading this scene and thinking “yep, she just side-stepped this lesson through cheating. This is going to come back to bite her later.”

[@Soccercrazyigboman]

But the show has to appeal to football players and soccer moms

[@zoeb3573]

I remember people kept complaining she never used her face-changing knowledge again after that one time she decimated a whole clan and how it was such a waste of potential. Meanwhile my question was: use what abilities? She's never taught how to properly wear the skin to make it believable and stick when she talks, she's never taught how to properly cut skin from a dead body to make a believable mask for future uses, she's never taught how to fake voices, and she imitated that old man PERFECTLY!! All they taught her is how to sweep, wash corpses and give children poisoned water! Nevermind her never doing it again, how could she do any of that in the first place? I think what bothers me most about the "your training is now complete" line is that it implies he at least partially planned for all that to happen like a big test for her to pass, and... Give me a break.

[@GeorgeThoughts]

Arya's time in Braavos at least started with the writers absolutely going for the "mystical transferable skills" trope often present in Kung-Fu and Martial Arts stories (because it IS applied in real-life. Eg, empty handed skills in Aikido become sword skills and movements once you add in a blade) such as the famous "wax on, wax off" from Karate Kid. The protagonist learns humility in a menial repetitive task and then once they have proven their "faith" and personal discipline they are rewarded with the revelation that they've actually been learning a strong mindset, badass movements and kung-fu muscle memories the entire time. Arya is shown sweeping floors for discipline, respecting the dead by washing them, respecting Life and the "necessity" of Death (according to Faceless Men philosophy) by putting children out of their misery with poisoned water. She even literally goes blind so she can fight in the dark. Trouble is, as you say, the show never presented any inclination that any of these activities were actually "secret badass training", and the "your training is complete" was utterly un-earned and a cheap attempt to capitalise on the secret training trope.

[@kasPWI]

Your comment raises an interesting question. Why didn't the writers kill off Arya, then everything plays out how it did in the show for the most part, but Arya gets the throne only for it to turn out, with a major cliffhanger ending to the show, that it was Jaqen all along? Edit: it would explain why "Arya" had the ability to change faces to begin with, something she wasn't supposed to be able to do based on what we saw in the show like you said.

[@RoninDave]

they should have done a Bran - cut back to her two seasons later with her training a complete mystery because the Faceless Men should remain so. We see her enter the temple and the next time she is killing the Freys in a surprise re-appearance

[@Al77343]

Maybe I'm misremembering but it was more Jaken:a girl is now no one (you're ready) Aria: no a girl is aria stark of winter fell Jaken nods approvingly What the fuck did it mean‽ In addition to the no real training being showed that you complain about, why this "slave" (I can't think of a better term) of the many faced god approving someone basically spitting in the face of his master? Is jaken not "no one" ? He's payed her back as far as he is concerned why would he help her any more than accept to train her ?

[@RoninDave]

@@Al77343 and this was after she had to convince Jaken begging and pleading in the previous season to be trained and yet she threw the whole "I am no one" out the window after her teenage drama with the Waif. They took one of the coolest characters from the earlier seasons and completely ruined him and his mystery. This makes me suspect they didn't have that strong of an outline from Martin on Arya with the Faceless Men nor with latter plot developments which really began to show by Season 7.

[@sheagaming]

I think two elements that was cut from the books really hurt aryas story. Lady Stoneheart and Arya being a warg really hurt this last half of her narrative

[@nostalgicbliss5547]

@Bart Simpson's secretary Lol. Man this show had potential like no other. It was lightening in a bottle and they ruined it

[@sheagaming]

@Bart Simpson's secretary You're right I totally forgot about the fake Arya plot in the north. So much potential wasted.

[@bloop5337]

yeah, i think treating the audience like they’re stupid led to shitty writing and ultimately it’s downfall. like i’m sure we all could have followed the more complicated & populous storylines 🙄

[@tinamoul]

Lot's of things cut from the book hurt the show. The show was okay for about 4 seasons, but it always shied away from so many of the more fantastic elements of the book, almost like the show writers were ashamed of it's fantasy origins.

[@FutureOverYou]

@@tinamoul which is especially hilarious considering the show has zombies and dragons.

[@TheCreepyLantern]

you know what's really sad? the whole pie thing happens in the books but (to REALLY simplify things) it wasn't Arya who did it, it's one of the lords that's not really in the show. he spreads the official story that he's released his Frey hostages and given them horses to go home, so he's no idea why they've vanished that's sooooo strange and he's TOTALLY worried...... then he shows up to the Frey feast with the same number of giant pies as there are missing hostages. and like a lord in his own castle can take as much time as needed to cook bodies and make pies so it is WAY more believable. so what seems to have happened is the show writers went "that's such a cool idea! we're using it!" but were willing to change the WHO the HOW the WHEN and the WHY, just to get to a cool "WHAT". and no matter how cool an idea, it can't survive being so badly squeezed and changed and shit to fit a completely different situation and character

[@elisabethschmerzler963]

I totally agree with you! The “Frey Pie” event and Wyman Manderly in general were an interesting aspect of the whole Northern Plot and how many actually defied the Boltons through sly brutality, not just cowering in fear or obedience like the show. Also Arya’s whole Titus Andronicus ploy came to be hypocritical when she’s says “I know a killer when I see one” like Ma’am you just carved people into a pie and also murdered an entire family, you don’t really have a leg to stand on

[@ianmaluk1]

There's also the fact that without the context that the book provides, the pie scene loses all nuance and meaning. Because the people who Wyman serves them to are people who he plans to have killed in the most violent way he can possibly concoct.

[@animen2463]

The best part is he serves the pies himself to Roose and the other freys present

[@giulia2503]

I never thought about this detail, but does Arya even know how to bake a pie ? 😂

[@linkofvev]

@@animen2463 I like that Roose doesn't end up eating the pie, as he only eats what Wyman eats for fear of poisoning.

[@abraham2172]

My suspension of disbelief was shattered when Cersei blew up the Church, conveniently filled up with EVERYONE that stood in her way. After the series establishing the Tyrels and especially Margery as super popular and the Sparrow threatening the nobels with the wrath of the common people of KL, Im told "well, both are dead now, its obvious the most hated person in the whole town killed them and is now crowned as Queen with no one giving a shit whatsoever". Sure, why not.

[@ericlarochelle650]

That was a ridiculous moment. The show went from medieval House of Cards to blowing up a cathedral of people including nobles with 0 repercussions.

[@hunterkiller232134]

@@ericlarochelle650 It's the fact that they had to use modern concept (assassination by explosive device) and shoe horn it into the setting they created (by using barrels of Wildfire under the church). That's a pure jumping the shark moment.

[@everythingBLUE]

Right! And remember in season one where she pleaded with Joffrey not to decapitate Ned Stark because of all those pesky consequences??

[@s4m1r_65]

and there was no lasting consequence. the sept was destroyed and cersei became queen. no one opposed. what happened on that moment would be enough to sparkle a rebellion.

[@fullirishham1015]

@@hunterkiller232134 to be completely fair to the show, the wildfire was hinted to have been Aerys' stockpile from the end of the rebellion when he planned to burn the city down to spite his enemies. Not saying Cersei shouldn't have faced IMMENSE and immediate consequences for that particular act, especially from Jamie, who murdered one king for attempting to do as she did.

[@sam_c95]

Thank you thank you for making this. "Believability" and "suspension of disbelief" are phrases I always use talking about the later seasons of GoT. People say "there are dragons, it doesn't have to be realistic" but they completely miss the point - I'm not asking for realism, I'm asking for believability, I'm asking for internal consistency, I'm asking for the show to make sense in the context of itself and that doesn't seem too much to ask for in a work of fiction.

[@WoodSageSeaSalt]

Perfectly put. I hate it when ppl use "it's fantasy" as an excuse when that has nothing to do with terrible writing.

[@tjenadonn6158]

It's literally a common joke that the difference between fantasy and reality is that fantasy has to make sense. There's a reason why it's called fantasy literature and not nonsense literature.

[@LaneMaxfield]

Ugh, sadly so true. I remember when Arya started training at the House of Black and White, and I was thinking, "oh no, this is where I lose my baby!" I didn't want her to turn evil. I wanted her to maintain her moral core, somehow. At the same time, I knew the most satisfying direction for the story would be for her to cross that line from traumatic to corrupted (that video of yours is still one of my favorites of all time, btw). I got what I wanted... and it sucked. She wasn't organically pulled back from the edge of the moral cliff. She was just awkwardly crammed into a hero mold that she did not fit. It was just bad.

[@firemochimc]

Haha, her time at the House of Black and White in the books is pretty much all introspection and the fact that little things matter.

[@hirograveyard8236]

Thank you for admitting that you got what you wanted and it sucked. Fan service is ruining a lot of great stories these days.

[@MarcAlcatraz]

exactly, the show runners made it clear that Arya was their favorite character so it's obivous now that they couldn't separate themselves from their work. They probably thought exactly as you did but stopped at "i didn't want her to turn evil" and ceased all interesting development for the shallow girlboss method.

[@badlucksparrow40]

"She was just awkwardly crammed into a hero mold that she did not fit." This is 100% the perfect way to put it. They did the same Tyrion all in service of keeping him the loveable audience favorite.

[@Marb315]

@@badlucksparrow40 absolutely, to quote Martin on his favorite character "I've got to admit I kind of like Tyrion Lannister. He's the villain of course, but hey, there's nothing like a good villain." The show was so caught up in making sure Peter Dinklage stayed a fan favorite that they missed the point of the character that we really start seeing in book 5

[@Zsinj3]

I think the perfect encapsulation of what Arya had become was actually her killing of the Waif. And I actually don't mean the stabbing or magic overnight healing or the chase while wounded. Their "fight" is a rule of cool that the writers didn't even write out. Arya cuts the candle and the screen goes black. Of all their attempts to make Arya a matter assassin, her "final test" isn't written or shown at all, it's just a black hole the viewer must fill in on their own. Far beyond there being consequences from small mistakes (like getting a scratch in a fight), Arya's climactic fight was apparently so cool we didn't even need to see it and are left to presume she flawlessly killed the Waif in the dark with a sword after only "training" with staves while blind. The writing simply was: "ignore how we got here, look at that cool shot of Arya cutting the candle and remember they taught her to fight blind, isn't that so cool!?"

[@nessa-parmentier]

You know what, I hadn't even realised the fact that she cut the candle because she can fight blind I don't know if it's just me being dumb though

[@domhuckle]

This became a running theme - Bran told Arya and Sansa about John being a targaryan off screen - the biggest moment for our core characters and all the implications for their family history. Off screen

[@linkofvev]

The funniest part is, the Waif also went through the blind training, so she would have been proficient enough to still kill Arya.

[@lanceareadbhar]

@@linkofvev The writers sort of forgot that part and they no longer had the answers to the test to copy from.

[@WoodSageSeaSalt]

Despite how Arya had only the very basic training that she never even got to train with Needle and spent huge portion of the story praciticing with broken tree branches with no sparring partners, Arya still gets to go toe to toe against Brienne. While Arya gets to twirl around and show her back.

[@keithrage6748]

One of my biggest issues with disbelief is the battle of Winterfell happening when it did. He has demonstrated incredible patience by waiting an incredibly long time for this campaign. He takes every opportunity to grow his forces. The Night King knows exactly what he is up against. He knows that the army at Winterfell is the only army remotely prepared to fight him. Without the massive tactical errors on the part of the coalition armies, he likely would have lost the battle. The Night King is the type of character to take every advantage he can, so why would he risk that encounter when he could simply march straight to King's Landing and recruit an easy extra million troops?

[@CG-eh6oe]

Or just...starve them. You cant supply an army that far away from any crop fields, a problem the night king did not have. Wait for a month and our heros would have to withdraw.

[@teun_snijder8856]

@C G, that would be pretty interesting. I’d love a scene of the characters discussing what their next move is. Sort of having to accept that they’re probably not going to win this battle and they must act offensive instead of defensive because there is no other way. A lot more casualties would have been better anyways.

[@thewhitewolf58]

For the drama. Differences between books and media is books can be carefully crafted by 1 person. Media on the otherhand has to many cooks in the kitchen who prefer the safe bet of dumb dramatic action.

[@abraham2172]

Because Winterfell was between the Nightking and Kings Landing? Huh, doesnt sound very satisfying...

[@denisl2760]

@@abraham2172 I guess you never heard of the "go around" strategy?

[@Lunacorva]

1:16 The movie actually hinted at this and Endgame addressed it, that Thanos's lack of imagination was in fact a stubborn REFUSAL to admit that he could possibly be wrong. The minute he started considering alternatives, the minute he would have to consider he's NOT the only one with a perfect solution. And his ego couldn't allow that. He would rather kill EVERYONE than admit he could make a mistake.

[@kevinnoonan5534]

Just like any zealot, evidence of them being wrong causes them to double-down. Seeing that the universe was NOT grateful, to the point they had found a way to undo his 'holy work', caused him to literally blame the inhabitants of the universe for not seeing things his way and recreate the universe in his image.

[@solidsnake11087]

The funniest part is in the comics the reason half the universe has to die and there's no other solution is because he's such a simp for Lady Death. She's mad that more people are living than dying. She also knows he wants her to notice him. So she gives the task to "balance the scales of life and death in the universe", which means killing half of all current life in the universe. And the Infinity Gauntlet and Gems are the best (quickest) way to do that. Movie made the right choice putting the onus on Thanos and his own ego/trauma imo rather than having him go "durr well bc I am horny for u I need to do dis"

[@ngotemna8875]

@@solidsnake11087 Isn't Lady Death in love with Deadpool and therefore Thanos wouldn't have a chance of getting her anyways? Or am I mixing things up? I thought to remember that one of Deadpool's versions just literally could not die because Death himself does not want Deadpool to get close to his wife and as such simply refuses to acknowledge his death? You know, like one of those Chuck Norris facts

[@MaddBadgerr]

Which parts of Infinity War/Endgame allude to the idea that he could increase the resources instead of killing tons of people?

[@hollandscottthomas]

@@ngotemna8875 Yeah, that's about right.

[@TheManofThings777]

It's been said before, but if it had actually been EARNED, Aria killing the Night King would have been one of the greatest moments in tv history. Instead, it felt the same as how Aria became a master assassin. The showrunners wanted it to happen, so it happened.

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Damn straight. The Night King, in the God's Wood, facing off against Bran. The culmination of the warring ancient beings. He kills Theon (whose last line should have been "what is dead can never die"). Night King is poised to become a continent ruling ice god and then STAB. There is no god but death.

[@YourBlackLocal]

Honestly I didn’t want the Night King to die in a fight to begin with. He’s literally the embodiment of Winter and he gets beaten by a stab to the gut. Lame…

[@TheManofThings777]

@@YourBlackLocal That's understandable, but if that was the direction they (and possibly GRR Martin) wanted to go with it still could have been done so much better.

[@YourBlackLocal]

@@TheManofThings777 The thing is it wasn’t. In earlier seasons D&D specifically said it wasn’t going to be your standard good vs evil battle. Then they just changed it later.

[@TheManofThings777]

@@YourBlackLocal Oof

[@Sperium3000]

The pie thing happened in the book, but it was a noble who invited the Freys into his castle. It's way more believable he could pull this off cuz the entire castle staff is in on it. But here, Aria singlehandedly did the same in Frey's own castle without anyone noticing.

[@jackbelmont4389]

There should be atleast show an episode or 2 of Arya infiltrating the twins and employing what she learned.

[@tjenadonn6158]

It would also for better with a noble doing it because a similar event is a major plot point in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. Not that I'm surprised that DnD have no knowledge of classic literature: I'd be surprised if they've ever read anything more intensive than a hair gel bottle.

[@cmcg3738]

The very fact nobody discusses GOT anymore, and it has left no lasting cultural imprint despite being a global phenomenon for a decade, tells you just how bad the last few seasons were. An unmitigated, unforgivable, disaster. Seasons 5-8 are so atrocious, on so many levels, that all rewatch value has pretty much been lost. I rewatched the first two seasons during Lockdown, in awe of the intricacies of the writing. But I couldn’t go on because every episode drew me closer to the Jaime plotline in Dorne and Sansa being married to Ramsey. So I had to stop. I never want to feel like that again.

[@PreggoJohn]

Amen. Imagine sucking so much it UNDID a decade of extreme hype. Imagine also the people who had GoT tattoos, who had GoT-themed weddings.

[@Vanillastump]

@@PreggoJohn Or any little girl name "Khaleesi" or "Daenerys". Especially at the end, when that specific character ended up as one of the worst monsters in the show.

[@LaneMaxfield]

@pureU4EA Yeah, but when you say, "I actually missed Breaking Bad the first time around, and I'm finally watching it," old fans are like, "Man! I won't say anything, because I want you to watch it unspoiled, but I can't wait to hear your thoughts. It was so great." Whereas when you say, "I'm finally watching Game of Thrones" the reaction is "Ooooh, listen. Gotta warn you, this might be an exhausting waste of your time."

[@cmcg3738]

@pureU4EA I disagree. I am not just talking about successful TV shows, or good TV shows, of which there are many. I am talking about shows that ran for more than 4 or 5 seasons that were so big and so successful that they became iconic in their run, to the point of being a cultural phenomenon. These are rare. Mash, Seinfeld, The Simpsons and Friends all had a lasting cultural impact, from changing public attitudes to war to influencing our patterns of speech. They are still spoke about today. As are shows better written (but less culturally relevant) show like X-Files, The West Wing, The Sopranos and Lost. People remember them fondly. Game of Thrones is the only one to have been both spectacularly successful and wonderfully written and got things so badly, badly wrong quickly fell out of public conscientiousness (Friends came close with a bad final two seasons).

[@John-xr9ry]

Eh Season 5 isn’t that bad. A major stepdown from S1-S4 with Dorne and the way they handled Stannis in the last two episodes being especially insulting but it at least still felt like a mostly character driven political drama with a good mix of fantasy elements, albeit nowhere near the levels of the book or first 4 seasons but it’s still there.

[@Maerahn]

Seasons 5-8 were when I grew to HATE what Arya Stark had become. It wasn't just that she was now apparently this ultra-badass ninja-assassin with the regenerative powers of Wolverine, but that she just became so goddamn SMUG about it. That horrible self-satisfied grin she wore all the way through her sparring with Brienne, and then to have *Brienne* - a trained warrior-woman who's been SHOWN going toe-to-toe with multiple skilled knights and warriors AND besting them - going "Oh my gaaaaad, how did you get so awwwesome?" like some simpering fangirl.... UGH! I'm pretty sure D&D just decided at the start of season 5 that Arya was now their favouritest character EVAH, and they were just going to Mary-Sue the living daylights out of her from then on.

[@Bluey306]

it's wild because D&D touted Arya (and also Sansa) by the end as such Strong Female Characters that...they became nothing else. they were just that Strong Female Characters, not the complex girls-now-women that had been crafted and fleshed out from the very beginning. just. she's Strong, and she's Female. they became so BLAND. they made them so Strong that they lost the actual strengths they had organically developed over the course of the story (e.g. Arya's scrappy, survival skills and determination to remember her family even as the House was training her to be no one, Sansa's subtle silk-hiding-steel while never truly losing her kindness). Arya stood about looking either smug or expressionless, threatening people or just downright anti-social. D&D conveniently forgets what the whole intrigue of the game of thrones was about because Sansa had no filter anymore and just made demands left and right or (god almighty) shit-talked Dany in the crypt within earshot of Dany's own allies. because they're STRONG WAHMEN. LEAN IN.

[@TheSuperRatt]

@@Bluey306 Ikr? It's so insulting to women.

[@-Zikade-]

Arya used to be one of my absolute favorites but at the end of the series I couldn't stand her. It's truly sad when you think about it.

[@Su-mx7ix]

Oh God thank you for putting this so well! I couldn’t put my finger on why exactly Arya made my blood boil - it’s totally that grin! It was a horrible acting choice.

[@guitarreilly]

absolutely bang on about that grin being insufferable. She was so charming and humble in the first series and just developed so well up to series 4 then the steady decline happened

[@nicolasgiuristante]

13:06 This reminds of one of the Tomb Raider games when Lara is stabbed by a metal rod (near the helicopter scene). A minute later, the game forces you to make her swim under some houses in a repulsive swampy water body, filled with rotting corpses. Lara’s always been “lucky” for the sake of action throughout her adventures, but this was a flagrant oversight in my opinion. A normal human being should not ever escape microbiology, no matter the universe they partake in.

[@betelgeux6010]

i actually think the game designers didnt know about how blood circulation works. the cauter-scene a few minutes later is an attempt to say look, all the bad stuff is burned away

[@hollandscottthomas]

People loose appendages by swimming in the ocean with open wounds. Biology is super gross.

[@gregoryschweitzer1735]

I can't remember which Tomb Raider game you're talking about and I've played a lot of them. But she gets stabbed in a lot of them which is probably why I can't remember lol

[@Freaky0Nina]

The newer Tomb Raider games (havent played the older ones, i'm young, don't judge) have sorta become my prime example for plot armor. The thing is, with tomb raider i'm not *that* mad about it, since the plot armor is established early on and i'm just there for the ride, and I can laugh at it. I laugh at the thousands of candles people must have lit in incredibly hard to reach places, I laugh at the oni, i laugh at samurai being portrayed as mystical figures, when in fact, they were real people partaking in japanese history til the meiji period. I laugh at Laras ability to effortlessly read old chinese and japanese texts, I laugh at the fact that by the end of the game she basically committed genocide to the entire island. I laugh at how they portrayed the Yamatai and Himiko myth. To be honest, it's just very funny, almost camp.

[@nicolasgiuristante]

@@Freaky0Nina gotta agree for the genocide part lol! Although you can make your way though the game with minimal carnage, the mechanics all encourage you to deal with NPCs in a deadly manner. But that’s an entirely different conversation on the gaming industry in general. I personally think only the Dishonored franchise balanced this killing aspect right.

[@Cityweaver]

I think the reason people gush, absolutely rave, about Avatar: The Last Airbender's Zuko story arc is that long after most writers would have stopped developing him and, as you put it, have him stagnate as an action hero with no more introspection, Dan and Michael kept asking "Zuko, are you SURE you want to do this?" all the way into mid--way of the final season, and only then, after every last drop of character development could be squeezed out, did he "become one of the good guys" and the focus immediately went to episode-by-episode personal interactions with Aang, Katara, and Sokka so they could learn who Zuko had become. And even then, now that they fully understanad who they are, the story still has enough time left to respectfully argue with him. Should we or should we not kill the Father Lord, I mean, Fire Lord. And now we have a new example to simp over until the end of time, Arcane. Where Jinx battles with who she is up until the literal last scene of Season One. Arya becoming this video game action hero with several seasons left in the story feels so hollow in comparison. Why not have Jon reunite with his little sisters and be horrified that they quote Cersei and Tywin more than they say anything that resembles good ole Stark wisdom. Why not have him try his hardest to re-establish the old dynamic of them relying on him, only for him to realize that the last time he saw them, Sansa was destined to be a queen and Arya was destined to be a knight, so he couldn't act like watching Sansa's cold hearted politicking and Arya's ruthless battles were some unexpected shock. Wasting time manufacturing a relationship between Jon and Dani so that it could be tragically ended when there are TWO characters Jon already wants to protect from others and the consequences of their own actions is so much wasted screentime.

[@hopelessgeek3776]

Not to mention that early seasons were so very much into the whole "family bond" / "The Starks" dynamics and how Jon was part of that clan without being part of the clan. So, old Jon&Arya dynamics should have been explored, absolutely; or how Sansa and Jon did not have the warmest of relationships. Or how they lost literally everyone else between them last seeing each other and reuniting. But this kind goes into my biggest problem with the show (and perhaps the books): Death is meaningless. Not to us as the audience, and not to the show as far as political consequences is concerned (again, earlier seasons rather than the cluster*** that was the ending) but as far as personal impact is concerned. People die and the emotional impact on their families is minimal. Sure, there is 'a moment's grief' shown at the Red Wedding with Catherine or with Cersei when her kids die, but them coming to terms with the death of a loved one is insufficiently portrayed. Death is used as a shock value rather than an impactful event on a character on a personal level.

[@Cityweaver]

@@hopelessgeek3776 Totally agree. Overall, the lack of things coming full circle leaves it feeling much less impactful. When a hero returns home a changed man, you want to see him interacting with the things he once did and see how he's different. Game of Thrones featured so little of that because even in the last two seasons, they were still introducing new characters and having surprise character interactions. It's NOT as important to me that a Wildling thinks Brennan is hot than Brennan developing a relationship with the Stark girls she spent SEASONS looking for. Stranger Things hits you with satisfaction every season by having the kids, teens, and adults struggling alone and then they reunite 2/3s through the story. All the horror in the world isn't as satisfying as "everything is okay now, the family is back together." And they do it every season because they KNOW that's what makes the horror meaningful. Game of Thrones thinks basic feelings get in the way of their grimdark. God, Jaime returning to Cersei turned my stomach. Jaime lost ALL his children and every step of the way it was Cersei's fault. Her need to MAKE an enemy out of everyone. What is the point of Tyrion marring Sansa and Jaime risking everything to help the Stark girls if you are going to twist the characters' arms to still care more about Cersei than the Stark girls. What is the point of the deaths of every woman Jamie and Tyrion tried to protect if the last few years of their lives don't led to them overcompensating to help Sansa?! Why can't Sansa have men in her life who aren't trying to rape her?! You think it's cool to literally end the story on her being a frigid bitch who basically looks like the next Cersei? Wow, so profound.

[@hopelessgeek3776]

@@Cityweaver Can't hit enough likes for this comment. Absolutely. The lack of payoff is painful. But I don't think there was a true vision behind the latter season, especially not the last one. They did not think "how do I get from A to Z", they just knew they had to end up with Z. The worst plot decision is the handling of the Nightking. These creatures were built up in the first scene of the first episode. The "Winter is Coming" is such a profound, threatening ... Catelyn put it best in the book ("The words gave her a chill, as they always did. The Stark words. Every noble house had its words. Family mottoes, touchstones, prayers of sorts, they boasted of honour and glory, promised loyalty and truth, swore faith and courage. All but the Starks."), the scene with Bran getting the story about the White Walkers when he's bedridden in the first season is one of the best in the show show. And from all that suspense, built up over years, came nothing.... "Winter is Coming" is a joke! The Walkers come with the winter, they don't bring it, so why would the winter end with the death of the Night King. Who was the Night King? What was their purpose? Hell, the "Night King bows to Bran, the Three-Eyed Raven" had so much more potential and shock value than anything else could have. Ironically, the most nihilistic ending would have almost been so in line with the Shock Value that is GoT that they could have gone with this and people would have been more satisfied than the Happy Ending we got. Grimdark was kicked in the teeth, too (and I am not a fan of grimdark; I am a High Fantasy kinda person all the way through, but I do enjoy my pain, angst and tragedies, and GoT could have been that). On a character level, so many of them betrayed their own journey - mostly in a completely nonsensical way without true motivation or reason - I don't know where to start. Jamie's deterioration into... what exactly? Something worse than in season 1. Honor and pride are the very foundation of this character, he does horrible things and he's an arrogant ass - who may well be Prince Charming in many other stories (the looks, the skills, the intelligence, the well-versed expressions), like Gaston in Beauty and the Beast - but even hurting Bran he does 'out of love'... "I never really cared much (for the people of King's Landing), innocent or otherwise" SAYS THE PERSON WHO BECAME A KINGSLAYER OVER IT, his most honourable dead from a moral standpoint would forever be viewed critically by those looking at loyalty and honour to the crown as untouchable. This was almost worse than running back to Cersei, and more out of character. It's just frustrating how all that character development was for nothing. And Sansa, by God, Sansa, I will never understand why writers believe a 'strong female character' has to become a cold-hearted bitch. Sansa, who learned to use her weapons early - her clever manipulation of Joffrey at the siege sending him out into the fray - who may benefit from being more clever about her kindness and less naive should not have turned out to be the Winter Queen. Daenerys is a whole different mess of "too little progress and suddenly too much too soon". Cersei's arc halted and she may as well have died in earlier seasons because her impact on the story in Season 8 was nil, except for being a point of motivation for others. Tyrion drank a whole lot of the stupid, and so did many other characters. This whole thing was a mess, and the worst thing is, that there are a hundred ways this could have ended better. Expectations were high, but not unachievably high. Yikes, sorry for this monster of a rant. I do appreciate talking to you about this :)

[@Cityweaver]

@@hopelessgeek3776 Rant away! They spent years of our life driving a great story into the ground like so many peppercorns.

[@hopelessgeek3776]

@@Cityweaver What frustrates me about is that fan frustration always leads to the idea/complaing of "entitled fans" and "toxic fanbases". Not that they don't exist (I have. escaped a few of them), but I do dislike the notion of being satisfied with subpar writing that does not deliver on its promises because "They kind of forgot..."

[@maxgremln]

“Spoilers for Game of Thrones” I’d say that series is already pretty spoiled on its own, thank you very much.

[@tjenadonn6158]

Aged like milk in the Sahara. Could've been one of the greatest TV shows in history, but now it's so dated it's going to be little more than visual shorthand for the early 2010s when they make nostalgia bait for Zoomers/younger Millennials. I bet my entire ass that the finale of GOT will be the focus of an episode of our version of That '70s Show or Stranger Things.

[@mankytoes]

The show establishes with that Frey killing scene that Arya has absolutely mastered the Faceless Man face stealing technique. Her impression of Walder Frey is PERFECT and completely fools about a hundred men, who she all kills. This is perhaps the most incredible ability we see in the whole show. And then... she never uses it again. If they wanted her to kill the Night's King, maybe she should have done the ultimate face stealing- stealing the face of a White Walker?

[@conrad4852]

Do I ever get tired of intelligent criticism explaining why the final two seasons of GoT amounted to literary crimes against humanity? Nope! More importantly, this was a very nice discussion of an important literary concept.

[@alabaster7958]

Her getting eviscerated was in season 6. People tend to lose sight of the problems w/ season 5/6 cause season 7/8 were just so awful.

[@conrad4852]

@@alabaster7958 True. Seasons five and six had substantial virtues still, but there were problems with them that the first four seasons did not have (Arya’s story & the Sand Snakes in particular).

[@zardox78]

15:30 She got to kill the Night King because D&D wanted to signal their virtues. They hid behind the "subverting expectations" excuse, but that would've applied to basically any other character besides Jon killing the Night King. Maybe Dany too, I guess. They could've had any other random character do it and it would've seemed like more of a subversion. Hell, if Gilly killed the Night King it actually would've made better narrative sense. That dude was converting her brother/nephews into monsters for decades. She actually had a dog in that fight.

[@Bluey306]

literally any character that had been in the Jon/Night's Watch arcs would've made some sense - those arcs after all was always related to the Night King in some manner. throw in Jon actually doing something _useful_ (like...helping...the character that kills NK, instead of just screaming at an ice zombie dragon. heck, kill the ice zombie dragon! mans was resurrected and is consistently told it was for a reason, well give us that!) and it would've been epic.

[@nathensurman3884]

I mean, i would have even been ok with Arya doing it but with an assist - Ghost bowling NK over from behind as he's holding Arya by the throat, and gets shanked by the Catspaw in the fall or something..

[@ultrahevybeat]

its insane how this show died so hard. it was a cultural phenomenon on everybody's lips but today atleast personaly i see it as a joke. i loved the show at the beginning. i had read the first book so i was super excited to see it in live action. but damn it could have been so much more than what it became...

[@jessepbigjdp]

Thank you for this breakdown, as it highlights the biggest problem with later seasons : becoming tied up in wish fulfillment for fan favorite darlings, to the point of feeling like bad fanfiction. GRRM in the books has his "protagonists", and even his "antagonists", have moments of triumph for a chapter or two, but the harsh reality of things will always come back. That good deed you did, while still morally correct and the correct choice, will have lasting consequences, will be more complex than hero saves the day and lives happily ever after. This is best highlighted by Dany's storyline in ASOS and into ADWD. Dany's third chapter in ASOS is the famous Dracarys moment, where she buys the Unsullied and immediately turns them to slaughter their prior owners. It's one of the best chapters in the series and a triumphant moment for Dany, but the following chapters get into the nitty gritty of how its not that easy to destroy long standing corrupt institutions like the slave trade. The council she lives behind in Astapor gets butchered and slavery starts again there. Beyond that, it goes into the complexities of how some freed slaves know nothing else, so are lost as to what to do with themselves, and they actually end up selling themselves back into slavery. This is the kind of consequence storytelling that makes A Song of Ice and Fire so great, and what made a Game of Thrones so great when it was following the books.

[@edwinbrown7179]

The whole pie thing is stolen from the character Wyman Manderly from the books. It works for him because he's this gluttonous lord who most people make fun of or underestimate. He is a loyal Northman who never really joined the Boltons for real and has been working against them. In the books, it is only implied that he baked some "missing" Freys into a pie. We get one of Martin's famous food scenes and it keeps highlighting how much pie Wyman is having, he is eating the Frey's own kin while feasting with them and secretly planning to seat a Stark back in Winterfell and take out the Bolton/Frey alliance, dark shit haha. So, I think they wanted to pay homage to that from the books but instead of an implied side plot with horrible implications, we get a "badass" Arya scene she can shrug off mortal wounds like an Elder Scrolls main character and kills basically all of the Freys single-handed no Lady Stoneheart or Brotherhood help hell didn't even need Chekhov's super wolfpack. The writing team basically stopped adapting the story and instead started writing the characters as the actors/actresses who played them instead of on-page characters. So you get Maisie Williams cosplaying as Arya Stark for example not really an acting issue just a writing/direction issue.

[@sam_c95]

Good comment but "writing team" haha, that's a very generous term for D&D who refused to have a writing team to help them out.

[@SignalWarden]

Not only was it taking from the Manderly scene, but that part is also so subtle that if you aren't looking for it, you can easily miss it on the first read. It's noted that the two Fray's are missing, and then there is a brief focus on the pie and them eating the pie. That's it. That's the whole scene. You have to put together that the reason Manderly was pissed was that there were several members of the Manderly line at the Red Wedding who were slain and this is his quiet personal revenge. Compare that subtlety to Arya baking the pie with slasher movie human bits in it, killing Fray and then flipping everyone the bird while she backs out of the room in her darkest sunglasses.

[@edwinbrown7179]

@@SignalWarden oh it was indeed subtle but Wyman started giving it away when he started talking about the Rat Cook tale. I think he doesn't really care if it gets found out now because he's already set his plan in motion. He is truly like most old men in the north prepared to die because winter has come.

[@edwinbrown7179]

@@SignalWarden But yeah man I don't know why they had to make Arya so "cool" like her character just became so obnoxious after awhile. I was done once she survived a mortal wound and jumped into the Bravoosi canals. I remember thinking that it was Arya disguised as the waif who stabbed the waif who had disguised herself as Arya (confusing I know lol) but no there was no fakeout Arya legit had mortal stab wounds jumped into a filthy canal and got BETTER.... lol shame

[@defeatSpace]

Sansa has always been smart to a degree, and I think the transition to "hyperintelligent Sansa" is so abrupt because she suddenly realizes to trust her own intuition.

[@pxxv5370]

True. She's smart and it's pissing me off how much some bitter people are trying to say otherwise. I agree with you, that her rushed transition is what caused criticism to her character arc. Had it been done properly, then these people wouldn't have anything to try justifying their hate boners for her

[@JennuYasha]

I guess that really speaks to the major issue with GoT: rushing. The first 3/4 seasons are SO SLOW, and so character changes feel gradual, and things feel earned. The last few seasons are written at a ridiculous pace to the point that character changes don't feel believable at all. If they'd had a few more seasons to flesh out some of these ideas (Dani becoming the Mad Queen, Sansa becoming more like her mother, Arya becoming a super soldier, etc), I think they could have had the same character beats, but without the complaints. It's the same with the suspension of disbelief: we didn't have to do that in the first few seasons, so having to do that in the last few seasons feels jarring and uncharacteristic, just like intense character pivots feel jarring because they'd never been written that way before. And don't even get me started on the teleporting lol.

[@PeacefulDuck]

Uhh, I hated the smug Stark girls(and Bran too) in the last seasons so much, they literally just act cool while making dumbest decisions possible. And as for Arya, it's so annoying that she could just leave Braavos without any consequences.

[@vysharra]

Only a man could write a woman being smug about her own r@pe. “Lol, it made me stronger” is peak r/menwritingwomen

[@FranciscoOyola94]

@@vysharra the worst part about it is SPOLIERS for A Fest for Crows and A Dance with Dragons That is completely unnecessary because Sansa never marries Ramsey in the books, he married a fake Arya. Sansa is safe in the Vale learning from Petyr how to play the game

[@tjenadonn6158]

@@vysharra You know that bit of hackneyed writing advice that goes something like "If you have no idea what to do next, have someone run into the room waving a gun and wrote yourself out of that situation instead?" DnD seem to take that line as gospel, but instead of having someone wave a gun around they have someone get raped. That's how blasé they are about it.

[@andreashort310]

@@vysharra Doubt it. Painful events do make us stronger. My girlfriend died when I was 17, I used to be hungry pretty much all the time as a kid cause we didn't have money for food, I was abused, suicidal, ill... all that has made me stronger. It's not so difficult for me to imagine that a person is raped and, after some introspection, decides to come out of that situation mentally stronger than before. That's just how life works. With every painful experience, you're presented with a choice: become stronger or become weaker.

[@vysharra]

@@andreashort310 so even speculating, it’s NOT a guarantee. Weird. It’s almost like I wrote how Sansa shouldn’t be smug about something you’ve never experienced.

[@SaberRexZealot]

I’m always gonna lament the first four seasons of Game of Thrones. Despite a few caveats it was truly phenomenal television.

[@OcarinaSapphr-]

I wish that Jaqen had said that the reason she was released was *because* _the Waif_ had failed *her* final test; back when the Waif said "you promised me", instead of some neutral 3rd party speaking style that they favour, it struck me that though both the Waif & Jaqen were accusing Arya of not leaving behind her past & living the non-personal code of the Faceless Men- the Waif's enmity towards Arya would prove the same. And _without_ that headcanon, I agree with others that say Arya would have Faceless Men on her arse, for all her crimes against them- & *that's* the reason why she ultimately leaves, rather than wanting to become 'Dora the Explorer'....

[@hollandscottthomas]

Yeah, if Arya had actually had the Faceless Men after her, she never would have made it a hundred feet from the first village, let alone back to her home castle for weeks and then onto a ship.

[@JewTube001]

The entire final season sent me into a decent of disbelief

[@teeemtee5739]

I've never seen a political drama turn into a absurd comedy so quickly.

[@hollandscottthomas]

The first two episodes I was like "okaaaaaaaay... i can kinda see this going well... i guess?" And then the rest of it fell off a cliff and hit its head repeatedly on the way down.

[@trilbynhiss]

Thank you. Having Arya fly through the air out of nowhere and kill the big bad of the entire series, a character so powerful that he was nearly god-like, and whose army should have made it far past Winterfell in their march to conquer the continent, was incredibly unsatisfying to me. Even worse were all the people celebrating what a badass she is when, as you said, her glory was unearned. What a shitshow that damn series became. #StillMad

[@rainy7106]

Arya’s story in the books is SO MUCH BETTER post-hound. Her story with the Faceless Men in the House of Black White does so much to not only show us the training, and skills she’s slowly acquiring that make her more of a threat but, also, far importantly, it shows us her true character. Her inability to sever her connection with herself and her past is something George really focuses on within her narrative, rather than just allowing her to be both a Faceless Man (aka “no one”) while also being Arya Stark. It not only ruined Arya, it ruined the world around her. From then her show counterpart became a horrible device the show runners used to tie up loose ends when they didn’t know how to. She tied up Baelish and the Night’s King, both with a simple stab or slash from a dagger. The definition of a mishandling of a great character!

[@VivaCubaRoja]

Most definitely. That line where Arya said (to Sansa) “You passed the sentence, I just swung the sword”. That shit made me cringe. D&D clearly either didn’t understand that Stark tradition or hated them and didn’t care.

[@DatDarkOne]

Arya is my fave character. She was pretty much destined to be an Assassin. The problem is that the show writers didn't accurately show that progression. I also feel that she shouldn't have been the one to end the Night King. At least not in the way they showed. That said, there were many other fails by the writers during those last seasons.

[@ThomasWilliamson]

I remember thinking "what the heck???" when Arya got stabbed multiple times, fell in a canal, got chased around a city and then seemingly shrugs it off. At the time a lot of viewers weren't aware of how GOT was changing for the worse and since everyone just loved Arya they went along with it. Eventually everyone saw through the bullshit.

[@dagorren]

Rarely do I arrive this early to new videos. Cool!

[@daredevil6145]

Nice

[@stephonmanny7555]

Yeah me too

[@dennisrydgren]

Know the feeling, but your choice of words were far from Spartan. Or Ukrainian as we say since two weeks past.

[@YourLastGreatkNight]

An absolute masterpiece of a video. I have watched so many channels crap on the show without giving really thought out explanations, or just saying the show runners suck. This was amazing and concise, keep up the great work.

[@thargimpaler]

I thought this horse was long dead, but you really did find a new and interesting way to beat it! 😂 Seriously, this was a good lesson, thanks!

[@tjenadonn6158]

The horse, much like main characters in the final seasons, won't be able to die until DnD decide that they need it to die, in which case it will die in the most nonsensical and unsatisfying way possible.

[@glorygloryholeallelujah]

As a woman that stands at an intimidating 4'8" tall, it always annoys me when shows/movies want me to believe that a tiny woman can easily beat men (in hand to hand combat) that are about twice her size…yeah, no. I know EXACTLY what would happen if I picked a fistfight with a bunch of huge guys-no matter how much "training" I had…there's a 100% chance that it wouldn't be a fun outcome for me. So, unless the female character is magic and/or a superhero-watching fight scenes like that will always immediately take me out of the story that I'm watching, because of how ridiculous it is. And that’s exactly how GoT made me feel every time they had an Arya scene in the later seasons...because it was all just completely lazy and idiotic writing for her character.🙄🤦‍♀️

[@WoodSageSeaSalt]

If Arya used her skills to assassinate ppl (using poison, surprise dagger stab in dark etc), that would have been believeable. Yet, Arya gets to go against Brienne pretty well despite how she only had basic sword training for about a year at best in Season 1 and some staff fighting later on when she became blind for few months. In order to make Arya look good, Brienne suddenly swings her sword slowly as if it's made out of very heavy material while Arya spins around showing her back to her opponent.

[@carlrood4457]

I always like to point out Sarah Connor's escape from her hospital room in T2. She fakes being catatonic to lure in the orderly. She goes for vulnerable areas and gets him off his feet. Then she arms herself with his baton to knock him out. Also, he's an orderly, not a trained fighter in any way. It's a believable way for a small woman to take down a large man. She didn't go toe to toe. She used strategy and pressed an advantage when she gained one. That's because in such a fight, all he'd need is one decent hit.

[@RevanSurik]

Well, if that's how you feel about physically small women being depicted as badass warriors, then I can't judge; but as a man (who's practised some martial arts), I can tell you it's not realistic either, when even a physically strong man is depicted fighting throngs of other physically strong men and single-handedly beats all with barely a scratch on him. Like, Jon Snow isn't that big either, yet he fights dozens of enemies one after the other (while wielding a heavy longsword on top of that) and never runs out of energy. Between the weight of the armour, the sword, and the enemy blows parried constantly, a guy of Jon's build would hardly be able to go through a battle like the Battle of the Bastards to the end - let alone still have enough energy to run all the way to Winterfell on foot. My point is, it's all fiction, and in fiction some liberties are taken for the spectacle. If a man can single-handedly take on hordes of other physically fit and armed men, why can't a small woman be a good duelist? (let's not forget that the two times Arya fought a pitched battle, she got to a point when all she could do was run and evade the enemy - which seems realistic for someone who's trained at assassination and 1vs1 fights).

[@yakhooves]

@@WoodSageSeaSalt Exactly! That actually really bothered me. Arya’s “too heavy for me” comment referring to Jon’s hand and a half sword. They’re actually pretty light weight. It’s not a crowbar, and Brienne would have zero issue making pretty nimble strikes with hers. And the little small sword being used as a slashing attack weapon demonstrates that they don’t know how it works. It’s pretty much a devoted thrusting weapon, and could potentially break, if simply struck hard. A parry could be overpowered by regular old physics… it was just too “lazy Hollywood sword play” and while I know that the sword choreography in GoT wasn’t always top notch (Jamie, I like you but you look silly), it was just one more scene that showcased the dramatic drop in quality of the show to me. I agree with you. If she had actually been an assassin, using covert skills and tradecraft, it would be amazing! Few people would probably suspect a girl her size. As the original commenter points out, like herself, she’s a diminutive size, and so to challenge a man (or Brienne!) who is over six feet tall and perhaps a couple hundred pounds of muscle, would almost certainly end up with her being steamrolled in a spectacular fashion….

[@yakhooves]

But if recent movies have taught me anything (a tall man in good shape), it’s that you would throw a hesitant strike at me, and then it would be my job to really sell how hard you hit, and then accommodate you by playing dead for a while. In all seriousness though, I actually kinda worry about the message sent by this weirdly specific but also pretty pervasive Hollywood trope. Girls have taken it to heart (much in the way that men confuse movies and video games for gun training), and have actually gotten hurt in uneven fights with boys… Just because the new Mulan or Arya are badasses, picking a fight with someone who is way bigger than you is usually a recipe for a painful physics lesson.

[@misty306]

I read the books, and you should know the “Frey Pies” do happen in the books, but by a minor character. The scene with Arya was for the book readers. That being said, you made a good point with your commentary about that scene. Excellent video.

[@orionh5535]

Doesn't the Frey Pies make more sense in the book? Since they are served at a wedding, which has the symbolism of the manderlys getting back at the Frey's for breaking guest right, and it makes more sense for a small army to have the time and resources to bake some Frey Pies, than arya. The Frey pies in the TV show is a fun nod, but it doesn't make sense.

[@patrickcarr9906]

@@orionh5535 It makes way more sense, and the scene is a million times better. With Manderly eating all the pies too so nobody is suspicious. And how absolutely pissed he is at the Frey's and other turncloaks for his sons death. He's an amazing character.

[@misty306]

@@orionh5535 Exactly. But, remember what I said about the scene being for "book readers." Granted, it was a fun nod, but the scene could have done without it. Then again, how else was Arya Stark going show her face to Walder Frey?

[@TrueYellowDart]

“Minor character” - pfft! Bite your tongue! Nobody refers to “MyMan” Manderly as “minor”! 😎

[@misty306]

@@TrueYellowDart Well, NOT everyone read the books, so I was avoiding SPOILERS!!!

[@awesimo4684]

I've always had a saying for go Sci-Fi and Fantasy: "Believable characters in an unbelievable world" GoT was one of the very best at adhering to this in the beginning.

[@orionh5535]

I've noticed that suspension of disablief is best established early, so the consumer knows what to expect Probably why some people dislike soft magic system on instinct, becuase it can often be used as a get-out-of-jail-free card. I think that's the reason alot of people disliked the ending of The Prestige.

[@juniorm641]

Please explain what you mean about the ending of The Prestige. I love that movie.

[@orionh5535]

@@juniorm641 The tesla machine. Not that its soft magic, but that it wasnt established that something like that was possible untill the end, when the device was revealed. I enjoyed the movie, but I know other people who disliked the ending becuase of the tesla device.

[@ngotemna8875]

@@orionh5535 Yeah one of the plottwists in "The Prestige" being "Btw magic is real lololol" was soooooooo bad, because the entire time the movie is very adamant about showing that magic doesn't exist and that everything is a trick. That's the whole point of the other, extremely good, plottwist.

[@wackyswacky1374]

You want to know what _really_ killed off Game of Thrones? It's simple: ASOIAF is, at it's core, a *mystery.* There are big mysteries and there are small mysteries, but the number is quite large. Clues are sprinkled throughout the novels. Little things that could be easily missed if you aren't paying attention. This minutia, that doesn't seem to be important at first glance, is actually setting up the incredibly important meta-narrative that the entire series is leading up to. Game of Thrones fails because it completely ignored these vital bits of minutia. And because of this, it failed to properly set up the mysteries that form the core appeal of the novels. The puzzles can't be solved correctly because the keys were removed. Game of Thrones forgot it's mysteries, and became a generic action fantasy series. Essentially, the showrunners cut out the very soul of the series and left nothing to take it's place, transforming it into a hollow husk of it's former self.

[@wesley-skyehayes26]

As an example. Storm of Swords: When anyone talks about Rob Stark they ALL say "... bloody Rob Stark!" And what happens to Rob Stark.

[@IchibanOjousama]

Louder for the writers in the back

[@adipsous]

Absolutely. Even a majority of book readers, I think, aren't aware of the story being a mystery story, chocked full of clues for the reader to notice and try to figure out what is really going on. There are so many puzzles to be undone to help enjoy the deeper layers of the narrative. I don't know anything else in literary history that is like this. Add that the writing is spectacular, the characters sublime, the plot twists electrifying or soul-crushing, the action bad ass, the world building epic and total. By the way, why go through this whole video and never mention the creator of what the narrator praises as such fantastic storytelling. You keep saying 'the show' was 'this great' and 'that great'. You jerk, George RR Martin was 'this great' and 'that great'.

[@cwells45]

10:15 - Wow, this fits perfectly! Great video.

[@TY-km8hj]

This show literally went from a masterpiece to a joke. We truly are living in the darkest timeline

[@D1rtytaco]

Roooooxaaanne 🗣

[@monniedemayor422]

She was my favorite character in the serie. I always felt like with each season the story got worse and worse. You made it clear why I liked the earlier seasons so much.

[@daysofapril2667]

I remember posting on FB about how Arya should have sepsis from that sewer water … But nope. Shark jump moment for sure. Also…every time I hear that “you want a good girl…” line, I die a little inside.

[@deSloleye]

I get that it's stupid that Arya finished her journey with the faceless men when she killed the waif, but why do we think that? She spent her whole time trying to pretend to be anyone else and failing, but the first thing she says when she goes back to the temple is that she's Arya Stark. Could she pull that off? Maybe. Wanna know who *definitely* pull that off? The waif. If the transcendent state of a faceless man is to be nobody and anybody, how would we ever know that Arya ever made it out of there? If the Waif had just finished her training, would Arya's sister be able to tell the difference? The many-faced god probably has a dim view of the fire and ice argument flaring up and has a wish to intervene. It really did seem like pretty terrible plot armour, but if they stuck with the whole mythos of the story, it didn't have to be. For Arya's journey, I think the point was that from the point of that dark scene, we could never know who made it out of that confrontation, or who travels to Westeros. In a way, it's probably the last decent bit of writing in the show.

[@sergeant_chris6209]

There is no way the writers thought of this.

[@deSloleye]

@@sergeant_chris6209 I'm going to have to see which way she's sailing at the end. It's meant to be west but if it's east its back to the temple. Nonetheless I think that part is still in the compound writing where grrm had some influence. It'd still possible even if the show runners had no idea what was going on

[@sergeant_chris6209]

@@deSloleye She's definitely sailing West in the end. She says something like "what's west of westeros?"

[@deSloleye]

@@sergeant_chris6209 I remember, I just think the unreliable narrator is a reasonable chance

[@sergeant_chris6209]

@@deSloleye I'm sorry man, but I think you are really grasping at straws here in order to justify a disappointing ending to a series you were very committed to. And that isn't meant to insult you, I was pretty committed as well

[@rhelerinnon5553]

The pie scene is a reference to something that's mentioned in the books. That said, I completely agree.

[@patrickcarr9906]

The entire show is just a weak shitty reference to a book series.

[@timborowiec]

You really hit the nail on the head dude. Although you focus on Arya I think this is applicable to the decline in quality for the whole show after s4. Best GoT autopsy I’ve seen.

[@Glory16Alvarez]

glad someone has done a dissection of the character of Arya Stark. Whenever I mentioned that I did not like that character and that her arc was nonsensical, people got mad at me because she was made to be everyone's favorite character.

[@factoryofdivisiveopinions]

Season 7 and especially 8 made Fast and Furious look like a realistic documentary about cars. Disbelief was beyond suspended, it was murdered brutally then D&D raped it's corpse.

[@JM-mh1pp]

most of my d&d campaigns are more grounded...and my GM's preparation for sessions usually go like "oh f it, a big dragon in an abandoned castle"

[@farrex0]

A show made famous for unexpectedly killing off their beloved characters, surprised us by killing the show itself.

[@starmorpheus]

"You raped her, you killed her, and you murdered her children" - Us to D&D

[@tjenadonn6158]

@@farrex0 They killed the show, the fanbase, the hype for future projects, and apparently any reason for Georgie to finish the books.

[@cc2345]

Now this is the type of content I like to see. A deep dive into Arya's character and how it was supposed to go... Arya is still my favorite though. Simply because she in my eyes is still the child that was thrusted into a harsh reality that made her a badass. I will admit when her story is told in the books and she does something truly deplorable I will still be rooting for her.

[@SuperPal-tr3go]

Arya learns at the last minute that revenge is bad from the Hound... and in the very next episode she threatens to kill Yara if she talks more about executing Jon. Like... you'd think she would try least not to immediately go to murdering people to solve political issues after the Hounds big speech, right?.

[@BowtieBoy05]

Perfect show start to finish! Best of the best!

[@SaltpeterTaffy]

"That woman deserves her revenge, and we deserve to die. Then again, so does she." -Budd, Kill Bill: Vol. 2

[@alsmith9853]

You have reminded me just how brutally this character was treated, what a terrible journey she went through. She had to live by her own wits, no wonder she turned into a stone cold killer

[@jp12x]

I like the ideas of "inciting incident" and "magic bullet". You only get 1 of each. So, you can use continence and unlikely events in the inciting incident: it's the thing that kicks off the story. The "magic bullet" refers to a thing that is significantly different from our world. But, the more magic bullets you have, the harder to set aside disbelief. 'Looper' had an issue with this: we were presented with Time Travel to later have Psychic abilities added to the story. At that point, the audience must ask: What else don't I know about? Are there Wizards? Aliens? the audience may just check out completely from the story.

[@mechanomics2649]

Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead has a whole mag of magic bullets.

[@Creedofdamage]

Arya was my favorite character right from the start. Her arc, her personality and her badass moments. That being said, I have to admit, she shouldn’t have been the one who killed the Night King. And, dare I say it, I thought she should’ve died at the ending, like when Dany burned down the city

[@calicodragonfly]

Arya delivered the most ridiculous line in the series: "Sansa is the smartest person I know."

[@IchibanOjousama]

Why

[@calicodragonfly]

​@@IchibanOjousama It was ridiculous because Sansa was uncommonly stupid. The writers hurried to make her a worthy leader, hence they had Arya make that declaration without a shred of context as to why she thought Sansa was smart. Being slapped around by the man she WILLINGLY married, knowing his treacherous family had murdered her own, did not automatically make her an expert in warfare... though she loved to hold up her essentially self-inflicted pain as a badge of honor. Yet, there were a flurry of scenes showing Sansa giving advice to armorers, preparing for a siege, and trying to undermine Jon during a meeting of the bannermen. It all came out of nowhere. Still, she continued to display the weak, entitled, cunning dishonesty that always drove her.

[@adipsous]

Sansa's story arch - unbelievable/insufferable, vomit. Arya's story arch - annoying/ridiculous, vomit. Jaime's story arch - pathetic/irrelevant, vomit. Danaerys's story arch - stupid/exasperating, vomit. Tyrion's story arch - boring/useless, vomit. Jon's story arch - pointless/pitiful, vomit. Thanks, D&D, for letting this happen. I suppose George is responsible, too, for letting this all move forward, knowing what would probably happen.

[@adipsous]

Oh, I forgot,: Bran's story arch - unconscious/sleeping/comatose, vomit. and Night's King story arch - WHO FUCKING CARES, VOMIT.

[@elaineleonard9526]

Or ‘I know a killer when I see one’.

[@Panteni87]

The potential of an incredible character that was never realized. It reminds me of Finn... in the first new sequal movie he was my favorite character, and really looking forward to follow his journey. And much like Arya in GoT, the background was there, but the writers "kinda forgot" about his backstory unless they needed him as a macguffin (yes, i'm objectifying him, much like the writers of star wars did)

[@DKM977]

One more small detail on the Frey pies thing; how did she even know how to make a proper pie? For her entire life all her meals were either prepared for her by other people or just meat cooked over an open flame while on the road.

[@hollandscottthomas]

She hung out with Hot Pie and he made good pies, and because she's a woman she just naturally knows how to cook. This was all very well established at the start of the show when SHE WAS EXPLICITLY THE OPPOSITE OF ALL THESE TROPES GODDAMMIT D&D

[@emuman9]

your videos are among the most lucid analysis of tv scripts I've ever seen great job, really great job

[@snappycenter7863]

The warning signs of GoT's decline started in Season 5 - the pebbles that herald the avalanche; the absence of Lady Stoneheart, the derailment of the Sparrows religious movement for some angstheist rant and how they literally butchered the entire Dorne subplot like Gregor did Oberyn's head. Arya's story arc in the show is like a major boulder from said avalanche crushing an orphanage.

[@Bluey306]

ugh, in hindsight it's crazy how it's as early as that. S5 still had some book material to work with, so the decline wasn't nearly as noticeable - but you're right, it was there.

[@onlyechos6810]

I just want to leave a small but heartfelt Thank You note. I watched some of your videos so often, that I could cite them from the top of my head. It helped me so much with my writing, since I'm a beginner and have not the time nor the money to take any classes.

[@ThatFoxJD]

They could've given Arya a good character arc by keeping Ser Meryn alive a little longer. Still have her seek him out in his home or something best him in a fight, but before she finishes him off a child (about her age when she lost Ned) watches on frightened, cowering in a corner, and Arya noticing them reflects on what she went through decides not to finish the deed and flees.

[@smeegy1]

Arya's story ended at the end of S4. I was so excited that we finally got payoff for the coin mystery two years prior but in reality that was the beginning of the rapid decline in my love for Arya.

[@nathancarter8239]

A man releases good essays. This man is pleased to watch them.

[@wisdommanari6701]

it is known

[@edenfollower2704]

Listening the the books again on audible with the visuals of the show are the best way to experience game of thrones

[@ashagord2751]

Thank you! I'd also like to maintain my stance that the way her journey was done, Arya could be taken out of the series and nothing would change. Aside from baking those other dudes into pies; who I honestly forgot about, and her shoehorned into killing the Night King; who in my opinion should have been Theon. Just me though

[@Calebgoblin]

I've been very much looking forward to your take on this topic because I just know it will be more tempered and thoughtful than the many rants out there.

[@fredcamacho5333]

Nearly three years after the end and I'm still mad about seasons 6-8.

[@logan5818]

Yeah, Arya & Jon Snow's plot armor towards the end + the too dark to see anything fights got me, and I thought "oh so this is why people don't like the final seasons, it's disappointing but still a fun show". Nothing could've prepared me for the gong show that was the final two episodes

[@abetterhandle]

I just could never suspend my disbelief at seeing a 5 foot nothing, 80 pound girl being able to fight and take down people literally twice her size. Dragons and ice zombies don't exist so there's no real life frame of reference for how they should act, but having her kill the night king is like having mary and pippin kill sauron

[@nunya5424]

Honestly they both make sense at face value. Night king just takes one lil poke with the right dagger Mary and pippin could do that. The problem is when they haven't been part of this arc at all then come riding in om treebeard to finish it lmao

[@jackwhite8204]

... Or like having Eowyn and Merry kill the Witch King of Angmar? Not a fan of how GoT did it but you can't make a comparison to LotR when a duo including one of the exact same characters you're talking about successfully did a very comparable thing.

[@chronographer]

I really liked the symmetry between her mentors: Ned, who put his house at risk for the sake of honour -> tywin, who acts ruthlessly to build his house. Jon, the brother who builds her up despite being an outcast -> gregor, an older brother figure who famously has family issues and is rejected. Syrio, the skilled fighter, protector of the city, who 'dies' to protect others -> jaqen, a skilled fighter, who kills people in the service of others. People with opposing views on honour, family, and duty respectively.

[@huwguyver4208]

I feel like among the many and well-documented missed opportunities in the latter seasons of GoT, one that never gets brought up is what would have been a very simple fix for when Arya killed the Night King. Namely, instead of just magically appearing behind him with no explanation, why didn't she use her training to disguise herself as a White Walker and get up close to him that way. Imagine if at the last minute a WW stabs the Night King and he crumbles to the ground- the WW peels it's own face off and it's Arya. I reckon that would have been a cool twist which meant she got to actually use all that faceless training right when it was needed most.

[@TheMisterGuy]

The appearance of plot armor did indeed ruin this show. Like you said, the fact that even small mistakes could kill major characters was what made this show stand out. Drogo let himself get cut to show how tough he was. Ned told his powerful enemy his exact plan and then gave her time to react. Even Tywin died over a fairly small error in the grand scheme of things. I wish they had never stopped doing that.

[@Scrowlock12]

A win is a win but Brienne only beat the Hound because he was weakened from his wound's infection. She beat Jamie too but his hands were tied and he was a starved prisoner.

[@FelicityGemini]

you need to do more of these. every character. so people can truly understand how character building and world building can all crash and burn when consistency&logic is tossed out the window all for a rushed end season.

[@TMWriting]

the whole pie thing is a reference to a minor subplot in the books where some Freys are baked into pies. It doesn’t involve Arya at all, but it’s at least somewhat grounded in the source material and wasn’t something stupid invented purely to make her look cool in the scene.

[@YourBlackLocal]

I mean.. it was something stupid to make her look cool in the scene. She killed an entire house and there are no consequences in world for it.

[@GreatlyLovable]

Killing the Frays with a meat pie could make sense. If she had an extended sequence of hunting down the fray children, getting close and killing them, taking the bodies to her ol' pal Hot Pie to bake into a pie. It could tie into nice revenge anti-hero plot

[@Q269]

14:20 This is some Eric Cartman shit

[@GrayEyesWorld]

As always, you have a great way of putting into words the feelings that we all felt while watching the source material.

[@perlabastiani8484]

Arya was one of my favorite characters at the beginning of the show and she ended up as one of the characters i hated the most. And its so anoying when people (dumb fans of the show) and the writers defend her actions but say Dany was always mad for watching while her brother dies (you know that interview with D&D?) Oh but Arya is not MAD for baking a man sons into a pie and feeding it to him and then SMILING.

[@nicomoreno5028]

The only thing that truly changed about her in Braavos was her ability to absorb lessons. It occurred to me when she chose to fight the waif in the dark. That doesn't explain her survival (definitely plot armor) or her new fighting abilities. She'd been practicing since she met Serio in season 1, but she definitely leveled up in the final season. Maybe she absorbed abilities from the waif like Megaman when he defeats an enemy.

[@thedragondemands5186]

Hi there. Have you heard that we're building an anti-Benioff & Weiss fan army?

[@wisdommanari6701]

Rhanerya has a MF ARMY

[@kedrprao]

This is easily one of the best GoT analysis essay videos I ever seen. Kudos to the creator

[@doctordragon9798]

Joke's on you, as interesting as I find Arya I've never been on her side because she falls (probably on purpose on GRRMs part) into the common pitfalls of characters meant to be a "foil" to "doe-eyed" women who can only be "psychological manipulators". That she's kind of an nlog brat. Which is fine, it's a character flaw I can work with. But It still is true that whether its an homage, a pastiche, a subversion, or just an iteration of "Strong Female Character who isn't actually that strong as a character", is still is a play on that trope and so I've always liked Sansa more than Arya. They're both flawed, but Sansa's arc takes her through her flaws towards the other side whereas Arya's brings her deeper and deeper into them. Edit: I'm mostly talking about the books here, tbh. I stopped watching after the episode where show Catelyn talks about praying for Jon Snow to get better from his fever. Book Catelyn is a petty awful bitch and an idiot. She'd only fervently pray for Jon to die. I knew then that they were going to crash and burn as soon as the books stopped giving them content. Catelyn's stupid ass decisions and hatred of anyone even slightly out of the norm or against propriety is so core to her character that without it most of the events of the book just straight up don't take place. You can't warp her in such a fundamental way and still say you understand the story.

[@Bluey306]

i liked the idea of Catelyn having a moment in her past where she kinda cared about Jon (Michelle Fairley did that monologue quite convincingly, and the monologue itself was nice - i like the _idea_ that she blames herself for everything that has happened bc she prayed to the gods once but didn't follow through in her promises, bc when you're going through a shit time you'll think about every dumb thing you've done in your past and wish you hadn't done it), but you're also right. the characters are very Shakespearan that way - their very real flaws becoming deadly within context and making bad decisions with huge ramifications, etc - and not to mention the scene didn't matter much in the grand scheme of things? it didn't really change anything. her hatred of Jon Snow is one of, if not _the_ greatest rifts between not just her husband but also Robb, who loved Jon as a brother and was fully prepared to legitimize him. (all the more reason for Robb to stop taking her advice on other matters, though of course it wasn't the only reason.)

[@SamBrickell]

I was SOOOOOOO hoping that the Waif was wearing Arya's face and it would be a big reveal that she was actually on a mission for the Faceless Men.

[@calexander7495]

Arya should have killed Cersie and John should have killed the Night King. Way to ignore both characters' entire story arcs.

[@John-xr9ry]

I feel like Jaime killing Cersei would have been better. Imagine if it turned out the valanqar in the prophecy was not Tyrion but Jaime because Jaime is still younger by a couple of minutes. It’d be a perfect way to end Jaime’s character arc.

[@calexander7495]

@@John-xr9ry Yea that's what I assumed the prophecy really meant but it's been a while so I forgot about it

[@Laura-fr2wx]

Always so cathartic to watch your Game of Thrones videos. Brilliant as always

[@moonyollie6977]

Look, I know this is a nitpick and I really don't want to come off as disparaging because I really do appreciate your work and essays, but 00:30 "consumer"? No. We're watchers, readers, we do not all mindlessly "consume" "content" despite the fact that most of these massive companies reaaaaally want us to.

[@natethebass-man2869]

You maybe. I such up books and movies like Kirby.

[@JewTube001]

ok consumer

[@AnndenMark]

Tomatoe, tomato

[@KonsaiAsTai]

I suppose people nowadays don't respect themselves enough to consider themselves "customers" rather than "consumers". Maybe they'd appreciate being called "cattle" even more, I dunno.

[@jackreacher7495]

For all the right things you said, I can't agree about the how she left the Faceless Men. People want a concrete explanation so much they forget about the show's little details mattering like you said. Like, to put it simply, this is how I saw the end: - The Many-Faced God who directs the Faceless Men is described as being every god, another face of Rhollor, the Drowned God... and the Old Gods. I.E., Bran Stark - or the Three-Eyed Raven, it matters little as they're functionally the same individual - The Many-Faced God directed the Faceless Men to task Arya the way that she was, beating the lessons and struggles into her that led her to being as broken but retaining of her identity as she is. This included the Waif being sent to her, which Bran knew wouldn't kill her - Arya kills the Waif and decides for herself to leave instead of becoming utterly No One. The Faceless Men don't pursue Arya because they aren't robots with phasers set to "kill," they're robots with phasers set to whatever the Many-Faced God wants. Therefore, they don't pursue her, because they aren't willed to do so. I get it, though. It's not good it was badly written it was badly paced it became an action movie it betrayed our expectations for Arya's story and none of this was what made Game of Thrones a masterpiece originally and that's what makes the whole thing so unforgivably sour. To almost everyone. After a few years, I've just come to shrug and accept the good with the bad. ASOIAF is the masterpiece, Game of Thrones is a 7/10 show overall when taken on its own to me - one that was originally a 9/10 and became a 5/10 by the end. Side note: Arya falling into the shitty water and being fine is just as unbelievable to me as Theon enduring torture in a dingy dungeon for a full year, give or take. I will never accept this bout of suspension of disbelief without bringing up the other - and the turning of a blind eye to repeated conveniences like this (i.e. last minute saves and crossing paths) that were there from season 1 are what makes me want to be an outspoken voice like this. There's a lot of warranted criticism for Game of Thrones but a good chunk of it is, to me, undeniably overblown. Besides, all of those conveniences, to me, are a product of Bran's influence . Or R'hollor. If one is unbelievable because we didn't have a blatant scene spelling this out, then just refer to the Lord of Light and Plot Convenience - same principle, and I consider these things a byproduct of ASOIAF being a twist on the fantasy genre and all its tropes, including the guiding hand of a fateful god.

[@wesley-skyehayes26]

This just strengthens my belief that Arya dies after she cut the candle, the Waif went through the "Being Blind" training too. In fact the reason it strengthens my belief is because the Waif is training too, and after killing Arya as completed her training and for fun takes her face for a "joy-ride" through Westeros. Arya could never fight like that, nor was she trained to do so. The Waif however... Also Nymeria didnt recognize her.

[@domhuckle]

Do this with every character! (isn't is sad and amazing that we could do this with every character?)

[@dominiquejones6849]

Arya went straight up Westeros superhero

[@erwinpietersen2851]

Ugh.... Finally yt is giving me notifications for a new vid Savage. So glad I'm early for once

[@yisha8228]

This video was almost perfect. My only issue was with the when house of fray business. Her intent wasn't to just kill Walder. She wanted the entire clan dead. Thus the necessity of dressing as a servant and making the meal so that she could poison the wine that killed nearly everyone. Making him eat his children was simply a final bit of revenge before killing him. Otherwise an excellent job

[@TheArtofKAS]

14:29 is the moment SB broke from overanalyzing.😂 Just the structure of this video was just beautimus 👏. This is kind of why I never watched the show and stuck with the books. I always felt that the deviation was too great for the canon I was following in the books. Awesome Video as always SB!!