I think HBO's Game of Thrones was doomed from the start
Sept 13, 2022 0:49:44 GMT -5
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Post by Weirdraptor mini™ on Sept 13, 2022 0:49:44 GMT -5
I also watched the series in full after finishing each cooresponding book as part of an experiment to understand where aseries that started so insanely strong went wrong, and... I think the HBO adaptation had less of a solid foundation than it initially appeared, because I'm not sure the showrunners understood what George R.R. Martin was doing even when he was advising the series and in the same room as them.
For starts, I think they completely misunderstood what Tywin and Ned are supposed to represent in the books and boiled it down to "good is dumb, so loses/evil is smart, so wins", because they leaned harder into the bad guys coming out on top in the series than the books ever did.
It all starts with their misunderstanding of Tywin's question:
"Why is it more noble to kill ten thousand men in battle than a dozen at dinner?"
The fact that Tywin even had to ask this question is the reason he was obliterated. Yes, obliterated. Died on the shitter courtesy of the son he abused, had everything he ever built start to fall apart quickly after his death, the seven kingdoms are a war-torn wreck, the Lannisters are living on borrowed time from that moment onward, and his own children start to reject his legacy. So, yes, Tywin Lannister did not just die. He was obliterated, and he did it to himself.
Tywin is the embodiment of the most selfish kind of evil. For his entire life he's been looking out for number one while crushing number two. The greatness and legacy of his family is the only thing that matters to him, and he just doesn't care about anything else. He does not understand honor, friendship, loyalty, or love. This is why he freaks out so hard when Jaime refuses to betray his Kingsguard oath. For him, Jaime did not choose honorably. To him, Jaime chose to commit a personal betrayal for irrational, completely alien reasons. Tywin is a sociopath, lacking the humanity required to understand Jaime's motives, or to even raise his children properly. Or to engage in politics. Or to actually achieve his goals.
Addtionally, he doesn't win. Every immoral, abhorrent deed he has ever done catches up with him and his kin. Every single one, from the Red Wedding to the mistreatment of his children. Tywin dies on a shitter, with a whore in his bed, killed by the son who was actually a greater asset to him and the Seven Kingdoms than Jaime ever was. In the moment Tywin dies, it is the beginning of the end for the Lannisters (at least their power and influence), and nobody sheds a tear for him.
And Tywin has nobody to blame for this but himself.
Now let's compare Tywin to Ned Stark. You know, the idiot who's too honorable to play the game of thrones, or so the meme goes. The so called idiot, who tied a noose around his own neck. Unlike Tywin, Ned Stark lived his entire live doing the right thing, and he died doing the right thing. Yeah, sure, Tywin and Cersei may have outlived him, for a short while, but their legacy did not outlive his.
Let's look at the North. Unlike with Tywin, tears were shed for Ned. Avenging his death was a reason for a freaking war. Said war was ended with a Red Wedding, Tywin's supposed master stroke. Ooh, those Starks were finally crushed and destroyed for good.
Except not.
The North remembered. Oh, boy, did the North remember. They remember the Starks being their lords and protectors for centuries. The North remembers the treachery of the Lannisters, the Freys and the Boltons. It remembers the good and honorable Ned Stark. So, while Tywin's legacy died with him, the entire North began risking their lives to protect and restore Ned's. And when I mean the North, I mean the entire North.
Manderlies, Umbers, Dustins, Stouts, every northern house (except for Ryswells). They all could have just accepted the rule of the Boltons, but they didn't. Immediately, they started plotting the demise of the enemies who murdered Ned, Robb, and Catelyn and to the restore the Starks, all because they remember the just man Ned was. The North wants to pay him back for the good he did for them. They seek to destroy his killers and restore his family to power. They are risking to sacrifice everything for a dead man and his powerless children, with NOTHING, absolutely nothing to gain for themselves. This is loyalty you can't get with scheming.
Ned Stark is more powerful in death than Tywin ever was in life. And watching through each corresponding season after reading the book it was based on... I don't think the showrunners truly understood that. At all. This exercise did give me a greater appreciation of George R.R. Martin, though.
For starts, I think they completely misunderstood what Tywin and Ned are supposed to represent in the books and boiled it down to "good is dumb, so loses/evil is smart, so wins", because they leaned harder into the bad guys coming out on top in the series than the books ever did.
It all starts with their misunderstanding of Tywin's question:
"Why is it more noble to kill ten thousand men in battle than a dozen at dinner?"
The fact that Tywin even had to ask this question is the reason he was obliterated. Yes, obliterated. Died on the shitter courtesy of the son he abused, had everything he ever built start to fall apart quickly after his death, the seven kingdoms are a war-torn wreck, the Lannisters are living on borrowed time from that moment onward, and his own children start to reject his legacy. So, yes, Tywin Lannister did not just die. He was obliterated, and he did it to himself.
Tywin is the embodiment of the most selfish kind of evil. For his entire life he's been looking out for number one while crushing number two. The greatness and legacy of his family is the only thing that matters to him, and he just doesn't care about anything else. He does not understand honor, friendship, loyalty, or love. This is why he freaks out so hard when Jaime refuses to betray his Kingsguard oath. For him, Jaime did not choose honorably. To him, Jaime chose to commit a personal betrayal for irrational, completely alien reasons. Tywin is a sociopath, lacking the humanity required to understand Jaime's motives, or to even raise his children properly. Or to engage in politics. Or to actually achieve his goals.
Addtionally, he doesn't win. Every immoral, abhorrent deed he has ever done catches up with him and his kin. Every single one, from the Red Wedding to the mistreatment of his children. Tywin dies on a shitter, with a whore in his bed, killed by the son who was actually a greater asset to him and the Seven Kingdoms than Jaime ever was. In the moment Tywin dies, it is the beginning of the end for the Lannisters (at least their power and influence), and nobody sheds a tear for him.
And Tywin has nobody to blame for this but himself.
Now let's compare Tywin to Ned Stark. You know, the idiot who's too honorable to play the game of thrones, or so the meme goes. The so called idiot, who tied a noose around his own neck. Unlike Tywin, Ned Stark lived his entire live doing the right thing, and he died doing the right thing. Yeah, sure, Tywin and Cersei may have outlived him, for a short while, but their legacy did not outlive his.
Let's look at the North. Unlike with Tywin, tears were shed for Ned. Avenging his death was a reason for a freaking war. Said war was ended with a Red Wedding, Tywin's supposed master stroke. Ooh, those Starks were finally crushed and destroyed for good.
Except not.
The North remembered. Oh, boy, did the North remember. They remember the Starks being their lords and protectors for centuries. The North remembers the treachery of the Lannisters, the Freys and the Boltons. It remembers the good and honorable Ned Stark. So, while Tywin's legacy died with him, the entire North began risking their lives to protect and restore Ned's. And when I mean the North, I mean the entire North.
Manderlies, Umbers, Dustins, Stouts, every northern house (except for Ryswells). They all could have just accepted the rule of the Boltons, but they didn't. Immediately, they started plotting the demise of the enemies who murdered Ned, Robb, and Catelyn and to the restore the Starks, all because they remember the just man Ned was. The North wants to pay him back for the good he did for them. They seek to destroy his killers and restore his family to power. They are risking to sacrifice everything for a dead man and his powerless children, with NOTHING, absolutely nothing to gain for themselves. This is loyalty you can't get with scheming.
Ned Stark is more powerful in death than Tywin ever was in life. And watching through each corresponding season after reading the book it was based on... I don't think the showrunners truly understood that. At all. This exercise did give me a greater appreciation of George R.R. Martin, though.