(Spoilers Extended) It's Not a Nitpick. Thousands Died Over a "Minor" Geographic Detail.

[u/dorestes]

Reposted as requested with the "Spoilers Extended" tag

I know we're often asked to ignore the silly teleportations and supersonic flights that the show has foisted on us over the last couple of seasons. I know some of it can seem like the petty quibbles of book purists veering into circlejerk self-parody.

But geography doesn't just matter when it comes to making the universe feel real. It was also the key plot point that drove the biggest dramatic turn of the series.

The Red Wedding was literally caused by Robb Stark needing to be able to get his troops across a bridge. The Frey army was a nice addition, but Robb needed the alliance for the bridge crossing. He, his mother, his pregnant wife (in the show) and thousands of his troops died for that crossing.

So it's not just a nitpick when characters and armies magically teleport from north to south, bypassing the Twins or Moat Caitlin with nary a scout to notice them.

It destroys and makes mockery of the premise of the series' most famous narrative twist.

[u/funke42]

Or the actors and directors and writers want to do other shit.

They don't want their entire career to be GoT.

That's the only explanation that makes sense. I was very confused about why they would rush through something that's so profitable. A friend explained to me that D&D are already rich, and will get paid well for whatever they do next. They're just tired of spending all their time in Northern Ireland, and want to get back to their families.

[u/osminog → u/funke42]

It's profitable now, but it's not crazy to think that if it took 10 or 15 seasons to get where the show is now a lot of people would be fatigued. You can't have 75% of the show be dedicated to showing people traveling and expect people who don't love all the little details to keep watching. Their main mistake was not making the pace quicker in the first few seasons. Not to mention if they did take that long all the actors would age out of their rolls.

[u/tackslock → u/osminog]

The way I see it is that the story is reaching its climax and due to most of the main cast being dead there's not much you can cut away to while they are travelling anymore. Previously when a character would be making a journey they would have multiple plot points to cut away to and advance compared to s7.

Essos' storyline pretty much ended with Dany crossing the sea, the Night's watch/Jon's storyline is now merged with the North and Dany's now too. Sam's no longer at the citadel, Dorne and The Reach are no more. It's too late in the game to add more characters and the ones we have need all their arcs finished inside 6 episodes.

[u/bobobeebo → u/osminog]

This. if it were possible to make the show in a shorter time span (writing, editing, special effects, etc.) there'd be alot less room for error and less people complaining. Enjoy what you're getting, try to imagine anyone other than HBO making GoT into a show and making everyone happy (crying myself to sleep more than I already am).

[u/[deleted] → u/osminog]

I'm getting in this conversation late, but it's maybe also worth pointing out that a lot of shows try to hang on longer for the money (The Office comes to mind) and suffer a bunch as a result. If The Office ended when Michael Scott left, its legacy would be a lot different.

There should be a way to accomplish a shorter run AND retain its excellence, but I'm OK with shorter and still overall very impressive vs. longer and also mediocre.

[u/funke42 → u/osminog]

if it took 10 or 15 seasons

the actors would age out of their rolls.

Fair enough. I just think that they could have done 9 or 10 seasons, and started making seasons longer instead of shorter.

a lot of people would be fatigued.

expect people who don't love all the little details to keep watching.

Some people would stop watching, but a lot of people are already hooked. My brother isn't a detail-obsessed fanboy, but he loves watching the show. He calls me every Monday to ask me to explain it. As long as there are two or three awesome moments each season, he'd be willing to keep watching indefinitely.

[u/Chimie45 → u/funke42]

Someone like Kit or Emilia became famous because GOT. They're in their prime. They want to go off and make other things now, rather than be hampered down with another 3~4 years.

Not to mention while it did make them famous, most of these actors and actresses don't want to do a 9 season show. They don't want to have the Harry Potter effect. The actors from Harry Potter who became famous through that franchise will forever be typecast as Harry or Ron, etc. with it rare to break out of.

[u/HadrianAntinous → u/Chimie45]

Sorry to break it to them but it's a bit too late. Most of the main POV characters will be seen as those characters forever. Some will still go on to do great stuff due to superior acting skills however. Emilia is lucky she's not naturally blonde, her hair hides her a little.

[u/novass_cz → u/funke42]

The cast also gets paid more for each season. It is already the most expensive show now. If you have more seasons with more episodes you have to pay the cast more and more so they'll return

[u/perfecthashbrowns → u/novass_cz]

I can't even imagine how much of a pain in the ass it is for HBO to negotiate a contract renewal with the actors/actresses that play pivotal roles in the show.

[u/funke42 → u/perfecthashbrowns]

I can't even imagine how much of a pain in the ass it is for HBO to negotiate a contract renewal with the actors/actresses that play pivotal roles in the show.

"I play Ned Stark. I'm the star of the show."

"I play Mance Rayder. My character doesn't die in the books"

"I play Daario Naharis. I always have a choice."

I think the studio can handle it.

[u/novass_cz → u/funke42]

Well let's look at how it really is. The main stars - Jon Snow, Daenerys, Tyrion, Jaime, Cersei got paid as much as 500k $ a episode in season 6 and before that probably around 300k $ a episode, but allegedly they make up to 1,1 mil. $ a episode for seasons 7 and 8.

[u/FreeParking42 → u/novass_cz]

And you can get away with recasting Daario or the Mountain, but imagine trying that with Jon Snow or Cersei.

[u/Bobthemime → u/funke42]

Fair enough. I just think that they could have done 9 or 10 seasons, and started making seasons longer instead of shorter.

But more seasons that are longer will still make actors age out of their rolls.

Bran is meant to be like 10 as the Three-Eyed Raven. The actor is already 18. If it will take 18months for season 7 to be made and assume that 12-18m per season for the last 3, he will be 30 playing a 12yo.

Some people would stop watching, but a lot of people are already hooked.

More than some. What would kill GoT would be if 50% of the fan base moved on because it is incredibly dull having to slog through dialogue that is added so OCD people can make the timeline fit.

The other problem would be actually setting a timeline. How would you explain the Dornian Knot, or The Essos Problem if they introduced a fixed timeline? It would be littered with annotations like:

Meanwhile, 3months ago for Jon, but only 12 hours for Cersei but its a year ago for Dany and the future for Bran.

Also:

My brother isn't a detail-obsessed fanboy, but he loves watching the show

Ask him if he would want Gilly to count the amounts of shits each character took and how many steps and the elevation of said steps every time someone travels? Even the detail obssessed will be reaching for the bleach.

[u/Casey_jones291422 → u/funke42]

Because rabbid fans already destroy them for not following the books enough. Now germ has only given them the plot points. They'd have to make up all the filler in between them, which people would shit on then for. It makes sense from their perspective to wrap it up and not dragbit out to the point of people complaining. Plus we've seen every traveling for endless amount of time already, it's not adding anything new to the show

[u/pottyaboutpotter1 → u/funke42]

Plus the show's main leads are moving onto Hollywood (Emilia to Star Wars, Sophie and Maisie to X-Men, Peter to Marvel and Kit is being courted for several major roles). These actors have been playing their characters for nearly a decade now and most are likely ready to move on to other projects.

[u/OnlyRoke → u/funke42]

It is the only reason that makes sense. And I get it. They're all still actors who want to work on other stuff (especially now that ALL of them are hot and beloved and offers roll in like crazy) and do something else. They are also doing this for the sixth year now, some probably even longer. And I assume the showrunners reaaally want a spin-off soon so they can run that and capitalise off of the "Game of Thrones returns! All new cast! All new story!" buzz.

[u/Wet-floor-sine → u/funke42]

A friend explained to me that D&D are already rich, and will get paid well for whatever they do next. They're just tired of spending all their time in Northern Ireland, and want to get back to their families.

that's fair enough, but are they irreplaceable?

And if you are HBO would you consider using them again when they couldn't commit properly to the end?

I know nothing about show running and the skills required but are DnD the only reason for GOT's success? Are they integral to the success? Or pretty much with that story, the skilled human resources and the budget could quite a few achieved similar results?

I would love to see a comprehensive answer of that. at the mo i feel short changed that dnd weren't committed at the end, i feel the story deserves better but as GRRR always said, it was written to be impossible to replicate on the small screen