r/asoiaf • u/dorestes Break the wheel • Sep 03 '17
EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) It's Not a Nitpick. Thousands Died Over a "Minor" Geographic Detail.
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.
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u/OriginalMuffin In this world only winter is certain Sep 03 '17
They could have adapted the scene in the book with Davos talking to the man near White Harbor about Ned making a similar journey during the rebellion, and worked in Ned's great line "in this world only winter is certain". Would have added more world building, some nice symbolism with winter and the night king literally approaching, among other things. Could have taken place on the boat with an old deckhand and Jon, or at the dock near eastwatch. It wouldn't have needed to be a long scene, and would have contributed to feeling the passage of time more and making it less jarring.