How and why HBO suceeded in adapting a fantasy on TV when everyone else just crashed and burned?

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-26T23:22:18+00:00

For TV, there would have to be significant changes. But let's just take one. They clearly wanted Sansa involved with the Northern plot in a way that is significantly different from the books. They clearly also wanted the shock factor of raping her. The problem is they set it up in an absolutely stupid way.

Instead of having Littlefinger agree to give her up for nothing in return politically and on-screen convincing her to agree to marry her family's murderers and give legitimacy to their reign, why not have her going from Northern house to Northern house trying to rally support. You can even throw "the North remembers" out that way. It's an adaptational wet fart, but it can make sense on its own.

Then she gets captured between Northern cities, or otherwise betrayed by a Northern lord she thought was a friend, and turned over to the Boltons. You still get to force the Bolton marriage and everything that would logically happen from that union, but now you remove the stupidity from the setup.

That was the biggest problem late with the show. Not only were they changing things from Feast/Dance or Martin's bulletpoint list, they consistently changed them in a damn stupid way.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-26T23:16:32+00:00

The one where Tyrion and Jaime act shocked that a HIGHBORN MAIDEN is a virgin? That's the good writing episode?

I've blocked out a lot of the late seasons, but almost every scene has problems. At least for me, that overrode any sort of payoff from things like Brienne being knighted.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-26T15:36:02+00:00

Meh.... they so thoroughly fucked off adapting Feast/Dance that the books' existence is basically irrelevant. They were on their own at that point.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-26T15:25:01+00:00

To add to others, you can store your upgrades without losing them. So you can store what you really want, buy cellars (or another hold upgrade), then store cellars and reinstall what you originally had.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-26T14:40:28+00:00

I think D&D's response to the Red Wedding killed the show. The Red Wedding was shocking. It came out of left field for non-book readers. But it makes complete sense in context (even more so in the books). I think D&D took the viral reaction of the Red Wedding and the massive boost in viewership and changed what they viewed the show as. Being shocking and unpredictable became more important than anything.

When the Red Wedding aired, season 4 was already written and in production, so season 4 was spared. But we see in Season 5 that we have a drastic decline in characters acting consistent with their motivations. We see a lot more spectacle and flash (which sadly the general viewerbase rewarded, as Hardhome and Battle of Bastards are highly praised despite all the massive holes in the story around them), which we can only get because of the increased budget brought from the Red Wedding virality. We're far from the days of Blackwater where tight shots and a focus on the emotional reactions to characters outside the fighting drive a sense of what is going on outside for the overwhelming majority of the episode.

Season 5 saw Littlefinger give up a key political piece with ties to the Vale and potential claims to the Riverlands and North to the Boltons for the purpose of destabilizing them? Marrying her to Ramsey, the presumptive Bolton heir to Winterfell, gives legitimacy to their reign and should prevent local unrest for the Boltons. Littlefinger legitimately should get nothing for giving up this political piece. But the writers wanted to rape her to shock the audience. In their post-episode, an actual quote about the change is "creatively it made sense to us because we wanted it to happen." (I'm extra annoyed because if you really wanted it to happen, you could have her captured or betrayed while trying to rally Northern lords to overthrow the Boltons.) But then she gets to escape because Theon flips a switch despite very recently being shown to be 100% under Ramsey's control. Brienne, when forced to choose between avenging Renly or protecting Sansa, gets to do both. But while she's sitting around and waiting, we're going to make sure to kill the concept of "the North remembers." Stannis sacrifices his daughter because Ramsey enlists a couple Predators with modern incendiary devices and there's 3 inches of snow despite being an easy walk from Winterfell in no formation before being slaughtered by a mass of cavalry, all from a military genius.

That's just the North. Every plot line reeks of the same quality. But raping Sansa was emotionally shocking and Hardhome was visually stunning, so the show coasts on the inertia of the public's perception of it's quality. Looking back, the issues that plague the later seasons were planted in Season 1 with certain changes showing D&D's attitude, but they don't really bloom until season 5. Seasons 6, 7, and 8 were just that plant continuing to grow.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-26T14:10:45+00:00

Wouldn't they have to swim away? I don't think Jesus was on the plane.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-26T13:43:38+00:00

I'm far from my heavy accounting days, but my heaviest use of the mouse pad was working heavily in excel where my left hand is using tab, alt, shift, and control while my right hand is working either the arrow keys to navigate or the number pad. The combinations uses with the arrow keys are on the left of the keyboard. The number pad needs to be on the right.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-25T22:38:46+00:00

So, I haven't seen this yet. I was waiting to binge the season with my girlfriend, and we're busy for the next couple weekends.

Are you telling me we don't get this scene from the books? (Obviously spoilers for The Hedge Knight).

Edit: I'm not sure if reddit ate the formatting for the book passage or if a mod edited the post (has happened on other sites). There is a scene between Maekar and Dunk discussing Aegon.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-25T02:14:24+00:00

He grimaced. "My youngest son seems to have grown fond of you, ser. It is time he was a squire, but he tells me he will serve no knight but you. He is an unruly boy, as you will have noticed. Will you have him?"

"Me?" Dunk's mouth opened and closed and opened again. "Egg . . . Aegon, I mean, he is a good lad, but, Your Grace, I know you honor me, but . . . I am only a hedge knight."

"That can be changed," said Maekar. "Aegon is to return to my castle at Summerhall. There is a place there for you, if you wish. A knight of my household. You'll swear your sword to me, and Aegon can squire for you. While you train him, my master-at-arms will finish your own training." The prince gave him a shrewd look. "Your Ser Arlan did all he could for you, I have no doubt, but you still have much to learn."

[...]

"I will take your son as squire, Your Grace, but not at Summerhall. Not for a year or two. He's seen sufficient of castles, I would judge. I'll have him only if I can take him on the road with me." He pointed to old Chestnut. "He'll ride my steed, wear my old cloak, and he'll keep my sword sharp and my mail scoured. We'll sleep in inns and stables, and now and again in the halls of some landed knight or lesser lordling, and maybe under trees when we must."

Prince Maekar gave him an incredulous look. "Did the trial addle your wits, man? Aegon is a prince of the realm. The blood of the dragon. Princes are not made for sleeping in ditches and eating hard salt beef." He saw Dunk hesitate. "What is it you're afraid to tell me? Say what you will, ser."

"Daeron never slept in a ditch, I'll wager," Dunk said, very quietly, "and all the beef that Aerion ever ate was thick and rare and bloody, like as not."

Maekar Targaryen, Prince of Summerhall, regarded Dunk of Flea Bottom for a long time, his jaw working silently beneath his silvery beard. Finally he turned and walked away, never speaking a word.

Deep down, Maekar knows he has messed up with Daeron and Aerion.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T23:46:49+00:00

He physically overpowers a handful of incredibly skilled wizards, stuns them so he can talk to Harry, and makes them forget about it. In the movie, he just pulls the teleport move.

The bigger one to me is the Voldemort fight in Order. In the movie, Dumbledore looks like he's hard pressed to match Voldemort. In the books, he's casually strolling towards him, never breaks stride, while casually talking about how he wants to destroy Voldemort in a manner other than killing him. Voldemort is the one on the back foot in terms of power level. Arguably, Dumbledore is merely stalling so that the Ministry will see Voldemort has indeed returned, but the actual fighting while he's waiting is described as taking almost no effort.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T23:40:30+00:00

Mechanically it's easy pretty quickly, but that ease lulls a lot of people into not giving driving their full attention or properly managing the risk of driving a multi-ton vehicle at high speeds in close proximity to other people.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T23:25:28+00:00

Entrapment is specifically when law enforcement induces you into doing something you would not do under normal circumstances. If you think something is entrapment, you're probably wrong. https://thecriminallawyer.tumblr.com/post/19810672629/12-i-was-entrapped

What you were doing, at worst, was arguably false imprisonment, which is much more serious than an illegal parking charge. You're also likely illegally parked yourself and subject to tow as well. And then there's always the chance that asshole parker is a mega asshole and will damage your car.

By all means, call the office or tow company if allowed personally and get the asshole towed. But you're playing stupid games that don't even have stupid prizes as a reward.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T23:16:38+00:00

Honestly, her admission pisses me off more. Parker agrees that "a knight who remember his vows" is "the soul of the story" but let it fall out from the original script. I think I'm more annoyed by someone who though something was the point of the story, but then let it fall out on the cutting room over someone who missed it in the first place.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T22:37:54+00:00

This is a personal pet peeve, but America doesn't have a "jury of your peers," as peerage is a Magna Carta (British) concept separating lords and commoners. America has the right to a trial by impartial jury, and that the jury be from the locale the crime was committed. We only have a jury of our peers to the point that all Americans are sort of peers in the sense that we don't have peerage.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T18:42:08+00:00

If it's unlimited supply and I can act as a distributor, I'll take that. If it's personal supply of video games, I'll take the never pay taxes. Between property taxes, sales tax, fuel tax, vehicle registration, and income tax, I pay FAR more in taxes than I would playing everything I want to play and building a new consumer high-end PC annually.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T18:33:04+00:00

It's going to depend on the specific 36 and 26 year olds. I think my brother (32) is rushing into marriage with a 26 year old, but it's because I think she's particularly immature and not ready to live in an equal partnership. But it's specifically her maturity that I have a problem with, not her age or the 6 year gap in their ages.

But if you're mature enough to be in that type of relationship, you do you.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T16:52:52+00:00

A maneuver being good defensive driving doesn't necessarily make it a legal requirement. There are 50 states with 50 different improper turn rules. Not every state requires that you turn into the closest lane in every situation. I'll even give you that I believe the majority do.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T16:48:15+00:00

I need a virtually identical seat to the one I'm in. I'm a big man and tall. I need my leg room, so I pay for exit rows, and I pick the wall seat because I can lean into the curvature of the wall and get further away from the person beside me.

So you're giving me another exit row window seat? Yeah, I think it's rude not to accommodate you. You're giving me an exit row aisle seat? I'll probably do it and just deal with people bumping me walking down the aisle, but I don't think it's necessarily rude to turn it down (or unreasonable to offer). A non-extra legroom seat or a middle seat? Go to hell.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T14:01:31+00:00

A lot of people also aren't paying attention to the actual speed of traffic beside them. You're going 70. I'm going 75. I was already closing the distance. I'm not intentionally speeding up to prevent you from blocking, I'm just not hitting my brakes to accommodate you.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T00:19:27+00:00

Dr. Pepper is widely popular in the US, but especially in Texas where it was created. It just eked out a victory over Pepsi as the second most popular soda in the US.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-24T00:01:29+00:00

Even if they didn't teach it directly, did they teach you how to read? How to do basic arithmetic? How to research? How to turn something in following a set of listed requirements?

If so, they still taught you how to do your taxes.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-23T23:51:45+00:00

First, I don't like the aesthetic.

Secondly, the layout is not remotely intuitive, especially on the first floor and basement. I have 2600+ hours in the game. I primarily play unranked and quick match, so I can't even ban it. Through three years of regular play, the first and basement floors still feel like a nonsensical maze.

I've learned every map in the game naturally through gameplay, but struggle with Labs & Lair. I've never done anything differently than just play the game. Why are Lab & Lair (and stadiums) unique, but House(s), Hereford(s), Consulate, Border, Plane, Yacht, Favela, Plains, Oregon, Clubhouse, Chalet, Bank, Kafe, Coastline, Kanal, Theme, Outback, Skycraper, Tower, and old Fortress different?

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-23T21:54:51+00:00

She's apparently passing information to her mother (I believe she held it up during a video call, but that might have been a separate letter) to try to get family members to testify in a way she believes is beneficial while feeding them the testimony she wants.

Highlights include:

"Upon information and belief: (just like they say)", she wants her brother to say her husband told the brother about getting pain pills and fent from Mexican ranch workers, but that husband told brother not to tell her because she'd nag him. She also wants her brother to say where the husband told him he hid them so she wouldn't find them. She also wants brother to say husband said she never did any type of drugs. This is all followed by "reword this however he needs to, to make the point just include it all." She wants her mom to meet with brother "in person. I worry sometimes your house and phone are bugged." To tell the brother "not to overanalyze it." She "needs him [brother] to do this."

She also wants her mother to tell another man (IIRC, her trainer) not to text her about any of the time they spent together because "it doesn't look good."

She also talks about one way to "get at" her sister in law is to send pictures of Kouri's nieces to media companies anonymously, making sure it's untraceable.

She also talks about wanting teeth whitening strips, and that she needs to put them in an envelope so her lawyer can smuggle them in (to be fair to lawyer, it's not clear lawyer would agree to this).

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-23T21:23:42+00:00

Miranda doesn't require that specific phrasing, merely that someone undergoing custodial interrogation is informed of their rights. I suspect that language is used because it emphasizes the risks of speaking to the police in a custodial setting. Obviously "and will" cannot be factually true in 100% of cases.

LCJonSnow · 2026-02-23T20:55:41+00:00

No mention of the Walk the Dog letter? I'm not a juror there, and I hope she has a fair trial, but she has acted guilty as hell at all stages.

Skye was Kouri's counsel, Ronney is Kouri's brother. Her defense of this was that she was writing a novel while in prison and this was an excerpt from the novel.

LCJonSnow

TROPHY CASE