Just a teaser for the Game of Thrones prequel that will focus on the House of Targaryen.
Looking forward to this, compared to Game of Thrones this story has a written ending that will make it more difficult to botch it.
I'm very much not sure I will watch this simply because the lynchpin of the book is Martin's Rashomon-ized approach to Westeros history. This show would have to, I think, start making some concrete stuff where there is much intentional ambiguity and uncertainty. Ser Criston Cole, a huge character in the Dance of Dragons, is a great example of a character whose motives are best left unclear.
https://ew.com/book-reviews/2018/12/...rones-prequel/But one essential foundational aspect of A Song of Ice and Fire is how Martin Rashomon-ized his fantasy landscape, splitting his story between different (often oppositional) viewpoints. The scope of Fire & Blood takes this structure even further. Writing centuries after the events he’s describing, the Gyldayn voice complicates this game of thrones with a clash of perspectives and a storm of debatable facts. Was Aegon II a hero, a druggy dunce, or a pawn-ish mama’s boy? Where did Princess Aerea go on her lonely dragon flight, and what strange pestilence did she bring back with her? Every lord’s mysterious death requires a two-page Agatha Christie mystery, a list of possible suspects with no ultimate solution. There are central characters who remain profoundly unknowable.
Last edited by JBatmanFan05; 10-07-2021 at 10:06 AM.
Things I love: Batman, Superman, AEW, old films, Lovecraft
Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”
Looking really forward to the show. Love the novels and especially the 3 novellas about Dunk. That kept me from watching the last 2 seasons of the show to this day. I'll get the ending from Martin or not at all. Now, we get this new beast. Teaser looks great. Best wishes for all involved.
If I were ever allowed to brainstorm up content for the Game of Thrones franchise, I think it'd be interesting if they explored some era where the portrayal of the Houses were turned a bit on their head. The original series tries (over time) to avoid hero vs villain black & white by adding complexity, but it still more or less ends up portraying (overall) House Lannister as the villain house and House Stark as the heroic house. But realistically, there had to be periods where there were thoroughly dishonorable Starks in charge, and honorable virtuous Lannisters in charge.
And in such a series I'd probably upend some other Houses (like what if the Freys were once attractive, polished, and profressional like the Lannisters? or treacherous Starks vs oppressed/slighted righteous Boltons?). Overall, the point of such a series would be that the Houses aren't stuck in some deterministic mold, but have been molded by ups and downs and qualities of their various leaders over time.
I think Martin's books (World of F&I, Fire & Blood) hint at such role reversals, though he doesn't spend much enough time on a particular historical Stark or Lannister to clearly establish this point.
Last edited by JBatmanFan05; 10-27-2021 at 11:56 AM.
Things I love: Batman, Superman, AEW, old films, Lovecraft
Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”
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