I too found it unsatisfying. In part, there are different narrative choices I would have preferred. But storytellers get to tell the story they want to tell.
The execution, though, wasn't as strong as it could have been. IMO, this is due to two factors: 1. The rush to complete the TV Series - actor Nicolai Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister) said it was now taking episodes for characters to complete journeys that once took seasons. 2. The emphasis on spectacle
Last night's episode was a Michael Bay movie. It was a good Michael Bay movie. But it didn't always have the sort of internal consistency that better runs on this show had. The emphasis on spectacle and compression on plot meant that viewers don't get to see scenes that would inform characterization - instead these are saved for shock.
And it means that while Danys' turn was foreshadowed or hinted at... it wasn't really built. Did she blow up the whole city because of the urban insurgency after she took Mereen? Is that going to be explained next week?
Because, I feel like, if that's the characters' turn, we'd really need to hear her rationale for razing the city when it seemed like the army had surrendered. And "well, Targaryens are crazy and she just snapped" is narratively unsatisfying.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2019-05-15 03:21 am (UTC)The execution, though, wasn't as strong as it could have been. IMO, this is due to two factors:
1. The rush to complete the TV Series - actor Nicolai Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister) said it was now taking episodes for characters to complete journeys that once took seasons.
2. The emphasis on spectacle
Last night's episode was a Michael Bay movie. It was a good Michael Bay movie. But it didn't always have the sort of internal consistency that better runs on this show had. The emphasis on spectacle and compression on plot meant that viewers don't get to see scenes that would inform characterization - instead these are saved for shock.
And it means that while Danys' turn was foreshadowed or hinted at... it wasn't really built. Did she blow up the whole city because of the urban insurgency after she took Mereen? Is that going to be explained next week?
Because, I feel like, if that's the characters' turn, we'd really need to hear her rationale for razing the city when it seemed like the army had surrendered. And "well, Targaryens are crazy and she just snapped" is narratively unsatisfying.