In spite of its lurid moments of flashy violence and sex, what really separates this genre series from others is the way it crafts nuanced, and even quiet, scenes of dramatic intensity. ![]() That, however, is really the biggest gripe to have with Thrones, which continues to enthrall even in its slower moments: Varys and Tyrion riffing wonderfully while getting on each other’s nerves Cersei ( Lena Headey) and Queen Margaery ( Natalie Dormer) very obviously getting on each other’s nerves Arya ( Maisie Williams) learning the mysteries of Braavos. Tiny portions of story are doled out sparingly, and we’re never really treated to one longer arc that’s allowed to breathe and stretch over the course of a full hour (or more). ![]() Yet fan adoration and fully realized storytelling are two very different things, and it seems that Game of Thrones is now inextricably stuck in this narrative pace. But that’s typical of this series and not, on the face of it, a bad problem to have: Viewers seem to always crave more. ![]() By the end of that fourth episode, you want more. But despite the major hurdles she’s facing, others like Varys ( Conleth Hill) and his roadshow traveling companion Tyrion ( Peter Dinklage) believe she still may be the one to sit on the Iron Throne.Īll good stuff - except that story is told in relatively small chunks over the course of the first four episodes of season five. She’s reminded that a Dragon Queen without dragons is no queen at all. She is currently camped out in Meereen trying to fashion a quasi-functioning democracy out a former slave state while simultaneously doubting whether she can ever control her now fully grown dragons. For example, a key element in season five is the maturation of Daenerys ( Emilia Clarke) as a ruler. This overcrowding of storylines is a critical issue that can’t be dismissed, even when so much of Thrones gives so much pleasure. Game of Thrones seems to be straining at the limitations of its 10-episode seasons if it were 13 the rushed and compacted nature of the storytelling would be greatly reduced. Martin’s book world is both vast and deep, with the series already deftly leaving behind elements that work on the page but would derail a TV show. Part of this problem is unavoidable, of course. The addition of new characters this season - now-departed Oberyn’s daughters (aka The Sand Snakes) and Jonathan Pryce as the High Sparrow, a religious leader with some military might - only adds to the worry that our glimpses at such fascinating characters will be even smaller. They wind up spending only little fragments of time with one character before racing across Westeros to service another - ad infinitum. Martin’s world), have to parse out so many bits of dialogue and scenes to so many different actors that large chunks of a season can feel like they bounce around frantically. Weiss (creators of the series and custodians of novelist George R.R. By that I mean there are so many characters and storylines in this complex series, that to keep their arcs moving dramatically forward, writers David Benioff and D.B. But in the last two seasons especially, that fodder has proven insufficient to service the story. Viewers and critics alike eagerly await its arrival and then eat up whatever we’re dealt over the course of 10 episodes. ![]() Strangely enough, the series suffers from being too much of a good thing. But, now entering its fifth season, that sprawl is also part of what can make it so frustrating to watch. The sprawling story in HBO’s Game of Thrones is a large part of what makes the brilliant series so special.
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