GAME OF THRONES #6:The Laws of God and Men ACT 45 Chapter 4-2014

[Ahnehnois]

I think his intent was to go along with what Jamie said, and allow Tyrion to go to the wall... however, after Shae came out & humiliated him like that, he got fired up/angry.

My guess is that his first choice will be Jamie.

Yes, but it seems to me that before this plan was conceived, he knew he wasn't going to get a fair trial, so if the option was there for trial by combat, he ought to have invoked it the moment he entered the courtroom. If the rules are the same as they were during his last trial, he can throw Bronn up against any one opponent, which probably gives him a better expected outcome than an actual trial.

The only reason that makes sense to me was that he had to build it up and make a confrontational public display rather than announcing his attention beforehand so as to make it less likely that his father will arrange his death in custody. Now the fight almost has to happen for Tywin to look honorable.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Not sure, to be honest. I think the testimony for the trial in the book wasn't quite so one-sided. It's been a while since I read the book, but I remember that

Spoiler

Cersei got to Bronn in the books and offered him the hand of the pregnant Lolys Stokeworth in marriage if he gave up Shae and also refused to fight on Tyrion's behalf. I think Bronn was also very leery of fighting The Mountain as well. Not quite like facing the aging Ser Vardis Egen in The Eyrie.

 

[NewJeffCT]

It's odd to me that these episodes seem to be getting shorter and shorter.

Tyrion's moment in the spotlight was great, though one wonders about this whole trial by combat thing. I mean, if he has the option of doing it and throwing Bronn out like he did before, why not just say that at the start of the trial?

Also, the final two episodes of the season are typically the longest. The first episode is also kind of long because it re-introduces people to the characters, then the middle episodes tend to be 50-55 minutes long, then the final two are like 60 minutes, or a bit longer.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I'm thinking some of those things may end up in next season.

Except all of those events are from Book 3, so if they push any to Season 5 ... that's padding.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

Except all of those events are from Book 3, so if they push any to Season 5 ... that's padding.

Well, yeah, I mean they are going to have to throw in some padding here and there. But in any case, what I mean was that some of the changes they made in season one, which is supposed to be based on book one, affect things that happen later on in the show (book five in the books). So they've made a few changes in season four that may affect things in season five or six.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

So they've made a few changes in season four that may affect things in season five or six.

Ah, gotcha. That makes sense.

 

[MarkB]

Yes, but it seems to me that before this plan was conceived, he knew he wasn't going to get a fair trial, so if the option was there for trial by combat, he ought to have invoked it the moment he entered the courtroom. If the rules are the same as they were during his last trial, he can throw Bronn up against any one opponent, which probably gives him a better expected outcome than an actual trial.

The only reason that makes sense to me was that he had to build it up and make a confrontational public display rather than announcing his attention beforehand so as to make it less likely that his father will arrange his death in custody. Now the fight almost has to happen for Tywin to look honorable.

It's entirely possible that Tyrion didn't think anyone would fight for him. Bronn was a good friend, but he never disguised the fact that he was largely in it for the money, and at this point any personal assets Tyrion had may be unavailable to him. More likely, it was the combination of Shae's betrayal and Jamie's support that drove Tyrion to choose trial by combat and made him believe there might be a champion to represent him.

 

[NewJeffCT]

It's entirely possible that Tyrion didn't think anyone would fight for him. Bronn was a good friend, but he never disguised the fact that he was largely in it for the money, and at this point any personal assets Tyrion had may be unavailable to him. More likely, it was the combination of Shae's betrayal and Jamie's support that drove Tyrion to choose trial by combat and made him believe there might be a champion to represent him.

I'm thinking Tyrion thinks that Cersei will pick her lover Jamie to be her champion. Jamie was the greatest knight in Westeros until he lost his hand... she might not realize he's kind of a shell of what he used to be.

 

[NewJeffCT]

Well, it's another diversion from the books. I'm not sure quite why they did it, since it didn't go anywhere in particular. Not that we want it to -- there's always the risk that these little off-text diversions end up derailing the overall story if not handled properly.

It did feel like it was inserted to pad the season, though. Time to get to the point. We have some things to get to:

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In terms of your spoilers, I think they will all happen this year, though

Spoiler

the insurgency in Meereen

will likely just be starting.

The problem is, that a lot of books 4 and 5 are new characters (The Ironborn and The Martells) that some may, or may not, find interesting. Plus, I think the editors kind of let Martin run wild. Both the Dornish and Ironborn storylines could have been had about 50% of the pagecount and told just as good a story. (Not to mention the Brienne and Jon Snow stories as well)

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

The problem is, that a lot of books 4 and 5 are new characters (The Ironborn and The Martells) that some may, or may not, find interesting. Plus, I think the editors kind of let Martin run wild. Both the Dornish and Ironborn storylines could have been had about 50% of the pagecount and told just as good a story. (Not to mention the Brienne and Jon Snow stories as well)

Yeah, books 4 and 5 should really be only one season, since IMO both the Ironborn and Dorne storylines should be dropped, and much of the remaining Mereen storyline can be compressed.

Which means Martin is firmly on his fourth point of contact in regards to staying ahead of the TV series with his novels, as I haven't heard hint of a release of book six. If you follow my reasoning, he'll need book six for season six in 2016 (potentially two seasons from that book, through seven in 2017), so unless he significantly picks up the output he won't have book seven complete it time for when the TV series needs it. Though perhaps they'll deviate from the norm and the TV series will conclude ahead of the book series.

I just hope we don't go from well plotted scripts to plodding, padded ones because they're trying to stretch so Martin can catch up.