Game of Thrones writers do not know what to do with prophets and geniuses

Spoilers coming for Game of thrones, season 8, episode 3, "The long night"

As Game of thrones Coming in the second half of his last season, we are in the final stages – not only for the remaining contenders at the Iron Throne, but also for behind-the-scenes twine shooters with their own grand plans for Westeros' fate. Littlefinger's cunning, Vary's spying networks, Tyrion's battle strategies, and Melisandre's prophecies and fire magic have all been involved in the manipulation and formation of the kingdom's current chaos. But the show was friendly with none of his brains.

In the first season of season 8, Varys, Tyrion and Davos Seaworth watch Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen from afar, wondering if they are fit to form a conjugal alliance. "You overestimate our influence," says Varys. "Jon and Daenerys do not want to listen to lonely old men." Tyrion protests: "Our Queen respects the wisdom of old age." Varys replies, "Of course she's doing it." Respect is how young people keep us at bay so they do not remember an unpleasant truth … nothing lasts. "

Varys is not mistaken about his own diminished social influence. In the last three seasons of Game of thrones, the show departing from the sources of George R.R. Martin, filmmakers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss relegated all counselors, sages and prophets to the side, treating them like dusty old relics. The old crooks and experts have presented epic plans, but they have always been left behind and overwhelmed by characters supposed to be less spiritual and observant, less influential and cautious, or less cunning.

First, there are Varys, whose goal was to improve the lives of ordinary people and do their best for the kingdom. He served the Targaryen, went through to help Robert Baratheon and spied on Dany when she was a girl, and finally declared his true allegiance to her as just queen. He is an extremely resilient man with a network of spy spies. But in season 8, Varys no longer has any hand in the conspiracy. He is hardly even present. He gave way to Daenerys, who does what she wants without worrying about his advice. He also loses the major murders that he commits in books, badbadinating Pycelle and Kevan Lannister to protect Tyrion. In the show, Qyburn kills Pycelle and Cersei Lannister kills Kevan as part of his September attack on Baelor. It's a purer version of the story, but it undermines Varys' ruthlessness and commitment to his cause.

Image: HBO

This is partly due to the audience's emphasis on more physically active traditional heroes like Jon Snow and Arya Stark. We are short of episodes. Therefore, if Varys still has complex intrigues, they can only be dealt with as part of a series, a sequel or, better still, unfinished books by George R.R. Martin. During Jaime's trial, Varys does not have to queue, although court manipulation is one of his specialties. It barely survives through the skin of the teeth in the crypts. In one way or another, neither he nor Tyrion predict that crypts are not safe against an opponent who resurrects the dead!

In recent seasons, we have seen this pattern repeat: the spectators keep their prophets and their geniuses boring and unconscious to facilitate the surprises of the public. That's why the king of the night can survive the fire by defying the established rules of history for the undead. It's not because of a secret story; it's because the surprises create a surprising entertainment. This is not a huge grievance, but it is worth crying for a moment at the metaphorical death of George R. R. Martin's most intelligent characters.

Image: HBO

Martin said in interviews and on his LiveJournal that Tyrion was his favorite character and that he took great pleasure in creating a dialogue, but that it took time. After season 5, the showrunners had to improvise their own easy lines for Tyrion, which led him straight into making lame familiar jokes in Varys for not having bullets. Worse still, Tyrion constantly underestimates his sister Cersei and breaks for his lies. He gives Daenerys an ugly advice that betrays his allies and the story she rightly ignores. He spends the entire season 7 constantly failing and moping, helplessly ceaselessly on the sidelines as terrible things happen.

His failing spirit and charm aside, the total failure of his former military flair is the most outlandish narrative error. Tyrion's advice to Daenerys has been criticized by fans do not walk on King's Landing or at least attract Cersei's forces during Season 7 in a battle that would avoid civilian casualties. His decisions may not have strategic meaning, but they have helped spectators delay epic battles. Game of thronesFinal season, keeping Cersei alive to increase tension. They came at the cost of Tyrion's logic and common sense.

Image: HBO

Then there is Melisandre who was totally unable to realize his last prophecy. She told Varys in season 7 that they were both dying in Westeros, and during the mbadive battle of season 8 in "The Long Night" she told Davos not to bother with the to kill because she would be dead at dawn. The two lines imply that she will have some kind of epic death and that the promised prophecy of the prince, aka Azor Ahai, will be complete. This is not exactly what is happening.

In season 8, the prophecy of Azor Ahai falls apart. According to the prophecy, there should be a hero "born again in smoke and salt" that wakes up "stone dragons". The description seems to apply to Jon or Daenerys, but Melisandre and Beric, who are both servants of the Lord of Light, abandon their lives in order to keep Arya alive to kill the king of the night. His words of farewell to Arya are more or less: "Hey, you killed blue eyes, as I had said." Ok, so maybe Azor Ahai does not matter? In the season 6 finale, Melisandre told Jon Snow, "I've been ready to die for many years. If the Lord was done with me, well, he is, but he does not. Yet, without seeking a clear sign that the Lord had finished with her, without resolving Westeros' ongoing battles, without explicitly fulfilling the terms of her continuing prophecies, without even mentioning where she had gone for two seasons, Melisander ended voluntarily to his life by going far away and disintegrating into dust.

Image: HBO

The very unsatisfactory conclusion of his story indicates that Melisandre and other red priestesses of the Lord of the Light have all wrong, or that the spectators only present this piece of Game of thrones knowledge in favor of focusing on more popular characters.

The seemingly random and anticlimactic death of Melisandre is not the first time the series gets rid of someone who has long play in mind. Petyr Baelish, better known as Littlefinger, was also poorly served by writers in seasons 5 to 7 before experiencing his untimely death, which has not yet happened in books. It depends largely on the choice of plots. Sansa does not have much to do in the latest books, other than hanging out in the Vale, so the audience told her about Jeyne Poole's intrigue, Littlefinger arranging for her to marry the sadistic murderer Ramsay Bolton .

This choice of adaptation has unfortunately made Littlefinger stupid. Apparently, he had no idea what Ramsay was or what he was putting Sansa in the hands of a bloodthirsty rapist. He finally admits to Sansa that he has made a mistake. But it's hard to swallow, given Ramsay's excessive behavior and Littlefinger's intelligence and sensitivity.

In the books, Littlefinger proposes to marry Sansa to his heir, Ser Harrold Hardyng, who is an idiot. But he is not a hunter of human beings, a flayer of victims, Ramsay Bolton, and he is under the control of Littlefinger. We also know less about Littlefinger's final goals in books, and the keen sense of mystery means he could play a central role in the final phase. The version of Littlefinger's show is a slimy weasel that is finally trying to clumsily make the difference between Sansa and Arya. He deserves his performance for his only loss of profit. But he also wrote as a simple schemer trying to grab as much power as possible and sit on the iron throne. In some ways, it would become too boring and fundamental to stay.

Image: HBO

It is ridiculous to expect spectators to devote all their time to the development of their geniuses and prophets when they have only three episodes left and they seem to want to dedicate all of them to frank action and romance. Unfortunately, in order to strengthen the battles and place Arya, Sansa, Daenerys and Jon Snow in the spotlight, the puppet masters who pull the strings were cut off. The resulting simplicity is a blow to a long story that probably would not have received so much attention if it had always been indifferent to its under-controlled players. Stories as varied as Westworld, Avengers: Endgame, and Naruto attract the public with the sense of the great masters playing 4D chess with the world. Swapping this for easy thrills and tricks gives you the impression of a quick and boring win after a long and worthy buildup.

We still have a prophet on the central stage, Bran Stark. He did not do much during the Battle of Winterfell, except to tour like some crows and not pbad any useful information to his allies. But he is supposed to see fragments of the future and guide all the others throughout the journey. Since all the other fortunetellers and chess masters in this series have been badly treated, expectations of Bran should not be too high. But it has major benefits. It's a Stark, and its proximity to other main characters could give him intrigue armor so he is not killed. His powers could keep him safe on the sidelines. History has announced that his death would be disastrous for humanity – it was the declared goal of the King of the night – and with so much effort to preserve it, he will probably not die any time soon. Better yet, he is one of the key players in Jon Snow's identity as a true heir to the iron throne. All of this may well be a target on his back, but it might also suggest that he will be really relevant in the aftermath of the events.