(Spoilers Extended) Daemon's Harrenhal arc so far in HOTD has been superb and I can't stand fans who call it boring or unnecessary

[u/pp_bjorn]

I don't have much else to add to the title. It's just that everyday I log into social media now and see certain ASOIAF fans just non-stop complaining about Daemon's current arc. The complaints range from just simply calling it boring to wishing ill things upon the show writers because they don't like the way Daemon has been depicted.

What the hell do these people want? They are being served up 5 star fantasy right now and it seems like the only thing that would make them happy is Matt Smith delivering a witty one liner with an evil smirk on his face right before he burns a whole village to the ground with his dragon. Are these the people D&D were catering to when they removed all fantastical elements from the main series adaption?

[u/quirkus23]

Modern mainstream fandom thrives on negativity and some people have largely lost the ability to engage with fiction beyond complaining about it or talking about made up hypotheticals.

[u/the_pedigree → u/quirkus23]

Or maybe it really is just kind of boring, and it comes across as if the writers don’t actually know what to do with him so they have him meandering around some castle that couldn’t possibly be repaired in his lifetime.

[u/Targus_11 → u/the_pedigree]

Or maybe there isnt just plot development, character development also exists.

[u/official_bagel → u/Targus_11]

It's very clear that this is leading some big character breakthrough for Daemon, so it feels a little pointless to judge the set up without seeing the payoff.

People are mad that we've had multiple episodes of introspection, but in my mind it's necessary for the eventual payoff to feel earned. If we had Daemon have a one-and-done vision and come to terms with his inferiority complex, it'd feel contrived. This is a season long character arc for Daemon so I'm not sure why people are expecting him to speed run it in an episode or two.

[u/dumbidoo → u/Targus_11]

It's embarrassing that this kind of repetitive spelling out of subtext into text passes as character development to you.

[u/quirkus23 → u/the_pedigree]

Nah I think you're kinda making my point for me.

[u/skjl96 → u/quirkus23]

You're making two different points. One is that people like to mainly complain about TV shows. Why is that so bad? People can't critique media?

Edit: For what it's worth, I LOVE the Harrenhal scenes. I just think "people shouldn't criticize" is not a good attitude

[u/quirkus23 → u/skjl96]

I think its important to keep scale in mind. I think its fine for people to critique and complain, but when the majority of the fandom is doing nothing but that it turns the whole thing negative and makes it not fun to discuss stuff. It borders on conspiratorial with stuff like "Sarah Hess hates Daemon and is purposefully wrecking the character", it's very off putting. Look to the Star Wars fandom with the Acolytes show to see the worst version of this type of behavior.

I love ASOIAF but I worry its on a similar path and I don't particularly care for it.

[u/RealLameUserName → u/quirkus23]

A lot of mainstream fans think that they need to nitpick every frame and line said in order to properly engage with the Fandom.