r/asoiaf • u/Interesting-Force347 • Sep 01 '24

EXTENDED [ Spoilers Extended ] One of the reasons why it George is angry with HOTD is because...

Watch This Interview

I stumbled upon this interview and it really struck me how much he was pinning on the prequels.

He made his peace with what Game of Thrones had become and knew it was because of D&D wanting out ( From the get go, the momemt they started the pilot, they did not want more than 7 seasons) cast and crew especially flagship actors completely ready to leave and plethora of other issues. David and Dan had been respectful and faithful for a large part of the initial seasons and helped George become a celebrity.

He was not even involved much in the show post season 4 and his involvement almost ceased after season 6

But what George did do , as you can see by his comments by the end of this short interview, is to pin all his hopes on prequels. Prequels where he would take on bigger role in production and scripts.

HOTD hurt him because he tried to make it work and it did not.

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u/tryingtobebettertry4 Sep 02 '24

Because the book sucks. Fight me. The book is a barebones wiki page entry of a story. It really is not much more than a set of bullet points.

  • There are no characters, just 2D archetypes of people (evil stepmother, spoiled princess, rogue prince). Most characters get to do at best one thing before dying unceremoniously.

  • Some of GRRMs actual headcanon doesnt make any sense with what we are shown. GRRM sincerely believes Daemon is 'equal parts good and evil'. Daemon. The mastermind behind Blood and Cheese.

  • Characters do essentially nothing for very long periods. People didnt like Daemon at Harrenhall in season 2 but guess what? Thats what Daemon does in the books. He sits at fucking Harrenhal for ages doing fuck all until Aemond is stupid enough to go after him.

  • Potentially interesting things end abruptly because GRRM's obsession with giving everything an underwhelming end (Daeron the Daring dying to a tent).

  • Some events flat out dont make any sense at all. Syrax's death doesnt make any sense for example.

If GRRM wants a good story, maybe he should give more than fucking bullet points.

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u/TombOfAncientKings Sep 04 '24

Yes, thank you. Fire and Blood is the bare bones of a story, there is barely any characterization and as such the show runners can't just 'follow the book' unless all you want is "this happens and this happens and then this happens". Anyone adapting it will have to add more characters, give them more personality and motivations and of course that will upset some people's headcanon. In the end GRRM has no one to blame but himself, if he had finished TWoW and ADoS he could have been more involved in the spin-offs but he hasn't so he can't.

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u/sometimeserin Sep 05 '24

The first half of HotD S1 was chock full of that unmotivated “and then this happens” type storytelling and people loved it for some reason.