Post by whitewolfstark on Apr 10, 2016 2:01:16 GMT
I do think that Bran falling into the hands of the mutineers was a good change from the books to keep the audience interested and invested in Bran's story this season. I also think that the mutineers could have been handled better and with a bit more logic that them being a threat to Bran & company could've been made better use of. After all, with how evil they're depicted as, I'm wondering why the heck they're wasting resources feeding Bran & Company and the direwolves--when that was a big issue for the mutineers last season (lack of food is why they revolted after all). So why are they wasting resources on people they don't give two shits about?
Could instead a better version of Kraster's have been formulated? Definitely.
Here's what I would've done:
What if (to parallel the Lannisters having a limited resource pool of gold) the mutineers discovered that Craster himself had a very limited resource pool of food that wasn't going to be enough to last them all the whole winter. Qarl promises that they can stay as he's found Craster's hidden supplies (when really he's bluffing to maintain his position of authority). But he realizes that at some point he's going to have to go south at some point for food, or find some way to trade for food.
Desperation sets in as supplies dwindle, and some say that they should sack the Keep, take the wives, and head for the nearest coast and sail somewhere where it's warmer. Other challenges pop up, and Qarl is quickly coming to his last straw before another round of slaughter starts. And to make things worse the wives/sisters/daughters attempt to kill them one night, and their numbers are dwindling as Ghost prowls in the woods, taking them out one by one when they try to hunt and forage for more food. This prompts them to put traps out for Ghost, which instead captures Summer.
And then in comes Bran & Company, who want to try and rescue Summer, but fail to get to him without getting caught.
Qarl interrogates them similarly, but it's only by threatening Meera that Bran reveals who he is, though at first he attempts to lie, but Karl sees through it. Qarl now has Jon Snow's half-brother, and the Starks' heir as far as he knows. The Red Wedding being unknown to him, he still thinks the Starks rule the North, so he thinks he can trade Bran & his companions one at a time for supplies, and he makes plans to ride to the Wall with this pronouncement declaring that he has a Stark, and if Winterfell wants him back, they'll have to make a deal--part of which is the discounting of their vows.
The threat for Bran that we feel is that we know that Roose is looking for Bran and that sending Bran back down south could very easily mean his life could end. This brings an actual sense of danger to Bran's story.
While Bran is captured, he wargs Summer and we get a solely direwolf scene where Bran tries--through Summer to get Ghost to help Summer out of the hole. The attempt will fail, but in the meanwhile, we see that Ghost shares food he's caught with his packbrother.
Meanwhile Jon's story from this season goes on much unchanged, and before Qarl can go to make this pronouncement and "bold risk" that half his men are wary of, Jon shows up and events much like what's the fight at Craster's occur.
Not only do we have an antagonist for Jon to beat, we also can sort of understand Qarl. He's not just been beaten down by the high lords his entire life, but he's been half-starved for a while and desperate looking at the face of death, which has driven him to mutiny and act the way he has. He's a bit more complex this way and seems to fit into the morally ambiguous world of GOT better. And this could have been easily done with little added expense, and just a few writing tweaks.
But what do I know, I'm just a white wolf.
Could instead a better version of Kraster's have been formulated? Definitely.
Here's what I would've done:
What if (to parallel the Lannisters having a limited resource pool of gold) the mutineers discovered that Craster himself had a very limited resource pool of food that wasn't going to be enough to last them all the whole winter. Qarl promises that they can stay as he's found Craster's hidden supplies (when really he's bluffing to maintain his position of authority). But he realizes that at some point he's going to have to go south at some point for food, or find some way to trade for food.
Desperation sets in as supplies dwindle, and some say that they should sack the Keep, take the wives, and head for the nearest coast and sail somewhere where it's warmer. Other challenges pop up, and Qarl is quickly coming to his last straw before another round of slaughter starts. And to make things worse the wives/sisters/daughters attempt to kill them one night, and their numbers are dwindling as Ghost prowls in the woods, taking them out one by one when they try to hunt and forage for more food. This prompts them to put traps out for Ghost, which instead captures Summer.
And then in comes Bran & Company, who want to try and rescue Summer, but fail to get to him without getting caught.
Qarl interrogates them similarly, but it's only by threatening Meera that Bran reveals who he is, though at first he attempts to lie, but Karl sees through it. Qarl now has Jon Snow's half-brother, and the Starks' heir as far as he knows. The Red Wedding being unknown to him, he still thinks the Starks rule the North, so he thinks he can trade Bran & his companions one at a time for supplies, and he makes plans to ride to the Wall with this pronouncement declaring that he has a Stark, and if Winterfell wants him back, they'll have to make a deal--part of which is the discounting of their vows.
The threat for Bran that we feel is that we know that Roose is looking for Bran and that sending Bran back down south could very easily mean his life could end. This brings an actual sense of danger to Bran's story.
While Bran is captured, he wargs Summer and we get a solely direwolf scene where Bran tries--through Summer to get Ghost to help Summer out of the hole. The attempt will fail, but in the meanwhile, we see that Ghost shares food he's caught with his packbrother.
Meanwhile Jon's story from this season goes on much unchanged, and before Qarl can go to make this pronouncement and "bold risk" that half his men are wary of, Jon shows up and events much like what's the fight at Craster's occur.
Not only do we have an antagonist for Jon to beat, we also can sort of understand Qarl. He's not just been beaten down by the high lords his entire life, but he's been half-starved for a while and desperate looking at the face of death, which has driven him to mutiny and act the way he has. He's a bit more complex this way and seems to fit into the morally ambiguous world of GOT better. And this could have been easily done with little added expense, and just a few writing tweaks.
But what do I know, I'm just a white wolf.