I think you mistook my direction. Now that Dany has unleashed her dragon upon Westeros, she has no need for Tyrion, or Jon Snow, or anyone else for that matter in the war for King's Landing and the Iron Throne. Her dragons, Dothraki horde, and the rescued Unsullied are more than enough to take on whatever remains of Cersei's army even if she brings mercenary reinforcements from the Golden Company. If you've seen the preview for the next episode, the White Walkers are going to invade East Watch and breach the Wall. Jon Snow has to go back up north with his newly-mined dragon glass and fight the real war. I just think Tyrion and Jaime will somehow end up joining him on that quest. Jon Snow is the only one fighting the true enemy and his noble cause and honorable sensibilities will rub off on Tyrion and especially Jaime who needs redemption because he nearly ended his own life charging Dany and her dragon. This is just the setup for next season. Dany and Jon Snow split up and go their separate ways. Dany takes King's Landing by the season finale. Jon Snow returns north with All the King's Men and fight the White Walkers. Then, next season the Northern Army takes heavy casualties even some important characters die honorable deaths. Just when you think all hope is lost, Dany comes to the rescue with her Dragons thus fulfilling the promise she just made to Jon Snow that she would fight with him against the White Walkers.
let me ask you...did you have any problem with Arya's 5'3" Dancing Master holding off the Kings Guard with a stick. You're point was she was lucky to not be raped/killed, and the script was weak. Others were saying she is a bad ass assassin and was never in trouble. Clearly the assassin theory was correct. Now you're backtracking blaming it on casting a short girl. Yet, I'm sure you had no problem with a 5'3" actor wiping the floor of actual fully-armed and ready King's Guard....with a stick...because that was in the books. ok Why are you having so much trouble with Arya being a well-trained assassin that the show spent over two seasons building up. I think you're just hung up on "women fighters" in general.
heyp, I don't care what the writers intended for that scene. For me, it doesn't make sense either way. Thats what it was for me. Either she just took a chance for food/rest, or she wanted to kill them and decided not to. Either way was silly and it was silly for the 2nd scenario because she shouldnt be able to because of size, because of her training didn't warrant her any special abilities to take on groups of men. I said it was unfair that she's short or she didn't grow into a bigger taller stockier person, but the writers couldve taken that into account rather than ask us to suspend our beliefs that a girl like her can take down men, even if they were all Ed Sheerans, I mean if thats their intention to make. Its not like theres a book out there with that particular scene and the writers had to follow it to a tee. I did actually have trouble with that scene but at least they showed him getting offed finally. To make the scene produce a single bad guy for her list. And at least his stick cut off when he met it with a steel sword, unlike Arya's special Needle clashing against a broad sword. I dont really want to defend the scene, the writers, directors or whoever decides these things. I mean Jaime suddenly thrown into drowning depths? ****s sake GoT. I love women fighters like Brienne, but saying Arya could've taken soldiers on her own? What training, she spent time cleaning and blind. Did she spar with groups of soldiers as part of her training? No, she spent time being other people, being unseen, being sneaky. Maybe theyre asking us to believe she did go through a more rigorous training that gained her those special abilities, but the couldnt find time for it onscreen because they needed to show Ed Sheeran.
It just doesn't make sense that they will be able to go. Maybe they can break out, but she's showing signs of a mental breakdown and an obsession with being Queen. I'm just not seeing how they manage to escape Dany and how they avoid Cersei who will be obsessed with getting Jaime back.
Wha tbothers me is that she fights more like Forel, in which she received minimum training, compared to the 'excessive' training she got from the no name guy. Its very evident in the Brianne spar scene, with the way she fights and how she always has a smile on her face while doing so.
I took the smile as being a result of who she was sparring with, someone she knows and someone she knew back when she was defenseless, and the look of disbelief on Brianne's face as she showed her skills off rather than something she just does now. I don't think she'd be smiling in a real fight to the death any more than she was smiling while fighting the waif. As to the style, like others have said Forel was from the same place so that could explain it.
What bothers me about Arya's fighting style is using Needle. There's no way a 2oz letter opener can parry a knight's swing.
I'm just so glad she doesn't do Brianne's tennis-player grunts every time she swings or blocks. Whereas Bri is somewhat manly like Serene Williams, Arya would be even more annoying in a high-pitched Monica Seles way.
They were sparring. I'm sure Bri can pull a punch so she doesn't accidentally kill the girl she was sworn to protect, by breaking through Needle and slicing Arya's arm off. Or is that too much of a rationalization for you nit-pickers to accept.
It would also go against the idea of her being trained like an assassin. You'd never want to give away your position by braying like an ass every time you swung your sword. She should be stealthy and quick and I think they got that down pretty well.....although it takes about 1000 cuts to show that due to the limitations of the actress but I don't blame her, it's not like they could have trained a real person to have magic skills.
Im going to coin a new phrase: Book Huggers Someone who nitpicks a fantasy story, and calls all explanations "rationalizing." unless the scene was covered in the book, then it makes sense. Also known as Selective Imagination. Example -- A well-trained assassin shouldn't be able to handle a group of green, teenage Lannister recruits, because she's a 5' girl actress, but a 5'3 actor with a stick can floor 4 fully-armed and ready Kingsguard in 15 seconds, because The Book. Book Huggers -- when you need to hug a book to make sense of fantasy
The correct nitpick is how valyrian steel (Oathkeeper) did not slice through castle-forged steel like butter.
The smiling is in part to opponents underestimating a smaller warrior with his/her style, her being able to be on par with opponent, and also a poetic motion/art form that she takes pride in. Forel smiled when he fought and I think she mimics him more so than anyone else.
When you've made your points and the other decides to not and run off in a different direction. I think you love Arya or the TV show too much. It had a good storyline as a base because of the books, but they're so inconsistent.