Ill Still Watch Tho - Tumblr Posts
Sweet OP, why do you fret? What do you mean? GoT did not poison the well for the TV-verse. George knows exactly what he’s doing and never contradicts himself. He learned his lesson and regained a healthy amount of pride in his characters and never allows them to be bastardized anymore. He even joins the showrunner in overseeing the script for each episode of HotD—
Oh.
What a shame!
I agree, George wrote the BOOKS in a way to present Rhaenyra Targaryen as a foil of Daenerys, not a parallel. We are not making this up. Because of her, dragons are in the world again—so the history of The Dance specifically encourages readers to infer that another one is coming, in the form of another Blackfyre Rebellion via (f)Aegon VI. Where Rhaenyra went one way, Dany is set up to struggle with something similar and perhaps follow the course or veer off of it. And yet in the SHOWS, George signs off on aggressive parallels to an already messed up “not [his] ending” ending.
Nothing but mixed signals.
Sometimes I just shrug and let it be. It reflects more on him than it does poor show-only fans and annoyed book fans. We’re dealing with another real human being who, like the Greek tragic heroes and Arthurian legends, struggles to see his own flaws until it’s too late.
I just feel bad for show-only fans of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon sometimes, you know? Because the way that GOT ended, and the way HOTD is going to end, it's...bleak. All of the characters in the Dance of the Dragon saga are doomed; no one we truly love and care about is going to make it through, guys. It's horrible, actually. There is no victor--if that's even what we need anyway--and the status quo remains, crushing everyone beneath it's enormous, never-ending wheel: it's grim-dark and heartbreaking.
ASOIAF was supposed to be GRRM's response to that tragedy. A woman's family is usurped, she will take back what is hers, and achieve what her ancestor could not. But sadly, Game of Thrones is not ASOIAF and if you only watch the shows, you are going to see Rhaenyra go the same way as Daenerys, murdered and once again usurped. George wrote Rhaenyra as a tragic character, there is no doubt, but Daenerys is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE. She is meant change the status quo that tramples the smallfolk/women/cripples/ bastards/and broken things/etc. She is meant to live on and plants trees.
If you only watch the shows, all hope is lost. Nothing is solved. Nothing can truly be achieved. Nothing has changed. The wheel continues to turn. My heart aches to think that you will see the parallels and you'll wonder: is this the same exact thing as before? Did we learn anything?
I just hope book fans can get some relief, you know? Because George's ending absolutely cannot leave us without something to look forward to, without something to be proud of. He said bittersweet: not happy, not tragic, not hopeless. What future can the characters of GOT look forward to with an ending like that?
The Dance of the Dragons is the tragic tale, because ASOIAF is the dream of spring.