tissisissi:

I’m currently a bit angry about GoT and I’m going to rant a bit, because this recent episode is a perfect example of the what makes D&D bad writers. Spoilers ahead.

D&D only understand events, not characters.

They read the books and see something happening. A girl gets married to Ramsay and is violated as a result, for example. All they see is this event and think “okay, we can do this BUT let’s replace the girl with another.” They have no concept of this event happening in the books only because it was these specific characters that it happened to. They way characters react lead to other events and thus make sense. When you switch characters but not the events the result will be a mess that completely defies logic.

That is the problem with this most recent episode. It seems GRRM told D&D that Shireen was going to burn. Yes, that was a possibility that us book readers had considered because the books seem to point in that direction. However, in the books it’s heavily implied that if Shireen does burn it’ll be by the hand of either Melisandre or Selyse, NOT STANNIS. One of his main characteristics is to protect and keep Shireen safe, unlike Melisandre whose main interest is Stannis and his guest. Not to mention the fact that in the books Stannis is miles away from Shireen, while Melisandre remains at the Wall. So, it’s safe to assume that if Shireen burns in the books it will not be done by Stannis.

It seems obvious that D&D do not understand the difference between Melisandre burning Shireen and Stannis burning Shireen, because the end result is that she burns. Just like they don’t understand the radical change that happens when Sansa is married to Ramsay and not Jeyne. They do not get that these changes affect these characters in a massive way and characters aren’t just there to fill in whatever role they are given. They all have their role and their motivations and if that is changed then the character is no longer the same.

What D&D are doing is choosing what they want to see happen and bend the characters to fit those ideas. They write things that will shock viewers purely for the cheap thrill without considering how it will affect the overall plot. A Song of Ice and Fire concentrates largely on the characters and their growth, and that is the one aspect that D&D are choosing to ignore for the sake of “we wanted it to happen.”