For those of you who haven't read the books, I'm going to talk about something that could be considered a spoiler. But not really...as they seem to be changing everything, and I have no idea what is going to happen next season.
In A Clash of Kings, the White Walkers attack the Fist of the First Men enmasse and destroy the entire Night's Watch (all 300 men). There are some that flee into the woods (there are no woods in the scene in the HBO drama) and Samwell is tracked by one White Walker which he kills using a weapon made of dragon glass (obsidian).
But in the season finale, Samwell is on a snowy plateau...no woods are nearby, and the White Walkers surround him with an army numbering in the hundreds. LIKE WTF?!? How can his character possibly survive? The White Walker obviously saw him. He's surrounded by hundreds of wights. I don't see anyway out of this.
I will be disappointed if he kills one White Walker and the entire army dissipates because they are afraid of his dragon glass weapon.
I will be disappointed if they kill Samwell as he is still alive in A Dance With Dragons.
I will be disappointed if they ignore Samwell because the White Walkers don't ignore humans. They kill everyone, unmercifully.
So what will happen to Samwell Tarley? I'm so irritated by this choice that the writers of the show made. They could easily have had Samwell back at the Fist of the First Men when the attack started. Then he could have been a coward, slipped away, and got trailed by one White Walker that he kills off in the woods with the dragon glass dagger. But I just see no way out of this "Battle of Little Bighorn" that he finds himself in.
Any thoughts? Sigh. Checkout the scene below as it appeared Sunday night. I so would not want to be part of the Night's Watch about now.
Tomorrow I shall post for the Insecure Writers Support Group (June 2012 edition) and then I shall be taking a blog break until the following Monday to entertain out-of-town friends. Alex C., I shall be wanting to compare Prometheus notes next Monday with you. :)
Not reading, not reading, not reading...
ReplyDeleteI'm not done with book two yet, so I'm not looking at your post, but just wanted to share in the love of GOT. I did catch a glimpse of that ugly white walker looking thing, and I'm a little worried for Sam and Jon now.
You're forgetting about his invisibility cloak (kept in the emergency pouch in his back pocket). GRRMartin told me about this in an aside over lunch.
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting right beside you on the WTF?! train. I shall hold out faith though that HBO will surprise and delight next season. (I hope)
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of these books or the show. I'm totally out of the loop. But the first pic you have on your post is super duper creepy. I think I'm going to have nightmares with the guy tonight. Ack!
ReplyDeleteI will have two movie reviews for you Monday, sir! Not that I want to see two movies...
ReplyDeleteI'm curious too what they're going to do with Sam. I don't think they'll kill him off but I'm a little afraid you're on to something with that kill one and the rest dissipate possibility.
ReplyDeleteI'm sad to say I haven't read A Dance With Dragons yet but it's good to know Samwell's still alive.
Maybe an old man will come along making a noise like a giant lizard and all the White Walkers will scatter until they regain their courage and come back in greater numbers. But by then Sam will be at the old man's house to get his father's magic sword and to sign up to help the old man rescue a princess.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty ridiculous, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI think it's clear from the ending that the writers intend to have that undead army ignore him, and pass him by in favor of attacking the Night's Watch in strength.
As far as I could tell though, that was only one Other/White Walker, and the rest were Wights.
Now, if I remember correctly, Sam does not kill the White Walker until a day or more after the battle at the Fist of the First Men. And he is by himself, after many hours of trudging through the snow, basically running for his life.
They're really screwing up a lot of things.
Oh dear. Haven't read the books (though I plan to at some point) and don't get HBO so I can't watch the series. :((((
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt. They made it seem as if the walkers were going to ignore Sam and just keep on going after the bigger group. I don't find that realistic, but whatever. In the long term, given how Martin likes to mess with us, I wouldn't be surprised if Sam becomes king!
ReplyDeleteI had to pretty much skip your posting today because I swear I'm gonna watch Game of Thrones, so I can't indulge in any spoilers.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great time with your friends, Michael, and I plan to see Prometheus but not until I've caught up on a couple other movies. (Seems I'm behind the curve on everything these days.)
It's looking grim for poor old Samwell. Even if that blue-eyed wrinkled guy gives him a free pass, what's to stop one of the bare chested minions sticking the spear in? Oh the power of narrative imperative? Or the pause between season two and three.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought Alex was the out of town friend you were entertaining and I freaked out thinking he'd be here in Utah! Then I re-read. LOL. :D
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ReplyDeleteIt's a dream. He's just having a nightmare.
ReplyDeleteCheapass writers' trick #347.
I have some awards for you to choose from.
ReplyDeletehttp://warpednerdiversity.blogspot.com/
I can't read your post because Mrs. Chatterbox and I are addicted to Game of Thrones and we've been away on vacation and haven't seen the last three episodes.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that Martin is very involved in the writing of the show, so, maybe, this is some revisionist writing from him. Something he signed off on at least.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch this series but now I'm glad I don't. It frustrates me when the TV shows deviate from the books.
ReplyDeletemothereffing blogger ate my first comment.
ReplyDeleteI'm more concerned about what the hell happened to the army camping outside of winterfell? Theon gets knocked out and his twenty men take him and flee, and then when the kids come out of hiding, there is no army. Where did they go? That pissed me off to no end
So it's a really good cliffhanger, then. Something that'll keep your mind occupied until the next season.
ReplyDeleteHBO did all the changing stuff in True Blood. I read all the Sookie Stackhouse books and was kind of pleased that there were difference. That being said, the differences were CRaaaaazzzzy.
ReplyDeletela la la la, not listening - I haven't watched any of the show yet :) Read books 1-4 or something though.
ReplyDeleteSo I noticed in the comments someone said all the rest were Wights. Are Wights like zombies?
ReplyDeleteokay g of t authority! which book should i read to get ahead for next season? i read the first & it seemed pretty accurate w/season 1. didnt read the 2nd...now i want to catch up!
ReplyDeletethanks!
I like that glass or ice sword :) and they seem like such charming creatures :)
ReplyDeleteI still have to catch up on The Game of Thrones so I didn't read your whole post... didn't want to hit the spoilers. Cheers Michael!
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that season 3 will handle this. Although most of them ignored Sam, I have a feeling this is where he'll kill one with the dragon glass, and then they'll cut the scene from the book where he saves Gilly (?) from one. Just my thought anyway.
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