Yeah, Hot Pie definitely has to come back. He hasn’t completed his character arc yet.
The last time he saw Arya he told her how pretty he thought she was. Could we see the beginnings of a lover’s triangle here.
I’m hoping for him to appear on The Great Westerosi Bake-Off.
Not sure if anyone posted this yet (it’s a long thread), but there is a nice episode of Shadiversity discussing whether the tactics for defending Winterfell made sense tactically and based on how such weapons were used in history (spoiler: no): link
In terms of the episode, I enjoyed it.
Yes, most of the familiar faces surviving did feel like a cheat in the end, but during the episode the tension was very high, and the spectacle of it: the number of extras used, the costumes and the CG, really made it feel like an epic battle in the way most films, let alone TV, rarely manage.
The biggest negative for me was just the confusing aspects e.g. I still don’t know what happened with the dragons, and why the frost dragon was using its blue fire against the other dragons and they did not attempt to use theirs.
But overall good ep, better than I expected.
I truly can’t stand Shadiversity. A good 75% of his videos are variations of how “Fantasy is WRONG because it is not historical realism.” Well, duhh! The other 25% seems to be about historical misconceptions that no actual historian has ever thought to be true. I guess it’s a very easy way to be a smug douchehat about things, but it’s a complete mystery to me how he has half a million followers when there are so many better channels about history on Youtube.
I could not disagree more.
Game of Thrones, for example, is not entirely fantasy: it includes many weapons, fortification styles and tactics from the real world. And analysing those elements and pointing out what is accurate and what is either an error or deliberate fantasy enhances my enjoyment of the show.
It’s just like watching a video about whether a given Dr House episode was medically accurate, or if Better Call Saul included accurate legal proceedings. I watch videos like this because I love the original shows and now want to learn more.
As to the second point about historians: yes, historians may not have such misconceptions, but the public at large do. I have learned plenty from his, and similar channels even though I know it is just basically “Let’s look at some cool weapons!” entertainment rather than an educational resource. Even within that context there are plenty of misconceptions he can and does debunk.
YMMV
Another military analysis:
A military historian rips apart the plan to defend Winterfell. Spoiler alert: The humans were idiots.
Highlights:
[ul]
[li]The Dothraki were sent to their slaughter (but why?!)*[/li][li]They should have put the infantry behind the trenches.[/li][li]They completely wasted their best weapon: the dragons.[/li][li]Bran should have been used as a ‘reconnaissance weapon.’[/li][li]Did Grey Worm even approve this plan?[/li][/ul]
*They should have also placed the artillery closer to, or behind, the castle walls to give the Dothraki more time to charge across the field. Finally, they should have started the attack with the artillery.
Sorry, can’t read 17 pages of thread, other people probably pointed out this but:
That battle was run like a very, very poor AI runs game battles.
You have an overwhelming force coming in and one of the greatest castles in the world: You decide to meet them in the open. (Granted, a siege of an overcrowded castle by an enemy that does not sleep, eat or drink would not be great either)
Light the weapons of the cavalry so they have light in their eyes and send them off into the dark without support. In fact, every force in the battle seems to take on the enemy in turn rather than working together.
Put the artillery in front of the infantry so its unprotected. How many shots did they get off in total?
Put the fire trench well away from your walls, so its had to light and the enemy can climb the walls after passing it.
Yes, you do actually need to man and reinforce the walls.
Yes, yelling at the undead dragon was a great idea Jon.