If I said that Bran will never remember who pushed him, then that’d be a spoiler. But it’s impossible for all but one person on this entire planet to make that statement and have it be true. So sorry, no spoiler, son.
So advocate away. What’s stopping you?
I’m usually super-duper-paranoid about spoilers, and advocate a very high level of (proper) use of spoiler boxes. I do think there’s one exception in this type of thread where knowledge of the books can be brought up, which is in clarifying something that we saw on screen that was clearly intended to be the same as the book, and was not intended to be enigmatic, but people were confused by it. So restating with confidence who Asha (the wild woman taking captive) is, which you could know from the show, but would know with more confidence from having read the book, and is not intended to be a secret in either.
I’d say less Henry VIII and more Edward IV.
But it is a spoiler for you to say that it doesn’t happen in the the books you’ve read so far. How can you deny that?
Anyone else have this moment? –
Jon Snow: There has always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm. …
Bran: I saw something nasty in the woodshed.
You’d be spoiling books 2 3 and 4. You’d be saying that during those books, Bran never remembered who pushed him. It could be in book 5, but that’s irrelevant - you’re taking your knowledge of what happens in books 2 through 4 and telling us.
Bran is an irrelevant example because the characters found out another way.
But your general notion is that if something doesn’t happen in books 2-4, it’s not a spoiler to mention that it doesn’t happen. So take my other example. Let’s say someone speculates that Joffrey is going to be killed when experimenting with his sexuality using a magic buttplug. If you were to come in and say “nope, doesn’t happen, as of book 4 Joffrey hasn’t been killed”, do you not think that constitutes a spoiler?
“Banishing people who’ve read the books” is a pretty extreme position. Overkill. But we’ve tried to play nice. I think the intent that no one use their book knowledge in any way to spoil, hint at spoilers, let us know things we shouldn’t know, let us know what does or doesn’t happen, should not be posting about it here. You should be posting as if the only thing you know about the story is the show. And for the most part people abide by this, but then someone has to come in and arrogantly declare “oh, I know more about you than you do about the level of spoiler you’re willing to tolerate, and I deem this a minor enough spoiler to share, so nyah nyah”, then the thread has to derail into an argument in which people reiterate that people should take the spoilers to the several other threads designed for it, and then we’re back to ruining the thread like we are right fucking now.
So we can avoid arguments entirely, let’s just make the threads cover the subject of what is in the tv show. And let it be a discussion about the TV show. And take the semi-spoilers about the background to the thread about the semi-spoilers about the background. And take the spoilers to the spoiler thread where spoilers are the whole point. Which is what the OP has been asking for the entire run of the show. And is what the moderators said was how these threads should be run.
Now yes, some people can be oversensitive about non-spoilers. That can get a little annoying. But you know what’s 10 times more annoying? The people who come in and declare “Oh I don’t care, I’ll come in and shit over your thread because you’re all oversensitive, I’ll say what I want, it’s not that big a spoiler”. The easiest way to avoid any of these sort of derailing arguments is to abide by the rules each of the seperate threads was created for - and in this case - only discuss the TV show.
And so questions like “But why is it called the Seven Kingdoms when there’s only one king?” should be answered with “Check the other thread. I just hope you don’t see anything else in that thread that you don’t like”.
That’ll be fun.
-Joe
There’s a thread exactly set up to handle that sort of question. If people only want the answer to that one specific question, they can just search for replies to their post and ignore everything else.
That most certainly would be more fun than people dropping spoilers and squabbling.
As for the Bran example, the more relevant part was whether he remembers seeing the twincest. If someone speculates that Bran is going to remember, then someone comes in and says, “NOPE, in the latest book he still hasn’t remembered seeing the twincest!” That’s a fucking spoiler and it’s ridiculous to say it’s not.
It’s even more ridiculous to say that you should be able to come into the “no books” thread, say that shit without even having the courtesy to put it in a spoiler box, and the people who dare protest in any way are the crazy ones.
As we wait for the next season, there’s bound to be all kinds of speculation and theories discussed here by non book readers. If people who’ve read the books insist on coming in and telling everyone which of those theories haven’t panned out in the books, all the minor spoilers compounded will eventually constitute major fucking spoilage. Not to mention that we can also read between the lines, and if someone responds to every bit of speculation to let us know it hasn’t yet happened in the books, when all of a sudden there’s an awkward silence, it doesn’t take Sherlock fucking Holmes to see the turd in the punchbowl.
But hey, I just read all the scripts for the next few seasons of Breaking Bad. Don’t worry, I won’t give you any spoilers, but just tell me what you think is going to happen and I’ll only tell you when those things haven’t happened for the next few seasons.
*What?!? You’re insane if you don’t want to drink the punch, there’s only a few little turds floating here and there. The punch in between is perfectly fine! Oh me? Nah, I already drank a whole lot of fresh punch earlier. I’m good! But if I was thirsty like you are, I’d be totally drinking that punch, it was delicious!
*
You are right, I will cease to participate in these threads anymore. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Where has anyone ever declared that they don’t care, they’re going to shit all over the thread? Exaggerate much?
If I ask you if my pet theory about Breaking Bad is true or not, and you put that it hasn’t happened yet behind a spoiler box, and I click said spoiler box and then bitch about you spoiling it for me – which of us is the one with the problem?
To be fair on this one, that spoiler box was moderator-imposed. At the time I posted it, it never occurred to me that it was a spoiler (and I still am not 100% convinced), so it was right out in the open.
Except that nobody asked for any book knowledge, there were no spoiler boxes, and there was no bitching until it came from people denying negative spoilers were really spoilers.
I think so too. There are some Wars of the Roses parallels: York vs Lancaster; Stark vs Lannister.
I saw him as loosely based on Edward IV, who took the throne by force and married a woman whose unpopular family thereby acquired lots of wealth and power. When he died his brother Richard, who had been named Protector in Edward’s will, discovered that Edward’s marriage was invalid and thus his children were illegitimate.
Grandfather: Do you want me to read this or not?
Kid: Who gets Humperdinck!
Grandfather: I don’t understand?
Kid: Who kills Prince Humperdinck? At the end, someone’s got to do it! Is it Inigo? Who?!
Grandfather: Nobody. Nobody kills him. He lives.
Kid: You mean he wins? Jesus, Grandpa! What did you read me this thing for?
Grandfather: You know, you…you’ve been very sick and you’re taking this story very seriously. I think we’d better stop now.
So funny on so many different levels.
-Joe
I’d just like to thank those who answered my questions & remark that I’m really enjoying these threads. I’m a spoiler whore & enjoy reading about them – gives me an advantage over the husband as we watch the shows.
I’ve read all of the threads – this one, the omnibus for all books, the “background info clarification only” and any others I can find. But I agree that those who do NOT wish to read spoilers are totally entitled to have a thread that is spoiler-free. And positively confirming that something happens **or doesn’t happen **at a given time IS A SPOILER!
Oh, and happy Friday & have a safe holiday to everyone in America.
That is all.
–Kath
Yeah, but making Ned’s daughter look at her father’s head on a pike … that’s straight-up sadism.
Ummm…emphasizing the point?
-Joe
Moderator’s Note.
As no less than two Moderator instructions have been summarily ignored, I’m closing this thread as I’d rather do that than start handing out Warnings. If someone wants to open a Spoiler Free First Season Game of Thrones Discussion thread, please do so, but this well is good and poisoned.
ETA: I’ve done so myself. Please use this thread to continue discussion of the first series of the TV show, without spoilers: Game of Thrones first season discussion thread [No Spoilers!]