Season 8 Episode 5 of Game of Thrones the Bells the burning of King's Landing was somehow even worse than episode 3 the battle of Winterfell. What a twist! I guess my expectations were subverted. Let's break this down like that last one. Hope you like it! PSA Sitch
(5 votes)
Comments
(Old Spike)
I thought the 1st episode and most recent episode were pretty good but I wouldn't watch it any more if it wasn't the final season. It's become shallow & stupid, those military tactics in episode 3 are unforgivable.
I think there are a number of reasons Dany went full American on the city. It was a bit of a surprise but we kinda all saw it coming. They set her up as the bad guy in the last episode when her friend was beheaded & when John Snow & the spy master betrayed her. She doesn't wanna not be queen so has to stamp her authority. She has personal reasons to smash the castle so that part was no surprise at all.
The latest episode sucks in that it tried to make the civilians being slaughtered a big deal but it was very meh. It was overly dramatized. I didn't give a shit that those civis were being cooked myself. Just didn't seem real enough. Also, the last time we saw the civis they were embracing a religious cult & being total wankers.
(Old Spike)
made a whole image for why those military tactics were fine. the problem wasn't the plan, it was that it didn't go as it was planned.
agree on the reasons to smash the castle. while watching that part when dany was with the dragon on top of the wall, then jumped off, i mean it was clear as hell she was going to fly over the city straight for the red keep where cersei, her enemy, was, but then she did exactly not that. it was just poor brainfart writing "what if she just ignores her enemy who's right there and just kills all the civilians? yeah that'll be a big shock to everyone let's go with that!"
aforementioned image:
(Old Spike)
why not put the artillery further back?
Maybe so they could fire more than 2 volleys?
Cavalry isn't for charging at the front lines man. No matter how loose the lines are they just don't do that. A loose front line should be met with a compact force like the Unsullied.
The battlefield prep was also fucked. They should have setup more shit in the battlefield to slow them down & funnel them through holes to created kill zones.
I don't think they could say they were surprised by the speed of the zombies because John Snow etc had encountered them before & seen what they're like.
(Old Spike)
if you put the artillery further back, you just have to wait longer for the enemy to advance into range. the number of shots is exactly the same.
that's right, cavalry isn't for charging the front lines, but that rule is for mindful armies who advance with a solid front. the army of the dead were thought be mindless, and so would advance like a pack of animals - only a few in front, followed by a dense pack, followed by the stragglers. the cavalry was supposed to pick off as many of those few front-runners as they could, then retreat before the main dense pack reached them, which is a sound plan.
slow them down how and with what? they barely managed to get the first trench dug and full of wood before the army arrived, and even if they had time to build another one further forward, it would then be out of range from archers on the walls.
john snow did see them, always going at walking/staggering pace. remember just previously a party was able to head out from winterfell around the army of the dead, reach the last hearth behind them all, and get back again well before the dead arrive. the dead never outpaced anyone on horseback before the night battle. the night king must've given them unusual speed to be able to so quickly set upon the dothraki and overwhelm them so fast they couldn't even gallop away. the plan didn't account for this never before seen behaviour.
(Old Spike)
The trebuchets (a poor choice of artillery but w/e) could have been in or behind the castle or at the very least behind the trenches. The trenches should have been in front, not behind the main army. Attack them as they get to the obstacles, whether trenches or makeshift fencing. It's military 101 stuff man. The trench created a bottleneck for retreating forces, working the opposite to how they should have.
If the "zombies weren't supposed to run" idea checks out I still don't see how this changes anything. I still question the cavalry charging by themselves before the battle started. That charge made it impossible to use the trebuchets.
The biggest problem was that the main artillery, the dragons, did fuck all. What I'd imagine for a good strategy would be bottleneck the enemy with makeshift shit, preferably flamable, and just smoke them with strafing runs. Whatever got through could meet the unsillied with the regular forces as reserves, enforcing areas as needed. Cavalry used as a dynamic force or flanking the night king generals or as additional stop-gap reserves.
(Old Spike)
The castle may not have been big enough to house the troops, calvary and trebuchets. Digging the trenches further out takes more time since they would be much larger.
My main gripes (For the sake of having a complaint really.) Is how did they dig trenches in frozen ground, and how did they forge all of that dragonglass in such a short time with one forge (Presumeably)
(Old Spike)
thought the same about the digging, but then they really did have a ton of people there to do it. if caesar's army could do it on normal ground in a day, the northmen should've been able to do the same in cold ground (not frozen through, permafrost, not far enough north for that) in a week or so.
(Old Spike)
they'd still only fire once, as the army was advancing. when the army gets closer the shots just go over their heads. trebuchets are pretty terrible defensive weapons for that reason. they only ever get to fire more than once if their target isn't moving, such as at a castle.
trenches aren't supposed to be in front of the army, they're supposed to be in front of the position you want to defend, which was winterfell. usually you'd be right, and you wouldn't send an army in front of trenches, but this wasn't a usual battle against a usual army trying not to get killed. the idea was to kill as many as possible and delay them from reaching the walls as long as possible.
they did use the trebuchets during the charge. the shots went over the heads of the cavalry and into the enemy forces. where they were presumed to be anyway.
(Old Spike)
great post FA. this guy is right on point with his arguments. shit has to come from somewhere, and build up over time before spilling over.
(Long Spike)
Books not out yet. Writers for the show have only the authors dot points to go off, "just in case I die before I finish the book" he said.
So the writers for the show have nothing solid to build a final season from then dot points of 'this happens, that gets destroyed, this person survives this this one doesn't'. With little or no filler from the author, they got to fill in the gaps with stuff they (the HBO writers) can dream up while still staying as close as possible to the dot points and the budget margin and slaughter the cash cow for its tasty money giblets.