There's no argument that the Game of Thrones writers certainly know how to turn a phrase: the dialogue is often quick, eloquent, poetic and witty, and yet, beneath the over elaborate metaphors and quaking insults, not much is actually being said. This isn't the case all the time, of course; Tyrion's speech at the end of his trial is a brilliant example of the writers nailing it, but too often idle small talk is covered over with a veneer of enigmatic pretentiousness. The Hound and Arya's exchanges are often fun, but they've been wandering around in the wilderness nearly all season now and what have they actually done in that time except replaying the same conversation over and over again? It's just played out with different words - well written, yes, but are they actually saying anything new or important? No. That's more or less the problem with Game of Thrones as a whole: it's all very superficial. A lot of what is said is interesting and entertaining, but ultimately means very little, as it's either being regurgitated, filling time or masking story problems. A lot of the time the dialogue could be easily cut down to half the size and the same meaning will still come across, and relentless exercises in how to use a thesaurus is not necessary.
