Game Of Thrones: 5 Winners & 5 Losers In 'Oathkeeper'
1. Ambitious Battle Sequences
This one is a loss for those of us craving a proper battle scene. In last week's list, we mentioned that Daenerys scenes are few and far between because most of the time she is just moving her army from A to B. Having said that, the sad fact is that when she does arrive at B, and has to sack a city, we arent rewarded with the visual feast of a good battle. In the case of Meereen, instead of an epic siege, Daenerys once again wins the city with a few men who sneak in through the back door. It begs the question: why does she even need such a huge army? Her entire storyline has been about the need for her to have a massive army in order to succeed in her ambition of conquering Westeros, but so far shes managed to sack two whole cities with just a few men and some trickery while the army stands outside the gates looking pretty. Meereen was meant to be the grand siege weve all been waiting for.
Daenerys isnt really at fault here, after all, she does win the city, and neither should we blame the writers; the true culprit is the budget constraints. Television may have come leaps and bounds in the last decade in terms of budget allocation and cost-effective visual effects, but the disappointing reality is that the show runners still cant afford to produce the kinds of battle sequences that the story requires. Game of Thrones is first and foremost about the characters and the drama, but it is still being presented in a visual medium, and we need something to visually reflect the conflicts that are the driving plot device of the story. The characters keep talking about their wars, but we never get to see them. Never forget, Daenerys hasn't actually gotten to Westeros yet, so what are they going show when (or if) she finally does? Surely by then the scale of the battles will have to increase? Were talking Pelennor Fields, people.
The closest weve come to a worthy battle so far was in Blackwater: a whole episode devoted to a battle sequence. Its no surprise that they spent a huge majority of the entire seasons budget on that episode alone, so why hasnt this been the case with Meereen? Even just a few more shots to show that there was an actual battle? They could easily have done away with the whole scene at Crasters Keep before Bran & co. are captured, and instead invested that portion of the budget on a few more visually engaging shots in the Meereen sequence. We can only hope that there is another battle coming this season that will get its just treatment; perhaps the Wildlings assault on the Wall?