The nominees for this year’s MTV Movie and TV Awards have been announced! Once again, Game of Thrones has scored triple nominations.
Season Seven is up for the coveted Best Show Award, while Emilia Clarke and Maisie Williams have been nominated for Best Hero and Best Performance respectively.
This is the second year that Game of Thrones has been in the running for Best Show. Last year also saw nominations for Emilia Clarke as Best Actor, and Hodor’s death was nominated for the Tearjerker Award.
The MTV Awards honour outstanding achievements in film and television, and they are voted for by the general public. That means you can go and give your love to Game of Thrones right here!
Or you can check out the rest of the nominations here. Best of luck to everyone involved.
Hmm, MTV awards you say… That means they won’t get any wins, but it’s still nice to receive the nominations.
I would almost prefer if GoT didn’t win anything from the Hipster, I mean MTV Awards. MTV can go f*ck itself right in the ear.
Oh wait, I mean congrats on the nomination GoT!!!!
It’s no secret I adore Maisie Williams. However, I’m not sure she should’ve been nominated for “Best Performance” based on S7. After the Brienne sparring match in e4, Arya kind of disappeared into the alternate universe PsychoArya LF-Sansa storyline, and didn’t re-emerge until the lovely final battlements scene near the end of e7.
You know what? F*ck it. Give Maisie the trophy for that one scene with Brienne + the cold open of e1.
Ten Bears,
You don’t have to like the storyline, but she was good in E5 and E6.
Ten Bears,
I always found the scene between Brienne and Arya ridiculous. Maisie got better scenes last season, even with the awfull plot and writing.
Clob,
They’re “voted for by the general public”? Hmm. Maisie Williams is pretty popular. Here are the nominees in her category:
Best Performance
Millie Bobby Brown – Stranger Things
Darren Criss – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Katherine Langford – 13 Reasons Why
Issa Rae – Insecure
Maisie Williams – Game of Thrones
Ten Bears,
Stranger Things is the flavor of the month, so that one will almost surely win. Having said that, I’ll be rooting for Arya because, well, Arya.
Ten Bears,
Voted on by the public + MTV awards ends up being like the People’s Choice Awards. Meaning, popular to younger crowds and ballot stuffers, not necessarily due to quality. For instance, last year’s “best actor in a show” went to Millie while Maisie’s S6 didn’t even earn a nomination, and movie went to Beauty and the Beast. I fully expect Millie to win Best Performance or Katherine Langford for 13 Reasons Why simply because those were/are popular with the younger demographic. Best Hero will likely be Gal Gadot or Daisy Ridley for the same reason. Even though I personally thought S2 of Stranger Things was subpar compared to the ‘decent’ S1 I expect it will win best show.
I felt the Brienne/Arya sparring session was one of the dumber things they ever did on the show. It was like watching a parody of the show. Then again they had Arya do parkour the season before, so maybe it’s just a thing for them with the character of Arya at this point.
Ten Bears,
She still had enough stand-out scenes in S7 to get nominated (and win!) for me at least. Her reunion with Nymeria, even though it could have been better, was still a great scene and superbly acted. All of her scenes in 7×04 were great, with her sparring match against Brienne being the standout. And I don’t think I need to again profess my love for her scene with Sansa in 7×07.
So I’m definitely rooting for her! And I must confess that I think Stranger Things is overrated. It’s good. But not that good..
This I don’t really get.. She started taking lessons from Syrio in episode 3 of season 1. Then we see her constantly practicing her moves in S4, and then in S6 Arya undergoes some very intense training at the HoB&W. It’s not hard to imagine her putting all the things she’s learned together to become an accomplished fighter. After all, she’s very precocious and determined, and will pick these things up quickly.
Furthermore, it was just a sparring match. If it was a real fight to the death, Brienne’s experience would probably have won out. Although Arya wouldn’t even need to fight if she really wanted Brienne dead — FM skills = dead Brienne. 🙂
Anyway, I thought it was a perfect way to show these two characters bonding over a shared love of swordplay.
Yes, the parkour they had her do was a bit ridiculous, but I loved the sparring match to bits!
Enharmony1625,
Arya practiced with Syrio months? Brienne trained years with Tarth master of arms. Not to mention a tiny girl with a short rapier fighting against an armored and tall fighter. Brienne had the advantage of armor and body and weapon reach.
Martin in ADWD does this with Barristan fight. He turns the fight quite realistic without falling into a Hollywood show.
D&D have this concept of Arya being a ninja assassin of awesomeness. Like they have turned Jon into an action man. They even wanted in season 5 to turn Jaime into an awesome one handed swordsman and Martin’s himself had to tell then “No”.
But Maisie was awesome. She could put a human character (Lannister soldiers, Nymeria, the Crypts meeting, the ramparts talk with Sansa) and then next chapter turn into a Hannibal Lecter. That’s quite impressive.
And Arya had the advantage of speed and precision strikes against an armoured opponent. There’s a YouTube video of a weapons master who analyses screen fights, and he said that this was one of the best choreographed sword fights GoT has done. He wasn’t without issue on a few things, but overall it was very positive.
She trained with Syrio for months, yes, and then as I pointed out, self-training throughout her time on the road, and training with the FM in Braavos (including being blind which heightened her other senses). This all amounts to at least a few years of training.
Also, Needle isn’t a rapier. I can’t remember what he (the YouTuber) called it, but it’s not a rapier.
This is a strength of the visual medium. I don’t think you ever get the same visceral reaction reading about a fight as you do watching it (as long as it’s well done.. *cough* Dorne *cough*), so this is the show playing to its strengths. I don’t know what plans George has for Arya in terms of her being a fighter, but her fighting skills in the show might very well be a stand-in for her insanely powerful warging abilities in the books.
Eonwe,
So how many seasons of various trainings we need for Arya to become great fighter?
17? 33?
Since you like Martin it seems “never” is a good answer.
Eonwe,
But Maisie was awesome. She could put a human character (Lannister soldiers, Nymeria, the Crypts meeting, the ramparts talk with Sansa) and then next chapter turn into a Hannibal Lecter. That’s quite impressive.
Spot-on, Eonwe! From episode 6.8 on she’s been Arya AND she’s been No One. Arya is still kind, vulnerable, considerate, giving and wanting affection. She becomes No One when she has a quarry; otherwise she might give in to her tender feelings. No One has to make and carry out complex plans and treat people objectively lest she endangers herself and her mission. She walks, talks, and acts differently from Arya. My theory is she does this one of two ways 1) She may be capable of warging or at least self-hypnosis. Or more likely 2) she uses something like method acting. Since Season 2 Arya’s shown aptitude for passing for someone else and improvising identities and ‘dialogue’, and in Season 6 she had three episodes of actual theatre exposure. Afterwards, Jaqen declared her No One, she declared herself Arya, and Jaqen nodded smilingly.
So in Season 7 Maisie and Arya in essence played two roles. From the sparring scene through the trial, she was No One. With the soldiers, Hot Pie, Nymeria, Bran and Sansa, and later with Sansa on the battlements, she was Arya. I expect we’ll see mostly Arya next season. No One sometimes did ‘act’ creepy, but Hannibal Lecter? She had no appetite for that 🙂
Mr Derp,
LOL, agreed…I mean, I’ll still root for the obvious best nominees (Maisie/Arya, Dany, GoT), but winning something from MTV ain’t exactly the highest honor. ;p
I love, love, love Arya, & her match with Brienne. 8~D
mau,
None. Arya is not a super ninja who must go on a killing spree to be a strong character. She is a girl scarred by what she has lived and who is surviving despite the odds.
Same with Jon. Swordsman Jon with plot armor? I prefer lord Snow. A character who makes cuestionable choices and who is put again and again between his duty and his heart. A Jon who is an insightful politician and strategist.
We don’t need characters spinning their swords and killing stormtroopers. We need what the show was built in the beginning. A human tragedy due to the own human nature of the characters.
Off to vote!
Although I agree with you 100%, that ship sailed after season 4/5 – I wish it wasn’t so, but it is and GOT has only gotten more popular, the masses have spoken and they like the faster paced more action version… it is the last season, only a few episodes left – GOT is what it is, it dosen’t change the books – they are still there for more POV, but it is it’s own thing now and at this point, I’m sure they will add some of that human tragedy to the end, but i’m sure they will also add things to satisfy the huge audience it has and they like a HEA… i’m sure we will get a bit of both.
“Season 7 doesn’t deserve any awards. Game of Thrones is trash. I love it, but I hate it really. I have nothing better to do. That actor is great but they’re actually terrible. That iconic scene everyone loves is ridiculous. I wish the show went back to being lots and lots of meetings again.” – Watchers on the Wall regulars.
Eonwe,
Plot armor with Jon? He already died once. And, in my opinion, is very likely to die again (even though I don’t want him to). It seems to me the show followed the books fairly closely with regards to Jon’s sword skills; the first time we really saw him use his skills was at Hardhome, which we didn’t get in the books. But he most certainly will be fighting the Battle of the Bastards in the books and will certainly have to use his skills.
I guess I’m just confused. The show is going in the same direction as the books; it is all culminating to the Battle for the Dawn. Are the characters supposed to just talk things out with the White Walkers? There has to be plenty of battles. We have to have, “characters spinning their swords and killing storm troopers.” That is where the show and the books have been heading to this whole time.
PS: I think they are trying to make book Jon and show Jon as similar as possible. He is still an insightful politician; I mean, he was Lord Commander for a whole season and is now (a former) KitN. And he has definitely had to make some questionable decisions (letting the wildlings through, going to Hardhome, betraying Stannis to put Mance out of his misery, hanging his fellow brothers including a young boy, heading South to treat with a Targaryen, etc.). What more do you want from the man?
I would suggest just sitting back and enjoying the show! As much as some people want it to be, it is not the books. We should all stop comparing the two and just enjoy what D&D are giving us, which is an extraordinary story 🙂
Stark Raven’ Rad,
I’m with you on this. It explains perfectly Arya’s S7e2 morphing from disinterested to compassionate in her scene with Hot Pie. (Either that, or the director whose name shall not be spoken underwhelmed yet again.)
Enharmony1625,
✅ to everything you wrote. If I may, allow me to add my two (or three) cents…
• For me, the best part of the S7e4 Arya-Brienne scene was before the sparring actually began (though I loved that too.) That first camera shot showing Arya from behind walking toward the entryway to the courtyard with her new Ned-like hairdo had me giddy with anticipation.
Then, the frontal shot showing Arya all cleaned up, wearing her new costume with Needle on one hip and her VS dagger on the other, was (for me) the culmination of seven seasons of Arya dressed in rags and getting “schooled” until she finally became who she was destined to become.
The blink-or-you-missed-it, hand-to-hand dagger flip at the end of the sparring match was fabulous, but even better (for me) was Arya’s nonchalant dagger twirl beforehand, after Brienne remarked: “Nice sword. Very nice dagger.”
I just loved Arya’s response when she unsheathed Needle and Brienne said [paraphrasing] “No my lady, you can’t use that. It’s too small.” Arya: “Don’t worry. I won’t cut you.” 🤣😂😂😍
• (10:35 am – to be cont…)
Jaehaerys,
First time we saw Jon using his skills was in season 4. After doing Pompeii Kit came back and started using what he learned in that movie even doing his own stunts himself. One time he moved the sword so fast that the filming crew had to watch the shoot in slow mo to see what was happening. That’s why we are seeing chapters like Hardhome, Battle of Bastards, etc… D&D have focused Jon’s character into Kit swordsmanship skills.
About the Battle of the Bastards being in the books. I’m not so sure about it. The show and the books are going in different ways with characters and plots quite different.
About Jon’s plot Armour. I can do some suspension of disbelief, but Battle of the Bastards went over the top with Jon surviving volleys of arrows who kill everyone on shoot. Or super Ramsay suddenly being nerfed of his archery skills. Hitting Rickon in the heart with a clean shot? No pro. Hitting Jon who is using a tiny shield a few feet? Impossible. Same with him surviving hypothermia last season. Or Jaime being saved by Bronn at the last second from Drogon’s fire. Or Ramsay 20 good guys. They’re moments that (to me) break suspension of disbelief. I can’t picture Ned, Tywin, Robb or Oberyn in those kind of situations.
I just prefer moments like Olenna parting words or the Lannister soldiers talking with Arya. Or Sam treating Jorah out of loyalty to late lord commander Jeor Mormont. Or Tyrion walking a charred battlefield. Or Varys talking about Aerys and how he tried to detach himself from what he was part off those days.
A matter of personal preferences. My favorite moments are Tyrion’s “confession” (Peter was a giant who dwarfed everyone) in season 4 and Jaime talking about Aerys in the baths in season 3. Damn, now I want to watch those chapters again :D.
Enharmony1625,
(cont. from 10:35 am)
• Whether deliberate or not, the other aspect of the sparring match that I appreciated was its integration of the hard lessons Arya had learned from Syrio, the FM, and the Hound. (See excerpts below.) In particular, in S4e5, Sandor taught her – accompanied by a snack across the face so she wouldn’t forget it – that relying on her “water dance” moves to attempt to pierce the torso of an opponent wouldn’t be enough when facing an adversary wearing armor using “the knight’s dance” — “hacking and hammering” with a big f*cking sword.
So in the sparring match – facing a larger opponent wearing (leather?) armor and wielding a big f*cking sword – Arya targeted her adversary’s hands, elbows, knees, and throat – areas unprotected by armor.
As a character in a different fictional universe might say: “Sandor Clegane taught you well, young Padawan.”
…………………………….
S1e3, Syrio: “Remember, child, this is not the dance of the Westeros we are learning, the knight’s dance, hacking and hammering. This is the Braavos dance, the water dance. It is swift … and sudden.”
S1e4, Arya: “Syrio says every hurt is a lesson and every lesson makes you better.”
S4e5, Sandor (after whacking Arya across the face): “Your friend’s dead and Meryn Trant’s not, ’cause Trant had armor, and a big f*cking sword.”
Eonwe,
You forgot deus ex Benjen in S7e6, deus ex Brienne in S6e2, etc.
In all seriousness, I think most of us enjoy the “high thread count”™, character-driven moments more than the glossy action scenes. Don’t get me wrong: I like watching dragons roasting Lannister armies and swarming ice zombies vs. outnumbered humans. I just don’t particularly find them “rewatchable” more than once.
™ Trademark term courtesy of Thronetender.
Ten Bears,
Spot on! There is so much visual storytelling happening in this scene that goes far beyond “hey, let’s show off Arya as a badass”.
Just a few more tidbits I want to add:
– The mutual smile they both share at the end speaks volumes. I loved that!
– This scene avoids redundancy in their reunion since they already had a conversation back in 4×10 about their desire to learn sword fighting in their youth and their fathers’ role in that. It was the perfect way to show them bonding.
– Having Sansa witness it stirs up feelings of jealousy and concern that contribute to her suspicions of Arya in 7×06.
This 4 or 5 minute scene accomplishes so much. It’s very well written, and I think it’s only befitting that we acknowledge the positives just as much as we point out the negatives in the writing. And this was by far one of the huge positives of S7!
I only watched stranger things and GoT of these shows. But for me Millie Bobby Brown (season 2 stranger Things) wins over Maisie’s performance in season 7. I think both are even when it comes to acting skills, but comparing these 2 seasons, Millie wins for me (hopefully maisie have a better season 8, she deserve’s it. I really hope D&D give her some scenes where she can blink out)
Jaehaerys,
Jaehaerys–could NOT agree more; that’s pretty much exactly what I would’ve said. The dialog and character development and quieter moments and subtle, skillful acting are all absolutely wonderful in this show…but, the fights and battling have always been very important as well. And the story has always been heading, ultimately, to where we see it moving now.
(Also totally agree with all the praise of the Arya/Brienne spar and what made it so great!)
Enharmony1625,
“just a few more tidbits I want to add:
– The mutual smile they both share at the end speaks volumes. I loved that!
– This scene avoids redundancy in their reunion since they already had a conversation back in 4×10 about their desire to learn sword fighting in their youth and their fathers’ role in that. It was the perfect way to show them bonding.
– Having Sansa witness it stirs up feelings of jealousy and concern that contribute to her suspicions of Arya in 7×06.”….
__________________
Can I add some tidbits to your tidbits?
• The mutual smile Arya and Brienne shared at the end of the sparring match was a nice bookend, or callback to the wide smile Arya gave Brienne when they first met – until Sandor walked up, spotted Brienne’s Lannister gold sword, and everything went sideways in a hurry.
• In S4e10, Brienne greeted (the girl she’d soon find out was) Arya with the words: “I like your sword.” She greeted Arya in S7e4 with the words: “Nice sword. Very nice dagger.” Both were sort of an implied recognition by one nonconformist warrior woman to another.
• I did not know what to make of Sansa’s inscrutable expression when she witnessed Arya’s kickass fighting skills firsthand. My initial impression was that Sansa finally realized that Arya’s kill list (first described to Sansa in the WF crypts scene, below) which Sansa thought was a big joke, was deadly serious: Her little sister was f*cking lethal, and when Arya mentioned (in the scene with Bran) that most of the people on her list were already dead, it’s because Arya had killed them. 👸🏻😍
(From S7e4, WF crypts)
Arya. “They say you killed Joffrey. Did you?”
Sansa: “I wish I had.”
Arya: “Me, too. I was angry when I heard someone else had done it. However long my list got, he was always first.”
Sansa: “Your list?”
Arya: “Of people I’m going to kill.”
(Sansa chuckles)
kevin1989,
If the showrunners write some scenes for Maisie Williams in S8 like she had in S4, then next year’s MTV Awards will have to announce at the outset: “We’re going to have to give her every f*cking award in this room.”
Re: Arya and Sansa’s reunion in 704…..
I think the list is something addressed in three stages.
1 – In the crypts, Sansa treats it as a bit of a joke and Arya echoes that.
2 – In the godswood, Sansa realizes when Bran brings the subject up, that Arya’s list does actually exist. But, when Arya says most of them are dead already, I think Sansa considers it more a wish list of names than anything else – after all, Joffrey was apparently always top of it and Sansa knows Arya had nothing to do with that.
3 – In the training yard, Sansa sees her sister’s skill for the first time as she matches Brienne in their sparring match. It is at this point I think Sansa realizes that Arya has the skill to kill, and probably did remove some names from her list by herself.
This! I don’t even care if I have to suspend belief to be invested in her scenes. Arya may be a more calculated character but even with this “bad ass assassin” thing going on, we still get to see a human, and humane, side to her. Even when the storytelling is at it’s lowest, for me it is still some of the best character development over the seasons for a main player. I wish TPTB had spent a little more time doing the same service to other characters, mainly Jaime. Not a huge fan in the books but he grew on me. Even less of a fan in the show, though NCW is really damn convincing.
Stark Raven’ Rad,
I just rewatched all Arya scenes in S7 through the “filter” of your Arya/No One theory, and it would explain Arya’s weird behavior in that scene in which she muses to Sansa about cutting off Sansa’s face and impersonating her.
When Arya/No One was challenging Sansa to play the Game of Faces, and then coldly imagining what it’d be like to wear Sansa’s face and clothes and “be” the Lady of Winterfell, she sounded like she was channeling Jaqen. That was not “Arya” talking. Advancing on a frightened Sansa with the dagger pointed at her was not “Arya” either.
But when Arya turned the blade around and left the dagger for Sansa, that to me signified that neither one of Arya’s alter-egos had any intention of murdering Sansa or becoming Lady of Winterfell. After all, if that was Arya’s plan, that would’ve been the perfect time to carry it out. After calming down, wouldn’t Sansa have realized that?
So later on, when LF invited Sansa to play “a little game” to deduce that Arya wanted to murder Sansa so she (Arya) could become Lady of Winterfell, Sansa should’ve had reservations, and thought to herself: “Wait a second. If that’s what Arya really wanted, when she was in her No One mode she wouldn’t have hesitated and could have easily killed me. But she didn’t. Instead, she turned the dagger around, and set it down for me to use on her if I wanted.”
Compassionate Arya and Dispassionate No One co-existing, with the latter identity “switched on” when it’s gift-giving time, makes perfect sense.
As you aptly put it:
“She becomes No One when she has a quarry; otherwise she might give in to her tender feelings. No One has to make and carry out complex plans and treat people objectively lest she endangers herself and her mission.”
I suppose we will never know whether the writers concocted the sister vs. sister rivalry after deciding that LF was no longer relevant to the end game; or as a way to keep Arya “busy” while she was hanging around WF with nothing else to do.
I still thought that Arya & Sansa’s reconciliation could’ve been achieved differently, with the viewer “in on” their setup of LF, instead of keeping the viewer in the dark for the sake of one “Gotcha!” moment in Episode 7. (Better yet, I would’ve preferred to see the sisters actually answer each other’s questions, e.g., “where did you get that letter from?”)
P.S. After Arya was brought into the great hall, as soon as Sansa announced: “You stand accused of murder; you stand accused of treason”, shouldn’t LF have immediately sensed something was up? After all, Arya had not been accused of “murdering” anyone. Even in LF’s “alternative facts” presentation to Sansa, he only insinuated Arya intended to murder Sansa.
So, once LF heard the accusation “You stand accused of murder…”, that smug look should’ve disappeared from his face. Instead, it was only after Sansa’s dramatic pause when she said “How do you answer these charges….Lord Baelish?” that LF’s smirk disappeared from his face.
Darren Criss should win Best Performance. I would vote for him if I could figure out how to.
It seems that voting is only possible from the USA. That stinks.