With the onset of season 8 filming, the cast of Game of Thrones is once again filling up Belfast, Northern Ireland, home to the show during most of filming every year. Shooting began yesterday, with Kit Harington, Nathalie Emmanuel and more spotted back in town. The real fun started two weeks ago though, with the season 8 read-through! The whole cast headed to Belfast to read the new scripts, and to rehearse for the week before filming resumed. Just released today are new images from last week of some actors in the city- before filming started, but still exciting nonetheless as it provides confirmation of more returning cast members!
PAP4U shared the new photos on Twitter this morning, showing Joe Dempsie, Hannah Murray, Jacob Anderson and Liam Cunningham on a Belfast street.
#Irishthrones #Watchersonthewall #GameofThrones Members of the GOT cast in Belfast for the read through. pic.twitter.com/BFQjMlYjLo
— pap4u (@PAP4U) October 24, 2017
A closer look:
Liam and Jacob were spotted before, but it’s great to have Dempsie and Murray officially back in action (not that we really expected otherwise). Season seven was a good one for Gilly and for Gendry; here’s hoping they all wind up at Winterfell in season 8!
I wonder why Emilia wasn’t.
Yaga,
She has already arrived..a photo of her with Kit and Jon Bradley [aka Sam]it was take it before 2-3 weeks …both of 3 walking on the streets of Belfast ..shopping
Artemisia,
Ah, thanks!
Yaga,
…oh ..you are so sweet….nothing
I’m going to go ahead and believe that this confirms that Gendry was not at Eastwatch when the Wall fell, whether it does or does not. 🙂
Could Season 7 really be described as “a good one” for Gilly? She had, what, three scenes?
If, as some of the renovations of the Winterfell set suggest, we’re going to see a lot of the characters hunkered down for a siege, that should hopefully be an opportunity for some good material for her, though. She hardly ever interacts with main characters other than Sam.
I don’t think anyone is really itching for some good gilly dialogue.
Any sight of Vladimir Furdik in Belfast yet?
Everyone is back!! 😀
I hope we see Lyanna and Meera again.
I’d say it’s very likely he was not there or managed to escape however James Hibberd (EW reporter with the best access to GOT) teased the fall out of the wall falling will be addressed in episode 1 although that was more in relation to Tormund and Beric. who I suspect will both die in that episode.
WinterRy71,
Speak for yourself, I love her and Sam’s scenes. 😛
No surprise to see Joe and Hannah hanging out together.. They have known each other for quite some time (thanks to Skins). Hannah and Jacob have also starred together in Chatroom.
Glad see Hannah Murray back! I’m always happy when Gilly gets a chance to shine, as she did in “Eastwatch.”
Clob,
My assumption was always that Gendry sailed back to Dragonstone on the same ship that Jon, Dany, Davos, Jorah, and Sandor took at the end of “Beyond the Wall”. We just didn’t see him in “The Dragon and the Wolf” because there was no point in bringing him to the Dragon Pit summit (he had nothing to contribute there, he had just risked his life and killed two Gold Cloaks to escape King’s Landing, and it would’ve been unwise to parade him in front of Cersei). And there was no need for him to be in the later scene with Dany’s war council when they were making their plans to travel north (Sandor wasn’t in that scene either, but I think most people assume that after the Dragon Pit summit, he sailed back to Dragonstone with the rest).
I never quite got why people thought that Gendry might have stayed at Eastwatch. His loyalty is to Jon and Davos, not Beric, Tormund, and the Night’s Watch. He wasn’t in quite as bad of shape as Jon was after the expedition north, but he was hardly in fit condition to stay and man the Wall. And the original plan was for him to go to Winterfell before Gendry asked to join the party going north. We saw no sign that he was patrolling atop the Wall when the Night King attacked, and if he were down in Eastwatch’s main castle, he would be dead.
I fully believe that the next time we see Gendry, it will be in Jon and Dany’s party as they make their way to Winterfell.
I do too 🙂
Jared,
Those have all been my thoughts as well. From my perspective he ultimately decided to fight alongside Jon, like Robert & Ned, not sit at the Wall with “strangers.”
Jared,
Re: your thoughts on Gendry. IMO they’re pretty spot-on. I suspect he didn’t want to be seen anywhere near KL, so Dany’s southbound ship dropped him (and maybe a few helpers) off at White Harbor. From there he could pick up some supplies and travel to Winterfell, presumably to set up/modify the forge. And hopefully he’ll be quickly reunited with an old friend 🙂 .
What surprises me is that Maisie, Sophie, and Isaac haven’t been spotted yet. With Rupert Vansittart (Yohn Royce) reportedly there, it’s obvious there will be some Winterfell filming shortly, so why no Starks in Winterfell yet? Perplexing.
Maisie and Sophie were photographed in a Belfast parking lot the same weekend that we saw a shot of Kit, Emilia and John shopping together… Pics of all of them have been fairly rare since…
Clob,
That was for the read-through. What was meant was that we haven’t seen them since filming started.
Maisie was in London for an award show a few days ago. Sophie was following her fiancé’s band around Spain when last spotted a few days ago. Isaac, presumably, is attending classes at Birmingham.
Sean C.,
Ah. With such a long filming window I imagine there will be quite a few periods of time when this or that actor will appear to be ‘missing’ though.
Joe Dempsie’s hair looks too light for Gendry at the moment, so I assume he hasn’t started filming yet,
This was apparently from Monday 24th
https://twitter.com/_OutCasted_/status/922468922913427457
I will preface this and say that I don’t really care, but, I do hope that he films with the apparent longer hair than his buzzed look in S7. 😛
Where’s Sandor???
Maybe with the armorer getting his custom-made flaming sword….
Otherwise, we would’ve seen videos of fans approaching Rory in the street:
Fan: “Hey! I know you! You’re the Hound!
Rory: “F*ck off.
Fan: (Laughs, runs off excitedly to show video to his friends)
Clob,
I agree. I preferred the self-assured Gendry with the thick black hair of S2 over the kvetching Gendry with the buzz cut in S7.
It’s funny how little things like that matter. My version of this would be Jon Snow’s hair. I have no idea why, but I just didn’t like the pulled back, clunky armor look he had in season 7. I prefer the Castle Black outfit with the longer hair. I have no idea why I even care at all, but it’s makes a big difference to me.
Jared,
“Glad see Hannah Murray back! I’m always happy when Gilly gets a chance to shine…”
———————
Semi off-topic: Does anyone know if they fit Hannah Murray with an orthodonture appliance or something to change her look? Whenever I see pictures of the cast in “real lfe”, I never recognize her.
I totally agree with you. There are too many loose ends to tie up with main characters to think that Gilly needs a ton of scenes. She’s a minor supporting character (a supporting character to a supporting character). I’d be shocked if they give Sam a ton of screen time this season.
What’d she win?
It was the Q Awards (UK music). I see Sheeran won an award. Can he be counted as a GoT cast member? 🙂
Mr Derp,
Well, things like hair style do make a difference; often they are “part of the story.” Cersei’s new ‘do (I think) is to make her look sort of androgynous…she always did (justifiably) complain that she got the short end of the stick because she was born a female.
And I thought Gendry’s black hair was part of the whole solution to “the seed is strong” riddle. If Gendry’s going around with a light colored buzz cut, he “loses” that visual connection to Robert Baratheon in my mind.
PS: This is a test. Let’s see if the site’s algorithm or Vlad’s bot army intercept this reply to Mr. D.
Clob,
Ed Sheeran absolutely is a cast member. And one of my “Best Guest Actor” nominees, because I was shocked at all the insults he was bombarded with just because he did a brief cameo as a surprise gift by the showrunners to his friend and fan Maisie Williams.
Speak of the Devil, apparently Sophie is in Belfast, as of yesterday:
https://twitter.com/nadiaa009/status/922914013905747974
Maisie will turn up shortly, one would expect. With Isaac, who knows; Bran could be off tripping on visions rather than being in whatever scenes they’re filming.
Sean C.,
Sean C.,
Ha! The guy totally snubbed Joe. I love it!!
So exciting to see the actors preparing to start filming.
Jared,
I just want to see Gendry and Arya together again.
Says who? What makes Gilly a fascinating and relatable character (especially, I expect, to female viewers) is the fact that she’s really whip-smart and a creative, outside-the-box thinker, despite having had no education at all (let alone ‘fancy lad school’) prior to her arrival at Castle Black and introduction to Shireen. She’s also bold and frank enough to speak truth to power when confronted with the likes of Randyll Tarly, despite having been cowed by an oppressive, sexually abusive patriarch for most of her life. Rest assured that there are lots of viewers like me, enthusiastically rooting for Gilly to find her way to as happy an ending as anyone gets in Westeros.
Exciting to see the cast getting together again. Carice said she’s looking forward to having scenes with Lena this year (Dagblad van het Noorden interview). Guess that explains why these two are not among the Winterfell crew. KL probably hasn’t started filming yet.
Sue the Fury,
Ditto. Team Gilly here.
Grow that hair, Gendry!
Seeing Liam always makes me happy. He seems like he’d be such fun to talk to.
Actually, Isaac has been in belfast since last week. https://twitter.com/sarahhtracey/status/921137983092338688
https://twitter.com/TommyMcN1988/status/922195691103014912
Can’t wait to see more of Detective Gilly in action! She’ll save Westeros, I tell you!
Arya + Sandor. That is all I want from S8. Oh, and Arya + Jon, as long as it’s not rushed. After all these years, a bookend scene for their goodbye hug scene in S1e2(?) would be most welcome and wouldn’t take long.
I would not mind a brief exchange between Arya and Jon to clarify a few things, like:
Arya: “I heard that Lord Glover announced that you avenged the Red Wedding. I’m dying to know how…”
Aemon,
Melisandre and Cersei? Together?!!!
That sounds like a recipe for…I don’t know what. Something combustible.
Hmmm. Let me get that tinfoil warmed up.
Firannion,
“She’s also bold and frank enough to speak truth to power when confronted with the likes of Randyll Tarly..,”
—————————————
I gotta jump on the bandwagon here, because I loved how Gilly defended her man! [Paraphrasing] “You big talking idiots go prancing around in the woods shooting arrows at Bambi, while this man killed a White Walker and a Thenn, and saved my life. “
Dickon: “There’s no such thing as a White Walker.”
Gilly: “There’s no such thing as a parent who’d name his kid “Dickon.”
(Okay, sorry about the last part. RIP Dickon 🔥
Good riddance, fat-shamer Randyll 🔥)
Assuming this is true it’s actually quite a spoiler, any chance you could use spoiler tags in future as I’m trying to avoid plot points. I don’t mind speculation at all just trying to avoid anything to do with the plot.
Ugh, don’t get me started on this. But first: I agree with you on the hair! It was needed for the story in KL in S7, but please let Gendry grow his hair back.
I hated how the producers and writers used Gendry in S7E6! It made him look so dumb! How they used him for other characters jokes twice in a row at the expense of his show!trauma. At least he was still affected by it. If Gendry would have told the Hound next, that he wasn’t the one facing being burnt alive, he would have been shut right off. And if it would have been Sansa, there would have been a shitstorm. But it’s ok if it is a man, because logic… The only thing I found funny in the one scene was how Thoros was handing over the alcohol. And I don’t even know why, maybe it’s the only way to get through the scene without cringing. ‘Drink!’
Ok, ok, I’m done.
Sean C.,
It’s a relief to see Sophie with red hair lol. At least we will be spared seeing that terrible wig in season 8.
Cliohna,
No, you’re right. I remember when the Tickler put the rat-in-a-bucket on Gendry to start torturing him. Gendry didn’t whinge.
edit: Manderly.
Artemisia,
she left back to London after “reading scripts(pics of her at airport were all over web),did vogue shoot(pics again all over web) & later party on weekend (early birthday celebration)….
is she in Belfast now ? maybe but sure she wasn’t before monday
Artemisia,
she left back to London after “reading scripts(pics of her at airport were all over web),did vogue shoot(pics again all over web) & later party on weekend (early birthday celebration)….
is she in Belfast now ? maybe but sure she wasn’t before monday
Aemon,
link to this carice interview please?
Cliohna,
While I agree, I do think that what happened is true to every character involved. Tormund making a joke at his expense, the Hound mouthing off and telling him to stop whinging, as well as Gendry’s uncertain/avoidant reactions to these fairly violent and dominant characters.
It felt pretty realistic to me, really.
King in the Southwest,
Also, hundreds of people have tried to kill the Hound. Hundreds of people tried to kill Tormund. To them, someone complaining about almost being killed by being stripped naked by an attractive woman might indeed sound like whinging.
King in the Southwest,
The issue is that the show itself encourages us to laugh along with the Hound et al., rather than viewing him as being monstrously insensitive to Gendry’s trauma.
Sean C.,
How you react to or interpret a scene is your choice.
These kinds of interactions happen ALL THE TIME in real life. Smart people get ridiculed for being dumb, brave people get ridiculed for being cowards. Life is not fair and you will sometimes be treated like crap even if you don’t deserve it. The difference is that we don’t blame our writers for it.
And Gendry is still the better man because he’s not being resentful, so all the more props to him.
King in the Southwest,
Everything about how that scene is framed and executed indicates it’s meant to be comic relief. That’s not merely a matter of personal interpretation.
King in the Southwest,
Sean C.,
I do agree with both of you, actually.
I do think they wrote Tormund and Sandor true to their characters and it’s probably also true, that sexually assaulted men get ridiculed by other men when they start to “complain”.
But as Sean wrote the scenes are meant to be funny. How could they be interpreted differently? And as I wrote, the problem for me is more the intend of the producers and not how everyone reacts to it. Plus there weren’t that many Gendry scenes as it is and now two of them are cringy in my eyes. As I said at least let Gendry have some dignity and let him shut Sandor up with a comeback of his greatest trauma (unknowingly) when you go down that rabbit hole. I didn’t see the producers let Arya shut Sandor up when he was “whinging”. Or is trauma caused by being burnt more worth a dramatic scene (or even two) than trauma caused by sexual assault and threat of being burnt alive? But maybe that’s just me.
I am one of the few that liked S7 even with all its flaws. It ain’t gonna change, so I deal with it or I don’t.
Thanks for sharing your opinions.
Sean C.,
Cliohna,
If the humor comes forth from a realistic interaction between characters, I don’t see how it’s an issue. Sure, it’s meant to make you laugh, but it’s not like they betrayed character integrity to do so.
Contrast that with the Hound and Tormund scene a bit later on: Tormund’s trying to rile up the Hound and the Hound tries to get Tormund to stop talking by insulting him. Both characters are doing exactly what they did to Gendry, yet neither backs off. The fact remains that Gendry was the least experienced person there, not just in terms of combat skill, also in dealing with strong and fairly dominant characters.
They could’ve written the scene in such a way that everyone gathers around Gendry and shows sympathy for his struggles, but how could anyone have taken that seriously?
You can either accept that a character you like is being treated somewhat unfairly by other characters who are doing pretty much exactly what they’ve always done. Or you can try and find fault with the writing/directing/producing because they didn’t treat a character in the way that YOU wanted that character to be treated.
It’s the difference between looking for reasons internally (Gendry was ridiculed by Tormund and the Hound and that wasn’t necessarily nice) or externally (show runners wanted to make a fool of Gendry) whenever something happens in a work of fiction that someone doesn’t like.
Reaction to Sansa’s rape was a prime example of this: it didn’t happen because Ramsey was a sadistic man and Sansa still a fairly naive girl at that point, it happened because the writers here hacks who hated women.
Looking externally is the easiest thing to do, because it allows you to shift the blame instead of simply accepting that a bad thing occurred.
One of the things I loved about ASOIAF was the comic relief, well needed to make the characters human and to make the rough scenes palatable. Games of Thrones has frequently done that as well, and I think this is a prime example.
I loved this whole sequence, the chatter, the insults the jokes but in the end they were all there for the same reason, and fought together. I think any other interpretation is a stretch (also think that Gendry is the new kid on the block of ice, so to speak. We all know what happens to the new kid – he either tosses back as good as he gets, or he is the target for the rest of the time together.)
Firannion,
Hear, hear!!! I couldn’t agree more.
OT: Per your recommendation, I got The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, and I’m about three-quarters of the way through it. I love it!!!
Wolfish,
So now you know always to avoid rocky defiles…and to laugh anytime you hear the word ‘stew.’
My secret fantasy is to write a musical comedy version of ‘The Tough Guide to Fantasyland.’ There would definitely be a song about stew in it.
Firannion,
DO IT!!!
If Lin-Manuel Miranda can write one of Broadway’s biggest hits ever about Alexander Hamilton (!), you can do Fantasyland.
Incidentally, Saner Half and I saw Hamilton in SF and it was incredible. (But I digress. All that Dornish red.)
Also OT: Are you going to the Con?
It’s a bit wrong to suggest you are one of a “few” that liked S7, the fact it it was hugely popular and it’s only a tiny minority that were overly critical. I recently re-watched the series and the first four episodes are vintage, episodes 5 & 6 probably a little lower and the finale back towards very good so overall it’s better than season 2 and 5 in my opinion.
Jon Snowed,
I assume you are talking to me? I don’t think it is wrong, that I suggest that. It might not be true, yes. But that comment stems from my subjective observation that over all S7 by itself wasn’t liked that much because of its many flaws. No claim to interpretational sovereignty here. 🙂
Hey, yes was response to yourself and I was just trying to give an alternative perspective that from what I could see S7 was well enjoyed and it was only a very small minority that didn’t like it.
My own personnal opinion is S6/S4/S3/S1/S7/S2/S5 go from best to worst.
King in the Southwest,
Just because something is realistic it doesn‘t mean it‘s ok. Now the consumer is confronted with the product and either likes it or not. If s/he likes it s/he can take it and go with it or s/he can take it and talk about how, why and so forth. If s/he does not like it then s/he also has the option to just ponder on things or voice the opinion. There is really nothing wrong with either of these options. There is nothing easy or simple about it like you suggest, because there will always be someone who tries to tell you otherwise, how you are wrong or „doing the easy thing“ in some form or other.
Actually they kind of did betray character integrity in Gendrys case, although he is of course not the most fleshed out character. But still, like Ten Bears wrote, Gendry didn‘t whinge about the Tickler, he always seemed „self-assured“.
Plus a person who was sexually assaulted isn‘t likely to talk about their trauma like that. Especially with two persons like Beric and Thoros which he also isn‘t likely to trust anymore.
Except it‘s not comparable to what they did to Gendry. In that scene Tormund is even empathizing with the Hound. „I don‘t think you are truely mean, you have sad eyes.“ This scene is the perfect example that the Gendry scene could have been handled differently. Tormund didn‘t tell the Hound to stop whinging after he told Tormund he was pushed into the fire. Tormund was actually nice to the Hound.
The thing is that your suggestion is not something I would have suggested. There are a hundred different but still realistic ways how it could have been handled. They could have let him scold Beric and Thoros for what they did without talking about Melisandre and still have the Hound shutting him up in some comical fashion.
In the earlier post you already talked about real life and how you have to accept some things even if they are not fair. And I didn‘t answer to that because that was not in response to me and it didn‘t affect my statement. But now it fits because I do not agree entirely and here is why: I think it helps to accept things you don‘t agree on, but you don‘t have to tolerate them and shut up. So I tell you, there is no need to be condescending in an attempt to tell me I should stop „whinging“. It‘s not really a good basis to debate on, in my opinion.
Just to clear things up: It‘s not about the characters itself, because they were written true to their characters, mostly. It‘s about the producers and their choice to use a plot point/character experience in this kind of manner. What I try to say is that a sensitive topic such as sexual assault could have been handled at another point in the story, but they chose to utilize it for comic relief in that scene. They could have written the scene differently and still make fun at the expanse of Gendrys character without sending an amoral message. It’s meaningful to people who were sexually assaulted, especially men. And I don‘t believe you, if you would say you never critized a writing/producing/directing choice by someone ever in your life.
There is no use to make a difference considering the examples you made here. „Reasons internally“ would still reflect on the producers. And I don‘t think the show runners wanted to make a fool out of Gendry. I think they wanted to make a scene for comic relief which resulted in a scene which is problematic to me personally. Again, it‘s not about Gendry, it‘s about joking at the expanse of a sensitive topic.
I don‘t think you can generalize this notion that everyone that didn‘t like that part thought the writers did this because they hate women. And to stay clear of misunderstandings: I didn‘t critize Sansas rape. I read the books and knew that they were merging Jeyne Pooles plot with Sansas.
How does it shift the blame, when the only one to blame here are the producers? Again: you can accept something, but you don‘t have to tolerate it. Would you stand by and say nothing if you would witness something amoral?
And because you wrote that in your first response to me and I thought I know what you mean, but I‘m not so sure anymore: You said „while I agree“, what did you agree on with me?
Cliohna,
Okay, you wrote a lot and I’m not going to reply to it all, but since you went through the effort of typing all that I’ll address what I feel were your most important points to hopefully give you some insight into why I stand by what I wrote.
Never said it was. The producers are telling a gripping story, not making an instruction video on how to be nice to each other. This story is meant to evoke emotions, including negative ones.
Was the red wedding okay? Was Ned’s beheading okay? Were children being burned alive okay? Was Theon’s castration okay?
Where do you wanna draw the line here? You can’t say the producers need to be sensitive towards the treatment of characters on one hand and on the other praise them for violent scenes where people suffer. That’s cherry picking.
He’s confronting the people indirectly responsible for what happened, not just talking to random strangers about a traumatic experience. He felt betrayed and needed to vent. That’s entirely different to what happened at Harrenhal, where no one betrayed him. So I’d say his character integrity is very much intact.
Nor did I imply that you (or anyone) would. I made an absurd exaggeration to illustrate my view that fiction is based mainly on conflict rather than cuddles.
I think that’s exactly what we should do: shut up and tolerate it. No real person is being harmed or traumatized, it’s merely a portrayal of harm and trauma. No matter what your reaction is to the events, it remains fiction. Even if you truly feel that how something was portrayed crossed a line, remind yourself that it’s YOUR LINE. Not the one of the producers or that of any other viewers.
It’s well within their right to use whatever plot points or character moments they choose. You’re fine with Sansa’s rape but a comedy relief moment at the expense of a sexual abuse victim crosses the line. How does that work, exactly?
Using Sansa in my previous post was an example, not a generalisation. I did not quantify anything.
Assigning blame to producers for a fictional event that doesn’t portray the world “as it should be” is a way of bypassing your own negative feelings regarding that event. Are they technically responsible for all that occurs within that fictional world? Yes, of course. But it’s another thing entirely to say they should be more sensitive to your personal sensibilities and are to blame for making scenes that YOU don’t like. To put it bluntly, you’re blaming them for your negative emotions regarding this fictional event, rather than accepting the very consistent in-story circumstances of a world where people are often wronged.
You got me there. I guess I was just trying to be polite. Maybe I wrote it because I like Gendry too and wished he had been given a moment to shine.
Also, I meant no offense, the whinging comment was a jest in reference to the event we’re discussing. My apologies if it came across as being tactless.
King in the Southwest,
I appreciate you took the time typing that much and posting what I feel is a pretty detailed answer.
Here is where I feel you missed the point I was making. I understand that the producers are pushing the story forward in a way that will also make viewers feel uncomfortable. And as I said, I accept that. But I raise the question that a scene, which is intended to be comic relief, utilizing a matter that serious is the way to go.
In your words: this specific scene is meant to evoke emotions, yes, but not negative ones, it’s meant to make you laugh, unfortunately about a negative event. How is it a problem for you, that a viewer, me, raises a question about „is it ethical to do that as a producer“?
You are still doing it, still condescending. I know that it‘s „my line“. I of course am only speaking for myself. And I already rejected your notion that someone has to shut up just because it makes someone uncomfortable to talk about some things or because someone does not feel the need to talk about a specific topic. There is nothing wrong to raise questions and address critique.
And again, I do not think that the portrayal itself (of harm and trauma) is an issue. I seriously recommend and advice everyone who can‘t handle this show mentally to stop watching. I get that it‘s entertainment. I also get that „viewer discretion is advised“. But the show still can evoke controversy among viewers (which is totally fine), because it‘s still rooted in reality and there is always an exchange, a reciprocity between a person and its environment, in this case the media, and vice versa. There is always some form of influence on everything as small as it might be, whether it be you influencing others or the media influencing its viewers. I’m not finished, hear me out, please.
Firstly: Yes, they can do as they please, but I don‘t have to shut up. I still can raise my questions as a viewer.
Secondly: To correct a misunderstanding, I‘m not fine with rape itself. I‘m fine with the decision by the producers to merge Jeyne Pooles storyline with Sansas. The rape is part of the storyline in the books and they decided to you use it, differently, in the show. How they executed Sansas rape scene is the difference, the framing and intent of the scene, just like Sean C. explained for Gendrys scene.
All the scenes you mentioned above, Ned’s beheading, Shireen being burned alive, Theons castration. They were never subject of a joke like that. Even when Joffrey made fun of the Red Wedding at the Purple Wedding it was never meant for the viewers to laugh along with him. It was meant to make you hate him even more. You are meant to be bummed out with Arya when she sees fake Neds head cut off in the play. Same goes for Ramsays phantom cock remark after which we see Theon crying “kill me”. And by the way, I never praised the producers for violent scenes. No cherry picking here.
Sansa‘s scene was awful and every bit and part of this scene conveyed that, the reaction of Theon, the music etc. Even the scene which I think is most comparable to Gendrys, which is where Sansa talks to Petyr Baelish about what happened to her, same thing, it wasn’t executed in a comedic frame (and it never was intended to be funny, I know). Gendrys scene was funny with a not so funny content. A comedic scene, that is rendered that way, which lives off a sexual assault trauma, me personally, I don‘t know how that does not cross a line.
I get that the decision by the producers has probably to do with what the fundamental intent of the producers was, which I said I think is a scene for comic relief, and the characters which are used in the scene. Namely Sandor Clegane. I accept that the producers used the characters that way, because I get it. But I still stand by what I said.
There are scenes with the Hound in which the humor is similarly morbid. Like the scene in which he says „You are shit at dying, you know that?“. Only thing is, that it is pretty unlikely someone would be encouraged by that to kill someone or to let somebody kill you. But „to snarl at someone to stop complaining, where is the harm in that in real life“, right? „The Hound does it, he‘s rad, so I do that too.“ And the message to men (and women), that „it‘s okay to be silenced when you are traumatized through sexual assault, because you have absolutely nothing to complain about“, right?
And I just want to take a moment to point out the double standard by some (not you): there are people defending women all the time when something like that happens, even in entertainment, but when it‘s a man, pretty silent.
Actually it is not a way of bypassing my negative feelings regarding that scene. To the contrary, I adress it, no bypassing. I don‘t like a traumatized person to be spoken down to and to be told to shut up, neither in a show nor in reality. As I said, I think there is some influence in the entertainment sector. But hey, there is another topic for controversy.
I really question you trying to be polite here, again with all your „YOU, YOU, YOU“, did you see me talking down to you like that? Yeah, it‘s just me, chill.
I still question that. Yes, he felt betrayed and needed to vent about being sold. Yes, it‘s not totally the same to what happened in Harrenhal, but it‘s not about him feeling betrayed in Harrenhal. Here he would have had a reason to complain that he was tortured, but he didn‘t. I get that this is something we could argue about further and to no end.
But the other point is, when you are sexually assaulted it‘s more than feeling betrayed. He wouldn‘t talk about like that, not when strangers are around like in Beyond the Wall, and especially not a person, or persons even, you feel betrayed by. So my point is still unresolved by your answer.
I mean, when he is not complaining about torture in a life-threatening situation like in the Riverlands after his escape from Harrenhal, I get that, but why is he then complaining in an even more life-threatening situation Beyond the Wall on top of what I said above? That‘s just convenient.
Ok, I get that. But I also never said anything about cuddles over conflict. I wouldn‘t have said anything if I weren‘t „pro“ conflict/civilized discussion.
I get that it was a example, I just tried to say that there is not a homogenous response or reason to the reactions to Sansas rape scene like you – just on the face of it – suggested. Please correct me if I misunderstood something.
Because Gendry is dumb ! That’s what he is and always was. He’s not the hero book or show. In the books he’s even worse ! He wanted Jaqen to burn in flames, who wants that ? I mean you must be a complete moron to want someone to burn alive. He plotted behind Arya’s back and was so dumb to say the Starks and the Lannisters are worth of each other. He’s not a hero or Arya’s love interest in the books. He was brought back to the show for fanservice not for the sake of the story. I think D&D wanted to show what they think about the whole idea of that forced return so they laughed at him.
beric,
I can’t speak for the show, because he is such a minor character that one can’t really tell…but you can have your opinion, each to their own.
However there are scenes who contradict your opinion that he is simply dumb. Which is why I feel this irritation that I expressed in the comment you quoted in the first place, and not because I think he is a hero. ASoIaF isn’t a heroes’ tale in the proper sense anyway.
I never alluded to that or said that he is, and I don’t think that. Where did you get that from? Check yourself before you write something, please.
If you mean that he is even dumber in the books: I disagree. And I dare you to bring book evidence to the table that he is dumb and I will show you for each quote that you make one quote that shows that he is not. Try me.
And please don’t read too much into this again, I do not say that he is highly intelligent. Sad that I even have to say this…oh well.
Are you kidding me? Your conclusion is wrong. Of course no one in their right mind wants another person to burn and Gendry doesn’t either, he also does not actively want the animals to burn. Gendry simply didn’t want to risk it to save him for time and safety reasons. He says “I’d save the donkeys first. There’s no time”. Gendry wasn’t the one who chained Jaqen H’ghar, Biter and Rorge and put them there in the first place (not that I think that you think that, no). He outwardly said that they scared him, and rightfully so. They were criminals imprisoned in the black cells, not just the first level of the dungeons in the Red Keep like all the other criminals bound for the Wall. They were fettered hand and foot because even Yoren was afraid of them. That’s not dumb, that’s understandable. And don’t come at me with “But Ned was also imprisoned in the black cells”, that’s because Cersei and Joffrey are vile and were threatened by Ned, this was their comeback.
And Arya herself thinks later that she should have let them burn. So you think she is dumb too. I get it.
When and with whom? In the books or show?
Worth of each other? I think I get what you mean, but I think you want to say “they deserve each other”. Is that what you meant? In the books or in the show?
If so, that’s not dumb. That is intelligible from his perspective. Put yourself in his shoes. As a start, he sees (or hears about) all the destruction that befalls the common folk in the riverlands that also springs from Stark men and Stark bannermen.
Again, I never said that or alluded to this.
After the scene in S7E06 I almost would have preferred that they didn’t bring him back. The scene was -as I said- out of character for him in my opinion.
Are you kidding again? To bring him back was D&D’s decision. In interviews you can read that after filming season 3 Joe Dempsie was told by D&D that he should expect to be called some time in the future. That he comes back was planned all along. So according to you they “forced” it themselves. That is a funny sentiment.