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Abstract

asn’t somehow worsened by season 8. You don’t fix those problems without new material.</p><p id="a4c6">New footage means you need to bring everyone back. Cast, crew, costume and set designers, directors, editors, etc. Would the entire cast even want to come back? What happens if Kit Harington decides he’s done playing Jon Snow? Are you really going to recast him?</p><p id="4ef0">Let’s pretend everyone is chomping at the bit to come back and right the wrongs. That presents the next problem, and probably the even bigger one: what’s the story? Who’s going to write it? The first issues crept in once the show surpassed the books, beginning in season 5 and 6. As far as source material goes, we are in the same place we were 10 years ago — George R.R. Martin hasn’t finished the next book. Which means the show would be adapting an outline of where George <i>thinks</i> the story is going. Which raises another issue: fixing season 8 really means making a 9th and 10th season. Again, without completed books.</p><p id="97c4">But wait — didn’t GRRM just sign a 5 year contract with HBO for a ridiculous sum of money to develop several <i>Game of Thrones</i> projects for the network? Conspiracy hat firmly on, but what if GRRM writes the re-do himself? Maybe he’s finally accepted that he will never finish the books, but perhaps he can save show’s legacy, which is tied up in his own, if he writes the scripts for the missing seasons. He <i>was</i> a Hollywood script writer for years, after all, and wrote an episode in several of <i>Game of Thrones’</i> early seasons.</p><p id="5911">Are you seeing how farfetched all of this is?</p><p id="57a0">Fans have always been vocal about what they like, and especially what they don’t like, about their favorite things. That’s part of the fun of being a fan — sharing your opinions, validating your thoughts, finding people of a similar mind. Most of my social media following is comprised of people I’ve bonded with over <i>Star Wars</i> or the <i>MCU</i> or <i>D&D</i>. Mostly that bonding was gushing over our shared loves, but sometimes it’s grossing about what we disliked.</p><p id="2f23">I worry that the success of <i>The Snyder Cut</i> will only embolden fans to demand changes to things they don’t like, simply because they don’t like it. As much as <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-rise-of-skywalker-is-an-unmitigated-disaster-ee49654fbf72">I hate <i>The Rise of Skywalker</i></a>, reshooting the film is a terrible idea. Recuts and re-dos are just an attempt to relitigate the past; I’d rather move forward.</p><p id="272d">A fan opinion is just that — an opinion. Often biased, usually misinformed. And above all: it doesn’t matter. Opinions are cheap, easily formed and just as easily changed. A creative that plays to the crowd, that chases popular opinion, is a hack. Art is not made by seeking consensus.</p><p id="fd30">I’m reminded of the Teddy Roosevelt’s quote about critics, which seems especially apropos.</p><blockquote id="9ce0"><p>It is not the critic who counts; not the

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man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming…</p></blockquote><p id="5621">I write about things I like — sharing my opinions, <i>criticizing</i> — which seems like something of a contradiction. But there is a vast difference between wishing something were different and demanding it. Petitions to recreate something because you didn’t like it is the worst sort of entitlement.</p><p id="8c4b">Be glad that a thing happened, instead of wishing it were different. And if you’re feeling especially inspired, write a fantasy epic of your own. Go sweat in the arena instead of wasting your energy yelling at the people in the ring.</p><p id="2579"><i>I like to write. You like to read. <a href="http://eepurl.com/gGYaQz">Let’s be friends</a>.</i></p><p id="086b">Related stories:</p><div id="2d7f" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/george-r-r-martin-is-only-fooling-himself-at-this-point-2b56692af8db"> <div> <div> <h2>George R.R. Martin is Only Fooling Himself at This Point</h2> <div><h3>We will never see another book</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*[email protected])"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="7574" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-tv-series-is-doing-what-star-wars-never-could-489c56a3a062"> <div> <div> <h2>The ‘Lord of the Rings’ TV Series is Doing What ‘Star Wars' Never Could</h2> <div><h3>Avoiding the same old tired ground</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*rhCibwW4SKhArUUQ2qR0rw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="be8a" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-path-for-a-good-dungeons-dragons-movie-is-very-narrow-97be110400c8"> <div> <div> <h2>The Path for a Good “Dungeons & Dragons” Movie is Very Narrow</h2> <div><h3>Translating the tabletop game to the big screen is fraught with danger</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*[email protected])"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

FanFare

There Will Be No ‘Game of Thrones’ Re-Do

Fan entitlement is a scourge

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Image: HBO

After years of public petitions, DC fans were vindicated by last month’s release of The Snyder Cut. The victory wasn’t so much in being proven right — the Cut is a much-improved version of Justice League — but that the grassroots initiative was able to effect such a change in the first place. (The director and the cast endorsing the cause certainly didn’t hurt.)

In the wake of such a victory, attention has naturally turned to Game of Thrones, whose final season left such a bad taste that it lingers two years later. Many fans, such as myself, will never truly get over it. The final season’s banality completely eclipses the rest of the series’ brilliance; I own the first seven seasons on Blu-ray but have no intention of watching it anytime soon.

Fans are thinking, perhaps rightfully: if HBO fixed Justice League, surely they can do the same for Game of Thrones. M.G. Siegler wrote a short piece about that yesterday.

The Case To Redo ‘Game of Thrones’

Some fans are still calling on HBO to remake Game of Thrones Season 8 — or even Seasons 5, 6, 7 and 8. Their case…

mgs.blog

I get the sentiment. Really, I do. But it’s a horrible idea.

There are first the logistical issues to consider. The Snyder Cut was filmed and abandoned during production, first due to Joss Whedon coming onto the project, and later after Snyder stepped away for personal reasons. The footage was all there, Snyder just needed to assemble his version.

A Game of Thrones Re-Cut wouldn’t be a recut at all. Sure, you could probably re-use much of the season 8 footage. But you would need all new footage to correct the many missteps made during season 8. You would need a full season (at least!) to properly chart Dany’s progression from Breaker of Chains to Mad Queen, for instance. Dany is just the most egregious character assassinated by the harried final season — Jamie, Brienne, Tyrion, Jon, the Night King, etc. were all short-changed. I can’t think of a single character who wasn’t somehow worsened by season 8. You don’t fix those problems without new material.

New footage means you need to bring everyone back. Cast, crew, costume and set designers, directors, editors, etc. Would the entire cast even want to come back? What happens if Kit Harington decides he’s done playing Jon Snow? Are you really going to recast him?

Let’s pretend everyone is chomping at the bit to come back and right the wrongs. That presents the next problem, and probably the even bigger one: what’s the story? Who’s going to write it? The first issues crept in once the show surpassed the books, beginning in season 5 and 6. As far as source material goes, we are in the same place we were 10 years ago — George R.R. Martin hasn’t finished the next book. Which means the show would be adapting an outline of where George thinks the story is going. Which raises another issue: fixing season 8 really means making a 9th and 10th season. Again, without completed books.

But wait — didn’t GRRM just sign a 5 year contract with HBO for a ridiculous sum of money to develop several Game of Thrones projects for the network? Conspiracy hat firmly on, but what if GRRM writes the re-do himself? Maybe he’s finally accepted that he will never finish the books, but perhaps he can save show’s legacy, which is tied up in his own, if he writes the scripts for the missing seasons. He was a Hollywood script writer for years, after all, and wrote an episode in several of Game of Thrones’ early seasons.

Are you seeing how farfetched all of this is?

Fans have always been vocal about what they like, and especially what they don’t like, about their favorite things. That’s part of the fun of being a fan — sharing your opinions, validating your thoughts, finding people of a similar mind. Most of my social media following is comprised of people I’ve bonded with over Star Wars or the MCU or D&D. Mostly that bonding was gushing over our shared loves, but sometimes it’s grossing about what we disliked.

I worry that the success of The Snyder Cut will only embolden fans to demand changes to things they don’t like, simply because they don’t like it. As much as I hate The Rise of Skywalker, reshooting the film is a terrible idea. Recuts and re-dos are just an attempt to relitigate the past; I’d rather move forward.

A fan opinion is just that — an opinion. Often biased, usually misinformed. And above all: it doesn’t matter. Opinions are cheap, easily formed and just as easily changed. A creative that plays to the crowd, that chases popular opinion, is a hack. Art is not made by seeking consensus.

I’m reminded of the Teddy Roosevelt’s quote about critics, which seems especially apropos.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming…

I write about things I like — sharing my opinions, criticizing — which seems like something of a contradiction. But there is a vast difference between wishing something were different and demanding it. Petitions to recreate something because you didn’t like it is the worst sort of entitlement.

Be glad that a thing happened, instead of wishing it were different. And if you’re feeling especially inspired, write a fantasy epic of your own. Go sweat in the arena instead of wasting your energy yelling at the people in the ring.