tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045671292776339187.post6516332567119108504..comments2023-10-30T01:39:20.065+11:00Comments on MCPlanck Rebooted: Philosophy in FantasyMCPlanckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09239576472889126413noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045671292776339187.post-14013348906610539082020-08-20T06:42:37.445+10:002020-08-20T06:42:37.445+10:00You're probably right on the narrative switch,...You're probably right on the narrative switch, though I didn't really notice.<br /><br />Never again a Night King, and dragons are back, but without a monarch or aristocracy to command them against the hoi polloi. What Dany achieved in Essos will be continued by the unsullied (who cannot have children).<br /><br />I believe that one of the important "gifts" George Washington gave the US was not having any descendants. And while Westeros won't easily turn into a republic, there's a very good chance the monarchy will remain electoral, and thus the game of thrones ends for future generations. And large parts of Essos may very well turn into a republic.<br /><br />At least this king is both younger than the Lannister, and can literally watch over his shoulder in the present and past.<br /><br />-----<br /><br />Continuity is important to me. I was almost unhappy with your SotBL ending. As a booby prize it's better than nothing, but I'll never stop fighting for life to have control over its universe, and not the other way around. I did appreciate the distinction between your ending and TGP ending.Tardigradehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08897374407990627879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045671292776339187.post-61083201112160055412020-08-19T21:07:56.956+10:002020-08-19T21:07:56.956+10:00I feel the way about GoT that you do about TGP - t...I feel the way about GoT that you do about TGP - the last season makes me not want to watch any of the show. My problem is narrative, though; I felt the show departed from its original premise. For instance, Ser Jorah should have died alone and unknown on the battlefield while Daney was doing something else entirely. <br /><br />And of course it turns out that nothing mattered. After all the miracles, resurrections, betrayals, prophecies, and mythical beings, Westeros ends up exactly where it started: ruled by a disinterested king who cannot produce an heir while a Lannister runs everything from the shadows. But then, perhaps that was Martin's point.<br /><br />TGP was *an* answer to immortality. It's even kind of like the answer I used in SotBL. But I agree with you that the VR part renders everything else moot. How can one glory in achievement if those achievements aren't real? How much fun is a game that is rigged so you always win?<br /><br />At the end of my book they still have real problems to solve and real threats to face. They just don't have an arbitrary time limit.MCPlanckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09239576472889126413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045671292776339187.post-79203660040438258242020-08-19T14:45:45.785+10:002020-08-19T14:45:45.785+10:00I could have used a couple more Game of Thrones ep...I could have used a couple more Game of Thrones episodes (to clear up what happened in Dorne, for instance), but otherwise was very happy with the final season. Antiheroes redeemed, and the surviving good people get what they really wanted. Very affirming.<br /><br />The Good Place was so incredibly disappointing in the penultimate episode that I still have not, and will not, watch the final episode. The four protagonists spent so long trying to change the nature of reality, but in the end made the choice for *everyone* to trap our souls in a hedonistic VR game with an escape hatch to oblivion. Such meets my definition of evil, dressed up as good.<br /><br />Very disappointing.Tardigradehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08897374407990627879noreply@blogger.com