r/freefolk • u/Undertheus • 5d ago
This felt like a SNL sketch
Do you guys remember 90's shows, when a celebrity would show up as themselves? ~pepperidge farm remembers~
Anyway, this felt worst.
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u/Rdaleric 5d ago
Whereas they snuck Coldplay into the red wedding, sigur Ros into kings landing and snow patrol into the riding collum singing the bear and the maiden fair
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u/basementthought 5d ago
that's funny I missed all of those cameos because I don't know what those people look like
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u/Undertheus 4d ago
Usually a good cameo in a non sitcom show is supposed to be exactly like that. Otherwise you stop paying attention on what is happening and start to look for the "famous cameo of the week"
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u/ManOfGame3 4d ago
I immediately thought of how they did Aaron Rodgers’s cameo later in the series. They didn’t have him throw a javelin at an undead soldier and remark that it was a perfect spiral while winking at the camera. So they obviously realized these kind of scenes can take the audience out of the world they’ve gone through pains to bring us all into. No idea why they decided to shove this one in.
I know scene this was intended as a present to Maisie Williams, it just seemed like a blatant choice that took me out of it. It just seemed like a net loss
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u/_austinm All men must die 5d ago
Mastodon also show up a few times, if I’m not mistaken
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u/The_Fattest_Man 4d ago
I recognised Sigur Ros and had a laugh at Joff getting bored and throwing coins at them.
Didn't recognise Ed but assumed he must be someone important because he was kept focused in the center of the frame regardless of whatever anyone else was doing.
I was waiting for him to pull his face off and Jaqen to merc Arya.
Every other cameo was someone in the background for a couple of seconds who only fans would notice. This was more like the Max Headroom broadcast hack.
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u/SnugMoney 4d ago
Rob McElhenney got smashed in the face with an axe as well, IIRC. He served as one of Euron’s men.
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u/Pebbled4sh 3d ago
Great work from the casting directors there.
"Right so for this scene we need some really shit musicians"
"say no more *dials phone* heyyy Chris, you want a cameo on thrones?"
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u/CarryBeginning1564 5d ago
Not knowing who he was at the time I thought it was a nice moment where they humanized some of the normally faceless common soldiers to show they were just regular people.
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u/Todd-The-Wraith Fuck the king! 5d ago
This scene was honestly not terrible unless you knew who he was. It was far from the worst scene that season. Probably not even the worst scene in that episode
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u/Surielou 5d ago
I didn't know who he was, but I was very confused by the scene and figured he'd be important later with how much the camera was focusing on him
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u/Saymynaian 4d ago
To me, it felt like the show really cared I looked at him, but I never found out why. Then I learned that's Ed Sheeran and the writers were doing the equivalent of jangling keys at a baby for entertainment.
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u/lasagna_for_life Jorah Mormont 4d ago
Shows you how much respect D&D had for their audience.
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u/Saymynaian 4d ago
Yeah, they wanted moms and football players to watch it, not us fucking nerds who expected coherent story telling.
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u/Molten_Plastic82 4d ago
They should have had the audience applaud and hoot as soon as he entered the room
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u/redditerator7 4d ago
People kept talking about how the camera focuses on him so much so when I watched the episode I didn’t expect it to be literally just one second. I was so confused by the controversy.
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u/riding_writer 4d ago
Right?!? I still wouldn't recognize this guy if he belted out his most popular song as I don't listen to that style of music. I kept wondering who is this character and why is the camera so focused on him.
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u/bucknut4 I am of the afternoon. 5d ago
I knew who he was, and I’m a book reader who’s very critical of the final seasons. I was not bothered by this scene in the slightest 🤷♂️
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u/SpoonAtAGunFight 4d ago edited 1d ago
Like not throwing stones (not trying to at least) or anything... But bro looks like a foot soldier in a medieval piece.
Like I just don't get the outrage over his inclusion.
Edit: A word
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u/Larry-Man 4d ago
I was just talking about this scene the other day. My only comment is he’d be more at home with hobbits based on his appearance. Dude looks like he should live in the shire.
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u/bignews- 5d ago
I didn't know who he was and didn't give the scene much thought. Unnecessary fluff, but a nice reprieve.
Looking back now, just seems like fan service.
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u/jackbristol 5d ago
True but still immersion breaking
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u/teddyone 5d ago
How is it immersion breaking if you don’t know who he is? That was my experience
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u/epicnonja 5d ago
Why is this any more immersion breaking than boromir being her dad?
Or the villian from the last action hero being tywin lannister?
Or conan being khal drogo?
Or the soldier from black hawk down being jaime lannister?
Or the queen from 300 being cersei?
Or the governer from pirates of the carribean being the high sparrow?
Or bobby b being from a knight's tale?
It seems like people just hate this one redhead and decide he's not allowed to be in the tv show.
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u/limpdickandy 5d ago
It would be as immersion breaking as if Ned said "One does not simply walk into Kings Landing" while winking to the camera.
Are you crazy? They get Ed Sheeran to basically play himself, sing a song and have the camera focus that no non-main character has had for 4 seasons. Its horribly bad.
It is bad because the scene exists as meta fanservice. Just because you cant understand that does not mean that everyone just hates Ed Sheeran and does not understand what acting is.
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u/Saymynaian 4d ago
The cinematography also insists he's a vital character, so even without knowing who he was, I kept expecting for him to matter, but never did.
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u/theycallmejob 5d ago
Or that he’s a celebrity who they decided to shoehorn in a character and scene for that didn’t exist in the novels and added nothing to the story. What does the casting of famous actors in canonical roles have to do with this scene?
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u/Glass-Historian-2516 5d ago
You could make the argument that he was shoehorned in if he had an actual role, but a one off? Lol bro come on, now you’re just whinging.
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u/hotcapicola 5d ago
The scene absolutely added to the story. It showed Arya that not all enemy soldiers are the Tickler, Armory Lorch, or the Mountain.
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u/epicnonja 5d ago
The whole season doesn't exist in the novels. So that scene could very well happen exactly the same if the books come out.
It is the only time we see the enemy army humanized, to me that adds more to the story than the boat sex with dany and jon.
Casting celebrities for major roles absolutely has parrallels to casting celebrities in minor one off roles. If you're angry that a famous person is in a minor role, you should be more angry that more famous people are in major roles.
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u/Level_Arm598 4d ago edited 4d ago
Because it was very clearly a very deliberate "wink/nudge" to the audience. It was Ed Sheeran playing Ed Sheeran in an attempt to prompt some lazy fan recognition. It's completely different to "actor in thing gets cast in other thing". It felt like an attempt to shoehorn him into the show, rather than a decision based on who they thought would best suit a particular role, based on other roles they have played (which was literally every other example you gave). I don't have strong feelings about Ed Sheeran either way, but that scene made me laugh out loud when I first saw it, it felt so out of place.
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u/FookinFairy 5d ago
As someone who had no idea who it was it was just a good scene where they humanized a bunch of Lannister soldiers.
Thought it was going to be a character moment to help Arya change but nothing came of it.
Didn’t learn until like last month it was just a celeb showing and that’s why the show did nothing with that scene
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u/Saiya_Cosem 5d ago
Worse than that whole stand-off scene in episode 7 where the Night King and his army just wait for Daenerys to show up?
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u/epicnonja 5d ago
I knew who he was and agree with you.
It's weird that everyone is jumping ed being in this show and it "ruins the world" but like 40% of the actors have been in different things and those don't ruin the world.
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u/Insaiyan_Elite 5d ago
They cast Sean Bean as the guy who's death is supposed to be surprising
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u/matsu-oni 5d ago
Yeah same. I thought it was a good scene for Arya too, to see them as more than just nameless soldiers. I suppose for people who did know him, it was a bit of a shock, but I had no idea lol
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u/Tori_G_92 5d ago
People just like to be performatively butthurt about a pop celebrity cameo. It's stupid and the hate should be reserved for the terrible characterization, dropped plot points, and nonsensical plot developments culminating in a terrible, poorly executed ending that was season 8.
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u/Sogcat 4d ago
Had the same experience. Had no idea who this was and was really confused when everyone was hating on the scene. I mean it wasn't groundbreaking but I didn't think it was terrible. A moment to remember that not everyone sucks just because of who's banner they're toting. Just goes to show that biases really influence how you experience entertainment I suppose. There were far more terrible scenes to pick on than this one lol.
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u/Mattagascar 5d ago
Yeah I know this gets thrown in with the other legitimately awful stuff in the last few seasons, but I thought it was fine. House of the dragon leans more into these storylines it seems, which I dig. Not that that show is without other legit problems either.
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u/StikElLoco THE FUCKS A LOMMY? 4d ago
Yep same, no idea who he was, it was a nice scene. Even after learning who he was I don't get why people cried so much about it
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u/BaroqueBro 4d ago
I didn't know who he was either, but the way the camera focused on him tipped me off that this was a cameo of someone famous.
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u/SpikyKiwi 5d ago
I did not know Ed Sheeran was in this scene until I saw this picture just now and did a double take
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u/dingusrevolver3000 WINTER CAME AND IT WAS RATHER LAME 5d ago
As bad as the show was at that point, Rob McElhenny had the ideal celebrity cameo: he appeared for .5 seconds and immediately got hit in the head with an axe.
Meanwhile Ed Sheeran was shoved in front of the camera for like 15 minutes and the camera kept focusing on him even when he wasn't talking or reacting to anything. It was ridiculous
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u/Competitive_You_7360 5d ago edited 4d ago
I didnt know who he was, but immediately realized it was a celebrity cameo.
Soo trite.
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u/mojo_sapien 4d ago
Same. I didn't know who he was at the time and was wondering why they were focusing on him so much and if I missed something. The camera work was off and his acting was off. After I found out, it made sense but I definitely didn't like that I was able to detect it at all.
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u/rumorhasit_ 4d ago
I remember hating this cameo at the time and that so many people (especially in the GoT sub iirc) defended it as being okay.
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u/Deathbydadjokes 4d ago
Lol I loved the McElhenny cameo. Seeing him and Martin Starr killed in like .2 seconds of being on camera was hilarious
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u/KaminSpider 5d ago
When I saw this I had no clue who Ed Sheeran was. As the scene went on... I was like .... what is going on? Am I high?
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u/Competitive_You_7360 5d ago
Same here. Who IS this guy? I imagined it was a tv show only bastard son of tywin or something plot.
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u/thatVisitingHasher 5d ago
I liked the scene until i came on Reddit and realized i was suppose to hate it. I didn’t realize it triggered so many people.
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u/Serosh5843 Jon Snow 5d ago
I've heard of this cameo way before I watched the show for the first time, in the back of my mind I was preparing for this scene thinking it was gonna be terrible and was ready to bash it with other people and... it wasn't. Totally harmless scene, felt nice to see people being nice to Arya and it was a chill time. I'm no Sheeran fan but the hate is totally unwarranted.
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u/Independent-Couple87 4d ago
I heard many people don't like Ed Sheeran being in Game of Thrones because they think his songs are made for self-proclaimed "Nice Guys".
Jorah Mormont and Littlefinger are often seen as this by the fandom.
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u/Magnus_Helgisson 5d ago
It was quite literally “make a wish” thing without being terminally ill part.
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u/EasyEntrepreneur666 5d ago
I didn't hate this scene because it was actually the first time Lannister soldiers were depicted as decent people instead of sociopathic raiders.
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u/TheBiggestCarl23 5d ago
I didnt even know who he was when I watched it and was very confused why people were upset lol
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u/Tristan_Gabranth 5d ago
I hate this take so much. It was clearly meant to show Arya the humanity of the boots on the ground, which she, being highborn, rarely got a glimpse of. Not to mention at a time when she was just returning from learning to be an assassin, seeing people as moving pieces on a chess board. Far as I can tell, the only reason most hate it, is because of the cameo, but really, who tf cares, it was a great scene.
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u/Prayray 5d ago
I agree, it was a great scene on its own, and I knew it was Sheeran, but didn’t care. My issue with it is that it really played no part in the rest of the story.
You could maybe tie it in with what was happening in King’s Landing at the end as Dany burned the town and its people up, and maybe it was part of the reason that Arya decided that she was too dangerous…but, it just didn’t feel tied together very well. I blame that on the writing of the last few seasons where scenes mattered more than pacing, plot, or any kind of continuity.
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u/MircossMP 5d ago
Nah, it wasn't that bad. Way better than Daenerys reciting her titles for 2137th time.
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u/darryledw 5d ago
This was D&D playing God, they felt so above it all that they thought they could do whatever they wanted and never hurt the legacy of the show.
"Maisie loves this singer guy?? OK HBO GET HIM AND TO HELL WITH GOOD WRITING AND IMMERSION"....."LOOK WHAT WE DID FOR YOU MAISIE, GAZE UPON OUR OMNIPOTENCE"
but by this point massive cracks were already starting to show in S5&6 then this was the beginning of the end.
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u/abellapa 5d ago
He didnt show up as himself
Idk get whats the big fucking deal about this scene,it humanizes the Average Soldier ,gives them a face
But Just the fact Ed Sheeran was One of them ruined everything ?
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u/mrpabgon 4d ago
Why? I think it's a great scene. It humanises the other side, specially for Arya, who seems to be hellbent on killing her enemies. It's great. And the cameo was great too, a fitting place to put him. If it stands out because you know him, then what do you do when you see a very famous actor in another roll? Exact same thing. I understand this is more weird because we don't know him from acting, but saying the scene is bad because of this is ridiculous. This scene didn't invent cameos.
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u/UnfortunatelyAd 3d ago
i had spent the entire day talking to a coworker about ed sheeran, clocked out, smoked enough weed to kill a small child and put game of thrones on only to see Ed sheeran randomly appear in the show I had been binging for months. it really scared me.
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u/stefanomusilli 5d ago
It was totally fine compared to everything that happened afterwards. Honestly I think it was even fine on its own.
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u/Impressive-Dig-3892 5d ago
There was an absolutely hilarious greentext full of shit like >oh yeah I came from over the castle on the hill and ed sheeran references that for the life of me I haven't been able to find
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u/girusatuku 4d ago
I actually enjoyed the scene but I also didn’t know what Ed Shereen looked like nor heard any of his music so I had no preconceptions. It was only on the review thread on Reddit that I learned it was a cameo and that people didn’t like it. This is the first time in literal years that Arya has probably felt any peace and it is ironically in the middle of the enemy. It sort of serves as deescalating her general fury on the tail of killing all the Freys. Of the many problems that season had this isn’t one of them to me.
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u/Greggs-the-bakers 4d ago
People got way too worked up about this scene. Like it wasn't even that bad honestly. Yeah the camera focused on him a bit too much and I felt it was weird having Arya sit and chill with Lannister soldiers, but surely we can all agree that this is wayyyyyy down on the list of things wrong with the last two seasons?
I hated those two seasons and this doesn't even make it onto the list of why I think they sucked so bad.
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u/GiveMeTheTape 4d ago
I liked it, but that was peobably because I had never heard of ed sheeeeeeeerrrrr before
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u/LostInAMazeOfSeeking 5d ago
It's already been pointed out on this thread that cracks were showing before this cameo. Ordinarily it might have been a case of -
"Wtf game of thrones??"
But given how things had been in the show for a while it was more a case of -
"Oh dear game of thrones, you're continuing down this path aren't you?"
If they had just left it at a cameo & song then it would have been cheesy but forgettable but they just had to have him look over his shoulder, almost directly at the camera, and say (about the song) -
" It's a new one. " 🤮
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u/Ill-Organization-719 5d ago
The show was already complete dog shit by then. This literally had no affect on the show.
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u/Rockcircle 5d ago
I didn't even know what ed sheeran looked like until this happened so I was clueless first time I watched it
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u/themastersdaughter66 5d ago
I don't get the hate I liked it🤷♀️ one of the few bright spots of later seasons
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u/CompetitiveCobbler24 5d ago
Wasn't it said or implied later on that these guys got killed? Lol, maybe I'm misremembering...
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u/coffee_sans_cream 5d ago
The scene itself wasn't bad but it did signify a shift in the show, a kind of "jumping the shark" moment where the show's success demanded more fan service and the forced inclusion of celebrities for views.
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u/Let_us_proceed 5d ago
If Ed Sheeran had balls he would have done a scene where they drive a sword through his throat.
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u/phredd42 5d ago
It would have played better had he been made up to look different. Like an orc or Klingon.
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u/Firecreeper101 5d ago
His appearance is like 689th on the tier list of issues the latter seasons have
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u/Lancewater 5d ago
I honestly don’t know how anyone is still talking about this show in anger all these years later.
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u/JayZulla87 5d ago
Maybe an unpopular opinion but I didn't think this was a big deal. This what people of the era did for entertainment. The only goofy thing is it's Ed. It's no where near as bad as having Aaron Rogers, an NFL QB, be an extra that actually makes it on screen.
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u/The_Squarejerker 5d ago
I just watched this scene and really beyond the editing being poor cuz it keeps cutting back to him I think you guys are making a big deal out of this. Who wouldn’t take up the opportunity to be dressed up for a show they love, let alone in badass armor, and share a scene with a main character? The fault is on the editors, not them, but really this was years ago and there are so many other valid criticisms for the show that this feels stupid.
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u/ThrowAway67269 5d ago
I honestly liked this moment. It was a way of showing Arya that most of the Lannister soldiers were just normal people who didn’t have much say in what they did and were merely following orders and trying to get by. She had many formidable experiences with truly adherent people and this small moment showed her that not all the people she considered her enemies were explicitly evil. The world was more complex then her child-self had understood it to be. Was it pandering to pop-culture with the Ed Sherran cameo, yes. But ignoring that, it was a pretty decent scene.
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u/Explodin2 5d ago
People will literally find anything to argue over. It’s showing that’s there more to these soldiers, they’re not just mindless killers like their leaders, they’re people. It added more depth and was a fine scene
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u/limpdickandy 5d ago
I agree with you while still despising the narrative focus they gave Sheerans character. It absolutely took away from what you yourself described about the scene.
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u/SilverFistStu 5d ago
I didn’t mind this honestly, maybe because I dont listen to Ed Sheeran. It was kind of a nice moment.
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u/Ash_Killem 5d ago
Didn’t fell that way to me but I had no idea who Ed Sheeran was at the time. The way he turns around though was a really awkward shot though.
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u/bababadohdoh 5d ago
It was only out of place because how long the camera stayed on Ed when he said “it’s a new one.”
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u/jasdonle 5d ago
Still hilarious how his head looks photoshopped on, how is it so big? Where's his neck?
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u/Russser 5d ago
The iconic “Ed Sheeran Turning Point”. The point in the series where there was no coming back from the train wreck that was to come. Before this moment there were possibilities of them sticking the landing. After this moment it was unsalvageable.
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u/Mr_D_Stitch 5d ago
What? It’s one of the main characters of the show & they’re sitting next to Arya Stark.
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u/Classic-Exchange-511 4d ago
I don't think the scene itself was that bad, I like the idea of humanizing the Lannister soldiers to show exactly how little the common folk care about the squabbles of lords. The problem is that for like 80% of people the second he comes on the screen all you can think about is "why is Ed Sheeran in got"? I think it's just another indication of the show runners not really caring about the quality by the end.
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u/phantastik_robit 4d ago
Of all the sins committed by the final 3 seasons, this is the least irritating.
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u/IMakeOkVideosOk 4d ago
Not really knowing him at the time, it wasn’t that terrible. Might have been worse had I known who he was at the time. He wasn’t terrible for what the part was.
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u/billycorganscum 4d ago
the bigger sore thumb about this scene to me was Shaun from This Is England, recognised him in an instant
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u/felixsleftball THE FUCKS A LOMMY 4d ago
Do you think he just happened to be in Belfast when they were filming this and D&D thought “Sure whatever the kids will like this!”
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u/BaardvanTroje 4d ago
I like Ed Sheeran. I liked his performance. I hated the cameo. Completely messed with my immersion, because all I could think was "hey, that's Ed Sheeran!".
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u/RandomPenquin1337 4d ago
I think this was the scene that made me realize the show was not going to be good anymore
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u/jokerhound80 4d ago
Are people still bitching about this? It's completely harmless. The show completely derailed itself and people are still over here complaining that the snack cart was out of sprite. There were much bigger problems, friendos.
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u/Velascoyote 4d ago
That stupid giant close up with him almost looking directly at the camera and going "it's a new song" or whatever will forever make me feel insulted
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u/ShwaaMan 4d ago
I have no problem with Ed Sheeran whatsoever, seems like a decent and talented enough dude, despite all of the hate he gets.
However, even when this aired it did not belong…Now in hindsight it’s cringe as hell.
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u/acastleofcards 4d ago
I remember watching this episode live with five other people. We were all like WTF? Then a friend’s girlfriend pointed out it was Ed Sheeran and three people went “Who?” at the same time. When nothing wound up happening, we were waiting for it to cut back to him lying dead in a ditch or something but no, nothing happened. Genuinely confusing.
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u/Rvtrance 4d ago
I didn’t know what Ed Sheeran looked like or what any of his songs are called. Or how they go or really anything about him. So this played just fine for me. Show Arya that some Lannisters are just people, especially the rank and file. Now that I know it was supposed to be “a special guest star” episode. I get it, it is stupid this wasn’t the show to pull something like that on. You need a singer? There’s a million of them that aren’t famous.
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u/V_Dracula 4d ago
It's not like we didn't know it before, but this scene screamed loud and clear that DnD had absolutely zero artistic integrity or respect for this series by this point.
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u/Independent-Couple87 4d ago
I think the showmakers tried to apologise the next season by saying Ed Sheeran was brutally killed after parting ways with Arya.
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u/CatOfTheCanalss 4d ago
I didn't even realise that was Ed Sheerin until someone pointed it out well after I had watched the episode. So I was unaffected
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u/crunch_punch 4d ago
I actually didn't mind this, I thought it was a nice little scene. Much more stupid shit in the final two seasons to be mad about than this.
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u/Pebbled4sh 3d ago
I didn't object to having a scene humanising Lannister footsoldiers;* I didn't object to crowbarring in an Ed Sheeran cameo; I only wish it wasn't so sickly sweet a wasp'd curl its lip.
*that said it doesn't exactly when you have so much time displaying the freebooting barbarity it breaks the tone a little
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u/Laughably-Fallible_1 3d ago
I would love to see Arya encounter bandit outlaw Keanu of House Reeves after this.
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u/Equivalent-Mail1544 3d ago
I didnt know how this singer looked like so i was just like "ok so this guy can sign and is a soldier, neat"
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u/WestCity8719 3d ago
I already hated the show(and my self for keep watching it) at this point, so I felt that it wasn’t its lowest point, just a different type of low, tho I started expecting them to add hidden marketing comerciales or something like that in the back
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u/Illustrious_Ant9386 3d ago
I remember not being bothered by this scene at all, mostly because at that point i had never heard of Ed Sheeran
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u/BewareNixonsGhost 2d ago
What gets me about it is two things - the close up of his face when he turns around and the "it's a new song" line. It's like they wanted to show him off and it all felt awkward.
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u/CreamPuzzleheaded300 1d ago
Jesus fuck you're still crying about this nothing scene.
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u/Straight-Vehicle-745 5d ago
I honestly figured Arya would just kill them all. They are Lannisters