Man I've come to hate this subreddit. It's been insufferable for years now. I used to love coming here to gain new insights on the books. It's been too long between books now though. This sub is nothing but shitty memes, rehashing of the same tired old theories, and bitching and nitpicking.
I've been here since season 1 and even then the show was widely criticized. Every departure from the source material was complained about and nearly every actor has been called a hack (even fan favourites like Rory McCann were called terrible in early seasons.) Even the now "golden" seasons (1 and 4) were widely panned in this subreddit. However this sub was still worth visiting because there were always interesting discussions on the episodes. How the show departed from the books, the symbolism and visual storytelling that I had missed, the elaborate theorizing and explanations for the occasional show mishap. It was fun to be part of this community.
Starting from season 5 onwards this subreddit has done nothing but diminish my enjoyment of ASOIAF/GOT. GRRM has become infallible and D&D are the second coming of Hitler. If you enjoy the show it has to be because you're the lowest common denominator, terms like deus ex machina are omnipresent and almost always incorrectly used, and heaven forbid if a show character (ex. Jaime and Sansa) are slightly different to their show counterparts. The show isn't perfect but to be fair neither is the source material. People complain about how the show has introduced "shock value" scenes such as Ramsay's rape of Sansa which are just there to shock. It's disgusting that D&D would stoop so low! Yet show D&D bashers miss the irony in defending a book counterpart that involves a different girl getting raped by dogs instead. The books and the show have had misteps with gratuitous scenes. They're a part of why both the books and the show have been so successful.
D&D have the incredibly difficult job of adapting an "unfilmable" book series in a very limited time period (and actually having to meet deadlines.) I'm sure that when D&D started in 2006 they were fully convinced that the series would be completed by GRRM well in advance of them. They've been given the unenviable job of having to continue a story with nothing more than a (probably) bare bones outline that GRRM provided them. Rabid book fans would've never been happy.
Season 5 has been the weakest in the show so far but AFFC/ADWD would have been very challenging to adapt faithfully without losing GOT's audience. The show has stumbled and criticism is often fair and deserved. However it's still one of the best shows on television and this latest episode was excellent. Have there been bad episodes? Yes. Was Arya's arc this season poorly done? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean the entire season is terrible. I feel this season has been very strong and it's been incredibly gratifying to actual get plot progression after waiting five years for the story to continue.
The ridiculous bitchiness that's risen to the top of this subreddit lately has become exhausting. I feel like I no longer gain anything of value from visiting this subreddit which is a shame because it used to be an excellent supplement to my enjoyment of both the books and the show. Maybe when TWOW is released I'll come visit again.