I don’t know why this is so challenging for people.

In person: Have you seen X? Are you caught up on the latest episode of Y?

Online: Always use spoiler tags to discuss the ending or specific plot details, including any surprises, unless the thread is specifically marked as a spoiler thread. Don’t talk about the fact that something has a twist ending, because revealing that is itself a spoiler. Yes, this applies even for older movies or shows; there’s no way someone has enough time in the day to watch everything they might be interested in. Before the spoiler, indicate what the spoiler is about (“spoiler for the ending to X”). Don’t put spoilers in the titles.

It takes no real effort and is just being considerate.

Jesus Christ. Try empathy next time

Scrooged

On your unrelated A Song of Ice and Fire note, dragons would absolutely spur technological innovation in weaponry. Other countries would desperately look for a way to defend against them.

In real life, the ballistae used in the final battle were invented in ancient Greece around 400 BCE, basically about 1,500 to 2,000 years earlier than the technological level of Westeros. Bow to crossbow to ballista is a pretty logical evolution and there are intermediate links between all of them in the historical and archaeological record.

But we were asleep at the wheel. My advisors, who frankly no longer are with me, were asleep at the wheel, certainly. And I partly blame myself, except I was busy making other films. And so it was let go and it shouldn’t have been. When you resurrect, you better put your nail into the wall.

Gotcha, Ridley. The directors for 3 and 4 fucked up the sequels, and your advisors are to blame for Prometheus, and there’s a little blame for you except not really of course because you were busy.

It’s the difference between “this story needs to be told” versus “there’s money to be made.” Ironic that one of the most incisive and fiercely anti-capitalist series in recent memory went back to the well purely to make more money.