Ex. 1
In season four, Tyrion and Sansa are married as a political move to both humiliate Tyrion and assure the Lannisters always have a hostage in their pocket. Sansa is spirited away by Littlefinger and Tyrion is imprisoned for the murder of his nephew King Joffrey. He later manages to escape but does not see Sansa again until season eight. In the first episode when Tyrion and Sansa are reunited, they greet each other cordially and call each other by their new titles. Tyrion says, “The Lady of Winterfell. Has a nice ring to it.” Any translator worth their salt would easily understand that the “ring” refers to the sound of Sansa’s title.
Both prosubs translated it the same as, 「臨冬城的女城主／真好聽」, which is an
appropriate translation as it is a colloquially and easily understood reference to Sansa’s Title.
Fix, Visionary Sub and YYeTs translated it respectively as 「臨冬城夫人／真好聽」，
「臨冬城城主／這稱號不錯」, and「臨冬城城主／蠻好聽的」, which are more or less the same as the prosubs. ShinY, however, made an egregious translation error. They
translated the sentence as, 「臨冬城女主人／這職位的戒指很好看」. They mistook the word “ring” for the circular bit of metal that sits around one’s finger, such as a “wedding ring.” It is a bizarre mistake as there isn’t even a ring shown in the scene and the context clearly refers to the glamour of Sansa’s title. It makes one wonder if the ShinY fansubbers had even watched the episode.
Ex. 2
After Euron leaves his ship unattended, his brother Theon sneaks aboard his ship and kills some of his crew to save his sister. She naturally is very disappointed that he
abandoned her and didn’t even try to put up a fight against their elder brother. But eventually forgives him. She assumes that he will travel with her back to the Iron Islands and reclaim their home from the brother, but she can tell that Theon has other intentions. He decides to ride for Winterfell to defend the Starks. As they are parting, they embrace and repeat to each other the common saying amongst their people, “What is dead may never die. What is dead may never die.” It is a phrase stated after a kind of drowning baptism in the sea when the baptized spit up the seawater. It is not a reference to the Army of the Dead. Both prosubs and three fansubs translated the sentence as it is written in the translated books, 「願逝者不死/願 逝者不死」. ShinY, however, mistook it as Yara’s encouragement to do what seems like the impossible—killing White Walkers. They translated the sentence as, 「你無法殺死異鬼／
即使如此/也不要放過他們」. This is a great disservice to the series as repeating the
common expression makes the world of Westeros seem more tangible. This is an example of how the wrong choice of words can completely warp the meaning of the ST.
Ex. 3
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Tyrion:
One of the better sigils.
圖騰比 較好看
圖騰比 較好看
各家族 中最優 秀的一 族
有點名 望的家 族
算是比 較好看 的家徽 了
家徽不 錯
In the first episode while Tyrion is talking with his co-advisors, they spot several people carrying the sigils of their respective houses. They see one in particular and Tyrion
remarks on it by saying, “One of the better sigils. Beats an onion, anyway.” Tyrion is
speaking specifically about the design of the crest on the flag, not about the house itself or its fame. The Prosubs, the Visionary Sub and YYeTs translated the sentences respectively as
「圖騰比較好看/總之好過洋蔥」, 「算是比較好看的家徽了」, and 「家徽不錯」.
These translations both caught Tyrion’s meaning about the layout of the sigil, not the notoriety of the house. ShinY and FIX translated the sentence respectively as,「各家族中最 優秀的一族」and 「有點名望的家族」. These two fansub groups read too much into the ST and added information that wasn’t even there, not to mention made the sentences unnecessarily long. They made it seem as if Tyrion is suggesting the house has high prospects.
Ex. 4
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Daenerys:
Not Randyll Tarly?
藍道塔 利？
藍道塔 利？
你不會 認同藍 道×塔利 吧
不會是 藍道×塔 利吧
你說的 應該不 是藍道×
塔利吧
不會是 藍道×塔 利吧
In the seventh season, Daenerys constantly battles the urge to destroy her enemies from the back of her dragon. Her advisors warn her that the collateral damage would be too severe, but finally she can no longer sit idly by while she has essentially the password to a nuclear bomb that could end the fighting. Her Dothraki warriors attack the Lannisters from the ground while she attacks them from the air. The Lannisters suffer a terrible defeat.
Randyll Tarly and his son Dickon, who are fighting alongside the Lannisters, are taken captive. Daenerys offers them the chance to bend the knee. They refuse. Tyrion advises her to take him as prisoner, but Daenerys refuses to lose face or give anyone reason to question her
authority, so she has him burned to death by dragon fire. Randyll Tarly just so happens to also be the father of Samwell Tarly. In season eight, close to the end of episode one, Daenerys visits Samwell to thank him for curing her advisor Jorah Mormont from a deadly skin condition called greyscale. She offers to return the favor and Samwell, being a straight-laced young man, asks for a pardon for stealing some books from the Citadel and his family’s sword, a weapon that he should have inherited from his father, Randyll Tarly. Upon the name, Daenerys demeanor suddenly changes as she slowly realizes she killed Sam’s father.
She asks, “Not Randyll Tarly?” Both prosubs translated it as「藍道塔利？」. This
translation is very typical of prosubs as they limited the number of characters on the screen.
Fix, YYeTs and Visionary Sub rendered the sentence similarly as, 「不會是藍道×塔利吧」,
「不會是藍道×塔利吧」and 「你說的應該不是藍道×塔利吧」. These renderings, though longer than the English sentence, sound well-rounded. ShinY once again strikes with a baffling mistranslation,「你不會認同藍道×塔利吧」. Back translating would render the sentence as, “You don’t identify with Randyll, right?” The translation is so far from the ST that it is highly likely that this translator hadn’t even seen the show, and calling them fansubbers might be questionable.
Ex. 5
At the end of the first episode, a group of crows have arrived at Last Hearth at the same time as a group of individuals from Winterfell. They discover a ghastly scene in which the Night King has dismembered the bodies of the deceased residents of Last Hearth and arrayed them in a spiral of limbs. They must race as fast as they can to get back to Winterfell before the Night King and his army arrive. The group from Castle Black came by horse and the group from Winterfell came on foot. They cannot magic horses out of thin air; therefore, to move faster, each horse that was once carrying one person’s weight must now bear the burden of two. Clearly, the horse would slow down; however, two people on a horse’s back is still faster than one person on foot. Many of the translations misunderstood the following sentence: “We rode down from Castle Black. We can double up on the horses.” The
professional subtitlers and YYeTs translated the sentence respectively as,「我們從黑城堡騎 馬南下/騎馬可以加快速度」and「我們是從黑城堡騎馬來的/我們可以快馬加鞭」, which is essentially the same meaning. Back translating the sentence means that “We can push the horses to go faster.” This is an understandable misunderstanding as speed is of the essence, and will not break the narrative of the story. ShinY, however, made a logical error that makes the statement seem like they are about to magic more horses，「我們是從黑城 堡騎馬來的/我們可以增加匹馬數量」. Back translating would render the sentence as, “we can increase the number of horses,” but everybody in Last Hearth is either dead or a walking corpse on its way to Winterfell. FIX and Visionary Sub understood the meaning of the ST and translated it respectively as, 「我們從黑城堡騎馬過來的／我們可以在馬上擠擠」
and 「我們從黑城堡是騎馬來的／咱們可以兩個人騎一匹馬」. The former translation implies that more than one person will be riding on the horse and the second one explicitly states that two people will be riding on one horse.
Ex. 6
In the second episode before the battle, Arya goes to visit Gendry. Being concerned about her well-being, he suggests that she stay hidden in the crypt. Little does he know that Arya has become a well-trained assassin. He says, “It's going to be safer down in the crypt, you know.” The crypt is an underground room where the remains of Winterfell’s ancestors are laid to rest, akin to a sepulcher or mausoleum. It is not simply a basement and later on during the battle, those dead bodies become part of the Army of the Dead and start attacking the women and children in the crypt. Therefore, it is important the Chinese word for “crypt”
denote a room where dead bodies are stored. All of the fansubs translated the word more or less the same way. ShinY and YYeTs both translated it as,「地窖」, FIX as, 「地下室」and Visionary Sub as「地穴」. All three words are synonyms for “underground room”, but Visionary Sub sounds more like a hole or cave. Both prosubs, however, took a more clever approach by translating the word as「墓窖」, with the first character denoting “sepulcher”
and the second denoting “underground room.” The prosubs is a better direct translation and makes more sense as it is not a place one would like to hide. Hiding in the basement doesn’t sound nearly as dreadful as hiding in the crypt.
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
In the second episode after Daenerys has questioned Jamie and Brienne vouched for his integrity, the two warriors meet in the training ground and begin chatting about the oncoming battle. Brienne points at a landmark in the distance and says, “The rise, it should give us some advantage.” Even those with a novice understanding of warfare know that having the high ground is an advantage as one can rely on gravity to do a lot of work and one can conceal oneself better from projectiles. Both Prosubs, Fix, and YYeTs translated the sentence relatively as, 「地形起伏應該會給我們優勢」， 「斜坡 應該會給我們帶來優 勢. 」and「那座高地能讓我們獲得一點優勢」. All three translations make sense and are more or less equally accurate. Two fansub groups, however, had either not viewed the episode, or their English understanding is very poor. ShinY and Visionary Sub translated the sentence relatively as, 「日出會給我們帶來好處 and「日出應該會給我們一點優勢」.
Both fansubs mistook the word “rise,” to mean sunrise. It is a comical mistake, as what sort of military advantage could they possibly acquire from the sunrise. The Army of the Dead are not vampires. These two fansub groups not only failed at translation but critical thinking skills as well.
with many Three-Eyed Ravens.
多三眼 烏鴉
三眼烏 鴉，試 過好幾 次
烏鴉嘗 試了很 多次
多次 派 過許多 三眼烏 鴉
擊敗數 任三眼 烏鴉
對付過 很多三 眼烏鴉
In the second episode during a battle strategy conference, the main topic is how to eliminate the Night King, as he is the one controlling them. Killing him is the only way to secure checkmate. Bron speaks up and tells them that the Night King’s target is Bran himself and that he will wait out in the open like a vulnerable lamb left in plain sight as a lure to catch a starving lion. They ask him how he knows the Night King will come for him and replies by saying, “He'll come for me. He's tried before, many times, with many Three-Eyed Ravens.”
Bran has changed from a boy into a kind of mystical eye that can see into the past and to some extent the present and future. The word “with” often means “to use something” in English, but it does not mean that in this case. The Night King does not have control over the Three-Eyed-Raven, and therefore, he has never been able to use the Three-Eyed-Raven to do anything. The DVD subs, ShinY, and FIX translated the sentences relatively as, 「他會來找 我／他以前派許多三眼烏鴉，試過好幾次」, 「他曾利用三眼烏鴉嘗試了很多次」, and
「之前就找過 許多次 派過許多三眼烏鴉」. All Three translations made the same mistake of assuming that the Night King is using the Three-Eyed-Raven to assume the task of finding the Three-Eyed-Raven, which doesn’t make any sense at all. Visionary Sub and YYeTs translated the sentence relatively as,「他曾多次嘗試擊敗數任三眼烏鴉」and「他幹過很 多次 對付過很多三眼烏鴉」. Both fansubs approximately translated the sentence with the first meaning, “The Night King has tried to best many Three-Eyed-Raven before,” and the latter meaning “The Night King has dealt with many Three-Eyed-Ravens before,” both are true but not exactly accurate translations of the ST. The TV subs translated the sentence as,
「他會來找我/他試著找過許多三眼烏鴉」. It is the only translation that accurately translates the sentence.
Ex. 9
In the same scene as above, one member of the council asks how the Night King will find him. He answers, “His mark is on me.” In one scene in season six, the Night King penetrates into Bran’s out of body state and grabs his arm. Ever since then, Bran has been branded by the Night King’s hand. This branding allows the Night King constant access to Bran’s location. The TV subs, ShinY, Fix, Visionary Sub, and YYeTs all translated the sentences respectively as, 「我有他的印記」，「他在我身上留下了痕跡」，「他在我身 上做了標記」，「他在我身上留了印記」，and「我身上有他的印記」. All five
translations translate the idea of leaving a mark on Brandon’s body; however, the DVD subs simplified the sentence and made it very uninteresting with the translation, 「我是他的目 標」. Back translating the sentences would render the sentence as, “I’m his objective.” This doesn’t answer the question how the Night King could find him and makes it seem like Bran is saying something painfully obvious.
Ex. 10
ST TV DVD ShinY Fix Vision. YYeTs
Red
need to execute me, Ser Davos. I’ll be dead before the dawn.
我天亮前 就會死了
我天亮前 就會死了
我凌晨之 前就會死 的
戴佛斯爵 士 我將在黎 明前死去
我天亮前 就死了
我會在天 明前死去
In the third episode, the Red Woman arrives in Winterfell just as the battle is about to unfold. Ser Davos has a grudge against her and even told her that he would kill her if he were to ever see her again. The Red Woman beats Ser Davos to the punch by speaking first. She says, “There’s no need to execute me, Ser Davos. I’ll be dead before the dawn.” Being a servant of the Lord of Light, she apparently knows that her mission will be accomplished before the sun rises the next day, and therefore will no longer be needed alive; it seems there are very few perks to being the Lord of Light’s servant. Both prosubs and Visionary Sub rendered the sentence as,「沒必要處決我，載佛斯爵士/我天亮前就會死了」. FIX and YYeTs translated the sentences respectively as,「沒必要處決我／我將在黎明前死去」and
「你不必處死我 ／我會在天明前死去」. All of the aforementioned translations are valid as 「天亮、黎明， and 天明」are all synonyms for the same time of day. ShinY translated it as,「沒必要處死我/我凌晨之前就會死的」. This rendering of the ST actually contains
「你不必處死我 ／我會在天明前死去」. All of the aforementioned translations are valid as 「天亮、黎明， and 天明」are all synonyms for the same time of day. ShinY translated it as,「沒必要處死我/我凌晨之前就會死的」. This rendering of the ST actually contains