Game of Thrones – Of course it has Spoilers

I quite liked the low-key deaths. Giving the audience (or characters) what they want isn’t the GoT way.

The fast-cut tight camera Jamie/Euron fight was poorly filmed.

I think the programme-makers have found it difficult to divide the plot up into episodes. Varys’s death was one of the casualties of this. It felt like a bigger turning point.

Following that woman and child through the city was a good idea.

I think a few more glimpses of madness from Dani before torching the city would have been a good idea although I thought her expression through the kiss scene with John Snow was good.

That dragon breath lasts a long time doesn’t it!

My predictions were all wrong, so there’s no point in me trying for next week.

Danys leap from ‘breaker of chains’ to ‘burner of peasants’ felt a bit abrupt. I feel an attack on the keep first at least would have been more plausible, ringing the bells a decoy for an attack on the dragon, then Dany goes mental.

Not at all. The idea that Targaryens have the capacity to suddenly go batshit mental and burn stuff has been flagged up since somewhere around episode 1, series 1. Her whole character arc has been littered with events that show her darker nature and ruthlessness. She wanted Cersei to watch as she levelled her entire city. The idea that she could rule as a part of a golden couple with Jon Snow was dangled as a bit of a red herring precisely so the eventual swing into madness would be more impactful.

The series could possibly had a couple more episodes, and I expected Varys to leg it over the narrow sea. The Jaime/Euron scrap was a bit lame, Cleganebowl was as good as it could have been, you knew that the Mountain was already dead, and that the Hound was going to die.

Well, Dany’s tantrum has wiped out the economy of a large chunk of Westeros and made a lot of people homeless. And it’s still only the beginning of Winter. Nice one.
Her going batshit did fit with her character’s arc though. Where’s a good Kingslayer when you need one?

Hound got the best lines, as ever.

Jamie should have stabbed Cersei in the crypt (note, not a euphamism).

Grey Worm is for the chop.

And how much fuel can one bloody dragon carry, eh? It’s like they make this stuff up.

Reading others posts is interesting to me, I probably read too much online about TV shows I like – The Walking Dead for example everyone moans, because it’s genuinely gone to shit. With GoT it’s more like viewers are so invested they hate it when their favourite characters die, become baddies or act in a way that they don’t like – it’s like when you find out your Mate mugged an old Lady, a combination of disgust and disbelief.

I personally don’t have an issue with Dany going mad “all of a sudden”, it’s been on the cards for years – she’s been burning her enemies, people who betray her and sometimes people she just doesn’t like pretty through the whole Game of Thrones, it’s just been punctuated by periods of her smiling and being nice to her allies – as long as they completely and unquestionably devoted to her, she’s a megalomaniac and always has been. She offers everyone she meets the same options – bend the knee, or die, usually by Dragon. Even before last nights episode he’s probably had the highest body count in the series. Last episode she lost a Dragon and her favourite sycophant and probably worse was humiliated by Cersei. I’m not sure if she ‘snapped’ or that was just the normal response for her to that. She didn’t need to kill all those Innocents, she wanted to, plus a pile of her own fighters.

It was a very GoT episode.

As for next week, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dany ends up on the Throne, she’ll need a new one of course. Jon back as King of the North and lots of fighting between the Kingdoms, just as it was with her Father.

My predictions were all wrong, so there’s no point in me trying for next week.

My  prediction is that the closing scene of the final show will be a previously unknown person walking up the gangplank of a Bravosi ship in Kings Landing, handing the captain an iron coin and saying Valar Morghulis.

As the ship sails out of  harbour she removes her face to reveal Arya who was seemingly killed earlier in the episode as she leaves Westeros forever having left her past behind and  having truly become no one.

Dani didnt have a wobble, she decided earlier in the ep when snogging Jon, “okay, let it be fear”

im glad that big eared lass got fried for the way she treated DCI Hastings….

Can someone remind me what the green fireballs are? I remember it from before when Cersei blew up that building but cant remember what it is.

Can someone remind me what the green fireballs are? I remember it from before when Cersei blew up that building but cant remember what it is.

Caches of wildfire that were planted throughout the city by the Mad King…like the one that Cersei blew up beneath the Sept of Baelor

wildfire?

Magic green explosives

Dany’s tantrum has wiped out the economy of a large chunk of Westeros and made a lot of people homeless

This sounds a bit like the way Channel 4 News would cover such disturbing events.

Can someone remind me what the green fireballs are? I remember it from before when Cersei blew up that building but cant remember what it is.

It’s Wildfire, the Mad King stashed loads of it around Kings Landing, it was his preferred method of killing people (he didn’t have dragons). Supposedly he hid it all around the place so if they was an uprising he’d burn the city with it.

im glad that big eared lass got fried for the way she treated DCI Hastings….

bit harsh given she was only making a tit of herself

still, that’s justice in GoT land

im glad that big eared lass got fried for the way she treated DCI Hastings….

DCI Hastings got off lightly compared to Janos Slynt, the last bent copper in King’s Landing

im glad that big eared lass got fried for the way she treated DCI Hastings….

bit harsh given she was only making a tit of herself

still, that’s justice in GoT land

This is why it’s difficult to stay invested with necessary levels of suspension of disbelief watching with my wife, who recognises everyone from everything, not just those with definining physical characterisics, and shares this knowledge freely.

But anyway, making the effort, cityburining was mainly her [Danny, not my wife] rage at JS: being ‘rightful’ king, dooming nascent relationship etc. Kind of thing that might be satisfied by pouring most of a pint of lager top over his head for most people.

The story arc doesn’t make much sense this season, but burning and pillaging King’s Landing isn’t totally nuts according to a military strategist:

The Strategic Case for Burning King’s Landing

So basically Dani has to keep everyone terrified of her because Jon Snow and other potential challengers are much more popular so torching King’s Landing shows that she means business.

Just seemed a bit of a stretch to level the entire city.

I mean sure, take out the scorpions at land and sea, pause for a bit while the bells ring then fly over to the Red Keep and torch the place, slaughtering some innocents in the process. That shows you mean business, you’ve torched Cersei, and leveled the citadel.

Crucially you still actually have an intact city full of people who have seen how badass you and your dragon are rather than just trying to rule over a sea of ashes.

Megalomaniac dictators aren’t really known for their rational thought.

She’s always had a mean impulsive streak – it’s been noticeably getting worse in recent years. Plus Missandei and Jorah were her conscience until they snuffed it.

But its been obvious for ages that she was going to be become the Mad Queen. And not torching absolutely everyone wouldn’t have been…. well… mad!

Anyway… John Sneeeeerrrr didn’t look right happy about her dragon-based burny rampage, so I think we know where we’re heading next week! No more shagging your aunt! Cos she’s mental!

I think final episode Jon and his auntie have a proper tiff, auntie tells dragon to torch Jon, Jon survives flames, dragon changes allegiance to Jon, Arya tops Dany, Jon and his dragon go north, Sansa takes throne, peace at last.

No more shagging your aunt! Cos she’s mental!

Words to live by.

Jon survives flames

Been waiting for this moment for a few series now. Too obvious even for this current version of GoT though?

Anyway, I’ll be disappointed if we get a neat conclusion with the forces of all that’s good and holy triumphing, it just won’t be proper GoT. I’m rooting for a “Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss” ending. And maybe a blue twinkle in someone’s eyes up North.

So basically Dani has to keep everyone terrified of her because Jon Snow and other potential challengers are much more popular so torching King’s Landing shows that she means business.

This was covered in their fireside chat in the episode. She was banging on about the people loving Jon, and the only weapon she had was fear. When he pulled away from shagging his aunt (again) she said “fear it is then” or something similar.

auntie tells dragon to torch Jon, Jon survives flames

I was kind of hoping that on one of the occasions that Jon looks up while Auntie is torching the city that’d he’d give a whistle and a “here boy” and the dragon would obey, send Dany proper mental and try to torch him, but obviously he’s suffer no ill affects being a Targaryen.

think final episode Jon and his auntie have a proper tiff, auntie tells dragon to torch Jon

All that but dragon doesn’t do it, and burns Dany instead.

Newsthumps take on it was quite amusing 😃

This feels a pretty accurate view on why the last series feels very different to the earlier, book based, ones. Basically GRRM wrote characters and let the story develop based on how they would react to situations (which led him off down some deadends). For the last seasons the show runners have been working backwards from the end game.

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/managing-the-parks/park-strategies/the-royal-parks-transport-and-movement-strategy

Disappointing. The Euron/Jaime fight added nothing (Euron could have just burnt up with his ship) and the ‘fatally wounded’ Jaime (dragging himself towards his sword) managed to then run up into the tower, get Cersei, give her a hug before the roof fell in.

Daily Mash Brexit take…

Although GRRM praises the TV show adaptation at the moment I’m sure in a few years time once the revenue from the spin-offs and syndication is in he’ll end up telling the truth, D&D are shit writers who wrecked his carefully crafted story-line.

With GoT it’s more like viewers are so invested they hate it when their favourite characters die, become baddies or act in a way that they don’t like

I certainly don’t mind when favourite characters die (OK I would have been pissed had Arya not made it back to Winterfell and done something cool with her new-found assassin skills but anyone else dying would be fine and now she’s done that she can die to :p ), it’s part of the fabric of the show. What’s also part of that fabric is carefully woven story-lines developing characters in great detail and there being several strands running in parallel. That’s all changed with s8, it’s all about wrapping things up quickly and doing the obvious things.

Granted, once someone decided s8 would be the last it was always going to have to switch from long-running story arcs to concluding them but it still feels like we’re being robbed. I don’t know how anyone can defend the whole Night King arc, it’s like they forgot about it and thought “****, need to wrap that several thousand year old all-powerful dude and his army up in one episode so we’ve got time for the Cersei v Dany stuff”

Interesting point in the Guardian…

Quite a few people have named their Kids Khaleesi in the last few years.

Of course I’d NEVER do anything like that.

D&D are shit writers who wrecked his carefully crafted story-line.

The point the link I tried to post makes it the problem is partly GRRM – he’s having difficulty with his own story as well because it’s developed organically. Supposedly he’s given them the ending, they’ve had to try to work out how to get from where they were to it.

(That would have been a very wrong link above, obviously)

Want to know why Game of Thrones *feels* so different now? I think I can explain. Without spoilers. /1#GameofThrones #GoT #WritingCommunity

— Daniel Silvermint (@DSilvermint) May 7, 2019

That thread is pretty good.
Weird that I like GRRM’s version of pantsing, but I can’t stand it in TV generally – although maybe that’s just because of the likelyhood of it being cancelled without resolution!

An interesting TV show that felt like pantsing done well was the The Leftovers.

Well….I didn’t understand how Tyrion survived letting Jaime go when he’d just been told ‘ one more thing and you’ll be a crisp’, also didn’t understand how Zjaime survived being stabbed twice in the side with an 18in blade, managed to kill a highly skilled person and then run around for half an hour getting better along the way.

But the fire power of the dragon was ridiculous, taking out whole stone towers with one breath…..FFS!

Anyway as I’ve said all along, Jon Snow will come out on top, anything else would be just wrong!

So who was Varys writing too? I fully expect the Martells, Tyrells and Baratheons if there are any left to come marching in at the eleventh hour and save the day, which would be, errr, shite. I can’t think of anyone else with the clout to influence the ending.
I reckon Jaime’s last act was to protect Cersei so she gets to die again but properly.
Jon will be sentenced to death, Danny will give it the old Dracarys but Drogon will be like WTF U mad bro LOLZ??!!
Jon boy will stay true to his word and not sit on the throne but go live on the wilderness, only coming out once a week to ride his pet dragon too market. Which would make Tyrion the next in line for the throne I believe and he’ll live happily ever after with Sonzser.

I can’t think of anyone else with the clout to influence the ending.

Iron Bank? Moot point really as I think their Lannister repayment plan may have gone up in smoke.

the fire power of the dragon was ridiculous, taking out whole stone towers with one breath

Last series We saw a dragon take down The Wall – which had stood for 8 millennia – with a couple of breaths. That pretty much warned us about the power of dragons.

Made me think of the bombing of Dresdan at near the end of WW2,wasn’t really necessary but we did it anyway