Game of Thrones (TV, fantasy) Thread

[gmillerdrake]

I know her army is significantly smaller....but I'm wondering if she only brought (what looks to be 72 ....6x6 columns x2) intentionally to look 'weak'. She knows that Cersi knows her army has been decimated....maybe Dany is trying to under represent herself on purpose?

Also, I don't know why I can't let Dario and the Second Sons go. I still have a feeling they're going to show up. Maybe Dario and the Second Sons make up a chunk of the Golden Company being that the Second Sons are also soldiers for hire? Maybe when the time comes to battle.....Dario reveals himself and orders his men or the entire Golden company to switch sides? Or maybe we never see him again and I'm completely off base about him or them ever being seen again.

 

[gmillerdrake]

***double post***

[gmillerdrake]

Let's pretend that Arya is the one who kills Cersi.....forget the 'how' she does it....just that she does.....would that bother you that she executed both 'big' kills for the series?

On one hand I'd be put off by it as I think it'd be more compelling if say Jamie or even Sansa were the one who killed Cersi. But on the other hand, she's a trained assassin and can take any face she wants and one would think should she make it inside the Kingslanding walls it would be fairly simple for someone of her expertise to get up close to Cersi and kill her with ease....so it'd make 'sense' for her to be the one.

As was mentioned by Brian and a few folks....I think the Hound is going to clear the way for the one who ultimately kills Cersi by dispatching the Mountain....leaving Cersi vulnerable and defenseless against whomever that is. I could even see a scenario where the Hound and Arya make it to Cersi through the Mountain....and maybe Jamie is there already and Cersi believes he's going to defend her but he ends up thrusting his sword through her back. 

[ProfessorPeart]

I'm for the Kingslayer to be true to his name and do it again. I guess it would be Queenslayer in this case. Either way, Jaime is my preferred killer, assuming she actually dies.

[gmillerdrake]

I'm for the Kingslayer to be true to his name and do it again. I guess it would be Queenslayer in this case. Either way, Jaime is my preferred killer, assuming she actually dies.

No kidding. At this point I'm not so sure she can be beat.....at least her armies. Those cross bolt weapons have completely neutralized Drogon....especially now that it's only (1) Dragon.

Dany should have said 'screw it' from get go.....stormed Kingslanding and taken it by force, then headed up North. I don't think she has any type of advantage now. The only thing she could do is listen to Tyrion, Varys and Jon and lay siege....but she's entirely too impatient for that at this point.

[ariich]

Tyrion knows Varys is right....and, Dany is going to ignore everyone’s solid advice on how to beat Cersi and win the hearts of the people and she’s gonna go ‘mad king’ on everyone....eventually leading to Jon having to kill her.

See, it's going that way and I don't like that. I get that it'll be a tragedy, but we've had 7 years of character development for Dany. To have it all undone in a season is just disappointing.


Thank god for Tyrion and Varys. Their characters have been some of my favorite since season 1.

I don't think it's all been undone just this season. There have been scenes throughout the show where she has shown tendency's to win at all costs.

Indeed, disagree with Adami on this one. This has been Dany's story arc for a long time and she's become particularly (a) delusional about her own status, (2) power-hungry and (3)brutal in the last couple of seasons.

[gmillerdrake]

I'm picking up a heavy vibe that Sansa is going to be the one ruling the 7 Kingdoms after the dust settles. Taking an inventory of her characters development it's all lining up for her. she's very tactful about what she says and does as she's lived with and been surrounded by some of the most cunning, lethal, honest and powerful people in the 7 Kingdoms. Won't be surprised if it's indeed her as Queen.....

[Adami]

I know her army is significantly smaller....but I'm wondering if she only brought (what looks to be 72 ....6x6 columns x2) intentionally to look 'weak'. She knows that Cersi knows her army has been decimated....maybe Dany is trying to under represent herself on purpose?

Also, I don't know why I can't let Dario and the Second Sons go. I still have a feeling they're going to show up. Maybe Dario and the Second Sons make up a chunk of the Golden Company being that the Second Sons are also soldiers for hire? Maybe when the time comes to battle.....Dario reveals himself and orders his men or the entire Golden company to switch sides? Or maybe we never see him again and I'm completely off base about him or them ever being seen again.

To your first point, it's possible, but it also looks like they were there under parlay. But Cersei has shown to have no honor at all, so it would be within her character to say screw it and murder them all. A dumb play by Dany that just happened to work.

To your second, that would be cheesy but very cool to see actually.

[RuRoRul]

I don't think that Daenerys was supposed to be standing outside with her army "besieging" King's Landing in that scene. It was a parley, like Jon and Sansa meeting Ramsay before the Battle of the Bastards or Stannis and Renly meeting on the Stormlands coast in season 2. Or like the Dragonpit meeting in Season 7. In that case the Unsullied were positioned outside the city to threaten King's Landing, while smaller groups of guards accompanied each leader to the Dragonpit. In this case the Unsullied you can see outside the walls were Daenerys' guards for the parley.

Of course, considering we'd just had a scene that showed the same range and accuracy of the scorpions, it was really bad staging to show them there since it seemed obvious that they could have just shot at them from the walls and killed them. It would make a lot more sense if Daenerys and Drogon were clearly out of range of the walls - I don't know if it was intended that they were meant to be out of range but it did not look like that at all.

[Adami]

Also Gary, to your point about the 2nd sons infiltrating the golden army.........what if they just infiltrated the citizens? Like, now they're all in the city when Cersei invited them all in.

[cramx3]

Also Gary, to your point about the 2nd sons infiltrating the golden army.........what if they just infiltrated the citizens? Like, now they're all in the city when Cersei invited them all in.

I certainly expect arya to just easily slip in with the rest of the folk

[Adami]

Also Gary, to your point about the 2nd sons infiltrating the golden army.........what if they just infiltrated the citizens? Like, now they're all in the city when Cersei invited them all in.

I certainly expect arya to just easily slip in with the rest of the folk

I'd imagine that would be harder now since they closed the gates, but Arya is batman, so who knows?

And since Bronn can apparently just go wherever without anyone noticing, I say Bronn kills Cersei.

The actor hates the actress anyway. They can even recreate the Olly moment. Cersei is about to kill Jamie but decides not to, Jamie realizes she can be saved, Bronn shoots her from a distance and gives the nod.

[The Walrus]

I've found the two things that will ruin the end of this show for me in a big way (and I've already accepted the closure on the Night King so that doesn't count): Arya getting another big kill (on either Euron, Cersei, or The Mountain), and not getting any closure on Bran. He's still the Three Eyed Raven, but what is his purpose for the rest of his life? If either of those two things happen it'll really put a damper on things. I can overlook just about everything else, the rushed traveling, Euron's pinpoint accuracy with the Scorpions, all of it. But not those two.

I don't think Bronn kills Cersei, as satisfying as it is, because the contracts state they can't have scenes together. That's the only reason I don't think it'll happen even though it would be wonderful to watch.

[Chino]

I've found the two things that will ruin the end of this show for me in a big way (and I've already accepted the closure on the Night King so that doesn't count): Arya getting another big kill (on either Euron, Cersei, or The Mountain), and not getting any closure on Bran. He's still the Three Eyed Raven, but what is his purpose for the rest of his life? If either of those two things happen it'll really put a damper on things. I can overlook just about everything else, the rushed traveling, Euron's pinpoint accuracy with the Scorpions, all of it. But not those two.

I don't think Bronn kills Cersei, as satisfying as it is, because the contracts state they can't have scenes together. That's the only reason I don't think it'll happen even though it would be wonderful to watch.

That'd be easy enough to film separately. They just never need to show them on screen at the same time, and even then it'd still be possible. Have one come in and film all their dialog with a stunt actor or actress, and then have the other do the same. Put them together in post production.

[The Walrus]

I've found the two things that will ruin the end of this show for me in a big way (and I've already accepted the closure on the Night King so that doesn't count): Arya getting another big kill (on either Euron, Cersei, or The Mountain), and not getting any closure on Bran. He's still the Three Eyed Raven, but what is his purpose for the rest of his life? If either of those two things happen it'll really put a damper on things. I can overlook just about everything else, the rushed traveling, Euron's pinpoint accuracy with the Scorpions, all of it. But not those two.

I don't think Bronn kills Cersei, as satisfying as it is, because the contracts state they can't have scenes together. That's the only reason I don't think it'll happen even though it would be wonderful to watch.

That'd be easy enough to film separately. They just never need to show them on screen at the same time, and even then it'd still be possible. Have one come in and film all their dialog with a stunt actor or actress, and then have the other do the same. Put them together in post production.

Hmm that's interesting. I suppose they could do that, yeah.

[MirrorMask]

Saw the episode... I liked it! Saw on the web some random negative memes flowing around and I braced myself for the worst, but I enjoyed it!

Me enjoying the episode does not mean I didn't agree with many, many choices of the characters. But still, they looked in line with their history and their actions, while the previous battle was full of cliches and the surprise shocking ending for the sake of having a shocking ending (couldn't Jon, for example, at least kill the dragon? no, every hero had to be one second away from death just like Aragorn was being trumpled by an ogre the second before the Ring fell into the lava, enough of the last second save come on).

I don't want or like Dany to snap, but storywise, it makes sense. I've seen previous comments that it destroys her "breaking the wheel" arc.... but already back in the last season she showed signs of snapping. I waved it away as her not getting laid 'cause her toyboy remained in Mereen, but it's not unexpected or a betrayal of her character that she snaps. She's gonna go in full Fire and Blood mode now.

I didn't like that Jon told everyone he is a Targaryen, but then again, the guy is made in his father uncle image, I buy him revealing the truth to his sisters.

Maybe the afterparty in Winterfell was a bit of fan service... but come on, it was earned after so much tension and carnage. Sansa putting a Stark pin on Theon.... the feels. Jon declaring the dead "the shield that guard the realm of men"... the feels. Dany toasting to Arya, "the hero of Winterfell"... the hero of the entire Westeros!!! I know there are more pressing issues at hand but where's her lifesize statue built in her honor?

Podrick will have other chances to spread his legends, poor Tormund and LORD Gendry being friendzoned however  and Arya not planning to return home... YOU BETTER GO BACK AND MARRY GENDRY LADY!

The parley scene was awesome and full of tension. Love Tyrion bypassing Qyburn and going directly to talk to Cersei. Too bad that Qyburn made sense - he had a real and actual point about the playing field being very, very leveled by now.

And the dragon... damn, until someone pointed out that it was hard to have a sneak attack of it, I liked the scene  not like-like, I hated it, but THAT's what should have happened in the previous episode, that's the brutality of war. A dragon is a big moving target, aim, fire, boom, dragon killed, that's what happens and that's more belieavable that many name characters being trampled by wights and not dying.

Also didn't expect Bronn being such an asshole... but in the end, he's a sellsword, I believed too he would have been way nicer, but that was not the case. He's gonna be the wild card and I still call Chekov on the crossbow, someone will probably use it on Cersei.

Now the future looks bleak... Dany is so gonna Fire-and-Blood'ing her way around. Jaime and Arya will be the wild cards, Jon will have to face up Dany's inability to wait when the goal is in her sights, and there's definitively gonna be a Cleaganbowl.

And congrats on Tormund on adopting the CGI dog that no one wants to have anymore in the show so rather than kill it, they send him away 

[Adami]

I didn't notice, but apparently near Dany at the beginning was a Starbucks coffee.

Who wants to start the theories?

[ErHaO]

I was entertained enough, but think this season has been a massive decline in quality. And I say that as someone who did not mind the noticeable shift from book adaption to typical Hollywood writing a few seasons back. This and the last episode where a fun watch but best not really think about it.

Anecdotal, but people around me are hating it way more than I do. If this is the quality we can expect from the three (?!) spinoffs they are producing, I wonder how much goodwill of the fans this series will be able to maintain. Because there they won't have the fantastic base of character development that was told through the books to lean on.



Edit: Also, Jon has to be the worst "dog" owner in television history  What the fuck was that for a sorry ass goodbye.

[gmillerdrake]

Also Gary, to your point about the 2nd sons infiltrating the golden army.........what if they just infiltrated the citizens? Like, now they're all in the city when Cersei invited them all in.

Yeah....he could do that as well. Something tells me he’d have heard about everything that’s been going on prior to the recent events and made his way to help her. He loves her. I think he’d have heard about Cersi hiring the Golden Company which is why I can’t seem to let the idea go of him/them showing up at some point.

[cramx3]

I didn't notice, but apparently near Dany at the beginning was a Starbucks coffee.

Who wants to start the theories?

  my gf sent this to me earlier https://www.unilad.co.uk/film-and-tv/behind-the-scenes-pic-shows-whose-starbucks-cup-was-left-on-game-of-thrones-set

[Adami]

Also Gary, to your point about the 2nd sons infiltrating the golden army.........what if they just infiltrated the citizens? Like, now they're all in the city when Cersei invited them all in.

Yeah....he could do that as well. Something tells me he’d have heard about everything that’s been going on prior to the recent events and made his way to help her. He loves her. I think he’d have heard about Cersi hiring the Golden Company which is why I can’t seem to let the idea go of him/them showing up at some point.

Totally. I guess I'm thinking logistically. Would be WAY easier to inflitrate a bunch of citizens than an army. How does one even get thousands of people to inflitrate an army? Do they sign up? Do they kill and replace thousands of other soldiers? Etc. Too many complications.

I think they should throw every off and bring back the original actor for Daario.

[gmillerdrake]

Just rewatched the Rhaegal death scene. He did get smoked but the bolt in his chest it looked like he could have recovered from, next one knicked his wing.....the neck shot was bad BUT.....I’m wondering if there’s a way he survived?  Went down in the waters of Dragonstone.....maybe there’s some mystic or magical element to that area?

And....he’s a huge dragon that can take a beating. Our characters like Arya, the Hound.....Jon....they’ve been pummeled to the brink of death and lived. Maybe Rhagal survives and makes a heroic return?

Cersi was guaranteed by Euron he was dead.....it’d be something to see him show up again.

[Grappler]

Just rewatched the Rhaegal death scene. He did get smoked but the bolt in his chest it looked like he could have recovered from, next one knicked his wing.....the neck shot was bad BUT.....I’m wondering if there’s a way he survived?  Went down in the waters of Dragonstone.....maybe there’s some mystic or magical element to that area?

And....he’s a huge dragon that can take a beating. Our characters like Arya, the Hound.....Jon....they’ve been pummeled to the brink of death and lived. Maybe Rhagal survives and makes a heroic return?

Cersi was guaranteed by Euron he was dead.....it’d be something to see him show up again.

The behind the scenes videos showed how the arrows now open up into a massive 4-pronged point and they also rotate as they fly, so it's doing major damage compared to just being shot with a big bolt.   Not only were the scorpions upgraded, but the arrows were too.

[gmillerdrake]

Just rewatched the Rhaegal death scene. He did get smoked but the bolt in his chest it looked like he could have recovered from, next one knicked his wing.....the neck shot was bad BUT.....I’m wondering if there’s a way he survived?  Went down in the waters of Dragonstone.....maybe there’s some mystic or magical element to that area?

And....he’s a huge dragon that can take a beating. Our characters like Arya, the Hound.....Jon....they’ve been pummeled to the brink of death and lived. Maybe Rhagal survives and makes a heroic return?

Cersi was guaranteed by Euron he was dead.....it’d be something to see him show up again.

The behind the scenes videos showed how the arrows now open up into a massive 4-pronged point and they also rotate as they fly, so it's doing major damage compared to just being shot with a big bolt.   Not only were the scorpions upgraded, but the arrows were too.

There are real arrow heads that do that in turkey hunting. It’s like a helicopter and they’re designed so you can take the head clear off the turkey in an instant.

I’m more or less wishful thinking at this point......just bummed to see another dragon go down.

[The Curious Orange]

There HAS to be a Clegane-Bowl between the Hound and the Mountain. Either the Mountain wins, then Arya deals him a killing blow, or it's a Mountain v Arya fight, and Sandor steps in to kill him at the last minute.

Jaime has to kill Cersei, but I'd prefer it if she were left blind and tongue-less on the streets of King's Landing - Ideally hobbled too to stop her running away (cutting off the front part of the foot leaving only the heel) - then taken in to Littlefinger's old brothel.

Dany is becoming a bad ruler, and her demise is all but signposted. I can't see Jon as King either - I think he'll break the Iron Throne and make each of the 7 Kingdoms independent, Gendry as King of the Stormlands, Sansa Queen of the North, Tyrion King of the Westlands, etc.

Been pretty disappointed with the direction this is going - it all seems too linear, too easy, and there's precious little attention paid to the logistics of mobilising these huge armies.

[Zantera]

Last nights episode was a bit mixed for me, though i enjoyed it more than the battle episode mostly because it was pitch black for almost the entire run time. That scene when the dragon died was so stupid though.. only Dany would manage to get ambushed out on the sea while flying and having an overhead view of everything.. 

[MirrorMask]

General question: is there, in movie industry, the equivalent of a producer?

I mean, when a band records an album a producer is there to suggest stuff, like "Well, maybe there's no need to have this straight ahead rocking song having a long instrumental break in the middle, how about you split that part away and make it into a full song?" (just to make an example we all know).

Is there such an equivalent in movie industry? someone that is not an author or a writer, but that can review a script and say stuff like "hey guys, how come this character is doing this while two pages ago he said the exact opposite?"

I didn't think too much of the dragon being killed, I was fine with that, but the authors shot themselves in the feet by going on camera after the episode and stating that "Dany forgot about the Iron fleet". D'uh. Nobody in the writing room has the role of an impartial voice that can suggests stuff? "We want Arya to kill the Night King" "Ok, cool, but I see she's basically jumping out of nowhere, would it be a problem for your story if you have her hiding in the tree?"... that kind of advices, like a musical producer says "How about you play that solo with a slower pace or make the chorus just a bit different?"

This does not apply only to Game of Thrones of course, it could be a useful role for any show.

[cramx3]

I think the Starbucks cup is just proof the show runners are overlooking things this season.  Maybe they put too much effort into filming the battles, everyone pretty much commented that The Long Night was one of the longest and hardest things they ever had to film.

[kaos2900]

How many people noticed the starbucks cup on the initial viewing? If it wasn't blasted all over the internet I'd assume that 99% of the viewers would not have seen it. I'd bet dollars to donuts that the editors saw that and decided it wasn't worth the cost to edit out.

[gmillerdrake]

How many people noticed the starbucks cup on the initial viewing? If it wasn't blasted all over the internet I'd assume that 99% of the viewers would not have seen it. I'd bet dollars to donuts that the editors saw that and decided it wasn't worth the cost to edit out.

I didn’t. It’s not glaringly obvious and I’d bet $1000 that the person/people who brought it up on the internet were there on set that day and noticed it. ‘Normal’ viewers don’t notice that stuff unless it’s just over the top obvious. That wasn’t.

[The Walrus]

I did not see the Starbucks cup on my first or even second viewing, and I even missed it on my third because right when Dany is noticing all the adoration given to Jon - right after Tormund says, "What kind of man rides a fucking dragon? A madman... or a KING!" - the screen gets this red filter going for one or two seconds. Anyone else catch that? It's happened all 3 times and I'm not quite understanding why it's there but it goes so well with Dany's mood in that moment.

Also I definitely can't defend that fleet ambush scene after the showrunners said she just "forgot about the Iron Fleet." Ugh. Seriously... it's like they just want to wrap it up as fast as possible... I swear Arya better not get to kill Cersei or any of the big names, just kill some guards please 

[MirrorMask]

How many people noticed the starbucks cup on the initial viewing? If it wasn't blasted all over the internet I'd assume that 99% of the viewers would not have seen it. I'd bet dollars to donuts that the editors saw that and decided it wasn't worth the cost to edit out.

I saw a photo of it before watching the episode and still I couldn't notice it. On the web you find examples of these mistakes in various films, and it takes ninja attention to notice them, and even when you know they're there, they're hard to detect. Makes you wonder if some persons watch with an over analyzing mind all movies and TV shows just to be the clever ones that spot a mistake.

[cramx3]

I don't think it matters if I saw it or not, it was there and SOMEONE should have noticed and said something.  Just like many of the plot holes this season.

[The Curious Orange]

General question: is there, in movie industry, the equivalent of a producer?
This does not apply only to Game of Thrones of course, it could be a useful role for any show.

They used to be called a Script Editor. Back when each episode was written by a different writer, they had the responsibility of sanity checking the scripts and bringing them into the "house style" as it were. As TV shows have moved towards the idea of a show-runner writing all episodes, the script editor seems to be a thing of the past.

[ariich]

Yeah I didn't notice it and don't think it's even a medium-sized deal let along a big deal. It is pretty funny, but nothing at all serious.