Aaaand I've seen it to.
As always with this season, it's a mixed bag - where the visual, the cinematography, the acting, the music is all top notch, the story itself leaves a lot to be desired.
Well, maybe not "a lot", given the two previous episodes, this followed accordingly and there were no major headscratchers. I was just underwhelmed at how the issue of Dany being ad disadvantage was resolved - "Oh no, she's down to one dragon, scorpions are everywhere, what's left of her army is weaker, what shall she do? how can she win?" Answer: she single handedly destroys all of her enemies with fire. D'uh. Just like that.
Yes, as I've read in the previous pages, her tactics were fine - I didn't think of it, I agree that pulling a Red Baron and have the sun blinding the fleet and then coming from behind the scorpions on the walls is logical. But, there's a jarring tonal difference going from "Euron shoots a dragon while not beeing seen from the air" to "Dany single handedly wins the war with a dragon we all should have feared for".
Also, she destroyed the walls and the army, the city surrenders, she's sitting on Drogon that does NOT fire on people (I thought she was going to yell "fear not people, your rightful queen is here, her enemies are gone and you have nothing to fear anymore!"), she hears the bells and she has a tearful smile, like "I did it. I won it. I won the war", her lifequest accomplished. But then she remebers that she's supposed to go mad and there's only one episode left and she goes "ah, fuck it" and proceed to carpet bombing all of the city. D'uh. I guess the voiceover at the beginning about the Targaryens being nuts will have to do, sigh. That and Dany saying that she will have to rule with fear, well, I guess everyone was afraid already of the dragon, I know there's no point in making parallels with real history but the japanese DID fear the USA after two atomic bombings, it's not that there was the need to carpet bombing all of Japan with nukes after their surrender!
Loved Arya being talked out of her need for revenge. As soon as she openly stated she was going to kill the queen, I knew she wouldn't get Cersei.
Jaimie dying a lovesick puppy.... bah.
Cersei herself... I've spent almost 8 years hating that spiteful, arrogant, hateful spoiled bitch and they let her die making me almost sorry for her? I won't contend that dying alone, powerless and in tears at the thought of the life of her unborn child isn't fitting punishment, and Lena Headey is absolutely fantastic, but I wanted to enjoy her death like I did with Joffrey and Ramsay.
Euron as was said above had the most "doesn't matter, had sex" death of them all.
And LOL at Cersei nope-ing herself out of the Cleaganbowl.... she just knew Sandor would let her pass, 'cause he was there for his brother
what a cruel way to have his eyes bashed in like Oberyn, I didn't need to rethink of that!
I will have to think long and hard how much Dany's sudden turn makes sense. I fully believe that's what will happen in the books, but I'm convinced it will make sense over the proper development. It won't be "Ok Tyrion, I agree that if the city surrenders, the fight is over" and mass genocide in the same episode (or chapter).