Winter is Coming (GoT is back)

[RaphaelDLG]

Personally, I don't think Arya becoming a psycho kill bill revenge killer on a spree is a very satisfying ending to her arc, though I did like that she got to take out walder frey.  She should be a deadly warrior, but one in service of her family or some cause higher than revenge.

I think her character is fundamentally about not feeling at home with her family and not being comfortable being a lady and then, after realizing that she can never be "no one," coming back home and somehow making peace with who she is or something like that, though I don't have any idea where that leads.  I think there's a good possibility her ending is one of the bittersweet ones.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I'm trying to think of whether there's any chance of Bran not reuniting with Jon and Sansa in Winterfell next season.  With Arya, it's easy to imagine, since I think she's most likely going to go south to finish her list.  But with Bran, it seems pretty likely that he'll be back in Winterfell.  What I would imagine happening is that Bran and Meera go to Castle Black, and then Edd fills them in on current events, and sends word to Jon in Winterfell that Bran's alive.

The only alternative I can think of would be if they don't go to Castle Black at all.  If Meera can find them a horse (I can't see her carrying Bran around everywhere...they need a horse), maybe she takes Bran home with her, and we get to see Howland Reed.

With Arya, I'd bet on her going south rather than north.  Though she might run into other characters in the Riverlands first.  Possibly the Hound, possibly Melisandre, possibly Nymeria...but the character I'm really hoping she runs into again is Hot Pie.

I doubt Arya goes south.  In fact, I'd almost bet money on her going north next season.  Walder Frey just had the bad luck of being on the way.

The problem I see is...how do Cersei and the Mountain survive next season?  Dany's forces are way more powerful at this point, so I'm guessing there will be a final reckoning in King's Landing, presumably ending with the death (or, less likely, capture) of Cersei and the Mountain.  But those are the last people left on Arya's list.  Wouldn't it be anti-climactic if her list gets finished off when she's thousands of miles away?

Her arc isn't primarily about the list though.  The Mountain is technically dead and Jaime will kill Cersei and Qyburn.

[Mr. Morden]

I'm trying to think of whether there's any chance of Bran not reuniting with Jon and Sansa in Winterfell next season.  With Arya, it's easy to imagine, since I think she's most likely going to go south to finish her list.  But with Bran, it seems pretty likely that he'll be back in Winterfell.  What I would imagine happening is that Bran and Meera go to Castle Black, and then Edd fills them in on current events, and sends word to Jon in Winterfell that Bran's alive.

The only alternative I can think of would be if they don't go to Castle Black at all.  If Meera can find them a horse (I can't see her carrying Bran around everywhere...they need a horse), maybe she takes Bran home with her, and we get to see Howland Reed.

With Arya, I'd bet on her going south rather than north.  Though she might run into other characters in the Riverlands first.  Possibly the Hound, possibly Melisandre, possibly Nymeria...but the character I'm really hoping she runs into again is Hot Pie.

I doubt Arya goes south.  In fact, I'd almost bet money on her going north next season.  Walder Frey just had the bad luck of being on the way.

The problem I see is...how do Cersei and the Mountain survive next season?  Dany's forces are way more powerful at this point, so I'm guessing there will be a final reckoning in King's Landing, presumably ending with the death (or, less likely, capture) of Cersei and the Mountain.  But those are the last people left on Arya's list.  Wouldn't it be anti-climactic if her list gets finished off when she's thousands of miles away?

Her arc isn't primarily about the list though.  The Mountain is technically dead and Jaime will kill Cersei and Qyburn.

I see her arc as being about learning to move beyond revenge.  But she’s not there yet.  If she was, then she wouldn’t have killed Walder Frey and his sons.  The  most logical path forward is for the story to put her in a place where she’s in a position to finish off her list, but she chooses not to, because she decides that there’s some greater good that needs to be served.

I think she needs to physically move to where Cersei is in order for that to happen.  If Arya’s in Winterfell and just hears about how the final people on her list have died via raven-gram, that would be unsatisfying.  So I think she either needs to go to King’s Landing, or she has to cross paths with Cersei some other way.  I guess if Cersei escapes King’s Landing before Dany takes over, and flees to Casterly Rock or something, then there’s still time for her to cross paths with Arya as late as Season 8.  But if KL is Cersei’s last stand, then I think Arya either needs to get there next season or else Cersei will be dead before they have a chance to meet.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I'm trying to think of whether there's any chance of Bran not reuniting with Jon and Sansa in Winterfell next season.  With Arya, it's easy to imagine, since I think she's most likely going to go south to finish her list.  But with Bran, it seems pretty likely that he'll be back in Winterfell.  What I would imagine happening is that Bran and Meera go to Castle Black, and then Edd fills them in on current events, and sends word to Jon in Winterfell that Bran's alive.

The only alternative I can think of would be if they don't go to Castle Black at all.  If Meera can find them a horse (I can't see her carrying Bran around everywhere...they need a horse), maybe she takes Bran home with her, and we get to see Howland Reed.

With Arya, I'd bet on her going south rather than north.  Though she might run into other characters in the Riverlands first.  Possibly the Hound, possibly Melisandre, possibly Nymeria...but the character I'm really hoping she runs into again is Hot Pie.

I doubt Arya goes south.  In fact, I'd almost bet money on her going north next season.  Walder Frey just had the bad luck of being on the way.

The problem I see is...how do Cersei and the Mountain survive next season?  Dany's forces are way more powerful at this point, so I'm guessing there will be a final reckoning in King's Landing, presumably ending with the death (or, less likely, capture) of Cersei and the Mountain.  But those are the last people left on Arya's list.  Wouldn't it be anti-climactic if her list gets finished off when she's thousands of miles away?

Her arc isn't primarily about the list though.  The Mountain is technically dead and Jaime will kill Cersei and Qyburn.

I see her arc as being about learning to move beyond revenge.  But she’s not there yet.  If she was, then she wouldn’t have killed Walder Frey and his sons.  The  most logical path forward is for the story to put her in a place where she’s in a position to finish off her list, but she chooses not to, because she decides that there’s some greater good that needs to be served.

I think she needs to physically move to where Cersei is in order for that to happen.  If Arya’s in Winterfell and just hears about how the final people on her list have died via raven-gram, that would be unsatisfying.  So I think she either needs to go to King’s Landing, or she has to cross paths with Cersei some other way.  I guess if Cersei escapes King’s Landing before Dany takes over, and flees to Casterly Rock or something, then there’s still time for her to cross paths with Arya as late as Season 8.  But if KL is Cersei’s last stand, then I think Arya either needs to get there next season or else Cersei will be dead before they have a chance to meet.

I don't think Cersei and Arya will ever meet (or even come close).  I think her interactions with the Hound will convince her that sometimes actual mercy is the right course of action.  I think she'll find out about the current situation in Winterfell (most importantly from her perspective that Jon and Sansa are alive) shortly after running into the Hound and the Brotherhood when the latter are sought out by Melisandre (who prophisized in season three that Arya and her would "meet again").  At this point, I think Arya will decide to head north and the Hound will somehow end up deciding to make sure she gets there safely.  She may run into Nymeria along the way (I'll be pissed if she doesn't), but given that D&D  have apparently decided to eliminate the direwolves so that the creator's pet Dany can make CringeFest speeches with her dragons nearby, I wouldn't be surprised if they just never mention Nymeria again on the show (let alone her wolf pack, whose existence hasn't even been hinted at on the show)   The Hound has to have popped up again for some reason (even though I think his storyline in the books is already over) and I can't really think of any other one.  And I could easily see Jaime killing Cersei and Qyburn in early-to-mid season seven (although D&D will obviously try to put that off as long as possible). 

However, I agree with you (I think you were the one who predicted this) that ShowFinger will be screwed the moment that the Hound shows up in Winterfell.  Although I'd add that Jon may be more inclined to listen to him than he otherwise would be if the Hound helped Arya get back to Winterfell. 

[Gustaf]

On the subject of the Wall, if it is true the dead can't pass it then how did that zombie that Jon killed in season 1 get into Castle Black?

[Gustaf]

I thought that I had a sense of where Arya's arc was taking her based on the books, but the show's past season has me baffled. I'm not sure how it makes any sense. We'll see soon enough, I guess.

On the subject of the Wall, if it is true the dead can't pass it then how did that zombie that Jon killed in season 1 get into Castle Black?

It was a corpse when the NW dragged it through the wall during the day and only "woke up" during the following night.

IIRC Benjen's comments are the most that we have ever heard about how the Wall works. Also the first time that we've heard it phrased in a way that suggests that it's not just WW and their zombies who can't pass.

Not sure that makes so much sense to me, but fair enough I guess.

What was your Arya theory (I've also read the books so interested to hear)

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

I thought that I had a sense of where Arya's arc was taking her based on the books, but the show's past season has me baffled. I'm not sure how it makes any sense. We'll see soon enough, I guess.

On the subject of the Wall, if it is true the dead can't pass it then how did that zombie that Jon killed in season 1 get into Castle Black?

It was a corpse when the NW dragged it through the wall during the day and only "woke up" during the following night.

IIRC Benjen's comments are the most that we have ever heard about how the Wall works. Also the first time that we've heard it phrased in a way that suggests that it's not just WW and their zombies who can't pass.

Not sure that makes so much sense to me, but fair enough I guess.

What was your Arya theory (I've also read the books so interested to hear)

Just to be clear, BookArya's arc clearly =/= ShowArya's arc.

[Mr. Morden]

Now that R+L=J is official, I’m wondering anew whether the writers gave Sean Bean any clues as to Jon Snow’s origin story when they were filming Season 1.  In this clip for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEB5t1qRdmY

Between Sean Bean’s acting around 1:10 when Robert brings up Jon’s mother, and his acting around 2:25, when Robert brings up what “Rhaegar did to your sister”, it seems clear that some kind of instruction (from either writers or director) was given to Sean Bean to play it a certain way that isn’t obvious from the dialog alone.  But how much they actually told him…I don’t know.

[RaphaelDLG]

Now that R+L=J is official, I’m wondering anew whether the writers gave Sean Bean any clues as to Jon Snow’s origin story when they were filming Season 1.  In this clip for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEB5t1qRdmY

Between Sean Bean’s acting around 1:10 when Robert brings up Jon’s mother, and his acting around 2:25, when Robert brings up what “Rhaegar did to your sister”, it seems clear that some kind of instruction (from either writers or director) was given to Sean Bean to play it a certain way that isn’t obvious from the dialog alone.  But how much they actually told him…I don’t know.

Sean Bean accidentally said, "well, obviously, he's not my son..." in an interview several years ago and then had to walk it back.  I'm sure he was told, but if he wasn't, he was playing it like he thought it was R+L=J.

A more interesting question would be whether Aiden Gillen knew more than had been revealed, because in the crypt scene with Sansa, Littlefinger seemed to think the assertion that Lyanna was raped was dubious.

[Mr. Morden]

Now that R+L=J is official, I’m wondering anew whether the writers gave Sean Bean any clues as to Jon Snow’s origin story when they were filming Season 1.  In this clip for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEB5t1qRdmY

Between Sean Bean’s acting around 1:10 when Robert brings up Jon’s mother, and his acting around 2:25, when Robert brings up what “Rhaegar did to your sister”, it seems clear that some kind of instruction (from either writers or director) was given to Sean Bean to play it a certain way that isn’t obvious from the dialog alone.  But how much they actually told him…I don’t know.

Sean Bean accidentally said, "well, obviously, he's not my son..." in an interview several years ago and then had to walk it back.  I'm sure he was told, but if he wasn't, he was playing it like he thought it was R+L=J.

A more interesting question would be whether Aiden Gillen knew more than had been revealed, because in the crypt scene with Sansa, Littlefinger seemed to think the assertion that Lyanna was raped was dubious.

In the Littlefinger scene, Aiden Gillen could have simply been told that Lyanna being raped didn't happen, and that he should play it that way, sure.  But that alone seems like a more minor spoiler.  He wouldn't have had to have been told about Jon being her son.

With Ned, it's not just about Rhaegar not raping Lyanna, but he also acts weird when asked about Jon's mother in the same scene, so it gets me to wonder if Sean Bean was straight up told that R+L=J or what.

[Gustaf]

I mean, I thought everyone who read the book was like 99% sure about this theory. So I'd imagine lots of the actors could be aware of it.

While I agree that it's likely Arya's stories diverge between books and show I'm not entirely sure about exactly how.

[Mr. Morden]

I mean, I thought everyone who read the book was like 99% sure about this theory. So I'd imagine lots of the actors could be aware of it.

They could be aware of it, but I doubt they would actually play a scene in a way that casts doubt on Ned being Jon's father unless one of the showrunners straight up told them to play it that way.  I don't think they would alter their performance based on popular fan theories alone.

[Gustaf]

I mean, I thought everyone who read the book was like 99% sure about this theory. So I'd imagine lots of the actors could be aware of it.

They could be aware of it, but I doubt they would actually play a scene in a way that casts doubt on Ned being Jon's father unless one of the showrunners straight up told them to play it that way.  I don't think they would alter their performance based on popular fan theories alone.

No, sure, sure, I agree. I more meant that I don't think of this as something where there would be great concerns about leaks since it was pretty well known already. As opposed to things like Jon's resurrection for example.

[Antonio the Sixth]

OK, I finally saw the season finale two days ago.

F**k this show, f**k the screenwriters, and f**k Martin if he had anything to do with that cynical, lazy, faux-edgy SHOCKING development. F**k whoever thought it was a good idea to kill off one of the most fascinating and original characters in the show. F**k whoever thought the viewers wanted more torture porn after the obscenity of season 5, and f**k the viewers who did indeed want more of it.

You know what pisses me off the most? It's not how exploitive, self-indulgent and immature-while-pretending-to-be-mature the show can be. There are plenty of sh*tty shows that are like that. What I hate about this show is that, despite all these flaws, it still manages to be an excellent show in other ways. Still makes me care about all the characters in it, want to see the good prevail and the evil be destroyed. I wish I wasn't so invested in Arya, Sansa, Jon, Bran, Meera, Olenna, Tyrion, Varys and Asha. I wish I wasn't so invested in seeing Cersei and Littlefinger get their comeuppance. But I am, and that means I'll keep watching this f**king show and have to keep put up with all the filth it throws at us.

Yes, I realize that I'm just whining here.

[RI]

OK, I finally saw the season finale two days ago.

F**k this show, f**k the screenwriters, and f**k Martin if he had anything to do with that cynical, lazy, faux-edgy SHOCKING development. F**k whoever thought it was a good idea to kill off one of the most fascinating and original characters in the show. F**k whoever thought the viewers wanted more torture porn after the obscenity of season 5, and f**k the viewers who did indeed want more of it.

You know what pisses me off the most? It's not how exploitive, self-indulgent and immature-while-pretending-to-be-mature the show can be. There are plenty of sh*tty shows that are like that. What I hate about this show is that, despite all these flaws, it still manages to be an excellent show in other ways. Still makes me care about all the characters in it, want to see the good prevail and the evil be destroyed. I wish I wasn't so invested in Arya, Sansa, Jon, Bran, Meera, Olenna, Tyrion, Varys and Asha. I wish I wasn't so invested in seeing Cersei and Littlefinger get their comeuppance. But I am, and that means I'll keep watching this f**king show and have to keep put up with all the filth it throws at us.

Yes, I realize that I'm just whining here.

What on earth are you talking about?

A) Cersei's actions have been foreshadowed for seasons

B) "one of the most fascinating and original characters in the show"

Who? Margaery? She was never going to win. Tommen? Loras? The High Sparrow? None of these characters were ever going to be important to the end game. All the KL stuff is a distraction, really.

C) " F**k whoever thought the viewers wanted more torture porn after the obscenity of season 5"

What are you talking about? Septa Unella? They didn't show anything at all there. Arya? There was no torture porn in S6E10.

[Antonio the Sixth]

A) It might make sense for her character (although for someone who's supposedly all about her children, she didn't give much thought how Tommen might react to losing Margaery... but fair enough, I get it, she's a spiteful and deluded). That doesn't make it a good narrative choice. Maybe I was the only one who found the King's Landing plot interesting, but even if you didn't there's something awfully lazy about wrapping up a storyline by suddenly killing all the participants but one in a way that turns all that preceded into a shaggy dog story. Oh, and the utter pretentiousness of showing the sparrow desperately trying to extinguish the candle when it's obvious he's gonna fail... It's a detail but it's frankly an insult to the viewer.

B) She was never going to win, why? Because she's not popular enough as a character? I love how everybody fawns over Tyrion's charisma and intelligence (nothing wrong about Tyrion per se, he's a good character, but the hype gets annoying after a while) yet completely overlooks Margaery who proved just as apt at maneuvering through a variety of political situation and has if anything more noble purposes than Tyrion. She was unique because, even in a show like GoT that plays around with gender tropes more than most Western shows, she had a rare twist on the "strong female character^TM" routine. She actually drew her strength from stereotypically "feminine" qualities (seduction, emotional intelligence, even temper, etc.) yet wasn't portrayed negatively for doing so as women in fiction almost always are. She could be devious, scheming and manipulative, and at the same time kind, true to herself, and actually trying to make the world a better place. A morally complex drama about politics in a pseudo-medieval context should have made good use of a character like this, not squandered it in a way that made it completely superfluous to the story.

And yeah, the High Sparrow and the general idea of a theocracy taking hold of King's Landing was also a very interesting concept that deserved to be sent off in a more ceremonious way that that.

C) Whether it's shown directly or implied, it's still torture porn. It's not necessary to the story in any way, it's just there to SHOCK viewers (and possibly titillate some). For the record, I feel the same about Ramsay's death scene (Sansa is supposed to be better than this, for f**k's sake).

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

You know what pisses me off the most? It's not how exploitive, self-indulgent and immature-while-pretending-to-be-mature the show can be. There are plenty of sh*tty shows that are like that. What I hate about this show is that, despite all these flaws, it still manages to be an excellent show in other ways. Still makes me care about all the characters in it, want to see the good prevail and the evil be destroyed. I wish I wasn't so invested in Arya, Sansa, Jon, Bran, Meera, Olenna, Tyrion, Varys and Asha. I wish I wasn't so invested in seeing Cersei and Littlefinger get their comeuppance. But I am, and that means I'll keep watching this f**king show and have to keep put up with all the filth it throws at us.

Yes, I realize that I'm just whining here.

Are you talking about Game of Thrones or what following politics are like for you?

[Gustaf]

A) It might make sense for her character (although for someone who's supposedly all about her children, she didn't give much thought how Tommen might react to losing Margaery... but fair enough, I get it, she's a spiteful and deluded). That doesn't make it a good narrative choice. Maybe I was the only one who found the King's Landing plot interesting, but even if you didn't there's something awfully lazy about wrapping up a storyline by suddenly killing all the participants but one in a way that turns all that preceded into a shaggy dog story. Oh, and the utter pretentiousness of showing the sparrow desperately trying to extinguish the candle when it's obvious he's gonna fail... It's a detail but it's frankly an insult to the viewer.

B) She was never going to win, why? Because she's not popular enough as a character? I love how everybody fawns over Tyrion's charisma and intelligence (nothing wrong about Tyrion per se, he's a good character, but the hype gets annoying after a while) yet completely overlooks Margaery who proved just as apt at maneuvering through a variety of political situation and has if anything more noble purposes than Tyrion. She was unique because, even in a show like GoT that plays around with gender tropes more than most Western shows, she had a rare twist on the "strong female character^TM" routine. She actually drew her strength from stereotypically "feminine" qualities (seduction, emotional intelligence, even temper, etc.) yet wasn't portrayed negatively for doing so as women in fiction almost always are. She could be devious, scheming and manipulative, and at the same time kind, true to herself, and actually trying to make the world a better place. A morally complex drama about politics in a pseudo-medieval context should have made good use of a character like this, not squandered it in a way that made it completely superfluous to the story.

And yeah, the High Sparrow and the general idea of a theocracy taking hold of King's Landing was also a very interesting concept that deserved to be sent off in a more ceremonious way that that.

C) Whether it's shown directly or implied, it's still torture porn. It's not necessary to the story in any way, it's just there to SHOCK viewers (and possibly titillate some). For the record, I feel the same about Ramsay's death scene (Sansa is supposed to be better than this, for f**k's sake).

Well, I guess she wasn't as apt in the end.

Part of the issue might be that this clever Margaery is a bit of a show invention. As far as I recall from the books there isn't much of that aspect to her character there.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Well, she still was the only one who figured it out. And at least Olenna is alive thanks to her.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Am I the only one who thought Margaery was one of the show's less interesting characters?  She's really not that apt at political maneuvering when push comes to shove (she was really pretty dependent on Olenna, tbh).  Cersei steamrolled her in season five (or rather the High Sparrow steamrolled Cersei and Margaery).

[RaphaelDLG]

Am I the only one who thought Margaery was one of the show's less interesting characters?  She's really not that apt at political maneuvering when push comes to shove (she was really pretty dependent on Olenna, tbh).  Cersei steamrolled her in season five (or rather the High Sparrow steamrolled Cersei and Margaery).

Yeah, I think she's hot and a really nice person, probably the only person in KL I'd root for, but she was WAY less interesting than the heavy hitters of Pope Sanders, Cersei, Olenna.

***

And Antonio, if you thought that this story was going to have a happy ending, then you haven't been paying attention.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Margaery wasn't always in control, but I got the feeling that more than any other character she always did the best she could do in any situation she found herself in. She might not have been as witty as Tyrion or Olenna, but I for one really enjoyed her "soft power" approach to King's Landing politics. Having her prevail (not necessary in full but to some extent) would have said something important and interesting about diplomacy winning over the naked selfish brutality represented by Cersei and the fanaticism represented by the High Sparrow.

And Antonio, if you thought that this story was going to have a happy ending, then you haven't been paying attention.

You know what's funny? It's actually starting to look like there will be a happy ending, with Dany taking the Iron Throne and Jon vanquishing the White Walkers. Of course I could be wrong and the White Walkers might end up killing everybody and bring about an eternal night, but somehow I doubt it.

Anyway, what I want isn't a happy ending. I just want an ending that's meaningful, and one that doesn't rely on cheap shock value. The first three seasons had that, so it's not too much to ask.

[Mr. Morden]

You know what's funny? It's actually starting to look like there will be a happy ending, with Dany taking the Iron Throne and Jon vanquishing the White Walkers. Of course I could be wrong and the White Walkers might end up killing everybody and bring about an eternal night, but somehow I doubt it.

I would actually be really surprised if Dany is Queen of Westeros at the end of the story.  She's been on an upward trajectory since Season 1, and she's the Targaryen heir (as far as we know).  Having her win in the end isn't a sufficiently interesting story, IMHO.  My hunch is that she'll either die or (less likely) go off and live somewhere else (presumably in Essos), doing something else with the rest of her life.

[Antonio the Sixth]

You know what's funny? It's actually starting to look like there will be a happy ending, with Dany taking the Iron Throne and Jon vanquishing the White Walkers. Of course I could be wrong and the White Walkers might end up killing everybody and bring about an eternal night, but somehow I doubt it.

I would actually be really surprised if Dany is Queen of Westeros at the end of the story.  She's been on an upward trajectory since Season 1, and she's the Targaryen heir (as far as we know).  Having her win in the end isn't a sufficiently interesting story, IMHO.  My hunch is that she'll either die or (less likely) go off and live somewhere else (presumably in Essos), doing something else with the rest of her life.

I agree it would be a pretty boring ending, and besides I never liked Dany that much as a character. If her plotline takes a surprising turn (without turning it into a massive shaggy dog story like the season 5-6 KL plot turned out to be), kudos to the writers. I'm not sure if they really want to take this risk through, considering not one but two fan favorites depend on this plotline.

[RaphaelDLG]

Yeah, I would bet that Daenerys isn't queen at the end of the story, and would in fact put my money on the seven kingdoms as we know it (as a multi-national monarchy) not existing.

I'm 1000% the dragons will not survive the series.  I'm unsure if Daenerys will go mad or not, but I'd bet on her at least momentarily losing her senses because it's been so heavily foreshadowed.

Margaery was like Ned, Robb, Oberyn - upright, and competent, but not competent enough to survive her precarious position in a world where life is characteristically tenuous.  Though I liked her, I personally thought it was great that she died and part of the flow of the story, NOT the cheap shock value/titillation that D&D do indeed sometimes lean on as their crutch.

The episode wasn't full of the rich characterization scenes that you saw in earlier seasons, but to be honest, seasons 5 and 6 have been almost devoid of that type of stuff in general.

I really liked this episode, and saw it as a very glossy, tense, visually and aurally beautiful payoff to a long season of marching in place foreshadowing - D&D at their best, in other words, and a great cap to an uneven season.