Game of Thrones Season 8 Discussion Thread

[Blue3]

https://twitter.com/11BEddieV/status/1117602903378681856/photo/1



I loved all the reunions

I'm glad Yara got away safe.

But it looks like Winterfell will have one more soldier too: Theon. Interesting.

Jon's dragon-riding was less climactic than I thought... but the reveal to Jon sure was dramatic.

It'll be interesting of Jorah is able to convince the other Northerners to trust Daenerys. Though there might not be time for that, with the battle approaching. Though that might also be the answer, if they win.

What was Arya's weapon design that she gave to Gendry?

Poor Umber boy.

Looking forward to Bran and Jaime's interactions.

Imagine if Bronn does kill Tyrion (or Jaime)...



What did everyone think of the opening?

[Blue3]

With the actors for Robyn Arryn and Edmure Tully in the cast list for this season, I wonder how they're going to come into this.

[Blue3]

I loved that episode.





Brienne being knighted by Jaime, a "Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" - this was really her episode more than anybody's
Podrick's song about Jenny of Oldstones
Arya/Gendry... I was actually shocked. Though now Gendry might die, and Arya have his child.
Theon... Theon to protect Bran in the godswood, Theon and Sansa
Davos & Gilly
Jorah Mormont & Lyanna Mormont
Arya with the Hound some more (and Beric)
Daenerys & the Starks accepting the help of Jaime Lannister
Probably the last kiss of Missandei and Grey Worm, with them dreaming of sailing to Naarth when the wars are over
Ghost the direwolf!
No arrival of Bronn to Winterfell, so I think it's safe to say at least one of the Lannister brothers will survive.

Bran confirms he is the target, the Night King's plan is kill him and erase all memory of the past (Could Bran's body die, but he "pass on" the Three-Eyed Raven ability to someone else at Winterfell right now?)

Jorah receiving Heartsbane from Sam... I hope that's not leading to what I think, the combination of Jorah and a sword with that name, the sword of the Tarly family.... I've worried for a while that that might be the path...

Though Daenerys/Sansa was going so well at first, that tension at the end... same with the tension at the end of Daenerys/Jon...

The only thing missing from this episode was some Sansa/Hound interaction, and more of Ghost interacting with the Starks/Theon/Daenerys

[Blue3]

Jorah receiving Heartsbane from Sam... I hope that's not leading to what I think, the combination of Jorah and a sword with that name, the sword of the Tarly family.... I've worried for a while that that might be the path...

I forgot all about the Jorah = azor ahai theory....while it's probably unlikely, it sure is fun to think about

That's not what I was thinking of.

If Jorah survives the next episode, and Daenerys doesn't take the R+L=J news well, I can see Jorah killing her with Heartsbane, the family sword of the Tarly's avenging them, with Jorah basically ripping out his own heart in order to do it if she's going Mad Queen.

[Blue3]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/game-of-thrones-arya-stark-night-king-foreshadowing?fbclid=IwAR3FJOg0w4zS7Qj4bU7WGy3qUi9Z2Ry3xj98MkC5kbSSfMwrYd0ZwlvFc44

[Blue3]

While interesting and all for arya to take on the night king it felt like a kick in the balls to turn azor ahai into a red herring the battle was amazing and I loved it I just wish we got to see Jon and the Night King go mono e mono they have been building it up since hard home

But THAT is what would be too tropey, too generic-fantasy.

[Blue3]

Screw Sansa. If she ends up on the throne or ends up living while Dany dies, I'm gonna be pissed. She'd be dead if it weren't for Daenerys.

If it wasn't for Daenerys, the White Walkers never would have gotten a zombie dragon, and they'd still be stuck north of the Wall, no?  I think Sansa would still be alive in that case.

That's more Jon's fault.

[Blue3]

I don't think the characters are being dumb (except I think they should have scouted to spot Euron first). For the most part, they were acting in-character.

Are we really saying "this is dumb" or "this is not how I wanted the show to end"?

I thought this was a good episode. But I feel really bad for Missandei, and Rhaegal.

I just don't get why Sansa and the rest still distrust Daenerys so much, and why Varys/Tyrion think Jon would be better. Yes, Daenerys is a foreigner and a Targaryen, but Sansa isn't showing her how she could earn her trust, not even after the battle. Yes, Jon wouldn't ever decide to use a dragon against King's Landing, but he makes a lot of incompetent choices, and dragons aren't indiscriminate bombs... Daenerys could literally focus all that firepower on just military targets.

But I wouldn't say this is the characters acting dumb. Just paranoid, and they're making their fears come true. Sansa paranoid about Daenerys. Daenerys paranoid about Sansa. Tyrion and Varys paranoid about Daenerys's judgment. But they've been foreshadowing this for a while. Even before Tyrion showed up in Meereen, Jorah was talking her out of using more brutal methods before he was exiled, as was Tyrion in Meereen at the end of season 6 and against last season when she emerged from the cave with Jon to the news that Euron had destroyed the Greyjoy fleet and taken the Sand Snakes. It's been foreshadowed for years. All the way back to her having her dragons tear-apart a random master as an example, and before that with crucifying them. And even though Daenerys killing the Masters of Astapor with her new Unsullied army was awesome, it was still rather brutal, and it was all founded on her lying and breaking her promise.

And let's not forget this does go back to some of the original ideas (well some are definitely out), especially with Sansa and her loyalty.

I think how things go down in Episode 4 will be very close to how things go down in the books. It's jumbled up, but some things will stay the same.
Think of how Euron is making way for the Battle of Meereen, in the books.
Think of how the Golden Company has come to Westeros, in the books.
Think of how Varys decides to go with an "Aegon Targaryen," in the books.
Think of how Daenerys is going paranoid, in the books.





Update on the survivors:

Main Characters:
Daenerys
Jon
Sansa
Arya
Bran
Tyrion
Jaime
Cersei

Daenerys's advisors:
Varys
Grey Worm

Jon/Sansa/Arya allies:
Davos
Brienne
Pod
Gendry
The Hound
Tormund
Sam
Gilly (+ kid)
Royce

Cersei's "allies":
Euron Greyjoy
The Mountain
Qyburn
Harry Strickland
Bronn

Other Houses that could be shown:
Yara Greyjoy
Edmure Tully
Robyn Arryn

[Blue3]

I mean, Daenerys has always been a psychopath. Honestly this ending makes sense and I like it.

I mean, she freed thousands of slaves. Not sure how she's a psychopath when the only "evil" thing she's done so far was justifiably burning the Tarlys.

Well there was crucifying the Masters, and randomly choosing one who might or might not be innocent of working with the Sons of the Harpy to be torn apart by her dragons.

[Blue3]

Jon is more stable but also more incompetent.

The best chance for Westeros is for them to become a United Kingdom of Westeros, no more Seven Kingdoms, and begin ever so slightly shifting towards something like a Parliament or Magna Carta.

In the books, there were times in the past where a Great Council (a "House of Lords" you could say) gathered to choose the next King, based on inheritance. Imagine they now all have to come together every 10 years, and choose a new monarch, not based on inheritance but on who they thought was best. That would be the ground-breaker. That would break the wheel... or at least allow the wheel to spin without needing violence or necessarily crushing those beneath. With a hint that, in a few centuries, maybe they'll have a permanent House of Lords, and maybe after that a House of Commons, etc.

Or maybe some other reform?

Or maybe they just all declare independence, and it's truly Seven (or Eight or Nine or Ten or More, depending on if you count the Riverlands, Dorne, Crownlands, Beyond the Wall, and other autonomous regions like Oldtown and Skagos) Kingdoms again?

[Blue3]

For such a major plot point, I don't think the books will be different.

The execution of this episode was great.

The idea was horrible, but it will probably be true in the books too. Daenerys has begun having hallucinations. She flies off on Drogon, leaving Meereen behind. She watches her brother's death without empathy. She burns the witch alive. She betrays the owner of the Unsullied and sacks the city. She crucifies random masters in Meereen, and randomly chooses more to feed to her dragons.
And in the show, she's already had to be talked out of burning down her enemies by Tyrion, nevermind what happened with the Khals.

I think the end for Jaime and Cersei was perfect. They were bad people, but still humans, still sympathetic. Jaime had his arms around her as the life left her body... just not in the way anyone expected. (And that prophecy was never in the show anyways). GRRM wants to show that revenge is not the answer... to want to see Cersei murdered, especially strangled by her own brother, is our own worst impulses, the ones Daenerys gave into. Theon had the redemption arc. Jaime was just a character study, he's still the same person, he never changed at his core.

The episode was beautifully tragic.

[Blue3]

What will be the fates of the surviving supporting cast...

1. Grey Worm?
2. Davos?
3. Bronn?
4. Brienne?
5. Pod?
6. Sam/Gilly?
(there's also Tormund, but we know he's already going back to the "true North")

Also, if someone kills Daenerys (Jon or Arya or Tyrion or Bran-possessed Drogon, whoever)... what exactly happens to the surviving Unsullied and Dothraki, and to Drogon?

[Blue3]

Any last predictions?

I predict:

* Bran's magic will be important in some way (possessing Drogon?)

* Sansa will be Queen (of probably just the North)

* Daenerys will die but Jon won't be King (or only as briefly as Daenerys will be considered Queen)

* I don't know about Arya or Tyrion, but I think Tyrion is likely to die

* I don't know about the secondary characters like Davos/Bronn/Brienne/Pod/Sam/Gilly/etc. except that Grey Worm will probably die too (though not sure what happens to the Dothraki and Unsullied)

* I hope there's a flash-forward epilogue, so we can see that the new peace does last

* As for whether Westeros either breaks up, centralizes, or takes a step towards democracy... I think the North and Iron Islands become independent, and maybe Dorne becomes independent too, but the rest of Westeros (Crownlands, Stormlands, Riverlands, the Vale, Lannister lands, and Highgarden/the Reach) will become more centralized with a stronger monarch who is chosen by a council of the lords to determine the succession, so there are no more wars for succession or bad monarchs who inherit the throne due to bloodline. Maybe they'll choose someone like Davos, a good guy who always has good advice and knows how to rally, but has never desired power himself.

[Blue3]

I really liked the ending. Definitely felt very LOTR with Jon saying farewell by the boats. And my prediction was pretty darn close:

Any last predictions?

I predict:
* Bran's magic will be important in some way (possessing Drogon?)
* Sansa will be Queen (of probably just the North)
* Daenerys will die but Jon won't be King (or only as briefly as Daenerys will be considered Queen)
* I don't know about Arya or Tyrion, but I think Tyrion is likely to die
* I don't know about the secondary characters like Davos/Bronn/Brienne/Pod/Sam/Gilly/etc. except that Grey Worm will probably die too (though not sure what happens to the Dothraki and Unsullied)
* I hope there's a flash-forward epilogue, so we can see that the new peace does last
* As for whether Westeros either breaks up, centralizes, or takes a step towards democracy... I think the North and Iron Islands become independent, and maybe Dorne becomes independent too, but the rest of Westeros (Crownlands, Stormlands, Riverlands, the Vale, Lannister lands, and Highgarden/the Reach) will become more centralized with a stronger monarch who is chosen by a council of the lords to determine the succession, so there are no more wars for succession or bad monarchs who inherit the throne due to bloodline. Maybe they'll choose someone like Davos, a good guy who always has good advice and knows how to rally, but has never desired power himself.

[Blue3]

Any possible guesses as to where Drogon is taking Daenerys Targaryen's body?  I have heard a theory that he's taking her to Volantis, the home of the Temple of the Lord of Light, where maybe they can restore her to life the way Melisandre did with Jon Snow.  

Perhaps King Bran the Broken has made the same guess, which is why he is so keen to know where Drogon has flown. 

That's fanfic, not a reasonable theory.

[Blue3]

More likely the Dothraki sea, where he was hatched and where he took her the first time.