Game of Thrones Season 8 Discussion Thread

[GoTfan]

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?

Arya's weapon, my guess, is some sort of double-ended spear with dragonglass that detaches into two halves.

Speaking as someone who does HEMA as a hobby, that is a f***ing terrible idea.

[GoTfan]

Who would each win each region of Westeros if it was the UK? Assume Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Dems. I would assume that there would be North and Dorne nationalist parties as well.

Don't know quite enough about the regions to assume too much, but I think the Reach and the Westerlands would vote Conservative.

You sure? Given their fairly lax attitude towards homosexuality (when compared with the rest of Westeros), I always assumed they were one of the more progressive regions.

[GoTfan]

Who would each win each region of Westeros if it was the UK? Assume Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Dems. I would assume that there would be North and Dorne nationalist parties as well.

Don't know quite enough about the regions to assume too much, but I think the Reach and the Westerlands would vote Conservative.

You sure? Given their fairly lax attitude towards homosexuality (when compared with the rest of Westeros), I always assumed they were one of the more progressive regions.

I missed this.  I figured the Reach would be conservative on the grounds that it is heavily agricultural and always struck me as sort of "economically conservative," but yeah you have a point.  I feel pretty confident about the Westerlands, though.

Not gonna disagreee with you there.

[GoTfan]

A less likely conspiracy theory I thought of is that Cersei didn't actually order Qyburn to commission Bronn to kill her brothers, and that Qyburn himself is doing this on his own for some unknown reason.  I really don't think that theory is true.  I just wanted to mention it so that I can get credit for thinking of it in the unlikely event it pans out. 

I suspect that Qyburn acting as the messenger there has more to do with the fact that Lena Headey and Jerome Flynn refuse to act in any scenes together, due to a nasty breakup a few years ago.

It's not just a refusal. It's actually in their contracts.

[GoTfan]

A lot of people complaining about the Night King on YouTube . . .

I wish they'd stop pretending they have to be catered to and they have to be personally satisfied with everything. Like it or not, this is probably how the books will go, because they're hitting all the major story points.

[GoTfan]

Some might complain that it was skimpy on killing off big characters, but lots of things to still do.  Actually glad that Grey Worm and Missandei survived, cause there's no reason they should have to die in the land of racist hicks.

Aside from creating a cool visual, what genius thought sending the Dothraki out was a good idea?

Yeah, like who actually thought that would work? You had a sense that wouldn't right from the get go. And now Daenerys lost like half her army in one fell swoop because of that.

And yeah, no big character is safe going forward except Sansa, Bran, and maybe Arya. They let way too many important people live in tonight's episode, and there will almost assuredly be a bloodbath to come.

Well my theory all along was that the War for the Dawn was going to be wrapped up in episode 3. There is at least one more major battle to go, as Miguel Sapochnik is directing one more episode. That will likely be the final battle of the show.

[GoTfan]

not going to lie....the ending was wack as f@ck. the episode wasn't bad just.......disappointing and lame

They mentioned during the behind the scenes segment they've known how this goes down for the last 3 years.

[GoTfan]

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.

indeed.  It's kind of funny, all these GoT "fans" pissed off that they didn't get the ending they expected...isn't that why we fell in love in the first place, they didn't give us what we expected?

Someone gets it at last. The whole Night King vs Jon Snow showdown was too predictable. Plus, I'm certain Jon would have lost on a duel. The Night King was always going to have to be killed by someone sneaky.

Either way, we know Martin despises traditional fantasy tropes. There has been a voice in my head for a while saying Martin threw in the whole prophecy as a giant red herring.

[GoTfan]

isn't that why we fell in love in the first place, they didn't give us what we expected?

No, you f***ing idiot. The dumbest hack writer in the world can write an "unexpected" twist.

ASOIAF was unique because it was a brutal, realistic fantasy setting where actions had consequences, heroes didn't have plot armour, deaths were deaths and not heroic, battles and wars didn't solve anything, political intrigue was petty squabbling, there weren't any faceless motivationless chaotic evil baddies etc. etc.. Ned Stark wasn't killed just to make a unexpected twist for cheap shock value, but to make a point about the world of Westeros and the world we live in. All of that is out the window by now, the show is generic fantasy fanservice, dick jokes and cool shots of dragons.

If it was a generic fantasy show, Jon would have killed the Night King for no other reason than 'prophecy says so'.

[GoTfan]

So I've been rewatching the series for a few weeks and I'm of the mind that it seems like there are a million story threads being trod underfoot owing to the needs of our "final battle" scenario. The religious aspect in particular I feel like has been completely left by the wayside since Stannis was defeated. It seemed like earlier seasons were building toward something cosmic. After all, our protagonist has been raised from the dead, but that matters nought when he gets to shack up with Danerys.

The show is nothing but generic fantasy schlock now. Which, like, if that's what the average viewer wants, then great. But it's terribly disappointing artistically.

Well I'm still hoping the Lord of Light keeps GRRM alive to finish the books with his version of the story.

Martin has told them all the major plot points. D and D mentioned they've known it was Arya for three years. People seem to either forget about or wholesale ignore this.

[GoTfan]

So I've been rewatching the series for a few weeks and I'm of the mind that it seems like there are a million story threads being trod underfoot owing to the needs of our "final battle" scenario. The religious aspect in particular I feel like has been completely left by the wayside since Stannis was defeated. It seemed like earlier seasons were building toward something cosmic. After all, our protagonist has been raised from the dead, but that matters nought when he gets to shack up with Danerys.

The show is nothing but generic fantasy schlock now. Which, like, if that's what the average viewer wants, then great. But it's terribly disappointing artistically.

Well I'm still hoping the Lord of Light keeps GRRM alive to finish the books with his version of the story.

Martin has told them all the major plot points. D and D mentioned they've known it was Arya for three years. People seem to either forget about or wholesale ignore this.

Wait, so you're saying that GRRM told D&D that Arya was supposed to be the one to kill the Night King?

Let me put it this way: I will be very surprised if the way it goes down in the books is drastically different. It would be very Martin-like to just say that the prophecy was all a red herring chucked in to mislead readers.

[GoTfan]

Guys, the books are the books and the show is the show.  We have both to enjoy for what they are, so let’s do that instead of getting angry that the show and books aren’t the same (because that ship sailed in season 2, for better or worse).  I say that as someone who far prefers the books to the show.  Expecting them to be the same at this point is like asking a mongoose to be a horse.  You can scream until you’re blue in the face, but it ain’t happening.

My understanding is that Martin gave thme the major plot points, so they hit those and largely fill the rest with their own stuff.

[GoTfan]

“prophecy is like a half-trained mule. It looks as though it might be useful, but the moment you trust in it, it kicks you in the head.”--book Jorah. 

I'm not really all that bothered by the prophecy issues.

The problem was the Night King never talked.  Not even in Bran's head.  I guess we'll never know what all those symbols were about.  Unless there's some Night King denouement to come.

He didn't need to. One thing people tend to forget is that villains don't always need complex motivations. There is in fact an argument to be made the NK is nothing but a tool, nd the tool's purpose was to wipe out humanity.

[GoTfan]

He didn't need to. One thing people tend to forget is that villains don't always need complex motivations. There is in fact an argument to be made the NK is nothing but a tool, nd the tool's purpose was to wipe out humanity.

Lmao. As I already said, one of the points of ASOIAF was that it was a fantasy setting where evil-for-the-sake-of-evil villains don't exist. GRRM specifically set out to write a Tolkein-inspired story which criticised Tolkien's moral simplicity.

Like, if you're a dumbo who doesn't care about that stuff and only wants to see cool battle scenes, then whatever I guess. But for people who care about the thematic consistency of the setting then the direction which the show has went is pretty disappointing.

Thanks for calling me a dumbo and not addressing anything I said.

The Night King is a tool, not a person.

[GoTfan]

Just got emailed some pretty detailed death threats for saying I loved the episode.

[GoTfan]

Just got emailed some pretty detailed death threats for saying I loved the episode.

from someone here or...?

No, not from someone here. But you can take your pit of the internet cesspool.

This makes the amount of fandoms I've pissed off now include Star Wars, Vikings, Game of Thrones, Riverdale and Marvel. Really am racking up quite the list there.

[GoTfan]

Thanks for insulting my intelligence based on the fact I liked this episode.

I don't have to hate it because you did.

[GoTfan]

Thanks for insulting my intelligence based on the fact I liked this episode.

I don't have to hate it because you did.

I did not insult your intelligence.  I DID insinuate that you are being too easy on the episode and D&D in general out of loyalty to the show, seemingly defending every choice they made.  It's equally annoying that those who didn't like the plot decision they made are being treated as either total haters that were never going to be happy (bullshlt) or people that *don't get it* or *don't appreciate what D&D did* (even more bullshlt).  I didn't "hate it," either, which you would know if you read my response - something I doubt, given the length of your post.

The show made a controversial choice to quickly, efficiently and - worst of all - SIMPLY dispatch of the series' longest standing and most ominous threat without much lore or a big payoff moment.  You should be able to understand why people are upset even if you are not.

No, that's pretty much what I got from your post. And yes, you said that anyone who liked it must be thick or have a generally lower average intelligence than people who didn't.

Christ, when I don't like something and other people do, I'm more envious than anything else because they can find enjoyment out of it, but every single f***ing social media post has been on how this was the worst episode of television ever put to air since the thing was invented. It's almost like I was required to hate it or I wasn't a 'true fan'.

Of course, I'm biased because some people have threatened to kill me for saying I liked it.

[GoTfan]

My big problem with the episode is that their "twist" is actually a punch in the balls. They've spent the last four-ish seasons basically Renly-ing most major power players in the South (Tyrells, Martells, High Sparrow, etc.) or just killing them off because they don't have a purpose (read: don't do anything, but can't make cock jokes). When all of this happened, I justified it as them just doing what they need to to get to the "real war, the White Walkers". Then they took that, ripped it to pieces, urinated on it, formed it into a paper machete fleshlight, ed it, then gave it back to me.

I don't really care whether you (not anybody in particular) liked the episode. It's just bad storytelling to pump up a threat for years and years and then squash it midseason.

I did the battle portion of the episode. It was a bit too dark at times, and I wish they actually killed people (Sam, Jaime, Brienne).

Mate, you literally said that people who liked the episode were stupid.

[GoTfan]

You literally said that people who liked it had a lower IQ.

[GoTfan]

You literally said that people who liked it had a lower IQ.

The first step in fixing a problem is acknowledging it.

So because i liked the episode that makes me stupid?

[GoTfan]

You literally said that people who liked it had a lower IQ.

The first step in fixing a problem is acknowledging it.

So because i liked the episode that makes me stupid?

You gotta stop taking this stuff so personally.

Except that's exactly what's been said. Apparently, my IQ is lower than everyone else because I did like it.

[GoTfan]

You literally said that people who liked it had a lower IQ.

The first step in fixing a problem is acknowledging it.

So because i liked the episode that makes me stupid?

You gotta stop taking this stuff so personally.

Also, don't tell me to stop taking things personally when people have been threatening to kill me for liking this episode.

[GoTfan]

I thought it was a pretty good episode most of the way through, but obviously Cersei would have just slaughtered them all at the end, right?

indeed

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

this too

The physics of the super ballista don't make any sense.  Say they could make something powerful enough to shoot a small tree through a dragon's skull at 100 meters that is standing still, I'll buy that.  But to hit a flying dragon a mile away, from a wooden ship?  The energy required, the whole "aiming" issue, which really isn't an issue at all because there is no way they would fly straight after a couple hundred feet (if it could even go that far), just silly...plus, I'm pretty sure she could fly a large arc around them faster than they can turn the ships, so flank 'em?  What was the point of the angry charge, dodge and then fly away? Hit them why they reload?  Go super high and just rain dragon fire on them from 2 miles up?

Do we know the range of dragon fire?

[GoTfan]

And the circlejerk of hate continues.