Game of Thrones 2019

[fuse]

FFS, in the grand scheme of things that was a wasted episode.

Don’t get me wrong I loved every minute of it, and yet if I never saw that episode, it wouldn’t change the overall story arc.

Yargh. Selfishly, I wanted much more.

[bundabergdevil]

So, this episode answered a huge question: how did Podrick get the freebie at Littlegingers brothel and become seven kingdoms sex god? He sang to them!

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I have to admit, as much as I love this show and have been anticipating these final six episodes, these last two episodes feel like they were copied from bad fan fic of awkward pairings. Jon/Dany, Sansa/Hendry, Brienne/Jamie/Tormund... A bit too tidy.
I'm probably just bitter that things are windong down, with next episode clearly being nothing but a giant battle, leaving two more episodes to clean up lots of loose ends in a moderately satisfying way.
How many of our loved characters are going to end their careers next Sunday? Half? More?

[Wander]

How many of our loved characters are going to end their careers next Sunday? Half? More?

At least Grey Worm, Missendei, and Brienne. Their scenes really felt in the style of "make you like these characters one last time". Theon also, in volunteering to protect Bran.

What if they more or less beat the zombies (with lots of minor character deaths), but then are immediately attacked by Cersei's forces at the end of the episode?

[JasonEvans]

What if they more or less beat the zombies (with lots of minor character deaths), but then are immediately attacked by Cersei's forces at the end of the episode?

The Golden Army charges and Jamie is the first one they strike down... that would work for me.

Not sure I agree with folks that this was a totally wasted episode. Dany was introduced to Aegon Targaryen, her nephew. Her reaction was not going to be good. It came just minutes after Dany went to befriend Sansa and ended up with no good answer to “What happens to the North when you take the throne?” Those are biiig issues to resolve (probably violently) once John or Theon or Arya plunge a piece of dragonglass into the heart of the Night King and instantly end the battle with the dead.

Jason “the folks sitting around the fire warming themselves before the battle — no more than 50% survive the next episode “ Evans

[dudog84]

FFS, in the grand scheme of things that was a wasted episode.

Don’t get me wrong I loved every minute of it, and yet if I never saw that episode, it wouldn’t change the overall story arc.

Yargh. Selfishly, I wanted much more.

Agree completely. I can't remember every episode from the series but this is probably the most disappointing ever. Just more of last week, and while I understand what they were doing last week but we didn't need more of it. The only fun thing was Tormund's infatuation with Brienne, and that can't carry an episode.

At least Grey Worm, Missendei, and Brienne. Their scenes really felt in the style of "make you like these characters one last time". Theon also, in volunteering to protect Bran.

What if they more or less beat the zombies (with lots of minor character deaths), but then are immediately attacked by Cersei's forces at the end of the episode?

I told my friends during the knighting scene "That's the end of her."

The Golden Army charges and Jamie is the first one they strike down... that would work for me.

Not sure I agree with folks that this was a totally wasted episode. Dany was introduced to Aegon Targaryen, her nephew. Her reaction was not going to be good. It came just minutes after Dany went to befriend Sansa and ended up with no good answer to “What happens to the North when you take the throne?” Those are biiig issues to resolve (probably violently) once John or Theon or Arya plunge a piece of dragonglass into the heart of the Night King and instantly end the battle with the dead.

Jason “the folks sitting around the fire warming themselves before the battle — no more than 50% survive the next episode “ Evans

But those 2 events were at most 5 minutes of an hour episode. The look on Dany's face did make me wonder if she would eventually kill Jon. Agree on one of those three to kill the Night King, I vote for Arya only because of her new weapon. That has to be a presaging thing.

[JasonEvans]

Deleted scene --
Setting: Winterfell war council room
Characters: Bill and Medwin, two previously unseen servants of the Stark family

Bill: "Medwin, stop sweeping up that mess, Lady Sansa and King John have ordered us to set up the siege map."
Medwin: "Gotcha. Here is the large map with Winterfell in the middle and the drawing of the Wierwood tree that is totally oversized and disproportionate."
Bill: "Perfect, that is the one we needed. Now, do you have all the circles, squares, and triangles to show the troops?"
Medwin: "I sure do. Let's lay them out here, in front of the castle."
Bill: "What about the Army of the Dead, what do we have to represent them?"
Medwin: "I have a large box of grey rectangles. Think that will work?"
Bill: "Perfect, my friend. We will certainly be praised by the Lady of Winterfell for our fine service here."
Medwin: "Any idea how many grey rectangles we should put out to show the size of the Night King's army of undead?"



Bill: "A lot..."

[Nick]

Deleted scene --
Setting: Winterfell war council room
Characters: Bill and Medwin, two previously unseen servants of the Stark family

Bill: "Medwin, stop sweeping up that mess, Lady Sansa and King John have ordered us to set up the siege map."
Medwin: "Gotcha. Here is the large map with Winterfell in the middle and the drawing of the Wierwood tree that is totally oversized and disproportionate."
Bill: "Perfect, that is the one we needed. Now, do you have all the circles, squares, and triangles to show the troops?"
Medwin: "I sure do. Let's lay them out here, in front of the castle."
Bill: "What about the Army of the Dead, what do we have to represent them?"
Medwin: "I have a large box of grey rectangles. Think that will work?"
Bill: "Perfect, my friend. We will certainly be praised by the Lady of Winterfell for our fine service here."
Medwin: "Any idea how many grey rectangles we should put out to show the size of the Night King's army of undead?"



Bill: "A lot..."

THANK YOU! As I was watching the episode I was thinking, "Who spent all the time putting all those pieces in place? Did they really need so many? Aren't there better things to do, what with a zombie army approaching?"

[Nick]

One other thing: they mentioned about 10 ten times that the crypts are safe. But... there's also an evil force that can raise the dead. Chekhov's Crypt is now in effect.

[Highlander]

Unless I missed something, last night's episode joins a very short list of episodes in GOT history where there were zero deaths.

Honestly it reminded me a bit of "The Walking Dead" where everyone sits around talking about stuff but nothing much happens. It just felt like sloppy writing to me. I did like Tyrion's line about his father being alive to see his two sons preparing to fight to save Winterfell being rather funny.

During the talk with Sansa and Danerys, I remember thinking that Dany should tell Sansa "Look outside. I brought an army to your doorstep to defend your castle. And now you're saying you won't bend the knee to me and say thank you if we win? Well, I guess I'll take my unsullied and my two dragons and go home. Good luck fighting the white walkers Lady Sansa and your "King of the North." I also don't understand why John wouldn't tell Dany that he has no interest in being on the Iron Throne. I could see her agreeing to let him remain king of the north in exchange for his silence about his heritage.

In the death pool, I agree that Brienne is gone, and I expect Jamie will be as well as he has outlived his usefulness. He's not that strong of a fighter anymore anyway. Theon gets to end his life on a high note as well as a good guy rather than a whimpering coward. Good for him. Those are the only ones I'd lay money on, but very few would surprise me aside from the Stark girls, Snow, Dany, and Tyrion.

[fuse]

The Golden Army charges and Jamie is the first one they strike down... that would work for me.

Not sure I agree with folks that this was a totally wasted episode. Dany was introduced to Aegon Targaryen, her nephew. Her reaction was not going to be good. It came just minutes after Dany went to befriend Sansa and ended up with no good answer to “What happens to the North when you take the throne?” Those are biiig issues to resolve (probably violently) once John or Theon or Arya plunge a piece of dragonglass into the heart of the Night King and instantly end the battle with the dead.

Jason “the folks sitting around the fire warming themselves before the battle — no more than 50% survive the next episode “ Evans

The Jon/Dany dynamic will be interesting. Not sure it is a spoiler but how Azor Ahai was able to succeed in his war tells me only one of Jon and Dany survive.

I also thought the Sansa/Dany discussion was poorly timed. A fair discussion but maybe wait until the dead are defeated?

Next episode will be a bloodbath.

I’m also starting to get concerned the Bran / Night King angle will come to pass as described upthread.

[El_Diablo]

I thought it was a stronger episode than the season opener, which jumped around and shoehorned in a bunch of bad jokes, petty one-upsmanship, rushed reunions, and the ridiculous caricature of Euron Greyjoy that the showrunners continue to foist upon us. The second episode let the scenes have enough time to breathe and did a better job building on the personal interactions that needed to happen. It also ramped up the tension/dread for next week.

When it was announced that Miguel Sapochnik was directing the third episode, it was pretty clear that the battle would happen then, so I wasn't waiting for it to start or something. But I can see if people were getting impatient if they came into the episode expecting a battle. For those who don't follow such details, Sapochnik has directed four episodes in the series, including the top three highest-rated ones on IMDB. I am really looking forward to next week.

[luburch]

Who survives and who dies? I think Brienne, Theon, Jorah, and Grey Worm are at the end of the road. Possibly Tormund and Ed as well.

Arya, Sansa, Bran, Jon and Dany are untouchable this early in the season.

After they lose Winterfell, do they retreat to the Iron Islands? Dragonstone?

[thedukelamere]

Maybe I'm just a homer, but I loved this episode. It's going to be one of those that we rewatch years from now and appreciate the final moments between people who we've watched follow completely different paths all end up in the same spot at the end of the world... And none of the interactions felt forced or out of line with how we'd expect each of their personalities to intermingle. Sure it was a little on the nose with the fan service, but if those were the final destinations that B&W and/or GRRM laid out for each of those characters, they did a heck of a job building our investment in each of them.

Also, to echo who ever mentioned it upthread; the mentions of the crypts being safe and the multiple left flank comments had my Chekhov meter going nuts... Golden Company rolling in with a reverse Pelennor Fields/Charge of the Rohirrim angle right as the battle looks winnable would be devastating.

[fuse]

The wrinkle I want to see is post white walker conversion confronted by the living.

Could Jaime kill a white walker Brienne?
Could Missandei kill a white walker grey worm?

Could Arya/Sansa/Jon kill a reanimated Ned Stark or Catelyn Stark?
As a side note, given that “his bones” were sent back to Winterfell, what creative license might we see in getting Sean Bean back onscreen?

Hard to predict an untouchables list in a George RR Martin world.

A scene does appear on the opening astrolabe with four dragons.
Not sure what to make of that.

[BandAlum83]

Is it just me, or are they actively working to make Sansa even more beautiful this season, even eclipsing Dany?

These things are carefully thought of in epics such as this with such high production value. Could it be a foreshadowing of Dany falling to the "Dark Side?"

[thedukelamere]

As a side note, given that “his bones” were sent back to Winterfell, what creative license might we see in getting Sean Bean back onscreen?

Did his head ever make it back? I can't remember if they sent the bones north while it was still on a spike.

[dudog84]

During the talk with Sansa and Danerys, I remember thinking that Dany should tell Sansa "Look outside. I brought an army to your doorstep to defend your castle. And now you're saying you won't bend the knee to me and say thank you if we win? Well, I guess I'll take my unsullied and my two dragons and go home. Good luck fighting the white walkers Lady Sansa and your "King of the North." I also don't understand why John wouldn't tell Dany that he has no interest in being on the Iron Throne. I could see her agreeing to let him remain king of the north in exchange for his silence about his heritage.

That made me think "Where have the Dothraki been?" Waiting to ride in on a flanking maneuver? Don't want to see them re-animated.

[dudog84]

Who survives and who dies? I think Brienne, Theon, Jorah, and Grey Worm are at the end of the road. Possibly Tormund and Ed as well.

Arya, Sansa, Bran, Jon and Dany are untouchable this early in the season.

After they lose Winterfell, do they retreat to the Iron Islands? Dragonstone?

Not gonna happen. Next week is the end of the White Walkers.

[JasonEvans]

Who has too much plot armor to die this coming week?

John - For someone who will be in the thick of the fight, his plot armor is thick! Well, I suppose he could die striking the killing blow to the Night King but even that seems unlikely. We are talking about someone who was brought back to life by the Lord of Light and for whom Uncle Benjen give his life. John Snogaryen is surviving a while longer.

Dany - Probably even safer than John because her death would eliminate much of the future conflict from the show (I doubt John or anyone else would march South to take on Cersei if Dany dies).

Tyryan - I think probably safe. His story has been meandering about for a bit and he has more to do, methinks. They just spent last episode talking about how smart he is. Why kill him off after that? It seems unlikely that he will be too involved in the fight anyway.

Sansa - She too will not be involved in the hand-to-hand nastiness, I suspect. The conflict between her and Dany isn't close to resolved and is some of the most interesting stuff happening this season. She's safe.

Beyond those four, I think just about everyone else is fair game. The others who seem most likely to be protected by the plot are...

Jamie - Feels like he will have unfinished business with his sister but one could make an argument that by going North and then fighting alongside Brienne he has completed his arc.

The Hound - In the category of unfinished business, Cleganebowl!! That said, I could see him giving his life to protect Arya again.

Bran - His speech about the Night King wanting him dead because he stores all of mankind's memory sorta means he has to survive, right?

Anyone else? I would have included Arya but having her roll in the sack with Gendry and then go out battling many White Walkers would not be an entirely unsatisfying ending. Someone meaningful has to die. Oh, and apparently the internet is going insane over her showing side boob and booty in the episode. I know Maisie Williams is 22, but it still feels like Arya is 15. I was kinda uncomfortable watching that (though Maisie looked good... you go, girl!).

-Jason "everyone else is fair game, I think... and I expect a lot of the fair game to be gone" Evans