GOT S8E5: The Bells

I gave this episode a 50 out of 100. This episode for me was a hot mess. Now, I understand Martin has pointed out these are grey characters with different sides of their persona’s coming out based on the circumstances at hand, which is what gives them their richness and complexity. Part of this I feel resides in knowing or having an understanding of how the characters are feeling up to that point where their change in behavior unfolds.

That being said I don’t feel I have been shown enough things that could cause Dany halfway through the episode to snap and suddenly decide to go out on a blood thirsty rampage of innocents while making her way towards Cersei.

Fine, she feels alone because Missendei is dead or because Jon broke off his romantic involvements to her. He did reswear his oath of loyalty to her. What is the logic behind destroying everyone in King’s Landing? People will fear her now. Who is going to believe she’s the breaker of chains? Who will believe this is the same person who liberated all the Slaves in Slavers Bay? Or nail 163 Slave masters to crosses as they had done to child slaves? Or more recently named a bastard to be the Lord of Storm’s End?

Drogon won this weeks Game of Thrones.

Good:
Cleghane Bowl finally realized; two brothers who’s mutual hatred for one another was created and ended by fire.

Sort of Good:
Cersei and Jaime die in each other’s arms.

Bad:
Jaime’s redemption arc has proven to be a sharp change in direction for me. It wasn’t like Cersei was losing at the time he decided to go back to her and defend her. She was winning; having just killed Rhaegal and decimating Dany’s fleet. Was it love for his unborn child too? Unclear…

Dany’s destroying everyone in King’s Landing; including innocent men, women and children. Unexplainable, shocking and horrific. That left me feeling empty. I didn’t feel anything; like yeah they got what they deserved or that she’s a righteous bad ass.
I felt confused and lost by her choice half through the episode. I feel the need to clarify something that has happened again and again with this show and that is the lack of seeing *reactions* of Commoners to Nobility making decisions on their behalf in Westeros. This was done really well in Essos; not Westeros.

Before the battle in S8E5, Tyrion and Dany walk through her plan of leveling King’s Landing. Since at that point Varys has been executed, we are left with Tyrion representing the common man:

‘The people who live there, they’re not your enemies. They’re innocents, like the ones you liberated in Meereen…They’re afraid. Anyone who resists Cersei will see his family butchered. You can’t expect them to be heroes. They’re hostages. They are…In a tyrant’s grip. Whose fault is that? Mine? What does it matter whose fault it is? Thousands of children will die if the city burns. Thousands of children will die if the city burns.’

We did get reactions of commoners in Essos:

* The liberated slaves showed their adoration to Dany for freeing them from the Slave Masters; ‘Nissa Nissa!’
* Missendei was a slave who made it a point to mention she serves Dany because she was the ‘Breaker of Chains’.

We didn’t really get reactions of commoners in Westeros:

All we have really is the spokeperson for the Commoners, Varys. We never actually see the commoners reactions to any of the Nobility’s reactions except:

* The Northern nobility cheering Dany and Arya for defeating the Night King and Armies of the Undead. The toasted Dany before anyone.

* Joffrey nearly dying and pelted by manure as he walked the streets of King’s Landing in S2E6 and the commoners attacked calling him illegitimate.

Did we ever see the commoners reactions to (?):

* Cersei burning the High Sparrow and Queen Margaery in the Sept of Balor?

* Cersei taking over after Tommen committed suicide? (All we hear is that the people despise her all the way in Season 8.

I needed to be shown some commoners and their reactions to all these plot points to truly show what the people of King’s Landing felt.

All I saw was the destruction of innocents which left me feeling this is horrible and the loss left me feeling empty. I didn’t feel Dany’s actions were justified, whereas most of Dany’s war actions put the people she liberated standing behind her. I don’t think eliminating them entirely is the same thing. Dany more than anything has stated she wants to liberate people from Tyranny and all she has done is create more of this and Jon warned her about this ‘more of the same’.

Seeing commoner reactions throughout all 8 seasons would also reinforce the statement about manipulating the common man by Nobility and how they are in most cases victims of their decisions.

The victimization of commoners has always been there (Hardhomme, attacks by Wildlings, attack of the Riverlands and the North after the Red Wedding), however their voice and reactions have not.
Victimization is an action being done upon them; hearing their reactions to it matters to the story because that puts the main characters actions into better perspective.

Knowing the common people truly hated Dany and they wanted her gone for Westeros would do a better job of isolating Dany than Her just stating she feels alone. That just isn’t enough for me.

I felt they rushed to get to that beat in the story without anything that led me through her thought process so I know if she is truly mad or is being tactical with severity because she can’t see any other way.

There was nothing satisfying for me about Euron’s death at the hands of Jaime. He didn’t have enough substance to care about him.

Unknown:

* Will Tyrion be discovered as the freer of Jaime Lannister? Will he then be executed for betraying Dany?

* Will Jon take out Dany? I hope so given the fact they have baked in Dany’s madness resulting in the death of thousands of innocents. If he doesn’t then his whole character arc revolving around protected the realm from evil doesn’t play out.

* Will Arya take out Dany? I suppose if someone is willing to put up a large enough bounty more than one Faceless person will show up to do the job.

S8E4: The Last of the Starks

Overall: I give this an 88 out of 100.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great character development, dialog and a lot of consistency with arc trajectories for
Arya, Gendry, The Hound and Brienne. Wildcards for me are: Jaime, Tyrion, Varys, Dany, Sansa, Jon and Cersei. Some of interactions are a bit merky
considering how close we are to the end of the whole show I think they could have been clearer, although that was probably done to keep people guessing.

I think Missendei’s arc reached the end I thought it would reach; tragic.

I can definitely feel Dany unraveling because effectively she has no confidentes anymore.
Her people from Essos may love her, but it doesn’t appear like anyone in Westeros does. She was literally begging Jon to keep his lineage a
secret and now she’s down to one Dragon; limited troops to mobilize coming off a huge battle with the Undead; in love with a man who has
more legitimacy to the throne she does and she doesn’t trust anyone now. Tyrion is incompetent, Missendei is gone. She appears desperate and may employ drastic violent measures to keep her in power.
She told Tyrion and Varys that the reason for her existence and destiny is to free world of tyrants, but I think she has gradually become a tyrant herself in some ways.
I don’t think she is mad like her father though. She has employed some thoughtful strategy when dealing with Cersei (including bouncing this off of Tyrion and Varys).
She knows Cersei will use the sacrificing of commoners in the Red Keep inner walls to try and sway the realm against her and doesn’t lose focus
of going after Cersei. I think Tyrion begging for Cersei to surrender shows a lot of thoughtfulness for Dany’s side to justify the impending carnage.
Then again any warmth a commonor acquires after that from Dany will be quickly replaced soon enough with Dragon fire. Sansa and Dany squaring off about setting off with their troops not fully recuperated was telling. Jon kept the piece however it’s clear Dany and Sansa don’t get along.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best Line: ‘Here’s to Climbing Mountains’.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As far as the title goes for the episode, it’s not looking good for the Starks from a line of succession point of view:

*Jon could never truly be the Lord of Winterfell since he’s really a Targaryen;
*Arya will never be a Lady and probably not have children;
*Bran isn’t really Bran, but the Title of Lord would technically go to him. He will never marry so the Stark House line effectively ends.
*Sansa is Lady of Winterfell and as soon as she marries, she technically would turn that over to whomever becomes Lord of Winterfell
and her House line ends.

The breakups for Jaime and Arya are interesting:
In both cases, Arya and Jaime referenced who they think they truly are while saying their goodbyes.
Arya: Never intended to be with Gendry other than wanting to experience sex at least once in her life. I think part of her cares about Gendry, however she is no one. She would be throwing away the faceless aspect of her training and development if she went
in the Ladyship direction.
Jaime: Doesn’t think he is good enough for Brienne because of what he’s done and how that’s shaped him and made him who he is.

I think Cersei won this week’s Game of Thrones.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Brienne and Jaime get it on! I was actually very surprised pleasantly by this. Almost all of Brienne’s dreams have come true!

*Broken hearts are everywhere: Tormund, Brienne, Jaime (breaking his own heart) and Gendry are the casualties in that department. I believe all that is permanent tragically.
I felt Tormund and Brienne’s heart break more than anyone else. The tragedy of affections lost on each of them was well done.
My heart was ripped apart in that scene with Jaime and Brienne; something so right between two people so evenly matched and meant for each other
it appears wasn’t meant to be. Jaime your an idiot!!

*Before Arya even opened her mouth I knew she was going to turn Gendry down. She’s a fighter and always has been one.
A ladyship would tie her down too much and she’s had an agenda for a while and we know Cersei’s on top of her list.
I am glad that went the way I expected. It follows the story arc that has been set up for her from jump 8 years ago.

*Great (Little Finger-Like) maneuvering by Sansa with Jon and Tyrion. She read into Tyrion being afraid of Dany. I think she knew that fear
and telling Tyrion about Jon’s true Lineage would get to Varys and ultimately the commoners to help legitimize Jon’s claim.

*I liked that Varys and Tyrion batted around throne ascendancy and ruling options based on Jon’s secret lineage; especially the mention about co-ruling.
Tyrion’s thoughts on putting an embargo on King’s Landing are the most sound suggestion I have heard because it takes the feelings of the realm
into consideration.

*LOL! Podrick not only went to bed with the woman who smiled at him but also the woman the Hound turned down!

*Tyrion’s speech to Cersei was touching, however the outcome was predictable.

* Gendry’s Lordship announcement I saw back from the beginning as happening. Why else would they keep him alive all this time? It definitely
does make Dany more progressive in her plans to break the wheel.

*I loved seeing the Hound back on the round with Arya!!! I could listen those two for season and would even watch a spin off show about them.
That being said, the Hound definitely is going to King’s Landing to take down his brother and I personally don’t think he will survive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Chunks of Dany’s ships were being knocked out by the cross bow bolts from Huron’s ships. That’s a bit much from my perspective; I know that’s a bit of nitpick.

*Jaime changes his mind and goes back to Cersei? Huh? (Also this was kind of tropic.) Jaime already said he was done with Cersei, so why desert Brienne? I suppose he still loves Cersei and his heart was broken by her and he can never love again, even though
it would be with someone who truly loves him and in a lot of ways is his equal in valor, fighting skills and honor (Brienne.)

Unknown and Predictions:

*Tormund is leaving with the other Wildlings and heading back North. Why? This leaves Dany with less troops. Will he help with the big battle to come?

*Is Samwell’s arc truly done at this point? I don’t think Jon will survive, so for me it appears this is it.

*How was Huron able to capture Missendei?

*Did Jaime sleep with Brienne because he loves Brienne or because he wanted her to not have to deal with being a virgin anymore?

*Did Jaime break his own heart when he deserted Brienne for Cersei?

*Is Jaime on a suicide mission to kill Cersei and his unborn child by himself or to fight for Cersei?

*Will Brienne show up on the battlefield with Dany? Possibly

*Is Dany jealous of Jon’s popularity with the commoners and Lords of Westorosi houses? I think it runs deeper than that. I think she is starting
to feel like he is in her way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Predictions: It’s time!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is everyone’s thoughts on the final two episodes? What do you think will happen?

A couple things that I beared in mind:
* The Woods Witch told Cersei in time she would be cast down by another, younger and more beautiful queen, who would take all she held dear.
* What the realm thinks; matters…So lineage is important to the people; even after a White Walker ultimate battle.

This basically says to me it’s either Sansa or Dany who ends up on the Throne.

So here’s two versions that I think could happen over the final two episodes: (Cersei dies in both scenarios by Arya; Cleghane Bowl in both)

#1: Dany wins. Pointers: A Song of Ice and Fire. If Varys got the word out about Jon’s Lineage, then Jon would have to die for this to happen by the lineage rules of the realm.
This could be either by Dany herself or someone from Cersei’s army.
#2: Sansa wins. Jaime kills Dany, Jon kills Jaime but dies also in the process. The realm wants Sansa as Queen and Tyrion as King.

What are your picks?

I look forward to seeing everyone’s comments.

SE8E3: The Long Night

Overall:
95 out of 100

This episode blew me away with the goals it took on. Elaborate, gritty, heroic medieval epic war action; meets quiet dialog at times under duress; tempered with revolving check in on characters helped balance things out. I was visually exhausted in two places where I literally had to pause my video stream feed; once at 40 minutes and then a little past an hour. I was confused at times due to how darkly lit most of the episode was as well as some cameras being out of focus on occasion made also for difficult viewing. I suppose all that was intentional. BTW: I would hate to be custodian on clean up at Winterfell right now. There’s not enough Medieval Febreeze available to deal with the smell. If there was ever a medieval equivalent to Burning Man; it will be at Winterfell now…Literally… 🙂

Arya Stark wins this weeks Game of Thrones for me by killing the Night King and saving everyone who was still alive.

Good:

*YES!!!! Arya slays the Night King! Mel teased this in her conversation with Arya, however when it happened I was cheering and yelling at the screen.

*I did feel like I was in the battle. It was per amidst winter conditions. If all that was intentional then that was really well done.

*Ser Jorah meets his end defending his love; very romantic and chivalrous; every bit the way I thought it would play out.

*Lyanna Mormont dies taking down a giant Wight! A lady who’s actions lived up to her strong words. That was the most spectacular death of the episode (aside from the Night King). My honor and respects are with you my Lady! The Mormonts fought and died harder than anyone!

Bad:

*Some of the impact of the war tactics was underwhelming because there was never any specific talk about how to use the Dragons in the battle, which
is a point commenters made last episode. They couldn’t get the dragons to light the trenches because the Night King obscured the sky with winter weather and it took me a few seconds to understand the plan that was being referenced that I never knew about to begin with.

* I have a setup issue here. After the ferocity and numbers of attackers; somehow almost all the major characters survived. This is understandable for those who have already battled the undead which actually is all of them but Arya, Brienne, Grey Worm and Jaime. Jaime also has one hand. I know at one point he was arguably the best sword in all of Westeros, however given the volume of opponents my suspension of disbelief was hard to maintain. Jaime was arguably at one time the best swords man in the land; not anymore though.  I had problems suspending my disbelief with his survival during the episode. However, if he dies I suppose that’s believable. Grey Worm was raised to be a fighter. Brienne was arguably the best Knight in the land also prior to the battle (just not in title.) Arya’s entire training was done fighting Death in different forms. I have to assume one handed Jaime survives because of Brienne and his abilities. All of them should be able to take anything that Cersei dishes out from a fighting perspective and still survive. If they don’t then to me that’s a little strange.

*At a certain point there is so much going on it gets too overwhelming to process.
I honestly think they could have kept the intensity and spread the action over a couple of episodes. This one is hard to watch multiple times.

*I think the sudden removal of the Night King and the Army of the Undead from the story arc at this point in the season is acting like a giant wildcard and is going to change the dynamics (or calls into question) about what is most important to different characters; in some cases this may run contrary to established canon.

Jon: Now the Night King has been dealt with; and Jon now knows he is Aegon; and his lack of acknowledging to Dany that the throne doesn’t matter to him in Episode 2, is Jon still of that mindset or has that changed for him and wants the Throne now?
Samwell: Defying considerable odds he has finally has provided the proof that he is a Tarly and a fighter. Does he fight with Dany as Lord Tarley or Maester Samwell? One could say he always was a Maester (never a fighter) and that fighting just proves he’s a Tarly. It’s not his true calling.
*At one point Jon is very close to the Night King and stops. Why?? This gave the Night King time to resurrect the dead fighters Jon used to have. Why are they attacking him a few at a time? Wouldn’t the Night King just order all of them to swarm him?

Unknown:
Bran seemed to know Theon was going to die and the way he looked at the Night King made it look like he knew Arya was going to kill the Night King.
Does Bran know the future? I think so and that he has limited influence on present day characters towards the visions he sees.

*Does a major character have to die in battle of this scale to show the devastational impact to the overall story? I think you probably would get a 50/50 consensus on that. I know I was surprised at how few of them died and that did have an impact for me. I suppose from a Benioff and Weiss story line perspective; keeping most of the major character alive for episode 4; offers enough possible deceptive resolution points to twist around the audience for the next three episodes. That being said, the major underlying tension of an existential threat that has existed for years to us is no more; putting an increasingly sharp focus on the Game for Throne and putting more relevance back into that game. What’s the overall message there? Is it people will still play games regardless of the looming threat of death? Not sure…

This leads to the following questions:
*Did Cersei just get lucky with her ignorance of participating in the Long Night battle or was that a brilliant well plotted move on her part looking to the witches prophecy for guidance about the beautiful woman that would succeed her?
*Will Jaime and Brienne die heroically in a battle against Cersei? Will they end up together?
*Will Tormund end up with Brienne?
*Will Sansa end up with Tyrion (if the Dany issue is resolved)?
*Will Arya kill Cersei? Perhaps using Euron or Qyburn’s face?
*Who ends up on the Throne? (Now that matters again).
*Is Dany pregnant?
*Clegane bowl? It’s looking more and more like this will happen.
*How does Bran function now in the rest of the story? Will he fade into the background like Lord Varys has the past four episodes?
*What troops does Dany’s forces have now to fight Cersei? Dornish? Troops in the Reach? Are there any troops left from the Vale?
Deepwood Mott had bowed out of participating in the Long Night, are there any inhibitants left who could lend a hand?
Have we seen the last of Meera Reed? What about her father can he help out Dany with troops?
*What was Bran’s warging session accomplishing? Was it just positions on the Night King or was he getting the lay of the land for the final battles with Cersei for King’s Landing?

Tin Foil theory wise:
*Did Qyburn figure out how to mass produce versions of the Mountain for Cersei?

Repl

SE8E2: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Overall: 87 out of 100

I think the great thing about this episode is the rich back history and relationships each of these characters have  up to this point. You could feel those dynamics shifting around as the dialog is going and the episode plays out; especially through the character’s eyes. Overall it’s setup with the last 20 minutes having a slight stalling affect, however
the interactions balance that out for the most part.

Lots of different ways characters who either haven’t met before (or having reunions) are interacting and building rapport while dealing with their situation waiting for the Army of the Undead to attack. I think overall the dialog was very well done, as well as the long awaited hookups and some characters become fully realized, however there was a couple of things for me where D&D chose shock value instead of Canon that didn’t sit well. I elect Ser Brienne of Tarth as the winner of this week’s Game of Thrones.
She has fully realized her life’s dream, saved Ser Jaime’s life and she will get to fight along side him to the death.

The Good:

Arya has always been my favorite character. Arya and Gendry finally get it on! She looked pretty surprised Gendry’s Baratheon bastard reveal and description of the undead army.  Her new staff reminded me of her with her teacher in the first season.
Then again her whole faceless training was done fighting death (waif) except there’s no face to gain from a victory. Her battle scenes could be intense if she intends on using that dagger too.

Ser Brianne of Tarth! Finally realized! That had to be a life goal. You could see it in her eyes. Although in my mind she reached that long ago. I guess titles still mean something to some of these characters regardless of the looming existential threat.

Great dialog and acting defending Jaime’s honor.

Great dynamics over who is ruling (between Sansa and Dany) with the arrival of Theon and Sansa hearing Brienne’s pleas for saving Jaime and Sansa asking Dany about the North after the Battle.

Lyanna and Ser Jorah arguing over her going to the crypts. I was hoping for some type of interaction from the two of them the first episode. I loved the dynamics and respect they had for each other regarding battle preparations.

Three Eyed Raven and Jaime had a few things going on there for me. It was pretty clear that Brandon wasn’t really there anymore. I loved Jaime’s eyes with the remark ‘How do you know there is an afterwards?’

Sansa and Dany: beautifully progressive natural flowing dialog. They postured as rulers and lapsed quickly into relatives. A great way to relay to us how both Jon and Dany are in love.

Confirmation Cersei is pregnant. Makes you wonder about her saying ‘Good’ about the Army of the Undead breaching the wall. Tywin did say she thought she was a lot smarter than she is. Is Cersei not thinking about how anyone who is defeated by the Army of the Undead becomes a member of the Army of the Undead.

Tormund tackle of Jon and asking for Brienne. I loved how he was trying very hard to woo Brienne and she doesn’t know how to react to it.

I loved the promise Grey Worm made to Missandei, however I would be surprised if either of them survive the war.
The Bad:

The Men of the Nights Watch and the Wildlings somehow manage to go from being in back of the Army of the Undead to arrive at Winterfell before the Army of the Undead by a day. If the Night King really is after Bran (because he is the memory of the entire world) wouldn’t he be making a bee line from Bran right after breaking down the wall?

John unveiling his lineage to Dany and not reiterating to her that it doesn’t matter to him. Dany seemed to feel her rule was being tested by both Sansa and Jon this episode. He should have picked up on that and quickly told her (as the horn was blowing)
‘I have told you in the past titles don’t matter to me; conquering the Night King and the Army of the Undead are all that matter to me.’ Instead, nothing is said creating a little bit of tension, which quickly dissipated a little bit as the enemy is advanced to the gates of Winterfell.

The Unknown:

Did Cersei listen to Jon and rework her weapons with Dragon glass? If she did, where did she get it? I hope Qyburn equipped that giant cross bow with dragon glass pointed bolts. How else could the Blue Dragon or the Night King be defeated?

Does Dragonfire have any effect on White Walkers?. We already know regular fire doesn’t (Hardhomme and the Hold The Door). Does the Night King get more powerful with the more undead he has? His Army certainly but does he himself gain more dark magic?

Now that Brienne has been knighted, will she die on the field with honor with Jaime or survive? What will her life goals be now if she does? I actually see her ending up with Tormund. How about you guys?

What can we make of Jon not addressing Dany? Was it just a stupid oversight by not giving Dany assurances he doesn’t want to be king or does he want to rule?

Does Jaime love Brienne besides respect her?

What did Tyrion and Bran discuss?

My prediction is the battle will take place over at least two episodes with a cliff hanger connecting the two. What do you both think?

What effect is Green sight having on this situation if any?

GOT: S8E1: Winterfell

Overall, I gave the episode 80 out of 100. The whole ‘Disney like’ dragon flying excursion with Dany and Jon was a bit much for me and caused most of the point deduction.   This episode provided mostly setup of the endgame for me.  I think they balanced that well though with arguably the best character reunions.  I enjoyed those more than anything else. This episode had me truly excited to see what the characters would say to each other and how they would emotionally react after long periods of absence from one another. For me, Jon/ Bran and Jon/ Arya reunions where the big ones.  Also character reactions to the dragons; particularly Arya’s was noteworthy.  Her now faceless emotionless exterior showed a wonderful mix of emotions seeing the Dragons in action; including awe, terror and a look of ‘Cool, dragons!!’.  The big drop for me was how Jon going to react to Sam about being the true king. It’s what I expected and well done.

Good:

• The new credit intro is the most elaborate I have seen. The Hearth right outside of the wall breach made me laugh.  I was already saying to myself, here’s the first ‘Casualty of War. ‘
• The intro with the child was very ‘Bran like’ from the first episode.
• Mashups and character’s story arcs meeting Galore!
• Jon/Arya/Needle: a wonderful mixture of brother and sister reuniting and two warriors checking out weapons and talking about battles past.
• Jon/Bran: Bran’s words to Dany about her Dragon and the wall breach by the undead did the trick about how Bran has changed.
• Tyrion/Sansa: best dialog ‘Last time we spoke was at Joffrey’s wedding. Sorry I had to leave like that.’ ‘I had a hard time explaining why my wife fled after the King’s murder.’ –Hilarious!!
• What do Dragons eat?…Whatever they want’ Hilarious!
• Jon/Sam: Wow!!!!! I loved Jon’s reaction to Sam telling him he was the King of the 7 Kingdoms.
• Sansa/Dany: this was an interesting one, however Sansa’s reaction is expected. I love how Sansa read into Jon with Dany and realized he was in love with her.
• Hound/Arya: Played out like I thought it would. Arya has a mixture of confidence and coldness and the Hound has a warriors respect for her.
• Gendry/Arya: I always thought they would end up together. It was more like two warriors talking shop.
• Tormund/Beric/Dolorous Ed: Absolutely hilarious the comment about always having blue eyes!
• Sam/Dany/Ser Jorah: When Dany was offering him his pardons, I totally forgot about how he lost his family until Dany recalled she put the Tarly’s to death. I have to say this was one of the hardest scenes I have had to get through on this show and very well acted by John Bradley. I truly felt his mixture of sadness and horror about losing his father and brother to Dany’s execution orders. It appears he truly loved his brother Dickon.
• Jon/Samwell: A jaw dropper.Jon learns about his true lineage, Aegon the VI, King of the Seven Kingdoms! Bam!
• Jaime/Bran: How will that turn out? Will Jaime be outted by Bran or will he make himself known on his own or will Bran be quite and let Jaime stay incognito? What will Dany do to Jaime?

Bad:

• I did not like the extended Dany/Jon dragon flying excursion.  Drogon smiling at Jon was also too much.  I felt like I was watching a Lassie movie or one of those movies where a kid meets a giant or some creature that wants to be friends with him.
• How did Theon get passed Euron’s ships and a bunch of Golden Company ships to rescue Yara onboard the Flagship?

Unknown:

• Bran spotting Jaime at Winterfell. Will Bran demand justice for Jaime’s wrongdoing to him in the first episode or does the Three Eyed Raven have to remain impartial and uninvolved in anything going on around him? What will Dany do to Jaime?
• Who’s side is the Lannister army on? Jaime or Cersei’s side?
• When Bran looks at Tyrion, what does he see?
• What is Jaime’s fate? Will Bronn side with Cersei or Tyrion? Martin does say the ending is bittersweet. There seems to be a setup where Jaime might protect Tyrion and possibly take the fall in doing so. What are your thoughts on this?
• Is Cersei pregnant? Before or after her affair with Euron?
• What is Arya having Gendry make for her?
• Why did House Umber decide to stay in their castle instead of seek protection at Winterfell?
• Cersei seemed disappointed that the Golden Company didn’t have elephants. Did she think that would have been adequate to fight all of Dany’s and Jon’s forces? What about with the army of the dead?
• What is Cersei’s strategy? She thought it was good the army of the dead had breached the wall with a dragon. Does she think Dany and Jon’s forces will take care of enough of the army of the dead to then be able to win against them later on?
• Where the heck did Arya run off to?
• Will Jon tell anyone he is technically the King of the Seven Kingdoms?

I personally think no.  He needs Dany’s armies for the Great War.  If he told Sansa she definitely would tell Dany she isn’t Queen.  Also, who is going to argue about who is Queen or King with a lady who has the biggest army in Westeros and two Dragons? What’s the benefit to the current situation by telling anyone he is the rightful king? It doesn’t matter anyway to him since the Great War is coming to Winterfell.

Game of Thrones: Season 7 Episode 7: The Dragon and The Wolf

I think House Stark one this week’s Game of Thrones. This one is hard to judge for a winner because of three things that took seven years to happen all happened at the time:

1. House Stark has reunited and finally defeated Baelish who started everything.
2. The Wall comes down (although it’s been up far longer than seven years.)
3. Jon Snow is Aegon Targaryen

Overall I didn’t like the first 50 minutes of the show. If you compare how fast the last show went in terms of actions and locations to this one; it’s like going from one extreme to another. I felt like I spent 45 minutes waiting for Cersei to pay Dany lip service and lay out her true intentions to Jaime. All of that I knew was coming deep down in my thoughts a few episodes ago.

The execution and final comeuppance for Lord Baelish is 7 years in the making and it was a great book ending of the main story. The pack is split up by a common enemy; comes together; survives and avenges the death of it’s parents and punishes the separator.

I honestly thought a better way for Baelish to meet his end was him playing off the rift between Jon and Sansa; not Arya and Sansa. They could have done the same scene with Jon in Arya’s place next season. Since Dany would be up at Winterfell with Jon; and with Bran and Sam revealing Jon is really a Targaryen; I think the rift between Jon and Sansa would have been way more dramatic. The thing that could bring them together is Bran revealing Jon was raised by Ned and that he is a much a Stark as a Targaryen; playing into what Jon said to Theon about him being a Stark as much a Greyjoy and granting him foregiveness. Bran could also verify everything Sansa said Little Finger did. If anyone in the North questions his Greensight abilities, Bran could offer to each them knowledge no one else would know in the form of a whisper in their ears. All of this would have had more drama and emotion I think then the emotionless set of situations we were given this episode.

The huge nuclear bomb for me was Sam and Bran’s scene with the montage of Rhaegar/Lyanna and Jon/Dany. We finally get to see Rhaegar and the reveal that Jon is Aegon Targaryen was wonderful! I would have appreciated 5-10 more minutes of that then the 50 minutes of Cersei persuasion.

I was expecting more of a fight against the White Walkers then what was delivered. It was more of an assault and fast destruction of the Wall and series of reactions by Tormund and Beric then anything else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

* Dany, Tyrion, Jon, Ser Davos, Euron, Cersei, Jaime, Qyburn, Theon, Brienne, Bronn, Podrick and the Mountain all meet at a Dragon Theater in King’s Landing and show the Wight to Cersei and demonstrate how to kill it.

* Cersei agrees that is the imminent threat to the Kingdom and agrees to an armistice, however wants Jon to stay neutral until the Night King is defeated. Jon tells Cersei he has given fealty to Dany (everyone later on tells him he should have lied.) Cersei says the deal is off and leaves.

* Tyrion goes by himself to persuade Cersei back to the table. They all wait while he makes his case and he figures out Cersei is pregnant. My guess is he used that to persuade her back to the table.

* It is later revealed to Jaime that he is only saying she will supply troops, however she’s planning on doing nothing.

* Little Finger is executed for his crimes against Lord Arryn, Lysa Arryn, and Ned Stark.

* Theon is partially foregiven by Jon and he sets off to rescue Yara (not sure where she is though: See the bad.)

* Sam arrives in Winterfell and meets with Bran. He learns Bran is the three eyed Raven. Bran reveals that Jon is Lyanna’s son and not Neds and that Jon is really Jon Sand. Sam corrects him by revealing that Rhaegar had his marriage annulled to marry Lyanna Stark and asks Bran to warg into the past to confirm the marriage between Rhaegar and Lyanna and finds out that that Jon Snow is really Aegon Targaryen. Jon and Dany have a tryst while this is happening and Tyrion knows about it.

* The Night King riding Viserion takes down the wall at Eastwatch and marches through the wall with an army of thousands on the North.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best lines:

The Hound: “That’s not how it ends for you, brother…You know who’s coming for you. You’ve always known.”

Sansa to Arya: “You’re still very strange and annoying.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

* Finally the Stark redemption arc is completed. It took seven years, however from Dead Dire Wolf with lost pups in the first episode to the Stark pack avenging their dead parents by executing the man who started off this whole story, Lord Baelish’s end was satisfying.

* For me the most exciting and best part of the show was Samwell with Bran: Aegon Targaryen has now been revealed! and we got to see Rhaegar marrying Lyanna.

* It took seven years, however the wall comes down! The Night King scenes bringing down the wall were good! I thought they could have been done better. I loved the blue fire!

* The beginning of Cleghane Bowl! They had the stadium and we have seen the coin toss. When is the kick off?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad:

* Great, Theon is off to rescue Yara. How the heck does he know where she is? Jon, Dany and Tyrion heard Euron say he was going back to the Iron Isles upon seeing the Wight. If what Cersei is saying is true (in strict confidence to Jaime) about Euron sailing to Essos to pickup mercenary soldiers, how does Theon know to go there?
Wouldn’t he be setting sail for the Iron Isles?

* Arya and Sansa scenes here were well played, however I feel like everything was done for my sake (the audience) instead of for the story’s sake.

1. How did they both go from distrusting each other last episode; and Arya threatening to expose Sansa to the North men over the Raven note to Winterfell asking Rob to bend the knee to Cersei to both of them coming together and putting one over on Lord Baelish?
2. There’s something missing there for me which would have shown Starks unifying as a pack to overcome their adversaries by overcoming their differences. Where is that the scene?
3. Arya never told Sansa where she got the Raven note after Sansa asked here. The dialog we heard last episode only works as a ruse (for sake of the story) if someone is there with them in the room to hear the ruse and there were no cup-bearers in the room for the conversations between Arya and Sansa; just us watchers of the show. So in one sense they were just trying to throw viewers off (instead of throwing off Baelish in the story) so they can surprise us with his execution.
4. What was it that brought Arya around to trusting Sansa and what was it that Sansa saw in Arya that brought them together? Since that is missing, the only thing that brings Baelish ruse around to this point plot-wise that makes sense to me is Sansa playing Little Finger in her conversations with him last episode.

* Tyrion goes to see Cersei all alone. Why? What did it actually accomplish? Why didn’t she just behead him?

* Cersei gave the Mountain the order to execute Jaime, yet he only drew his sword? She didn’t given any sort of signal to stop midway. It was just Jaime saying ‘Do it’. Does the Mountain also listen to Jaime or is questioning Cersei’s orders? Huh??

* Why didn’t anyone fire bolts from the Wall at Wight Viserion?

* What’s occurring to me right now is I had to sit through an unintended/intended incest sex scene between Dany and Jon (An aunt and her nephew). Yuck!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown:

* Is Yara on the Iron Isle or with Euron heading to Essos? Does Theon even know where she is? How could he?

* Is Jaime heading to Winterfell? Will Cersei call back all the bannerman and give them new orders to assemble in King’s Landing and go after Casterly Rock, Dorne and Dragonstone while Dany is up North fighting the Night King?

* What kind of impact will Jon’s legitimacy have on his relationship with Dany?

* Does the Mountain know the Hound is his brother still? I am going to guess he didn’t die all the way and Qyburn managed to revive him up to a point where he recognizes the Hound is brother.

* Will Dany and Jon’s meeting lead them to having a child?

* What did Ned tell Robert about Lyanna? Did he say he found her dead? Did Robert just find out on his own she was dead? That part of the story isn’t clear to me. Was Ned originally sent by Robert to find Lyanna or did he seek out Lyanna on his own?

* Tyrion knows Jon and Dany had sex. As this whole story started with crimes committed to conceal an incident of incest (Bran being pushed out a window by Jaime), will something bad happen to Tyrion to conceal Jon and Dany’s tryst?

* Did Tormund and Beric die in the Wall collapse?

* Will Cersei make a play for Dragonstone while Dany and Jon are up North since it is on an island and safe from the White Walkers and undead armies?

Game of Thrones: Season 7 Episode 6: Beyond The Wall

I thought the Night King won this week’s Game of Thrones.

The overall energy of this episode I felt was very uneven.

I gave this a 65 out of 100.  I didn’t like chunks of dialogue.

The Lake Wight battle scene was incredible and kept my score from going down further.  The special effects were absolutely stunning.

I thought again, most of the scenes were set up. The dialogue felt like filler dialog to get us to the battle of the Dragons and White Walkers. The last two scenes I thought encompassed the best emotional scene and worst plot wise elements scene of the show. (SEE: The Good and The Bad.)

What I was given left me with a ton of questions and also sets several pieces of the story off in certain directions or trajectories (SEE: The Unknown)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

* The table in Dany’s war chambers foreshadows the dragon fire north of the Wall later in the episode.

* The Magnificent 7 head deep North of the Wall.

* John tries to give Longclaw to Ser Jorah and he refuses. That was touching.

* Arya talks to Sansa about shooting arrows and being supported by Ser Rodrick and how he was killed with her help. She shows Sansa the note Cersei forced her to write and accuses her conspiring withe Lannisters. Arya mentions how she watched Sansa watch their father be assassinated by Joffrey. Arya stating she guess she will never know what Sansa suffered may imply a direction for Arya. She says she will go with anger. (See: The Unknown)

* Back at the North, Tormund and the Hound have a discussion about his childhood and Brienne; very funny!

* Jon talks to Beric about their mutual resurrections. They have to know what they are fighting for; not why they were brought back. The shields that guard the realms of men. He said Jon doesn’t look like his father (right about that eh?)

* The Hound sees the mountain from his visions.

* Tyrion talks to Dany. She likes that he’s not a hero because those tend to die of stupid things whilst trying to out do each other. He tests her impulsiveness and if she is reactionary and how smitten she is with Jon. He tells her that she has to take her enemies side to know how they think. She listens. He wants to know who sits on the Iron Throne after she is dead. She criticizes his thoughts and asks he focus on the present.

* Back at the North the seven run into a Wight Polar bear kills a few red shirts and mortally wounds Thoros of Myr in the belly. Beric cauterizes his wounds and they move onward towards the arrowhead mountain.

* Baelish finds out Sansa doesn’t know where the note Arya has came from him (See: The Unknown). She confides to Baelish she’s worried the North will turn on her and she doesn’t know Arya anymore and he tries to turn Sansa on Arya using Brienne take out Arya.

* In the North, Ser Jorah asks Thoros how drunk Thoros was at Pyke with his flaming sword and thought he was brave back then and Thoros confides he was just drunk.

* Tormund finds a row of wights marching behind a White Walker and they bait the row with a fire. A fight ensues. The White Walker gets killed by Jon and most of the Wights die except one.  They capture this one and the Hound slings it over his back. In the distance they see a flood of Wights coming. Jon sends Gendry back to Eastwatch to send a raven to Dany for help. The group runs to a frozen lake for cover and spot a rock island in the middle and they make a break for it. The Wights try to pursue, however the ice breaks and stops them from coming.

* Gendry keeps running for Eastwatch.

* The group slowly freezes to death on the island surrounded by the Wights.

* Gendry collapses in front of the tunnel door and Ser Jorah brings him in and sends word to Dany through Raven.

* Thoros succumbs to his wounds and they have to burn his body.

* Ser Jorah reasons they go for the Walkers for them to stand a chance. Beric reasons the Night King’s death will kill them all.

* Sansa gets a raven that provides an invitation to King’s Landing which Sansa burns and sends Brienne.

* Dany sets off for the North and Tyrion tries to stop her by telling her if she dies they all are lost.

* Back up North the Wights cross the lake one at a time and attack the island. The group shrinks down to Jon, Ser Jorah, Tormund, the Hound and Beric.

* Dany arrives with the Dragons and scorched earth policy is initiated.

* The Night King hurdles an ice spear at Viserion and it falls dead under the ice into the lake.

* Dany flies out with Ser Jorah, Beric, the Hound and Tormund. The hound saves Ser Jorah from falling off.

* Jon stays to fight the Night king and falls into the water and pulls himself out.

* Benjen reunites with Jon and gives him his horse to escape.

* The Hound drops off the wight at Eastwatch.

* Dany waits for Jon to return and he does barely alive.

* Sansa goes to Arya’s quarters to find the raven message and finds the faces of Walder Frey and one other.  Arya gets dark with wanting to kill Sansa and then walks off. Kind of creepy.

* Jon wakes up to Dany. I think they are truly in love. She pulls back on her feelings once he bends the knee to her.

* Chains drawn by white walkers bring up Viserion and the Knight King creates a Wight Dragon!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best lines:

Tormund: ‘I want to make great big babies with her. Think of them; great big monsters they’d conquer the world’. The Hound: ‘How did a mad F^&*&^ like you survive in the world for this long?’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

* Nice sweeping long shots of the men walking.

* Great banter (Tormund messing with Gendry); between the Hound and Tormund and Beric and Jon; especially about Death being the enemy and defending those who cannot defend themselves.

* I loved the music at the Wight Lake battle and the scene where the Night King hurdles the ice spear at one of the dragons was fantastic.  I loved all the special effects and visual effects.

* The final scene between Jon and Dany where he bends the knee did have a lot of emotion and I really thought the actors did a terrific job of capturing empathy for the loss of the Dragon and a mutual deep determination to eliminate the Night King.

* A Wight Dragon is a fantastic idea.  I just don’t like how it was originated. (SEE: The Bad and the Unknown).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad:

* A lot of walking and banter while walking; reminding me of the Lord of Rings in that capacity.

* Does Dany really believe deceit and Mass Murder win wars?

* Beric made more sense on strategy then Jon to defeat the Night King. How are they going to get out of there opting for capturing one wight over slaying the Night King totally surrounded by thousands of the dead powered by the Night King?

* Little Finger thanked the Maester for bringing Sansa the note she requested. Sansa asked her where Arya got that note. Why didn’t Arya pick up on that Sansa asked her where she got the note?  If Sansa was responsible she would know where that note came from right?

* Since when do the Wights exhibit such intelligence? They watch a rock slide across the ice and then conclude that the water is just frozen enough to support the weight
of each of them attacking one at a time?

* There is some bad continuity with how close the Wights were surrounding Jon and company at the lake. At first they were fairly close and as Jon’s party slowly freezes they
appeared to be further off.

* I really had a lot of issues with the four very long iron (or ice) linked chains the White Walkers were using and hauling the dragon out of water with them.  How were those chains crafted? Let’s suppose the White Walkers have the skill and number of foundries necessary to forge the iron (or ice) chain links required to make those chains quickly.
It’s been shown fairly consistently at Hardhomme and in this very episode that Wights and White Walkers do not fair well in water so how did either of them get the chains wrapped around the dragon’s neck? We literally see Wights sink into the water once they fall in.  If Wights or White Walkers can swim, why don’t they just swim around the end of the wall in the Narrow Sea?  All they had to do was have Viserion’s body skid across the frozen lake to the shore and then have the Night King resurrect his body later.  I guess they wanted to surprise us with what they were pulling up from the bottom of the water.  Story sense works more for me than surprise; especially in this case.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown:

* Why didn’t Arya tell Sansa she got the note from Little Finger when Sansa asked her where she got it? If she did, Sansa would know not to trust Little Finger.

* Will Arya leave Winterfell to finish Cersei off herself or will she try and eliminate Sansa? What was the point in menacing Sansa?

* Did Cersei really send the raven for Sansa to go to King’s Landing or was it Littlefinger?

* How does Beric always light his sword? His blood? What doesn’t Beric understand about killing the Night King?

* How do the wights know that a stone skittering across the ice makes the ice worth walking on?

* Can a Wight Dragon be used to break down the wall? Does it breath ice instead of fire?

* Where is the Hound off to now?  Technically although he helped get the Wight he hasn’t bent the knee to anyone.  If he helps bring the Wight to King’s Landing he will see his brother with Cersei.  Is Cleghane bowl still possible?

* What’s stopping the Night King from just getting on Wight Viserion and flying over the Wall with several white walkers on it’s back?  He could literally just pick up and drop them off a few at a time.  They can start killing Westerosi and converting them to an army.

* Will Jon bending the knee with Dany send the Northerners over to side with Sansa over Jon because they won’t side with a Targaryen and Arya will be forced to flee Winterfell looking for on? The only thing that would keep them inline would be the reveal that Jon is a true Targaryen right?  Possibly through combination of Gilly’s annulment notes about Rhaegar’s marriage and marriage to Leanna in Dorne and Bran’s Green sight?

* What will Dany think once she sees the Wight form of Viserion? Will she have trouble killing it? Kind of like in the Walking Dead how at first the characters in the Walking Dead had a hard time killing the zombified remains of their friends and loved ones?

Can Bran warg into Wight Viserion to gain control of him?  Doubtful. If he could, then he or the three eyed Raven could have stopped the Wight army from invading the three eyed Raven’s lair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game of Thrones: Season 7E5: Eastwatch

This episode was packed and a LOT of setup. I think Drogon won this week’s Game of Thrones.

That was one great reveal of Rhaegar having his marriage annulled to Elia Martel which makes Jon a legitimate Targaryen (SEE: The Unknown).
Wow!

Chock full of Best Lines

Ser Davos: ‘Nothing F&*Ks you harder than time’
Ser Davos: ‘It’s better to be a coward for a minute than dead the rest of your life’.
Tyrion: ‘Did you read it?’ Varys: ‘It’s a sealed scroll for the King in the North.’ Tyrion: ‘What’s it say?’
Tyrion: ‘Last time I was here I killed my father with crossbow.’
Ser Davos: ‘Last time I was here you killed my son with Wildfire.’
Tormund: ‘How many queens are there now?
Jon: ‘Two.’
Tormund: ‘And you need to convince the one with the dragons or the one who f&*ks her brother?’
Jon: ( chuckles )’Both.’

8 more episodes left & this diversion going to the Wall by Eastwatch to get a Wight doesn’t work for me. It’s definitely going to take us to the end of Season 7. Gilly’s Rhaegar annulment bomb seals L+R=J so Jon being a Targaryen *has* to be used at this point in Season 8 for something. I predict, Jon will survive the Wight quest, which means plot wise it’s functioning for me like a secondary character grinder. Who’s going to die over the next two episodes? Tormund, Ser Jorah, Beric, Thoros, The Hound or Gendry?

It would be far more entertaining for me to see Dany, Jon and Ed Sheeran (a captive Lannister troop convinced to go on a singing gig to Eastwatch) on Drogon’s back go over the wall near a White Walker. Jon knocks out Ed Sheeran; ties him up; kills him and he comes back as a Wight. They tie his bound undead body to one of Drogon’s legs; cut the rope dropping him into King’s Landing where he sings the song of the undead to Cersei before Jaime finishes him off in a single bottle episode.

Even if they do manage to get a Wight to King’s Landing; how lame would it be if Cersei didn’t suffer the biggest consequences of Hubris out of any character by believing there is an Army of the Undead and sends all available troops to aid Dany and Jon against the Army of the Undead?

Let’s face it. That wall is coming down and we are dying to see the expression on Cersei’s face when she’s confronted with the vast sprall of the Armies of the Wight Walkers lurching towards the gates of the Red Keep. I am hoping it plays out this way rather than everyone cooperates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

* Jaime and Bronn escape the clutches of capture; gasping for air on the shore of a river. Bronn says Jaime doesn’t get to die until he gets paid and is bailing once the Dragon’s attack King’s Landing.
Jaime makes it a point of going to tell Cersei about that the three Dragons.

* Tyrion walks through the devastation. A bunch of the Lannisters bend the knew to Dany. Randall and Dickon Tarly refuse; Tyrion tries to offer alternatives and Dany burns them to ash in front of their men who then bend the knee.

* Jaime talks to Cersei about the attack on the Loot train. She says they’ll just get mercenaries to replace the devastated armies. He reminds her that Dany has a Dothraki army and three dragons and she snaps back what does he expect her to do? She wants to use Tyrion to soften a deal since he killed their father. Jaime corrects her on Tyrion’s innocence and relays what Olenna told her about poisoning Joffrey and then she believes him. So they fight and die or submit and die and she knows her choice.

* Dany arrives at Dragonstone with Drogon who bonds profoundly and curiously with Jon (See: The Good). He has mixed emotions about her victories probably because that’s less men that can fight the real enemy to the North.

* Dany reunites with Ser Jorah. It’s clear that they love each other (as Queen and subject.)

* Bran wargs into Ravens and runs into the Night King and tells the Maester at Winterfell to send a raven to Jon and also the Citadel about the Undead marching on Eastwatch.

* At the Citadel around the Arch Maester’s table they discuss Bran and Sam overhears them and tells them he met him and that he must be believable if he survived for years North of the wall and was able to make it back to Winterfell. The Archmaester says that the message may also be a ploy by the Dragon Queen to lure troops to the North so it’s easier to conquer King’s Landing.

* Varys has a sealed message to Jon and isn’t happy. It’s about Arya and Bran being alive and how the White Walkers are approaching the Wall at East Watch.

* Jon tells Dany about Bran and Arya and he doesn’t look happy because of Bran’s vision and pleads to go home. He asks for her help and she claims Cersei will just take over (SEE: the Bad).

* Tyrion comes up with a couple of stupid ideas of first capturing a Wight to prove the Army of the Undead is real and wants to make the idea more plausible by talking to Jaime about it first (by brokering an armistice). Ser Jorah volunteers to go get at Wight and Jon agrees to go with him to get the Free Folk to help.

* Lords Glover makes a plea for Jon to be there and Lord Royce tells Sansa the Knights of the Vale came to serve her. Arya tells Sansa in close quarters to discipline them to keep them in line until Jon gets back and Sansa wants to be more diplomatic than that.

* Ser Davos smuggles Tyrion into King’s Landing to see Jaime. Bronn brings Jaime to the Dungeons of the Red Keep to set the scene. He tries to broker an Armistice between Cersei and Dany.

* Ser Davos finds Gendry! They try to escape and Gold Cloaks slow them down and Gendry kills them when they question Tyrion.

* Jaime talks to Cersei about the Armistice with Dany to prove there is an Army of the Undead marching on the Wall. She reveals that she is pregnant (SEE: The Unknown)

* Jon meets Gendry and they bond over their bastardry and fathers and they leave for EastWatch.

* Gilly reveals that Prince Rhaegar had the High Septon Maynard annull his marriage to Elia Martel to remarry someone else at the same time in Dorne (no doubt Lyanna). Sam steals books from the off limits section and flees the Citadel with Gilly and Little Sam; no doubt headed to Winterfell.

* Little Finger sets up Arya with the message that Sansa was forced to write and was sent to Winterfell. The note says Robert is dead, killed from wounds he took in a boar hunt. Father surprised Joffrey and tried to steal his throne and want Rob to swear fealty to Joffrey to spare his life and those of the Northerners.

* Jon reaches Eastwatch and talks with Tormund about capturing the Wight to convince both queens to help them battle the Army of the Undead. He shows Jon a cell that has the Hound, Beric Dondarian and Thoros of Myr. After some feather ruffling between everyone, they all agree to work together to capture a wight and they go through the Gate at East Watch and into the areas North of the Wall to find a Wight. Credits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

* Great Fourth Wall Fan feeding with the Ser Davos line to Gendry: ‘Thought you might still be rowing.’
* Gendry has a War Hammer like Robert!
* Rhaegar has his marriage to Elia Martel annulled! Does that mean Jon is a legitimate heir to the Iron Throne?

Most emotional scenes:

* Jon reaching out for Drogon. The EFX were great!
* Ser Jorah reuniting with Dany.
* Jon’s plea to Dany to go North.
* Jon with Gendry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad: (Tyrion goes full on Jar Jar Binks here)

* I don’t follow Dany’s actions at not attacking Cersei or going to the Wall to help Jon.

1. What exactly would Cersei be ‘marching into’ if Dany goes to the Wall with her Army to defend the realm? Cersei already has King’s Landing, the Stormlands, the Reach, the Riverlands and the Iron Isles. I don’t follow Dany’s logic for not helping Jon. It’s kind of a flimsy reason. Casterly Rock has no value so the Unsullied should leave. Dragonstone (if taken over) could just be retaken; not a big deal.

2. Why not put an embargo on Cersei at King’s Landing? (Even Cersei was puzzled by Dany wanting an Armistice while she has inertia in the war.).

I suppose if Dany was under attack and Jon snuck out, then her reasoning to not go with Jon would make sense. However she just decimated the Lannister army; holds Casterly Rock and still has armies at Dorne (possibly still parts of the Reach as well.)

Jon’s passion for wanting to go North to help defend the realm works over the following two even flimsier plot points:

* Tyrion going all the way to Red Keep just to talk to Jaime about an armistice and paving the way for bringing a Wight as proof of the Army of the Undead to King’s Landing. That was too ‘Cray Cray’ for me. Wouldn’t a raven made more common sense? As nice and as improbable of a meeting would be between Jaime and Tyrion at this point, why sacrifice the story for a surprise moment like that? The scene lacked substance; even Jaime was wondering what Tyrion was there for.

* Even more Cray Cray was sending a small bunch of notable characters (including Jon) to capture a single Wight from an army of thousands of undead (including Wight Giants) led by the White Walkers. How is one Wight going to convince everyone that there’s an army out there and how the heck are they going to control it let alone get it to King’s Landing? I thought that idea was too second rate for this show. Even funnier is it’s Tyrion’s idea and Dany agrees to it after bashing him about verbally for his other great ideas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown:

* Is Cersei pregnant for real?

* Does Dany suspect Jon Snow has Targaryen blood due to Drogon?

* If Rhaegar had his marriage to Elia Martel annulled, did he marry Lyanna Stark? If so, then Jon is the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne!

* Why doesn’t Jon want to tell Dany about the stabbing?

* What is Little Finger’s Endgame?

* Does Little Finger know about Rhaegar having his marriage annulled already? I think he does. Once it is know that Jon is Lyanna’s baby with Rhaegar could Little Finger
potentially use that against the Starks?

* What happens when the Northerners learn Jon is a Targaryen?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game of Thrones: Season 7E4: The Spoils of War

I thought overall they did a great job of editing this episode. It was shorter than normal, however I didn’t care about the length. The dialog was concise, acting was great and there’s a lot packed in here. I really liked the Dothraki/Lannister (Loot Train) battle scene. I give this a 85 out of 100. I have seen it 5 times already. I can watch this one over an over. Fantastic!

If I rate the battles that I like in GOT.

1. Loot Train Battle
2. Hardhomme
3. Battle of the Bastards
4. Attack on the Children of the Forest
5. Mance’s attack on Castle Black

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

* Bronn needles Jaime as to why he is so pissed off and guesses Lady Olenna said something to Jaime to put him in that state.

* Jaime and Bronn put the Tyrell gold into a carriage set to go from High garden to King’s landing. This is put at the beginning of logistics line loot train heading towards King’s landing.

* Bronn wants more spoils then he was provided and Jaime promises more once the war is over.
Bronn doubts Cersei’s reign will be peaceful enough to benefit more after she’s in power.

* Jaime wants the grain from the Reach collected and put into the logistic loot train line asap and asks the Tarly’s and Bronn to supervise taking care of that.

* The Ironbank is impressed with the by the speed of the payback of the loan by Cersei and they promise to bank roll the crown for further progress in the war once the gold gets to King’s Landing.

* Littlefinger gives the dagger to Bran (that was used to almost kill him in Season one) and Bran reveals that he knows some things Little Finger has said. (See: The Unknown.)

* Meera Reed says she is leaving for her home and is saddened when she realizes she is not saying goodbye to Bran but to the three eyed raven (See: The good).

* Arya makes her way to Winterfell. The guards don’t believe she is Arya Stark (a callback to her being stopped by the guards of the Red keep in the first season.

* There is a huge difference in how she handles herself since then showing me how much Arya has changed.) She gets past the guards and Sansa finds her in the crypts by their father’s crypt.

* Sansa learns of (and they laugh over) Arya’s kill list. They muse about how Jon will be ecstatic when he finally sees Arya when he comes back.

* Arya asks Sansa if she killed Joffrey and she says she wishes she did.

* Then there is reunion between Sansa, Arya and Bran under the family weirwood tree. Bran tells them both about Arya’s list and how Cersei is on it and of her decision to either go to Winterfell or King’s Landing. Bran gives Arya the dagger Little Finger gave him. Arya and Sansa exchange a glance acknowledging that Bran isn’t crazy and there’s something to his visions.

* Brienne and Pod watch the Stark children reunited; fulfilling Caitlyn’s wishes and Pod tells her she should be proud as Little Finger looks on.

* Dany and Missandei share a short girl talk about her time with Greyworm and Jon shows Dany the Dragonglass. He also shows her the many writings of the Children of the Forest; documenting their time with the First Men and the white walkers. He tells her they need to fight together and she says she will if bends the knee. He says if he does his men will not accept a Southern ruler and then they are doomed. She asks him if their survival is more important then his pride.

* Tyrion tells Dany Cersei took Casterly Rock and also that Lady Olenna is dead and Cersei has taken the food from the Reach. She lays into him that his plans have cost them the Iron Islands, Dorne and the Reach (and even infers that his plans may have favored his family more than Dany) and asks Jon Snow what she should do. He says that the people that follow her know she made impossible things happen and if she attacks King’s Landing with the Dragon that makes her no better than any other ruler.

*Brienne spars with Podrick. Arya shows up and shows off her dagger. Arya asks to train with her and this sets off what I thought was the best sparing of the series. (See: The Good.) Little Finger looks on with Sansa. Brienne is impressed and asks who taught her and she says cleverly ‘no one’.
Little Finger notices Arya has the dagger he gave Bran and he slowly smiles and backs away from his perch.

* Ser Davos knows Jon has a thing for Dany and Jon reminds Ser Davos of the Night King. They meet Missandei and she brings up the thing about Jon’s father and his bastard status and she points out in Nath they don’t have such things. Missandei reiterates that she serves Dany because chooses to; not because she is forced to.

* They see Yara’s ship in the distance and head to the shoreline and see Theon bringing in a rowboat with his men. Theon attempts to approach him with a greeting and Jon runs up and grabs him saying he’s lucky he saved Sansa or else he would kill him. Theon points out Euron has Yara and he was there to ask Dany to help get her back. Jon says she was gone.

* Randall Tarly points out the gold has made it through the gates of King’s Landing and Jaime points out that the spoils logistic line has to pickup the slack so the grain gets there asap.

* Bron laughs at Dickon’s name and also hears the rumble of horses galloping and then there are shouts of spears and shields and forming a line. They are hemmed in on one side by a small body of water.

* The Dothraki attack lead by Drogon tearing a hole in the line. Dany incinerates their supply line while Tyrion looks on. Jaime is saved by Dickon from a superior Dothraki Blood Rider attack. Bronn is taken off his horse by a blood rider and Bronn manages to use the large Ballista called Scorpion to get off a shot at Drogon.

*Drogon incinerates the ballista and Jaime charges Dany and Drogon. She sees him at the last minute and Drogon whips his head around and blasts fire at him. It appears Bronn pulls him off his mount at the last second and they go into the water fully armored and sink; unmoving. Credits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

*I loved especially in this episode how much it showed me how the Starks have changed. When they were children, Sansa talked about being a lady and now she is one and Arya talked about being a fighter and now she is one.

*The scene with Meera Reed really helped me see Bran’s transformation and that Bran did die in the cave (or a least a big part of him.)
*The scene with Arya and the guards shows how much she has grown (when you go back and compare it to her with the guards at King’s Landing in Season One.)

*Arya sparring with Brienne; fantastic! I thought it was well choreographed. The look on Little Finger’s face was priceless. Boy does he have to play nice now.

*Sansa’s interactions with Arya and Bran really show me how much she has become wise and unphased by life and I loved how she didn’t miss a beat after sharing a glance with Arya when Bran said Cersei was on her list and asked who else was on the list?. Their interactions definitely drew them closer together.

*George R.R Martin has hinted that the ending would be bitter sweet to Thrones. The way the Starks have all changed definitely shows this.

*Bronn’s struggle to get to the Ballista was a gripping couple of minutes. I don’t think I have ever seen this many folks on fire in a scene.

* I loved how they edited out dialog (like the conversation about Lady Olenna being defeated by Jaime.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Bad:

*I didn’t like Jon’s response to Dany about what to do. It really didn’t give her much direction and I thought this was a great opportunity to have him give her sound advice that would draw them both closer together and also propel her to action. As if the people of Westeros would stare in wonder at the Dragons (and then hope she makes other impossible things happen) and then agree to allow her to lead them? Really? This I thought could have been better dialog.

He has already stated he thinks the fight for the Iron Throne is pointless and he does need everyone’s help fighting the White Walkers, so I think the best thing he could do to persuade her to help him is to help her win the iron throne first (with sound advice, troops or whatever) so he could then use her and her troops up North. The quickest way to do that is to tell her to use her Dragon’s against Cersei’s troops (in all future battles), which Dany did anyway in this episode. Otherwise Jon has to try and persuade everyone south of the wall that the White Walkers are real and an imminent threat to their existence and how is he going to do that?

* How and when did Bronn learn to shoot the Ballista? Bronn seemed surprised when Jaime asked him to shoot it (since he was one handed) which implied to me he didn’t know what he was doing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Unknown:

*Does Bran know that Little Finger was the one that set off everything by convincing Lysa to poison Jon Arryn?

* Does Bran truly not know who the dagger belonged to? When Bran quotes Little Finger with ‘Chaos is a Ladder’, does Little Finger think that Bran is toying with him and that he does know who the dagger really belongs to?

* Are the symbols on the cave walls, spells that give the dragon glass its powers or are they just glyphs that document what it is to be used for and the history of what has happened?

*Is Randyll Tarly dead? I didn’t see him get roasted.

*Is (or was) Meera Reed in love Bran? Is that why she is morning his loss? (In his three eyed Raven transformation.)

* Is Jaime alive? Will he be Dany’s prisoner?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Game of Thrones: Season 7E3: The Queen’s Justice

I gave this one a 71 out of 100. I thought this episode was solid for the most part. There is one more example of twist over plausibility (SEE The bad.) Overall I liked the episode a lot; great sets; many well written and acted scenes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

Jon and Ser Davos land at Dragonstone greeted by Tyrion and Missandei and are asked to hand over their weapons. Ser Davis chats up Missandei.

Tyrion banters with Jon about coming south (I suppose they will swap stories later) and one of
the Dragons swoop down and scares them on the path to Dragonstone castle.

Varys questions Mel about not greeting Jon; she admits to some wrong doing that is causing her avoidance and departs for Volantis; vowing to be back in Westeros for her demise and tells Varys he will die there too.

Jon finally meets Dany and the situation quickly disintegrates. Once he is introduced to Dany as King of the North she calls him Lord; Ser Davos corrects her and she points out that Torrhen Stark was the last King of The North who bent the knee to her ancestor Aegon in exchange for his life and those of the lives of the Northmen and swore fealty in perpetuity to House Targaryen.

Jon points out that her father killed his grandfather and uncle. She admits her father was an evil man and apologizes for the crimes committed to Jon’s family, however she shouldn’t be judged on his deeds.

She asks him again to bend the knee and he refuses to do so and continue his ancestor’s vow.

Jon recognizes Dany is better than Cersei for not storming King’s Landing right away. He tries to turn her eyes to the Army of the Undead up in the North.

Dany ironically talks about how faith pushed her through her travails over the years since she was a child, however she seems to have very little in Jon and what he is saying is out there. Ser Davos passionately defends an unemotional Jon and mentions how he took a knife to his heart for his people (that seemed to get her attention.) Jon stops him as he starts elaborating on that. (Probably in fear that she won’t believe the story of his resurrection).

Tyrion again tries to get Jon to bend the knee since the Iron throne doesn’t matter to him, however he doesn’t comply.

Varys comes in and delivers news about the defeat of Yara and Ellaria at the hands of Euron. Dany offers up hospitality and Jon asks if he’s a prisoner and she says not yet.

Theon gets pulled onboard one of Yara’s remaining ships and the Ironborn reject him for his cowardice (like the Spartans in our own history would reject a soldier coming back from a battle after retreating and leaving his fellow troops to die.)

Euron parades Yara, Ellaria and Tyene through the streets of King’s Landing cheered by the crowd as they spit and throw things at the captors.

He brings them up to Cersei who proclaims him the greatest captain of the fourteen seas and again he asks for her hand in marriage and she says she will comply after they win the battle. Euron takes his place next to Jaime and asks what Cersei is like in bed since they will be brothers. Jaime is visibly upset by his comments.

Cersei goes to the dungeons under the Red Keep to pay Ellaria a visit and after an emotional exchange; poisons Tyene the same way Ellaria poisoned Myrcella and tells Ellaria she will be kept alive to suffer in the dungeons as long as possible.

The Iron Bank pays Cersei a visit and she makes a vow to pay the Crown’s debt in a fortnight.

Jon and Tyrion meet finally to brood to each other and Jon feels he is prisoner and asks Tyrion for Dragonglass. It appears Tyrion believes Jon about the Army of the Undead.

Tyrion goes to Dany with this. He tells here she doesn’t have to believe in the Army of the dead and encourages her to allow him to mine the Dragonglass because it will create a bond between her and Jon. She confesses to Jon that they should all be examining what they think and they know, (which sounds like she is open to working with Jon on the problem in the North.) Dany agrees to allow Jon to mine and forge weapons from Dragon Glass and gives him resources to do so.

Sansa executes a plan for storing grain and retrofitting armor with Leather for the coming Winter. Little Finger tries to counsel her and Bran arrives from the Wall. Sansa tries to talk to him and he tells her he knows everything about everyone (in pieces) because he’s ‘The Three Eyed Raven’ and he became that from the Three Eyed Raven. Sansa looks like she thinks he’s not well in the head; until he starts talking about her wedding and she gets spooked and walks off.

Arch Maester Ebrose examines Ser Jorah and finds him Grayscale free. Samwell says farewell to Ser Jorah who is headed to Dragonstone. Arch Maester Ebrose applauds him for curing Ser Jorah and gives him books to rewrite as punishment for doing the procedure and not being a Maester.

Dany wants to hop on one of her Dragons and go find and kill Euron, however her counsel tells her that’s a bad idea because that could take a long time and she could get shot with arrow (and so could the Dragons.)

Tyrion talks about the attack on Casterly Rock which narrates the Unsullied’s attack on it. Greyworm infiltrates the Rock only to find out that only a small amount of troops were defending it. Euron attacks the ships the Unsullied sailed in on with his fleet (See: the Unknown).

Jaime leads a bulk of the Lannister forces on Highgarden and defeats the Tyrells.

Lady Olena drinks the poison and then admits to Jaime that she was the one who killed Joffrey and told him to let Cersei know that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Good:

* Wonderful backdrops and sets all throughout the show.
* Great use of ‘previously on Game of Thrones to foreshadow the irony of the poisoning of Tyene just like Myrcella.
* Nice callbacks to Season One: Tyrion with Jon; Bran with Sansa.
* Great scene of Mel’s last words to Varys. I am sure it will prove to be accurate.
* Strong meeting scene between Jon and Dany. Nice intensity and great dialog by everyone. I thought they were the best interchanges in the show. I laughed when Dany chastised Tyrion and then he stepped out of the way to allow Jon to pitch asking her support for the war against the Undead Armies in the North as his reason for being there. I loved Dany’s background lines to Jon and Ser Davos counter with Jon’s back story. I loved how she speaks about having faith in her destiny in being ruler of Westeros, however she can’t seem to see that part of her destiny lies with defending the North against a force she has no faith in believing exists. However, later on she admits she’s willing to understand what she doesn’t know, so there’s a foundation definitely she and Jon can build on.
* Euron’s bedroom banter to Jaime in the throne room was so awkwardly inappropriately funny. I couldn’t stop laughing; Jaime’s look was priceless.
* If I call back in my mind’s eye to Cersei’s talks with Oberyn and the Viper versus the Mountain battle, her lines to Ellaria carry a lot of mixed passion. Passion for Oberyn and Ellaria’s love for him (I think everyone was affected by Oberyn’s loss; what a character) and passion for revenge against Ellaria for the killing of innocent Myrcella.
You can tell that really affected Cersei and how she really wanted Ellaria to feel what she had been feeling by poisoning Tyene the exact same way and watching her die powerless to do anything about it. Then having to live out her days in the dungeons of the Red Keep. Cersei’s character in this scene finally shows a lot of dimension in her inner feelings and what she’s been experiencing. This was the most emotional performance I thought in the entire show.
* Cersei’s scenes with the Iron Bank were quite Tywin like; calculating and she stalled well and read the Iron Bank’s losses due to the Slave trade faltering due to Dany well.
* Tyrion’s mutual brooding scene with Jon I thought was a wonderful statement on people accepting something larger then themselves affecting them negatively. They are more comfortable accepting that they have to over throw a despotic queen rather than an undead army of thousands.
* I love how they left it open for Jon not knowing he has Dany’s support against the White Walkers.
* Sansa’s command scenes were great.
* Samwell’s handshake of trust with Ser Jorah was wonderful.
* Once again Diana Rigg doesn’t disappoint. Her final words cut through the last scene with such intensity and leveled Jaime nicely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad:
* I thought the weakest scene was Sansa with Bran under the Weirwood. Bran was trying too hard to act omniscient instead of being omniscient. He did admit he was only seeing things in pieces so that did bring some measure of normalcy; to see how he’s still struggling with what he is to become and who he still is. Instead, it felt like he became a bit pretentious to me as he progressed South of the Wall. I think Bran could have done a better job of explaining to Sansa how he became the three eyed Raven and not leaving her with a riddle and making him look like he’s crazy. This seemed a bit tropic for me. He could have just told her there was a three eyed raven before him that taught him everything he knows before he passed on and left it at that. That should have sufficed. If they just show him spending his days warging into the Winterfell Weirwood in silence after this exchange, he won’t look unlike someone who is crazy going off in some wild mental trip away from reality.

* I thought Euron’s fleet being right there to destroy the Unsullied ships wasn’t explained well. I suppose after Euron had the 1000 ships build, he build more ships and left someone in charge at the Iron Isles, then sent a Raven to the Iron Isles sending ships to Casterly Rock to protect it from attackers. That really is the only thing that explains the Ironborn being there so suddenly. It is pretty close to Casterly Rock. If Euron’s ships came from his fleet near King’s Landing then I have a big problem with the attack scene of the Unsullied ships. It’s a bit difficult to believe they could get from East Westeros to West Westeros coasts so quickly.

*Dany’s whole show of force at the end of Season 6 was that she not only had this combined fleet; she had Dragons. Why didn’t any of her attacks involve her also attacking with her on one of her Dragons? Surely that would have won the battles against Euron with Yara and also with the fleet that was with Unsullied. Right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unknown:

* Will Mel’s words about Varys fate proof accurate? I think so.
* Is the rest of Theon’s days to be spent being known as a coward to his people and just torturing himself for his inaction to save Yara?
* Euron only gave Ellaria and Tyene to Cersei. Is Yara his prisoner?
* Does Tyrion believe Jon took a knife to his heart?
* Why can’t the three eyed raven be the Lord of Winterfell?
* Does Ser Ebrose see Sam as an asset to the Citadel or is he in fear of Sam’s abilities?
* Did Euron have ships at the Iron Isles to really pull off reaching the Unsullied ships off the coast of Casterly Rock? It’s not clear though. If the ships Euron used were part of his thousand that attacked Yara, I find it hard to believe they would have been able to reach Casterly Rock in time to intercept Dany’s ships.
* I had problems sorting out Jamie’s logistical planning with clearing out Casterly Rock and laying siege to Highgarden. How did he pull that off? I suppose he has a Captain of the Guard at Casterly Rock he Ravened from King’s Landing (while there when Euron was making his offering) which he instructed to: 1. Leave a small force at Casterly Rock; 2. clear the larders and occupants of the castle and 3. mobilize their forces and make camp near Highgarden and he just traveled and met up with them. I think that should have been explained a bit better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Game of Thrones Threads at the TV Critic:
http://www.thetvcritic.org/forums/other-tv-shows/show/180
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~