Game of Thrones Season 8 (NO BOOKSPOILERS) thread

[Murfdogg21 4,412]

Jon’s gonna have to get his boy Gendry to service Arya a few more times before the Battle of Kingsley’s Landing. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,976]

3 minutes ago, DanRydell said:

 

I agree that major characters dying in battle really hasn’t been GoT’s style.

I’m one of those who thinks GoT is at its best when it’s people talking in rooms so I frankly find the battles to be the least interesting scenes that don’t involve the Night King/White Walkers/wights.

But upping the consequences of the Battle of Winterfell would have at least meant the Night King had some impact on the show and on these characters beyond simply an eight-season long MacGuffin to get these characters together.

 

Having nearly your entire army destroyed isn't enough of a consequence?

[Irish Wrist Watch 1,359]

2 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I didn't have time to watch it until last night but I can't get past the Night King choking. That's a Bill Buckner / Ernest Byner / Blake Gideon level choke job. You're about to end humanity -- your one fucking purpose for gods knows how many thousand years -- you got the cripple one on one with thousands of your boys at your back, and then you let yourself get blindsided by some jumpy little bitch with quick hands and a switch blade? Biggest choke since Oilers v. Bills.

And for those of you complaining that not enough tier 1 players bit the dust in the battle and inconsistencies with the rest of the series... First, they killed the fucking NK. Granted there is no emotional attachment to him, but it's not like he wasn't the force behind half of the plot line in the entire series. If he isn't tier one enough for you, I don't know what to say. Secondly, forgive me if my memory is bad but I don't recall a ton of the main characters dying during the huge battle scenes. I'm sure I'm forgetting somebody, but other than Ygritte, I can't really remember a main character dying in an actual battle scene. Typically, they just pile up a massive carnage of bodies and the main guys seem to survive. To that end, dying in battle isn't consistent with the hallmark surprising deaths in the show, it's more par for the course. That's what people do in those battles. They die. Where's the shock and drama in that? How anti-climactic would it have been for Jamie or Brienne to get killed by a horde of random zombies? 

As far as predictions go... I'm thinking that there is some variation of the Mountain taking out the Hound and Arya ends up killing the Mountain. Or the Mountain takes out Arya and the Hound takes out the mountain. 

Killing the Mountain will be one of the last battles. I think it'll be Jon or Jaime. TM definitely could take out the Hound first - to everyone's surprise and dismay.

[Gene Parmesan 4,004]

The stall was just for dramatic effect for viewers.  I'm not even sure it was much of a stall because it all appeared to be shown in slow motion.  The NK wasn't going to win, had he ran up to Bran and tried to immediately stab him Arya just jumps out a few seconds earlier, and that would have been a ridiculous scene.  It is a fucking TV show.  You've got to build in some entertainment factor.  If you are in the minority that isn't entertained by anything other than realistic battle tactics and siege defense strategies in the mythical land that contains magic, dragons, and zombies, then you shouldn't be watching this show.

[Irish Wrist Watch 1,359]

1 hour ago, MissingInAction said:

I hope the show references whatever the hell ghost got into and How he escaped.

The last Direwolf that attacked a horde (at the cave where Hodor bit it) was instantly surrounded and killed. Putting Ghost in with the Dothrakis was insanity. Really fucking weak. I suppose he could pop up at the end and kill someone big, but then they'd have to explain how he got away from 7 million zombies.

[Loco 3,752]

maybe he is good at playing dead?

[bolverk 29,659]

Black Nerd recap time:

https://blacknerdproblems.com/game-of-thrones-recap-the-long-night/

[LonghornJudas 1,097]

Sorry if I missed this in earlier discussions... I get when the NK dies that all the other re-animated wights die, that makes sense, but why would the generals and the other White Walkers also be destroyed?

[Pato del Muerto 52,488]

11 minutes ago, Irish Wrist Watch said:

The last Direwolf that attacked a horde (at the cave where Hodor bit it) was instantly surrounded and killed. Putting Ghost in with the Dothrakis was insanity. Really fucking weak. I suppose he could pop up at the end and kill someone big, but then they'd have to explain how he got away from 7 million zombies.

Putting Jorah with the Dothraki should have been a death sentence. I was surprised to see him ride back. 

[DanRydell 799]

Sorry if I missed this in earlier discussions... I get when the NK dies that all the other re-animated wights die, that makes sense, but why would the generals and the other White Walkers also be destroyed?

Because the NK created the White Walkers.

[bolverk 29,659]

16 minutes ago, LonghornJudas said:

Sorry if I missed this in earlier discussions... I get when the NK dies that all the other re-animated wights die, that makes sense, but why would the generals and the other White Walkers also be destroyed?

Because he made the White Walkers (aka generals) too. Remember they were Craster's sons that he turned and presumably raised.

[LonghornJudas 1,097]

18 minutes ago, DanRydell said:

 

Because the NK created the White Walkers.

 

 

18 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Because he made the White Walkers (aka generals) too. Remember they were Craster's sons that he turned and presumably raised.

True, but the show never explicitly said the babies died. Sacrificed, sure, but I'm drawing a distinction here between wights and White Walkers, or Others. Meaning they haven't died and been reanimated. The have a language, they speak, they think.

[closetojumping 62,591]

41 minutes ago, LonghornJudas said:

Sorry if I missed this in earlier discussions... I get when the NK dies that all the other re-animated wights die, that makes sense, but why would the generals and the other White Walkers also be destroyed?

Cosmically tied together via magic in a fantasy story. Go with it, fuck. 

As to Derka’s continued lamentations that “but it was lazy writing!!!!!”, I think I can help articulate his point a bit differently. What he means is that when he’s seen these moments in real life, because hey, this is a documentary, the bad guy always sprints up at full speed, murders the good guy without pause and then sprints off to his next victim. What he was hoping for as a more dramatic twist of good writing was the return of Ramsay Bolton as a wight with a medieval chaos grenade that he throws into the godswood and then not a single fucking one of us would have known what would happen next. Now that’s good writing and how GRRM’s cheeto-stained hands would have typed it out if he could reach around his unkempt bean bag of a stomach in order to hit the keystrokes. 

[ChiTownDoc 21,145]

Holy hell people will defend this show to the death.  It's still very good but I can't believe anyone wouldn't admit the writing has dropped off since the fat man stalled out.  Still pumped for these last few episodes but it's not hitting a crescendo like, say, Breaking Bad did.  Just my shitty opinion.  

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

4 hours ago, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

It's not merely about surprise that something big happens.  It's that you remove the war-is-hell, life is dirty, reality that has been a hallmark of this shown when all you get are minor characters with heroic deaths that you could find in any cliched action flick.  And war is hell whether it comes from no where and surprises or whether you are staring at an inevitable overwhelming force.

Yeah. I’ll say that and it’s not like the show writers wrote it so they were never in danger. The fact that everyone in the courtyard except all the main characters (Jamie, Brienne, Sam, Greyworm, etc.) appears overrun and dead while the weights go at those 4 1 at a time in an orderly fashion doesn’t make sense. The wights whole thing is that they just overrun people, except when it’s a main character trapped in a courtyard with thousands of them apparently.

also, does anyone else wish that they would’ve had Arya take the face of a wight or white walker and sneak up on the NK that way? Seems like that would have a much more easily explainable sequence of events than her sneaking past thousands of wights and all the white walkers without any disguise, and it would call back to her assassin training much more directly.

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

12 minutes ago, closetojumping said:

Cosmically tied together via magic in a fantasy story. Go with it, fuck. 

As to Derka’s continued lamentations that “but it was lazy writing!!!!!”, I think I can help articulate his point a bit differently. What he means is that when he’s seen these moments in real life, because hey, this is a documentary, the bad guy always sprints up at full speed, murders the good guy without pause and then sprints off to his next victim. What he was hoping for as a more dramatic twist of good writing was the return of Ramsay Bolton as a wight with a medieval chaos grenade that he throws into the godswood and then not a single fucking one of us would have known what would happen next. Now that’s good writing and how GRRM’s cheeto-stained hands would have typed it out if he could reach around his unkempt bean bag of a stomach in order to hit the keystrokes. 

I am disappointed that we didn’t get Sansa having to stab wight Rickon in the crypt or have wight Stannis charge at Brienne on the battlefield.

[Sleepygrad 1,029]

That was the second time Wun Wun has smashed through the gate at Winterfell and started slaughtering motherfuckers, only to be killed through his left eye. First from a Ramsey Bolton arrow at BOB and then from a dragon glass dagger to the eye by Lyanna Mormont. 

Jon surviving all the reanimated dead in the field was a little much. I might be the only one that enjoyed the Arya ninja library scene. It was a nice change of pace from the hectic battle going on outside. 

My 10 yr old Vizio flatscreen has a setting called "vivid mode" and it made all the difference in the world. I could see everything in the dark.

[ChiTownDoc 21,145]

3 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Yeah. I’ll say that and it’s not like the show writers wrote it so they were never in danger. The fact that everyone in the courtyard except all the main characters (Jamie, Brienne, Sam, Greyworm, etc.) appears overrun and dead while the weights go at those 4 1 at a time in an orderly fashion doesn’t make sense. The wights whole thing is that they just overrun people, except when it’s a main character trapped in a courtyard with thousands of them apparently.

also, does anyone else wish that they would’ve had Arya take the face of a wight or white walker and sneak up on the NK that way? Seems like that would have a much more easily explainable sequence of events than her sneaking past thousands of wights and all the white walkers without any disguise, and it would call back to her assassin training much more directly.

Burt Macklin, better writer than HBO fucktards.  There, I said it. 

[Sbbruin 21,836]

The NK could probably sniff out a human with a wight face (in reference to Arya using a wight face to sneak up on the NK)

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

Just now, Sbbruin said:

The NK could probably sniff out a human with a wight face

But he couldn’t sniff a human with no disguise until she was right at him? I’m not saying he wouldn’t notice her at all, but even just her getting close enough to stab him makes a lot more sense if she takes a wight’s face. 

[Sleepygrad 1,029]

Anyone looked closer at the new images on the rings in the opening sequence?





Not sure what these mean, but they have to have some significance. The first image looks like 2 dead wolves maybe?? Can’t be good for the Starks

[Hornin04 261]

I think we've established that 2 dragons survive but I screen capped this from the preview for next week since I haven't seen it posted yet.

 

Looks like one has a hole in its wing.

 

 

 

[Gene Parmesan 4,004]

She would have needed to kill a white walker to take his face, correct?  Other than escorting the NK to the tree, I don't think a single WW was in winterfell to kill.  Though I agree that ending would have been more tied to what we know of her abilities.  I am just assuming that the faceless men have some superhuman like stealthiness to them.

[kevwun 15,772]

The first image from the title sequence is the Red Wedding.

Edited April 30, 2019 by kevwun

[Irish Wrist Watch 1,359]

The first dead wolf looks like the mother of the five wolves in s01e01. Next there's someone carrying a pup (or someone's head).

Edited April 30, 2019 by Irish Wrist Watch

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,976]

Yall realize that white walkers just shatter when you cut on them with a valyrian steel blade, right? How exactly is she supposed to get a face? 

[Mojo Hand 4,580]

1 hour ago, Goo Punch said:

no, i built my argument on the fact that "the bad guy had the win wrapped up until he inexplicably stalled at the very very end" is played out trope that this show/episode should have been above using. 

What stall?  He went right up to Bran, looked at him with satisfaction, and reached for his sword to kill him.  If anything, he went too fast.  He would have sealed the win if he just waited for the wights to wipe out every last person. 

Edited April 30, 2019 by Mojo Hand

[Irish Wrist Watch 1,359]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Putting Jorah with the Dothraki should have been a death sentence. I was surprised to see him ride back. 

If you recall, in the initial charge, his horse slowed and he was passed by a bunch of DRKs, but he spurred it on. Maybe Jorah went sideways, as if going out for a Greg Davis pass.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Irish Wrist Watch

[Quasimofo 406]

I agree with Derka, that it wasn't as realistic as this (pictured) similar earlier battle. But, the David v Goliath symbolism of the tiny vanquishing the mighty, is not lost on those of us with extremely high IQ. Now, next week when Cersei kills Arya with a Holy Hand Grenade, we'll have to revisit. That is, of course, provided they can get past the Black Knight (Bronn) on their way to King's Landing.

 

 

[MissingInAction 25,027]

Ghost kills the mointain. Mark it down.

[77horn 216]

11 hours ago, Superhero said:

Does anyone know if Littlefinger is actually dead?  Saw a conspiracy video where he gave a coin to a girl in a farmhouse before his execution. Maybe we'll see him in King's Landing again.

I thought the coin was a reward for her finding the scroll with Sansa's message that Ned was a traitor and come kneel to King Joffery.

[henrygandorf 29,189]

1 hour ago, Gene Parmesan said:

The stall was just for dramatic effect for viewers.  I'm not even sure it was much of a stall because it all appeared to be shown in slow motion.  The NK wasn't going to win, had he ran up to Bran and tried to immediately stab him Arya just jumps out a few seconds earlier, and that would have been a ridiculous scene.  It is a fucking TV show.  You've got to build in some entertainment factor.  If you are in the minority that isn't entertained by anything other than realistic battle tactics and siege defense strategies in the mythical land that contains magic, dragons, and zombies, then you shouldn't be watching this show.

this is the correct answer.

[Irish Wrist Watch 1,359]

 

3 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

Ghost kills the mointain. Mark it down.

To save Arya.

[Pato del Muerto 52,488]

Unless the behind the scenes/making of the episode pieces are intentionally devious, littlefinger is dead. 

[Jerry Callo 8,699]

12 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Yall realize that white walkers just shatter when you cut on them with a valyrian steel blade, right? How exactly is she supposed to get a face? 

Non-Valyrian steel blade.  Duh.

[Gene Parmesan 4,004]

7 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Yall realize that white walkers just shatter when you cut on them with a valyrian steel blade, right? How exactly is she supposed to get a face? 

Do the faces have to actually be intact?  It's not like they are stealing faces using any kind of science that we are aware of.

[ChiTownDoc 21,145]

13 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Yall realize that white walkers just shatter when you cut on them with a valyrian steel blade, right? How exactly is she supposed to get a face? 

A girl has skillz. 

[Loco 3,752]

37 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

I am disappointed that we didn’t get Sansa having to stab wight Rickon in the crypt or have wight Stannis charge at Brienne on the battlefield.

This!  I was pissed she is sitting behind a tomb, people, her people are getting killed and she is just sitting there with a knife.  Tyrion too.  I  really think they botched the crypt story/scene.  #headlessned

[henrygandorf 29,189]

3 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:

this is the correct answer.

also, anyone complaining that the "dramatic walk-up was too slow" probably also hates that bombs always get disarmed with 1 second left.  or that bond villains monologue.

if it's a normal "typical" or "real life" battle death, it wouldn't be dramatic enough for a tv show.  if it's slow and dramatic, it's too slow and dramatic.  the more you build up a bad guy, the more dramatic it has to be when he's finally killed.

[Texas_Rocks 346]

I thought that was a pretty damn good episode. Anyone know what the fuck was going on when Bran declares “I must go now” before doing his raven bit? I missed something there.

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

32 minutes ago, Gene Parmesan said:

She would have needed to kill a white walker to take his face, correct?  Other than escorting the NK to the tree, I don't think a single WW was in winterfell to kill.  Though I agree that ending would have been more tied to what we know of her abilities.  I am just assuming that the faceless men have some superhuman like stealthiness to them.

 

27 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Yall realize that white walkers just shatter when you cut on them with a valyrian steel blade, right? How exactly is she supposed to get a face? 

Yeah, I added wight because I’m not sure if WW can be killed without shattering, and it would’ve been obvious one of the WWs was killed because all his wights would’ve died, but still no reason she couldn’t do it with a wight and since we don’t really know exactly how wights or the faceless man magic works, they had the leeway to make it possible. 

 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,976]

I'm of the opinion that he was doing more than just taking a joy ride and we will see later what he was actually doing. I mean, this is the show that had a semi main character named for something he didn't do until season 6.

[Sbbruin 21,836]

also, anyone complaining that the "dramatic walk-up was too slow" probably also hates that bombs always get disarmed with 1 second left. 

[Sleepygrad 1,029]

I'd imagine taking a face is a little time consuming. Plus, you'd have to find a wight with a full face to even cut off. Fuck that shit, Arya was pressed for time and killed that fucker with her stealth ninja moves.

 

 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

also, anyone complaining that the "dramatic walk-up was too slow" probably also hates that bombs always get disarmed with 1 second left.  or that bond villains monologue.

if it's a normal "typical" or "real life" battle death, it wouldn't be dramatic enough for a tv show.  if it's slow and dramatic, it's too slow and dramatic.  the more you build up a bad guy, the more dramatic it has to be when he's finally killed.

then i would have preferred for him to have died some other way- for him not have been slowly walking right up next to Bran surrounded by all of his top guys, painstakingly taking his time just like we've all seen in 1,000 other movies/shows. they could have taken his dragon out during battle, had him fall to earth, land next to anyone with a valyrian steel blade (probably jon snow), and had him actually fight someone and then die. Hell, they even could done what they actually did only better by having him defeat Jon in hand to hand combat, and then as he's making his move to end it, BAM, Arya comes flying out of nowhere with the dagger to kill the Night King and end the battle. 

^That would have been 1000x better and I just made it up off the top of my head right now, and i'm certainly not some highly paid writer (make that team of writers) with months to think it over.

Edited April 30, 2019 by Goo Punch

[henrygandorf 29,189]

3 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

then i would have preferred for him to have died some other way- for him not have been slowly walking right up next to Bran surrounded by all of his top guys, painstakingly taking his time just like we've all seen in 1,000 other movies/shows. they could have taken his dragon out during battle, had him fall to earth, land next to anyone with a valyrian steel blade (probably jon snow), and had him actually fight someone and then die. Hell, they even could done what they actually did only better by having him defeat Jon in hand to hand combat, and then as he's making his move to end it, BAM, Arya comes flying out of nowhere with the dagger to kill the Night King and end the battle. 

^That would have been 1000x better and I just made it up off the top of my head right now, and i'm certainly not some highly paid writer (make that team of writers) with months to think it over.

the thing is - the show (writers, producers, grrm, who knows) wants us to think his threat on bran is gigantic.  the viewer doesn't really care about bran.  the show thought those were huge stakes - bran is about to get got.  but at home, everyone was like, "hmm, i wonder what he's gonna do to that crippled stark kid."

[hornimal 80]

it just occurred to me that during the entire time fortifying winterfell for the long night, 3 of the highest advisors -- tyrion, ser davos and varys -- were veterans of the battle of blackwater, and none of them thought to incorporate wildfire against an enemy who's biggest known weakness is fire.  tyrion's head is deeper up his ass than I thought.

[Sbbruin 21,836]

5 minutes ago, hornimal said:

it just occurred to me that during the entire time fortifying winterfell for the long night, 3 of the highest advisors -- tyrion, ser davos and varys -- were veterans of the battle of blackwater, and none of them thought to incorporate wildfire against an enemy who's biggest known weakness is fire.  tyrion's head is deeper up his ass than I thought.

Did they have wildfire at Winterfell?  I thought all of that was stored at King's Landing.

[hornimal 80]

4 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Did they have wildfire at Winterfell?  I thought all of that was stored at King's Landing.

no.  they could have launched it at the wights after the dothraki charge and caused major casualties without exposing the dragons.

it is stored at king's landing, but the secret recipe is something tyrion could have bought on his visit to king's landing during the wight exhibition or varys could have acquired through his little birds.

Edited April 30, 2019 by hornimal

[JimmyHoffa 1,188]

37 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

then i would have preferred for him to have died some other way- for him not have been slowly walking right up next to Bran surrounded by all of his top guys, painstakingly taking his time just like we've all seen in 1,000 other movies/shows. they could have taken his dragon out during battle, had him fall to earth, land next to anyone with a valyrian steel blade (probably jon snow), and had him actually fight someone and then die. Hell, they even could done what they actually did only better by having him defeat Jon in hand to hand combat, and then as he's making his move to end it, BAM, Arya comes flying out of nowhere with the dagger to kill the Night King and end the battle. 

^That would have been 1000x better and I just made it up off the top of my head right now, and i'm certainly not some highly paid writer (make that team of writers) with months to think it over.