Game of Thrones Season 8 (NO BOOKSPOILERS) thread

[wild_turkey 3296]

Last thing, can’t forget the line “if you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention”. Wondering how true the story sticks to this ideology, if at all...

It wouldn’t surprise me if Cersei ends up on the Iron Throne. I’m not rooting for that outcome by any means, but I’d kinda respect it. She plays the game about as good as anyone.

I’d be happy with Jon or Daenerys winning out, but if they give us a feel good ending for both Jon and Daenerys, I’ll feel pretty cheated.

[achooloco 1086]

8 hours ago, wild_turkey said:

 

It wouldn’t surprise me if Cersei ends up on the Iron Throne. I’m not rooting for that outcome by any means, but I’d kinda respect it. She plays the game about as good as anyone.
 

 

Eh, true she is now but she was shitastic at it as an adult then she walk of shames it into a master schemer? Not buying it. She is way dumber at it than littlefinger even if her last couple moves have been pretty cunning. She is playing well now, I just don’t buy into the transformation. To borrow from Community, she’ll Brita it sooner or later.  Agree that either Jon snow or dragon queen dies. I had wanted to see the three “Targaryen” riders killing it on the three dragons but I’ll settle for two

[WithoutAClue 16115]

at this point i'm rooting for the White Walkers to win.

too much stupidity south of the wall...

[utee94 16079]

^^^^^^^

Tough to disagree.

Maybe all the kings and queens and whitewalkers wipe each other out, and we see a final shot of Tyrion sitting on the Iron Throne, grinning impishly and drinking wine.  Fade to black.  

 

 

[BornOrange 1441]

Cersei wins the throne because White Walkers and everyone else kill each other....

 

.....but then Jamie stabs her in the back and takes the throne with Brienne as his queen.

[Yev Kassem 1078]

Jon ends up on the throne (which comes open after Cersei is killed by/dies with Jamie) after he defeats the Night King in single combat, thus destroying all the other White Walkers and wights. 

My guess as to the “unhappy” ending is that Dany sacrifices herself in some way to save Jon, fulfilling the Azor Ahai/Prince That Was Promised prophecy.  

[Sleepygrad 1040]

While we are 50 something days to a new GOT episode, anyone hear anything about the spinoff shows?  Are they going back to the original war? or continuing where GOT leaves off?  BTW I always thought they should do a spinoff off the knight (forgot his name) he had like 4/5 pages in the book highlighting his accomplishments (jamie had a half page). Joffrey made fun of Jamie about this.

Do you even thread title bro?

[Sleepygrad 1040]

 

 

this gets my vote for the best 10 minutes in the entire series

[Yev Kassem 1078]

On 2/19/2019 at 3:09 PM, Thiefery said:

While we are 50 something days to a new GOT episode, anyone hear anything about the spinoff shows?  Are they going back to the original war? or continuing where GOT leaves off?  BTW I always thought they should do a spinoff off the knight (forgot his name) he had like 4/5 pages in the book highlighting his accomplishments (jamie had a half page). Joffrey made fun of Jamie about this.

The first spinoff will take place during the Age of Heroes, set 8k-10k years before the books/tv series timeline. We’ll probably see stories about legendary characters like Bran the Builder (founder of House Stark, builder of The Wall) and Lann the Clever (founder of House Lannister), among others. 

Since this time was before recorded history, most of what is though to have happened during that time came handed down in stories and legends, so the “true” stories that we’ll see in this series are likely very different than what is currently known.  

FYI, Ser Duncan the Tall is the name of the knight you’re looking for.  I wouldn’t be shocked to see a spinoff series on him as there are three stories to go off of and he is one of the most legendary figures in Westerosi history.

Edited March 2, 2019 by Yev Kassem

[futureman 22691]

On 3/1/2019 at 1:18 PM, WithoutAClue said:

at this point i'm rooting for the White Walkers to win.

too much stupidity south of the wall...

would love if they pulled no punches and just had the army of the dead systematically destroy all of human civilization in westeros.  just a one-sided methodical devouring.  because fuck westeros 

[BornOrange 1441]

6 hours ago, Sleepygrad said:

 

Do you even thread title bro?

 

He was referring to a scene from the series.

There was a book of all the kingsguard and their accomplishments. Joffrey mocked Jaime for only having half a page, with the last mention being that he had killed the king he was supposed to be guarding. Some other guy had four pages about him.

[A-Tex Devil 2496]

I just want Dothraki v Army of Dead.  That’s all I ask. 

Edited March 3, 2019 by A-Tex Devil

[futureman 22691]

On 2/19/2019 at 3:09 PM, Thiefery said:

BTW I always thought they should do a spinoff off the knight (forgot his name) he had like 4/5 pages in the book highlighting his accomplishments (jamie had a half page). Joffrey made fun of Jamie about this.

barristan selmy?

[Sleepygrad 1040]

11 hours ago, BornOrange said:

He was referring to a scene from the series.

There was a book of all the kingsguard and their accomplishments. Joffrey mocked Jaime for only having half a page, with the last mention being that he had killed the king he was supposed to be guarding. Some other guy had four pages about him.

Yeah? Well that's like....your opinion, man

[sccane92 16]

Don't really understand the thread title. We pretty much finished the books at the end of season 5.

[TexasMan 11442]

ummmm, Littlefinger? 

[achooloco 1086]

 

7 minutes ago, TexasMan said:

ummmm, Littlefinger? 

That reminds me, not to have too much book stuff (that allowed here?) but wish they had made room in the show for dead momma stark. Would have been cool to see her get revenge.

[Chewbacca 7829]

On 2/26/2019 at 6:45 PM, kingkoopa6 said:

id say 6 and 7 

 

Fuck, that hits me in the feels.  Poor Hodor is just pawn in game of life.

[Disco Missile 456]

It wouldn't surprise me to see the Iron Throne end up vacant at the end. Dany had a vision like that in the House of the Undying. Snow falling in an empty throne room.
My prediction is that Cersei's death has something to do with her pregnancy, and she and the Mountain are the last two baddies that need to be killed off. I don't know who will kill the Mountain though. I doubt it's Hound. The Night King is probably more than just an ice zombie demon, and that revelation will be what the final season really turns on. 

I think the biggest revelation will be Bran. I imagine Aerys the Mad King shouting "BURN THEM ALL" when Jaime kills him has something to do with Bran and Wildfire a la Hodor. Like maybe all the wildfire and the pyromancer's secret stashes were all Bran's idea to kill the White Walkers. Lure them to King's Landing and *boom*. We even got a hint of that last season when Qyburn tells Cersei the rumors are true about the wildfire and there's more than anyone knew.

I'm really curious to see how and even if all the various deities influence the final action. Does the Red God do anything other than reanimate Beric and Jon? Or is all the mythology in GoT just hoodoo? 

[hayden_horn 11402]

14 hours ago, TexasMan said:

ummmm, Littlefinger? 

????

 

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by hayden_horn

[AUS-97HORN 12050]

14 hours ago, TexasMan said:

 

I would defiantly be betting on the longer odds for sure.

Night King, Samwell, & Cersei stick out the most.         Samwell, because he may very well end up the last person standing who knows what the fuck happened, and be able to write his books for the future generations.

[KeysPhoneWallet 807]

Seems like probably:

(1) Jon and Dany will both be riding dragon at some point. Probably against the army of the dead and the night king dragon.

(2) Arya will have another meeting with the hound

(3) Arya will have a battle with the mountain

(4) Cersei won’t win. I bet Jaime turns on her to align with the defense against the WW and Cersei dies in some related way.

(5) The gold cloak army will introduce some new characters and fill some number of episodes. The question is whether it will be for nothing or will they end up joining the defense against the WW

[kingkoopa6 8673]

Still get goosebumps when “but at least we’ll give the fuckers a fight”

 

[Mileslong 4806]

[kingkoopa6 8673]

Hell fuckin yea!

[DigglerontheHoof 21548]

I said, Got Dayam!

[Sbbruin 22142]

24 minutes ago, Mileslong said:

 

I'm enchubbened.

[tokamak 6687]

1 hour ago, Disco Missile said:

It wouldn't surprise me to see the Iron Throne end up vacant at the end. Dany had a vision like that in the House of the Undying. Snow falling in an empty throne room.
My prediction is that Cersei's death has something to do with her pregnancy, and she and the Mountain are the last two baddies that need to be killed off. I don't know who will kill the Mountain though. I doubt it's Hound. The Night King is probably more than just an ice zombie demon, and that revelation will be what the final season really turns on. 

I think the biggest revelation will be Bran. I imagine Aerys the Mad King shouting "BURN THEM ALL" when Jaime kills him has something to do with Bran and Wildfire a la Hodor. Like maybe all the wildfire and the pyromancer's secret stashes were all Bran's idea to kill the White Walkers. Lure them to King's Landing and *boom*. We even got a hint of that last season when Qyburn tells Cersei the rumors are true about the wildfire and there's more than anyone knew.

I'm really curious to see how and even if all the various deities influence the final action. Does the Red God do anything other than reanimate Beric and Jon? Or is all the mythology in GoT just hoodoo? 

Good thoughts. I, too, think they could do something interesting with the White Walkers to show that they're motivated somehow by more than just "kill everything".

I also think that Bran/TER is a really underrated character in the big scheme of things. In one of his flashbacks at the Tower of Joy, he said something and Ned turned and looked as if he had heard something. That (and the weird causality stuff with Hodor) indicates that he could eventually learn to change the past rather than just observe it. I think those betting odds are fucked and I'm really surprised that they have Bran as the favorite. I think there's zero chance of that. Didn't Sansa say something to the effect of he's the rightful lord of Winterfell now and he brushed it off by saying that he's not Bran Stark anymore, he's the TER. I don't think he really gives a fuck about human events, thrones, etc anymore.

[Drew 2919]

So that was an awesome trailer.  Much different feel than trailers they've shown before previous seasons.  Definitely feel that sense of foreboding and the end is near.

 

Going to be pretty epic.

[kingkoopa6 8673]

so arya takes the face of a walker, stabs cersei with dragon glass and cersei turns into the night king?
 

[Pig Bellmont 8884]

Any predictions of Cersei dying that don’t include Arya are wrong

[LonghornSean 4103]

Quote

Game of Thrones first look: Inside the brutal battle to make season 8

'You are broken as a human and want to cry': An exclusive spoiler-free journey behind the scenes of the final season

James Hibberd

March 04, 2019 at 08:13 AM EST

The great battle is over.

The snowy ground is streaked with blood.

Beloved heroes lay dead outside the castle gates.

Winterfell is quiet.

And then…

A sudden roar from above. A gust of wind. A blur of low-flying movement.

A dragon?

No.

An ice dragon?

Worse.

“F—king spoiler helicopter just flew right over the set!” says an alarmed crew member.

This could be a disaster. It’s April 2018 on the set of the final season of Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland. The helicopter seemingly came out of nowhere and flew directly over a ridiculously sensitive scene from the show’s final season. The production is supposed to have government-protected airspace — no planes, no drones, and sure as the seven hells no mystery choppers buzzing Winterfell. If paparazzi armed with cameras were on board, their photos would cause an explosion in the entertainment universe. Did anybody get its tail number?

The production calls the Civil Aviation Authority to track down the pilot’s identity while showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are informed of the potential breach. As usual, they are calm. You cannot command a set as sprawling and intense as Game of Thrones and lose your cool every time there might be a catastrophe or you’d never stop hyperventilating.

“There’s always a crisis, there’s always an imminent disaster,” Benioff says. “You never quite know where it’s coming from but, over time, you get a sense of where the real catastrophes are and which ones are probably going to be okay.”

After a tense hour, the news comes down: It was a police helicopter. So GoT’s secrets remain safe for now. All the while, the production never stopped moving. The show must go on, after all, and the HBO drama’s final season is the biggest show on the planet, spending 10 months filming just six episodes for its climactic season 8. Expectations are incredibly high.

“The fans will not be let down,” says director David Nutter. “There are a lot of firsts in these episodes. There’s the funniest sequence I’ve ever shot on this show, the most emotional and compelling scene I’ve ever shot, and there’s one scene where there’s so many [major characters] together it feels like you’re watching a superhero movie.”

Nutter tackled three episodes in the final season, including a calm-before-the-storm entry that might surprise viewers with its play-like intimacy. The showrunners also directed one episode: the mysterious series finale. (More on that in a bit.)

But it’s the season’s most ambitious entry — arguably the most difficult-to-produce episode in television history — that’s expected to be particularly staggering.

this link opens in a new tab

Helen Sloan/HBO

The episode chronicles the great battle of Winterfell, pitting an uneasy collection of allies against the Night King and his army; a face-off teased from the series’ very first scene. It’s one of two in the final season directed by Miguel Sapochnik, who previously tackled “Hardhome” and the Emmy-winning “Battle of the Bastards.” Here fan favorites like Jon Snow (Kit Harington), Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Arya Stark (Maisie Williams), Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), and Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) are fighting for their lives, impossibly outnumbered against a supernatural enemy.

The episode is expected to be the longest consecutive battle sequence ever committed to film, and brings the largest number of GoT major characters together since the show’s debut episode in 2011 (“You can’t have this many actors on set, there are too many egos!” jokes Harington).

“What we have asked the production team and crew to do this year truly has never been done in television or in a movie,” says co-executive producer Bryan Cogman. “This final face-off between the Army of the Dead and the army of the living is completely unprecedented and relentless and a mixture of genres even within the battle. There are sequences built within sequences built within sequences. David and Dan [wrote] an amazing puzzle and Miguel came in and took it apart and put it together again. It’s been exhausting but I think it will blow everybody away.”

“Exhausting” is quite the understatement. The episode required 11 weeks of grueling night shoots. Imagine up to 750 people working all night long for nearly three months in the middle of open rural countryside: The temperatures are freezing in the low 30s; they’re laboring in icy rain and piercing wind, thick, ankle-deep mud; reeking horse manure and choking smoke. The stars of Game of Thrones require some coaxing to get candid about their experience because nobody wants to sound like they’re whinging (as The Hound would say). But if you spend even a brief time on set you realize staging the battle was unprecedentedly brutal.

For Williams, the episode marked Arya’s first Game of Thrones battle, an irony that isn’t lost on her. “I skip the battle every year, which is bizarre since Arya’s the one who’s been training the most,” she says. “This is my first taste of it. And I’ve been thrown in at the deep end.”

A full year before filming began, Sapochnik phoned Williams to warn her. “Start training now,” he said, “because this is going to be really hard.”

“And I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’” Williams recalls between takes, looking ultra-grimy with dirt and mock blood on her face (as do all the actors). “But nothing can prepare you for how physically draining it is. It’s night after night, and again and again, and it just doesn’t stop. You can’t get sick, and you have to look out for yourself because there’s so much to do that nobody else can do… there are moments you’re just broken as a human and just want to cry.”

Williams’ feelings are backed up by seasoned action veterans on the show, such as Iain Glen, who plays Ser Jorah Mormont. “It was the most unpleasant experience I’ve had on Thrones,” Glen says. “A real test, really miserable. You get to sleep at seven in the morning and when you wake in the midday you’re still so spent you can’t really do anything, and then you’re back. You have no life outside it. You have an absolute f—ked bunch of actors. But without getting too method [acting] about it, on screen it bleeds through to the reality of the Thrones world.”

Concurs The Hound actor Rory McCann: “Everybody prays they never have to do this again.”

To get periodic warmth, actors occasionally huddle around a space heater in a tent or duck inside the production’s cramped, bare-bones trailers. But for the show’s crew there is no relief. “I heard the crew was getting 40,000 steps a day on their pedometers,” Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos Seaworth) says. “They’re the f—king heroes.” Sporadically, one of the crew members would get switched to the day shift where a different episode was being shot and you could instantly spot the gaunt, gray-faced battle episode workers. “It’s like seeing Nosferatu coming in,” Benioff says.

When preparing for the shoot, Sapochnik tried to find a longer battle sequence in cinema history and couldn’t. The closest was the nearly 40-minute Helm’s Deep siege in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which he studied to determine when the audience would get “battle fatigue” from too much hacking and slashing. “It feels like the only way to really approach it properly is take every sequence and ask yourself: ‘Why would I care to keep watching?’” says the British director between takes. “One thing I found is the less action — the less fighting — you can have in a sequence, the better.”

Another directorial challenge was figuring out which character to focus on in each scene when so many heroes are involved. “The [GoT battles] I’ve done previously were generally from Jon’s perspective,” Sapochnik says. “Here I’ve got 20-some cast members and everyone would like it to be their scene. That’s complicated because I find the best battle sequences are when you have a strong point of view. I keep thinking: ‘Whose story am I telling right now?’”

Part of Sapochnik’s strategy is asking the actors to fill in the blanks of their storyline of what happens whenever the camera cuts to somebody else. As John Bradley (Samwell Tarly) explains: “We may not have seen Sam for 10 minutes but something has happened to Sam in those 10 minutes — you’ve been fighting, or you’ve been running, or you’ve been hiding. How has your story developed? You have to hold in your mind what’s happened since we saw you last.”

To keep actors focused during the long, cold hours, Sapochnik surprises them with questions. “You’re in the middle of a battle and Miguel comes up and goes, ‘Why are you here?’” McCann says. “Why am I here? It gets you thinking. Then he’ll go to another actor and go, ‘What are you fighting for?’” (One actor snarks back, “My close-up!”). As Glen notes: “Everybody is fighting for a personal reason and Miguel tries to imbue every moment in that.”

 

During one scene that requires a lot of standing still (not during the fighting) one of the show’s series regular actresses abruptly collapses. “Medic on set!” a crew member yells. The showrunners are out of their tent in a flash and run to her. For a few still moments, it feels like the whole cast and crew are holding their collective breath. Then the news circulates that she’s okay, “just fainted.” The actress goes home early and is back the next day.

Filming wasn’t always going be this tough. The original schedule made the battle easier by breaking up filming into very short, specific shots that would, on an average night, require a smaller cast and crew. That’s the standard Hollywood approach to assembling an action sequence.

“We built this massive new part of Winterfell and originally thought, ‘We’ll film this part here and this part there,’ and basically broke it down into so many pieces it would be shot like a Marvel movie, with never any flow or improvisation,” Sapochnik says. “Even on Star Wars, they build certain parts of the set and then add huge elements of green screen. And that makes sense. There’s an efficiency to that. But I turned to the producers and said, ‘I don’t want to do 11 weeks of night shoots and no one else does. But if we don’t we’re going to lose what makes Game of Thrones cool and that is that it feels real.’”

The producers agreed. “When you have rapid cutting [in an action scene] you can tell it was all assembled in post-production,” Benioff says. “That’s not the show’s style and it’s not Miguel’s style.” So they approved a schedule that became infamously known among the team as “The Long Night.”

Being surrounded by the expanded Winterfell sets, shooting such long takes with so many actors working amid such rough conditions, reality began to blur at times. “The Winterfell set is unlike anything I’ve seen in my life,” says Grey Worm actor Jacob Anderson. “It’s not like most sets you walk through a door and you see [a wood panel] and equipment. You can walk into rooms and cross into tunnels and find yourself in another part of the castle. It’s really immersive. Especially when there is haze and snow and people running around, you can get genuinely lost. There were a few moments where I forgot it wasn’t real, which is bizarre.”

Amid the exhaustion, every detail still counts. During one scene, Bradley wields a sword at undead wight attackers played by stuntmen (the script playfully says of the wights: “They’re zombies but not zombies, we have our own thing.”)

“Sam looks like a badass,” I say admiringly to Cogman.

The producer turns to others: “You hear what he just said? That’s the problem. Sam isn’t supposed to look like a badass.”

I suddenly wish I hadn’t said anything. But Bradley quickly adjusts his performance. The next take he looks more confused, awkward and startled by each new attack. It clicks. Suddenly you’re not seeing badass Bradley, but Samwell Tarly.

“When doing these huge fight sequences, you get carried away sometimes,” Bradley says. “You want to make yourself look as good as possible. Miguel said to me, ‘I know that you want to show you’re quite good at this. But remember your character. Sam’s not that good at this. You have to play him because that’s what’s going to be truthful. So stop being so good!’”

The battle scenes shot inside the studio during the day are tough as well. The production’s cavernous Paint Hall hangar is kept full of smoke created by a machine that heats up paraffin and fish oil. Soon the cast and crew find themselves coughing up fishy candle wax. Protective paper masks multiply in popularity and one crew member has an asthma attack and is taken to the hospital.

Amid some rare downtime in the dim, smoky hangar, two seated figures enjoyed a moment of respite with some tea.

“We’re no longer the little kids of Game of Thrones,” Turner reflects.

“Thank God,” Williams replies.

“You know the Titanic was built here,” Turner says. “All that child labor went into it and the child labor continues here today.”

“Except they had it worse, they weren’t brought tea,” Williams says.

Sapochnik suddenly appears and halts their banter: “Do you know what you’re doing next?”

“We think so,” Williams says.

“Have you seen your scene?” he asks, referring to a “pre-viz” animation he mocked up of the battle episode.

“Yes,” Turner replies. “Can we see the whole episode?”

“No.”

“Rumor has it it’s 90 minutes long,” she helpfully prods.

Sapochnik just smiles and darts to his next task. He’s directing three different units shooting three different scenes all at the same time, which is, frankly, bonkers. “If Miguel lives through this it will be the hardest thing he’s ever done,” executive producer Bernadette Caulfield says, “the hardest thing all of us have ever done.”

Spoiler: The cast and crew lived. And all our favorite characters? Well, their fates remain to be seen. Crew members don triumphant “We Survived The Long Night” jackets and the actors can now tell their war stories. “The hard work pays off on this show,” Williams says. “After one of those really tough days, you know it’s going to be part of something so iconic and it will look amazing.”

Yet there’s another episode in the final season where fan expectations are running even higher: The show’s extremely top-secret final episode, directed by Benioff and Weiss.

this link opens in a new tab

Helen Sloan/HBO

For the finale, secrecy was ratcheted up to another level. Only crew members wearing a special Episode 6 badge were allowed on set during filming and some scenes were shot on a closed set. I joke to the showrunners that I wouldn’t be surprised if they directed the finale themselves just so they wouldn’t have to reveal their ending to one additional person.

“When something has been sitting with you for so long, you have such a specific sense of the way each moment should play and feel,” Weiss explains. “Not just in terms of ‘this shot or that shot,’ though sometimes it’s that as well. So it’s not really fair to ask somebody else to get that right. We’d be lurking over their shoulder every take driving them crazy making it hard for them to do their job. If we’re going to drive anybody crazy it might as well be ourselves.”

And what will the Game of Thrones ending feel like? The show’s cast have teased a wide and conflicting spectrum of reactions in media interviews. You know this is a story that subverts conventional fantasy storytelling. And you might also know Benioff and Weiss have long said they ignore what fans say they think they want in their story.

Still, make no mistake…

“We want people to love it,” Weiss says. “It matters a lot to us. “We’ve spent 11 years doing this. We also know no matter what we do, even if it’s the optimal version, that a certain number of people will hate the best of all possible versions. There is no version where everybody says, ‘I have to admit, I agree with every other person on the planet that this is the perfect way to do this’ — that’s an impossible reality that doesn’t exist. I’m hoping for the Breaking Bad [finale] argument where it’s like, ‘Is that an A or an A+?’”

Adds Benioff: “From the beginning we’ve talked about how the show would end. A good story isn’t a good story if you have a bad ending. Of course we worry.”

The finale will air May 19. Tens of millions of fans around the world will tune in to see which characters perish, which survive (if any) and who sits on the Iron Throne (if anyone). And then we’ll enter a post-Game of Thrones world, with all our watches having ended.

Benioff is pretty blunt about his finale viewing plans. “I plan to be very drunk,” he says, “and very far from the internet.”

 

https://ew.com/tv/2019/03/04/game-of-thrones-season-8-battle/

[gsoda3 3362]

So it looks like it'll be six consecutive weeks of episodes. Excellent

[gsoda3 3362]

Also is the finale going to be the biggest tv event (non superbowl) in history?

[Sbbruin 22142]

Short of rewatching prior seasons, what's the best way for me to refresh my memory on what has transpired in the last couple of seasons?  A Cliff's notes. as it were.  It's been so long, I forget who's been kilt off and other details.  

[tokamak 6687]

18 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

Short of rewatching prior seasons, what's the best way for me to refresh my memory on what has transpired in the last couple of seasons?  A Cliff's notes. as it were.  It's been so long, I forget who's been kilt off and other details.  

I've been looking for a good, concise (as possible) "this is everything that's going on" article but haven't found one yet. If I do, I'll post it.

 

Basically, though, all the "good guys" are already at or heading to Winterfell. A few were still at the wall when it fell to the White Walkers so we don't know their fates. No one really major, though. The WWs burned (froze?) through the wall with the ice dragon and are presumably marching south.

Cersei originally agreed to be cool but then immediately double-crossed our heroes by sending Euron Greyjoy to get the Golden Company (mercenaries) from Essos. They're heading back to King's Landing. Apparently Cersei's plan is just to chill in KL with her mercenary army and hope to take down the survivors of the inevitable giant battle at Winterfell. Jaime told her that's a fucking idiotic plan and finally left her to ride to Winterfell and join everyone else.

So there's basically three factions left:

• "good guys" - Jon Snow, Dany, Arya, Sansa, Brienne, Tyrion, Jaime?, Jorah, Tormund, Davos, the Unsullied, the Dothraki, the remaining northerners, the remaining wildlings, two bad motherfucker dragons, and probably several other people I'm forgetting. They're at Winterfell waiting for the shit to hit the fan
• White Walkers - marching south to fuck everyone up
• Cersei + Euron Greyjoy + a big mercenary army + Qyburn + the Mountain + ??? - sitting around at KL thinking everything's gonna be OK (spoiler: it won't)

[Angry Gorilla 1771]

I can't wait to see what happens when Jaime and Bran see each other now that Bran will remember that Jaime shoved him out the window.

[MoJames 8258]

Yummy

[kingkoopa6 8673]

[Dr Fear 1290]

30 minutes ago, Angry Gorilla said:

I can't wait to see what happens when Jaime and Bran see each other now that Bran will remember that Jaime shoved him out the window.

Bran: "Everything you did brought you to where you are now, where you belong."

[Drew 2919]

1 hour ago, gsoda3 said:

Also is the finale going to be the biggest tv event (non superbowl) in history?

It should be.

[LonghornJones 838]

I think the Saved By the Bell episode where Jessie OD's would like to have a word with you.

[Disco Missile 456]

I'll add to it:

The Dany storyline:
Dany as we know had her turn as a mini-despot in the East where her slave-freeing enterprise got bogged down by an oligarchic insurrection, and she lost her way. And she also lost Barristan Selmy and her dragons. She got captured by the Dothraki, but burned all the Khals alive and took all their people. Then she got her dragons, killed the oligarchs and stole their ships, and took Tyrion, Varys, Missandei, and Grey Worm to Dragonstone. Sadly, Daario had to stay behind and watch the house while Dany goes to work. When she gets to Dragonstone nothing really works out the way she wanted. There are White Walkers and Cersei. But she does get several inches of Snow. She goes to war with the Lannisters, and gets the rest of the Tyrells on her side (it's just Olenna now). She sends her fleet and the Unsullied with Grey Worm and Tyrion to Casterly Rock to surprise the Lannisters, but gets tricked. The Greyjoy navy attacks the fleet and the Unsullied are trapped in a castle with no food or money. Meanwhile the breakaway Greyjoy faction under Yara and Theon (formerly Reek) gets smashed by Euron in the fog and what's left of the Dornish characters get killed. Meanwhile, Jaime Lannister takes his army, with the Tarly's, and attack Highgarden. Olenna kills herself. Jaime steals all the food and is on the way back to Sister when Dany and the Dothraki show up and kill them all with fire. Bron saves Jaime. The Tarly's die. Incidentally, Sam is now the last Tarly male and probably the heir to all of the Reach. The Unsullied somehow made it to King's Landing on foot, so Grey Worm and Tyrion are still kicking.
After that a peace is attempted to fight the White Walkers with Cersei but it doesn't work out. She also sends her dragons north of the Wall to save Jon and his ranging company, and loses Viserion to the Night King and his phenomenal javelin toss. 

The Cersei storyline:
Cersei loses all of her kids in accordance with the prophecy and now she's a cold hard bitch...queen. After she blew up the Tyrell's and the Faith Militant there's no one left in King's Landing to oppose her, but what and who she's actually ruling over is unclear. The place is probably more glum than Bratislava in the winter. (Euro Trip joke). She and Jaime are at odds over whether or not to help their enemies fight the White Walkers. She says no. Jaime says yes and he leaves. Mountain is still at her side. Qyburn too, although I don't know if you can trust Qyburn to be loyal. He pretty much just used her to get a fat science grant, and who knows who or what he really serves. But Cersei is still powerful. She has the Gold Cloaks and the remnant Lannister army but she's not in a great strategic position, since her supply of gold and food is low.

Also, Qyburn seemed to get excited watching the White Walker crawl around. 

The Winterfell storyline:
Sam and Gilly showed up at the end of Season 7 with a load of stolen books from Oldtown and knowledge about key plot points. He also cured Jorah of Greyscale using science. The Hound is on their side. So are Tormund and Beric, but Thoros of Myr is dead so no more bonus lives. Gendry is also around and he's the last person with any Baratheon blood so he's probably the heir to the Stormlands. Arya, Sansa, and Bran team up and take down Littlefinger while Bronze Yohn Royce, the Knights of the Vale, and all the Northmen look on with approval. There is a brief conflict between Arya and Sansa because Arya doesn't trust Sansa, but killing common enemies heals all wounds. Brienne is also there. She's maybe the best fighter in the show and Arya hold her own going toe-to-toe with her in a mock duel. This maybe foreshadows something. Then there's Bran. Bran is now the Three Eyed Raven and can apparently see everything across time and space and even change the past. No one knows his true powers but apparently he has a lot. It's likely tied to the weirwood trees and the magic of the Children, so count on the Night King knowing that and knowing how to deal with upstart Three Eyed Ravens. Jon is the undisputed Leader of the Free People of Westeros, but now the White Walkers are through the wall thanks to Ice Zombie Viserion.

Also, the Boltons are all dead. Ramsay got eaten by his dogs while Sansa watched.

The Dorne storyline:
They're all dead.

The Greyjoys:
Euron's navy showed up in time to deal a crushing defeat to Yara, Theon, and the Sand Snakes. Yara is captured. Theon has a boat full of Iron Men that decide to follow him after he kills a guy that tried to hit him in the nuts. (He lost those a few seasons ago, if you haven't been following.)

The Littlefinger storyline:
So the entire story south of the Wall is probably Littlefinger's doing.
It hasn't been stated explicitly, but Littlefinger got mauled by Brandon Stark fighting a duel over Catelyn Tully. Then Lyanna Stark ran off with Rhaegar to get married in secret and shortly afterwards Brandon charged to King's Landing to confront Rhaegar for kidnapping Lyanna, who was betrothed to Robert Baratheon. I believe Littlefinger TOLD Brandon that Rhaegar kidnapped her, despite knowing better, knowing Brandon would fly off the handle and do something stupid in his rage. Which he did. Brandon got killed, along with his dad and Lord Baratheon by King Aerys's fire while Jaime and Barristan Selmy watched. Then Young Ned and Robert became Lords Stark and Baratheon and went to war with their partron Jon Arryn in defiance of King Aerys. Then there was Robert's rebellion. Lyanna and Rhaegar and King Aerys died, Robert became king, and Littlefinger became Master of Coin.
Then Littlefinger convinced Lysa Arryn to kill Jon Arryn and blamed it on the Lannisters, and also convinced Catelyn that Tyrion tried to assassinate Bran. This started the War of the Five Kings. After the Red Wedding the war was over, the Lannisters were in control, and Littlefinger was Lord of Harrenhal and Lord Paramount of the Trident, and married Lysa Tully-Arryn and fostered her son Robert. 
Then Littlefinger killed Lysa Tully-Arryn-Baelish and took possession of The Vale of Arryn as the regent for Lord Robert. If you're keeping count that's two kingdoms united under his personal command. Then he took his army to the North and saved Jon and Sansa and defeated the Boltons, and tried to turn Sansa against her family. It seemed like it may have been working, but Bran saw through his nonsense and the Stark kids killed him.

Chaos is a ladder.

The Clegane storyline:
The Mountain and the Hound finally met. The Mountain is a freakishly powerful minion of Cersei/Qyburn. The Hound has repented of his old ways. He's given up drinking and even shows respect for others at times. I think Clegane Bowl is off, because Sandor isn't the raging bitter tormented man he used to be. 

The Red God/Lord of Light storyline:
A lot of screen time has been devoted to the Red God and his assorted disciples. We saw where all that got Stannis, but it's still important to remember that Jon was resurrected by the Red God just like Beric was, so it seems like there is some real legit power there. For what purpose and to what end remains a mystery.
Melisandre is revealed to be misguided, but Kinvara, the High Priestess, seems to have some serious powers. 
Thoros is killed by an ice zombie bear. Sandor witnessed a vision in the flames, although it never says what he saw. Varys also heard a voice when his nads got roasted.
It will be interesting to see where this storyline goes. 

Did I miss anything?

[tokamak 6687]

^ good summary. I remember a few minor details differently but that seems pretty comprehensive to me

One other thing to mention is that Bran/TER and Sam know the full truth behind Jon Snow's parentage. Bran saw that he was Lyanna Stark's son and that she and Rhaegar loved each other but thought Jon Snow was still a bastard. But Sam found in an old book that a maester secretly married them. They put the puzzle together in a conversation with each other but as far as we know, no one else knows the truth yet.

[Dr Fear 1290]

6 minutes ago, tokamak said:

^ good summary. I remember a few minor details differently but that seems pretty comprehensive to me

One other thing to mention is that Bran/TER and Sam know the full truth behind Jon Snow's parentage. Bran saw that he was Lyanna Stark's son and that she and Rhaegar loved each other but thought Jon Snow was still a bastard. But Sam found in an old book that a maester secretly married them. They put the puzzle together in a conversation with each other but as far as we know, no one else knows the truth yet.

Howland Reed from the TOJ is still alive.

[Disco Missile 456]

33 minutes ago, tokamak said:

^ good summary. I remember a few minor details differently but that seems pretty comprehensive to me

One other thing to mention is that Bran/TER and Sam know the full truth behind Jon Snow's parentage. Bran saw that he was Lyanna Stark's son and that she and Rhaegar loved each other but thought Jon Snow was still a bastard. But Sam found in an old book that a maester secretly married them. They put the puzzle together in a conversation with each other but as far as we know, no one else knows the truth yet.

It will be cool to see how that plays out. How will the Northmen feel about being led by a Targaryen? How will Sansa and Arya react? Dany?

I also think there's more to the Night King than we've been shown. We know he's really, really old - that scene where Leaf 'makes' him was THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO when the Children were fighting the First Men. And we know that he can raise the dead. The ritual with the babies hasn't been explained yet. 
The original Three Eyed Raven also seemed to know more about him that wasn't shared. Like how he 'marked' Bran.
And one thing that bothers me - remember when Benjen said he couldn't pass under the wall because there was a sort of magic keeping White Walkers from going past it, that the Wall wasn't just ice? Well in the final episode the Night King and all the White Walkers have no problem walking over where the Wall used to be after it falls. 
The Night King character is a big mystery. I think this will be the defining storyline of the last season.

[Thiefery 5108]

31 minutes ago, Disco Missile said:

It will be cool to see how that plays out. How will the Northmen feel about being led by a Targaryen? How will Sansa and Arya react? Dany?

I also think there's more to the Night King than we've been shown. We know he's really, really old - that scene where Leaf 'makes' him was THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO when the Children were fighting the First Men. And we know that he can raise the dead. The ritual with the babies hasn't been explained yet. 
The original Three Eyed Raven also seemed to know more about him that wasn't shared. Like how he 'marked' Bran.
And one thing that bothers me - remember when Benjen said he couldn't pass under the wall because there was a sort of magic keeping White Walkers from going past it, that the Wall wasn't just ice? Well in the final episode the Night King and all the White Walkers have no problem walking over where the Wall used to be after it falls. 
The Night King character is a big mystery. I think this will be the defining storyline of the last season.

Maybe the magic died with collapsed wall or when the final child of the forest was killed?

 

[JimmyHoffa 1188]

6 hours ago, Mileslong said:

 

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[Duke Silver 191]

Season 6, when Bran was warging in the cave of the TER, he was touched by the night king and woke instantly.  The TER told Bran that hew was now marked and the night king can cross any magical boundary that Bran crosses without consequence.  The white walkers then attack the TER's cave with Hodor allowing Bran to escape.  The magical boundary of the wall is gone the minute Bran crossed it to get to Winterfell.

[wild_turkey 3296]

Doing my series rewatch and tonight is Rains of Castamere. I’ve been excited all day.