A Game of Thrones **BOOKS OFF LIMITS** v2

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Thoughts and prayers to anyone who named their little girl Daenerys or Khaleesi.

Those children had my condolences as soon as their parents made such a ridiculous decision.

[nik-]

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by blankall

Really liked the episode. I can see some of the criticisms, but imo most of these arise from for bad the previous few episodes were. I understand why they needed to kill a dragon last episode. They needed to give Cercei the illusion she could win, so she didn't surrender. It was also shocking how many of those Dothraki and unsulied survived the undead attack. I just don't know why the last few episodes couldn't have been less clunky, to arrive at this point. It's almost like the writers realised how bad some of the writing had been, and decided to ignore many of the most nonsensical parts of the last few episodes, by bringing back Danny's army and nerfing the scorpions.

You're right, tonight's episode by itself wasn't that bad, but it exemplified just how terrible and pointless last week's was. Cut that one completely, have one of Dany's dragons die tonight, then you give team Cersei a brief moment of victory and Dany has a little bit more believable motivation to go full Mad Queen by the end. It's frustrating that fans on reddit can quickly come up with better ways to arrive at the same plot lines than the writers of the show can, I'm so tired of seeing one side dominate completely in one episode, then the total reverse one week later. It's like if Jon and co lose the Battle of the Bastards completely in one episode, then the Knights of the Vale come in the next episode and storm Winterfell by themselves and make Ramsay look like a bitch

[djsFlames]

When they slowed things down about half way in with that tension build before and during the bells and surrender, the quality really ramped up into a masterpiece of shock and terror, starting with that first flaming of the citizens. You had to rub your eyes for a moment to really believe it was happening. Dany going full mad queen I think was more effective shell shock than Cersei winning would've been, which would've just been a continuation the losses we'd witnessed piling up for her already. It was a different kind of terror and one that was extremely uncomfortable. When you don't know who's good, and which side is safe any more, it leaves not only characters like Tyrion and Jon in distress, but the rest of us too.

They've literally been following Dany wrestling with the "what type of queen will she be?" dilemma for the better part of the show, and she's been tested and cautioned on that very clearly at several points this season. For people thinking it was a total unexpected u-turn in her character I think have somehow missed all of that. It really wasn't. We know she had poor impulses, and her last defenses keeping her from those died with Jorah and Missandei. But most of all when, as a poster above pointed out, her certainty of having legitimately the best claim (and the love of the people) was truly threatened by Jon. Everything she's believed to be true and in her destiny is in peril, and it only makes sense that now with everything on the line, that the final straw breaks.

Never thought I'd feel sympathy for the population of kings landing after the mobbing, throwing feces, and attempted rape over the seasons, and much more so for let's-wildfire-my-enemies queen Cersei, but for a fleeting moment I did and I hate yet love GOT for pulling that off.

This one was up to the standard that was hoped for. Hopefully the next continues that with some surprises none of us will see coming.

[AC]

Felt like the episode really drove home the idea that not everyone overcomes their weaknesses.

Several characters met their end because they refused to change. The Hound hammered it in with the line about chasing revenge his whole life and look where it got him, only to die to finally achieve it.

[jammies]

Why were the bells ringing in the first place? Did I miss something? Or was it just time for lunch at the ranch?

[zamler]

Apparently dragons have unlimited fuel. That was some fine television and made Pompeii look like a campfire.

[blankall]

Danny's turn was sudden, but the Targaryens also suffer from a form of madness that can overtake them suddenly. That's why Dany got all crazy eyed. In the pre-show flashback they tried to get this across, but they didn't build it up enough. Once again. More of a flaw with previous episodes than this one.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by blankall

Now it's the Starks vs team Dany. Time for Rickon to shine to fix the dragon problem? He won't walk again, but he will "fly". Surely that doesn't just mean in some crows.

I dont think Rickon will shine much at this point

[AC]

I saw this synopsis on Reddit:

We just witnessed GRRM's ending, his scouring of the shire.

That was it. That was the scouring of the shire that GRRM intended to end with. Some of it didn't make complete sense because the way we got there was very different to how the books will get there, but that was GRRM's ending for sure.

The Northmen who we assumed as the good guys are rapists. The unsullied who we assumed are the liberators kill unarmed people. Danerys who we assumed would be free of the curse of Targaryen genes is a mad queen. Cleganebowl results in Sandor dying by (a fall into) fire, his worst fear. GRRM wasn't subverting our expectations like D&D tried to in the rest of season 8, but he did want to twist a knife into our guts with a cruel reminder that in the world of ice and fire, there are no good guys and bad guys.

Episode 5 may be inconsistent with the rest of season 8, but that's because the show writers didn't follow all the steps in getting there. But as a book reader I'm convinced that generally speaking that was how George wanted this story to end. GRRM himself stated the show's ending will be pretty damn similar to his own based on everything he told D&D.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Bug fixes in Episode 5 sure did nerf those scorpions.

The first dragon was taken by surprise and didn’t have a rider to help dodge scorpion bolts. Drogon did and dodged bolts in both episodes.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by AC

I saw this synopsis on Reddit:

We just witnessed GRRM's ending, his scouring of the shire.

That's exactly what I thought also. It felt like this episode was consistent with tone of where GRRM was at in the books and the earlier episodes. It kind of marked a return to the heart of moral ambiguity at the core of the world he built. I think that's why I loved the episode so much. This was by far the most true to GRRM's foundation of any episode in a while.

[Rando]

Originally Posted by blankall

Time for Rickon to shine to fix the dragon problem? He won't walk again, but he will "fly". Surely that doesn't just mean in some crows.

Rickon? His problems lie deeper than not walking..

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by Rando

Rickon? His problems lie deeper than not walking..

Serpentine Rickon! Serpentine!!

[Inglewood Jack]

I was not expecting the Mountain to look so much like a giant zombie Varys.

[FireGilbert]

Damn that was intense. So amazing to finally see Kings Landing and the Lannister army burning. My only complaints were issues carried over from past episodes like how easy it was to take out the iron fleet.

The battle was beautifuly filmed and I could really feel the sense of dread. I loved seeing the epiphanies of Jon, Tyrion, and Arya, and of course Cleganebowl lived up the hype. It felt like the end of a video game fighting the big bad while a building crumbles around you.

Originally Posted by jammies

Why were the bells ringing in the first place? Did I miss something? Or was it just time for lunch at the ranch?

This confused me a bit too. At first I thought maybe it was Jamie and then I was like maybe this is a trick by Cersei to lure in her enemies before blowing up the city with wildfire. I think it was just the Lannister commanders though as they were laying down their weapons.

[Inglewood Jack]

Seriously though, pretty crazy how the ultimate villain of the entire series has changed hands twice in the last couple of episodes. From Night King to Cersei to Dany in the blink of an eye. For better or worse, I was not expecting it to go that way, or at least that quick.

[JohnnyB]

It's kind of amazing to be coming up on the last episode of 8 seasons and still feel uncertainty about how it will end. Dany could kill Tyrion, Jon and Sansa, or Dany herself could end up dead. Hard to say with confidence who will be left at the end of the next episode. What happens to Drogon in the end if they do kill Dany? No scorpions left to kill a dragon with and Dany is unstoppable unless someone close to her kills her.

[EldrickOnIce]

Obviously Varys spreading the word of Jon's parentage to the houses of Westeros.
Which one / what did he burn, before he did, and why? Just one that didn't get sent, to hide all that he was up to?

Spectacular penultimate episode.
To the crying babies, in here and all over the internet:
GRRM sends his regards.

[Fuzz]

Who is next in line if Jon and Danny die?