GAME OF THRONES

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Disco Stu 15,495]

There's such a thing as too much fan engagement 

[Bilbo 3,709]

Wasn't he days away from missing a deadline that would have seen the book published before season 6?

 

He's so full of shit .

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

9 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

Great scene with Nymeria, but I wasn't a fan of the scene with Hot Pie, though.

 

She had a positively creepy moment of Hound-ness going on in the Hot Pie scene.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I loved that scene

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Quintus 5,399]

Very good latest episode, I was completely satisfied. The ambush at the end could have been left for next week, that would have been better, but I'll let it off.

[Quintus 5,399]

Emilia Clarke is absolutely gorgeous this year (somehow more than last year), but she's a crap actor isn't she.

[saulocf 79]

2 minutes ago, Quintus said:

Emilia Clarke is absolutely gorgeous this year (somehow more than last year), but she's a crap actor isn't she.

Agree on the gorgeous, disagree on the crap actor. I think she is improving, but she was never as bad as people claim that she is. I think she is superior to Kit Harington in every sense.

15 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

 

That would explain why I thought her acting was off in that scene (if that's what they were going for).

It was so forced. When did she became this cold? Wasn't last season that she almost got killed because she couldn't kill an innocent woman?

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

It seemed deliberately forced to me. Like the Hound in his forced stubbornness. But then I've become something of a Maisie Williams fan.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[KK 3,307]

4 hours ago, Quintus said:

Emilia Clarke is absolutely gorgeous this year (somehow more than last year), but she's a crap actor isn't she.

 

She's limited. But this role doesn't seem to require much else I guess. Hopefully she'll grow out of this post-GOT.

 

With that said, her wig is looking more obnoxious this season. One too many perfectly manufactured curls.

[saulocf 79]

1 hour ago, Marian Schedenig said:

It seemed deliberately forced to me. Like the Hound in his forced stubbornness. But then I've become something of a Maisie Williams fan.

 

Oh no, I don't blame Williams at all, she is a fabulous actress, just like Sophie Turner. They really had luck with the casting. I just thought that the writing made her "stubborn" way to quick.

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

5 hours ago, saulocf said:

When did she became this cold? Wasn't last season that she almost got killed because she couldn't kill an innocent woman?

 

On the other hand, it was also last season that she almost went through with murdering that innocent woman, going so far as to poison her rum after chatting with her, and only deciding to back out at the last second. Given that, and other things we've seen her do, I don't think that being rather distant with an old friend signifies a sudden descent into darkness for her character...

 

It strikes me that if the Hot Pie scene had been the next we'd seen of Arya after the Frey massacre then her cold, detached demeanour wouldn't have felt out of place at all. What makes it a bit jarring is that, between those scenes, there was the encounter with the Lannister soldiers in which Arya was all giggly, friendly and ingratiating. It was odd to see that personality, affected before a bunch of strangers, followed by indifference at the reunion with her former comrade. That doesn't mean it's inexplicable, though. She had reason to ingratiate herself with the soldiers; with Hot Pie, she was probably being her normal self.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

7 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

there was the encounter with the Lannister soldiers in which Arya was all giggly, friendly and ingratiating

 

This strikes me as an exaggeration.  She was incredibly apprehensive and mistrustful of the soldiers, and I would say she only briefly let her guard down.

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

I wouldn't say she let her guard down at all! But, although her apprehensiveness was apparent at the beginning, once she began sharing their food she visibly relaxed, and was asking them questions about themselves (with interest in their answers), in contrast to her meeting with Hot Pie. I'll take back the "giggly" (although she did emit a shy giggle after complimenting the soldier on his blackberry wine)! I think that she was performing.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Does anyone foresee any likely ending for Arya that isn't completely fucked up?

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

I think she'll marry a high lord, and rule his castle, and her sons will be knights and princes and lords.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

HA!

[Quintus 5,399]

Is Maisie Williams openly gay yet then? Got to be a matter of time.

[Jay 37,351]

WTF?

[Quintus 5,399]

Sorry?

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

What?

2 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

"Become"? Weren't you the one who had a Maisie Williams avatar a few years ago?

 

Possibly. I think it was more of an Arya avatar though.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Quintus 5,399]

18 hours ago, saulocf said:

Agree on the gorgeous, disagree on the crap actor. I think she is improving, but she was never as bad as people claim that she is. 

 

Really? I mean, Lena Headey also plays a queen who has faced challenges and adversity, real character building stuff, but the difference in the quality of each actor's performance is stark. Clarke simply doesn't get anywhere near her.

[Arpy 4,145]

59 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Random thought of the day:

 

As I was thinking who could possibly kill the Mountain (Ellaria Sand? The remaining Sand Snake? The Hound?), none of the possible solutions seemed likely to me, and then it hit me: could Martin/Benioff and Weiss pull a David vs Goliath situation and have Tyrion kill him somehow? That way, you would have Tyrion "redeeming" himself in the eyes of Ellaria by killing the man who killed her husband (and it'll be a nice callback to the trial by combat), plus having a Dwarf kill the Mountain would make the writers feel smart ("Nobody saw it coming! Haha!"), which is something we know they love!

 

What say you? Aye or nay?

No, Tyrion will be killed off!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Arpy 4,145]

I think Daenerys raised an interesting point concerning Varys, who, like Littlefinger has often changed his allegiance to whomever he believes will gain the throne. Although at the same time I felt that it was almost spelling things out a little too much, just move on.

Daenerys is such a conflicting character to get behind, because she's so cold and villainous - she's a bitch. Cersei is obviously someone who those adjectives apply to more, but at least she feels like a tragic character who has broken and I can feel sorry for and still perceive as a villainous cow!

 

Varys's plea in the scene was good, if a little redundant.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Arpy 4,145]

I hate Daenerys!

 

15 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

On an unrelated note, something I forgot to mention: when Qyburn revealed his weapon to defeat the dragons, did anyone think: "Black Arrow!"?

I did too, and then thought of the House of Durin theme for some reason!

[Holko 9,520]

30 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

"Black Arrow!"?

 

 

So THAT's where the Windlance went after it disappeared from Laketown for some reason between movies!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Arpy 4,145]

Haha @BloodBoal perhaps villainous isn't the right word. I guess, for starters, sanctioning the murder of her own brother (as vile as he was), burning a bunch of Dothraki warlords and their women, freeing slaves and amassing an army of more slaves to conquer another country of slaves where she was rightfully despised, acting like a spoiled bitch who believes she owns everything the whole time and it goes on and on... I get there is also the development given to her character that brings her from an ignorant and vulnerable girl to a powerful woman, who learns humility over time, but she's just so uncompromisingly rigid that there isn't much to like about her. 

 

There are times where the show will reference the Mad King and the whole Targaryen line, and because Daenerys is part of that I feel as if more might be explained contextually in the books that is only exposition in the show that there isn't a sense, for me at any rate, that the history of her family and plight to reclaim the throne is anything to be invested in. Perhaps that's a shortcoming of adaptations, I don't know, I haven't read the books. She's one of the weakest characters who unfortunately is a major player that can't be skipped over.

 

 

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

4 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

...could Martin/Benioff and Weiss pull a David vs Goliath situation and have Tyrion kill him somehow?

 

What say you? Aye or nay?

 

 

Maybe...

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

 

 

Bronn: Do I have a volunteer? . . . Do I have a volunteer?

 

Tyrion: I'll stand for the sellsword.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Wojo 2,453]

2 hours ago, BloodBoal said:

We knew the audience would be in shock: "a Dwarf killing a giant!" They would never think of that

 

It's in the Bible, kinda... 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Bilbo 3,709]

That's nice!

 

 

I'm sure HBO's lawyers will be in touch. 

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,351]

Game of Thrones 7x02 Stormborn

 

Wow, what a fantastic episode!  Even before the sea battle at the end, I was completely satisfied with this episode; It had really strong story movement, great character scenes, and did a really good job of looking into the past while moving into the future.  By that I mean, we had stuff like:

• Tyrion talking about when he met Jon Snow in season 1
• Dany and Varys talking about her birth
• Sam telling Jorah about knowing his father, who died in season 2
• The reminder of what The Mad King did to Ned & Nejen's other brother and father
• The return of Arya's direwolf, and the callback to her conversation with Ned from season 1
• Hot Pie telling Arya about meeting Brienne in season 4

 

And probably some other callbacks I'm forgetting.  It's just nice that while they are plodding along faster than ever before, they are not forgetting the past, and in fact the story is enriched by telling the story its telling now after 6 seasons of development that got us there.

So, some specific comments

 

Dany, Tyrion, Varys, Olenna and Melisandre - I loved the stormy opening, and the reminder that she was born during a big storm!  I really liked the way she and her small council plotted out their war plans, and of course Olenna's line to Dany about being a dragon (something she'll surely do after what happens to her fleet at the end of the episode!).  It was so nice to finally have Dany talk to Varys about how fluid allegiances; Realistically this conversation would have happened long ago, but hey, it's TV.  It was all really well done, and I think i actually completely believe him.  I also really like her current mindset of not wanting to rule the ashes, since that's effectively what she saw in her vision in Season 2.

 

It was interesting when Melisandre showed up and basically said she now things Dany is the reincarnation of Azor Ahai - she's really coming off as someone who believes so desperately in her faith, she'll follow person to person until it comes true or she dies!  I do wonder when the show will ever reference again how old she is, otherwise that single scene from last year is so pointless!

 

I actually liked Dany/Tyrion's plan to use Dornish trooops to surround  & starve King's Landing, while using Dothraki/Unsullied army to attack Casterly Rock.   It is kind of a bit weird, since its a location that hasn't been shown and generally hasn't been made up to be THAT important in the scheme of things, but it IS the Lannister homeland and theoretically would cut King's Landing off from their best aid.  But does Cersei see it coming?  And is Casterly Rock the castle with a famous moat protecting it or is that another castle, I forget.

 

Jon, Sansa & Littlefinger - I liked how Dany basically sent him the same letter Cersei did ("come to my castle and bend the knee!"), although actually it was nice that it was Tyrion that wrote it and included a bit of the conversation he had with Jon to prove it.  The arguments Jon and Sansa had for going or not going were both good, just like their arguments last week.  Its good that Jon ultimately decided to go, and left Sansa in charge.  "A Stark must always be in Winterfell".  The scene in the crypts was nice - when TF did they have time to build a Ned statue though?  Or was it there before he died?  I liked that Jon put Littlefinger in his place.  I'm still a bit confused about his motivations this year - is it JUST that he wants to marry Sansa?  Or is there more to it?

 

Sam & Jorah - I really like that Sam is back to being one of the more prominent characters; I wish they had balanced things better in the past that he didn't disappear for so long.  As mentioned I loved that he got to tell Jorah he knew his father, and the scenes with him removing scales was gross!  It seemed to me like it would take more than just one night to remove them all, yikes!  I'm still a BIT confused about how Jorah ended up there; I thought he was looking for a cure in Essos; How did he get back in Westeros?  Also, I'm a bit confused about what role Jorah even will be playing in the future.  I thought when Dany sent him off, he was going to end up with a colony of dragonscale people, and somehow they would realize they are immune to the White Walkers in some way, or something like that.  But since they're seemingly just kind of curing him, and even if he didn't he'd live for 20 years anyway, what role is he going to play this season?  I can't figure it out.

 

Arya, Hot Pie, and Nymeria - It was great to see Hot Pie again!  I liked how she just took food intended for someone else, but at least was going to pay for it anyway. It was a bit weird though that as soon as she heard Jon Snow was in Winterfell, she just dropped the pie and left - take the pie with you Arya!  I'm not surprised she chose to go there instead of to King's Landing (at least for now), but its funny that before the episode ended, Snow actually LEFT Winterfell!  At least she can be reunited with Sansa if she still goes.

The scene with Nymeria was very good.  Not only seeing HOW FREAKING LARGE she got, and OF COURSE she'd be a wolf pack leader, but the whole show-down they have, and Arya realizing she's actually just like her.  I thought for a minute before that, that maybe Nymeria would end up leading a wolf pack as part of the White Walker battle, but I guess not.  This could be the last we ever see of her!

 

Cersei, Jaime, Randyll Tarly, Qyburn - I liked Cersei's attempts to keep the remaining Lords on her side by basically calling Dany's armies bad hombres foreign invaders.  I doubt any of these guys will remain on her side when a better option shows real power.  The scene in the dragon skull room was awesome, really cool set / special effects.  Its kinda funny that Qyburn's big weapon to use against dragons is just a giant crossbow, but I suppose it actually makes sense, especially since we saw big spears work just fine when Dany escaped the slave fighting arena.

 

Missandei and Grey Worm - A nice little scene, but anytime 2 characters fall in love on a show like this its pretty much a death sentence for one of them.  This is proably the last time they'll be together.

 

Euron's Ambush - The moment it showed Yara, Theon, Ellaria, etc on the boat heading to Dorne, I knew that Euron would be attacking - why else would we even be seeing them.  The whole battle ended up being pretty well done though.  A bit hard to follow all the action with the dark and murkiness, but at least that made it look different from prior battles on the show.  I have no clue how Euron knew where to find them, yet alone which boat in the fleet was the specific one with the three of them in it, but what can you do.  The big Theon moment was so sad, the poor guy can't catch a break.  I am glad Yara is not dead though, I really like her character a lot.  I have no idea how she'll escape though, and I wonder if her or Ellaria will be dead soon - Cersei will probably have Ellaria killed pretty quickly, I'd imagine. 

 

 

So only one thing bothered me about the episode:  In the episode we saw a message from Dany go ALLLLLLLLL the way up to Winterfell, and they also received Sam's message from Old Town this week too.  BUT, last week, we saw BRANDON STARK safely arrive back in Castle Black!  SURELY, the moment he got inside, he would have sent a raven to Winterfell to tell Jon and Sansa that he's alive, and where he is?  It's pretty annoying that he wasn't referenced at all, as realistically a message from him would have gotten there long before messages from Sam and Dany.

 

Oh well.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Bilbo 3,709]

Ghost is definitely falling victim to the "We can't afford CGI Direwolves" thing. 

[Jay 37,351]

On 7/24/2017 at 7:36 AM, BloodBoal said:

- Two out of three Sand Snakes out! Yay!

 

lol

 

Quote

- We're going to finally see Casterly Rock! Yay! (with Greyworm bound to die during the attack)

 

I thought of you as soon as they mentioned their plan   And yea, it seems certain Grey Worm is doomed for sure.

 

Quote

- Jon about to meet Dany-O! Something a lot of us have been waiting for/knew was going to happen since Day One! Yay!

 

Don't her, him, and Tyrion represent the three heads of the dragon or whatever?

 

Quote

- Theon is going to have to do something huge to redeem himself, at this point (like killing the entire White Walker army or something).

 

Seriously.

 

Quote

- As I thought, it looks like at the very least one of the dragons will be killed before they'll even get to face the White Walkers (who knows? Maybe they'll never face them).

 

Yea, it seems that way.  It would really be a waste of time if they set up Qyburn's weapon and we don't get to see them use it in battle, or they use it but it doesn't work.

 

Quote

- Is Littlefinger going to use Jon's absence as the opportuntiy to stir shit? Hopefully, Sansa will FINALLY come into her own and know how to handle him.

 

That's what I'm trying to figure out.  It seems certain he will attempt... SOMETHING.... but what... what is his plan/ allegiance now?  I mean, its clear he wants to bone / marry Sansa, sure.  But beyond that, what are his goals?  There are really no remaining parties he can be loyal to.  He's not going to screw the north over to please Cersei or Dany... so is it just purely marriage to North loyalty to become Lord of the North when the war is over?  Is it that simple now?

 

 

Quote

- Still not sure how greyscale is supposed to fit into all that. Will it turn out to be another "weapon" that can be used against the White Walkers? I wonder....

 

Right, that's what I assumed after Dany sent him off last year, that he would discover his condition is a weapon... but I guess that's not the case now, so i have no idea what role he's going to play!

[Bilbo 3,709]

I did have to think about it the other day, whether ha had died or not. The show has started to become a bit forgettable for me, although season 6 was the first I didn't rewatch. 

[Jay 37,351]

On 7/24/2017 at 8:32 AM, Disco Stu said:

As I said before, the pull between Reek and Theon (basically the trauma he can't escape) is the most interesting thing about the Greyjoy family's storyline, so it was an interesting development to see Reek rear his pathetic head again.

 

Yea, I had basically assumed that side of him was over, it was nice to see what Ramsay did to him has lasting effects

 

 

 

On 7/24/2017 at 8:46 AM, BloodBoal said:

 

I'm glad his redemptive moment didn't happen here (as many probably expected). It was a nice little "twist" (even if it was necessarily designed to be one). Ultimately, the character did the only reasonable thing to do (had he tried to help Yara, they would have both ended up dead).

 

Good point!

 

 

Quote

I wonder if the remaining Sand Snake will get to kill the Mountain. If not, who the fuck is going to kill him? His brother is far away. I don't see who could kill him in a way that would feel narratively earned.

 

It seems the Snakes definitely won't be having their revenge, and it seems The Hound won't either.  Unless something really weird happens...

 

 

On 7/24/2017 at 6:17 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

She had a positively creepy moment of Hound-ness going on in the Hot Pie scene.

 

 

Hmmm, I didn't read it as her taking after The Hound.  I mean she, she was ravishing through her food and not showing much emotion, but I dunno, I think that's just who she is now.