GAME OF THRONES

[Bilbo 3,709]

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Just saw this online - is it real, or just fan art?

 

 

 

Fan art that's been around since last December or so. 

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Absolutely totally disagree.    This was absolutely in no way an "extended semi-season", this was absolutely a "shrunken full season".

 

Nah, this is absolutely a semi-season in terms of narrative structure.The nature of the ending puts me in mind of the eruption of Minas Morgul in The Return of the King.

[Bilbo 3,709]

Winter really has come though. Snowfall at Kingslanding and there was in 5-8 inches of snow at sea!

 

 

I agree that this was a semi season but at the same time you could easily have seen the content streatched to 10 episodes. Then the people complaining about the pace being to fast would be telling us all how the show is meandering towards the endgame. 

[Arpy 4,145]

39 minutes ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

I agree that this was a semi season but at the same time you could easily have seen the content streatched to 10 episodes. Then the people complaining about the pace being to fast would be telling us all how the show is meandering towards the endgame. 

No, not at all! Why does three more episodes mean that the pacing for the climax of the season will automatically be affected? Does that mean that if given extra time, the writers couldn't have come up with compelling details to fill the many leaps in logic the show takes because of its self-imposed shorter seasons? The producers said as much in recent interviews.

 

 

 

[MedigoScan 324]

This episode alone was longer than any other in the show

add a few scenes for pacing/traveling, shuffle some independent stuff around (Sams scenes fit in this category) and we could easily have stretched this into a ten-episode season

[Bilbo 3,709]

But when that was happening people were complaining too!

[Arpy 4,145]

Earlier seasons needed the time for world-building and character development. That doesn't mean that a quicker pace to build to the climax of this season is benefited by cutting down on practicality.

[Bilbo 3,709]

41 minutes ago, Arpy said:

Earlier seasons needed the time for world-building and character development. That doesn't mean that a quicker pace to build to the climax of this season is benefited by cutting down on practicality.

 

The fast travel isn't really an issue because everybody is fast traveling. It's not like Jon is super fast and everyone else is taking ages to get anywhere (white walkers aside). The only time they stretch believability is Gendery and the Raven in the previous episode.

 

 

[Arpy 4,145]

That's even worse!

[Bilbo 3,709]

I dunno, the show took a dip after season 4 and I've long come to terms with it. It's event rather than prestige television but I got up at 6am to watch this before work and I enjoyed every second of it. That's enough for me!

[MedigoScan 324]

whoever said that 'GRRM giving DD the outlines doomed the show to become Point A > Point B writing' is probably right

still I enjoy the characters and the setting too much to let go of it

and I enjoyed this season more than season 5

[KK 3,307]

That was fun.

 

Best scene was Tyrion/Cersei confrontation/negotiation. First time all season that Lena Headey had some real meat to play with (other than quippy, spiteful one-liners).

 

The writing was somewhat better this episode too, with some occasional substance in the dialogue again. 

 

Loved the sequence with Winter finally setting in King's Landing. And as usual, the show's best imagery lies in the North. Really appreciated that Tolkien-esque "veil" for the army of the dead.

 

And not to nitpick, but am I the only one who finds it hard to believe that a single dragon could bring down a Wall of that size, with all the spells that have designed it to be impenetrable by the Others? And what was the Night King's plan to get across if he didn't have a dragon?

[Bilbo 3,709]

I'm not sure as I'm 100 convinced it's different in the books. They've got that horn and isn't Euron or Vitcarion supposed to blow it and that'll bring down the wall or call an ice dragon that brings down the wall or something. 

[KK 3,307]

Oh yea, I definitely doubt this was how Martin designed their crossing. The books, for better or worse, won't make the events so easy.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Now that it's done, I can say for sure that the Winterfell story was stupid and nearly unforgivable.  Nothing about any of their scenes this season jibes at all with "Sansa and Arya were secretly playing Littlefinger the whole time."  I mean, many of us kind of predicted it would happen but not based on the actual text of the show, just based on "the writers probably wouldn't do this."  Benioff/Weiss concocted a stupid, sloppy fake-out "twist" that frankly not one single part works for me.  They knew they wanted to kill off Littlefinger at the end of the season and reverse-engineered from there, character consistency be damned.

[Bilbo 3,709]

15 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Now that it's done, I can say for sure that the Winterfell story was stupid and nearly unforgivable.  Nothing about any of their scenes this season jibes at all with "Sansa and Arya were secretly playing Littlefinger the whole time."  I mean, many of us kind of predicted it would happen but not based on the actual text of the show, just based on "the writers probably wouldn't do this."  The Davids concocted a stupid, sloppy fake-out "twist" that frankly not one single part works for me.  They knew they wanted to kill off Littlefinger at the end of the season and reverse-engineered from there, character consistency be damned.

 

I don't think they're both David. One is Dan I think 😂

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Fixed.

[Bilbo 3,709]

D&D is generally what I see them abbreviated as. Need reference FTW!

[Arpy 4,145]

D&D & GoT? What's next, Stranger Things?

[Bilbo 3,709]

1 minute ago, Arpy said:

D&D & GoT? What's next, Stranger Things?

 

Nah, Stranger Things is shite.

[Arpy 4,145]

I was annoyed with how foolishly they wasted Littlefinger, but the shift away from the political intrigue was as obvious as an undead dragon firing a purple laser at a giant ice wall for zombies to enter the fray. 

3 minutes ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

 

Nah, Stranger Things is shite.

At least the Main Titles are catchy!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

14 minutes ago, Arpy said:

I was annoyed with how foolishly they wasted Littlefinger, but the shift away from the political intrigue was as obvious as an undead dragon firing a purple laser at a giant ice wall for zombies to enter the fray. 

 

It's true.  I'm still holding out hope that they'll have dispensed with the Night King and the Iron Throne plots by episode 3 next year and spend the last 3 episodes of the series dealing with the political process of building their new world.  I think that would be more in the spirit of what Martin envisioned this series to be (ie, subverting traditional fantasy tropes).

[Bilbo 3,709]

31 minutes ago, Arpy said:

I was annoyed with how foolishly they wasted Littlefinger, but the shift away from the political intrigue was as obvious as an undead dragon firing a purple laser at a giant ice wall for zombies to enter the fray. 

At least the Main Titles are catchy!

I'm pretty sure the Main Titles by setting up an Arpegiator in Garage Band and holding down one key on the midi keyboard. 

[Jay 37,322]

6 hours ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

Fan art that's been around since last December or so. 

 

9 hours ago, Jay said:

Well, I just noticed it says season 7 on the bottom, not season 8.  Definitely fan art.  Well made, though!

 

[Arpy 4,145]

That being said, I definitely felt this last episode has been one of my personal favourites and I'm not a terribly big fan of the show. As much as there is the eminence of the fantasy that provides the spectacle, I also felt there was a great deal of the juicy political engagement going on. What does this turn of events hold for long-established power players going forward? Littlefinger, who I think we all saw was reaching the end of his lifespan was dispensed with so soon, I can't be the only one who felt he had more to offer or at least a greater game to play, was his fate different in the books?

3 minutes ago, Bilbo Skywalker said:

I'm pretty sure the Main Titles by setting up an Arpegiator in Garage Band and holding down one key on the midi keyboard. 

The rest of the score was the cat jumping on the ipad piano keys.

 

On the music for this episode, I thought the main theme that announces winters arrival was suitably well-done, although that wretched thingy for the White Walkers is just pure poop.

[Jay 37,322]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

Now that it's done, I can say for sure that the Winterfell story was stupid and nearly unforgivable.  Nothing about any of their scenes this season jibes at all with "Sansa and Arya were secretly playing Littlefinger the whole time."  I mean, many of us kind of predicted it would happen but not based on the actual text of the show, just based on "the writers probably wouldn't do this."  Benioff/Weiss concocted a stupid, sloppy fake-out "twist" that frankly not one single part works for me.  They knew they wanted to kill off Littlefinger at the end of the season and reverse-engineered from there, character consistency be damned.

 

I disagree; I do NOT think Arya and Sansa were playing him all season at all!!  See here:

 

9 hours ago, Jay said:

it seems Sansa never picked up on his plans until their "imagine your enemy's worst motivations" conversation, meaning everything from every episode prior WAS them falling for his shit.  Oh well.

 

9 hours ago, Woj said:

I'd like to think that Sansa and Arya were playing Littlefinger all season. I've read blogs that indicate as much. They argued loudly, they kept the door open, things like that.

 

9 hours ago, Jay said:

I'm sorry but I don't buy it at all.  The trial could have been done episodes ago if they were onto him back then.  The writers practically admitted in the "inside the episode" bit after the show that they were purposely having them at odds with each other all season to make the actual trial more of a shock.

 

 

I DO agree, though, that they wanted to end the season with his death and reverse-engineered it from there, and what they came up with, ultimately, wasn't the best way to get there.  But I forgive the clunky setup because the payoff was good.

[Bilbo 3,709]

6 minutes ago, Arpy said:

That being said, I definitely felt this last episode has been one of my personal favourites and I'm not a terribly big fan of the show. As much as there is the eminence of the fantasy that provides the spectacle, I also felt there was a great deal of the juicy political engagement going on. What does this turn of events hold for long-established power players going forward? Littlefinger, who I think we all saw was reaching the end of his lifespan was dispensed with so soon, I can't be the only one who felt he had more to offer or at least a greater game to play, was his fate different in the books?

The rest of the score was the cat jumping on the ipad piano keys.

 

On the music for this episode, I thought the main theme that announces winters arrival was suitably well-done, although that wretched thingy for the White Walkers is just pure poop.

 

Djawadi could be very good if he laid off the EPIC DRUMZZZZ™

 

The Iron Islands theme starting to build as Theon started to get the upper hand in the fight was nice too. 

 

 

[Jay 37,322]

5 hours ago, Arpy said:

was his fate different in the books?

 

 

The show passed the books years ago; He's still alive in the books.

 

In fact, the show is so far past the books now, here's just a sampling of characters who are dead on the show, yet still alive in the books:

 

Littlefinger, Tommen, Myrcella, High Sparrow, Margery, Ramsay Bolton, Roose Bolton, Stannis Baratheon and his wife and kid, Hodor, Jojen Reed, Barristan Selmy, Mance Raydar, Blackfish Tully, Walder Frey, Rickon Stark...

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Ugh, every minute spent on Theon's redemption is a wasted minute.

 

Just now, Jay said:

The show passed the books years ago dude; He's still alive in the books.

 

In fact, the show is so far past the books now, here's just a sampling of characters who are dead on the show, yet still alive in the books:

 

Littlefinger, Tommen, Myrcella, High Sparrow, Margery, Kevan Lannister, Ramsay Bolton, Roose Bolton, Stannis Baratheon and his wife and kid, Hodor, Jojen Reed, Barristan Selmy, Mance Raydar, Blackfish Tully, Walder Frey, Rickon Stark...

 

And from what I'm told, Tyrion hasn't even met Daenerys yet in the books!

[Bilbo 3,709]

13 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Ugh, every minute spent on Theon's redemption is a wasted minute.

 

 

And from what I'm told, Tyrion hasn't even met Daenerys yet in the books!

 

Well they had to spend so much time on important stuff like Tyrion's boat trip with characters who aren't important and that girl dwarf! We needed loads of her! So important! 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Seeing some theories that even though Littlefinger is dead, Aiden Gillen will still return next season because Arya will use his face for... stuff.  I hope so actually!

 

Also, here's an interesting article on that final, ambiguous shot of Tyrion bein' all creepy

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/game-of-thrones-tyrion-jealous-jon-daenerys-season-7-episode-7-finale-dragon-wolf

[KK 3,307]

Again, doubt the writers have enough craft to pull that kind of stuff off with any finesse. And it doesn't sound much good either.

 

Littlefinger's demise was indeed handled disappointingly, just like the character has largely been wasted in the last 2 seasons.

 

 

[Bilbo 3,709]

19 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Seeing some theories that even though Littlefinger is dead, Aiden Gillen will still return next season because Arya will use his face for... stuff.  I hope so actually!

 

Also, here's an interesting article on that final, ambiguous shot of Tyrion bein' all creepy

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/game-of-thrones-tyrion-jealous-jon-daenerys-season-7-episode-7-finale-dragon-wolf

 

I think it'll be a political thing in the show. Tyrian would rather she wasn't distracted. Maybe he's afraid a Jon would have more power.

 

wouldnt rule it out in the books though 

[Jay 37,322]

I think if Arya was planning on using Littlefinger's face, they wouldn't have executed him in front of a ton of witnesses.

 

Hmm, then again, if every witness in the room is a pure north loyalist, I guess she could like, sneak into King's Landing as Littlefinger or something.

[Wojo 2,453]

Maybe Arya can move faster south than a raven can send word. 

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

...characters who are dead on the show, yet still alive in the books:

 

...Kevan Lannister...

 

Kevan Lannister is dead in the books. If I remember correctly, he was the final casualty in the most recent volume...

[Bilbo 3,709]

2 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

 

Kevan Lannister is dead in the books. If I remember correctly, he was the final casualty in the most recent volume...

 

Himself and Pycell die at the same time as each other. Varry's does it. 

[Jay 37,322]

Ah yes, my mistake!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Bilbo 3,709]

Tormund is alive but Beric is dead.

 

The guy probably had loads of lame deaths to counteract his awesome name but without Thoras around he was lucky not slip on soap in the shower. He's a gonner. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I left the episode assuming that Beric and Tormund had managed to run to a part of the top of the wall not destroyed.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Bilbo 3,709]

Just now, BloodBoal said:

 

This. There's a shot that made it clear.

 

P.S.: Fuck Bilbo Skywalker.

 

Well maybe the Night King will resurect him or something. 

Although he'd probably just finish himself off with the flaming sword .

[Wojo 2,453]

Per your PS, Rheagar was Wilf Scolding, whoever TF he is. 

 

https://www.cnet.com/au/news/game-of-thrones-viserys-rhaegar-targaryen-hbo-harry-lloyd-wilf-scolding/

[Jay 37,322]

1 hour ago, BloodBoal said:

Well, Littlefinger's death scene was shite.

 

I figured you wouldn't like it!  Writing aside, did you think Aidan Gillen did a good job acting in it?

 

1 hour ago, BloodBoal said:

why did they postpone the moment Jon will be revealed his parentage to the next season? This is getting ridiculous...)

 

Yea, by the time Jon finds out, it will be the third time we've had to go through it!

 

1 hour ago, BloodBoal said:

P.P.S.: Tormund and Beric are not dead. Deal with it.

 

Yea, I don't think they would have bothered to film them jumping over to the other part of the wall if they were just gonna die, I think one or both of them will hide under rubble or whatever until all the dead have passed, then sneak around to join up with our other main characters... or something.

 

1 hour ago, BloodBoal said:

P.P.P.S.: Fuck Euron.

 

What do you mean?

[crocodile 7,990]

It was a pretty good episode. I enjoyed a bit more relaxed and most character-centric episode.

 

14 hours ago, Woj said:

King's Landing got just a dusting, while Dany got six inches of Snow. 

Must have been at least eight.

 

Really liked the brief confrontation between the Hound and the Mountain.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,322]

I liked that too

[Brónach 1,301]

6 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

It's true.  I'm still holding out hope that they'll have dispensed with the Night King and the Iron Throne plots by episode 3 next year and spend the last 3 episodes of the series dealing with the political process of building their new world.  I think that would be more in the spirit of what Martin envisioned this series to be (ie, subverting traditional fantasy tropes).

 

I hope they run out of budget and the last two episodes are recycled shots and storyboards done with markers and it all happens inside the character minds in a vague, cryptic way.

[Jay 37,322]

Just remembered something.

 

So, the Valeryian dagger the assassin tried to kill Bran with was Littlefinger's all along?  For... reasons?  As in: If Littlefinger wanted Bran killed (or was paid by Joffrey/Cersei/whoever to have him killed), why would he give that assassin his own dagger instead of the assassin just using his own weapons?

[Bilbo 3,709]

9 minutes ago, Jay said:

Just remembered something.

 

So, the Valeryian dagger the assassin tried to kill Bran with was Littlefinger's all along?  For... reasons?  As in: If Littlefinger wanted Bran killed (or was paid by Joffrey/Cersei/whoever to have him killed), why would he give that assassin his own dagger instead of the assassin just using his own weapons?

 

It was to frame Tyrion wasn't it? How would he be able to co vince Catlyn that he knew exactly who sent the murderer "oh well Tyrion recently won this dagger from me so it must have been him that did it!"

 

Catlyn trusted him and fell for it kicking off the whole sorry mess.