Game Of Thrones

It's the internet, so of course everybody hated it. I actually liked it. It was satisfying to me. And as always, I'm not taking the initial hate wave seriously. The internet will probably be a lot different towards it once it's had some time to sink in. And if not, screw them.

I especially liked the meta-element in Tyrion's reasoning for Bran being nominated, with all the "power of storytelling" stuff. It was pretty cool. And I'm also glad they kept a bit of realism with having everybody laugh at Sam's suggestion.
 
I think Stephen King put it best - fans would be angry at any ending because they don't want an end. Personally for me, the predominant emotion after the finale is that I'm just going to miss Game of Thrones. I was not disappointed by the ending or the season in general, but then again I also have no demands about the length of songs in the future Maiden album, so what do I know.
 
I am actually quite alright with what we got last night. It wasn't perfect, some of it was a little wonky and rushed, but overall in terms of the grander story at large: it'll do just fine.

When I think of the other TV shows that I have loved as much GoT, I have to say I'm happier with this ending than those endings (namely thinking of Buffy and The X-Files here). I'd maybe compare it favorably to the series finale of Angel, in which things are also quite rushed but also pretty satisfying in terms of tone and arc.
 
It had it's moments, can't deny that I enjoyed most of it but I did feel the ending just wasn't right. I feel this show deserved something far better to go out with than what we had and so much potential was lost here.
 
I wouldn't go so far as to call it a disaster, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. It certainly wasn't the ending I was hoping for or expecting, though that aspect doesn't really bother me that much as a) I don't really know how I wanted it to end and b) since when has GoT ever gone the way I wanted? I didn't want Ned Stark to be executed or the Red Wedding to happen, but they did and I still stayed invested in the series.

The word that keeps coming to me to describe this episode is "sappy", which is something I never thought I'd describe Game of Thrones as.

phantomoftheicarus said:
It had it's moments... but I did feel the ending just wasn't right. I feel this show deserved something far better to go out with than what we had and so much potential was lost here.
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I agree with this entirely.
 
I actually thought the finale was pretty good, given that they had to wrap everything up, they did a good job. I do think the final season seemed a bit rushed, and there was one scene in particular that seemed really forced...
The summit in the ruined amphitheater in which the Lords of Westeros rejected direct democracy but invented the electoral college.

But in general I thought it was a satisfying end to a terrific series. As for the hate it's getting, I bet the same people were proclaiming after the Battle of Winterfell that it was the greatest show in the history of TV. Two episodes later, one major plot twist has everyone in a huff. If anyone expected a fairy-tale ending they haven't been paying attention.

Now, I'm looking forward to the last two novels to see what the author REALLY intended! I read the first four before the show began, and read the fifth ("A Dance With Dragons") upon its release eight(!!) years ago. My conspiracy theory is that at least the sixth book is largely in the can, and Martin (or the publisher) has been holding off on its release until the show ends. But that's probably wishful thinking.
 
Didn't get a chance to post about last week's episode so first that:

Dany ALWAYS being the villian is NOT true. That she was willing to use force if need be is different from killing people for the fuck of it. Her supposed descent into madness wasn't subtle, not as bad as Anakin's, but still could've used a tad more build up. All of a sudden she's paranoid about her claim? Paranoid about Jon? About how people feel about her? Oh, c'mon. "I only have fear"? Bullshit. The Unsullied LOVE her, the Doth Raki, LOVE her, Dorne and the Iron Islands joined willingly. He earned their love, respect and trust. She didn't need to coerce them by threatening torture, death or whatever.

I have mixed feelings about her leveling of King's Landing. On one hand it was needless and disappointing that we continue to peg complex women as "crazy," "mad," etc. The bells were rung, the army had surrendered and... that pissed her off? That she won without shedding a single drop of blood? I just don't get it.

On the other hand there is Cersei. Dany goes cuckoo, The unsullied and Doth Raki MASSACRE EVERYONE, Dany levels the city and as she watches Cersei CONTINUES to believe she'll win! W...T...F? Was it Westero's Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Sure WWII would have ended anyway, but many say it would have dragged on for many more months and many more lives lost, vs the overt show of power from the bombs. I don't buy this 100%, but it is the only one that makes Dany's actions SOMEWHAT understandable.

The way Cersei and Jamie died was BS. Simply don't agree. Sure it was cute, the family that dies together, stays together, but just not satisfied with it.

The Clegenes is a different story, that was well done.

As to Last night's episode... Anticlimatic. I seriously just spent, what? 7? 8? seasons to realize I was watching The Giver this whole fucking time? UGH.

I'm serious. in Avengers Dr. Strange DOES THINGS! Bran does NOTHING, except stupidly stare knowingly at people. Why show us that he can warg at will and to anyone he wants, not just a familiar? Why show that he can time travel and not only visit, but manipulate the past and presumably future via the Hodor incident and the Night King being able to SEE and TOUCH him? Why build him up to be this powerful character and the only thing he does is, "See... told you so." Or "Psh, saw coming miles away, bruh." He's chosen king, because the showrunners read Plato's Republic? UGH.

Dany thought she ruled through fear a week ago, but here we are a week and very lame queen murder later and the unsullied are still claiming her, not Jon, the rightful queen. What the fuck was she afraid of then? Clearly Jon being the true heir mattered to NO ONE. And why the fuck are the Night's Watch back? The wall is broken, the dead are dead so what's there to watch? Is it just for diplomacy purposes between the rest of Westeros and the Wildlings and maybe the daughters from that dirty old fuck if they survived the army of the dead? UGH!!!!

Last note: I was watching it with Spanish subtitles and Westero's was translated as Poniente. Literally, West. I found it odd, because Westeros is a proper noun which are usually NOT translated, but kept as is. Think, Starbucks, Best Buy, Autozone. They don't automatically become Venados Estrella, Mejor Compra and Zona de Autos, just because they're doing business in Spanish speaking countries. So let's say Westeros is named "Westeros," because it is to the west of something... what is it to the west of? Arya wants to know what is west of Westeros, to that effect, what is to the north, south and east? Easteros? All I know is I hope she stocked up on lemons and limes to fight off scurvey.
 
Onhell said:
Is it just for diplomacy purposes between the rest of Westeros and the Wildlings and maybe the daughters from that dirty old fuck if they survived the army of the dead? UGH!!!!
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A border fortress that manages the relations to a semi-nomadic and warlike population through personnel that has gained their trust and admiration sounds like a pretty good strategy to me.
 
Cornfed Hick said:
If anyone expected a fairy-tale ending they haven't been paying attention.
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Isn't a fairy-tale ending exactly what we got though? Villains defeated, peace in the land, heroes all got a happy ending.

Onhell said:
Clearly Jon being the true heir mattered to NO ONE.
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Doubly true considering Varys wrote to the other Houses to tell them about Jon and nobody ever brought it up. His parentage kinda feels like a moot point now.
 
Edington said:
heroes all got a happy ending.
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Well, not all.
Dany's fate was certainly not happy, even if she kind of maybe deserved it, and Jon, the rightful heir to the throne, had to murder the woman he loved and spend the rest of his life in the Night's Watch. He understandably looked pretty grim about all of it. Even Arya's future was uncertain, though not unhappy.
 
One more gripe:

Why would Tyrion be left out of A Song of Ice and Fire? He comes from a major house, the Lannisters, falsely accused of murdering his king and nephew, a fugitive for killing his father, the patriarch of his house, and hand to the Mother of Dragons.... seriously? If it was meant as a joke it fell flat.
 
Cornfed Hick said:
Well, not all.
Dany's fate was certainly not happy, even if she kind of maybe deserved it, and Jon, the rightful heir to the throne, had to murder the woman he loved and spend the rest of his life in the Night's Watch. He understandably looked pretty grim about all of it. Even Arya's future was uncertain, though not unhappy.
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I actually was counting Dany among the villains in my post, even though I don't really count her as one that seems to be what the series wanted her to be. Jon may not have had the cheeriest ending, true, but to me it was good for him because he's back where he feels he belongs with his direwolf and one of his closest friends beside him.
 
Onhell, Jon did not end up in the Nights Watch. He went beyond the wall to live free. I didnt see many folk in black so I am not even sure the Watch is supposed to be back.
I am happy enough with the outcome. Gald Jon went north. Glad Arya went travelling. Glad Daenerys got stabbed. Wish Greyworm got the pointy, too.
 
I truly liked this episode and the way it all ended.
As Bran was chosen as king, it reminded me of Leibniz's "best of all possible worlds": "The claim that the actual world is the best of all possible worlds is the central argument in Leibniz's theodicy, or his attempt to solve the problem of evil. " (source: Wikipedia, but I recommend reading the book itself).

The moments I have liked best:
- the light atmosphere of the council (Tyrion arranging the chairs, Davos and Bronn bickering, Podrick having been made a Ser, his name having such a hick ring to it)
- Arya's decision to become an explorer and Maisie Williams's eyes in general
- "Uncle? Please sit."
- the fact that Daenerys was the last person to be killed on the show - I couldn't have stomached another murder after that
- of course, Jon reuniting with his direwolf! :)
- the final images of the children following Jon into the forest

Strangely, the idea of having the throne melted was a good one on paper, but at such, I wasn't that moved by the scene itself

As regards of Tyrion being left out of A Song of Ice and Fire: metaphorically speaking, Tyrion has never been one or the other element, but the catalyst that regularly allows the passage from one element to the other. Tyrion is the air that allows the song to exist... and possibly the "(h)and" in the title...
The things you say when you get carried away... ;)

Thanks to the authors, to the actors and to HBO.
 
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Niall Kielt said:
Onhell, Jon did not end up in the Nights Watch. He went beyond the wall to live free. I didnt see many folk in black so I am not even sure the Watch is supposed to be back.
I am happy enough with the outcome. Gald Jon went north. Glad Arya went travelling. Glad Daenerys got stabbed. Wish Greyworm got the pointy, too.
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Did we watch the same episode? That was literally his sentence.
 
Onhell said:
Did we watch the same episode? That was literally his sentence.
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Well when he walked into the forest with the free folk and a smile on his face, I dont think we were meant to assume that he would spend his days in the drudgery of Castle Black. He is free. Thats how I took it.
 
Night Prowler said:
Jon got fucked over badly...
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Did he? He looked quite content in the end. Keep in mind that he really didn't want the throne, he pretty much ended up where he felt he belonged all the time.
 
Niall Kielt said:
Well when he walked into the forest with the free folk and a smile on his face, I dont think we were meant to assume that he would spend his days in the drudgery of Castle Black. He is free. Thats how I took it.
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The Night's Watch routinely went beyond the wall to check things out. It all depends how we look at it, I suppose. Like most of the Night's Watch, he was sent there, again, as punishment. Him not seeing it that way and making the best of a shitty situation doesn't negate that fact. He has many benefits: He's in charge, for one. None of the major houses will bother him, in a way, like you said, he is free. But he's in the frigid north, well beyond winterfell and just like 50 degree heat, subzero temperatures are never pleasant, no matter how much people lie to themselves. Those at his charge definitely do NOT see their situation in the same light, so dealing with constant desent, like Lord Mormont before him and even himself which led to his stabbing, will be a daily struggle.
 
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