Game of Thrones (Season 7)

[number8]

I think the show's casting director might be a three eyed raven because they knew to look at Harrington and Clarke and say, "7 years from now, these two will finally get to have scenes together and they are gonna be sexual tsunami," and they nailed it.

That scene with them at the arena flirting... Damn my viewing party needed a mop.

[Ashley]

Well that was more like it. A few scattered thoughts:

- Nearly did an actual fistpump on my couch during the Littlefinger scene. God, the look on his face...I've been waiting seven seasons for someone to wipe away that smirk.

- Jaime finally grew a fucking spine! I want Tormund to be alive just so the two of them can talk about Brienne.

- I love that everyone was freaking out at the wight...except for Qyburn, who got all excited.

- No Cleganebowl. Reddit must be losing it.

- Tyrion is always at his best and most compelling (and as a result, so is Peter Dinklage) when he's with his family. That being said, it's hard to ignore how useless he's become as a player: every plan he's come up with in the last two seasons has ended in disaster. He of all people should have known better than to ever trust Cersei to act unselfishly.

- Uhh, did Rhaegar and Lyanna forget that he already had a son named Aegon?

- Having the big declaration of Jon's true lineage during the sex scene was kind of a hilariously bizarre choice.

- Speaking of Jon, two moments that struck me as significant tonight: him wondering why anyone would want to live in King's Landing (especially in comparison to the North) and him reassuring Theon that he can be both a Greyjoy and a Stark.


How the hell are they going to wrap this thing up in six episodes?

[Thirdmango]

I know a lot of people haven't loved this season but this may be my favorite season. Maybe I just like stories wrapping up.

[number8]

- Uhh, did Rhaegar and Lyanna forget that he already had a son named Aegon?

I was very confused by this.

[Grouchy]

The way the wall came down? The dragon was a last minute addition to the Night King's armamentarium. Exactly how was he planning to get past the wall before the dragon came along? Were they just marching and going to hope for the best?

I kind of accept the whole Night King's army thing as supernatural in a way that their strategy and its intrincancies don't really bother me anymore. But it makes sense to me - they couldn't get past the Wall until now that they have an ice-breathing dragon. Don't try to tell me it's blue fire, that's ice!

I also had a revolutionary nerd moment this week in which I realized the White Walkers got their chains from Hardhome, which was a fishing town.

And while the conversation was very satisfying, why exactly did Bran reveal Jon's big secret not to his sisters but instead to a guy he literally met a mere minutes earlier? I'm sure you could chalk it up to his psychic whatever, but that's not how the scene read to me.

They've met before!

[Grouchy]

- I love that everyone was freaking out at the wight...except for Qyburn, who got all excited.

I fucking loved that little detail, how he was going all Peter Cushing over it.

- Uhh, did Rhaegar and Lyanna forget that he already had a son named Aegon?

That's confusing me as well.

[Ezee E]

I was very confused by this.

Bran went to the wrong time period. lol.

That is weird though.

[amberlita]

They've met before!

Goddammit. I really wish I'd rewatched the series before this season started. Thanks for the refresh. In hindsight I think even their conversation hinted that they met before but there was some lingering chatter at my viewing party about how we all thought Jaime was toast and so it blew right past me.

[Irish]

- #BOATSEX, finally!

- Alternative method for getting over a wall: Basically, you create a ladder of people (or, barring that, a pile of corpses) that others can use to climb over the obstruction. Cf: the "World War Z" scene in the Middle East.

- My original fear was that Bran was going to be used as exposition boy -- a narrative card to play when any given character needs information they couldn't possibly get in a plausible way. This episode did that twice. I'd criticize this as being incredibly lame (because it is) but then they spent an inordinate amount of time setting him up to do exactly what he's doing.

- Cersei might have a point, but her plan won't work because of Bran. Limited communication is a feature of this world that creates the narrative potential for drama and tragedy. Bran's superpowers destroy that; as soon as Cersei makes a move or doesn't, Bran will know. (This was my other fear about how his powers could be misused by the writers.)

- If the Night King and his undead horde have been absent from the world to the point where they've reached mythical status, where have they been and what have they been doing? Were they just walking in circles around the Westero's North Pole all this time?

- The Army of the Dead thing is cool, I guess, but it takes "Game of Thrones" from a fantasical version of the the War of the Roses and turns it into just another zombie story. "Walking Dead" with sword and sorcery. On one level, blah. On another level, haha. All that super, Machiavellian shit every viewer was poring over for the last ~5 years means exactly jack in the face of 100,000 undead. (This is one part from GRRM that I really don't understand. Zombies kinda undercut the whole point of writing thousands of pages of soap opera.)

- ETA: What's the Westori word for "refugee"? Funny that it doesn't occur to any of the heads of state that thousands of people might suddenly run south en masse when faced with an approaching undead army. This is another part of Cersei's plan that doesn't work, or doesn't make sense: It hasn't occurred to her that Jon and Dany could force her to fight by kiting The Night King to King's Landing, the midlands, etc.

- I have an idea of how they'll wrap this up in ~6 episodes and if they do what I think they will do, I will laugh my ass off because it'll be super stupid. (Get ready for a happy ending in ~2 years.)

[Ezee E]

Laughed at Euron's initial, "NOPE," and thought he was sort of the smartest one at the moment, lol.

Of course it'll end happy. That's why I predicted it'll end in Winterfell with all the remaining Starks. (Prediction wise - Does Snow count as a Stark now? lol)

I figure the White Walkers get dealt with by the third or fourth episode, but from a production value, it'll certainly be worth it.

[Ezee E]

By the way, if you were the agent for Jon Snow, Dany, Cersei, Arya, Sansa or Tyrion... Shouldn't you ask for a record-breaking amount per episode next year at this point?

[Henry Gale]

By the way, if you were the agent for Jon Snow, Dany, Cersei, Arya, Sansa or Tyrion... Shouldn't you ask for a record-breaking amount per episode next year at this point?

Well those four and Coster-Waldau apparently renegotiated an upgrade to around $500,000 an episode for these last two seasons, which jumped to $1.1 million with a Hollywood Reporter article a month after, and then, depending on which reports you go by, there were reports about “complex bonus clauses” in those contracts for them that raised that number into $2.5 million-per-episode range.

So yes, they are doing fine. Potentially more so than anyone else in TV.

[Wryan]

Pretty great wrap-up, for the most part. The scene with Littlefinger had me shouting with joy, even if the setup to get there was a little strained--when Sansa seems to accuse Arya of murder and treason, the others in the hall would be forgiven for thinking, "Hold up...fuck's going on here?" And that dude from the Vale probably deserves an apology of some kind from Sansa about lying about Lysa's death. Seriously almost thought Jaime was a goner (again!). Knew that wall was coming down; don't know what to think about what could happen next season. Headey was pretty great these last few episodes, even tho I've never really loved her acting throughout this show. Spectacle and reversal of expectations are two things this show excels at, and they were out in force here. Props to Theon's one-man show, How We Think We'd Do in a Real Fight versus How We'd Actually Do (tho in reverse order).

P.S. For Blizzard fanboys, the last few moments of imagery must have been inescapably familiar. Still powerful, though.

[Wryan]

Also, their rush to cram everything in made the Bran/Sam scene pretty amusingly awkward.

"Hello, guy I haven't seen in several seasons."
"Hi. I'm here now."
"So you are. I haven't told my sisters this important plot point, but I'll tell you, I guess."
"Actually, I happen to know something about that very thing."
"How fortuitous! I can see everything, btw."
"But can you see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?"
"Oh shit, no. I should go back in time to find out....right now."

[Ezee E]

Littlefinger should've offed Bran while he was sleeping as his last contribution. Seems like he should've at least done something after that "chaos is a ladder" conversation

[Peng]

Ha ha ha, this show. Of course the in-world revelation that Jon and Dany are aunt and niece would be intercut with their sex scene.

After an underwhelming penultimate episode, a stellar finale (although not as good as last year). If next season's six episodes aren't of this one's length (or more) I'm going to be disappointed.

- I think it's for real that Cersei is pregnant. She doesn't want Tyrion to know during that conversation (constantly lording how she lost every child over him), but not drinking wine and clutching her stomach tip him off. Then again, since it's Cersei, maybe just not drinking wine would have been clue enough.

[Dukefrukem]

The baby thing will come back to haunt her because she wants a child so badly to carry on the Lanister name. So if it's true, Tyrion will use it to his advantage.

But honestly, at this point, with Jaime now have left King's Landing, the Greyjoys are the only ones who could do any damage to anything.

Also, super disappointed in not seeing any Mountain fights this season. But damn did they not setup the fight between brothers next season.

[Wryan]

Cersei's got a poor memory if she thinks Tyrion had more to do with Tommen's death than her own selfish power-trip shit.

[Spinal]

This season was my least favorite by a pretty wide margin. I'm very disappointed that the Jon-Daenerys thing actually happened. It's not fun or sexy or anything that's helpful to the story. It's off-putting and will probably keep this from being a series that I re-watch as I have in the past.

[Spinal]

Regarding the name Aegon, Rhaegar thinks his son will be The Prince That Was Promised. It makes sense he wants to name him after Aegon the Conquerer. If his previous marriage was annulled, then that son essentially doesn't matter.

[Dead & Messed Up]

My favorite part was when the Hound cut a killer wrestling promo in the middle of the arena.

[number8]

My favorite part was when the Hound cut a killer wrestling promo in the middle of the arena.

Oh shit, Houndertaker unretired. Watch out, CleKane.

[amberlita]

- Alternative method for getting over a wall: Basically, you create a ladder of people (or, barring that, a pile of corpses) that others can use to climb over the obstruction. Cf: the "World War Z" scene in the Middle East.

But didn't Uncle Benjen say something last season about the wall being more than just ice and stone and it having magical powers or something? Maybe he just meant that it's a big goddamn wall and it takes more than just a cold breeze to keep it standing but I assumed that meant you didn't some special magic to take it down (my friend Kim says the dragon could take it down because "dragons are inherently magical", which for some reason I found hysterical.

- Cersei might have a point, but her plan won't work because of Bran. Limited communication is a feature of this world that creates the narrative potential for drama and tragedy. Bran's superpowers destroy that; as soon as Cersei makes a move or doesn't, Bran will know. (This was my other fear about how his powers could be misused by the writers.)

I would agree with this if the writers could be relied upon for consistency in their mythology but I don't think they can, esp when it comes to Bran's powers. He sees some things but others it appears he has to be told to look.

- ETA: What's the Westori word for "refugee"?

Try "internally displaced person"

[amberlita]

Ha ha ha, this show. Of course the in-world revelation that Jon and Dany are aunt and niece would be intercut with their sex scene.

After an underwhelming penultimate episode, a stellar finale (although not as good as last year). If next season's six episodes aren't of this one's length (or more) I'm going to be disappointed.

- I think it's for real that Cersei is pregnant. She doesn't want Tyrion to know during that conversation (constantly lording how she lost every child over him), but not drinking wine and clutching her stomach tip him off. Then again, since it's Cersei, maybe just not drinking wine would have been clue enough.

It's doubtful the Citadel scrolls have documentation about fetal alcohol syndrome.

[number8]

It's doubtful the Citadel scrolls have documentation about fetal alcohol syndrome.

Yeah, I think the shot of her eyeing the wine Tyrion gave her and deciding to not drink it is more about her remembering Joffrey.

But it does adhere to that trope anyway, and I find this kind of thing amusing, how quickly discoveries get adopted as common knowledge and then applied retroactively even to time before (nowadays when you see pregnant women drinking in pop culture it's usually meant to be a winking joke), given how it's only been, what, 40 years since that concept is introduced to the public?