Not much left to say re: The Iron Throne…

I’m emotionally drained from the anticipation and trepidation leading up to Sunday night, and the subsequent depression that’s set in.  It wasn’t the ending so much as how the show got there that troubles me.  It was far too rushed and all nuance was left out of it.

The murder of Daenerys could have been a much stronger scene but instead it was rushed so we had more time to see Tyrion moving chairs around?

The special effects and the cinematography were exceptional, as was the acting, considering the drivel provided as dialogure.  It’s now crystal clear to me that the producers were ready to be done with this series and this final season reflected that.

I’m still grateful to all involved for 6 seasons of outstanding television (I didn’t love season 7 either).  I’m glad Sansa and Tyrion made out ok but the Bran as king ending is nonsensical.

I have to go back and review my notes but I think I lost my dead pool 9-7.  What else is new, FE always wins everything!

I’ll be revamping my entire blog into a cohesive website soon, to feature additional content, especially now that GOT is over.  Happy watching!

My thoughts on “The Bells”…

Let me start out by saying – it was a hell of a lot better than last week!  Visually, this episode was a stunner and the special effects were better than most movies.  I love where the story has gone but it has just gone too fast to make sense in terms of what these characters would actually do based on their behavior in 7 prior seasons.  However, I’m willing to overlook it since there’s only one episode left of what is my second favorite drama series of all time (The Wire is the first) and it’s brought me a lot of joy over the years.

The disservice that’s been done to Daenerys’ character is a shame.  I love the “turn” and seeing her go rogue but the writing just didn’t support her doing this so soon.  It would have made more sense for her to find Cersei, burn her, and perhaps burn down the red keep once it was safely evacuated.  Are we supposed to believe that her genetics caused this, or was it the bells, or was it being dissed and dismissed by Jon Snow?  (side note – don’t men know how to take one for the team?  Women fake relationships all the time for the greater good but Jon Snow is too Ned Stark-like for his own good).

I loved the goodbye scene between Tyrion and Jaime.  Scenes like that are what this show has always been about for me.  It was clear that Jaime was riding to his death due to his own self-loathing, but I needed some closure on his relationship with Tyrion, especially since D2 screwed up his interplay with Brienne.

I’l say it again – this final season should have been 10 – 12 episodes in order to develop all that these characters have actually done.  The appeal of this show has always been a slow burn in character development that resulted in big payoffs later (see Littlefinger pushing Lysa out of the moondoor after she acknowledged that she poisoned her husband for him).  We’ve lost those moments in the rush to get the show done in 6 episodes.

However, like I said above, I’m willing to dispense with that now since the show is ending and I want to enjoy the last 120 minutes without the nagging little voices in my head telling me how incredible the characters’ behavior might be.

I truly have no idea how it will end but I’m going with either Tyrion or Sansa killing Dany, and Sansa ends up on the throne.  Jon Snow dies but I’m not sure how (perhaps by Dany via Grey Worm?).

I don’t want nor do I expect a happy ending.  I always loved GOT because it was willing to do the unpredictable and unpopular (see Ned Stark, beheading).  I hope it is something totally unexpected.

There are some theories online that the Night King may return, or that there are more dragons somewhere, but I don’t think there’s enough time for that.  I also would love to know what Bran’s purpose is since he seems to do nothing except look emo.  Maybe we’ll find out next week?

No good thoughts on the “The Last of the Starks”

I debated all week whether to post anything at all about the latest episode.  I disliked it even more on a second viewing, thus my conundrum.  It’s clear to me that D2 rushed to finish this season and didn’t allow ample time to wrap up storylines in a way that makes sense.

In addition, the writing continues to go downhill.  I’m holding out hope that the final two episodes will redeem the season but 160 minutes isn’t a lot of time to achieve that.

Here are a few random thoughts:

1.Why didn’t Cersei kill Tyrion?  It’s totally unbelievable that she wouldn’t have taken the opportunity to get rid of him when she had the chance.  This was clearly a fan service choice as opposed to a rational one.

2.Why didn’t someone in Daenerys’ camp scout out Dragonstone before the entire army and the dragons arrived?  I’m not in the military but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that would have been a good idea.

3.What happened to Varys’ little birds?  Shouldn’t he have had some intel on the ambush before it happened?  Unless perhaps he was behind it, which I suppose is a possibility.

4.Is anyone going to acknowledge that Daenerys granting Gendry a lordship was done only in her own self-interest, to keep him from challenging her for the throne?

5.I can’t believe that Tormund, Sam, and Ghost are gone.  That lameass goodbye was a fake out.  I have to believe that they will end up at King’s Landing to save Jon Snow’s ass (again).

6.Anyone who thinks that “Starbucks” cup wasn’t left there on purpose, should have her head examined.

That’s all for now.  I’ll wish you a happy game of thrones eve and let’s hope for 2 kickass episodes!

Total 180 – My thoughts on The Long Night

Total 180 from last week!  GOT redeemed!  Those are the headlines.  I apologize for the delay in posting but I had to digest, vomit, digest again, discuss, sleep on it, and rewatch in order to gather my thoughts for you.  This was definitely a fan service episode but I don’t care – this fan got served lol.

Instead of a recap or a critique, here are my questions and random thoughts:

1.Why did the dragon fire not kill the Night King?  Was he a Taergaryen?  Could he only be killed by dragonglass or Valerian steel?  If he was a Taergaryen will that be relevant in future?

2.Why didn’t Jon and Dany use the dragons to annihilate all of the wights in front of the trench once it started to go out?

3.Was the undead dragon’s blue stuff fire or something else?  Ice?  What were its destructive properties?

4.Is Arya Azor Ahai?  Does it matter?  It’s definitely not Dany or Jon Snow since they were completely ineffective in this battle.

5.Did the Night King actually smirk after Dany tried to kill him?  If so, that was awesome!

6.Why didn’t Melisandre age and die the last time we saw her remove her choker like she did in this episode?  If I picked up the choker and wore it can I look like Carice Van Houten and have her powers?

7.Why wasn’t Sam in the crypt?  He was useless in battle and actually got his friend killed.  Also, didn’t he read something in all his Citadel books that could have helped?

8.Why did the Dothraki charge instead of waiting for the wights to charge?

9.Why was Bran totally and utterly useless in every way?  When, if ever, will he be relevant?

10.How did Arya get past all of those wights and White Walkers to get to the Night King?  Did she use another face or simple ninja technique?

So far, I’m losing the dead pool to fellow reader 4-2, but I still have three weeks to left.  FR never loses anything so it will be tough to beat him.  I also admit that my theory about the Night King and Dany was dead wrong but at least I admit my mistakes 🙂

 

 

We need to talk about Game of Thrones…

And not in a good way.  This is in a “I’m preparing to break up with you and this is the standard intro for it”.  I am not at all happy with last night’s episode.  I thought it was lazy, condescending, and geared to the lowest common denominator of viewers.

Don’t get me wrong – I loved the interaction between Jorah and Lyanna, and the knighting of Brienne – but it was all too Days of Our Lives, which is not why I watch GOT.  I also thought the writing was poor and had none of the nuance we’ve come to expect over 8 seasons.

I’m hoping this was a one off since I understand a lot of loose ends had to be tied up before a lot of these characters die over the next two weeks.  The episode just felt all wrong to me.

And attention producers – there is ZERO chemistry between Jon Snow and Daenerys!  I don’t care if they break up and I’m actually hoping they kill each other at this point.

OK, I’m done venting for now.  I may be alone in this review but I doubt it.

My thoughts on Winterfell (spoilers ahead)

I have to say I was really impressed by last night’s episode.  I know it was a lot of table setting but to me, it was necessary to do that.  It also brought about a number of reunions I couldn’t wait to see.

My favorite was the Bran and Jaime reunion, which harkened back to the premiere episode back in season 1.  It’s easy to forget who hasn’t interacted with the sheer number of characters and storylines over 8 seasons.  I can’t remember if Bran ever told anyone who pushed him out of the window, or not.  The question is whether the game of thrones would have ever started if not for that event.

I also loved the changes to the opening credits.  One has to think that the crypt at Winterfell will play an important role (hint hint Ned Stark as a wight) since D2 took such pains to show it in the opening.

The opening scene was also a callback to the premiere 8 years ago, with a plethora of characters converging on Winterfell, while Arya watches from the crowd.  I have a nagging feeling that these callbacks are relevant to what will ultimately happen this season but I can’t put my finger on it yet.

The Jon/Sam reveal was well done.  The question is whether Jon and/or Sam will tell anyone else, and if so, how.  One of my fellow readers’ co-watcher thinks that Jon will end up killing Daenerys, which is a distinct possibility.  It could be because she’s drunk with power, or possibly due to the forbidden (?) relationship.

I’m happy to say that my death pool is still intact, primarily because none of the characters on it died.  I doubt that will hold for next week.

I thought that the King’s Landing scenes were boring and unnecessary, but I suppose D2 had to throw them in there.  Perhaps they’ll be important next week?

Happy Blogaversary!

So it’s been four years today since I started this blog.  You may recall that my initial inspiration was Game of Thrones.  Since GOT is ending this year, I’ll be focusing more on books, eating, and just general topics.

I’ll admit I’ve been remiss the past few months in posting regularly, but I firmly believe that if I don’t have something interesting to say, I shouldn’t post just to post.

Thanks for reading and most importantly, happy Game of Thrones day!

Game of Thrones Dead Pool 2019

I’ve been up all weekend considering my dead pool picks for the final season of Game of Thrones.  I decided not to use strategy necessarily, but just to go with my gut.  I’ll of course revisit in 6 weeks:

Daenerys alive (see below)

Jon Snow dead

Bran alive (unfortunately)

Arya dead

Sansa alive (see below)

Samwell alive

Brienne alive

Hound dead

Gregor Clegane dead

Cersei dead

Jaime Lannister alive

Tyrion alive

Night King alive

Gendry alive

Varys dead

Davos alive (not sure on this one)

Bronn alive

Melisandre dead

Yara Greyjoy dead

Euron Greyjoy dead

Theon Greyjoy alive

Jorah Mormont dead

Podrick Payne dead

Tormund dead

Bonus questions – who kills the Night King (if he gets killed) – He doesn’t get killed, Daenerys negotiates a truce between NK and Sansa Stark and returns north of the wall with him as his queen with her ice dragons

Who holds the Iron Throne at the end – Sansa Stark

Is Daenerys pregnant – no

Happy Game of Thrones day!

 

I still prefer a moondoor…

So now we have an ice dragon.  I have to say it – this was totally predictable and thus quite the deviation for D2.  Query – does it breathe fire or ice?

I don’t have much to say about this episode.  Quite frankly, I was bored.  I actually wanted it to end at 10 pm.  The Arya/Sansa dynamic can’t even be classified as a dynamic, it’s that boring.  It’s clear that Petyr is trying to play them off of each other but aren’t they too smart for that?  Perhaps they are, and this viewer is missing something.  Was Arya posing as Brienne so she can go to King’s Landing in disguise and kill Cersei?  As you can tell, I’m not only bored but also confused.

The battle scenes beyond the wall were disappointing.  I couldn’t even tell who was fighting, or who was killed.  The dragon stuff was cool, as usual, but the special effects didn’t make up for the poor dialogue and storytelling here.

I’m hoping this was a one off and the show will be back to form this week.

My thoughts on #thespoilsofwar and #ripolenna

Wow, sorry readers.  I just realized I was so jammed up last week that I didn’t get to post on the passing of one of my favorite characters, The Queen of Thorns.  May she rest in peace.  “The Queen’s Justice” was a great episode, but this week’s was even better.  We finally got to see some real dragon ass-kicking.

I’ll admit I was disappointed by the Jaime death fake out, which seemed a bit cheap considering the usual high quality of this show.  As FW pointed out, D2 would have made it crystal clear if the hottest knight in Westeros was really dead (“hottest knight” being my phrase, not his).  FW also has a theory, which I think is plausible, that Jaime has to stick around so that we believe he killed Cersei, when in fact the killer is Arya, disguised as Jaime.  Did you get all that?

I enjoyed the Jon Snow/Theon reunion if only because all the worlds are coming full circle now and colliding.  I presume they’ll band together to defeat Euron and save Yara, but since that is an easily-predicted theory, I’m probably wrong.

I feel like the show is really building us up for a spectacular Cersei fall/death.  I may have more thoughts on this episode once I rewatch it this week.