Game of Thrones VIII

[TheDMC]

The scene with dondarrion didn’t make sense to me, well from what I could actually see anyway, he blocked the hall so the others could get away and then he was somehow first through the door?

Good spot. I noticed that too, spreadeagled blocking the door getting stabbed repeatedly. Nex minut...

 

[TheDMC]

Red Woman made the episode, I would do nasty things to that lady.

Sicko.

 

[TheDMC]

Bruh... Theon was surrounded by wights, the NK and his dudes, and no one f**king else, it was widely expressed at the pre-battle plan that the aim was to kill the NK, which would end it all.... he was 1 vs an army and had a direct line at the NK, it made perfect sense that despite the odds, he shot his shot.
What else you gonna do? Stand there by Bran's side and wait for the f**king army to just snuff you out?

You could have some complaints about the ep, but the idea of Theon charging the NK 1 v 10,000 and just having his "f**k it, i ran from Euron but not this time" moment, was actually fine, and logically it was literally his best shot at survival

That is a f**king dumb complaint to have. haha

I hate to remotely agree with whatsisname, but old mate Bran could have at least tried to save Theon from a futile death. "Theon. Thanks bro your a champ, but I've got it from here. Go chill out behind the weir wood."

 

[Rhino_NQ]

i want to see cersei get her face bitten off by ghost

 

[TheDMC]

i want to see cersei get naked and then her face bitten off by ghost

Edited.

 

[Walt Flanigan]

I was using Foxtel Go and throwing it to my ~5 year old TV via Chromecast. I have to say, I didn't really have any issues with the picture. It was dark, sure, but it didn't phase me or my wife.

Ah ok. Maybe the stream was better than the satellite broadcast

 

[Gentle Herpes]

That was some fun, dumb shit to watch. So many tense or exciting moments, but most of it made f**k all sense.

Hopefully next episode either the plot armour wears off of a few more main characters, or they get put in fewer situations by the writers where it doesn't make sense for them to survive.

 

[Apey]

She’s been training as an assassin for years, building Jon up as the NK killer but having Arya do it is very GoT.

What exactly do you think she has been training for the last 4 seasons ?

I think her killing the NK fits the narrative perfectly

It's what she has been destined to do from way back in the first season eg what do we tell death ?

The NK is death

It was right in front of our eyes the whole time

First things first, the Night King doesn't exist in the books, so whoever was going to kill him wasn't going to be something decided by GRRM. The showrunners stated in Behind the Episode that they chose Arya because people wouldn't expect it... So my point was that Arya doesn't fit thematically to be the one to kill the Night King.

It's interesting that people run with small remarks like 'What do we tell death?' as some kind of evidence of her destiny yet leave out what really kick-started Arya's story; watching her father be beheaded by his enemies. Her story is not about becoming a bad-ass assassin for the sake of being a bad-ass assassin. It's about reaching a point where she can inflict revenge and justice upon the people who have hurt her and the people she cared about:

Meryn Trant - Syrio Forel
Walder Frey - Robb & Catelyn
Joffrey/Littlefinger - Ned (beaten to Joffrey)

Okay, so there is her Faceless Men storyline, but that storyline concludes with her saying this:

Jaqen h'ghar: Finally, a girl is no one.
Arya Stark: A girl is Arya Stark of Winterfell, and I'm going home.

That storyline was about her being reminded of who she really is. She is not some faceless assassin. She is Arya Stark, and with that comes her grievances and enemies. Her enemies, listed above, is what she has trained for.

I understand there is a lot of references to the faceless God and Death during this plot. However I don't agree that Death = Dead/Night King, I think they are different concepts. Death is something that is coming for everyone and The Faceless Men/Arya is trained in dealing it out and avoiding it (looking at Death in the face and saying not today etc). This is where I think D&D just conflated the two ideas and got it wrong.

The tl;dr is that Arya's arc is about exacting revenge on those who hurt her. Not being the hero. D&D basically confirmed they just made this up; so in my opinion they don't understand her character.

So, who instead?

1) Jon Snow. Yeah, it may have been painfully obvious, but including twists for the sake of twists and to shock the audience is not good writing. His entire story and arc lead to this moment. So what purpose does he serve now? Why would he give a flying f**k who sits on the Iron Throne? I guess you could argue because he loves Dany, but if they reduce Jon Snow from hero to loved up pawn then put Jon Snow down as another character they don't understand.

2) Jaime Lannister. The Kingslayer. Why? Well, what was the point of him riding North if not to be a hero? Jon etc sacrificed a dragon and men to gain Jaime Lannister in Season 7 (that's all he got from taking a wight to King's Landing) and he essentially did nothing. Jaime's redemption arc is well-documented, as his ongoing battle with honour and doing the right thing. There are the empty pages in his Kingsguard entry regarding his heroic deeds. Him killing the Night King would have been the perfect completion of his redemption story and would have transformed Kingslayer, an insult he received prior to redemption, to something heroic post-redemption arc.

Instead, we got Arya killing him, because Arya is cool and a bad-ass and is cool and I guess the Night King was on her list or something. Ugh.

 

[greenBV4]

The big twist IMO is that Bran had a plan all along. He set a perfect trap for the night king, coldly sacrificing thousands of men and loved ones in order to get him in the exact place he needed him to be. He armed Arya with the weapon that killed him.

Can Bran see the future like they can the past?

Spoiler: Kind-off, maybe an Endgame spoiler

So Bran is basically Doctor Strange and looked to the future to then place everything in the right spot for them to succeed

 

[Walt Flanigan]

Can Bran see the future like they can the past?

Looks like it. He definitely knew the series of events that needed to take place. Even if it was at the expense of thousands.

I’ll ignore the End Game reference, haven’t seen it yet lol

 

[Apey]

She also snuck up in Jon when it was dead quiet in the godswood surrounded by snow, same spot she killed the NK

It’s not a stretch she can do the same to the NK in the middle of a war, especially when we see her sneak around the wights in the library earlier in the episode

I actually think she was just hiding in the tree and waiting for the right moment
We see her fluid movements with the Valyrian steel dagger when she was fighting Briene last season

I don't particularly mind how she did it because to be blunt it's a TV show where the suspension of disbelief has already been required on multiple occasions.

Still, the wights in the library couldn't hear her footsteps but one could supposedly hear her blood drip onto the floor. So they weren't exactly consistent. Doesn't matter how light on your feet you are, you're louder than a blood drop.

I think I would have preferred our other heroes to be fighting the White Walkers and Arya sneak past them. That alone would have put to bed any arguments about how realistic it was.

 

[adamkungl]

I shouldn't have raised the circumstances of the Arya kill because it overshadows the larger point,
That NK falling so easily trashes 8 seasons of build up and leaves multiple story arcs unresolved or resolved in the most slapdash, roundabout way possible

 

[Walt Flanigan]

That NK falling so easily trashes 8 seasons of build up

For some

 

[Walt Flanigan]

Still, the wights in the library couldn't hear her footsteps but one could supposedly hear her blood drip onto the floor. So they weren't exactly consistent. Doesn't matter how light on your feet you are, you're louder than a blood drop.

Well I think the whole point was to show that she can move that quietly. You’d think footsteps in the snow would be fairly audible with no other sound around but they made a point of her sneaking up on Jon too. We’ve seen what Jaqen H’ghar was capable of and that’s who trained her.

 

[greenBV4]

I agree it's weird that the army of the dead is completely gone with 3 episodes still left, but they were already past the wall and despite them moving super slowly all series, it wouldn't have made much sense to hold off on the battle.

1v1 with Jon? I think that would be worse, Jon's a good fighter but shouldn't be that good, he barely beat that other walker at hardhome

At least with Arya killing him, it was a sneak attack, that failed, and then a skillful knife drop (that she had practiced) that caught him by surprise

Only way I'd change it would be for Arya to make the kill while Jon and NK were fighting (with Jon losing), but even then I doubt the NK would take him on 1v1 with all those other walkers around him, he isn't "honorable", he had a chance to fight Jon and rose all the dead to fight him instead

 

[greenBV4]

Well I think the whole point was to show that she can move that quietly. You’d think footsteps in the snow would be fairly audible with no other sound around but they made a point of her sneaking up on Jon too. We’ve seen what Jaqen H’ghar was capable of and that’s who trained her.

This is a show where she can wear other peoples faces - and we are all hung up over the fact she walk silently?

 

[Tommy Smith]

I feel like Jon needed to have a major hand in the NKs death; and preferrably have died in the process.

Why?

Because of the massive resurrection plotline, courtesy of Melissandre. Remember that? That whole story arc now seems redundant.

I know Jon had a major hand in gathering the armies in the North which was obviously crucial; but I feel as though his personal story had to end with a confrontation with the Night King.

He didn't even have to get the kill. That could've been GoTs curveball.

Perhaps a heroic self sacrifice to give Arya the opportunity to get the NK kill would have worked.

He could've somehow summoned Drogon in an ode to his Targaryen bloodline which would have satisfied that storyline. And he could have landed Drogon between the NK and Bran then fight nobly and die but in doing so give Arya the time and an opening to kill the NK.

I'm just brainstorming here lol

But I just now feel as though Jon has no business going south. And more than that I feel as though the GoT creators are in danger of pussying out.

Still a great episode though.

 

[Walt Flanigan]

But I just now feel as though Jon has no business going south.

He was heavily involved with all things Night King but his fate is also linked to the Iron Throne after finding out who he really is. Sorting that out with Dany should be interesting. Going by the preview she still looks very much in charge but her army got f*cking ruined.

 

[Rhino_NQ]

For the night is dark and full of something I can't quite make out what it is

 

[bad boy bubby]

I feel like Jon needed to have a major hand in the NKs death; and preferrably have died in the process.

Why?

Because of the massive resurrection plotline, courtesy of Melissandre. Remember that? That whole story arc now seems redundant.

I know Jon had a major hand in gathering the armies in the North which was obviously crucial; but I feel as though his personal story had to end with a confrontation with the Night King.

He didn't even have to get the kill. That could've been GoTs curveball.

Perhaps a heroic self sacrifice to give Arya the opportunity to get the NK kill would have worked.

He could've somehow summoned Drogon in an ode to his Targaryen bloodline which would have satisfied that storyline. And he could have landed Drogon between the NK and Bran then fight nobly and die but in doing so give Arya the time and an opening to kill the NK.

I'm just brainstorming here lol

But I just now feel as though Jon has no business going south. And more than that I feel as though the GoT creators are in danger of pussying out.

Still a great episode though.

Pretty much my thoughts as well.
I can only guess that they have something else big installed for him. And yes the obvious is right there but I don't know about that either.
We'll see.