Winter Is Coming...The Game of Thrones Thread *spoilers*

[Merlin1958]

This review perfectly encapsulates my frustrations:

There's no catharsis or payoff in anything that happened in "The Long Night." Yes, it was cool to see Jon and Dany tearing through the sky on their dragons laying waste to the army of the dead with massive gouts of flame. But this episode felt weirdly self-contained, like everything that's happened leading up to it didn't matter. Every fan theory I've seen about the battle with the dead--whether it's a theory from the books 20 years ago or from Reddit last week--is immeasurably more interesting than what actually happened.

One of my favorites until now was that the Night King wouldn't actually show up at this battle--that the attack on Winterfell was a feint, and he was flying to King's Landing to roast Cersei on her throne. There was a ton of evidence for it, but it still would have been a shock. And even better, it would have fit that ultimate series theme--that the fight for the throne was a petty squabble, and the people who failed to see the big picture (i.e. Cersei) would pay a price for it. Instead, the Night King took the bait at Winterfell and died like an idiot. He took his entire race with him, and we never learned anything about them besides "White Walkers=bad."

There are so, so many things that will just never be paid off now. Dany unified the Dothraki tribes and brought them to Westeros so they could die, one and all, in a single ill-conceived charge (seriously, what was the strategy there?). What was the point of Melisandre's entire storyline--the Lord of Light, the resurrections, the Prince that was Promised? Was it really all so she could light some swords on fire and tell Arya to go stab a dude?

Even within the confines of this episode's story--Night King is just a dumb Big Bad Guy after all, he comes to Winterfell, he gets killed--there are endless more rewarding ways it could have gone down. Remember when Dany magically survived Khal Drogo's funeral pyre in Season 1? Now imagine Jon hadn't told Dany about his true identity last season, and instead she had realized there was more to him than she thought when he stepped into her dragonfire, unharmed, and stabbed the Night King in the back. Or it's Arya--but instead of nonsensically jumping onto the Night King's back, she employs her Faceless Men magic to pose as Bran. Bran stabs the Night King, removes his face, bam, it's Arya.

That's payoff. This was boring.

Gamespot Review

They make a lot of good points.

To me it substantiates that AT&T just wanted to wrap it up and move on. Why? I haven't a clue except that they have no idea what to do about content, but somehow feel they really do!!! LOL AT&T has been a Mega-Monopoly for so long it has forgotten how to actually go out and earn a living!!! lol

[Shannon]

This review perfectly encapsulates my frustrations:

There's no catharsis or payoff in anything that happened in "The Long Night." Yes, it was cool to see Jon and Dany tearing through the sky on their dragons laying waste to the army of the dead with massive gouts of flame. But this episode felt weirdly self-contained, like everything that's happened leading up to it didn't matter. Every fan theory I've seen about the battle with the dead--whether it's a theory from the books 20 years ago or from Reddit last week--is immeasurably more interesting than what actually happened.

One of my favorites until now was that the Night King wouldn't actually show up at this battle--that the attack on Winterfell was a feint, and he was flying to King's Landing to roast Cersei on her throne. There was a ton of evidence for it, but it still would have been a shock. And even better, it would have fit that ultimate series theme--that the fight for the throne was a petty squabble, and the people who failed to see the big picture (i.e. Cersei) would pay a price for it. Instead, the Night King took the bait at Winterfell and died like an idiot. He took his entire race with him, and we never learned anything about them besides "White Walkers=bad."

There are so, so many things that will just never be paid off now. Dany unified the Dothraki tribes and brought them to Westeros so they could die, one and all, in a single ill-conceived charge (seriously, what was the strategy there?). What was the point of Melisandre's entire storyline--the Lord of Light, the resurrections, the Prince that was Promised? Was it really all so she could light some swords on fire and tell Arya to go stab a dude?

Even within the confines of this episode's story--Night King is just a dumb Big Bad Guy after all, he comes to Winterfell, he gets killed--there are endless more rewarding ways it could have gone down. Remember when Dany magically survived Khal Drogo's funeral pyre in Season 1? Now imagine Jon hadn't told Dany about his true identity last season, and instead she had realized there was more to him than she thought when he stepped into her dragonfire, unharmed, and stabbed the Night King in the back. Or it's Arya--but instead of nonsensically jumping onto the Night King's back, she employs her Faceless Men magic to pose as Bran. Bran stabs the Night King, removes his face, bam, it's Arya.

That's payoff. This was boring.

Gamespot Review

My theory all along has been that the endgame will be a final fight between Jon and Dany, in the throne room, surrounded by fire.

In addition to Jamie killing Cersei, only to be revealed that it's Arya using Jamie's face.

Those two images have been in my head for the longest time, and BECAUSE the images in the Gamespot review haven't been used yet, it leads me to believe I might just be right.

[allasorte]

This review perfectly encapsulates my frustrations:

There's no catharsis or payoff in anything that happened in "The Long Night." Yes, it was cool to see Jon and Dany tearing through the sky on their dragons laying waste to the army of the dead with massive gouts of flame. But this episode felt weirdly self-contained, like everything that's happened leading up to it didn't matter. Every fan theory I've seen about the battle with the dead--whether it's a theory from the books 20 years ago or from Reddit last week--is immeasurably more interesting than what actually happened.

One of my favorites until now was that the Night King wouldn't actually show up at this battle--that the attack on Winterfell was a feint, and he was flying to King's Landing to roast Cersei on her throne. There was a ton of evidence for it, but it still would have been a shock. And even better, it would have fit that ultimate series theme--that the fight for the throne was a petty squabble, and the people who failed to see the big picture (i.e. Cersei) would pay a price for it. Instead, the Night King took the bait at Winterfell and died like an idiot. He took his entire race with him, and we never learned anything about them besides "White Walkers=bad."

There are so, so many things that will just never be paid off now. Dany unified the Dothraki tribes and brought them to Westeros so they could die, one and all, in a single ill-conceived charge (seriously, what was the strategy there?). What was the point of Melisandre's entire storyline--the Lord of Light, the resurrections, the Prince that was Promised? Was it really all so she could light some swords on fire and tell Arya to go stab a dude?

Even within the confines of this episode's story--Night King is just a dumb Big Bad Guy after all, he comes to Winterfell, he gets killed--there are endless more rewarding ways it could have gone down. Remember when Dany magically survived Khal Drogo's funeral pyre in Season 1? Now imagine Jon hadn't told Dany about his true identity last season, and instead she had realized there was more to him than she thought when he stepped into her dragonfire, unharmed, and stabbed the Night King in the back. Or it's Arya--but instead of nonsensically jumping onto the Night King's back, she employs her Faceless Men magic to pose as Bran. Bran stabs the Night King, removes his face, bam, it's Arya.

That's payoff. This was boring.

Gamespot Review

All the build up with what the NK wants, the Melisandre preaching and predictions from her, the "who is the prince/princess that is promised" for the long night, and the book plots and hints have all gone away with this episode's ending. Though I enjoyed the episode, D&D have no way of rectifying all that story line and fixing what they broke. This is why Martin should be ashamed of himself for his laziness of not finishing his books so that the TV writers had real solid plots to create the book's story.


One thing the show kills me one is when characters always bring up "the battle of the bastards." I feel that is D&D's written path and not the books. I hate when it is referenced. Why not "the battle for Winterfell?"

[Lookwhoitis]

Arya IS Azor Ahai, the PrinceSS who was promised

[Lookwhoitis]

I loved the episode and was very viscerally affected by the dark lighting scheme. I felt it had a lot to do with putting you in the battle.

Although I was extremely entertained by watching episode 3, I am even more entertained by all the people whingeing that they didnt like it!

Fukkin Haters!

[allasorte]

I loved the episode and was very viscerally affected by the dark lighting scheme. I felt it had a lot to do with putting you in the battle.

Although I was extremely entertaining by watching episode 3, I am even more entertained by all the people whingeing that they didnt like it!

Fukkin Haters!

I really liked it, but don't like how the "dead" were cast away, how the Dothraki were tossed aside, how all the buildup lead to this ending. Fernandito's article post was dead on.

[Kingfan24]

Arya IS Azor Ahai, the PrinceSS who was promised

Weak writing. It is known.

[Still Servant]

I'm shocked by all the backlash, honestly.

I thought Arya getting to kill the Night King was great. Wanting to see Jon v. Night King is natural, but Game of Thrones has always thrown curveballs when it comes to fantasy tropes. If they were sticking to the norm, Ned Stark would be the one throwing down with the Night King.

As I mentioned before, I was also annoyed by the dark fight, but my only theory is they didn't want to give us two epic day battles. I'm assuming the battle against Cersei will be during the day. It makes sense to make the two battles look differently.

I think you all just got your expectations up too high. I suppose the silver lining is we still have another big battle left.

We had our expectations too high for a battle that we knew was coming since season 1 episode 1? And show runners still failed? Call me crazy but for arguably the biggest show in history it felt rushed, cheap and unfulfilling.

Exactly! We knew the battle was coming since season 1, episode 1, or for us book readers, chapter 1 all those years ago. For some, that equates to almost 20 years. Of course are expectations were super high.

I'm fine admitting when my expectations were too high, but that's not the case here.

I just wanted what had been promised to us for many seasons now. Every encounter between Jon and NK seemed to be building toward a crescendo. I expected that to pay off somehow, even a 2 minute sword fight might have done it.

All that build up, prophesizing, resurrecting, and for what? Nothing. Jon was the only character that willingly put his life and reputation at stake to thwart the WW from minute 1 and it was Arya - someone who hadn't even SEEN the NK - that took him down.

Just because something is unexpected doesn't mean it's good. What a waste.

That's fair. We should have seen a Jon Snow v. Night King duel. No doubt about it. They should have had an epic sword fight, Jon looks like he's about to finish him off and then the NK raises the dead and slinks off. I think that alone would have satisfied most people.

Honestly, I feel like an episode like this should have been stretched across 2 episodes. Why they decided to make the season 6 episodes will never make sense to me. You can't tell me they couldn't have squeezed out another episode just from the Battle of Winterfell.

[fernandito]

So Emilia Clarke said on Jimmy Kimmel Live that Episode 5 is even bigger than last week's episode. I wonder what kind of mind bending surprises we're in for this week.

Maybe Hot Pie will bake a secret pie with poison in it and have Cersei eat it, ending the war and winning the Iron Throne before a single sword is raised.

Wouldn't that be unexpected

[allasorte]

So Emilia Clarke said on Jimmy Kimmel Live that Episode 5 is even bigger than last week's episode. I wonder what kind of mind bending surprises we're in for this week.

Maybe Hot Pie will bake a secret pie with poison in it and have Cersei eat it, ending the war and winning the Iron Throne before a single sword is raised.

Wouldn't that be unexpected

So you are saying the prophecy we have been tricked into believing was even spoken wrong? It was the pie that was promised? Why the fuck not.

[fernandito]

Azor APie.

[Lookwhoitis]

I'm just glad I got to see the red witch nekkid one last time...

[fernandito]

The following 3 questions were asked to D&D last night on Jimmy Kimmel. And this is how they answered:

3. Will someone take the Iron Throne? "Possibly."

2. Did Bran know that Arya was going to kill the Night King? "Possibly."

1. Have we seen the last of the White Walkers? "Yeah, we're not going to answer that."

Link

[Merlin1958]

The following 3 questions were asked to D&D last night on Jimmy Kimmel. And this is how they answered:

3. Will someone take the Iron Throne? "Possibly."

2. Did Bran know that Arya was going to kill the Night King? "Possibly."

1. Have we seen the last of the White Walkers? "Yeah, we're not going to answer that."

Link

Informative. lol lol

[Still Servant]

I'm just glad I got to see the red witch nekkid one last time...

This is something we can all agree on.

[Merlin1958]

Any predictions out there for this evenings episode?

[willybusmc]

Any predictions out there for this evenings episode?

Arya for the Iron Throne is all I've got.

[Merlin1958]

Any predictions out there for this evenings episode?

Arya for the Iron Throne is all I've got.

I gotta figure, Dani for the Iron Throne (for TV).


I don't see her making it to the throne if he ever finished he books though.

[willybusmc]

Any predictions out there for this evenings episode?

Arya for the Iron Throne is all I've got.

I gotta figure, Dani for the Iron Throne (for TV).


I don't see her making it to the throne if he ever finished he books though.

Let's assume this is all for TV, because a lot of us aren't sure he ill ever finish the books. I think that Dany will be the most obvious choice, but that things will take an unexpected turn. I think Jon Snow will sacrifice himself somehow so he wont sit the throne, and I think Arya will be left.

As a caution: It is 4Am in japan and I have consumed some beers so this is my best cobbled argument.

[allasorte]

Any predictions out there for this evenings episode?

Everything is going against all the build up and plots, so D&D literally is playing D&D and rolling dice as they plod along.
1. Oberlin Martell is fine, it was his stunt double that died therefore he will end up on the throne.
2. Dany finds out she isn't a Targaryen and commits suicide.
3. Bran sits in his chair and still does nothing even though Benjen told him he would be ready.

I'm kind of thinking some of the fans could have tied in a lot of these plot points much more dramatic and still have shock value.

[fernandito]

Any predictions out there for this evenings episode?

Yeah. Arya will kill Cersei with an Apple twig because, why the hell not? She's already superman.

Then she'll kill the entire Golden Fleet single handedly. Then she'll break the fourth wall and kill all of us for bad mouthing the writers.

You think that's your significant other sitting next to you on the couch?

Nope. You're already dead.

[Merlin1958]

Any predictions out there for this evenings episode?

Yeah. Arya will kill Cersei with an Apple twig because, why the hell not? She's already superman.

Then she'll kill the entire Golden Fleet single handedly. Then she'll break the fourth wall and kill all of us for bad mouthing the writers.

You think that's your significant other sitting next to you on the couch?

Nope. You're already dead.

[Kingfan24]

Better episode tonight but this episode proves to me one thing: everything is being rushed and they said fuck all the timelines.

[Garrell]

Very much enjoyed tonight’s episode. I agree that they are definetly rushing things. 2 episodes left with what feels like so much to say.

[Shannon]

I liked the episode more than I expected. That small naval battle was awesome.

Going with my theory of Arya using Jamie's face to get close to Cersei and kill her, it still stands. Jamie rode off, Arya kills him, wears his face for the entirety of the episode next week until the right time.

The only thing I could think of was that in order for Arya to kill Jamie being a win for the good guys, Jamie would have to be a heel again. That said, I was a little worried for Brienne tonight. If Jamie killed Brienne tonight, that would have been the heel push needed. But it didn't happen. Fuck it, lol.