Metal Warfare - Irish Metal Forum

50 mins.. meeeeeeeeh Was hopin for well over an hour  :abbath:

It's a fairly straight forward episode tbh

Bran just seems to be sat there waiting on people to turn up and then starts shit stirrin  :laugh:

Really enjoyed it. The dragon flight scene was very good.

Grand stuff.

Was hoping for a bit more from the first episode. They were mostly setting stuff up with this one whereas I was hoping they'd come out all guns blazing and do something mental since they only have 6 episodes to wrap everything up.

I thought it was hilarious Bran staying outside for hours on end.

Someone pops over to him "What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for an old friend."

Hours go by, night time comes. Jamie scrolls in and sees him...waiting in the same spot  :laugh:

It was grand, nothing spectacular but I suppose first episode back it's to be expected. It did strike me as very short though, especially since I gather there are fewer episodes for this season?

First two are the shortest. 3rd, 5th and 6th episodes are 80 odd minutes long.

Jaime saunters into Winterfell pure shmug with his new hairdo, and then.... awkwaaaaaard  :laugh:
I thought Sam was crying with laughter at first when he heard his dad died, I thought he hated him.
I wonder what sort of scheme Varys has up his sleeves.
And I wonder if Brienne will end up fighting Bronn.
The kid getting set on fire with the symbol was pretty cool.

Quote from: Giggles on April 16, 2019, 08:56:51 PM
I thought Sam was crying with laughter at first when he heard his dad died, I thought he hated him.

I think it was the brother he wad more upset about.

Episode 2, they should have just combined 1&2 into one episode.

Really good episode for all these little catch up events and some funny bits.

Tormunds story was fuckin hilarious along with  Brienne's face on hearing it  :laugh:

I guess it's going to be fucking hectic for these remaining episodes.

I'm still having trouble contemplating how they will wrap everything up.

George RR Martin being the giant troll that is would have it end with Bran waking up after being pushed by Jamie and whole thing being just a dream and its back to episode 1 again  :laugh:

I would like to think given the success of this show that they might do the prequel to it leading up to the scenes we saw where bran finds out about Jon being a Targaryen

Arya didn't seem overly enamoured with the ride.

 :laugh:

.. He's on the list now  #shitride :abbath:

Why can't Sansa be a bit more adventurous like Arya..badly need a goo of her funbags  :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath:

One of the guys devos serves soup to is David Cohen.. the ex cia deputy director!!!

Quote from: Pedrito on April 22, 2019, 11:55:11 PM
Why can't Sansa be a bit more adventurous like Arya..badly need a goo of her funbags  :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath:

(https://forum.metalwarfare.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fthumbs2.imagebam.com%2F01%2Fb0%2F54%2F05fd941203203984.jpg&hash=44387fdb1071955973a9227e782b1d57866cb990) (http://www.imagebam.com/image/05fd941203203984)

It would be more than a Littlefinger I´d give her I tell ye

Jesus...wow

:abbath:

Deadly

That'll be getting watched again.

I liked the episode but I can't help but feel there was way too much fan service...like Lyanna Mormont, a child, taking out a giant. 

There weren't enough deaths either tbh, can't help but feel like they're going to go the Hollywood route where everyone lives happily ever after.

I mean Grey Worm of all people lived, he was on the front lines ffs. Grey Worm, Tormund, Brienne, Samwell, The Hound, and a bunch of others probably should have died, I don't mean I want them to die, but it doesn't feel like the beloved characters are actually in danger anymore.

I enjoyed it other than that.

Yep more should have died, especially poxy Greyworm. I'm worried about the Hollywood ending. The episode was class all.the same though.

Jesus that was fucking traumatizing  :-\

Couple of points of note:
1) while all this was going on... there's Brann sittin out in a deckstair, clearly off his face on mushrooms!!!
2) RIP Melisandre's top notch baps
3) The scene at the start when all the Dothraki get their swords set on fire was great.. scary as fuck when they all started going out in the distance!!!
4) The dragons up on the clouds where they were waiting for the other to appear looked amazing
5) The night kinds walk to Brann was a tad overkill length wise, the build up would have been just as good about 5 mins shorter tbh
6) No way Jon Boy's gettin the ride after ditching herself.

It was very hard to see what was going on. The atmosphere was great but I found it hard focus with all the chaos.
I read online it's down to HBO compressing the digital files to try and optimise the viewing quality for all platforms. Surely the telly should be given priority.
No more wights now. I know s big sword battle one on one with frosty and a hero is too Hollywood but part of me wanted to see it. Having said that I'm really happy they didn't do it.
As said already that shot of the 2 dragons over the rolling clouds was fantastic.

The dragon scene was spectacular alright. Sure to become part of wider pop culture.  There are definitely metal heads involved in the show..check out Rhapsody's Power of the Dragonflame cover.

As for the red witch..may the god of light look after those lovely baps.

Seriously annoyed with that episode.i was hoping for loads of treachery and back-stabbing. I couldn't make out what was going on either it was so dark.bit shit to be fair.

Quote from: ldj on April 29, 2019, 10:40:22 PM
I liked the episode but I can't help but feel there was way too much fan service...like Lyanna Mormont, a child, taking out a giant.

She did do it kamikaze style though, allowing her to go out with a single action that showed all her strong talk up to this point wasn't just that. Had she done it and lived, I might agree with that complaint, but I think it was a fitting way to tie up her somewhat singular character.

Arya I saw coming, in the sense that during the whole advance of the Night King towards Bran, I was saying to herself, "Where's Arya...?" I guess they went for the surprise leap at the end for dramatic effect, but, despite the episode showcasing her fighting skills like never before, I think a lot of the audience didn't find it believable that she'd be able to sneak up on the Night King like that. Again though, for the last couple of seasons, we're supposed to know and accept her to be essentially the finest assassin in Westeros!

The Night King's obsession with Bran must have been a slightly later idea. What we never got was any kind of character development of the villain, something which could have shown him to be driven by primal forces which are stronger than any sense of military tactics he might have (this is another complaint). But, on the other hand, the army of the dead has only shown one tactic to really speak of; a blind willingness to self-sacrifice (building the body bridges over the fire in this episode, for example). Apart from that, they advance purely like a swarm. In which case, why imagine the Night King to be a great tactician? Maybe he really is as dumb as he is powerful, which would be the only explanation for why he didn't simply wait another half hour or so until he could be sure everyone was dead and undead again before going after Bran. This wasn't brought out enough, but that's how I choose to read it to make sense of it.

No sense to be made of all the characters who survived who clearly shouldn't have though. Like, if they'd wanted Sam to survive, they should at least have had him run away somewhere!

 
Agreed on Lyanna's death, if she had lived it would have just been ridculous. I was wondering if it was going to go that way and the writers even said that they felt they needed to do something with her as she was only meant to have a singular part in the series but became a bit more.

On Arya, yes I found that whole thing to be a little bit silly afterwards. That the night king could be killed in such an easy fashion given how he's been throughout the show. His death felt a bit anticlimatic looking back. During it I was caught up in the whole spectacle of what was going on but in retrospect it seemed a bit silly unreal. I guess it will be put as she put all her super schneaky assasin training to work. It just seemed odd she was bouncing back and forth between super shinobi ninja assasin to regaluar kid in it. There was sort of a big build up to this super fancy weapon had made for her and then it was used in one short scene and she lost it!!!

Regarding the Night King, yeah from the video's I've watched on the back stories etc there doesn't seem to be much on it so far. Perhaps he will add more to it in the new books or maybe there will be more on him in the remaining episodes. We saw in one of the visions with the original 3 eyed raven that those freaking looking 'leaf children' created him but from what I remember it was never stated much about the actual human they used and if he was just a random they caught? I could be wrong on that though. But yes it just seemed like he had a mean javelin throw and these super powers to raise the dead and control weather? I think if that's it for the army of the dead and the night king, it's a bit of a waste tbh
I think the whole chasing after bran etc was something the show writers added themselves.

Bran worged into the crows for a long period and really  nothing much came of it did it? He was in that mode for a long time so I am assuming he must have been upto something else that we'll learn later.

110% on the main characters who were just unkillable. I know it's a fantasy show but they must be crossfitters to keep fighting in all that armor despite thousands of undead attacking.

The episode was enjoyable overall as a spectacle but a lot of glaring issues that I guess you hope will be covered before it ends.

I think in a 'high fantasy' sense, the new episodes have been spectacular. What has happened though is that we have gone from a more gritty, reality based fantasy like Joe Abercrombie to something more akin to Dungeons and dragons or The Wheel of Time. It's cool in a 'fantasy' setting to have the little girl kill the giant etc. It doesn't match the gritty fantasy tones of the earlier seasons though, so it's bound to jar. I have really enjoyed the more magic and sorcery side to it all..it was always there I suppose just waiting to come out.

If I can use a metal music analogy, we are in Blind Guardian or Rhapsody of Fire territory whereas we started out with something more akin to Jag Panzer.

The Night King ruled but I'd love to know 'why' he wanted to kill all humanity. Is there aby reasoning behind any of it? I'm always looking for the why I suppose. Sauron had a why..he was a miserable, dark cunt. Not sure why the Night King wants to do anything.

I would also.say that they've missed out a little on distinguishing possible 'powers' or 'characteristics' of characters. That Lyanna Mormont one is of noble blood. The Starks possess certain traits with the direwolves etc, Daenerys obviously displays unusual.traits, so why not bring more attengion to that within this 'high fantasy' setting. I think it would explain a lot and allow us to get outside the 'realism' issue people, myself included, seem to have. Armies of the dead etc and yet we can't imagine a little girl takimg down a giant..myself included. That hints at a lack.of storytelling, but I'm willing to fill in those gaps I suppose. Also, Arya, for example, takes up a tonne of time in the books developing to be an assassin. She spends a long time out there and I'm not sure the series couls ever capture that. It's a pity but it also requires us to suspend reality and take things as they are.

Great episode, but yes, loads of stuff that needs or could be better explained or at least fleshed out a bit more.

Quote from: Pedrito on April 30, 2019, 04:44:47 PM

The Night King ruled but I'd love to know 'why' he wanted to kill all humanity. Is there aby reasoning behind any of it? I'm always looking for the why I suppose. Sauron had a why..he was a miserable, dark cunt. Not sure why the Night King wants to do anything.

He was bewitched and transformed by them wee ent-like children what throw fireballs to fight for them against humanity, who they were at war with at the time. "We've created a monster" scenario then followed. It's gone over in the episodes where Bran first meets the three-eyed raven.

Yeah it's just a bit meh..he needs more fleshing out I think. Anyway he's gone now. Would have loved to hear him talk instead of just posing all the time. Proper black metal looking though in fairness  :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath:

Minor gripes, the episode was bloody amazeballs in all fairness

I enjoyed it alright but a lot of tiny things annoyed me. As much as I liked the Dothraki charge scene with the flaming swords, surely it would have been better to have them come in and flank and THEN be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the undead army rather than as pure cannon fodder? Everyone should have been behind the trenches and it was mad to see them stop using the siege weapons (which were out in front?!). And they stopped firing arrows when they were stuck behind the lit trenches. As you can see I'm a bit of a military strategist myself   ::) mad to think they had all those great minds in the war room and they couldn't come up with a better defence.

And the plot armor is obviously very strong for all the main characters now. Sam just laying on a hill of bodies crying  :laugh:

I enjoyed all the dragon scenes and I'm grand with Arya dealing out the killer blow. I was half expecting Brans wheelchair to explode with dragonglass flying everywhere ala Breaking bad style. *BELL RINGING INTENSIFIES*  :laugh:

It would have been more interesting to see the living retreat down through the secret chambers underneath Winterfell and seeing how that scenario would play out. Or having the Night King head to Kings Landing with the dragon instead. :abbath: Have to be content with getting an ending to this with D&D. George RR Martin might release Winds Of Winter but will never complete the last book.

The show gone full feminist too I noticed. Women in all positions of power. Women doing all the major defending, fighting and killing. Pfff a sign of the times I suppose

Well, Daenerys was correctly portrayed to be completely useless in hand to hand combat, at least. 

Said the same thing about the Dothraki charge while watching; very much style over substance where someone had the - admittedly nice - idea of the extinguishing flames, and that took precedence over a realistic battle plan.

I think once the books stopped being relevant, a new narrative took over. It's still one of the coolest things ever but nothing will ever beat them first three books up until Joffrey's killing. It's rambled a bit since then. I really hope there are some proper twists and deaths now and none of this Hollywood, Disney ending stuff.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/where-did-arya-jump-from-the-game-of-thrones-battle-was-riddled-with-problems-1.3876301?mode=amp

This says it all

Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 01, 2019, 10:59:06 AM
Well, Daenerys was correctly portrayed to be completely useless in hand to hand combat, at least. 

Said the same thing about the Dothraki charge while watching; very much style over substance where someone had the - admittedly nice - idea of the extinguishing flames, and that took precedence over a realistic battle plan.

Yes Daenerys was definitely using Jorah as a meat shield  :laugh:

Starting to accept this will be the Hollywood "style over substance" type ending to the show. Seasons 1-4 will always be remembered for it's sheer brilliance in writing and character development. Season 5 onwards the show started to suffer from lack of book material but I can accept that the producers need to wrap this up. Looking forward to the last 3 episodes. If they can give us another one or two Hodor wtf type moments at the end, I'd be happy.

Also - what does Bran/Three eyed raven do now? Does he help out with the Cersei plotline or just stay at Winterfell or goes beyond the wall?

I presume we have yet to find out what Bran was actually up to while he was warging... among other questions asked in the article that may yet be answered (Melisandre, for example). Almost feels like there's a complaint about the series becoming too Hollywood, but at the same time there's complaints about every single explanation for absolutely everything not being spoon-fed to us :/

Yeah that's about it. I think even if it turns out Hollywood it will have been a great achievement overall. Them dragon scenes etc, the stuff you could only imagine in your mind as a youngster.

Quote from: Pedrito on May 01, 2019, 10:54:18 AM
The show gone full feminist too I noticed. Women in all positions of power. Women doing all the major defending, fighting and killing. Pfff a sign of the times I suppose

Eh women have always been in positions of power and fighting in Game of Thrones. And more power to it.

Quote from: The Butcher on May 01, 2019, 09:02:39 AM
Have to be content with getting an ending to this with D&D. George RR Martin might release Winds Of Winter but will never complete the last book.

I reckon he is going to release the last two at the same time.

There's always going to be small gripes in the episode but i really enjoyed it. Cannot fathom how people are going how did Ayra kill the NK. Shes a trained assassin for fecks sake. Poor Sir Jorah. I'm actually glad most of the main characters have lived as it sets it up for some great backstabbing in the remaining episodes.

I think people (myself included a bit) invented a whole skill set for these men twisted into white walkers that we were never actually told they have, beyond the few things we do know about them. Have they ever shown themselves to be hyper intelligent or incredibly alert? Sam killed one ffs!

Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 01, 2019, 02:56:59 PM
I think people (myself included a bit) invented a whole skill set for these men twisted into white walkers that we were never actually told they have, beyond the few things we do know about them. Have they ever shown themselves to be hyper intelligent or incredibly alert? Sam killed one ffs!

Exactly. What they had was numbers. One on one no match for a knight.

Provided said knight had either obsidian or Valerian steel weapons!

Speaking of Sam.. he seemed to revert back Sam of season 1.
Literally running from everything and crying on the pile of bodies. I thought he had progressed a little bit or would just stay in the crypt below.
John running past him, looking at him laying there crying "muppet"  :laugh:

On the crypt.. I was really hoping to see a headless ned stark appear and attack Sansa... Tyrion killing him. Would have been great imo!  :abbath:

I don't keep up to date on these things but I would assume they are already thinking of doing a prequel to the whole thing. Rise of the madking and a lot of the stuff we saw in brans visions with the 3 eyed raven. Leading up to Robert coming to Winterfell

Although I'm told that there's someone taking over in a position with HBO who's all about quantity and not quality when it comes to shows being produced. So it might not fair out so well  :-\

Quote from: Ollkiller on May 01, 2019, 02:23:32 PM

Quote from: Pedrito on May 01, 2019, 10:54:18 AM
The show gone full feminist too I noticed. Women in all positions of power. Women doing all the major defending, fighting and killing. Pfff a sign of the times I suppose

Eh women have always been in positions of power and fighting in Game of Thrones. And more power to it.

Yeah I think you're taking more from what I'm saying than I meant. The strong female thing is being done across the movie and tv world now, to death some would say. I loved the strength of the women in the books. It has been argued, by some, that it's pushing that angle a lot now, at the expense of amazing characters like Tyrion who have been relegated to the crypt, Jon Snow who did fucking nothing in the last episode, yet we get a tiny Daenerys, wielding a sword really badly, it looked awful. Massive fan of Cersei, Sansa, Arya, Brienne and Daenerys but I just hope it doesn't go full fem power to the detriment of the fantastic male characters in the series.

Quote from: Pedrito on May 01, 2019, 04:19:07 PM

Quote from: Ollkiller on May 01, 2019, 02:23:32 PM

Quote from: Pedrito on May 01, 2019, 10:54:18 AM
The show gone full feminist too I noticed. Women in all positions of power. Women doing all the major defending, fighting and killing. Pfff a sign of the times I suppose

Eh women have always been in positions of power and fighting in Game of Thrones. And more power to it.

Yeah I think you're taking more from what I'm saying than I meant. The strong female thing is being done across the movie and tv world now, to death some would say. I loved the strength of the women in the books. It has been argued, by some, that it's pushing that angle a lot now, at the expense of amazing characters like Tyrion who have been relegated to the crypt, Jon Snow who did fucking nothing in the last episode, yet we get a tiny Daenerys, wielding a sword really badly, it looked awful. Massive fan of Cersei, Sansa, Arya, Brienne and Daenerys but I just hope it doesn't go full fem power to the detriment of the fantastic male characters in the series.

Jon Snow might have done nothing but Jorah Mormont, Clegane, Beric and the unsullied more than made up for it.  I don't think you have anything to worry about.

Not worried at all. Would be great to see some more boobies too

Quote from: Pedrito on May 01, 2019, 10:54:18 AMwe get a tiny Daenerys, wielding a sword really badly, it looked awful.

In terms of being afraid of feminist apologetics taking over the narrative, I don't get the problem here. Her dragon took off and left her alone in a hand to hand combat situation she's absolutely not equipped for,she grabbed a weapon, but was ultimately saved by a knight in shining armour. What would have been silly was if she was all of a sudden a dab hand with a sword. So, don't follow this critique at all. Tyrion surely has a huge role left to play, both for Daenerys and the story in general, I'd presume that's why he was put in safety, rather than any pro-women positive discrimination side-lining.

Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 01, 2019, 05:17:23 PM

Tyrion surely has a huge role left to play, both for Daenerys and the story in general, I'd presume that's why he was put in safety, rather than any pro-women positive discrimination side-lining.

I could see Tyrion sacrificing his life to save Sansa, they seemed to be focusing on an emotional connection between them in their dialogue in the last episode.

Would love to see Tyrion do a number on everyone and finally sit on the Iron Throne. He is by far the best character in the books but has been sidelined for some strange reason in the last few seasons. A Machiavellian twist to the whole thing would be truly epic and faithful to the fantastic twists of earlier seasons.

Quote from: Pedrito on May 01, 2019, 11:53:57 AM
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/where-did-arya-jump-from-the-game-of-thrones-battle-was-riddled-with-problems-1.3876301?mode=amp

This says it all

Will read the rest of that shortly but have to hit the "where did Arya jump from?" point here.  This isn't the only article I've seen complaining about this.  Was the idea not when she was talking to Melisandra that she would take the face of a wight to get close enough?  That's what I had assumed anyway, rather than leaping across the entirety of them.

I enjoyed the episode, few small gripes but nothing major.  Mostly the severe plot armour on everyone but I suppose they're needed to tie up the ending somehow, or die somewhere else.

Dunno if tyrion has been sidelined in the last few seasons tbh, I thought he was the star of the scenes he was in last season. The breakdown of trust between him and Danyaerys was handled fantastically. I loved how he consciously decided to make the switch from advising her to out and out manipulation to get her to do what's right at the cost of his own reputation. Particularly evident in the scenes on dragonstone where he was "advising" on how to convince cersei the threat was real. Tyrions plan was never to convince cersei he knew it was a fools errand, rather to sway Dany to help John. Loved the way the trust broke down between them gradually until he made a conscious decision to manipulate.
The scene where cersei announces to help with the entire lannister forces rather than a mere truce was class too. She saw through Tyrions manipulation and threw him under the bus fantastically. She knew if she announced that she was sending an army that it would quickly become evident that she was a liar, putting Tyrions place of confidence with the Queen at risk, forcing him to own his failures or admit manipulation.
I'm meandering a tad but I can't wait to see how that plays out this season.

Saw it suggested today that Arya probably lost less blood in episode 3 than 2  :-X

You filthy animal  :abbath: :laugh:

Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 03, 2019, 12:56:03 PM
Saw it suggested today that Arya probably lost less blood in episode 3 than 2  :-X

ah hayoooour  :laugh:

Hmmm..bit of a.comedown that new episode. Setting it up though. Great to see that bird beheaded..useless character and useless actress. A fine young wan in fairness though.

Edit: can't take anything away from the acting, the scenes are beautiful, it's moving along towards where it needs to go, but that said, some of the writing in this episode was woeful. The last ep had holes in it but you could get past it. Tyrion standing helpless in front of the castle and they don't shoot him yet kill Missandei. The stupid way the dragon dies. That whole Bronn scene. Daenerys being reduced to almost a child with Jon, and the completely unconvincing 'love' between them. Jaime finally getting what he wants and then pulling the plug after 2 rides...was she that bad in the sack? They spent seasons leading up to that and it's gone as soon as it arrives.

I think we're in the endgame now and it's best the whole thing finishes up asap. I'm still enjoying it but we're a million light years away from the quality of previous seasons. It all feels very rushed and so many scenes make so little sense.

Am I alone in thinking this?

Rushed is not the word! Euron takes out a dragon, smashes a few ships, fucks off , captures yerwan all off camera and home in time for tea.
Unsullied arrive in kings landing double time then and Jon Snow is still not there.
Why didn't he even give the wolf a rub???
And to top it off boom another dragon gone.
And Tyrion not nailed to the ground with arrows!!!!!!

Mixed feelings about the episode. I enjoyed the celebratory drinking craic at the start. Wasn't happy about how the dragon died; The first 2 arrows fired sink into the dragons chest, the 3rd through the neck... and then 30 odd shots miss as she's flying directly towards them. And as already mentioned, why didn't Cersei kill Tyrion? She fucking hates him.
I dislike Greyworm, such a boring looking cunt, and the relationship between him and Missandei seems utterly pointless. Jaime's a little bitch.

It's nice to see Varys get a bit more spotlight, himself and Littlefinger have spun a lot of webs since season 1. I hope Danerys dies soon.
From Winterfell to Kings Landing in less than half an hour - some job!

Looking forward to hopefully seeing the Hound kill his brother and Arya kill Cersei. Be funny if Gendry ended up becoming King.

I reckon Danerys has a few more Dragons tucked away...

Kinda starting to get the feeling they realized they cut it to short with the amount of episodes despite them being longer individually there's still so much to cover over 10 years worth of episodes in one season with the amount of story lines going on etc.

Yer man proposing to Aarya .. like where did that come from. Turned to a lord then insta-cucked from a single ride (must have given him backdoor access)

Varys  finally starting to pop back out again. I assume he'll end up being beside whomever ends on the throne as he has a long history beside the iron throne.

John's character seems to be getting more pathetic per episode. Mad for his aunty's dragon box but most signs point to him being 'the one' #neo

I've a strong feeling Vary's is saying shit to Danny. When she got up to leave the table after getting mad paranoid he noticed it and followed. I'm fairly sure Danny is on the way out and he's probably speaking in her ear telling her to do the silly shit she's doing in order for the others to go against her. She's down to one dragon now.
Also the clip for the next episode that was shown, I've a feeling that they put armor of some sort on the dragon to help it against those arrows.

All in all Danny has fucked up royally in these episodes. She went on the attack and fucked the battle against the night king up instead of sticking to the plan. She wouldn't listen to anyone when it came to going to Cersei and it was pretty obvious Cersei was going to act the bollox and kill 'Miss Andy' regardless of the outcome to gode Danny into attacking.
Also Im fairly certain it was Vary's who told Danny to go to John's room and try get him to keep his mouth shut with Vary's knowing that he wouldn't just to create more shit between them.

Also hilarious that like most of the main characters already know about john.. shittiest secret keepers ever hah

An absolutely bollocks episode in fairness. It's obvious there are no "rules of engagement" as far as Cersei is concerned, so as mentioned, why didn't her archers wipe out Tyrion, and the rest for that matter, while she had a chance? Or why didn't Missandei, knowing she was about to die, just grab Cersei and launch herself off the parapet? Most of all, why instead of approaching Euron's fleet head-on, didn't Dany approach them from the rear and just burn the fuck out of them? Normally I'd be dead against picking holes in a fantasy series but fuck me, some absolute headscratchers there.

Exactly!!! I have never driven a big fuck off sail boat but I reckon a dragon could fly around the back of them quicker than a fleet of ships could turn around especially as they were in a channel. I've never flown a dragon either but I'd like to think they would decide to go full beserker mode if somebody was firing shit at them.
I can't believe how much I am debating the pros and cons of a tv show!

Agree with all the above - one of the weakest episodes to date. You can see since last Season they really want to wrap it up. How did Dany not spot those ships from above?!  Or how all of them forgot about the royal fleet...esp considering they all knew the Greyjoy fleet was ambushed by them previously :laugh:

Again, ye have mentioned all the plot holes above. And agreed that it's very rushed feeling. The Bronn scene didn't feel natural, totally shoehorned in. And Varys has turned tack completely out of the blue.

It was always gonna be a come down after the previous ep but it was a bit shambolic, really. Aside from the ludicrous Greyjoy/dragon scene, and the obvious flaws, at least it was a scene worth seeing and it was done well. I just think it could have been executed in a way that made more sense.

Yeah, pretty shite.

I've started to think though that Bran/the 3-eyed raven might actually be a shit-stirring creation of the children. Another way of defeating your enemy (once you've made a Night King who ended up turning against you as well, so back to the drawing board...) is to sew dissent among them and turn them on themselves. Maybe that's what the 3-eyed raven's given function was; to know all that's happening and use it to stir things up. The "now we have to contend with us" line got me thinking about it. That and all the other things, like Bran's utter absence of emotion, the link between the 3-eyed raven and the children, etc.

Probably won't be the case, but could fit.

I wouldn't be expecting Brann to feature a whole lot from here on. The Three Eyes Raven was very much a background character, whose role was in dealing with the walkers. As Brann says, he pretty much lives in the past. I don't see him having anything to do with the future as an active participant.  I don't think it's a shit-stirring type of character. That whole thing is from an age where there was more magic, something that's coming the end of its life cycle.

Quote from: Giggles on May 07, 2019, 12:48:53 AMAnd as already mentioned, why didn't Cersei kill Tyrion? She fucking hates him.

The only reasoning behind not killing them all there and then was that Cersei wants Dany to go all mad queen and burn Kings Landing down. She has nothing to live for now (I expect she had a miscarriage). So even if Cersei loses, Dany will be hated. That's the only logic I can come up with for that moment.

Yep, that's the idea. She says to leave the gates open during the episode. She wants to expose Dany as a mad queen and doesn't care who dies in the process. Looking forward to the next one, and hopefully it rights some of the crappy timing and scenes.

Maybe I'm wrong but the reason for not killing Tyrion is he is Danys hand and they were at a parlay. That sort of thing is still frowned upon.

Yeah, I'd say it's simply that. Cersei wants Dany to look like the bad one. Sniping the opposition's negotiator would have defeated that purpose.

Have to hand it to Lena Headey, she's bloody brilliant in the roll.

Regarding the Tyrion bit. How she acted came across similar to when Jamie was walking away and he thought she was going to get the mountain to kill him but she didn't in the end. I wonder if it was a case of her knowing she could but maybe under it all actually caring for Tyrion in some way. The whole Lannister family thing etc
Or like above was it her really wanting to kill him but knowing it wouldn't look good in the end as he was known and that situation ... unlike 'yer wan' who really no one inside the city knew or gave two fucks about!

I honestly don't have much faith that they can wrap this up in 2 episodes in the time frame of 2.5 hours.  I can see there being an ending but with a lot of shit left 'for the fans to talk about and decide'  :abbath:

Tyrion would be the one to save her if it comes to it too. He's a soft touch  :laugh:

So watched it again with a few wines to cool me down and it was a tonne better. I think each episode needs 2 watches now at this stage to process things a bit more. Dany losing the rag and rightly so. The final scene made a lot more sense in terms of the rules of war. Also, Dany was advised by Sansa not to go south too quickly. She did so snd paid the price. She's gotten way too emotional and they're right to question her. I reckon Varys might get a knife in the back for treason..let's see.

Quote from: The Butcher on May 08, 2019, 12:17:03 PM
The only reasoning behind not killing them all there and then was that Cersei wants Dany to go all mad queen and burn Kings Landing down. She has nothing to live for now (I expect she had a miscarriage). So even if Cersei loses, Dany will be hated. That's the only logic I can come up with for that moment.

Yeah, that makes sense. Cersei must be harbouring one hell of a grudge towards her own people since the Walk of Shame, so it figures that she views them as completely expendable. Still though, the last two episodes have been so rushed that they have robbed the series of the sense of epicness and scale which seemed to define the earlier episodes. What's even more puzzling is that the preceding two episodes were complete non-events.

Also reckon Drogon will appear with dragonglass armor next episode. With all these hints I expect her to go full on mad queen and obliterate Kings Landing.

I reckon it'll be Jaime who offs Cercei.

King Slayer becomes Queen Slayer.

I think so too. What about Cersei's prophecy? She was told she would die by the hand of her younger brother. She always thought it would be Tyrion.... but it could be Jaime because technically she was born first.

the show has gone to shit....

Nearly pooed in my pants watching it. Lost for words. Haven't even thought how it fits into the grand scheme of things but flip me that was tough going and enjoyable at the same time. Needs a bit of processing. Mad how Dany has turned out in such a short space of time. I suppose that's what happens when you lose everything and everyone that means anything to you. Loco  :abbath:

Processing done. I just don't know what to make of much of it anymore. Dany has become something that she never really showed signs of. It makes very little sense to me any of it. Did I enjoy the spectacle..yes! But I also enjoyed The Phantom Menace. Really interested to see what others think. 

Some crazy goings on, alright.

Special effects were the worst yet, too. The Dragon fire parts, anyway. Looked like something the Sci-fi Channel would churn out.

I thought the cinematography was great, the parts where the camera was following characters' movements anyway. You'd get bored of watching the dragon breathe fire for so much of it though.  In fact, all that gowling around turned into a bit of a plod in the end and detracted from Cleganebowl. Jaime and Cersei was anticlimactic too.

They've really rushed the Dany-gone-bad thing. Completely goes against the type of character they built her up to be. Squeezing in the line about having to rule by fear simply doesn't cut it for such a drastic change. I'll miss Varys but his scheming will play out in the last ep, I'd say.

Jasus I need to go lay down after that  ???

Vary's... had almost nothing in the show for so long then BANG he's dead in the blink of an eye. Very anticlimactic tbh

Then it was like someone said 'GO' and the turbo boost kicked in!  :-X

The whole thing was difficult to watch, very brutal and how Dany's madness just infected nearly everyone below her. I was hoping Snow would stab that worm cunt in the face.

Not lyin.. that image of the hound and the mountain on the steps with the dragon flying over head looked so immense i was there in the room myself goin CLEGAAANNEEBOOOOWWLL  :abbath: :abbath: :abbath:
Ah he smashed that little cunt so bad at the start I was howlin  :laugh:
I did guess some time back that if they eventually did fight that the hound would drag him in to fire of some sort. Wasn't far off tbh!

The bit with Euron and Jamie was a bit shitty tbh. It felt very filler

The scene when Cersei see's Jamie was really good. Although the outcome was as stated above, a bit underwhelming.

Again the writers seem to have made Arya a main focus giving her a lot of screen time. The whole end bit with the horse was strange unless someone can link this in to something previously stated/mentioned/lore related and a white horse.

Are they going to have her wear a Jon Snow mask, give the mad wan a bit of length and then give her another stabbin (the other kind) !!!

Also the trailer that was put out for this episode was clearly a different cut. When Euron see's the dragon in the trailer his reaction was like he'd seen something new and/or more frightening. Which is why people were probably thinking the dragon would have armor or there were suddenly more dragons etc
In the episode he has a much more relaxed/expected reaction when it appears. 

Had a chat with a friend and he made a very good point that in the book re: Dany, we had both agreed many years ago that we weren't fans and often I've wanted her to kick the bucket in the series. So the story seems.to have turned out in a way that in the books would make sense. It just doesn't make any sense in terms of the flow of the tv series.

Again, I enjoyed it a lot. I really enjoyed the Phantom Menace. Do they make sense in terms of overall story arcs etc..absolutely not, but fuck it, it is what it is. I think the major gripe most people have is timing and storylines that end up nowhere. It could have ended a million ways in fairness though. I will say though, that the Tyrion and Jon storylines are making less and less sense. Arya is taking up a lot of screen time, and while I really like her character, I'm just not sure why she has become so prominent this season. Hopefully it all makes sense in the final episode, though if iy's true to the whole concept of GOT, there shouldn't really be a nice happy ending and lots of loose ends anyway.

I'd love if somehow Cersei crawled out of that rubble. I don't think it will happen but it would provide a much needed twist to a lot of very obvious storytelling

:abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath: :abbath:

 Ah for fuck sake. This show is turning into Lost!!!! Such great promise and we just get this. After all the going on she made shit of the throne!
All the intrigue is gone. It's boom wallop Rambo 4 style. That's nice too but you can tell from miles off that the book would never have gone so bananas.  :abbath: :abbath:

Man I really want to enjoy it, and to a certain extent I am just for the spectacle, but man they've seriously fucked this show up.

I read earlier that HBO actually wanted to keep it going for 2-3 more seasons, which would have been the way to do it, but the showrunners have made a deal to do a Star Wars movie so they obviously just want to wrap it up as quickly as possible.

Did I see that right or did they really have Arya get torched by a dragon and walk away from it  :laugh:.

Hum

In two minds about this one.  In terms of spectacle, it was well ahead of any of the preceding shows. I don't think it necessarily pandered to audience expectations either, Cersei was given a fairly sudden and easy death all things considered when surely she warranted some form of public execution. The notion of the corrupting influence of power is nothing new, so while it's not surprising that Dany went full psycho (especially given her lineage), the transition from benevolent queen to her current incarnation feels a bit rushed. Like she's been through a fair bit of turmoil over the seasons, so I don't know why the death of Missandei and a bit of double-crossing would have tipped her over the edge. Yeah, can't stand that Greyworm clown and would have loved to see him get wiped out. So I guess Jon, or Arya perhaps, have to sort out Dany now.

Hell hath no fury, and all that... it's just they didn't adequately portray her sense of being scorned not only by Cersei, but also Jon, and ultimately the entire populace of Westeros for loving another. There should have been a bit more indications of smouldering psycho rage this season. The narrative elements to support it were there, but no manifestation.

Spectacular in terms of action, and I think Arya as reluctant but wise and just queen is perhaps being groomed by the show; the entire ending was to show her learning the horror that lurks beneath revenge.

Did not like how Varys was just got rid of that quick. One of the most integral parts of the show. The interactions between himself and Tyrion have been the best thing about the tv show. And he nearly got Dany poisioned with the little serving girl but that may happen yet. And who have received his letters.

Have to say i was glued to my seat watching that hour of mayhem.  It didn't properly show Dany and her descent into madness but Dany has never been afraid of being a cold hearted killer. She has been cold and brutal to her numerous enemies on many occasions and knows Westeros has no love for her so it's fear all the way. Nothing like watching a Targaryen laying waste to everything.


So now it's Ayra or Jon to take her out but for some reason i don't think Jon is going to live.

Supposedly a lot of people out there who named their kids after Dany... :laugh:

The fact that the directors wanted to tie then whole thing up to go and do a Star Wars movie says it all. I think they´ll make an absolute mess of Star Wars too. Rushed, and poorly thought out. People are going nuts online. I can´t imagine that GRR Martin assented to any of it.

I enjoyed the spectacle but the story makes no sense at all. Jon Snow standing there and allowing the slaughter by a Mad Queen who neveer showed any signs of madness has no sense at all. Eurons actor must be blowing someone to get so much screentime..worst character ever and had no right to be involved. The list is endless in regards to fuck ups but it all goes back to the fact that the books were never finished, and as such, the story was hijacked by hacks who wanted to drain every cent out of it. I´ll continue to watch, it´s still really entertaining, but the great story that was created has been made a balls of.

Martin wasn't happy that it's being wrapped up so soon. He wanted another couple of seasons. Probably in the hope that he might actually release book 6 in time. He's told the lads the way he plans on ending it. Whether that's the way they'll run with is anyone's guess. Personally I think he hasn't a hope of writing book 7.

Watching Ozzy Man review for the latest episode. He made an annoying good point!

"At the end of the day Game of Thrones  is doing what it's always done.. making us angry when things don't go the way we want!"

(https://i.imgflip.com/1njhck.jpg)

Haha I listened to Ozzy man too and he's got a load of good points. Aaarghhh don't know what to be thinking anymore  :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :abbath:

5 episodes in and I've been annoyed about more things than positive so that sums it up for me. I think at this stage you just have to forget about everything else and just take it as is otherwise you'll end up on a metal forum going mental over a tv show that got it wrong!

i enjoyed that episode.
all the deaths of the main characters are going to seem anti-climatic at this stage i guess no matter what way they go out.
the sopranos is imo the best tv show ever and even the ending to that wasnt great tbh.

Quote from: blessed1 on May 14, 2019, 07:14:00 PM
i enjoyed that episode.
all the deaths of the main characters are going to seem anti-climatic at this stage i guess no matter what way they go out.
the sopranos is imo the best tv show ever and even the ending to that wasnt great tbh.

The ending to The Sopranos was utter fucking bullshit. "Oooooh you can put your own ending or ooooh does he die or not". Total cop out and a terrible ending.

Also The Wire is the best tv show ever but only by a small margin.

Rewatched that episode last night. The score is fantastic I have to say. And the start of the battle through to the end is brilliant television.

Actually just kicked off a fresh watch of The Wire last night since herself has never seen it. Even in the first episode I was thinking, imagine if this show had at any point tried to get away with the kinds of character development sins GoT has used it's spectacular fantasy veneer to mask!

Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 15, 2019, 10:27:53 AM
Actually just kicked off a fresh watch of The Wire last night since herself has never seen it. Even in the first episode I was thinking, imagine if this show had at any point tried to get away with the kinds of character development sins GoT has used it's spectacular fantasy veneer to mask!

It didn't thank God. I watch the wire every 2 years. Always something new is revealed. Its just perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCHlCiB98N4

In terms of matching the evolution of both entities, I think GIMME FUEL GIMME FIRE GIMME THAT WHICH I DESIRE!!! would have been a better fit  :abbath:

Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 16, 2019, 01:28:42 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCHlCiB98N4

In terms of matching the evolution of both entities, I think GIMME FUEL GIMME FIRE GIMME THAT WHICH I DESIRE!!! would have been a better fit  :abbath:

::) ::) Definitely fuel for comedic value!

The way Danys rage mode activated - Even something like keeping Danys second dragon alive for the bells part....then she thinks they have surrendered and then a scorpion kills that dragon sending Dany into a final rage would have been a better touch in my opinion. There was so many things since Season 7 (and bits from Season 5/6 as well) that could have been tweaked and worked on/fleshed out a bit more to make this ending work.

Ideally Dany the minute she got to Westeros - just go and destroy the Red Keep / end the Cersei plot and have the final season all about the white walkers and the battles up north. Would have been more interesting to me. It's like writing Return Of The Jedi destroying the Death Star first and the ending is rescuing Hans Solo.

Also Jamies arc - ....didn't care for the people in Kings Landing?! Didn't he save them all killing the mad king?! His whole arc with Brienne was pretty pointless.

Apart from the iron throne being burnt down, that was a pretty lame episode!! The "Song of Ice and Fire' book part was fucking weak sauce.

Thank fuck its over..

well thats a wrap. Thought all the way until Dany dies was excellent. Would have loved the unsullied and the Jon Snow army to start smashing eachother. Instead of that we just had a long, looong, lap of honour. Was grand. Could have been done a million times better..but fuck it, whatever.

Man I can't believe they fucked the show up so bad  :laugh:, I've been a huge fan since it started and even when it started to go a bit downhill after season 4 I defended it but this season was just so bad.

The two creators really sold out, they got an offer to make the next few Star Wars films so they obviously just wanted to get GOT over as fast as possible, and it shows. GRRM and HBO wanted the show to go on for a few more seasons to wrap it up properly. There must have been something in their contracts because I don't see why they couldn't have got someone else to run the show instead.

It´s incredible that, what must be, the biggest TV show on the planet, had to be rushed in that way. It wasnt a bad ending, it lacked pacing again and some sort of interesting melancholic twist. It was all very workmanlike. The scene with Cersei and Jaime in the rubble was very good. The dragon buring the throne. The conversation between Tyrion and Jon..all excellent, really good stuff. Odd enough oul ending though.

Love(d) the show, but thank fuck is over. So, Dany is bad, but Bran can warg the dragon and he still let all the carnage happen. What a nice boy.

That was such a fucking cozy denouement, it was like some family friendly show from the 80s or 90s. Everything tidied up nicely, all lived happily ever after. No bite whatsoever, which is in keeping with the toothlessness of this entire series. Such an absolute shame because the early series were excellent.

Way too much of that 'I can't believe it's over' shite. The Big bang theory ended the other day to far less melancholy bollox.

Fucking terrible end to a great TV show after 8 years.

They should have gone with a 10 episode format but at 90 mins a pop to really wrap things up. Although given how the writers were with the season and the stupid amount of filler with no real progression it would have been the same only more drawn out.

(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/7/10/1404990097833/George-RR-Martin-011.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=0853718895666bb969f52ef0688c4cb2)

Few decent bits already mentioned above but thats it.

Utter bullshit season. A race to the bottom from a show that was once top of the pile.
The last episode was like a fucking sitcom. Such a shame.

Quote from: warhead on May 20, 2019, 12:32:08 PM
Love(d) the show, but thank fuck is over. So, Dany is bad, but Bran can warg the dragon and he still let all the carnage happen. What a nice boy.

How do you know he can warg the dragon?

Quote from: Giggles on May 20, 2019, 07:53:09 PM

Quote from: warhead on May 20, 2019, 12:32:08 PM
Love(d) the show, but thank fuck is over. So, Dany is bad, but Bran can warg the dragon and he still let all the carnage happen. What a nice boy.

How do you know he can warg the dragon?

I was going to ask that myself.!! It was never broached in any of the seasons, I just assumed he was paralysed from the waist down  :-\

Quote from: Aborted on May 20, 2019, 08:12:41 PM

Quote from: Giggles on May 20, 2019, 07:53:09 PM

Quote from: warhead on May 20, 2019, 12:32:08 PM
Love(d) the show, but thank fuck is over. So, Dany is bad, but Bran can warg the dragon and he still let all the carnage happen. What a nice boy.

How do you know he can warg the dragon?

I was going to ask that myself.!! It was never broached in any of the seasons, I just assumed he was paralysed from the waist down  :-\

I thought it seemed implied, at the end when they're talking about sightings of Drogon and Bran says "Perhaps I can find him..."

I read the first book about 16 years ago and I can't believe that's how they decided to end it.  To me the most natural scene was the camera pulling away as they make jokes about brothels over ships.
At least he rubbed the wolf. I wonder will we ever get the books?

I think I'd prefer to watch the houses of healing LOTR ending three times over than ever watch that episode again.

Quote from: Mithrandir on May 20, 2019, 09:26:51 PM

Quote from: Aborted on May 20, 2019, 08:12:41 PM

Quote from: Giggles on May 20, 2019, 07:53:09 PM

Quote from: warhead on May 20, 2019, 12:32:08 PM
Love(d) the show, but thank fuck is over. So, Dany is bad, but Bran can warg the dragon and he still let all the carnage happen. What a nice boy.

How do you know he can warg the dragon?

I was going to ask that myself.!! It was never broached in any of the seasons, I just assumed he was paralysed from the waist down  :-\

I thought it seemed implied, at the end when they're talking about sightings of Drogon and Bran says "Perhaps I can find him..."

Yeah, that`s the way I got it..........
By the way, if we` will speculate, maybe Bran is not really innocent at all. He was not really objecting to the crown, was quite the opposite. Would be great if Bran was the biggest plotter of them all.
Good riddance, anyway it is........

The minute we've got to start explaining it outside of the confines of the show itself we're fucked. I'm all for a touch of mystery, but the show introduced these magical/mystical/deus ex machina elements and then tried its very best to avoid explaining them, or sweep them under the carpet. We followed Bran for ages and we're still none the wiser to what he was all about..thick. The Night King, can plummet from a dragon and survive, can throw a spear like a lightning bolt and change the weather and is taken out like a numpty.

Never thought I'd say it, but I'm glad it's over now so they can't ruin it any further.

Yeah, glad it's over too. Finished like a farting balloon flying around the place at the end of an incredible fireworks show, but it's done.

Great.....

Close thread.........

It's true our combined efforts are needed elsewhere, like the jokes thread for example.

Watched it from the start when it originally came on Sky Atlantic,seems a long time now.Overall a really great show, but yeah kinda glad its over now.

Really like the last shot as it relates to the first shot in the first episode of a rider going beyond the wall.

This season ruined what could have be one of the greatest shows ever. Far too rushed. Needed another season and I won't even start on the dialogue.

The way Varys was dispatched with was unforgivable. To be honest I lost interest after that. Hopefully the final two books get released as I want a proper ending to it.

Yeah, if he ever finishes the series I'll read the whole thing when I retire. That gives you almost 30 years George!!

Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 21, 2019, 12:20:22 PM
Yeah, if he ever finishes the series I'll read the whole thing when I retire. That gives you almost 30 years George!!

The guys a walking heart attack so it's wishful thinking that he will even finish them lol

Right lets close of this thread with a quick synopsis!

Drogon went East
Arya went West
Jon went North
The Show went South

:abbath:

In retrospect, and in line what I said earlier in the thread, I'm now quite glad Dany went mad and destroyed the city. Could it have been handled a little better? Yes. But, it mustn't have been easy to write a female character like that in the modern climate, and I'm really glad it didn't go down the appeasement line. There were great female parts throughout the story without the need to pander to the über-female trope we are seeing everywhere at the moment.

I watched it again, and I think once the dust has settled, the show will have been seen as a great success overall. It's also a good time to wrap it up and not drag the bollox out of it. Leaving so many open ended questions isn't necessarily a bad thing either. We can't always have a nice tidy reason for everything. Will miss it, but glad it's over as the last few seasons couldn't match the early ones. A distinct lack of boobies in the last season aswell was very disappointing.

Quote of the season: "I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel..."

Quote from: Pedrito on May 21, 2019, 06:45:15 PM
I watched it again, and I think once the dust has settled, the show will have been seen as a great success overall.

I'd have to disagree with this. If you look at other shows in comparison, let's say the Sopranos, the Wire, Breaking Bad even...shows with near universal critical acclaim, there may have been a few dips in quality over the seasons but none that garnered the level of backlash that the final season of GOT received. Like, there were a couple of poor Soprano episodes (the finale and Tony in a coma spring to mind), and some seasons of the Wire weren't as amazing as others (the dealing amnesty and the press). But GOT was building from the outset towards a definite conclusion, took its time initially to set a fairly compelling scene, then resolved everything in the most unsatisfactory manner. It was like the producers just stopped giving a shit, or got more lucrative incentives to wrap things up quickly. And while I would gladly watch The Sopranos and The Wire again, I genuinely think the last season of GOT has tainted the series overall. Although to be fair, had the final episode of the Sopranos aired only recently, I think it would have faced a comparable backlash on social media from its followers.

When it went past the books obviously the dialogue suffered a bit. But it wasn't drastic. Scenes were properly fleshed out and the dialogue was still very good. The dialogue in Season 8 is horrendous.

Also you can't have a show with a certain pace for 7 seasons and then go super turbo speed to the finish. When I watched Sopranos or the wire or oz oy any of the great tv shows there was a certain rhythm to each show. Fuck with the pace and viewers rightly get annoyed. The makers should be ashamed of themselves for not properly finishing an amazing tv show.

I actually found the last book to be a complete chore of a read, although having read all the preceding novels back to back, maybe it was just fatigue setting in. With that in mind, perhaps the show just mirrored the dip in quality of the books. To be fair, I may just revisit the last one in case. I would love to fall back into the series, and witness Martin resolve everything in a fitting manner.

Last book was absolute rubbish and I'd expect no less from any other that comes. The first one was published in 96...it's been too long I reckon.

https://youtu.be/6i0a7RDPkM8

Scott Ian, Tom Morello, Nuno Bettencourt and a couple of other bucks shredding the theme tune to Game of Thrones is a much more enjoyable watch than that last episode!

Last season was a total shitshow. I wouldn't give it the benefit of calling it simply a dip. Definitely nothing that can be linked to the last book, which while being a bit of a chore compared to earlier in the series, still sucked you into the world. S8 had all the hallmarks of trying to get through one or two seasons worth of material in three episodes, and very poorly at that. It was like watching nowadays Simpsons episodes.

I still have faith for Winds of Winter.

Just spotted this piece giving a few scant details about the prequel series:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jul/10/game-of-thrones-prequel-no-targaryens-or-lannisters-but-plenty-of-starks

I'm guessing mass ambivalence is the almost universal reaction to the idea of a new series after how the last one ended, even if it's an all new team, etc.

I know it has been flogged to death, but I tried rewatching a few episodes, and the way it all turned out has even fucked the old series' for me.

I will still have a go at the prequel though, in the hope that somebody somewhere learned something from what happened with GOT, and just focuses on telling a good story and finishing it.

Quote from: astfgyl on August 08, 2019, 10:46:35 PM
I know it has been flogged to death, but I tried rewatching a few episodes, and the way it all turned out has even fucked the old series' for me.

I will still have a go at the prequel though, in the hope that somebody somewhere learned something from what happened with GOT, and just focuses on telling a good story and finishing it.

I haven't the patience to re watch the last season. Still  though the preceding seasons and especially seasons 1 - 4 are some of the best television ever made, and the dialogue in seasons 1 to 4 is to die for. I especially love any scene with either Twyin or Tyrion Lanniseter in it.  So many iconic scenes as a whole. I'm praying George releases the last 2 books before he croaks. Even though the could be a meandering mess like the last book it could never be as bad as that last season. 

I'd love to be able to entirely forget about seasons 7 and 8 altogether and get a bit of a kick out of re watching the old ones, because they were approaching brilliance at times, but knowing what it all comes to in the end I just can't do it.

If he ever does finish the books I'll read them, but I'm not starting them at all until I know there will be an actual ending or else I'd feel like I was wasting my time with it. I read a few chapters of the first one, and I liked the style of it though, so here's hoping he does get them done.

Read the first 3 books they're brilliant.

Think I'm gonna watch the first ep of the new one tonight. Prob be enough of us watching and wanting to discuss it that it's best to reuse a spoilers-allowed thread for it.

Quote from: Pedrito on August 10, 2019, 10:24:39 PMRead the first 3 books they're brilliant.

They are stellar reads.

i'm since up to speed on the books and patiently awaiting Martin to die so someone can cobble together his notes into the last two. The books are fantastic.

HOTD EP1 wasn't bad either. Here's hoping it pans out well. Haven't read the book of it either, any of ye read it?

Yeah, first ep was good alright. Just on a technical note, some of the rendering of the cityscapes was a bit too pristine, too obviously computer generated, but a small complaint.

Thought the same of the dragon coming down the hill to light the pyre but a bit of that is to be expected. It's no Sharknado thank fuck. Apparently this isn't expected to run into too many seasons either which is good to know.

Apparently Martin wanted GoT to go for 10-13 seasons. Hope they have a definite plan for this one and avoid the previous mistakes.

I read somewhere that the entire arc has already been mapped out and that it will unfold over (if I remember correctly) 5 seasons.

Knowing there's a plan in place bodes well. But is there enough material there for 5 seasons? I've only read one or two novellas outside of the main series so I know little about House of the Dragon. Might be all the better for that.

All I've read outside of the main books are the Dunk and Egg stories. I was thinking if there's 4-5 seasons and a short book that maybe they'll get to properly flesh everything out like they couldn't do with GoT, but then I thought of the 3 Hobbit films coming from the one rather short book and I dunno how good of a thing that is

I was late to GoT and ended up loving it until season 5, when I was left wanting. Starting the books and they're great, all the good of the show and more. Hoping to have them done by the time Winds comes out.

As for the new show, I'll give it a go, got Fire and Blood (book) recently as a gift too.

I thought it was pretty underwhelming TBH. Tedious plot, Matt Smith sulking and dodgy CGI. Just the first episode but that's not the time to be hoping for a drastic improvement.

I thought it was shite.

You think everything is shite  :laugh:

I just like good things.

After a decent variation on it appearing in the first ep, pretty surprised they made the decision to revert to exactly the same theme music for the opening credits in ep 2. Otherwise, another good one, still lots of nice attention going to crafting interesting dialogue.

The worst case of crabs imaginable

Found it very predictable TBH, who turned on who, who turned up where, etc. Poor start.

Actually grand to have the fire lighting, can in hand, pipe smoked, kids gone to bed, dark outside and this coming on the telly.

If I try not to think about it too much, it almost feels normal. I'd better have another pipe

Thought that was a great episode. Didn't realise it was going to move on the way it did at all. Benefits of not having a clue about the book I guess. Bit scaldy not seeing how he ended up in half but yeah I enjoyed that.

Waiting for the proper treachery to kick in yet though.

God, I thought it was an awfully dull episode and the worst battle I can recall from the whole franchise. The crab dude with the mask was given precisely zero fleshing out as a character over the 3 eps. And now he's dead. Grand. What next? And the head on yer man Laenor; long white dreads on the others, him with some kind of bleached Cleopatra look.

You mean the white lad in the middle of the black lads? What was the issue with the battle, did it not serve its purpose in advancing the story or was it the choreography that fucked you up? Personally, I like to be entertained with my entertainment and it's not as if it's the season finale or anything. it's on here again on sky I'm going to give it another look. Hey at least it wasn't several seasons of white walkers I'm happier with the crab cunts to be done handy

Actually enjoyed that episode. Whoever did the music for the battle scene needs to be shot. Then checked that they are actually dead. It was so bad.

Really liked that one. Good to see they're not afraid to propel things forward. The battle was grand. Not amazing but did the job.

I enjoyed the first two and mixed about this. The battle was a bit cringe and music didn't work. Some of the best GoT battles had no music or slow motion. The whole boar thing was pointless too.

The hunt was a bit dragged but it was okay, the stag part was cool too. Time line was the episode was grand but we're moving along fast.

Quote from: CorkonianHunger on September 06, 2022, 09:29:50 AMI enjoyed the first two and mixed about this. The battle was a bit cringe and music didn't work. Some of the best GoT battles had no music or slow motion.

Battle would have been way better without any of that horrible music score. Amateur hour.

Have to be honest I didn't notice the music at all I just wanted to see the crab guy getting his doing

Quote from: astfgyl on September 06, 2022, 01:15:58 PMI just wanted to see the crab guy getting his doing

But... why even? I mean, who the fuck was he? Some lad in a broken mask living in a cave on a beach, whose exploits we knew nothing about, no idea how he got his power, why people followed him, what kind of mad things he might have gotten up to inside those caves, zero back story, nothing. Fairly fitting they didn't even bother showing him being killed tbh. Apart from the unrealistic sense of tactical timing to the combat, that was probably the main problem with the battle: I just didn't give a shit who won.

Ya, there was fuckall developed with the crab fellas to be fair.

Sure didn't they explain who he was and what he was doing. I didn't know I wanted to see him get his doing until I didn't see it but did we really want to know his whole story for a few seasons and then he gets killed anyway? I didn't.

Actually it being GoT I was thinking that it might end with Matt Smith being eaten by crabs which might have been fun too.

Was that not a setup for him to be back in the king's favour anyway, which is what it looks like to me

For the first proper battle I didn't think there was enough of a lead in to it. I think they should have delved deeper into that part of the world as that wasn't explored in GoT.

That was a better episode. Or maybe I'm just more responsive to a bit of ridin' than I am to a bit of battlin'!  :abbath:

Nice bit of treachery on the cards from here on in it looks like. I've liked every episode so far. Tis grand to have this on the Monday and the LOTR on the Friday

I must be in the minority. I thought it was a bit of a filler ep but ya, probably leading to some nice treachery.

I think it's from the next episode on that there's another time jump?

I hope they don't do too many of those time jumps as it could give me the latter seasons of GoT vibes where everything was a hurry to the sickeningly bad finish line.

There's to be 4 or 5 seasons, covering the guts of 200 years. I'd imagine time jumps and rushing of events will be the norm.

Found this episode terminally dull after the last one, where something actually happened. Again, all very predictable.

Yeah, you were saying about it being predictable already in the first two eps, which I thought showed hope of some intricate intrigues brewing in the background. But, so far that hasn't borne much fruit, except in predictable, or at the very least not at all surprising, ways. There's too much telling followed by the actual doing of the thing told (i.e. in last night's ep... SPOILER Rhaenyra tells her father to do his duty re The Hand; next scene he does it, and a couple of places in earlier episodes where more information than necessary is given earlier than it needs to be, removing surprise that otherwise would have been there). It's like if prior to the Red Wedding, we'd seen loads of dialogues that made it clear something, even if we didn't know exactly what, was going to happen when everyone arrived for the marriage.

This episode ended with well, but was another slow one. I reckon there'll be another time jump to the next.

I thought I'd groan the whole way through (and I do a bit with the über diverse númenor extras) and the cheesy chat up lines from yer man and calling Isildur 'Isil' (FFS)

Notwithstanding, the guts of it is a good solid show. The Orcs are outstanding, and not cannon fodder like in the films.

The trilogy got the Elves absolutely spot on, its a pity they've made them into 'boools in the mooth' simpering Home Counties toffs but sher lookit g'wan whatever.

wrong thread mook.

Quote from: Carnage on September 20, 2022, 09:19:48 PMThis episode ended with well, but was another slow one. I reckon there'll be another time jump to the next.

Good episode overall. Tension throughout the banquet scene was nicely done.

Aye, I was expecting another Red Wedding, but sure that was the red (!) herring I suppose.

I haven't read the book, so I don't know if it has deviated at all, but I found it very weird that Damo just strolled right into the banquet, was he not banished? Looked like he wasn't invited anyway.

And why the fuck did nobody stop yer man from beating the shit out of the other lad? Just seemed so odd to me.

Quote from: Carnage on September 20, 2022, 11:01:11 PMAye, I was expecting another Red Wedding, but sure that was the red (!) herring I suppose.

I was too tbf.

It's a sort of odd one overall with the jumps in time and given that it's going to cover 300 years or so I'm assuming no character will make it through more than about 2 seasons, but I'm enjoying it all the same even though the young one's face is giving me Peggy Mitchell vibes.

Spoilers for today's episode (I see them on Sunday in Canada)!

Took me several minutes to figure out what the fuck was going on at the start of this episode, these time jumps are pretty extreme. Mainly though, the rushing through made this episode feel like a missed opportunity. They introduced Ser Harwin, who has now become Rhaenyra's secret lover (and father of her 3 children), show that there's a clear rivalry and bitterness between him and Ser Criston, and then just murder him off by the end of the episode. In GoT they'd have developed that storyline, the relationship, the rivalry, the political maneuvering/murder etc over an entire season and the death at the end would have been a big deal. They'd have built up the relationship between Ser Harwin and his dad (The Hand) so that the dad trying to batter the door down to save his son would have had emotional impact. In the end you're just left not really giving a fuck about anyone or any of the storyline. Who's this dude, oh there he goes. I get they have a lot of material to get through, but what's the point if you're not going to give a shit about any of it?

The big largely unfleshed out time jump jarred a bit, but it was a good episode as a self-contained bit of story. And it looks like this is not the last we'll see of Lord Larys' sadism.

They seem to be setting him up as the Baelish/Varys schemer of this show. Perhaps this is the beginning of his own grab for power.

Good episode. I was aware of the time jump and between the changing and aging of characters, they dealt with it quite well. Apart from yer man Criston. He looked basically the exact same. Larys is a quality creep, looking forward to seeing his story play out.

Just saw somewhere there that originally the show runners were going to have the series start with Rhaenerya and Alicent already adults but it was Martin who insisted on showing their adolescence together first. Don't know if any of ye know any more about that. In any case, it's certainly made Alicent's character more interesting than had she appeared, let's say, Cersei-like from the beginning.

Found the last couple of episodes a bit dull overall.

And that was quality too!  :abbath:

It's pretty woeful lads if we're being honest. Not a patch on the first few seasons of GoT. The characters are non existent. Your man the brother, Damon is it, I don't know the names too well, is the only half decent one in it with a bit of charisma. The creepy younger brother of the Knight who got banished for riding the princess has potential....... but fuck me the rest of them, dull and forgettable.

Just think back to the brilliant characters that littered GoT. From Eddard Stark and John Snow and the crew at the Wall, all the Lannisters, every little side character, I can't remember the names but Jesus it was packed with class villains and well acted by all. This is muck by comparison. Yes they are building a bit of a story of power struggle etc etc but it's nothing to watch at all at all.



Edit just to say I've not watched the latest episode yet, in case there is a massive upswing . There'd bleedin want to be!!!

2nd edit. Made a poor point

Latest episode by a mile the best. Fuck all action but the scheming all came out.

Plenty of action! Not much all out battle or swordplay, fair enough, but two scenes in particular were all about action.

Bit of a curve ball episode. Hard to predict exactly what way it'll go which is very much a good thing. That was a great scene.

Thought that was a good episode.
I just thought the time jumps in the season were badly done. They killed off that crab king way too quickly. Thought there could have been a cool character there.

Quote from: Grim Reality on October 03, 2022, 10:43:33 PMJust think back to the brilliant characters that littered GoT. From Eddard Stark and John Snow and the crew at the Wall, all the Lannisters, every little side character, I can't remember the names but Jesus it was packed with class villains and well acted by all. This is muck by comparison. Yes they are building a bit of a story of power struggle etc etc but it's nothing to watch at all at all.

I get what you're saying but I don't think it's fair to compare them like that. GoT was based on a story that sprawls a lot of territory and is written across five books (so far). House of the Dragon is based on one book that focuses specifically on the history of House Targaryen.

That latest episode was definitely worth watching anyway!

Rhaenyra and Daemon are not fucking, but making sweet, sweet love.....

A decent episode at last but it's still more of a chore than a pleasure to wstch. I'll finish this season but unless it improves dramatically, it'll be ditched then.

Today's and last week's episodes have picked it up a bit. I'm finally starting to care about plotlines, characters, and all the complicated politics. Looking forward to seeing Daemon and Rhaenyra's reaction to the events of this week's episode.

Rhaenys flexin

That was a great episode, really well filmed, lots of tension of all sorts throughout.

That episode was fantastic. All the threads coming together. Brilliantly filmed and the score was beautiful. Theres going to be bloodshed next week id say.

Think the show as a whole is brilliant. Respective to the canon and has the best parts of the court politics on GoT but obviously not as gritty and charming.

Rewatched the last episode again last night. Jesus its class. The tension throughout was top notch. Have to say Rhys Ifans is class in it.

Aye, Rhys Ifans has been excellent in it since the beginning. Even better than Considine imo.

Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on October 19, 2022, 11:01:10 AMAye, Rhys Ifans has been excellent in it since the beginning. Even better than Considine imo.

He sure is. Considine has got better as it went along.

That was a very good finale.

Ya that was really good.
The last scene with the dragons was deadly.
It's set itself up great for the next season.

Finally a properly good episode, right at the end. Dragon on dragon action, but still a predictable ending. Hopefully it picks up in the next season, but sure we'll all watch it anyway.

Cracking finale. Show really has come together in the last 3 episodes. Episode 9 standout for me. Visersys walking to reclaim the throne best scene. Show runner said in a recent interview Season 1 is the world building. A lot more carnage in season 2.

Last three episodes have been brilliant. Finale was good alright.

Watched the last three episodes last night. Certainly picked up a bit there but I enjoyed the whole season. Will likely give it all another run before the next one.

Yeah, nice run of three episodes there alright.

Would recommend revisiting last episode of House of Dragon before starting S2, at least if you only watched it once. We were a little lost for most of the first ep here  :laugh:

I completely forgot it was out now so I'll take your advice there and get the end of the last season in before I go for it

Good first episode. Ending was brisk.

***SPOILERS***






That new episode was class! I was hoping Ser Cristan wouldn't be alive by the end, that cunt annoys me and I'd love to see him get a proper good battering!

I wasn't too fond of Aemond after he got his eye patch, but he's a right little schemer and he has grown on me. I thought he might have went a Jamie Lanister route and become a good guy... doesn't seem likely now  :laugh:

The dragon fight was great entertainment, if not somewhat predictable... had a feeling that Rhaenys wasn't going to come back. Got proper jittery waiting for Aemond to deliver the final strike, and kind of hoped that he wouldn't. Not gonna lie it was pretty exciting  :laugh: 
But I don't see why they couldn't have sent two dragons? If Aemond had fallen too, the Greens would be properly fucked and the war might have finished?

That crippled Master of Whispers lad doesn't miss a beat. Be interesting to see what roles himself and yer wan Mysaria have yet to play and which sides they will remain on.

Seems like Allicent has a bit more grieving to do anyway. She's not gonna like it when the lads tell her that it was Aemond's dragon that took Aegon down.

I've no idea what Daemon is going to go. He's fannying about and losing his mind.

I thought overall the first season was dire, despite the pick up towards the end.

In no hurry to tune in to season 2. Maybe I should give it a shot, but I'm a notoriously cuntish critic. Any wokist shite crowbarred in and I'm gone.

Hard to beat the first few years of GoT. Jesus, when you think back..... sensational.

S2 is just grand so far, will prob start picking up now though.

***SPOILERS***

Flaccid finale. The usual setting it up for next season etc. But in terms of action, that was 3-4 episodes of fuck all.

I'll still tune in for season 3 when it comes, but I wouldn't have minded a bit more action in this episode. Bit of a downer when you realise that there is about half the episode still left and you know that it's just going to be talking and whatnot.

Overall, yeah enjoyable season but definitely slow in places. Did it really need to take Daemon almost a whole season to stick his hand in a fucking tree?

It was 2 episodes too long but I enjoyed the season overall. Sets next season up nicely.

Zzzzzz to that finale.

Too much of this looks and feels like some BBC fantasy production for young adults. That mud wrestling scene, christ, the absolute state of it in absolutely every single respect. A few good moments, but way too up itself in the "epic" stakes for its actual quality.

With the SAG strike and post production time it was always going to be tough to stick a landing this season. Not a bad one overall and they did take the lighting feedback seriously.

I was looking forward to this season as I felt Season 1 ramped up nicely towards the end of it, but I did feel that Season 2 dragged on a bit and as someone said before was 2 episodes too long for the story it had to tell, Season 3 had better not fuck about as much!!

Quote from: The Heretic on August 26, 2024, 03:36:05 PMI was looking forward to this season as I felt Season 1 ramped up nicely towards the end of it, but I did feel that Season 2 dragged on a bit and as someone said before was 2 episodes too long for the story it had to tell, Season 3 had better not fuck about as much!!

They've almost two years to sort it so hopefully. 😂

Quote from: Sworntothecans on August 26, 2024, 03:50:26 PM

Quote from: The Heretic on August 26, 2024, 03:36:05 PMI was looking forward to this season as I felt Season 1 ramped up nicely towards the end of it, but I did feel that Season 2 dragged on a bit and as someone said before was 2 episodes too long for the story it had to tell, Season 3 had better not fuck about as much!!

They've almost two years to sort it so hopefully. 😂

Wouldn't be like grrm adaptations to be shit or anything.......

Quote from: Grim Reality on July 08, 2024, 10:47:34 PMIn no hurry to tune in to season 2. Maybe I should give it a shot, but I'm a notoriously cuntish critic. Any wokist shite crowbarred in and I'm gone.

Give it a miss so. The lead goes by they/them and the final episode has a trans playing a lesbian.

Just got around to watching it, I needn't have bothered. Another shite season with only slightly more happening but fuck all plot progression. Seemed like an extended prologue to season 3, which I doubt I'll bother with. As for the finale, what an anticlimax.

Yeah the finale was poor, and the whole season was 2 episodes too long...the progression was frustrating...