Game of Thrones Discussion - TV Series Spoilers -

[TNovak]

Yeah Theon is getting way too much screen and story time if you ask me, especially since they are shortening the seasons so much now. As for the fight between Theon and the big guy, I liked it a lot better the first time I saw it 50 years ago in "Cool Hand Luke

[Luminous]

Prior to the episode I was actually thinking Theon needed a little more attention. Not because I enjoy the character but because I felt he needed a proper resoluion. Was glad to see they hadn't forgot his arc.

[Marvelito]

Originally Posted by Luminous

it wasn't exactly made clear why everyone there stood firmly behind the Starks with said claims. Was it just because the Starks were making the accusations therefore they must stand with them?

In my mind, despite Baelish being a lord, no one particularly seems to care for him, I don't think he's a particularly likable character. While no one may have ever been able to directly accuse him of anything before last night, it seems that when it finally happened no one would have had a hard time believing it. Not to mention the fact that the Stark word carries a lot of weight, especially in the north. I still stand by my feeling that the misdirect leading up to all of this was not handled well, and also felt a bit underwhelmed by the end result, despite enjoying seeing Arya be his executioner.

[Luminous]

Originally Posted by Hellboy

Looked to me like he was on the side of the wall that didn't collapse. The last shot of him was it breaking away and stopping just short of taking him with it.

It seemed clear to me as well that Tormund and Beric made it to the portion of the wall that didn't fall. The last we see them is a close up shot of their gaze watching the wall fall beneath them. That said it looks like a lot of people are convinced they're dead.

Originally Posted by Marvelito

In my mind, despite Baelish being a lord, no one particularly seems to care for him, I don't think he's a particularly likable character. While no one may have ever been able to directly accuse him of anything before last night, it seems that when it finally happened no one would have had a hard time believing it. Not to mention the fact that the Stark word carries a lot of weight, especially in the north. I still stand by my feeling that the misdirect leading up to all of this was not handled well, and also felt a bit underwhelmed by the end result, despite enjoying seeing Arya be his executioner.

This is the conclusion I came to as well but would have preferred if something more concrete had been established (irrefutable evidence or at the very least a little more dialogue from the Knights of Vale on why they supported the Stark's claims).

[johnclone]

Originally Posted by Marvelito

In my mind, despite Baelish being a lord, no one particularly seems to care for him, I don't think he's a particularly likable character. While no one may have ever been able to directly accuse him of anything before last night, it seems that when it finally happened no one would have had a hard time believing it. Not to mention the fact that the Stark word carries a lot of weight, especially in the north. I still stand by my feeling that the misdirect leading up to all of this was not handled well, and also felt a bit underwhelmed by the end result, despite enjoying seeing Arya be his executioner.

I thought having Bran blurt out what Petyr said to Ned was great. Something like "I warned you not to trust me" Which I then suddenly vaguely remembered Petyr saying with some sense of glee to poor Ned Stark so we have total circle closure there.
Also the way that Sansa declared he had killed his wife by throwing her out the moon door and then his admitting it.

And the whole killing him with his own knife was good. And I liked Sansa reiterating back to him "I like to play a little game" And how Arya just walks over and dispatches him with one stroke and the scene ending with his body laying in a pool of blood. So that's some of why I thought it was a powerful and well thought out scene.

[ZenLogikos]

Originally Posted by johnclone

Well, he is dead now. So I guess we shouldn't expect anything biological or chemical to be happening inside, the body is just a shell now, but the illusion of life would be because of the NK's magic. So there's why it has to be magic, I guess.

That's as good an explanation as any, I guess. But then again, by that logic, any wight should be able to breathe 'magic'.

No need to convince me though. I'm not gonna be satisfied with what I saw, when he could have been breathing fire - to melt the ice, or breathing ice - to create an Iceman-like slide around the wall, or even freezing the ocean at the edge of the wall. We'll see how they deal with him using that breath on people.

Different topic - I found it interesting when Bran stated he can see the past, and things happening now, all over the world - but curiously left out 'the future'.

[RichBamf]

Originally Posted by Marvelito

In my mind, despite Baelish being a lord, no one particularly seems to care for him, I don't think he's a particularly likable character. While no one may have ever been able to directly accuse him of anything before last night, it seems that when it finally happened no one would have had a hard time believing it. Not to mention the fact that the Stark word carries a lot of weight, especially in the north. I still stand by my feeling that the misdirect leading up to all of this was not handled well, and also felt a bit underwhelmed by the end result, despite enjoying seeing Arya be his executioner.

Also the Knights of the Vale were always slightly suspicious of him from a few season ago.

But yes the 'deception' was not only unclear and muddled, it needed more than a few glimpses per episode. This season desperately needed those last three episodes to tell this story effectively. Imagine another two or three scenes to build that up, as well as the suicide squad mission, the Jon/Dany romance, more stuff with Bran, more subtle Jaime realising Cersi is mad.

Three more episodes and this season wouldn't have felt so rushed.

[ZenLogikos]

Originally Posted by Luminous

Prior to the episode I was actually thinking Theon needed a little more attention. Not because I enjoy the character but because I felt he needed a proper resoluion. Was glad to see they hadn't forgot his arc.

Yeah, I'm sure it's all part of serving the narrative of Jon and his ability to unite, and make allies. No doubt they'll serve Jon's interests when it comes to Euron and the Golden Company. This whole part of the story seems like filler right now however, even though I've read that in the books the Golden Company are allegedly very important.

[ZenLogikos]

Originally Posted by Marvelito

In my mind, despite Baelish being a lord, no one particularly seems to care for him, I don't think he's a particularly likable character. While no one may have ever been able to directly accuse him of anything before last night, it seems that when it finally happened no one would have had a hard time believing it. Not to mention the fact that the Stark word carries a lot of weight, especially in the north. I still stand by my feeling that the misdirect leading up to all of this was not handled well, and also felt a bit underwhelmed by the end result, despite enjoying seeing Arya be his executioner.

Originally Posted by Luminous

This is the conclusion I came to as well but would have preferred if something more concrete had been established (irrefutable evidence or at the very least a little more dialogue from the Knights of Vale on why they supported the Stark's claims).

Yeah, I initially thought it came off as hollow because it was completely a viewer misdirection. But in retrospect, the fact that Arya was onto Littlefinger the whole time, being coy in the conversation with, and at the end handing the dagger over to Sansa...then Sansa realizing it and having the proper conversation with Arya (and presumably Bran as well) off-screen, makes sense to me where I previously thought it wouldn't.

But - everyone, especially the Vale, conveniently forgot or instantly forgave Sansa for being complicit in Littlefinger's lies, to that point. It's not a stretch to believe though, as she is a Stark, and the Starks are THE North family, and her lies just served to put the Starks back in power.

[Marvelito]

Originally Posted by RichBamf

Also the Knights of the Vale were always slightly suspicious of him from a few season ago.

But yes the 'deception' was not only unclear and muddled, it needed more than a few glimpses per episode. This season desperately needed those last three episodes to tell this story effectively. Imagine another two or three scenes to build that up, as well as the suicide squad mission, the Jon/Dany romance, more stuff with Bran, more subtle Jaime realising Cersi is mad.

Three more episodes and this season wouldn't have felt so rushed.

The season was definitely abbreviated, and not every storyline was served as best as it could have been, but I didn't feel that it was overly rushed as I was watching it week to week. I would not have complained at all about a bit more show though. I heard that next season will only be 6 episodes, but that each episode will be feature length, whatever that means. If they had made even a few of the episodes a little longer it would have definitely helped flesh things out. We'll see how it goes next season, but IMO there isn't a whole lot of story left to tell. It's pretty clear where it's headed, so let's get to it already. I'm already prepared in knowing that every single thread will not be resolved, I'm sure some things will be left dangling, but that's just the way it goes.