The visuals were tremendous, and I think the first 45 minutes made sense for the characters and the battle. Once Dany threw her victory out the Moon Door everything seemed to be sacrificed in the interest of creating a bunch of WTF moments.
I thought the episode was okay. Much like all the episodes since the producers had to strike out on their own, there was some good and some bad, but the story feels off. The good: 1. The scene where the Hound convinces Arya to turn back and the price of focusing on vengeance. It was pretty powerful and well-written IMO and it was my favorite scene of the episode 2. Briefly seeing wildfire deposits going off in the city during Dany's burninating. Only one glimpse of it, but it hints at a Cersei plot that never really culminated. I like touches like that--things people were doing that didn't ultimately "matter" to the story. It makes the world feel more alive and realistic, things are happening that aren't just for a narrative pay-off 3. Dany's massacre mostly shown from the perspective of all the people suffering and dying. The producers didn't say it (they only said that usually such scenes are shown from the perspective of the 'heroes,' but they wanted to ground it in those affected) but I felt it was clear that they made this choice to rather unsubtly hit us over the head with how "max atrocity" Dany and her army have gone. But it was very effective. The bad: 1. They did a poor job of getting Dany to villain status. I agree with Vanilla Gorilla that the show has been slowly building toward Dany displaying her "mad queen" possibilities, but how they finished the job in this episode was absurd. After agreeing that the people of King's Landing were innocents (but that she may have to kill them for the greater good, which was a more realistic standpoint for her), she decides, "Well, I've gotten everything I want--I think I'll just start burning up those innocents for no reason." It's not like anything even happened during the battle that could have enraged her--the killing of Missandei was before she agreed to call off the dogs if the bells were rung. It seemed like the producers were just determined to make her as mustache-twirling villainous as possible, no matter how unrealistic the sequence of events. They didn't even bother to throw in some token "enrage factor," like maybe seeing Grey Worm die to a treacherous Golden Company solider or Gold Cloak. 2. The show wasn't aiming for misdirection with Jaime last episode, he wasn't heading back to King's Landing to kill Cersei, he really did want to rejoin her. Considering he stuck by her through everything until she decided not to honor her alliance against the wights and then immediately rode back to her, it undermines his "redemptive arc" and leaves his perspective with Cersei largely as "I think you should have fought against the undead--outside of that decision, I'm totally on board with you." 3. More of a gripe about the previous episode, but they made it more obvious in this one: Dany finally learned that if you don't drive your dragon straight all the time, the scorpions can't do anything to her. There's no way she should have been forced to flee by Euron's fleet last episode. They basically re-ran the same scenario in this episode and she burned his fleet up just as easily as she should have been able to last episode. The producers said that this season would offer one last "omg" moment, akin to the Red Wedding, and nothing so far qualifies, IMO. I'm wondering if that oh-shit moment will be Jon killing Dany, after the horrific atrocities he witnessed her commit for absolutely no reason.
Me neither. Although I like a good science fiction I really don't care for fantasy and magic. Loved Forbidden Planet, Blade Runner, The Road, Last Night with Sandra Oh, Star Wars, 2001 A Space Odyssey, War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Martian, Prometheus and Alien.
Expanding on my previous thought, I could see an ending where Jon kills Dany, is killed in turn and no one ascends to the Iron Throne. The seven kingdoms splinter--as they were before Aegon's conquest. The last two Targaryens die and the realm reverts back to how it was before the Targaryens showed up. That seems fairly neat and tidy. That would certainly make Sansa happy, as the North would be autonomous again. But she would have lost Jon as part of the deal. Bittersweet.
I just can't get behind this. Dany is trying to get him to hide the truth. She is completely in the wrong. It's selfish because her whole existence is based on her being the rightful heir to the throne. Why is Jon in the wrong for telling the truth? I could make a strong case for not saying anything being the wrong move. If Dany was going to snap she would've done so eventually when the secret got out anyway (not that I believe it either way).
Ok, list your top 5 characters throughout the entire series. 1. Ramsay . I loved hating him. I hated him more than I loved anyone else. 2. Joffrey. See above. 3. Cersei. See above. 4. Littlefinger. This fucking weasel was great entertainment. 5. Bronn. Not a super deep character but he stole every scene he was in.
1. Arya 2. The Hound (especially, when with Arya) 3. Uncle Benjen 4. Maester Lewin 5. Early Tyrion 6. Tywin with Arya.