Game of Thrones, Season 8 (spoilers allowed)

So … yea or nay?

 

No, she was in the preview for next week.

Read this and see if you still think that: https://io9.gizmodo.com/that-sudden-game-of-thrones-turn-was-actually-a-long-ti-1834722527

 

Nope. She always was cruel to people who wronged her or her sense of morality (being a slaver) but not to innocents.

 

Did her love for the innocents go any deeper than those innocents’ usefulness to her?

“I’m going to break the wheel” was just a campaign slogan. She wanted to turn the wheel one more time - so she was on top - and then break it.

The limits of the justice she was willing to apply seemed to directly correlate with one’s willingness to bend the knee and call her queen.

 

I remember the movie I was thinking of: "Taps" with Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise and George C. Scott.

The military academy is totally surrounded and has no chance of winning. Finally Timothy Hutton agrees to surrender. But Tom Cruise isn't having it, especially after one of the young kids, Charlie, is accidentally killed when one his roommates makes a run for it, drops his weapon (which discharges) and Charlie is shot.

Cruise has a machine gun nest and starts firing on the army stationed outside. It's madness. Hutton and Penn run to the nest to stop him and Hutton and Cruise are killed by the overwhelming response from the army. Penn carries Hutton's body out at the end.

It's not a perfect comparison, but the surrender aspect -- and the madness of trying to take out a dragon or (in Cruise's case) the US army from a surrounded position -- made me think of it. I hadn't seen "Taps" in many years, but I've seen it a lot -- and Burneko's description of an alternative ending seemed (perhaps subconsciously) influenced by that movie.

 

Oh, definitely yea. No reason for the girl to be nervous unless she was trying to do something. And no reason for them to "try again" unless they were poisoning her. And there's this conversation from Season 1:
Ned: “I’ve heard it said that poison is a woman’s weapon."
Pycelle: “Yes, women, cravens, and eunuchs. Did you know that Lord Varys is a eunuch?”

 

I really do need to watch Season 1 again. I still wish they hadn't cut the scene in which Tywin made Pycelle drop the feeble old man act for a few minutes.

Edit: I had to go find it and watch it again. It really is an excellent character moment.

 

Another problem: There are essentially two pieces of GOT - the politics and the magic. The politics (feuds and jockeying for power among the houses) was the backbone of the first four seasons. It was nuanced and compelling.

The magic (white walkers, Bran, Night King) has taken over the last few seasons, and it's been a total dead end. If they had kept their focus on the politics, the show would be in much better shape.

 

I think them having a common enemy -- the white walker and the Night King -- WAS a political turn.

Also, magic has always been central to the series. What is Dany walking into the fire with three rocks and emerging with three dragons if not magic?

 

'Game of Thrones' Has Become a Cynical Clusterf*ck

I've officially had enough of the whining about Sunday's episode. Yes, the season has been rushed, but the idea that this isn't how Martin's story would go down is just ridiculous. The article itself acknowledges Martin's own rejection of violence. Martin's take is a cynical one, with the idea that people who resort to that type of violence have it in them to be monsters and the monster will most likely come out at some point.

 

Lena Headey posted a goodbye to Cersei. Think we can cross her off the list.

 

I think Jon killing Danaerys, with the Iron Throne already destroyed by her, makes the most sense as the end of this story. It fulfills Dany’s vision that she breaks the wheel - the throne is gone, and Westeros gets a noble and just ruler. The cycle is broken. It seems to be what the entire series has led toward.

Danaerys killing them all and dragging the throne out of the ashes is the most GOT ending.

I think Jon could possibly die killing Dany, and Sansa takes the Iron Throne, but that possibility seems remote. She doesn’t have a real claim to the throne and I think the story is better served if she remains the Lady of Winterfell.

I’m still not sure what to make of Arya and the stallion. I’m wondering if her part in this story is done and she’s set up for a spin-off as some sort of GOT version of a Ronin. I don’t think she kills Dany. No way she gets the two biggest kills of the series.

They’ve done a good job of tying up threads, so I assume we’re not done with Bran? I’m fine if we are because he’s been a boring character throughout the series, but we’ll have wasted a lot of time with his weird ass for 8 seasons if his ultimate role was to give Arya the blade and be bait.