Game of Thrones Seasons 7-8

[keg in kc]

About to hit the 5000 post mark on the old thread, the first season 7 trailer today seems like the right time to start the final Game of Thones thread.

I'm going back to the original rules pre-2015. I don't think we need supervision or bannings. Just don't be a dick. Post anything you find online that hasn't aired yet inside of spoiler tags. That's pretty much it. I think we can all handle that...





For future us, 2015 thread is here: Link

[KCUnited]

I know it's his mean mug and all but Grey Worm looked like he was trying to shit out a block of Velveeta during that faceoff.

Also, Qyburn seemed extremely confident they aren't all doomed, like they have more tricks up their sleeve.

[InChiefsHeaven]

I think what makes this feel un-Game of Throne-sy is the fact that for 7 seasons, there have been multiple characters arcs and stories...but now we're down to just one story. In other words, this is where it's all been leading to. No more character arcs, no more interesting stories...just the final war. I guess they need to wrap it up, and that means rushed episodes and un-inspiring dialog. Like, it seems in the past it would have taken a whole season for Dany to not trust anyone and start to want to go all Mad Queen on it, but they had to shove all of that into basically 3 episodes, along with trying to get all the other GoT stuff in there with the other characters.

In the end, the show is a victim of it's own awesomeness. There really is no way to wrap this up satisfactorily in one season, even with 90 minute episodes. Maybe with 10 90 minutes episodes, but that ain't gonna happen.

I wanted to see a lot more than we're gonna get. Like Nymeria and Ghost re-uniting. Like Samwell having an actual role to play instead of...nothing. Like Sansa and Dany having a real relationship, one of respect but serious distrust that would be fleshed out...and on and on. It is what it is. Still love the show and when it's all over I'll be binging the season to get the full effect.

It just feels rushed and empty compared to the brilliance of the preceding seasons. But...nothing is ever perfect.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by notorious

I think people are being too harsh. They’ve read the books, and a person’s interpretation/imagination is always going to be better than what’s on screen.

You don’t have that this season, so people have been writing their own storyline in their minds for a year and a half. When the visual medium doesn’t live up to the theories in their mind (which is impossible at this point) it gets crushed relentlessly like anything does now days.

I think season 7 is protecting the main characters too much. What makes GOT awesome is that nobody is safe. It hasn’t been like that for a while now. The writers are playing it safe, which doesn’t make it bad, but it also will kill the chance at being great like the past.

Didn't love the episode but can appreciate the challenge of wrapping things up extremely fast. Maybe 3 episodes actually isn't enough to do that. It was really that long middle part that felt choppy. The the show is looking pretty safe in a sprint to the end. But at least it will wrap up. Maybe Martin's challenge is its just so ambitious to wrap up the complex worlds he's created toward an ending.

Also helps me appreciate a show like better call saul that works off of an incredibly simple premise and pays attention to every last detail, even if that means drawing it out for a half hour. Complex shows like lost are brilliantly complex but that often makes it almost impossible to wrap up the story without cutting corners.

[lawrenceRaider]

Not sure what everyone was really expecting from making a show on a series of books by GRRM where not even GRRM has any bloody clue how to wrap up all the snarled and multitudinous story lines. I think we are getting what we deserve for the time invested in a story that the author can't even figure out how to properly wrap up.

ETA: I guess when this trip started, we might not have realized that GRRM was so far from knowing what the hell he was doing, so got caught in the trap.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by lawrenceRaider

Not sure what everyone was really expecting from making a show on a series of books by GRRM where not even GRRM has any bloody clue how to wrap up all the snarled and multitudinous story lines. I think we are getting what we deserve for the time invested in a story that the author can't even figure out how to properly wrap up.

ETA: I guess when this trip started, we might not have realized that GRRM was so far from knowing what the hell he was doing, so got caught in the trap.

Crushed it.

If it was so easy he would already have written and cashed in on a couple of books.

[Sassy Squatch]

Drogon is too fat for his armor. Daenerys must find the breastplate stretcher.

[GloucesterChief]

Sansa is the only one that is coming across as smart this season other then overtly challenging Dany when she brings up bending the knee.

[CupidStunt]

I'm not one of those guys who's negative about everything. I don't take any pleasure in it like others seem to. 1-3 weren't perfect by any stretch, but I simply overlook my gripes, even as a hardcore book-reader-turned-show-addict. But as of now I am SO disappointed. My main disappointments are, in order:

1) That I saw the leaks and couldn't stop myself. This is immeasurably the worst part of what was an otherwise disappointing episode; that I wasn't even the slightest bit surprised by a single thing. God ****ING DAMMIT. Shock and surprise and thought-provoking scenes is what made GoT the best. ****ing ****.

2) That Rhaegal was taken out like he was nothing, and now they're likely gonna have Drogon be completely unstoppable? The thing is I can live with a little inconsistency here and there but this is completely insane. The dragons were an absolutely unstoppable force, but now one has been taken out like swatting a fly. I simply can't stomach it now flipping completely again. I just don't buy that they can take KL with Drogon, and without him, they're basically a shitty army. At this point I should think Cersei will "win" (or no one wins, it's just one big pile of death).

3) Jaime's leaving - if he's actually, truly going to "save" Cersei. Or even just be with her. I just can't believe this and certainly don't like it. Having said that, this one I could see being the same in the books (I guess it's human: be bad, try to be better, think you are, but then realize you're not). Although I'll hope it's not the case.

4) Bronn's scene. **** off. I don't buy it. Yes he's a cutt-throat, yes he's always done stuff for gold and himself, and I know he's not truly Tyrion's friend, yes yes yes. But I do not buy the way he handled that at all. I guessed he'd negotiate to get a prize from Tyrion rather than Cersei, but just not the way it went down.

I might be forgetting one or two bits. Again, I really don't like to criticize GoT - I'm definitely somewhat a fanboy. I want to overlook as much as I can. But that was about as bad an episode as I could've imagined. And knowing a few key details really topped it all off. **** **** ****.

****

[Sassy Squatch]

Originally Posted by CupidStunt

I'm not one of those guys who's negative about everything. I don't take any pleasure in it like others seem to. 1-3 weren't perfect by any stretch, but I simply overlook my gripes, even as a hardcore book-reader-turned-show-addict. But as of now I am SO disappointed. My main disappointments are, in order:

1) That I saw the leaks and couldn't stop myself. This is immeasurably the worst part of what was an otherwise disappointing episode; that I wasn't even the slightest bit surprised by a single thing. God ****ING DAMMIT. Shock and surprise and thought-provoking scenes is what made GoT the best. ****ing ****.

2) That Rhaegal was taken out like he was nothing, and now they're likely gonna have Drogon be completely unstoppable? The thing is I can live with a little inconsistency here and there but this is completely insane. The dragons were an absolutely unstoppable force, but now one has been taken out like swatting a fly. I simply can't stomach it now flipping completely again. I just don't buy that they can take KL with Drogon, and without him, they're basically a shitty army. At this point I should think Cersei will "win" (or no one wins, it's just one big pile of death).

3) Jaime's leaving - if he's actually, truly going to "save" Cersei. Or even just be with her. I just can't believe this and certainly don't like it. Having said that, this one I could see being the same in the books (I guess it's human: be bad, try to be better, think you are, but then realize you're not). Although I'll hope it's not the case.

4) Bronn's scene. **** off. I don't buy it. Yes he's a cutt-throat, yes he's always done stuff for gold and himself, and I know he's not truly Tyrion's friend, yes yes yes. But I do not buy the way he handled that at all. I guessed he'd negotiate to get a prize from Tyrion rather than Cersei, but just not the way it went down.

I might be forgetting one or two bits. Again, I really don't like to criticize GoT - I'm definitely somewhat a fanboy. I want to overlook as much as I can. But that was about as bad an episode as I could've imagined. And knowing a few key details really topped it all off. **** **** ****.

****

It's just over the top negative hyperbole, at least from me. Still like the show a lot, they're just forcing things to happen now to wrap it up. Could've been better with some planning but whatever.

[mdchiefsfan]

Originally Posted by DaFace

It's like people (and the directors) have forgotten that Game of Thrones was just the first book. The series is called Ice and Fire for a reason. The white walkers were supposed to be the "big bad."

Debateable. It could also be the merging of the Direwolf and the Dragon, aka John Snow.

[CupidStunt]

I guess they could armor Drogon. Fair enough. It's thin, but it works. And like I said I could see Jaime's redemption reversal happening in the books. So I suppose my stance at this point is that it's still recoverable, but it feels like they've really made it hard for themselves.

Also, I didn't specify and was thinking about it under the Rhaegel umbrella, but Euron's character is a complete joke. He should've been written into the show much earlier and with way more depth to be this much of a plot device now.

[mdchiefsfan]

I am concerned there is a wheel spinning here. Dany mentions that she doesn’t want to stop, but break the “wheel” of politics in King’s Landing that is grinding the Westerosi into paste, yet we are seeing the end/beginning of a cycle:

Dany appears to be headed to ‘Mad King’ territory.

Cersei is pregnant with Jaime’s child and her suitor is led to believe it’s his son.

Leader of the North is headed to King’s Landing.

Jaime heads back to Cersei.

There just seems to be a bunch of past problems reborn, and at their infancy, at the moment. Even a hoard of zombies can’t seem to get the political figures in Westeros to stop their squabbling and break the wheel; how can Dany? Time will tell if that is intentional.

Anyone able to identify any others?

[listopencil]

Meh. I can see the impetus behind Dany going all "mad queen" and burning the shit out of King's Landing. She showed up with an invincible army and three reusable WMD's on a leash that no one could really stand against. If she had just stormed King's Landing right off the bat she'd be in great shape now. Now she's considerably weaker and doesn't have a clear claim to the throne.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by CupidStunt

I guess they could armor Drogon. Fair enough. It's thin, but it works. And like I said I could see Jaime's redemption reversal happening in the books. So I suppose my stance at this point is that it's still recoverable, but it feels like they've really made it hard for themselves.

Also, I didn't specify and was thinking about it under the Rhaegel umbrella, but Euron's character is a complete joke. He should've been written into the show much earlier and with way more depth to be this much of a plot device now.

Yep. Honestly if there was one thing I could change about the show, it’s scrapping Dorne entirely in Season 5 and introducing Euron a season earlier. Things like the dragonbinder and character development could have been possible there. Ah well.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by mdchiefsfan

Debateable. It could also be the merging of the Direwolf and the Dragon, aka John Snow.

I always liked the ambiguity there.

It could be Jon's parentage, Jon and Daenerys' relationship, or the White Walkers against R'Holor or however you spell it.