Game of Thrones - Please no spoilers from ASOIAF

[Mierin]

The Night King didn't exist in the books (at least not yet).

And

Spoiler

I considered how easy it was to kill him. But Jon has been working up to fighting him and the undead since he joined the Night's Watch. They would have been completely screwed without that, and without the dragon glass. We spent lots and lots of time with Rob Stark's war against the Lannisters, but it can be argued that a lot of Jon's scenes were part of the war against the white walkers. One thing that I think is a let down is we learned pretty much nothing about the Night King.

I think the show/books are better for having the white walkers, even if the payoff wasn't perfect. It was something that was always hanging over the story, and that helped the story.

 

[knapplc]

I think it'd be funny if none of the main characters at Winterfell died. It would also play into the fact that they wrap up the northern war quickly and get back to... 

The Game of Thrones, which is what this series is ostensibly about. I'm way more interested in the final few episodes being about Cersei vs. Daenerys than the Living vs. the Dead. 

So, this seems to have been about right. I didn't watch the preview for next week (the wife wanted to avoid spoilers) so I have no idea who does/doesn't come alive out of the wreckage, but it seems like 99% of the main characters live. Jorah's dead, Theon's dead, apparently all the Dothraki and most/all of the Unsullied, but the leaders are still there - Dany, Jon, Arya, Sansa, Tyrion, Jamie, Brienne, Tormund, Uncle The Hound... I'm sure I'm missing someone, because they all lived! Pod seems to have made it, right?

The Dothraki charge at the beginning of the battle was dumb. You knew they weren't coming back, and now they're totally gone. She has Drogon and Rhaegal left now, right? Rhaegal lived? Visereon is gone-gone, having died twice now.

So now we have a few episodes left, all to decide who wins the throne. The way it should have been all along, without the zombie apocalypse sidebar.

Here's my guess on how it plays out:

Spoiler

Sansa wins. There are a few bloody battles, the dragons give the Northerners several victories, and Cersei's forces are hemmed in at King's Landing. Jamie dies, probably super heroically, Dany dies when Drogon is killed, and Jon wins the war without her, but goes back to the north without revealing who he is to anyone else and lives at Winterfell. Arya & Gendry take over some vacant kingdom, and Sansa takes the throne with Tyrion. Their marriage (remarriage) seals a bond between two formerly warring houses.  Tyrion is royalty, but Sansa is the queen.

I have no idea how Cersei dies. Probably shortly after Clegane Bowl. Maybe Arya gets her, but Arya has already gotten two major bad guys (the Night King & Littlefinger), so maybe it's someone else's turn. Bronn comes back with the crossbow and shoots her, so she dies by the same weapon that killed her pissant father. Dunno, just spitballing there.

Since Brienne lived it seems she'll survive the whole thing, maybe. If so, she'll have to choose which man she wants - Jamie or Tormund. Depending on who lives.

I think they keep Rhaegal. And I think Sansa uses Rhaegal to melt the Iron Throne. She hates it, she hates what it's stood for, the bloody wars fought to control it, and she intends to remake Westeros peacefully.

 

[teachercd]

My thoughts:

Jamie will die while having to either save his sister or his brother.

Also, Bran...oh my god...be more boring.  It would be impossible.  If that red woman had a spell for making someone boring it would not work on Bran because he is already more boring than any spell could make him.

 

[RedDenver]

WARNING! I'm tired of using the spoiler block and there's a bunch of spoilers in here already, so stop reading this thread if you don't want spoilers.

I guess Bran no longer serves a useful purpose now that the Night King is dead. What a waste of a plotline they've been building since the very first scenes of season 1.

 

[teachercd]

WARNING! I'm tired of using the spoiler block and there's a bunch of spoilers in here already, so stop reading this thread if you don't want spoilers.

I guess Bran no longer serves a useful purpose now that the Night King is dead. What a waste of a plotline they've been building since the very first scenes of season 1.

Was it really that early that they started that plot line?  That is a waste, maybe he still does something later on but it sure doesn't seem like it.  He basically was bait.

 

[Mike Mcdee]

I did have a thought about the Dathraki charge. Some people are saying "That was dumb". The thing is, it's their go to move in battle. Many of them have never lost, so they know only victory in this tactic. Then add that they had their arakhs got lit on fire, they probably felt invincible. 

I will say the Arya library scene was awesome. The tension was good. She showed more of her human fearful side and wasn't this OP assassin Faceless Man. Then Mel snapped her back into it with the reminder of what we say to the god of death. I even had a thought that they would pull a twist that Bran realized he had to die in order to win in order to give Arya his face. Then she would kill the Night King in the Godswood. 

 

[RedSavage]

WARNING! I'm tired of using the spoiler block and there's a bunch of spoilers in here already, so stop reading this thread if you don't want spoilers.

I guess Bran no longer serves a useful purpose now that the Night King is dead. What a waste of a plotline they've been building since the very first scenes of season 1.

While he was "sleeping" bc Theon was boring him to death, I think he was actually doing something useful that will be revealed in the next episode or 2.  So he may not really be that useful going forward but I think he still has a purpose for now.

 

[teachercd]

While he was "sleeping" bc Theon was boring him to death, I think he was actually doing something useful that will be revealed in the next episode or 2.  So he may not really be that useful going forward but I think he still has a purpose for now.

That is funny!!!!

 

[RedDenver]

While he was "sleeping" bc Theon was boring him to death, I think he was actually doing something useful that will be revealed in the next episode or 2.  So he may not really be that useful going forward but I think he still has a purpose for now.

It's possible that the writers will incorporate some sort of motivation or at least a purpose for the Night King, and that could dramatically change my perspective. But the show writers are more of the traditional fantasy fare and not the subversive fantasy writing by GRRM that made the show so great. The writing quality has been declining the last 2 seasons, basically since they moved beyond the books. Just look at how many times there have been "hero moments" where a character should have died but miraculously escaped over the last 2 seasons - which we saw again where all the main characters survive the army of the dead and only some minor characters die.

 

[GSG]

Round 2

 

[knapplc]

That was pretty well done. Could have skipped Ramsay, though. Still hate that guy.

 

[Apathy]

You’re welcome

 

[RedSavage]

It's possible that the writers will incorporate some sort of motivation or at least a purpose for the Night King, and that could dramatically change my perspective. But the show writers are more of the traditional fantasy fare and not the subversive fantasy writing by GRRM that made the show so great. The writing quality has been declining the last 2 seasons, basically since they moved beyond the books. Just look at how many times there have been "hero moments" where a character should have died but miraculously escaped over the last 2 seasons - which we saw again where all the main characters survive the army of the dead and only some minor characters die.

I'm not sure it will be related to the Night King but I think it could be related to something like Cersei and Kings landing.  I don't think he was doing it just to ignore Theon and that there was a reason.  Some pretty awful writing if there was no purpose.  I agree that the writing quality has gone down a lot the last 2 seasons without GRRM.  

 

[knapplc]

I'm not sure it will be related to the Night King but I think it could be related to something like Cersei and Kings landing.  I don't think he was doing it just to ignore Theon and that there was a reason.  Some pretty awful writing if there was no purpose.  I agree that the writing quality has gone down a lot the last 2 seasons without GRRM.  

Bran's whole thing in that episode was bizarre. He never moves from his spot, barely looks around at all except to tell Theon he's a good man and to look at the Night King. He sends the Ravens into the storm, but does no spying or intel-gathering. Did anything actually come from the Ravens in that episode? Nothing, right? It was all so pointless.

 

[Mierin]

It's possible that the writers will incorporate some sort of motivation or at least a purpose for the Night King, and that could dramatically change my perspective. But the show writers are more of the traditional fantasy fare and not the subversive fantasy writing by GRRM that made the show so great. The writing quality has been declining the last 2 seasons, basically since they moved beyond the books. Just look at how many times there have been "hero moments" where a character should have died but miraculously escaped over the last 2 seasons - which we saw again where all the main characters survive the army of the dead and only some minor characters die.

I won’t argue that things haven’t changed since they moved past it, but I don’t think GRRM was going to kill many more mains.