Game of thrones

[Frutos]

As much as I did enjoy last night's ep, and I did, I'm actually more interested in what is to come.

I've always found the "political machinations" side of both the show and books to be more interesting than the supernatural stuff.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

What was Bran doing when he 'had to go' ?

Seeing as he seemed pretty much resigned to his fate, I doubt he was just possessing a flock of ravens and flying about a bit to check on where the Night King was.

Was he altering the past, or helping Arya out ?

Episode 3 was all about the spectacle rather than explanation. Hopefully episode 4 lets us into what was going on. As said before, bring back Jaqen H'Ghar.

https://twitter.com/alok_TTID/status/1122738583628992512?s=19

Surely Arya has fulfilled her purpose now, so has lost all 'plot armour'. Top of the death pool now, I suspect.

 

[Return of the Rev]

HG'har the rightful hier to the throne, giving coins to children a clue? Not seen him singing though. And yeah where did Bran go, sneaky.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Very good I thought, that bloody night blizzard at first infuriated me as like others was adjusting the TV etc but in end thought it was really clever thing to have done. The nervousness, hopelessness, dread, despair etc was brilliantly conveyed, i was equally feeling sick (although might have been the wine gums) as the battle began following a tense build up. Great ending too, really like Ayra as a character now - she was once just an annoying kid but what a warrior now! Definitely a 1st pick on the team now and no need to go in goal. Sort of the Leicester City of the show, she’s come from nowhere to become an unlikely champion!

When Bran gave her the dagger it was a done deal tbf.

 

[Publius Ovidius]

I found the same, watching on a 42 inch tv in the dark. Disappointing episode - too difficult to see or hear what was going on.

So many series are ruined by this obsession with filming in dark or dingy light.

You end up not having the faintest idea what is going on.

It's all this " mood lighting bollocks"

 

[Return of the Rev]

So many series are ruined by this obsession with filming in dark or dingy light.

You end up not having the faintest idea what is going on.

It's all this " mood lighting bollocks"

It was the long night for kiddy aunt!

 

[Kosh]

Brilliant, chaotic, just like a real battle fought at night.. gruesome... yet captivating and, well, superb.

For me; it topped even Babylon 5 for delivering on its promise(s) and actually 'end' the 'Night King' and look to tie up the other narratives in the next few episodes. Yep it delivered on its promise, and was/is brave to do so - something shows like Lost utterly failed to do. Every villain has to have an end, usually you can pick holes in it... but, it, as an Episode delivered on all the why(s)? are these characters still alive.. destiny etc. Top drawer.

Although the last two episodes owe so much to Tolkien it defies belief.

We've seen Helms Deep and Gondor redux for sure, put through a cement mixer and turned up to an 18 cert.

Thank God for Tolkien.

 

[Gazwag]

So many series are ruined by this obsession with filming in dark or dingy light.

You end up not having the faintest idea what is going on.

It's all this " mood lighting bollocks"

Did the fact that he's the NIGHT king not mean anything or should they have knocked up a few led floodlights on the battlements of Winterfell

 

[Hotchilidog]

Absolutely brilliant. Am still shellshocked by what was the most ambitious piece of television I have ever seen. The Arya twist was superb and now having rid ourselves of the Night King we get back to the Game of Thrones.

 

[blue-shifted]

Agree with the majority of sentiments. Brilliant action, but does GoT have one last jaw dropping but plausible (after you've thought about it) twist left in it? Or is it drifting towards a generic Hollywood ending.

 

[The Kid Frankie]

**SPOILERS AHEAD** - I'm sure most reading are up to speed, but I near enough had it ruined for me by some divvie on Facebook before watching last night...




I enjoyed it - but it the writers really have now abandoned the original fan base to appease the masses. I know it is fantasy, but what I loved about Game of Thrones is the gritty realism that had been injected into this fantasy world. The violence and brutality remained, but the realism has long since departed. In short it was brainless...

The build up with the darkness and silence was brilliantly done. Proper chills waiting for it to kick off.

When they were building the trenches with pikes, oil and dragonglass etc I assumed they would plot up BEHIND them, not in front. Anyone with a brain in their nut and an eye for military strategy would know sticking your men in front of a trench filled with spikes is probably not a brilliant plan. Medieval battles aren't that different from a giant metal rugby scrum - so potentially being pushed backwards into that lot would be fairly idiotic. In fact apart from the Unsullied most of the frontline didn't even put up a shield wall, even the ****ing Vikings and Saxons managed to work that one out.

The Dothraki riding to their deaths was one of the most disappointing things I have ever witness on TV. Especially after The Red Woman lit up their swords. Great charge with accompanying epic sounding music but poor finish. 8 Seasons worth of carving up Essos pillaging, raping and generally being legends, then following Khaleesi to Westeros only to be snuffed out by an act of tactical idiocy. Again with my limited knowledge of fantasy/medieval era military tactics - even I know cavalry is used to flank the enemy - meaning they hang about on the edges and come in from the side AFTER the infantry have engaged. We all remember the disaster the English suffered in the cavalry charge in Braveheart when they charged into Mel Gibson and his mates and totally forgot the few thousand sharpened tree trunks waiting for em. Now imagine that into a few hundred thousand deados (World War Z ones as well not Walking Dead) tooled up backed up by White Walkers. No wonder those lights went out quick.

The silent moment before the dead came out of the darkness and then thudded into the goodies was one of the few genuine moments of quality, as was the Night King basically shaking his dick at Daenerys after she tried to roast him.

WHY did Bran need to 'go now' and do the old WWF Undertaker eyes routine, go into the brains of some crows. The only reason I can think of is so the audience could see what was going on with the dragons in the air - so might as well have come clean and said so...

It was good of Grey Worm to order his mates to sacrifice themselves to cover the retreat back into Winterfell, then swiftly f*ck off behind the trench and pull up the gate. He literally might as well have shouted 'see ya lads - I know I haven't got a willy, but I do have a bird now so I'm gonna sit this one out.'


Jon Snow, who we followed pretty much from start to finish in the brilliant Battle of the ******** as he properly got his hands dirty - this time he spent the first half an hour flying around having a watch, then clung on for the dragon fight, then ran around the castle for a bit. Again he was just another plot device for us to see what was going on around Winterfell.

Once everyone is behind the walls and the fire in the trench is in full slow the deados stop silent for a bit... OK fair enough. So all the goodies on the walls stop for a breather as well! The enemy is literally 10-20 metres away behind sharp sticks and fire and everyone just stands there watching em - ****ing lob something at em! Huge opportunity missed there to thin the numbers. Again.

The long shot through the castle showing all of the main cast tangling with the zombies was well done, but actually decreased the tension as I knew 100% they would all make it. Brienne had about 20 on her while she made sex sounds. Jaime Lannister's hand seems to have grown back as I am sure I saw him waving his sword around with both hands. Sam literally spent the battle lying around crying. You KNEW when someone was going to kick the bucket because you would get a slow mo shot and some sad music, then a close up of their boat. One of the best things about Game of Thrones for me has always been that a main player could get snuffed in an instant and the story would move on without any ****s given, not any more.

The way Gilly went on about how safe the Crypt would be for the women and kids in the previous two episodes means you could predict with confidence it would be one of the least safe places in Westeros... I'm guessing Jon thought it would be a bit of a laugh given he knew The Night King can raise the dead. He probably had a subtle smirk on his face as he ushered all the women and kids into the basement filled with dead people waiting to be resurrected.

How was it so silent for the tense bits with Ayra getting chased through the passageways? There was the biggest battle in GOT's history raging on outside but she is skulking around the library in complete silence. Sound proof walls or convenient for writers to build tension?

Theon got a valiant and redeeming death he will be happy with, but again brainless and lazy way to sign him off from the writers. If film has taught us anything yelling 'YYYAAAAAAA' and charging blindly at the main baddie will always end up with him grabbing your weapon off you sticking it through your chest. What he should have done is hold back call it on and let the Night King wave his own icey sword about for a bit make him tire - you never know maybe someone might fly out of the crowd and stab him before he puts your lights out?

Finally, Ayra killing The Night King. Ok I can just about buy it. She has spent 8 years being moulded into a proper little deviant assassin. Even The Hound is weary of her now. What I struggled with in this scene was TNK was surrounded by his mates (who did eff all in the battle I will add - I was hoping for a few straighteners between them and some of the top boys) and a load of zombies, but she manages to elude them all and jump out in slow motion. I can appreciate she is familiar with all the nooks and crannies of Winterfell - so why couldn't we see that as the viewer? It would have been more atmospheric for the cameras to split Theon's death and the impending execution of Bran with Ayra desperately sneaking her way into a position to have a pop at saving the day. I will add The Night King has had the upper hand mentally since day dot. We still don't really know who or what he is (which I am actually fine with) - but 10 years after building him up it is all very convenient he lets his guard down at the point he has just about got the job done and lets Ayra get the drop on him.

Bottom line is the directors have sold out for me. It has all become very Hollywood and Avengers esq. I have now had to suspend my disbelief to a point I am not comfortable with any more. The main characters are safe until the opportune moment. It was very much like this in Season 7 so it isn't really a surprise. We are now very aware that we are watching a TV show. Fine to break out the popcorn but it's lost the thought and attention to detail that went into the earlier seasons. I will still watch and probably/hopefully still enjoy, but I feel a bit short changed as someone who has watched from the very start and read the books.

Such a pity as this could have been the show to finally dethrone the completely faultless Sopranos.

 

[Normal Rob]

I'm a little stunned that anyone can really think that last the episode was any good. It was ok but falls way short of other big hitting episodes (thinking 'battle of the ********' here).

Here's my main reasons for thinking it was poor...

Tactically they fought the battle appallingly - this has been mentioned previously several times. I would be willing to let this go as it is fantasy, but it simply added nothing to the story itself apart from waste a few minutes (and a lot of Dothraki)

The storm - made it almost impossible to see what was going on but rather than adding tension it just detracted from it. Just a lot of people running around like headless chickens in swirly snow, in the dark.

Jon and Dany flying around on dragons all la-di-da bumping into things because of the stupid bloody storm. Neither beautiful, nor interesting.

The Hound - acting like some moody twit from Eastenders.

The raising of the dead - how did they make such a huge event such a disappointing letdown?

The killing of the Night King - Love Arya but that was a joke. Just ridiculous on every level.

Really sorry but i thought it was terrible, but i seem to be in the minority so fair enough. My overwhelming feeling about the episode was that for such a momentous build up, the battle was just boring. And that's the real disappointment.

 

[Brovion]

Did they lose the lighting in the last episode? Watching on an Ipad I had no idea what was going on for half the episode, just a lot of grunting and fighting

Occasionally lit up by fire breathing dragons

Yeah I thought that as well, even watching on TV. Very dark (lighting-wise) and jumpy and hard to follow.

So who died? The Iain Glenn character died, as did Theon, the Red Woman who bought back Jon Snow, the stroppy little girl, and also that bloke who keeps coming back to life. Anyone else? What about Greyworm?

 

[Seaber]

Yeah I thought that as well, even watching on TV. Very dark (lighting-wise) and jumpy and hard to follow.

So who died? The Iain Glenn character died, as did Theon, the Red Woman who bought back Jon Snow, the stroppy little girl, and also that bloke who keeps coming back to life. Anyone else? What about Greyworm?

Edd died first after saving Sam.

 

[Brovion]

Shocking waste of cavalry ... Lord Cardigan tactical advisor?

Shambles indeed, deploy the dragons early doors, combined arms operation which served Jerry so well in 1940 ... basic stuff *tut*

Ha! I thought exactly that! I said to my wife it made the Charge of the Light Brigade look like a stoke of military genius in comparison. #armchairgeneral

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Interesting that the living went with Albion tactics against the dead - pull everyone back and wait to be attacked. Maybe what happened to the Dothraki is CH's argument for not pressing more?

What stumped me is why they handed the initiative to TNK by letting him choose when the battle happened. Why not go out and attack them in daylight? With dragons to scout from the sky, a few hundred thousands white walkers wouldn't be that difficult to find.

 

[BBassic]

I struggle for words when people decide that a series with magic, dragons, immortal ladies, Gods of fire, an omniscient cripple boy, a little girl who can change her face, and ice people who can reanimate the dead, has unrealistic scenes in it.

It is ALL unrealistic... but that's the point. It's an epic tale created to be mythological in nature.

The fight scenes may be unrealistic in that they survived the apparently unsurvivable, but isn't that the point? They have been the focus of the series for a reason, rather than John Doe of the Lannister army who died in a boring way in his first battle and who didn't know anybody relevant. They are the survivors, the important people, in the series that it is focused on.

We lost some key players tonight... and we're going to lose many more in the coming episodes. If you think it's all unrealistic, then perhaps Emmerdale is more for you.

It's more helpful to talk about 'internal consistency' when critiquing fantasy. Elements of the world absolutely are unrealistic when compared to our lives however as long as those 'unrealistic' elements are consistent with the world it makes sense. I.E. it would be internally inconsistent for Game of Thrones, a series which features necromancy, dragons, immortals, magic etc etc, to feature a character who sells mobile phones.

I think, in regards to the battle last night, the show skirted awfully close to being internally inconsistent. Those wights have previously been shown to utterly annihilate everything in their path, including giants, yet somehow, almost all of the named, human, cast miraculously survive the onslaught.

I thought it was excellent regardless.

EDIT: Here's a better example:


The presence of something completely unbelievable (like dragons, magic, an immortal serial killer, etc.) doesn't give a pass to some other aspect of the story breaking your internal logic. Every aspect of a story needs to be weighed, and judged, on its own merits. Having a character who can shrug off broken bones with no outside aid in less than a week doesn't suddenly make sense just because there are witches in this world.

 

[Marshy]

Well I thought it was great TV and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[Munkfish]

The contrast between last night and the first couple of seasons is interesting to me. It was obvious for a time there that they did not have the budget for huge battle scenes. If i remember correctly we only see the lead up to and aftermath of Jamie's defeat to Rob (is that right? the one with the Tyrion and his mountain folk - Shagga!!) this meant that the show had to concentrate on furthering the narrative and developing character to keep us hooked. This is something which it did brilliantly.

S8 E3 was a masterpiece of spectacular all action battle scenes clearly made on a spectacular budget. Lets face it, as an episode of television it broke new ground on what can be achieved on the small screen. I just can't help feeling that we have a 'style over content' dilemma here. Obviously we needed the battle scene and obviously we needed the massive budget to accomplish what was necessary but I can't shake the feeling that somewhere along the way we left the plot behind. The beauty of Game of Thrones is not the all action battle sequences (although it will surely be remembered for these), it is the depth, richness and complexity of the narrative, the call backs to previous conversations and most of all the mind****ing twists and turns of plot-lines that so often left us feeling vulnerable and deserted as our highly tuned narrative understandings were ripped to shreds. Season 7 and 8 seem to me to be normal and formulaic, treading the path of expectation that we already have ingrained in us from years of watching TV and Movies. Game of Thrones still does it better than most but I am afraid I still want more. I want Game of Thrones to throw me out on that limb and keep sawing until I am hurtling into the chasm of panic and despair as another of my favourite characters comes to another grisly end. So many times it has passed up the chance to **** with my head and leave me reeling, none more so than last night and as bad as things looked for our brave heroes, as heroic as Arya's out of nowhere finale was it was just too simple, dare i say it too easy?

Its brilliant but surely you can afford to mess with us a few more times in the remaining episodes? GRR would have done, I hope and pray this is why it is taking so long to finish the last book.

Is this how Metallica fans felt when they went mainstream?

This sums up my thoughts perfectly! Completely let down by series 7 and 8 everything is just too easy, no plot twists, no one dieing, all far too boring, I also miss the pacing of old everything happens far too quickly now.

 

[Hiney]

Absolutely brilliant. Am still shellshocked by what was the most ambitious piece of television I have ever seen. The Arya twist was superb and now having rid ourselves of the Night King we get back to the Game of Thrones.

Absolutely this. Magnificent television.

It was obvious that the only way the battle was going to end favourably was for TNK to be killed but right up until the last minute, I had no idea how this would possibly happen. He seemed invincible. Arya's character is superb.