A Song of Ice and Fire (Spoilers! Only enter if you have read all books)

[ND NYC]

not to worry about blackfish, i'm sure he will reappear at some point, either alive or dead (is there a difference?)

 

[wizards8507]

The Blackfish thing is a departure from the books, as in the books he uses the tunnels to escape, like Brienne and Pod did in the show.

I guess he's not doing much in books moving forward lol. There's a chance he could head north and die fighting for Jon, but I doubt it.

Yeah, that was pretty disappointing. I really like the "old guard" kind of characters. The Blackfish, Bronze Yohn, Kevan Lannister, Baristan Selmy, etc.

 

[GATTACA!]

Oh and Tomen is such a pussy. I hate his bitch ass. He's the king, he should've already had the high sparrow and all his followers butchered. He can fuck off and die too.

That awkward moment when you miss Joffrey

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

All I know is I just want to see Cersei, Walder Frey, and Ramsay die horrible deaths in the next two episodes. Especially that prick Ramsay. I hope his is the most gruesome yet and they show it all.

Oh and Tomen is such a pussy. I hate his bitch ass. He's the king, he should've already had the high sparrow and all his followers butchered. He can fuck off and die too.

Oh and that was pretty bitch of the writers not to show Blackfish actually dying. I would've rather seen him go out in a blaze of glory taking people out. He deserved better.

Agreed on all those thoughts. I actually don't hate Tommen. He's a young boy, trying to be a man, trying to make his own decisions but he keeps being manipulated by the people around him. He has no grounding, all the women around him are manipulative.

Cersei should have a delightful death, Walder Frey should have a delightful death and Ramsay obviously can't die painfully enough. TBH, I would expect GRRM to have them all die in mundane ways just to torture us even more and show us how evil pervades our own hearts.

Blackfish seemed like an honorable man that died for no reason and with no glory. F*ck these writers, they are going to make GoT an adjective for "great at the beginning then sh!t at the end".

"Geez Bob, my marriage has been a real GoT affair."

 

[TomHaverford]

Agreed on all those thoughts. I actually don't hate Tommen. He's a young boy, trying to be a man, trying to make his own decisions but he keeps being manipulated by the people around him. He has no grounding, all the women around him are manipulative.

Cersei should have a delightful death, Walder Frey should have a delightful death and Ramsay obviously can't die painfully enough. TBH, I would expect GRRM to have them all die in mundane ways just to torture us even more and show us how evil pervades our own hearts.

Blackfish seemed like an honorable man that died for no reason and with no glory. F*ck these writers, they are going to make GoT an adjective for "great at the beginning then sh!t at the end".

"Geez Bob, my marriage has been a real GoT affair."

Now that they've surpassed the books and run out of source material the writing has become noticeably weaker than the first four seasons. Those were all amazing. Season 5 was way too up and down, just like season 6.

I try not to hate Tommen. But I just do. He's being such a little pussy when he's the most powerful man in the show right now. He's the fucking king.

I want Cersei to kill herself after she realizes just how big of a piece of shit she truly is. It'd have to be something drastic to cause her to off herself. Like panicking and lashing out and her inadvertently causing the death of Tommen and then Jaime being like F you bitch I hate you, I'm over you I don't love you any more you caused the death of our son. And then her just realizing she's a humongous piece of shit with nothing left to live for and then just offing herself. That'd almost be her getting off too easy though. I wanna see that evil bitch die a gruesome death. Would be pretty gangster if Arya killed her.

 

[NOLAIrish]

A few stray thoughts:

1) It looks like we can confidently write off the Lady Stoneheart character from the show at this point. If she was going to make an appearance, this was the episode to drop her into -- Jaime's monologue about she and Cersei plus the reappearance of the Brotherhood.

2) So, we have 4 major threads outstanding right now: 1) Sack of Meereen; 2) Cersei/Margaery vs. Tommin/High Sparrow; 3) Battle of the Bastards; and 4) Bran's Travels. One or two of those are going to get pushed off until next season. BotB looks like it's going to be the bulk of next week's episode. Bran can be handled as a coda to the last episode (and they have to finish the Tower of Joy bit this season, right?), so it seems like we'll get another 15 minutes of his story this season. Do they push Cersei/Sparrow or Meereen to next season? Meereen feels like the one most ripe to be held off for next season. That storyline is the least developed heading into these last two episodes.

3) There's been a bit more discontent about the show over the past two seasons. I've felt it as well -- several storylines have felt like stalling for time (Arya, Dany) or simple missteps (Dorne). I still think it's a great show, but these two have been comparatively weaker than the previous seasons. I think the biggest change, though, hasn't been down to standard mid-run issues that a lot of shows encounter, but rather that the show hasn't been successful at surprising the audience. In seasons 1-4, the show did a phenomenal job of creating a sense of unpredictability -- Ned's death, Viserys, Renly, Stannis at the Wall, etc. The major speeches worked because they were delivered against a backdrop where the outcome was uncertain. As we've moved down the road a bit, the fate of the major characters feels less doubtful -- Arya was always going to beat the Waif; Brienne was never going to fight Jaime to the death; Dany was always going to land on the pyramid before the attack on Meereen; Jorah is always going to find a "cure." As a result, the stakes feel just a little lower right now. They'll pick back up as the show nears its final conclusion and major characters become disposable again. Right now, though, they just don't feel high enough to lift the show to its original heights.

4) Random thought: One way to completely undo everything I just wrote in 3) would be for Jon to lose the BotB next week. I'm not saying it's likely, but it's something that Book 1 GRRM would've at least considered, right?

 

[johnnycando]

A major unexpected character death or two would loop everyone.

So expect that. I think.

 

[Emcee77]

Man, you guys are hard to please. Great episode, great season, imo.

What are the chances the Blackfish didn't die? The absence of a body makes me wonder ...

 

[wizards8507]

Man, you guys are hard to please. Great episode, great season, imo.

What are the chances the Blackfish didn't die? The absence of a body makes me wonder ...

Game of Thrones season 6 episode 8: Blackfish actor on why his character's fate on show differs from the books | News | Culture | The Independent

 

[GoIrish41]

Man, you guys are hard to please. Great episode, great season, imo.

What are the chances the Blackfish didn't die? The absence of a body makes me wonder ...

Absence of a body doesn't matter ... heck, even if he was killed he could be back next week.

 

[Emcee77]

Game of Thrones season 6 episode 8: Blackfish actor on why his character's fate on show differs from the books | News | Culture | The Independent

Interesting, thanks.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fine! As promised here's Lem's great line from A Storm of Swords we didn't get in the show. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoT?src=hash">#GoT</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lemoncloak?src=hash">#Lemoncloak</a> ������ <a href="https://t.co/VAyRpzAstB">pic.twitter.com/VAyRpzAstB</a></p>— Jóhannes Haukur (@johanneshaukur) <a href="https://twitter.com/johanneshaukur/status/742373110125596672">June 13, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

/r/asoiaf is trying to organize a kickstarter campaign so that Haukur and Fairley can recreate this iconic scene.

 

[Grahambo]

I think that (1) Jaqen has a soft spot for Arya that goes all the way back to when she saved his life in the burning wagon (and I still want to know why a Faceless Man allowed himself to be locked up in King's Landing) and (2) it may have been his goal all along to help her learn what she needs in order to attain her goals, knowing full and well that she would never be A Girl or No One, but that she would always be Arya Stark. This might have been allowed by Jaqen, as she was clever enough to use his religion/code against him when she named HIM to the Many-Faced God, and so he sees something bigger for her in the future that requires her to be prepared, but not part of their order.

Or perhaps he knows she's gonna go f*ck sh*t up in Westeros, and he plans on working with her for some reason and at some point in the future.

My random thought is that Ned had a hand in getting Jaqen involved with Arya. I'm not knowledgable enough to make the connections but just seems Jaqen knows more then is being let on.

 

[gkIrish]

Spoiler, possibly

Spoiler, possibly

Here is what I think will happen next week, partially based on the previews and partially based on my educated predictions:

1) Bran tells Meera/Benjen about the Rat Cook story Old Nan told him.
2) Scene with Sansa/Littlefinger
3) Scene with Davos/Melisandre. I think he might kill her.
4) Scene with Dany and Daario banging.
5) Sam arrives at the Citadel.
6) Scene with Jon/Sansa.
7) Arya kills a bunch of Freys and definitely Walder Frey. She does this by posing as a cook's assistant and poisons food or something like that. I don't think they will be served Frey Food. I believe she has been described as having a "rat's face" before and this will tie into the Rat Cook story Bran tells. Edmure possibly dies as well. Jaime survives.
8) Cersei trial. I have no idea how this is going to go. I could see them actually killing her off. Tommen then snaps and kills the High Septon and all hell breaks loose.
9) Jon visits the crypts. Simultaneously Bran goes back in time and Jon somehow joins him in his vision. Together they/we get the R + L = J reveal.
10) Obligatory final Dany scene. Probably something with Euron's ships approaching and the dragons flying around over her head.

Tyrion will be in there somewhere...maybe Jorah if we are lucky.

If we get all that shit packed into the last episode I will be very satisfied.

 

[IrishLion]

Episode 10 is "The Winds of Winter"



Any chance at all that we get a release date for the next book accompanying the episode, considering its title?

 

[woolybug25]

Here is what I think will happen next week, partially based on the previews and partially based on my educated predictions:

1) Bran tells Meera/Benjen about the Rat Cook story Old Nan told him.
2) Scene with Sansa/Littlefinger
3) Scene with Davos/Melisandre. I think he might kill her.
4) Scene with Dany and Daario banging.
5) Sam arrives at the Citadel.
6) Scene with Jon/Sansa.
7) Arya kills a bunch of Freys and definitely Walder Frey. She does this by posing as a cook's assistant and poisons food or something like that. I don't think they will be served Frey Food. I believe she has been described as having a "rat's face" before and this will tie into the Rat Cook story Bran tells. Edmure possibly dies as well. Jaime survives.
8) Cersei trial. I have no idea how this is going to go. I could see them actually killing her off. Tommen then snaps and kills the High Septon and all hell breaks loose.
9) Jon visits the crypts. Simultaneously Bran goes back in time and Jon somehow joins him in his vision. Together they/we get the R + L = J reveal.
10) Obligatory final Dany scene. Probably something with Euron's ships approaching and the dragons flying around over her head.

Tyrion will be in there somewhere...maybe Jorah if we are lucky.

If we get all that shit packed into the last episode I will be very satisfied.

That's a lot to pack into one episode, but me likey.

As long as Walder Frey dies, I will be satisfied.

 

[phork]

Taken from the freefolk on reddit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_jYO7PsCqs I've gone ahead and translated this video for yall. Looks like this episode is going to be PACKED!! Get hype!!
Sam has a small scene in Oldtown where he talks to a maester.
Arya returns to Westeros. The Freys are having a celebration after recapturing Riverrun, which Arya infiltrates while using the face of Walder's "lover" so she can get alone with him and kill him without anyone looking.
Bran, Benjen and Meera reach the Weirdwood beyond the Wall where the Night's Watch brothers make their oaths. There he has another vision about the ToJ where Ned finds Lyanna dying from blood loss after giving birth.
Lyanna whispers something to Ned and says "Promise me, Ned" while giving him her baby, after which the scene cuts to Jon, suggesting that Jon is Lyanna's son. It is left unclear as to whether Rhaegar is the father or not.
In Dorne, Varys reaches Sunspear, and around the same time Olenna Tyrell will reach the city. They both meet with the Sand Snakes, and Varys convinces them to support Daenerys. The result is a Targaryen-Martell-Tyrell pact in support of Dany.
Tyrion speaks to Daenerys about invading Westeros. Daenerys has doubts about leaving Meereen, fearing that she's going to lose everything they've accomplished in Slaver's Bay. Their story for the season will end with Daenerys setting off on to Westeros with her army.
Davos confronts Melisandre about Shireen, and she admits to burning her as a sacrifice. She feels bad and is guilty about it, and Jon ultimately does not punish her.
After the battle of the bastards, team Jon sends ravens to all the houses of the north. There is a big reunion of all the houses of the north declare Jon king in the north.
Sansa will have a talk with Littlefinger at the Winterfell godswood. Sansa may not be totally thrilled with Jon being king in the north, since she may feel that she is the rightful ruler.
The Wall will not fall in this episode, but he still believes it will happen next season.
Cersei's trial is help at the Sept of Baelor, but Cersei does not show up, locking herself up in the Red Keep. Meanwhile, the sept is full of people who are attending the trial, including the High Sparrow, Margaery and Loras.
Cersei and Qyburn ignite the cache of wildfire that is under the Sept, completely destroying it. All of Cersei's enemies die in the process: the High Sparrow, Loras Tyrell and Margaery Tyrell. Pycelle almost finds out about her plan, but they send the little birds to kill Pycelle in order to stop him from blowing their plan. The Mountain smashes Septa Unella.
Distraught after the explosion, Tommen commits suicide by jumping out of a window of the Red Keep. Cersei does NOT find out that Tommen has done this as a result of her actions--this will be left for Season 7.
This episode sounds incredible. Can't wait till Sunday!

 

[wizards8507]

Taken from the freefolk on reddit:

If that's real, fuq this episode in advance.

 

[woolybug25]

If that's real, fuq this episode in advance.

What a surprise... Let's be real... You're gonna be like "fuck this episode" no matter what. They could put out an episode that makes angels fly down from heaven, and you'll be here complaining that the Angels have kankles.


Anybody else not seeing Phork's post?

 

[wizards8507]

What a surprise... Let's be real... You're gonna be like "fuck this episode" no matter what. They could put out an episode that makes angels fly down from heaven, and you'll be here complaining that the Angels have kankles.

What he laid out eliminates 100% of the show's political intrigue, i.e. the last truly unique thing the show had to offer.

Anybody else not seeing Phork's post?

He wrote it in white to avoid spoilers.

 

[phork]

What he laid out eliminates 100% of the show's political intrigue, i.e. the last truly unique thing the show had to offer.


He wrote it in white to avoid spoilers.

Right, because last time I was told no spoilers, even though its the spoiler thread. So...

 

[IrishLion]

Ha that episode sounds f*cking awesome.

I don't know how you say it eliminates the show's political intrigue, when it simply follows the threads that have already been laid out.

Not excited about the Sand Snakes being central to the end game in any way, but that's my only gripe.

 

[wizards8507]

I don't know how you say it eliminates the show's political intrigue, when it simply follows the threads that have already been laid out.

All the best schemers will be dead and it eliminates any reason to care about King's Landing whatsoever.

 

[IrishLion]

All the best schemers will be dead and it eliminates any reason to care about King's Landing whatsoever.

Disagree.

Cersei is unstable and insane, but she's still gonna be scheming (unless she's driven insane by the results of her actions); Tyrion is right where he needs to be; Varys is still around (though I don't like who he's going to for allies); Olenna will have a say in things (she's still off the hook for Joffrey's death); Littlefinger is still doing his thing and playing the long game.

The only schemers that we are losing are Margery and the High Sparrow, and as it turns out, they aren't "the best" at scheming in the first place.

As for eliminating reason to care about King's Landing: The story was heading that way anyway, and the books will reach this same point. It's going to be less about King's Landing, and more about the battle at large with Dany and the Night's King and Euron and whoever else throws their hat into the ring.

 

[johnnycando]

What he laid out eliminates 100% of the show's political intrigue, i.e. the last truly unique thing the show had to offer.


He wrote it in white to avoid spoilers.

Wizard:

You're a whiny dude man.

Like seriously, please: just delete the DVR event, and stick to the books.

Hopefully the earth will still be here in 2020 once the next book comes out.

By then, us content show folks will have already moved on to the next best thing.

Or maybe you will have also...

 

[wizards8507]

Cersei is unstable and insane, but she's still gonna be scheming (unless she's driven insane by the results of her actions); Tyrion is right where he needs to be; Varys is still around (though I don't like who he's going to for allies); Olenna will have a say in things (she's still off the hook for Joffrey's death); Littlefinger is still doing his thing and playing the long game.

For and against whom will Cersei be scheming? Her enemies will be dead but so are her allies. She has Qyburn and UnGregor and that's it. The only reason she has any standing whatsoever is because her son is king. The small folk hate her, and without the Faith or the Tyrells keeping them appeased, she'll have no power.

As for eliminating reason to care about King's Landing: The story was heading that way anyway, and the books will reach this same point. It's going to be less about King's Landing, and more about the battle at large with Dany and the Night's King and Euron and whoever else throws their hat into the ring.

Yeah, but isn't that part of the dynamic that makes the story so great? Everyone is all worried about who sits the Iron Throne but the audience / readers are jumping up and down yelling HEY DUMMIES, THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO END! It's deliciously Shakespearean.

 

[IrishLion]

For and against whom will Cersei be scheming? Her enemies will be dead but so are her allies. She has Qyburn and UnGregor and that's it. The only reason she has any standing whatsoever is because her son is king. The small folk hate her, and without the Faith or the Tyrells keeping them appeased, she'll have no power.

Okay, eliminate Cersei from my list. You said the best schemers have been eliminated, but that's not true. The best schemers are still around. Tyrion, Varys and Littlefinger chief among them, Olenna running just behind that pack considering what she's accomplished while staying under the radar for it.

Yeah, but isn't that part of the dynamic that makes the story so great? Everyone is all worried about who sits the Iron Throne but the audience / readers are jumping up and down yelling HEY DUMMIES, THE WORLD IS ABOUT TO END! It's deliciously Shakespearean.

Yes, but even in the books, this moment had to come. The people in King's Landing that currently own the upper-hand (Cersei) were never going to acknowledge the greater threat. They were destined to be their own downfall in the face of their own ignorance, and that's about to happen. That's exactly where all of the political intrigue was heading and what it was setting up. This is the payoff for that Shakespearean dynamic that you mention, and it feels like a pretty Shakespearean end to King's Landing to me.

That clears the road for everyone who knows what's ACTUALLY at stake to take center stage.

 

[wizards8507]

Yes, but even in the books, this moment had to come. The people in King's Landing that currently own the upper-hand (Cersei) were never going to acknowledge the greater threat. They were destined to be their own downfall in the face of their own ignorance, and that's about to happen. That's exactly where all of the political intrigue was heading and what it was setting up. This is the payoff for that Shakespearean dynamic that you mention, and it feels like a pretty Shakespearean end to King's Landing to me.

That clears the road for everyone who knows what's ACTUALLY at stake to take center stage.

Fair enough. I guess I always assumed we wouldn't get a solution to the King's Landing drama and it would come abruptly to an end with dragonfire and/or ice zombies. It feels a little too clean to have all of those lines wrapped up before shit hits the fan.

 

[IrishLion]

Fair enough. I guess I always assumed we wouldn't get a solution to the King's Landing drama and it would come abruptly to an end with dragonfire and/or ice zombies. It feels a little too clean to have all of those lines wrapped up before shit hits the fan.

You mean like Cersei and everyone would still be in King's Landing by the time Dany hits Westeros and the Night's King moves south, leaving King's Landing to get just pwned by everything they refused to acknowledge?

That seems poetic in its own way, but the narrative surrounding King's Landing is driven by Cersei, so I can see how GRRM and/or the show dudes want her to have her moment and then clear the way for the last big climactic event.

The only question now, after reading the episode description, is about Jaime.

How does he tie in to the end game? Is he destined to have his own mini-thread near the end, where he ultimately kills Cersei for everything that she's done, or will he then ALSO have a role to play against the Night's King?

 

[wizards8507]

How does he tie in to the end game? Is he destined to have his own mini-thread near the end, where he ultimately kills Cersei for everything that she's done, or will he then ALSO have a role to play against the Night's King?

That would be a dramatic turn for ShowJamie.