Game of Thrones

[Blazers46]

I’ll just say that the majority of the battle scenes I had no clue what was going on. Who was swinging at who and who was dying and not dying. I found myself saying “oh I thought he/she was dead” like 5 times. The moment the NK was killed was very predictable. I knew Arya would be the one to kill the NK but I was hoping she was pretending to be Bran or maybe even one of the NK security... Arya flew past all security and had hops like LeBron James...

 

[tussin]

I also love how the director's were like, "It needed to be Arya to surprise the viewers." LOL... during the episode two things became clear:

1. NK was going to die.
2. As soon as Arya ran out of the room, she was going to be the one to kill the NK.

 

[ACamp1900]

Can someone explain Bran? What is his purpose / what value did he add? There needs to be more to his actions than just flying around doing nothing the entire episode?

Also, I am so out on Jon and Dany -- both are complete morons.

Overall entertaining episode... I'm not too upset by the actual outcome, more puzzled by the illogical way it all went down.

He made the Mad King mad... and.... stuff.

 

[calvegas04]

So the NK turned out to be Snoke.... GoT edition.

No,if you watched the past couple seasons he has been destroying everything in his path

 

[Luckylucci]

Sadly more bad than good, IMO. A lot felt rushed, cheated, or lazy.

The Bad-
- The dark cinematography was brutal to watch early on. Really took away from the early scenes.
- Battle strategy left a lot to be desired.
- Bran used his warging powers to control birds and fly over the battle field, that's it? How about warging into a dragon so Jon can do something else.
- Jon's general lack of impact on the outcome
- Feel cheated with the Bran/NK resolution or lack thereof.
- Dany and dragon sitting on the battle field as they are overrun with the dead, seemed lazy.
- Lack of significant characters dying or impact on the episode.
- Lack of battle screen time for the NK or his generals.

The Good:
- I actually liked the ending but do think it could've been better
- Lady Mormont going out like a badass.
- Same goes for Jorah.
- Melissandre
- Theon getting his needed validation was a neat moment

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Jorah and Theon are very significant characters. They have been there from S1E1 and experienced extensive screen time with highly developed story arcs.

Melisandre is pretty significant too. With more deaths to come I don't think you can be upset by who died in this one particular episode.

I literally said they were the only significant characters to die...

I wasn't rooting for people to die. But the way the set us up in S8E2, it seemed like a lot more main characters would've died. When only a few did, it seemed very un-GoT to me. The Dothraki get annihilated in 30 seconds, but BoT/Jamie/Sam/Greyworm/Tormund etc can all stand in the front line and not die? It was my main nitpick that more people didn't get killed. Seemed unrealistic and against the show's style of "no one is safe," and even more so after last week's episode.

 

[gkIrish]

I literally said they were the only significant characters to die...

I wasn't rooting for people to die. But the way the set us up in S8E2, it seemed like a lot more main characters would've died. When only a few did, it seemed very un-GoT to me. The Dothraki get annihilated in 30 seconds, but BoT/Jamie/Sam/Greyworm/Tormund etc can all stand in the front line and not die? It was my main nitpick that more people didn't get killed. Seemed unrealistic and against the show's style of "no one is safe," and even more so after last week's episode.

I get what you're saying but if you told me 2 of the top 10 living characters plus 4 of the next 15 or so would die in one episode I wouldn't consider that a letdown.

 

[gkIrish]

By the way, I didn't think I could hate Daenarys any more until she made me borderline dislike Jon Snow.

So funny that her reaction to him telling her the truth is that he would have a better claim to the Iron Throne, not "oh shit I just fucked my nephew". Plus they have zero chemistry whatsoever.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

RIP, Night King. We Wish We Had Learned Your Secrets.

The ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8, Episode 3 Exit Survey

"I’m going to give Game of Thrones an “incomplete” here, because that can’t be it, can it? Surely we’re going to get more about Bran and the Night King and time travel? If we don’t, I’ll hope even harder that the books will one day be finished, because I can’t believe George R.R. Martin would do away with some of the show’s most compelling plotlines as abruptly and inelegantly as the show evidently did."

I can agree with this. This storyline needed more. I'm fine with how he died but I would've liked more explanation on how these various elements went together. The spirals was another good call.

Still excited to see this show come to an end. I need this closure so I can move on with my life.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Can someone explain Bran? What is his purpose / what value did he add? There needs to be more to his actions than just flying around doing nothing the entire episode?

Also, I am so out on Jon and Dany -- both are complete morons.

Overall entertaining episode... I'm not too upset by the actual outcome, more puzzled by the illogical way it all went down.

Bran set the whole plan into motion. He "saw" that the NK would come for him and that he (others) would be saved by Arya killing NK, thus flipping (ending) the battle.

Physically, he "only" served as bait. Strategically, he set the whole thing into motion.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

For those that are "unsatisfied" with the NK story line (vague origin, no dialog, vague purpose (erasing humans/long night), his quick exit)....

You'll find out plenty about him in the future!!

(as in, the prequel spinoff) ...

They intentionally left the viewers thirsty for more.

My thoughts? There's a difference between leaving viewers "thirsty" and "dead by dehydration". I'm at a loss for how little information they gave us. And I highly, highly doubt they reveal more now that he's no longer a threat and the race for the throne is back on...

 

[GATTACA!]

By the way, I didn't think I could hate Daenarys any more until she made me borderline dislike Jon Snow.

So funny that her reaction to him telling her the truth is that he would have a better claim to the Iron Throne, not "oh shit I just fucked my nephew". Plus they have zero chemistry whatsoever.

Incest isn't taboo to the Targs. She assumed for a long time that she would end up marrying her brother.

 

[greyhammer90]

I get what you're saying but if you told me 2 of the top 10 living characters plus 4 of the next 15 or so would die in one episode I wouldn't consider that a letdown.

Retroactively, the main thing that feels like a eye roller is the scene in front of the fire in episode 2. They combined all these characters for a somber "last night before THE end" with drinking, big discussions, character arcs coming full circle, and dark jokes because they know that they are all likely going to die aaaaaaaand they all lived. Despite the battle going horribly, most of them being in the front lines, Winterfell being breached by the entire undead horde, and Arya literally having to come in from the non-existent rafters to hit the biggest buzzer beater of all time every single person in that scene is still alive. It was a great scene that has retroactively been made devoid of most of its gravitas. Oh well, we'll always have Brienne being knighted.

 

[gkIrish]

Incest isn't taboo to the Targs. She assumed for a long time that she would end up marrying her brother.

I don't recall that she believed that during the show. She was basically with Drogo right away in Season 1. Also didn't she talk about Cersei and Jaime's incest in a negative way in one of the earlier seasons?

 

[gkIrish]

Retroactively, the main thing that feels like a eye roller is the scene in front of the fire in episode 2. They combined all these characters for a somber "last night before THE end" with drinking, big discussions, character arcs coming full circle, and dark jokes because they know that they are all likely going to die aaaaaaaand they all lived. Despite the battle going horribly, most of them being in the front lines, Winterfell being breached by the entire undead horde, and Arya literally having to come in from the non-existent rafters to hit the biggest buzzer beater of all time every single person in that scene is still alive. It was a great scene that has retroactively been made devoid of most of its gravitas. Oh well, we'll always have Brienne being knighted.

I've seen this thought all over the Internet and I can honestly say I never got that vibe watching the scene in Episode 2. I saw it as more of a "things will probably never be normal again even if we survive this so let's enjoy a couple of hours of normalcy while we still can." I don't see why them surviving cheapens that scene.

 

[IrishLion]

For those that are "unsatisfied" with the NK story line (vague origin, no dialog, vague purpose (erasing humans/long night), his quick exit)....

You'll find out plenty about him in the future!!

(as in, the prequel spinoff) ...

They intentionally left the viewers thirsty for more.

My thoughts? There's a difference between leaving viewers "thirsty" and "dead by dehydration". I'm at a loss for how little information they gave us. And I highly, highly doubt they reveal more now that he's no longer a threat and the race for the throne is back on...

I have hope that Bran will explain some things in a post-battle cool down, either prior to or during the celebration where Dany is with the survivors in the hall, but I'm not sure they'll spend the time on it at this point... and I'm not sure it jives with his character, even though they've done a better job of characterizing his weirdness this season.

(I do hope the prequel about the Long Night gives us more info on the NK, though. I'd love to see more of the Land of Always Winter. Show me the ice altars and some dark towers and shit.)

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I have hope that Bran will explain some things in a post-battle cool down, either prior to or during the celebration where Dany is with the survivors in the hall, but I'm not sure they'll spend the time on it at this point... and I'm not sure it jives with his character, even though they've done a better job of characterizing his weirdness this season.

(I do hope the prequel about the Long Night gives us more info on the NK, though. I'd love to see more of the Land of Always Winter. Show me the ice altars and some dark towers and shit.)

I hope we learn more too, but with that said:
You have to throw viewers a bone now too. You have to create a solid story now, then fortify/expand in the prequel. We got next to nothing. That's either 1) sloppy af writing or 2) just plain cruel level money grab

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I get what you're saying but if you told me 2 of the top 10 living characters plus 4 of the next 15 or so would die in one episode I wouldn't consider that a letdown.

Agree to disagree. I think it meant more to you because you said Jora and Theon were among your favorites. They were secondary characters to me from the very beginning.

I watched the after show and for the record, I agree with B&W that they couldn't have a bunch of main characters die w/ proper send-offs because it would've became tired and lost effect. I just felt the ones they did choose to kill off had no shock factor, so it just felt "meh" to me.

Again, I'm nitpicking. Overall, I was entertained and that's the whole point of TV.

 

[gkIrish]

Ok now this theory from Reddit actually gets me excited and would (a) give a satisfactory explanation as to the NK motives and (b) would actually give Bran's story a satisfying end. I haven't really thought it all through but on the surface it seems awesome. https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/bios84/spoilers_extended_the_only_way_out_of_this_mess/

Still reeling from the shit show from last episode, but here's some hope for an "okay" reason for all of this.

The three eyed raven is the real villain. Not Bran. Bran is dead, Bran died in that cave. The 3ER, now in the form of Bran, and having seen all the shit people do to each other, and their destruction of the CotF’s habitat and weirwoods, has been out to kill all of mankind to "cleanse" the world. He has been wreaking havoc across time, trying to get men to end each other. He might have been the reason Aerys became mad. He had no qualms with using Hodor to escape his death.

The White Walkers were, in fact, good. They have been trying to kill the 3ER for generations. As soon as he ventured South of the wall in the form of Bran, they followed suit ONLY to try kill him. So what does the 3ER do? He manipulates the rest of humanity to save him from the WW, painting THEM as the evil guy. That's his only option. The NK's mark is on him and will hunt him down.

Which means - all of this was engineered by the 3ER. That is why he gave Arya the Catspaw dagger. So she could use it to kill the NK in order to save himself.

Prediction: Arya will kill the 3ER (Bran).

Melisandre: Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes you'll shut forever.
Brown eyes - Freys and all the people she has killed.
Blue eyes - The White Walkers
Green eyes - The Greenseer 3ER.

 

[beryirish]

I'm thinking it may have been pretty cool if Arya went the way of Captain in 300. She comes in as the NK takes out his sword then turns knowing she's coming and impales her. She last says, "Not today" pulls out the dagger and kills the NK. Arya then peacefully passes on.

 

[IrishLion]

Now I'm wiki diving. I think I may have found a rough outline for the prequel:

In Yi Ti, it is said the Lion of Night - the primary god worshiped in the region - fathered a son on the Maiden-Made-of-Light. Known as God-on-Earth, he was the first emperor of Yi Ti's Great Empire of the Dawn (a semi-mythical civilization that allegedly existed during the Dawn Age before the Long Night). Thousands of years later, a descendant of God-on-Earth known as the Amethyst Empress was usurped and murdered by her own brother, an event known as the Blood Betrayal. This caused the Maiden-Made-of-Light to turn away from humanity in shame, and the Lion of Night came forth in all his wrath to punish mankind's wickedness, inflicting the cold and darkness of the Long Night. According to the stories, the sun hid its face from the world for a lifetime, ashamed at something none could discover, and disaster was only averted by the deeds of a woman with a monkey's tail.

This kind of matches the very limited details that have been revealed about the prequel: it concerns the Dawn Age and the descent into the Long Night, and the "socialite hiding a dark secret" (played by Naomi Watts) could be the Princess... her 'dark secret' is her bloodline, and the prequel's Ned-Getting-Beheaded moment could be Naomi Watts getting offed at the end of the first season, which coincides with the beginning of the Long Night somehow.

 

[GATTACA!]

Retroactively, the main thing that feels like a eye roller is the scene in front of the fire in episode 2. They combined all these characters for a somber "last night before THE end" with drinking, big discussions, character arcs coming full circle, and dark jokes because they know that they are all likely going to die aaaaaaaand they all lived. Despite the battle going horribly, most of them being in the front lines, Winterfell being breached by the entire undead horde, and Arya literally having to come in from the non-existent rafters to hit the biggest buzzer beater of all time every single person in that scene is still alive. It was a great scene that has retroactively been made devoid of most of its gravitas. Oh well, we'll always have Brienne being knighted.

Remember when one wight almost killed Jon Snow and Jeor Mormont? Lol.

Amazing how far the show fell once it ran out of book material.

 

[IrishLion]

Ok now this theory from Reddit actually gets me excited and would (a) give a satisfactory explanation as to the NK motives and (b) would actually give Bran's story a satisfying end. I haven't really thought it all through but on the surface it seems awesome. https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/bios84/spoilers_extended_the_only_way_out_of_this_mess/

I could get behind that, but I don't think it holds water at all.

It's well established in GoT lore that the White Walkers were created by the Children to defend the Children from the First Men.

However, the White Walkers got out of control, and the NK decided it was his mission to end both the Children (for creating them against their will) and Men (for being their original enemy).

There's no reason that they would be "good" or why they would stop after killing Bran. They're coming to kill errybody, because they were created to end lives.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

Ok now this theory from Reddit actually gets me excited and would (a) give a satisfactory explanation as to the NK motives and (b) would actually give Bran's story a satisfying end. I haven't really thought it all through but on the surface it seems awesome. https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/bios84/spoilers_extended_the_only_way_out_of_this_mess/

Also, Cersei has green eyes.
Jaime could die, Arya takes his face...
Fulfills Arya's list / and Valonqar

(I used to think this would happen, but I don't think the writers give Arya both the NK and Cersei kills).

 

[GATTACA!]

I need a night king version of this.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Nissa_Nissa

Water / Lion / Wife

1) Jon "fell" (temporarily) against NK (ice/water)
2) Jon "falls" against Cersei? (lion)
3) Jon "succeeds" and kills his love (Dany)

It's going down, imo.

 

[IrishLion]

I can feel this post in my bones:

Fuck your theories. Fuck Azor Ahai. Fuck the Night King.


I am convinced that the comic book guys on here never watched the show or read the books.

"We need to learn what his motivations were"

There's a whole episode on that - he was created by the COTF to wage war on mankind. Because of the manner of his creation, he also bore a grudge against his creators. He had no noble purpose, no activating reason, beyond wishing to destroy all life. What more do we need?

"But we never got a fight, dude died without ever swinging the sword in anger"

Yes, but whose fault is that? Throughout the series, we see the Night King avoiding one on one combat. He hangs back from the fight at Hardhome. He always keeps a ring of dead fuckers around him. And last night, he had the chance to take on Jon 1 on 1, and what do we see happen? He runs from a fight again.

"But muh theories are clear - he was to be killed by Azor Ahai, the Prince that Was Promised"

Fuck your theories. Fuck Azor Ahai. Fuck the Night King.

They were always just that - theories. The Arya endgame was there in front of all our eyes and we missed it. The dagger was there, in front of our eyes, and we missed it. "What do we say to the God of Death" was there, in front of our eyes, and we missed it. The flaming sword? It was there. The move she used to kill him? She practised it on Brienne JUST LAST SEASON, right in front of our eyes. The Prince who would lead the army of the living? He's right there. The battle between Ice and Fire? A whole episode about it, we just watched.

"But Arya just teleported to the Tree"

How far away do you guys think the Godswood is from the castle, exactly? She had plenty of time. She's a trained silent assassin.

What did you want? A speech? "I must kill the Night King, that's what you mean, Melisandre. All right. I shall go now to the Godswood. And the cameras shall follow me, to kill all suspense".

"But it's not plausible that Muh Night King could be killed by the person who snuck inside the Twins, one of the most impregnable castles in the realm. It's not plausible that he could be killed by someone trained by the most fearsome and feared assassin's guild in the known world. It's not possible that this person who we've literally seen sneaking around and hiding in plain sight could sneak up on someone who didn't know she existed". Listen to yourselves.

The episode wasn't perfect. In places it was badly shot. They chickened out on some deaths (Brienne, for example, would have packed an emotional punch, or Gilly and the baby, or Grey Worm).

But this argument about the plot is neckbeard bullshit. Classic "I'm not emotionally satisfied so it's bad". Well, you guys are going to be so pissed when Daenarys and Jon take the throne in the end and usher in a new era of peace. I can't wait.

Another poster goes on to mention that Arya snuck up on the NK in the exact spot where she snuck up on Jon in 8.1.

They were building this shit for 8 seasons. I love it.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

I can feel this post in my bones:



Another poster goes on to mention that Arya snuck up on the NK in the exact spot where she snuck up on Jon in 8.1.

They were building this shit for 8 seasons. I love it.

Also the same spot where Bran gave Catspaw to Arya.

 

[GATTACA!]

I can feel this post in my bones:



Another poster goes on to mention that Arya snuck up on the NK in the exact spot where she snuck up on Jon in 8.1.

They were building this shit for 8 seasons. I love it.

Just because they built to something doesn't mean it sucks less. The show is in full on plot armor cliche ending mode and it blows. Hopefully someday we can actually get TWOW and ADOS and get a real compelling end to the series.

And beyond just the fact that it was Arya who killed the NK which ultimately I could live with. How can anyone watch that last scene and not think it was the lamest shit ever? One person seeks past 100 wights and 20 white walkers and just stabs the main villain of the whole series and that's it? We watched 8 seasons for that?

 

[IrishLion]

Just because they built to something doesn't mean it sucks less. The show is in full on plot armor cliche ending mode and it blows. Hopefully someday we can actually get TWOW and ADOS and get a real compelling end to the series.

I feel like the demise of the NK is one of the big outline points that GRRM would give to the show runners...

You don't think that ordeal came from GRRM himself?