OT: GOT in 2 days the wait is almost over

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:
Benioff and Weiss have been on their own since I believe S4 or S5...

Would not surprise me if they knew how GRR was going to end the story in his last book and before Spring.

Perhaps Bran is not only great for pooping, but rules the 6 kingdoms in GRR's version too?

Will be interesting to see how the two compare. 

I read somewhere that the books actually put alot more emphasis on the role that Bran plays in the story.  The show- basically- ignored him for long stretches.  That's (to me) why his ascension to the throne seems out of left field: the writers wanted to be faithful to the book's ending... even if they hadn't (previously) laid the logical foundation for it.

[Guest]

@pumpf said:

@purplefaithful said:
Benioff and Weiss have been on their own since I believe S4 or S5...

Would not surprise me if they knew how GRR was going to end the story in his last book and before Spring.

Perhaps Bran is not only great for pooping, but rules the 6 kingdoms in GRR's version too?

Will be interesting to see how the two compare. 

I read somewhere that the books actually put alot more emphasis on the role that Bran plays in the story.  The show- basically- ignored him for long stretches.  That's (to me) why his ascension to the throne seems out of left field: the writers wanted to be faithful to the book's ending... even if they hadn't (previously) laid the logical foundation for it.

That splains it. I don't read and stuff yu...uh yu no.

[Guest]

High Fantasy typically ends this way. Lord of the Rings. Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow & Thorn. Some of the heroes die. Some exit the Main Stage ala Frodo & Gandalf. Having every loose thread tidied up nicely is boring.

But the foreshadowing is always paramout in this genre. How many times did Tormund tell John he belonged in the Real North? How many times did Arya say she didn't want to be a Lady? 

Bran was not hard to predict either. He was named after Bran the Builder. His ancestor credited with building Winterfell, the Wall and half of Westeros. Bran the Broken can literally look in the past and see how his namesake did it. What better model for rebuilding all that the wars have destroyed?

And he can watch how past rulers reunited kingdoms after divisive wars. And get the 6 Kingdoms ready for Winter. And so much more. Very much a Paul Atreides-type of character.

For me The Long Night wasn't just a great episode it was one of the all timers on any screen, TV, movie or otherwise.

After that anything else has to be anticlimactic. Even LOTR had a section that was thankfully was left out of the movie where the Hobbits got home and found the Shire being run by bad dudes that they made quick work of. 

I had zero problems with any of the last season. Probably because I've been reading this stuff since I was in elementary school.

[Guest]

@FSUVike said:
High Fantasy typically ends this way. Lord of the Rings. Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow & Thorn. Some of the heroes die. Some exit the Main Stage ala Frodo & Gandalf. Having every loose thread tidied up nicely is boring.

But the foreshadowing is always paramout in this genre. How many times did Tormund tell John he belonged in the Real North? How many times did Arya say she didn't want to be a Lady? 

Bran was not hard to predict either. He was named after Bran the Builder. His ancestor credited with building Winterfell, the Wall and half of Westeros. Bran the Broken can literally look in the past and see how his namesake did it. What better model for rebuilding all that the wars have destroyed?

And he can watch how past rulers reunited kingdoms after divisive wars. And get the 6 Kingdoms ready for Winter. And so much more. Very much a Paul Atreides-type of character.

For me The Long Night wasn't just a great episode it was one of the all timers on any screen, TV, movie or otherwise.

After that anything else has to be anticlimactic. Even LOTR had a section that was thankfully was left out of the movie where the Hobbits got home and found the Shire being run by bad dudes that they made quick work of. 

I had zero problems with any of the last season. Probably because I've been reading this stuff since I was in elementary school.

GoT story is so rich, it's translation the first 5 seasons to film is really remarkable

I'm right there with you on The Long Night. In my humble estimation one of the top 3 episodes ever. Right up there with the Red Wedding, Joffrey dying, the death of Margery and destruction of the Cathedral, Battle of the Bastards and Ned Stark's death at the end of S1. The Hodor episode was haunting and powerful too, 

As much as S8 in totality left me lacking, I will miss the show immensely. How lucky are we to have the minds and imaginations of people like Tolkien, GRR and others to entertain us. 

[Guest]

@purplefaithful said:

@FSUVike said:
High Fantasy typically ends this way. Lord of the Rings. Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow & Thorn. Some of the heroes die. Some exit the Main Stage ala Frodo & Gandalf. Having every loose thread tidied up nicely is boring.

But the foreshadowing is always paramout in this genre. How many times did Tormund tell John he belonged in the Real North? How many times did Arya say she didn't want to be a Lady? 

Bran was not hard to predict either. He was named after Bran the Builder. His ancestor credited with building Winterfell, the Wall and half of Westeros. Bran the Broken can literally look in the past and see how his namesake did it. What better model for rebuilding all that the wars have destroyed?

And he can watch how past rulers reunited kingdoms after divisive wars. And get the 6 Kingdoms ready for Winter. And so much more. Very much a Paul Atreides-type of character.

For me The Long Night wasn't just a great episode it was one of the all timers on any screen, TV, movie or otherwise.

After that anything else has to be anticlimactic. Even LOTR had a section that was thankfully was left out of the movie where the Hobbits got home and found the Shire being run by bad dudes that they made quick work of. 

I had zero problems with any of the last season. Probably because I've been reading this stuff since I was in elementary school.

GoT story is so rich, it's translation the first 5 seasons to film is really remarkable

How lucky are we to have the minds and imaginations of people like Tolkien, GRR and others to entertain us. 

Ok I guess you're waiting for another one of these.


ps:  Without Battle of the Bastards I would have never made it further. If there ever was a bastard more deserving of that I don't know. That's the kind of emotions GoT could stir.
  

[Guest]

(CNN) — "Game of Thrones" star Kit Harington has reportedly checked into a wellness retreat to deal with "personal issues," after the blockbuster series came to an end. 
"Kit has decided to utilize this break in his schedule as an opportunity to spend some time at a wellness retreat to work on some personal issues," a representative for the actor told the Reuters news agency.Harington's representatives in London declined to comment to CNN. 
Harington, who played Jon Snow throughout the show's eight-year run, has spoken openly in the past about his struggles dealing with fame, and the emotional adjustment he was forced to make after the conclusion of the hit series.
In a behind-the-scenes documentary that aired on HBO Sunday -- one week after the show's finale -- the British actor was seen reacting emotionally as he read the script of the show's final episode for the first time, and tearfully saying goodbye to the crew.

The 32-year-old Harington told Variety earlier this year that he sought therapy in his 20s. "I felt I had to feel that I was the most fortunate person in the world, when actually, I felt very vulnerable," he said.And describing the last day of shooting on the series, the star said in a separate interview to Esquire: "My final day of shooting, I felt fine . . . I felt fine . . . I felt fine. . . Then I went to do my last shots and started hyperventilating a bit.""Then they called, 'Wrap!' And I just f---ing broke down. It was this onslaught of relief and grief about not being able to do this again," he added.
Harington is married to "Game of Thrones" co-star Rose Leslie, with whom he tied the knot in Aberdeen, Scotland last year.
The show's final season was met with mixed reviews but drew huge ratings for HBO, which is owned by CNN's parent company. Its last episode was seen by 19.3 million viewers, setting a record for the series.

[Guest]

As long as this thread is still alive... I just wanted to make a comment about the "behind the scenes" GoT show (I think it was called, "The Last Watch"?).  What a let-down.  The main stars had hardly any screen time... meanwhile we got a full dose of make-up artists and food truck operators.  What a waste.  

[Guest]

I think a big intent of the Last Watch was to do exactly that - pay homage to all the regular folk who made it happen...

[Guest]

I did very much enjoy the Long Night (even with the absolutely idiotic tactics and darkness). Battle of the Bastards is my favorite still though. Overall this season was bad. I know it is cliche at this point to say but it was really bad. I don't mind them subverted expectations if it made sense but no it doesn't. Bran a couple episodes ago could have accepted Lord of Winterfell and then accepted becoming King. It made no sense for him to say he can't be that and then become king. It made no sense for him to be snarky about it. I hate to say I agree with Rodgers but he is right. The ending is a joke. Why did all the other kingdoms state united while the North and Bran's own sister wouldn't respect him ruling over the North? The political implications of these things are huge. But it is glossed over entirely. Azor Ahai prophecy was never fulfilled. Honestly as bad as this ending was they could have added 5-10 minute cut scene showing that Bran is a villain and orchestrated everything and has ulterior motives which would have made it a significantly better ending. Obviously the petition to redo the season is a joke but damn it was disappointing how such a great show finished so shitty. I guess not every show can get the Breaking Bad ending level of awesomeness.

[Guest]

@KingBash said:

@suncoastvike said:
I do agree that this season feels rushed. It like after last night there's simply to much mess to clean up in one final episode. There should have been 8 instead of 6 maybe. At least one more. Something like last nights episode then followed by one set up decompression episode then the grand finale. I'm not understanding why today.  It does feel a bit rushed to get out.

I'm not sure I blame the writers as much as others do. They got thrust into a role they probably didn't deserve.

I don't think it's rushed, what I see is a difference of writing style between GRRM and D&D. If these two created a serious without GRRM's foundation, I think it'd do well. This is about managing expectations. I like this season... but it is garbage comparatively. These guys were painting into a corner and they did their best.

If we get one more nude scene from Emilia Clarke, this'll all be worth it. She's perfect. 

I don't know how you can say it wasn't rushed story. 3 episodes (2 leading up to war with Dead) and 1 episode with Battle of the dead and that's it. And 3 episodes for Iron Throne and Dany turning Mad Queen. It was two 3-episode seasons essentially with story for at least two 10 episode seasons. And that is probably being conservative. The pacing was clearly the biggest problem with the writing and storytelling. I understand there was always going to be people that would hate the ending. But it was crap. And I am not afraid to sound like the rest of the sheeple.