HBO: Game of Thrones

[Juliajms]

I couldn't be more frustrated that Brienne didn't mention the White Walkers or the fact that Jon Snow was resurrected. Come on! I'll comment more tomorrow, not really feeling it tonight.

[YRBB]

Good episode. Once again, Cersei made the wrong move by showing quite what The Mountain is capable of. The throne room scene was so tense and such a great shocker that trial-by-combat will not be allowed anymore. I wonder what this 'rumor' is. She's certainly not down for the count yet.

 

The stuff with Clegane was really great. Nice to see more Brotherhood come back and the "you don't know how to die" or whatever and arguing about who gets to kill whom and how was funny. They've done an AMAZING job re-positioning Clegane's character and his place in the canvas. Just phenomenal.

 

Brienne and Jaime brought me to tears. First with their goodbye in the tent and then as they waved goodbye to each other. Gwendoline Christie did phenomenally with that. Just superb. God knows if they will ever meet again -- and under what circumstances. I'm just glad some BookBrienne developments haven't found their way to the show. I may have just jinxed it.

 

Bronn and Podrick was funny.

 

I don't even have words for the sweetness of Missandei and Grey Worm telling jokes and laughing and lovingly looking at each other. So much good stuff with so very little. Damn at the seige and Dany's entrance -- a gif-worthy moment if there ever was one. And that pyramid? The scale seemed a bit off. According to the size on screen, it would take 3 years just to get to the top! lol They did a nice moment between Varys and Tyrion as well. I wonder what he's up to.

 

Everything between Lady Crane and Arya was fantastic. Essie Davis was phenomenal. "I put a hole in him. Then I felt guilty and fixed him up." "If my cooking didn't kill you, this won't."  Too bad she has to be dead -- and by that f.ucking bitch no less. I hate the waif so much. But how brilliant was what Arya did -- wounded, less strong and less competent, she lured the Waif to her room and cut off the light, essentially blinding the Waif. And who has more experience fighting while blind? Amazing. "I'm going home." Yas bitch, yas! Just do it. 

 

 

[Juliajms]

Interesting article on the possibility of a spin off.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/06/12/why-hbo-is-almost-certainly-considering-a-game-of-thrones-spin-off/?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=yahootix&partner=yahootix&yptr=yahoo#4ea8f9053775

[quartermainefan]

I wanted to see Arya kill that girl.   It was unsatisfying they didn't show that fight. 

[Juliajms]

I agree, but at least that was one cheat they earned. On the one hand, I do feel they punked out. I'm sure fight scenes are hard to film and choreograph in a way that looks realistic, especially when it's two teenagers. I freely admit the sandsnake fight was pitiful. However, haven't we been watching all of this training to see Arya become a good fighter?  At least we saw her train blind, so it made some sense that she would take that advantage in the fight with the waif.

 

What I can't forgive or get over is the cheating and plot holes in the Blackfish story. Brienne doesn't mention to Jamie or the Blackfish that there is an army of the dead on the Northern border? That every person they know is about to be swallowed in an endless night? That Jon Snow has been resurrected?! Are you effing kidding me? Lame, so, so unforgivably lame. Why did the writers even bother to send Brienne south? Nothing came of it except huge plot holes.  Then the Blackfish choosing to commit suicide by Lannister, instead of going to help his niece? "You'll serve her better than I ever could". What nonsense. She needs all the help she can get, not just the best person.

 

As for Jaime, he's dead to me. Threatening to catapult a baby into Riverrun? Disgusting.  I don't consider his love for Cersei a redeem quality at all. It's nothing but a sick obsession. I would wish him to return to the Red Keep only to find Cersei's head on a spike, but that would mean the High Sparrow wins and I can't quite stomach that.

 

I'm quickly losing faith in the writers. I think they were doing well with adapting GRRM's material. Lord knows it was not an easy job. They may be getting ideas from him, but without actual material to adapt, I really wonder if they can bring this all together. They are not off to a great start, imo. I swallow all the plot holes and stupid writing I can take when I watch soaps. I don't need it on what has been a great show.

[Cheap21]

What is Arya now, Wolverine? She was gutted in the last episode, jumped out a window (possibly breaking her legs/bones) and manages to still get up and run away even as her previous wound opens and she starts bleeding out. In her condition she is able to take on Waif girl and kill her? WTF?!? I get that they tried to say she had the advantage bc she trained while blind but she sucked. She wasnt a good fighter when she was blind so its hard to beleive that she could take on a trained assasin that was perfectly healthy when she was her injured state

[Juliajms]

[quartermainefan]

I thought Jaime did well.    He managed to take the castle with only a single life lost, rather than two years of death for hundreds of people.    He is a favorite of mine because he sort of steps back and sees the evil and that he participates in all the Lannister shenanigans but he is aware of how not normal it all is.   He was just the kinsgslayer to start but once we heard his side of the story, who wouldn't slay the king?   I also liked the way years ago he asked Robb about oath breaking that what happens if you have two oaths that conflict with each other.   He at isn't into the blind "I took an oath" stuff like knights are supposed to do even though it is what leads to them killing all the babies in King Landing or hitting Sansa.  

 

 

[DRW50]

So is Sandor still as dull and pointless as he was in his last two seasons on the show? 

[YRBB]

 

I think we'll have plenty of chances to watch Arya fight over the next seasons. I am certain it's only the beginning (unless she suddenly dies). It's not a matter of punking out. Under normal circumstances, Arya would have never won. The only way she could do it is on her own "terms". What, did you want to watch a fight taking place in pitch darkness? Or having them show Arya cutting the waif's face off?  

 

Why is it lame? This didn't even occur to me! Would Jaime even have believed her? Is Brienne a person who ever says anything more than what is completely necessary? Does she gossip or discuss news all that much?

 

She went to the South for two reasons 1) Plotwise, to try and convince Blackfish to surrender, which means 2)  Reunion with Jaime, which may never happen again, in which case the writers did it as a subtle gift to the audience and I thank them forever. I don't know how to word it more strongly. That's it, and that's all needed. Who knows what'll happen next?

 

Juliajms, meet Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones, this is Julia. She's, apparently, never met you before.

 

Don't you think you're being a little dramatic about this? First of all, it was almost certainly a bluff. I thought it was one of the best Jaime moments ever. Even if he meant it, he is a character in a show full of characters that have committed worse violence for less. Also, if he meant it, it makes sense: He's changed and been redeemed, but he's always been a twat and that seems to be coming back. I wonder if they're going from villain to sympathetic to villain with him.

 

IMO, we are FAR away from huge plot holes or stupid writing. This is one of the best seasons of the show.

 

So, then, you get it. What are you having trouble with? Did you forget that Arya was shown to improve through an extensive montage to the point that she (almost) won? Her progress was SHOWN on screen. Second of all, being suddenly blind completely disorients you to the point that all of your skills become null and void. It's 100% believable that she was able to quickly stab her and be done with it.

 

This is some of the best stuff he's ever done.

[Juliajms]

No, I don't think I'm being dramatic. I'm getting tired of you telling me that I am. Telling Jaime and the Blackfish obviously was necessary, since in her own words she failed by not telling them. As to why it was lame, I explained that in quite a lot of detail.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Juliajms

[Vee]

To me, Jaime is who he is - I think Edmure's conversation with him, where Edmure challenged him on his thin pretense of chivalry and then Jaime resorted to really vicious Lannister-style threats, was meant to drive that home and remind the audience.

 

Jaime has a real bond with Brienne and he wants to be a better man (or tell himself he is), but at the same time he is still a Lannister through and through and is bound to that dysfunctional way of life and viewing the world. He probably always will be. That whole scene was meant to be a slap in the face after his quasi-romantic reunion with Brienne. It was ugly but it was also an integral part of who he is, has been ever since he threw Bran out the window. It was no coincidence that they had him recite his infamous line: "The things we do for love." I used to view Jaime's story as a redemption quest, but it became clear when he returned to King's Landing that it's never going to be that. He may do good things, he may try to be better as he tried for Brienne in this last episode, but I don't think this story ends with Jaime as a wholly noble hero. He's an antihero at best and has been since the first episode. It was sad to see that side of Jaime again but it also never really left, hasn't for a long time. I'm glad they made a specific statement about it.

 

The rest I liked a lot. Especially Arya finally telling the Faceless Men to !@#$%^&*] off. RIP Lady Crane!

 

Incidentally, here's an interview with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. And one with Maisie Williams.

Edited June 14, 2016 by Vee

[Juliajms]

I think that's a good assessment Vee. I'm just no longer invested in the character.  Someone who thinks there is only one other person in the world isn't particularly interesting to me. He's said it often enough that I believe him, so the whole Brienne connection doesn't mean much to me.

 

I was also glad to get some movement in Arya's story. I wonder if she'll meet up with The Hound, since she admitted that part of her didn't want him dead. I'll be interested to see if Clegane is headed north or south.

[Vee]

I'm invested in Jaime, but I think the character's fallen back the Lannister rabbit hole. Which is unfortunately realistic for the character. For me, I can still be invested while not liking where his path has taken him morally - which right now is conflicted at best.

[YRBB]

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Yes, you are ("he's dead to me!"), and you will continue hearing so, as long as you freak out over things before thinking them through. No need to get nasty with me. The problem is that the show has proven you wrong again and again, and it seems like it's pissing you off that I pointed it out. Sorry about that. 

 

Also, how about responding to the several reasons I gave you as to why you've taken the whole thing wrong instead of attacking? This is a discussion board. You went on and on about possibly the most nitpicky thing regarding the whole episode, missing the entire point of those scenes because of some idea you had on how they should have developed, and somebody called you out on that. If you don't like your unsubstantiated freak-outs rebuffed, then think them through. I guess you couldn't counter.

 

 

Also, please point out where you went into detail. I asked because I was genuinely left confused after reading your post. If Brienne said so, and I do not remember, then tell me. I am joking around with you since you are obviously one of my fave posters here, so if I've told you you're dramatic what? Once, twice, you are "getting tired" of it? Seriously. Relax. I like you. You're going overboard.

 

It really is. At least you listened when it came from someone else.