DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... GOT: The Final Season

I felt Arya went through the biggest struggle and most transformation through the seasons of all the characters on the show. So I'm happy she went ninja on the NK.

Also, how would Bran kill him? Warg into a dragon?

Another also, seems to me that if your evil character is called the Night King, then naturally the battle would be at night.

It’s not that I wanted Bran to leap out of his chair or warg into his dragon, although that would have been awesome. I would have liked him do something other than just be bait. Say, he has those ravens flying around the tree distracting the NK and his crew, helping Arya sneak up on him. As you said, her character arch was complete and great, but Bran’s has been a dud (yes, three episodes to go, but his beef was mostly with the NK).

As for the 2nd part, touché. I’ll leave that alone now.

Bran has been the worst character on the show...I rather have Hodor

I also dont understand Bran's purpose. However, I also havent read the books. It seems like there is probably a lot of storyline in the books that would be difficult to depict on tv. Since it seems like all his stuff is mental.

Just a guess.

Also, I have a general comment.

When I first started watching this show, I felt like it might negatively portray women too much being that there were always whores in the storyline, and women being objectified.

But, all of the leading ladies turned into very strong women, and it seems like the show is more about their stories, with the men in lesser roles.

And that made me very happy. Not that I have anything against male characters. I was just glad it wasnt all about naked hoes.

Gurl Power.

Bran spoke to this in the previous episode, during the battle planning. He holds the memory of all Westeros. For the NK to ultimately win, he must kill the 3 eyed raven. It's a bit thin, I agree, but within the story, that's the reasoning.

Also, Bran sent all those Ravens away during the battle. Did we ever get any conclusion as to why he did that? And where he was the entire battle? Just checking things out? Maybe there's something going on in the background that will be crucial at a future time.

Maybe Bran will warg and control a dragon? That would be something.

I would say that maybe this isn't the right show for you, Vers.

"I really hate loud noises. Can't wait for the 4th of July fireworks display this year."

j/c:

I haven't read through all the comments but did anyone notice how amazing the musical score was for this episode? I was so impressed.

I completely agree! Although, I must say, this season has been great, IMO. The show writers did say GRRM let them in on how the book series would end, so maybe that source material has come back into the fold?

I loved the last episode. I was worried going into this, knowing that the entire episode would be the battle, that it would get a bit cumbersome at some point. However, they really pieced it out by boucing around to each important characters view point. I really liked how they gave you the high and lows in terms of hope for the living and then showed you how the defenses failed time and time again. The quieter scene with Arya trying to sneak by all the wights inside Winterfell was a perfect placement to dividing up the fight going on outside.

I was a little discouraged by how dark the episode was lighting-wise, but they brightened the portions that were more important for you to follow than just the general chaotic fighting going on. I really like how as the episode carried on that the backround skies turned red, as if you were now in hell fighting against death. My favorite shot was the two dragons above the clouds in the moonlight when trying to chase down The Night's King and Viserion. It looked amazing.

I was hoping to see more a role for Bran and, again, have been rather disappointed with the character as the Three-Eyed Raven.

Overall though, I loved the episode and thought the director, Miguel Sapochnik, did an amazing job. 55 straight days of filming in the middle of the night in the cold Irish winter must have been taxing for all involved in creating that episode. I think this will be an episode remembered in film for a looooong time.

One more thing:

I did expect more characters to die than what ended up happening. After thinking about this more, I like that this was the case so it wouldn't just feel like the battle, as epic as it was, would also be used as the catalyst to weeding down the final characters in the remaining three episodes. I do expect more characters to go, but it will be through other means, not this last episode.

A good friend of mine wasn't able to watch it on Sunday night. So he watched it last night and was texting me as things progressed in the episode. That was almost as enjoyable as watching it live on Sunday night.

One thing I said when I was watching it live and one thing he said as he watched it last night was how you could just start seeing the exhaustion in the eyes of the characters as they realized they were facing an almost infinite amount of enemy who would never get tired and would be absolutely relentless.

Imagine watching from the walls as the dead pile themselves up to cover up the flames and come up the walls. Imagine when all your friends who have been killed suddenly rise from the dead and start fighting against you.

You started to realize that either the Night King was going to be killed, or everyone at Winterfell was going to die. I doubted they'd kill all of them, but you never know with this show.

Excellent job overall. And my opinion on the lighting is well documented and correct.

No, I don't think we did. I thought that would amount to something during the episode and it never came to fruition. I hope there is more to Bran's role than what is being currently portrayed.

Lannisters are known to have green eyes, at least in the books.

Maybe there are still more Children of the Forest that can come help in the fight against the Lannisters?

Couple things.

1) Lighting was poor, even watching with all my lights off, I had a hard time seeing some things going on. They can have night battle but still provide enough blue light to allow it to visible on a screen. I'm sure during shooting it looked fine, but that doesn't always translate to a TV set.

2) I wish they would have done a little more with the ending, showing both Jon and Arya making their way to the NK, even though we didn't truly know that was where Arya was going, but seeing her battle to get there much like Jon was doing, would have lent to the anticipation.

3) I like that many of the major characters survived, as now we will look to taking on Cersei over the last 3 episode.

4) As someone else mentioned, the look of under despair and giving up in many of their eyes was intense, they did a great job capturing that.

All in all it was a great episode, I was a little concerned about such a long fight getting boring, but they did a great job. Even my wife held on until the end, needing to use the restroom for the last 20+ minutes, but refusing to let me pause it for her.

Sorry to be negative, but the whole thing was very anticlimactic for me, for various reasons, and it really has me questioning whether the show creators even understand the source material at all. I understand need for the show and the books to be different, but I think they should keep their themes consistent.

First off, the name of the series is "A Song of Ice and Fire," not "A Game of Thrones." One of the main points of the books (and even last season in the show) it to show this is a battle of Life against Death, and that the Iron Throne doesn't even matter. Yet, it seems like the show is pointing in the other direction. We'll have to see how this plays out in the 2nd half of the season, but it is shaping-up to be a 3-way battle between Jon, Dany, and Cersei, with possibly Sansa thrown in.

One of the other major themes in the book is sacrifice, especially the sacrifice needed to defeat evil. You see this constantly in the books: Azor Ahai sacrificing Nissa Nissa, Ned Stark sacrificing himself for what he thought was right (with his life of course, but also with his honor by acting like he cheated on Catalyn by having the bastard son Jon Snow), Daenerys with Khal Drogo, Jon Snow sacrificing his love for Ygritte. Many more examples are out there, it is all over the place.

All the deaths in this episode were examples of sacrifice (Dolorous Edd, Lyanna Mormont, Bearic Dondarrion - who is already dead in the books, Theon Greyjoy, and Jorah Mormont), but they were all self-sacrifice, not the kinds of examples we were talking about before.

I have no problems with Arya taking out the Night King, and she has had an awesome story arc, but I don't see the sacrifice she has made. I've seen things taken from her (mainly her family), but I haven't seen her have to sacrifice anything she loves. Even when she has to sacrifice who she was with the Faceless Men and become No One (giving up Needle), she ultimately fails and goes back to being Arya Stark.

Really, we didn't lose any major characters, which is really un-GoT like, especially for the "Great War" of the whole show.

It will be interesting to see the different path the books take; I have a feeling it will be significantly different, which actually has me very excited to know that they probably aren't spoiled.

I thought the episode was well directed though; had no problems with the lighting, and loved the music throughout the episode. Just found the storytelling to be rather lacking.

Some more thoughts:

--I didn't know there would be more books. I read all of them and the next one was supposed to be out in 2015, but it never happened. I know he has books out about what happened before all of this.

--The story got ahead of the books a few seasons ago. I think he spent too much time on GOT instead of writing more books in the series.

--A few people mentioned this, but the musical score was absolutely awesome last night.

--I found it interesting that most--if not all--who died last night actually sacrificed themselves.

--I really thought that Bran's role would have been more significant last night. I don't get the point of the "I have to go now" scene. What was accomplished? Could that pop-up in future episodes.

--How did Arya get through all the White Walkers to attack the Night King?

--I thought the strategy of the good guys was odd. What was the purpose of sending that initial line out to meet the White Walkers?

--I'm glad the Night King and White Walkers are done. I never really liked that story line. I find Cersei to be a much more interesting antagonist. She is the one that I want to see Arya kill.

--I think it would be cool if Sansa and Tyrion hook-up again. This time for real.

--I still wonder if Daenerys will become the Mad Queen, even though last night's episode gave no inkling of that.

I was wondering what happened to the Unsullied? Maybe I missed that part?

It was like their main army was the Dothraki, and we saw what happened there.

But then everything was chaos and disorganized after that.

In previous episodes they showed the Unsullied as this massive disciplined army.

Where did they go?

It seems like they got completely wiped-out, but they didn't show the main dude dying. At least I don't think they did. The .... was crazy.

The Unsullied stayed outside the gates to cover the retreat when everyone ran into Winterfell. So they almost all sacrificed themselves to save everyone and buy everyone time.

I think a few of them were left to protect Melisandre (sp?) when she lit the trench on fire. And Grey Worm lived, I think.

George R. R. Martin's Involvement in the show

George hasn't really been involved with the show since season 4, to the point that he doesn't even know how the show will end.

I have a feeling that his ending will be significantly different than what the show writers have come up with.

As great as the show as been, it pales in comparison to what he has written in the books.

Apparently, his writing has gone very well here lately, according to his reports, so hopefully that means a new book here soon!

All shows and movies pale in comparison to well written books.

Think about the last episode. We saw some good acting by the body language and the looks on the faces of the characters. But, that pales in comparison to the omniscient narrator who can tell you exactly what the character is thinking, their emotional state, their observations, etc.

I read all the books. They're awesome and better than the show. But, damn man..............this is a TV Show. It isn't even a movie. It's a show on a network, and they have done a great job. It would be nonsense to deny that.

The crazy thing is that I don't watch any other TV shows. I watch sports on TV and GOT. That's pretty much it. For me to watch a TV show, it has to be damn good. And this one is.

Dude needs to finish soon

And to add to your thoughts.


I thought the purpose of the Dragon Glass weapons was that it killed the white walkers once and for all, like they did when Arya killed the NK. Yet it seemed like they kept getting up when called upon.

I don't know that it was the White Walkers who got up with the Night King summoned them. I think that was all the good guys who had been killed.

I agree 100%. When I read a book, I can create the character, setting, and everything else in my head, the way I want it. When it's a movie, that stuff is kind of forced on you.

But that being said, this show is just so fun to watch.

I actually thought the music felt a little too upbeat at first. I didn't notice it as much as things got moving. I'll have to re-watch the episode and pay more attention.

Maybe Bran leaving and Arya getting there tie together? Bran used to climb all over Winterfell and knew all the secret routes. Could the crows have led Arya along one of those paths to the Night King? I wouldn't be surprised if the next episode had flashbacks showing this as I'm not sure how else they'll stretch out the last several episodes.

I kind of got the sense that Tyrion and Sansa will end up getting back together, too. Maybe they'll actually end up King and Queen of the 7 Kingdoms. It'd make a strange sort of sense. I could see the Targaryens heading back to Mereen/the east as dragons don't seem to fare well in the 7 kingdoms, plus there is the whole Dany is allegedly barren deal which would make a mess of future succession. When Arya uses Jaime's face to get close to Cersei and take her out, which seems almost too easy to predict, Tyrion might be the heir at this point with the Baratheon's wiped out and Jaime renouncing his claim to anything when he took the white. Sansa and Tyrion would make a lot of sense as the unifying compromise to unite the 7 kingdoms and the Lannister's probably have the largest army left. That moment Tyrion and Sansa had in the crypt could easily be foreshadowing.
You could argue for Gendry and Arya, but he's illegitimate and unrecognized. I don't see the southerners going for it. I could see them "ruling" in Winterfell, or just kind of traveling together with the North going to the Wildlings. Jaime and Brienne would be King and Queensguard, respectively.

I’m thankful for the shows and movies that convert these types of books into movies. I enjoy reading, just not these kinds of books. I’ve never read JRR Tolkien, or George RR Martin, or JK Rowling yet I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the films associated with their writings.
The types of books I enjoy reading aren’t film adaptable. Maybe a documentary or a PBS docu-series... ie, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jarod Diamond. Or Bill Bryson’s, A Short History of Nearly Everything.
I’ve never enjoyed reading fantasy, or fiction (except everything Vonnegut). For those like me the GOT world begins and ends at the HBO series. What happens at the end of the last episode will forever be the ending we know. Books or no books.
So the books may be better... I’m glad you enjoy them.

I had a long commute for a number of years, so I listened to the books. I would never have had the time to actually read them, nor do I think I would have liked reading the print. That's the only way I got through the books.

There are 3 levels of the undead army. The Night King, the white walkers, and the risen dead or wights. The wights could be killed with normal weapons, the white walkers could only be killed with dragon glass or valaryan steel. The Night King, who was made by the insertion of dragon glass into his heart (and I think could not therefor be killed by dragon glass) was killed by valaryan steel.

j/c:

Does anyone know why The Night King was so interested in Bran? Why did he seek Bran out before all others while the battle was ongoing?

Also, there is a theory out there that Bran is evil. I'm not sure if buy that, but he sure is one freaky dude.

Bran said during the planning, that the Night King would come for him.

"He'll come for me," says Bran, who goes on to reveal the Night King's ultimate goal: "An endless night. He wants to erase this world — and I am its memory."

Then Samwell Tarly said

"That's what death is, isn't it? Forgetting, and being forgotten," he says. "If we forget where we've been and what we've done, we're not men anymore. We're just animals. Your memories don't come from books. Your stories aren't just stories. If I wanted to erase the world of men, I'd start with [Bran]."

Thanks.

I also heard that the Night King was ticked because Bran had never paid him back for an Uber they split when they were at Samwell's bachelor party in the Citadel.

There's a rumor floating around that Jon attempted to sacrifice himself so Arya could make the final attack. If you re-watch the scene, he stands up and yells "Go" a few times. It would be odd for him to say that if it were just him and the dragon. Meaning, Arya was near and was waiting. I don't know, it's just a rumor.

I think he said "Flo!" because he's a shill for Progressive Insurance.

It was definitely “Noooooooo!!” He was channeling his inner Darth Vader.
John Snow was a huge Star Wars fan. True story. It was in the books. Look it up.