Game Of Thrones Season 8

[NoSleep]

She'll discover America.

[BritishHobo]

Sick of the internet. Dan and David now Designated Internet Villains. Cue at least a decade of endless comment sections on every bit of news regarding the new Star Wars trilogy, repeating exactly the same fucking points that have already been made on Twitter a billion times. Sometimes I wonder if maybe we should have let GamerGate pricks keep nerd culture to themselves after all. Seal them all with it into a big concrete drum and bury it at the bottom of the ocean. Fuck off, internet nerd cunts.

[mothman]

She is going to undiscovered lands so it doesn't need to fit in with anything we know about Westeros

How about a technologically-advanced civilisation which has quarantined the Valyrians for being backward barbarians?

She'll discover America.

Ah ah ahh, the twist is she's come from what was once America.

I reckon they've kept the potential for a sequel there by having Drogon fly off with her; barely alive or resurrected by a Melisandre-alike.

Way ahead of you there.

Also, I have a theory. Drogon acted rather odd there at the end... because Bran was warging him at the time. That's why he melted the throne, then flew off with Dany's body. When he says at the end he's going to try to find Drogon, he's bullshitting, he knows where he's gone because he made him go there. And he's accepted the throne to actually take an (Iron) back seat and let the six kingdoms be ruled by committee (as a first step towards Sam's proposal?).

And while I'm at it I'll just throw this out there: Drogon (aka DroBran) has taken Dany's body north to use Raven/Forest/First Men/White Walker/whatever magic to resurrect her (with some handy amnesia) to live as a Wildling girl, meet Jon, fall in love and live happily ever after.

[chveik]

She'll discover America.

nah, Star Wars land

[greenman]

Swansea

[Custard]

She'll discover a magical island, where smoke monsters and polar bears roam. Then she will meet another young traveller called Kate, and they will take their tops off and do lots of snogging

[Viero_Berlotti]

The Crusader Kings 2 nerd inside me got excited when they changed the succession laws from Agnatic-Cognatic Primogeniture to Feudal Elective. Risky move, yes it may be easier to keep your vassals happy this way and avoid wars but you run a huge risk of some cunt from outside your dynasty getting the top title by promising the earth to the other cunts and then fucking it up.

[Thursday]

Sick of the internet. Dan and David now Designated Internet Villains. Cue at least a decade of endless comment sections on every bit of news regarding the new Star Wars trilogy, repeating exactly the same fucking points that have already been made on Twitter a billion times. Sometimes I wonder if maybe we should have let GamerGate pricks keep nerd culture to themselves after all. Seal them all with it into a big concrete drum and bury it at the bottom of the ocean. Fuck off, internet nerd cunts.

Yeah honestly, it soon made me flip to "season 8 wasn't that bad" still enjoyed it overall, it was rushed, but it's still obviously something they worked hard on, which doesn't put it above criticism, but it soon made me feel bad for them, that this is something they have to deal with. Not to mention, so much of the criticism I've seen on the reddits/twitters is actually quite easy to answer, or is just people angry that things didn't work out the way they wanted.

[Moribunderast]

Sick of the internet. Dan and David now Designated Internet Villains. Cue at least a decade of endless comment sections on every bit of news regarding the new Star Wars trilogy, repeating exactly the same fucking points that have already been made on Twitter a billion times. Sometimes I wonder if maybe we should have let GamerGate pricks keep nerd culture to themselves after all. Seal them all with it into a big concrete drum and bury it at the bottom of the ocean. Fuck off, internet nerd cunts.

It takes a special kind of entitled cunt to decide to cast aside 5-6 seasons of tremendous work just because they didn't like how it all ended. D&D have clearly demonstrated they are talented - anyone overlooking the fact that these guys made something that people LOVED for 6-odd years in favour of throwing a tantrum about the ending probably deserves every disappointment they receive. The cunts. Obviously the final season isn't above criticism but the total "throwing toys out of the cot" shit I've seen online while this has aired has been genuinely embarrassing. Maybe I'm just not overly bothered because I never thought of the show as anything above "Quite Good" but some people have been acting like D&D broke into their house and fucked their dog.

[phantom_power]

Another factor to consider is that almost all TV shows go off the boil or get stale when they go beyond five or six seasons, regardless of who is in charge or what source material they have

[sevendaughters]

I think the best single episode was from s6 (the one where Tommen glumly suicides as Cersei blows up a lot of the cast, Arya slays the Freys, the first - admittedly pointless now - R+L=J stuff happened).

[NoSleep]

Yeah honestly, it soon made me flip to "season 8 wasn't that bad" still enjoyed it overall, it was rushed, but it's still obviously something they worked hard on, which doesn't put it above criticism, but it soon made me feel bad for them, that this is something they have to deal with. Not to mention, so much of the criticism I've seen on the reddits/twitters is actually quite easy to answer, or is just people angry that things didn't work out the way they wanted.

I lost an emotional attachment to the show, because of how good it had become, from about season 5 onward. I'm only watching now because of the emotional investment in the characters from that time. It used to be one of the best shows I've ever seen on TV in a time where TV has increasingly shown itself able to be superior to Hollywood in presenting stories with some depth. This season has been pure Hollywood.

[Alberon]

It became a TV show. We've all seen enough telly that we usually know what is coming ahead of time as it's all cliche. Game of Thrones was different.

Ned Stark did the noble thing all the time. Usually that gets rewarded with winning in the end. Here he lost completely and was about to be exiled before getting executed.

But the last few series it has slipped back into being just another TV show, which is a great shame.

[NoSleep]

I think the best single episode was from s6 (the one where Tommen glumly suicides as Cersei blows up a lot of the cast, Arya slays the Freys, the first - admittedly pointless now - R+L=J stuff happened).

I'd say some of the GRRM written episodes were amongst the best; very character driven. By the time we got to season 6 I'd lost all interest in Arya after the tedium of Faceless College. Tommen reminded me of Chris Morris topping himself in the IT Crowd. And the Sept massacre pales in comparison to the emotional pay-off of three seasons when Daenerys sets the Unsullied upon the slavers.

[phantom_power]

I think the best single episode was from s6 (the one where Tommen glumly suicides as Cersei blows up a lot of the cast, Arya slays the Freys, the first - admittedly pointless now - R+L=J stuff happened).

That was an amazing episode

[Beagle 2]

I lost an emotional attachment to the show, because of how good it had become, from about season 5 onward. I'm only watching now because of the emotional investment in the characters from that time. It used to be one of the best shows I've ever seen on TV in a time where TV has increasingly shown itself able to be superior to Hollywood in presenting stories with some depth. This season has been pure Hollywood.

This is why I can't really be arsed with TV shows though. Films have an advantage because they are self-contained stories. Every long-running TV show starts off without knowing where it's going to end up, to a greater or lesser degree. Even if there is a neat and tidy conclusion or a clear destination in mind, it will inevitably get affected along the way by audience response, budgets, casting issues and plain old making it up as they go along. Game of Thrones is the only one I've ever really bothered sticking with because it's a whole world I've bought into, a sense that this is one story of many.

The idea that I would sink ten hours of my time into the new Netflix wank off drama that's so good it's better than hollywood when there's often no certaintly that the show will even be renewed has just never appealed to me. I like stories more than characters, which is directly opposed to the way that producers of entertainment think these days. 

[NoSleep]

Every long-running TV show starts off without knowing where it's going to end up, to a greater or lesser degree. Even if there is a neat and tidy conclusion or a clear destination in mind, it will inevitably get affected along the way by audience response, budgets, casting issues and plain old making it up as they go along.

Yeah... single season stuff like Fargo or Twin Peaks(s3) works better in telling a story. But there's still Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul towering above the other multiple season attempts. I'm also cautiously optimistic about the up and coming Dune series; hopefully we finally get a worthy interpretation of the book(s). GoT's problem (and possibly GRRM's) was starting without an ending, but that hasn't phased the makers of BB & BCS.

[Harpo Speaks]

Not to mention, so much of the criticism I've seen on the reddits/twitters is actually quite easy to answer, or is just people angry that things didn't work out the way they wanted.

Not that the standard of writing and structuring of the show didn't slip, because it really did, but there is definitely a section of the fanbase who attempt to utilise the terminology of literary criticism in order to demonstrate why they feel the show is failing, when what they actually mean is they just didn't want the narrative to go in a particular direction. You also just know that some of these people decrying bad writing and a lack of nuance are the same ones yelling out 'plot hole' any time something is left ambiguous or not presented in the most explicit terms to the viewer. I didn't see them die, therefore they are alive.

I find it interesting that some people seem to consume shows in a very mechanical way, where anything that doesn't push the story forward is branded as irrelevant. I was talking to a friend the other night and he was complaining that previous scenes in which Jorah gives his father's sword to Jon - to pass on to his kids, and another scene where Dany and Jon discuss children were 'pointless', because they didn't turn out to be foreshadowing an eventual child between the two. Just disregarding anything we learn about the characters in those interactions, and how actually it does all work thematically.

Still, it's not as bad as the 'I hope someone got fired for that blunder' type nit-pickery, which I always find the most draining aspect of any discussion around TV.

Knowing that a particular model of handgun being used in a scene would only be able to fire off a specific number of shots before reloading might be a true observation , but don't go presenting it as if it's some sort of incisive criticism of the writing as a whole. Cinema Sins style bullshit.

Quite liked the finale, aside from the appalling fifteen minutes post time-jump.

[Custard]

Rewatching season one, and it truly is one of the greatest series/seasons ever written. Just masterfully plotted, beautiful stuff. What a brilliant set of characters, expertly played by a great cast

Come to the realisation that I fucking hate Sam Tarley, though. Finding him really annoying, the big fannybum

Tywin is majestic. As glorious a cunt as Joffrey. Such a great performance from Charles Dance

Ned's about to get his bonce lopped off. I know it's coming, and yet here I am, a grown man shouting at the screen. Now that's a good fucking TV show

It'll deffo be remembered as an all time classic, I reckon. Nothing could ever take away the brilliance of those first four seasons

[phantom_power]

Another factor is that with its trademark body count, a lot of the best characters got lost along the way as they were invariably antagonists. You end up left with boring goodies and you can't really introduce new characters in the last season to improve on that

[Cuellar]

That was an amazing episode

I enjoyed the Philip Glass-esque music as the fuse was wending its way to the wildfire cache.

[Poobum]

Being a book wanker I'm dissapointed we didn't get book Euron, he would have been an awesome villain to replace the Ramsay shaped hole in all our hearts, and cgi krakens sinking ships would have been fun. I actually liked show Euron though as basically the side character he was, he was just a fun mad bastard enjoying being so.

It has been an amazing show with amazing moments. The Battle of the Bastards is a monumental achievement. I can't even imagine the level of genius it must have taken to pull it off. The choreography for the Jon Snow fighting sequance alone is mesmerizing. And they just nailed moment after moment. The impact of the cavelry charges clashing, the real weight of it. The hellish rain of arrows. Smalljon Umber rousing the northern troops. The Bolton shield wall advancing to that terrifying chant. Wun Wun smashing down the gates of Winterfel. And they did a really good job making Wun Wun a believable presence. It was just all so well put together and well paced. And it nevers stops being fun watching the knights of the Vale smashing through the Bolton army.

[mothman]

That was an amazing episode

It's the only one I watched twice, which says something.

[Twit 2]

The reason season one is so good is because it's basically a straight adaptation of the book, which is itself excellent. It's still a feat to put something like that in the screen, so fair fucks to the makers, but I can't help but feel the lion's share of the credit for what made the show good early on is down to the quality of the source material.

Also, the Battle of the Bastards is the best battle scenes I've ever seen: it conveyed the horror and confusion of a battle perfectly. Whoever directed/choreographed that episode deserved a tremendous wank after that.

[Harpo Speaks]

I enjoyed the Philip Glass-esque music as the fuse was wending its way to the wildfire cache.

Light of the Seven by Ramin Djawadi, and I agree, it's a brilliant piece.

The score often gets a bit overlooked in terms of discussion, but it's incredible really.

[Bingo Fury]

Not that the standard of writing and structuring of the show didn't slip, because it really did, but there is definitely a section of the fanbase who attempt to utilise the terminology of literary criticism in order to demonstrate why they feel the show is failing, when what they actually mean is they just didn't want the narrative to go in a particular direction. You also just know that some of these people decrying bad writing and a lack of nuance are the same ones yelling out 'plot hole' any time something is left ambiguous or not presented in the most explicit terms to the viewer. I didn't see them die, therefore they are alive.

One of my abiding memories of Gallifrey Base (before I decided to knock it on the head and never go back) was one particular poster who attacked a Moffat episode because it didn't follow the Aristotelian laws of dramatic unity. He thought it was a scandal that someone so incompetent, and ignorant of the most basic literary rules, should be allowed to write for television at all, let alone his favourite show. Never crossed his mind for a second that an award-winning TV dramatist with years' worth of successful shows to his credit would be able to judge when he could bend or break the rules - or that laws someone came up with 2300 years ago shouldn't necessarily be the last word in storytelling - no, the story's all in slavishly sticking to a recipe (see also: serialism).

Gallifrey Base was also absolutely saturated with people using the term "lazy writing" to describe plot developments they didn't like. And it's been depressing to see recent Tweets contending, for example, that the Night King's death at Arya's hands could be attributed to a sheer lack of effort on the writers' part, and that if they'd put a little more elbow-grease into it then Jon would have taken that honour, as he was surely always supposed to.

[gatchamandave]

Um...i think that was me, Bingo Fury, winding up Jonathan Blum. Sorry to have blighted your experience.

[Bingo Fury]

No. Fucking. Way.

Okay, a wind-up's a wind-up. Blum's always far too reasonable, I can understand why someone might want to have a go. It's probably a good thing I cleared out if the GB/CaB crossover is this extensive.

Anyway, onwards!

[thraxx]

Why does Bran always look like a young vulcan that is sniffing a fart?  I think the director keeps telling him 'Bran, for this scene I really need you to look like a young vulcan sniffing a fart'.

[sevendaughters]

Another factor is that with its trademark body count, a lot of the best characters got lost along the way as they were invariably antagonists. You end up left with boring goodies and you can't really introduce new characters in the last season to improve on that

Was trying to think who the last introduced good character was and when it was, not counting one-offs like Ian McShane.