Game Of Thrones Season 8

[BritishHobo]

Calling Tormund a farting Gimli is fucking perfect. It was funny when he leered at Brienne the first time two seasons ago, but then they saw how much the fans loved in and so they really overegged it and every time he appeared after that, they just kept hammering the joke further and further until the character's basically a wanking chimp defined solely by fancying Brienne. Perfect example of why you shouldn't let fan shit influence your writing. He should have died when they went up beyond the Wall.

[Kryton]

Miserable gits. That was a great episode. Pitch perfect knowing that everything is going to go to shit next episode. Made me a little teary eyed knowing that some of my favourite characters are going to die.

[funtimefrankie]

I just cringe a bit when Arya is on screen.

Maybe its just her face, but i think shes an awful actor. Bran is playing robotic robot type character now and managing to play that badly as well.

Tormund is great and think Danys acting has improved. Jamie was brilliant and does seem nearly every character has a full arc ready for death next episode

[Dr Sanchez]

I just cringe a bit when Arya is on screen.

Maybe its just her face, but i think shes an awful actor. Bran is playing robotic robot type character now and managing to play that badly as well.

I feel the same way. I liked her when she was younger but now that she's got to do grown up acting she's awful. I remember seeing a trailer for something she was in a year or so ago and she was atrocious in that, was school play quality. Ayra always has this shit eating grin now too which I actively loath.

Brann is so bad he's good.

Child actors rarely turn out good do they?

[Small Man Big Horse]

Very disappointed you didn't get to see Gendry's penis going in and out of Arya's cunt. They could have used a stunt cunt if needed.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Otherwise I thought it was a mixed episode. Out of the last two episodes there was an hour's worth of interesting material but they should have been a lot cut out, especially from last week's show. Could have done with a mini set piece as well, maybe Tormund's lot fucking up and having to have a bit of a fight with some nightwalkers, as it was it definitely dragged in places. Ah well, like everyone's been saying, at least it should be violent and filled with death next week.

[Mister Six]

I really enjoyed this episode, and the last one. Classic Game of Thrones was always about long conversations between different characters for me anyway. Remember the only big battle in season one got skipped because Tyrion got smacked in the head with a hammer!

So yeah, happy with all of this so far, although the dialogue obviously isn't as good as it used to be.

Looked at the directors for the final four episodes and they give some indication of what to expect:

The bloke who directed the Battle of the Bastards episode is in next week, so no surprise it's the big White Walker fight. After that it's the bloke who directed the first two of this season, so I imagine that'll be the survivors moving down to King's Landing amid personal intrigue (that'll be when Bronn confronts Tyrion and Jaime, I reckon). Fourth episode is by Battle of Bastards fella again, so that'll be the battle against Cersei, and the last episode is by Benioff and Weiss.

[dallasman]

^That sounds about right, thanks for doing the digging.

Just wanted to point out that if Gendry gooshed inside Arya, they're having a big bad bastard Baratheon blacksmith baby. Lineage is probably irrelevant at this point, though.

[Bazooka]

Better than the premiere, I also can't enjoy any Arya scene, and Dragon lady actress gets worse and worse. The rest of the cast were decent, anyway big CGI battle next.

[funtimefrankie]

I feel the same way. I liked her when she was younger but now that she's got to do grown up acting she's awful. I remember seeing a trailer for something she was in a year or so ago and she was atrocious in that, was school play quality. Ayra always has this shit eating grin now too which I actively loath.

Brann is so bad he's good.

Child actors rarely turn out good do they?

its exactly that, these kind of knowing grins that just take me out of the scene.

Sansa, Theon, Jon, Sam - all came good really and play their roles well.

Suppose 2 bad eggs out of the bunch isn't bad

[Mister Six]

Prediction: By the end of the season, Dany realises that she has no claim to the throne and attempts to take it would just make her a petulant bitch like Cersei, so she fucks off back to the desert lands to woodenly oversee her empire there.

Jon takes the Iron Throne, probably reluctantly, then either grants Winterfell independence under Sansa (Wexit!) or, more likely, abdicates the throne in her favour. Jamie sacrifices himself nobly, maybe knocking off Cersei in the process (although she's with his child isn't she? So maybe not), so Tyrion is given Casterly Rock, or wherever the Lannister seat of power is.

[Mister Six]

its exactly that, these kind of knowing grins that just take me out of the scene.

Sansa, Theon, Jon, Sam - all came good really and play their roles well.

Suppose 2 bad eggs out of the bunch isn't bad

Of those, only Sansa was actually a kid though, right?

[Head Gardener]

[greenman]

I really enjoyed this episode, and the last one. Classic Game of Thrones was always about long conversations between different characters for me anyway. Remember the only big battle in season one got skipped because Tyrion got smacked in the head with a hammer!

So yeah, happy with all of this so far, although the dialogue obviously isn't as good as it used to be.

Looked at the directors for the final four episodes and they give some indication of what to expect:

The bloke who directed the Battle of the Bastards episode is in next week, so no surprise it's the big White Walker fight. After that it's the bloke who directed the first two of this season, so I imagine that'll be the survivors moving down to King's Landing amid personal intrigue (that'll be when Bronn confronts Tyrion and Jaime, I reckon). Fourth episode is by Battle of Bastards fella again, so that'll be the battle against Cersei, and the last episode is by Benioff and Weiss.

Yep I'd tend to agree, the first episode felt like a lot of season 7 to me shifting characters around and setting up plots rather than giving us much real interaction which was always the shows strength which this one returned to.

Really my feeling remains if anything has changed its less writing ability and more acting ability, the show really used to be build on pairing up some charismatic thesp or solid character actor with a younger cast member but these days its lost so many of the former that often we know have the latter two playing off of each other. When it comes to Sansa/Ayra I would be the reverse of most here, Sophie Turner for me has never really been that convincing as anything but a suffering princess out of her depth, the scene with Dany here showed she still can't play authority that well IMHO. Williams on the other hand does sell a more believable shift in the character across the seasons for me gradually building more authority. Its mainly Kit Harrington and Alfie Allen they lucked out on though I'd say both growing into pretty strong performers, the latter more quickly than the former.

Plot wise some uninformed guesses...

I'm wondering if we might see a big fight against the Dead next episode but not a conclusion to them? what comes to mind now for me is that the Night Kings dragon might not just be a device to get though the wall and setup some action scenes but actually a way to solve the plot impass that's always seemed to be their for me. Setting up the idea of a big confrontation with the dead at Kings Landing but that meaning they';d have had to wipe out half of Westeros first, a bit grim even by the shows standards. Well the dragon is an easy way to get him down to Kings Landing without the army chewing up Westeros, maybe the army is destroy next week or stays besieging Winterfell and he escapes? the show has form with plans to kill someone being a fakeout as with the bolt thrower last season.

Saying half of Westeros being wiped out would be a little too grim for the show I wouldn't say the same for Kings Landing. Whilst the lower levels of society elsewhere have generaly been shown in a  positive fashion that city has almost always been shown in a negative fashion as if its being setup to be destroyed? Maybe the Mad Kings wildfire does get set off but actually to kill off the hive of undead the city has become? The Golden Company would be more interesting as zombies at any rate..

[Thursday]

You've just reminded me how good the Arya/Tywin pairing was.

[græskar]

I am surprised to read some fairly positive reactions. To me the show seems abysmal now, watched more of it than last week, but only skipped between scenes from the second half (lingered on the Terminator/Gendry sex scene, as the guy is hot and a good actor).

The writing is just awful, no amount of budget and hype can get around that. Every character is a cardboard cutout uttering sassy or "deep and meaningful" quotes premade to fit on mugs. Dany, Sansa and fucking Arya have this permanent smug expression on their faces which is driving me nuts. Jon and Tyrion, conversely, are infuriatingly earnest and serious, with constantly "concerned" expressions. The last character who escaped the bonfire of personalities last season, Jamie, has already been thrust into a fixed mold, the honourable born-again knight. It's just reunion after reunion, tying up loose ends like crazy, killing time. This is the worst thing, it all seems so rushed and like they can't wait to get it over with. Not to be dramatic or anything, but I feel personally betrayed by this show. The first few seasons were some of the best TV ever, it built up so much goodwill and great characters, only to ruin them all with shitty writing and fan service. The state of it.

And, of course, the acting leaves a lot to be desired. Maisie Williams is probably the worst offender.

[greenman]

....aannnnddd I'm out of the thread again.

[dallasman]

When it comes to Sansa/Ayra I would be the reverse of most here, Sophie Turner for me has never really been that convincing as anything but a suffering princess out of her depth, the scene with Dany here showed she still can't play authority that well IMHO. Williams on the other hand does sell a more believable shift in the character across the seasons for me gradually building more authority. Its mainly Kit Harrington and Alfie Allen they lucked out on though I'd say both growing into pretty strong performers, the latter more quickly than the former.

There's an emptiness to both (intentional or not), but Arya still has the impish charm and doe eyes going for her, somewhat. Neither is great, but I can't help rooting for the poor young things. That little girl getting soup from Davos might be the next Jennifer Connolly, but who's to know when you're casting kids? Maybe her talent is already fully developed, which would make her objectively shit.

You've just reminded me how good the Arya/Tywin pairing was.

God, yes. Some of the best scenes of the whole series. Seems we've lost all the conversationalists, and are left with grunts and aloof aristocrats.

Plot wise some uninformed guesses...

I'm wondering if we might see a big fight against the Dead next episode but not a conclusion to them? what comes to mind now for me is that the Night Kings dragon might not just be a device to get though the wall and setup some action scenes but actually a way to solve the plot impass that's always seemed to be their for me. Setting up the idea of a big confrontation with the dead at Kings Landing but that meaning they';d have had to wipe out half of Westeros first, a bit grim even by the shows standards. Well the dragon is an easy way to get him down to Kings Landing without the army chewing up Westeros, maybe the army is destroy next week or stays besieging Winterfell and he escapes? the show has form with plans to kill someone being a fakeout as with the bolt thrower last season.

Saying half of Westeros being wiped out would be a little too grim for the show I wouldn't say the same for Kings Landing. Whilst the lower levels of society elsewhere have generaly been shown in a  positive fashion that city has almost always been shown in a negative fashion as if its being setup to be destroyed? Maybe the Mad Kings wildfire does get set off but actually to kill off the hive of undead the city has become? The Golden Company would be more interesting as zombies at any rate..

Think you might be onto something there, and the rough outline suggested in Mister Six' post seems to necessitate a multi-pronged approach by the NK's forces. As I argued earlier, the dragon is many times faster than anyone else, and should have reached Winterfell long ago, if that's where it was headed. The NK can recruit new corpses along the way, so he wouldn't be alone, even if he left the others behind to attack Winterfell without him. We'll have to wait and see whether he shows up there next week, but he's been MIA for a suspicious amount of screen time now. If he's headed South for a surprise assault, it'd be a fitting task for fan favourite Qyburn to take IceRion out of the picture with wildfire missiles, soon after we've learned his origin story. The NK could then perhaps turn the remainder of the Golden Company, including - fingers crossed - their elephants, into Dead & Company. Epicness ensues, as Jon's human army is caught in a zombie pincer and Dany fucked off in a huff to sulk.

....aannnnddd I'm out of the thread again.

Oh. Well, I'll post anyway, in case you reconsider.

[mothman]

Christ, there are some miserable buggers here. It feels like some people can't help but mention at the drop of a hat on any occasion that it's not GRRM's material anymore, any more than a Brexiteer can avoid mentioning those 17.4 million people who voted for it. Hashtag whoops-bit-of-politics-there. Well, yes, it's not, and who knows, maybe the way he ends it will have us spaffing up the wall (if we ever read it, I'm not sure how many who watch GoT have or ever will read the books - I haven't and probably won't).

This was a great episode. Many of these people will be dead in a televisual hour or two's time, and it's all these characters who made the show (and for the most part, the books) the phenomenon it is. It was great to spend a but more time in their company. I'd sooner be doing that than sitting there huffing that somebody else could have done it better. Yes, maybe somebody (whether GRRM or anyone else) could have, but this is what we've got, and it's been done by the same team throughout which is almost a miracle in itself; I'm content to see what they come up with to end it.

[ZoyzaSorris]

Its still good nonsense fun and i think 95% of people here agree with that no?

[Thursday]

Well yeah, I feel like I just enjoy it for what it is, I think maybe I just never held it in a high regard as the people lamenting the quality now did. I'm inclined to agree with Ian Mcshane, "It's only tits and dragons"

[Custard]

I too thought it was a fantastic episode. Far better than last week's weak sauce opener

Loads of lovely character moments, and I actually welled up a bit during the Knight Brienne scene. It successfully reminded me why I once really cared about some of these characters

It's all gonna go apeshit from next week, and I'm back to actually caring again. Job done, for me

Early predictions:

Dany heel turn. Sansa kills her. Or Ser Friendzone, for the shock factor. Valerian steel, mate. He can take out a dragon or two with that, maybe. Nicely set up

Jaime goes out by taking Cersei with him, as many are predicting

Arya is the one who finishes Night King Dead Bloke. But possibly loses Gendry beforehand, as she's never allowed to be happy

Brienne will survive. Davos won't. And it'll be heartbreaking

Dunno about Bran Flakes. Can't say I really care. Night King lopping his head off in the early going would be quite funny

Wildcard is Tyrion. Maybe Jon hands him the throne at the end, as he simply can't be arsed

[Dr Sanchez]

I'm inclined to agree with Ian Mcshane, "It's only tits and dragons"

Well Lovejoy was just antiques and bad hair so fuck him!

[Phil_A]

Well yeah, I feel like I just enjoy it for what it is, I think maybe I just never held it in a high regard as the people lamenting the quality now did. I'm inclined to agree with Ian Mcshane, "It's only tits and dragons"

JOFFREY YOU PLONKER

[Dex Sawash]

^big fucking laugh

[Mobius]

Bit disappointed that the White Walkers are essentially zombies that just want to murder everyone.

What was the first long night about then? What have they been doing all this time?

This whole Bran matrix time travelly thing has confused me.

[Head Gardener]

EP2 recap

[NoSleep]

Bit disappointed that the White Walkers are essentially zombies that just want to murder everyone.

That was pretty much determined in the opening scene of the first episode of season 1; that's a long time to remain disappointed.

[mothman]

that's a long time to remain disappointed.

Welcome to CaB.

[Hey, Punk!]

Hot pie and fucking ilyn payne'll each get 20 minute funeral scenes.

OH TAWMUND! WOTEVER NEXT! Oh tormunds doing a loud poo!

Since the death of Mance they've relegated him to farting gimli

Grey worm sporting very tight leggings, you can see his genitals through them, both cock and balls

I enjoyed the episode, but you're an absolute treasure Pijlstaart.