Game Of Thrones Season 8

[NoSleep]

There were hints of betrayal between the main players and I'm sure they'll be developed in the final episodes but Jesus, it was torturous seeing everyone just basically getting along, no matter what their grievances. I mean when Jon Snow let Daenerys know he was the rightful King, it was the moment that shattered EVERYTHING SHE'S EVER LIVED FOR, and what did we get? A rueful sigh. I'm not criticizing Emilia Clarke here, it's the material was pathetically tame.

To be fair they're called to battle before there's chance for it to sink in. She hasn't always lived for becoming ruler, hence her reappraisal of the role. There's the element of trust between the two of them (and Jon hasn't shouted it from the mountaintops, at least not yet).

[Hey, Punk!]

Remember when Joffrey bullied that ginger peasant? Seems like an entirely different programme.

[NoSleep]

I wonder if the fate of Valyria is going to have any place in what's to come? The Targaryens are effectively a dying ember from that civilisation, as are their dragons. Nothing of what made it great has survived and it managed to destroy itself, or something destroyed it. Valyrian steel (one of Valyria's lost technologies) seems to share White Walker-killing properties with dragonglass. There's some huge deus ex machina potential down that road (the technologically advanced civilisation that pre-existed the GoT era), but I somehow doubt we are going to see anything of import from that direction (although I'm sure GRRM has stuff up his sleeve for the books).

[AsparagusTrevor]

Jon used the name 'Dany' when they were in the crypt. Is this the first time anyone has called her that in the show? It made him sound like some forum fan.

Jon called her that last season when and she mentioned that only her nobhead brother ever called her that.

[Dex Sawash]

Is there an explanation for what was going on when Arya crossed paths with a wolf 1-2 seasons back?

[Mister Six]

Is there an explanation for what was going on when Arya crossed paths with a wolf 1-2 seasons back?

That was her wolf that she made run away so Ned wouldn't kill it back in season one (on the orders of Robert after it bit Joffrey while defending Arya). He killed Sansa's instead. Doubt it'll be back again.

[NoSleep]

I guess Jon's wolf being white was a clue to his true lineage from the start.

[Mister Six]

Yeah, that occurred to me the other day. Clever, if intentional and not just playing off "Snow".

[dallasman]

Warning: Of course I was beaten to it, but what the hell

Is there an explanation for what was going on when Arya crossed paths with a wolf 1-2 seasons back?

Oh yes. That was Numeria, who bit Joffrey. Lady was executed in her stead, and Arya's ginger friend, the baker's boy, was chased down and killed by the Hound (earning him his place on Arya's list). In the books, Numeria apparently forms a pack which terrorizes the countryside, and I think they possibly have something to do with the Stoneheart plot (that was dropped from the series)? The book people can probably fill us in.

Remember when Joffrey bullied that ginger peasant? Seems like an entirely different programme.

I used to do a full series rewatch before each new series, but I didn't bother this time, because of the quality dip over seasons 6-7. Couple of days ago, I changed my mind and pulled out S1 anyway, so I watched this very recently. Joffrey is a pretty awesome villain from the getgo, I must say. Both his childish petulance and his sadism are very believable, and you really get the sense that he's capable of much, much worse given half the chance, a studded paddle and a crossbow.

[Thursday]

Is the "Stannis is still alive" running joke a thing anywhere apart from here?

What do you mean joke?!

[Kryton]

Warning: Of course I was beaten to it, but what the hell
Oh yes. That was Numeria, who bit Joffrey. Lady was executed in her stead, and Arya's ginger friend, the baker's boy, was chased down and killed by the Hound (earning him his place on Arya's list). In the books, Numeria apparently forms a pack which terrorizes the countryside, and I think they possibly have something to do with the Stoneheart plot (that was dropped from the series)? The book people can probably fill us in.

Yeah in the books Arya has 'wolf dreams' which are not too dissimilar to Bran's warging skills, and she dreams of her wolf Nymeria dragging a woman's body out of the water near the Twins. She doesn't realise this is her mother's body. This eventually leads to the Stoneheart plot.

[Dex Sawash]

It seemed a bit ambiguous if that was actually her wolf or not, to me. The whole scene seemed to have no point, thougt I may have missed something.

[Mister Six]

It seemed a bit ambiguous if that was actually her wolf or not, to me. The whole scene seemed to have no point, thougt I may have missed something.

Just trying up a loose end, that's all. Maybe some added metaphorical gubbins, with both Nymeria and Arya being left alone out in the wild but still making a life there.

In which case, does the death of Sansa's wolf have any deeper meaning? Something about her innocence being sacrificed to appease the royal machine?

[Default to the negative]

I think it was more about her ceasing to be a true Stark sibling.

[Kryton]

Just trying up a loose end, that's all. Maybe some added metaphorical gubbins, with both Nymeria and Arya being left alone out in the wild but still making a life there.

In which case, does the death of Sansa's wolf have any deeper meaning? Something about her innocence being sacrificed to appease the royal machine?

The death of the fantasy of being a 'Lady' perhaps. Her innocence destroyed by the brutality of men?

[dallasman]

Yeah in the books Arya has 'wolf dreams' which are not too dissimilar to Bran's warging skills, and she dreams of her wolf Nymeria dragging a woman's body out of the water near the Twins. She doesn't realise this is her mother's body. This eventually leads to the Stoneheart plot.

Ah, thanks. Didn't quite get a grasp on the Stoneheart plot from the little I heard, but it sounded pretty mad. And Nymeria with a "y" looks right. I'm always thinking about maths. If the show thought it made sense to have Arya briefly encounter them, though, you'd think there would be some sort of payoff to knowing Nymeria is out there with a bunch of other dangerous wolves. Either by having them become undead, or springing to the rescue in some corny way (I guess that's the choice with nearly all the MIA characters in the show at this point).

Just trying up a loose end, that's all. Maybe some added metaphorical gubbins, with both Nymeria and Arya being left alone out in the wild but still making a life there.

And a little nod to book readers about the abandoned plot. Yeah, that might have been the end of it, you're probably right. Still, never say never. Unlikely to make a difference, but I thought it was a weird scene.

In which case, does the death of Sansa's wolf have any deeper meaning? Something about her innocence being sacrificed to appease the royal machine?

She appeased the royal machine voluntarily, desperately wanting to be part of it. She immediately paid a price, and that became a pattern for a while. Arya pays another price, by becoming an outlaw and a faceless assassin. The parallel with Nymeria seems to be more fleshed out in the books, but in the show, - iirc - the meeting with Nymeria is about the time Arya decides not to go kill Cersei, but return home to Winterfell. Which is not what an outlaw would do, but maybe she just felt like being part of a pack again?

Ghost looked small in his cameo, but it was nice to have him there. Unless the wolves turn out to have some hitherto unknown major plot significance, though, I'm fine with the budget being spent on the main events.

Apparently, the Battle Of Winterfell took more than twice as long to film as the Battle Of Bastards. And the guy who plays NK has said that he has a specific target he wants to kill, which either refers to Bran, or a surprise someone else. And they will either meet in the Godswood this Sunday where NK will blast Bran to splinters. Or somewhere else, at another time, and something else, if anything, will happen, and there might not even be an afterwards*. One must admit, they've done a pretty good job of building anticipation, with two slowies in a row, and a murky, ambigous preview that gives very little away. I think we're about to get our money's worth in the spectacle department, and inevitably, something will have happened by the end that changes the game. The game...of thrones! Dun-dun-daaah.

* Preston Jacobs apparently thinks the show is leading up to Bran pressing the reset button with time travel

[Dr Sanchez]

There's a photo of Varys and Tyrion hiding in the crypts from the next episode. I imagine that they'll survive the cull.

[A Hat Like That]

It seemed a bit ambiguous if that was actually her wolf or not, to me. The whole scene seemed to have no point, thougt I may have missed something.

They have a chat, Numeria's all



they go their separate ways.

[Dex Sawash]

laughed

[Action Fish]

and Arya's ginger friend, the baker's boy

You are mistaken about this.

It was the candlestick maker's boy.

[Mister Six]

I think it was more about her ceasing to be a true Stark sibling.

Because she's about to be wedded to Joffrey?

[Default to the negative]

I mean, more because of her switching her loyalties instead of maintaining her inner Stark wolf or whatever. I remember the wolves being more closely tied to Stark identity in the books.

[mothman]

true Stark sibling.

Sung to the tune of "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner.

[NoSleep]

Maybe Sansa's wolf dying in lieu of Nymeria was symbolic of the way that she was bound by protocol to suffer for her family by being first betrothed to Joffrey, then married off twice. Her entire life from the time her wolf was killed has been a kind of punishment that has nothing to do with anything she has done but on account of who she is.

[Mister Six]

That works!

[MiddleRabbit]

Maybe Sansa's wolf dying in lieu of Nymeria was symbolic of the way that she was bound by protocol to suffer for her family by being first betrothed to Joffrey, then married off twice. Her entire life from the time her wolf was killed has been a kind of punishment that has nothing to do with anything she has done but on account of who she is.

It sounds good.

I had more straightforward than that, in that maybe once the kids had sort of rejected Starkism, then that was it for their wolf.  Sansa would happily have had nothing to do with either of her parents by choice, until she found out what it meant.  She wasn't happy about Lady's death, but she didn't seem to hold it against Joffrey or Cersei, really.   Not if it would have meant she'd be Princess Sansa  Rob went back on his word, which was the last thing Ned would have done, so went Grey Wind, which I still struggle with.  The name.  It's a bit 'Superdude' for me., When Bran became the three eyed Raven under the tree, and stopped being Brandon Stark, Summer didn't last long, I don't know about Rickon, but it doesn't bode well for the recently renamed Aegon Targaryen IV's canine companion, if past motifs are anything to go by.

[Default to the negative]

When Bran became the three eyed Raven under the tree, and stopped being Brandon Stark, Summer didn't last long, I don't know about Rickon, but it doesn't bode well for the recently renamed Aegon Targaryen IV's canine companion, if past motifs are anything to go by.

That's a good point. Targs have their own 'spirit animal' and it seems possible that Jon might be adopting a dragon of his own soon. If so, it's probably the end of Ghost.

[Custard]

The last episode should just be Dany pretending to be Jon Snow

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwuUg8QFOD9/

[beanheadmcginty]

It's a shame she doesn't show any of that personality in her acting.

[Custard]

I was thinking that, too. She's just not very good at acting, I guess

Or at being a waxwork

BBC News - Game of Thrones fans confused by Daenerys waxwork in Dublin museum
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-48071380