I have another question - did Jon stop the kiss/making out with Dany because he can't forget that they're related or for other reasons?

Urban Ag said:

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The last time the scorpion was used it hit Drogon at the base of the neck and barely penetrated. It pissed him off more than anything. I don't think they respected that as a legit defense against dragons after that.

So....they improvised. A dozen scorpions firing heavier bolts at greater velocities, I guess. It was good writing. Did anyone really see that coming? I didn't think there would be major fireworks this episode.

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It was exactly what GOT has done for 8 seasons. Surprised us and taken the long expected arc off course. But now it isn't season 1...it's 3 hours away from the final...so people are pissed.

bobinator said:

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I don't understand how the missing scene with Jon, Arya, Sansa and Bran isn't a bigger deal to everyone. It definitely isn't 'Petty.'

The strength of this show is in its characters. In fact those characters are so strong that they've managed to mostly overcome some other shortcomings in the show recently.

And this is an absolutely massive moment for four of our original show characters, that are family, and as far as they know it's likely the last time they're all going to be together.

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They don't know that this will be their last time together. They have no idea that they are living in the 3rd to last episode of a show. Every time Jon went north of the wall, or went anywhere it was likely "their list time together". In fact, they have a much better chance of seeing each other again then the day prior to the episode 3 battle, and nobody was complaining about the lack of Jon, Bran, Sansa, Arya goodbye scenes for episode 2.

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It wasn't necessary for the plot mechanics, and we definitely didn't near to hear Bran spell the whole thing out again, they could have cut away and cut back, but not seeing the discussion among those characters at this news is a huge missed scene to me. And not getting to see it certainly isn't 'petty,' especially considering how many seemingly pointless discussions we have seen.

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I agree we don't want to hear Bran spell the whole thing out again. So imagine what their responses would be... the equivalent of "holy crap" followed by silence, maybe a "are you sure?", etc. That's not worth cutting away and cutting back to again. Especially when there is very little time left in the season and these episodes are long as they are.

WestAustinAg said:

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G Martin 87 said:

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I was only disappointed in three things:

(1) Starbucks cup. That's the only thing that's truly "unforgivable." Can not comprehend how that didn't get caught in post. Sloppy.

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Starbucks cups are so ubiquitous that many people don't actually see them when they are in view. An editor was no more struck by the presence of that cup than they were the candles.

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It doesn't depend on a single person. There are people at every step of production tasked to look for this sort of thing. Missing it is sloppy. There's no excuse for it.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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chiken said:

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Sansa has no business being the head of anything. Sure, she's had some life experiences, but she's still a little spoiled brat that lets her emotions make her decisions. Little lady Mormont - THAT was a woman to sit upon a thrown. I hate that she kicked the biscuit down the road. :/

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And Dany doesn't?

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She doesn't. How many times has she wanted to just go roast Cersei bc something went wrong and she refrained? She even did it AGAIN last night. She hated Tyrion's idea to go give Cersei surrender terms, but she did it anyway bc she kept her friggin emotions in check. Her patience only goes so far.

how does Dany still have half her Dothraki and half the unsullied?

G Martin 87 said:

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Urban Ag said:

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aggietony2010 said:

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Urban Ag said:

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Dude, I have read every book at least twice, a couple three times, and seen every episode at least twice.

The book and the series have always been about the Game of Thrones. Always. 90% GOT, 10% The WW/Prophecy/etc. Dany's entire arc has always been to take the Iron Throne. The NK was a quick detour.

If you don't like it, that's fine. I don't think it has been done perfectly either. But the show writers simply can't replicate GRRM's mind. They can't.

Get over it. Last night was pure awesome.

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Hell, even GRRM himself apparently can't replicate the mind that wrote the books, otherwise we'd have another 2 books, and quality source material for the show writers to take from

Does anyone really think HBO and their team thought they'd be finishing a story that hasn't seen new source material since season 1?

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When this show was greenlighted in 2009 or 2010 and GRRM could state affirmatively that ADWD was soon to be published, I don't think for a second that HBO didn't think the books wouldn't get finished before the series did. At least TWOW.

Regardless, last night was classic GOT. Two deaths out of left field. Betrayal brewing. Two hearts broken. Total chaos. It was great.

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When the TV show began, it seemed like all the pressure was on GRRM to finish the book series before the TV show caught up. Now that's flipped. I get the strong impression that Dan and Dave succumbed to pressure from HBO to finish the story before GRRM could.

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They have to finish he show before Maisie Williams dies of old age.

bobinator said:

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You can still have a surprise that makes sense.

Just as one idea, Dany could have spotted the iron fleet and warned her fleet, but she sees it's too late for her people to react, so she's going to save them with the dragons. We get our dramatic dragon shot, the music cues up for a classic 'Dracarys' moment, and then Rheagal gets blasted by the scorpion just like what happened.

This way, Dany sees the Iron Fleet, but she's not right up close to them so she can't see the weapons mounted on the them.

That's still a surprise, but it makes sense. Her not seeing the Iron Fleet at all makes no sense.

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That's nowhere near as good of a surprise as one of her dragons getting shot out of the sky all of the sudden

jtstanley4621 said:

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Here's how I feel about this season so far: it is objectively a well-made show. It's shot well. The acting is great.

I just think that they're a little bit up against it in terms of giving us a satisfying ending regardless of who wins. I wish this season were 10 episodes. Looking forward, the drama of the fallout of Jon being a Targaryen is only going to get 2 more episodes to breathe, and presumably this next episode will be a massive battle.

It just feels like they're forced to take more plot jumps forward than they did in previous seasons. It doesn't make it a bad show at all. I just haven't enjoyed it on the same level as I have previous seasons. It is what it is, and it's not like I'm going to stop watching or anything.

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Like I said before, it is still hands down better than anything that happened in season 5, outside of Hardhome. The one difference is that Barry is my top show this year, and GOT is in second place.

Good. You enjoy the show then.

Bunk Moreland said:

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Was it not obvious that so many characters survived the BoW so they could wreck shop on your emotions over the final three episodes? I hated that Rhaegal seemingly died so casually but no one saw that coming.

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love how these goalposts have shifted.

We were told Ep2 was the way it was because it'd be the last time we'd see so many of these characters on screen together so it was super duper important to draw every character in and give everyone a moment on screen with old pals. Then there were pick em contests of who lives and dies. Once no major characters died after the BoW and there are still so many conveniently alive, we're now justifying it because they want to 'wreck shop on our emotions over the final 3 episodes.'

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We weren't told that - we assumed that and so did they. It was natural to assume that they were staring literal death in the face.

It was perhaps unrealistic that more did not die but...... the buildup and their reunions and moments made sense.

I don't think Arya said she wasn't coming back because she expects to die, it's because she says she's never been a "lady" and that life isn't for her.

You two are just proving the point that there's always going to be a group of pissed off fans with this show no matter what happens.

The episode being titled "The Last of the Starks" makes me even more annoyed about that scene not playing out.

To give you an idea of how bad this season has been,

If I had only watched season one, I would have guessed that the show ended with Danny winning the seven kingdoms only to be killed by the night king.


If I had only watched this season, I would have guessed that Ned died in his bed with a belly of wine and kats mouth around his cock.

chiken said:

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I have another question - did Jon stop the kiss/making out with Dany because he can't forget that they're related or for other reasons?

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On the inside the episode, Benioff said that yeah, the idea is still very weird to Jon and not ok. Although for Dany it's not a big deal. Tyrion later says something along the lines of, "The north won't be ok with an aunt and nephew marrying regardless of the circumstances"

bobinator said:

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In the very next scene with Arya she says she doesn't plan on coming back from King's Landing... So unless for some reasons he expects Sansa and Bran to come to King's Landing, she very much thinks it's the last time she's going to see them.

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None of them expect to live until morning in the last episode. Yet there wasn't a goodbye moment with the 4 of them prior. Nobody complained about that. In fact people complained that episode 2 was too damn boring. It's like the writers can't win no matter what they do.

Also, I took Arya's comment as a "I don't expect to survive this battle sort of thing." Not a "I'm going to live as a reclusive nomad who avoids my family" sort of thing. Arya is not a little kid anymore. If anybody (except Bran), she's the least likely to go all emotional before leaving. In fact, I don't think she told anybody.

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It's not about the 'holy crap,' although that would be nice. It's the history of these characters playing out in that moment, most especially between Arya and Jon. Is Arya happy for him, he finally knows who his mother is after spending his whole life not knowing. Is Sansa angry that he kept it from them as long as he did knowing that Jon has a better claim than Dany to the Iron Throne? How do those emotions play on on those characters faces, which could give us a clue as to what they plan to do down the road?

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They had to draw the line somewhere. We've already seen how Jon and Dani react to the news in two separate scenes. Do you expect to be shown how Tyrion and Varys react too? I don't. You can only go to that well so many times before it looses it's impact. I think they played it right based on how much time is left. If they had 10 episodes then I'm right with you, show that for sure.

gigemJTH12 said:

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About 40 minutes into the episode i was getting sad bc I thought it was going to be another clunker. The dragon taking that arrow was awesome.

Also, I can't have been the only one cheering for Missandei to die. Not that I dislike her, but if the show spared another person and kept her "hostage" I was going to be furious. Kinda cheered as they lopped off her noggin.

Feel bad for Greyworm. Got a super hot chick to love him despite his lack of parts, and now she's gone.

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Yeah but.... if she was gonna go out anyway she should have tried to pull Cersei off there and gone out in a fit of rage.... that would have been better.

Didn't mind her dying but I'm not standing there to have my head chopped off I'm gonna take someone out with me if I can - full catfight clawing scratching grabbing etc. Or drop and sweep the leg and try to knock her down. I don't expect her to have karate kid skills there but at least go out swinging.

imho