In 2019, a few months before the series finale of Game of Thrones, I binge-watched the series for the first time, having avoided it for years despite recommendations.. Knowing I was 100% spoiler-free, I thought I’d amuse my Facebook friends by posting a stream-of-consciousness set of “reviews” trying to predict things that I knew with the benefit of all the hindsight, they’d enjoy.
These were never intended for archiving, so excuse any poor spelling, grammar etc.
Season Five
5.1: The Wars to Come
Girls walking through the wood, find a creepy lady. New characters. Intriguing start. Who are all of them? After the continuity heavy episode before, it’s interesting to leap straight into new plot lines. Trying to pay attention to this prediction too – about the king having 20 children and she having 3, so I can see if it comes true…
… oh, it’s young Cersei. Forget I said anything then.
Ohhhh Jaime. Feeling a bit guilty about Daddy’s death? And Cersei’s onto you.
I’m sure someone laughed a few weeks back when I said I was shipping Tyrion. Seems like I wasn’t the only one. But hurrah, he’s back! Looks like shit but he’s alive. “Apologies”. Haha.
Varys giving some historical exposition here. Sigh, I feel I must watch the first season again now!
Sequence of the giant statue thing flying down the pyramid thing was pretty epic.
Awww, whore doing spooning and lullabies. That’s nice. Wait what? Who’s the gold dude that just killed him?! Oh dear, Daenerys isn’t finding this lark so easy. I’m sure she’ll come through. Still expecting her to be standing near the end.
Someone else has their eye on Jon Snow now 🧐
Sansa’s still all dark. I preferred the red look.
Brienne: “I don’t care, I’m not your mother”. Whilst I enjoyed the Brienne/Jaime sexual tension, she’s a MUCH better character now they’re apart. I see why Shaun loves her so much.
Dig Margaery’s eye rolling at her brother’s sexual antics.
Varys appears to be describing Daenerys as the next ruler. Oooh yes he is. Interesting game he’s playing.
I don’t know why it bothers me that she’s fucking Daario. It just does.
Oh! Has she lost control of the dragons? THAT can’t be good. I’m still confident Daenerys will be standing by season eight, but she seems to be facing some immediate challenges.
The conversation between Mance and Jon is brilliantly done, and the first really great bit of dialogue Mance has had, from what I can recall. The actor makes the most of it! The tension as they lead him to his death is also very well handled – I felt it. And wow, good for Jon, killing him like that. Won’t go down well, surely…?
5.2: The House of Black and White
Arya has a list. I imagine it’s not good to be on that list. She seems pretty driven.
Blimey, Sansa’s black hair hasn’t completely obscured her from recognition. To be fair, it’s as shit as Clark Kent’s glasses.
Petyr’s rundown of Brienne’s failures is kinda on point, sadly. And what’s her game, antagonising everyone then leading them on a chase? Trying to wear them out?
Oh Bronn, your new wife to be is a bit of a bore isn’t she? Aaaand… he’s not getting the deal he expected either. Hah.
Indira Virma’s not happy. Not surprised really. Wonder how that’ll change her – is she going to become a huge force for vengeance? Oooh never mind that, it’s (Alexander) Siddig El Fadil!
More great dialogue between Varys and Tyrion in “the fucking box”. Once I can safely check IMDB I need to see if Varys has been in anything else I can check out.
More Frankenstein shit. What IS that dude building with parts of The Mountain and others?
Hm. Cersei is taking over. That guy was right to stand up to her when she offered him Master of War… but surely will be dead soon.
Snow really has grown some balls, and some wisdom. I like the journey he’s been on. Surprised he’s come to a peaceful agreement with Stannis so quickly – thought something bad was going to happen. And ooh, the offer of being a Stark. Glad he’s refusing though. I always felt the name was just because he wanted Ned’s respect. No-one else can grant it and it mean anything.
Go on Sam! Say something! Oh wow, and he’s ripping into that guy – NICE! And what a great speech – how could anyone vote for anyone other than Snow now? Alliser’s rebuttal is kinda a fair point though, Snow is part-Wildling at heart. Still, surprised (despite for the drama) that it was so close!
Don’t say “you!” to Arya. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Oh yay, face shifting dude is back! And Arya must become no-one… INTRIGUING. And reminds me of Sam saying that he feared nothing when he had nothing and felt like no-one. I guess that’s the point of Arya’s next journey.
Ohhh shit Daenerys, that execution did NOT go how you wanted did it? Seeing her being shuffled away like a weak politician too. How the mighty have fallen. Will she persist or flee? I think she’ll persist. She’s never backed down yet.
5.3: High Sparrow
Arya’s been carrying out household chores instead of learning. How Karate Kid of her.
A wedding without death at last, perhaps? Oh bless Tommen, it was “lovely” and “fast”. Margaery and Cersei are both doing a nice job of fighting over him too. And Cersei’s losing… how soon before she snaps?
Who’s Ramsey going to be married off to? We just cut straight to Sansa after. Surely not? Hasn’t she gone through enough? Ohhh fucks sake, Littlefinger, nooo. Sansa, don’t go along with this. You’re better off alone.
Oooh Brienne’s going to train Podrick. Nice! This will be a fun plotline, and some overdue development for him. Brienne’s backstory is unsurprising but so sad. And somewhat inspiring – never waste your energy on idiots.
Surprised Arya is so easily giving up everything. She is indeed driven. OK, at least the sword is tough for her to lose. Hm… or indeed hide. Hmmmm. That’s gonna backfire.
Oh Sansa, you’re doing it. Sigh.
Snow’s being respectful of Alliser. I’m glad. What a long way Jon’s come. Although… first sign of dissension wasn’t far behind. Seems to be a small pocket though, which has everyone else’s attention! And woah, honestly didn’t know for a moment if Jon was going to show mercy. I’m not sure he did either.
OMG he didn’t!
Well. That was something.
Oooh this religious movement is gaining some traction isn’t it? I didn’t take it seriously when that guy showed up all “born again” last episode. I really should have done.
Oh wow! I’d forgotten several people told me to watch out for an awesome guest star. Jonathan goddamn Pryce! Nice!
I do try not to comment on Aiden Gillen’s accent but I swear this year he’s just given up trying and gone back to his natural one.
There’s an abundance of boobs and bums in this. Have we returned to the first season? Ooooh Jorah! I missed him!
Oh Tyrion! What’s happened to you? You can’t fuck a whore? This is big.
What? Jorah?! Shit!
5.4: Sons of the Harpy
We pick up where we left off. If I could insert a meme into this, I’d find the “leave Britney alone” guy and paste the word Tyrion over the name. Tyrion’s had ENOUGH, George RR Martin and co. Just stop torturing him!!
Cersei seems to have appreciated the power of the Sparrows quicker than I did. She’s sharp.
Goddamn, dark stuff happening now though – some kind of mass puritanical shit. I did wonder when the debauchary of King’s Landing would come back to bite them on the arse – I never thought brotherfucking Cersei would be the trigger. The hypocrisy. At least Tommen’s learning his position isn’t a simple one.
Sam’s a pragmatic guy. Snow’s lucky to have him around. Shame he left the room at the wrong time. RUN AWAY JON SNOW! I know you liked a crazy lady once before, but Melisandre is a whole new level of crazy.
Why are these guys attacking Bronn and Jaime? Did I miss something? And are these guys going to be yet another “mixed and matched couple” after all the reshuffling of late? Although I like both characters, can’t say I’m that fussed about them together. We’ll see.
I love how Tyrion manages to irritate Jorah even when he’s gagged. Clever guy. And he figures our Jorah VERY quickly. Also clever.
Revolt against Daenerys is heating up. Will she give up and leave? I’m starting to wonder if she should. She doesn’t want to lose too many more unsullied. Damn, did Grey Worm take a terminal hit there?!
Barristan’s proven what a damn good fighter he is. Are he and Grey Worm dead now though? If so, SHIIIIT. But I learnt a long time ago that the appearance of death is not death.
5.5: Kill the Boy
Phew, Grey Worm seems to be OK. Bye bye Barristan though 🙁 When he first appeared I referred to him as Obi-Wan. Bearded old guy in a hood who offered wise words and mentorship, and the first time we saw him actually have a decent fight, he did well but ultimately died. I accidentally called it 😉
Daenerys really doesn’t seem to be giving up eh. She’s bloody relentless.
Snow’s definitely doing the right thing trying to make peace with the Wildlings, but seems an unpopular decision!
“Winter is coming”. Been a while since I heard that.
Damn Myranda’s bony.
Will Sansa free Reek? Interesting development, this. Forgot she’d eventually find him and not be best pleased. Ramsay’s a bloody psycho though.
Some great Sam and Gilly stuff as she tries to better her knowledge and he inadvertently patronises her.
Ooh is Daenerys trying a new tactic in ruling? She’s listening and learning. Aaaand what? She’s going to marry that dude? What? Eh?
“…I would clap”. 😂
Stone men eh? Cool. Ohhh dear Jorah, you’re not looking healthy 🙁
Bit of a quiet episode this one, not much to say about it. Mid season lull? It was good, just quite uneventful.
5.6: Unbowed Unbent Unbroken
OK, the Mr Myagi act seems to be entirely based around scrubbing dead bodies. Nice. And interesting Arya’s companion seems to have a lot of baggage – I thought the point of being no-one was to lose the baggage? I think Arya thought that too. Aah, ok, that may be a test. Fair enough.
Arya seems to be learning how to lie, right? Is this a particularly important skill she’s lacking? Oooh heads. And Jaqen seems to accept that she’s ready to take her first step – to become someone else. Intriguing.
Tyrion is outwitting Jorah nicely. Loving his quick wit. Haha, and his speed at getting out of being killed is impressive: “the dwarf lives until we find a dwarf cock merchant”. Jorah’s fallen so far though – such dignity once and now effectively begging for his life.
Baelish is back! Will he last long in the “new” King’s Landing? Slippery bastard, of course he will. But what, he’s going to lead them to Sansa? So what was getting her to Winterfell all about? Just stirring between the Lannisters and the Boltons? I don’t buy it. This flip is too quick – there’s something else afoot.
And what’s Indira Virma up to? I’m still really not sure why she’s being kept around as a pilot device after Oberyn’s death. I’m sure something will happen eventually.
Cool fight sequence 🙂
Oh yay, I thought Diana Rigg was done! Good to see Olenna back! And putting Cersei in her place – niiice. Hm. Cersei seems to have won that one – just about – but I think Olenna’s already plotting her next steps.
This inquest into Loras’s sexuality is difficult viewing. Even as a straight guy I find it very uncomfortable seeing someone have to lie about their love for another person just because of gender 🙁
Where’s High Sparrow going with this? Why’s he asking Margaery to confirm the lies unless he already knows they’re lies… ah, shit. That guy. And now Sparrow has Margaery wrapped up in this. Fuck fuck!
Sansa, clever girl, you got Myranda figured out quickly.
Slightly… creepy… wedding. I mean, I like the lights and the snow and the night and stuff but it all seems a bit like she’s being led to her execution. And sigh, it’s all happening. She’s not had the best luck with men.
What? He’s making Reek watch? Sick puppy. That’s gonna mess Sansa up too, on her first time.
Erm, this is getting a bit rough. Oh no, not like this 🙁 No, please writers, don’t mess Sansa up even more 😭
5.7: The Gift
All a bit doom and gloom at the wall isn’t it? Ah, this is Jon Snow. He may nurrr nuffin but he’s also invincible. Of course he’ll return. Whether he’ll be alone remains to be seen.
Oh Sansa, you really have been messed up haven’t you? Will the writers ever stop toying with her and Theon? I see she’s trying to break his “reprogramming” but I think it’s too far embedded. I don’t think he’ll take the risk.
Oh. He seems to be taking the risk. Well what do I know? Bugger, though, that didn’t go to plan. Who didn’t poop themselves a little when Ramsay was waiting in the tower?
Aw, Aemon’s dead 🙁
Only just noticed – all this time of saying “winter is coming”, and I joked a while back that it was already snowing a fair bit… it seems to be coming down much heavier now. Wonder when that changed and I didn’t notice?
Oh God, Reek confessed. And the old lady – I’m so glad we didn’t see that torture. Once again I’m torn – want Ramsay to die ASAP.. but not yet 😉
Stannis turning down Davos’s advice. Sure, the plot has to move on, but Davos is a sensible chap and I think Stannis is just getting impatient, not actually making good decisions.
Oh Sam! You’re a real hard arse when you need to be eh. And so’s that wolf. Oooh and he’s gonna get some.
And Daenerys is still getting some. Still don’t like her being all girly. No problem with a powerful woman also being feminine, but she seems to get all giggly and lip-bitey, which seems out of character.
Olenna standing up to the High Sparrow is great, and she speaks the logic we all think when religious nutters start trying to justify their actions based on their twisted interpretations of ancient texts.
Good to see Tommen get a bit fired up at last. Joffrey wouldn’t have taken this long 😉
Bronn’s not a bad singer.
What the hell’s happening? She gets her kit off and Bronn has an aneurism? Oh wait, no, slow acting poison. That makes more sense than Boobs of Doom.
Jorah’s managed to get close to Daenerys. Is this a… good thing? For either of them? Aaaand now he’s doing something stupid. Seriously, what does he expect to gain here? He pissed her off and she doesn’t forgive easily. Tyrion’s timely entrance helped though…
C’mon Cersei, this shit was bound to backfire, did you not realise?!
5.8: Hardhome
Tyrion once again proving he’s a born salesman, saving his life and Jorah’s with a few words… but still Jorah has been sent away. I do feel sorry for him despite his duplicity.
Arya’s getting better at lying, creating a whole fictional world. This whole thing’s a bit weird really isn’t it?
Sansa and Reek alone. Awks. Oooh and now she knows. But how does that help?
Tyrion’s settled in nicely. “I’m not going to stop the wheel – I’m going to BREAK the wheel”. I believe her.
OK Jorah, your desperation to impress Daenerys is just bordering on creepy now.
Oddly the torturing of Cersei isn’t bothering me like it did Theon. Does that make me bad? Because no-one should go through that, no matter what a power crazed nutter they are.
“He always comes back” says Sam. Thank goodness Snow’s immortal, because this looks like a rough situation.
Mind you, Tormund seems to have everything under control. Smashing heads in and the like 🤣
Great speech by Snow – this is building up to something epic… now, will the great battle against the White Walkers be the climax of the series – or will this be like in Babylon 5, where the chief villains lurk around for several seasons then get wiped out two seasons before the show finishes and the whole plot changes direction? I’m intrigued.
Oh. Big battle happening already. Surely I can’t have the answer to the above question this soon? I guess this is just the start…
Not much to comment on here, except to say some well choreographed fighting. Good big ending to the episode. Wonder what’s coming up for Big 9 now…
5.9: The Dance of Dragons
Bless Sam. Jon’s right – by his intentions it was a failure. But Sam’s right too – the whole thing could have been a lot worse. Once again Sam and Jon make an unlikely but wonderful pairing.
On the topic of pairings, Davos and Shireen are sweet together. And he’s making plans to see her when he’s back – which as everyone who’s ever seen a war movie knows means one of them is going to die before they’re reunited. My bet is her.
Ooh back to Arya’s clams and cockles. Except… none of this is real… right? Oh, except it is. So what was going on the other day when she was in training and this all seemed to be a very elaborate storytelling/dream sequence? Was she just preparing for this? I’m confused.
Surely after the first “too old” it was obvious he was after a child? Nice try parading around girls that were months younger than each other, but he was bound to take a liking to Arya wasn’t he? OK, she got away that time, but tomorrow…
Oh shit! My Shireen prediction came true much quicker than I thought. No 🙁 Christ this is one of the hardest things I’ve watched in this show. Make it stop…
Enjoying the distaste Daenerys and Tyrion express at the bloodsports, and the calm counter argument that it’s a part of what’s always made that culture great. Chillingly familiar.
Aaaand of course Jorah’s back. She must be getting fed up of him by now. Has she approved the fight because she’s got bored of seeing his head attached to his shoulders? Her reactions aren’t giving much away except that she clearly cares about the outcome – just can’t tell what she’s hoping for.
Crowd certainly weren’t happy to see him win.
Awww shit another massacre. Daenerys, seriously, give up on this place, it’s not doing you any good and vice versa.
Yay, Tyrion’s so brave. Love Tyrion.
And double yay, a dragon saves the day! About time – where HAVE you been? Oooh she’s going to fly – niiiice. (But erm, what about everyone else?)
Fuck ME that was some distractingly bad green screen around Tyrion on that final shot.
5.10: Mother’s Mercy
Eeesh Selyse hanged herself. Kinda not surprised by that. But still 🙁
Ooh development coming up for Sam, he wants to become a Maester. Good, the “fish out of water” thing was good but couldn’t run indefinitely.
Oh bloody hell Brienne, she’s finally lit the candle and you’re not there!
Huge epic battle seen from a distance – lots of tiny men in tiny horses. Cool. And now lots of close ups of blood – Eeesh.
Brienne has Stannis right where she wants him at last. Oh fantastic. I’m so pleased for her. Although… when he first showed up I didn’t think he’d last the season out. When he did I thought he’d make it until NEARLY the end of the show. Maybe season 7 sometime. This is earlier than that!
That… is a lot of dead bodies.
FUCK YES THEON! Go on! I thought he might be about to rescue Sansa. Nicely done! He’s got his balls back! So to speak.
And woah, Arya, nice work. Fucking brutal. But nice.
WTF Jaqen? Don’t off yourself. Oh wait, now he’s there. What? Shit, who’s who? The effect of all the faces coming away is cool 🙂 I’m… guessing the blindness isn’t permanent though?
Eek, Myrcella dead. Poisoned!
So, Daenerys, what are you playing at now? Hanging out with your dragon while your friends clear up the mess. Are you going to go back at any point? And now she has a whole new compendium of buff men to turn into her latest army. 🙄
Cersei’s not looking too good – hah!
Eeesh have you not learnt to be honest to the High Sparrow? Risky. Someone’s bound to have evidence about her dallying with Jaime.
Cersei is of course awful, but this walk of shame is pretty harrowing to watch. 🙁
Amazed how long this basically unbroken sequence without dialogue is going on for – and Heady fantastically showing a complete range of emotion. Brilliant. Just brilliant.
Oh, and is this Frankenstein’s monster? Hurrah, at last. Weird plot device so far.
Erm. What the fuck? What’s happening here? Seriously. What is happening. Here? Did Snow really hurt these guys so much? And I’m just… what? No seriously WHAT? After Ned died, Snow and Tyrion seemed to the the two safe ones. How could they knock him off like this? Dream sequence.. PLEASE?
(BTW, I looked up the production notes – something I haven’t done so far but I was intrigued and couldn’t resist. I now understand why Cersei’s skin is suddenly much smoother below the neck 🙄 I get that they had to be really careful to cast the right person who could walk “in character” to be a body double, but I guess that didn’t seem to extend to being age appropriate…)
Season Six
6.1: The Red Woman
Wow. Can’t believe I’m already starting the last 10-episode season. What next for Arya, Daenerys, Cersei, Sansa… THEON eh? Hope to see Theon soon. Did he break his programming that quickly? Or will this be another journey for him…
Incidentally, after Jon Snow’s surprise death, I’m going to embarrass myself by admitting my recent “safe bets” for making it to the finale: along with Snow, my bets are with Tyrion, Daenerys and Arya. Everyone else I’m convinced will be a gonner or could go either way. Those three will be in the last episode. I though that about Jon too, so I’m saying this now for entertainment value. Can you remember if you agreed with this at the time?
Back to the action, and we start with Jon’s pretty dead body. Gutty. Did they get Kit back for a new season just for that one shot, or can we expect ZombieSnow?
Stuff’s afoot at the Watch now. Mutiny/conflict in light of Jon’s death?
So. Is that Iwan Rheon’s real accent? Because that nasal British thing just makes him sound like a fan impression of Matt Smith. That’s been bothering me a while now, thought I’d share.
Theon still seems a bit twitchy but fairly bold. He’s not all the way back yet. Where are they going anyway? Literally do they have any friends left?!
FUCK YES BRIENNE! The cavalry!
Cersei looks quite refreshed and happy. Question is, did she buy into the puritanical BS at ALL? Ohhh of course, I forgot who she was expecting Jaime to bring back. Things aren’t going great for our Cers’.
I forgot about the witch’s prophecy. Stupid me, I was going to try and track that. So I guess Tommen’s doomed too?
Oooh Margaery, not seen you for a while. All the focus has been on Cersei.
Oh! Alexander Siddig brought back just to kill him off? Shame, I didn’t feel he got to do too much.
Varys and Tyrion reunited. Good good.
I’d forgotten Jorah was unwell. How longs this going to take? I’ll bet season finale.
Daenerys, someone needs to come rescue you. Your strength is in your leadership, not in your ability to physically fight thousands of beefy dudes.
Arya’s still blind. Won’t last.
Eeeeuw. It’s like David Tennant when the Master aged him, but with boobs.
6.2: Home
Interesting title. Whose home? Is Sansa going to return to what’s left of hers?
OK, who are all these people? Another batch of new characters to meet? A lot of kids and… Max Von Sydow! Cool! Ah OK, flashback. No worries then. Not sure I could cope with a major influx of new characters at this point.
Beautiful snowy vista. I like it.
Urgh, another battle at the Wall. Oh good, not a long one 🙂 Hurrah, mini mutiny already overthrown. I see the production team are keeping Kit around to play a dead body for quite some time. Hmmm. ZombieJon seeming even more likely to me now.
WOW, the way that guy just had his head slammed into a wall. I’m not one for being impressed by death, but I love the simplicity.
Jaime and High Sparrow facing off is brilliant. Pryce is an amazing actor, does such a great job appearing both feeble and extremely strong at the same time.
The actor playing Tommen is turning into a fine young star too – his speech asking Cersei to help him become strong is well handled. Of course it’s worrying because we don’t want another Joffrey!
“I’m friends with your mother” – not entirely sure the dragons speak English.
Arya looks like shit.
But hurrah, she’s been rescued. Hope all this torture she’s gone through had a reason.
Ooooh dear Ramsay’s got a brother. One of them is not going to live very long.
Oh shit, or indeed Bolton Sr’s going to snuff it. Well that’s better than killing a baby. Every time I think Ramsay can’t go much further, he proves me wrong. Ooooh no, you ARE going to kill the baby as well. Thorough job I suppose. NASTY 🙁
Theon 🙁 go with Sansa please! Where’s your story going to go now? Crossing paths with Ramsay again to exact some revenge I hope?
Is Balon’s brother new? Not sure I remember seeing him before. Holy shit, did he just kill Balon?! That was NOT expected.
Hmmmm. Talk of ZombieSnow. Was I right…?
I’ve seen Buffy*. Bringing heroes back from the dead doesn’t end well.
*which even has the same beats: oh, we failed, we’ll leave then – pause – sudden inhalation.
6.3: Oathbreaker
From the title I’m guessing a Brienne heavy episode.
Jon’s up! And quite quite naked. How nice. Does he remember anything after he died? Oh, I wasn’t the only one to wonder. He saw nothing – how bleak.
Oh crap, is Snow going to start getting worshipped now? Not sure I’d be too happy with that plotline. Babylon 5 and BSG both went there and weren’t highlights.
More flashbacks to young Eddard. I guess I should have been paying more attention for the first one. Wrote it off as a one-off.
OK, so the current beefy guys won’t rape a Khal’s widow, but they still won’t let her wash or do her hair. She still looks like shit.
Tyrion is definitely back to drinking and saying witty things. Ohhh, that game though – dangerous. Don’t do it.
Uprising against the High Sparrow begins. Exciting. I wonder if they’ll stretch this out throughout the season though or wrap it up quicker? And I see Cersei hasn’t lost her teeth – I feared the walk of shame might have affected her.
Olenna just had her best line in a long time, reminding Cersei that she is not the queen because she isn’t married to the king: “I appreciate that can get a bit complicated in your family” 🤣
Arya’s talking about herself in the third person now. Always a good sign 🙄 nice to hear her addressing her conflicted feelings about The Hound at last. That was a complicated relationship never really delved into.
Hah, glad not everyone’s buying into Ramsay’s story about daddy’s death.
Did we need to see the kid’s lifeless eyes after he’d been hanged 🙁 so sad.
Snow steps down… what next for him?
(No Brienne – did I misunderstand the reference in the title to Oathkeeper?)
6.4: Book of the Stranger
Jon’s done his hair a bit fancier. Is this a “new afterlife, new hair, new me” thing or just to recognise leaving the Watch?
Hang about. Something good (PROPER good) has just happened for Sansa, reunited with Jon. What’s round the corner for her now? It can’t last, she’s the world’s most tragic figure.
(I really want to go back and watch the first episode again, where she was such a snarky-Stark, I knew I’d always hate her snotty ways…)
Brienne’s meeting with Davos and Melisandre. Awks. In the extreme.
Tyrion’s still rising. This is good, but whenever Tyrion rises, he falls. As with Sansa a couple of paragraphs back, I’m now seriously worried about what’s coming. Watch your back, Tyrion.
And what’s he playing at? 7 years to abolish slavery? Can’t go down well.
“We make peace with our enemies, not our friends” – I LIKE that.
What’s Daenerys’s new plan eh?
Oh shit, Loras is in a bad way. This is back to being uncomfortably parallel with real world events. Holding back the tears.
Tommen’s delivery of the “duuuh” line “you… don’t like Margaery do you?” reminded me too much of one of the first lines of Blackadder II (“you’re not COMPLETELY happy are you father?”) and made me laugh inappropriately.
Loving seeing Cersei and Olenna in a grumpy “enemy of my enemy” compromise. Very excited to see not only the Tyrell army overthrowing the Sparrows (I hope!) but also the future for these women’s relationship.
Oh Theon Theon Theon. This is awful.
(Theon: “I don’t want to be king”… oh my god, is that the biggest hint for the end of the series? Because we all know anyone who wants to rule is completely unqualified. Maaaan that would be brilliant.)
Euw, Ramsay sex. Don’t wanna see that.
OK, no sex, just a failed assassination. Damnit girl, you were so close!
And yah, Sansa wants to take down Ramsay! DO IT!
Ok, that’s Daenerys’s plan. Nice. Love the way the sound is all quite muted through the chaotic scenes of the fire – makes it all seem so organised and gives Daenerys a certain tranquility.
Haven’t seen her boobs for a while. Erm, welcome back.
6:5: The Door
People kept mentioning a door on my wall last night – what’s the significance?
Littlefinger seems genuinely remorseful. It’s so hard to know with him (which is why I love the character) but I’m inclined to believe he never intended to hurt Sansa. Am I kidding myself? Do we know for definite that I’m wrong. I may have suppressed a memory.
Brilliant retelling of the first season. And LMAO at Kevin Eldon playing “Nedd”! Christ, every famous Brit except Ed Sheehan is in this show 😉 (with apologies if I’ve made that joke before). HOLY CRAP RICHARD E GRANT! Tough viewing for Arya 🙁 remember you’re “a girl” now. This doesn’t mean anything to you…
Oh, a willy pointing straight at us. It’s like one of those obvious shots in a 3D movie there to make the audience whoop.
What weird shit is Bran seeing? Is this metaphorical? Hm, no, apparently tree ladies converting men. Okaaaay.
Good for Theon – rousing speech in favour of your sister. For a guy who’s been looking at the floor for the last few seasons, I teared up a little seeing his passion.
Tsk, another civil war. The Greyjoy’s are going to massacre each other. Will anyone actually be left to have a final big fight for the throne at the end of the series?!
Oh Jorah, your scaly arm 🙁 at least Daenerys forgave him in the end. And he’s finally admitted aloud that he loves her. 😭 Her farewell/final order to him too. Too much. Crying now.
Shiiiit lots of walkers. And he touched Bran. That can’t be good…
Brienne’s description of Jon “a bit brooding perhaps” – brilliant, I’m sure I’ve been saying that since day 1. Closely followed in hilarity by Tormund giving her the eye (because of course she’s his type) and her reaction.
Wooah shit, the walkers are here. Lots of them. Felt sure they’d leave that thread to build up over a few episodes, but no…
Nooo! Not the wolf! And Max von Sydow’s down too. This is a massacre.
HOLD. THE. DOOR.
I seeeee.
Oh no. Not Hodor. I thought the wolf was going to be the tearjerking part of the episode. NOT HODOR. And the double whammy of seeing him “become” Hodor and his death is just beautiful and also too much.
Fuck the writers. Fuck this show. Fuck.
But thanks everyone for keeping me spoiler free.
A few double bills now as I’m aiming to finish two weeks today. Spending LFCC with one of you and it would be great to be able to talk freely!…
6.6: Blood of my Blood
Hold the door. Sorry, still processing that.
Oooh who’s the cavalry rescuing Bran in such a cool way?
Awww, how lovely to meet the Sam family 🙂 Hm, something’s amiss. “They’re… on a hunt”. I don’t think they’re on a hunt.
I wondered a few episodes back if Cersei had been changed by her capture and it turned out she hadn’t. Now I’m wondering about Margaery…
Cripes Gilly scrubs up well doesn’t she.
Oh ok, Sam’s dad is around, he’s just an arse. That would be why the uncomfortable pause. And oh wow SUCH an arse.
What’s Arya up to? And is it what she’s MEANT to be up to? Don’t want her blinded again. “Do you like pretending to be other people?” Ha! Oooh Arya, you HAVE gone off script now. And now you’re getting your sword back. Time to walk away from being a girl? Sigh, the Waif is going to go up against her? How long are we going to draw this out for, we know which ones going to walk away alive…
Time for Margaery’s walk of shame… or not 🙂 Oooh Jaime, go for it! Great to see him showing some strength and on the side of right. How far he’s come. (Or maybe just how far the viewers opinions of him have come as we’ve learnt more about him).
What the actual, Tommen? Noooo, don’t align crown and faith. When does that ever work? Man, this just got a whole lot worse.
“It’s a castle, not a bloody sheep!” – yay, mad old David Bradley’s back 🙂
Daenerys is back on top again! Is this her final army though? She does keep losing them.
6.7: The Broken Man
Cold open. How rare.
The Hound?! I mean I know we establish back with Bran that offscreen deaths don’t count but jeez, he was a gonner!
Ah for Keith Topping’s pleasure: holy shit it’s Lovejoy!
It’s great to see the High Sparrow giving counsel to Margaery. So far we’ve only seen him be an antagonist – now we can see his insidious side. Despite this, I’m stunned at how broken she’s been. She’s so strong. OH. OH OH OH. What did she just slip Olenna? OH OH OH. This has got interesting. But is Tommen in on it? (What does the picture of the Rose mean though? Should I get that?)
Can’t get used to reborn Jon and his well kept hair. Looks like he should be advertising shampoo.
“Go on then, cut his throat”. Ha, nice.
“Good thing we’re friends, or we’d be fucking you in the ass right now”. Bronn has such a way with words.
The Mormonts. Oh dear, more children in power. (Wait, Keith, is this the bit you meant when you said Liam suddenly went Irish? He’s just absolutely dropped his accent – amazing!).
Woah! Maybe Keith’s “Watch our for this actor” was actually directed at Tim McInnerny! Awesome! This show doesn’t do stunt casting, it just consistently attracts the best British talent. And hah, he even did that little eye twitch he worked on so well in Blackadder 🙂
Random boobs. Poor Theon doesn’t know where to look. His sister does though. Corks.
So I’m guessing this year’s big episode 9 will be Starks attacking the Boltons? Seems to be building up to that… but I can’t square that up with the fact that Theon surely needs to be there to finish Ramsay. Maybe Ramsey will be the sole survivor when the Starks otherwise take back Winterfell, leaving Theon to get his justice/revenge?
Holy crap Arya, you’ve just been stabbed a lot! You want to get some ointment on quickly. Why is no-one trying to help this girl that’s bleeding all over the place?
Woah. The protection racket people massacred everyone. I don’t think they’ve got this lark figured out – aren’t you meant to leave enough people alive to be scared and keep paying? Not just ONE very big very pissed off dude.
6.8: No-One
I really thought the actors were going to be cameos for a one-off scene. Quite surprised they’re still going, and even having a little plotline of their own. It’s a bit weird, we haven’t had any subplots that haven’t fairly directly related to the fight for the throne.
“You’re shit at dying, you know that?” – oh The Hound, how I’ve missed you.
Cersei’s new pet is powerful but it seems to be the only thing keeping her powerful… can’t last.
Aw, Brienne’s failed. Also something I’m sure won’t last. At least I hope.
Hm? What was the rumour Cersei wanted investigating? Feel like I’ve missed something. Either way definitely looks like Tommen, unlike Margaery, has genuinely bought into the religious fanaticism. I just don’t think he’s a good enough liar. Sad.
Genuinely not sure what’s going to happen at Riverrun now. Will Edmure surrender? Will there be a huge battle through the next episode?
Haha, love The Hound negotiating over how to kill the Brotherhood. In the brutal world of GoT, it’s almost a shame it IS over so quickly 😉
Oooh Arya showdown with the Waif. Finish her this time!
Erm, how is she taking all these tumbles without ripping open her healing wounds? Oh ok, she’s bleeding a little bit now. I mean I shouldn’t worry too much about realism in a show about dragons really.
Twist. A girl is finally no-one… but a girl has reaffirmed her name and is going home. Cool ending..! After 6 years of buildup Arya is finally ready… for something!
6.9: Battle of the Bastards
OK, so is this episode going to be about Meereen falling?
Haha, the look Daenerys gives when she says “we are here to discuss YOUR surrender”. She’s so amazingly calm.
And this all seems to over and done with very quickly, with a lot of fire. Maybe this is one of those rare 9th episodes with multiple plots. Also, with power like this surely Daenerys is going to “win the series” now? No-one else has a chance!
Greyworm’s swift killing of two of the Masters was cool, but shame they didn’t live long enough to regret throwing their mate under the bus.
Ohhh hi Ramsay. Maybe this is your episode then. FABULOUS standoff between him and the Starks. Very exciting…
Face off between Sansa and Jon about the oncoming fight. I see her point – they have NO chance. But I can’t believe even in a show with this lack of justice, that the writers would let the Bolton army succeed.
Ramsay making Rickon run. What a psychopathic bastard. And of course he’s cleverly separated Jon and made him mad. Don’t fall for it Jon!
Huge battle commences, more than half way through the episode! Will I be right? Will Ramsay manage to escape only to be killed by Theon later?
Love the contrast between Davos and Ramsay making different decisions about whether to fire arrows into the middle of the chaos and risk their own soldiers. That’s the difference between them.
Another great contrast as Davos and Jon lead from the front while Ramsay just stay still while everyone advances around him.
Not big on battles but this is wonderfully directed, highlighting the futility as the bodies literally pile higher.
“With me lads, break their line!” – GO DAVOS!
(Wasn’t that long ago I wondered why they’d bothered to keep Davos alive as his story was so obviously over – hah!)
WOAH. Never thought I’d see Littlefinger as the cavalry. BRILLIANT move by both Sansa and the writers there. BRILLIANT. The intercutting looks on Sansa’s and Ramsay’s faces are great.
Poor giant guy 🙁
Gah, is Jon going to finish off Ramsay? Shame, there’s others that deserve to be there more.
YAY, house Stark is BACK. I mean, barely. Other houses are a lot stronger at the moment. Assuming they’ll just sit on the outside lines quietly now.
“I’m part of you now”, followed by Sansa’s “your name will disappear”. Lost track of the passage of time – is there ANY chance she’s up the duff and doesn’t realise it yet?
Oh Sansa YES. I think I’d have preferred it if Theon had been responsible but Sansa a close second. And either way, what a glorious death. Down! DOWN!
6.10: The Winds of Winter
Long episode right here. Lots to get done I suppose. Although usually the episode 10s are pretty uneventful. I’m hoping at least we see the fall of the Sparrows and whose side Tommen is actually on. Might tie in with the rose picture and Cersei’s “rumour”?
Opening montage all seems very gloomy.
Eeesh I hope this trial doesn’t go on too long, this is uncomfortable. (OK, maybe I take that back – seeing him give up everything so quickly is possibly even sadder).
Woah, Pycelle?! I didn’t see that coming. Figured he’d be there to the end.
Margaery trying to convince everyone to leave is great. Don’t you worry everyone, have faith, that’ll save you from a dirty great explosion.
WOAH SHIT. That is one dirty great explosion. Damn though, couple of my favourite characters gone.
“Shame. Shame. Shame”. Hehehe.
“She doesn’t want me, she wants your golden fingers up her twat”. Once again, Bronn has such a way.
AWESOME library. Lucky old Sam. I hope we never see him again because this is a perfect end to his story.
Oh good, Melisandre’s getting a right telling off by Davos. Long overdue.
Winter is here?
“They’re already here my lord”… be suspicious Walder… ohhhhh that’s special. That’s very special. NICE, it’s Arya! YAY! I mean I’ll miss mad old Bradders, but the series is winding down now, it’s time for the “love to hate them” characters to move on.
Littlefinger’s description of pursuing a single goal is brilliant and to be honest very inspirational – we should all learn from that. It also explains a lot about everything he’s done so far. I seem to recall right near the start I questioned if Littlefinger was loyal to the throne and someone (Nick?) said that he definitely was loyal to the throne. Nice.
Aw, Jon’s birth. Very moving scene. And a bit of a twist, although I’m not sure why? What’s the significance?
Queen Cersei… awesome. Not something I directly predicted but also feels very natural and unsurprising.
Breathtaking final shots, with the fleet and the dragons approaching…
Two seasons and thirteen episodes left. Lots to see through in a short space now…
Season Seven
7.1: Dragonstone
Wow, a “previously on”, that’s new. And probably necessary at this point. It’s a bit intense though – they’ve gone right back to the first episode!
Walder’s making a speech. I’m gonna guess this is a flashback and he’s not sprung back to life 😉 Oooh no, I’ve just put two and two together. It’s going to be Arya isn’t it? It’s Arya, poisoning the lot of them. Bradley plays this bit SO well. As of course does Masie. And what an awesome start to the season – one house down before the credits roll. Damn, when the Starks are reunited they’ll be a force to be reckoned with.
Speaking of forces to be reckoned with – shit, the walkers have that giant dude!
Mormont telling off McInnerny is fantastic – love the little reactions from everyone holding back the laughs.
Littlefinger’s smirk as he sees Sansa’s not happy with Jon. An opportunity to pursue that dream…
Hm. Sam’s still lurking around. This bothers me. I wanted his story to be over because he’d got a happy ending. Every extension is an opportunity for… oh look, he’s dealing with shit. There we go.
Yay, Jim Broadbent!
Absolutely adore Tormund’s lustful looks at Brienne. Just brilliant.
Oh, there’s Ed Sheeran. And why not indeed.
Yay, Sam’s still saving the day, even from his library.
I KNOW THAT VOICE. Shit, if that’s Jorah his arm isn’t looking well. It’s hard to tell when he calls her Daenerys and not Khaaleeeeeseeee.
“Shall we begin”. Oh yes.
12 episodes left…
7.2: Stormborn
Nice moment between Daenerys and Varys, where they’re both equally honest about their motivations and intentions. Great script and performance.
Jorah’s definitely not looking well. Really unsure where this one is going to go. He was always a tragic character, but also Sam’s a superhero. Both of these facts cannot be seen through.
Daenerys and her crew planning. We’re building towards just a couple of alliances here all fighting for the throne – and it’s fascinating, neither group is perfect. Not sure who’s side I’m on any more. It’s great seeing Olenna give advice to Daenerys though 🙂
Greyworm’s love scene is so tender and beautiful.
Ooh there goes Sam being a superhero. Gross scab-pulling.
Nice to see Hot Pie back. Oh dear, he just described himself as “a survivor”. He’s dead then.
So Sansa leads the North for now. Cool. What a journey she’s been on. I keep having to remind myself what a shit she was in the early episodes.
That is one big goddamn nasty looking wolf. Arya you better be right that she knows you. Oh. Why have they all abandoned her? Hm.
The attack by Euron is another marvellously directed piece. Love the beauty of the sky being lit up. And then as always the absolute chaos where it’s impossible to tell who’s killing who. And goddamn it’s brutal – unnecessarily so. They’re toying with them, how horrible.
Where’s Theon going?!
7.3: The Queen’s Justice
Tyrion and Jon meet again, and more plotlines converge. I noted yesterday that we seem to be seeing two huge alliances – actually isn’t it one huge alliance… and the Lannisters? (With Arya still wandering alone). This is building up to an obvious ending – and therefore I’m expecting one huge twist soon. Infighting has to begin soon or the Lannisters will be overthrown too easily.
Melisandre is predicting her and Varys will die here. You’ve got reason to be afraid, Varys, she’s wise…
Daenerys flexes her muscles in front of Jon and Davos. OK, I was wrong about the huge alliance coming together – good to see there’s still some friction. I like the parallel of Daenerys asking not to be judged by her father’s crimes – exactly what Snow was saying in the previous episode.
Nah, Theon’s sister isn’t dead. Too important a character for that to happen offscreen. Oh, there we go, that fake out lasted all of 10 seconds for the audience.
Eurrrgh, alliance between Euron and Cersei. Makes me feel ill.
Cersei reminiscing over Oberyn’s death is pure evil. Recent events have really tipped her over the edge. Her first season self was basically fluffy by comparison. Christ that whole scene is… horrible. Seems to have made Cers’ horny though.
Good to see Bran and Sansa reunited but Bran’s got a bit nuts eh.
Good old Jorah, trying badly to cover for Sam. But hurrah, it worked!! And aw, Jim Broadbent isn’t being hard on him. How lovely.
Is this battle actually happening or just illustrating Tyrion’s plan? Hm. I guess it’s real.
Hah, Jaime really had no idea Olenna killed Joffrey. We all did!
10 episodes left…
7.4: The Spoils of War
Gatiss is wonderfully slimy in this. Great casting as a cameo a couple of seasons back, I guess in mind for him being more recurring now.
Wondering if Bronn and Tyrion, old friends, will meet in battle on different sides.
Kinda waiting for Bran’s story to kick off again. Like, he’s learnt a cool skill and had some flashbacks, but what next? He’s been built up for something but I don’t know what.
Yay, Sansa and Arya and Bran reunited. Amazing! After their complete dispersal in the first season it’s pretty surprising to see three quarters of the surviving ones on screen at the same time.
Daenerys’s fortune really has been up and down through this show. So she’s down again, something’s going to change 🙂 And damn, she’s turning to Jon Snow for advice. He knows his shit but that’s quite a turnaround. He’s right too – I always said her strength was in her compassion. Going and burning everyone makes her no different.
Immediately after finishing this marathon I have to go back and watch episode 1 to see how it holds up now I know who all the characters are!
Another battle. I kinda hope we don’t have lots of these for the rest of the show. I much prefer the talking. As always though beautiful direction. And to be fair it’s pretty amazing seeing Daenerys in action against the Lannisters at last!
Massacre. I mean we knew Daenerys plus dragons equals strong power, but they are getting wiped out. I’m not even convinced Bronn is going to make it. Shit, his poor horse (leg sliced off)! Is he going to try and take out a dragon now?! Well that could change things. Oh, just a flesh wound.
Wow, thought Jaime was a gonner there too. Held my breath.
9 episodes left…
7.5: Eastwatch
Not-so surprising cliffhanger resolution, Jaime survived. Surprised they didn’t drag that out a bit longer, but I guess this is where the plot starts to get functional.
Daenerys is still trying to get her peaceful way via force and threats. It’s an interesting paradox.
Aw, Jorah and Daenerys reunited. Lovely. I still say he’s a tragic figure. He won’t live long. Just need to find a good opportunity to sacrifice himself for her. Probably doing following one of her orders that others have advised her against.
The Stark girls have both come so far, in different ways. Interesting to see how they bounce off each other now. Both smart cookies.
Wow, tense face off between Jaime and Tyrion. Understandably.
Oh. They’ve run out of well known British actors. The extremely recognisable Kevin Eldon is back playing a different character. I shall look out for Sean Bean playing a random soldier in tomorrow’s episode.
Sam’s outburst. Brilliant!
Careful Arya, Littlefinger’s watching…
8 episodes left…
7.6: Beyond the Wall
So opinion on this episode seems to be divided, based on comments last night. Let’s see…
Lots of quiet reflection between characters to start. This isn’t your typical “episode 9”. Unless the extra length is to allow time for this stuff first 😉 Brilliant face off between Arya and Sansa. I did wonder what their changes would result in.
Hahaha the “locker room talk” between beefy guys about Brienne. Wonderful!
Lots of talking between Tyrion and Daenerys. She really should take his advice – he’s the wise one in this world. Military cockups notwithstanding.
Wow, flaming swords. I LIKE. Lots of death though.
Littlefinger seems to be trying to help Sansa forge friendship with Arya. I would have expected divide and conquer from him. What’s his game?
Shit, Snow and friends are surrounded by a metric tonne of zombies. Now, if this were The Walking Dead I would assume they’d all somehow escape. Here, I’m not so sure. But these are all hard as nails characters – I want them to go down in a more individual way when it happens.
Oh fuck indeed. The walkers are closing in. (Seriously man, how do they “light” those swords with the equivalent of medieval technology? Have they invented lighters?). Every time they go to a wide shot it is VERY clear they won’t survive. But I’m also certain they will. No-one drags on certain death this long. No dramatic tension. The tension is in how the fuck they’ll get out of it. So come on…
Seriously, there’s goddamn thousands of them and yet our guys seem to be taking them on one at a time.
Aaaah dragons. That’s how. Cool.
20 mins left and I’m still seeing this as a pretty good episode. Not outstanding, not awful. What am I waiting for?
Oh shit! Dragon down! No! Sad 🙁
Great actors, all very moved by the death of some CGI.
Blooming heck, Arya’s going a bit scary with Sansa. Is one of them going to end up killing the other?!
Oooh Snow’s sweating allegiance to Daenerys. That’s a turn up.
Erm. What’s happening with that dragon carcass? Surely not? Noooo. OK, now this fight got verrrrrry interesting.
7 episodes left…
7.7: The Dragon and the Wolf
Final non-series-season-finale. And I sense unlike the usual season finales this will be big (it kinda has to be given how much they need to wrap up now, even with the extra long episodes next season).
Bronn and Jaime discussing the importance of cocks. I kinda get it. We’re all base creatures in the end.
Brienne’s back. Is she going to get with any of the increasing number of men who have their eye on her?
With Daenerys arriving every major house is here. Could this episode see the end of the squabbling and give us a whole final
season that’s about the white walkers? I’m not sure what to expect. Although it looks like everyone gets the idea of peace talks except Euron, who’s busy being such a dick he’s lining himself up for the next hilariously painful death.
Nice demonstration of the very real threat there, Hound.
Ok, so temporary truce. Split final season maybe? A few episodes about the whites, followed by a few about politics?
(Re the truce – or not, although I’m sure they’ll sort this out).
Long overdue face off between Cersei and Tyrion – fantastic. Both actors giving off such range. And what, she’s pregnant?! Who? When? Will the new baby be cursed?
Theon’s been spending a lot of time in the background quietly observing. Wonder what’s happening there.
Theon fighting and beating that dude to death. Woah! Will they follow him now to save Yara?
Ooooh Sansa’s turned on Littlefinger. INTERESTING. His schemes are all unravelling very quickly indeed. “If we could speak alone” – that sounds like someone desperate to lie. But as we know in this world nothing is closer than blood – Arya and Sansa are sticking together on this one, unsurprisingly.
WOAH. Speedy death too. I thought that would take longer. From smug to dead in about 3 minutes. Amazing! No time left in this show for punch pulling or dilly dallying.
Cersei and Jaime falling out wasn’t something I saw coming either (as I said, blood tends to overrule everything in this show) although totally makes sense given what’s happened.
Wait, are we officially discovering now that Jon and Daenerys are related, moments before they bang? CLASSY, goT, CLASSY.
I will note that I wondered a few episodes back if Theon would end up ruling from the Iron Throne, after he said that he didn’t want to rule. With this revelation that Jon is the heir, I might have had the right logic (Jon’s also a reluctant leader), just the wrong bastard.
Oh wow, what a terrifying cliffhanger.
There is SO much to happen in the next six episodes…
Season Eight
8.1: King’s Landing
The final season begins. And there’s an ominous feeling with the “previously on”. Six episodes now for our heroes to die in exciting and unpredictable ways.
I think a little while back I called Jon, Daenerys, Arya, Tyrion, Theon and Littlefinger standing at the end*. Obviously one of those turned out to be wrong but I stand by the rest.
*to clarify, I mean the start of the final episode. God knows who’s going to survive that one.
Oooh. I never pay attention to the opening credits despite Shaun and Jennifer keep telling me to, but I LOVE what they’ve done here.
(Spoiler request: can someone please tell me which episode number is the one that everyone bitched about being too dark please? I have two locations I watch episodes in, and one of them is really unsuitable for low contrast material so I need to make sure I’m in the better one. I don’t know what happens in the episode, so this shouldn’t spoil anything really).
Arya’s reactions to everyone coming home. Bit uncomfortable seeing The Hound. Eek. Love how everyone screams seeing the dragon but she just stares in awe. Nice reminder how how calm and cool she is.
How long a period DOES this show cover? It doesn’t feel like the storyline has taken the 7-8 years of production, but Jon’s reaction to Bran growing up really highlights that a lot of time has passed.
Jon explaining why he bent the knee is going as well as expected.
“What do dragons eat, anyway?”
“Whatever they want”
I was waiting for a terse response, and it was perfect.
Cersei thinks the dead coming is “good”?! Nutter. Euron is such a smug git though, they’re well suited.
Yay, Theon to the rescue! Proving he’s got his balls back – so to speak. And Yara seems to have recovered quickly!
I say, this dragon ride with Jon and Daenerys and the jaunty music is all very Harry Potter isn’t it?
Ha. Jon learning his heritage “it’s a lot to take in”. It really is. Not least of all that he’s been fucking his aunt. But aside from that, brilliant scene played magnificently by a pair of actors who – when their characters first met – seemed to be providing a bit of light comic relief.
“Stay back, he’s got blue eyes!”
“I’ve always had blue eyes”.
Euwww, the message from the Night King. Some fricking message. Looks like something out of a horror movie. This show does zombies with way more creativity than a certain other long running series.
Yep Jaime, it’s Bran. In a chair.
8.2: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
SURPRISE DOUBLE BILL NIGHT!
I can see why Tyrion’s word for Jaime doesn’t count for much. He’s been coming off as foolishly optimistic ever since he aligned with Daenerys.
Still a hint of love/lust from Jaime to Brienne there?
I know this isn’t new, but Sansa’s current outfit strikes me as very fitting for her story in previous years. The giant ring chained around her is perfect for yanking her around. It’s very submissive. Now she’s finally master of her own destiny, she can wear that with pride.
WOW, Sansa’s tearful hug for Theon. Those two have come up a long way from where they were – for me – just a few weeks ago. Made me well up.
“The big woman still here?” – oh everyone’s so hot for Brienne.
Wow, Sam’s speech about death being “forgetting” is beautiful and true. And haha, he’s managed to get some confident wit about him too, when the guys are throwing insults at each other. It’s nice.
Tormund’s story of how he got his name is great!
Love Arya and The Hound drinking as they prepare for battle. She’s one of the guys now. Those two are definitely a pairing that has gone through an amazing change.
Oooh Arya, are you making the moves on Gendry? I kinda figured that would happen eventually but I had no logical reason for that. The desperate shag does highlight the expectation of death though…
Great idea having a whole episode focussed on the night before the battle. I always find these sort of scenes more interesting than actual battles – the tension and the bursts of honesty (and sudden shagging, see above). I’m trying to think of another show that gives a whole episode to this. Any thoughts?
Oh Brienne just fuck Tormund, go on.
Aw, she’s getting knighted. Wonderful. That’s better than sex with a gigantic ginger. Joking aside, her trembly lipped reaction has me in pieces. If you need me I’ll be over here, getting something out of my eye.
Beautiful montage over the singing. Beautiful.
Okaaaaay, Danaerys knows. How’s she going to respond? Either about the nephew-fucking or the fact someone has a higher claim to the throne than she does. Eek.
Tomorrow the battle we’ve all been waiting for. Who will live? Honestly HONESTLY have no idea at this point. Anything goes. Can’t wait….
8.3: The Long Night
I’m not expecting much from tonight. Not a big fan of battles, albeit GoT does them very well. Also it generally means there’s VERY little for me to say except “oh, look who died”, so for an 80 min episode I expect my comments to be brief and very spaced out.
No “previously on” tonight…
Ooh lots of flaming swords. Cool effect.
Seeing the army of fire from a distance is beautiful. As is seeing them all stop and the lights slowly be extinguished.
Dragons would have been a LOT better timed BEFORE they started piling onto our heroes! At this point I already can’t tell who’s been killed by whites, or fire, or who’s still alive.
“Stick them with the pointy end” – good advice.
Woah, it’s got too wintery for anything to catch fire. This is getting pretty tense. Feels like it should be over any minute!
Poor Hound. All this fire 🙁
“That’s why we’re down here, none of us can do anything”. Aaaah, this’ll be the moment that everyone suddenly stands up and fights, right?
Go Arya! Goddamn action hero! This is the moment we’ve been waiting the whole series for!
Aw, we didn’t need to see Lyanna crushed. That’s sad. At least she went out killing one of the more powerful weapons.
Some great creepy quiet horror movie moments in between the big battle sequences. Nice change of pace.
Cool mid-air dragon fight. I LIKE.
Yeah, no way the Night King was going to be offed that easily.
Shiiiit. The Night King raising everyone is a terrifying and bleak image. Like, they’re absolutely fucked now.
Ok, the women-and-dwarfs group are now under attack. I was wrong about them bravely standing up (although I guess they’ll be forced to now).
Yay, Jorah, saving Daenerys AGAIN!
Wonderful tracking shot of Jon running through the carnage.
The look Tyrion and Sansa give each other, and the gentle kiss on the hand to say goodbye, has me in tears 🙁 it’s all gone very quiet and tinkly music, which suggests everyone’s about to die. But… three more episodes, so…
Theon’s doing a bloody amazing job there. Go!
“Theon. You’re a good man”. More tears.
NO! Not Theon! Damnit. Really wanted him to make it to the end. I felt that impalement hard.
Jorah seems to have fallen too, but it was obvious from day 1 he’d die serving her.
ARYA JUMPING INTO VIEW IS THE SINGLE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. Seriously gave me chills.
“I’m hurt”. Oh god I can’t stop crying.
Even Melisandre’s death was beautiful.
I am utterly out of breath and so full of every emotion possible. And this from the guy that doesn’t like battles. Not only the direction here but the moments of character they managed to get into a script that only had a couple of dozen lines in it. Just phenomenal and genuinely unexpected.
And for those keeping track, a few days after you all saw this, I popped up and said “you know, I might start marathoning this…”
8.4: The Last of the Starks
Broadcast May 5th, the day I watched 1.2.
Interesting title. The 2007 series of Doctor Who, and the most recent Star Wars movie, both played on a “last of” title, implying we were going to see (or be reduced to) just one, but actually having more. I’m calling it now: NO Starks will die in this.
Aw, straight to the aftermath. Poor Daenerys. We all saw it coming though.
Check out Daenerys, putting her cabinet together, promotions all over.
“Vomiting is not celebrating”. Yeah, Jon’s not partied right.
Oh dear Daenerys. This alliance seems to not include you so much any more does it? Your upcoming war not seeming such a good idea is it?
Brienne’s having fun. That’s nice to see.
Awwww Tormund’s got to the melancholy stage of drunk. Ah, sexy girl will sort that out.
Eeeeesh Gendry, read Arya’s face for God’s sake. It was just sex.
(Aside: I was never that fussed about Masie Williams in Doctor Who – couldn’t see what the big deal was… now it’s clear what good scripts do).
Jaime admitting he’s jealous of Tormund. A dumb trait many of us can relate to – jealousy of someone suffering unrequited love. Totally spoke to me. Brienne and Jaime stripping down is also possibly the rawest and relatable sexual moments I’ve seen on TV in a long time.
“The Last of the Starks”. Is he going to fess up? Bran knows.
Oh dear, didn’t count on Bronn coming back did you? Some funny dialogue in this scene – these three are fab.
Are the Hound and Arya going to end this show “together” (not in the romantic way)? They’d be a fabulous pairing for imaginary future adventures.
Yay, Sam’s expecting an offspring. Awww. This whole episode has the feel of post-finale. It’s very peculiar. A lot of modern shows do this: the big finale is the penultimate episode and then you have a whole episode for farewells and the like. The weird thing here is we still have 2.5hrs of material… so it’s going to crescendo AGAIN…
Holy crap is this going to be the end for Tyrion?! Phew, no. But damn that was some attack. This show doesn’t do things by halves – every battle seems to be a very one sided massacre.
Cersei seems disgusted by Euron but keeping him around for power. Nothing changes.
“Have you considered the best ruler might be someone who doesn’t want to rule?” – yes Varys, I did. My hopes were on Theon.
Brienne begging Jaime to stay is goddamn heartbreaking. I’m screaming at the screen. Nothing is stronger than family. Sadly.
The two Hands negotiating is a nice quiet moment. If futile. Impossible to know what will happen right now, although I’m relatively certain that by the finale Cersei will fall. For now though – wouldn’t surprise me if Tyrion died.
Whew. Close. But why did Cersei stop? That seems out of character. (Although perhaps Tyrion explains it away by using her pregnancy against her – never underestimate the self-preservation of a pregnant woman).
Oh shit. No! NO! Also Cersei you goddamn coward – could EASILY have done the job yourself. Ned Stark would not have approved. But you’re a goddamn coward.
8.5: The Bells
Penultimate episode. What a ride it’s been.
Daenerys: “someone has betrayed me”. Happened so often now you’re just playing the odds, dear.
Oh Varys. Predictable from the start that, like Littlefinger, all his whispering would eventually be his undoing. But I feel bad for him. Nasty way to go too.
Jon and Daenerys are still going at it. She’s your aunt, dude!
Aw crap, she’s going to lead by fear. Every advisor she’s had told her not to. Sigh. Not gonna end well for you now is it? You AND Cersei are going to fall, leaving the Starks standing. Or maybe one of the decent Lannisters.
Tyrion advising Jaime of his plan. Tyrion makes mistakes but he’s really turned from the hilarious drunk to the wisest (if fallible) one of the lot. I do fear this plan of his will be the death of him though.
Damn Jaime, locked out. Not a good start. Wasn’t going to be easy was it.
Oh HELL yeah, smug bastards ships are getting burned effortlessly. Damn he’s irritating. Deserves a slap. And for everything around him to burn. Did he just die? Hope so.
Yeah, the Unsullied are in, and Greyworm is pisssssed. Any hopes for a friendly surrender are gone now. Children burning etc.
Hah. Love the looks the soldiers give each other. A very resigned “shit, dragon, anyone got any training on how to fight a dragon?” Particularly hilarious after Cersei’s confidence that they’d all die for her. They hate you, you daft bint, this is no surprise.
Daenerys looks so full of anger. Don’t fight when you’re that angry, that’s when you make mistakes. Argh, this is going to end badly.
Not accepting a surrender is also never a good move. Gawd.
Fuck, now Greyworm too. Once again Jon, the diplomat stuck in a warriors body, is the only one on the ground trying to keep peace. This is all so sad and needless. All that innocent blood.
And Jon looks so powerless.
Oh bloody hell, Euron’s still standing. Jaime, finish him. Oh hell no, Jaime can’t die at THAT git’s hands. Anyone else, not Euron.
Wow, the whole beautiful city is gutted. How utterly pointless.
Ah YES, Euron’s a gonner now. At last. Just gotta hope Jaime recovers now.
Big growth moment for Arya there, choosing to flee instead of get revenge. Glad her story isn’t over.
Final battle for the Hound looks like it could be an exciting one. Two unrealistically beefy dudes going for it.
Cersei and Jaime, is this it for you two? Off to find somewhere to hide the rest of your lives? I hope Jaime leaves her to rot and goes back to Brienne.
Oh HELL YEAH, the Mountain stabbed through the eye. Very apt. And wow, both of them falling to their deaths together. Poetic.
Ah damn Jaime, you should have stayed with Brienne. Beautiful performances though, just beautiful.
A tough episode to watch, and some shocking character developments – but for the most part ones I bought into, having seen them pushed in the right/wrong directions over the last few episodes. I’m not entirely sure how Daenerys – after everything she’d been through – succumbed to her anger so quickly. But aside from that sole brilliant revelations as I’d hope for in the final episodes.
8.6: The Iron Throne
And so we’ve arrived. What a journey. This hasn’t gone at all as I expected at the start, and yet most of the developments have made perfect sense.
I’m sad that some of my favourites aren’t here to see out the finale. In particular Jaime, Theon and Littlefinger. But still, 80 minutes to say farewell to the survivors.
Another aftermath. Tyrion looks like shit. Think about everything you’ve survived though mate.
The remains of King’s Landing make me think of humans across the world living in war torn countries, and how easily some more fortunate people turn their backs on refugees, and I’m saddened. This really brings home what it’s like to see your home destroyed in a way I’ve never felt before on other TV shows. The closest I can think is a number of occasions on Babylon 5 – but they lacked the cinematography and 25 years of CG development.
“How much more defeated do you want them to be?” – good words.
Tyrion uncovering his family is heartbreaking. Fine moment for Dinklage.
Brilliant shot of Daenerys with the dragon wings behind her. Very cool. Although how awful that she just stands there overseeing the screaming and the fire and seems to see this as a success. Yeah, she’s turned into a complete bitch, and while I love love love 180s in character development, a bit of time wouldn’t have gone amiss.
Aaaand she’s turned on Tyrion now too. Sigh. She’s losing all her friends and therefore building up to a lonely death.
Surprising Jon’s defending Daenerys, especially given that he WAS there, seeing it while it happened. Stop playing devil’s advocate. Be honest, she’s terrifying.
I can see Snow wanting Daenerys usurped, but I really can’t see him wanting to take the throne himself.
OKaaaay Daenerys, you’ve got the throne. No bloody throne room though is there. How can that feel like a victory?
Beautiful speech by Daenerys about how she imagined the throne, sadly ruined by some awful ADR. Great dialogue between her and Jon too. And my god, she’s absolutely barking mad. Look at those eyes. All the death she’s happy to dish out to make a brave new world. She’s so wrong.
Yeah, as soon as they started kissing I was about to type “kill her, Jon!”… I was too late. Had to be done though, really had to he done. I wonder if that moment was meant to be a surprise? If so, it failed.
Pissy dragon is taking it out on the throne that created all that drive in her that led to her destruction. How poetic.
Blimey, Tyrion’s out in front of almost all the surviving main cast.
“Everyone has heard enough words from you”.
“You’re right, and no-one’s any better for it”.
Wonderfully layered scripting. Love it.
Bloody hell, Sam’s just created democracy. Shame everyone’s laughing, it’s not a bad idea.
Hm. Bran as King? Meh. He’s a bit of a bland character that was just a MacGuffin. Not King. Still, it’s great that Tyrion’s bartered, Dirty and chained, and still ruling the scene. Just don’t agree with his choice.
Oh ok, king of the SIX Kingdoms. Well, I still don’t buy it, but Sansa’s reaction was spot on.
Brans explanation for choosing Tyrion “he’s going to spend the rest of his life fixing [his mistakes]” is marvellous. Happy with that.
Oh wow, Jon’s come full circle. I didn’t know what to expect for him, but this sucks. He’s a goddamn hero. I’m not annoyed at the writers, just annoyed at the world they created that after everything Jon went through he’s lost it all.
Crying through the farewell with his sisters. But now I have a huge grin for Arya going exploring. Perfect. Damn she needs a spin-off series 😉
Brienne, you should have ended up with Jaime, not writing his life story. But at least she’s making sure he’s remembered as she wants him to be. Once again I’m in pieces and throwing stuff at the TV in anger and sadness.
“I helped him with the title” – hahaha
Wait, Bronn’s on Tyrion’s council? Did I miss something? Didn’t think things were good between them. Ah ok, part of the crown sent to him. Kinda makes sense.
Aw, Ser Podrick. That’s nice.
Love this shot backing away from the table as they start to discuss rebuilding. Wonderful.
Aw yay, Tormund! Ok, I don’t feel AS bad for Jon now. At least he has a friend.
Oooh Sansa don’t you look swanky. And less like a submissive sex slave now without all the black and chains and giant ring.
Well I think as an ending it perfectly balanced that feeling that the story we were watching for is over, but the characters all have interesting stories coming up. This is how shows should all end – neat and tidy for us, but not for them.
Do I have some issues with the last few episodes? Sure. I’ll come back to them in my final comments tomorrow. But the ending itself… spot on.
Thank you everyone for joining me on this. I didn’t intend to post more than a line or two an episode, or to create any kind of mini-community. I’m flattered that over the last two months you’ve been patient and humoured me enough to do just that, and my posts have become more and more in depth as a result. Only one person asked to be removed from the tags (because he hasn’t finished the show) and only one friend was lost altogether. The rest of you are just amazing people. Many of you had the joy of watching these as they went out, and got to discuss them with friends every week. Because I waited, I didn’t think I’d have that. Thank you for making me wrong x