Couver

Shawn posted pics with them too. All of the guys have had some spoilerish stuff on their social media. I'm excited to get some insight into Smurf's relationship with Julia even if it's only with young Julia. And I suppose we will get more Pam in the flashbacks. Seems like a lot of the shooting currently is in Craig's place w/ the baby. Jake also posted the infamous 'cock sock' so it seems like Derran gets over/ Adrian quick :(

So much to the bolded. I really felt the show gave the character short shrift there. They hammered us over and over with characters saying it but at best just gave us vague hints of her actually using her smarts to get things done. Season 7 would have been the best place to show it. Particularly with her figuring out that Littlefinger was playing her. It's weird I liked the Starks a lot when the show started and all the way through to season 7. Especially Sansa and Arya but season 8 made me really dislike them all because of their endings.

If she goes this route she'd really need to hope that the actual details of that battle are kept under wraps. That victory came with a heavy helping of foreigners via the Unsullied, Dothraki, and the former queen and her dragons. Yara at least should know Dany had a major role in that victory and can make a claim for the IS on that alone. But by shows end I can totally see Tyrion and Sansa spinning this into a Northern victory.

I have mostly seen Cersei in Sansa's mannerisms and dress since season 7. Sansa's life experience has left her cold and detached in a way that Margaery never was. Of all the influences in her training I see Margaery the least in Sansa. I would have liked to have seen her a few years into being QITN. The Northerners are a pain to rule but Sansa has a very dark streak inside her and I can see her becoming a Northern Cersei in time.

Seriously her wardrobe was to die for. Both of her wedding dresses especially. House Tyrell had a lot of style. And he's what 9 years old? Don't dragons live well into 200+? Poor boy.

Why not start the end of hereditary rule by you know...not electing nobles to the council at all? How on earth would anyone in KL be ok with Tyrion? He was never loved by the people and after enduring his cruel father, psychotic nephew, and tyrant sister no sane common person would be ok with him in any position of power. Again I think this could have been written as acceptable if they did a better job of turning Dany into a villain. Particularly on the back of the 'but think of the common people' nonsense that Tyrion and Varys were going on and on about.

Thank you everyone! It has been a ride! Lots of ups and downs. I avoided leaks for the first few seasons but as I got invested I needed to know what happened so I could brace myself. This was especially true for any dire wolf and dragon deaths. It was also nice to see a lot of people here felt the same way about that 😂. I'll always appreciate what this show did for the genre. It really made fantasy mainstream the way Marvel made superheroes. As a lifelong nerd it originally annoyed me because we nerds have suffered for our fandoms 😄 But I'm glad these genres are reaching more people now. I was disappointed in this season but I'm hoping once the dust settles people can let the actors and show runners be. It is what it is.

So the 3ER is confirmed as immortal? I wonder if Bran will have to create a tree & root system like the last 3ER to maintain his longevity?

I didn't say it was her fault. That's why I said she lucks out. She ends up the only 'ruler' with a fairly loyal base of people following her. She also has good ties to this ruling council. The show has also gone out of its way to paint her as savvy and self-interested. It's not a stretch to see her exploit her family ties to Bran and relationship with Tyrion. If this council was breaking the wheel then the North should be leaderless too. But we know they aren't since Bron is installed at Highgarden. And Gendry and Brienne etc. Nothing has really changed except a vote by highborn people that installs more highborn people into power.

Plus the North gets to keep a highborn ruler. Nothing's really changed. Sansa actually really lucks out in the end. Most other highborn houses are gone in the end. She's the only one with a storied family history left in power. And she has strong ties to both Bran and Tyrion. And the show hasn't shown her as benevolent in the least. It's very easy to imagine years of intrigue and power grabbing if/when Bran's time is up.

I still can't with this council 'for the people'. Why aren't there common folk on this council then? Everyone on it is titled and from families with long histories, money, power, and connections. At the very least Bron should have remained a common person...but he gets the most fertile land in the kingdom and his status elevated. So in reality the common people are still ruled by their 'betters'. I hope the common people at least don't buy this smoke show. But given the lack of focus on any story details this season I'm sure we will never even see their reaction.

Well it seems like Drogon lives so that is something. I hope Bran leaves him alone. He lost more than most. Not even sure what to say about Dany and Jon's endings. 8 years to build up to this and two of the major characters on the show arcs' amount to nothing. That council is lol. Most of the people there will commit the same things the previous rulers did since they are of the same stock. I am glad to see women on it though. Especially Brienne. With her and Davos on it there is at least some hope. So the previous 3ER was a bastard right? Otherwise why didn't he pull strings to set himself up on the throne and prevent all the killing and death we were subjected to the past 8 years? Why didn't any 3ER do it? I would actually kind of love it if the show went there and ended it with Bran/3ER revealed as evil all along with the NK created as a check to that. That Bran manipulated everyone into removing for him. That would have been a surprising ending.

Agreed. Could be another situation where the show failed at conveying what they wanted the character to be. We have lots of instances of Varys saying he is for the people. Less of him actually doing things for the common folk though. Varys was set up early as a schemer trying to one up Baelish. He also had many opportunities to help the people outside of just politicking. The strings he pulled played parts in starting conflicts no less...where common people died! And it isn't great to use children to do you bidding and put them at risk. The most defenceless of common people. Varys was a great character. But I always saw him as grey. Nowhere near good and certainly not benevolent. And I think that is where the show has failed this season. The whiplash treatment of Dany and the attempt to juxtapose her against characters who are also morally questionable seems hypocritical.

Why would Drogon leave peacefully after someone kills his mother? Even though the dragons clearly sensed something Targaryn in Jon they never bonded with him the way they did with Dany. Even Rhaegal didn't imprint on Jon that much. Makes no sense. But I'll take it because Drogon lives and that's I guess the happiest ending I can hope for now. And maybe that speculation that because Drogon lives the WW return is true. A reverse of the WW existing at the start of the series causing the return of dragons. Although the show has not built up that type of mythology around either the WW or dragons.

The show didn't present the Tarlys as honorable though. I suppose some wiggle room is there for viewers interpret them in our own way. But they betrayed Olenna who they had sworn oaths to. Randall did it purely to get Highgarden in the bargain. His betrayal lead to a lot of dead Tyrells. And both were given a choice between life and death. Again I suppose the method of execution is the issue here. To me the dragon fire is no different than Ned or Robb behading people who disobeyed them. It's certainly not the level of torture Cersei inflicted on people like Ellaria and Septa Unella. That is prolonged suffering. Dragon fire seems to have it over and done with in seconds.

I think the dragons were always an issue for detractors of the character. Because they are so powerful and because the story does try and draw parallels between them and WMDs. One of my problems with this seasons narratives for Dany is that this show has dealt with revenge, and pain and death so much that what she did this past episode is just par for the course. So many characters have killed for revenge, for love, during war etc. This just feels like more of the same. Narratively they are showing the fall out (dead civilians). But obviously that's happened before. Civilians undoubtedly died during the take back of Winterfell from the Starks who like Dany were claiming a birthright. Or during the war to free Ned etc. But the perspective the narrative showed us was different. Since the show is ending with Dany as the villain it has to sell her crimes as worse. For me the optics are just bad because there is a degree of sexism to it (just my opinion). I've made my peace with it though and am very glad the show ended for me with 8x3. That is actually a really nice episode to wrap this series on. I will check out the final episode if Drogon gets to ride of into the sunset though. But I highly doubt it. There is no way someone gets near his mother and kills her if he's still alive 😥

Drogon is her most battle tested dragon. We've seen before that he knows the rhythm of battles. He's dodged projectiles before including from the NK. Both during the Wight Hunt and the battle at Winterfell. Locking Viserion and Rhaegal up was a mistake on Dany's part. It stunted them physically and left them vulnerable during battles. They never got to learn that humans = danger like Drogon did in the fighting pits. Whenever they were deployed Dany had a very strong advantage and their big brother was doing the heavy lifting first. I mean their deaths were entirely plot based but I'll give the show runners the above. I think they set some of that up well.

That's my issue with it. Also the Targaryen legacy is always used against Dany. But people will be fine with a Lannister, son of Tywin and brother of the most recently Queen on the council. If you want to really do something different then there shouldn't be any one from a major house on this council. And certainly not someone who is a corrupt person.

Any indication what happens to Drogon?

Exactly. And if the spoilers are to be believed. There are corrupt people on the council. Tyrion was not a good man until a few seasons into the show. He was happy to whoremogger and drink until he had a change of heart. He has also shown a weakness in wanting to keep House Lannister alive and suffers from arrogance and hubris of his own. Bronn is criminal trash. The character is right that the nobles were no better. But the character has also never done a selfless thing without the possibility of something to gain for doing it. That isn't benevolent rulership. Sam is a decent council candidate. But I wish the show had built him up as a bit more sure of himself. Episode 3 actually backslid by making him look like a coward. Brienne should absolutely be on this council. As she has shown time and time again that she will do what is right. And Podrick should be there over someone like Bronn. A decent council would be Davos, Brienne, Pod, Sam. These people I could see doing well by the common people.

I wonder what ridiculous way they will kill Drogon off next episode? The means to kill a dragon all just got torched. The optics of this seasons are so problematic. They keep running with this madness being in the Targaryen's blood but no one worries and wonders if the male Targaryen will go mad? Why is Dany evil for doing the same thing in war that every major character has done including the Starks who felt it their birth right to take back the North? Arya clutching her pearls at dead civilians but did she make sure every Frey she killed was guilty of her brother and mother's murder? This show absolutely could have done a good job with a tragic ending. If they bothered to actual build to it. Why didn't they just get maybe an 8 episode season instead of 6? Or do more in season 7?

One thing I think Dany failed on big time was locking Rhaegal and Viserion up. It not only stunted their growth it left them unaware of battle tactics. One thing the show did well was show that Drogon has better natural battle instincts. He always dodges the spears/scorpions (except the first one). I don't think Rhaegal and Viserion had the chance to realize that they weren't necessarily the top of the food chain. Drogon roamed and saw a lot of sh!t. The other two always got to come in after and help with clean up. But they never got a chance to be in the thick of it until the wight hunt. Some of this was just bad writing of course. But that's one of my regrets with Dany. If she hadn't imprisoned them she would have arried in Westeroes with 3 dragons all at full size and strength. Although the show still would have had two die in really dumb ways 😂🙄

Agreed 100% but sadly I don't think we are getting that. I think the shame walk was all Cersei haters were going to get. I always felt D&D had that happen to soften her a little. Her revenge on the Sept and Septa Unella were presented as badass (which from a narrative standpoint they were) because they wronged her. Plus at this point in the show she's bested most of the characters who had a meaningful reason to hate her and want revenge. The only characters I could see humiliating her sufficiently would be Sansa and Tyrion (and clearly the writing won't let him). She's wronged Dany but it's happened so late that I'm not sure the payoff would be good. Plus death by dragon fire is super quick. Arya with Jamie's face would be great for me too but I don't see that happening either.

This all sounds so messy lol. I'm sure it will start to become more firmed up by Saturday like ep 4 did. I'm hoping for a nice building collapse to take out Cersei. No way does this character deserve a remotely happy death. And I hope we see the realization dawn on Cersei's face that she's lost and it is over. LH can rock that and we deserve to see this monster pay before the end. And damn it I just want a Drogon lives spoiler. At this point it's all I'm living for 😂

This is a great post! I will give D&D that a story needs to be told. So obviously you can't have the obvious rout that Dany would have dished out upon her arrival because where is the story in that? But you are absolutely right that it could have been told/shown better. Too much was sacrificed for the sake of plot. For example I hated how worthless they made the Tyrell army! Even with the Tarly's betraying them there is no way the Reach's forces should have rolled over that easily. The Tyrell army was integral to winning Blackwater. But then they died in a fairly one sided battle against the Lannisters 🙄 Just because they didn't have Loras?