Eyes High

Yes, and I think it's extremely telling that apart from Varys, Tyrion is the only one who seemed to give a shit about the thousands of innocent people that were going to die in KL and tried to do something to prevent it. Jon didn't care, only robotically repeating that Dany was his queen. Sansa didn't care, gloating to Jaime about how she was going to miss Cersei's execution. Bran certainly didn't care. And Arya and Sandor wanted revenge against Cersei and the Mountain (respectively), not to save lives. King Bran, Schming Bran: it's obviously going to be Tyrion running things with Bran as his puppet. The council will be composed of not Starks or Northmen supportive of Bran and the Starks but Tyrion, one of Tyrion's cronies who will owe everything he has to Tyrion, and a hypeman who shares Tyrion's concern for the common folk and who seems to be able to get along with Tyrion despite their baggage. Brienne and Sam have no loyalty to Tyrion. Brienne's a Stark loyalist, which would actually weaken Tyrion, and I doubt she's overly fond of Lannisters after what Jaime did to her. It makes sense that Tyrion would stack the council with people with whom he has a good working relationship and whose loyalty he can command (for the right price, in Bronn's case). Bronn may be criminal trash, but he has never lied to Tyrion about who or what he is, and for someone like Tyrion with a history of getting jerked around by people he trusted, that probably goes a long way. Tyrion will need people he can trust on his council, and a lord who owes his title and lands to Tyrion and with whom he has a previous good working relationship (as long as Bronn was getting paid) seems like an obvious choice. Also, Sam can be an underhanded little shit, as we saw in S8. I'd pick Bronn in Tyrion's position as well. Davos is a good man whose loyalty is unquestioned once he truly believes in someone. If Tyrion could sell Davos on his vision for Westeros, I'm sure he'd have a reliable advisor for life.

Looks like the final nail in the coffin of Friki’s Tyrion trial spoiler. Tyrion might be thrown in jail and put on trial, but by Dany. Tyrion also was willing to sacrifice his own life for a shot at convincing Cersei to surrender, so Saint Tyrion is alive and well. He was also aligned firmly with the Jon/Davos camp by the end of the episode and was the one making speeches about avoiding a slaughter while Jon sat around and made sad puppy faces. So Sansa’s S8 storyline was making trouble for Jon?

I loved it. Beautiful, brutal, devastating. Made 8x03 look like a walk in the park. The Sandor/Arya and Jaime/Tyrion last scenes ripped my heart out. Maisie made Arya look so young and vulnerable. Where the fuck was Tyrion? He made a few horrified faces and then took the rest of the episode off. At least Jon and Arya tried to do something, although to be fair it took them a while to snap into protector mode. Jaime and Cersei’s deaths were so affecting.

I don't know why they're releasing episode titles after the episode airs (something I've never seen before), since none of them have been spoilery; it's not as if it was a secret that the third episode was the big NK battle episode, after all. Maybe the last two episodes have spoilery titles.

It makes a lot of sense to me. TV Varys’ loyalty has always been first and foremost to the realm, not the Targs. He only supported Dany because he thought she might bring long-term peace and prosperity to Westeros. The moment he started to doubt that, he would turn on her as he turned on others. Varys was also horrified by Dany burning the Tarlys in S7 and warned Tyrion that he needed to find a way to make her listen. He clearly carries a lot of guilt about all the atrocities he enabled as Aerys’ advisor, as he told Tyrion in 7x05 that he would tell himself that he was merely a purveyor of information. Varys jumping ship the minute a better option appeared is completely in character to me. I have issues with S8, but that isn’t one of them. It does seem that Varys will be dispatched pretty early in the episode to make way for the KL craziness, which seems like a shitty end for such a great character.

All I know is that Peter Dinklage's last scene seems to have been filmed at the post-devastation KL exterior set, close to the same time as Kit, Liam and Jacob wrapping on the same set. Still, I don't know what's going on with Tyrion during the actual destruction part with Cleganebowl and Dany's armies going apeshit and Jon having to fight his way out and such.

They skipped all the tearful post-battle reunions in 8x04 and went right to the funeral scene, so I can't rule it out. I don't know whether these "Tyrion frees Jaime" leaks are accurate, but I really hope Tyrion and Jaime get a decent goodbye scene. If their last scene together was the Bronn scene, I'll be disappointed. The Tyrion/Cersei scene was probably the last the two characters will have together, though, which I'm okay with, personally (I loved it). Rewatching the 7x07 Dragonpit scene, it's kind of sad to think of all the characters in attendance who are already dead or who will be dead by the time the 8x06 Dragonpit scene rolls around: Cersei, Jaime, Euron, Sandor, the Mountain, Jorah, Missandei, Varys, and possibly Dany. (I'm not sure about Qyburn, but I'm guessing it doesn't end well for him, either.) Team Dany and Team Cersei are getting almost entirely wiped out. It looks like 8x05, in between Euron, Cersei, Jaime, Sandor, the Mountain, Varys, and possibly Dany, will have an even higher death toll than 8x03.

I'm really at a loss as to how they're going to wrap everything up in two episodes, especially now that we can reasonably expect, even assuming all the leaks about 8x05 to date are garbage, that the second-last episode will be devoted to Dany's downfall, the destruction of KL, and the deaths of the remaining antagonists and a few others (Euron, Jaime, Cersei, the Mountain, Sandor, Varys, and possibly Dany). Assuming Dany dies in 8x05, that only leaves 80ish minutes for wrapping up the entire show: the fallout from KL's destruction, the grief and angst over character deaths (Tyrion for Jaime, Jon for Dany no matter what the circumstances are), the resolution of the Bronn Highgarden subplot, the reveal of the surviving characters' intentions and plans, all goodbyes between the Starklings and anyone else parting for good or at least for the foreseeable future, that "highly emotional" scene with a grieving father that WOTW mentioned, the improv-heavy scene that WOTW mentioned where people haggle over land, whatever was filmed at Pile Harbour in Dubrovnik in February 2018, the Dragonpit scene and the resolution of the throne issue, the 8x06 scene on the Belfast set that James Hibberd saw filmed, that scene filmed with Kit and Kristofer in Randalstown forest... I mean, 8x04 was around 80 minutes, and it really didn't cover all that much. How are they going to pull this off? I'm very curious about what was filmed at Pile Harbour. By process of elimination, that could only have been from 8x06. This is what Hibberd said about the 8x06 scene he saw filmed in a hangar on the Belfast set in March 2018: Hibberd also said that this is all he could say about the scene "at this time," so he's probably going to talk about it after 8x06 airs. Even knowing what we know now, it still seems opaque. Which characters did he not expect in the finale? What's the meticulously constructed set he has never seen before?

Kristofer Hivju wryly observed in a recent interview that the show is called Game of Thrones, not Defeat of the Dead. What’s interesting to me is that the writers which have been pushing Jon and Dany as these heroic leaders and messianic saviours have moved so far away from that in S8. We can all see what’s happened to Dany, but Jon for all of Sam and Varys’ hype about how amazing he is seems diminished in S8 as well, merely a dull, sadfaced pawn to be shoved around by everyone else and outshone by Arya in what was supposed to be his big moment in 8x03. (And really, even Varys’ praise seemed halfhearted. Measured and temperate? That’s it?) If anyone’s gotten the saint edit in the first four episodes, it’s Tyrion.

There's a lot of weird stuff around 8x03 and Tyrion's references to having given up whoremongering and being celibate for an extended period of time (which has absolutely no bearing on anything as of the end of 8x04 but which must be relevant for some reason), but yes, mostly this: "What if the Seven Kingdoms, for once in their whole shit history, were ruled by a just woman and an honourable man?" Did Davos have the right idea but the wrong couple? That's just it. Peter Dinklage has openly teased Tyrion's death more than once. In this story, what would the opposite of Tyrion dying be?

Someone on Freefolk dredged up this D&D tidbit from the 7x07 commentary when Sansa orders Littlefinger's execution, which I remember being discussed way back in this thread, but which again seems relevant: ...So there's that. If it weren't for the King Bran spoilers, based solely on how S8 is being written, I'd say we were headed for a King Tyrion/Queen Sansa endgame. The writers' and actors' radio silence on their scenes in 8x03, where Sansa and Tyrion are put in a position where they have to step up and defend everyone else (while Jon and Dany are effectively neutralized), really had me thinking. It wouldn't be the first time I was wrong for S8, and it could just be that their little moment was setup for Sansa manipulating Tyrion in 8x04, but there's something weird going on there. Bronn ending up with Highgarden (assuming he gets to keep it, which he may not) as opposed to a more minor castle like the Twins also seems like a big hint to me. Bronn running the Reach and not Sam would be a big boost to Tyrion's power base. Of course, even if the King Bran/Tyrion small council spoilers are right, it sounds like he'll just be Tyrion's puppet, so I guess it will be King Tyrion either way unless Friki's right after all.

Of course, with Leto it was much more meaningful, because he chose to sacrifice his humanity knowing full well what the cost would be, while TV Bran seemed to have no idea what he was getting into when he downloaded the 3ER. It seems that overall, in the show, magic is receding as an influence--the dragons will die, the direwolves are mostly dead, the giants are dead, the COTF are dead, the WWs are dead, Melisandre is dead, zombie Jon is leaving Westeros, the Lord of Light has officially fucked off, the magical Targaryen bloodline will die out (although distant Targ descendants like Brienne and Gendry will survive), etc.--so it seems odd to have a very magical godlike entity running everything. I guess we'll have to see how it plays out. On that note, I think Bran's line to Tyrion "Mostly I live in the past" seems like a very odd choice as a line to give Bran if the writers are trying to set him up as the endgame ruler, and a particularly odd choice as a line to Tyrion, who according to the leaks is supposed to give a big speech selling him as the endgame ruler. TV Bran seems more concerned about flipping through his mental files to find just the right wheelchair design than he is about making active contributions to the here and now--a very amusing tweet about 8x03 was "On a scale of Bran to Arya, how much do you contribute to group projects?"--which again isn't exactly a reassuring trait in an endgame ruler. His main qualification seems to be that he doesn't want the throne, but neither does Tormund, and I don't see anyone lining up to crown him. I'm really surprised that D&D have chosen to write Bran this way if this is how it ends. Maybe it will make more sense after 8x06 airs.

Bran as the God Emperor of Westeros makes a weird kind of sense to me given that GRRM was a sci-fi author first and came of age as an author when the Dune series was huge. (I doubt Alia/Arya and the Face Dancers/Faceless Men were much of a coincidence, either.) If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.

I agree. Gendry is woefully unprepared to be a lord, as the Chrys Watches GOT recap pointed out (maybe Davos can teach him how to read, at least), and TV Gendry has always been an Edric/Gendry composite character. In the books, Edric Storm is safely tucked away in Essos, which seems like a possible setup for him to return at the end of ASOIAF to be legitimized and continue House Baratheon. Book Gendry is ignorant of his birth and seems likely to marry Willow Heddle as one character (Hyle Hunt?) predicts in AFFC. That weird 8x04 scene where Tyrion promises Bronn Highgarden seems to me like a strong indication that Tyrion's going to survive and end up in a position of considerable power. Bronn has bowed out of the KL battle, meaning he's pretty much guaranteed to survive to the end, and he has threatened to kill Tyrion unless he obtains Highgarden for him. What would be the point of that scene unless Tyrion is in a position to deliver on that promise? If he's tossed in prison for treason and executed, it hardly matters. And if he can't deliver on that promise, then Bronn will kill him, and that doesn't seem like a likely end for the character (particularly since GRRM probably has no idea what to do with Bronn). So Tyrion is likely going to be running shit by the end of the show, whether it's as Bran's Hand or as something else, since he will be sufficiently powerful to deliver on his promise to Bronn (or else die). He has been set up to have at least one extremely powerful ally in Bronn, since Tyrion and Bronn always got on very well as long as Bronn was being paid. (Bronn even guilted Jaime into visiting Tyrion while he was imprisoned in Season 4, which is probably the closest thing to genuine feeling he has ever shown.) We are going to see Highgarden in exterior shots if WOTW is to be believed, so this Highgarden thing is definitely being addressed in 8x06.

Isaac filmed at Italica along with Sophie, Maisie, John Bradley, Peter, Liam, Lino, Joe, Gwendoline, and the others. Assuming the Bran council spoilers are wrong, it could be Bran doing an astral projection being there "in spirit"--there must always be a Stark in Winterfell, after all--but if Sansa, Robin and Brienne can make it to KL by the end of 8x06, there's no reason why Bran can't as well (and the way the writers are writing S8, the Starks breaking the "Stark in Winterfell" rule seems like no big deal). ...I do wonder who's supposed to be taking care of Winterfell if Bran, Sansa, Brienne, and Arya are in the south, though. Who's left, Maester Wolkan? When the Seville filming spoilers first came out last year, many fans assumed that Sansa, Bran and Arya were in the south because Winterfell had been destroyed by the NK and everyone had fled south, but Winterfell is just fine and presumably someone needs to be around to run things. The other thing that bugs me about the Dragonpit information in light of what we now know is that in 8x04, it looks like Bronn will end up with Highgarden. One would assume therefore that if he were Lord of the Reach that he would be attending this council scene or Tyrion's trial or whatever it is along with the other lords and ladies of Westeros. As far as we know, however, Jerome Flynn wasn't in Seville. So what gives? As for Gendry, Joe Dempsie amusingly but not incorrectly said in a recent interview that Gendry "isn't quite bright enough to rule," which coming from someone who knows the endgame almost sounds like a tacit admission that TV Jon (whom the writers clearly think is dumb as hell) won't rule either. Peter Dinklage said that "a version" of what he had guessed for Tyrion's fate is what ends up happening. If the Bran thing is right, that probably means that Peter Dinklage guessed that Tyrion would be Hand to the endgame ruler, but didn't get the endgame ruler right.

As someone familiar with ASOIAF book fandom, I think Tyrion being Hand to the endgame ruler, Sansa ruling the North, Arya going wandering, Dany going full tyrant and dying as a result, and even Jon going back to the wildlings or taking the black again would not shock anyone. Those possibilities have been discussed for years. And among the show-only watchers, I think of those outcomes, only Jon rejoining the wildlings would be a complete surprise. My partner is a casual viewer with no interest in the books and they were completely unsurprised by Dany’s dark turn and had even predicted it, as have many casual viewers. Bran ending up king would be truly shocking for all but a handful of fans, though, even in the book fandom where pretty much every theory imaginable has been exhaustively discussed. It will be a real surprise. On another note, I think a lot of caution and skepticism is warranted for any "leaks" now popping up about 8x05 and 8x06. There was absolutely nothing for months, and now that it's clear after 8x04 where things are going, fleakers are anxious to put their two cents in.

When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die...or you retire, if you’re Jon, I guess. Dany’s arc seems so tragic in retrospect.

There wasn't a content warning for Sansa's rape scene in 5x06. The only content warnings for the episode were adult content and adult language. It's possible to have PG-rated scenes implying rape. Show Dothraki dragging women offscreen, tearing off outer clothing (coats, cloaks, etc.), throwing them down on the ground, have lots of screaming, throw in a few lines from the Dothraki indicating their intentions. The writers have backed off graphic depictions of rape and sexual violence after the blowback over 5x06, so I think any depictions of rape would rely strongly on implication, much like Unella being (presumably) raped by the Mountain in 6x10: nothing explicit was shown, but you were left in no doubt of what was happening. Wasn't there a scene where Dany put a stop to the Dothraki raping women in S1? I don't recall that being graphic, either. (Edited to add that I found the scene, and it just shows the Dothraki grabbing fully clothed women by their hair and shaking them around. No nudity.)

I find "Fuck this 'surrender' crap, I'm not falling for that shit" much more believable than "The infernal sound of the bells is triggering my madness!!!!" as a motivation for Dany. I do think the bells will be important, judging from that 8x05 promo shot of them.

Even assuming all the fleaks/leaks for 8x05 out of the equation, the writing's on the wall after 8x04: Dany's going to unleash Drogon on the innocent population of KL. That's why the reaction has been so negative from casuals: everyone can see where this is going, and it ain't "Dany happily tells Jon about her pregnancy," "Cersei frames Dany for KL atrocities," or "Dany nobly forbears from burning KL." A catastrophe has been set into motion, and there's no turning back. That's why the last scene in 8x04 was so horribly tragic and upsetting. There's no other way this ends. Fire and blood. Also, in the 8x05 promo, Jon for the first time in quite some time is wearing his direwolf-embossed Stark gorget armour. If Jon had to choose between his Targaryen and his Stark sides, he has definitely chosen. From filming information, it does seem as if Arya winds up helping people to safety (there was info last year about Maisie filming with a young child), which is a nice touch for her character. Arya has always been someone who fights for those who can't fight for themselves.

I'd be shocked if Arya kills Cersei after she has killed the NK. She's not getting both kills. I don't think wildfire is going to figure prominently in the destruction of KL apart from the barrels at the Red Keep. It's going to be dragonfire. One thing that occurs to me about the Tyrion/Davos/Bronn ruling council leaks is that if Bronn is in fact Lord of Highgarden in the end, shouldn't he be at the Dragonpit with the other ruling lords and ladies? There was nothing about Jerome Flynn filming in Seville, and he wasn't even seen as far as I know. Cersei hardly matters as a character anymore, though, just as a catalyst for Dany going full conqueror. Her moment with Tyrion might have been the last big Cersei moment (and the last Tyrion/Cersei scene of the show). I'm not clear where Tyrion's supposed to be when the shit goes down in KL. Peter Dinklage like Maisie and Kit was filming on the KL exterior sets up until the end. If he's imprisoned, I don't know how he ends up with Jon and Dany's army outside the Red Keep gates as we saw in the 8x05 promo, or inside KL. The BTS interviews of Peter Dinklage in costume look like they're from 8x05 or 8x06: he's got burn marks or dirt on his face that we haven't seen before. I suspect the Dany vs. Sansa conflict could culminate in Jon feeling like he has to kill Dany to protect her and his other siblings, although if Dany has lost her armies and her dragon by that point, it's not clear what threat she could pose. Sansa has six inches on her, heh.

The Mountain's actor's stunt double was credited for 8x06 as well as 8x05, which makes me wonder about the Cleganebowl information. Maybe they shuffled scenes. Cersei's corpse could appear in 8x06 to get Lena that eligibility. They did the same thing with Iain Glen and Alfie Allen to ensure their eligibility for the SAG awards. The most recent spoilers I posted don't say what's happening to Dany while Jon, Arya and the Hound are running around. I guess she's on Drogon burning everything in sight...? I guess that would place the final Jon/Dany confrontation in 8x06 and not 8x05.

There are apparently pics of Cleganebowl that have been provided to a Freefolk mod. Here are some spoilers from the source who provided the pics: Other information from the same source:

Did she, though? Jon made her swear never to tell another soul. The marriage ceremony pronounced them "one flesh, one heart, one soul." So technically, she didn't actually break her oath.

Those spoilers are probably foilers, a last-ditch attempt to absolve Dany of responsibility for doing the thing that she's been set up to do, that apparently she has been destined to do all along: go full Dracarys on KL. Joe Dempsie made an interesting comment to the NY Times in a recent interview about Gendry as a potential ruler: Assuming that comment was influenced by Joe Dempsie's knowledge of the endgame, "Not quite bright enough to rule" would also rule out TV Jon, one would think, since the writers have painted him as such a dim bulb. GRRM has gotten extremely passive aggressive on his blog: praising other stuff like the new Avengers movie and ignoring the GOT episodes. He'd better start working on a strategy soon, though, or else he's going to have to go into witness protection after the finale airs.