JennyFF

I'm just about to start this after hearing great things. I'll aim for the version with sub-titles and convince myself that I fully understand German by the end!

You are right, Tyrion will feel guilt about Myrcella's death and this leaves him vulnerable to Cersei pulling his strings, but he's supposed to know how manipulative she is, and has boasted about how he's smarter than her. On that note, it was his idea that catching a wight and showing it to Cersei would be a way to get her to temporarily abandon the civil war, so even if that had all gone swimmingly, she'd still be scheming against them. It was always a risky idea, and I don't think anyone thought otherwise, but it was agreed that their extreme circumstances justified taking that risk, so singling out either Jon or Tyrion as being stupid doesn't make sense. I suppose Tyrion's blind spot around Cersei is that he had huge affection for Myrcella and Tommen, if not for Joffrey. However, he probably gave Joffrey better advice in life when he stood up to him and tried to stop him being such a spoilt brat. As far as I can tell, Cersei's love for Joffrey was all about ensuring that he loved her more than anyone else, even if this contributed to him being a spoilt brat who would grow up to be a terrible king. When she challenged Ellaria about Myrcella's death, she made it all about herself, and when Tommen killed himself, he was letting her down. She saw her children as toys to feel better about herself, or tools to help her gain the power she craved. So much happened in that final episode that I almost forgot to say how much I loved the scene between Jon and Theon and all of the talk about how it was OK for him to think of himself as both a Stark and a Greyjoy, and that he doesn't need to choose one over the other. The more obvious extra value came from us knowing that Jon is going to face a similar dilemma soon, but Theon's words of admiration towards Jon are also significant from the man who previously felt hard done by because he thought Robb had it easy, yet mocked Jon for being the 'runt of the litter'. It shows that he, unlike Cersei, realises that you have to take responsibility for the consequences of your own decisions. He didn't just ask Jon for forgiveness, but he wanted to know how he does what he does. It's the desire to improve, not just the desire for absolution, which made it so meaningful.

I always felt like Arya didn't want to be a lady in the way that Sansa wanted to be a lady, and definitely didn't want to be married off to a convenient suitor who would expect her to be like Sansa. That doesn't mean she wouldn't want to be in a relationship or married to someone who she fancies and who respects her for who she is, and most importantly isn't up himself like Joffrey was. It's also worth remembering she was pre-puberty then, so like many young girls, the benefits of boys hadn't presented themselves yet. If either of the Stark girls were to marry Gendry, assuming they both survive, it would be Arya. He wouldn't expect her to be all ladylike, and he isn't up himself. If Gendry survives, he's bound to be made a Baratheon by whoever does end up King/Queen. I'm a bit sad to see the end of Littlefinger, but it was his time. He'd overplayed his hand, and with Bran able to fact-check everything he says, his former strength at manipulation was his inevitable down-fall. I do think that the Stark sisters were genuinely bickering at first, but they knew deep down that they needed to be allies, and as many have said, Sansa knew Arya didn't want to become the Lady of Winterfell. They'll have come to this realisation after the last showdown we saw, and sorted it out between themselves. Just because we don't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen. I know some people feel it's cheating not to show us that resolution, but it was apparent in the confrontation with Littlefinger, so showing it in advance would only have ruined the tension of that scene. Personally, I was fairly confident that Sansa was putting on a show as the scene opened, but I liked that I wasn't 100% sure. The Dragonpit scene and the exchanges in the run-up to it were immense. It felt like glorious payback for years of investing in this large group of characters. I'm another fan of Qyborn's excitement at seeing the dragons, then intrigue at the zombie hand. I hope he's going to start scheming on ways to destroy the undead. He may abandon Cersei, because let's face it, he's only hanging around with her because it gives him access to fun things, and there are more fun things further north. I enjoyed Jon's exasperated geography teacher impersonation in response to Cersei saying she thinks the whole thing is a joke. It's like he's trying to convince a bunch of spoilt teenagers that their exams are more important than whatever reality tv show it is they're currently distracted by. By that token, I don't buy into the idea that Jon's stupid. He's definitely naïve, and prone to overlooking the significance of the petty squabbles that everyone else is caught up in, but only because he knows just how serious the real threat is. He underestimates how important those things are to everyone else, but ultimately, he's the one who's right about it all. He was also right not to lie to Cersei. He could have said something a bit more vague along the lines of how she'd proven herself to be a bad ruler so far, with no interest in the people, so he doesn't want her to stay queen, but she has the opportunity to prove him wrong during the Great War, and that if she helped, she'd guarantee her mercy or something a bit more wishy-washy, but he'd lose a lot of respect if he was to go along with the idea that he was happy for her to stay Queen. She caused too much hurt to his family, never mind the people, for that to work. We know now that she was lying all along, and getting him to promise to stay out of a future was a trap she was laying for him. If he had lied, she'd have been able to use it against him when he did inevitably side against her. The honour and nobility of the Starks is one of their strengths and one of the reasons people rally around them. Anything that could undermine that would do them damage. He has good instincts for what is important in the long-term, whether it's prioritising the fight against the army of the undead, or how a world where they can't trust each other doesn't do good people any favours, but this gives him a blind-spot when it comes to short-term repercussions. Luckily for him, the short-term repercussion was getting Dany even more interested than ever before! I'm feeling like Cersei is at the end of her arc too, as she backs herself further and further into a corner. I don't know why anyone believes her nonsense any more. You can half-understand Jamie, because he's been in denial about her for years and had so much to lose by admitting it to himself, but are we supposed to believe Tyrion fell for it? I wonder if he calculated that letting Dany and Jon believe she was going to support them was the best way to move on from an unhelpful stand-off? Gendry wouldn't have gone to the Dragonpit, because he's officially still just a smith who is handy in a fight. If they had sense, they've have sent him ahead to Winterfell with Dragonglass to start making suitable weapons, but I think the appeal of having Arya see him arrive there is too strong for it to happen off-camera.

I wasn't surprised to see so many lazy repetitions of the quote in brazenly click-baity articles, but it was worrying to see that some people reading those articles lapped it up without realising it was entirely ridiculous and he's an actor who is under constant pressure to do interviews with people who are desperate for spoilers in a show where they can't afford to give the slightest hints. Of course they are going to say something daft just to have something to say and to keep themselves entertained. On that note, I wouldn't be surprised if Kit was being tongue in cheek about shutting down production for his wedding. If there's any truth, it'll be that he rang the scheduling people to get a heads-up on when he'll have filming breaks, and possibly to arrange things sympathetically (avoiding scenes where a black-eye is a possibility). As far as I can tell, they get weekends off, so if he really does want to get married before all filming finishes, then it shouldn't be that hard for other cast and crew to attend a Saturday wedding in the UK.

I loved the Chronicles of Nadiya and the British Food Adventure, but I couldn't quite take to the Big Family Showdown, but I put that down to the format, rather than Nadiya. I can't believe just how much she fits in, not that I blame her for wanting to grab every opportunity that comes along, but I hope she realises that she's established enough now that she can afford to pace herself.

I wasn't too sure at first, but it's grown on me. It's good that it gives a nod to previous Doctors to help to remind us that she, and not the men around her, is the Doctor. However, I'd like to see her change into something more stylish, but still quirky, as the series progresses.