Francie

Today’s a rare day. I’m home at lunch on a weekday. I sat down with my homemade BBQ ranch chicken salad, and I turn the tv on. I had been watching GMA this morning, so ABC popped right up. Here’s what transpired in the next 1.3 seconds: Me (to self): Man, I’m still nostalgically attached to GH. Let’s check in to see what’s happening. Screen goes from black to Sonny, Old School Scowly Jason, and Spinoza. Or whatever his name is. Me: [click] Nope, I not nostalgic for that. Seriously, the only good things to happen on this show over the last 3/4 years was the reduction of GH’s version of the Rat pack to just Sonny the Rat and the complete elimination of Port Upchuck, which was sexism all wrapped in a jean and t-shirt with barely passable music skills package. And in this year where the dialogue is finally turning a page to talk about the representation of women in media, how their voices and stories should be told, and the framework that puts men above women in wages because of stereotypes, and assumptions, and just plain sexism, we see the return of 3 amoralistic characters played by 3 actors with acting skills that range from barely trying, trying on occasion, to downright annoying. Hard pass.

Anyone willing to help a lapsed viewer out? What days of the last 2 weeks were Anna & Finn one? Asking for a friend. And by friend, I mean me. Dammit, I wanna know. Okthanksinadvancebye

What plan? She has absolutely no plan. You say you like it -- so what IS it?

If you wish to put aside the terrorism aspect and how that renders her no better than her father, and if you further would like to see a pet animal as an extension of oneself, there's no one who would be able to stop you. But don't expect the rest of the audience to go along with you on that argument.

Our First Amendment is the complete antithesis of your first statement. No -- my point is that Dany's checklist looks like this: 1. Conquer Westeros and make them (all? Dorne?) bend the knee. 2. Ummmmmm..............

A. Dany had other weapons. She had a whole host of weapons, from Dorthraki swords for beheading to rope and a nearest tree for hanging. In fact, Tyrion thought she was going for a beheading when she decided to use her dragons. B. What you are describing as "supremely effective" is terrorism. Demoralization. Fear. That makes Dany a tyrant.

How does she intend to install that peace and prosperity? She hasn't even addressed that winter has come and most of these people will die of starvation or from the elements. That wasn't part of her vision, and she has no plan to deal with that. She never has. How does she intend to treat Dorne, which has has its own recognized monarchy? How does she intend to be more merciful? Does she have a judicial system in mind? How will legislation occur? Will there be representatives to relay the needs of the people to her or is it supposed to be a free-for-all like in Essos where people have to travel thousands of miles to her court? These are all the points GRRM raised about his work compared to The Lord of the Rings. And Dany falls right into that trap. She is well-intentioned about "breaking the wheel" and she has these vague, undefined ideals. But she clearly has no plan. She didn't have one in Essos either, and those cities fell into ruin or where in shambles with uprisings and crime when she abandoned them. And her big plan for Maureen? Put Daario in charge. That's not a plan. And as Daario has said, she's a conqueror not a ruler. That encapsulates Dany beautifully. "You can have your way .... along as it's the same way that I want."

That's a quintessential example of a straw man argument. Nothing was said by that poster about Dany having to be perfect. Dany wouldn't be a great leader just because she didn't burn a child or blow up a sept. A great leader has a plan and vision, effectively delivers that vision, and enriches their people's lives by the implementation of that vision. So far, we've seen none of that.

That's exactly when I think it would have kicked in for Littlefinger to try to find a reason why they'd feel like they'd need him. My entire point still stands, as the Littlefinger I know would have been trying to find an angle -- any angle -- to have them recognize, "Oh wait, we do need him, after all."

I thought it was completely out of character for Littlefinger not to go down swinging harder. "I have orders that, should I die, Robin of Aryn is to be killed!" "Arya, I can give you Cersei. Let's work together." Something, anything. He's lived his life for far too long knowing people needed to be motivated by their self interests to pull a fall down on a full out "Pleeeeeeeeease!"

Does anyone doubt that Bronn spent his time with Pod outlining his demands for switching sides? "Here, write this down. Can your magic cock do that, by the way? No? Well, remember then, then. I'll make it easy. Four castles and a princess at least as beautiful as .. well, as beautiful as a princess can be. And 2 bags of gold. No, make that 4 bags of gold. Those are me terms."

No mention yet, I don't think, of what may be 2 of the most important sets of lines from this episode, especially when paired: Jorah's explanation as to why the dragons had to be held in the dragon pit, becuase they would take livestock and children. "Dragons don't understand the difference between what's theirs and what isn't. Land. Livestock. Children. Letting them roam free around a city was a problem." and Dany: Dragons are not slaves. Those two last dragons will never live in King's Landing.

My favorite Ygritte/Jon romantic moment was the kiss on top of the wall, in The Climb. I enjoyed their dynamic. Rose Leslie was Kit was a great match up. Jon and Ygritte benefitted from much better dialogue, with her teasing him about his vows and what it meant to be free. Ned was killed because he 1) Trusted Littlefinger; 2) Put his fate into the hands of 16-year-old spiteful brat; and 3) was, generally, an idiot.

Bite your tongue! There was nothing uncharismatic about Ian McElhinney!

Yeah, that's the boat I was in (no pun ... well, it's not a pun, but you know what I mean ... intended). First, the show runners did themselves no favors by making multiple short jokes about Jon this year. My running soundtrack went something like: Huh, they ARE practically the same height, aren't they? And she's a tiny thing. Like one of those dolls with those big eyes. So, this is like pressing two of those dolls up against each other and then spinning them. And they were just that stiff (again, no pun intended) when they move.

Emphasis added to underscore the conflict in your logic. If you want to apply this fantasy world's norms, then you have to accept the defects that they recognize as a consequence of incest. And in their world, the birth defect attributed to incest is madness. Further, to your point, Joffrey seemed to have suffered from this madness -- this cruel and sociopathic behavior. If you want to apply our modern norms, and focus on the physical birth defects being the most recognized negative consequence for children of incest, then you have to recognize that we outlaw that conduct, in large part, for that reason. You can't pick and choose from modern day world and fantasy world like it's a combo package.

The 6-year-old in me want so name him Bob because he had no legs at the end. Or Matt, since he had no legs, only arm and was basically just lying on the ground. Or Keith. Just because.

I take back nothing from my earlier predictions today, and I add this on top of it. These are the seven "gods" who fight the WW and are immortalized. This passage is from Clash of Kings, where Melisandre is burning the statues of the seven gods on Dragonstone: The Maiden and the Warrior will be Brienne and Jaime. "The Maiden lay athwart the Warrior, her arms withered as if to embrace him" means that Jaime gets to die as he wanted, in the arms of the woman he loves. As to "the father was on the bottom, first to fall," Jon has already died. The mother is Nissa Nissa, with a longsword thrust through her heart. She will be Daenerys (Nissa Nissa is a telephoned game version of Mysa, Mhysa). We have a smith, Gendry, though the smith could be any journeyman. I like the obvious answer on this one. Arya is the Stranger. Which leaves the mysterious crone. She is not mentioned in that paragraph, though her statue is mentioned in the opening of the chapter: "They were all afire now, Maid and Mother, Warrior and Smith, the Crone with her pearl eyes and the Father with his gilded beard; even the Stranger, carved to look more animal than human." Edited to add: melisandre is the crone. Beautifully ironic. She rails against the "false" seven gods, and here she is, one of them.

I've resisted weighing in on this, because we all can decide for ourselves whether we find sexual relationships with our aunts, uncles, nieces, or nephews repugnant or not. But I have to correct this statement. Here's a link to the case in question: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11195658/Marriage-between-uncle-and-niece-is-ruled-legal-by-New-York-Court.html This case dealt with an immigrant couple who, because of the nature of their marriage (more on that in a minute), the bride was facing deportation. So the court had an interest in not dividing this couple, who were already married, and turning this woman's life upside down. The court's reasoning hinged on the fact that the aunt/mother and uncle/groom in question (so Daenerys and Rhaegar in our scenario) were half brother and sister and not full-blooded siblings. As the court reasoned: "The judges declared that while marriages between uncles and nieces or aunts and nephews were expressly forbidden, there was no such prohibition on half-uncles and half-nieces becoming husband and wife. Like first cousins, those in such unions will share an average of around one-eighth of the same DNA."

They are all at Harrenhal, so who knows how long it takes Ned to go back to the Vale. The logistics can be worked out. What interests me is that Mr. Honesty turns out to be the lying-est man of all. He's not Littlefinger lie here, lie there, but his are big game changing whoppers. And I'm not saying he's doing it for malicious reasons, but they sure are consequential ones: He lies about the paternity of Jon Black. He lets his own wife suffer for nearly two decades in thinking he was unfaithful to her. He lies that he's Jon's father, and instead he's his uncle. He lies, by omission, by letting everyone believe he bested Sir Arthur Dayne in single-handed combat. And his very last words were a lie. He publicly states that he lied about Joffrey's parentage so that he could take the crown. A nobel lie, but a lie all the same. And it's that lie --the confirmation of Joffrey as rightful ruler that gives Joffrey the opening to cut off his head. Had Ned held firm, Joffrey would have been checked, because killing Ned would have been tantamount to an admission that he was correct. At least, that's how Stannis and Renly could spin it. Why does Ned lie? Maybe he's caught off guard and says something thinking it's the best explanation, when actually it's the worst. Maybe he, yet again, lies by keeping his mouth shut and not correcting Brandon or Robert when he knows the truth -- all because he wasn't able to stand up to one or the other of them. Again, I don't think he's malicious, like Littlefinger would have been. But this whole show, from episode one, has been a juxtaposition of Mr. Honorable Ned Stark and Mr. Shit for Honor Jaime Lannister. And George loves playing with the idea of history being the lie agreed upon by people. So, I've had my eye on this for awhile now. I think you answered your own question. We have two months or so before a pregnancy becomes even known. A lot of people can die between now that then. There is a war happening. And, remember, Rhaegar's closest kingsguard knew the truth as well.

My post season 7 predictions: Sansa will indeed, as Tyrion opined ("outlive us all") and be a ruler of a large part of Westeros. Her marriage to a Lannister will mark the end of the Lannister/Stark feud. Greyscale will re-surface. Jon and Dany both die, and their story is recorded as a "Song of Ice and Fire." Dany is actually Ice and Jon the Fire. Jorah dies saving Lyanna Mormont or in a fit of rage after her death. Dany gives birth to Jon's baby and, after dying, Tyrion takes the child, being the one to know the true father. Gilly's baby, who is the WW's half-brother, plays an important role in the resolution of the WW war. Sansa's circle necklace leads to a clue about what the WW want. We'll see an elephant! Jaime and Brienne will fight together, with their twin Valyrian swords. I can't pull the trigger as to their respective final fates, except to say it's their child that starts a 1,000 year dynasty. The child will NOT be named Lannister. It will be revealed that Varys pulled a lot of the nasty acts that were blamed on others earlier in the season, all "for the realm" in his mind. He sent Janos Slynt after Robert's bastards. He orchestrated Shae's removal from the boat and knows she was working her only angle with Tywin to save Tyrion's life. Ned started Robert's Rebellion. Thanks, Ned! Bronn Blackfyre gets his castle and his princess in the end.

The series finale final oh sh*t moment? It will be the revelation that Ned Stark. Lord Honorable Ned Stark. Mr. "I cannot tell a lie" Ned Stark was the one who started the rumor that Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna rather than running off together. He is directly responsible for Brandon and his father's deaths. He is directly responsible for Robert starting the rebellion. And while he didn't mean for that happen, he inadvertently benefitted, by getting the castle and the girl. And Bran is going to witness it.

Well, at this point, it's personal between them now, isn't it? An alliance is different than complete capitulation is my point. Jon most certainly was not sent to Dragonstone with the understanding that he would bend the knee is my more specific, show-related point.

I wouldn't go so far as that. Here's where I come from when I watch this show. I see it based on the York/Lancaster war. Martin has said as much. And I know how that ends -- with a marriage of a male Lancaster, who identifies as a Tudor, and a pretty, young red head named Elizabeth. So, from the start, I've had my eye on Sansa. I'm not pulling the trigger, but I keep that in the back of my mind wherever she's concerned. I've had my eye on Tyrion as well. He's a Lancaster, errr Lannister. It's an oddball, non-obvious fit. He's also modeled after Richard III, but I know not to be too wedded to anything fitting on all four corners. George RR Martin doesn't have to hamper himself by modeling a character on only one historical figure. But that odd matching of both identifying themselves as "slow learners." Like I said,that perked my ears. It's a symmetry that the writers are starting to play with the audience. Who else said that? Oh, that's right! Is it with design that the showrunners want the audience to start connecting the two? It's too early to say. But I wondered what others thought -- if they noted that echo as well. That's the long answer to your question. In that case, if that's your definition of "forge an alliance, I'd love to have you forge an alliance of $10 with me. I'll PM you my address, and I'll expect your complete surrender of your money to me at any time.

You'll get no argument from me that Doran intended no harm to Myrcella (though book Doran kept her hidden away after her disfigurement and did not notify her mother that she had been nearly assassinated). But it's convenient to hide behind "everything was fine until it wasn't." Tyrion and Cersei spoke about how dangerous it was to send her there. Myrcella would be only as protected as Doran could protect her. And neither in the book or show was she adequately protected. It was dangerous. Tyrion sent her anyway. She died. The end.