spaceghostess

Yup, she could have proposed that he be her consort, which could possibly have worked, since he does love her and doesn't want to rule himself. But no, because that would've undermined D&D's dumbass "Mad Queen" plans for her. This is the same woman who made a political marriage to that dude in Essos, but now it's somehow not even on the table with a guy she actually loves. Instead, she's made out to be so completely insecure and threatened by Jon's popularity with the Northerners and Wildlings that she doesn't even want him to reveal his parentage, much less partner with her on any level.

Yes, yes, and yes. Hints and clues have to be developed into a consistent character throughline. What we're being served instead is madness as deus ex machina, which is among the worst forms of fictional character assassination.

"Hinting" isn't the same as actual character development, which, IMO, is sorely lacking. Dany has been portrayed as a hero throughout the show, and, like other "heroic" characters on said show, has executed or dealt otherwise harshly with her enemies. Yet she's the only one who's being rushed off the deep end with extreme prejudice in the eleventh hour. If I believed that everyone who'd ever had a crazy parent were doomed to be crazy as well, then the half-assed narrative shortcuts being taken here might sit better with me. But I don't, so they don't.

Well. That was nauseating. Under other circumstances, Jon being dumb enough (and I'm one of the few people who hasn't thought he's stupid) to think for one minute that Sansa would keep that whopper of a secret under her cloak would be in my top three most upsetting things, but it's barely in the running after: --Dany getting the whiplash Norma-Desmond-Crazy-AF edit --Rhaegel being unceremoniously shot out of the sky by Urine, of all fuckfaces --Missandei being gratuitously murdered. Sadistically pulling out all the stops to push Dany over the edge is 100% gross, lazy storytelling. This right here smacks of how two of my most beloved shows, BTVS and Penny Dreadful, went off the rails in their final seasons. Massive bummer.

I don't know how to feel about Bran at the moment. If, as the show apparently wants us to believe, his scope for "helping" was so limited, then why was he all like, "The NK wants me. I'll act as a decoy!" last episode? His peacing out at the weirwood went exactly nowhere. Oh wait, he hitched a virtual ride on Wight!Viserion for like, three seconds. So helpful. That right there and the wholesale slaughter of the Dothraki right out of the gate are the only two things I really didn't like.

I was so caught up, I actually forgot about the "dead rising from the crypts" spec and assumed they were wights. Will have to go back and watch that scene again.

So I posted this in the Jon Snow thread a couple months ago: I am now even more convinced Jon buys the farm in King's Landing. Ghost, too (if he survived the AOTD), trying to protect Jon. Please feel free to disabuse me of this notion. Also? Dany's celebration with the surviving Northerners about how they're going to pluck Cersei out at the root has DOOOOOM written all over it. And finally, my older kid, my older sister, and I attended Game of Thrones Night at Citifield. It was fun and amusing (except for the Mets losing part, but we're used to that). We made a poster. We got a bobblehead.

I'm not sure about that. It looked to me as if Drogon got away after Dany fell off his back. He was shaking off wights as he took to the sky. I thought it was Viserion Jon was ready to kill.

I think the Lord of Light brought Jon back to wake everybody the fuck up about the threat posed by the NK.

Holy forking shirtballs. I must collect myself.

Yes. This hilarious little game of musical chairs is everything and possibly my favorite Tyrion scene. I don't know if I'm supposed to like the trial or Blackwater better; they're also great Tyrion moments, but the shade here is so epic, I can't resist. Of course, I'm predisposed to love scenes featuring Tywin and anybody else (including a deer carcass). Charles Dance makes everything better and Tywin's among my top 3 most-missed characters, alongside Margaery and her grandma.

Yeah, I was also thinking that a moat would quickly be crossed via 10-deep, dead-guy bridge. Your multi-trench (Now with fire!) is a much better idea. I was wondering whether or not the dragons might be used to spot-burn piles of dead bodies so they can't be conscripted into the AOTD. Or would that be like bringing a gun to a knife fight? Or napalm on your camping trip to make s'mores? In other Winterfell-adjacent news, one of my kids made me an Easter egg:

I could see Dany giving up her crown to Jon (after he resists the notion a bunch) and Jon then dying, so it bounces back to her. Basically, all my spec leads to Jon's death, one way or another. 😞

This was so, so great. Most of my thoughts have already been better expressed by others, but a few anyway: 1. Brienne's smile after being knighted was everything. 2. To me, Sansa's (absolutely not romantic) reaction to Theon's arrival wasn't just about their common experience w/Ramsay and/or Theon's pledging to fight for House Stark. It was that the last time she saw Theon, he'd only just barely shed his "Reek" skin. He was still such a shattered man when they parted, and now . . . I don't want to say he's the Theon of old, because he most definitely isn't that arrogant dick. But he's whole again, and I don't know if she imagined she'd ever see him that way. They both survived and came out stronger on the other side. It was a beautiful moment. 3. I was totally fine with Arya/Gendry. Didn't think she was using him--he was there for it, and I'll bet they both enjoyed it. Her expression afterward was maybe about having an attachment other than family now, and therefore more to lose.

I know! This was so ridiculously adorable.

Gritty = WTF?! every time I see him. Loved the article and photos! Kit truly has a surfeit of charm. And he seems very un-vain for an actor. Can't recall any famous, hunky male hero-types calling out thier own shortness recently (if ever). Whatever his height, he's so, so pretty.

You are not. It was really odd that Dany didn't mention the other obvious reason they're not eating, which is that they're in mourning for their sib, duh. But I've long been convinced they're doomed in general, just because of the greater ramifications of their continuing to exist in this world's political, cultural, social, what-have-you, climate. If I had my druthers, they'd survive and Dany would be like "Okay, I'm so proud of you and I love you so much but you're adults now, and we agreed that after graduation you'd have to get your own place or pay rent here." She'd pack them off to live and hunt in some remote, wild landscape where they'd encounter few people, but lots of elk or whatever (and yes, I'm totally hand-waving the wackadoodle effects two humongous predators would have on the food chain of wherever they settled. Maybe they'd be nomadic and thus less disruptive to the ecosystem(s)? Whoops, said I wasn't going to go there). But so anyway, I think they'll be sacrificed for dramatic/symbolic/thematic purposes. And I will cry, cry, cry. This type of thing is why I'm kinda glad Ghost hasn't shown up. Because I'm sure he's also marked for death and I can't with that.

Just pondering the dragon-riding thing. We've only seen Dany ride Drogon, right? I was just wondering if Jon's ride was so wild not only because he's inexeperienced, but because Rhaegal isn't used to having anyone on his back. Dany's never expressed knowledge of Targaryen history (or myth or legend) on this subject on the show, has she? She just sees that her babies are comfortable with Jon, so she feels comfortable letting him give it a go.

Hey, Martin Starr! This was great; cool behind-the-scenes stuff and insights from everybody. Glad I saw the ep. first, though, because I don't know if I'll ever be able to watch the dragon ride again without thinking of Kit's (painful, hilarious) tale of testicular misadventure.

Still processing, but a few thoughts: 1. I think someone mentioned this already, but ITA agree that Maisie did a wonderful job w/the emotions playing over Arya's face as Jon, Gendry, and the Hound rode into Winterfell. 2. Loved the Arya/Jon reunion, but yeah, WTF with her "Sansa's the smartest" comment? I was all, "Have you forgotten that one time you were Tywin Lannister's cup bearer?" I'm not a Sansa-hater by any means; I just haven't seen as much of this supposed brilliance as the show seems to think it's shown me. Writers having characters make bullshit pronouncements about other characters so we'll know how great they are is a pet peeve. Please do not condescend to me with this type of ham-fisted shortcut. If you want me to think Sansa's a brilliant whatever, please show me her being that. 3. Dragon ride: I actually really liked the whole thing and didn't find it too green-screeny. It was fun and pretty cool to see that dragon riding isn't as easy as it looks. Also, leave it to Daenerys to ratchet up foreplay to a whole new level. 4. Sam. Poor Sam. That was the definition of someone's face crumbling in grief; so well acted by JB. 5. Yes, Bran is still creepy/weird with his thousand-yard stare and I am there for his unintentionally(?) shooting sick burns all over the place, i.e. when Sam tried to get him to tell Jon because "He's your brother," and Bran was like, "Nope, 'bye." 6. Sigh. Jon, my iron woobie. The Brood-o-Meter was at an all-time low as he was reunited with his favorite sister and his BFF. And he got to ride a dragon! And bone his GF near a pretty waterfall! But then he was served the shit sandwich of all shit sandwiches. Kit acted this really well, I thought. You could see it behind his eyes--"No, no, no, no. Just NO. I hate Mondays." And I think he did make the aunt/nephew connection, he just wasn't ready to deal with it AT ALL. Talk about a bad day at the office. 7. Poor little Ned Umber was a great jump scare. 8. Jaime and Bran, heeeee. Jaime = "Escaped King's Landing, check. Made it here in one piece, check. Got through the gates of Winterfell without anyone recognizing me, ch--oh, shit." In other news, Linus van Pelt is all about the dragons:

It reminded me of feeling weird about having sex when your dog's in the room. But these are Dany's "children", so I really hope she and Jon found a nice, secluded spot, otherwise eeew.

Yeah, I, too, would love an explanation, but I feel like they won't bother to elaborate on it in these last episodes, more's the pity.

Oh, dear. How the hell to keep myself from scarfing all the eps down in one sitting? Between this and my Deadwood rewatch (Hi, Kristen Bell in an breakout guest-starring role!), I'll hopefully be well on my way to recovering from post- Game of Thrones-finale trauma.

I was predisposed to enjoy this, having grown up on old movies/musicals that made me flove the Fosse/Verdon artistic partnership. Also, Cabaret is everything. I saw it at Studio 54 years ago with Michael C. Hall as The Emcee and I think Fosse's film is maybe the best-ever adaptation of a show. Mein Herr is one of my favorites and I really liked the way the episode used it. Kelli Barrett is doing a serviceable job, although (superficial comment) I kinda wish she had the less-cut seventies body that Liza did. I figured Rockwell and Williams would be just fine, and they are. For anyone who hasn't seen the jaw-dropping spectacle of Fosse and Verdon dancing together, here's a primo example: Who's Got the Pain? When my kids were babies and got cranky, I used to play this and sing along to snap them out of it. Worked every time (for all of us.)

Yup. Here I am, looking foward to aunt/nephew sex while dreading unrelated-people sex. Oy, this show.