Red Mosquito

Do they realize how often they use the phrase "bend the knee"

I think Arya knows Littlefinger is trying to play her and the scene with Sansa was just her way of finding out whether Sansa is his puppet. The fact that Sansa did not follow his advice is a good sign.

Season final possibilities:

Spoiler: show

The wall is coming down. Best way to end the season.
Arya kills Littlefinger. Thank god.
Sam, Bran, and Gilly discover Jon's real name. Finally get the Rhaegar and Lyanna flashback.
Jamie joins the fight against the army of the dead.

jwfocker wrote:Season final possibilities:

Spoiler: show

The wall is coming down. Best way to end the season.
Arya kills Littlefinger. Thank god.
Sam, Bran, and Gilly discover Jon's real name. Finally get the Rhaegar and Lyanna flashback.
Jamie joins the fight against the army of the dead.

These are all likely to happen.

That bear scene last night was cool on paper, but it was not executed well at all.

Monkey_Driven wrote:

jwfocker wrote:Season final possibilities:

Spoiler: show

The wall is coming down. Best way to end the season.
Arya kills Littlefinger. Thank god.
Sam, Bran, and Gilly discover Jon's real name. Finally get the Rhaegar and Lyanna flashback.
Jamie joins the fight against the army of the dead.

These are all likely to happen.

That bear scene last night was cool on paper, but it was not executed well at all.

It felt like it was just there to remind you that they can reanimate animals.

@SkitchP wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:

jwfocker wrote:Season final possibilities:

Spoiler: show

The wall is coming down. Best way to end the season.
Arya kills Littlefinger. Thank god.
Sam, Bran, and Gilly discover Jon's real name. Finally get the Rhaegar and Lyanna flashback.
Jamie joins the fight against the army of the dead.

These are all likely to happen.

That bear scene last night was cool on paper, but it was not executed well at all.

It felt like it was just there to remind you that they can reanimate animals.

Good point, I hadn't considered that. The close calls for characters were too much last night.

Monkey_Driven wrote:

jwfocker wrote:Season final possibilities:

Spoiler: show

The wall is coming down. Best way to end the season.
Arya kills Littlefinger. Thank god.
Sam, Bran, and Gilly discover Jon's real name. Finally get the Rhaegar and Lyanna flashback.
Jamie joins the fight against the army of the dead.

These are all likely to happen.

That bear scene last night was cool on paper, but it was not executed well at all.

Yeah that bear fight - very cool concept.

To echo everyone else the time/distance inconsistencies really stood out in the episode. Gendry's "I have never seen snow before" run, sending the raven and then Dany's arrival all while the gang is isolated against the zombie army. John Snow was literally saved out of the blue not once but twice. From a narrative view having two key characters in three weeks seemingly drown only to pop up again was weak. The battle scene was pretty cool but the whole mission sequence felt out of place.
I too thought the last 60 seconds would have been a great way to wrap the season so I wonder if they have something bigger in mind.

Thought Tormund was dead. Can't have that.

And talk about Obvious Red Shirts are obvious. jesus.

@SkitchP wrote:And talk about Obvious Red Shirts are obvious. jesus.

Yeah, that was ridiculous. I agree with the Ringer article posted earlier. This has become like other fantasy stories.

A few red shirts should have lived, while one of the other mains should have died. Way too many close calls this season.

They could easily explain some of this fast travel but ignore it for some reason. Dany could have left to rescue Jon before the raven was sent for instance. Her taking control type of thing.

The raven to Dany and Dany's arrival did happen super quick, but the Gendry running to the wall could have been plausible. Maybe they weren't that far away (they never camp or anything) and it turns out the white walkers are really close to Eastwatch.

But in general the travel doesn't bother me. It's a narrative sacrifice you have to make with the amount of time you have left to tell your story. Having great dragon effects means you can't afford as many episodes, and I'd rather have tighter pacing then pad things out just because you need to account for travel time.


The 'other fantasy stories' element of this episode were inevitable. Martin largely built a people vs. a world destroying evil framework into his larger narrative. As we move closer to the resolution of the story those elements had to come to the fore.

I expected more deaths, too, but lets see where they're going with this. The dragon death/reanimation was your big reveal of that episode. Throwing some more main characters into the mix draws a bit of focus from that moment. For all that was a bit sloppy last week (poorly choreographed fights, some internal inconsistencies like the white walkers not freezing the ice, the travel logistics, the benjen save (whcih, while not totally implausible, was a bit convenient) the general insanity of the plan in the first place), the points it built too were all very well done.

1. Jon pledging the north to Dany
2. The dragons wrecking the army of the dead
3. Establishing what happens to the soldiers animated by a white walker when they die (which is a vital mechanic)
4. The death of one of Dany's dragons
5. The commitment of Dany to the true war in the north
6. The reanimation of the dragon

The episode definitely had its flaws, but it ended in a very intriguing place.

The raven to Dany and Dany's arrival did happen super quick, but the Gendry running to the wall could have been plausible. Maybe they weren't that far away (they never camp or anything) and it turns out the white walkers are really close to Eastwatch.

But in general the travel doesn't bother me. It's a narrative sacrifice you have to make with the amount of time you have left to tell your story. Having great dragon effects means you can't afford as many episodes, and I'd rather have tighter pacing then pad things out just because you need to account for travel time.


The 'other fantasy stories' element of this episode were inevitable. Martin largely built a people vs. a world destroying evil framework into his larger narrative. As we move closer to the resolution of the story those elements had to come to the fore.

I expected more deaths, too, but lets see where they're going with this. The dragon death/reanimation was your big reveal of that episode. Throwing some more main characters into the mix draws a bit of focus from that moment. For all that was a bit sloppy last week (poorly choreographed fights, some internal inconsistencies like the white walkers not freezing the ice, the travel logistics, the benjen save (whcih, while not totally implausible, was a bit convenient) the general insanity of the plan in the first place), the points it built too were all very well done.

1. Jon pledging the north to Dany
2. The dragons wrecking the army of the dead
3. Establishing what happens to the soldiers animated by a white walker when they die (which is a vital mechanic)
4. The death of one of Dany's dragons
5. The commitment of Dany to the true war in the north
6. The reanimation of the dragon

The episode definitely had its flaws, but it ended in a very intriguing place.

stip wrote:The raven to Dany and Dany's arrival did happen super quick, but the Gendry running to the wall could have been plausible. Maybe they weren't that far away (they never camp or anything) and it turns out the white walkers are really close to Eastwatch.

But in general the travel doesn't bother me. It's a narrative sacrifice you have to make with the amount of time you have left to tell your story. Having great dragon effects means you can't afford as many episodes, and I'd rather have tighter pacing then pad things out just because you need to account for travel time.


The 'other fantasy stories' element of this episode were inevitable. Martin largely built a people vs. a world destroying evil framework into his larger narrative. As we move closer to the resolution of the story those elements had to come to the fore.

I expected more deaths, too, but lets see where they're going with this. The dragon death/reanimation was your big reveal of that episode. Throwing some more main characters into the mix draws a bit of focus from that moment. For all that was a bit sloppy last week (poorly choreographed fights, some internal inconsistencies like the white walkers not freezing the ice, the travel logistics, the benjen save (whcih, while not totally implausible, was a bit convenient) the general insanity of the plan in the first place), the points it built too were all very well done.

1. Jon pledging the north to Dany
2. The dragons wrecking the army of the dead
3. Establishing what happens to the soldiers animated by a white walker when they die (which is a vital mechanic)
4. The death of one of Dany's dragons
5. The commitment of Dany to the true war in the north
6. The reanimation of the dragon

The episode definitely had its flaws, but it ended in a very intriguing place.

I get they weren't far from Eastwatch, but Dragonstone is like half a continent away from Eastwatch. A raven would have taken several days to get there. You spend season after season building the scope and size of the world, then throw it away when it is convenient.

so we had an entire season of ten episodes of arya and the hound traveling across a region of westeros, but in the span of 30 minutes we got gendry running back to the wall, davos et al. sending ravens to dragonstone, danny flying north of the wall with 3 dragons, jon snow riding back to castle black, and then jon snow and danny on a ship somewhere. i think people are on to something when they say this season may be a little rushed.

by the way, my wife fought me tooth and nail for six years when i wanted her to watch the show, saying she didn't enjoy fantasy shows. my response was that this was more than fantasy, and she'd really like it. i finally convinced her to watch it, and we binged so we could catch up. and she really did like it. and then this season totally turns it into just another fantasy show. dammit.

The Benjen save can easily be explained by Bran sending him there. Benjen has the ability to communicate with ravens. I would like that a lot. Bran has to wield some of his powers.

can someone explain why they didn't draw out the series to two more years of full seasons? What was the problem? This series has a huge following, their rating destroy everything else, including porn, apparently, and they must make money hand over fist... why ruin it in the final (2 really 1 and a half) seasons like this?

I don't read the volume of online stuff everyone else does, has there been anything written on it?