So S1 is done and we're into S2. I meant to post earlier with my impressions but although I still find the show enormously enjoyable of course, so much has been said about GoT that it's challenging to come up with something new.

It almost kind of sucks to see the difference between writing in S1 and S7. You can tell D&D had their choice of the best bits of some superb plotting. I don't think there's a minute of wasted screentime. Every moment does something to establish the world, characters, conflict, or plot. The cast they got for this show is fucking lightning in a bottle--which doesn't diminish the obviously titanic work that went into the project.

The OG King In Da Norf scene is still my winner over Jon's.

The look in Jorah's eyes when he became the devout disciple.

The salt when Theon is like "we're brothers, brah" knowing what is to come.

The realization I'd never had before that Bronn's story throughout the show is one of my my favorites even though he's a secondary character. He managed to get his own "rising through the ranks" underdog journey right along with Jon and Dany.

Forward unto S2.

 

We know now that S8 will arrive before June 2019 because that's the cut-off date for the Emmys. Before S7, new seasons dropped around April. S7 was moved to July in 2017 because they wanted to film the winter scenes in September. I'm hoping S8 will be closer to April again. That would put us at 9 months to go.



In the meantime, the my rewatch of S2 has concluded. I declare that Bronn is the season's background MVP. Varys' reaction when he realizes that Bronn had the City Watch slaughter "all the known thieves" may be the best moment of the season. And Tyrion is like "we talked about this", like Bronn's murderous ways have grown from merely an annoyance to a recurring inconvenience (all the major players probably had spies among those thieves).

S2 also gives us, imo, one of the best duets of the show, rivalling (and perhaps even surpassing at times) Tyrion and Bronn: Arya and Tywin. Their scenes are endlessly entertaining.

Beyond-the-Wall action in S2 I actually find quite a bit duller than other plotlines, although that scene with Sam... that was a powerful moment. Same for Essos. I'm really looking forward to Dany and Jon in S3.

 

Coming up on the last stretch of S3, time for the S4 schedule.

Spoiler

Season 4

week of October 29th: Episode 1

week of November 5th: Episode 2 (fuck Joffrey)

week of November 12th: Episode 3

week of November 19th: Episode 4

week of November 26th: Episode 5 (keep calm and demand trial by combat)

week of December 3rd: Episode 6

week of December 10th: Episode 7

week of December 17th: Episode 8 (Oberyn is not a Combat Pragmatist)

week of December 24th: Episode 9

week of December 31st: Episode 10​

 

So dies Prince Oberyn, the best supporting character on the show. Lyanna Mormont is great, but she's been in like two scenes, and the "I will be your champion" scene is frankly the GOAT.

Spoiler

Season 5

week of January 7th: Episode 1

week of January 14th: Episode 2 (The Ignoble Fall of Janos Slynt)

week of January 21st: Episode 3

week of January 28th: Episode 4 (Obara who? Nymeria what?)

week of February 4th: Episode 5

week of February 11th: Episode 6

week of February 18th: Episode 7

week of February 25th: Episode 8 (the White Walker was like "oh fuck")

week of March 4th: Episode 9

week of March 11th: Episode 10 (Jon will politely not die until everyone has had their turn to stab and Brienne gets some action after staring at a candle for weeks)​

I will write up the schedule for S6 & 7 when we know the premiere date for S8, so if you've been doing the rewatch with me, we'll get to gorge ourselves on 17 episodes for the last few weeks.

 

Lol. I'm always re-watching the show in my spare time. So what episode are you on and whats your viewing schedule like Scott?

 

Watched 4x09 yesterday. I've stuck to the schedule for this one. I also used to regularly return to the show in previous years, but even the best rewatchable thing gets a bit stale after a while. Limiting myself to one episode a week really has me enjoying every single one.

 

I see. I'll make sure to tune into 4x10 next week. I still think Battle of the Bastards is the best episode though imo.

 

I don't think I can name a single best GoT episode, but the big climaxes (Blackwater, Rains of Castamere, Watchers on the Wall, Hardhome, Battle of the Bastards) certainly are what stays with you the most, and it's what you hear people reference when recommending GoT.

And I have to add, there's no other show where I know names of individual episodes. GoT is my favorite show. I can say that.

 

S8 drops on April 14th, so here's the schedule for S6 & 7 in the Rewatch. 17 episodes in 4 weeks. After a year of rationing, this'll be almost like binging.

Spoiler

Schedule for S6 & 7

week of March 18th:
S6, Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4
(Davos' mutton, god pecker, his watch ends, Fuck Olly, Dany sends Ser Friendzone away again)

week of March 25th:
S6, Episodes 5, 6, 7, 8
(someone claims the Salt Throne, Lady Bear, Hound Who? Berric Where?)

week of April 1st:
S6, Episodes 9, 10; S7, Episodes 1, 2
(The Episode In Which The Show Loses Its Best Villain, King In Da Norf, Shall we begin?)

week of April 8th: It's The Final Countdooooooown
S7, Episodes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
(Tell Cersei it was me aka the Queen of Thorns goes out like a badass, "Daenerys of 17 titles" "this is Jon Snow", Dany rides an attack helicopter into battle, the Magnificent Seven, Night King unlocks OHK Murderspear, The Mountain knows who's coming for him)

 

The Rewatch is on the final stretch! Not binging really made me appreciate every single episode. I noticed the lows and highs more keenly. For all of its flaws, S5 had some great moments. Dorne gets a lot of flack, but as someone who hasn't read the books (my understanding is that book Dorne is on a whole other level) I think that Sansa's plot was the weakest of S5 threads. The entire premise of it is just... dumb, honestly. I find it hard to believe that Littlefinger didn't know about Ramsey, and I can't fathom why he thought giving him Sansa would play to his advantage. The only good thing about S5 Winterfell is that it raised Ramsey's hateability to forefront villain status. Tommen was so bland in S5 that Ramsey was a welcome relief from that spineless twerp.

Re: Dorne, I liked the look of it, I like that it paired up Bronn and Jamie (one of the best team ups of the show) and I can chalk Doran's mehhhness up to his health problems (although letting Ellaria kiss Myrcella was stoopid, and Jamie deciding to sail on to KL instead of maybe demanding a fucking explanation was also ehhhh).

Definitely one of GoT's weaker seasons, but far from bad TV. It also has the meta misfortune of being snuggled between two of GoT's best seasons.

S6 premiere is not an episode I'm particularly fond of, but what follows is delicious.

 

And now my Rewatch has ended.

I planned to stretch the last four episodes over this week, but I said fuck it and just binged all four today. Wow. What a ride. I kept to the schedule, didn't watch any episode twice, and finished the Rewatch after a year and five days.

Now the last agonizing week until S8 and five more agonizing weeks until I can binge the entire season however much I please. Hell, I might adopt this as a new tradition: rewatch GoT every year (73 episodes over 52 weeks) or just watch an episode of the show a week forever and ever until the end of time I get my cancer diagnosis.

Now comes the moment when I call out @Zenzao @Jarizok @99redbloons @theimmortalhp @Arthellion @Sauce Bauss @awinarock @Chengar Qordath @Johnnyseattle and @Lindsey because best as I can tell all ya'll bitches left me to do this alone.

Oh well. APRIL 14TH COMETH.

 

Nicely done Scott. Afraid I never got around to rewatching as I'd intended. But does it count if I've been re-reading the books?

 

I shall grant this achievement instead. I have the first book. I read Dany's chapters once, which I understand were also published separately under the title Blood of the Dragon. I hear all the time how ZOMGAMAZING Dorne is in the books. I should really get to reading ASOIAF.

 

@ScottPress Could I get a minor achievement for this as well?

Edit: Forgot to hit tab on Scott lol.

 

No.