I just hope the outrage of this season will get HBO to get someone new as showrunners for the prequels.

 

HBO should only take up the three Dunk and Egg novels. They are well written stories that can be made as individual movies while retaining the possibility of turning them into a series.

 

No need for the outrage to do that. D&D said they're done with GoT for a long time and at the moment are working on some Star Wars project.

 

Meh. Here's hoping their skills and script writing translater better to that universe. I'd feel alot better if it was some one like Drew Karpshyn running the script on that though.

 

Just saw it.

Are you fucking shitting me? This is the end of the overarching plot line of the entire show? I mean, the cinematography was excellent. If it were the end of the series I would have been happier, but what the fuck are they gonna do with another three (or is it five?) episodes? Are we really gonna watch them go back to fighting Cersei? Fuck me.

 

Well, certainly more enjoyable than the battle episode. They clearly just had no idea what to do with the Wight/Others plot, probably because GRRM had no idea what to do with it. Now they're trying to get back to the political machinations and whatnot. Fine. Not particularly exciting, but fine.

Spoiler

I didn't mind the Brienne/Jaime shipping. The actors pulled it off.

Also, Jaime basically guaranteed to backstab Cersei and then die tragically in some fashion?

 

I liked this episode, and I think I've nailed why. It's because all of the major characters show their colors and their intentions.


Also, I do enjoy actually being able to see what happens.

 

I'll skip right over the aspect of travel time, much bemoaned since last season. In S7 it was really all over the place, this season they seem to limit that to what makes sense. The Walker threat is done, so let's skip the travel and get right to Dragonstone/KL where action actually happens.

Lots of character interaction in this episode, and disagree if you wish, but I thought it was rather good. The episode doubled down on what's important: Dany resisting (and succumbing to, in the end) the urge to just unleash Drogon on King's Landing, consequences be damned. Burn now, sort it out later.

The conflict of loyalties as various characters must choose between Jon and Dany.

The threat that Cersei represents. The disappointing resolution of the Night King plot notwithstanding, I enjoyed the situation that was set up in this episode. Qyburn's scorpions don't just even the odds, they outright threaten the dragons. Well, one dragon now. I think we can all agree that a curb-stomp battle would have been unsatisfying, especially after the godawfulness of the previous episode.

The show has some 2,5 hours of runtime left. I think that's enough to wrap up those 3 outstanding plotlines.

Emilia Clarke and Sophie Turner were particularly good in this episode, especially Emilia's last scene at the gates of KL. An enormous improvement over the previous episode. Tyrion was good there too. Finally some worthwile material for Dinklage after two seasons of meh.

I just hope the next one, another big battle directed by Sapochnik, is more Battle of the Bastards than Battle of Winterfell. It looks like it'll be a daytime affair (thank the gods) but given that editing was atrociously shit in 8x03, I'm kinda expecting to be disappointed with spastic cuts, blurry closeups, and shakycam.

MVP of episode 8x04 goes to Bronn. Came in like a motherfucker, exited like one. I had a stupid grin on my face the whole way through that scene. "What's double Riverrun?" lol

 

Poor Rhaegal didn't deserve this, no he didn't.

 

I’m curious how much fan fiction D&D read. This episode was almost entirely ripped from thousands of badly written fics, especially in the character relationships.

I think Arya dies next week trying to kill Cersei. The Mountain is gonna gank her before we get Cleganebowl. Or, the Hound is gonna die saving her from the Mountain. Either one.

 

@Spanks

spoiler regarding Cleganebowl, so read at your own peril

Spoiler

a leak from a guy who provided accurate leaks for a few seasons and episode 8x04 suggests that there won't be a Cleganebowl, just the Hound mercy killing the Mountain after Gregor is injured in battle

 

Spoiler

Christ I don’t even know what to say. There’s subverting expectations and then there’s just being dicks. They’ve basically made everything up as they went along for the last 3 seasons, but they’re not gonna give the fans one of the things they’ve wanted forever? The only way I can see the Hound mercy killing Gregor is if he finds him burnt to a crisp, and he feels a bit of empathy for his brother who he has wanted to kill for decades...fuck it. Nothing has made sense since they ran out of book material. This fits in the post season 6 canon.

 

I actually think that would be an okay end for the Hound's arc.

Spoiler

I am envisioning the Mountain getting roasted by dragonfire and the Hound coming up to his body and just kicking the shit out of it for few seconds, railing at the top of his voice against "fucking dragons and fucking dragon queens" and then eventually he just goes quiet. He stands over his brother's death throes, mutters a quick "cunt" under his breath, and then shoves a sword into the Mountain's helmet.

 

Then again, I just found this. POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE REST OF SEASON 8

Spoiler

 

"WTF is pacing?!" the episode.

I guess we now know the answer to the "Will 8 episodes be enough to wrap this up?" question.

I still maintain that one of them is serpentguy

 

Spoiler

1. Dany: Jorah, I'm really happy you're dead. You're a creepy stalker we should have just killed off years ago. Enjoy being Batman.

Sansa: Theon, you were too good for this show. You're a great actor tragically wasted in a lousy role.

Samwell: Edd, you were the funniest character in the books. It's a tragedy it was never on the show.

Arya: Ser Beric, you were kind of a meh character that ended up having nothing to do with his book version.

Jon: Lyanna, you were seriously overrated. I honestly don't get what anyone saw in you.

2. Dany: Gendry, any particular reason why I shouldn't be mad at you for being a Baratheon?

Gendry: Er, I wasn't born until after the Rebellion that killed your family? I'm a bastard blacksmith that didn't even get the Baratheon name? I didn't even know Robert was my dad until well after he died?

Dany: In that case, I'm naming you lord of Storm's End. Unless there's anyone else already ruling it.

Gendry: This was the first time in years they so much as mentioned Storm's End. Would you be the least bit surprised if they only just now remembered Storm's End even exists?

Dany: Since this episode also felt the need to mention Riverrun after all this time, probably. Seven Hells, there's even a new Prince of Dorne now, not that we have the slightest inkling who he is.

3. Dany: So Jon, how about you just forget that whole "you have a better claim to the Throne shtick?" Your only witnesses are your best friend (who hates me) and your brother (who's more than a little off), you have no desire to have the Throne, and you can keep mounting this dragon, if you catch my meaning.

Jon: Sure, but I really have to tell Sansa and Arya about it.

Dany: But, why? What's the point of telling them other than being stupidly and needlessly honest as all Stark men are?

Jon: Don't worry, I'll make them pinky swear they won't tell anyone else.

Sansa: Yeah, I'm totally telling Tyrion, because I hate Dany for ill-defined reasons.

4. Tyrion: Based on personal experience, the best possible way to get the people to turn against Cersei is to starve them. Cutting off supplies from King's Landing should be simple enough, and won't require that many troops to start with.

Sansa: And we'll need time to recuperate from that massive battle. By the time they'll be ready to fight again, her forces should be weakened enough to make the final fight easy. After all, she's allegedly losing allies every day.

Dany: Or, and I'm just spitballing, we take our weakened forces and attack Cersei right away. If we're lucky, we can beat her now and be done with this show a few episodes early.

Jon: Should we get Yara to help us too?

Dany: We can't, she took the Iron Islands and now can't do anything to help us. There is honestly a good possibility we're never going to hear from her again.

5. Tormund: Jon, I'm going to go with what's left of the wildlings. We don't really have much of a story arc anymore, no one wants to stay in the show for much longer, and my undying love for Brienne went absolutely nowhere.

Jon: Ok, but can you take Ghost with you? He's too expensive, we haven't done a thing with him for years, and it's not like I've ever developed any warging abilities.

Sam: Jon, Gilly and I are also leaving.

Jon: Are you going to your still-living mother and sister, your only family left.

Sam: Nah, screw them. Just as long as I get to put my tiny pink mast in her sail, I couldn't care less what happens to everyone else.

6. Dany: Ah, it's so great to be flying with my dragons. Nothing like being in the open sky, paying absolutely no attention to any potential enemy navies right under me that I should be able to spot from a mile away.

Euron: HERE'S EURON! AND HIS TELEPORTING NAVY!
*Kills Rhaegal*
Sweet, I managed to kill a dragon. Although in retrospect, I should have probably targeted Drogon, since he's bigger and has Dany on his back.

Dany: And I should really be going Dracarys over your wooden navy asses now, but I'm just going to run away now.

7. Euron: Cersei, thanks to my Uber-Navy I dealt a major blow to Dany's forces, and somehow found Missendei in that mess. Don't ask how none of the named characters outright drowned.

Cersei: So that makes it, what, the third time you effortlessly won against a large navy that never so much as noticed you were there? Why isn't anyone complaining about how ridiculously overpowered you are right now, as they did with Rey or Captain Marvel?

Euron: Fans are a lot more forgiving when a man is the Mary Sue. Cocks are important.

Cersei: Oh, and I'm pregnant and you're the father.

Euron: Wait, how long has it been since I first explored your lionness den? Shouldn't I find it suspicious I got you pregnant so quickly?

8. Tyrion: Varys, Jon has the rightful claim to the Throne. I don't know why I'm telling you this, especially since I don't want to overthrow Dany, but oh well.

Varys: Imagine that, the war over Lyanna was a lie.

Tyrion: Are we really just going to ignore that Rhaegar was still an asshole for leaving his wife and children for Lyanna, or that Aerys started the war by burning people?

Varys: Yep. And speaking of mad rulers, I totally think Dany will go insane, and we should overthrow her and make Jon king.

Tyrion: But, why? Dany hasn't actually done anything particularly cruel and terrible yet, spent a long time in a war to specifically free slaves from slavery, and her new big enemy keeps defeating her every time she tries to be reasonable here.

Varys: True, but she's still a woman. And everyone knows women are too irrational to do things like rule, so we should make the man in charge.

9. Tyrion: Qyburn, can you please try and convince Cersei to surrender peacefully? I don't want to have the city burned and innocents killed.

Qyburn: Ah, but I do. Think of all the experiments I can do with those dead people. All those burned-up corpses...

Tyrion: Ok, I won't get anywhere with you. Cersei, can you please just surrender now already? It's really dumb that you're the final big bad, and everyone knows it.

Cersei: What? I'm really high up, I couldn't hear you. Screw it, I'm just going to kill Missendei. Any last words?

Missendei: I knew I shouldn't have done that luvvy dubby crap, that telegraphed someone was going to die easily. I'm just surprised it isn't Grey Worm kicking the bucket instead.

 

Spoiler

Tbh the Night King didn't die for this.

 

So really what's going on here is that GRRM fed a craptastic early version of the endgame to the show runners, knowing that the fans would go nuts with all the 'but they should've done this and that,' making it easy for him to collect the best ideas for the novels. That way he can outshine the show after the fact, making them look foolish for rushing ahead to the conclusion.

 

U fukin wot?

 

For what it's worth, I find show-Euron far, far, far more irritating of a character than Rey or Captain Marvel. Difference is, the issues with Euron kind of get rolled into the all the other "the show isn't as good as the books" talk, and the issues with the show haven't touched off a stupid internet culture war between SJWs and the Alt-Right.