Game of Thrones ! (HBO Mini Series) Spoilers......

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I think it was to bring it full circle - the Stark’s bent the knee to the targeryens in exchange for not being burnt to a crisp by Dany’s forefathers - so they were just putting things back the way they were before -

But I don’t recall who ruled the 6 kingdoms before the dragons....

 
A few thoughts:

The 2nd half of last night's episode reminded me a lot of the ending to LOTR. Nothing particularly memorable except for the fact that it was just a series of ever-longer goodbyes. Nothing seemed overly unexpected, but they did do a good job tying off the miscellaneous loose ends (like Bronn, Edmure Tully, Yara Grayjoy and Robyn Arryn).

I did like Tyrion's early scenes where he found Jamie & Cersi. He really did care about them like any sibling would. Not sure if he relayed finding them to Sansa/Jon/Arya for their closure, but it would be only a matter of time for their bodies to eventually be found during cleanup.

The Iron Throne literally just within Dany's reach before she died was a bit bittersweet. I don't mind Drogon melting the thing down. It seemed to fit within the scene as any child's rage-fit would.

Jon getting sent back to the Wall does feel a bit cheap. The only ones who were upset about Jon staying alive/free was Grayworm and Yara. He ended up sailing off to Esos and she is the last of a miniscule house. I agree that Jon shouldn't get a title/house of his own, but I don't think he really needed to be exiled to the Wall again. His arc does go full circle and he ends up where he was wanting to go back in season 1, so he essentially is the only one who ended up where they wanted.

A twist that would have been absolutely epic would be if Bran reveals he has been the mastermind for everything so that he would get the throne. 

I would have flipped my shit if Jon didn't pet Ghost at the end. That wolf saved Jon's ass multiple times and deserves respect. I'm not a dog person, but Ghost was definitely was a good boy.

 
I just watched the series finale of Big Bang theory. It was by far more satisfying than the series finale of GOT. I don’t mind how all the differnt stories and sub plots unfolded. After all it’s GOT, I certainly wasn’t expecting happy endings. It’s just that everything seemed overly hurried for the sake of ending things. They built up the battle with the night king for 7 (?) seasons and it lasted half of one episode and one could barely make out what was happening. Danaryus went from being a savior and breaker of chains to mad queen and torching children in an episode and a half. GOT was an epic series that had a wrap up reminiscent of a cheap, straight to DVD,  B- rated movie. 

 
This was probably the best written episode of the season. And the one that was closest to the style of the rest of the series. But that shouldn't be confused for an endorsement. From I production standpoint It seems to me that they wrote the last episdoe first and really refined the script. Then they wrote most of the second episode, and story boarded a big battle for the  third and fifth episodes. Lastly they phoned-in the scripts for everything else this season to make sure that they ended where they did in the last episode.

It's a bad sign, that even with the huge budget and extra time, that they couldn't pull together a tighter story arc and scripts. Some people blame the lack of source material in the last few seasons, but I wonder if it has more to do with GRRM knowing how it ends without figuring out how it gets there. The show producers sure couldn't

This season was pretty sloppy, but I don't think it's so bad that it will destroy the legacy of the show, ala Lost, BSG, etc. They could have really benefited from 13 episode seasons from the start, or at least 10 episode seasons in season 7 and 8. The story really suffered with the accelerated scripts. They basically eliminated the first and second act, and chunks of the third, from every episode in the seventh and eight season. I can't understand why HBO wouldn't have ordered more episodes? Budget and money-flow? Maybe, but GoT was there cash cow for years. Maybe it had to do with the actors contracts? I know many of them want to work on other projects.

So was Jon ditching the wall and becoming the king beyond the wall? Or is here really no more wall and that was just a way to keep him alive?
There is no need for the Night's Watch anymore. The threat of the undead is gone, and the freemen aren't generally going to harass the north anymore. If anything, it functions as a means of allowing high-born to self-exile in lieu of death or lifetime imprisonment. Bran and the other nobles had to have know this, so they just sent Jon there as a way of pacifying Greyworm and the hordes.

I'm not sure that Jon will become the King beyond the wall, or just another clan leader? In the end, I think he wanted to go north, so this was probably for the best for him.

I really love Sansa's character development throughout the series.  Her coronation was definitely one of my favorite parts of the episode.

Yeah, that's a good point about Jon.  I'm wondering if he'll be like Mance Rayder and become King beyond the wall...
Sansa was the most developed character arc of all the characters, and one of the few they did properly. They did a great job with her character and costumes.

So based on the LOTR discussion we had a while back.
The 2nd half of last night's episode reminded me a lot of the ending to LOTR. Nothing particularly memorable except for the fact that it was just a series of ever-longer goodbyes.
The LotR homages were strong in this episode. I turned to my wife at one point and asked if they were really going to Tolkein this ending. Narrator: They Did.

Sam presents a book called A Song of Fire and Ice which is a call to the got books and something that Bilbo and Frodo did in lotr.

Arya gets on a boat and goes west.

The aforementioned, lots of endings.

Coronation and "rules wisely"

others

Right?  Wouldn't Yara and the Prince of Dorne, and basically anyone else sitting at that table, want independence as well?
The Iron Islands were always an independent kingdom. I don't know why Yara was there to begin with?!

Dorne should have also declared independence too and would have been justified in doing so. They were the only principality in the seven kingdoms, and had semi-autonomy. They were the only Kingdom to successfully resist the original Tragaryn invasion millennia ago.

The other five kingdoms? I went into the episode expecting the balkanization of the seven kingdoms. But it sort of makes sense that they would have wanted to stick together. They had similar enough cultures and religion. Most were pretty messed up from the recent wars, loss of leadership, or economic collapse. Only the Reach had the resources to go fully independent and self sustain, but with the tyrells gone they lacked the leadership and politics to pull it off.

I did like Tyrion's early scenes where he found Jamie & Cersi. He really did care about them like any sibling would. Not sure if he relayed finding them to Sansa/Jon/Arya for their closure, but it would be only a matter of time for their bodies to eventually be found during cleanup.

The Iron Throne literally just within Dany's reach before she died was a bit bittersweet. I don't mind Drogon melting the thing down. It seemed to fit within the scene as any child's rage-fit would.
Tyrion finding the bodies was there for dramatic effect. I'm not sure how practical it would have been in reality. The bodies would have been found eventually... but it could have been many months to years, depending on if/when KL and the red keep was ever rebuilt.

I just watched the series finale of Big Bang theory. It was by far more satisfying than the series finale of GOT. 

...

They built up the battle with the night king for 7 (?) seasons and it lasted half of one episode and one could barely make out what was happening.

...

GOT was an epic series that had a wrap up reminiscent of a cheap, straight to DVD,  B- rated movie. 
BBT was a cookie cutter ending for a niche-based but ultimately generic sit-com. The framework for that finale was obvious from the second season. Wrap up everyone's arcs neatly: the normies achieve milestones as people in normal families, and Sheldon finds humility and humanity during a high point in his life - recognizing his friends and how they aided him.

The army of the night king was the low point in the series. You are right that they built it up, then waived it away with a poor cinematography and writing. It's like the show writers always viewed it as a distraction from the main story.

Totally agree with your assessment of the wrap up.

 
I think a lot of the reason people are angry is just that the show is ending. It can’t go on forever - it was already getting to be like the walking dead ( never ending).

Most little girls who grow up reading fantasy books probably aligned with Dany- I know my daughter did. But she was becoming hitler like and needed to die..

What else do you expect for $14.99/ month //content.invisioncic.com/r86644/emoticons/default_wink.png

 
This was probably the best written episode of the season. And the one that was closest to the style of the rest of the series. But that shouldn't be confused for an endorsement. From I production standpoint It seems to me that they wrote the last episdoe first and really refined the script. Then they wrote most of the second episode, and story boarded a big battle for the  third and fifth episodes. Lastly they phoned-in the scripts for everything else this season to make sure that they ended where they did in the last episode.

It's a bad sign, that even with the huge budget and extra time, that they couldn't pull together a tighter story arc and scripts. Some people blame the lack of source material in the last few seasons, but I wonder if it has more to do with GRRM knowing how it ends without figuring out how it gets there. The show producers sure couldn't

This season was pretty sloppy, but I don't think it's so bad that it will destroy the legacy of the show, ala Lost, BSG, etc. They could have really benefited from 13 episode seasons from the start, or at least 10 episode seasons in season 7 and 8. The story really suffered with the accelerated scripts. They basically eliminated the first and second act, and chunks of the third, from every episode in the seventh and eight season. I can't understand why HBO wouldn't have ordered more episodes? Budget and money-flow? Maybe, but GoT was there cash cow for years. Maybe it had to do with the actors contracts? I know many of them want to work on other projects.

There is no need for the Night's Watch anymore. The threat of the undead is gone, and the freemen aren't generally going to harass the north anymore. If anything, it functions as a means of allowing high-born to self-exile in lieu of death or lifetime imprisonment. Bran and the other nobles had to have know this, so they just sent Jon there as a way of pacifying Greyworm and the hordes.

I'm not sure that Jon will become the King beyond the wall, or just another clan leader? In the end, I think he wanted to go north, so this was probably for the best for him.

Sansa was the most developed character arc of all the characters, and one of the few they did properly. They did a great job with her character and costumes.

The LotR homages were strong in this episode. I turned to my wife at one point and asked if they were really going to Tolkein this ending. Narrator: They Did.

Sam presents a book called A Song of Fire and Ice which is a call to the got books and something that Bilbo and Frodo did in lotr.

Arya gets on a boat and goes west.

The aforementioned, lots of endings.

Coronation and "rules wisely"

others

The Iron Islands were always an independent kingdom. I don't know why Yara was there to begin with?!

Dorne should have also declared independence too and would have been justified in doing so. They were the only principality in the seven kingdoms, and had semi-autonomy. They were the only Kingdom to successfully resist the original Tragaryn invasion millennia ago.

The other five kingdoms? I went into the episode expecting the balkanization of the seven kingdoms. But it sort of makes sense that they would have wanted to stick together. They had similar enough cultures and religion. Most were pretty messed up from the recent wars, loss of leadership, or economic collapse. Only the Reach had the resources to go fully independent and self sustain, but with the tyrells gone they lacked the leadership and politics to pull it off.

Tyrion finding the bodies was there for dramatic effect. I'm not sure how practical it would have been in reality. The bodies would have been found eventually... but it could have been many months to years, depending on if/when KL and the red keep was ever rebuilt.

BBT was a cookie cutter ending for a niche-based but ultimately generic sit-com. The framework for that finale was obvious from the second season. Wrap up everyone's arcs neatly: the normies achieve milestones as people in normal families, and Sheldon finds humility and humanity during a high point in his life - recognizing his friends and how they aided him.

The army of the night king was the low point in the series. You are right that they built it up, then waived it away with a poor cinematography and writing. It's like the show writers always viewed it as a distraction from the main story.

Totally agree with your assessment of the wrap up.
My biggest issue with Sansa's character development was her rape and torture by Ramsay.  I haven't read all the books, but it's my understanding that this doesn't happen in the books.  I understand that there are many plot devices used in the show that didn't happen in the novels, they had a lot of shocking storylines, etc etc but it's weak for the writers to use that as a plot device to strengthen her.  She had been through enough throughout the series already without rape and torture to make her ~stronger~

 
I can agree with that.

The last we see of her in the books, she and Littlefinger were leaving the Eirye to head north. IIRC she was going to have an arranged marriage with a low-rank lord. The books still had her on a path where she was being manipulated in other peoples' plan without resorting to assault, yet. And I could definitely see how she would grow out of those manipulations and ultimately become Queen of the North by the end of the series.

The show merged so many plotlines, and characters, and diverged plots and characters. But they were certainly keeping to certain themes. All of Ramsey's rape and torture happened to another character, who only had a brief cameo in the show, but who was featured more in the books. Ironically that character (who's name I forget) was forced to pretend to be Arya, so solidify the Bolton "claim" to winterfell. Theon's role in those scenes was unchanged.

 
I don't think the spin offs will be able to compare, unless they really secure some good writers - to me the one spinoff Id like to see or read would focus on castle black - i think you could do a main story line of the wall and then allow a lot of other side stories between the rest of the kingdom south of the wall and adventures north.

 
Did not agree with Jon being sent back to the wall. Felt like a cheap way to get rid of any questions regarding the throne whether it be the north or the 7 kingdoms. It didnt make sense with respect to the rest of the story, especially becasue the only ones mad at him were the unsullied. That brings up the question as to how any one knew what happened to dany as drogon flew away with the body... also the unsullied had literally no power in that situation/sailed off after so how would they even know? Another point is regardless of dany freeing them, they are a rank and file society. They have been brainwashed for years not to have emotion/attachement and follow those in power. So after Jon gets rid of Dany, I find it hard to believe they would still only follow grey worm and not the new "king" or person above grey worm whether grey worm accepts that person or not.  Idk i was not satisfied with the way things ended for almost everyone besides Arya and Tyrion.

 
The way I understand why the Unsullied had such big bargaining chips in that last meeting was the fact that they held both Jon and Tyrion as prisoners and also had full control of Kings Landing. I'm sure everyone else could have just walked away and let them have Kings Landing then develop a new capitol somewhere else, but in the end most everyone there knew that Jon was still a key person to get back.

 
i re-watched the last 15 minutes of the finale, was mainly trying to gage the situation at Castle Black - it looked like there were other "crows" there, i counted 10, but like most people, I still think Jon is outa there.

While I was lounging around yesterday I watched some of Season 4 but skipped to the Castle Black and Arya scenes, to look back on some of their development -

I didn't watch the full 2 hours of the recap show, but what I did scan through it looked like they just did a behind the scenes look at how they made season 8 - not the typical narrative by the "show runners"  I know the people who put on the actual show worked hard, and it probably sucks that most fans were not happy with the final season, but like sucks then they probably move on to the next show, and for anyone who watches, it most of the production team is from Ireland, so either turn it up way loud or put on subtitles cause I couldn't understand much of what they were saying!

 
That behind the scenes show did confirm that they flew in actors just to throw the crew off for the actual ending.  For example, they showed Jaqen and the girl Arya killed both in costume and on set in the same place they filmed the scene where they voted Bran as king.

 
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