My basketball comparison: Spoiler This felt like if I was rooting for the Warriors (Night King) to lose because they’re so damn good and ruining the league. Some underdog team miraculously eliminates the Warriors but decimates themselves in the process. My initial instinct is jubilation ... until I realize that this is just the WCF. On the Eastern Conference side, we have this rival who we hate, but kind of dismissed them because we didn’t expect them to still be a factor at this point. Cersei/C Bags. Suddenly with the playing field leveled out, they have a legit chance which might be even worse than if the Warriors just destroyed the entire league again.
Spoiler These basketball comparisons are hilarious. I thought Daenerys and Jon were like Steph and Klay for the Warriors in a random Finals game or like a game vs the Rockets last year. Like WTF are you doing, you’re laying a massive egg when you have all this power and you should be crushing these guys. This episode was frustrating as hell, and I think it was intended to feel that way because I have no good explanation why it would have otherwise. Those dragons were so damn useless for the most part, wandering around in the fog or standing on the wall at one point instead of continuing to set fire to the front line of the wights rather than random sections of the back or middle. Also agree on the plot armor bit, I’m glad the characters that lived did live, but they should not have when they were pinned to the wall one by one by hundreds of the dead. There were a lot of awesome moments in the episode, the Night King’s death made me cheer, but overall I didn’t love it. It was so bleak and dark (literally) and hopeless in a way I felt that was maybe too much (I know, it’s in line with the show, I know, but still), it made it almost not enjoyable to watch to me, because I ended up comparing it to something like Helms Deep from LOTR which is incredibly enjoyable. I do look forward to seeing where this goes from here though, seems the true enemy is still ready and waiting with a big fancy army while our heroes are running on fumes.
On top of everything you said guys, music was ridiculously good. The last 10-15 mins, no words, just chills down my spine...
That music was the star of the episode. Not even exaggerating. That’s what made things feel so tense and dire having me at the edge of my seat. If the soundtrack wasn’t that engaging, it may have left my mind to wander and poke further holes at the substance of how the ending played out.
Just re-watched the episode.. I get why people are disappointed the way they abruptly tied up storylines and preserved a lot of the main characters, but I've been reading a lot of comments online claiming that the writing was terrible and people who liked the episode are simply enamored by the spectacle and emotional appeal of the way they wrapped things up. I don't agree with that. I don't want to write an essay about it at the moment, but I think everything in this episode was great, and beyond a superficial level. It was well-produced, subverted expectations, remained consistent with the characters and story elements we know, and efficiently moves the plot forward in a way that makes me most excited about the final episodes.
The song that played at the end of the episode as Jon was hiding from Viserion, Jorah was protecting Danny, and the Night King approached Bran was very Westworld-y.
I’m just gonna say it, I thought episode 4 was s***. I was going to go into detail, but this article covers it entirely. http://collider.com/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-5-theories/ Twitter ripping it apart covers anything he left out.
Honestly, I thought it was OK. I'm actually starting to really hate The Long Night the more I think about it.
This season really needed to be 10 episodes long. And Dany, you need a better battle strategist..... there's a Jeanie Buss connection/joke/comparison there somewhere.
I thought the first like 20 minutes were good to ok. After that, for me it started to slowly descend into meh, to outright crap and wtf kind of writing is this, and Spoiler genuine pangs for poor Ghost and how Jon couldn’t be bothered to say a word to him or pat him on the head. That bothered me more than any people dying, like WT-actual-F? The goodbyes to Tormund and Sam felt awkward too, like “well, good battle last night, guess I’ll never see you again, later”. Everyone on this show in high positions have gotten incredibly stupid and impulsive as they need to clearly wrap things up quickly. At this point I only have faith in like Sanasa and Arya. Yes, this, all of this. The shortened season has done nothing but lead to lazy writing and quick wrap-ups.
Spoiler The pupper literally GUARDED HIS CORPSE FOR DAYS. He saved his life multiple times. He couldn't even hug him? No joke. That made me think he is not fit to be king. What kind of heartless bastard ghosts their loyal dog like that (both puns intended)? They were obviously given a budget and told to finish this thing. Jamie's character arc? WTF? 7 1/2 seasons of skillfully and believably rebuilding his character only to have him JUST NOW have the epiphany that Cersei is going to die? He's know that for months. They flushed down the toilet some of the best character development in TV history just to make sure Jamie has a reason to be there at the end. I'm sure he's going to end up killing Cersei or something, and that's why they needed to get him to King's Landing, but that's how you do it?
Spoiler: Jamie Am I reading that whole thing differently? I see him telling Brienn that so she doesn't follow him to KL. Spoiler: Ghost I've been reading that he was a last minute inclusion into the season. That's why he always looks off in the scenes he's in and why no one really interacts with him. Still stupid though and another reason why this season's writing is tanking everything.
Spoiler I ... didn’t mind the episode? I guess that’s how I’d put it. Which in itself is disappointing. Because I see where everyone’s coming from in their frustrations. Personally I’m able to overlook those issues and enjoy the episodes, but really with the level of quality the show had through most of its run, these should all be 10/10 episodes without any room for criticism. I loved most of the first half of the episode. The tension between Jon and Dany is great. I love how their is a lot of nuance in Dany’s apparent turn into a “Mad Queen”. There was a scene where she’s looking on as Tormund praises Jon and suggests he should be king. But Emilia Clarke did a great job acting there. Her immediate reaction wasn’t necessarily anger or jealousy. I think she understood why the North would feel that way and was sad that after everything, she will never really have that sense of home or belonging in Westeros. And then when she goes to Jon to beg him to keep his lineage a secret, she seemed torn. And not just because the impact that would have on the throne. But also because she genuinely loves Jon and knows that if that information gets out, it would be beyond their control and Westeros would eventually pit them against each other. I interpreted Jamie’s departure as Jamie absolutely wanting to kill Cersei. This is consistent with his character development, not a reversal of it. He knows he may die in the process, and he doesn’t want Brienne to be in danger. Loved all the stuff with Tyrion and Varys. You can tell Tyrion isn’t as confident in Dany as he’s trying to make it seem. He’s trying to justify some of her thoughts and actions, but you can feel that he’s afraid of what she’s capable of. Rhaegal’s death was frustrating as hell. I hate Euron. And not like he’s a respectable villain so I hate him. I hate him because his character has no depth and is constantly playing the role of a generic plot device to screw over our protagonists. Very poorly written in the show, and I had heard book readers claim Euron was one of the best characters in the book. Overall, most of my gripes with the show are the pace. These last 2 shortened seasons really should have been at least 3 full seasons. But in a way I’ve become desensitized by that. I’m not going to hold it against each individual episode when they have to take writing shortcuts to move the plot along. Its unfortunate but I’ve come to accept that and just enjoying what I can from these final episodes.
I really liked ep 4. I Totally agree with HJ. Everything makes sense and I’m ok with the things you guys aren’t. I do agree with some things being too convenient just to tie a neat bow around things.
I’m glad for those of you that were able to enjoy it, I just wasn’t. I really don’t like Buzzfeed, but I came across this article while skimming through Apple news, and it covers a lot of how I feel still https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-4
I'm with Weezy on this one. They're f***ing up most of the characters... i blame that fat bastard GRRM. What they did with Ghost made me cringe and use my best WTF face.
This is what happens when you start based on novels written by one of the best in the business only to hand over the script to some random TV show crew. There was no chance they could keep up the quality and even though I'm not as disappointed as some of you, I can totally see where you are coming from.
What do you expect? Deadlines, contracts, budgets, meeting mass demand? It’s not easy. Of course the writing was Not going to be of the same quality it once was, it became a massive massive success. With massive success came more deadlines and demands. I’m sure they’re doing all they can while trying to keep the same vision. Just enjoy it.
