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Foreshadowing Contains some Game of Thrones spoilers

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Thanks for the link. I was absolutely incredulous in episode 5, I just didn't understand or accept the change in Dany's character. It wasn't believable in a show where the writing has made many unbelievable things so believable. I wonder if they got a bit lazy and thought because they had such a big budget and could afford such incredible special effects this would paper over any cracks.

Whatever happened, it's a bit of a disaster for such a great show to build and build and then end so limply.
 
I would have accepted the inevitable in Dany if they had SHOWN it instead of resorting to plot devices that hurried it. Poorly done season all around. SO disappointing. It was very clear they didn’t have source material to work from. I read that when R R George Martin finishes the last books they will have different endings. I’d rather have waited for the last season so they had more of his input than to watch the rushed, cliched job HBO did. :(
 
Carol Rose said:
I’d rather have waited for the last season so they had more of his input than to watch the rushed, cliched job HBO did. :(
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Ditto. Anyway, I thought this little film serves as a good reminder to us budding writers that most readers/watchers/fans are not stupid, and don't want to be fobbed off with badly thought out rubbish.
 
RK Capps said:
It was a rushed season, though I had more trouble accepting Bran as King. At least Dany had some foreshadowing, Bran had none!
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Agree! That really came out of nowhere. His evolution and role were never fully explained, and then BAM! He's KING. Say what?? So many things were left unexplained. It was such a disappointment.
 
I wasn't too disappointed with Dany's turn in Ep 5, as she's always been a little on the mad side, but it wasn't executed or foreshadowed very well. I think the showrunners did this deliberately to shock us, but failed to realise that although a shock may be surprising, it still needs to seem logical in hindsight.

Ned getting his head chopped off and the red wedding were shocking and unexpected as TV shows don't usually kill major characters, but within the context of the series, the plot and the characters those events were plausible. It makes sense that Joffrey would chop Ned's head off because of how he'd been established as a character up to that point. It made sense for the Frey's and the Boulton's to kill the Starks in pursuit of power, because of prior events. Because we didn't get to see Dany's descent into madness, the burning of King's Landing was shocking, but also a bit jarring because there hadn't been enough foreshadowing.

The final episode was an abysmal disappointment where they threw out all logic for the sake of giving the show a clean ending, which felt out of keeping with what the series had established. I'm supposed to believe -
a) Grey Worm and the Unsullied after fighting for Dany for so many years and pledging their lives to her, just let the two people that ensured her downfall go? What?
b) They laughed at Sam's idea of democracy, but then decided to vote in a never-ending surveillance state instead? What happens when Bran decides a few people need to die for the greater good? If he wargs into Drogon then he's going to have some powerful means of subjugation. Plus no one can kill him if he just goes mad because he can see any threats coming. How is this better than Dany?
c) The North becomes independent, but no one else goes for independence or objects to The North obtaining it. Why?
d) Oh, and I'm to assume that the raping and pillaging Dothraki just went to tend the fields???

I'll console myself with the fact that most series's endings are disappointments (except Breaking Bad).
 
I liked my son's version of how Cersei should die.
We already know that Arya can steal faces
1. she kills Jamie and steals his face
2. as Jamie, she gains access to Cersei
3. she kills Cersei, ripping off the mask at the last minute...

After all, why have so much time dedicated to Arya gaining this 'skill' for it to come to nothing?

Dany aside, why was the Mountain more difficult to kill than the Night King? (A genetically modified human, stronger than a god of death?)... Why were the dragons suddenly so easy to kill? So many questions on top of Robert M Derry's very good ones.
 
Rachel Caldecott-Thornton said:
I liked my son's version of how Cersei should die.
We already know that Arya can steal faces
1. she kills Jamie and steals his face
2. as Jamie, she gains access to Cersei
3. she kills Cersei, ripping off the mask at the last minute...

After all, why have so much time dedicated to Arya gaining this 'skill' for it to come to nothing?
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I like that ending too :)
 
I wanted this ending for Cersei, too. Would have made more sense than the sappy ending they gave her and Jamie. Not to mention it stripped all credibility from Jamie’s character arc when he came to Winterfell to help them fight, and the truly horrible way he used Brienne.
 
RK Capps said:
I agree, it's like, what was that for? where's the motivation? I can't believe GRR Martin had anything to do with this ... a skilled author couldn't, could they?
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And the whole thing with Bronn was equally bizarre. He shows up in Winterfell carrying a crossbow as big as a house, no one sees him or if they do, they don't stop him or question him. He waltzes in to where Jamie and Tyrion are drinking, tells them Cersei hired him to kill one or both of them, and then leaves. He isn't seen again until the end when suddenly Kings Landing is rebuilt and they're all having a small council meeting like the old days. So... Jamie KNOWS Cersei sent Bronn to kill him, yet still he goes back to her. Makes NO freaking sense at all.
 
Hey all :)

I didn't like the ending at first but now I have to shamefully admit it has grown on me. And, here are my thoughts on some of the things that have been discussed.

- Dany had always had a wicked side and I think Jon and the relationship they had influenced her in some way, well to a certain extent, brought out a gentler side in her. And, I loved the dragon wings behind her in the last episode, very cool, poetic and ambiguous like a fallen angel or the devil himself meaning she would either ascend or descend and ultimately she fell.
- The whole Brienne and Jamie thing, I think Brienne brought out the best in Jamie and Cersei brought out the worse in him. And, I think after he slept with Brienne he realised that and that he loved Cersei and he was never going to change completely. -Regarding Bran becoming King I think what he told them wasn’t completely true as to why the Night King wanted him dead. Because I think they both knew Bran would become King and the Night King wasn’t going to give up his power, his throne and his deadly evasion of the Seven Kingdoms that easily.
- I didn’t like the Dothraki, I have never liked them. But, I did like how their ill/bad nature was shown in episode 5 to almost give us a glimpse of the future and how they would behave society wise and how Dany knew that and accepted that as part of her version for a new world. Again, following in her forefathers footsteps and look how that turned out. - I wanted more from Arya but I liked the realisation that she was still vulnerable, not unstoppable, still only young and naive and I loved how that was portrayed in the aftermath and crossfire.
However, I've gotta jump on a train now, so I'll add more of my take and thoughts on this in a little while.

Alix

:)
 
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Carol Rose said:
And the whole thing with Bronn was equally bizarre. He shows up in Winterfell carrying a crossbow as big as a house, no one sees him or if they do, they don't stop him or question him. He waltzes in to where Jamie and Tyrion are drinking, tells them Cersei hired him to kill one or both of them, and then leaves. He isn't seen again until the end when suddenly Kings Landing is rebuilt and they're all having a small council meeting like the old days. So... Jamie KNOWS Cersei sent Bronn to kill him, yet still he goes back to her. Makes NO freaking sense at all.
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Good point. So, so many plot holes and cases of characters acting...well, out of character. I felt like Bronn was underused in this series, he's been one of the most enjoyable characters, but that was hardly the biggest problem with season 8...
 
I agree totally about how awful the ending was but I think you are giving George way too much credit. To me, the worst thing about the ending is that essentially, nothing that happened seemed to matter. Which is actually something George loves to do. He considers it a subversion of expectations. A reader assumes Jon snow has been brought back to life because he matters (in the books it looks like shireen baratheon will die so the red priestess can have the magic to bring him back) . The same way we thought Ned stark would be rescued until the last moment. He's our hero. We want to see him do heroic things and die a heroic death. But that's what George will never give. Send him to the wall to die in obscurity as a traitor.

Yes I saw Dany going mad queen. It's an obvious subversion of her character arc. But it was so obvious, I had hoped George would do something actually surprising and turn it around. After all, the purple eyed princess being a hero and living HEA might be a cliché but she has earnedit. She has lost so much.

His character subversions are so obvious and predictable I actually told a friend about six months ago this is how things would end up (everyone back where they started). The only thing that was so stupid I could never have predicted was bran's ascension as the tree king of westeros.

So sadly the book ending will be exactly the same. It will make more sense and seem more inevitable as I'm sure George will write it well. But I doubt it will be an iota more satisfying.

It's just a depressing ending.
 
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