creekdipper

This will be a rerun and to what others have said...disclaimer alert. I both loved all of the fantastic scenes and feature-worthy effects (and, as junkie said, was already satisfied with earlier scenes with Arya/Sansa/Brienne, etc. and wasn't expecting the Dance With Dragons). At the same time, agree with the eye rolls at some shark-jumping moments (multiple narrow escapes with Bronn & Jaime). Like most, though, this is one of my all-time favorite episodes.

It got me to thinking, though, that the deaths that appeared so daring/shocking earlier (Ned, Kal, Rob, Kat) don't seem that way now. All of those were necessary catalysts to set the events we're now seeing in motion & set up story arcs for Jon, Dany, Arya, Tyrion, Sansa, Bran, and others. As much as I hate to say it, GoT isn't as "unpredictable" as first thought...which is why it wasn't surprising at all that Jon Snow was resurrected. Likewise, it won't be a big shock if Jaime is rescued since there are quite a few episodes left. It would have been a shock to see him roasted...especially after Bronn was repeatedly saved from deaths. It would have been a good fake-out (I really thought Bronn was going to get a heroic death, much as he would have been missed). And we're getting close enough to the end that some more characters will undoubtedly start falling from the chess board.

Dany has been doing some serious target practice with her kids. That was some precision napalming going on (as others have noted).

jfoobar

mwbmis

I wonder if Ed Sheeran got roasted...

creekdipper

On the bittersweet & slightly unpredictable side, there were some nice flourishes worthy of GRRM.

Arya's long-awaited return to Winterfell and reunion with her siblings wasn't quite what she had expected. Nice touch of her gazing around to simultaneously see her familiar home and a changed place which didn't have the same attachment. Likewise, Sansa & Bran had changed drastically. The sisters embracing was a teary moment, especially remembering how they were young girls when they last saw each other and are now battle-scarred, world-weary young women. Hard to tell if Sansa's expression while watching Arya's sword prowess was pride, envy, or dismay at how hardened her little sister has become.

The Meera/Bran parting was also touching. Meera loves Bran and pointed out all of the sacrifices that she and others had made to save him. Some accuse Bran of being thoughtless and cruel, but he's not "Bran" anymore. One can feel just as sorry for him as for those who love him but can't receive love in return. Isaac does a great job of conveying that aloof, distant nature (along with his own distinctive look...nice casting). He's like a detached soul floating above earthly confines and just...observing. A necessary role, but he's had to sacrifice his humanity in order to attempt to save humanity (and assorted nonhuman allies). A fairy tale would have had Meera and him living happily ever after, but (usually) the GoT universe gets messy.

At some point, thought, we should expect to start losing characters as the end of the saga nears. They can't all survive (and not just the "villains"). We still have the Starks, Jon, Dany, 2/3 of the Lannister siblings (assuming the worst), Littlefinger, Brienne, Jorah, Sam, Bronn, a couple of Sand Snakes, the Hound, the Mountain, Grey Worm & his squeeze, the Red Woman, Onion Knight, three dragons, and other important characters. Who can forget Hot Pie?

dex14

Benioff and Weiss are big fans of Sunny and wrote an episode for Season 9. Benioff also had a cameo on the waterpark episode. The director of this GoT episode is Sunny producer and very frequent director, Matt Shakman. This was his first time directing a GoT episode. He directs next week as well. He knocked it out of the park as far as I'm concerned.

creekdipper

creekdipper

I thought it was an allusion to Into the Badlands. Thanks for the explanation.

Goat3001

This was a really fun episode. The battle was awesome. But Bronn bursting into laughter at "Dickon" was easily the highlight for me.

jfoobar

Don't forget about Gendry, last known heir to House Baratheon. Rumor has it that he is still out there, somewhere, rowing his boat.

dvdjunkie32

But didn't Littlefinger already set the war in motion by having Jon Arryn murdered hence forcing Ned to go to Kings Landing?

creekdipper

It would have been awesome if he had been the one to rescue Theon.

Maybe he'll show up next episode in time to go diving for Lannister.

Geofferson

Exciting battle scene and overall a pretty good episode. I'm just waiting for the inevitable battle with The White Walkers - liked the callback to the spiral symbology with the cave drawings.

DVD Josh

Man, you guys will forgive alot of stupid shit that happens in an episode that ends with a dragon battle.

creekdipper

It's what happens when you've been chasing your love interest for almost seven years.

fumanstan

Yeah, what? Of course Bronn would want to kill the dragon that's trying to roast him.

raven56706

badass episode... Daenrys isnt fucking around. but those fucking white walkers are taking their sweet time walking

creekdipper

They're looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook's
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein

Besides, it's a well-established fact that monsters get easily distracted during their moseying around:

GuessWho

They's not called White Runners

creekdipper

More like shufflers.

jfoobar

I have to agree with you and started to type a similarly-themed post a couple of times. The cave drawing thing was pretty awful, in particular. Perhaps described in a book it will be fine, but the way the show handled it, a combination of really bad set design and ham-fisted writing, was just awful.

The laughable Dany/Dothraki tactics was another. As pointed out, why in the hell did Dany just not enfilade the Lannister lines? That aside, she created a huge breach in their line and while some of the Dothraki were wise enough to pour into the breach, most of them kept charging headlong into a wall of shields and spears. I guess they should have watched Braveheart before the battle.

My personal favorite was the final image of the episode. Jamie was tackled off of his horse from the shore of either a lake or a very calm inlet. Which means, at most, he would have landed ten feet into the water. Yet the camera shows him sinking down into the murky depths of what should have probably only been 4-5 feet of water tops in just about anything but a quarry pond.

It's Game of Thrones. I am sucked in and I freely admit it, but some of the writing, in this season in particular, has been pretty bad.

raven56706

by the way... did Jaime fall into the abyss? hahaha

i almost said to myself "man how deep was that puddle?"

Decker

I heard the Tarley line but am still confused about the logistics : The Lannister army was accompanying a huge priceless shipment of gold. Jamie was overseeing the convoy. Then... they just send it ahead to King's Landing without their soldiers? I know in the prior scene Jamie mentioned something about shaking down farmers for their grain. Did he really take his entire army to accompany the wheat shipment instead of protecting the gold? Do we know how far outside of King's Landing they were at the time?

My wife pointed out that the Lannister army must be very well paid to hold the line in the face of a fire-breathing dragon. You would normally expect a few more deserters at that point.

It's funny to read the recaps and see the writers struggling to find an appropriate name for this battle.


You need to re-read the sentence you typed as it is one of the most self-explanatory statements ever written.

Draven

They made a point of saying they were stretched out. So the gold was at the head of the line and had made it in. They said they were worried that they wouldn't be able to reinforce either end with the other. My assumption is they were a few miles down the road.

creekdipper

Aha! You've both hit upon the explanation the writers will use for Jaime's continuing to breathe on this side of the grass.

The final image was what was going through his mind after seeing the total annihilation of the troops he was commanding.

It was a metaphorical (or allegorical...something) abyss into which he was sinking.

He's actually lying on his back in a foot of water with his nose and mouth sticking out. And Bron's (or Dickon's) big toe tickling his ear.

Those sneaky, wascally writers.

JasonX

So, I'm clearly in the minority here, but this was one of the worst episodes in the series for me. There are so many complete lapses in logic and common sense that it is too hard to look past. Why would the Dothraki horde charge in? Why wouldn't Dany bring all three dragons? How is it that Jaime gets knocked off his horse while charging, into water that is that deep? How is it that being under a few feet of water protects him and Bron from dragonfire?

The only way these are even remotely explainable is that Dany's military tactician is the worst in history, HBO's accountant is part of the "number of dragons to bring" decision making process, Highgarden has a underwater seacliff with an incredibly steep dropoff within feet of land, and Drogon wasn't spitting the good stuff because he had a bout of illness. Not to mention that everything felt rushed, in keeping with the rest of this season, and at the same time, very little of consequence happened. Dany gets a military victory and Arya is back in Winterfell. That was basically it for the entire episode. Don't get me wrong, I think GoT is still a fun series, but I really hope the last episodes are better than this.