This Old Neon Forum

The Shoemaker wrote:Lots of loose ends to tie up. Kingslanding, Riverlands, Greyjoys, Sam, Winterfell, Mereen, Bran (Tower of Joy finisher?) and maybe even Braavos.

King's Landing is where most of the action will be. For Riverlands, it looks like we're getting some Frey/Lannister action. LOTS of speculation about what's going to happen there, but I'd be surprised if it's anything too revolutionary or cliff-hangery. I hope we don't see any Greyjoys. For Sam, I'd be happy just to see him arrive in Oldtown so we can get a brief look at it, without wasting too much time on narrative there. As much as I wouldn't mind not seeing much Winterfell in this episode, we'll probably have a lot of Sansa/Littlefinger discussion. Mereen should be some minor Dany/Tyrion chat. I'm confident we'll see the rest of the Tower of Joy stuff with Bran and that will be the season's big reveal/ending. Arya's arc effectively ended in her last episode, so I'd be happy not seeing her again, other than maybe a brief flash of her on a ship or something.

The Shoemaker wrote:And I'm sure like everyone else it was really neat seeing the scene where the Boltons surrounded the Starks and when Jon was being trampled.

Great cinematography in the Winterfell sequence of this episode (not so much the Mereen section). It truly showed the brutality of war, specifically an all-out post-charge melee. Lots of grit and grime, chaos, randomness, and death. The same director is doing the next/finale episode, too, so that should be good (even though it's certainly not to be as grand in action, it'll be grand in scope).

Spoiler

"I found it to be really disturbing when Jon was punching Ramsay's face in, as well as when Sansa smiled after watching him being torn apart by dogs." — We're supposed to be disturbed. Moreso by Sansa. With Jon it was more or less war and adrenaline and then he snapped out of it. But with Sansa, it's become clear that her experiences have made her a realist, or closer to one at least. If you want to survive, you've got to get in the game. She knew Rickon was fucked. She kept some of her cards close to her chest because she finally wants some agency for a change. Good people are allowed to smile after their torture-rapists are killed, but more pertinently, after they get what they wanted. This is the first time that Sansa has chosen something, pursued it, and had it go her way. Not that it's likely to keep up (Littlefinger will see to that), but we'll see.

Kong Wen wrote:

The Shoemaker wrote:Lots of loose ends to tie up. Kingslanding, Riverlands, Greyjoys, Sam, Winterfell, Mereen, Bran (Tower of Joy finisher?) and maybe even Braavos.

King's Landing is where most of the action will be. For Riverlands, it looks like we're getting some Frey/Lannister action. LOTS of speculation about what's going to happen there, but I'd be surprised if it's anything too revolutionary or cliff-hangery. I hope we don't see any Greyjoys. For Sam, I'd be happy just to see him arrive in Oldtown so we can get a brief look at it, without wasting too much time on narrative there. As much as I wouldn't mind not seeing much Winterfell in this episode, we'll probably have a lot of Sansa/Littlefinger discussion. Mereen should be some minor Dany/Tyrion chat. I'm confident we'll see the rest of the Tower of Joy stuff with Bran and that will be the season's big reveal/ending. Arya's arc effectively ended in her last episode, so I'd be happy not seeing her again, other than maybe a brief flash of her on a ship or something.

Yeah King's landing needs to end in a satsifying way, it's been (slowly) building up all season) I say Greyjoys in that it's likely to see them along with Dany and Tyrion. I also think Euron kind of needs a send off for the season, perhaps his and Sam's story's intertwine? I don't think we'll end with Tower of Joy, but it will be there. I have a feeling they are going to skip the ship with Arya and we might see her in Westeros already. But I definitely think we'll see her, even though I too am fine with where her story ended.

Kong Wen wrote:

Spoiler

We're supposed to be disturbed. Moreso by Sansa. With Jon it was more or less war and adrenaline and then he snapped out of it. But with Sansa, it's become clear that her experiences have made her a realist, or closer to one at least. If you want to survive, you've got to get in the game. She knew Rickon was fucked. She kept some of her cards close to her chest because she finally wants some agency for a change. Good people are allowed to smile after their torture-rapists are killed, but more pertinently, after they get what they wanted. This is the first time that Sansa has chosen something, pursued it, and had it go her way. Not that it's likely to keep up (Littlefinger will see to that), but we'll see.

Spoiler

Agreed with the bold. Interesting that Sophie Turner said the look Jon gave Sansa while beating Ramsay was him understanding that he was "hers to kill". I thought it was a more horrified you're going to far kind of look, which is why I felt it was a little bit of a bait and switch when it turned out Sansa was going to now torture Ramsay.

"She kept some of her cards close to her chest because she finally wants some agency for a change" - By this do you mean how she didn't tell Jon that she wrote to Littlefinger for more men? I didn't really agree with her keeping it a secret. She kept telling Jon that they needed to wait but wouldn't give him a reason to do so. I don't see how it could have hurt to say something, since really it would have just saved lives. She knew LF was only at Moat Cailien which wasn't far. Seemed to me like unnecessary tension between Jon and Sansa. Yeah it's tension Littlefinger created, but I don't understand why him reminding her Jon's her half brother is supposed to concern her. It's not like she had a claim to defend considering she knew both Rickon and Bran were alive.

Since the season is about to end, let's hear some final predictions:

Spoiler

Arya: Will board a ship, like at the end of Season 4. I expect her to still bump into Sam though. Can't imagine they would let the oppertunity slip past.

Brienne: Will run into the Brotherhood, if not this season, then in the next.
Sansa: Very sure she will have to marry Littlefinger

Bran: Doubt Benjen 'Coldhands' will be relevant for long. They may arrive at the wall by the end of the season.

Dany: Getting ready to leave?

Greyjoys: Expect at least a short scene in which Euron has finished his fleet.

King's Landing: The trial will be held. I expect Marge's plan (whatever it is) to backfire partially. I don't think Lorras will survive the season. Also I expect Varys to pop up and assassinate Kevan.

House Martell: This is a tricky one, if they appear at all I bet they will turn up in Dany's gallery of assorted villains. Her crew isn't really one for the best first impressions back in Westeros anyway. Slavers, patricidal kingslayers, treacherous pirates, barbarian hordes, monsterous dragons, eunuchs spymasters and armies.

Kiwi the Tortoise wrote:Since the season is about to end, let's hear some final predictions:

Spoiler

Arya: Will board a ship, like at the end of Season 4. I expect her to still bump into Sam though. Can't imagine they would let the oppertunity slip past.

Brienne: Will run into the Brotherhood, if not this season, then in the next.
Sansa: Very sure she will have to marry Littlefinger

Bran: Doubt Benjen 'Coldhands' will be relevant for long. They may arrive at the wall by the end of the season.

Dany: Getting ready to leave?

Greyjoys: Expect at least a short scene in which Euron has finished his fleet.

King's Landing: The trial will be held. I expect Marge's plan (whatever it is) to backfire partially. I don't think Lorras will survive the season. Also I expect Varys to pop up and assassinate Kevan.

House Martell: This is a tricky one, if they appear at all I bet they will turn up in Dany's gallery of assorted villains. Her crew isn't really one for the best first impressions back in Westeros anyway. Slavers, patricidal kingslayers, treacherous pirates, barbarian hordes, monsterous dragons, eunuchs spymasters and armies.

Spoiler

I don't know about Arya and Sam, context is completely off so I can't see what they would do with the meeting now.

Interesting that you say Dany's crew is full of villians, never thought about it like that, should definitely have some pushback in Westeros because of it.

Season end prediction: Wildfire.

The Shoemaker wrote:

Spoiler

I don't know about Arya and Sam, context is completely off so I can't see what they would do with the meeting now.

Interesting that you say Dany's crew is full of villians, never thought about it like that, should definitely have some pushback in Westeros because of it.

Season end prediction: Wildfire.

I just don't think they would skip an oppertunity to have two characters in a scene that have never met each other and thus move on normally afterwards. After all, it's also quite pointless when they meet in the book too.

Kiwi the Tortoise wrote:

The Shoemaker wrote:

Spoiler

I don't know about Arya and Sam, context is completely off so I can't see what they would do with the meeting now.

Interesting that you say Dany's crew is full of villians, never thought about it like that, should definitely have some pushback in Westeros because of it.

Season end prediction: Wildfire.

I just don't think they would skip an oppertunity to have two characters in a scene that have never met each other and thus move on normally afterwards. After all, it's also quite pointless when they meet in the book too.

I just don't see Arya stopping by Oldtown is all! Bravos made sense as a destination, but Oldtown is on the other side of Westeros. I also feel like ships won't want to be sailing around there and the iron islands right now with Euron on the prow.

Slurmee wrote:

Spoiler

Everyone is saying this is a better episode than the last episode but I think it's unfair to compare them as they were so very different.

Spoiler

I'm not big on battles, especially battles involving characters I don't care for, so last weeks episode was good in terms of production values and cinematography, but it wasn't super entertaining for me.

I actually thought this episode was the best episode in a long time. Music was very effective, so many good camera angles (King's Landing opening, Sam in the library). Makes me wonder why they don't try and do things like this in more episodes. Teleporting was off the charts today, like super off the charts. Varys is a wizard, so is Arya, so is Jaime.

I think the episode worked. For me it doesn't justify such a mediocre and slow paced season, and it really falls apart when you consider what happened in the previous episodes. But, it was an enjoyable hour+ of entertainment that made me forget about all the logical fallacies and messed up characters, so it did well in my books.

How did my predictions do?

Spoiler

Arya: Will board a ship, like at the end of Season 4. I expect her to still bump into Sam though. Can't imagine they would let the oppertunity slip past.

Well, I guess I failed that one. Certainly didn't see Arya's quantum leap coming. Though I assumed Walder would be somehow relevant again as he already appeared in one short scene this season.

Brienne: Will run into the Brotherhood, if not this season, then in the next.

Still running...

Sansa: Very sure she will have to marry Littlefinger

It certainly went into the direction, but thr refused will now end up in the full blown villain department as there aren't many left otherwise.

Bran: Doubt Benjen 'Coldhands' will be relevant for long. They may arrive at the wall by the end of the season.

Got that one right.

Dany: Getting ready to leave?

Yawp!

Greyjoys: Expect at least a short scene in which Euron has finished his fleet.

Nope!


King's Landing: The trial will be held. I expect Marge's plan (whatever it is) to backfire partially. I don't think Lorras will survive the season. Also I expect Varys to pop up and assassinate Kevan.

Should have put more emphasis on the plan backFIRING. Didn't think they would wipe out the entire King's Landing cast. Loved the music.

House Martell: This is a tricky one, if they appear at all I bet they will turn up in Dany's gallery of assorted villains. Her crew isn't really one for the best first impressions back in Westeros anyway. Slavers, patricidal kingslayers, treacherous pirates, barbarian hordes, monsterous dragons, eunuchs spymasters and armies.

Since Varys wasn't needed to assassinate anyone, this was a fitting appearance (though he is certainly fleet footed to make it back in time for the group shot on the boat). Dany's villain gallery grows and Olenna Tyrell may be the most 'honorable' of them all