I didn't see that coming Is Jamie on her list? They met eyes I liked Lady Mormont calling out the houses who refused the call
I buy it because of the combination of 1) his queen Margaery being blown up, 2) his..err...sparrow? Spiritual adv...whatever the fuck you call it dying too (notice how every time Tommen gave a command this season, you could practically see the High Sparrow's hand in his back, he had that kid completely under his spell), and 3) realizing his mother, the only family he has left, was behind it all. The kid was weak-minded, easily manipulated by everyone around him, and his entire world was gone. Somewhat uneven season at times, but boy did they stick the landing. Not sure about next season though. I mean it looks like an epic battle shaping up, but it's going to be over quick. Because Cersei was so short-sighted that she didn't care that her little act of domestic terrorism would be an instant declaration of war against the Tyrells, she now has no Reach (and thus probably loses the majority of her troops and food), and also no Dorne, no North, and Dany coming for the throne, and in her corner she has...who, exactly? The now-leaderless Freys?
Bran grew 3 feet since we last saw him. Somehow Gilly is still traveleing with a baby. The baby should be wielding a sword by now.
Ok- so my son just explained something to me that I did not get. Obviously that was Jon Snow, the baby at the end and he's actually a Stark-Ned Stark's sister's kid. But his father was a Targaryen? He's both a Stark AND a Targaryen? He's Daeny's half sister or cousin? _
Nephew - look up R + L = J if you care; long story short, the Mad King's son (and Dany's brother) Rhaegar took off with Ned's sister, knocked her up, he died in battle, she died due to childbirth, and she made Ned promise to never reveal his parentage since Robert Baratheon would've had him killed to protect his claim on the throne.
Seems like they're just checking off boxes at this point and we're going to get some lame ass Jon, Tyrion and Dany save teh world! ending. Obviously they can't go into all the detail they do in the books but they waste 20 minutes with that Kings Landing opening, and anytime we see the adventures of Sam and Gilly while completely fucking up the North, Dorne and Iron Island storylines.
My two largest criticisms of this season are that things have been ultimately predictable (i.e. Knights of the Vale showing up at the last second) or just so obviously hinted at (i.e. wildfire) and it seems like people can just teleport large distances (i.e. Arya went from Bravos to being a serving girl at the Twins in, what, a week max?). Still I think they have left it in an interesting place to pick it up next season: Danny is on her way and will seemingly have the assistance of Dorne and the Tyrells to take the throne from Cersei and...uhhh...not really sure, Jon is a new King in the North (meh), Arya is back in town (loved that), etc. I did think the season would end with the wall falling down but I guess we'll have to wait for that. THat threat has to come to fruition or it's all for nothing. Not sure if next season is just going to be the struggle for the kingdom and then the last season is vs the white walkers, guess we'll find out.
Seems like that's the last 3 major set pieces: the eventual Fall of King's Landing, the destruction of The Wall (Benjen laid the first bit of groundwork, mentioning the magic of it), and the final battle against the Night King's forces (probable penultimate episode/series finale). They've said they want to wrap it up in 13 episodes; I just wonder how they'll fill the rest of the episodes, now that there's not so much setup needed to get everyone into place and join forces.
Part of me thinks he stopped writing the books because they basically predicted every "shocker" he had planned for them on the fan sites.
I don't know that he was ever really trying to hide the stuff. The popular theories that are well known are popular because there's a ton of supporting evidence for them in the books. I think he fucked up when he decided he needed to fill in the gaps in the story instead of just jumping ahead 6 or 7 years like he initially planned. Of course now however things end someone will have predicted it just because we've got decades in between releases for people to speculate endlessly.
At this point, it's possible that even with 2 seasons left, GOT will end before Winds of Winter comes out, at the rate he writes and the amount of pages he insists on writing. Frankly, I'm wondering if he'll even finish A Dream of Spring in his lifetime.
Why would he bother at this point unless he plans to completely deviate from everything that's happened in the show?
I heard a theory that Meera Reed was also born of R+L, there her and Jon are twins. That would have at least been a cool twist that not many people thought of, definitely not as many people as R+L=J. At least a modicum of surprise. I also wasn't happy with the fact that they did the whispering between Lyanna and Ned. Why? Is there more to it or were they just doing that to drag out the illusion of mystery?
Well, from what I've read, Dorne is completely different in the books, so that alone will change the dynamics when Daenerys finally gets her ass across the Narrow Sea. Speaking of Dany, the books haven't resolved Dany's encounter with the khalasar yet, and book Dany doesn't have Tyrion, Varys, Jorah, or an adult Missandei to hold down the fort while she's gone (though she does have an alive and well Barristan Selmy). Up north, it remains to be seen how Stannis' fight against the Boltons goes down, what Jon does after being resurrected, what Sansa and Littlefinger will be up to etc., so the North might not be happy and united. Book Cersei will almost certainly want revenge after her walk of shame, but will the High Sparrow and the Faith Militant will become as big a threat to her (i.e., turning Tommen into a puppet, banning trial by combat) and force her hand? In any event, book Cersei might come up with a less extreme solution than TV Cersei McVeigh. Or at the very least, a solution that doesn't declare war on the Reach, which might change who the Tyrells side with when Dany comes calling. Add in all the dead tv characters that are alive in the books and vice versa, and all of the plotlines changed/combined/cut to fit the story into 10 eps a year, and there's still a LOT of room for GRRM to maneuver. But at the current rate of one book every 6 years...
I wonder if the series ends with Jon Snow or Dany as the ruler of Westeros...Or is Westeros ever the same again? They make Jon King of the North and her Queen of the South. Im sure things will be much more complicated