Poll: Winter Is Coming - HBO's A Game of Thrones [READ WARNING]

[Maccy]

Uh oh, it's def going to kick off now after that episode!

 

[Andrew_McP]

if I wanted Line of Duty spoilers I'd go read the Line of Duty thread!

It wasn't a spoiler (in that it wouldn't make any sense at all until something D&D type deus ex happened) but I've deleted it anyway. I can't delete your quote of it though.

Right, now back to business as usual.... As Dany was flying towards Dragonstone, I was genuinely thinking "who was defending this rock, half a limp spit away from King's Landing, while everyone was off sorting out Captain Frostbite?" So at least the writers satisfied me there. However I am now even more convinced that Cersei deserves to win. The rest of them wouldn't, apparently, know a clue if Lionel Blair served it up on a gold platter with a copy of 'Tactics and Intelligence for Dummies' on it.

And I now blame Missandei for not putting the writers out of their missery. She should have grabbed Cersei and gone off the wall. Now *that* would have been a GoT ending. The final battle is between Jon, backed by stragglers, and Dany, backed by a dragon, Euron & a Dothraki semi-horde cloned in Photoshop. Arya saves the world again by killing... well, both Jon and Dany probably, what with them both being filthy Southern Blue bloods. That leaves Gendry on the throne and everyone living happily ever after until someone remembers we're back where we started, because he'll turn into a miserable drunk 'cos he loves a woman he can't have.

I did like the way things started to fall apart straight away though. It's a bit rushed, but that's politics. And at least Tormund's got someone to keep him warm at nights now; Ghost was wasted on Jon. Seems to have shrunk a bit too, but that's the cold for you. And I really like Arya and The Hound back in the saddle again. Their spin off series won't happen, but it's about the only thing I can imagine making a good follow-up.

Popcorn mode engaged. Roll on next week... and fingers crossed Varys has a cunning plan to save Westeros.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

So the wildlings have buggered off. You know, just to keep the final fight fair.

Why do they keep talking about burning down kings landing? Not with that many ballistas they won’t.

Why didn’t Cersei just end the war then and there? It isn’t like she is honourable.

This season is destined to ruin the show.

 

[neoboy]

What's with everyone falling in love this episode

I hate to become an armchair general again after last week but what the hell was the deal with casually strolling outside King's Landing with dragons knowing they have weapons to counter them after the battle in Season 7? That and having your fleet sailing around in pleasure cruise mode, when there is a superior navy force in the area? All while knowing full well that your land army and Jon and two weeks away still

I thought the North was outnumbered, beat up and exhausted so why they are acting like an overwhelming superior force? Distinctive lack of cunning tactics from previous seasons that we've seen from Jamie and Jon. Unless of course it's all part of some plan in last two episodes but my excitement is fading fast here.

Not sure how I feel about then just wrapping up Tormund and Wildlings like that and pacing overall just seems off in this episode.

 

[Kanpai]

Dragon Armour incoming for Ep5

 

[Lord-Jaffa]

Wow, the writing on this show is really terrible. Nice to see fast/time travel for the fleets is still in full effect.

 

[awaybreaktoday]

When Tyrion approaches the gates of King’s Landing to appeal to Cersei’s love for her children, he tells her to surrender for her child. Euron was standing right behind Cersei, and he just found out about “his” child moments before this scene. From Euron’s point of view, Tyrion should have no knowledge that Cersei is pregnant - Tyrion was up in the North when he slept with Cersei for the first time.

It might not have been intentional on Tyrion’s part, but I think that Euron might realize that Cersei’s baby isn’t his, turn on Cersei, and potentially kill her. If Tyrion realized what he was doing, he hid it well. If not, it may unintentionally have huge payoffs for Dany, and likely be his most “clever” move yet.

 

[Kainz]

Legit, the more I think about this eps I get annoyed even moreso than the writing/direction in the last episode.

How the hell does Bronn magically teleport himself from Kings Landing to Winterfell, and smuggle a zonking great crossbow past its guards and defences?

Why repeatedly show Ghost only to discard him without so much as a pet or any affection? He's only been with you since the start of Season 1 Jon boy.

Tyrion and Varys continue to excel with any screen time they're given. The former was superb in an episode I wasn't particularly excited for in the first place.

 

[Moothead2]

Why the actual **** did they not just shoot Drogon and Dany when they're standing in the open a few hundred metres away. They were 3/3 on Rhaegal from behind a rock, on a boat, against a dragon that was flying not much closer if at all, I highly doubt these people would miss a stationary target. This is the bitch that blew up half of Kings Landing with wildfire, why is she being so diplomatic to someone who wants her dead...

 

[dowie]

So basically they're setting it up for dany to go mad because all her friends and allies are dead. Can see greyworm going next then the last dragon.

Yeah, or perhaps not go "mad" per say but seem to be setting her up for making a rash decision that costs a whole load of lives... like destroy parts of the Red Keep as per the vision from way back. I guess she could lose a dragon in the process and/or some more of what remains of any forces directly loyal to her.

If Arya or Jamie kill Cersei then Jon seems like a sure thing for the throne, though he doesn't want it. Could easily get to some emotional point where he stomps off as per him leaving the Night's watch etc..

Wow, a strong "after the battle" start which quickly deteriorated into more "WTF" garbage - invisible ships shooting dragons, Dani with only 100 troops standing within killing distance of Cersi who does nothing etc etc. D&D are rapidly throwing away the ending to best TV series recently with these utterly stupid plot moments.

Yup, I think they could have solved the "invisible ships" ambush by simply giving some cloud cover instead of having a clear blue sky and a few rocks to hide the fleet. Like Danny comes down through the clouds and then .... *surprise*

Also having the ships all lined up and facing the same way was a bit too convenient with her happening to fly right in front of where they were aiming.

I guess Dani did have a dragon with her too when standing outside the gates and presumably was assumed to be a "safe" distance away from those weapons.

When Tyrion approaches the gates of King’s Landing to appeal to Cersei’s love for her children, he tells her to surrender for her child. Euron was standing right behind Cersei, and he just found out about “his” child moments before this scene. From Euron’s point of view, Tyrion should have no knowledge that Cersei is pregnant - Tyrion was up in the North when he slept with Cersei for the first time.

It might not have been intentional on Tyrion’s part, but I think that Euron might realize that Cersei’s baby isn’t his, turn on Cersei, and potentially kill her. If Tyrion realized what he was doing, he hid it well. If not, it may unintentionally have huge payoffs for Dany, and likely be his most “clever” move yet.

That's a good point we get a close up of Cersei's face there and don't get to see Euron's immediate reaction.

 

[Tombstone]

Should have been the finale season to a legendary tv show but the more I see of this season the more I think we are going to end with yet another tv show with a hugely disappointing finale. Seen so many other shows go out with ridiculous finales and this is currently looking right on course to be a major letdown finale. There was so much wrong/stupid with this episode that I just dont even know where to begin.

 

[DeanT77]

This is the problem. Somehow she can’t see the ships, yet the ship can get a perfect shot. Very shoddy writing purely for shock effect.

Agreed, my ******** meter kicked in pretty strong on that, why let something into the story that is clearly nonsense

 

[rubberduck]

Good episode, poor directing with the Euron attack - might have actually been better not showing this 'battle' on screen and just showing the aftermath.

 

[silvagti]

What's with everyone falling in love this episode

I thought after the way E3 ended it was actually an improvement. At least we're seeing an attempt at setting up a proper ending and hopefully some character arcs that make sense.

Unlike the whole Arya killing the night king fiasco.......

In hindsight it was clear E3 was little more than a hasty attempt to wrap up the story of the White walkers so they could rush South again! It was very obvious that George RR Martin never intended to battle North of the wall to be a focus for any of his books.

 

[G-MAN2004]

When Tyrion approaches the gates of King’s Landing to appeal to Cersei’s love for her children, he tells her to surrender for her child. Euron was standing right behind Cersei, and he just found out about “his” child moments before this scene. From Euron’s point of view, Tyrion should have no knowledge that Cersei is pregnant - Tyrion was up in the North when he slept with Cersei for the first time.

It might not have been intentional on Tyrion’s part, but I think that Euron might realize that Cersei’s baby isn’t his, turn on Cersei, and potentially kill her. If Tyrion realized what he was doing, he hid it well. If not, it may unintentionally have huge payoffs for Dany, and likely be his most “clever” move yet.

He probably just assumed Qyburn told him seconds earlier.

 

[neoboy]

Yeah I'm starting to think it truly was the end of NK saga after all these seasons and there isn't much to Bran and NK theories either, he just has a thing for rolling his eyes back with little explanation. Unless he just stands up from his chair in the last minute of the show, having faked his injuries all along and exclaims, " Psych! Throne is mine now, move along y'all"

Only clever bit of writing was Tyrion mentioning the child to Cersei which he possibly couldn't know about if it was Euron's so that will probably have repercussions later on.

I know I said I'd give the rest of the season a go before making judgment on episode 3 and this season in general but unfortunately think we are heading for severe disappointment here with the way the series will end.

There's just a very clear line in writing, characters and story as soon as Martin's source material stops.

 

[G-MAN2004]

At this point I wouldn't even be mad if Bran wakes up in the very last scene from his fall, and that's the end.

 

[Rids]

When Tyrion approaches the gates of King’s Landing to appeal to Cersei’s love for her children, he tells her to surrender for her child. Euron was standing right behind Cersei, and he just found out about “his” child moments before this scene. From Euron’s point of view, Tyrion should have no knowledge that Cersei is pregnant - Tyrion was up in the North when he slept with Cersei for the first time.

It might not have been intentional on Tyrion’s part, but I think that Euron might realize that Cersei’s baby isn’t his, turn on Cersei, and potentially kill her. If Tyrion realized what he was doing, he hid it well. If not, it may unintentionally have huge payoffs for Dany, and likely be his most “clever” move yet.

I said this to the Mrs straight away, I suspect this might be Cerseis game playing finally being found out. You're the first person other than me I've seen spot this, been trawling r/asoiaf most of the day and I've not seen it picked up anywhere.

 

[MichaelAwkward]

I said this to the Mrs straight away, I suspect this might be Cerseis game playing finally being found out. You're the first person other than me I've seen spot this, been trawling r/asoiaf most of the day and I've not seen it picked up anywhere.

It was literally the first thing I read in the post episode discussion thread on r/gameofthrones... However I disagree with any idea that it's clever writing, more likely they just forgot about its implications as Euron didn't react at all which is very like his normal calm non-crazy self that we've seen since he was introduced.

There will obviously be a scene in the next episode where it's brought up. Maybe. Perhaps when Cersei has decided to kill him.

 

[Moothead2]

In hindsight it was clear E3 was little more than a hasty attempt to wrap up the story of the White walkers so they could rush South again! It was very obvious that George RR Martin never intended to battle North of the wall to be a focus for any of his books.

How is building up a threat for 5 books (so far), from literally page 1 of the first the first book, not a focus for the books? The next books are called Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, seems pretty likely they'll play a big role.