Nothing wrong with the episode in a vacuum. It might be the best the show has ever had. But if GRRM hasn't been feeding them bullshit then it's not what I've been waiting 13 years for. I'm now pretty sure I won't be interested in where this story is going and who it appears to be trying to appeal to.
Nothing wrong with the episode in a vacuum. It might be the best the show has ever had. But if GRRM hasn't been feeding them bullshit then it's not what I've been waiting 13 years for. I'm now pretty sure I won't be interested in where this story is going and who it appears to be trying to appeal to.
Are you talking about the White Walkers? Hodor? Something else?
All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Oscar Wilde.
Nothing wrong with the episode in a vacuum. It might be the best the show has ever had. But if GRRM hasn't been feeding them bullshit then it's not what I've been waiting 13 years for. I'm now pretty sure I won't be interested in where this story is going and who it appears to be trying to appeal to.
Are you talking about the White Walkers? Hodor? Something else?
Both of those + but actually Jon's Resurrection I think is the beginning of the end for me. Now there are potentially some interesting places that can go (and a ton of eye rolling ones), but it is honestly at the end of the day over the top.
Cat coming back and using Berric to set it up was honestly brilliant. It was the only good thing that had ever happened to a Stark at that point in the story. [But now it's apparently not even Cat(?) (interviews)] It was just the right amount of fantasy to spice things up and it didn't feel like it was stretching credibility of the story as gritty and real since nothing good had happened up until that point except to Dany.
Now apparently Jon is not even Ned's bastard (pathos GONE, gritty grounded reality STRETCHED) but is rising from the dead to do something I probably will not care about.
I'll always uphold the first 5 books, they are the pinnacle of brilliance and imagination to me. Ned being betrayed in the throne room is the most iconic scene in the series for me. Still is my favorite. Wherever this is going seems pretty far from the mood and atmosphere that scene gave me.
There wasn't anything truly cringeworthy in this episode, and i was entertained the whole time.
The wall scenes were golden, i think all the notes there were hit perfectly. Sansa is still manipulating Jon, but i don't think she's doing it maliciously. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and all... Davos was great, but i'm still waiting for the fallout over Shireen. Brimund is a one way street right now, but i'm sure Tormund can persuade her of the error of her ways over time.
What is there to say about Bran's scenes? they were very good. seemed like straight plot movement to me. i don't see how Meera is going to be able to drag him alone all the way to the wall, maybe there is some other helper still out there, but losing Hodor, Summer, and Bloodraven all in one 5 minute span pretty much broke me... CotF trying to fix their mistake (think that is a theme in this story?) was well done imo.
i loved the tyrion/varys interaction with the Red Priest... looking forward to seeing her more, she has a fire that Mel lacks currently. loved how she called the man who cut Varys a second rate sorcerer... wish she'd have pressed on with the details, as i think that would be revealing (did they want Varys for the sacrifice because he's a Blackfyre descendant? what did the voice say?)
Dany and Jorah. this was their best scene since the introduction to the Dothraki sea in season 1... a bit cheesy, but i liked their performances and i found it to be very moving (a single tear rolled down my cheek type of thing).
return of Arya Stark. The waif and kindly man both know she's never going to become no one, Arya is still deluding herself. Maisie was excellent in this episode, her mirth turning to contempt for how Ned was portrayed, you could just see her wanting to unleash vengeance on the cast, crew, and crowd for mocking her father and sister.
best episode in a long time to me. wasn't quite perfect (Summer dying like that was meh, and i don't think Starks do well without their wolves), but very enjoyable and gives them a lot of momentum going forward into the back half of the season.
