GOT S8 Thread

[Been Jammin]

I tend to agree. I don't think they are going to get too deeply into the whole Knightking backstory. With only four episodes left I expect them to defeat the Knightking this week and vanish the white walkers & weigts once and for all allowing Bran to go north and assume his role as three eyed Raven and the children of the forest to somehow rule the beyond the wall and live in peace. End of storyline.

The focus of the final three is on the battle for the iron throne. Jon and Dany's complicated relationship, the Lannister showdown etc.

This is what I expect. Makes the most sense based on all of the back story and groundwork that has been laid over the past 8 years (and longer if you take into account when GRRM started writing).

You have to include closure between Cersei and her brothers, which doesn't work if the brothers are dead and Cersei is battling the NK.

We still have to see what happens with Bronn on the hunt for Jaime and Tyrion.

We have to have resolution of Cersei v Dani.

The Hound has to kill the Mountain, or Arya has to kill him.

IMO, the only reason they had Cersei bring 20,000 fighters across the sea is so that the battle for KL would not be anti-climatic, since Dani's side will have 1 or 2 Dragons.

 

[JonnyVito]

What if the Golden Company betrays Cersei and turns its allegiance to Jon? I could see them playing Cersei out this way. A women who always thought she was one step ahead of everyone is in the end betrayed by a unknown circumstance. That would be that the Golden Company is loyal to the Targs and once they find out about Jon they switch to him.

 

[FMPoke]

This is what I expect. Makes the most sense based on all of the back story and groundwork that has been laid over the past 8 years (and longer if you take into account when GRRM started writing).

You have to include closure between Cersei and her brothers, which doesn't work if the brothers are dead and Cersei is battling the NK.

We still have to see what happens with Bronn on the hunt for Jaime and Tyrion.

We have to have resolution of Cersei v Dani.

The Hound has to kill the Mountain, or Arya has to kill him.

IMO, the only reason they had Cersei bring 20,000 fighters across the sea is so that the battle for KL would not be anti-climatic, since Dani's side will have 1 or 2 Dragons.

Your assuming the Dragons survive the battle of Winterfell. Are we going to have a Dragon dogfight? Dani & Jon vs the Whitewalker rider. I hope so.

There is no way Bronn kills either Jamie or Tyrion. He'll take the gold most likely defect to their side.

My guess is after the battle of Winterfell and before they march south to take out Cersei there will be a major showdown between Sansa, Jon and Dani with Jon forced to choose. She may make that choice for him if she sees him as a threat to the throne. I believe even if Dani gets the iron throne she won't end up with the seven kingdoms. The North will end up independent.

 

[The Duke]

I expect the WW to win the Winterfell battle....maybe Dani takes her toys and heads south at crunch time.

 

[Been Jammin]

Your assuming the Dragons survive the battle of Winterfell. Are we going to have a Dragon dogfight? Dani & Jon vs the Whitewalker rider. I hope so.

There is no way Bronn kills either Jamie or Tyrion. He'll take the gold most likely defect to their side.

My guess is after the battle of Winterfell and before they march south to take out Cersei there will be a major showdown between Sansa, Jon and Dani with Jon forced to choose. She may make that choice for him if she sees him as a threat to the throne. I believe even if Dani gets the iron throne she won't end up with the seven kingdoms. The North will end up independent.

I think Drogon survives the battle.

Surely there has to be more to the Bronn story. Maybe Brienne saves Jaime from him and sacrifices herself. Then Tyrion kills Bronn from behind while he is squaring off with Jaime.

 

[Been Jammin]

I expect the WW to win the Winterfell battle....maybe Dani takes her toys and heads south at crunch time.

I don’t see it. Too many key characters would have to die.

 

[Air_Thurman]

I expect the WW to win the Winterfell battle....maybe Dani takes her toys and heads south at crunch time.

I don't know how it will happen but I'm warming up to the idea the Battle of Winterfell is not the end of the Night King. A big point of the story this far is that all the politics is kind of pointless because the true threat is coming. The Night King not being the "final" boss does seem a tad anti climatic.

What if the Night King isn't even at Winterfell?

 

[Ostatedchi]

My guess is that the NK will be at Winterfell and the army of the undead will win. The survivors will have to retreat - probably to the Iron Islands as was foreshadowed. After that, who knows.

 

[Been Jammin]

My guess is that the NK will be at Winterfell and the army of the undead will win. The survivors will have to retreat - probably to the Iron Islands as was foreshadowed. After that, who knows.

Not saying you are wrong, but that would be hard to pull off. The only port city in the North is White Harbor, and it is on the opposite side (east coast) of the continent from the Iron Islands. The survivors would have no ships to transport them from the west coast to islands, and even if Yara brought ships to the coast, there is no place to load them.

That doesn't even take into account the march through cold and snow, across great distances, to get to the coast.

They did seem to foreshadow it though.

It also seems unrealistic for the WK to win and for there to be any survivors other than a handful who could escape on the backs of the dragons.

 

[Cowpoke]

Not saying you are wrong, but that would be hard to pull off. The only port city in the North is White Harbor, and it is on the opposite side (east coast) of the continent from the Iron Islands. The survivors would have no ships to transport them from the west coast to islands, and even if Yara brought ships to the coast, there is no place to load them.

That doesn't even take into account the march through cold and snow, across great distances, to get to the coast.

They did seem to foreshadow it though.

It also seems unrealistic for the WK to win and for there to be any survivors other than a handful who could escape on the backs of the dragons.

That all makes sense, but HBO has been really bad about groups traveling great distances inexplicably. I can easily see 30 of them escaping and "blink" they are on the islands, then "blink" they are on the doorsteps of KL

 

[FMPoke]

What if the Golden Company betrays Cersei and turns its allegiance to Jon? I could see them playing Cersei out this way. A women who always thought she was one step ahead of everyone is in the end betrayed by a unknown circumstance. That would be that the Golden Company is loyal to the Targs and once they find out about Jon they switch to him.

Cersei's Achilles heel in this deal is her new boy toy. That's a dude who out for himself and will put a knife in anybody's back. If she doesn't keep him happy he could well sell her out if a better deal comes along.

 

[PDT816]

Winterfell is a feignt and the Night King is already on his way to Kings Landing where he's going to take out Cerci and create an even bigger army

 

[Air_Thurman]

Winterfell is a feignt and the Night King is already on his way to Kings Landing where he's going to take out Cerci and create an even bigger army

I like it. Just something about the Night King sitting on the iron throne seems incredibly cool. I also think it makes sense to have Cersei's plot merge with everything else more fully. Cersei never having to truly confront the Night King or the dead doesn't seem right.

 

[Been Jammin]

Winterfell is a feignt and the Night King is already on his way to Kings Landing where he's going to take out Cerci and create an even bigger army

So, you are saying that the huge army on WF doorstep is going to just wave and walk on by and head south? That's going to make for a pretty anti-climactic episode this Sunday.

As noted by @Cowpoke , HBO has been guilty of playing fast and loose with realistic transit times and journeys, but it might be a bridge too far to have the army of the dead march from Winterfell to KL in less than 2 months. That would require HBO to come up with interesting, but drawn out, action while we wait for them to get there.

 

[Air_Thurman]

So, you are saying that the huge army on WF doorstep is going to just wave and walk on by and head south? That's going to make for a pretty anti-climactic episode this Sunday.

As noted by @Cowpoke , HBO has been guilty of playing fast and loose with realistic transit times and journeys, but it might be a bridge too far to have the army of the dead march from Winterfell to KL in less than 2 months. That would require HBO to come up with interesting, but drawn out, action while we wait for them to get there.

I really don't think HBO cares all that much about realistic travel times anymore. That being said, the Night King has a dragon and the ability to make an army on the fly. I could go either way but it wouldn't shock me if the fight moves to King's Landing.

 

[SSS!!!]

So, you are saying that the huge army on WF doorstep is going to just wave and walk on by and head south? That's going to make for a pretty anti-climactic episode this Sunday.

As noted by @Cowpoke , HBO has been guilty of playing fast and loose with realistic transit times and journeys, but it might be a bridge too far to have the army of the dead march from Winterfell to KL in less than 2 months. That would require HBO to come up with interesting, but drawn out, action while we wait for them to get there.

Yeah, especially considering it’s taken two full episodes to get from the Wall to WF. They obviously don’t move very quickly.

 

[PDT816]

So, you are saying that the huge army on WF doorstep is going to just wave and walk on by and head south? That's going to make for a pretty anti-climactic episode this Sunday.

As noted by @Cowpoke , HBO has been guilty of playing fast and loose with realistic transit times and journeys, but it might be a bridge too far to have the army of the dead march from Winterfell to KL in less than 2 months. That would require HBO to come up with interesting, but drawn out, action while we wait for them to get there.

No I'm saying the Night King may be taking a trip to Kings Landing with his dragon. He can make his army from the dead after he gets there

 

[Been Jammin]

No I'm saying the Night King may be taking a trip to Kings Landing with his dragon. He can make his army from the dead after he gets there

Ok

 

[The Duke]

No I'm saying the Night King may be taking a trip to Kings Landing with his dragon. He can make his army from the dead after he gets there

That would be kick ass if the NK shows up at Cersei’s balcony when she’s smugly sipping a Claret.

 

[CowboyPhil]

That would be kick ass if the NK shows up at Cersei’s balcony when she’s smugly sipping a Claret.

Something like this needs to happen. I mean the opening sequence of the series was about the threat of the white walkers returning. To have them defeated at Winterfell would feel hollow in a way.

The main issue I have is the show has not relayed enough info about the wights. What are their limitations? Can just a set of bones be risen and would they even be much of a threat? Most of the Wight army that has been shown are freshly killed or at least not been buried for 100's of years. Would the dead in the crypts of Winterfell just overpower them just on sheer numbers?

 

[Wally12]

FINALLY got all caught up tonight. Took me about 3 months to watch all 69 episodes, but glad I can finally read all these threads!

 

[Been Jammin]

Something like this needs to happen. I mean the opening sequence of the series was about the threat of the white walkers returning. To have them defeated at Winterfell would feel hollow in a way.

The main issue I have is the show has not relayed enough info about the wights. What are their limitations? Can just a set of bones be risen and would they even be much of a threat? Most of the Wight army that has been shown are freshly killed or at least not been buried for 100's of years. Would the dead in the crypts of Winterfell just overpower them just on sheer numbers?

When the wights rose up from the snow outside the cave of the COTF, they were just skeletons.

 

[The Duke]

FINALLY got all caught up tonight. Took me about 3 months to watch all 69 episodes, but glad I can finally read all these threads!

My wife and I are still scarred by a few (Red Wedding, Oberyn Martell, etc). Last 3 seasons have been radically cleaned up, less controversial, more boring....but still good television. First four seasons were absolutely best TV I've ever seen....but without GRRM's dialogue and gritty details and unpredictable endings.....it's just not the same.

 

[The Duke]

A few examples of what I think are tremendous scenes...driven by moving dialogue, wonderful actors, not special effects. Scenes like these made the show for me, and stand apart from what the HBO writers can do in the vacuum of greatness.

 

[Wally12]

My wife and I are still scarred by a few (Red Wedding, Oberyn Martell, etc). Last 3 seasons have been radically cleaned up, less controversial, more boring....but still good television. First four seasons were absolutely best TV I've ever seen....but without GRRM's dialogue and gritty details and unpredictable endings.....it's just not the same.

Yeah, there were a lot of turning my head away or covering my face moments for me. I'd think they couldn't get any more gruesome, only to one up it in the next episode. I had little interest through the majority of Season 1, but once they killed Ned Stark it blew my mind that he'd die so early and I had to know what happened after that. I knew nothing of the books and only got into it after constant belittling from my friends that I'd never seen it. Now I'll be sad that it's over, particularly with summer shortly around the corner.

 

[Been Jammin]

Yeah, there were a lot of turning my head away or covering my face moments for me. I'd think they couldn't get any more gruesome, only to one up it in the next episode. I had little interest through the majority of Season 1, but once they killed Ned Stark it blew my mind that he'd die so early and I had to know what happened after that. I knew nothing of the books and only got into it after constant belittling from my friends that I'd never seen it. Now I'll be sad that it's over, particularly with summer shortly around the corner.

When the show debuted, I had never heard of the books, and hadn't yet seen any previews for the show. Everyone was talking about it, so I decided to check it out a few weeks in. I was quickly intrigued, but not totally bought in. Then came the episode where Ned bought the farm. As I was watching, I was thinking, "wow, it looks really bleak for him, how is he going to survive this?". Then they killed him off. I was like "holy shit, if they can kill the main protagonist, no one is safe in this show." Went out and bought the first book the next day. Have now read all of the books twice. The HBO version is good (for the most part), but GRRM's books are so much better.

 

[NeekReevers]

When the show debuted, I had never heard of the books, and hadn't yet seen any previews for the show. Everyone was talking about it, so I decided to check it out a few weeks in. I was quickly intrigued, but not totally bought in. Then came the episode where Ned bought the farm. As I was watching, I was thinking, "wow, it looks really bleak for him, how is he going to survive this?". Then they killed him off. I was like "holy shit, if they can kill the main protagonist, no one is safe in this show." Went out and bought the first book the next day. Have now read all of the books twice. The HBO version is good (for the most part), but GRRM's books are so much better.

I guess you've sort of already answered this but I've only watched the show, still worth reading the books?

 

[Ostatedchi]

I read the first few but then got lost in it all. The damn changing character perspective just didn’t do it for me. You never knew who or what to pay attention to in the story line. Was this new person important? It does give depth to the experience. But it was just too much.

What’s the difference between GoT and Twitter? Twitter only has 144 characters.

 

[SSS!!!]

If we don’t get some major backstory on the NK and/or he and his army is defeated all in this one episode, I will say this show is more than disappointing. They have been building up and building up the NK and his army for 8 season, for all that to end over one episode w no true major download of history would be almost series ruining for me.

 

[Been Jammin]

I guess you've sort of already answered this but I've only watched the show, still worth reading the books?

If you like to read, definitely. GRRM is a gifted writer, and the books go so much deeper than the show for many reasons. There are key characters, some of whom are very interesting, who were left out of the show entirely. While reading, you are actually inside the mind of the the characters, so you know what they are thinking rather than just seeing their actions. There are also a lot of differences between the show/books. For example... Barristan Selmy, Stannis, Rickon, Myrcella, Shireen, Tommen, Margerie and Loras Tyrell are all still alive in the books. Jaime and Bronn never went to Dorne. Sansa never gets sold to the Boltons and marries Ramsay. Many others.

 

[Been Jammin]

If we don’t get some major backstory on the NK and/or he and his army is defeated all in this one episode, I will say this show is more than disappointing. They have been building up and building up the NK and his army for 8 season, for all that to end over one episode w no true major download of history would be almost series ruining for me.

That's a fair criticism. But, I would say that it depends on how it is done. In theory, the NK is going to die at some point, and there are only 4 episodes left (3 after this one), and many story lines to tie up.

It does seem important that they give us more WW history and some kind of assurance that they aren't going to reemerge as a threat at some point in the near future.

 

[SSS!!!]

If you like to read, definitely. GRRM is a gifted writer, and the books go so much deeper than the show for many reasons. There are key characters, some of whom are very interesting, who were left out of the show entirely. While reading, you are actually inside the mind of the the characters, so you know what they are thinking rather than just seeing their actions. There are also a lot of differences between the show/books. For example... Barristan Selmy, Stannis, Rickon, Myrcella, Shireen, Tommen, Margerie and Loras Tyrell are all still alive in the books. Jaime and Bronn never went to Dorne. Sansa never gets sold to the Boltons and marries Ramsay. Many others.

His death in the show was almost a game ender for me. They don’t do his legend justice in the show. For the non book readers, you need to look up his backstory. Probably the greatest swordsman behind Arthur Dayne. I know he was old but to have him die at the hands of the Sons of the Harpy was just wrong. Maybe that’s how GRRM will do it, but I doubt it.

 

[Been Jammin]

His death in the show was almost a game ender for me. They don’t do his legend justice in the show. For the non book readers, you need to look up his backstory. Probably the greatest swordsman behind Arthur Dayne. I know he was old but to have him die at the hands of the Sons of the Harpy was just wrong. Maybe that’s how GRRM will do it, but I doubt it.

On Reddit, there is a lot of speculation, among avid fans, that he will turncloak and betray Dani and she will kill him or have him executed.

It would be in line with GRRM to have one of the most honorable, loyal characters end up as a disgraced traitor. Kind of the opposite of what he has done with Jaime's character.

 

[The Duke]

His death in the show was almost a game ender for me. They don’t do his legend justice in the show. For the non book readers, you need to look up his backstory. Probably the greatest swordsman behind Arthur Dayne. I know he was old but to have him die at the hands of the Sons of the Harpy was just wrong. Maybe that’s how GRRM will do it, but I doubt it.

GRRM, writing about 20 words a day, won't figure out how Barristan will die until around the year 2027.

 

[SSS!!!]

On Reddit, there is a lot of speculation, among avid fans, that he will turncloak and betray Dani and she will kill him or have him executed.

It would be in line with GRRM to have one of the most honorable, loyal characters end up as a disgraced traitor. Kind of the opposite of what he has done with Jaime's character.

And I would be fine w that. He deserves to have a meaningful death, disgraced or not. Dying how he did in the show was ridiculous. Him and Grey Worm would have, in his words to the KINGSGUARD, “Cut through them like carving a cake”.

 

[100TonsofOrangeFury]

If we don’t get some major backstory on the NK and/or he and his army is defeated all in this one episode, I will say this show is more than disappointing. They have been building up and building up the NK and his army for 8 season, for all that to end over one episode w no true major download of history would be almost series ruining for me.

Guess you missed where they did provide his backstory a couple of seasons ago? Think someone even posted the youtube of the critical scene.

 

[SSS!!!]

Guess you missed where they did provide his backstory a couple of seasons ago? Think someone even posted the youtube of the critical scene.

The scene where the COTF stuck dragonglass in a mans chest to create the WW? To combat the men that were invading there lands. Yeah I saw it, doesn’t really explain anything other than how the WWs were created. We don’t even know if that guy was the NK.

 

[Been Jammin]

The scene where the COTF stuck dragonglass in a mans chest to create the WW? To combat the men that were invading there lands. Yeah I saw it, doesn’t really explain anything other than how the WWs were created. We don’t even know if that guy was the NK.

Agree with this. I have a feeling that Bran will tell us more about the NK before all is said and done. It seems that the story will have to end with total destruction of all of the WW, or with rebuilding of the Wall to protect mankind from them.

 

[KCCowboy1]

Agree with this. I have a feeling that Bran will tell us more about the NK before all is said and done. It seems that the story will have to end with total destruction of all of the WW, or with rebuilding of the Wall to protect mankind from them.

Or could the back story be developed in the prequel and left alone for now?

 

[SSS!!!]

Or could the back story be developed in the prequel and left alone for now?

That’s definitely a possibility, especially with how little time we have left. I’m just saying I will be thoroughly disappointed if that’s the case.