OT: Winter Is Coming | Game of Thrones Discussion Thread

[elocomotive]

Oh and one other comment. I will spoiler it in case some are late watching due to Memorial Day

Spoiler

I was not at all surprised at Sam's lack of spine. I did like that he took the sword however, and there will be more to it then just a cheap "WTG Sam, maybe you did not stand up to Dad but you got some payback in a way that will really piss him off. Haha."

You just KNOW at some future point (final season) it will be part of the "Previously on GoT" flashback montage. Likely in the episode where Sam has to actually use the sword and kill another Walker

Agreed on Sam. He's grown up into a man, now. But we we all revert to our childhood roles to some degree around our families.

 

[Edonidd]

care to share what more they did in the books to show how important religion was ? spoiler it for the others

I mean it was cursory and short in the grand scheme of things but the "walk of shame/atonement" that Cersei did kinda showed to me what kind of foothold religion has taken amongst the poor common folk gave me the sense any type of royal intervention would cause an uprising

It was highlighted more in the books that giving the church the right to bear arms and recruit soldiers was one of the all time fuck-ups. I don't remember now if it was Joffrey being a dumbass, Tommen being a weakling, or Cersei making a retarded power play. But they point out that all the actual Knights are sworn to the seven gods, and one of the biggest wars in Westeros history was the almost civil war between the church and state. Like hundreds of thousands, or even millions died to demilitiraize the church. And then the idiots just gave them the power back.

In the show they only portray a double handful of guys with sticks. But I think it's closer to hundreds if not thousands already in the books. The full armies of the Lannisters, kings landing, and the Tyrells could have still beaten them at this point as they showed; but it was going to basically take everyone. Wait too much longer and that option may be gone. And after last episode it looks like they have to wait longer.

 

[juliansteed]

^Yeah, lots of rising action this week. Some interesting moments, but more of a setup episode for sure.

What was with the final scene? Redundant, no? After Khaleesi gives her big speech, I wanted a moment where everyone grew quiet and then one blood rider was like...
"Yeah, we're with you. I thought that was obvious. I mean, we've been riding through the desert for days now following you. Where exactly did you think we were going? I thought it was presumed after we all left the big horse convention thing. Remember when we all cheered and bowed down? What else did you think that meant?"

Also, how long has Uncle B just been riding around the woods? The guy must be absolutely sick of rabbit stew. Maybe they'll stumble across a Chili's or something.

Agreed. That was my least favourite part of an otherwise solid episode. Usually one you're into the 2nd half of the season, the final scene of each episode as much better. Last night's final scene was a major letdown, especially after last week. Not only was it redundant but I feel like we've seen something similar to it before 3 or 4 times.

I guess we did get some new important information, or at least some clarification. The Dothraki confirmed they were willing to follow her all the way to Westeros as opposed to just Mereen. It's been said that the Dothraki have never crossed before. So there's that. Not really worthy of a final scene though in my opinion.

 

[BGDave]

Episode 7 - well, well. I don't know what can be said about the episode without using the Spoiler function.

It really threw me when it started with a scene and not the usual intro and music. A minute in, and I could hear Geekdom all cheering at what they saw!

I am very interested to see what happens next for Arya. I was surprised by the plot development for her. Also, I am liking how Sansa is developing into a young Cersei. Her smackdown of Davos was pretty good.

And I had no idea that Theon's sister had certain, ummm, proclivities

No Sam this week which was a little disappointing, I was hoping we would get some sense for his next steps.

There is still a LOT to get through in the remaining 3 episodes this season

Spoiler

Cleganebowl, Battle of the Bastards/Winterfell, Slavers Bay?, and now Blackfish v. Kingslayer. Not to mention Arya, the Greyjoys,

I wonder how much gets pushed into Season 7?

 

[jstewismybastardson]

 

[BGDave]

View attachment 125706

Who is the dude on the right?

#justlockedupmyspotinhell

 

[calsnowskier]

Who is the dude on the right?

#justlockedupmyspotinhell

 

[BGDave]

View attachment 125737

Using the Commutative Law then, if High Sparrow = Francis, and Francis = Psycho, then

The High Sparrow is psycho?

He seems so normal...

 

[BGDave]

Was trying to think through next steps in the Cersei storyline.

Seems pretty inevitable that she will have to face a Trial by Combat. And she has said the Mountain will be her champion.

After the TbC, what happens? If the Mountain wins, do they clean house at the Sept and it is curtains for the High Sparrow? What about poor, naive Tommen then?

Using the David v. Goliath analogy, it sure seems like they are setting up for an epic underdog win and the Mountain crumbles. And what if the Mountain loses? If I understand correctly, the Mountain losing means Cersei is considered guilty of her crimes. More jail time for her, or execution? And what would Tommen do then?

My guess is that the Mountain loses, Cersei is given the Anne Boleyn treatment (which would be particularly ironic if Margery Tyrell is there to see it) and civil war/unrest ensues until

Spoiler

Danerys flies in on Drogon to clean house.

A couple of things we have seen may have forshadowed this. In the Bran visions sequence, we see the shadow of a big dragon flying over Kings Landing.

Way back in that episode where Danerys is trying to recover her dragon eggs, she has a vision of her at the Iron Throne, but the room looks destroyed, much like HarrenHall after the Targeryans and their dragons destroyed it.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Was trying to think through next steps in the Cersei storyline.

Seems pretty inevitable that she will have to face a Trial by Combat. And she has said the Mountain will be her champion.

After the TbC, what happens? If the Mountain wins, do they clean house at the Sept and it is curtains for the High Sparrow? What about poor, naive Tommen then?

Using the David v. Goliath analogy, it sure seems like they are setting up for an epic underdog win and the Mountain crumbles. And what if the Mountain loses? If I understand correctly, the Mountain losing means Cersei is considered guilty of her crimes. More jail time for her, or execution? And what would Tommen do then?

My guess is that the Mountain loses, Cersei is given the Anne Boleyn treatment (which would be particularly ironic if Margery Tyrell is there to see it) and civil war/unrest ensues until

Spoiler

Danerys flies in on Drogon to clean house.

A couple of things we have seen may have forshadowed this. In the Bran visions sequence, we see the shadow of a big dragon flying over Kings Landing.

Way back in that episode where Danerys is trying to recover her dragon eggs, she has a vision of her at the Iron Throne, but the room looks destroyed, much like HarrenHall after the Targeryans and their dragons destroyed it.

Could the Dorne story line tie in to the trial by combat?

 

[BGDave]

Could the Dorne story line tie in to the trial by combat?

I have been wondering about that. It makes a lot of sense given the history with the Mountain. They have not done anything to set up (for example) one of the Sand Sisters as the Church's champion. I could see something like: the Mountain wins the Trial by Combat, and then one or more of the Sand Sisters jumps out of the crowd and finishes him off.

Just because we haven't heard from Dorne since Ep. 1 this season is not significant IMO. Going back several episodes or years (Benjen Stark) is certainly in their bag of tricks.

There is one rumo(u)r out there that the TbC could be 7 on 7. Apparently there is some reference to that format in the books, but I don't remember it. If so, Dorne could be represented in the Church's 7 fighters.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I have been wondering about that. It makes a lot of sense given the history with the Mountain. They have not done anything to set up (for example) one of the Sand Sisters as the Church's champion. I could see something like: the Mountain wins the Trial by Combat, and then one or more of the Sand Sisters jumps out of the crowd and finishes him off.

Just because we haven't heard from Dorne since Ep. 1 this season is not significant IMO. Going back several episodes or years (Benjen Stark) is certainly in their bag of tricks.

There is one rumo(u)r out there that the TbC could be 7 on 7. Apparently there is some reference to that format in the books, but I don't remember it. If so, Dorne could be represented in the Church's 7 fighters.

That would be interesting.

So is there the possibility that Jamie dies this season? His character has dropped down the power rankings significantly. Used to be right at the top but has since aimlessly bounced from story line to story line.

 

[BGDave]

That would be interesting.

So is there the possibility that Jamie dies this season? His character has dropped down the power rankings significantly. Used to be right at the top but has since aimlessly bounced from story line to story line.

Going back to when I read the books, I always had the impression that the Lannister family was not nearly as important in the Big Picture as they seem to be. I have always thought of them as usurpers and power-hungry opportunists who will have a short shelf life. But maybe that's because I just don't like them (Tyrion excluded).

Sorry to make references to the books, but it is contextually relevant here. Right now, Jamie and the Blackfish have an apparent standoff. From the preview, we know that Brienne shows up. What is going to happen there? I have no idea.

Spoiler: Book Spoiler but makes no sense with the plot on TV

In the books, there is no Brienne and Blackfish escapes by swimming underwater to get past Jamie and his Army.

. Brienne was sent by Sansa to get some help from Blackfish. The preview seems to suggest that Jamie will storm the castle, and at some point might come face to face with Brienne. What happens then? I have no idea. Do they fight? Does he kill Brienne? Does she kill him? How this plays out will impact on Sansa and the retaking of Winterfell.

Spoiler: More book reference FWIW

This is totally off book now so there is no info there either.

If I have to guess, I think Jamie does die this year, I am just not sure if it will be now or back at King's Landing.

 

[Jared]

What do you guys think is the story with our stab wound victim?

Spoiler

= Something is up there. I don't think that was Arya. Why didn't she have Needle with her? Where did she get the gold? Why did she leave herself out in the open like that?

Is it possible that it was instead Jaqen H'ghar? I know we've only seen him use the faces of the dead, so this might be nonsense. He told the waif to ensure that Arya doesn't suffer when the waif told him she would kill Arya. Repeatedly stabbing someone in the gut so they will bleed out is not what he would have had in mind. Is it possible that he was testing the waif?

If it's not that, it's something. There is something off with that scene, IMO.

 

[elocomotive]

There is one rumo(u)r out there that the TbC could be 7 on 7. Apparently there is some reference to that format in the books, but I don't remember it. If so, Dorne could be represented in the Church's 7 fighters.

That would certainly set up the video game franchise nicely.

 

[BGDave]

What do you guys think is the story with our stab wound victim?

Spoiler

= Something is up there. I don't think that was Arya. Why didn't she have Needle with her? Where did she get the gold? Why did she leave herself out in the open like that?

Is it possible that it was instead Jaqen H'ghar? I know we've only seen him use the faces of the dead, so this might be nonsense. He told the waif to ensure that Arya doesn't suffer when the waif told him she would kill Arya. Repeatedly stabbing someone in the gut so they will bleed out is not what he would have had in mind. Is it possible that he was testing the waif?

If it's not that, it's something. There is something off with that scene, IMO.

That is a really interesting idea.

Spoiler

In the preview for Episode 8, we see the waif running like she has seen a ghost (not Ghost) and jumping off a wall. Would she do that if she saw real Arya? Mebbe.

I could see Jaqen doing that. Testing the waif, or maybe, taking one for his old friend who saved his life. Valar morghulis. Even Jaqen.

One possible problem is body size. When someone takes on a face, does the rest of their body change size and shape? Logically no, and thus Jaqen's body would not shrink to Arya size even if he could assume her face. I didn't notice anything when I first watched it, but I wonder if the body size was Arya or Jaqen.

My son thinks Actress Cersei will help Arya. Problem with that is the apparent injuries. That was some vicious stabbing going on. I hope they dont go with a lame, oh its just a flesh wound, not as bad as it looks, kind of storyline. The way the waif stabbed "Arya" would make that nonsensical.

Which leads to: if the stabbing was legit, Arya either needs a Red Priestess type resurrection, or, it is not Arya. And if so, Jaqen is the only logical candidate. Could be another Faceless Man however.

Very interesting idea.

 

[BGDave]

That would certainly set up the video game franchise nicely.

I bet Blizzard (see what I did there) is already on this goldmine.

 

[juliansteed]

I think the Waif is definitely being tested along with Arya and is failing miserably. The Waif is at the top of my dead pool for the rest of the season, and will most likely die in the next episode which is titled "No one". The whole situation reminds me a lot of Saw 3.

Also the way Arya was stabbed in the gut repeatedly seems like another reminder of the Red Wedding and Robb's wife. I wouldn't think much of it but with all of the other references to the Red Wedding in this episode I think this was another more subtle one. With the reintroduction of the Freys, the hanging on The Hound's friend by what appears to be the Brotherhood behaving completely differently than when Beric D. was their leader, and with so many characters in the Riverlands, if we don't get a certain popular book character this season then D&D are trolling the viewers big time!

 

[calsnowskier]

I think the Waif is definitely being tested along with Arya and is failing miserably. The Waif is at the top of my dead pool for the rest of the season, and will most likely die in the next episode which is titled "No one". The whole situation reminds me a lot of Saw 3.

Also the way Arya was stabbed in the gut repeatedly seems like another reminder of the Red Wedding and Robb's wife. I wouldn't think much of it but with all of the other references to the Red Wedding in this episode I think this was another more subtle one. With the reintroduction of the Freys, the hanging on The Hound's friend by what appears to be the Brotherhood behaving completely differently than when Beric D. was their leader, and with so many characters in the Riverlands, if we don't get a certain popular book character this season then D&D are trolling the viewers big time!

Just popped into my head...

What if "a girl" becomes "a Lady"? Change from the books enough to through off all the readers, but still fills the vacuum...

 

[jstewismybastardson]

What do you guys think is the story with our stab wound victim?

Spoiler

= Something is up there. I don't think that was Arya. Why didn't she have Needle with her? Where did she get the gold? Why did she leave herself out in the open like that?

Is it possible that it was instead Jaqen H'ghar? I know we've only seen him use the faces of the dead, so this might be nonsense. He told the waif to ensure that Arya doesn't suffer when the waif told him she would kill Arya. Repeatedly stabbing someone in the gut so they will bleed out is not what he would have had in mind. Is it possible that he was testing the waif?

If it's not that, it's something. There is something off with that scene, IMO.

I see you read this on Monday too lol