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[SofNasciment-]

It just hit me - where in the world has Ghost been? I assume lurking around Winterfell?

He is.

It's too expensive to have direwolves it seems. And with all the effort to bring the Dragons to life I suppose Ghost got sidelined.

I really missed him in the end of the episode, when the guys are walking away from the wall and we see the 7 outlined. He should have been there!

 

[Rentahamster]

Thinking over the course of the series, does anyone else think that cities and castles have been pretty easy to capture? Aside from...Riverrun, I guess.

It's too expensive to have direwolves it seems. And with all the effort to bring the Dragons to life I suppose Ghost got sidelined.

We need an animated adaption.

 

[SofNasciment-]

Thinking over the course of the series, does anyone else think that cities and castles have been pretty easy to capture?.

Yep.

Sieges are probably the most time demanding task in warfare. It's not just running and putting ladders against a wall. But it fits with the very fast pace of this season.

 

[Atlantis]

It just hit me - where in the world has Ghost been? I assume lurking around Winterfell?

Sansa name-dropped Ghost last episode. She said he was sitting around waiting for Jon at Winterfell.

 

[Quan]

I honestly think Bran will be the one who had messed up the Mad King. Someone will have said to him,why don't you go back in time to have wildfire stored and ready and he did the same thing to the Mad King that happened to Hodor. Or the older three eyed raven would have done it and it is why he realized someone else has to take over as he messed up too much.

Again, nothing pissed me off more than the Jaime being saved at last second by Bronn and then wash up maybe 100 yards further in full plate. And how he can escape Dothraki on horses and a dragon, Tyrion no one goes looking. They assume he has survived and Bronn sets up a meeting etc. All reality is going out the window for contrived scenes set up solely for shock or dramatic effect. When I said it is Walking Dead level, walking dead ended up doing this too much. The governor despite being surrounded with no ammo by 100 walkers, survives and kidnaps Andrea right as she reaches the prison and the split second Rick looks at her spot to see her gone. I honestly don't think aside from CGI or stunt work or costumes or something that this writing will win any awards.

This is what happens when all you have is an outline of how the show ends. They're just trying to fill the rest in with blackjack and hookers.

It's a highlights rather than a TV show. Completely agree with you.

 

[Gabriel_Logan]

My headcanon has the NK as like some kind of weather wizard who can command giant snowstorms when he wants. Add in some lightning ala Storm and he'd fuck a dragon up. He also has a few giants who could probably use their bows (weirwood bow and arrow????) like that 1 giant who sniped a guy way up top of the wall, and that thing still had enough power to lift the poor sap off of his feet meters into the air. I'd like to see Drogon arrogantly try to deflect those kind of arrows like he did in episode 4.

I'd like to see him pull some Sauraman shit like in the Fellowship

 

[Turin]

Ghosts current status.

Ghost deserves your attention, Jon!

 

[Spirit of Jazz]

Ghost's current status.

Ghost disserves your attention, Jon!

Ghost deserves better than Jon. Even Nymeria knew better than not to deal with Arya's crazy and she wasn't going to go beyond the wall to capture a wight for a mad queen...

 

[m_shortpants]

Also while Jon was assembling his strike team to go north, he didn't think to bring a goddam white giant dire wolf?

Ugh

 

[BetterThanNothing]

The wights can't use weapons, right? They're basically zombies. Just stupid dead things that use their bare hands. That's how it is in the books, anyway. So I think zombie giants using huge bows are out. Not that it matters, if they want a dragon to die, they'll just have it done even if it doesn't make any fucking sense.

 

[Rentahamster]

Also while Jon was assembling his strike team to go north, he didn't think to bring a goddam white giant dire wolf?

Ugh

For me, the head scratching logistics/party management decision was not bringing any mounts. I mean, really? This whole season they're talking about "no time this" and "no time that", yet they choose to go out on foot.

Did the great ranging of season 1/2 have any horses? They did, right?

 

[Speevy]

I would make a giant spiked wall comprised entirely of dragonglass and have the wights just charge at it.

 

[Thug Waffle]

For me, the head scratching logistics/party management decision was not bringing any mounts. I mean, really? This whole season they're talking about "no time this" and "no time that", yet they choose to go out on foot.

Did the great ranging of season 1/2 have any horses? They did, right?

pretty sure they did up until the horses were brutalized by WW. they left Castle Black on horseback if i'm not mistaken

edit: yah bish

 

[dabig2]

The wights can't use weapons, right? They're basically zombies. Just stupid dead things that use their bare hands. That's how it is in the books, anyway. So I think zombie giants using huge bows are out. Not that it matters, if they want a dragon to die, they'll just have it done even if it doesn't make any fucking sense.

Some of them were definitely using weapons at Hardhome after they rushed through the gate. Then of course the infamous Jojen death scene with him getting stabbed by skeletor.

Give my zombie giants some weapons please. Make up for the Battle of the Bastards with Wun Wun.

 

[Madness]

The wights can't use weapons, right? They're basically zombies. Just stupid dead things that use their bare hands. That's how it is in the books, anyway. So I think zombie giants using huge bows are out. Not that it matters, if they want a dragon to die, they'll just have it done even if it doesn't make any fucking sense.

Did you miss the Zombies using spears and daggers not only killing Jojen but digging through the three eyed raven cave, stabbing the children, stabbing the fuck out of Summer, Leaf and even Hodor?

Another point of the writing. All these people are going North to convince Cersei of all people that the dead are rising and yet she has a Mountain Zombie that Qyburn brought back from the dead. GRRM will end up having some compelling reason for being north of the wall, and yet for us Jorah is there because Sam Tarly cured his greyscale, something people can't cure for centuries by abrading the skin and applying some chemicals as if no one thought of that. He shows up the exact second she returns from around Highgarden fully cured and agrees to go with Jon, someone who is the bastard son of the man who caused him to go exile etc.

It is again superfluous melodrama. They want this motley crue beyond the wall. Time, reality, motivation, character development be damned.

 

[Sean C]

Another point of the writing. All these people are going North to convince Cersei of all people that the dead are rising and yet she has a Mountain Zombie that Qyburn brought back from the dead.

The fact that Qyburn was able to soup up the Mountain using his mad scientist skills doesn't intrinsically mean that there's an army of zombies marching beyond the Wall.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

The fact that Qyburn was able to soup up the Mountain using his mad scientist skills doesn't intrinsically mean that there's an army of zombies marching beyond the Wall.

if anything qyburn will be like

'Oh shit what the fuck is that. I mean we got the mountain but that thing is gross. I want to touch it.'

 

[jett]

Do people think it's a real possibility that the books will never be finished? That is, that Martin can't finish them because he doesn't know how.

A lot of people genuinely believe this.

I do too. GRUM seems to have lost some interest in the series, and there's no way he wraps this up in two more books. So even if he somehow releases TWOW next year, it will be at least a decade or more until the end of the books. If you think he takes his sweet ass time writing now, wait until he's pushing 80.

 

[WaffleTaco]

if anything qyburn will be like

'Oh shit what the fuck is that. I mean we got the mountain but that thing is gross. I want to touch it.'

They will show him getting a boner over it and dying of excitement...cue laugh track.

 

[Brakke]

The books are either never ending or else ending poorly as he rushes something out.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

They will show him getting a boner over it and dying of excitement...cue laugh track.

Yes. And then his boner will come back as a wight.

~~~

So unrelated, but has anyone else heard the spanish dub? Does GoT have a spanish dub? Is it any good? I kinda wanna introduce my mom to GoT.

 

[emag]

The fact that Qyburn was able to soup up the Mountain using his mad scientist skills doesn't intrinsically mean that there's an army of zombies marching beyond the Wall.

But from Cersei's perspective, whatever evidence Snow brings back from the north could simply be a one-off produced by another rogue maester.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

But from Cersei's perspective, whatever evidence Snow brings back from the north could simply be a one-off produced by another rogue maester.

Nah. Qyburn would fit that trope that is there to simply prove it's real.

Like, he's going to be there, and be like 'oh shit this is something no maester can do'. I forgot what the trope is. But he's that.

 

[Fisico]

Do people think it's a real possibility that the books will never be finished? That is, that Martin can't finish them because he doesn't know how.

I think he will release the next book at some point.
Book 7 I'm not sure, and even if he does I wouldn't be confident that he's able to finish the story by book 7.

At some point circumstances might led to someone else writing the last book(s), it would be great if it's someone that is recognized by GRRM, in the end it can only end to better results (in writing) than the TV series.

 

[biosnake20]

Rocks and Hard Places - Inherent Problems in the Creation of ASOIAF

Great post about GRRM and D&D becoming victims of their own success.

 

[DrForester]

Do people think it's a real possibility that the books will never be finished? That is, that Martin can't finish them because he doesn't know how.

I think that Martin just doesn't care much at this point. I think he's lost his passion for telling the story and just has no motivation to continue.

 

[BuggyDClown]

Maybe Jon leaving Ghost behind is a part of his rebirth. Like Arya not having Nymeria back because she is no longer the girl she was once. Jon is to be a Targaryen, the wolf is no longer his perhaps

 

[Jigorath]

Do people think it's a real possibility that the books will never be finished? That is, that Martin can't finish them because he doesn't know how.

He's never going to finish.

 

[Musolf815]

Do people think it's a real possibility that the books will never be finished? That is, that Martin can't finish them because he doesn't know how.

I think cutting the five year gap and never entering the planned second act stopped it from ever finishing. That and the line in his pitch letter that's like "When I know exactly where a story is going, I lose all interest".

 

[Turin]

Maybe Jon leaving Ghost behind is a part of his rebirth. Like Arya not having Nymeria back because she is no longer the girl she was once. Jon is to be a Targaryen, the wolf is no longer his perhaps

He's the ice and fire and all that jazz. And he clearly takes more after his mother.

 

[BuggyDClown]

I actually think he will finish them, I just believe it wont be anything until after the show is over. At that point he may even decide to diverge from the original planned ending so he can do his own thing. It may even be why he is holding off.

 

[Joni]

The ideal scenario would be GRRM lying, holding back one or more finished books to complete the entire series and then release them at a fixed pace. If that isn't the case, he will never have them finished.

 

[Kain]

He will never finish, and I've made my peace with hat. Pity the show will be the only thing that will somehow close the loose ends

 

[m_shortpants]

He will never finish, and I've made my peace with hat. Pity the show will be the only thing that will somehow close the loose ends

Same here. I just want to see an ending and then I can bid farewell to this series for a while.

 

[duckroll]

Let's up the stakes. If Winds isn't out by the time season 8 starts, we'll have one thread for the final season. Everyone posts in the No Books thread because that's what we have... no books.

 

[Sony]

Do people think it's a real possibility that the books will never be finished? That is, that Martin can't finish them because he doesn't know how.

I think he knows, but he simply has too much to write and too many things to distract him. The books won't be finished.

 

[Turin]

I never got too invested in the whole book release discussion..... probably because I started reading them post season 1.

I expect Winds will release someday. Dream of Spring might end up being a posthumously released franken-book.

Let's up the stakes. If Winds isn't out by the time season 8 starts, we'll have one thread for the final season. Everyone posts in the No Books thread because that's what we have... no books.

Sure, why not. lol

 

[Jombie]

Rocks and Hard Places - Inherent Problems in the Creation of ASOIAF

Great post about GRRM and D&D becoming victims of their own success.

Meh. I think it's more that D&D are victims of the GRRM well running dry.

I still think they all deserve a lot of credit. Seasons 5-7 aren't as nuanced or well-written as 1-4, but it's still the best thing on TV. However, I think it's fair now to say that season 7 having only 7 episodes was a mistake. I'm interested to hear what's said about it after the dust is settled.

 

[Savitar]

Also while Jon was assembling his strike team to go north, he didn't think to bring a goddam white giant dire wolf?

Ugh

We've seen what happens when a Dire Wolf goes into battle against wights. They get swamped and massacred.

What's the odds that The Mountain is going to end up being a tool of the Night King.

 

[Rentahamster]

What's the odds that The Mountain is going to end up being a tool of the Night King.

If they somehow get anywhere close in proximity, I'd say the chances are high. It fulfills the Rule of Cool, and the Killed by my own Superweapon tropes.

 

[Ocarina_117]

Read a quote on reddit from Beinoff. Seeming to indicate the show ending will diverge greatly from what they were told of the book ending.

 

[Timbuktu]

Read a quote on reddit from Beinoff. Seeming to indicate the show ending will diverge greatly from what they were told of the book ending.

You have to wonder if all the reaction to the show would change how GRRM consider about how he approaches the books, purposefully distancing it from the show perhaps.

 

[Atraveller]

Let's up the stakes. If Winds isn't out by the time season 8 starts, we'll have one thread for the final season. Everyone posts in the No Books thread because that's what we have... no books.

The thread that was promised, born amidst no smoke just book reader salt.

 

[Human Trashcan]

Seasons 5-7 aren't as nuanced or well-written as 1-4, but it's still the best thing on TV.

not to get up in your business, but I'm curious how much TV you actually watch if you think this is the case. I can think of a dozen shows currently running shows that are leaps and bounds better than the current GoT.

Re: Game of Throne's anti-war message: Sword-and-Sorcery Into Plowshares: Game of Thrones' Anti-War Message
by my favorite television critic and the host of Boiled Leather Audio Hour, the best ASOIAF podcast, Sean T Collins

 

[PHOENIXZERO]

Also while Jon was assembling his strike team to go north, he didn't think to bring a goddam white giant dire wolf?

Ugh

After what happened to Summer? Ghost is better off sleeping in Winterfell, especially with the culling of characters they've been doing so far this season Beric is probably dead next episode if not more.

 

[Apt101]

After what happened to Summer? Ghost is better off sleeping in Winterfell, especially with the culling of characters they've been doing so far this season Beric is probably dead next episode if not more.

If I am wrong about all of them dying, leaving Jon to fufill the role as Last Hero, I am guessing Berric and Thoros are definite goners. Berric has been dead forever, dying off-page, and Thoros was really nothing without him. J-Bear will probably be gone too since his character is a radical departure from the source and seems to serves no purpose, but they may keep him around as some kind of foil to Jon and Dany's eventual romance.

 

[Massa]

not to get up in your business, but I'm curious how much TV you actually watch if you think this is the case. I can think of a dozen shows currently running shows that are leaps and bounds better than the current GoT.

You should tell the Emmy people about all those shows, they seem unaware.

 

[SofNasciment-]

Rocks and Hard Places - Inherent Problems in the Creation of ASOIAF

Great post about GRRM and D&D becoming victims of their own success.

Another user made a great post with this conclusion:

"Its super easy to criticize D+D right now because they are doing something GRRM himself hasn't yet - actually attempting to resolve things. But thank god they had the sense to not let that football get too large and not listen to everyone who wanted LSH, and Vicatrion, and Arianne, and Darkstar, and the fuckton of other side characters who would have made all of this even more impossible to wrap up than it already is."

And I agree. That's why I posted earlier asking if people truly believed the books will never be finished. Just look at the state of the story, it looks father from the ending than it was by the end of book three, which was the last truly amazing book of asoiaf.

 

[hemo memo]

Let's up the stakes. If Winds isn't out by the time season 8 starts, we'll have one thread for the final season. Everyone posts in the No Books thread because that's what we have... no books.

 

[Human Trashcan]

You should tell the Emmy people about all those shows, they seem unaware.

lol there is no hope for the emmy's. aren't they still nominating House of Cards? it's a fucking terrible show. Both the emmys and HoC I mean.