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*UNMARKED SPOILERS ALL BOOKS* Game of Thrones |OT| - Season 7 - Sundays on HBO

JOKERACN7

Member
Had a blast with this episode, and I read the knocks against it in this thread, which make sense but still, I think it was a good episode.
 

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
Was in the wrong thread (surprised no book thread is twice as big as this one).
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The ship fight was really boring, right? felt like there were no real stakes, no way in hell Euron would die, and of course Yara/Dany would loose all those ships. Felt boring cause it was so utterly predictable.

I thought it was rather rad. The results were largely to be expected, but the road there was well-shot and memorable. Pilou Asbaek sold it all the way to the park, the atmosphere was lush, the quick cuts (both figuratively and literally) kept the tension going.
 

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
As soon as I saw that i was like:

We have a new Villain-Sue ladies and gentlemen!!!!

You can't sail 1000 ships like that in mist without any light (which you would have to do in order to not be seen) without a decent number of them crashing into each other and fucking up the fleet itself.

And let's say Euron didn't care, he's just that crazy, fine but SHOW it, show him just deciding to slam into Yara's fleet and sacrifice his own men to get to the cap ship, have a huge logjam of ships slamming into each other, unable to see which side is which, fire spreading everywhere, and Euron just not caring so long as he get;s his. It wouldn't be much smarter, but at least it would have some narrative weight to it.

That sort of is what looked like what happening. A bunch of fucked up ships on fire. And they did show Euron's ship crashing right into Yara's, apparently he just built the biggest and best invincible ships in like 0 time somehow with no resources.

What I didn't understand is what the fuck kind of fireballs where they using to burn yara's fleet, how were they so accurate and powerful, and why the fuck do dragons even matter?

That shit burned down ships far quicker than Dany's dragons.
 

Turin

Banned
Episode wasn't bad. I like Sam being Sam even if the Jorah cure was contrived. It doesn't matter. The show's almost like a medieval, portentous version of the Fast series.

The Arya scenes were cute and well acted. The Greyjoy battle was whatever but at least the more annoying Sand Snakes are dead. I loved Conleth Hill's performance.

With exception to choking Littlefinger, the Jon scenes have been duds. Though I don't fault Kit Harington for that. Admittedly, I miss Lord Commander Jon.

I need more Rory McCann in my life. Every GoT episode is improved by his presence.
 

Nodnol

Member
Surely Euron's flagship is the same one he sailed round the world on?

Just the other 999 ships we have to find a reason for.
 

Branduil

Member
There were some fireballs that weren't "normal fire color", figured those could be wildfire. Anyway, was just trying to explain to myself mostly, how the battle could be so onesided, considering Yara and them had stolen the major part of the Grejoy fleet, as I had understood it.

The explanation is the same as Ramsay's 20 good men: the writers are absolutely godawful at writing villains who aren't over-the-top Villain Sues. Every new bad guy now must be ludicrously evil and capable of impossible resource usage.
 

Ravelle

Member
Who else thought Qyburn's plan would be a reanimated dragon skeleton?

Then like, nah CGI budget, big fuck off crossbow.

That one minute of Nym probably already took too much.

And good bye Sand Snakes, we hardly knew ye.

It seemed they deliberately made their lines super bad and then killed them like they're saying *Hey remember these awful characters? They're dead now, you're welcome"
 

Forkball

Member
#Ashes

I liked this episode, even if some of the dialogue was clunky. Cersei, Dany, and Jon all planing their next moves gets me excited to see what happens this season. Hard to believe we are on the verge of Dany and Jon actually meeting. Jaime's parlay with Tarly, and Arya meeting Hot Pie again were stand out scenes.

We badly need a Citadel spinoff. Though sadly it looks like Jorah isn't getting the lava arm (or is he?).

The last scene... honestly I couldn't tell what the hell was going on most of the time. It was so dark, the music was awkward, and the jump cuts made my head spin. I actually laughed when they killed off some of the Sand Snakes. I suppose Ellaria, the worst person of all time, is getting got next episode. Hail Queen Cersei. I'm glad Theon got some attention this season since he didn't get the spotlight at all last year. He has one of the most fascinating arcs in the entire series, especially in the books, so I hope there is a good conclusion to his story.

The trinity will finally be in the same room next episode, we've finally reached this point in the story/fanfiction. And Davos will be there. With Mel! We just need Gendry to roll up to have the greatest scene in the series.
 

Mr Git

Member
This is exactly what I thought. Then the reveal was a real head-scratcher.

They haven't discovered crossbow technology at this point?

They have - Robb definitely saw a lot of bolts and Joffrey had one as a toy. That's a dragon killing bolt thrower though and they've set out to make a lot of them. I was expecting Euron's gift to be the horn but it seems it's gonna be sand.
 

War Peaceman

You're a big guy.
Tyrion had magical green fire, Cersei a big ass crossbow. I'd be pissed if I was her, the only thing close to Bard that she has is missing a hand.
 

Gigglepoo

Member
I'm glad Theon got some attention this season since he didn't get the spotlight at all last year. He has one of the most fascinating arcs in the entire series, especially in the books, so I hope there is a good conclusion to his story.

I figure he'll end up killing Euron. Though overcoming with his own trauma by murder doesn't sound super satisfying.
 

Arkeband

Banned
Still laughing about the ballista.

"Check it out." <whips off sheet>
"Isn't that a crossbow? You know, my father was killed with one of those."
"No, it's a ballista."
"It's just a big crossbow."
"...Fuck yeah it is."
 

Zutrax

Member
There was so much good with this episode but one thing very bad with it too.

The plotting, tactics, political discussion and characters we want to interact teasing their interactions were all really great. Hell even the Grey Worm/Missandei scene which normally I would have scoffed at was actually more emotional than I expected it to be. Arya seeing Nymeria was a poetic moment. Dany confronting Varys was actually quite tense and well written. It was all good stuff, felt like classic Game of Thrones to me.

However the last scene was pretty cliche, predictable, and poorly directed/edited. The effects and visuals were striking and well done, the fire on the ships and choreography was actually really well done. The problem came with the way the scene played out and the way it was edited. It was incredibly predictable, tried to develop a character I have all but lost interest in (Theon), potentially will end up in killing off a character I've grown fond of (Yara), and gave Euron ridiculous plot armor. It was fun, but felt like it could have been done at least somewhat differently to make it feel less forced, maybe have a scene discussing why Euron knew where they were to ambush them, maybe have Euron stay back and join in the aftermath. I'm not sure, but I felt it could have been slightly tweaked and been all the better for it.
 

Ryde3

Member
I almost turned it off after the "foreign invasion" line... man these two episodes have been terrible. Rushed, corny, damn near a parody.
 

Arkeband

Banned
In the entire fleet, Euron is in the leading ship and happens to board (of all the ships) that one?

Is that just bad writing?

It would be if Greyjoys (specifically one like Euron who has crew members who are questionably human and a hoard of magic trinkets) don't get raging boners over the thought of dying at sea during a raid and going to see their Drowned God.
 

Severance

Member
In the entire fleet, Euron is in the leading ship and happens to board (of all the ships) that one?

Is that just bad writing?

Yeah you really have to not think about the whole fight scene too much. It's all style and no substance. Euron sails through a storm and takes their entire fleet by surprise. Asha's fleet doesn't see them until they're ramming her ship. This is either a twenty good men moment or we are going to see Euron the warlock pirate who went to Essos and even deeper into Valyria. I hope they do. It's not too late.
 
Yeah you really have to not think about the whole fight scene too much. It's all style and no substance. Euron sails through a storm and takes their entire fleet by surprise. Asha's fleet doesn't see them until they're ramming her ship. This is either a twenty good men moment or we are going to see Euron the warlock pirate who went to Essos and even deeper into Valyria. I hope they do. It's not too late.

Give him blue lips! Something a little more exciting than "rock star pirate".
 

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
I almost turned it off after the "foreign invasion" line... man these two episodes have been terrible. Rushed, corny, damn near a parody.

I loved that line. Only funny thing Ellaria has said since Pedro Pascal was still setting her up for her own punchlines.
 

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
Is it safe to assume that this season we see the settling of the seven kingdoms and next year is the war in the North against the night king?

I wouldn't assume anything, really. It seems relatively likely, but at the same time, there's something to be said for leaving politics unsettled and letting the endgame threat roll over it like the nothingness Jon knows it to be.
 

Iksenpets

Banned
There was so much good with this episode but one thing very bad with it too.

The plotting, tactics, political discussion and characters we want to interact teasing their interactions were all really great. Hell even the Grey Worm/Missandei scene which normally I would have scoffed at was actually more emotional than I expected it to be. Arya seeing Nymeria was a poetic moment. Dany confronting Varys was actually quite tense and well written. It was all good stuff, felt like classic Game of Thrones to me.

However the last scene was pretty cliche, predictable, and poorly directed/edited. The effects and visuals were striking and well done, the fire on the ships and choreography was actually really well done. The problem came with the way the scene played out and the way it was edited. It was incredibly predictable, tried to develop a character I have all but lost interest in (Theon), potentially will end up in killing off a character I've grown fond of (Yara), and gave Euron ridiculous plot armor. It was fun, but felt like it could have been done at least somewhat differently to make it feel less forced, maybe have a scene discussing why Euron knew where they were to ambush them, maybe have Euron stay back and join in the aftermath. I'm not sure, but I felt it could have been slightly tweaked and been all the better for it.

I'm still really hoping that Euron's insane luck between knowing their location, having the mists and the winds right where he needed them, etc, is all just a slow roll out of his magic, and they're saving the big reveal of it for some major twist, but I also have zero faith that they're above having it just be really good luck, and that Euron is just 20 good men all in one character.

Having a day to process this one has kind of soured me on it. The battle was impressive production-wise, with the ships and fires and all the extras, but it was a mess of rapid cuts, other than the very good final lingering shot of Silence sailing off. It almost felt self-aware that killing off some Sand Snakes would earn it some plaudits from fans, which, when you're trying to boost engagement by killing off characters you fucked up so badly that fans want them gone, you're in a bad place. (Also, man, I feel bad for those actresses, because having now seen those characters to completion, I think it's pretty safe to say that there was not a single scene written for them that would have allowed them to sell those characters, and so they got assigned really brutal deaths to get everyone out of the mess they were in)

Sam's stuff is a poorly thought out deus ex machina, as is Qyburn's ballista. Olenna/Dany and Jaime/Randyll were decent scenes, but all of the other monarchs-holding-court stuff was fairly uninspired retreads of stuff we've already seen. I will say giving Olenna some of the "be a dragon" stuff from Dany's book hallucinations was good, especially if her early defeats here in this episode are going to push her to go more all out.

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now on the Nymeria scene, and assume that's set-up for something later, because otherwise it managed to use the weight of a season 1 callback to stir up some emotions, but otherwise was pretty weak, and needed the after-the-episode interview to explain what they were even really going for with it.

I guess the big thing is they seem to mostly be riding their budget and the impact of things that have been set up for years to carry the show now, rather than any interesting writing or character development. And, I mean, it's possible that this story just really has an uninteresting end game, and that everything has been so heavily foreshadowed and set-up that the end is going to feel kind of static if you've been paying attention, but it's also possible that they just don't have a good feel for how to progress these characters anymore without the book to guide them.

Also, this episode just didn't have a scene the quality of episode 1's Hound stuff to carry it. The Hound is the one character who really still feels dynamic right now.
 
So....ballistas weren't a thing back in Aegon the Conquerer's day? I mean, nobody thought of that until now? Seems mighty lazy to me.

Also, hitting a flying dragon with one of those things would be nigh impossible. You'd either need a bunch of them firing into an area, or you'd need to ground/immobilize the dragon somehow so you could actually have time to aim a shot at it.
 
You should re-read the OP. Info about upcoming episodes is supposed to be spoiler tagged like all other TV threads on GAF. Leak talk is banned altogether.

You fundamentally don't understand the purpose of this (and the other) thread.

Those are the rules for all TV threads.

Reading comprehension isn't your strong suit. Guess what "follow regular tv thread protocol and spoiler tag promo material, etc... " means.

Also, the person who posted future book content should be banned.

It's in the goddamn OP!
Ok ok, I'm sorry, I concede. Lol
 

Syrus

Banned
So....ballistas weren't a thing back in Aegon the Conquerer's day? I mean, nobody thought of that until now? Seems mighty lazy to me.

Also, hitting a flying dragon with one of those things would be nigh impossible. You'd either need a bunch of them firing into an area, or you'd need to ground/immobilize the dragon somehow so you could actually have time to aim a shot at it.

Have you seen the Hobbit movies? 1 man and 1 child can do it
 

btrboyev

Member
So....ballistas weren't a thing back in Aegon the Conquerer's day? I mean, nobody thought of that until now? Seems mighty lazy to me.

Also, hitting a flying dragon with one of those things would be nigh impossible. You'd either need a bunch of them firing into an area, or you'd need to ground/immobilize the dragon somehow so you could actually have time to aim a shot at it.

Never read/scene the hobbit eh?
 
So....ballistas weren't a thing back in Aegon the Conquerer's day? I mean, nobody thought of that until now? Seems mighty lazy to me.

Also, hitting a flying dragon with one of those things would be nigh impossible. You'd either need a bunch of them firing into an area, or you'd need to ground/immobilize the dragon somehow so you could actually have time to aim a shot at it.

When Aegon began his conquest on Dorne one of his sister/wife's dragons got hit by it. Her dragon died but the rider's whereabouts are unknown, presumed dead. Until he received a letter but Aegon didn't reveal the content of the letter, he ended up burning it and it kinda temporarily stopped his attempts on bringing Dorne to the fold.
 
So....ballistas weren't a thing back in Aegon the Conquerer's day? I mean, nobody thought of that until now? Seems mighty lazy to me.

Also, hitting a flying dragon with one of those things would be nigh impossible. You'd either need a bunch of them firing into an area, or you'd need to ground/immobilize the dragon somehow so you could actually have time to aim a shot at it.

In real life, ballistas were used a lot during the Roman Ages but were sort of phased out by the Middle Ages in favor of trebuchets. I can imagine something similar happened in the GOT world, it's been awhile since they've needed to fight dragons.
 

Gigglepoo

Member
Did anyone else just assume when Dorne and Lady Olenna teamed up with Dany they brought their soldiers? I certainly didn't expect them to go all the way to Dragonstone without a plan and then turn right around to get their armies.
 
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