Board 8 > Game of Thrones Season 7 - Send a raven North... (SPOILER)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Menji posted...

I guess this confirms Tyene's death now that Bronn is all the way at Highgarden.

Highgarden is only two weeks away! He'll ask Qyburn to make a sexy zombie out of her.

Jorah: "I just thought it was the rest"
Sam: *eager nod*
Jorah: "and the climate"
Sam: *slow frown*

Best scene of the episode that. I'm getting annoyed at Euron; like someone said previously, he's winning too much to have only been introduced last season. It feels so random. Also, it feels weird to have a "traitor" parade for the Sand Snakes and Asha; two houses nobody in mainland Westeros cares about AND why cheer for the queen when you were shaming her a season or two ago?

Happy about the Stark reunion. Also kind of annoyed that Tyrion is being such a failure after he's been so clever tactically all show. The series is starting to make less sense now; the writers just do whatever's convenient for them as opposed to how the world functions.

Still enjoyed it though, but growing more frustrated at the shortcuts the writers are taking.
---

I love the internet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ccdMX-acKE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFqVOkDcb1Y (the laugh at the end syncs up so well)
---

Did you guys forget that the majority of the Tyrell army was off from the Reach lands sieging King's Landing? And the ones that weren't I can assume started following the Tarly.

RyoCaliente posted...

Jorah: "I just thought it was the rest"
Sam: *eager nod*
Jorah: "and the climate"
Sam: *slow frown*

so good

I'm getting annoyed at Euron; like someone said previously, he's winning too much to have only been introduced last season.

This was pretty brilliant, though. He would have been fairly far behind the Unsullied, and as Tyrion noted even himself, everyone knew the Unsullied were coming. Euron made his name in the books - and as Jaime said last week, in the show as well - by burning Lannisport's fleet. He did it at Casterly Rock this time, but to a different fleet.

Also, it feels weird to have a "traitor" parade for the Sand Snakes and Asha; two houses nobody in mainland Westeros cares about AND why cheer for the queen when you were shaming her a season or two ago?

The common people are stupid, and it's not always the same common people. Jaime points out that while they cheer Euron now, they'd cheer equally if his head were on a spike.

Happy about the Stark reunion.

I'm sad about what happened to Bran. Kid was so adorable and enjoyable. Now he's like 'I watched the rape vids. They were rough. You looked hot, sis.'

Also kind of annoyed that Tyrion is being such a failure after he's been so clever tactically all show.

Tyrion has lost nearly every battle. He's part of the vanguard at the Green Fork, but he and Tywin both get blindsided by Robb Stark's march on Jaime. He burned Stannis's fleet but lost the battle - the odds were bad, but he still had lost before Tywin rescued him. He got outmaneuvered badly by Littlefinger - whom he knew was dirty - and the Queen of Thorns, into taking the fall for Joff. He brought a few months of peace to Meereen before being gigantically blindsided but a naval assault.

Tyrion's better at interpersonal scheming, I think. His best W's are over Grand Maester Pycelle and Janos Slynt and Cersei in minor S2 games. He uses the crudeness of Mord and the Vale Clansmen to survive in S1. In the books he figures out that the assassin with the dagger was sent by Joffrey, and that Young Griff is really a Targaryen - and convincing him to turn west early (good lord, I want to see this arc played out! How did he take Storm's End?!?!) It looks like his role in the Battle of Fire is largely going to be tied to manipulating the mercenary groups.

He's also good at other logistics, to be fair. Very competent as the Treasurer and the Sewer Overseer.

But Tyrion's not a strategic or even tactical master in war. As he said - 'We're not our fathers.'
---

Love the greyscale plots entire consequence being keeping jorah away for two episodes

velocycloraptor posted...

Love the greyscale plots entire consequence being keeping jorah away for two episodes

yeah i'm butthurt af about that. really hope there are more consequences pronto. introducing a literal possible end to civilization and then writing it off with a 'congratulations, have a slap on the wrist' moment is...

PerfectChaosZ posted...

Did you guys forget that the majority of the Tyrell army was off from the Reach lands sieging King's Landing? And the ones that weren't I can assume started following the Tarly.

i remember that being said, never shown. if it had actually happened, randyll would have been in it. instead, he said he had to mobilize in 7x02 from horn hill, which tells us the reach army was still at home. if the tyrells started marching when horn hill did, there should have been a battle in the field.

and again, there is no precedent for taking a great castle/city without trickery or a massive battle in the show.

- riverrun S1: besieged but not taken by the lannisters
- winterfell S2: opened the doors to the boltons
- king's landing S2: massive battle, defenders win.
- harrenhal S3: abandoned by the lannisters, occupied by the boltons
- astapor S3: taken through treachery by daenerys and the unsullied
- yunkai S3: taken through infiltration by daenerys and the second sons
- meereen S4: slaves revolt and open the doors to daenerys
- castle black S4: massive battle. defenders win.
- riverrun S6: taken by the blackfish off screen, probably through trickery - then gates opened to the lannisters
- winterfell S6: massive battle, defenders are about to win until reinforcements come.
- casterly rock S7: taken through infiltration by tyrion and the unsullied
- highgarden S7: ?????

Suprak the Stud posted...

First part is definitely possible, but they never talk about that in the show so I'm not giving them credit for that. He is certainly more mysterious in the book/seems to have magic powers or is at least great at BSing it/has an actual weapon that can counter dragons but none of that is covered in the show. He's basically a nonstop wrestling entrance (I'm not complaining - I actually think he's a lot of fun but that it just doesn't fully explain how Yara was caught so off guard).

Secondly, she was fairly consumed with revenge so she sort of lost her major strength politically. It was a mistake allying with foreign invaders and being in open rebellion, but she was desperate for any chance at revenge she could get. Tarly's defection makes sense given his distrust of foreigners. He's extremely vocal about how much he hates wildlings in season six, and I would assume that would extend to dothraki as well. That pitch was well suited to him, specifically.

He was their best military power. They make that point clear in the show and the books, multiple times. He was their strength, and it wouldn't surprise me if other houses joined him considering that Olenna had aligned herself with a foreign invader and Randyll Tarly was who they respected anyway.

I don't disagree they jobbed a bit...but this isn't on the level of Yara or Stannis imho.

thank you for this. we disagree, a lot, on which was worse, but i can buy and appreciate the justifications and i'll swallow it because i believe the eventual story will pay it off.
---

Didn't the Tyrells job because Randyll Tarly took the entire army with him? I assumed they marched in and fucked up a bunch of farmers and blacksmiths and stuff like the people currently inhabiting Winterfell.
---

what is euron's actor doing with his eyes all the time

It's so distracting
---

Also Dany and Jon was kind of awkward but I did like the

"We like doing what we're good at."
"I don't."

line a lot. I wish Emilia Clarke knew how to convey a strong, intimidating front in these negotiations without just staring straight ahead and never blinking.
---

I thought the entire Tyrell army had died because they were in Baelor's Sept when it blew up.
---

JetJaguar posted...

Didn't the Tyrells job because Randyll Tarly took the entire army with him? I assumed they marched in and fucked up a bunch of farmers and blacksmiths and stuff like the people currently inhabiting Winterfell.

House Tyrell is a Great House, like the Starks. Randyll's house, the Tarlys, is like the Boltons. This is like the Boltons and the Lannisters coming together and suddenly taking Winterfell seemingly without heavy losses. The reason House Stark's forces were so weak was because they were massacred at the Red Wedding, but that's not the case for the Tyrells' personal sworn swords.

The only reason that Jon retook Winterfell was because Ramsay arrogantly gave battle instead of defending the castle. There are Knights of the Vale holed up in the city right now, too.

My Immortal posted...

what is euron's actor doing with his eyes all the time

It's so distracting

who cares it's hilarious. euron *is* like ramsay, but ramsay never got to interact with other villains.

#RIProose
---

I've liked Jon/Kit a lot more the last couple of seasons, and I loved him last night. He did a great job at looking like this out of place Northman who is floundering, but also stubborn enough to stick to his guns. Dany/Emilia just keeps getting worse, augh.

They're totally going to bang though. She looked back at him when he walked away. There's no such thing as a meaningless look in TV.
---

RyoCaliente posted...

I thought the entire Tyrell army had died because they were in Baelor's Sept when it blew up.

The Tyrell host was in the thousands. They'd have all died without Cersei's help if that were everyone.
---

EndOfDiscOne posted...

I've liked Jon/Kit a lot more the last couple of seasons, and I loved him last night. He did a great job at looking like this out of place Northman who is floundering, but also stubborn enough to stick to his guns. Dany/Emilia just keeps getting worse, augh.

They're totally going to bang though. She looked back at him when he walked away. There's no such thing as a meaningless look in TV.

I like Emilia more now than I have in a long time. Kit from Season 4 on has been good.

They're definitely banging. Even money it happens by season's end.
---

SeabassDebeste posted...

I'm sad about what happened to Bran. Kid was so adorable and enjoyable. Now he's like 'I watched the rape vids. They were rough. You looked hot, sis.'

You just KNOW someone is writing fanfiction of this as we speak.
---

S7 power rankings! this is *solely* for performance in S7, not based on innate ability or past performance.

Top Tier

Alfie Allen (Theon)
I'm not sure he's said more than two words this season, but he's had the best performance.

Rory McCann (The Hound)
He's only been in one episode but it was astounding.

Pilou Asbaek (Euron)
Possibly MVP of the season taking into account volume and efficiency. Wonderful contrast between his 'y'all hate me cuz you wanna be me' attitude and his bloodlust on the ship, and it all feels believable. Also, still the dude having the most fun out there.

High Tier

Liam Cunningham (Davos)
Might be overrating him a bit since he hasn't been in a ton, but he was the dominant voice in that

Maisie Williams (Arya)
After the bang to start the season (and two terrible seasons, for her), she's had a few quiet scenes that rekindled her human side.

Nicolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime)
Lots to process for Jaime this season.

Diana Rigg (Olenna)
She doesn't command the room like she used to, and that's intentional, because her power has declined.

Lena Headey (Cersei)
Was never a fan before due to her having two facial expressions, but the diplomacy side of Cersei is brand new and I'm enjoying actually believing Cersei as a political force.

Mid Tier

Conleth Hill (Varys)
Low on lines, but his rebuttal to Dany was nice.

Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger)
Master of the leer.

Kit Harington (Jon Snow)
I found him awkward as King in the North. He certainly came across stronger in the meeting of Ice and Fire, though.

Anton Lesser (Qyburn)
I love Qyburn so much. Has never stopped being just this creepy-ass presence, and the detached amusement/curiosity with which he speaks is amazing.

Iain Glen (Jorah)
Limited, but dat voice and timing. Separating him from Khaleesi is excellent, but I'm worried with how longingly he was talking about her already.

Peter Dinklage (Tyrion)
I dunno. Tyrion really hasn't gotten much to do! He hasn't gotten to outwit much. I think getting him out from under Dany would really do him some favors, since he kind of has to prop her up.

Gemma Whelan (Yara)
Jon Bradley (Sam)

Indira Varma (Ellaria)
Clearly a strong actress being dealt kind of a shit role.

Bella Ramsaey (Lyanna Mormont)
Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei)

Mediocre Tier

Sophie Turner (Sansa)
Sadly, I think Sophie Turner was at her strongest in Seasons 1-4. She was much better at being naive and/or oppressed than at being the Leader Girl.

Emilia Clarke (Dany)
I didn't get on the hate train for Dany early on, finding her acceptable even in S6 (the Drogon/Dothraki episode aside). I think part of it is the direction - some of those closeups on her make her look ridiculous, and it detracts from the character IMO.

Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran)
Not performing badly, but I dunno, it's been too awkward.

Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm)
Again, not bad, just... not great.
---

You bring up a good point with Glen. I'll never get tired of his line delivery. He has the most consistently flawless timing in the series. I'm not even sure Charles Dance matched that track record.
---

EndOfDiscOne posted...

I've liked Jon/Kit a lot more the last couple of seasons, and I loved him last night. He did a great job at looking like this out of place Northman who is floundering, but also stubborn enough to stick to his guns. Dany/Emilia just keeps getting worse, augh.

They're totally going to bang though. She looked back at him when he walked away. There's no such thing as a meaningless look in TV.

Yeah like. I know it's a tiny thing but in that infamous scene where she gets the Unsullied, she totally owns the screen while speaking a fictional language. And when she says "Dracarys", it's fully accented and full of venom. Fast forward to S6, when she destroys the Master's ships. The way she delivers the same word there lacks anything like the same impact or feeling. It's actually weird that she has gotten worse as the series has progressed.

I did enjoy the conversation with Tyrion where she calls him out for selling his own thoughts as ancient wisdom. I laughed.
---

Also since we're doing this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkh2Rwri4nU#t=210s

I don't know if it's just me, and if it's Clarke or the editing/directing to blame, but like...I didn't know medieval Dragon queens were so sassy. The delivery of "if I wanted jokes I'd get myself a proper fool" is practically begging for Tumblr gifs. Totally weird and out of place to the point I still remember it two years later.
---

Haha, I can kinda see what you mean, XIII. She's got that downward eyeroll swagger going on. She has never done it before or since.
---

I know, yeah, that's why it's so strange to me. I wouldn't say it sums up my problems with her but I would say it's more just one instance of me being not totally satisfied with her performance on the whole
---

XIII_rocks posted...

I did enjoy the conversation with Tyrion where she calls him out for selling his own thoughts as ancient wisdom. I laughed.

actually, i love dany in smaller roles when she's not trying to Be Queen (TM). this was one of the best moments of the season for dany, and i think she should go above sansa, who's kind of sucked this season.
---

SeabassDebeste posted...

thank you for this. we disagree, a lot, on which was worse, but i can buy and appreciate the justifications and i'll swallow it because i believe the eventual story will pay it off.

No worries! Debating this stuff is always fun for me. I'm really at the same point, honestly, where the Yara stuff didn't make full sense to me, but I like where the story is heading and Euron is a lot of fun so I didn't question it as much as I normally would.
---

ALSO

People have apparently hacked HBO and are releasing spoilers for future episodes. I will be ducking out of this topic for the remainder of the season now because I don't trust some random jerk to post "predictions" that are actually spoilers.

BEWARE EVERYONE.

The night is dark and full of spoilers.

EDIT: https://gizmodo.com/someone-hacked-into-hbo-and-is-now-releasing-game-of-th-1797397619

Apparently they posted a script of next weeks episode. I don't know if anything further than that was compromised.
---

So does anyone want to explain how this week they said they couldn't find Euron's fleet because it could be anywhere, when last week Euron was able to find their fleet no problem? I swear, there better be a leaker or something because Cersei is foiling all Dany's plans like she knows what they are.
---

Euron is the best captain of the 14 seas and a don. That's how.
---

Euron is pretty solid this season. Are there any Victarion fans here? I really enjoyed his badassness and complete lack of a sense of humor. This was one of my favorite scenes of his:

“The silver queen is gone. She flew away upon her dragon, beyond the Dothraki sea.”

“Where is this Dothraki sea?” Victarion demanded. “I will sail the Iron Fleet across it and find the queen wherever she may be.”;

The fisherman laughed aloud. “That would be a sight worth seeing. The Dothraki sea is made of grass, you fool.”

He should not have said that. Victarion took him around the throat with his burned hand and lifted him bodily into the air. Slamming him back against the mast, he squeezed till the Yunkishman’s face turned as black as the fingers digging into his flesh. The man kicked and writhed for a while, trying fruitlessly to pry loose the captain’s grip.

“No man calls Victarion Greyjoy a fool and lives to boast of it.”

---

I loved the Casterly Rock scene. The Tyrion voice over kinda gives him this long-invested glory while not spending too much time on a battle that only has one character, just the perfect way to handle the proper takedown of the Lannisters, except... not really! Well played.

I liked a lot of things in this episode.

Davos is the best wingman
---

So I'm hearing some theory where because the intro shows the water east of the Wall as frozen now, the White Walkers and the Army of the Dead are gonna get south of the Wall by walking around it on the ice.

I swear to god if that happens I quit
---

That theory is garbage because you can clearly tell that the water east of the Wall is still water. The 'ice' in the freeze frame that is going around is clouds over the water.
---

What the hell..the pacing..what
I don't want a "Arya spending 2 seasons in Braavos" kind of pacing, but this was insane
Jon got from the North to the South in 3 scenes? will he also get back to Winterfell before Arya reach it?
Euron navy is actually everywhere whenever it's needed?

I really don't want to complain about pacing considered we are now...10 episodes from the end of show..but still, it feels weird now
Taking Casterly Rock could have been a 15 minutes scene
Taking Highgarden could have been a 20 minutes scene

But..well..
---

Nanis23 posted...

I really don't want to complain

Who are you and what have you done with Nanis?
---

Practical considerations play into it. Filming the Greyjoy battle scene took six weeks, according to D&D.
---

MrGreenonion posted...

So does anyone want to explain how this week they said they couldn't find Euron's fleet because it could be anywhere, when last week Euron was able to find their fleet no problem? I swear, there better be a leaker or something because Cersei is foiling all Dany's plans like she knows what they are.

I don't really see anyone on Dany's side who might be leaking information now that baby Snake is gone. All the people around her have nothing/little to gain from siding against her/with Cersei. I think it's just a matter of Dany being at Dragonstone, so all her ships must leave from Dragonstone. Euron can just be wherever and have scouts and follow them afterwards.
---

My Immortal posted...

That theory is garbage because you can clearly tell that the water east of the Wall is still water. The 'ice' in the freeze frame that is going around is clouds over the water.

FFDragon posted...

...and something else interesting.

http://gameofthrones.com/game-of-thrones/season-7/episode-1

In the hbo recap of the first episode, there is a part of the hound's vision that isn't in the episode itself (because I just went back and checked)

Ice. A wall of ice. The Wall. It’s where the Wall meets the sea. The waves are frozen. There’s a castle there. There’s a mountain. Looks like an arrowhead. The dead are marching past. Thousands of them.

---

Tyrion straight up said that Cersei/Jaime knew they would attack Casterly Rock.
---

Nanis23 posted...

What the hell..the pacing..what
I don't want a "Arya spending 2 seasons in Braavos" kind of pacing, but this was insane
Jon got from the North to the South in 3 scenes? will he also get back to Winterfell before Arya reach it?
Euron navy is actually everywhere whenever it's needed?

I really don't want to complain about pacing considered we are now...10 episodes from the end of show..but still, it feels weird now
Taking Casterly Rock could have been a 15 minutes scene
Taking Highgarden could have been a 20 minutes scene

But..well..

There's no point in having Jon travelling for 3 episodes before he gets to Dragonstone, there's no point to having people say: "Yep, the unsullied are still sailing to the Rock, just as they were 4 episodes ago. Oh and where could that dastardly Euron be hanging around? Wink wink, nudge nudge!"
S7 started with all of the remaining pieces in position for the final stretch and all of them need some form of closure. They have been going at it at a good pace, and some might find it too fast for their liking, but I'd rather not have 'filler' just to add some run time.

Also, you can only have so many battles before they start getting boring. It's a safe bet that there will be more to come this season, which will end up being more important.

Highgarden being conquered this easily does suck, but I can chalk it up to the Tarly betrayal and taking a lot of the bannermen with them.
---

Also I have to say I really dug the way they handled Casterly Rock with Tyrion's voiceover.
---

So, after Week 1, I asked people about which of the four battles from the trailer we'd see in what order, and at what point in the season:

- The Naval Battle
- The Siege of Casterly Rock
- The Field of Fire
- The Army of the Dead

Most people predicted this order, and it seems correct for now. I wonder if there's a secret fifth battle we're missing - but we have only two battles and four episodes left. I kind of see the Fire battle in 7x06 and the Army of the Dead in 7x07, which means we might have two straight episodes without large-scale violence.

Should we be worried?

And obviously, PLEASE no one post confirmed leak spoilers.
---

I mentioned during the off-season that I expected the Siege of Casterly Rock to be a rather small affair because the choreography involved in the trailers was very mediocre. It reminded me of Daenerys' taking of Yunkai, which is one of the reasons "The Rains of Castamere" is only my sixth or seventh favorite episode, heh.

Anyway, ah. I don't know. I think the Field of Fire (ace reference there, Seabass) will happen sooner than 7x06/07. I'm betting on one of the next two episodes. And I'm leaning 7x04, because the runtime is a scant 50 minutes. Historically, the bulk of the show's "oh, wow, big battle?!" episodes have actually ran at lower length. Obviously I expect this to get skewed toward the end of the show. But it's the only thing I've got here to justify choosing one over the other. My point is I expect it to happen sooner rather than later.

Here's my big question: is 7x06 going to be a "niner"? I presume so, but it feels so strange that I don't quite know what to anticipate.
---

we're in a situation i didn't expect - the plot has been hurtling at a speed so fast that i don't see how it lasts four more episodes.

dany is going fire and blood really soon.

and yeah, visually casterly rock didn't look great. good meta call! another read on it from my POV: no named characters besides grey worm means no dramatic fight.
---

Yeah, exactly! I mean, I guess there could have been a surprise "boss fight", if we didn't know where various characters were stationed. And I guess we didn't know where Bronn was this season until... a minute or two later! Heh. But yeah.
---

Melisandre x Varys a pair I didn't know I needed

Daenerys' name vs Jon's name, too good

Damn they're really hammering the justification for not just storming King's Landing with the dragons

AM I BEING DETAINED??

Alright now THAT was a game of thrones scene... felt like we haven't had one like that since S1 (or never and I just dreamed of a show where a scene like that was possible)

Augh Euron and Cersei flirting is so disgusting

He's such a beta orbiter

Good Cersei scene but I wish she chose a different way to kill... copying is kinda lame

Ahaha that guy refusing wine, good callback

Jon and Tyrion on the other hand are a bad combination... the humor doesn't mix

Dany is just the right amount of apathetic about the white walker crap as the typical show watcher

And Sansa is just the right amount of confused and creeped out about the three eyed raven crap

This heist-style Casterly Rock scene is kinda dumb

Olenna still won
---

xp1337 posted...

this euron love is still totally weird to me

foolm0r0n posted...

He's such a beta orbiter

---

one of the best parts about euron is the people who are getting mad about other people liking him



I guess what I'm saying is, Euron is the Goro Akechi of game of thrones
---

SeabassDebeste posted...

i think it was alright. there were good points, but it didn't feel like it caught fire. it felt like two awkward actors with an awkward script.

It was an actual negotiation, not a choreographed dance of words like other GoT meetings. They were both struggling to convince the other person and they were both bad at it but kept trying. Kinda similar to King's Landing meetings with Tywin and Tyrion, but with protagonists instead.
---

RyoCaliente posted...

the writers just do whatever's convenient for them as opposed to how the world functions

spoilers this has literally always been the case

S1 got a free pass because it was defining "how the world works" so all the arbitrariness was just "world building"
---

foolm0r0n posted...

It was an actual negotiation, not a choreographed dance of words like other GoT meetings. They were both struggling to convince the other person and they were both bad at it but kept trying. Kinda similar to King's Landing meetings with Tywin and Tyrion, but with protagonists instead.

the content was pretty good! but tywin/tyrion are more charismaric with wittier lines. you've kind of highlighted my point, actually!
---

Realo would have loved Euron. He's not a beta.
---