Yep... D&D wanted to bail, and are rushing it. I also think they are nowhere near as good as GRRM is as writers, and the show has taken a bit of a hit as a result. It's still quite good, but not as good as it was in the early seasons, IMO.
I think D&D are really, really good at adapting a book to a movie... but not as good at writing the movie/show without the book.
It would be fun if they flipped the script on us and Westeros wound up with King Davos Seaworth, First of His Name, Smuggler of Onions.
Spoiler: Just in case.. It looked to me like Grey Worm was gonna go after Jon until the battle heated up. Perhaps there's already a plot on Danyris' part to take him out and secure the throne?
I'm trying to not apply the same standards I have to the show in the past and with that I mind I think this was the best episode of the season. They did a much better job setting the mood, and carrying it throughout the episode than they did in the battle with the night king. Anybody else see green flames in the last 15 minutes of the episode, and thought Cersei's final fuck you to the world was to booby trap wildfire throughout king's landings? It would have been interesting because Dany would have won the battle, but it would have destroyed her army so she would have basically nothing left. Considering Cersei/Euron has been the weaker, but more tactical side throughout the war I'm surprised the writers didn't give them any final tricks to pull. What was their battle plan even supposed to be? Same here. I can't buy Dany's transition into a blood thirsty lunatic at all. It would be one thing if she was willing to accept some civilians had to die, but then she just starts indiscriminately slaughtering them because 'fuck it'. The show has put her character through three phases. First, she is an idealistic and naive, but inspiring young woman. Next, she's someone who attempts to maintain a semblance of morality, but is driven primarily by her need for power. Now, she's an outright lunatic. That path would have been fine, but they didn't transition between the character arcs at all. The show just drops it on you like "Surprise, that's who this character is now." Most of the set up for the other characters was weak as fuck too. Clegane and Sandor only kind of works because of the earlier parts of the show that relied on the books. Euron and Jaime was a big nobody cares. Tyrion of seasons 7 and 8 is nothing like Tyrion of seasons 1-6. I'm not trying to shit all over the episode because it was an entertaining 90 minutes of watching King's Landing get blown to hell, but I really hope GRRM finishes the books because the series deserves a better conclusion than this.
This rant does a good job breaking down how lazy and inept the writers have been, focusing on the night king episode. It's a bit long, but it's fucking hilarious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI7zy1PTMp0
I think the character shift I raised an eyebrow at the most was probably Varys. Whose character arc can best be summed up as: Season 1-7: Yay! Targaryens are the best! Season 8: On the other hand...... Plus nobody ever really explained why Dany deserved to rule aside from being Targaryen and sitting in a bonfire. I told my wife it was like GoT meets Monty Python. "Strange women lying in fires is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power comes from a mandate from the masses not from some farcical fiery ceremony." Dany's descent into lunacy has been apparent since........I wanna say maybe season 2? Didn't she threaten to burn Qarth to ashes if they didn't let her in? And wasn't that basically her go to threat everytime someone looked at her slightly wrong? She could have easily stripped the Tarlys of their lands and titles and exiled them. Nope. Light the fuckers up. She's like the Game of Thrones Louis CK - "Wait.....So the lady who constantly threatened to burn everything to the ground.............burned everything to the ground? Kooky." The abruptness of it was a little jarring, but not really unexpected. I'm wondering if they wind up doing with GoT what was done with that anime Fullmetal Alchemist. Will they wind up redoing the series from scratch once the books get released....Or if I should say. Deferring to the book reading folks - Do things seem like they are on the path to finishing up in a satisfactory manner in two more books, or is this a Douglas Adams/Hitchhiker's situation?
Wasn't Hitchhiker's supposed to be three books, but then wound up being five? Or am I thinking of another series?
It was obviously all left over from Dany's father, the mad king's, wildfire plot. Helped show how Dany's actions dwarfed what her father had been killed for. It is sad to know that D&D were the ones fighting to have a shorter final season. It certainly would have taken much longer to secure all the actors for an elongated 2 part final season. It would have stretched it out for another few years but the plot lines and story arches could have gotten a better shake. Hell even bringing in some heavy hitting directors from HBOs stables could have vastly improved the story flow. When they said "Ow well Dany just 'forgot' about the iron fleet" as reason for Euron's surprise attack I knew they were over their head as far as creating new material. Be interested in seeing how their new Star Wars series will pan out. I could see it capping off the disaster Disney has made that beloved series into.
Dany has always been harsh to her enemies. She crucified a good portion of the Mereen nobility. However, the entire show she's been adamant about being a ruler for the poor and downtrodden. She spent multiple seasons delaying her journey to Westeros for this reason, she couldn't leave her liberated people behind. Burning the Tarlys wasn't out of character at all. However, since she's got to Westeros she's been trying to portray herself as a ruler for the poor, but doesn't actually care about it anymore for ... reasons? Then she has a throwaway line about future generations being free of tyrants and lights up all the surrendered soldiers and civillians becuase she's full bonkers now. I get what the writers were trying to do, but the execution was fucking terrible. Not buying how she got from characters A to B to C at all. Personally, I'm glad they're wrapping up the show quickly. I don't think I could stomach another 3 seasons of D&D's writing without the books to follow. People assume it would be better if there was more time for set up and less rushing, but I'm not so sure. Look at how stupid this show is now. Dany can't see an entire fleet under her? Want to know the writers' reason? I shit you not it's "She forgot about Euron". In episode 3 they open the attack by sending their entire cavalry on a frontal assault assault and put their trebuchets in FRONT of their army. There's dozens of wtf moments like this in every episode at this point. Giving D&D more time to come up with inane plotlines, ludicrous character arcs, and utterly idiotic military tactics wouldn't make this show any better.
That’s a true “Dark Side Of The Rainbow” accomplishment there. I wonder if For Whom The Bell Tolls would work well too.
Help me wrap my head around this: idiots who named their daughters Khaleesi are now bitching about last episode and how I guess they feel it’s basically like naming your son Adolph in 1938. You’re the ones who gave your kid a fake and stupid pop culture name. That’s on YOU, fuckhead. I guess a LOT of fans are bitching about the last episode. Fuck them. They’re probably “that” group of fans who thought season seven was the tits and who believe this story should unfold in predictable fashion.
Yeah, those people are morons. Some of those kids are like 5 or 6 years old too, which means they named them around season 2 or 3. It would be like naming your kid Holden after only reading half or Catcher in the Rye only to realize he’s a melodramatic asshole.
I mean it’s not like these people were going to amount to anything anyway. They just kind of solidified their children’s futures into hairdressers and streetwalkers.
Bingo. Anyone who thinks this season is good or that D&D aren't incompetent assholes should go watch a show with talented writers like Deadwood and compare. Or this show back when they had GRRM's material to pull from.