CONTINUATION GAME OF THRONES. EPISODE 5 as at 15 May

[OneInAMillionYou]

welcome citizens of the Realm!

I will open the thread for Episode 6 on Sunday.

All discussion welcome. We post different views but respect each other's contributions.

No spoilers from elsewhere on the net, please.

I liked the Hound's ending as well falling into fire - especially his scene with Arya just before.

I am excited to see what they do in the last episode - and that’s rare for me the only other series I can think I've been so curious is West World.

I agree the music has been fantastic.

I haven’t read the books, but I am tempted I just not sure I believe the series will ever be finished which puts me off slightly.

bigKiteFlying they are worth reading even if never finished. There are some great characters, some great writing and it’s very thought provoking. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but neither is Dickens!

What I didn’t get about the last ep is how the hell did Arya manage to survive when seemingly no one else in her vicinity did? There were people only a few feet away from her charred to a crisp.

I heard that GRRM is working with another writer to finish the books in the event of his death. Not sure if that’s true or not though.

before the tv series I had heard that he had left a series of bullet points as to how the series should end if he hadn't finished it when he died.

I had heard somewhere that Neil Gaiman was being lined up (yay).

Might be bullshit tho

It’s funny, I heard the opposite, that GRRM has left instructions that if he dies, the books die and no one is allowed to finish them except him.

There are so many rumors and gossip about GoT it’s unreal.

Oh looks like that was supposed to be a joke.

Word to the wise George, don’t make jokes about this stuff.

Yeah probably just wishful thinking. Love Neil Gaiman but didn’t like his collab stuff with Terry Pratchett.

The way I've heard the author talk about his books in interviews- I'd be very surprised if he let anyone else finished them or even co-author with someone.

Though I suspect if he did co-author - he'd get them done.

We’re just rewatching Season 2, and when Daenerys is refused entry to Qarth she goes “when my dragons are grown I will take what’s mine, I will burn cities to the ground”! I think she just got a bit sidetracked by saving slaves and feeling all adored and loved in the following seasons; now that that’s gone, she’s reverted to her true character!

Yes, looking back this has been set up from the beginning. Back in season 2 she has her vision of the wrecked throne room and falling snow/ash and this was clear foreshadowing. Many fans are still in denial that this is where George is going with her, but he was very involved in the writing back in season 2 and I’m guessing a fair chunk of this came from him.

There are still so many people saying ‘this is too fast’ or ‘she wouldn’t kill innocents’ but she obviously would. It’s as if they still want her to be a sympathetic character. Her single-minded quest for ‘her’ throne has been obvious since she reached Westeros.

Her story arc very closely matches the Hound’s (something discussed on a recent podcast). She started out the story full of anger and rage at those who had wronged her and robbed her of her family and home. Although diverted by acts of heroism on the way (saving Stark girls and slaves) the anger and rage eventually consumed her.

Cleganebowl felt like a very hollow victory and it should. That’s the message of the story.

What I didn’t get about the last ep is how the hell did Arya manage to survive when seemingly no one else in her vicinity did?

Because Arya has dragon-fire proof plot armour and they don't.

All I could think was maybe it was because of all her training chasing cats - she is light and quick on her feet, and knows the alleys and nooks and crannies of Kings Landing. She's also focused and doesn't shock easily I guess.

I took it that it was just luck that she survived and she could have easily died.

Same as Jon at the BotB. He nearly died. It was nothing to do with skill or ability. He just got lucky and managed to get a gasp of breath.

There’s no way George is taking her in a different direction.

I’m interested to see how many ardent Dany fanboys and girls are out there and totally invested in her being a force for good. I wonder why they’re so wedded to that idea?

Both Jon and Arya have Valyrian Steel plot armour.

Jon fell, fully clothed, into that icy lake in season 7 episode 6. He then managed to climb out only to be surrounded by wights. Luckily, in the nick of time, Uncle Benjen arrived with a horse! FFS! Deus ex Machina or what?

Arya gets stabbed multiple times in season 6 and then falls into what is effectively a sewer in a world without antibiotics. Miraculously, she manages to Assassin’s Creed herself through the next episode.

This episode she had double plot armour. Not only did she have her own, she also had the Hound’s. By the rules of Hollywood, by sacrificing yourself to save someone else, you automatically gift them plot armour 1000 times thicker than they would ordinarily have.

I’m interested to see how many ardent Dany fanboys and girls are out there and totally invested in her being a force for good. I wonder why they’re so wedded to that idea?

Admitting you’re wrong is sometimes very hard. There are some Youtubers who still refuse to believe R+L=J or want to believe R+L=D.

Where did the R+L=J come from in the first place?

It only seems to be the die hard Dany fans that are insistent that she’d never do this.

Where did the R+L=J come from in the first place?

It’s quite clear in the b**ks (mustn’t mention the word) that the ‘Rhaegar is a rapist and kidnapper’ story that Robert believes just doesn’t add up. THere’s a huge amount to support a Rhaegar and Lyanna ‘love story’.

The only real ‘clue’ to the fact that Lyanna is his mother that I can remember is the ‘blue rose’ story. Lyanna always wears blue roses - they symbolise her. When Jon goes north of the wall and meets Ygritte she tells him the story of the blue rose of Winterfell who had a child by a wildling called Bael the Bard. So, Lyanna is always associated with blue roses.

In Dany’s visions in the House of the Undying she has some ‘bride’ visions. One of them is ly. “A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. . . . mother of dragons, bride of fire . . .”

So therefore Jon, at the Wall, is associated with Lyanna.

There are many more, but that’s the only one I can think of

That’s a really interesting point SweetSummerchild about the mirroring of Daenerys and the Hound. I hadn’t spotted that but I can see it now you’ve pointed it out.

Oh my god, I thought that R+L=J was etched on a tree somewhere and I’d just somehow missed that bit.

BurntSausage sadly, I take no credit for it. I heard it on History of Westeros Podcast, which is great for listening to when doing the dusting.

It is a really good listen/watch (they have a Youtube channel). They are far more sensible and less ‘this show just sucks’ than most book channels in the fandom. They do a very good book to show analysis every week.

Just seen this. I think it would have been a much better way of doing things and would have solved some of the narrative pacing issues.,

Hopping for Danny's death soon🤞🤞

I think because R+L=J was such a great fan theory that turned out to be true, people are always hunting around for others. I think given there is only one episode left to wrap things up, it's unlikely most of them are true. For example Tyrion being a secret Targ or Arya being the waif.