Seems clear to me they view the first two episodes sort of as one, knew they weren’t good and most people weren’t going to defend them much, and see banking on Battle of Wintferfell exceeding Hardhome as the best episode the series and everyone basically excusing it.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

+1

The early seasons told a tight story where just the slightest slip-up by a character could result in their beheading. Those days are gone and it feels like there are no consequences for characters acting like complete dumbasses.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

I’m entertained. No complaints here. Enjoyed the comedic relief from this episode.

I half hoped Jamie might take an arrow or something with Dany coming over the top of Sansa's pardon. Still, Ep 2 was better than Ep 1.

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There’s nothing wrong with fan service and character development.

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Fan service at the expense of plot development/coherence sucks, imo.

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Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

What plot would you like developed more?

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For a minute I thought that might happen, but deep down I knew it wasn't going to. That's how much the show has changed. But it will be easy to turn Dany into a monster and then kill her off. And that would be weak too.

One funny thing I thought about though. Obviously, some characters (Varys, Tyrion, Sam, and maybe even Jon now) are concerned about Dany's hunger for power. And as an audience we're supposed ponder her taking a real heel turn, but we don't consider Sansa's clear desire for iron-fisted reign over the North to be a hunger for power.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I would love a three episode arc about Young Grif and Brown Ben Plum.

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I think MANY are aware of the influence Littlefinger had on Sansa, and what that may have turned her into.

The show is def pushing the viewer to look at Dany as a potential villain, but not having an eye open for someone as traumatized as Sansa would be a mistake.

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I agree. And I was reading some website that had gotten hold of Martin's original pitch before he had ever written the books and he said his story was centered around five main characters who live throughout the entire series. Sansa was not one of them.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

We may be down to 5 main characters after next week.

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Speed the show up!!!

Ok slow it down!!!!

No, no, no that’s not what I meant!!!!

Fuck this show!!!!

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The two aren't analogous though, as your post implied. Sansa is concerned about one sliver of the realm while Dany lusts after it all. It's the entire purpose of her existence. Sansa's views are also shaped by deeply personal motivations - 4/6 members of her home were butchered in the past war, and she was basically enslaved. When viewed in that context I don't see her concern for keeping the North autonomous as power hungry at all.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

My point was more general: what drives a show should be its storyline and all plots within the show must serve to move that story along. As others mentioned the GOT storyline went off the rails (in more ways than one) once it ran out of source material. One-off sentimental scenes here and there don't necessarily demonstrate airtight story-telling even though those scenes are well-received.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

The show could have, and was probably meant to go on for much longer.

However, some of the main cast has been wanting to work on other projects for quite some time. Maybe that’s why I’m not hyperventilating at the rushed pace of the past 10(?) episodes. I’m very appreciative we’ve made it 8 seasons, and the only character of relevance that’s been replaced is the guy who was Dany’s sidepiece 4 or 5 seasons ago. To maintain cast continuity with such a strong group of actors is amazing really.

I think these past two episodes were about reunions and wrapping up character arcs. I’m not mad at all, because next week is going to be something epic we’ve never seen before.

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I mean the wights are just going to go through anyone on the ground outside the castle. Might as well just start launching arrows of fire as soon as you get a visual.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkS4Xazz7Q

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Enjoyed the fireside chat but it felt like a complete rip off of the "After the catch" specials from deadliest catch

It is easier to write a beginning and middle than it is an end. It isn't fan service. It is racing to finish the largest story in tv history. When you have 20 or so major storylines you have to pay them off. I mean the big one in this one was closing a storyline from the start of the whole show. That isn't fan service.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

They really dropped the ball on the Jamie and Bran thing. That push triggered 90% of the events south of the wall for the past eight years or whatever. Not only that, Jamie is complicit in upholding the false claims of the Lannister children/family to the throne. He's got a lot to answer for and the "trial" wasn't satisfactory at all. Instead we got several wasted scenes with Arya and the weapons dude to set up what was ultimately an irrelevant sex scene, not to mention other time-wasting dialogue that could have been used to advance/close off other compelling storylines that are integral to the overall plot.

_________________
Successful calls:

Kyrie Irving will never win anything as a team's alpha: check
T.rubisky is a bust: check
Ben Simmons is a liability: check
The Fields Cult is dumb: double check

2013 CSFMB ROY

Well there is the history of the Mad King in Danys DNA. The Starks have always been fair and just rulers in the North

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Seems like a lot of wasted time with only a few hours left.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

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I’m not saying ‘fuck the show’ or that it sucks now it’s just not the same show as it was. To put it in another context, I don’t think we get 8 seasons of the show runners wrote the show from the get go. Think of Tyrion, he’s generally accepted as one of the favorite characters. He has been objectively awful since the source material went away. The last seasons he was boring and worthless. I still like him but it’s nostalgia now more than anything else.

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Actually, a lot of the show's earlier seasons--based on Martin's novels--is pretty bad, too.

The Theon Grayjoy captivity/torture season was ponderous and pointless. That subplot could have been handled much more deftly/expeditiously.

The subplot involving Stannis and his attempt to take the throne with Melisandre's assistance was also ponderous. Stannis' character had the emotional range of a turnip, and Melisandre just stared into flames a lot. Not exactly scintillating stuff.

Finally, Arya's excursion to Bravos strained credibility. There's no way Arya should have come out alive. That subplot was based on original source material, too, right?

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Well. I’d argue that the Stannis story was butchered beyond repair from the books. Also the ending was 100% show. Theon didn’t drag on as badly in the books. Arya was in Braavos for a long time but again, her crazy exit (5stab wounds to the gut) was 100% show. She’s still training in the books.

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I would have liked to see Gendry's character developed more in previous seasons. He is, after all, an heir to the Iron Throne. It was about time he and Arya hooked up.

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