The Red Wedding. The (immeasurably more satisfying) Purple Wedding. Cersei blowing up the Sept of Baelor. Over seven seasons Game of Thrones has taught fans to stay on their toes, and according to Iain Glen (Ser Jorah Mormont), the eighth and final season will be no different.
“Always expect the unexpected in GoT. That’s what works for the show, and season eight has loads of surprises,” Glen said in a recent interview with India Today. “The scale on which the final season has been mounted is amazing. [It’s] is the biggest TV show ever and the finale will reflect that.”
Glen also said that Mormont — who’s had his share of ups and downs with his queen (and unrequited love), Daenerys — likely won’t be sent out on many more suicidal missions like the ill-fated trip beyond the Wall in Season 7. Rather, he’ll be a fixture at Dany’s side as the war for the fate of Westeros reaches its peak.
“In the next and last season, Ser Jorah will happily become a permanent fixture in Daenerys Targaryen’s inner circle, as the battle between good and evil draws to a spectacular finale,” he said. That’s an interesting, though not unexpected, hint for how the conflict between the Night King and Dany’s respective forces will unfold — it’s likely passed the point of any missions, diplomatic or otherwise, on which Dany would send one of her closest advisors, and into pitched battles.
Glen also believes that the Long Night long wait between seasons 7 and 8 won’t affect the fans’ love for the show. “If you ask me, the gap between the final two seasons will only increase fan frenzy,” he said. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I know that we here at Watchers on the Wall don’t need any more encouragement to anticipate the final season.
Hodor!!!!
Let’s see if he fares better than Tyrion and this whole dynamic. haha
PS: Yeah, I know Dany and Jorah were a fairly good team in the beginning, let’s see if he can take it up. 😉
Expect the unexpected….. so we can definitley expect more dumb decisions in storytelling than ever before. Thank you Ian Glen, you are a honest person.
Would be more exciting if he said it was boring and without surprises at this point. Don’t really expect anyone to say anything different than “it’s exciting and surprising” or something along those lines.
I’m a simple woman – I see Iain, I click. 😉
I have a bad bitter feeling that Jorah will die in S8 and his death will be in the most dramatic way….dying as a human shield ….probably protecting Danny or her baby or Jon or both of 3..and sacrificing his life for them during the most desperate hour ..Poor Jorah..
Pigeon,
Same. Aw I hope Jorah gets a good ending in the show… I think either way I will end up crying haha!
Pigeon,
Me too 😍
I’m a simple man…and I do too. 🤷🏻♂️
I envy that guy.
Ser Shiz of Renia,
And yet you’ll be right with the rest of us, planted in front of your television as it airs every single week. Don’t play yourself.
Anyways, I feel Jorah’s death is an inevitability. If they do kill him off, I would love for him to have an amazing death monologue that moves all the viewers to tears. Iain can definitely do that. I would also love for him to go out with a bang and show the younger generation of fighters his prowess with a sword. We haven’t gotten a great Jorah fight scene since his time in the fighting pits.
Well, even when he was a spy and traitor, Jorah gave Daenerys better advice than Tyrion has for the last few seasons. Good to see him back.
Nah. Jorah will end up marrying Dany. It is known.
I think I am going to explode in an oily cloud!
“Ww-what do you mean?” (in Polliver’s voice)
Artemisia,
He’s loyal to the end that one! And of the main supporting characters, I sadly have him pretty high on the death-probability list as well.. 🙁
Edward,
I totally agree! Who wants to see Jorah just standing dutifully and silently beside Dany as a glorified yes man? That’s already Varys’ job.
And speaking of Spidey, here’s hoping there’s a scene in which after the final victory he rewards his little birds with a big celebratory party, with plenty of candy, cake and balloons for everyone. And being that it’s Game of Thrones, they all drop dead from food poisoning. No one turns their back on Cersei, not even a frozen zombie Cersei!
They said that about the last season…and it wasn’t bugger and better lol
I really want season 8 to be the greatest thing on TV I’ve ever seen.
Maybe my expectations are too high, but it is what I want lol
I agree. I’ve been talking about GoT and the books for years, and while I have some friends that have watched (and one reader) from the beginning, I do have others that continued to brush it off as “not my thing.” Knowing the types of shows they generally watch I somewhat agreed. In December I got two of those friend couples to give it a shot anyway. They were immediately hooked and burned through the entire thing in a matter of weeks.
I guess what I’m saying is that even though the series is between seasons with just one left there are still people joining the fandom ranks. I really don’t see any way that the viewership numbers for the final season don’t explode even more.
Unlike certain shows with undead people that can’t break ‘the wheel’ and continue to recycle plot points. 😛
I don’t think that he’ll be silent. I’m sure he’ll be an important voice. Isn’t that what the ladies want from Iain anyway, to listen to him talk? 😉
“From the writers of Jaime and Bronn´s roadtrip to Dorne! From those who wrote Arya´s parkour chase! From the team who came with the Wight Hunt idea! From those who decided that people could teleport across Westeros an Essos! A new stupid and embarrassing plotline worthy of an Emmy award is coming to your TVs this coming 2019! Don´t miss it!
Also we guaranteed that ser Jorah will get friendzoned for the last time!
Catspaw Assassin,
I love how your mind works. Here’s hoping that alternate ending will be put in the Blu-ray compilation!
But to be honest I feel like Varys will die by dragon fire. Whether it’s the Undead Viserion or Dany’s duo I cannot say. But the lord of light has definitely seen his death carved out in fire and blood.
Catspaw Assassin,
Since when is Varys her yes-man? Unless it was all a red herring, s7 pretty obviously implied that he’ll die and Dany will be the one to do it with her dragons. The whole “dont betray me thing” his conversation with Tyrion and his conversation with Melisandre. Varys is pretty much a goner in my eyes.
A simple man with excellent taste and judge of character. 😉
Ëonwë,
There is hope that the payoff will be satisfying. For every bad storyline in season 5-7; we got Hardhome, Dance of Dragon, Home, The Door, BoB, Winds of Winter, The Queen’s Justice, Spoils of War, The Dragon and the Wolf.
It’s known.
Onedon,
None of those chapters in my opinion have good writing behind them. A few of them are good in the visual and directing aspect. But others fail even at that. But that is only my opinion (I think that BotB is overrated and that the writing was especially atrocious.). But that´s my personal stand.
What I would like is for D&D to stop putting stupid things like the zombi polar bear and spend that money on the direwolves. The way they´ve been thrown out of the show is insulting after reading Martin´s books.
Ëonwë,
I think the writing hasn’t been consistent and the writers would have benefited with more persons; more women as Luka pointed out, but that ship is long sailed now. Everyone is looking to go out with a bang, so season 8 should be well written. This is the big payoff after years of investment.
With 15 million per episode, no reason not to give the direwolves some proper screentime. Unlike say BoB when they had to choose, gaint or direwolve; which was originally in the scripts
Ëonwë,
It seems to me that you most likely won’t be satisfied with anything season 8 comes up with. So brace yourself now for disappointment. I’m really curious to see how GRRM handles all of these storylines in his adaption so I can see if some proclaimed book purists will keep the same energy they have now about the show being so streamlined.
And blaming the lack of direwolves on Wight Polar bears is silly. The polar bear had all of two minutes of screen time at most. That isn’t enough to delete direwolves from the entire season. I’m genuinely curious with people’s fascination with direwolves. What would there inclusion have brought to season 7? I know the symbolic relevance they have in the books, but even then it’s not as if they are ever truly important plot devices that have impact on the overarching narrative.
Uuuuh… everyone, who has a dog wants to see more of direwolfs! So do I.
There are only two of them left!
cos alpha,
Definitely! Dragons are awesome, but there are plenty of them in movies. But who else has dire wolves? God, what I wouldn’t give to see Arya defending WF with Nymeria and her pack backing her up!!
Edward,
Some visuals are excellent, some directors do a hell of a job. Djamin Rawadi delivers each season great pieces to the score. Some actors like Lena and Peter own the stage. Others like Alfie do a fantastic job with such a complex character. Others like Nicolaj and Liam are always there doing a good job. The crew of this series has done good things despite the lack of quality in the scripts.
Do I find many things that I don’t like? Yes. Do I find still many things about this series that I still enjoy? Yes.
The plot and character development is the least thing I enjoyed these past seasons. But Game of Thrones offers me still many things that I enjoy. I’m waiting for those two episodes directed by Miguel like crazy.
…,
Agreed.
You could’ve just dismissed his discussion with Daenerys and her threat to him as simply tying up loose ends regarding his past actions and question marks over his loyalty, were it not for the fact that Melisandre then predicted that he will die.
It’s difficult not to suspect that he will switch allegiances for some reason. He’s always insisted, since Season 1, that he serves the realm. And the fate of the realm will well and truly be at stake in Season 8.
I could easily see a situation arising where he decides that staying loyal to Daenerys is not what’s best for the realm.
She insisted that he tell her if he thinks she’s failing the people. She never agreed to listen to him. What would he do then?
Eonwe,
It’s good to hear that you still find some things of merit in the show. I run into people quite often who disregard every aspect of the shows and are so dramatic about their preference to the books. Excuse me for being presumptuous as it wasn’t my intention!
I don’t know how he doesn’t die trying to protect her. He is really like Brienne. He says “I owe her my life.” — she says, “And give my life for hers if need be.”
Feels like the Chek gun. However it goes down.
Me too..He loves her with a love without exchange [she loves him more like a brother]..Poor Jorah
You both they got forget that Varys death was foreshadowed when he was a boy still..and when that sorcerer chopped off his balls and set them to the fire ..and the fires turned blue ..That means that he will not killed by Danny/Drogon but by The Night King/Viserion….burned with blue flames as exactly his balls.
Ser Jorah has always been one of my favorites. He doesn’t look like book Jorah, but other than that he has played the character perfectly. I’m looking forward to his first exchange with Lyanna Mormont.
Pigeon,
Sweaty V Jorah > Frozen Tundra Jorah
I want to see Jorah meet Lady Lyanna Mormont.
Got to happen at Winterfell.
Who “bends the knee” to who?
I haven’t seen Varys act the yes-man. But he has seemed to be influential in stoking Tyrion’s “concerns”, which has led to Tyrion giving Dany some really bad advice. In the absence of any advisors with extensive military command experience (sorry, Gray Worm!), Dany has listened to Tyrion.
I strongly suspect that Varys no longer supports the return of the Targaryens – and it’s the dragons that turned him around. A Targaryen on the throne, with their 300 year tradition of ruling fairly well is one thing – literal dragons flying around and burning people to ash is something else.
zandru,
Aenys, Maegor, Viserys I disastrous choice of heir, Aegon II, Rhaenyra, Daeron and his war with Dorne, Baelor zealously, Aegon IV, Aerys The Mad King. For every good ruler in the Targaryen dinasty two very bad kings rose to the throne plunging Westeros into chaos and wars.
Thanks for the review! However, we know that Varys (and Illyrio Mopatis, in the books) were backing Viserys/Daenerys for restoration of the Targaryen dynasty (and in the books, young “Aegon” as well.) They must have thought the Targaryens were “good enough”, at least when compared with the Baratheon/Lannister usurpers.
The road trip of Jaime and Bronn was indeed a let down. Arya’s parkour scene was just brilliant and amazing and that comes from someone who hates action(movies). The wight hunt idea wasn’t that bad. They needed a way to give us episode 7×07, and give the NK a way to breach the wall. And I understand why Tyrion though that was a good idea. There was never a teleport idea in the show, I still don’t understand that some people don’t understand not everything is linear in the show. A scene from episode 1 from one storyline, could easily be after another scene of the same season in episode 5. Some storylines in a season contains weeks and some just days. Sorry that this is to complex for you to handle. And before you take down the newer season, it was even in season 1, Sansa wrote a letter, a scene later it already landed in the north. Trust me that doesn’t just take a couple of hours. And later in the episode it’s just a couple of hours later. The end scene of 1×08 is before the middle part of the episode. So if that is bad storytelling season 1 had bad storytelling but somehow you convinced yourself it was perfect there.
I heard a lot of negative talk about the later seasons but most of the time I heard those negative talk about people who have that with every show that contains more than 3/4 seasons. They just don’t like big stories after 3/4 years they want something new, and they jump on another show.
I watched recently the show again and I skipped a lot of scenes from the first 3 seasons, I think around a third. Season 4 I skipped maybe 2 or 3 scenes, and 5/7 I only skipped the Sansa rape scene and dorne season 5. The later seasons are in my opinion much beter written, it felled there they knew what they want with the show.
And I don’t understand people about naming the relationship with Jorah and Dany as “friendzone”. He wan’t her more than a friend and being an adviser, she just wants to be frieds and have him as an adviser. She’s just being honest, he can take it that way or leave and move on.
So stop complaining because you’re tired of this show, just move on to the next. Or give arguments why the later season were much worse than the first couple. So how is the writing worse? I won’t say the writing is as good as for instance six feet under or the sopranos, but it never was.
—-
About Ian: I really love the way he give little hints about the next season. I wonder if the unexpected thing he talk about is something with his/dany’s storyline.
I already have a theory, what if after the battle of winterfell, the survivors seek refuge at Kings Landing, but Cercei only give them that if they bow to her and opose Dany. Jon always think more about his people than his needs (for a family with Dany), accepts the terms Cercei provides. The northmen will be taken in KL but Dany and her people aren’t.
I’m probably wrong.
zandru,
In the books Varys/Illirio duo were backing on Viserys unleashing the Dothraki, a foreign force of slavers, on Westeros so their project, Aegon, the perfect king could come in and save the day. In the end they didn´t need Viserys or the dothraki because Westeros torn itself apart. In the end they aren´t Targaryen supporters, they want what they think is the best king for Westeros.
kevin1989,
I already explained in another post why I am still watching the show. The directing and acting (for the most part) is excellent. The score of Djamin Rawadi is a gift to the ears. The VFX and productions levels show why the show has such a budget. And then there´s Michelle Clampton work.
The good outweights the bad. So I still enjoy the show even if I am pissed with the writing.
Well, Tyrion messed that plan up, didn’t he?
I’m with you on that! It’s possible to enjoy things that aren’t “perfect.”
i’m the same, I didn’t dislike S7 but I hope it was the set-up for a big pay off much as season 5 was for season 6.
As for Jorah, surely he will finally be killed off…
zandru,
He messes the plan partially when he convinced Aegon to invade Westeros instead of joinning forces with Dany. But he also helped Vary´s game when he killed Tywin. That elevated Cersei into power with a puppet king. There´s a gold line of LF to Sansa where he says that he always knew that Cersei would have torn apart the seven kingdoms, but that even in his wildest dreams he wouldn´t had done it so quickly. There´s also Varys telling Kevan that he is killing him because he was undoing all of Cersei´s excellent work.
Artemisia,
Varys had blue balls? I must have missed that.
Pigeon,
You and me both.
(Call me, Jorah!)
(Finger-Phone)
Eonwe,
Yes I read it. And I respect your opinion. But explain with arguments why the writing was better in season 1 till 4 instead of the later 3?
For me the later 4 seasons has the better writing than the first 3. Season 1 had the very bad writing scene where Bealish explain his background that is overshadowed with 2 woman moaning hard, totally destroyed the meaning of that scene. Season 2 is for the worst season if it comes to writing even that season is amazing but still every episode is 5 min of every character. You can’t dive in with a certain character because once you on their storyline you move to the next. Season the and 6 were much better with that. If a character isn’t needed you won’t see them for a couple of episodes until theyare important again. The story building is much better the way season 6 and 7 portrait it. Every scene got the length they needed instead of cutting it short. So now I told one argument why I think the later seasons have better writing, give me an argument of yours.
“Rather, he’ll be a fixture at Dany’s side”
Jorah = Nissa Nissa Confirmed! He will be a fixture at her side in the form of the new Lightbringer slung on her hip …no doubt forged by Gendry with dragon fire in a rediscovery of Valyrian steel techniques.
Ten Bears,
Lol…Look there is a theory[book theory]that Varys …when the sorcerer abducted him and chopped off his balls and set the to the fire ..the fires turned blue…like Viserions fire..Varys has Blackfyre blood…kings blood mean…so this must have been work in this case.
Artemisia,
Oh. My bad. I thought it was a callback to Ygritte:
“I heard they get all swollen and bruised if you don’t use them. Of course, maybe that’s just what the lads say when they want me feeling sorry for them. As if I’d feel sorry for them.”
– Ygritte, S2e7
That’s one 5-minute scene in almost 10 hours of programming and you’re using that to argue the entire writing for season 1 was sub par? I will agree that season 1 as a whole was much more raw and less fleshed out than later seasons, but I thought the writing itself was fine. Everyone has their opinions.
That doesn’t articulate why you thought the writing was sub-par for season 2. The quality of writing doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with how much time is spent on each character. Besides, a larger portion of the characters were killed off by the later seasons, making it much easier to focus more time on certain storylines for the later seasons. If you prefer to spend more time on certain characters then that’s cool, but it’s really more of a personal preference than any kind of knock on the writing.
They skipped lots of character storylines in episodes from earlier seasons. Out of 10 episodes, Jaime is only in 4 episodes for season 2, The Hound is in 5, Sansa is in 7, Robb Stark, Joffrey, and Samwell are in 6, Stannis is in 5, etc…Yes, there were more characters, but they did not spend time with all of them each episode.
You could also easily argue that they didn’t spend ENOUGH time with certain storylines in seasons 6 and 7. A popular sentiment from season 7 was that it went by too fast and did not take enough time to further flesh out some of the plots. I think this all just comes down to personal preference over whether someone is right or wrong here.
Mr Derp,
My opinion? S4 was the best. S4e7 was the best overall episode. Just my opinion.
Ten Bears,
“Mockingbird” is a great episode for sure. If I had to pick a favorite “quieter” episode this one may get the nod.
My personal favorite season is also season 4. Just so many great storylines. Tyrion’s trial, The Hound dining on some chicken, Joffrey’s death, Tyrion saying goodbye to Pod as well as Bronn, Jon carrying out justice against the NW mutineers, Oberyn getting popped like a zit, battle for the Wall with giants, The Hound/Brienne fight, Bran reaching the cave, Tyrion’s escape from KL, Lysa getting a boost from Baelish out the moon door, etc.
My favorite episodes from season 4 are The Lion and the Rose and The Children, but so many other good ones, especially the best season premiere episode in the show’s history, “Two Swords”.
However, my favorite episodes in the series are probably “Hardhome” and “The Winds of Winter”, with “The Lion and the Rose” from season 4 rounding out the top 3. My personal favorite sleeper episode is “And Now His Watch is Ended” from season 3.
Battle for good and evil?
That’s not ASOIAF.
I must admit I take people who criticise the writing of S5 -S7 as bad with a pinch of salt, I respect their point of view but I have a nagging doubt as to whether they are truly open to the series now that it’s moved ahead of the books and dropping some big spoilers (Stannis death, Shireen burning, Jon coming back, King in the North, Hodor name etc.).
Trying to be impartial seasons 4 & 6 are by far my most favourite, both have bits where the writing isn’t perfect but they lead to the climax of stories GRRM had been building for a good period. Equally S5 is probably my least favourite season yet compare it to it’s corresponding books which were well below the benchmark set by GRRM and the showrunners did pretty well (ignoring Dorne).
Jon Snowed,
Yup. It really comes down to the same thing that most things do, which is individual preference.
For me, season 5 is my least favorite season as well because the first half of it is monumentally boring, but it also contains arguably my favorite episode of the series, Hardhome in the second half of the season. I just didn’t care about the High Sparrow, Sons of the Harpy, Dorne, or Arya’s Faceless Men training. Pretty much all of the new stuff they added in season 5 was bad for me. I would’ve appreciated Arya’s Faceless men training much more had it actually went somewhere, but it bogged down too much and it went nowhere most of the season. I did enjoy the “Oysters, Clams, and Cockles” part towards the end of the season though.
Season 6 may very well be my 2nd favorite season, but the Sansa/Jon drama kind of ruined the BOTB for me a little bit. I won’t get into it because it’ll trigger the millionth debate about why Sansa didn’t tell Jon about the Vale Army, etc…, but the whole thing left me a bit frustrated with how it all played out.
Ramsay’s 20th Good Man,
My thoughts with you here. I totally see Varys betraying Dany because it is what he sees as the right thing to do for the realm. As soon as he starts to hatch his plans, Mel comes back to Westeros and informs Dany or Jon that she has seen his betrayal in the flames; Dany then proceeds to burn Varys alive for it.
Once Davos sees Mel has returned, he in turn executes her for treason.
Really would love for this to happen.
I still find it difficult to wholeheartedly state most and least favorite seasons. I’d rather try to choose my favorite season storylines for characters since there was so much segregation of the mains.
Examples:
Arya is still difficult for me to narrow by season. She has so many great scenes in S2 with Yoren, Gendry, Jaqen, and especially Tywin; S3 with Gendry again, Beric & Thoros and Sandor; S4 spent entirely with Sandor was a treat. I even enjoyed her S5&S6 but I do wish they’d done a bit more with it/her. I think maybe the slight edge goes to her S3 for me. There’s so much to it… “Captured” by the BwoB, Hot Pie staying behind, Hound’s “trial,” the “… bring back a man without a head?” conversation, the run-in with Melisandre, then starting her travels with Sandor to The Twins and ending by killing the Frey soldier(s).
Jon is probably S4 while dealing with leaving Ygritte, going to Craster’s to kill the mutineers, Battle of Castle Black, Ygritte’s death.
Daenerys S3 as it was basically her stepping stone season from ‘nothing’ to a force by getting the Unsullied and Daario with the Second Sons.
Tyrion is a tough choice – maybe S2, Sansa S7, Jaime S3, Bran S6…
I don’t know, maybe if I did everyone I’d have more in one specific season, but I still might have a hard time saying it’s my favorite. 😛
I think Arya will probably kill Mel.
She is one of the few people still on her list.
The Mountain belongs to The Hound, and Cersei to Jaime.
Colin Armfield,
I don’t believe Mel is still on Arya’s list.
You could be right about Sandor and the Mountain, but I think Sandor has moved past revenge at this point.
I think you are right about Cersei and Jaime though.
I believe Mel is still on Arya’s list at the moment. If she hears Gendry’s story it might change, or she could become more determined.
Since they essentially set up another meeting between the two that didn’t exactly have happy undertones, along with Mel saying she will die in Westeros, that is highly probable on the show. I think the only thing that could go against that is if she has a very specific role to play in the war against the NK. If that isn’t to be and since Arya and she never met (yet) in the books they can do whatever they want. The only two that really want her dead are Davos and Arya… so… yeah.
Colin Armfield,
The Waif: Who else is on Arya Stark’s funny little list?
Arya: Cersei Lannister, Gregor Clegane, Walder Frey.
The Waif: That’s a short list. That can’t be everyone you want to kill. Are you sure you are not forgetting someone?
Arya: Which name would you like a girl to speak?
Walder is gone, so there’s just Ser Gregor and Cersei, though her list appears to change frequently.
hmm…lol
The last time she listed names on her list was when questioned by the waif after saying she’d removed the Hound, which ended with her saying, “Which name would like a girl to speak?” At that time she only said “Cersei Lannister, Gregor Clegane, Walder Frey.” The time before was sitting on the steps outside the HoBaW and then it was the same three along with Meryn (F.) Trant. Who knows why they removed “the Red Woman” over time?
* beaten to it 😛
Mr Derp,
Sansa didn´t tell Jon about the knights of the Vale so D&D could pull their “shocking twist” of the cavalry saving the day at the last minute, even if it didn´t make any sense from a narrative perspective. They wanted their Rohirrim charge in Pelennor Field. Even when we got that same moment back in season 2 with Tywin and the Tyrells and in season 4 with Stannis.
Hmm. Since they did it in season 2,4 and 6… Will we see another cavalry charge saving the day in season 8?
Colin Armfield,
I’m not as sure as others that Mel isn’t still on Arya’s list… it is weird that she didn’t mention her to the Waif, and I really don’t think I remember Arya every saying Mel’s name during her prayers after S4 onwards, but she could still be on Arya’s list.
In either case, I think her demise is due to Davos. Nobody living deserves the kill more (poor little Shireen definitely would deserve it), and it was foreshadowed. That being said, it was also foreshadowed that Arya and Mel would meet again, so this leaves some wiggle room. I could see their meeting being about more than just killing Mel, though. Maybe some end-game, Lord of Light type stuff that relates with Arya or her dagger.
I never said the writing was bad back then, I only stated, the little flaws were in all seasons. But somehow people tend to see season 1 till 4 as master pieces and season 5 till 7 as garbage. And why people dislike the later seasons has nothing to do with the quality but rather that what GoT made great and amazing was the unexpected events like the dead of Ned or Red or Purple wedding. After pulling a plottwist like that, after sometime even when it’s better later, it doesn’t feel refreshing anymore. And I only stated that that’s what I see happening, people dislike the later seasons not because they are worse, but because the unexpected events are not unexpected anymore because they become the norm.
About having a better switching between stories in season 2 had nothing to do with that it couldn’t be handled better, other shows handle it better (leftovers for instance) what they did was having every major character in 8 episodes that season. Even when they could have handled it better, for instance Dany’s storyline was very stretched that season, episode 2 and 4 scenes should have been in one episode. Same as the 5 and 6 scenes, and the 7 and 8 scenes. The only reason why they did it the way they did it (even admitted by D&D in interviews that they needed to handle that way even when it could have been better) was because the show got to many viewers and people needed their Dany or Arya or Jon fix every episode. And season 4 5 and 6 had the same amount of storylines but it was much better handled then. And I’m not saying it was bad back then. A different between a 9,5 season or a 9,9 season isn’t that much of a big deal.
And about fleshed out, season 6 and 7 had much more fleshed out storylines than season 2 for instance. Look at how much time a storyline got in season 2, around 50 minutes per storyline. Season 7 Dany’s storyline was at least double of that. Look at the introduction for the Jon/Dany scenes, it was fleshed out in 15 whole minutes, if that scene was in season 2 for instance it would have been max 5 minutes.
I understand where people come from who found the first couple of seasons better, but what I see is that the reasons they give are not the real reasons because they are 180 degrees the opposite what’s happened. Most of the reason I hear why season 7 was a let down is the opposite of what really happened, season 7 had more fleshed out scenes, people feel like it was less fleshed out for instance.
But I see that we think a like with favorite episodes and what was good and bad in season 5. It’s not that I think season 1 till 3 are bad, but I little bit sick about the negativity of some people when it comes to season 5 till 7, they dragged it to the mud not because it’s bad, but because they don’t like certain choices they show made.
My favorite season also S4 just perfect, S6 little bit less than S4 but almost the same kind of pacing.
S5, the last 4 episodes were just brilliant even that I though that the season could have been better if they had made it a 12/14 episode season, some stories like that of Jon felled right, while some felled rushed, I think that’s the reason why Dorne didn’t work because they didn’t have the time to do the way George portrait it.
But even my least favorite season, season 2 I found brilliant in their own way.
Back on track with season 8: I don’t think Arya will kill Mel. I think that Jon execute her for returning or Mel saves the day against the NK at winterfell and she died in battle there. Why I think that is, that they left out her fire magic that she performed when Stannis took over Mance’s camp. I hope the reason for that was that we could see it in the last season. If she would save Davos with her magic it could be a big “see I was right if I was at Blackwater, Stannis would have won”. And it would put her “bad/evil actions” in perspective by dying for our Heroes, it will make the audience clear that all she want was to protect humanity from dying out, even if the cost for that is killing of an innocent girl.
kevin1989,
It’s so hard for me to list my favorite seasons in order, because, like Clob said above, it’s really more about favorite moments or episodes. For example, my favorite episode, Hardhome, is in my least favorite season overall, so I’ll go by chunks:
Favorite Got “chunks” in chronological order:
Season 1 – episodes 6 through 10
Season 2 – episodes 5 through 10 (The second half of season 2 is critically underrated)
Season 3 – episodes 4 through 6, and episode 9
Season 4 – episodes 1 through 2 and episodes 7 through 10
Season 5 – episodes 8 through 10
Season 6 – (This season is harder for me to “chunkify” as I feel the better episodes are more spread out throughout the season rather than lumped together) – episodes 2, 5, 9, and 10.
Season 7 – episodes 3, 4 and 7
There’s my nerdy list.
Mr Derp,
Best Segment: Last 9 1/2 minutes of S4e1, “Two Chickens” – I mean “Two Swords.”
Ten Bears,
“Fine little blade. Maybe I’ll pick my teeth with it.”
Classic
Mel belongs to Davos.
*sorry* it was me :o/
Mr Derp,
“You lived your life for the king. You’re gonna die for some chickens?”
“Someone is.”
“Little lady wants a pony?”
“Little lady wants away from your stench.”
Mr Derp,
Ten Bears,
You guys are making me want to rewatch the whole series again! (I think that would make it 6 full watches). 🙂
It is a “Long Night”, feels like winter is going to last all summer. Guess I will need to hang out at the movie theater and catch up on all the blockbusters they’re going to be releasing. BTW: what about releasing GOT on the big screen as a lead up to the Final Season, please, please, pretty please?!
I couldn’t let this thread wrap up without throwing in my two cents about how much I enjoyed Season 7 scenes between Jorah and Jon. I think Jorah had already realized/consigned himself to friendzone with Dany, but once he was cured, determined to be the very best friend she could possibly have. I loved the subtle exchange of glances between him and Jon when he first returned to Dany, from the look on Jon’s face of “Well, who the hell is this guy she’s hugging so readily?” when Jorah first got there, while Jorah was obviously sizing up the situation, and came to the conclusion that Jon was a worthy suitor. Yet, he wasn’t about to let Jon go without a little needling, loving that Dany was so happy to see him.
The scene during the wight hunt, when Jon tried to return Longclaw, was nicely done. Jorah tells Jon to keep it to give to his future children. I took that as Jorah’s nod of approval to Jon and some foreshadowing that Dany will indeed give birth to a child who lives. I hope they do Jorah’s death well, and don’t gloss over it lightly, like “another one bites the dust, on to the next.” Jorah has been there from the beginning, his departure should merit some spectacular, heart-rending story telling.
I happened to catch some scenes from the Lara Croft movie he was in way back in 2001. My, he is a suave character – he had dark hair then, was portrayed as clean-shaven but was an evil, conniving character. Had that magnificent voice, though, which has carried through the years. I rather prefer Jorah, gray, grizzled beard, a little tattered around the edges, but still as beautiful in this incarnation as ever. And that voice. Darn, I’m going to hate to see this show end.
I have to add that I also loved the Jon/Jorah interactions we got in season seven – especially that Eastwatch scene, as the two of them each try to figure out what the other means to Dany.
The planning scene from The Dragon and the Wolf is another one I enjoy re-watching. It reminded me of a scene from Mockingbird, in which Daenerys has sent Daario off to re-take Yunkai from the slavers and Jorah suggests adding Hizdahr zo Loraq to the party – Daenerys instructs Jorah to tell Daario that he changed her mind. For me, it highlights the contrast Jorah and Tyrion have between Jon and Daario. This is not a man they can talk her out of.
cos alpha,
I think that would be amazing AND hilarious. In your FACE, haters