Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon!

[Shauna]

No. His wife had just died by Carl's hand.

Remind me to never make jokes.

[Madame Adequate]

I think she let him live because he said "Do your duty" and she thinks she can use him to save Sansa. I think Mel fled Stannis like a rat from a sinking ship, she saw him lose in the fires and fled. Though I guess the sacrifice of Shireen worked - it cleared the snows after all! - but whether that was her intention I don't know.

What an absolute moron Stannis is though. Half my army is gone? March anyway. Red priestess with the power to see into the future flees? March anyway. And how smurfing incompetent do you have to be to not see the castle emptied of a huge cavalry army? That kind of trout is noisy and not difficult to spot, especially if you send scouts like the Boltons evidently did. It's annoying because he's painted as the best military commander in Westeros - Littlefinger even said as much 4 or so episodes ago - and then it's just schoolboy errors.

I think at that point Stannis had committed so much that he knew he was either marching to glorious victory or absolute defeat and he could not go forward without absolute faith in the Red God that he would get the former. If R'hllor has not abandoned him, he will win no matter what - if he has, he will lose no matter what.

I'm not sure about him being RIP or not, given that Brienne never actually saw the candle and from her position, Sansa had plenty of time to light it (She knows Sansa's in danger, but probably not just how MUCH). To me it felt fairly definitive that he was dead, but that's just opinion!

To echo my previous discussion with MILF, I actually am more annoyed at the sudden change with Allister participating in the murder of Jon than with Stannis's change to acquiesce to the murder of Shireen. Like Fox, Allister always struck me as a "good guy" who was a rigid asshole, but valued his loyalty -- and had always obeyed Jon as Commander. Of course, I'm sure that's exactly how someone plotting their superior's murder would also behave, but it still seemed like more of a 180.

I was more mad at the poisoning of Myrcella, though I totally called it after that kiss. Conniving bitch.

Yeah I can get behind this, Thorne's a prick and utterly inflexible, but I didn't ever get the sense he would do this. Moreover he's not an idiot, so if he did, he would have done it by having someone knife Jon when he went to Hardhome, or have just refused to open the gates or something. Could have maybe used something showing him needing time to assemble his little group of Roman senators Crows for the job to explain why he did it now and not a couple weeks ago.

[Del Murder]

Good finale. Not my favorite season but it picked up at the end as this series usually does. That last episode had probably the most character deaths of any of them. Some comments:

• I hope the story follows Sam and we get to see the Citadel next season.
• Seemed like an anticlimactic ending to Stannis's storyline. Sacrificed his daughter, out of character, and for no reason. No duh that half his army deserted him after that. Why would anyone follow him?
• How could Stannis not know that the Boltons were riding out to him? It's hard not to notice hundreds of horse galloping at you (more on that later).
• How does Bolton have this large an army? Who the hell would follow a man with a skinless dude as his sigil? Anyway, I wish they showed some actual battle rather than cutting to the end. I was looking forward to that battle all season.
• Where the smurf did Mel get a horse from if the mercenaries ran off with all of Stannis's horses?
• Brienne missing the candle right after staring at it for days was probably one of the worst scenes in the show. You're above these cliche's, GoT.
• I don't think Stannis is dead. No body, no death. Even with a body you are not guaranteed of death unless the head is not attached.
• Cercei's walk of shame was about 10 times longer than it needed to be. They could have used that time to show some battle! For all the storylines in this show they sure like to waste time with unnecessarily long scenes. She looks better with short hair, though.
• Arya stabbing that guy over and over was cool but her storyline in general is stupid and I don't understand anything at all about the Faceless god or how it's relevant to anything.
• Back on the topic of horses, hundreds of Dothraki don't just sneak up on a person, particularly in an empty valley. Dany should have heard those guys for miles. And why the hell did she leave her dragon?
• Varys and Tyrion should be together forever. I hope they turn Meereen into a bustling metropolis by the time Dany gets back and she's like 'uh...'
• I love the reactions to Jon being killed. I thought it was unexpected and great. Of course he's coming back. It makes no sense in the narrative to permanently kill a lovable main character whose mysterious backstory was never fleshed out and is the only link to the main threat to the entire world, the white walkers. Of course Kit Harrington is going to act like the character is gone for good, he's an actor. I can see the writers seeing the overwhelming expectation for Mel to bring him back from the dead and sending us a big 'FU' by keeping him dead, but that would completely change the style of the show from something with a seemingly larger narrative to 'lets see what stuff we can do to all these characters'. Maybe without the GRRM source material any more that's where they take it, but I don't think they have the balls.

[Ayen]

Apparently, they spent all their money on Hardhome, and that's why the Stannis battle was cut the way it was.

[escobert]

Apparently, they spent all their money on Hardhome, and that's why the Stannis battle was cut the way it was.

I wasn't expecting Stannis to attack this season for that exact reason xD

[Mirage]

They ended it and I don't know what will happen to Jon just like the book. And I thought maybe they would give a hint but the didn't and now I don't know. I am not in the know now so arrrghhhh I feel like a TV only watcher now

Boyfriend's reaction: Argggh. I want to punch GRRM in the dick. I'm done. I'm so smurfing done. This is a stupid show. I'm not watching this next season. I'm smurfing done with this show. They killed Jon and left those sick flayed guys alive. What the smurf. And watch danys gonna get raped. That's how this show is. And I won't have any favorite characters now so smurf this show. I'm done.

I'm so amused at him.

I'll bet you a burger in the UK that he'll end up watching it anyway.

[Shorty]

Where the smurf did Mel get a horse from if the mercenaries ran off with all of Stannis's horses?

Did not consider this, haha

I love the reactions to Jon being killed. I thought it was unexpected and great. Of course he's coming back. It makes no sense in the narrative to permanently kill a lovable main character whose mysterious backstory was never fleshed out and is the only link to the main threat to the entire world, the white walkers. Of course Kit Harrington is going to act like the character is gone for good, he's an actor. I can see the writers seeing the overwhelming expectation for Mel to bring him back from the dead and sending us a big 'FU' by keeping him dead, but that would completely change the style of the show from something with a seemingly larger narrative to 'lets see what stuff we can do to all these characters'. Maybe without the GRRM source material any more that's where they take it, but I don't think they have the balls.

I really hope your wisdom prevails with the show and that this is a blatant fakeout. I hope.

Apparently, they spent all their money on Hardhome, and that's why the Stannis battle was cut the way it was.

It's no excuse. They could have cut Cersei's walk of shame down to two minutes and I bet that would have allowed for room/budget. They probably spent more on 3D animation to put Lena's head on a nude double for ten minutes than it would have cost to have a fully-executed fight scene. No excuse!

[Madame Adequate]

It's no excuse. They could have cut Cersei's walk of shame down to two minutes and I bet that would have allowed for room/budget. They probably spent more on 3D animation to put Lena's head on a nude double for ten minutes than it would have cost to have a fully-executed fight scene. No excuse!

There was no Bolton/Stannis fight though. That was the whole point of how things ended up for Stannis. It was a totally one-sided massacre where one side had like three times more cavalry than the other side had infantry. Everything that we needed to see, we saw when a couple of Bolton men murdered that one guy crawling away. Unless you legitimately wanted to see all of Stannis Baratheon's men helplessly butchered at a ratio of probably 30 to 1, the scene couldn't have been useful.

Cersei's walk of shame was extended, and it was extraordinarily powerful for that. It was very, very difficult to watch, but in the right way (unlike a couple of other scenes this season). It managed to make me feel tremendous sympathy for Cersei which was a hell of a feat given all she has done.

However, I feel betrayed and lied to by this body double business. I've been fapping to some anonymous woman instead of Lena Headey? Betrayal. Violation. I am a victim.

[Shorty]

We needed to see the massacre, and we needed to see Stannis' death.

[Loony BoB]

Okay, I may have got this slightly wrong, but...

- Stannis was leading his men to battle. They were not in a retreat despite the odds.
- Stannis and his men charged into an open field, away from the trees.
- They were outnumbered and likely surrounded in a matter of minutes.
- Their enemies were on horseback. I find this fitting, as Bolton fans are called The Trotters.
- Stannis, on foot, against overwhelming odds, managed to survive long enough to get back into the trees - unseen - and have only to face, in the end, two random Bolton fans not on horseback as the only people in viewing distance of Stannis.

...if I've got this right, then I too am really miffed that we didn't get to see the battle in detail because hot damn I would love to see how Stannis managed that.

[Shiny]

That wasn't 3D animation. I believe it was compositing and tedious key framing. Pretty odd they went that route considering she has been naked in a film before. Girl, we've already seen your tiddle bits!

[Ergroilnin]

Well battles in the series were most likely always been dumb down a little bit. So far I've read the first book and even the battle between Starks and Tywin just before they capture Jaimie was portrayed a lot better (which is kind of important since it adds even more depth to Tyrion).

By te way, I cannot help myself... Did anyone count just how many times we've heard "Confess" and "Shame" this season? I've watched the whole season two times already and between confess, shame and oyester, clams and cockles I feel like I am going mad.

[Psychotic]

That wasn't 3D animation. I believe it was compositing and tedious key framing. Pretty odd they went that route considering she has been naked in a film before. Girl, we've already seen your tiddle bits!

I think she was pregnant at the time of filming. Which is fine when you're wearing one of those big huge poofy dresses but the ol' birthday suit tends to make it a wee bit more obvious.

[Freya]

She was pregnant, that's why.

EDIT: oh psy beat me.

[Ayen]

That wasn't 3D animation. I believe it was compositing and tedious key framing. Pretty odd they went that route considering she has been naked in a film before. Girl, we've already seen your tiddle bits!

Pretty sure we saw them in the episode before that scene when she was being washed. Maybe I'm going crazy, but I noticed a little difference in breasts size between that scene and the walk of shame. I know they probably had to add it in later because the area they're filming in was against any nudity there, but not sure why a body double was thrown in.

Psych answered the question for me. Now I think I may have been mistaken on my previous thought.