Time To Move On With Our Lives

Gay of Thrones, S8E6 (final)

So, the final episode of Game of Thrones was, in my Highly Scientific and Maesterly opinion, O.K.  Just fine.  Just enough.

It's been seven years people.  The idea that we could get the "perfect" G.R.R. Martin ending if only we went another ten episodes / two years is just preposterous.  The HBO writers did a reasonable job with spotty material from an author who is excellent at character and world building, but water-tight plot development and resolution not so much.

The end.

(Would have liked to see Gendry at least take a seat on his own throne at Storm's End.  Or a surprise Nymeria appearance.  But here's me not bitching about it on the internet.)

Since Nobody Asked Me (Game of Thrones Spoilers!)

I was fine with the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones going full 9/11-Auschwitz-The Day After via Targaryen meltdown.  It was clunky though, and it feels like the show-runners have basically gotten lazier as they approach the end.  (My free advice to Daenarys -- attack the damn city at night when you can't be targeted.)

A lot of internet criticism runs along the lines of "While the direction / spectacle is excellently done, the writing falls flat."  And I'd pretty much agree.  I find myself just kind of wanting this thing to end, unfulfilled prophecies be damned.

This is hardly the stuff of high-praise, but suffice it to say this was a series that matched Martin's strengths -- amazing characters and world building, with an audacious willingness to sacrifice heroes when called for.

Consistently solid story-telling with consequences that matter, beyond the random death of major characters?  Not so much!

Game of Thrones Is Almost Ovah! (Spoilers!)

I'm on the record as believing that the HBO writers are generally better story-tellers than George Martin but word to The Mother, this final season is really trying my patience.

I have read the books, and I think Martin's strengths are character creation and world building.  And up until recently I was pretty content to let two TV "pros" take the raw materials and turn them into good TV product via cutting the fat and actually making things happen.  (Lest we forget, the last two novels so far have been so fucking slow, with Daenarys basically "trapped" in the East for no good reason other than Martin doesn't know what to do wither her.)

I think the worst crimes though are setting up things for payoffs that never come.  As much as I love Arya's character, it seems like she pretty much proved there were much easier, much better ways to deal with he Night King rather than losing huge swathes of your armies.  (Will Bran even appear in the last two episodes?)

But maybe I was wrong.  Maybe there just wasn't enough time to sufficiently send off each of the main characters in the ways they deserved, and the HBO team was willing to settle for very safe, dishwater endings that don't really solve any of the larger, more historical mysteries of the show.

And damn if Missandei wasn't pretty much thrown away, and Brienne will probably be sitting out the battle of King's Landing.

Borderline Meh

So, #GameofThrones -- was a bag of Doritos and a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

Definite fat / sugar rush / high, but beyond the facade kind of a poorly written episode w/ unsatisfying ending.

— James of Thrones (@wetcasements) April 30, 2019

Just Thinking Out Loud

very strong #GameofThrones episode 2 but damn, you'd think the incest thing would bother Daenarys just a bit more than having a challenge to her queenhood...

— James of Thrones (@wetcasements) April 22, 2019

Deep Game of Thrones Thoughts

Granted that "fucking our brains out continuously" is always an attractive option, still seems like Daenarys and John should have started blowing the fuck out of those damn zombies with dragon fire ASAP.

— James. Just James. (@wetcasements) April 16, 2019

(this is good)

The Black Person's Guide To Game of Thrones:

"Wait. Is everything about white people?

Exactly! But Game of Thrones teaches us that not all white people are the same. That’s what I’m trying to show you, if you’d stop being so racist!

Me? How am I being ... OK, so are there any black people on the show?

Yes. There is a group of castrated warriors who were once slaves, called the Unsullied.

What? Let me guess, they were freed by ...

White people. Yes. A blond lady named Daenerys, who is impervious to fire, was born with the ability to ride dragons and was gifted at birth with dragon eggs that would eventually hatch. Daenerys rode the dragons (or her privilege) to save the slaves. And of course, after she frees them from lives dedicated to fighting in wars for their masters, they decide to spend their lives fighting for her—their 'queen'—and help her ride her privilege dragons all the way to the Iron Throne."