Game of Thrones - Episode by Episode #68
It is the much-discussed Season 8 of Game of Thrones with six episodes to go. More accurately, it'll be five episodes after this one. We have the Sense of Right Alliance vs. the Rabid Skeleton Army. No, wait. Despite this season being even shorter than the last one, it seems like there's still prologue to go through.
Episode 68: "Winterfell"
The very first thing you notice in this episode of Game of Thrones is that the opening is very different. Whereas the opening of the first seven seasons showed the major locations that would be either physically or thematically involved in the episode over a map, this season opens with a map-level view of the broken wall, then goes to Winterfell and such, showing the insides.
Despite this visual change, the episode picks up right where the last one left off. Visually, it looks different due to the direction, but otherwise I would have had no idea Season 8 was separate from Season 7. There were greater disconnects between Seasons 2 and 3, Seasons 5 and 6, and Seasons 6 and 7.
Daenerys and Jon Snow arrive in Winterfell along with the Dothraki, the Unsullied, and the dragons. Sansa greets the new queen coldly. She's not the only one upset. All the other lords are angry with Jon for "bending the knee" but he says the choice was to either protect the north or remain its king and he chose to protect his people. One boy, one of the lords, asks for help evacuating his people, and they offer him aid.
There are a lot of long-awaited character interactions, like Arya and her reunions with Scarface and Minitaur. Finally Sansa and Tyrion reunite, although now Sansa is harsh and somewhat contemptuous as she has been for a while; any amity between these two is no more. She sees through Incest Queen's ruse and is surprised Tyrion hasn't. And of course, Tyrion and Uncle Fester have their obligatory scenes.
Daenerys and Jon Snow also go flying through the air, each of them on a dragon. Jon is initially scared, of course, but the two of them genuinely start to have a good time.
Also, Daenerys and Mormont see Sam at Winterfell ,and he finally learns that they burned his father and brother alive for not bowing to her. He goes away to cry.
Later in the crypt Sam tells Jon the truth about his parentage. And Jon believes this story, with no evidence other than Sam's memory of a diary entry and Bran's vision. I understand the need to wrap this show up, but there really is no reason for Jon to just accept what he has been told with literally one line of protest.
Up north, the remnant of the Wildlings (including Wild Man) literally runs into the remnants of the Survey Corps. Each group is still human, but a dead boy -- I'm not sure if this was the same lord from earlier in the episode -- is pinned to the wall with blood drawn in a weird symbol. The boy comes back to life and screeches.
Meanwhile, Waterboy rescues Stephanie McMachon from Uncle Captain's ship. Down in King's Landing, Incest Queen has only 20,000 soldiers rather than the 25,000 she was promised.
At the end, Incest Charming arrives in Winterfell, and looks at Bran, the boy he put in a wheelchair to start this series. This would have more impact if it hadn't been stated 10,000 times that Bran doesn't even consider himself Bran now, but is the "Three-Eyed Raven."
No notes, actually. Despite the fact that this episode was more setup, it actually...made sense but didn't have much to really complain about, speculate, or question.
Episode 68: "Winterfell"
The very first thing you notice in this episode of Game of Thrones is that the opening is very different. Whereas the opening of the first seven seasons showed the major locations that would be either physically or thematically involved in the episode over a map, this season opens with a map-level view of the broken wall, then goes to Winterfell and such, showing the insides.
Despite this visual change, the episode picks up right where the last one left off. Visually, it looks different due to the direction, but otherwise I would have had no idea Season 8 was separate from Season 7. There were greater disconnects between Seasons 2 and 3, Seasons 5 and 6, and Seasons 6 and 7.
Daenerys and Jon Snow arrive in Winterfell along with the Dothraki, the Unsullied, and the dragons. Sansa greets the new queen coldly. She's not the only one upset. All the other lords are angry with Jon for "bending the knee" but he says the choice was to either protect the north or remain its king and he chose to protect his people. One boy, one of the lords, asks for help evacuating his people, and they offer him aid.
There are a lot of long-awaited character interactions, like Arya and her reunions with Scarface and Minitaur. Finally Sansa and Tyrion reunite, although now Sansa is harsh and somewhat contemptuous as she has been for a while; any amity between these two is no more. She sees through Incest Queen's ruse and is surprised Tyrion hasn't. And of course, Tyrion and Uncle Fester have their obligatory scenes.
Daenerys and Jon Snow also go flying through the air, each of them on a dragon. Jon is initially scared, of course, but the two of them genuinely start to have a good time.
Also, Daenerys and Mormont see Sam at Winterfell ,and he finally learns that they burned his father and brother alive for not bowing to her. He goes away to cry.
Later in the crypt Sam tells Jon the truth about his parentage. And Jon believes this story, with no evidence other than Sam's memory of a diary entry and Bran's vision. I understand the need to wrap this show up, but there really is no reason for Jon to just accept what he has been told with literally one line of protest.
Up north, the remnant of the Wildlings (including Wild Man) literally runs into the remnants of the Survey Corps. Each group is still human, but a dead boy -- I'm not sure if this was the same lord from earlier in the episode -- is pinned to the wall with blood drawn in a weird symbol. The boy comes back to life and screeches.
Meanwhile, Waterboy rescues Stephanie McMachon from Uncle Captain's ship. Down in King's Landing, Incest Queen has only 20,000 soldiers rather than the 25,000 she was promised.
At the end, Incest Charming arrives in Winterfell, and looks at Bran, the boy he put in a wheelchair to start this series. This would have more impact if it hadn't been stated 10,000 times that Bran doesn't even consider himself Bran now, but is the "Three-Eyed Raven."
No notes, actually. Despite the fact that this episode was more setup, it actually...made sense but didn't have much to really complain about, speculate, or question.