Game of Thrones Season 8 (2019) (1 Viewer)

[SamT]

Doesn't anyone think that they did it intentionally? It is supposed to look dark and you are supposed to not see everything. There could be reasons for that. Artistic reasons, they wanted to make it like a horror story where you don't see everything. Also plus financial reasons. It's cheaper this way.

So I think they should own it and clearly say we wanted you to not see everything. Saying we shot it clearly and there is a problem with your TVs or eyes, is a bad excuse.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Yeah, I'm way more interested in the interactions and confrontations between the human characters that I've "known" for seven seasons rather than people fighting some snow zombies that really only started to be featured last season.

They have been featured since Season 1. The whole catchphrase of the show Winter is coming is about them. But I agree the human characters are more interesting.

 

[Worth]

Doesn't anyone think that they did it intentionally? It is supposed to look dark and you are supposed to not see everything. There could be reasons for that. Artistic reasons, they wanted to make it like a horror story where you don't see everything. Also plus financial reasons. It's cheaper this way.

So I think they should own it and clearly say we wanted you to not see everything. Saying we shot it clearly and there is a problem with your TVs or eyes, is a bad excuse.

Financial reasons, for sure. Artistic? I've never bought the excuse that something's deliberately confusing to put the viewer in "the fog of war." I just call that poorly shot and edited. Saving Private Ryan manages to convey the confusion of battle, but you can still follow what's happening at any given time.

 

[dpippel]

While I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that it was Arya who took out the Night King, I'm dissatisfied with the way the show wrapped up the White Walker threat. They have been the boogiemen behind much of the Stark's philosophy, the very existence of the Night's Watch, and the building of the Wall since Episode 1 of Season 1. Winter is coming indeed, yet unless I'm forgetting a lot of backstory from previous seasons (entirely possible!) at the end of The Long Night we still know practically nothing about them. What were their motivations? Who WAS the Night King? How did he come to be and where did his powers come from? How was he able to raise, animate, and control such vast numbers of the dead, both man and beast? How were his dead generals different from the wights? The White Walkers were the real threat to ALL of the Seven Kingdoms, yet the "death" of the Night King was somehow unsatisfying to me with so many questions about him and WHY he was there left unanswered.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

I have no issue with so many main characters surviving in itself, it's just the manner in which they survive that's the problem. It really drives home 'plot armor' when you have thousands of people die in a battle and the main characters are literally the only ones who survive. Like Jamie and Sam standing there surrounded by so many corpses of their comrades and they're the only ones still standing. That really takes you out of it and enforces 'TV show'.

The soundtrack was fantastic. This is the first time in the entire run of the show that I found myself wishing I had a CD of the music.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

While I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that it was Arya who took out the Night King, I'm dissatisfied with the way the show wrapped up the White Walker threat. They have been the boogiemen behind much of the Stark's philosophy, the very existence of the Night's Watch, and the building of the Wall since Episode 1 of Season 1. Winter is coming indeed, yet unless I'm forgetting a lot of backstory from previous seasons (entirely possible!) at the end of The Long Night we still know practically nothing about them. What were their motivations? Who WAS the Night King? How did he come to be and where did his powers come from? How was he able to raise, animate, and control such vast numbers of the dead, both man and beast? How were his dead generals different from the wights? The White Walkers were the real threat to ALL of the Seven Kingdoms, yet the "death" of the Night King was somehow unsatisfying to me with so many questions about him and WHY he was there left unanswered.

We did see the creation of the night king, he was one of the first men captured by the children of the forest and transformed into the Night King as a means for the children of the forest to fight against the first men. That decision really backfired against them, as it turns out that they were responsible for creating their greatest enemy.

While not spelled out explicitly in the show, I gathered that the difference between the 'Wights' and the 'White Walkers' were that the 'Wights' were just the dead resurrected as zombie fodder by the Night King, while the actual 'White Walkers' were the living changed by the Night King to be his generals. I,E, we saw him take a perfectly healthy living baby and change his eyes to blue early on in the series.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Regarding the Dues Ex Machina of Arya at the end, I disagree on that as well. We've spent several seasons with her building up her ninja and stealh abilities. And she didn't just appear out of nowhere, there was a shot before her leaping at the Night King of the white walkers standing there and a wind whoosing by them blowing their hair, causing them to turn around and look in confusion at what was going on,. Also in Episode 1 of this season Jon Snow literally says to Arya in this exact spot where she kills the Night King, "How did you sneak up on me?"

 

[Robert Crawford]

It seems like some people don't want to give that little killer/assassin her proper due.

 

[Wayne_j]

If a character needs to be assassinated it is a good bet that the character who has been training to be an assassin for 8 seasons would be the one to do it. That being said I don't expect Arya to kill Cersei now when I would have a week ago. I don't see her killing both Cersei and the Night King.

 

[Greg.K]

I kind of expect Jaime to do it. Or maybe Tyrion.

Or hey, maybe Sansa will rise to the occasion.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

My guess is that it will be either Jamie or Tyrion, and be done with the crossbow that Cerci gave to Bronn.

 

[TravisR]

They have been featured since Season 1. The whole catchphrase of the show Winter is coming is about them. But I agree the human characters are more interesting.

I know they've been around since basically the beginning and I know everyone has been saying "Winter is coming" forever but when did they start getting real screen time and become the focus of the story? Admittedly, I forget a ton about this show but I thought it was last season.

 

[Hanson]

Regarding the Dues Ex Machina of Arya at the end, I disagree on that as well. We've spent several seasons with her building up her ninja and stealh abilities. And she didn't just appear out of nowhere, there was a shot before her leaping at the Night King of the white walkers standing there and a wind whoosing by them blowing their hair, causing them to turn around and look in confusion at what was going on,. Also in Episode 1 of this season Jon Snow literally says to Arya in this exact spot where she kills the Night King, "How did you sneak up on me?"

If you watch that scene from around when the Night King finally stops right in front of Bran, it cuts to Jon who comes out from behind cover directly in front of Viserion and yells, "GO GO GO!" He's yelling at Arya, who is off-screen and distracting Viserion, who is guarding the entrance of the Godswood. Then the hair blows and Arya leaps towards the Night King.

I finally see that now, but at the time, I didn't realize Jon was so close to Bran, and that Viserion was guarding the entrance. I noticed the White Walker's hair moving, but never put it together with Arya's movement. So she didn't just appear out of nowhere, nor was Jon yelling at a zombie dragon.

 

[Worth]

If you watch that scene from around when the Night King finally stops right in front of Bran, it cuts to Jon who comes out from behind cover directly in front of Viserion and yells, "GO GO GO!" He's yelling at Arya, who is off-screen and distracting Viserion, who is guarding the entrance of the Godswood. Then the hair blows and Arya leaps towards the Night King.

I finally see that now, but at the time, I didn't realize Jon was so close to Bran, and that Viserion was guarding the entrance. I noticed the White Walker's hair moving, but never put it together with Arya's movement. So she didn't just appear out of nowhere, nor was Jon yelling at a zombie dragon.

If that's the case, it was not at all clear. Again, poorly shot and edited.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I know they've been around since basically the beginning and I know everyone has been saying "Winter is coming" forever but when did they start getting real screen time and become the focus of the story? Admittedly, I forget a ton about this show but I thought it was last season.

They had mostly small encounters with them in the 1st four seasons. They had a large battle with them when they attacked the Wildlings in Season 5. So I would say they became a bigger focus in Season 5

 

[David_B_K]

If you watch that scene from around when the Night King finally stops right in front of Bran, it cuts to Jon who comes out from behind cover directly in front of Viserion and yells, "GO GO GO!" He's yelling at Arya, who is off-screen and distracting Viserion, who is guarding the entrance of the Godswood.

Someone ran that theory by me yesterday. I watched that sequence again last night, and I do not see it. It does appear that Jon is yelling "Go, Go!", so if your theory is correct, it makes more sense than him just yelling at a dragon (the DirecTV subtitles simply denote "yelling"). However, without a map, I cannot connect where Jon and the dragon are with the Godswood area, and I cannot see anything distinct beyond the dragon.

If that is what was meant to have happened, I would think they will show something in the next episode that clarifies it, sort of like the follow-up episode to a cliffhanger in a serial. I like Arya taking out the NK with her ninja/faceless man/fencing master skills, but I do not see the connection (yet) with that and Jon and the dragon.

 

[RobertR]

If that's the case, it was not at all clear. Again, poorly shot and edited.

I think they were trying to preserve the element of surprise. Too much obvious setup would have spoiled it.

 

[BobO'Link]

If you watch that scene from around when the Night King finally stops right in front of Bran, it cuts to Jon who comes out from behind cover directly in front of Viserion and yells, "GO GO GO!" He's yelling at Arya, who is off-screen and distracting Viserion, who is guarding the entrance of the Godswood. Then the hair blows and Arya leaps towards the Night King.

I finally see that now, but at the time, I didn't realize Jon was so close to Bran, and that Viserion was guarding the entrance. I noticed the White Walker's hair moving, but never put it together with Arya's movement. So she didn't just appear out of nowhere, nor was Jon yelling at a zombie dragon.

We have zero evidence that Jon even knows the skills Arya possesses. Without that knowledge I doubt he'd urge her on to what he would consider instant death for someone who's not battle trained.

 

[dpippel]

We have zero evidence that Jon even knows the skills Arya possesses. Without that knowledge I doubt he'd urge her on to what he would consider instant death for someone who's not battle trained.

Still, the theory that Jon was urging Arya to strike and not stupidly yelling at an undead dragon makes a heck of a lot more sense.

 

[AcesHighStudios]

We can assume that GOT will get a disc release. Discs vs. streaming in general is a separate topic.

Since it's already been announced, we don't have to assume, including a 4K release.