Game of Thrones: Hardhome
This is my first time starting a board topic - so be gentle.
I didn't see a thread for tonight's episode, and I wanted to hear others' thoughts. I thought it was fantastic, with some great new interactions. Tyrion and Daenerys were especially good. The battle sequence at Hardhome was great too, and I am a big fan of Tormund now that he is the Wyndham Wyzard in the real world, so his scenes were a bonus too.
Next episode should be intense, since the ninth episode usually has the craziest stuff. Thoughts?
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+1
Insightiful
Fuckin a is right. The Wildling MILF died before we could see her boobs.
It's a travesty.
I'm actually very happy they didn't kill Wun Wun either. For a second there I thought the lovable giant was gonna sacrifice himself for the lifeboat to get away.
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The second they mentioned that Long Claw was Valyrian steel in the preview it pretty much confirmed that Dragonsteel=Valyrian steel. Not that I'm surprised at all, but its definitely big to have that confirmation.
In the books Sam reads that Dragonsteel works against the White Walkers and they believe it to mean Valyrian steel, but aren't sure. In the books the attempt has yet to be made. Only Sam with the Dragonglass knife successfully kills a WW (and that knife shatters, fwiw).
So Jon, Tommen and Brienne are the only ones with those swords? Also giants work just as well we found out.
Nah, there are a fair number but not all that many. The only other one explicitly mentioned on the show (I think) is Heartsbane, which is the Tarly family sword. Sam's dad thought he was too much of a coward to ever wield it which is why he got sent to the Walll. DVD extras mentioned a couple others.
They're basically family heirlooms that most of the prominent Westerosi families have. Except the Lannisters, who lost theirs because one of Tywin's ancestors went to investigate the Doom and never returned. So they stole Ice and melted it down.
Tommen gonna kill so many walkers with his sword lol
In fact the book only mentions about 8-9 Valyrian Steel swords currently in Westeros and outside of House Stark (and later House Lannister forging their swords from House Stark's sword), most of the swords are scattered across houses that will probably never appear in the show because they're minor.
There are a few lost ancestral Targaryen swords that may turn up later.
The dagger used in S1 in the attempted assassination of Bran was made of valyrian steel.
Also giants work just as well we found out.
Not so. The giant was stomping wights, ie the reanimated dead (zombies). Those are relatively easy to kill, the problem is that there are just so many of them (and their numbers are easily replenished).
The white walkers are the blue-eyed scaries that create the wights. They cannot be killed except by dragonglass or, as we now see, dragonsteel. (My guess is that dragonfire will work as well, which may be something we discover in the final season).
I was about to a start a new thread when I saw this...
Anyways-
This may have been my favorite episode in the entire series, from start to finish. I think there have been better moments, but this episode was extremely entertaining start to finish.
What do you think? Where does this stand?
Either way, the season started a bit slow but is certainly picking up! Too bad there are only 2 episodes left.
The only one I can say is better for sure for me would be the Red Wedding episode. I'll have to give it some time to sink in to really be able to look at it objectively (I'm still amped from that battle at the end), but its definitely up there for me.
that much more lame.
I saw an interview with Mike Judge and Alec Berg about their show Silicon Valley. Judge at first was almost apologetic for taking a whole year to produce 10 half hour TV shows, but then he said it was like making 3 movies a year. From that perspective, you can see why the quality has improved so dramatically in many instances.
Blackwater is still my favorite but this one absolutely gave it a run for it's money.
I may have to agree, although my fav still has to be the Mountain and the Viper. Speaking of, we haven't heard much on the Mountain's rehab efforts.... would be kinda cool if his rehab was done and he was let loose inside the high sparrow stronghold and got Cersei out. (Not sure why I want her to escape.. but alas)
I had a dream last night that the "Zombie-Mountain" was fighting Jorah Mormont in front of the queen (the real one)... Not that it would make any sense.
Absolutely loved this episode. The Tyrion-Dany interactions were phenomenal. They nailed the Cersei's scenes, especially the water scene at the end there. And the Hardhome scene was all phenomenal. Probably the best action scene in the series, in my opinion.
Lots of big departures from the books, which usually are kind of hit or miss, but they nailed everything about that episode. Definitely my favorite of the season and in my top-5 favorite episodes in the series, maybe even top-3.
Definitely the best episode this season. That's for sure.
Jon having plot armor in that fight was a little obnoxious as well as anonymous bad ass Wildling women not fighting back because zombie children and her death being foreshadowed super, super hard.
Otherwise easily the best episode of the season, though I still don't think it's anywhere near the quality of the first three seasons.
This episode was outstanding. It not only appropriately re-introduced the White Walkers after a long absence it gave us an indication of Dany's increasing level of ruthlessness. That can only mean her hesitance to let loose the dragons is rapidly..er, melting. That's a "Oh, shit, things just got real" moment for everyone else.
Upvoted for excellent use of the term "plot armor."
Exactly. Didn't think anyone would ever talk plot armor about GoT at this point.
Since there's so many Walking Dead comparisons going on: Rick in TWD has so much plot armor it makes the show very tough to totally buy into.
Dragons, bitches.
What is the only thing that can kill those zombies? Fire. Who happens to breathe fire?
Who are the only creatures that can "break the wheel"?
The White Walkers are frightening, but their power is nothing to that of the dragons who possess the element that melts ice--fire.
People are focusing on Jon Snow and Stannis, but the dragons are the key. Whomever can control them controls the throne. But will they outgrow Dany's control??
Unleashing them risks everything. But Dany can only break the wheel by unleashing hell. The dragons can do just that.
Hence, a song of ice and fire.
Which makes me wonder whether GRRM told Benoiff and Weiss that certain myths that Old Nan used to tell the Starks are true.
That would tell us a lot about how the Night's King amassed such a large force beyond the wall.
Secondly, this Night's King is the same Night's King from the book during Age of Heroes right?
This is one of the popular theories out there. I really wish they would have progressed Bran's storyline this season because I love it in the books and want to see where it goes. At the same time I get why they didn't. There are A LOT of moving parts this season in different parts of the realm.
Back to the topic, this episode was easily the best of the season so far. I judge how good an episode is by how many times I say "Oh, shiiit". I said it many times in this one.
I don't think he'll just control a dragon, he'll warg and ride a dragon. It has been set up since the beginning, when Tyrion gave him the drawing for a modified saddle that Bran could use to ride a horse. I can also see Tyrion riding a dragon, maybe, but I'm less certain of that.
I'll never understand why Dany doesn't spend more time trying to figure out how to use/train her dragons.
I haven't read the books, so I'm guessing that maybe Dany's holding off on spending more time on learning how to train her dragons, because (a) there are no DVD players in Mereen, so she can't watch the instructional video and (b) she's waiting for a Terminator to show her how to do it.
I thought the only person who could break the wheel was Rand Al'Thor. Oh, sorry, wrong epic fantasy series...
Doesn't Rand Al'Thor cut off Ged's hand with Stormbringer then slay Fafhrd, Aslan and Conan with the One Ring?
The dragon has three heads.
Looks like there's officially another way to kill a white walker, but there's undoubtedly not enough Valaryian steel to go around.
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Looks like GRR Martin can get some great ideas for finishing his series of books from the HBO writers, for whom winter is coming like a freight train compared to the glacial pace set by the author.
This episode was epic. I didn't breath for about 10 minutes. GoT has been great since Day 1, but this year has been given us some superior television.
They know the ending, as he's known the ending for 20 years or so. It's how to get from A -> B that he struggles with. And as not a huge fan of this season + casting news indicating they're going back for a bunch of plots from AFFC/ADWD that they ignored this year like the Greyjoys and the Kingsmoot and Victarion's fleet, the show is as well.
But more importantly, Septon Meribald is getting cast, so that's pretty awesome.