User Reviews

Where is Cersei? Where is Jon? Where is Tyrion? Where is that exciting "Game" in "Game of Thrones"?

Who is this Daenerys whom we all fell in love with? Who is this Jon just standing with the sword (or safely riding on a dragon in "The Long Night") on the dying street on King's Landing doing absolutely nothing? Who is this Tyrion just delivering a few dialogs with conclusively no impact at all in anybody? Who is this Cersei so helpless, so destitute, so impotent?

Why am I feeling lost? Why such a feeling that this is not the show what we knew as GoT?

Why D&D are in such a hurry to wrap things up in two episodes?

Why suddenly there is so much hollowness in all the characters who had so persistently maintained their focus and spirit in all those seven episodes, and created this very bold and exciting series?

Why this abrupt change of character of Dany who throughout maintained she is the Mother, she is the Meshiah, she came here to rescue all of us in this seven kingdoms from those tyrants? Only because Jon exposed the secret to his sisters and thereby to Tyrion and Varys, all of here life's philosophy got suddenly worthless? Only because Cersei beheaded Missandei, she lost all her idealogies? Just a sight of the Red Keep with Cersei standing over it, Dany lost herself? Where is that strong and admirable character?

Why after so many years of preparation of this battle, after so many sacrifices, troubles, murders, plots etc., suddenly Cersei had just no defences? No strategies? No battle plans? All she could is just standing there and watch the dragon burn the city? Where is that merciless and shrewd Cersei who killed so many people along with the High Sparrow? Where is that Cersei who never accepts defeat without fight?

Why so frequent and dramatic changes in Jaime? Once he realizes he ought to keep his promise to be with the right side, in the next moment his love for Cersei makes everything obsolete? And after so many armies, allies, threatenings, preparations only Jaime is there to rescue Cersei?

How Euron killed a dragon just like that in "The Last of the Starks" and he doesn't know what to do when the actual battle took place? Just a few arrows missed and he is clueless? All of a sudden his ambition is to kill Jaime? Why? Because he knows Jaime is the only obstacle on the path to win Cersei?

Why only one dragon is just enough to win the so long awaited battle? With no contribution from the frightful dothraki, the fearless unsullied? No Jon, no Davos, no Tyrion, no Brienne, no Grey Worm - nobody is required? Why didn't Daenerys just flew with all the three dragons intact, and burned the city and won the iron throne? So easy?

Where is the Game? Where is our Game of Thrones?

I try to keep this as short as possible:

G.R.R. Martin had it right. Selfish monarchs, wars, conquers and religious fanatics are bad and lead to harm. That's what GoT was all about. It made a lot of sense for Dany to turn out as the ultimate threat being nothing like a every other conquer. It also made sense to end the long night before that.

BUT D&D Hollywooded it up. They underestimated how much people loved the complexity and realism of GoT. They made smart characters really stupid in order to help the story to end quickly. Plot twist feel rushed and unexplained. Also Arya killing the NK is a joke. Decisions like that had nothing to do with the GoT lore and were made just to surprise, unlike Genius twists like hodor/ red wedding that made sense and kept developing the story. Characters like Euron were introduced perfectly and ended up feeling like a meme.

The issues that this episode has are not to blame on this episode but on the entire process starting mid season 7. Still it feels really unsatisfying and I didn't enjoy watching most of it.

First of all, I will say that this episode was visually stunning. Much better than Episode 3 where even max brightness couldn't do it justice. Also, CleganeBowl was a nice payoff and the right end for that arc. The music was great as always and the action scenes were done well.

BUT

The main theme of this episode was Danaerys going full "Mad Queen". However this doesn't make any sense in the way it played out for her character. If you remember, she:

• Freed the slaves of Astapor (where she got the Unsullied)

• Freed the slaves of Yunkai (where the people worship her as "Mhysa" and "Breaker of Chains")

• Freed the slaves of Mereen and crucified the slave masters (as justice for them doing the exact same thing to the slaves)

• Locked up her dragons when she hears they had killed a child

• Continually insists that she "knows what my father was" and repeatedly declares "I am not him"

• Decides to help Jon defend Winterfell rather than going straight for the Throne

So, when Kings Landing surrendered why would she then throw her entire legacy away and burn every house in the city? If she was so "mad" then why not go for Cersei whom her anger was directed and destroy the Red Keep only? - this would be a mistake anyways due to collateral damage but would be more believable than torching an entire city (1 million people?) because she's in a bad mood.

Danaerys was always portrayed as a kind-hearted but also dangerous ruler who put the people first and pledged to "rid the world of tyrants". Given her experience in power and history of justice, she would not be so stupid to burn an entire city she was destined to rule.. effectively committing suicide since she will obviously have no support now.

Also, the battle itself was just silly. They had hundreds of overpowered scorpions on boats and around the city with only ONE dragon to target. A dragon siege should have been impossible. They clearly made that obvious in Episode 4 where Drogon narrowly avoids getting arrowed but now, all of a sudden, the scorpions received a huge damage and accuracy nerf to the point where they didn't even matter. Big inconsistency in two consecutive episodes!

Jaime and Euron was a random whatever... and as poetic as Jaime & Cersei's death was, it is undermined by the whole Kings Landing Genocide plot.

Jon has barely shown any emotion or passion this entire season. "You are my Queen, I will serve you". Where's the fire he had as Lord Commander? No debate on strategy or any final inspiring words for the Mother of Dragons the night before the last battle? Jon seems a shell of his former self and has been a passenger most of the season. What exactly did the Lord of Light bring him back for?

It is clear Danaerys will now die next episode, probably at the hands of Jon. I feel it was a poor end to her character.

Emilia Clarke even said in an interview where she was asked how she felt about her final scenes this season. She hesitated and sarcastically said "best season ever!". She also said in a separate interview that she "walked around aimlessly for hours" after reading the final script. It's now clear why. Her character has been unfairly destroyed for shock value with a poor and rushed execution. She's clearly disappointed, as am I.

I still try liking it but its tough.

The Arya/Sandor farewell... blah... Even though I love their stories and the evolution the writers have made of their first uncomfortable alliance that has become a friendship based on respect even. Too bad we didnt see more of their adventures now that they are getting along, Id watch that. However that final scene,that was some poor acting from Arya. They tried to make it deep and emotional, him opening up trying to convince her. He was good enough but she just looked like a scared rabbit and did a 180 far far too easily. I mean she jumped the NK surrounded by his army but this is where she gets frightened? They shouldve done something else here.

And Dany. WTH.... She has the city. Its hers. She hates Cercei and knows where she is. What does she do?? She starts murdering her own citizens, peasants. Why? I dont know. She is aware, shes been told and has seen a million times that Cersei doesnt care one bit about her people or what happens to them. So what is the point of murdering them (or destroying the kingdom) in front of her? There is none, nothing but another illogical temper tantrum by big blond baby. If she at least tried to capture her. Nah... All she does is kill everyone else that Cersei doesnt care for and destroy everything else that Cersie doesnt care about.

Also Cersei's demise felt so...bland. Not that Im expecting something. Also Im not denying shes an arogant,egocentric monster that was convinced she'd win, but even so, she WOULD HAVE an escape plan. Yet all she did was confusingly run around the keep until Jaime found her. And It was annoying how the underground passages kept breaking in. Thats almost impossible that deep, especially since theyre rooted in a cave system and Dany is burning the surface. And its kinda convinient how those bricks (?) came just to blocking them and not before or after but just at the arc which is always the strongest point. . And Jon.... is useless, he was just....there.

D&D sure are episode by episode ruining it to the end.

We should be happy that those who are stark raving mad about GoT and this episode specifically do not have any dragons at their disposal (or so I hope). Receiving masses of negative commentary on one of the best pieces of TV entertainment in history is after all preferable to a fiery death. I can not for the life of me imagine who anyone can perceive character archs unfulfilled in this episode - The hound, Jaime, Cersei, Arya, Daenerys - all of them had very satisfying ends or turns in their development in this episode, all of which made perfect sense.

But mostly I would like to point out the extremely powerful message behind all the carnage that the fuming masses seem to ignore. It is what the books and series have always been about - power corrupts, there are no winners in the high stake political games of those in power and those who suffer most are usually the innocent and powerless So many stories have revolved around "great" conquerors -Djengis Khan, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar etc- all of whom got famous because they slaughtered countless people on their way to power. Bronn even spelled it out for all of us in the previous episode - kill thousands and they make you a king. The Song of Ice and Fire has tricked us into taking the role of one of these conquerors and in the decisive moment of the conquest we se the heinous carnage that is the reality of war and without actually seeing her, we see what a monster Daenerys has become in her ruthless rise to the most powerful person in the known world. Has this been foreshadowed? More that enough - everybody could get the hint from season 1 onwards. Remember the golden crown and Drogos promise to his Khaleesi. Later, there have been several occasions in which she only acted with mercy and compassion when she got what she wanted. But when she was denied her will, there was always talk of fire and blood that would rain down on all who oppose her. Everyone who says this came out of nowhere has not been paying attention. That too was spelled out for everyone by Ramsay Bolton.

This story does not a happy ending, because that would be the wrong ending.

SPOILERS below!

The hate for this eighth and final season of Game of Thrones has been ridiculous and is mostly driven by the hardcore Song of Ice and Fire book readers from which Game of Thrones is based on.

This episode is what led many fans to go over the edge and really really hate this show, and it has everything to do with Daenerys Targaryen sudden turn to madness. Indeed the season was rushed with only 6 episodes, leaving many to feel her turn wasn't earned with what felt like only 3 episodes, but truth be told, it was all there since the very beginning of the show.

The whole point of this series is that thrist for power corrupts people. The Iron throne was symbolic of that thirst for power, and anybody that has ever wanted it has done awful things and has died. The problem with fans is that many things are taken at face value, but many things in the show have deeper meanings. When we think of Daenerys Targaryen, the mother of dragons, we see the beautiful protagonist queen with images of her and her dragons saving the day, freeing slaves from their evil masters, killing sons of the harpy, etc. However, from the first season, when her brother Viserys was burned by melted gold and when Khal Drogo promised to help her take the Iron throne and raping all the women and killing every man that got in their way, it was apparent from the very beginning she would do whatever it took, good or bad, to get to that iron throne, believing it to be her natural birthright.

Everything up to this point made perfect sense, and yes it was earned. Daenerys had a rough season, from an unwelcoming welcome to Winterfell, butting heads and not gaining the rapport of Sansa Stark and the Northmen, finding out the truth of Jon Snow (her lover) being Aegon Targaryen (rightful heir of the 7 kingdoms), Jon Snow distancing himself from her upon said news, losing her closest friends Jorah Mormont & Missendei and 2 of her dragons. She was a woman reeling and desperate. She didn't even care that Jon Snow was her nephew and last remaining family, she was concerned only with him having a claim to the Iron throne. So to say that her turn wasn't earned Is incorrect. She has done terrible things and believed them to be right. Many people say this season didn't have good dialogue, that's another lie. Yes the show went from talking nonstop about political drama and backstabbing to spectacle, but Tyrion Lannister's speech while locked away to Jon Snow about Daenerys and how she believes she is divine and right (in the final episode) says it best about Daenerys. Her thirst for power is the point of the whole series. Her and Jon meeting meant everything, and that alone, along with their fateful ending, will be the true ending of the books. A battle of the human heart, with Jon Snow sitting front and center of it all, The Song of Ice and Fire.

Other complaints include the ending of Jaimie and Cersei Lannister. George R.R. Martin has said he wants his characters to be gray, having done good and bad, and no one is more true to this than the Lannisters. Jaimie coming back to be with Cersei Lannister before their death is 200% believable in my book, and them dying together, all cuddly like, is a good choice. Jaimie Lannister all in all is a good man. Even with hurting Brienne and things he has done, he has proven himself to be a man of honor. Cersei Lannister, for all the evil she has done, is a sympathetic character. You know this when you can feel bad for her as she is getting shamed in the streets during the season 5 finale "Mother's Mercy."

This episode is masterful from its action sequences, to filled drama, to great fighting throughout. Anybody that says this episode was trash, along with season 8, should slap themselves. As a fan who has read the books and watched the series 3 times , I saw everything coming, and it was masterful! 10/10.

Why is nothing making sense in this season?

After a year and a half waiting and see the best show of all time to become just average. They ruined not just the show but the series as well. Avengers should time travel back to the future and get the final two books read to D&D before they shoot this season.

What did people expect was gonna happen? Dany walking into kings landing, going to sit on the iron throne, maybe spare Cersei's life because her army surrendered????? Dany snapped because she saw her dragon getting shot out of the sky and getting to see her loyal servent/friend Missandei beheaded right after losing Jorah too? Also in her mind, being betrayed by Jon, Varys and Tyrion who is wrong in her eyes all the time.. If you would put yourself in her situation, you would see the rage where she is coming from. I do think however there will be a moment in the next episode where she will feel bad for what happened.

People say that her character development was thrown away, while this was where her character development was leading upto this whole time?? She always had these moments where she showed signs of madness (it was always justified however). When she crucified all the masters, when she burned people alive etc... She also had that one vision of the throne room destroyed???

Also, how can you not appreciate the filming of this episode?? My god it was absolutely magnificent.

My simple review of long awaited episode:

• Dany always had power and she always had both good and bad inside her. The only thing that kept her from madness was the love of those around her. After the betrayals from her advisors, death of her dragon, beheading of her best friend, her last hope was john. And he refused her. This is when she lost all hope and went mad.
• Tyrion, was always a good guy, and was always known to make mistakes. He might have betrayed dany in a way but only to save the only family he has left.
• Varys, he was right. But he was one of the main reasons for being right.
• Hound and Mountain falling in a pit of fire is biblical.
• Vision of season 2 which we thought was ice turned out to be ash. Which shows that George RR martin always wanted to kill the Night King. And always wanted Dang to go mad.
• Brans' dragon vision came true.
• Wildfire exploding in the city symbolizes Dany turning into her father and burning them all.
• Cersei, dying in her own world as she was protected. Always believing she would escape.
• Jaime telling Cersei that nothing matters except them and dying in each others arms, beautiful.
• Euron's Death symbolizes his character. A Crazy, lunatic who enjoys simple things. He died smiling knowing he killed the King Slayer.
• Arya leaving on a white horse, foreshadows that she is the glimmer of hope that will save humanity from the new tyrant.
• Qyburn died at the hands of his own creation. Also biblical.

All in all, it was a piece of art.

Hard to use words to describe how much this show has changed. GOT became iconic because its complex characters drove the plot. You were shocked when you saw the red wedding or the origins of Hodor but you could trace it back to its origins. I'm not going to be extreme and have a huge go at this show because the truth is I'm saddened by its current path. Now we have characters being forced to fit within a plot, character development tossed aside as if it meant nothing.

The story arc for Dany becoming the mad queen was not only forced it was illogical. Dany has been suffering her whole life and come out stronger, hard to believe a few recent bad turns would turn her mad. Lets also not forgot how the Night King and White Walker story line still remains the biggest missed opportunity. It was also anticlimatic to see Cersei die the way she did after all she's done. Shock value can only carry you so much. When season 8 started I said how are they going to wrap up this universe in 6 episodes. Now I'm thinking what's left?

Drogon is a metaphor in a way. The city and buildings that he took down so fast without thinking can be how the show runners have mindlessly torn down years of character development, potential and fan goodwill.

Future generations will study this season as a perfect example in how to ruin a very well developed show.

This was incredible. This whole story arc had been foreshadowed since the earlier seasons. The shadow of the dragon flying over the city. Dany progressively paranoid. She's never been a "good" character, so it's no surprise what happened here. "If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention."

Let's be fair here guys, instead of judging this episode biased of your dislike for this season, you have to admit that this episode was amazing, and horrifying. Sure season 8 hasn't been the best season so far, but this episode I certainly one of the better ones. It is emotional, shocking and really good to look at.

From the start we are treated to some emotional farewells between our characters, and can we appreciate how amazing Peter Dinklage was in this? He will surely get a nomination in this episode, as well as the amazing insane Emilia Clarke. I didn't expect her to go full mad, I thought she would see reason.

The visual effects in this episode were spot on, and you may complain that episode 3 lacked any kind of strategy, but this episode certainly did. The Golden Company and their leader were utterly useless in this episode, as was the Iron/Greyjoy Fleet. I loved his well Dany used her dragon, keeping him low and fast, and destroying the scorpions as quickly as possible, this was smart.

This episode was truly horrifying to watch at times, as it put you right in the middle of a terrifying dragon rage. I mean c'mon guys! How can't you appreciate this episode? It was everything episode 3 should have been and more. The finale farewell with Jamie and Cersei is certainly going to have book readers tilt their head, but the Valonqar hasn't been mentioned in the series, so it doesn't matter here. Their last scene was perfect and Lena Heady has been a treat this entire series. It was both sad and satisfying to watch her go.

Jon Snow didn't have much to do this episode, again. But he did serve as kind of us in a way - meaning he was shocked and horrified by what he was seeing, trying to help people, being the good man that he is.

This episode was great, it really was. Most of you giving it a bad review haven't even seen it, and if you are giving it just because well.... you don't like this season, that's not right. This episode was perfectly shot, acted, written and was visual amazing. But part of me wonders why this season isn't 10 episodes long. One episode to go, doesn't seem like enough time to wrap everything up. I have a feeling that one will be very rushed. Which is a shame.

10/10

I'm absolutely disgusted at the way the writing is being handled this season. Everything's condensed so it feels rushed, non-sensical and out of character. Don't get me wrong, "When a Targeryen is born, God flips a coin" and this "Mad Queen Dany" narrative is something I did believe could happen at one point or the other but the way it was handled was absolutely horrifying and ridiculously unfair to her character.

Dany in S5-S7 showed some vast improvement and development in her character to make compromises for the better good. She made compromises with the masters back in Essos to keep the peace there, she listened to Tyrion for a more "diplomatic" way to handle the matters there. In S7, she even showed significant maturity by the fact that she was willing to look past the hatred she had for the Lannisters and the Starks (yet not forget it) just so she could risk her army numbers to preserve the life of the innocents in Westeros. After all that it MAKES NO SENSE that she'd go on a rampage and kill thousands of innocents in the final moments of the penultimate episode of the series right after she had more or less won the war and the Iron Throne. This episode completely ignores every bit of character development she had in the past seasons.

"She lost her dragon, her most trusted confidante, her advisors were scheming behind her backs, so she went mad" - This reasoning is also half baked and makes very little sense considering she was sold and then BETRAYED by the brother she worshipped, lost her unborn child, her husband back in the first season. Did she go mad then? No. She didn't even show a figment of this supposed Madness back then.

Forget Dany. What the hell was the point of inclusion of Euron's character when she did nothing on the show? From the moment he came on the show, his character did nothing. I mean NOTHING. The Iron Fleet in this episode was destroyed a matter of seconds. Chalking up to the fact that his character was redundant and just there to hog screen time. To end it, he wasn't even an entertaining character to watch!

Let me summaries some horrid writing moments in this episode: 1. How the heck did Rhaegal die? When Drogon was able to destroy the Golden Company and the whole of Iron Fleet in a manner of seconds??? It MAKES NO SENSE.Not to mention he topped it off by burning the whole of King's Landing SOLO! 2. If they really wanted a "Mad Queen Dany" why the heck did she not burn everything back when she arrived in Westeros? She had THREE DRAGONS back then. She would've easily won the war then by how they showed the strength of Drogon in this episode. 3. What was the point of whole Jaime's character development when they eventually made him snivel back to his sister?? What was the point of whole Jaime-Brienne relationship?

S8 has so far been mediocre, but the horrendous writing in Episode 5 easily surpasses everything bad the S8 has seen so far. For now it's all about glorying Arya and Jon Snow. No other character matters, only those two.

On the upside, if one's able to overlook the atrocious writing the episode was the most visually stunning episode of the show so far. The special effects was incredible, the cinematography and the acting everything was top tier.

Amazing episode with only one flaw and that's a weird immortality of Jaime. I have no idea about people saying there's no character development - Daenerys turning into a psycho because of not having a vitamin D, Arya realising her revenge is not worth her life, Jon proving he is still a good man that knows nothing, Tyrion literally betraying his queen for the love to his brother etc. Characters still develop, mostly in a very emotional way. And that's great. Season 8 might not as well be the greatest season of them all, but it still stands well to Game of Thrones name. Can't wait for the finale.

Cinematography 10/10 Music 10/10 Directing 10/10 Editing 10/10 Acting 10/10 Writing 2/10

I love the creators attempt to show the horrific side of war in this with the commoners' point of view. This was the most stunning episode of the show with some of the best editing in tv.

What went wrong?

I still don't understand why dany went mad out of freaking blue. I like tge idea and it seems that the books are going on the same direction. But they could've executed her going mad much better. I don't understand why Jamie went back to save Cersei. I hate the plot armor. I hate how Dany just ignores Tyrion's bad decisions ONCE AGAIN. And dear lord I hated Euron from the beginning to the end. His entire plot was just to make some jokes and kill a dragon. No history, no reasoning. Just a comical villain.

This could've been way way better.

If the show runners wanted SO BADLY to resolve the story via "The Mad Queen" narrative, they needed more than 4 episodes to build up to it. When the surrender bells rang out and Dany made the decision to burn down King's Landing, I literally had to restart the episode to see if there was something I was missing. You spent 7 seasons building a character up to be merciful, intelligent, and graceful. You really expect the audience to forget all of that after 4 episodes of half-baked "Dany won't listen to anyone!" scenes? Simply put- when she decided to do that, it made no sense. It needed to. The moment of the show with the most kairos failed for me, and I am honestly a little sad that I wasted so many years on this show. I'm going to just imagine the show ended after Season 6 and be content.

The only reason I have any stars was to give credit where credit is due. The stunt coordinators, special effects team, and set designers did an incredible job. I just wish it was on a better episode.

I honestly have no clue why people have always viewed Danny as a "good" character. She burnt her brother alive, the only reason she freed the slaves is the throne, she is never been smart, never been wise nor powerful (without her dragons). Although she frees so many slaves she often left the city behind ruined. Burning people for treason?! How about mercifully executing them.

Jamie, again Jamie has never been good nor bad. He has always been loving and caring for his brother whilst doing horrible things for his sister. It has always been this way and he died this way.

Such brilliant acting, directing, cinematography, music, sound editing, CGI. Props to all the people who worked so hard for this spectacle to be possible.

But.

The storytelling is terrible. Sure the main plot points are in line with GRRM, but it just is presented in the worst way. Let's say I've not read the books, am I supposed to believe that the character who saved and sympathized the innocent for 7 seasons suddenly burns them even if she has already won the war? The same person who chained her dragons because the killed ONE innocent? They butchered character arcs not in the sense of the actual outcome but the path to it.

"It's easy to do things that are shocking or unexpected, but they have to grow out of characters. They have to grow out of situations. Otherwise, it's just being shocking for being shocking" -GRRM

Chaos is a ladder, but not for illogical plotting, the purpose of which is to make cool visuals. I so miss the brilliant dialogue and complex characters, with arcs that were fascinating and multilayered, and yet had a psychological consistency. There's so much that just doesn't make plot sense I don't know where to begin. Maybe with the Spider, the spymaster, the cunning knower of plots and secrets, somehow loses his senses and talks of treason to the Queen's lover and her Hand. And his good buddy Tyrion, totally out of character, turns him in. And on the ridiculous side, Euron washes up on the beach at the exact moment and exact place where Jamie is sprinting by to get to Cersie. What are the odds? And Arya suddenly decides killing Cersei is not all that important? Why? No doubt so she can have those scenes running through the white dusty ghostly streets, then ride away on a white horse. Cool visual - but was that Arya's character? Oh yeah, she changed in a split second. One could go on and on with the loss of character consistency and evolution, the stupid battle strategies, the absurd plot turns, the deus ex machina, the lackluster banal dialog (Arya's last words to the Hound - "Thank you") but why bother? I rated a 4 for cool visuals. You know nothing D&D.

The character development leading up to the Mad Queen was so poorly written! She was always about peace and not being like her father, being a better leader, using foreshadowing as a reason to change a character in 2 episodes is not good enough, it's and disgusting