@jsprunk: All books are great, and it is quite obvious that drop in story telling quality for this TV show comes from lack of actual books to base on. Martin apparently has a lot of raw material, as he has such chaotic writing style - he writes a lot of small chapters and then, at the end, sort and adjust them to book format, changing, adding and removing in the process. But it looks like TV show screen writers don't have his talent in choosing the best material, and filling the gaps themselves.
I'm still enjoying it, but the fact for me is that we haven't had THAT moment for some time now. You know, Ned Stark's execution moment. Red Wedding moment. Viper vs. Mountain moment. That is what Martin is capable of - these guys, not so much. Show has turned from great story to great visual spectacle - something I have been dreading once TV has caught up with the books, and no new books on the horizon.
I am ashamed to admit - I seem to be one ov very few that just didn't catch Borderland virus.
I wanted to like it - purchased and played B1 and B2 a bit on PC - but just couldn't. I was never big fan of visuals (very subjective) but more than that, it just didn't feel right to me - movement, shooting mechanics, the whole package was somehow off-putting for my taste.
Will probably try Borderlands 3, though. You never know.
@alastor529: Dany cannot have children, though. She has sacrificed her unborn child (and capability to have any more) when that witch tricked her into sacrifice to "heal" Khal Drogo.
And even Jon... he was resurrected, so he also might not be able to create life. They have never explained consequences of being returned to life by red priests, outside of subjects losing desire to keep existing (although, if memory serves, this becomes more obvious after multiple resurrections, such as with Beric).
So... being unable to conceive life could be one of these consequences. It would make sense to me. Not that it is really required, since Dany is already infertile. On the other hand, who knows. There is magic in Westeros, after all - even if it isn't obvious. If magic could take Deny's fertility, magic might be able to return it. There's magic in Bran, and Targaryens might have some passive magic in their gene - such as what makes them fire-proof (though we don't know if Jon is fire-proof at all).
@mperry_2000: Well, I did say I was hoping for 2 - 3 episodes for this battle.
But... considering how short this season was announced to be, what I was hoping for wasn't what I was expecting to see. Since it was obvious that this will be rushed out, this might be the least bad option - giving max time to fight with Cersei. Yes, NK buildup has been going on for seasons, but he never had as much attention as Cersei.
In a perfect world, NK resolution would have whole season, or good part of it. In perfect world, NK would be much smarter and would not do something that can see him killed that fast and that easy. Like, he would simply go around Winterfell, turn whole North into his followers and keep going south, turning everything. Winterfell would end up isolated, run out of food and be forced to leave walls and make it or break it in the open field. Cersei would greet NK hordes with a lot of green fire. Maybe Northlings would make it through and get NK army between themselves and Cersei's troops. What about temporary alliance between Cersei and NK, to destroy North? NK was a human, after all - he cannot be complete stranger to human ways. Cersei joining siege of Winterfell from south, while NK is attacking it from north? Jamie having change of heart and changing side in the last possible moment, bringing large chunk of Cersei's army to Winterfell's relief, forcing weakened Cersei to return to King's Landing and fortify for whoever comes from the north? So many possibilities...
But that would require season of 10+ episodes... or a whole season extra. Whether budget would not allow it, or writers were not good enough to develop story more, or both, or who knows... and we haven't got that. From what we've got, maximizing fight with Cersei makes sense. It is not good at all. But it is less bad than rushing Cersei's part... I think. We'll know when everything is said and done. They can still mess up that last fight, even with extra time it has for satisfying conclusion.
@oilersfan4: Unsulied are infantry - they stand their ground or move in formation... like Romans. They would not be able to keep up with cavalry.
Knights of the North, well, I guess they were just more wise and less blood-lustful than Dothraki, and waited to see what is actually coming in their direction.
@controvi: I don't think they really know how to fight any other way - they never held (and defended) fortresses, their way is charging the enemy like there's no tomorrow. They fight like a horde. This time, they run into meaner horde.
This time, there actually was no tomorrow ;)
Unsullied knew about proper formation, defense and what not, and even if they got beaten bad, they have done much better than Dothraki.
Seasons 7 and 8 are suffering from not having actual, finalised books behind them, IMHO. Maybe a lesson for future such endeavors - let the author first complete the darn book(s). TV screenplayers just aren't as good as Martin, when it comes to story-telling - even if he has supplied them with thousands of pages of raw material.
But I would disagree that the whole story is about people uniting against common (super)natural threat. I was half-expecting Cersei to join fight only so that she can try to pull another red wedding - basically backstab Jon/Danny/north team when they least expect it. My other half-expectation was that Cersei will remain greedy, opportunistic, insanely ambitious heartless monster in human form, and will prove that humans are humans worst enemies - even if the face of larger, inhuman danger. Cersei is someone who would rather see the whole world burning, then risk loosing control over it.
Think of it - she has already lost everything. Children all dead. Father dead. Losing control over beloved brother. Hated brother doing quite well, why thank you. She hasn't got anything but the Iron Throne. She will die on it.
Having to suffer through seeing suddenly moral, humans-first Cersei would be even worst than this. She is beyond redemption. And, what would Mountain do - have a drink with Hound and reflect on good old days?
So the fight for Winterfall went on as expected, in general. Devil is in the details, and I was hoping for more of a devil. 2 - 3 episodes of feints and tactics and traps and what not. Duel between Jon and NK... maybe revelation that Jon is also fire-proof (awakening of his power), and ultimate truth that he, indeed, is Targaryen. More wisdom from NK - he is the sole power behind his army, would he not keep some distance to ensure his army still stands at the end? Some daylight battles - this one was chaotic but it felt as if night was used to hide CG's cut corners - with all the horror/drama it didn't feel as special as Battle of the Bastards, or ending of - was it season 6? - when dragons are destroying slavers' fleet. I was under impression that night was used same way as with fog/haze in video games, to reduce view distance and obscure simplified LoD for background vistas.
At least I hope that human-human battle will be done in the full glory of high-end visual gore. I have given up on "intellectual" satisfaction since season 7 aired, it felt rushed and illogical, and was hanging on already established values for characters, but didn't really bring much more characters' development - if at all; so I was expecting season 8 to return previous quality of writing, but at least I'm hoping for some epic visuals for the end of this show. Danny-Cersei battle IS culmination of this show, not fight with Night King. Hopefully it will be done right. Ish.
@hosedandhappy: I think that readers have equal rights to disagree with reviewer as the reviewer has rights to dislike the game.
In this case, I am with readers - at least for the part of characters' relations, likeness and development. The game might still be boring and repetitive - I cannot decide on that before playing it - but unlikable characters are matter of taste and should not impact game score. I believe that professional game review should focus on other things rather than cosmetics, and be more objective than subjective. What if character was overweight, or smoker, or, I don't know... stuttering, and reviewer makes his/her disliking of character crucial part of the score?
Besides, we had more unlikable characters in GTA5... I remember a lot of negatives about guy from Infamous Second Son, and eventually I was OK with him as a game character. He was grumpy angry teen. He could have been more likable, but devs wanted grumpy angry teen. He did well at that.
So if these devs wanted selfish don't-care-about-society-and-feelings biker, who can't have perfect relationship with his girl, but still loves her in his own way (the vibe I'm getting from everything said), that is how he is.
Not all game characters have to be Clark Kent type boy-scouts. Speaking of which, no one beats Bruce Willis in "The Last Boy Scout"... and Clark Kent he aint ;)
They (filmmakers) should really make a habit of bringing source material authors into script and film making process. Even if they cost more than some of the stars. Which I doubt.
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