Game of Thrones!

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I liked this episode a lot. I thought it was better than the last season premiere. With the exception of the finale, last season left me kind of cold (I actually prefer the much maligned season 5, except for the stupid way they handled the Dorne subplot). Last season felt like they were mechanically tying up loose ends to get ready for Act 3; a lot of stuff happened but it was too abrupt and didn't feel earned; contrast with the slow build to the Red Wedding in season 3. The only scene that really felt like that tonight was the opening, which, after my initial confusion wore off, I saw coming. It was still kind of cool in a cold-blooded way, though. Except for that, this episode included a lot of interesting character moments, gorgeous vistas, a clever montage and intriguing plot developments.

I would say it bodes well for what is to come; the writing seemed much better than most of last season.

 

[Totenkindly]

The opening didn't throw me, I knew what was going on as soon as it opened... lolz

Arya, good god. Talk about kill stealing. How many is that now? They weren't ALL on your list!

I felt like it was a decent episode overall, although I still feel like it deals with the concepts of the show versus all the detail that would sneak into the episodes based directly on GRRM's material. But I can deal with this. And I'm glad all the sparrow stuff is resolved (well, except for maybe little Miss Manners in a dungeon somewhere with the Mountain to pay her visits).

They really did hit on a number of characters here solidly enough.

- Sparks fly between Sansa and Jon. I like they both were right, in a way. I also liked Sansa's lines with Baelish, esp the last, "Don't feel compelled to have the last word like always, Lord Baelish -- I'll just assume it was something clever." And then he just kind of slinks away like a scrawny tomcat you just batted over the head...

- Fucking Bran. Thanks, Bran. You just HAD to cross the Wall. Sigh. Not good.

- I actually shouted "Fuck you" at the screen a few times during this. One was when we got to see zombie giants. Yes, I was telling off my TV set, and giving the show both middle fingers. YOU SUCK, NIGHT KING!!! I think the other time was at Bran when he crossed the wall.

- I howled and could not stop laughing during that wonderful Sam montage of him doing all the shit jobs around the cloister. Like, sometimes even LITERAL shit jobs. The editing was superb.

- Hello, Jim Broadbent. Glad he snuck into this show somehow.

- If the Maesters are so smart, how come they didn't expect Sam to steal the keys and read a book?

- Glad Jamie told Cersei she needed allies. Sorry, Cersei, yeah the Greyjoys have ships, but who else is freaking left to help you??? She is still also harping on that old "fake news" chestnut that Tyrion and Sansa killed Joffrey. She did manage to call Olena an old cunt -- is that new ground for this show? Probably not, I think Clegane has used that word a few times.

- I liked how when Arya hung out with the Lannister soldiers, some of them were genuinely nice people. And it gets back to something that even came up in Spiderman: Homecoming. The people in charge really don't care about the little guys, they just send them off to die in wars of the kings' creation, but otherwise they are faceless fodder. But one guy had a daughter and WANTED a daughter, another was nice to a woman and gave her first choice of food, and so on. And beautiful singing voices. I think Arya was considering killing them all for a bit, then changed her mind. Maybe.

- I did get chills when Dani walked into her ancestral home. It's been so many seasons in coming, ever since in the pilot (?) you saw her brother trying to get an army together to go home and take the castle by force. Well, he died a long time ago, and so many other people are dead and gone, and Dani is the last (aside from Jon *cough*) of her line, and here she is in her leather attire and heeled boots... she looked pretty imposing for being so small, her white hair gleaming against the grey stone.. and well, she's there. She's home.

EDIT: James Hibbert's recaps for EW are always amusing, if you've never read. I always get some laughs out of them.
Game of Thrones premiere recap: Season 7, Episode 1

 

[ceecee]

Overall, I give this episode a B+ or A-.

Wun Wun - No. NO!

Arya - Damn girl. But I liked it.

Euron Greyjoy - He looked like an emo Capitan Hook.

The Hound - always the best lines. But seeing visions in the fire is wild, he is becoming a believer.

Daenerys - She's finally home. Go take what's yours, baby.

Lannister soldiers - Of course they sang beautifully. That's what happens when you have Ed Sheeran.

Jorah - Why is he in there and his arm looked really bad.

Sansa - She's becoming ruthless and cold although she was probably right on the castle argument. And the shade she throws at Littlefinger is great.

This episode belongs to the strong women. Toss Yara Greyjoy in there and it's a party.

 

[Totenkindly]

I guess I'm awful because I didn't even know who Ed Sheeran was until about five minutes ago, when I googled him.

 

[Totenkindly]

So anyway... kind of confused as to what Cersei's play is, as she doesn't really have much of one aside from currently holding King's Landing.

- The Tyrells control the grain and supplies, and she lost any alliance with them once she murdered Olenna's granddaughter (and the rest of Olenna's direct descendants) last season.

- Dorne has hated her for years and with her contributions to what happened to Oberyn, well, that door is shut.

- No Starks support her for obvious reasons.

- The Frey family has now stood down.*cough*

- Dany is in Westeros primarily to take the throne, so... sorry.

- The Black Watch will have their hands full shortly, along with the Wildings.

- The Maesters seem to take a neutral position on such things.

- The Tullys have no love for the Lannisters.

... going through the list, basically all she has is Greyjoy, who is not dependable; and maybe the Red Woman, if she decides to involve herself further after Jon turned her away? And of course, her own Lannister forces. But really that is it. (Unless the Greyjoys are a much more viable force than they have been painted in this story for the entire run so far, they seem more like a fringe kingdom, small and strung out, that nibbles at the edges and is mostly of use only on the sea.)

I guess there is also the Vale, currently run by Baelish. He'll do whatever plays best for himself, esp with Sansa turned against him. If it is ever in his interest to support Cersei, sure, that's on the board.

Honestly, her only major hope is that the Night King invades Westeros sooner rather than later, which means she is less of a threat than him.

 

[Totenkindly]

Also, I would like to see an official dance-off between Peter Baelish and Varys. Winner take all.

 

[Beorn]

I guess there is also the Vale, currently run by Baelish. He'll do whatever plays best for himself, esp with Sansa turned against him. If it is ever in his interest to support Cersei, sure, that's on the board.

That's what I was thinking. Ofc, that might only last until she learns about what actually happened to Joffrey.

 

[ceecee]

Also, I would like to see an official dance-off between Peter Baelish and Varys. Winner take all.

Yasssss. But Littlefinger is the only thing Cersi has. And since she is actively looking for a husband.....

 

[Beorn]

So anyway... kind of confused as to what Cersei's play is, as she doesn't really have much of one aside from currently holding King's Landing.

- The Tyrells control the grain and supplies, and she lost any alliance with them once she murdered Olenna's granddaughter (and the rest of Olenna's direct descendants) last season.

- Dorne has hated her for years and with her contributions to what happened to Oberyn, well, that door is shut.

- No Starks support her for obvious reasons.

- The Frey family has now stood down.*cough*

- Dany is in Westeros primarily to take the throne, so... sorry.

- The Black Watch will have their hands full shortly, along with the Wildings.

- The Maesters seem to take a neutral position on such things.

- The Tullys have no love for the Lannisters.

... going through the list, basically all she has is Greyjoy, who is not dependable; and maybe the Red Woman, if she decides to involve herself further after Jon turned her away? And of course, her own Lannister forces. But really that is it. (Unless the Greyjoys are a much more viable force than they have been painted in this story for the entire run so far, they seem more like a fringe kingdom, small and strung out, that nibbles at the edges and is mostly of use only on the sea.)

I guess there is also the Vale, currently run by Baelish. He'll do whatever plays best for himself, esp with Sansa turned against him. If it is ever in his interest to support Cersei, sure, that's on the board.

Honestly, her only major hope is that the Night King invades Westeros sooner rather than later, which means she is less of a threat than him.

Also...

That assumes Arya is unsuccessful. It seems to me either one of them will die in the next episode or two or Cersei will flee with Euron or flee to the Vail where Little finger may reveal his little secret before showing her the moon door. I could see Arya's murder by the mountain leading to Clegane bowl.

 

[ceecee]

Also...

That assumes Arya is unsuccessful. It seems to me either one of them will die in the next episode or two or Cersei will flee with Euron or flee to the Vail where Little finger may reveal his little secret before showing her the moon door. I could see Arya's murder by the mountain leading to Clegane bowl.

I agree with the bolded.

 

[anticlimatic]

I don't understand how everyone and their brother is so into this low brow faux complicated trash TV show. It barely escapes the definition of pornography to qualify as art...which I suppose answers my own question.

 

[Totenkindly]

Also...

That assumes Arya is unsuccessful. It seems to me either one of them will die in the next episode or two or Cersei will flee with Euron or flee to the Vail where Little finger may reveal his little secret before showing her the moon door. I could see Arya's murder by the mountain leading to Clegane bowl.

I agree with the bolded.

I hadn't thought of that last angle, but as soon as you said it -- not that he needs motivation necessarily, but yeah, that would pretty much ensure it happens. Uggh.

Considering there are only 12 episodes left (6 this season, 6 next), there probably isn't a lot of time to drag things out. All that space has to be allocated, and the undead army has to get some of that time, so whatever Westeros plots have to unfold need to happen at a faster pace too.

We've already seen a pretty speedy plot device set up by Sam to steer Jon right at Dani...

 

[Totenkindly]

I don't understand how everyone and their brother is so into this low brow faux complicated trash TV show. It barely escapes the definition of pornography to qualify as art...which I suppose answers my own question.

Yes, we're all stupid and we suck, yada yada yada.
This seems to be your typical contribution to most threads I bother to read your posts in, which is why I typically don't waste my time.

Feel better, now that you're superior? Good. Now go away.

 

[ceecee]

I don't understand how everyone and their brother is so into this low brow faux complicated trash TV show. It barely escapes the definition of pornography to qualify as art...which I suppose answers my own question.

The fact that you hate it is delicious.

 

[anticlimatic]

Yes, we're all stupid and we suck, yada yada yada. This seems to be your typical contribution to most threads I bother to read your posts in, which is why I typically don't waste my time. Feel better, now that you're superior? Good. Now go away.

I'm just jealous and lonely over the fact that I made a thread for a significantly more in depth and interesting show (Twin Peaks) that nobody else seems to be watching.

Meanwhile this show has close to 200 pages of people spanking it to a bunch of one trick Te/Fi character ponies all competing with each other over who can be the biggest megalomaniac piece of shit (I'm pulling for Danarys).

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I'm just jealous and lonely over the fact that I made a thread for a significantly more in depth and interesting show (Twin Peaks) that nobody else seems to be watching.

I liked the old Twin Peaks, but I have no access to Showtime or whatever channel the new one is on.

 

[anticlimatic]

The fact that you hate it is delicious.

The fact that you're getting off on it is sadistically pathetic.

 

[Beorn]

I don't understand how everyone and their brother is so into this low brow faux complicated trash TV show. It barely escapes the definition of pornography to qualify as art...which I suppose answers my own question.

I'm just jealous and lonely over the fact that I made a thread for a significantly more in depth and interesting show (Twin Peaks) that nobody else seems to be watching.

Meanwhile this show has close to 200 pages of people spanking it to a bunch of one trick Te/Fi character ponies all competing with each other over who can be the biggest megalomaniac piece of shit (I'm pulling for Danarys).

I just think this is funny since it's clear you're watching the show yourself.

 

[Totenkindly]

I'm just jealous and lonely over the fact that I made a thread for a significantly more in depth and interesting show (Twin Peaks) that nobody else seems to be watching.

Awww......

Well, I have a few shows on my slate (I'm still plowing through American Gods and need to watch 1.5 seasons of Preacher, + others like Fargo.)

I never watched the initial Twin Peaks, so I need to watch THAT first before I want to watch the new show, which has had good feedback.

Meanwhile, I've already seen all six seasons of GoT, so...

Meanwhile this show has close to 200 pages of people spanking it to a bunch of one trick Te/Fi character ponies all competing with each other over who can be the biggest megalomaniac piece of shit (I'm pulling for Danarys).

I'm reminded you liked Season 6 the best, which was one of the seasons I most hated.

Personally? I don't care who wins ultimately. I find it more interesting to try to guess where the story is going based on the interacting plotlines. IOW, it's a big puzzle I'm trying to solve. That's the interesting part. Maybe I disliked a lot of Season 6 because it got simplified enough that it's no longer much of a puzzle.

 

[ceecee]

The fact that you're getting off on it is sadistically pathetic.

This coming from a person who made a thread called "it hurts but i like it".