Mystical

It's not Stark talk. It's me being bored af of the same crap. Wheels of history? Thousands of years of unexplored history in Westeros alone (nvm Essos). And the First Men, the Others and Andals changed Westeros more than the Targs ever did. Who knows what else happened before those or in between.

Enough with the Aryens already. Thousands of years of unexplored history in Westeros yet we are stuck in the same 300 year time period (if Dunk&Egg happens) over and over. Why not pick another time (like Andal invasion) which would give creative freedom due to lack of history? Heck give me a mini series (like 6 1h episodes) about some of the strange places on the planet.

I have been asking myself that since the character of Spike on Buffy. Didn't understand then, don't understand now. But people seem to love these kinds of male characters.

They don't do that in this show. Maeve always has to save Starlight. No one ever does a (good) thing for Maeve.

Ok here is a general thing I've been wondering. Could it be that at the end of the books there will be a North that is it's own kingdom hence you have someone ruling there and another person ruling the rest of Westeros? I'm not talking about how the show did it because that made no sense. But this ties into the magic of the story which D&D weren't interested in. I've been thinking about the WW and the Children and magic. What if the North (and bit parts of other Kingdoms) literally separates from the rest of Westeros? By that I mean the landmass gets split so it's no longer physically connected to Westeros. I'm alluding here to a 'Hammer of the Waters 2.0' kind of deal. We have several hints in the books that the WW will make it to the Trident, possibly down to the Neck. We also know that Howland Reed spend months on the Isle of Faces. It's also assumed that the reason for the Neck being marsh land is because the HotW was attempted there again and failed. So what if the Others come down to the Neck but this time the spell succeeds, performed by Howland (or maybe even Bran or with the help of Bran)? And as a result it literally splits the landmass east to west, leaving an ocean/sea between Westeros and the landmass that split off (anything above the Neck). I don't see any other way for the conquest of the WW to end there (as it's been alluded to) because I don't see a giant Westerosi army facing them. All the Kingdoms are kind of preoccupied with their own petty little games and wars. It's also probably not going to be solved politically, unless someone becomes fluent in 'Other'.

Anyone aware of the comic Emilia Clarke is releasing? I don't have words really.

I'd rather they make 1h 30 min movies about some of the places on the planet that have so far remained unexplored. Not only would it allow for creative freedom due to little known facts about some of those locations but it also allows for HBO to explore different genres. A lot of those places are said to have fantastical elements to it so HBO needn't worry about lack of GCI cashcows (monsters, dragons, basilisks etc) or magic. You can make a horror movie out of something like Stygai. A horror/mystical movie out of Asshai. Or combine the two due to geographical closeness. So many places on the map that we know nothing about.

Yep, except for the KitN part.

That was the only thing that made sense to me in that entire episode. When the Northern soldiers went apesh*t on the Lannister soldiers and KL citizens. But even there D&D had to take it to a level that was stupid, having the soldiers try and rape people in the middle of an ongoing battle.

The whole goblet thing was still a pure stroke of luck for Olenna. Maergery could have easily drunk from it as well. And there was every chance she would. Hence this plan being completely bonkers in it's execution and only luck prevented someone else from choking to death, namely Olenna's own family and biggest chess piece.

How is this possibly shocking though? Beings like that are all over GRRM's non- aSoIaF work. He has a lot of all seeing, all knowing or hive-minded beings in his stories. I was hoping aSoIaF would not go that route too because he's made his point about those beings plenty of times now but it is what it is I guess if this is the endgame.

Yet even when it comes to the bible people interpret said canon whichever way they see fit. And we are not dealing with religion here, we are dealing with a tv show. When it comes to canon of a show, the meaning refers to everything that happens on screen as the 'official' (and only) story. But that doesn't mean that canon can't be viewed by many people differently. What Tyrion is saying doesn't even make sense, as most characters on the show have a better story than Bran. And the even bigger flaw in Tyrion's speech is that Bran isn't Bran anymore, so why does Bran's story even matter? They aren't even voting for Bran Stark to be King, they are voting for the 3ER. So the 'canon' is a mess that doesn't make any sense in it's basics. Scheming is not always all about taking action. In Bran's case it's inaction for the most part. He didn't stop Tyrion's wight plan, he didn't help minimize the deaths during the Long Night battle (certain key players died there, among them Jorah), he didn't tell Dany to watch out for Euron's fleet or just tell her to go by land with Jon's forces (which cost her Rheagal and Missandei), he didn't tell Sansa not to tell Tyrion (Varys died as a result and his plot to kill Dany failed). On and on it goes. The only action he took was the parentage reveal and the timing of it couldn't have been worse. Now you could argue he doesn't say anything or help more because of free will. Which is all well and good in principle. But what does that have to do with a million people dying for 'free will'? That's a heavy price to pay. And really the one who gained the most from that was the 3ER.

That's a pretty narrow minded view of what canon is though. Just because Tyrion said that Bran becomes King because of his story doesn't preclude viewers to interpret the story differently. Canon can be interpreted any number of ways, usually because there are holes in the story. As an example, when it comes to the tv show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to this day people argue whether Spike (vampire) went to get a soul or not. Even though they have the character say so and even Whedon said so. Why do people continue to argue against what the character and creator said? The reason is simple. It's a supernatural world in which certain rules were not explained or canon was outright retconned later. The soul canon was never clear to begin with and the same goes for the turning of people into vampires. And the show ended almost 20 years ago yet people still hold differing views. Why do I bring this up? It was never clearly explained or defined on the show what exactly a 3ER is. Neither was what the 3ER powers are. What it's goals are. Who it's working for/against (if anyone). It's made even worse by the inconsistent writing of Bran/3ER. For 2 Seasons the character has been saying 'I can't be Lord of anything.' Only to do a sudden u-turn without explanation. Then there is also the fact that by S8 it's explicit that the 3ER can see the future. People want the stories they watch to make sense. When a show doesn't offer that because it lacks basic story elements or a concept is not sufficiently explained, then people will head canon in order to make it fit based on how they understand the world/story/characters. I myself am in the camp that believes the 3ER is the best schemer in Westeros' history. Because it's the only way that I can make the story they told make sense. At the very least the 3ER is anti-humanity. Why? Because the Children created both the NK and the 3ER. And we know what their goal was with the NK, destruction of mankind. So why would their goal for the 3ER be any different? We also know 3ER can see the future which makes you question why he let all of the destruction happen that we see in S8 (and the end of S7). The reveal of Jon's parentage that was perfectly timed to drive Dany into madness (and so was everything else she lost because Bran was mum about it). That in turn effectively took out 3 claimants to the throne (Dany, Jon, Cersei). You can believe canon is just what we are told. But that doesn't make it so when the story has holes in it the size of trucks. And if you have watched any videos at all or read anything about the final episode, there are many people who think Bran schemed his way into power and lots think he is downright evil for letting a million people die just so he can become King. People are just trying to make the story make sense.

I could see this being GRRM's endgame for Bran because he is fond of those all-knowing, hive-minded entities (they are all over his stories) but I can't see how GRRM would get him there without taking major short cuts (aka time jumps). And even then, the populace of Westeros would need a major shift in their thinking in order to accept him. Society doesn't change over night and neither does political thinking or political system or religion. He's literally a boy, crippled, possibly can't father children, his power comes from Gods everyone south of the North would see as evil...he literally has everything stacked against him becoming King of Westeros.

But he's not Bran Stark anymore. That's something they've stressed over and over again. And what sigil was Brienne wearing on her Kingsguard armor? Raven or Direwolf? Bran in the show is not a Stark anymore. Bran becoming King in the books I can't see happen anyway. First he'd have to leave the cave and then a time jump needs to happen which ages him up. Unless the Others actually manage to wipe out most of Westeros and Bran uses his powers in some crucial way that will become known to the survivors and they choose him as a sort of divine entity for that reason. So KitN maybe (with a regent due to his young age) but I see no scenario where he becomes King of the 7 Kingdoms.

So Tyrion nominates Bran because he has 'the best story'. Erm what? Bran's story sucked so much that he was left out of an ENTIRE SEASON. And when he came back it sucked even more. Holy crap.

3ER could have prevented it. Knew since S6 Dany would destroy KL. Knew everything that would happen. Did you miss his SMUG FACE? He knew he would be King and manipulated everything and everyone to get it.

So we will have another war coming once 3ER (Bran) is too old or dies, right? Unless he manages to kill off everyone before then. How many millions live in Westros? He did kill over a million this Season...if he kills 1 million every year will that be enough before he dies?

It's not Bloodraven, it's the 3ER entity. Bloodraven was just one of many used for the children's agenda and only one small part of the weirdwood net memories.

How was Tyrion, in shackles due to treason, allowed to nominate anyone as King? And while in said shackles, for treason, voted in as Hand? Holy hell.

I've said this several times. His smirk was basically a 'YES!!!Children of the Forest win!!!'. They have their land back (for the most part) and are in power.

Isn't Sam still in the freaking Night's Watch?

How is Jon even still a candidate to anyone for the throne? He is complicit in everything that happened here. He bend the knee to Dany even though he didn't have to. He constantly re-affirmed that Dany is their Queen and she shits gold because he's so freaking spineless. He dragged the North into the throne fight so the North also committed these atrocities. How, just how is this guy in any way, shape or form an acceptable candidate for any throne?

I think they were pissed. Exhausted and wounded they had to march South to fight another war right after a giant battle. They've had it and lashed out. Sadly against the wrong people. But Jon insisted Dany is Queen and everyone better follow her. Jon leading northern troops to doom...boy is that storyline overdone and overused at this point.

So Northern soldiers also killed small folk and soldiers who surrendered? Great job future King Jon. That you have sold them to the most mentally stable ruler around clearly worked out well for them. Now they will be executed. If any of them make it out of this...