Clueless Northman

Either that kind of things, or the Frank Pentangeli treatment.

I'd say both you and Triskele are quite right. Dems might not win if they shift too far left and the Left cannot win in the short/medium term. And the Left needs to realise that the NYT isn't their friend and that people like Friedman and Brooks definitely aren't to the Left; heck, I'd say the US Left should consider them as strictly temporary allies of opportunity and not as friends and genuine allies, or even should consider them as just one step better than the current crop of GOP politicians when it comes to a lot of policies.

This, without a doubt.

Sure, but the Wildlings were a real and well-known threat. Now, with the seasons being more in order again and the White Walkers out of the way, odds are that there will be far better relations between both sides. A massive border wall won't be needed anymore, though of course some degree of military reaction force is always good to be on the safe side. As for Jon, one can assume that the rest of the Night's Watch tasked him with bringing the Free Folk (some of them at least) back North where they would be able to settle down once again and live freely - and actually more freely than ever before.

To be fair, he said "There's some part of the Reach which is quite empty now". Though that's silly; in the TV show, the Reach like the Vale and the Stormlands and Dorne didn't lose much men. North, Riverlands, Crownlands and the West (due to Robb and sizable Lannister losses during the years of war) were the most hit.

Shit

Well, the problem is that unless GRRM states so, it will be tricky to convince readers it won't :p

Mass Effet 3 shitstorm? Oh, it's just entitled gamers. The Last Jedi shitstorm? Oh, it's just entitled elder fans. GOT Season 8 shitstorm? Oh, it's just entitled book fans. That has been the standard shitty deflective tactic used for years, no reason they're going to stop, as long as there are tools in the media to actually report such idiotic defenses. At this point, I'm just wondering when we'll see the "Critics of Season 8 / of D-D are juste alt-right goons" line of arguing :p

Yeah, it's a pity. I bash a lot the show and D/D, but the production value is still amazing, music, costumes, CGI, design, and actors still do their best with what they're given. Taken out of context, we had great scenes and acting (which only makes things worse because we can see how good it would've been with a better script). Brienne and Jaime, Jaime and Tyrion, heck even Varys and Tyrion, Jaime and Cersei at the very end (nice change for Headey), Clarke having for once to do something else (desperate Dany, then upset, haughty and defiant dragon-riding Targaryen). I hope their disappointment comes from the fact that, given the first seasons and the few tidbits we've in this one, they know they could've make something great, and not from fear people will blame them for what we get. Fans and critics can see where the failures lie, and that they tried to make it as good as possible. Heck, that's not even new - Dillane barely had a clue what the fuss was about with Stannis and he still managed to do a really good work, often recognised as such, ruined by a shitty ending.

I sure hope he's going to get busy finishing them. If possible with Winds being finished and released in the next 12 months. And that he definitely makes sure that the basic plotlines of the last book is released, one way or another, whatever happens to him. Otherwise, he runs the risk that people will have to assume that most of what happened in the last seasons was actually what he intended, and happened in a manner close to what he had in mind. Obviously. Still, we shouldn't mock them, but actually seize this golden opportunity to unite the bulk of the fandom (books+show) against these hacks and the travesty they did with ASOIAF, story, themes and characters, and make sure everyone in TV and Hollywood is aware they're mediocre writers and story-tellers.

I don't know D/D and don't want to sound too harsh about them. But considering that it's not just that they dislike Stannis or didn't get Jaime's character arc, but that they pretty much didn't get any of the characters and didn't get their caracter arcs either, that they seem to be unable to relate to most if not all characters, and that they only seem to enjoy the biggest psychos around, are on the record thinking Red Wedding was awesome and the main reason they did the series, and are the ones who pushed for ever more violence and graphic sex "because that's what people want to see", I'm now seriously wondering if the reason all this show has turned out so badly on so many levels isn't simply because, deep down, they're just horrible human beings that simply cannot get honour, virtue, redemption and only value the basest instincts, without a shred of empathy or sympathy. I sincerely hope I'm wrong and this is merely incompetence, though.

Reading the title, I was going to post that it was all a bad dream that Bran had after seeing his dad behead the Night Watch deserter - apart from prologue and very first chapter of AGOT, nothing is real :p

Well, that's exactly one of the 3 possible endings of Deus Ex - Denton merges with AI Helios and becomes an all-knowing god-king cyborg

Indeed, I'm quite sorry for cast and crew, with the exception of these 2 fools. Heck, many actors did a really good job, some of their last scenes where well done and would've even fit well, but they were screwed by the asinine writing. I mean, Cersei was way too clever and stuck to power way too long, compared to what she is in the books, but her last scenes with Jaime were well done and, in my opinion, were even how book-Cersei might react in a similar situation, plus good acting from Headey who, for a nice change, wasn't into icy cold evil queen mode. A pity, individually, many good acting and bits of scenes in this episode - dishevelled aghast Dany of the early part of the episode was really good for instance, and she really looked like a pissed off Valyrian ruler of old when looking at the Red Keep (I actually thought a screencap would've been perfect to illustrate Fire and Blood), though this last bit was quite out of character, or at the very least criminally badly introduced.

I'm saying most scriptwriters do this. Heck, according to 20 years of professional experience, it's how it goes with most people in most jobs.