Game Of Thrones: Final Season --SPOILERS!

[PREDATOR490]

The first two episodes were little more than a pretense building to this episode and it failed to live up to the hype. The entire build up and delivery was extremely shoddy and clumsy.

Frankly, this entire episode felt like it was designed to be a gratuitous means of trashing as much of the excess threads as possible and eliminate characters that are deemed "expendable" for convenience to further future drama.
However, the greatest irony is that Bran survived. This character is achieving little to nothing and it really feels like the show has no idea what to do with him.

The Night King was a complete push over that seems to have only really been a problem because everyone has been stupid.

How fucking stupid do you have to be to not realise the SERIOUS problem with fighting an army that is made up of UNDEAD ?
Everyone of your men that falls becomes an enemy, hiding the people you want to keep safe in a place where you bury the dead - Really ?
At the very least, they could have shown common sense and take precautions against any undead risers in the crypt and in the field.

Overall, this episode was horrific for lighting to the point it was making seeing anything nearly impossible.
That might have worked for the beginning with Glorified Red Firestarter but when you have fire breathing dragons doing fly by runs the darkness was beyond bullshit.

I find it kinda annoying that Dany and Co. were not strafing the battlefield even before the Dothraki made their charge. They expected the Dothraki and co. to charge into an unknown enemy formation in the pitch black ?
I would have been strafing the trees long before that just to generate enough light so that you can actually see the enemy formation and / or get light enough for your ranged forces to engage effectively instead of charging into the unknown.

So with this episode the "supernatural" element of this entire series has died with a whimper despite being the looming back burner threat since the beginning. Now it will be back to the Throne game which is considerably less interesting since the political intrigue has burnt up. All that is left is more endless battles with the only suspense being what twists they can pull on the way.

After this episode, I cannot really be bothered investing anything because what little bit of intrigue from the Undead Wildcard in the Game of Thrones is gone.

If Martin follows his usual method - Everyone will die and either the Throne will fall to a complete outsider or somehow be disbanded entirely.

If the show runners follow the typical TV method - Stark and Co. is going to end up on the Throne. The only dubious elements is how they are going to tie everything up.

I would expect:
Jamie ends up with Brienne - Lion with whatever she is
Jon ends up with Dany - Uniting Dragon with Wolf
Tyrion ends up with Sansa - Uniting Wolf and Lion
Arya and Gendry - Uniting Wolf and whatever he was the bastard of
Bran - Becomes a tree ?
Ceseri - Dies

If your going with the happy united ending - They have put plenty of the Starks in a position to marry or at least make friends with the remaining houses.

[Elfdart]

Deadspin nails it:

Cersei Lannister Is Smarter Than All These Morons

The “Great War,” the war of the living against the dead, the existential fight for the survival of life itself, was fought in one location, in one night, over the span of a few hours. The Night King waltzed into a trap the leaders of the army of the living whipped up in 30 seconds of planning conducted a couple hours before the battle began—Put Bran in the courtyard and surround him by 10 or so professional sailors wielding bows and arrows—and Arya Stark leapfrogged a hundred thousand wights and a half-dozen distracted White Walkers and stabbed the Night King in the belly with a little Valyrian-steel dagger, and he died, and all the White Walkers instantly died, and all the wights instantly returned to inanimate death, and that was it. The Great War—which turned out, for all the scuffling, to have been a far more minor matter than Stannis Baratheon invading the North with like 2,000 dudes—was over, the threat of the White Walkers banished forever, because somebody had the idea to wait for the Night King to come for the Three-Eyed Raven and then an assassin-school dropout jumped very far and poked him once with a knife that couldn’t even cut through Catelyn Stark’s fingers.

(Why, in 10,000 years, none of the Three-Eyed Ravens had hatched this scheme, despite us recently having seen a Three-Eyed Raven armed with minions, dragonglass, rocks for dragonglass-armed minions to hide behind, a bottlenecking cave to use as a trap, and the sure knowledge that the Night King was coming for him—who knows? The Three-Eyed Ravens all seem to have been, like literally everyone who is not Cersei, extremely dumb.)

The army of the living did not even fight particularly well or smartly. It didn’t need to. Most of its planned (and dumb) defensive measures, in fact, failed catastrophically at the slightest prodding from the hordes of brainless undead. The Dothraki cavalry charged into darkness, far beyond their support, and were wiped out pointlessly. The Unsullied just kinda stood there like dummies and poked at the surging tidal wave of frenzied animate dead with spears, and were wiped out. They set a spike-lined trench ablaze and the wights just laid themselves down on it to make a bridge for each other. The dragons got lost in a blizzard. Drogon blasted away at the Night King with fire for like 30 straight seconds and it didn’t even singe his clothes. And for all that, those wights beyond counting couldn’t even manage to kill a completely exposed Samwell Tarly, the feeble bookworm who just a couple hours before the battle gave away a huge badass Valyrian-steel sword because he isn’t strong enough to hold it upright.

Winter, forewarned for a century, lasted, in total, a few weeks. All in all, this amounted to a minor squabble between rival northern clans: House Stark and its allies on one side, and on the other, House Zombie.

Cersei was right; her take on the fight against the embodiment of death itself, which amounted to, “I dunno, call me when it gets to Harrenhal,” was the right one. More important, though, is how her rightness upends what many, and perhaps most, viewers took to be one of the core observations of the show to this point: That the courtiers at the top of Westeros’s power structure may have profound capacity to inflict bloodshed and ruin upon the world, but they are largely uninformed and clueless about the hard realities out in it—that exposure to the outer world has the power to enlighten these soft silver-spooners, or to destroy them. That’s totally wrong!

[FaxModem1]

Did the Night King's death affect winter, or will there still be years of utter darkness in the north?

[Ziggy Stardust]

Just by asking that you question you have officially put more thought into the show then the writers themselves have.

What an absolutely moronic episode. It didn't even manage to be good as pure spectacle, for a number of reasons (not even counting the lighting/fog choice that made everything hard to see; which was problematic but at least a defensible stylistic choice). The pacing and editing of the battle was just a mess. There were some cool individual scenes (like the Dothraki charge and Arya sneaking through the library), but as cool as they were they made absolutely zero sense with respect to the rest of the episode (there was no fucking reason for the Dothraki to charge, and there's also no fucking reason for six wights to be wandering aimlessly around the library doing nothing seconds after we watched a horde of them breach the walls).

[Solauren]

Everyone is over thinking several things, so let's break them down, shall we?

Break down #1 - Plan to Kill the Night Queen.

Point #1 - The Night King was originally created, and defeated, approximately 10,000 years ago. This was well before Valaria existed. (By several thousand years). Therefore, until Jon killed a White Walker with Longclaw, no one living knew that Valarian Steel could kill White Walkers.

Therefore, how where any of the Three Eyed Ravens, or anyone else, supposed to know a fact that had not been discovered yet, about a metal that wasn't created yet.

They knew that Obsidian/Dragon Glass destroyed White Walkers. NOT Valarian Steel.

Point #2 - Arya killing the Night's King was never part of the official plan. At least not the one cooked up by the characters. (Can't say the same for the Lord of Light, or the Many-Faced God, but they don't count...)

The plan was to bait the Night's King in, and either kill him using the Dragon's (Daeny point blanked asked if Dragonfire can kill the Night's King), or have the Iron born kill him with Obisdian arrows.

Arya killing the Night's king was entirely Melissandre going talking with Arya, and going 'brown eyes, green eyes.. and blue eyes'. That's when Arya went off to assasinate the Night's King.

Point #3 - The Three-Eyed Raven's location that Bran and co ended up in, was PROTECTED from the Night's King. It wasn't until Bran was marked, that the Night's King and his forces could get to them.
And the former Three-Eyed Raven had what, four Children of the Forest with him? That is NOT going to hold off a horde of undead.
And in fact, despite their obsidian weapons, when the Night's King came for them, they couldn't hold him off.

Point #4 - We have no idea if the Night's King had been active since the 'Long Night'. For all we know, the guy was 'on ice' for the last few thousand years. Makes it hard to set a trap for him if he's in his ice fortress, or buried under a glacier or something. Makes it harder to assassinate him if you don't know where the fucker is.

So, in response to all that critisim, YES, this was the first time anyone tried to set a trap for the Night's King.
And you know what, despite everything, it worked.


Now, that being said....

Breakdown #2 - The Battle
I will admit, the battle tactics used by the living were rather, lacking. Understandable, but lacking.

Point #1 - Dothraki calvary.
The Dothraki should not have been used in that manner. Military tactics in this case would have dictated using them as a flanking strike force.

Point #2 - Dragons
I actually agree with Daeny that keeping the Dragons in reserve was a bad idea. Those things are a first strike weapon, not reserve guard.

Point #3 - The trenches and the Unsullied.
Should have been torched up earlier (like before the initial charge), and the Unsullied should have been standing behind the trenches to spear anyone that tried to cross them.

Observation
It's very clear that the North, Dothraki, and Unsullied don't have alot of experience in siege warfare. This is actually not a surprise, given the cultural backgrounds involved.

And it cost them. And that was the entire point.

They had no idea what they were doing, prepared like they were fighting living forces, and nearly lost for it.

Hell, in the end, their best hope to stop the Night's King, the dragons, and Jon 'Possibly the Greatest Swordsmen that ever lived' (according to Ramsey Bolton) Snow were nowhere near him.


Breakdown #3 - vs the Undead.

Starting Rant -
Everyone is going 'Oh, the crypts, the Starks are going to rise up'
'Don't these people know how to fight undead? What idiots.'

FOR FUCKS SAKE, STOP BEING ARM CHAIR GENERALS, YOU'RE ALL BAD AT IT.

You are watching that situation as someone that grew up in a culture where 'Zombie Apocalyspe' isn't a fear, it's a form of entertainment!
We have books, video games, movies, tv shows, etc, etc, about the subject.

Meanwhile, the people in Westros have absolutely ZERO experience with this. Stories about the Nights King are considered old legends.

Point #1 - Tactics
Prior to the Undead actually showing up at the wall, even the Night's Watch wasn't convinced. Some of them probably assumed, like Tyrion even said, that the Wall was meant to keep the Wyldlings out of the Seven Kingdoms.

And even then, the NIght's Watch, the people that were supposed to be guarding against them, didn't have any surviving records on how to fight them! You'd think that would be the highest priority for them to keep and protect.

Yet, nothing.

It took Samwell Tarly going to the Citadel, and then stealing books to get the information they needed.
(Quite frankly, if Jon or Daeny ends up on the throne, they need to haul the Maesters Council in and execute them for neglect of duty and treason)

Point #2 - the Crypts.
First, No one had any way of knowing the Nights King animating the dead would affect the stuff in the crypts.
Yes, Jon and Ed had seen him reanimate the dead at Hardhome. Okay, but those were 'fresh'. The Starks in the crypts, with the exception of Ned, (who apparently didn't reanimate) where decades old or more.

Second, all the dead were in stone crypts. We'd never seen them punch through stone before.
I will admit that them doing that instead of pushing off sarcaphagus lids was a nice touch. You can't stop that by holding on and adding your weight to the lid.

Third, realistically, there was nowhere else defensible if the castle feel. Yeah, a nice empty stone cave would have been great, but there was no time to create that.

I will say, I disagree with them not having a a dozen or so people in the crypts, armed with obsidian weapons, in case the dead got the door open for to beat them back and close it again.

That would have been a major help.

Final Breakdown (#4) - Overall story.
I'm actually NOT going to say anything on it.

Why?

That's an individual choice and taste if you liked the editing, effects, style, pacing, etc.

[The Romulan Republic]

The Good:

-Some very good, tense moments.

-Holy fuck, Jorah is a bad ass. Arya too, of course.

-The expected epic scale, and good visual effects where the darkness didn't hide them.

-Enough horror and death to sell that this is an apocalyptic battle, without seeming too gratuitous (though Lady Lyanna's death was just cruel).

-I liked that most of the defenders' tactics didn't work. It basically came down to Melisandra's fire spells (and she hadn't even been expected to be there) and Arya getting the drop on the Night King. Almost everything else was so much exercise in futility, or even made things actively worse by giving the Night King more troops.

-The dagger Arya uses to kill the Night King is apparently the same one Bran gave her. Its likely that he foresaw how this would end.

-Dragon vs dragons duel! Even if it was a bit anti-climactic in that the battle ultimately came down to Arya and Mel.

-I loved the call back to Syrio, and one of my favorite lines in the series.

The Bad:

-Plenty of others have commented on this, but it was hard to see what was going on a lot of the time.

-The utterly pointless Dothraki charge (light cavalry sucks against an undead horde, who'd have thought), and the likely death of Ghost off-screen. Why was he there instead of with one of the Starks (since he obviously couldn't be on dragon-back with Jon)? I'd have had Ghost guarding Bran with Theon, and die with Theon against the Night King if they wanted to kill him off.

-Nobody figured out that the Night King would raise the people in the crypts? Really?

-I'm sorry, I don't care how awesome Lyanna Mormont is or how much of a fan favorite she is, I don't buy her killing a giant wight. Maybe that's petty of me. I still don't buy it.

-I feel like there's a definite undercurrent here of "the fire religion was right", as Melisandra and her powers were one of the few things that actually contributed definitively toward victory. I am not a fan of the fire religion.

Stuff I'm not sure about:

-Arya killing the Night King. A very nice surprise, and a decent pay off for her years of suffering to becoming an assassin. But does that mean that the whole "Prince That Was Promised" thing is getting tossed out? It certainly makes the aforementioned dragon duel, and all the build-up to needing Arya and her dragons, anti-climactic. Then again, the defense probably would have been overwhelmed before then without Danny, so...

Also, how did even Arya get through all the Wights around him?

-There were some garbage tactics on both sides, as noted above. I don't usually nitpick tactics too much, or scream "ruined forever" over them. People are people, not tactical computers, and they make mistakes. But the Dothraki charge... well, I suppose I can hand wave it as Dothraki being Dothraki.

I do wonder why they bothered sending wights over the wall, instead of just having the wight giants smash through it.

-Ending the main threat of the series half-way through the season. Nice twist. Will probably make the rest of the show feel anti-climactic.

-Melisandra's death. It seems pointless. I guess it could be taken as indicating remorse for her past atrocities, but her actions during the episode, and how crucial they were to victory, can create the impression that her atrocities were necessary evils (though viewed a certain way, this could fit thematically with Bran telling Theon that his past crimes brought them to this point). Maybe she just wanted to die after such a long life (though that doesn't fit with her seeming regret earlier about knowing she had to die in a foreign land). Or maybe she was just a tool who's god discarded her when it was done with her (yeah, I'm not a fan of the child-burning religion).

-I'm really not sure where this episode falls on the idealism vs cynicism spectrum (see above). I feel like part of the subtext here was "the child-burning religion was right", which... yeah, I'm not a fan of that.

-Cersei's plan actually worked. The White Walkers are dead, her human opposition is gutted and possibly down to one dragon.

So I guess we're down to Cersei as the final villain. Interesting. You don't often get to see stories that spend hours of screen time on the aftermath of the appolcalyptic battle against darkness. I'm genuinely interested to see where that goes.

Anyway, Jaime, Brienne, Jon, Davos, and Arya are alive. That's everyone I really cared about at this point.

[The Romulan Republic]

So we lost Theon, Firesword Guy, Jorah, the Night's Watch guy and the Red Witch. Did I miss anyone?

Well, maybe Ghost. He didn't come back from that charge, but who knows? Maybe he got lucky. Kind of a terrible way to send off the last direwolf, though.

And Dany loses another dragon.

Confirmed named character deaths:

-Dolorous Edd the Night's Watchman.
-Jorah Mormont.
-Lyanna Mormont.
-Melisandra.
-Theon Greyjoy.
-Beric Dondarrion.
-The Night King.

-Ghost and possibly Rhaegal appear dead, but are shown in the episode four trailer to be alive (unless the trailer is lying).

I think that's everyone.

Also, the Dothraki (or at least those present at the battle) were pretty much wiped out.

Edit: Got to admit, when Arya was talking to Melisandra, I thought for a moment that Arya was going to kill her. On the whole, I prefer the way it happened.

[FaxModem1]

I had a thought. A big part of social change in the medieval era was due to the mass die off from the black plague and a lot of top heavy deaths from the crusades. Westeros has been through seven years of wars, and lost a significant part of both its peasantry and more importantly to the status quo, its nobility. There are going to be a lot of unclaimed villages, estates, castles, etc. Maybe even whole areas that are depopulated now. This is either going to require mass lordships handed out willynilly as well as mass land grabs, or a reform of how the 7 kingdoms work just to get things accomplished after the war. I doubt they'll cover that in the show, but whoever's on the throne at the end is going to need either to adapt quickly, or let go of a lot of territory.

[The Romulan Republic]

Danny is certainly willing to consider radical social change, if she's on the throne at the end of this. So is Jon, for that matter.

[The Romulan Republic]

Aaaaand the internet whining about how Arya is a Mary Sue and has ruined the show has already started. I'm not kidding.

B-b-b-b-but Rey's a Mary Sue because she got all her powers quickly and easily! Its totally not because she's a woman! How dare you suggest that? What's that? The trained duelist and assassin who spent seven hellish years learning how to kill people killed the Night King? MARY SUE!

So. Fucking. Predictable.

Also, looks like they're ship-teasing Sansa and Tyrion now. So there's another supremely icky ship I hate that looks like its going to be canonized (she was his forced child bride, and he had the decency not to rape or torture her or allow others to rape or torture her- clearly that means they're Tru Wuvs ).

Oh well, guess it makes political sense at least, to tie Stark to Lannister. And its not like there's an abundance of healthy relationships in this franchise. I can probably live with it. Barely. It probably would barely even phase me if it didn't, again, stink of pandering to fanfic writers because its a popular ship. I hate pandering.

[streetad]

With regards to the people in the crypts, wouldn't it have made more sense to evacuate all the non-combatants to, say, White Harbour as soon as the plan to bait the NK to Winterfell came about? If nothing else so they don't have to feed them.

With the benefit of hindsight, escorting them there would have probably been a more sensible use for the Dothraki.

[The Romulan Republic]

With regards to the people in the crypts, wouldn't it have made more sense to evacuate all the non-combatants to, say, White Harbour as soon as the plan to bait the NK to Winterfell came about? If nothing else so they don't have to feed them.

With the benefit of hindsight, escorting them there would have probably been a more sensible use for the Dothraki.

It might, presuming one trusted the Dothraki not to rape the refugees on the way there without their queen to directly oversee their actions.

Then again... how much manpower did they have to spare? And with the Night King's dragon on-hand, what's to stop him from simply making a quick detour to hit the refugee column before circling back to Winterfell? They sure can't spare a dragon to guard the convoy.

One of the first rules of warfare is: Don't split your forces against a numerically superior opponent. Especially one with greater mobility. It invites defeat in detail.

[streetad]

True. The Dothraki are not the most trustworthy of soldiers to put it mildly

The unutterably depressing thought that we aren't getting anything more substantial about the White Walkers because they are saving it for their spin-off set during the Long Night has just occurred to me.

[Solauren]

-Cersei's plan actually worked. The White Walkers are dead, her human opposition is gutted and possibly down to one dragon.

So I guess we're down to Cersei as the final villain. Interesting. You don't often get to see stories that spend hours of screen time on the aftermath of the appolcalyptic battle against darkness. I'm genuinely interested to see where that goes.

This is probably one of the most important things to take out of this. Cersei actually knew what she was doing all along.

Let's face facts, she called in the Golden Company, and has a way out of Westros if need be. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that when Casterly Rock was empty, and High Garden looted, she also had people clear out anything of value from King's landing (or is having it done), and is ready to just go 'Fuck it', and leave.

After making sure her enemies bleed themselves dry trying to lay seige to her.

During the fighting, she gets on a boat with Euron (who may be convinced she's pregnant with his kid), a shit load of stolen gold, art, gems, and they leave, heading to the Iron Islands or somewhere in Esso.

Meaning that even in defeat, she's victorious.

[Vympel]

We're told their motivations, what's the issue? Also, how does the battle getting resolved in the last season but not say the last episode carry any sort of implications for what the 'real battle' was all along? You're allowed to battle the end of the world, win, and then deal with the aftermath. It's not illegal.

Really? Massive out-of-context existential threat dealt with in one episode and we have to go back to caring about nobles squabbling over the Iron Throne for another 4 plus hours?

It's just the biggest rug pull yet from an arch-troll and I won't be convinced otherwise until the final book comes out some time in the 2030s.

Yeah, I just don't get this criticism. The Night King threat - and really bad shit - has been happening for seasons now. Of course this was going to be resolved in an episode. What else was going to happen? What, they were going to have a battle and lose? And then what? The undead army that doesn't ever have to stop or sleep is just going to let the people of the North escape? On foot, in the middle of winter? Or are we going to have a plot where all the people of the North become wights and only some of our heroes get away? And do what, go hat in hand to Cersei? With no dragonglass?

I originally called that this would be resolved this week because of the above - then changed my mind when I realised Melisandre was nowhere to be seen. The moment she appeared at the beginning of the episode, I knew it was going to be over by the end.

-Cersei's plan actually worked. The White Walkers are dead, her human opposition is gutted and possibly down to one dragon.

Rhaegal is fine, we see him flying around in the preview for next episode. He was hurt/tired from his fight with Viserion, not killed.

[RogueIce]

I will say, I disagree with them not having a a dozen or so people in the crypts, armed with obsidian weapons, in case the dead got the door open for to beat them back and close it again.

That would have been a major help.

I think the feeling was there, if the Undead got as far as the Crypts, Winterfell was as good as fallen so everyone in there was dead anyway. A dozen or so soldiers wouldn't have changed that.

[Solauren]

I will say, I disagree with them not having a a dozen or so people in the crypts, armed with obsidian weapons, in case the dead got the door open for to beat them back and close it again.

That would have been a major help.

I think the feeling was there, if the Undead got as far as the Crypts, Winterfell was as good as fallen so everyone in there was dead anyway. A dozen or so soldiers wouldn't have changed that.

I didn't say soldiers, I said people. I.e Gilly, Sansa, Varys. or Old Soldiers not suitable to the larger fight that were sent down, but could still swing an axe to a wight while others try to shut the door.

[The Romulan Republic]

So, anyone else think that Mel's faith is going to become the dominant one in Westeros after this? Possibly with a growth in the Northerners' religion as well.

I mean, "our priest helped save the world" is a pretty good selling point, especially when any surviving soldiers can testify to the authenticity of her powers. The North also played a major role, and is closely tied to the new regime. But the Faith of the Seven did basically nothing, and its great sept got blown up by Cersei.

[FaxModem1]

So, anyone else think that Mel's faith is going to become the dominant one in Westeros after this? Possibly with a growth in the Northerners' religion as well.

I mean, "our priest helped save the world" is a pretty good selling point, especially when any surviving soldiers can testify to the authenticity of her powers. The North also played a major role, and is closely tied to the new regime. But the Faith of the Seven did basically nothing, and its great sept got blown up by Cersei.

We've also had the subplot from previous seasons of the Red priestesses working to intertwine the faith and Dany's reign. So, expect child and non-believer burnings in the near future when Dany is on the throne.

[The Romulan Republic]

So, anyone else think that Mel's faith is going to become the dominant one in Westeros after this? Possibly with a growth in the Northerners' religion as well.

I mean, "our priest helped save the world" is a pretty good selling point, especially when any surviving soldiers can testify to the authenticity of her powers. The North also played a major role, and is closely tied to the new regime. But the Faith of the Seven did basically nothing, and its great sept got blown up by Cersei.

We've also had the subplot from previous seasons of the Red priestesses working to intertwine the faith and Dany's reign. So, expect child and non-believer burnings in the near future when Dany is on the throne.

Probably NOT when Danny is on the throne (I've never bought the simplistic fandom portrayal of Danny as Femme Aerys). Especially not early on, when it'll take time for the Westrosi to become accomadated to the new system, and her reign is unstable.

Her successors, probably.

[FaxModem1]

So, anyone else think that Mel's faith is going to become the dominant one in Westeros after this? Possibly with a growth in the Northerners' religion as well.

I mean, "our priest helped save the world" is a pretty good selling point, especially when any surviving soldiers can testify to the authenticity of her powers. The North also played a major role, and is closely tied to the new regime. But the Faith of the Seven did basically nothing, and its great sept got blown up by Cersei.

We've also had the subplot from previous seasons of the Red priestesses working to intertwine the faith and Dany's reign. So, expect child and non-believer burnings in the near future when Dany is on the throne.

Probably NOT when Danny is on the throne (I've never bought the simplistic fandom portrayal of Danny as Femme Aerys). Especially not early on, when it'll take time for the Westrosi to become accomadated to the new system, and her reign is unstable.

Her successors, probably.

Remember, the red god demands sacrifices, and Stannis was perfectly happy to burn his brother in law, and his child, when he was losing. I doubt Dany will do so, but if guaranteed miracles, like victory against her enemies, when she is especially desperate, will she pursue them?

She sacrificed her horse(and her son on accident), for black magics to fix her husband. So we know she is willing to pay a certain price for what she wants.

[The Romulan Republic]

We've also had the subplot from previous seasons of the Red priestesses working to intertwine the faith and Dany's reign. So, expect child and non-believer burnings in the near future when Dany is on the throne.

Probably NOT when Danny is on the throne (I've never bought the simplistic fandom portrayal of Danny as Femme Aerys). Especially not early on, when it'll take time for the Westrosi to become accomadated to the new system, and her reign is unstable.

Her successors, probably.

Remember, the red god demands sacrifices, and Stannis was perfectly happy to burn his brother in law, and his child, when he was losing. I doubt Dany will do so, but if guaranteed miracles, like victory against her enemies, when she is especially desperate, will she pursue them?

She sacrificed her horse(and her son on accident), for black magics to fix her husband. So we know she is willing to pay a certain price for what she wants.

True.

I doubt she'd sanction mass sacrifices, and she sure as fuck wouldn't sanction legalized slavery (another Red God practice IIRC). But she might make an exception now and then for something she values badly enough.

You know, more and more I think that Danny is a LOT like Stannis. They're both exceedingly stubborn, absolutely determined to achieve what they view as their right to the throne, have a big chip on their shoulder due to past suffering, have some underlying moral principles (opposition to slavery and protecting her people for Danny, upholding the law and doing his duty for Stannis), but can be fairly flexible about them in pursuit of their ultimate goal, and both have a penchant for burning their foes alive, due to their power being built on a specific supernatural asset that employs fire. But will sometimes less to the moderating influence of their advisors (Davos, Tyrion).

[wautd]

The darkness/ claustrophobia of combat worked well in most situations, but a time for a welcome break would've been the dragon battle. However, because it was shot in the same way notwithstanding the moonlit clouds above the storm (which was a great twist that nullified the dragon airpower), it made it difficult to tell just was going on and which dragon was hurting which.

I thought this was actually also well done -- it kept that part of the battle interesting and engaging, and it made the moonlit clouds above the store stand out brilliantly by contrast.

Same here. It also helped to make the odds look utterly hopeless for the living (after the little hope they got quickly was crushed by seeing all Dothraki flames going out fast - I loved that scene.
All in all I liked the episode. Sure it wasn't perfect (hard to match the iconic Battle of the Bastards) but I don't get why it gets so much hate. I guess some people were just too hyped and were expecting something completely different.
I also didn't mind Arya killing the Night King. After all, she's a level 60 assassin with supernatural powers like changing faces and an ace in making meat pies. She had the skills and the weapon to do the job.

I also don't mind of the coming Cersei vs the North as the final fight (I actually prefer it as it's mostly about the Iron Throne anyway).
What is the current shape of the Lannister army? When they got hit by Dany's army, was that their main force or a smaller escort?
Is Ser TwentyGoodMen still alive?

[RogueIce]

We've also had the subplot from previous seasons of the Red priestesses working to intertwine the faith and Dany's reign. So, expect child and non-believer burnings in the near future when Dany is on the throne.

Probably NOT when Danny is on the throne (I've never bought the simplistic fandom portrayal of Danny as Femme Aerys). Especially not early on, when it'll take time for the Westrosi to become accomadated to the new system, and her reign is unstable.

Her successors, probably.

Remember, the red god demands sacrifices, and Stannis was perfectly happy to burn his brother in law, and his child, when he was losing. I doubt Dany will do so, but if guaranteed miracles, like victory against her enemies, when she is especially desperate, will she pursue them?

She sacrificed her horse(and her son on accident), for black magics to fix her husband. So we know she is willing to pay a certain price for what she wants.

Ser Davos never agreed with it, though. And as far as burning children goes, he knows that didn't even pan out! And he's like the only one left alive who even knew it went that far. So I think the children of Westeros are safe from sacrificial burnings.

For everyone else...eh, pretty sure Tyrion would be all "lol fuck no" if Dany tried. And the Red Priestesses' magic didn't exactly help the Dothraki, did it? Yeah she got Arya to go all ninja but the only ones who even know that are Arya and the Hound and neither seem the type to go burning people for the Red God. For the other survivors, ok so she made fire out of nothing but the undead broke through anyway, so uh yay?

I don't think this is going to be much of an issue tbh.

[The Romulan Republic]

Trailer for the next episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksTqLXLUvQ4

Lots of Euron's fleet, looks like maybe some sort of memorial at Winterfell, and is that Danny getting a cheer from the Northern Lords? About time they showed her some respect- foreigner or no, Targaryen or no, she just sacrificed most of her best troops defending the North.

Probably best to avoid the comments section- a lot of it is an Alt. Reich gutter of bitter incel-types whining about how the show is ruined.

Anyhoo, my predictions going forward:

-Bronn shows up to try to kill Tyrion/Jaime. He doesn't go through with it, and defects.

-Sansa/Tyrion marriage. Ugg.

Deaths:

-Cersei.
-Euron.
-Qyburn.
-Varys (prophesied by Melisandra).
-Commander of the Golden Company.
-The Mountain.

Possibly Sandor Clegane (likely in a mutual kill with the Mountain) and either Jon or Danny (I am skeptical that they'll get anything like a happily ever after).

I really hope the tensions between Jon, Sansa, Danny, and Tyrion aren't setting up a "twist" where Danny turns into the villain. That would be a betrayal of her whole arc and the complexities of her character, and frankly come off as pandering to the worst segments of the fandom. I'd honestly rather Danny die with her character intact (possibly assassinated by Cersei).