Not sure about Gilly and Little Sam 

I saw both still standing at the end of the crypt fight. Gilly has been hard for me to recognize this season, what with her new "Southern" hairstyle and real-life pregnancy during filming. And Little Sam is a toddler now, so to see him "standing" at all is always odd for me.

A few questions I had from last night's episode:
- Anybody have any speculation as to what Bran was doing with the ravens?

My take on it was he was trying to draw the Night King out by making it look like he was actively participating in the battle instead of simply acting as bait. (No idea about the other question...these budget-saving obscured battles at night leave me with the feeling if they want me to know something important is happening, they will spell it out in an obvious way.)

Seems the plot armor was a lot stronger than your typical GOT battle. I am kind of disappointed with how by-the-book the battle was and how tame the death toll was for the main cast, or even the b- and c-listers for that matter. The Dothraki charge and its outcome was the only dread-inspiring surprise.

At the same time, I remember the first time I read the scene where Jon fought the wights at Castle Black and rolling my eyes about the fact that we were going the "Zombie" route. It took me a long time to get invested in that storyline at all, but by now I had flopped and considered this to be the main point of the story, so ending with a struggle for the Iron Throne seems almost anticlimactic (even though that's where I always wanted the story to be focused.) I hope there are surprises coming.

(And after two breeches the same way, I think it's time for the Winterfell masons to invest in some giant-proof doors.)

"Endgame" reaction (Minus spoilers)

I worked the third shift Thursday night and went straight into "Endgame" at 8:30 AM (with my 9-year old son on his spring break, who has been getting into the MCU for the last year or so.) That said, I wasn't tempted to rest my eyes once, and that is saying something. Also, it's the first time in my life I've bought the big bucket of popcorn (*with free refill) and took advantage of the refill during the movie. I don't advise substituting a bucket and a half of popcorn for a balanced breakfast.

Going in I was nostalgic for the first Avengers movie, which took me by surprise for being as funny as it was, and knowing this one couldn't match that. It didn't, but just barely. Some good jokes and funny situations that affect the story and how it unfolds, but more importantly the jokes are played right. The laughs broke the tension and pathos so well on so many occasions. In the epilogue, a joke call-back choked me up with real feelings!

I was impressed with how well-written this entry is. Every character is spot-on, and especially the core Avenger group get to bring their individual stories to satisfying endpoints. Even the guys who get played for laughs had moments of real heart and hurt that was dealt with realistically. And there were real plot surprises to be had here, starting in the first act.

I have a couple quibbles with the main plot device and how it worked out, but the movie itself acknowledged that would be impossible to avoid "in those kinds of movies" so it wasn't a deal-breaker the way TLJ's "Space Chase" plot device was for me.

It was the most satisfying "finale" movie I've seen since "Return of the King," and it gets it's cake and eats it too, by also setting up future stuff that I find myself surprisingly interested in following. "Guardians 3" wins the prize for the best set-up, if they actually follow through I will be very pleased.

Thumbs up!

As for next week's episode?  It looks like it's going to be epic.  But can anyone else see a key feature of Winterfell that goes all the way back to the pilot coming into play in a way that the alliance may not have foreseen?  One particular place in Winterfell might not be the best place to hide...

It was fun rewatching the previous seasons the last month or so and noticing how many times we are reminded that Ned's bones were returned home to the crypt of Winterfell. Nah, that's not going to be a plot point...

My pet theory is that the dead will be reanimated, but because of enchantments placed on the crypt long ago, they will fight for the living, not against them. Ned  vs Night King, anyone?

In my head, I can justify it a million ways. Knowing the pieces have to go somewhere, maybe the Alliance towed them down with multiple craft and gave them a soft "splashdown" in the ocean as the most efficient solution and to save the ecology and Ewoks. Whatever works for you.

I really want this...

...to go away.

But it is such a great looking toy...
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...for me to poop on!

Rey needs a new Kyber crystal for Luke’s saber...Jedha had a temple full of Kyber.

Does Kyber still exist on Jedha?  Is the first act an attempt to get said crystal??

Except...then she is in the Jedha desert wielding a fully-functional lightsaber...

But, anyways, the Empire took all of the Kyber out of Jedha for the Death Star's Superlaser. You would have to go to the remains of one of those to really get a...

...oh...

I got goosebumps when I saw that death star island! Here's hoping for Chief Wicket to make an appearance!

I wasn't a parent yet when this thread began--my oldest son will turn 10 this year, my younger son will be 7 in a couple months--so this is an interesting read.

My younger son was diagnosed with autism in 2015, just after turning 3. His is a severe form that has impacted our family's daily life in a major way. His older brother has had so much to deal with, I feel so guilty having to make the choices that we do.

I can echo the sentiments about the vaccination link. I thought it was all tinfoil-hat talk until my son had a bad reaction to a vaccine and quickly after began regressing in his development, losing speech and motor skills, etc. Now I have looked into enough to see the government and Big Pharma have gone out of their way to keep pushing their formulations and ignore--no, actually bury-- the evidence of the harm they are causing.

I also read a comment about inflammation, and also wanted to share that we have noticed a marked decline of his symptoms whenever he has a fever coming on, as if the inflammation is allowing a bypass of the affected areas of his brain, though the autism always rebounds back. Our developmental ped has been tracking this.

Last summer we had some success with a dairy-free, casin-free, reduced gluten diet (think paleo or keto) but the gastroenterologist had us put him back on a mainstream diet to do some testing, and we noted little change after the switch back. They are still trying to figure out what all that means.

Happy to talk about your journey and ours anytime you want, Jedi Master, though I'm afraid I would be getting more from you than you from me.