A Game of Thrones (HBO)

[McMetal]

No complaints here, except I feel like Jon got sort of a raw deal.

Took me awhile to recognize Edmund Tully and that Arryn brat. Lol House Frey is extinct.

Arya sniping at Yara was awesome.

[Nicklab]

There was a lot to unpack with last night's episode.

RE: Jon.  The echoes to Ned Stark's honor and loyalty rang through with Jon, as did some of his backstory when Robert's rebellion took Kings Landing.  In some ways he was able to right some of the wrongs that Ned had to let go when the Lannisters sacked Kings Landing and killed so many.  But now Jon was able to avenge some of the innocents by dispatching someone who had wantonly killed so many women and children.  And the knife to the heart was much like season 5 when Jon was stabbed at Castle Black.

In a way, I kind of think that Jon got what he wanted.  He just didn't realize it at first.  He always said that he did not want the throne, and I think you have to take him at his word.  He might have done it if called by a sense of duty, but it doesn't seem like he would do it under any other circumstances.  Sending Jon back to the Night's Watch was really like sending him home.  He was reunited with Ghost.  And he looked genuinely happy as he took the free folk back home, north of the Wall.  And how was that scene for a bookend?  The first shots of the series were the rangers going through the tunnel in the wall, and the final shots are Jon Snow travelling north and with a new sense of belonging.

[Dave]

I thought last night's episode was just okay.

I wasn't a big fan of Bran the Broken taking the throne.   I was hoping it would have been Tyrion or Jon, but if it was given to Jon I would have liked him to kind of leave it up to Tyrion and team to run the show while he was off doing something else.

Royal lineage has almost always trumped everything else, so it kind of bothers me that Jon has the lineage and they more or less ignored it.  Varys spent his last days sending notes to all corners of the realm advertising this and it didn't matter.

The one other scene that I don't really like that they "left out" was what Grey Worm and crew said / did with Jon after they realized he killed Dany.  They've been pretty ruthless in their support of her and just throwing Jon in a cell doesn't really seem like their style.

Ultimately I enjoyed the series, but wasn't a big fan of the final episode.

[Nicklab]

I've been seeing a good deal of speculation that GRRM may be sitting on books 6 and 7, and likely struck a deal with HBO to do just that.  I can see the reasoning behind that concept since the show and the books began to diverge in some significant ways.  And once the show caught up with the books it made more sense to let the HBO series stand on its own.

Meanwhile there's word of as many as 3 Westeros based TV shows in development.  One that I've heard about may go back thousands of years, which could be as far as when the First Men came to Westeros and their conflict with the Children of the Forest.

[Rob]

I think that no matter what they do people are going to complain... did I think it was perfect?  Of course not.  Do I appreciate the impossible task that was closing the biggest show in TV history in an era where everyone with an opinion can get it out to a million people on Twitter and complaining is in fashion?  Absolutely.

The only thing that bugged me a lot was Jon being sent off to the wall, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.

How many times did the guy say he didn't want to be king?  And every time he said it we all thought "that's why he'll make the best king..."

But he didn't want to be king, and he meant it apparently.  He spent his whole life being a lesser bastard, then being locked up in the Night's Watch, then fighting wars he didn't want to fight... the idea of him wandering off into the wilderness with the Free Folk is poetic, and fitting even if it seemed out of left field given our expectations.  After sleeping on it, I like it.

[Matt_Fury]

I liked the ending. 

The final shot had me wondering if Jon Snow was going to spend the rest of his life beyond the wall with the free folk.  Like Tormund said, it's where he belongs.  Glad he finally pet Ghost!

I liked how Drogon took Daenery's body away after Jon killed her.  My guess is that he was flying off to Old Valeria....he liked hanging out there ins Season 5....could there be a couple of eggs there?

BTW, I totally blew it in my office pool.

[Jesse James]

I’m with Scott.  I loved it.  The series was pretty perfect start to finish.

A buddy of mine gave a couple loose string/plot holes but they’re minor to us both and overall the ending was about as good as I think could be expected.  And I like the Bran pick for the reasons Tyrion gave with him not being perfect, but he has a good story and he’s a good person with wisdom on his side.  And I was glad to see, after being beaten over the head with characters I loved dying season upon season, to finally have the characters I loved be there at the end.  The table meeting was a nice cap to it all.

[Dave]

So what did everyone think about House of the Dragon?

Spoilers be warned..



..



I didn't read the books so don't know all the background, but mostly enjoyed the Game of Thrones series on HBO.

I'll be honest, I was mostly bored by House of the Dragon. 

I'm not sure I care about any of the characters.  I think we're supposed to be cheering for Rhaenyra, but she's not all that likeable.  And the "evil" characters aren't necessarily all that evil.

Even with all the time jumps there didn't seem to be a lot happening.  Not a lot of real romantic tension.  Sure there were a few battles.  Some minor characters were killed, but I'm not sure there was anything that was remotely surprising.  I felt the GoT always had me on my toes with Ned getting killed pretty quickly in that series and really anybody was likely to get axed from week to week.

I remember GoT getting off to a little bit of a slow start, but then it really took off once it got all the pieces in place halfway through the first season.

I'll be honest that I'm not sure I'm going to give the second season a try unless I hear people gushing about it.

[Matt_Fury]

I really enjoyed it.  The show seems to be better done than what Benioff and Weiss were able to do.

[Mikey D]

The meat of the story happens next season(s).  If they follow the book closely, **** should hit the fan. And based on this season, I don't expect there will be much deviation. There's something that could rival the Red Wedding in shock value and a battle that could be up there with the Battle of the Bastards coming up.

I don't think you're supposed to root for or pick a side.  They're all a buncha pricks and ********.

[Dave]

The meat of the story happens next season(s).  If they follow the book closely, **** should hit the fan.

Sorry for my ignorance, but are these actual books that Martin wrote or are these made for HBO stories that just live in his world, kinda like the Rings of Power series on Amazon?

[P-Siddy]

This show is based off a book about the Targaryens and their house’s rise and fall in Westeros

[Mikey D]

This show is based off a book about the Targaryens and their house’s rise and fall in Westeros

Yep, Fire and Blood.  It's written as an in-universe history book so it's a bit dry at times.

[Rob]

Finally finished the last episode two nights ago.  I'm into it.