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*UNMARKED SPOILERS ALL BOOKS* Game of Thrones |OT| - Season 7 - Sundays on HBO

duckroll

Member
The families wouldn't be at the castle. They would be living in the lands.

Hard to say whether people would maintain the thing after Stannis and his forces were completely eradicated. He bought most of his army and why leave a pitiful force to defend an old, dead castle when your plan is to conqeur Winterfell and install yourself there for a season.

How would any of them know that his forces were eradicated? Did they check BBC News on their smartphones?
 

Sheroking

Member
The strategic position alone makes it worth maintaining.

Robert gave it to stannis as he recognised it's strategic value. Targeryeans occupied it through their reign, housing the next in line there.

I don't see how a man who needed to buy an army in the first place could defend it adequately AND leave for the north at the same time.

If the Lannister's wanted it while he was gone, surely they could take it from whatever meager force was left.

How would any of them know that his forces were eradicated? Did they check BBC News on their smartphones?

Realistically it's been a couple years since that happened.
 

carlsojo

Member
Qyburn was notably absent this episode. Chilling in the dungeons doing some experiments? Or is he on a road trip to the Citadel to steal their knowledge "for House Lannister"?
 

kirblar

Member
Draginstone is very pretty.

Draginstone also has like 0 natural resources and needs everything imported.

After having his forces routed at Blackwater taking everyone on the road makes sense, the ones you didnt take would go to the Stormlands to await your return.
 

grandjedi6

Master of the Google Search
The most logical explanation for Dragonstone is that there was a very small Lannister force there to hold it from bandits, who then retreated upon seeing the massive army approaching. But the show gives no implication of this.
 
The strategic position alone makes it worth maintaining.

Robert gave it to stannis as he recognised it's strategic value. Targeryeans occupied it through their reign, housing the next in line there.
Show Loras was on trial for being gay, there was no reason for the siege of Dragonstone to happen. Thus there was no need to hold it.

The true answer is dramatic effect, the show was never big on accurate representations of fictional civilians on fictional lands, come on guys.
What massive army though? I saw two guards, a pretty girl, a dwarf, a maid, and two older dudes.
What did you expect? Dothraki horde in the throne room?
 

Moff

Member
I expected at least a few homeless people in Dragonstone tbh. Maybe in the book Dany needs to shoo them away. Or she could place some of those benches with spikes on them.
 

duckroll

Member
The most logical explanation for Dragonstone is that there was a very small Lannister force there to hold it from bandits, who then retreated upon seeing the massive army approaching. But the show gives no implication of this.

What massive army though? I saw two guards, a pretty girl, a dwarf, a maid, and two older dudes.

The traveling that's occurred implies months on months since 5x9.

Maybe two years is an exaggeration, but there are large time gaps between episodes by necessity. It's a month from Winterfell to Kings Landing alone.

Yeah no one likes to walk. that's why they use fast travel on the show. Teleports are quick. :p

I'll buy months, but years? Nope. In months you won't hear much either. Word doesn't really travel that fast, especially to remote areas.
 

Anoregon

The flight plan I just filed with the agency list me, my men, Dr. Pavel here. But only one of you!
What massive army though? I saw two guards, a pretty girl, a dwarf, a maid, and two older dudes.

The massive fleet offshore that would absolutely be visible from Dragonstone?
 
Show Loras was on trial for being gay, there was no reason for the siege of Dragonstone to happen. Thus there was no need to hold it.

The true answer is dramatic effect, the show was never big on accurate representations of fictional civilians on fictional lands, come on guys.

Yeah you're right. No worth putting more thought into this than D&D.

Though the value of dragonstone is a fun discussion. Stannis saw being given dragonstone as an insult while I believe Robert recognised the need to keep it secure.

Every year you guys get hung up on the smallest things I swear.

A naval base from where to launch an attack on a whole continent being empty it s small thing.
 
Qyburn was notably absent this episode. Chilling in the dungeons doing some experiments? Or is he on a road trip to the Citadel to steal their knowledge "for House Lannister"?

He was behind cercei during the scene where Euron showed up and proposed.

Qybern?! He's not even a REAL maester your grace!
 

Randdalf

Member
I hope the rest of the season is a montage of Sam + the Hound. The goings on at the Citadel are so much more interesting to me than anything else. "Meeting of northern lords" + "Cersei schemes" are way overdone at this point.
 

jett

D-Member
I'm with you. That was quite the boring premiere. Felt right at home with a S5 episode indeed.

Also holy shit, good idea on giving such a long period of airtime to Tarly at the Maester's School. My head just checked out completely, if I was into browsing on my phone during tv series that would surely be the cue.

Hopefully that's the last we see of that storyline for a while. Could have just edited all that boring shit out for a better episode by just having Jon receive a raven with the information.

on a positive note, Hound and Beric are still fun to see. And it was dope having that Thomas Turgoose appearance. Kid was great in the This is England series.

Well I'm not alone at least! It was an okay episode, but it had long stretches of stuff that did little for me. I did like seeing how miserable winter is in this world.
 
I guess the show gave Euron a purpose by hooking him up with the Lannisters. But why would he do that exactly? Cersei has three kingdoms, Stormlands, Riverlands and the Rock; Storm lords went to Stannis, Renly and then subsequently the Tyrells, the only River house that was loyal to the crown has just been wiped out, and the Lannisters are all but spent.
 

Lokimaru

Member
That bedpan montage was actually my favorite part of the episode. I welcome the attempt at comedy, even if it's disgusting. Solid opener overall, glad the Hound is back because he was one of the highlights of this ep. Least favorite part was actually the opener, mainly because this:



That and the assumption that she can just faceswap her way through anything now, has made Arya less interesting to follow. Her story was better pre-Braavos.


Don't tell me people are against using the perks and skills gained from leveling up to get to and fight the bosses now. She trained and speced full stealth assassin and plays her class. What would you have her do re-spec as a Knight? Fuck that, she's getting shit done. Shit the exp. gain from icing the whole Frey clan has to be enormous. She's probably the second highest leveled Stark right now. Hell now all she needs is an animal sidekick to scout for her and to x Cercie off her list so she can re-join her party for the final raid boss. Are white walkers Revenents or Liches?
 

duckroll

Member
I guess the show gave Euron a purpose by hooking him up with the Lannisters. But why would he do that exactly? Cersei has three kingdoms, Stormlands, Riverlands and the Rock; Storm lords when to Stannis, Renly and then subsequently the Tyrells, the only River house that was loyal to the crown has just been wiped out, and the Lannisters are all but spent.

He's going to fuck a queen.
 

Branduil

Member
I guess the show gave Euron a purpose by hooking him up with the Lannisters. But why would he do that exactly? Cersei has three kingdoms, Stormlands, Riverlands and the Rock; Storm lords when to Stannis, Renly and then subsequently the Tyrells, the only River house that was loyal to the crown has just been wiped out, and the Lannisters are all but spent.

For the same reason that Euron pulled the world's finest fleet out of his ass: because if he didn't then Cersei would immediately lose and the Lannisters would be out of the game.
 
What's all this fuss about Dragonstone being deserted? It was pretty obvious to be the case when even Selyse and Shireen went North.

I guess the show gave Euron a purpose by hooking him up with the Lannisters. But why would he do that exactly? Cersei has three kingdoms, Stormlands, Riverlands and the Rock; Storm lords when to Stannis, Renly and then subsequently the Tyrells, the only River house that was loyal to the crown has just been wiped out, and the Lannisters are all but spent.

Plus Stormlands is nonexistant in the show, so she's really just ruler of KL and Westerlands. Euron is KING of the Iron Islands, he is another pretender no less than Jon Snow. Why IS Cersei allying with him? The plot sure is getting dumb ...
 

Apt101

Member
For the same reason that Euron pulled the world's finest fleet out of his ass: because if he didn't then Cersei would immediately lose and the Lannisters would be out of the game.

Climate change due to the coming winter caused dense forests to grow on the Iron Islands over night.
 

kazinova

Member
Young Griff > Dany landing in the Stormlands is a much better idea. Is the show really only ever going to let Dany sit in a throne room for 4+ seasons?
 

Hari Seldon

Member
Hound scene is by far the standout of the episode. That was the show as its best. Arya's opening was cool, too, BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO EDMURE?? Did she not know he was there and just leave him in the dungeon? Did Arya's accidentally kill her uncle by killing his jailers and letting him starve in a cell. I wasn't as offput by the Ed Sheeran stuff as some, just because I don't immediately recognize his face, but it felt like the sort of thing that would have been a deleted scene on the Blurays if there weren't a cameo in it.

Yeah seriously where is Edmure? Lol he is such a good actor and is too underused in this show.
 

trembli0s

Member
I guess the show gave Euron a purpose by hooking him up with the Lannisters. But why would he do that exactly? Cersei has three kingdoms, Stormlands, Riverlands and the Rock; Storm lords when to Stannis, Renly and then subsequently the Tyrells, the only River house that was loyal to the crown has just been wiped out, and the Lannisters are all but spent.

The simple answer is that the show needs a foil for Danny's fleet. With Highgarden now against the Lannisters, Dany should have the largest fleet in the Seven Kingdoms. She could simply starve out the city and force the Lannisters to spend themselves into oblivion by allying with the Iron Bank, but that would be a boring show.
 
When Dany arrived in Westeros just after kneeling on the sand, Varys should have said to her (with a little smile), "Welcome home" with Tyrion in the background. It would have been neat.
 
The simple answer is that the show needs a foil for Danny's fleet. With Highgarden now against the Lannisters, Dany should have the largest fleet in the Seven Kingdoms. She could simply starve out the city and force the Lannisters to spend themselves into oblivion by allying with the Iron Bank, but that would be a boring show.

I'm all for Dany having foils and this was going to be a problem for the show when they cut Aegon and gave her the Tyrells and Martells. All 3 will probably oppose Dany in the books Probably The Faith and The Vale as well. Dany will probably have 0 Westerosi allies in the books and that's where all the conflict will come from.

The Lannisters really have no place as antagonists anymore, but here we are.
 
About the Dragonstone being empty complaints: I mean, I see where you're coming from in terms of real-world logic and everything, but would seeing 60 seconds worth of a few medieval squatters or a small occupying force of Lannisters or the like being dispatched by Dany's army have made the episode materially better somehow from a storytelling perspective? We have seven episodes to work with this season and a lot of ground to cover, I'm not sure that we need to see every little "i" dotted and "t" crossed at every step of the way.
 
What massive army though? I saw two guards, a pretty girl, a dwarf, a maid, and two older dudes.



Yeah no one likes to walk. that's why they use fast travel on the show. Teleports are quick. :p

I'll buy months, but years? Nope. In months you won't hear much either. Word doesn't really travel that fast, especially to remote areas.

Dont forget the 3 giant dragons that Dany sent to Dragonstone to scope it out. If I was manning the gate and saw 3 dragons, I'd run for my life knowing the army that follows it. Let's say it took Dany another 30 min to land after the dragons were sent. That's plenty of time to abandon fort.
 

Branduil

Member
Also, Sansa was 100% right in this episode, Jon immediately forgiving the betrayal of the Karstarks and Umbars was incredibly dumb.
 
Also, Sansa was 100% right in this episode, Jon immediately forgiving the betrayal of the Karstarks and Umbars was incredibly dumb.

Jon's decision is very understandable. Sansa sounds like Cersei and even Jon mentions it. Her hardships have made her cruel. Punishing children for the sins of their father is something Jon felt all his life from his step mother.
 

duckroll

Member
Nah Jon was being a dumbass. This is how you lose respect and trust. They stabbed him in the back, and they got his brother killed. Like, directly. Oh, I forgot, Jon doesn't even care about his brothers anymore.
 

Moff

Member
Also, Sansa was 100% right in this episode, Jon immediately forgiving the betrayal of the Karstarks and Umbars was incredibly dumb.

either way, they should agree on who is the leader and on the issue beforehand and not contradict each other publicly, that's not good leadership.
of course this is littlefingers doing anyway, he is playing sansa like a fiddle. even if she resents him, he clearly placed those ideas in her head in the last season.
 

mjc

Member
Also, Sansa was 100% right in this episode, Jon immediately forgiving the betrayal of the Karstarks and Umbars was incredibly dumb.

He's leveraging his experiences against the Night King against the actions of men. He's following the thought process that once the WWs get south, the differences between houses will be pretty much dropped. (Or should be)
 

Branduil

Member
Jon's decision is very understandable. Sansa sounds like Cersei and even Jon mentions it. Her hardships have made her cruel. Punishing children for the sins of their father is something Jon felt all his life from his step mother.

This is exactly like saying you can't throw a father in jail for his crimes because then his children won't have a provider. The goal is not punishing the children(and they're not automatically entitled to live as lords anyway), the goal is to make absolutely clear the consequences for failing your oaths of loyalty.

Now every lord in the North knows that, if it's ever more convenient for them, they can switch over to the other side with no meaningful consequences for their house.

Nah Jon was being a dumbass. This is how you lose respect and trust. They stabbed him in the back, and they got his brother killed. Like, directly. Oh, I forgot, Jon doesn't even care about his brothers anymore.

LOL, poor Rickon got forgotten like 5 seconds after his death. At least the Lannisters are supposed to be sociopaths, so it's not even surprising Jaime doesn't bring up Cersei murdering their uncle.
 

duckroll

Member
This is exactly like saying you can't throw a father in jail for his crimes because then his children won't have a provider. The goal is not punishing the children(and they're not automatically entitled to live as lords anyway), the goal is to make absolutely clear the consequences for failing your oaths of loyalty.

Now every lord in the North knows that, if it's ever more convenient for them, they can switch over to the other side with no meaningful consequences for their house.

The Glovers already know that. Spit in his face when he comes for aid, and suck it up after he pulls a surprise victory. ALL IS FORGIVEN!
 

fantomena

Member
Jon's decision is very understandable. Sansa sounds like Cersei and even Jon mentions it. Her hardships have made her cruel. Punishing children for the sins of their father is something Jon felt all his life from his step mother.

I draw parallels to that to the way Catelyn treated Jon.
 
...

Now every lord in the North knows that, if it's ever more convenient for them, they can switch over to the other side with no meaningful consequences for their house.

Except the fact that they and their armies will be wiped out?

Yeah, King Snow isn't going to go Reynes of Castamere on your ass. The northerners have been plenty tight in the past without having to resort to this.

Other topic: I REALLY hope Sansa is playing up the public infighting with Jon to throw Littlefinger off his game,then take him down later. Maybe marry Robin and have him turn against the 'Lord protector'
 

Moff

Member
Nah Jon was being a dumbass. This is how you lose respect and trust. They stabbed him in the back, and they got his brother killed. Like, directly. Oh, I forgot, Jon doesn't even care about his brothers anymore.

not them, their fathers did. the penalty for treason is death. but the traitors are dead already. he made that clear.

Jon is very obviously right here, even if there was not the looming threat of white walkers which should be the focus and not fighting each other.
do you think the lesson from being stabbed should have been " Oh I guess it was wrong to invite the wildlings here"?. Obviously not, it was the right decision and his killers were wrong and they are still wrong.
Jon is the only one to have the wisdom to see that there are more important things than punishment and petty rivalries between houses. That's why they even made him king. He is supposed to unite the north just like he united the wildlings and the watch. Giving in to some angry lynch mob now would be a mistake.
 
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