GOT: Season 8 Notes and Predictions 3 (Spoilers)

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Episode 5 was a big shocker for me. I really hoped that the good Danearys would win out and the surprise would be that she did not go mad, but instead she showed her sadistic side. It would have been cool if she flew over to the red keep and just ate Cersei but that did not happen. Instead, she decided to needlessly kill thousands of people that she had originally set out to free and rule. It seems that she reached her breaking point when John betrayed her, leaving her with no one to trust in Westoros, so she used the only tool she knew could not be ignored, violence.

After the episode, I was left with a sense of disgust and reached a kind of violence limit. I didn't like watching the slaughter and destruction of King's Landing but I think I understand why it happened. I think that the moral of the GOT story is that humans are the problem. All along we thought that Danaerys represented fairness, justice, and freedom but in the last episode, we find out that she is really controlled by anger and vengeance. She does not want to play the game any longer but instead decides to flip the game board over and burn it.

So, who will kill Danaerys? Will it be Jon, who might be in a position to get close to her? Will it be Arya, who saw the innocent burning in the streets? Or Tyrian, who was as shocked as I was at her madness. Even if someone does kill Danaerys, that does not mean much for taking control of the Unsullied and Drogon. They are not likely to change their allegiance just because she is dead. Grey Worm loves Danaerys and so does Drogon so killing her still leaves you with war. Also, I doubt anyone will be able to get close enough to her anyway.

In the preview for the series finale, we see Danaerys looking out at the ruined city and assessing her new kingdom. She will justify her actions and act as if this is a one-off situation. She will say something like, "Kneel to me and I will show you mercy, Fight and I will burn you!" The news that she burned King's Landing will spread to other parts of the world and most will bend the knee, hoping she will let them live.

I assume that Jon will take a force back to Winterfell and Join up with Sansa and Yara to attempt some kind of attack on Danaerys or ready themselves to defend against her in the hopes of keeping the North from her. Or Jon will pretend to stand by her side in the hopes of assassinating her and taking her place. If he tries this I think he will die as Danaerys will not trust anyone other than Grey Worm. Now that King's Landing is toast I think that Danaerys will make Dragonstone her home and create a new throne. She will not allow other kings and queen and will plan on taking over more than Westoros.

I think that Bran will be instrumental in the creation of a new horror, similar to the white walkers, that will be used to fight man once again. I think that the cycle, started by the Children of the Forest, will begin again by the end of the series finale. The Children of the Forest created the white walkers out of desperation when humanities destructive nature became overwhelming and Danaerys has just shown that the human lust for violence and power must be put in check. Because she is so powerful someone will need to create an equally powerful force to stand up to her. This is where the cycle begins again and we find that the Game of Thrones is a never-ending struggle against the cruelty of man. Bran will end up in a tree by the end as well.

After episode 5 I have come to the conclusion that the authors of the overall story are taking a fundamentally pessimistic stance in regards to humanity. The moral of the story is that humans can't be trusted with power and that ultimately we cause our own destruction. This is true, of course, but it isn't necessarily the only truth in regards to humanities struggles. Throughout time we have struggled against the natural world and all its destructive capabilities. We have worked together to defend ourselves from dangerous beasts of all kinds and worked to solve problems such as the simple acquisition of food, water, and shelter. While the history of humanity is punctuated and littered with destruction, the modern world is the safest and most nurturing it has ever been. I appreciate a satisfying ending where the good guys to win and the bad guys to lose. I appreciate optimism and hope in my entertainment and I hope that episode 5 represents the rock bottom so as to create an even more stupendously glorious victory for the good guys but I fear that that isn't in the cards. I am optimistic that I will once again be surprised by the next and final episode.

GOT: Season 8 Notes and Predictions 2 (Spoilers)

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Episode three was awesome! The battle at Winterfell is over and there were some surprises for sure. A few main characters are dead and I predicted one of them (Theon), which was pretty obvious, but still. Jorah Mulmont and Lyanna Mulmont are dead. The old red lady is dead after playing a major role in defending the living. Jon and Daenerys still need to get their shit figured out and after all the commotion it looks like most of the main characters that we care about are still alive, conveniently enough. Kind of miraculous that so many survived.

The Night King is dead and I was genuinely surprised at how it happened although it was pretty obvious once I saw it. She has been training to be an assassin so who better to sneak in and get the kill than Arya? She really kicked ass in this episode and it was interesting to see Jon and Daenerys struggle to make a difference. Daenerys especially fucked up by staying on the ground long enough for the wights to almost kill her dragon. That was stupid and she almost died when she fell off. Good thing Jorah is always there to save her. I think it's kind of annoying and formulaic that they keep saving main characters at the last second. Someone just swoops in to save them. It takes away from one of the reasons why GOT is so good; it's not formulaic. It's probably a decision that comes from the writers of the show and not from George R. R. Martin but whatever. It's still awesome. 

In my previous notes, I predicted that the Night King would be alive going into the end of the season, so that was way off. I really appreciate that all the wights are dead for good but it came as a bit of a shock as they have been the "real" threat for so long. Metaphorically, it makes sense though because they represent death and at this point, all the characters have come to terms with death and so now the real threat is from humans, which is always the biggest struggle. Real people with power and the struggle with one's own evil tendencies is an ancient parable and one that is played out in Game of Thrones.

Episode four seems to be a preparation for the war for the throne itself. Cersei has a formidable army and was smart to let the north fight and die without her. Now they are weaker and she has a better chance to win. The north will have to be clever and I think this is where Tyrian will redeem his previous failures in strategy. Jamie will have to confront Cersei at some point and resolve his feelings toward her. He might be put into a situation to be able to kill her, mirroring his betrayal of the Mad King but I don't think he will be able to kill her.

I would think episode five would be the final battle at Kings Landing and if that's the case then episode six could be devoted to wrapping everything up in a nice little bow, which seems a little too nice. I think Arya will make a play for Cersei but it can't work out as she isn't going to kill both the Night King and Cersei. It would be fitting for Daenerys to kill Cersei to take the throne like a true ruler would.

With three more episodes a lot can happen and I think a lot more main characters will die. I bet they will introduce something totally new like a character or a strategic item in the next two episodes that will change things up. This might be someone from one of the neighboring areas coming to fight unexpectedly or the bankers coming to collect a debt or a new undead threat we didn't see coming. After being so wrong about what episode three would look like I assume there will be some great surprises in store.

No one has ever taken King's Landing by force so this will be an opportunity to break that streak. I did guess that only one dragon would survive and I hope it survives to the end, although it doesn't seem likely. It represents the old world and I think the main lesson will be that things change and old ideas are put aside. This is why the red lady died and why so many female characters are taking power. They represent a paradigm shift. Regardless, I'm excited to see the next episodes!

GOT Season 8 Notes and Predictions (Spoilers)

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After seeing episode two of season 8 I thought I might write down my ideas about what might happen by the end of the show and episode three, more specifically. All the characters are back together at Winterfell and Cersei is held up in King's Landing on a throne she doesn't deserve. Essentially it is a reversal of the situation that led to the Targaryen's losing the throne. Now, Cersei is the Mad King, but she will probably not be killed by her hand. Then again, maybe she will...

Gendry and Arya are like Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark, except that they get to fuck. Brienne is a sir, Jon Snow is now Aegon Targaryen and the white walkers are at the gates when episode three begins next week. What will happen next? I have no fucking clue but here are some thoughts and notes on what I'm thinking about. 

First, I think that the battle in episode three will be the biggest single battle in the series and all the subsequent battles will be smaller in scale but the stakes will be higher for their outcomes. The battle in episode three at Winterfell has a two-prong strategy; one goal is to defend the North from the hoard of white walkers and the other goal is to get the Night King alone by using Bran/Three-Eyed Raven as bait and to bum rush the Night King at the God's Wood. Bran will not die during this exchange but someone else important will. I would guess that it will be Reek. He betrayed Bran and the Starks and this will be an opportunity to sacrifice himself for their house by saving Bran from death. Also, the previous Three-Eyed Raven was stuck in the roots of a God's Wood tree and this might be a foreshadowing of where Bran will end up; in the Winterfell God's Wood Tree. The God's Wood tree might get torched by the Frost Dragon and Bran is responsible for reviving it as it re-grows around him.

I think that Daenerys and Aegon will have to work together during the battle but at some point, one will be forced to save or kill the other. This will be a difficult decision that will ultimately test their love and in the end, they will choose each other over their claim to the throne. This will cause a new power realignment but ultimately will end with them becoming King and Queen together, ushering in a new era of just and honorable governance; if they live that long. One of them will probably die. 

Ayra will sneak about strategically killing white walkers, but not in the front lines.  She will fight with her new blade and Gendry will end up fighting by her side at some point. They will survive and if Aegon and Daenerys both die they would be potential throne contenders, although Arya probably wouldn't accept it. Also, Arya will probably make her way to King's Landing after episode three to take out Cersei but things won't go quite as planned or be as easy as the others she has assassinated. The real question is what face will she take when she attempts to infiltrate King's Landing? Maybe Euron Greyjoy or maybe the unsuspecting face of a handmaiden.

The Hound will most likely end of fighting The Mountain, potentially as a distraction for Arya to take out Cersei. I hope they take each other out and die together with The Mountain's face on fire. 

Jaime Lannister and Sir Brienne will fight together on the front lines and save each other's lives a few times and one might die in the melee. I could see Jamie dying and coming back as a white walker and Sir Brienne ends up killing him in this form. That would be appropriately tragic. 

The catacombs will not be safe and those there will have to defend it against white walkers, and potentially one of the leaders of the white walkers. Tyrian and Gilly will play a role in this defense. The little girl that wanted to help will die, because its GOT.

I'm not sure what the sea-faring people are up to. Yara and Euron will most likely fight over the Iron Islands at some point but I'm not sure who really cares about it. Euron has way more ships but Yara is clever and she might come up with a plan to keep the throne and be the first female ruler of the Iron Islands, if Daenerys allows it in the end. 

The two living dragons will fight the frost dragon and only one living dragon will remain alive in the end. The Night King will not be killed until the very end. If he takes Bran as a captive that could be an interesting twist. Maybe the Night King needs his info or something deeper than just killing him in mind.  

Bronn will catch up with Jaime and/or Tyrian after the battle in episode three and will act like he is going to kill them or is thinking about it but then will side with Jaime and Tyrian to help take King's Landing in episode 5. Episode 4 will be the aftermath of the battle at Winterfell and planning the next move. Cersei could attack Winterfell in Episode four or five but so far it seems that she is going to sit back and wait. Possibly use wildfire to blow shit up.

In episode four Daenerys and Aegon will decide to embrace their heritage rule together. They will decide to take King's Landing with their remaining force and hold up in the south as the frozen dead folk don't do so well in the warmer weather. Daenerys and/or Aegon will make their last stand at King's Landing in episode 6. The Night King will finally die but someone will take his place, maybe Bran. The winter will be long and full of terrors but the humans will survive. Samwell will live to tell the tale of the Game of Thrones to a new generation of Winter-Born children.

Summers will come and go and the winters will do the same. And in a thousand years or so the white walkers will come again.