Game Of Thrones Season 6 Discussion Thread (Spoilers up to and including the latest episode)

@beaudacious: I'm sure it is since apparently she's got a no-nude clause in her contract now.

It's not a double and she does't have that in her contract.

I also thought it might've been CGI/Shopped at first since her head was kinda stiff, but after a few more shots it seemed to be real. She was just being stoic, I guess?

Some thoughts

• Daenerys is literally back to where she was at the end of Season 1. Also, I don't understand how a macho, traditionalist horde of 100,000 manly men wouldn't just devolve into infighting and factionalism following the deaths of their leaders, rather than following this lady who just killed their leaders. Also, her surviving fire has been seen before by dothraki, at the end of season 1, and they promptly abandoned her between seasons, what makes this any different?
• I guess it's always been an issue, but is Daenerys also just really good at holding her breath? Like, sure, fireproof and all that, but lack of oxygen/smoke inhalation would still be bad news for her. Similarly, I'd think a dothraki's instinct would be to rush her and beat her to death, not run around.
• Ramsay is evil, tortures people, kills people and likes dogs. Further updates on the situation will be made every hour on the hour. God I can't wait until he's off the show, its just a bunch of dead air whenever he's on. I guess the writers literally just brought Rickon and Osha back to give Jon motivation to fight Ramsay, something he already had plenty of.
• The Tyrion scene was actually decent this time. I like the conflict between him and Greyworm/Missandei/
• The small council scene was weird, it felt like it could have been combined with the previous one, and the plan seems really strange anyway.
• Brienne inserting herself into Davos and Melissandre's conversation was awkward.
• Tormund hitting on Brienne is hilarious.
• The High Sparrow and Margaery scene was really good.
• Sansa's finally taking some agency after the trainwreck that was her role in season 5.
• When the hell are we going to see Bronn?

Overall, I think this season hasn't been as egregious as 5, but it's missing just as much as it's hitting. Hopefully things get better over the next few episodes. This episode was overall just very middling, kind of boring.

@aegon: My mistake then.

@mems1224: boring? No, or at least no more boring than Jon Snow. And people seem to get really emotional invested in the actions of Ramsay

@loudgeekjr: dude, Ramsey sucks. He's basically a comic book villain at this point. We get it, he's evil.

Ramsey is fine. Last night's scene stunk but it was about getting rid of Osha more than telling anything about Ramsey. Ramsey isn't evil, IMO, he is, as Roose put it, a wild dog. I like that. I don't understand why so many people seem to be so upset about him. I think overall they have mostly done a good job of showing that he makes very rash decisions and it WILL punish him in the end. Scenes where he doesn't hit are more often the fault of the scene's writing than his character. Example: winning against Stannis.

@sethmode: Because in a show that had thus far been about underhanded politics and backroom schemes being that which truly leads to power, an unsubtle wild dog winning is an absurdity. It worked for Joffery because the show made it clear he only held his position due to the work of far more capable characters. It worked for Ramsay as long as it was clear that his father was holding everything together despite his thoughtlessness. Now it's just a farce.

Ramsay is very much the antithesis to the larger thematic story that the show has been trying to tell ever since it killed off its paragon of virtue (Ned).

@turambar: I guess I don't entirely disagree. As I said, there are parts that seem to fly in the face of logic just to move the plot (20 good men to cripple Stannis from last season being the biggest problem). Other than that, I think it is quite obviously setting up Ramsey for a fall, basically through the action of killing his father. Those that held shit together for him are gone, and we're already starting to see where his rash decision making is setting up problems (I don't believe that the Umbers are loyal to him...the entire "The North Remembers" plot is going to unfold because of Ramsey's inability to behave calmly or think rationally).

And man, I disagree about underhanded politics being the main theme of this show, or even the books. It's a world where that sort of stuff happens, but brutality and random acts of violence are just as big of a part. Being rash gets many characters a bit of power before ultimately getting them killed. It's an ongoing theme and Ramsey is headed down the same path.

Here's a question: did they really have Jon giving Sansa the revelation that he was killed and then revived take place off screen? And she's just completely unperturbed by it?

So the ending.... I think that was kind of just dumb. Why did everyone bow? She would just immediately get to rule with how she was being talked to? That was clearly indicative about how they felt about her and would extend to others outside of the room. I really don't get what happened there.

Yup. He has no interesting motivations and one good thing about the show many times is establishing motivations (even for villains) and developing characters.

@artisanbreads: I mean, what would you do if a naked 5foot blonde lady just set a hut on fire with all of the leaders inside and walks out with no burns or injuries? I would summit aswell, or run away as fast as possible.

Run away is a fine response. I mean, they could have done something that made a lot more sense with that part. But I guess I'm talking more about what that scene suggests going forward.

I just think her immediately ruling if that is what it looks like is convenient and silly given how we have seen the Dothraki operate. Like some others said, it kind of just brings her back to season 1... really? Just not really where I think that should go.

@xanadu: Dany without her dragons has no power. Any Dothraki with half their wit could just walk up to her and kill her. They aren't docile merchants or peasants from King's Landing, they're fucking savages. The disparity between the Dothraki we were introduced to in season 1 and these "all bark and no bite" bros from this season is just staggering.

@artisanbreads: I'm guessing it's less that they have decided to accept her rule and more that they fear her as a god. If you think about her path through the larger Dothraki tribe this season, they found her and captured her, she threatened their leaders and refused to bow before them, and then she killed their leaders and survived a huge fire. The Dothraki are scared of magic and Daenarys seems pretty fucking magical to them I'd wager. My guess is they are in a sort of "submit or die" mode right now. I don't think they'd just assume it was a fluke and try to kill her.

Benioff and Weiss touched on this in the inside the episode but it has real merit - only a few people saw her birth the dragons. The Dothraki at large knew of her and had heard stories, but they hadn't seen it. Now the entire horde knows she's for real, and I guess they're scared to cross her.

@xanadu: Yeah, but you're not Dothraki. She only had a handful of followers from her own khalasar after she pulled the same magic trick back in season one, but now we're supposed to believe a huge chunk of the incredibly nihilistic and misogynistic Dothraki society are going to bow down before her? She didn't even have dragons this time.

@quid_pro_bono:Yeah I suppose. I don't know. I think her just surviving a fire again was kind of weak but if the story keeps moving so be it. Her plot has been floundering for seasons.

But yeah I kind of feel like @ares42, not that they are all bark and no bite at all times but with this, yes. Just because she survives a fire doesn't make her invincible. She can be killed like any person. To me, they should then fear her and see her killed for sure because she killed their leaders (who they all presumably like and believe in) and is a "witch" in their terms with magic. I just think that seems much more logical with what we have seen of the Dothraki. We hear in that very sequence that she was a fool to trust a witch with their child. I just don't see how she gets to the top from doing this. Before it required Khal Drogo really choosing her and respecting her (relative to the other Dothraki towards women).

Again if it keeps it moving I guess whatever. Just don't really like the sequence that much and since it's kind of back to season 1 if she has their support, that makes all that wheel spinning with her storyline as the show has gone on seem even more pointless.

EDIT: feel the same as @spoonman671 does above as well as far as this adding up.

I've decided I don't really care what happens anymore so long as Tormund and Brienne live together happily ever after.

Yes this part was hilarious, do need to give credit there. But why the hell does Tormund eat a drumstick like that? That was the oddest part of all.

This was probably my favorite episode this season and I've been pretty openly down on this season. Bunch of good dialogue from several character pairings that I like and a bunch of good scheming by the players in the larger Game.

The reunion at the top with Jon and Sansa tugged at my heartstrings more than I thought it would. I don't know, something about the Stark children back together after being scattered for so long that my waning interest in either character's arc was overridden by some good ol pathos.

Little Finger seems like he's at the top of the food chain or at least close to it as far as political and financial power goes. However the hell he's still in the business of doling out cash and favors while everyone else gets ready to self destruct is something worth applauding.

Watching Tyrion basically bring the Game to the Masters is positively hysterical to behold. As improbable as his plans of converting slavery into venture socialism or whatever, this character has been written to have things work out for him more often than not so I never know when to expect him to fall flat of his face.

High Sparrow continues to be one of the most compelling new characters. It's going to be a real shame if he gets got just because the royalty can't stand his sheer amount of zeal. As convincing as he is in his faith, as a viewer it's hard to take that stuff seriously when there are dragons and ice liches and shadow assassin babies. In a weird way the character almost seems privileged to not have to experience the crazier shit in this world in favor of merely being impoverished.

Lanisters and Tyrells getting the band back together. Maybe it won't be a total shit show this time. I'm expecting some comeuppance incoming.

Okay the ending was silly but whatever. They've gone to great lengths to portray the more simplistic societies as being extremely superstitious in the series. Even last episode Tormund was saying to Jon how the Wildlings thought he was a god just because he came back from the dead. It doesn't seem like the most unbelievably thing to happen in the show to have a bunch of unwashed Dothraki's bow before some naked chick with fire immunity for a second time. Respect da fire yo. I think I would've preferred some dragon death instead of just a burning hut though I guess they have a budget to think about.

I'm surprised to see people complaining about Dany's stuff last night. I feel like from the beginning of the story there was an implied promise that we eventually get to see a Mongolian Dothraki Horde wreak havoc upon Westeros, so really from the second they were reintroduced to her plot, this was the only way it could possibly go. Maybe it could've been less forced, but that would've required more time, and I for one am happy this happened early in the season, because I was not looking forward to the Essos plot being dragged out any further than it has been over the last couple seasons.

Yup, to be fair it wouldn't have worked very well though just having her accept it is hilarious in its own right. Hopefully there's a scene later where she doubts the existence of white walkers just to make it even funnier.

@artisanbreads said:

I guess his sole attention was on eyeing up Brienne and having that "I wanna fuck you" look :D No time for chicken.

I think she knows. I mean, she asked him to help her fight for Winterfell. She knows about the Night's Watch oath and what happens to deserters. That must mean that she's aware of everything that happened.

And vice versa? You think Jon would have been more likely to immediately want Ramsay dead if he knew what went on between him and Sansa? I'm not quite sure what happened there.

I appreciated the scenes and seeing her have to kind of talk Jon out of walking away but it is a little weird to figure that part out.

@omgfather: It's the only possible answer. That might have been the most barbaric thing to happen on the show.

fuck. i thought it would be all clear to read a wiki of ice and fire now, but then i saw something that could still happen. smh. i do it to myself.

e: i read more and apparently it's not as bad as i thought. phew!

During his little monologue about how he used to be well off, and how he gave it all up, I had the thought that he actually has an ulterior motive. I swear its all just a power grab. During his little epiphany after the night of debauchery he realised that he'd never be like the high born with money alone, he needed the power.

I dunno if that will turn out to be the case, but he's definitely not what he seems. I like where it's going.

In reality the only plot lines people care about at this point are Tyrion/Varys, Brienne, and Arya. Everything else has been so dragged out and one dimensional that really, if they cut everything else out I'd probably say this was a fantastic show. Even the Cersei situation has been so prolonged and needlessly time filler, that I no longer care. I though things were going to pick-up and Jaime and Cerise would start to turn the sinister gears behind the scenes. Nope, just more filler, and then; "Oh hey! You got an army right!".

The whole High Sparrow story line is just filler, and will conveniently end when Jon Snow takes back the north. Then we'll have (north vs south) vs white walkers. It's nice of the white walkers to have such a convenient schedule, and delay "Winter is Coming" till the humans finish their squabbles. At this point Daenerys will probably catch the flu and die on the boat to Westeros, only to be revived by Dragon blood. Then Daenerys will arrive, hold up a candle, and every other army will fall to it's knees begging for mercy.

The only way I'll ever forgive the awful filler that is Daenerys' story line, is if the white walkers pull out a white walker dragon that eats Daenerys. Then Bran has to try and control the three regular dragons to beat the ice dragon to finally justify why his story line wasn't ended 4 seasons ago.

The only other thing I'd say is that everything they're trying to do with Daenerys they've achieved better and with 1/10th the screen time with Yara Greyjoy. Daenerys in power looks like a lost child on the brink of tears at every turn, while Yara makes me think; "Shit man she'd wreck those dragons, and everyone else". Wish they would've given us more Iron Islands instead of watching a girl fall into convenient plot point after plot point. It's also neat how they made Yara look similar to her father in silhouette, maybe foreshadowing her rule. Unfortunately we'll probably be forced to watch a stupid scene where the whole Iron Islands story line boils down to Yara with Theone at her side, negotiating with John Snow for their help.

She definitely knows, as their first conversation on screen has Jon referring to "what happened to him" as why he's suddenly lost all confidence. I'm just surprised a conversation that amazing wasn't actually shown to the audience.

I think that might be because it would take up a huge chunk of the episode, and also it'd be hella hard to get right.

I still find the show having a lot of story telling problems. At this point..... I kinda don't like Daenerys, only because anyone who fallows her only ends up dead. Really wish there was a scene in season 2 where a Dothraki went "hey hey hey, sorry about this, but your Khal is dead, we have to take you into a tent, sorry about this. Yes, I know you want revenge, and you're a god to your followers but that's protocol to our culture which you adopted." Instead it's this long prolong sequence of 4 episodes that feels really insulting. And it's a scene that ends bad ass but could have gone better with "Hey, I'm fire proof bring me that torch see." And even if a Dothraki just laughed at her, it would be enough then sitting through the long as hell color of her pubic hair, raping her, the joys of seeing her naked..... blah. It just proves the Dothraki were stupid, and not "Wait, why is she bold, let me hear her out." Makes me miss Drogo more, since all the rejected Dothraki turn out to be dumb asses. Like season 1 was "this is a misunderstood culture lets learn from it" which was why the Dothraki where cool.

It was just on levels of Walking Dead, "hey we have a set, lets just use it for too many scenes" level of bad TV....... of and that was a really bad compositing shot just to show nudity but then the fire is behind her, and we shouldn't even see a face in the first place..... armature hour.

Dany is the Roman Reigns of Game of Thrones. All of her victories feel cheap

@beaudacious: I'm almost certain it was. They've done that stuff in the past - last season they used a body double and photoshopped Lena Headey's head on during her walk through the city. And Emilia Clarke has stated before that Emilia Clarke was getting tired of being naked and showing herself off so much.

@sethmode: She also had people assist her by locking the doors for her, who without her plan would've been fucked. It was also as many people said really thick that the big burly warrior men all ran around like headless chickens, that not one of them tried to stop her, or to grab her and oh I don't know, choke the life out of her?

Emilia confirmed that it was in fact her in the nude scene.

@imsh_pl: Ropey CGI then, her head really didn't look attached to her body.

Dude, it was her, jesus....

@beaudacious: You want to talk about uninteresting plot lines? Lets talk about the Vale. I had almost forgotten about Littlefinger, and at this point I wish I had. He is being sold as this great machiavellian character, but he has done nothing of consequence in the last 2 seasons, and since his and Sansa's storylines are the ones that are more diverted from the books, I doubt he will.

@pilgore: Yeah, I've accepted that. It's not something I really care about, I'm not some sort of purist or person who just tunes in for some topless shots, I'm just saying as others have also said that it looked dodgy/cgi which wouldn't have surprised me considering the actress had previously expressed a dislike of those scenes. There was an equally shitty shot a couple of moments before that when the camera crashed in on the "main" leader in the hut when it was on fire, like it was surfing along a flame of fire.

@hermes - My guess is his play is that both he and the army of the Vale and Jon Snow and his army of Wildings and some of the Nights Watch all end up heading towards Winterfell, either surprising each other of striking up an alliance beforehand.

Ironically, the show just set him up for something big.

Was that hut soaked in gasoline or something?! She'd flip over the little torch and an entire wall would ignite!

@turambar said:

I know, that is what I meant by "being sold as this great character", I just don't like him as a character and I think the show moved on from him.

Yes, he is the intelectual murderer of Jon Arryn, which lead to many of the events from the first season, but his motivation and plan has nothing to do with the plot threads of the show: he is unaware of the white walkers, Bran, Arya and Daenerys, he is barely a player in the current political scenario of King's Landing, and he lost his triumph card to the north, so bringing him back to the spotlight means going back to a plot thread that adds nothing and was abandoned 2 seasons ago.

However, he is also one of the bigger actors the show has left, so of course they are bringing him back.

I get where the concerns come from but think back to episode one when the blood riders said to their Khal said that killing another Khal is one of the best things in life. The Dothraki follow strength. Killing all of the Khals at one time is the greatest strength you could display to the Dothraki. They would all fully submit to her. Does that mean the show telegraphs that to the audience well enough? No. But it is what it is.

@hermes: Actually, his plot line revolves pretty heavily around the Starks, which is coming back to the fore now that the fight over Winterfell is no longer a Bolton v. Stannis affair.

So I guess show Targaryns are immune to fire because they sure aren't in the books. Regardless of MUH BOOKS that was still all the bad things I expect out of Dany's storyline. Sansa's character feels totally half baked. It's like they have no clue what to do with her and just throw her around. They Tyrion stuff was good and makes Dany look like an idiot which is something I always like. The Faith Militant stuff has been so fucking bad and that's all. I feel like I'm not going to get me 100% paranoid kill everyone Cersei which was my favorite Cersei bit. I guess I was less angry than usual except that Dany bit. Targs are not immune to fire damn it the dragons birth and witchs magic made a one time magical event happen she isn't just immune.

This. They filled the entire last season with so much filler that was so incredibly uninteresting and then this is what they choose to not show? What?

I bet when Game of Thrones is done, all of it will have been build up and no pay off whatsoever. It'll just show the two sides, the living somehow united, storming towards the dead, cut to black and then continue after the battle was done.

Super pessimistic view, obviously. But with good reason. They've done that so many times now it's not even funny.

@jesushammer: Just Daenerys. Remember that her brother wasn't immune to fire. Dany got some sorta special somethin.

Also it's worth noting that every time she's been fire-immune has been while she's burning Khals. Maybe it's a dark magic king's blood sort of deal like it is with Melisandre.

Best episode so far, Daenerys is interesting for the fist time since season 2. Haven't felt too invested in the show since season 4, partly due to so many character deaths, partly due to the quality seeming to vary a bit since then. I wish the various storylines would stop diverging and start converging with a sense of urgency, pick up the pace, and start to seem like things will as some point, start to be wrapped up. Each episode tends to feel like 5 different stories inching forwards rather than one story leaping forwards. The show is at it's best when it focuses on as few storylines per episode as possible. Also not sure about how Jon came back, I feel like there should have been some trade off for Mellisandre (like a human sacrifice?) because there are now fewer stakes to death.

Whats up with the bad writing this season? Tyrion has made three dickless jokes in 4 episodes. And all are bad. Not in character at all. No wit to them what so ever. Just childish, haha you don't have a dick.

Holy shit probably worst episode of the series, whole Bran scene was awfully lazy writing. Felt like a generic action movie scene, with false suspense strewn about. Absolutely zero impact, couldn't stop laughing at how moronic the whole situation came to be. Hodor, Hodor, Hodor. Hothdor, Hothedor, Hodor, Hodor,Holdor, Hodor, Hodor, Hodoor, jesus christ it's a comedy now.

But hey we got to see barely legal boobs, and dick warts? What the hell has this show even become? It really has lost direction, it feels so aimless, and lost. Are we really gonna get four more episodes of random filler, till the season finale to get some kind of actual plot development.

I can't disagree more. I thought the episode was amazing.