[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

It's funny you bring this up. I was watching a show about GoT discussing the transition from Character Development as the focus of the writing to Plot Development a the new focus. The transition occurred when the show went beyond the books and the two gentlemen who write and their team had to move to the new schema. It can definitely be seen in the latter seasons as the plot's action drives the show rather than the characters motivations and reactions to the objective realities about their individual and collective predicaments. A great observation!

Cheers-mk

The divergence from the books has been palpable, and not in a good way. The further they get the more cringe-worthy moments we find. Now 1 per episode at least.

On a separate note, my wife and I were joking last night that maybe the shows creators will punk us all and have every character survive the epic battle only to die ridiculous deaths. Jaime from a bad shellfish allergy, Jon from an infected splinter, the Hound slips on a banana peel and hits his head, Arya falls asleep in the tub and drowns. It all concludes with Hot Pie ascending the throne.

[HFW003]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Remind me, when you have a place underground where you keep dead people, what's that called? Is it a crypt?

I assume Ned and Catelyn are going to need to be killed yet again. And are there dragons down there, or are those under Cercei?

If you look at the trailer for the next episode you also see Arya running down to the crypt.

No good can come of it I tell you!

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

The divergence from the books has been palpable, and not in a good way. The further they get the more cringe-worthy moments we find. Now 1 per episode at least.

On a separate note, my wife and I were joking last night that maybe the shows creators will punk us all and have every character survive the epic battle only to die ridiculous deaths. Jaime from a bad shellfish allergy, Jon from an infected splinter, the House slips on a banana peel and hits his head, Arya falls asleep in the tub and drowns. It all concludes with Hot Pie ascending the throne.

That would be tragically funny and result in them seeking exile on Easter Island.

Originally Posted by HFW003

If you look at the trailer for the next episode you also see Arya running down to the crypt.

No good can come of it I tell you!

Ned-Without-A-Head will be back in the mix!

[Red Bread]

Shit, does this mean that we might have to deal with the return of Joffrey? Undead Joffrey on the throne would probably cause mass hysteria.

Maybe Battle of the Bastards isn't really over. Ramsay rises again and takes out Sansa.

And why is Littlefinger getting odds in Vegas to be the one on the throne? Didn't Arya kill him?

[HFW003]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

Ned-Without-A-Head will be back in the mix!

How will we know its him if he doesn't have a head

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Shit, does this mean that we might have to deal with the return of Joffrey? Undead Joffrey on the throne would probably cause mass hysteria.

Maybe Battle of the Bastards isn't really over. Ramsay rises again and takes out Sansa.

And why is Littlefinger getting odds in Vegas to be the one on the throne? Didn't Arya kill him?

I don't think there's enough of Ramsey Bolton to bring back. Those dogs were really big and really hungry!

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

I don't think there's enough of Ramsey Bolton to bring back. Those dogs were really big and really hungry!

Guess we'll see, isn't what's left in Winterfell?

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Guess we'll see, isn't what's left in Winterfell?

Indeed it is. I'd love to see the Night King do his little rise from the dead trick and over in the bushes a massive pile of dog shit starts to wiggle. A little Ramsey Bolton voice cries out "Sansa my love. Where is Sansa? Someone bring her to me. I'm back..."

[TXSTYLE]

Super Ssssssslllllooooooow! But... The dialog was extra witty.
Never fear.... The EPIC Battle is coming next episode with the longest running time!!!

[NickyC]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Shit, does this mean that we might have to deal with the return of Joffrey?

I think it's safe to conclude he was completely burned up in the Sept wildfire explosion.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by NickyC

I think it's safe to conclude he was completely burned up in the Sept wildfire explosion.

Oh yeah, thank you Cercei!

[Bingobimmer]

Originally Posted by Teufel_Hunden

Knowing that she is so hell bent on ruling the 7 kingdoms I would not be surprised if she turned on Jon, aka Aegon. She does not want to be a queen in name only - she wants to rule.

Look how Dany reacted to Sansa when she said we fought to take back the north and pledged never to submit to a southern ruler again.

Dany is 100% Targaryen, and Tyrion & Varys may not be able to keep her in check, as has been referred to many times.

Also, her patience with Tyrion is really wearing thin.

IMO, there will be some real treachery once the knight king is defeated (I believe that will happen) and the game is on for the throne.

When thinking about how the show will end I always reference GRRM saying it will be "bitter sweet", and Dany killing Jon definitely fulfills that. The show has been all about killing heros when you don't expect it so I hope it ends that way.

[Bingobimmer]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

The divergence from the books has been palpable, and not in a good way. The further they get the more cringe-worthy moments we find. Now 1 per episode at least.

On a separate note, my wife and I were joking last night that maybe the shows creators will punk us all and have every character survive the epic battle only to die ridiculous deaths. Jaime from a bad shellfish allergy, Jon from an infected splinter, the Hound slips on a banana peel and hits his head, Arya falls asleep in the tub and drowns. It all concludes with Hot Pie ascending the throne.

I can give the show writers a break because they only get a year to write while the books can take an infinite amount of time. But the show really did take a nosedive after they ran out of source material. IMO it has gone from a political drama to an action movie.

[Haywood]

A pretty good theory on the Night King.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls02572060...ref_=hm_hp_i_3

[JasonCSU]

That is interesting. I hadn't thought about the Night King wanting to get to Jon and Daenarys. One random thought I had after watching the second episode, is that those who were drinking and BSing around the fire may be the some of the few who survive at the very end.

[TXSTYLE]

I believe the Night King has some sort of relation to Bran and or the Targerians!

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

I believe the Night King has some sort of relation to Bran and or the Targerians!

One theory is that Theon will shoot Bran with a dragonglass arrow to turn him into another Night King, like intentionally. Shit's about to get weird. No more family reunions, let's dance.

[FlexGT85]

There are soooo many theories going around. A lot of them make more sense to those who have read the books.

As far as what I'm leaning on:

The crypts "should" be safe... Plenty of characters either mention the crypts directly (old naan while telling stories) or have dreams about them, etc. in scenes that sort of foreshadow what we are seeing now. It could honestly go either way towards safe or unsafe. Mentions are made very early on in the books about how “The vengeful spirits of old kings are kept at bay by laying iron swords across their lap.” This could hint at something that was known but long forgotten, the Starks and the Wights have ties going back generations and it’s very possible that the Starks may have discovered that Night King cant re-animate a corpse if iron is used to protect the tomb somehow. But it’s also known from the books that a lot of these iron swords have deteriorated over time and as Ned walked the crypts, he once wondered whether or not this meant the ghosts were free to roam the castle…

Here’s some book tidbits in case anyone is interested:

“By ancient custom, an iron longsword had been laid across the lap of each who had been Lord of Winterfell, to keep the vengeful spirits in their crypts. The oldest had long ago rusted away to nothing, leaving only a few red stains where the metal had rested on stone. Ned wondered if that meant those ghosts were free to roam the castle now. He hoped not. The first Lords of Winterfell had been men hard as the land they ruled.”

“He was walking through the crypts beneath Winterfell, as he had walked a thousand times before. The Kings of Winter watched him pass with eyes of ice, and the direwolves at their feet turned their great stone heads and snarled.”

“Last night, he had dreamt the Winterfell dream again. He was wandering the empty castle, searching for his father, descending into the crypts. Only this time the dream had gone further than before. In the dark he’d heard the scrape of stone on stone. When he turned he saw that the vaults were opening, one after the other. As the dead kings came stumbling from their cold black graves , Jon had woken in pitch-dark, his heart hammering.”

“He had always heard that the iron in the sword kept the spirits of the dead locked within their tombs. If a sword was missing...”

Based on this, one can safely assume the crypts may not be safe at all… But who knows. Anything can happen. The swords aren’t mentioned in the show at all and I haven’t really noticed them on screen. But I say this all to give an idea of what the author was thinking and in turn what the showrunners borrowed from.

I think that the dead will definitely rise within the crypts, but there is a high probability that the starks of old have some kind of protection set in place… Something that already worked in the past or something that they learned from a past mistake and used to create a failsafe… But who will rise? Ned was decapitated.. Can he be re animated? Some of the Starks were burned as well… But again, I think that they will rise and either they will at first fight for the night king and then switch sides OR people will initially think they are fighting for the night king only to realize quickly that they aren’t. Anybody remember that scene from the trailer of Arya running scared from the crypts?? I think she’s running from the sight of her undead mother and father… What else could scare her that much? Certainly not a living person… Catlyn returning is another interesting and probable theory. Those who read the books know that Catlyn is revived much like John was… But her body was in a really advanced state of decomposition when it happened and because of this she cant even talk and looks like a zombie. They call her Lady Stoneheart and she communicates by snarling through her slitted throat… Very creepy. She goes Nazi on every living Frey she can find with her followers. Its very possible that they waited until the end to re-introduce her given that she was a pretty significant part of the books after she was revived.

But again… Who the hell knows. Maybe there is a giant Dire Wolf-Dragon Hybrid buried beneath the crypts? Hell of a secret weapon that would be.

[NickyC]

FINALLY, the GOTdamned payoff.

What an episode, good grief. I was the one complaining the episodes in season 8 weren't long enough, but watching the Winterfell battle tonight all I wanted it to do was end lol. That was brutally hopeless until......

Won't spoil.

I will say nearly all of my fav characters are still around though.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by NickyC

FINALLY, the GOTdamned payoff.

What an episode, good grief. I was the one complaining the episodes in season 8 weren't long enough, but watching the Winterfell battle tonight all I wanted it to do was end lol. That was brutally hopeless until......

Won't spoil.

I will say nearly all of my fav characters are still around though.

I watched The Avengers today and now that Episode of GOT...I have Action Induced PTSD. No sleep for me tonight!!

WOW!!

[Boostin FD]

Best episode ever! Worth the three week wait. Can’t wait for the next week.

[Savageenterprise]

That was super intense at the end. I kept wondering where the Hound and Arya were!