Ned's biggest mistake was not siding with Renly when given the opportunity. He had the most houses behind him and could have overthrown Joffrey while Tywin was at Casterlly Rock. Renly handed him this proposition on a platter but Ned was stuck on Stannis being the rightful heir to the throne. When Ned refused, Renly fled King's Landing with his men, leaving Ned alone against people much more devious than he was.

 

Too much time in the north sort of dulled his wits imo. He had so many opportunities to get the hell out of Dodge. Aside from Renly's offer, he could have stuck with his plan and return north when he decided he no longer wanted to be the hand of the king. If he truly believed that Stannis was next in line to be king, he should have absconded in secret without revealing to Cersei that he knew her secret. His downfall was made absolute by trusting Little Finger. As Tyrion Lannister said later on, only the village idiot would trust LF. Like I said, he spent too much time in the north.

 

Ned looks like a genius though next to Catelyn. She started the whole mess by kidnapping Tyrion which placed Ned and her daughters in danger at King's Landing. Then she undermines Robb during the war by letting Jaime go. That weakened his position with his bannermen and started them down the road to the Red Wedding.

 

You are right. CS started the whole mess and her trusting LF was a chain reaction. Yet as I said before it highlights the naivety of those who spend too much time in the North, whom sad to say, cannot compete with their southern counterparts who lives and breaths deceit and treachery. Think John Snow, so much like Ned Stark and wanting to do the right thing, which will not win him any wars.

I found this article in the Independent, where Vladimir Furdik (the Night King) talks about a great battle in the 3rd episode, it takes place somewhere that looks like Winterfell. It also mentions that a few main characters will die, which we already know. But it is a nice read.


https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/game-of-thrones/

One of the stars of Game of Thrones has revealed a huge detail about the eighth and final season.

With the HBO fantasy epic’s final six episodes set to be comprised of numerous showdowns, Vladimir Furdik – who plays the villainous Night King – has revealed when exactly the season’s biggest (and most costly) battle will take place.

Speaking to Hungarian website Sorozat Wiki, he seemed to confirm the battle the series has been building to since its very first episode in 2011 will arrive much earlier than anticipated.


“In the third part of the last season, there is a battle that the creators intend to be the biggest in television history,” Furdik said. “Almost the full episode will be about the battle, it will take about an hour.”

Much has been reported about this battle with sources calling it the show’s “biggest” sequence to date. It was completed after two and a half month’s worth of night shoots in Toome, the location used for Winterfell. According to reports, it’s the most expensive battle ever filmed for television.


The shoot doubled the record for the duration of any past battle sequence featured in the series. Many expected the showdown, which will see long-standing enemies unite to defeat the Night King’s army, to arrive toward the end of the season – however, Furdik’s revelation means the back half of the season will focus on the small case of the Iron Throne.




How Game of Thrones characters have changed
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Co-executive producer Bryan Cogman described the episode as being about “...all of these disparate characters coming together to face a common enemy, dealing with their own past, and defining the person they want to be in the face of certain death.”

HBO executives have revealed that several main characters will die in the final few episodes of the series which will draw to a close with the eighth season.

 

/\ /\ /\ That's why I love but hate this show at the same time.

 

NOT READING! NOT READING! I finally am watching. I am up to near the end of Season 5. So much fighting! But, wow, the last episode I saw where the Wall was breeched and the dead rose up. OH, dear god, that was wonderful.

Back to my binge....

 

The Three Eyed Raven to Bran in Oathbreaker - Stay too long where you don’t belong and you will never return.

There are no throw away lines in this show....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

My rewatch of the show has pushed into the 3rd season and for the above reason I'm a little more concerned about Arya's fate in the end than I was previously. The interaction with Melisandre where she told Arya there is a "darkness" in her really stands out. Everyone's take away there was how she said they'd meet again. But it makes me wonder a bit if she'll die in the finale. The audience is on her side of things but in reality she's been pretty ruthless in her actions.

I could see her perhaps saving Jon while he's battling the Night's King, and sacrificing herself for him giving him time to deal the death blow. Previously I thought Bran would be the sacrifice but I'm not so sure now.

 

I was watching the marathon over the NY holiday, but must admit I should have paid more attention - I had too many distractions. Unfortunately for me I am having a medical procedure at the end of this month, so I will have about two weeks off to recover. I think this will be a good time to watch again - REALLY watch again!

Arya - yes. I caught the remark about her darkness the first time. Also that she and Melisandre would meet again. So we know Meilsandre will go back to Westeros, and maybe even Winterfell.

What do you make of Bran waking up when Ned was forced to kill Lady? I think somehow there was a connection but just can't pinpoint what.

 

The dire wolves were all connected to the Starks so I think it was in some way like a death in the family. It also started the ball rolling toward the Stark's downfall. Even before Bran's conversion he was very intuitive after the fall so I think his awakening was linked to his family moving into danger.

I'm doing my rewatch more slowly and picking on things I had forgotten. Season 3 had some of the very best political maneuverings. It's painful to watch all of Catelyn and Robb's closing around them like a vice.

I hate the Ygritte scenes. Her character was too over the top. They overdid all of the Ramsay torture sequences as well. Putting that aside, it's a nice intricate season. I think Dany was at her best then too. The scene where she got the Unsullied is one of my favorites. The Tywin and Olenna scenes are top notch too.

It's interesting too when you know all of the plotting Tywin, Olenna, Roose Bolton and Littlefinger are doing behind the scenes that will unleash future events and then watch them in action prior to it all.

 

That's interesting you didn't care for the Ygritte and Ramsay scenes. I thought both characters were a bit underdeveloped compared to their book counterparts, especially Ramsay. There would have been such an outcry from viewers. IMO, if they had had him do all the horrible things he did on the pages. I know it turned my stomach to read it but I also thought at the time that they watered him down too much for the show.

 

I didn't read the books until after I started the series so I came into it with a different perspective. With that said though there are just some things that don't play out as well on TV. For instance it was best they left out that scene with Biter and Brienne.

The biggest area they came up short was with Dorne. That was excellent in the books, but a parody on the TV side. Stannis was also a much better character than the one portrayed on TV.

 

Interesting promo in the crypts of Winterfell. Wonder if there's any significance that Bran is the only Stark that isn't there. At the end too they confirm an April 14th return date. So we have exactly two months left.

 

ahem..... (coughs) 3 months. (Coughs again). Learn math (coughs louder).

JK

 

Winner is coming.

 

GREAT! uhm... what month are we skipping? lol

 

I just learned 1, but 2 is proving to be a little harder but I'm working at it. lol

 

February sounds good. I want the show to return so badly that I'm jumping the gun. I will need the 3 months though to finish my rewatch. Have just seen Seasons 1-3 so far.

 

Just rewatched Season 4 episode 2, the one where Joffrey is killed. It's the first time I've seen it since it originally aired and I enjoyed it even more this time around. They did such a great job with the reactions of all the various characters at the wedding to Joffrey's gross reenactment of the "battle of the five kings." As with Season 3 too, and all the political machinations that went on there, a second viewing adds to the appreciation of it all because you know what people like Olenna are up to behind the scenes.

Jack Gleeson also did an incredible job of playing Joffrey.

 

Jack Gleeson did do an incredible job as Joffrey, so good that people started sending him hate mail in RL, or so I read. Even GRRM offered him congrats on a job well done. Then again, many actors in the series were quite outstanding, think Charles Dance (Tywin) and Stephen Dillane (Stannis). Too bad the film Industry only recognised Peter Dinklage when it came to handing out Emmy Awards.

The rewatch is slow and I tend to go back and forth. One of the most satisfying scenes was when Cersei dealt out her revenge for the murder of her daughter by doing the same to Ellaria's daughter in front of her mother. There is no one that can deal out torture so sweet like Cersei.