GOT - there will be spoilers
-
Interesting watching the extended behind the scenes of this episode.
They treated the whole thing as a 3 act differing themed episode.
Act 1 suspense (the beginning)
Act 2 Horror (Arya in the library and chasing parts)
Act 3 Action (the final fighting sequences)Watching how it was filmed you gain a fucking ton of respect how it turned out, 55 consecutive nights of filming often at minus degree temperatures.
All the pyro stuff heaps of extras and props.
Bodies and of course everyone’s favourite the lighting. -
Thought the retreating of the Unsullied looked awesome.
-
@Machpants said in GOT - there will be spoilers:
After my second watch I've got the library scene. So the wights are basically in standby mode. They are not being directly controlled by a white walker, so they're given a program, get into the castle. Once they're in they're fall back to standby, just moving around, really doing nothing cos task complete. Once they hear a living being tho, they go back to full on kill mode. Programming/order takes over, loud noises of other wights chasing sets then off too, they charge to join the fray. That's my take, anyway
Yeah the battle tactics for pretty much everyone in the series have been shite since they out run the books.
The dragons were not supposed to engage the wights, saving themselves for the night king. But Dani couldn't help herself, she was burning them up well behind the front lines, there would be no friendly fire. What pissed me off were the unsullied not taking a tight formation, like Greek phalanx, that would actually work. There were huge gaps between each column and line of men. Close formation fighting pretty much became a pushing match in antiquity, with not many casualties, that would have held them back whilst the dragons and trebuchets attacked the back.
Obviously the loose formation of unsullied held the weights back because of magic, no other way it would have worked. Same as anyone surviving in the Court yard, without playing dead like fat boy (can they sense the living?), Especially after the second wave of undead, no way anyone would have lived. So magic saved Jamie etc. Magical Hollywood plot armour
Plot armour got all the main characters lasting as long as they did considering how shithouse the Dothraki were.....
‘Never fight the Dothraki in an open field...’
Yeah righto....
-
@Daffy-Jaffy said in GOT - there will be spoilers:
From Fox sports Au.
Winterfell XV Player Ratings
- Samwell Tarly — 2.0
Forgettable performance from a guy who talked a big game in the lead-up to match day. Openly bragged about being ‘the first bloke to kill a whitewalker’ last week, then went to mud in the warm-up. Much more expected from the big loosehead assuming he gets a start in coming rounds.
- Tyrion Lannister — 1.0
Went against team code by getting hammered on cheap wine the night before the game. Hangover showed as he was rendered impotent against a more physical and hungrier outfit. Unable to offer up his customary niggle and stirring speeches on account of being too busy sweet talking Sansa. A bad look in every way for a player trying to work his way back into form. Massive improvement required.
- Lord Varys — 0.5
Where do we start with the 125kg eunuch? Only kept on the park by the coaching team in the hope he’d deliver a touch of brilliance in the closing stages. Offered nothing in attack and could only huddle in defence. Looks certain to be dropped after this woeful effort.
- The Hound — 5.0
Was late to the frontline of battle and it showed. Appeared distracted at times and went completely missing for a large part of the second half. Redeemed himself by doing an exceptional job of babysitting his flyhalf to help set up the match-winning drop goal.
- Brienne of Tarth — 9.0
Crushed multiple wights with a willingness to mix it up at maul time. Continues to win new fans with her abrasive approach and will be one of the first picked for their next fight. Also saved the one-armed man’s life, will be popular on Mad Monday.
- Theon Greyjoy — 9.0
Five-star performance from a guy looking to redeem himself under the guidance of Coach Stark. Dropped countless wights with a bow and arrow, then took to the advancing horde with a spear. Ordinarily a performance like this would gain Theon a spot in the starting team for life. Shame he’s dead, killed with his own spear. Irony for the Ironborn.
- Grey Worm — 8.0
Since entering the Winterfell XV Pathway Program, Grey Worm has been ultra-disciplined and always looked likely to provide the sort of output to win a big one. Clutch in every way, Mr Worm led his side over the ball and was a menace in the scrap.
- Tormund Giantsbane — 7.0
Carried strong, ever reliable red-head went hard again . Simple man with a simple game plan.
- Lyanna Mormont — 9.0
Lady Mormont has excelled at Scrumhalf. Despite battling a crushed rib cage and dislocated spine, Lyanna still found a way to drop the biggest bloke on the park. Sadly, this will be her final game in the Winterfell XV after being unable to overcome the aforementioned injuries. She also fell 60 feet. Bear Island Rugby Club in particular will be rocked.
- Arya Stark — 10.0
At times, a one-woman demolition crew. Has always promised a flawless 82 minute performance and on her home track, was a cut above. Put a marker down early in the match by icing double-digit wights and she never looked back. Won the game following a half-time rev up from Melisandre. Total perfection from the assassin.
- Jamie Lannister — 7.5
Hung tough with his one working arm. Like Theon, was chasing redemption. Unlike Theon, Jamie will be back again next week.
- Jon Snow — 4.0
Didn’t adapt to the conditions, went looking for dominance late but never really figured.
- Melisandre — 8.5
Surprise packet in this must-win match up. Late inclusion in the starting team and made a statement early by turning normal swords into flaming ones. Result was minimal as everybody carrying one was ripped limb from limb, but her play added much needed spark. Also provided visionary chat to MVP Arya before collapsing in a heap out the front. Big loss.
- Daenerys Targaryen — 5.0
Struggled to get into the game. Only highlight was burning a bunch of the undead with her dragons. Lucky to get through the full 82 and needs a big week at training.
- Sir Jorah — 8.5
Played until the final whistle, making it back to back golden performances from the love-struck swordsman. Another to have played their final game for this improving outfit.
Coach: Bran Stark — 5.0
Checked out of the battle for a long while, only returning to tell Theon he was a good man. Sat emotionless as sister Arya plunged her Valeryian Steel dagger into the Night King’s midriff, preventing the end of the world in the process. Had a hand in the game plan and was happy to be bait. Winning is a habit and Bran will be better for it when they hit King’s Landing.
I can't believe Ser Jorah got less than Theon, Brienne and Lyanna.
Considering it "starts up front" it was an amazing victory considering how the front row performed.
-
@Daffy-Jaffy that is so fucking good.
-
@TeWaio said in GOT - there will be spoilers:
Great episode, but the over-darkness thing really annoyed me. Sure, I can watch it at night / turn TV brightness right up, but why should I have to do this? If you're going to wank on about the time / cost / numbers involved in the #mostepictvbattleever then why make it so hard to see? Blah blah "atmosphere"? Dickheads.
The Arya/library scene was corny, they've just sacked a near-impregnable castle, the zombies are going to be busy charging around murdering people, not shuffling quietly in an otherwise empty part. Hound-spiration was great as was the pep talk with the Red babe. Taking down the Night King was awesome, I like that it wasn't 100% the prophecy. For those wondering how she snuck up on the NK, she's a faceless assassin who can do magic, and she grew up in Winterfell, of course she could. Cool that the dagger went full circle from being used in Bran's assassination attempt to killing Littlefinger and now this.
Glad that the White Walker thing is over, zombie/death/climate change stuff is not as interesting as the human politics and seeing who wins the throne.
Jon Snow is an idiot when it comes to military strategy, charging straight at the Night King. Almost as bad as his non-use of the giant Wun Wun in the Battle of the Bastards. Glad to see zombie Wun Wun come back and wreck some people, before annoying little Mormont girl eye-stabbed him. Dany is useless with her dragons, less flying around aimlessly / more burning ground troops please.
I could barely see most of the dragon aerial battle due to the aforementioned darkness, but did Rhaegal (Jon's dragon) survive? I assumed both that one and the ice-dragon Viserion were hurt, hence they both lost their riders, and the ice dragon couldn't fly thereafter but still did some damage with blue flames on the ground. If Dany is the only one left with a functioning dragon, then that's important looking fwd to who wins the throne, if Jon and her ever had to square off for it.
Why couldn't the Night King be killed by direct dragon flame if other wights / White Walkers could? But he still died immediately when pricked in the midriff by a Valyrian steel dagger? Isn't Valyrian steel forged in dragonfire / derived from dragon magic? Seems illogical.
Did all the Dothraki come over to Westeros with Dany (and then die)? Or did she leave some in Essos, like the women and children? It would be sad if that entire race/culture was expended as cannon fodder.
Edit: apparently Rhaegal appears in Episode 4 trailer so he's all good.
Completely forgot how Ramsey killed him when he was normal and why he had one eye. Makes sense now though.
-
-
Apparently the night king died so essily because of where he was stabbed as well as what he was stabbed with. Apparently the jewel used to turn him.was shattered in his chest
-
@Baron-Silas-Greenback can you tell me where'd that come from? Was it in the episode review bit they do?
But all the others got down with a single hit, so no reason he wouldn't either, I guess.
-
@Machpants said in GOT - there will be spoilers:
@Baron-Silas-Greenback can you tell me where'd that come from? Was it in the episode review bit they do?
But all the others got down with a single hit, so no reason he wouldn't either, I guess.
Some review thing. Dont know if true, but makes a type of sense.
-
@Baron-Silas-Greenback Just looked at it, they're wrong, the blade goes in left of his left nipple - with one arm raised holding her his segmented armour opens a gap through to the under layer of armour. 8k years and hasn't sorted that!
Ugh click on the image to open in a new tab, then it's visible!
-
Had to chuckle at Rian Johnson's tweet..
"Goddammit I had this whole amazing night king theory"
As for the too dark thing, I totally get what they were doing and I'm sure it worked well on their test screens. To now try and blame the viewers for 'not knowing how to adjust their TVs properly' or 'watching it on a portable device' is pissing a few folk off. Also the viewer has no control over how much their provider compresses the broadcast.
How about a warning in advance if you want to move away from lowest common denominator broadcasting?
It is all like the visual equivalent to mumble dramas where the dialogue is lost to those not using well tuned soundbars or home theatre systems.
I believe some clever folk have uploaded brightened pieces of the battle to youtube that show just how rich and incredible it could have looked without the 'mood' aspect. Haven't watched them yet.
-
@Machpants yeah, the lighting was great on my OLED. The biggest problem I had was blotchy compression artefacts in all the swirly mist and firelight. But that’s an issue with compression for transmission not the source material. Another area where Sky has some work to do.
-
@Machpants I have a flat in the UK where I have the same TV I’ve got here in NZ but connected to a Sky UK “Sky Q” box, which is 4K UHD. I got to watch the first of this series of GoT there a couple of weeks ago and the difference between there and back here in NZ is depressing. It’s a real pain that The Apple store in NZ doesn’t do TV shows either. They have same day release of GoT downloads in 4K in other parts of the world but not here.
-
Yes, it seems I shot myself in the foot in first watch. I use Now TV to get episodes and I downloaded a copy on iPad before going to work. Apparently Now uses adaptive streaming so would have adjusted quality based on my WiFi rate.
I have since watched on our fairly average TV and it has come out fine, likely due to being connected via 100 Mbps cable so has come through at a high bit rate -
About three articles I've read now mention theories that the night king isn't really dead?? Is this in relation to Bran possibly being the NK? Also the NK targaryn theories... Not sure about that one though. Im quite happy with him being gone and maybe just having a bit more back story on his motives but that would be a rubbish twist and surely there's not enough room for that in this series anyway.