Mike (michaelj) poked me with 8 questions about last night’s Game of Thrones finale “Mother’s Mercy” (kind of like I did with the Jurassic World review the other day). This is what I thought. What did you all think?
Was there any Bran sighting? Warg? Raven? Three-eyed Raven? Catching up with his old buddy Sam about dem old GTs sticking dragonglass into White Walkers? Been a whole season… Anything?
Zip.
Nada.
Nuthin’
Not even a raven. Although if you looked at any message boards after the episode there was a LOT of raving. As far as I can tell there are about four people left who will watch the show next year. We are headed into uncharted territory for next season. Maybe that is where Bran and the Raven are hanging out.
Did Olly end up betraying Jon? I think the producers have done a bonzer job establishing first Olly’s devotion to Jon and then some substantial second-guessing with everything involving the Free Folk. Olly stabby stabby Jonny Snowy or what?
Please don’t ever say that again.
Olly did his best Night King impersonation and slowwalked from the back of the treasonous lot for maximum dramatics. This is also the reason there will only be four of us watching next season.
How’s your temperature on Melisandre? Cold as the coming winter, hot as the Lord of Light, other?
I hate Melisandre. I hate her in the books. I hate her on the show. I hate her so much that I am colder than the coming winter toward her. Speaking of which…
Game of Thrones has been rough on my teenaged fantasies. Growing up — even though the show was already more than two decades old — there was no one hotter to me than Emma Peel from the Avengers TV show. She occupied a lot of my attention and, while she plays my favorite character from this season, Diana Rigg has made my old bones ache this season. And not in the euphemistic way.
To what degree were you cheering for Sansa before this episode and how has that changed given the season finale’s conclusion?
I hate Sansa in the books but I have really been rooting for her to rule over Winterfell on the show. She has endured a lot more on the show than she does in the books but I am looking forward to seeing where they take her next season (as I am sure the other three remaining viewers do as well).
Are you happy with Brienne’s reduced role going North (relative to being the heavy Riverlands POV character in the books) or would you have rather she went the way of the Greyjoys entirely this season?
The one thing that I really hated in this episode was the whole candle in the tower bit which played a little too Three’s Company to me. We park her on the edge of Winterfell for the last month doing nothing only to have her look away to check in on Stannis making his doomed march on the Boltons. It just didn’t work for me and it was really frustrating because I have loved the show when they have made use of Brienne and this seemed wasteful.
I had read rumors production had to shut down a whole town to keep the Naked Cersei Church Walk under wraps. Did it happen? To what degree was it a satisfying moment (supposing it did in fact happen)? Or in the alternative… Cersei getting hers or what?
It happened in all of its excruciating glory. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments in the history of the show. My wife had to keep reminding me what a terrible, awful person Cersei is and that I should not feel bad for her. She was pretty upset about the scene because she contends that all the controversy about the Walk of Atonement was just a smokescreen to cover up the Jon Snow betrayal which she was not at all prepared for.
[Post Script: It turns out Headey “elected not to show all” for “Mother’s Mercy”. Whether it was because she was pregnant with a baby girl during filming or some other reason, this does not really change my reading, or Mike’s Game of Thrones Finale Review.]
Tyrene Sand and Bronn… Match made in Heaven, or match actually made in the dungeons of Dorne (or not a match at all)? Kingslayer did in promise Bronn “a much better girl” and how much better can you get than “the most beautiful woman in the world” who is also a deadly assassin?
He is totally sending her a raven with a casual “Hey, you up?” scroll as soon as he gets back to King’s Landing.
This season has sped by like a bullet train! What was your favorite moment of the finale?
The finale totally snuck up on me. Watching these prestige shows is so much different than watching a network show. Something like The Good Wife takes up half a year to play out but this goes by in less than three months. But I am ducking the question. Favorite moment has to be Reek pushing Myranda over the rail. Rooting for some Theon redemption next season.
