Monday 27 May 2019

The Game of Thrones Fantasy League – 8.06 – The Iron Throne


Game of Thrones – 8.06 – The Iron Throne




Nine years ago another commercially successful, highly discursive, supernatural show closed out its last episode with a final scene that mirrored its opening scene. This was the series finale of Lost. George RR Martin famously announced that the Lost finale was like a turd on his doorstep and I imagine this is how a lot of people are feeling about the Thrones finale right now!

The final episode of Lost was divisive, but I believe that the honest intention of the Lindelof and Cuse was to keep the discourse around the show ongoing, long after Lost had finished. Conversely, I really don’t think the current conversation about the Thrones finale was what the Benioff and Weiss were going for! Lost took time in its last season to honour each of their characters by devoting at least one episode to their point of view, resolving several character arcs. Admittedly, Thrones does not have the same format but this lack of focus on character, the unnecessary obfuscation with depicting where a character’s head is at, is why so many people feel short changed by this final season. Being one of the few that adore the finale of Lost, I can revisit it on multiple occasions and the emotional impact has not lessened. You can put that finale in front of me right now and when it gets to the ultrasound scene about five minutes in, I am a wreck. I cry an awful lot at everything: the last 20 minutes of Hamilton, the last 5 chapters of Deathly Hallows, even the bit in Friends at Monica’s wedding when you realise who took the pregnancy test! It’s easy to make me cry so I think I can grade the effectiveness of the Thrones finale on me as disappointingly lacklustre by its failure to provoke an emotional response.

It is a massive waste as I was so eager to give myself over to it. I was willing it to move me emotionally but the closest I got to shedding a tear was when Drogon checked up on his dead mother – but if you give a creature characteristics that make them resemble a sad dog, it’s quite easy to manipulate a response! And this scene usually works for me, when it happens in The Lion King and The Godfather, but here I don’t think the creatives did enough to make me feel the emotion.

I feel the same with the montage of Ned’s children, no positive emotional response. First of all, why the fuck isn’t Bran included? The montage has two Starks setting out on a journey and one getting crowned. Why aren’t we showing two getting crowned? What a waste of visual poetry. One throwaway line in season six wondering what’s west of Westeros is not enough to feel that Arya’s voyage is a satisfying resolution for her character. We invested two seasons watching her become an assassin that can magically morph into other people and fight without use of her eyes, and the payoff is that she’s going to use all that training…to become a sailor. After several seasons of failing to do so, Jon finally learns to tell lies and murder an unarmed woman. For this, he is made to reunite with his mate and old pet. This is what the revelations of his lineage and machinations of Varys have led to. Sansa is anointed as queen of the North. Who knew the North’s independence was such a major motivator in her actions? It’s presented as a triumph but the victory feels hollow. What does independence of the North even mean? Her brother is already king of the country so what new freedom does the North’s independence allow Sansa that she doesn’t already have? Imagine the people of the North rejoicing to hear about Bran: “At last, the North rules over the Seven Kingdoms, maybe we can finally get a bit of coin – oh wait, we’re not entitled to any of that now our land has been excluded from all of the rest of the country’s entitlements…thanks Sansa”. The show has not explained any reason why independence for the North benefits anyone, so I can’t get excited about seeing Sansa crowned. She is the leader of an independent state of fairly racist and petty subjects and all of her friends, family and allies are located in other Kingdoms or countries. How is this a logical culmination of her arc?

She could have taken the Throne herself. Over the last season Sansa has shown her instincts to be spot on, she’s spoken out for her people and her play of the game of thrones has proved to be exceptional: the cataclysmic events of The Bells were an indirect consequence of Sansa’s seeds of doubt planted in Tyrion. At the Dragonpit, she clearly exerts the most authority, essentially running the proceedings and I’m sure most of the assembled would not object to her taking the Throne. She’s got Bran, Arya, Brienne, Yohn, Robin and Edmure. Sam and Davos are Team Stark so would also likely go along with it. Yara and the Dornish prince would probably also follow suit seeing as they do with Bran. To make Sansa the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms would be a gigantic payoff for her season one character. It would quake the history of monarchy in Westeros as there would finally be an acknowledged queen, making this story, above all the events in Westerosi history, worth filming. The centrepiece of conflict for the last two seasons has been two women vying for Queen, and a Thrones-appropriate resolution for this would be that both die and a queen you weren’t expecting comes along. A queen who, when you rewatch the show, has actually been the chief instigator of the main conflict. She could be the "younger queen" of Cersei's prophecy. She is a Stark with red hair, i.e. a song of ice and fire. Isn’t this better than Bran??

I feel this makes way more sense than what we’re given. Tyrion could still be Hand of the Queen and Bran would make a perfect Master of Whisperers. It’s very strange that the show took this route, I can’t imagine they believed what we got would be appreciated. It does a disservice to the cast and crew that work on the show. I’m a fan, I want it to do well but I think this is a disaster of an ending.

Here were some predictions I made about season 8 directly after the s7 finale:

I expected an explosive first episode where the Undead army descended on Winterfell – wrong
Tormund and Beric get to Winterfell to warn of the oncoming onslaught, Bran to also warn - correct
Golden Company unlikely to take arms against Daenerys – wrong (though right about the elephants)
Arya and Melisandre to meet again - correct
Clegane brothers are going to face off and Gregor to die in fire - correct
Jon will ride Rhaegal - correct
Bran will be able to warg into Viserion - wrong
Dany not bothered by incest - correct
Varys’ reacts to Littlefinger’s death - wrong
Jon and Arya reunite and discuss swords – correct but not to the extent I’d have liked
Direwolves come back – half right, just Ghost
Theon will rescue Yara and both will defeat Euron – half right
Cersei to die before the birth of her baby, probably by Wildfire – mostly right
Gendry to reunite with Arya - right
Grey Worm and Missandei will get back together but won’t have a happy ending – right, though I had forgotten they hadn’t reunited by the s7 finale
Ser Jorah to meet Lyanna - correct
Here’s an extract from my thoughts on season seven “I am a bit bored of battle episodes where we have clear heroes who are basically getting fucked until someone comes up to save them. I want to see people win with ingenuity, not luck. The Lord of the Rings has influenced battle scenes for too long. As much as I love Gandalf/Rohirrim/Ghost Army/Knights of the Vale/Dragons coming in stage left just when you think All is Lost, it’s really overdone. Let’s see some strategy next year.” – WRONG!

Here’s another quote from my season seven post “As much as the show terrified me this year that Daenerys might die, I don’t think she will. The show is her story. In the War of the Roses, the Lancasters and Yorks fought each other until Henry Tudor came over from France to defeat Richard III and take the Throne. Dany has been the Henry Tudor of the show. But after all that, the show hasn’t really endorsed having a monarch as giving a stable land. I feel that ending isn’t GRRM enough. It would work in the show, Dany being queen happily ever after. The writing of the books has never been that interested in good people being good rulers.” – so the whole War of the Roses parallel falls apart here, which is quite a disappointment. Instead the current system of rule is reminiscent of the Dalai Lama: like him, the Three Eyed Raven transfers to another person when the body he inhabits dies. The Three Eyed Raven system is a little weird though as it’s this old creep grooming boys...so that’s what Westeros has to look forward to!

I don’t feel completely negative about the finale and show itself. I have never been one of those viewers who gets bothered by the characters teleporting around the country (Jaime and Cersei do it in the first episode). I enjoyed the dialogue and directing, the acting has been brilliant, and I don’t fault any of the technical aspects on the show. Shot composition, soundtrack, even the lighting, I’ve been singing their praises. It’s just a shame the scripts didn’t do right by these talents.

It really shows that not a lot of thought was put into these final scripts. They had been written before season seven had come out, which also received criticism for the same issues. Perhaps Benioff and Weiss should have delayed filming until after season seven had been released and course-corrected in light of these criticisms. It’s a complaint that has been put forward by both actors and the fans. It boggles because the show is such a giant moneymaker for HBO, they could have got more episodes if they wanted, so we can conclude that the creators clearly wanted out but instead of leaving the show and handing the reins over to more capable members of the writing team, like Bryan Cogman, they selfishly stayed on and chugged out an inferior rushed product. It’s a pity because this show had carte blanche to do whatever it wanted and got bungled instead. The show was a feast but it’s left a foul taste in my mouth.

I guess there’s a reason why it’s taken GRRM so long to write the next book. This story is too complex and sprawling to be satisfyingly wrapped up in two shortened seasons.

Anyway, enough moaning from me, on to the fantasy league! But first, some debatable points:

Possible points of contention

A lot of characters encounter relatives after battles this episodes. For ease, here’s the full list:
Bran – encounters Arya, Robin, Edmure, Jon
Jon – encounters Arya, Bran, Sansa
Arya – encounters Jon, Sansa, Bran, Edmure, Robin,
Cersei – encounters Tyrion
Jaime – encounters Tyrion
Sansa – encounters Arya, Edmure, Bran, Jon
Tyrion – encounters Cersei and Jaime
Edmure – encounters Arya, Sansa, Bran, Robin
Robin – encounters Arya, Sansa, Bran, Edmure

Tyrion gains points for encountering a dragon skull.

Daenerys is finally recognised as the official ruler of Westeros in this episode after she declares herself as such in her speech.

Tyrion mentions the Iron Throne, which is also the title of the episode giving him points for both.

Yara has been to the Iron Islands since we last saw her, gaining her points in this episode.

Although interrupted by Sansa, Tyrion earns monologue points for his thesis on ruling rights.

Tyrion earns haircut points for having his straggly beard groomed. Jon does not, as there is not a significant change in his appearance after he’s released from the cells.

Jon gains points twice for riding a horse. First for arriving at Castle Black and secondly, after a presumable time jump, when leading the free folk beyond the Wall.

Although not visible, I have included Ghost in the last shot as he is proved to be present.

Despite not appearing in the episode, Gilly, Nymeria, Archmaester Ebrose, Daario Naharis, Jaqen H’ghar, Kinvara, Meera Reed, Quaithe, Salladhor Saan, and Tycho Nestoris gain points for making it to the end of the series without dying as there have been no reports of their deaths. Ellaria does not gain points it’s likely she died when the Red Keep collapsed. Jon also does not gain points as he died in Season 5.

Character Scores
Here is a full list of the characters and their awarded points. If one of your characters does not appear in the following lists, this is due to their absence from the episode, for which you shall be deducted five points per character:

Group A
Bran Stark – 255 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), 4x reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), is officially declared ruler of Westeros (+100), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Daenerys Targaryen – 150 points: appears (+5), rides dragon (+20), is officially declared ruler of Westeros (+100), makes inspiring speech (+20), monologues for over three minutes (+20), has kiss (+15), dies (-30)
Jon Snow – 210 points: appears (+5), 3x reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), has kiss (+15), kills someone (-10), travels by boat (+10), 2x rides horse (+10), crosses the Wall (+50), last on screen for series (+30)

Group B
Arya Stark – 180 points: appears (+5), 5x reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), travels by boat (+10), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Cersei Lannister – 35 points: appears (+5), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30)
Jaime Lannister – 35 points: appears (+5), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30)
Sansa Stark – 155 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), 4x reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Tyrion Lannister – 253 points: appears (+5), first on screen (+15), first line (+10), encounters dragon (+20), 2x encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), mentions Iron Throne (+15), mentions episode title (+10), makes inspiring speech (+20), monologues (+30), has haircut (+20), studies a book (+13), last line of the series (+20), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)

Group C
Brienne of Tarth – 48 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), studies a book (+13), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Samwell Tarly – 40 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Ser Davos Seaworth – 20 points: appears (+5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)

Group D
Gendry – 35 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Gilly – 10 points: does not appear (-5) makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Ser Bronn – 35 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Tormund Giantsbane – 110 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10), crosses the Wall (+50), last on screen (+30), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)

Group E
Grey Worm – 20 points: appears (+5), kills someone (-10), travels by boat (+10), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Podrick Payne – 35 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Yara Greyjoy – 45 points: appears (+5), visits Iron Islands (+10), visits KL (+15), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)

Group F
Drogon – 20 points: appears (+5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Ghost – 100 points: appears (+5), crosses the Wall (+50), last on screen (+30), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Nymeria – 10 points: does not appear (-5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)

Group H
Archmaester Ebrose – 10 points: does not appear (-5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Daario Naharis – 10 points: does not appear (-5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Edmure Tully – 155 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), 4x reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Jaqen H’ghar – 10 points: does not appear (-5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Kinvara – 10 points: does not appear (-5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Meera Reed – 10 points: does not appear (-5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Quaithe – 10 points: does not appear (-5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Robin Arryn – 155 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), 4x reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30) makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Salladhor Saan – 10 points: does not appear (-5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)
Tycho Nestoris – 10 points: does not appear (-5), makes it to the end of the series without dying (+15)

The Leaderboard

Congratulations to CH who becomes our final points champion this week with 871 points! Well done, CH!
And finally massive congratulations to JB for retaining his insane lead from episode 3 all the way to the end of the season. Well done on becoming the winner of The Game of Thrones Fantasy League – Season 8!



Thanks for playing, everyone! This is it for fantasy leagues. Perhaps I will revisit this arena a few years down the line if the Thrones prequel is any good and similarly loaded with chracters.

All the best, MH

Wednesday 15 May 2019

The Game of Thrones Fantasy League – 8.05 – The Bells


Game of Thrones – 8.05 – The Bells


Maybe Missandei should have picked something else for her last words! This episode didn’t deliver the symphony I was hoping would rival Light of the Seven and The Night King but I mustn’t be greedy, the music over the end credits was great. We got a number of siblings dying in each other’s arms. Jaime and Cersei’s end was fitting, though it would have been nice for Cersei to see that even after everything, Tyrion had a plan to save her (you’re welcome).

Cersei had led the negotiations with cruelty and that’s what she received back. If not for last episode’s parlay, everything would have played out as it would up to the ringing of the bells, all the destruction after that was payback for Missandei. I can see Daenerys justifying it to herself: yeah these people are innocent, so was my handmaiden. She sends one of yours to the morgue, you reduce their city to rubble: that’s the Chicago way and that’s how you get the Throne!

The optics look really bad for the show at the moment as the creators have essentially let their art convey that having a woman in charge is the biggest tragedy that could befall a nation and the only solution is to give leadership to a constantly failing upwards man. Really quite bad coming from a team of all male writers and directors! I believe the only end that can paper over this is if leadership passes over to Sansa. At the beginning of this season, I thought Sansa’s conflict with Daenerys was going the same way as her clumsy conflict with Arya last season (a load of unnecessary fuss about nothing where Bran could have intervened to resolve it any time) but now I see that she was right all along! She’s a much more capable leader than Jon, I think the wind is blowing her way. As Sansa has been vindicated, I’d love her to have one more tense scene with Daenerys.

In the wider scheme of things, the dragons, in terms of the advantage they give to warfare are akin to using WMDs. GRRM was a conscientious objector during Vietnam and it stands to reason that the ethos begat by his opus would carry a similar anti-weapon philosophy. GRRM has mentioned on many occasions the influence of Tolkien on this series. In the introduction to Lord of the Rings, JRRT denies the trilogy as being allegorical to the Second World War, explaining that if he was trying to parallel WWII, the men of Gondor would never have allowed the Ring to be destroyed and would use the Ring to defeat Sauron. I think GRRM is echoing that in this series as a warning: the fairy tale ending to warfare is that the weapons themselves get destroyed, the realistic and morally wrong scenario is to deploy your weapons against the enemy. Dany’s Sisqo channelling wreaks mass destruction and corrupts her. As I’m not a fan of weapons myself, I’m quite happy if this becomes the message of show and so for this reason, I find Daenerys’ switch from liberator to tyrant makes sense. The series has deepened the colouring of its villains to make them our heroes, like with Jaime, it’s not such a surprise that it would do the same with our heroes.

Other than Grey Worm and Drogon, Daenerys surely has no allies left. She’s committed unforgivable war crimes, so I am certain she has lost Jon and Tyrion. I’m not convinced Dorne or the Iron Islands would stick with Dany either, when there’s a non-war-criming person with a better claim than hers up for grabs, so it looks like the finale might be a case of Dany, Grey Worm and Drogon vs the rest of Westeros. I wouldn’t want Drogon to die or have any of our characters kill him, (although Jon owes us a dragon-slaying) but it would be an apt parallel if his life is the price for Dany claiming the Throne, much like how Cersei lost her last living child when she did the same. Both Arya and Dany have superpowers that have yet to be employed this season. I can’t picture a scenario where Jon et al would get the opportunity to set Daenerys on fire, only to quail with shock when she emerges T-1000-like from the blaze, but I can dream! A more likely scenario would be Arya fighting Grey Worm then wearing his face to kill Daenerys, but that would negate her growth from this episode about how revenge shouldn’t rule your life. Arya also has the superpower of being able to move proficiently when blinded, but I can’t see this ever coming back. If only Daenerys would agree to stake the Iron Throne on a game of dodgeball with a blindfolded Ayra, a la White Goodman and Peter LaFleur in Dodgeball!

Possible points of contention

Although the words are inked on parchment, Varys gains points for mentioning Rhaegar, Lyanna and the Iron Throne in the opening scene.

As Daenerys had been imperilled since she last saw him, she and Jon gain points for encountering each other as lost relatives. This also applies to Jaime encountering Tyrion, and Cersei encountering Jaime.

Jon disagrees with Daenerys, refuting her claim that no one loves her in Westeros.

Jon gets boat points twice, for sailing to and from Dragonstone.

Tyrion and Jaime disagree with each other in the tent. Tyrion denies that there’s an innocent life in KL that Jaime doesn’t care for, Jaime denies that Tyrion wouldn’t have survived his childhood without him.

Tyrion says the episode title twice to Daenerys, twice for Jaime, and once to Jon.

We do not see Jon or Davos unsheathing swords so neither of them gain points.

Davos is not docked any points for killing anyone as he seems to have gone through the whole battle without getting any blood on his sword.

Daenerys, Drogon, Jon, Grey Worm, Davos, and even Tyrion gain points for winning the battle up to when the Lannisters surrender. The Hound, Arya, and Jaime do not gain points as they do not participate in the fight. Although Tyrion doesn’t fight either, he gains points for winning as he was responsible for the winning strategy.

Euron’s wound looks pretty fatal, so he’s getting docked points for dying, even though we never actually see him die.

Jaime and Cersei gain points for encountering two dragon skulls while they are down in the crypts.

Ser Gregor seems unaffected by injuries so does not get docked any points for his wounds. Therefore it is unlikely that the fall alone would not have been the cause of his death, so I’m attributing his cause of death to dragonfire. However, I believe the Hound’s death is due to the fall.

I think we can safely conclude that Ellaria Sand, if she was still being kept in the dungeons, probably died due to a cave in. As we’ve not seen this in the show, I will not be docking her points for dying.


Character Scores
Here is a full list of the characters and their awarded points. If one of your characters does not appear in the following lists, this is due to their absence from the episode, for which you shall be deducted five points per character:

Group A
Daenerys Targaryen – 145 points: appears (+5), visits Dragonstone (+15), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), has kiss (+15), rides dragon (+20), visits KL (+15), leads army into battle (+25), 2x kills someone (-10), wins battle (+40)
Jon Snow – 185 points: appears (+5), 2x travels by boat (+15), visits Dragonstone (+15), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), disagrees with relative (+10), has kiss (+15), visits KL (+15), leads army into battle (+25), encounters dragon (+20), 2x kills someone (-10), wins battle (+40)

Group B
Arya Stark – 70 points: appears (+5), 2x rides horse (+10), visits KL (+15), encounters dragon (+20), gets injured (-5), last on screen (+15)
Cersei Lannister – 65 points: appears (+5), 3x encounters dragon (+20), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), dies (-30)
Jaime Lannister – 125 points: appears (+5), 2x reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), disagrees with relative (+10), visits KL (+15), 3x encounters dragon (+20), gets injured (-5), last line (+10), dies (-30)
Tyrion Lannister – 150 points: appears (+5), visits Dragonstone (+15), 5x mentions episode title (+10), travels by boat (+15), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), disagrees with relative (+10), visits KL (+15), wins battle (+40)

Group C
Ser Davos Seaworth – 80 points: appears (+5), visits KL (+15), encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40)
Varys – 110 points: appears (+5), first on screen (+15), mentions Rhaegar (+25), mentions Lyanna (+25), 2x mentions iron throne (+15), first line (+10), visits Dragonstone (+15), gets killed by dragon (+15), dies (-30)

Group D
Sandor Clegane – 35 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10), visits KL (+15), encounters dragon (+20), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), unsheafs sword (+10), 2x kills someone (-10), gets injured (-5), dies (-30)

Group E
Euron Greyjoy – 25 points: appears (+5), travels by boat (+15), leads army into battle (+25), encounters dragon (+20), gets injured (-5), injures (-5), dies (-30)
Grey Worm – 80 points: appears (+5), visits Dragonstone (+15), visits KL (+15), leads army into battle (+25), 2x kills someone (-10), wins battle (+40)
Qyburn – -5 points: appears (+5), encounters dragon (+20), dies (-30)
Ser Gregor Clegane – 35 points: appears (+5), encounters dragon (+20), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), kills someone (-10), unsheafs sword (+10), injures (-5), gets killed by dragon (+15), dies (-30)

Group F
Drogon – 55 points: appears (+5), visits Dragonstone (+15), 2x kills someone (-10), visits KL (+15), wins battle (+40)

The Leaderboard

Congratulations to EAA who is our points champion for this week with 1410 points! And JB is still reigning champ for the third week running.




Going into the finale, there are only two characters left on my team that are still in the show, so I’m not holding out much hope! Only JB, CH, LG, TE and BU have been lucky enough to not have one of their characters die this season so they have the best odds. Find out who shall claim victory after next week’s episode 8.06, which I’m guessing may be called “A Dream of Spring”

Tuesday 7 May 2019

The Game of Thrones Fantasy League – 8.04 – The Last of the Starks

Game of Thrones – 8.04 – The Last of the Starks



Despite a hefty amount of incident during this episode, this episode gained barely a fifth of the points earned last week. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise; now wights and white walkers are off the table and three of the four magic characters are now dead, this might be a consistent trend for the rest of the series.

It’s great to have Cersei back after an unprecedented two episode absence. Lena Headey manages to do so much despite roughly four lines of dialogue this episode. It’s also nice that Varys actually did things in this episode! Daenerys should definitely employ his skills more as she really needs a good Master of Whispers right now.

Cersei is the only person left on Arya’s list (other than Ilyn Payne who got phased out of the show). Arya is already the show MVP for killing The Night King, it will be nuts if she’s the one who also takes down Cersei. Arya was present at Ned’s beheading and saw that Cersei did try to stop it, so I think her biggest gripe is with her ordering the death of Sansa’s direwolf, Lady. If that’s the case, justice really should get served by Nymeria! Imagine that giant wolf subtly sneaking into the Red Keep. I can do without a surprise Faceless Arya reveal, though. The show’s had enough of those. I can just imagine how cheesy it would be to have a scene where a seemingly victorious Cersei receives Qyburn or Jaime in her chambers and *SURPRISE* he takes his face off to reveal he’s Arya *STAB STAB*. I think I’d be more amenable to this cheesy moment if it’s not played as a surprise on the audience a la Littlefinger’s trial last season.

Possible points of contention

In the BTS video for last week’s episode, Kristopher Hivju confirmed that Tormund and Gendry are fighting on top of a pile of bodies so they have had their points adjusted to include crowdsurfing.

Although Daenerys whispers inaudibly to Ser Jorah at the beginning of the episode, it's not loud enough to gain her first line points.


All attendees at the feast are sat with flagons and plates in front of them, gaining them all points for eating and drinking.

Davos and Daenerys give toasts during the feast but this does not gain them points for making an inspiring speech. However, when Tormund lists Jon's attributes and encourages the crowd to cheer, this qualifies as an inspiring speech.

Jon disagrees with Daenerys, Sansa and Arya during the episode, giving them all points.

Bronn's blow to Tyrion's nose draws blood, docking them both for injury points.

Both Sam and Gilly gain pregnancy points.

Although Rhaegal, Euron and Missandei do not land on Dragonstone, they all gain points for visiting it as they are within mooring distance.

Euron does not gain any battle points as this is technically an ambush.

Drogon is present when Tyrion treats with Qyburn, giving him Cersei and Ser Gregor points.

Missandei has the last line of dialogue in the episode but Drogon makes the last noise so they both get last line points.

Character Scores
Here is a full list of the characters and their awarded points. If one of your characters does not appear in the following lists, this is due to their absence from the episode, for which you shall be deducted five points per character:

Group A
Bran Stark – 35 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), grimly surveys map of armies (+15)
Daenerys Targaryen – 170 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), has kiss (+15), disagrees with relative (+10), 2x grimly surveys map of armies (+15), 2x mentions Iron Throne (+15), rides dragon (+20), visits Dragonstone (+15), visits KL (+15), last on screen (+15)
Jon Snow – 130 points: appears (+5), first line (+10), makes inspiring speech (+20), eats (+7), turns down wine (+10), drinks wine (+8), has kiss (+15), 3x disagrees with relative (+10), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), rides horse (+10)

Group B
Arya Stark – 65 points: appears (+5), has kiss (+15), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), says episode title (+10), disagrees with relative (+10), rides horse (+10)
Cersei Lannister – 70 points: appears (+5), encounters dragon (+20), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30), last on screen (+15)
Jaime Lannister – 96 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), 3x drinks wine (+8), gets naked (+15), has kiss (+15), has sex (+20), rides horse (+10)
Sansa Stark – 45 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), disagrees with relative (+10)
Tyrion Lannister – 174 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), 4x drinks wine (+8), 2x grimly surveys map of armies (+15), gets injured (-5), 2x mentions Iron Throne (+15), travels by boat (+15), visits Dragonstone (+15), visits KL (+15), reunites with previously lost blood relative (+30),

Group C
Brienne of Tarth – 118 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), turns down wine (+10), 2x drinks wine (+8), 2x gets naked (+15), has kiss (+15), has sex (+20), grimly surveys map of armies (+15),
Samwell Tarly – 40 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), gets pregnant (+20)
Ser Davos Seaworth – 45 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), rides horse (+10)
Ser Jorah Mormont – 20 points: appears (+5), first character on screen (+15)
Theon Greyjoy – 5 points: appears (+5)
Varys – 167 points: appears (+5), 2x eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), 2x grimly surveys map of armies (+15), travels by boat (+15), visits Dragonstone (+15), mentions Rhaegar (+25), mentions Lyanna (+25), visits KL (+15), last on screen (+15)

Group D
Gendry – 35 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), has kiss (+15)
Gilly – 40 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), gets pregnant (+20),
Missandei – 60 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), grimly surveys map of armies (+15), travels by boat (+15), visits Dragonstone (+15), visits KL (+15), last line (+10), dies (-30)
Sandor Clegane – 30 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), rides horse (+10)
Ser Bronn – 18 points: appears (+5), says C word (+10), injures (-5), drinks wine (+8)
Tormund Giantsbane – 40 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), makes inspiring speech (+20)

Group E
Beric Dondarrion – 5 points: appears (+5)
Dolorus Edd – 5 points: appears (+5)
Euron Greyjoy – 105 points: appears (+5), travels by boat (+15), visits Dragonstone (+15), 2x encounters dragon (+20), visits KL (+15), last on screen (+15)
Grey Worm – 110 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8), 2x grimly surveys map of armies (+15), travels by boat (+15), visits Dragonstone (+15), visits KL (+15), last on screen (+15)
Lyanna Mormont – 5 points: appears (+5)
Podrick Payne – 20 points: appears (+5), eats (+7), drinks wine (+8)
Qyburn – 25 points: appears (+5), encounters dragon (+20)
Ser Gregor Clegane – 40 points: appears (+5), encounters dragon (+20), unsheafs sword (+10), kills (-10), last on screen (+15)

Group F
Drogon – 45 points: appears (+5), visits Dragonstone (+15), visits KL (+15), last line (+10)
Ghost – 5 points: appears (+5)
Rhaegal – -15 points: appears (+5), visits Dragonstone (+15), gets injured (-5), dies (-30)

The Leaderboard

Congratulations to this week's points champion KC, who gains a respectable 2358 points. Congratulations also to JB who manages to retain his first place lead for another week.



Next week, we have our final Joker episode. The bonus is less for this one but as penultimate episodes are typically points juggernauts, this could turn you around if you're still trailing. With the death of so many characters and magical elements, it's unlikely anything will hit the heights of 8.03 but you can't rule out anything. See you back here next week for episode 8.05!

Tuesday 30 April 2019

The Game of Thrones Fantasy League – 8.03 – The Long Night

Game of Thrones – 8.03 – The Long Night

Ah wow, I guessed right about the title of this episode!


This was a juggernaut of an episode and one of the trickiest to record scores for. There has never been television on a scale like this. Has there been anything as metal as seeing two dragons claw out the throat of an ice zombie dragon? This episode contained some extraordinary grace notes: I just love Jon entering Winterfell as dozens of wights precipitate behind him; the smirk the Night King gives as he emerges from the dragonfire unscathed; his “come at me bro” ¯\_(“”)_/¯ pose; Jon coming out to face Viserion; Daenerys picking up and wielding a sword; Lyanna Mormont’s glorious charge; Beric’s sword throw; the wights scrabbling over Drogon like frenzied ants; the Deakins-esque illumination of the fog with fire; and Arya’s checkmate dagger move.

I could have done with some more meaty combat from the point of view of Brienne, Jamie, Pod, Tormund and Gendry, however. Bran was totally useless. His warging assisted in no way, and he could have at least tried to distract TNK when Arya was sneaking up. I like Missandei defending Daenerys. It’s hard not to think of Sansa as a resentful Leave voter at the moment. As much as she wants the North to break away from the Seven Kingdoms, the North only wanted their independence when their only option was to pay fealty to the boy king who had executed their Warden, Ned Stark. An option, lest Sansa forget, that she urged the Starks to agree to! The circumstances are completely different now and although a woman of the North saved everyone this night, they’d have been totally fucked without Daenerys’ armies. I really think Arya also deserves to be knighted after her supreme kill this episode.

One more star deserving of recognition for this episode is Ramin Djawadi. His music in this episode was an absolute gift. I loved the apocalyptic reworking of the Army of the Dead theme as the battle is ramping up and the return use of piano during the last fifteen minutes of the episode was an all timer that ranks alongside Light of the Seven as the best of the series. Both tracks share a glimmer of the title theme (where Margaery tries to push through the Sparrows; here, when Theon gets impaled), the use of which is just marvellous. Put him and director Miguel Sapochnik together and you have a marriage of musical and visual ecstasy. They reteam one last time for the penultimate episode of this season and I find myself most excited and hopeful that we get one more glorious symphony before the end.

Possible points of contention

As in the last two seasons, encounters/kills wight, encounters/kills white walker are capped at five times.

The last time we had seen Melisandre, she announced her plans to visit Volantis. That occurred offscreen and between seasons so she would not gain points for crossing the Narrow Sea to go there. However, she does gain points for crossing the Narrow Sea back to visit Westeros in this episode.

No one gains points for Beric’s sword igniting as that happens off screen.

Only Jon and Ser Jorah are shown withdrawing their swords from their scabbards so they are the only characters to gain points for doing so. Brienne, Jaime etc all apparently draw their swords off screen.

Ser Jorah and Ghost are at the forefront of the Dothraki army’s charge making them the only characters to gain points for leading an army into battle. Grey Worm, Lyanna, Tormund, Theon and Brienne have command of armies but as they are on the defence, this does not count as leading into battle. The Night King, Jon and Dany are far away from the fray when battle commences so none of them gain points.

Witnesses magic occurred five times during the episode, keeping track of who witnesses what was tricky.

  • Melisandre lighting the arakhs – witnessed by Melisandre, Ser Jorah, Ghost, Arya, Sansa, Ser Davos, Grey Worm, Brienne, Jaime, Podrick, Dolorous Edd, Samwell, Gendry, Sandor, Tormund, Beric, Jon, Daenerys
  • Melisandre lighting the trench – witnessed by Melisandre, Sandor, Grey Worm, Daenerys, Drogon, Jon, Rhaegal, Ser Davos, Arya, Ser Jorah, Beric (no points for Jaime, Brienne, Podrick, Samwell, Tormund, Gendry, Bran, Theon or Lyanna as they are within the walls of Winterfell)
  • Theon seeing Bran warg – witnessed by Theon (not Bran, as his eyes are elsewhere)
  • The Night King raising the dead – witnessed by The Night King, Jon, Jaime, Brienne, Podrick, Samwell, Grey Worm, Tormund, Gendry, Gilly, Tyrion, Sansa, Missandei, Varys (Daenerys sees wights spring to life after they fall off Drogon, but I don’t believe the wights had died from their fall, so she does not gain points)
  • Melisandre’s glamour dissolving – witnessed by Melisandre, Ser Davos

The Night King gains points for killing wights as he commands them to impale themselves on the flaming trench.

The dragons gain points for encountering each other as relatives but do not gain points for encountering each other as dragons. Encountering the dragons was also difficult to document.

  • Drogon and Rhaegal – encountered by Bran, Jaime, Brienne, Sam, Theon, Gendry, Melisandre, Tormund, Beric, Edd, Podrick, Lyanna, Ghost and The Night King (everyone else is in the crypt or has already encountered them)
  • Viserion – encountered by Bran, Daenerys, Jon, Jaime, Brienne, Sam, Ser Davos, Ser Jorah, Theon, Gendry, Tormund, Grey Worm, Podrick (By the time Viserion flies directly over Winterfell, Arya, Melisandre and Sandor are indoors, Beric, Edd and Lyanna are dead, Ghost hasn’t returned to Winterfell)

Viserion’s blue flames appear to take out both living and dead soldiers, docking him points for humans and gaining him points for wights.

Lyanna takes out a giant wight, which deserves double what you would normally get for killing a wight.

Melisandre’s recitation of her prophesy to Arya spurs her on to kill The Night King, this is enough to gain her points for making an inspiring speech. Conversely, Bran’s compliment and thanks to Theon don’t count as I believe Theon was already inspired to die for him. Beric’s encouragement of the Hound is a little bit more of a grey area but I will not award points as his words do not carry enough weight to count as a speech.

Lyanna and Edd die twice during this episode but as you lose so many points for dying, I’m capping that at once per episode. The Night King and Viserion still lose points for dying.

Sam lies on a pile of writhing bodies while stabbing them, which gains him crowdsurfing points.

Arya takes out the Night King, which deserves 100 points. This is included in her 5 kills cap. Several white walkers die because of this, they are also included in her 5 kill cap.

All survivors gain points for winning the battle. Ser Jorah and Melisandre die after the battle ends so they still gain these points.

Bran and Drogon both gain last line points as Bran has the last line of dialogue and Drogon makes the last noise.

Melisandre’s costume slips off her torso, giving her nudity points. Her hair colour changes from red to white, also giving her points for hair changing colour.

Character Scores
Here is a full list of the characters and their awarded points. If one of your characters does not appear in the following lists, this is due to their absence from the episode, for which you shall be deducted five points per character:

Group A
Bran Stark – 445 points: appears (+5), wargs into animal (+30), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), wins battle (+40), last line (+10)
Daenerys Targaryen – 520 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), rides dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), wins battle (+40)
Jon Snow – 560 points: appears (+5), 3x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), rides dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), unsheafs sword (+10), wins battle (+40)

Group B
Arya Stark – 855 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), 5x kills a white walker (+65[+35 Night King bonus]), wins battle (+40)
Jaime Lannister – 335 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 3x encounters dragon (+20), gets injured (-5), wins battle (+40)
Sansa Stark – 220 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), gets kissed (+15), wins battle (+40)
Tyrion Lannister – 206 points: appears (+5), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x drinks wine (+8), witnesses magic (+30), has kiss (+15), wins battle (+40)

Group C
Brienne of Tarth – 335 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), wins battle (+40)
Samwell Tarly – 390 points: appears (+5), first on screen (+15), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), crowdsurfs (+40), wins battle (+40)
Ser Davos Seaworth – 255 points: appears (+5), 3x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40)
Ser Jorah Mormont – 310 points: appears (+5), rides horse (+10), 2x witnesses magic (+30), unsheafs sword (+10), leads army into battle (+25), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters dragon (+20), gets injured (-5), dies (-30), wins battle (+40)
Theon Greyjoy – 440 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x encounters white walker (+40), dies (-30)
Varys – 175 points: appears (+5), 5x encounters wight (+20), witnesses magic (+30), wins battle (+40)

Group D
Gendry – 340 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 3x encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40)
Gilly – 175 points: appears (+5), 5x encounters wight (+20), witnesses magic (+30), wins battle (+40)
Melisandre – 475 points: appears (+5), crosses Narrow Sea (+50), rides horse (+10), 2x communicates with deity (+15), 3x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 2x encounters dragon (+20), makes inspiring speech (+20), wins battle (+40), hair changes colour (+15), gets naked (+15), dies (-30), last on screen (+15)
Missandei – 175 points: appears (+5), 5x encounters wight (+20), witnesses magic (+30), wins battle (+40)
Sandor Clegane – 280 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), wins battle (+40)
Tormund Giantsbane – 340 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 3x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), wins battle (+40)

Group E
Beric Dondarrion – 245 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), dies (-30)
Dolorus Edd – 265 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), dies (-30), comes back from the dead (+45)
Grey Worm – 330 points: appears (+5), 3x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40)
Lyanna Mormont – 195 points: appears (+5), first line (+10), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), gets injured (-5), kills giant wight (+30), dies (-30), comes back from the dead (+45)
Podrick Payne – 340 points: appears (+5), 2x witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 3x encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40),
The Night King – 120 points: appears (+5), 5x kills wight (+15), rides dragon (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), witnesses magic (+30), 2x kills someone (-10), dies (-30)

Group F
Drogon – 485 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters white walker (+40), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), gets injured (-5), wins battle (+40), last line (+10),
Ghost – 240 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), leads army into battle (+25), 5x encounters wight (+20), 2x encounters dragon (+20), wins battle (+40)
Rhaegal – 475 points: appears (+5), witnesses magic (+30), 5x encounters wight (+20), 5x kills wight (+15), 5x encounters white walker (+40), encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), gets injured (-5), wins battle (+40)
Viserion – 85 points: appears (+5), 2x encounters previously lost blood relative (+30), 2x kills someone (-10), 5x kills wight (+15), gets injured (-5), dies (-30)

Mid-season review

At this halfway point in the game, let’s see what character choices would gain you the most points:

Jon Snow – 890 points
Arya Stark – 1058 points
Jaime Lannister – 438 points
Theon Greyjoy – 517 points
Melisandre – 465 points
Grey Worm – 380 points
Drogon – 492 points
Lyanna Stark – 35 points
Any Group H character – -15 points

This combo of characters in conjunction with episode 3 as a Joker would gain you 11,200 points! With two of those characters now dead it’s likely that this lineup will be different once we reach the end of the series.

Conversely, here’s the worst performers in their groups:

Bran Stark – 530 points
Cersei Lannister – 22 points
Tyrion Lannister – 329 points
Varys – 215 points
Ser Bronn – 53 points
Ser Gregor Clegane – -5 points
Ser Pounce/Nymeria – -15 points
Aerys/Catelyn/Rhaegar/Robert/Brynden/Syrio – -15 points
Any Group H character – -15 points

That’s a dismal 884 points! Thankfully all of us have reached at least quadruple digits by this point.

The Leaderboard

Congratulations to JB who gained the most points this week with 9,498! This shoots him to top place with a lead of over 500 points.



As horrifying as it is to say, if you’ve already had your Joker episode and you’re still circling the bottom of the board, the chances of breaking into the top tier are rather slim. Stranger things have happened, though! The league is half over and there’s just one more triple Joker left. Now that wights/white walkers are out of play, can any of the rest of us claw our way to the top? Find out next week with episode 8.04!