In case you missed it, I responded to some more stuff John C. Wright has been saying, and pushed Recursive Occlusion to a wider release as well.
State of Play
The choir goes off. The board is laid out thusly:
Lions of Meereen: Tyrion Lannister
Lions of Dorne: Jaime Lannister
Lions of King's Landing: Cersei Lannister
The Dragon, Daenerys Targaryen
Direwolves of the Wall: Jon Snow
Burning Hearts of Winterfell: Stannis Baratheon
Ships of the Wall: Davos Seaworth
Burning Hearts of the Wall: Melisandre
Snakes of Dorne: Ellaria Sand
Direwolves of Braavos: Arya Stark
Direwolves of Winterfell: Sansa Stark
Archers of the Wall: Samwell Tarly
Flowers of the Wall: Gilly
Butterflies of Meereen: Missandei
Swords of Meereen: Daario Noharis
Spiders of Meereen: Varys
Chains of Dorne: Bronn
Kraken of Winterfell: Theon Greyjoy
Flayed Men of Winterfell: Ramsey Snow
Shields of Winterfell: Brienne of Tarth
Coins of Braavos: No one
With the Bear of Meereen, Jorah Mormont
The episode is in nine parts. The first is three minutes long and is set in the Baratheon camp north of Winterfell. The opening image is of melting icicles.
The second is four minutes long and is set at the Wall. The transition is by hard cut, from Stannis to Jon Snow.
The third is eleven minutes long and is set in Winterfell. It is in sections. The transition is by hard cut, from Jon Snow to an establishing shot of Stannis's march.
The fourth is six minutes long and is set in Braavos. The transition is by family, from Sansa to Arya Stark.
The fifth is five minutes long and is set in Dorne. The transition is by hard cut, from Arya's blinded face to an establishing shot of Jaime and company boarding a boat.
The sixth is six minutes long and is set in Meereen. The transition is by family, from a wide shot of Jaime's boat to Tyrion Lannister.
The seventh is four minutes long and is set in what one assumes is the Dothraki Sea. The transition is by dialogue, from everyone talking about Daenerys to Daenerys.
The eighth is thirteen minutes long and is set in King's Landing. The transition is by hard cut, from a wide shot of Dothraki swarming Daenerys to Cersei in her cell.
The ninth is four minutes long and is set on the Wall. The transition is by hard cut, from Cersei to the elevator at Castle Black. The final image is of Jon Snow, dead in the, well, snow.
Analysis
As a cliffhanger, it's something of a puzzling one. It is, of course, the biggest cliffhanger from A Dance With Dragons. But the reality of television production is that they cannot actually keep us in suspense as to whether Kit Harrington is in the next season. Of course, there are plausible outcomes here that amount to some version of "recast the role," including replacing Kit Harrington with an actual lost puppy, but... yeah. Really wondering how that's going to play.
More broadly, taking "cliffhanger" in the sense of talking about where all the characters are, it's almost jarring to end up so close to the state of play in the books after a season that has felt this defined by its departures. In some ways this is actively difficult to parse; the fact that Littlefinger and the Tyrells disappeared all the way back in The Gift is at this point bordering on a plot hole, for instance. And the cut from Melisandre's arrival at the Wall to Jon Snow, hours later, reading messages is ridiculous in its "let's just not deal with any of the consequences of these events."
Indeed, there are ways in which the decision to have everything line up almost exactly with the state of play in the books is something of a hinderance. This is not an entirely satisfying finale in terms of drama. In particular, watching the Battle of Winterfell, an event that hasn't actually taken place in the books, collapse into a near-exact retread of Jeyne Poole's escape, with the entire "candle in the broken tower" being a feint is downright anticlimactic, which is an impressive feat to pull given that it features the death of Stannis. In particular, the cut from Brienne to Ramsey borders on trolling.
It is, of course, entirely understandable. It's pretty clear that Martin is on a desperate charge to get The Winds of Winter out before April or so of 2016. Given that there is a zero percent change he'll have A Dream of Spring out by 2017 and that the show is, in fact, going to be doing the first draft of the overall finish, it is a perfectly understandable mark of respect to avoid moving much beyond the books. All the same, this doesn't quite work as a chunk of television. More than any other Game of Thrones finale, this feels like an exercise in ticking boxes.
All of which said, there are some very good boxes here. Maisie Williams is absolutely incredible, finding incredible new ways to sell "brutal killer" as she murders Meryn Trant, and then moving compellingly through a huge range of different forms of anguish in her final scene. Stephen Dillane's weary resignation is absolutely brilliant. And Lena Headey turns in her best performance to date in the series, managing to turn a scene that could easily have been an absolute train wreck into a tour de force by delivering a performance controlled and majestic enough to hold focus over the surface spectacle.
But there are an unusually large number of characters left in positions of vulnerability and weakness here, as opposed to in positions where it's interesting to ask what's going to become of them. Only Tyrion's ending offers anything to be excited about in terms of next season. And, to be fair, it's a lot - Tyrion, Missandei, Grey Worm, and Varys trying to rule over Meereen is an absolutely great concept. But literally every other character's plot ends with some variation of "something awful happens," with the exception of Sansa, who ends with "well she probably didn't die in that fall." No one really has an exciting new status quo.
All the same, as I've said in past reviews, for a season that sought to cover two deeply flawed and problematic books in just ten hours this has been very, very good. One cannot, of course, simply excuse the show any flaw that originates in its source material. But it has taken what were at best a mediocre pair of books and elevated them to reliably good television. That's an accomplishment.
All the same, it's tough to say that nine months feels like an unbearable wait for more.
Ranking
State of Play
The choir goes off. The board is laid out thusly:
Lions of Meereen: Tyrion Lannister
Lions of Dorne: Jaime Lannister
Lions of King's Landing: Cersei Lannister
The Dragon, Daenerys Targaryen
Direwolves of the Wall: Jon Snow
Burning Hearts of Winterfell: Stannis Baratheon
Ships of the Wall: Davos Seaworth
Burning Hearts of the Wall: Melisandre
Snakes of Dorne: Ellaria Sand
Direwolves of Braavos: Arya Stark
Direwolves of Winterfell: Sansa Stark
Archers of the Wall: Samwell Tarly
Flowers of the Wall: Gilly
Butterflies of Meereen: Missandei
Swords of Meereen: Daario Noharis
Spiders of Meereen: Varys
Chains of Dorne: Bronn
Kraken of Winterfell: Theon Greyjoy
Flayed Men of Winterfell: Ramsey Snow
Shields of Winterfell: Brienne of Tarth
Coins of Braavos: No one
With the Bear of Meereen, Jorah Mormont
The episode is in nine parts. The first is three minutes long and is set in the Baratheon camp north of Winterfell. The opening image is of melting icicles.
The second is four minutes long and is set at the Wall. The transition is by hard cut, from Stannis to Jon Snow.
The third is eleven minutes long and is set in Winterfell. It is in sections. The transition is by hard cut, from Jon Snow to an establishing shot of Stannis's march.
The fourth is six minutes long and is set in Braavos. The transition is by family, from Sansa to Arya Stark.
The fifth is five minutes long and is set in Dorne. The transition is by hard cut, from Arya's blinded face to an establishing shot of Jaime and company boarding a boat.
The sixth is six minutes long and is set in Meereen. The transition is by family, from a wide shot of Jaime's boat to Tyrion Lannister.
The seventh is four minutes long and is set in what one assumes is the Dothraki Sea. The transition is by dialogue, from everyone talking about Daenerys to Daenerys.
The eighth is thirteen minutes long and is set in King's Landing. The transition is by hard cut, from a wide shot of Dothraki swarming Daenerys to Cersei in her cell.
The ninth is four minutes long and is set on the Wall. The transition is by hard cut, from Cersei to the elevator at Castle Black. The final image is of Jon Snow, dead in the, well, snow.
Analysis
As a cliffhanger, it's something of a puzzling one. It is, of course, the biggest cliffhanger from A Dance With Dragons. But the reality of television production is that they cannot actually keep us in suspense as to whether Kit Harrington is in the next season. Of course, there are plausible outcomes here that amount to some version of "recast the role," including replacing Kit Harrington with an actual lost puppy, but... yeah. Really wondering how that's going to play.
More broadly, taking "cliffhanger" in the sense of talking about where all the characters are, it's almost jarring to end up so close to the state of play in the books after a season that has felt this defined by its departures. In some ways this is actively difficult to parse; the fact that Littlefinger and the Tyrells disappeared all the way back in The Gift is at this point bordering on a plot hole, for instance. And the cut from Melisandre's arrival at the Wall to Jon Snow, hours later, reading messages is ridiculous in its "let's just not deal with any of the consequences of these events."
Indeed, there are ways in which the decision to have everything line up almost exactly with the state of play in the books is something of a hinderance. This is not an entirely satisfying finale in terms of drama. In particular, watching the Battle of Winterfell, an event that hasn't actually taken place in the books, collapse into a near-exact retread of Jeyne Poole's escape, with the entire "candle in the broken tower" being a feint is downright anticlimactic, which is an impressive feat to pull given that it features the death of Stannis. In particular, the cut from Brienne to Ramsey borders on trolling.
It is, of course, entirely understandable. It's pretty clear that Martin is on a desperate charge to get The Winds of Winter out before April or so of 2016. Given that there is a zero percent change he'll have A Dream of Spring out by 2017 and that the show is, in fact, going to be doing the first draft of the overall finish, it is a perfectly understandable mark of respect to avoid moving much beyond the books. All the same, this doesn't quite work as a chunk of television. More than any other Game of Thrones finale, this feels like an exercise in ticking boxes.
All of which said, there are some very good boxes here. Maisie Williams is absolutely incredible, finding incredible new ways to sell "brutal killer" as she murders Meryn Trant, and then moving compellingly through a huge range of different forms of anguish in her final scene. Stephen Dillane's weary resignation is absolutely brilliant. And Lena Headey turns in her best performance to date in the series, managing to turn a scene that could easily have been an absolute train wreck into a tour de force by delivering a performance controlled and majestic enough to hold focus over the surface spectacle.
But there are an unusually large number of characters left in positions of vulnerability and weakness here, as opposed to in positions where it's interesting to ask what's going to become of them. Only Tyrion's ending offers anything to be excited about in terms of next season. And, to be fair, it's a lot - Tyrion, Missandei, Grey Worm, and Varys trying to rule over Meereen is an absolutely great concept. But literally every other character's plot ends with some variation of "something awful happens," with the exception of Sansa, who ends with "well she probably didn't die in that fall." No one really has an exciting new status quo.
All the same, as I've said in past reviews, for a season that sought to cover two deeply flawed and problematic books in just ten hours this has been very, very good. One cannot, of course, simply excuse the show any flaw that originates in its source material. But it has taken what were at best a mediocre pair of books and elevated them to reliably good television. That's an accomplishment.
All the same, it's tough to say that nine months feels like an unbearable wait for more.
Ranking
- Hardhome
- The Dance of Dragons
- High Sparrow
- The Wars to Come
- Mother's Mercy
- Kill the Boy
- Sons of the Harpy
- The House of Black and White
- The Gift
- Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken
A Small Piece of Unfinished Business
The choir goes off. The board is laid out thusly:
The Lion, Tyrion Lannister
Lions of Dorne: Jaime Lannister
Lions of King's Landing: Cersei Lannister
Mockingbirds of King's Landing: Petyr Baelish
Rose of King's Landing: Margaery Tyrell
Snakes of Dorne: Ellaria Sand
Direwolves of Braavos: Arya Stark
Direwolves of Winterfell: Sansa Stark
Chains of Dorne: Bronn
Kraken of Winterfell: Theon Greyjoy
Flayed Men of Winterfell: Roose Bolton, Ramsey Bolton
Coins of Braavos: No One
Stags of King's Landing: Tommen Baratheon
With the Bear, Jorah Mormont
The episode is in seven parts. The first part is six minutes long and is set in Braavos. The opening image is of Arya's hands.
The second is three minutes long and is set somewhere in Essos. The transition is by image, from Arya looking at her arm to Jorah looking at his.
The third is six minutes long and is set in Braavos. The transition is by hard cut, from Tyrion walking to Arya cleaning the floor.
The fourth is five minutes long and is set somewhere in Essos. The transition is by hard cut, from the hall of faces to Jorah and Tyrion walking.
The fifth is five minutes long and is set in King's Landing. The transition is by hard cut, from the face of the slaver to an establishing shot of the city.
The sixth is seven minutes long and is set in Dorne. The transition is by family, from Cersei Lannister to Myrcella Baratheon.
The seventh is appears to only be twelve minutes long, but that can't be right, as it makes the episode about twelve minutes shorter than it should be. Weird. In any case, it's set in King's Landing. The transition is by hard cut, from Ellaria Sand to Olenna Tyrell's caravan. The final image is of Olenna Tyrell giving Cersei some serious shade.
The Lion, Tyrion Lannister
Lions of Dorne: Jaime Lannister
Lions of King's Landing: Cersei Lannister
Mockingbirds of King's Landing: Petyr Baelish
Rose of King's Landing: Margaery Tyrell
Snakes of Dorne: Ellaria Sand
Direwolves of Braavos: Arya Stark
Direwolves of Winterfell: Sansa Stark
Chains of Dorne: Bronn
Kraken of Winterfell: Theon Greyjoy
Flayed Men of Winterfell: Roose Bolton, Ramsey Bolton
Coins of Braavos: No One
Stags of King's Landing: Tommen Baratheon
With the Bear, Jorah Mormont
The episode is in seven parts. The first part is six minutes long and is set in Braavos. The opening image is of Arya's hands.
The second is three minutes long and is set somewhere in Essos. The transition is by image, from Arya looking at her arm to Jorah looking at his.
The third is six minutes long and is set in Braavos. The transition is by hard cut, from Tyrion walking to Arya cleaning the floor.
The fourth is five minutes long and is set somewhere in Essos. The transition is by hard cut, from the hall of faces to Jorah and Tyrion walking.
The fifth is five minutes long and is set in King's Landing. The transition is by hard cut, from the face of the slaver to an establishing shot of the city.
The sixth is seven minutes long and is set in Dorne. The transition is by family, from Cersei Lannister to Myrcella Baratheon.
The seventh is appears to only be twelve minutes long, but that can't be right, as it makes the episode about twelve minutes shorter than it should be. Weird. In any case, it's set in King's Landing. The transition is by hard cut, from Ellaria Sand to Olenna Tyrell's caravan. The final image is of Olenna Tyrell giving Cersei some serious shade.