George R.R. Martin/Game of Thrones

[PensFanInDC]

It's interesting because it's the same feeling Westeros and the rest of that world has about the wall. They don't realize that it's the single most important thing (story line) in their world (series).

[shmenguin]

I was bored throughout the ep.

a popular sentiment amongst critics this morning seems to be, "cool battle, but who cares?"

the plight of the white wall seems to be the unwanted step child of the GoT universe.

I liked it in the books. Last night was just tedious. Its also jarring because of the way the show is usually consumed -- multiple locations with multiple story lines. At around 930 I realized they weren't doing anything else but the Wall.

Was the Blackwater ep King's Landing exclusively?

it was. but it's easy to forget since the characters were actually interesting.

[shmenguin]

a couple things that i can't quite recall from the book...

-wasn't it jon snow who killed ygritte?
-did pip and grenn die in this battle?

and another thing about the show...you have a 100,000 soldiers, an outer gate that the giant opened for you and an inner gate that he apparently smashed through. maybe it's time to send in a few more troops? also, a nerd with time on his hands should count how many nights watch got killed last night. they had 105 to start. i think they're down to -23.

[newarenanow]

a couple things that i can't quite recall from the book...

-wasn't it jon snow who killed ygritte?
-did pip and grenn die in this battle?

and another thing about the show...you have a 100,000 soldiers, an outer gate that the giant opened for you and an inner gate that he apparently smashed through. maybe it's time to send in a few more troops? also, a nerd with time on his hands should count how many nights watch got killed last night. they had 105 to start. i think they're down to -23.

1) No, he didn't kill her. When he found her, the arrow in her wasn't the kind he was using.

2) No, they both survive.

[newarenanow]

I was bored throughout the ep.

a popular sentiment amongst critics this morning seems to be, "cool battle, but who cares?"

the plight of the white wall seems to be the unwanted step child of the GoT universe.

I liked it in the books. Last night was just tedious. Its also jarring because of the way the show is usually consumed -- multiple locations with multiple story lines. At around 930 I realized they weren't doing anything else but the Wall.

Was the Blackwater ep King's Landing exclusively?

I like it in the books too. Probably because you get into the minds of the characters as well in the books, and you also get more history and what is going on, which the show can't capture.

Like twc said, many don't look at the wall as anything, but it is the most important area of the war overall.

[Rocco]

a couple things that i can't quite recall from the book...

-wasn't it jon snow who killed ygritte?
-did pip and grenn die in this battle?

and another thing about the show...you have a 100,000 soldiers, an outer gate that the giant opened for you and an inner gate that he apparently smashed through. maybe it's time to send in a few more troops? also, a nerd with time on his hands should count how many nights watch got killed last night. they had 105 to start. i think they're down to -23.

In the books Jon has a clean shot at Ygritte but doesn't take it. Someone else later gets her.

[DelPen]

That's the one thing that pisses me off legitimately about the show, in the book the watch has hundreds if not thousands of men still at this point. I get you don't want to have all those extras on hand but come on, just move the scenes that would require showing thousands or add some in digitally in the distance.

[SolidSnake]

Loved the shot of the guys who held the gate and slayed the giant.

[meecrofilm]

I was bored throughout the ep.

a popular sentiment amongst critics this morning seems to be, "cool battle, but who cares?"

the plight of the white wall seems to be the unwanted step child of the GoT universe.

That's kinda why I liked it so much, among other reasons. It seems (straight-TV watcher here) almost everyone in Westeros doesn't necessarily take being at the Wall seriously -- it's treated more of a punishment because of its perceived inconsequentiality -- but it's clear those guys obviously do serious work up there that greatly affects the very same people who are ignorant to what they do, so why not give them a little more screen time. They all matter.

It's kind of ironic too that now even some critics and viewers are like "eh, it's just the wall, not reall important, let's get back to the good stuff," so I enjoyed seeing the more unheralded characters (even the nameless ones) get their due time, if only to be soon pushed back again into obscurity.

[shmenguin]

It's kind of ironic too that now even some critics and viewers are like "eh, it's just the wall, not reall important, let's get back to the good stuff the characters aren't that interesting"

fixt. the north is implicitly interesting. it's mystical, the wall itself is miraculous, the giants, the walkers, etc. people don't like it because jon snow is a weak character in both the book and show, and there isn't anyone else up there capable of picking up that slack.

[newarenanow]

It's kind of ironic too that now even some critics and viewers are like "eh, it's just the wall, not reall important, let's get back to the good stuff the characters aren't that interesting"

fixt. the north is implicitly interesting. it's mystical, the wall itself is miraculous, the giants, the walkers, etc. people don't like it because jon snow is a weak character in both the book and show, and there isn't anyone else up there capable of picking up that slack.

But he's sexy.

[the wicked child]

I feel like Harrington has been noticeably better this season. Don't really get the don't care attitude towards the Wall but whatever.

[meecrofilm]

Same -- I mean, there was really nowhere to go but up for him, but still.

In a world of marginalized people, The Night's Watch are basically the underdogs of the underdogs, so hard not to root for the good ones there. Samwell has also grown on me as well.

[WDWBurghGooner]

The scythe thing was pretty insane.

[Spangler]

Even though Grenn was a minor character, I thought his death was one of the more powerful of the series. He had a heroic death that will largely be forgotten or never known.

If he didn't stop that giant, the Nights Watch might have been destroyed entirely, therefore he may have saved Westeros.

[Firebird]

One of the simple/small things I like about the previous episode was the almost point-of-view arrow shooting from Ygritte

[the wicked child]

I'm pretty sure Pyp and Grenn are still alive in the books, but I don't think it really matters in terms of the show (or the books for that matter)... I doubt Martin had anything big planned for them, so using them to this end made their impact more than it could have been otherwise.

Even though Grenn was a minor character, I thought his death was one of the more powerful of the series. He had a heroic death that will largely be forgotten or never known.

If he didn't stop that giant, the Nights Watch might have been destroyed entirely, therefore he may have saved Westeros.

This. Sums up the Nights Watch pretty effectively.

[SolidSnake]

Even though Grenn was a minor character, I thought his death was one of the more powerful of the series. He had a heroic death that will largely be forgotten or never known.

If he didn't stop that giant, the Nights Watch might have been destroyed entirely, therefore he may have saved Westeros.

That's what I thought. Loved seeing that scene when John walked to the gate. Very powerful.

[Letang Is The Truth]

tough crowd in here

[blurryhaze312]

Even though Grenn was a minor character, I thought his death was one of the more powerful of the series. He had a heroic death that will largely be forgotten or never known.

If he didn't stop that giant, the Nights Watch might have been destroyed entirely, therefore he may have saved Westeros.

That's what I thought. Loved seeing that scene when John walked to the gate. Very powerful.

Having not read the books, my girlfriend and I were sitting there waiting for the giant to come breaking down a wall/door and get the party started again in the morning, Kool Aid man style.

[DelPen]

So who has no idea what is going to happen next week?

[PensFanInDC]

So who has no idea what is going to happen next week?

Best season finale yet is pretty much what they have to do...

[the wicked child]

Well, let's see. Story lines I expect to see in this episode:

Tyrion
Arya/Hound
Brienne/Pod
Bran
The Wall
Daenerys

Maybe Ramsay and Reek, but there is so much else to cover, I am doubtful.
Don't think we will see anything with The Vale... Sansa has roughly one chapter left, no reason to cover it at this point or bother inventing material for this episode.

And I really don't want to see any time wasted on those two story lines in this episode.

Detailed expectations/guesses (Major Show/ASOS and early ADWD spoilers)

Spoiler:

Jaime releases Tyrion from his cell. Tyrion takes a detour and we learn that in the end, Tywin Lannister did not in fact **** gold.

The Hound succumbs to his wounds and Arya departs for Braavos

Brienne and Pod encounter the Brotherhood. Despite putting up a fight, they are eventually overtaken. based on a comment made in one of the preview videos for the season, Brienne might bite someone's ear off.

Bran continues his journey for the magical tree. Along the way, a battle kicks up between some white walkers and the children of the forest. His story ends after reaching the cave and meeting Blood Raven. Note that the battle thing is a complete guess based on comments by one of the directors saying this episode has the most expensive scene in terms of $ per second... no idea what else it could be. Dragons are possible too, I guess.

Jon treats with Mance. Things will start to go badly until Stannis finally arrives to save the day.

Drogon will BBQ a kid, leading to Dany making the decision to lock the dragons up in the pyramid. Also probably some attacks by the Sons of the Harpy or whatever.

The episode will end with Brienne being brought before lady Stoneheart.

This should easily be the best finale yet, for a number of reasons. The story is the major one, but also simply the fact that it should actually feel like a finale... whereas this show has typically used the 9th episode as the major event and used the tenth merely for fallout and setting up the next season. There are certain episodes that I have been waiting for ever since reading the books... this is one of them.

[PensFanInDC]

Tyrion's story this episode is my most looked forward to moment of the series.

[canaan]

if the finale covers that much meat in one episode, id be thoroughly impressed/happy.