re: I seriously am in shock reading this board with the negative opinions

I’m with you. This was easily the best episode of the season.

I don’t whole heartedly agree with every choice (Jaime), but with so much going on I don’t expect too. I gave up expecting anything from this show long ago, because they usually subvert those. The theorizing and predicting is part of the fun, then I enjoy the spectacle which is what this episode was. Beautiful shots and closed arcs for many. And Dany with the long coming heel turn that’s up there with any in television.

We now have some direction for the final episode. Feels like Dany has to die, but otherwise I’ve not a clue how this will end or who will be left standing. Or who will kill her for that matter.

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One thing that I think almost everyone agrees with is that even when good this season, it is very rushed

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No doubt.

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Glad I’m not that miserable.

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It seems like you are because you’re bothered by other people having different opinions than you. And I say bothered because it seems you spend more time on this board criticizing people criticizing the show than actually discussing the show you supposedly love.

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its still just a really big leap they took. didn't necessarily need to be a slow burn but to just go frick it and start slaughtering innocent people that quickly seems forced.

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yeah if they were doing a "crazy scale" (1 to 10) the writers had her at like a 3...maybe a 4

then she went to about a 25 in a blink

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DEATH!!

EXPLOSIONS!!


BEST EVAR!!

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You can always watch The Talking Dead?

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I get some of the criticisms, but after review, the only one with merit is Cersi's end.

Dany's been on the road to her conduct last night for quite some time. The line about choosing fear over love explains her motivations. Why it happened when it happened? The event was the result of manipulations/machinations that she clearly was not on board with and ran contrary to her role as Queen.

Arya's behavior - she is above all else a survivor. Yes, she performed some ninja shite in Episode 3, but that scenario was far different from having dragonfire as well as stone and massive structures falling all around her. Faceless man, or otherwise, it was an unsettling situation.

Failure of defenses compared to previous week. Either Dany or Drogon learned a lesson. Not a blind frontal assault, but use of the sun, elevation, etc. ended up putting them in the position to exact the damage they did.

Obviously, it was rushed and there are some holes, but as has been pointed out by others, it was a damned impressive episode visually, sound, etc.

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I agree with you.

I still don't think Danny is mad. She literally said "love or fear". She went with the only option she had. It's war, innocent people will die. I have no problem with her going Hiroshima on KL.

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So basically what I’m getting is that you like your characters black and white and only want redemption stories. You want all your main characters to have a warm fuzzy happy ending instead of shades of gray i.e. Jamie. I.E. Dany becoming a kind benevolent ruler despite being a foreign invading army and all natives of Westeros having turned on her and showing psychotic tendencies.

You wanted Middle Ages walking dead and that’s ok I guess if that’s what you’re into

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I'd say this accounts for 99.9% of all the melts we've been seeing since last night.

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yeah if they were doing a "crazy scale" (1 to 10) the writers had her at like a 3...maybe a 4

then she went to about a 25 in a blink

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How about this seemingly competent idea:

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I still don't think Danny is mad. She literally said "love or fear". She went with the only option she had. It's war, innocent people will die.

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I don't think she's mad in the sense she has no idea what she's doing. But I completely disagree that she had no other option. The show bends over backwards to show that King's Landing had been subdued and its armies absolutely defeated. The bell didn't drive her mad or anything like I've seen claimed online, but it is a signal to the audience: everything that happens after that point is a war crime. It is pointless slaughter for its own end.

We also saw Danys make the decision to side with fear earlier in the episode (entirely consistent with her unleashing the dragons in Mereen, being isolated in victory in Winterfell, losing all of her most trusted advisors, and most importantly: having the rightness of her cause taken from her). She has lived her entirely life bathed in blood, plotting revenge on all those that have wronged her and her family, but most importantly... that was justice. She was wronged, and her vengence would be righteous.

Jon destroys that. She knows that she is not the rightful queen. She isn't righting a historical wrong, she is just another usurper fighting to climb the ladder. So she makes the decision: to rule by fear but failing that, to make sure there is no kingdom left for Jon. She hasn't just broken the wheel, she's broken the whole damn cart.

Dragons do not plant trees. She is leaving nothing for her would-be usurper in Jon. Her rule will be cruel and short, but she is intent on ending the world so nothing lives past her. Maybe not insane, but definitely evil. She is not returning as the rightful queen, but as a foreign invader, subjugating a foreign land.

(But yeah, I do think it was rushed... not as much as some, but the season does lack the depth of GRMM... but it's impossible to look back and not see how every step lead Danys to this point. She cannot be a part of a coalition and she cannot compromise, yet she requires everyone to bend to her).