(Don't throw things at me, but there's reason to suspect GRRM planned for that title to refer to Jon and Dany).

I'll see myself out.
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Fair point.
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I'll go on the record with this.

I wanted the NK to win. I wanted Dany to take out a handful of survivors on Drogon and Jon on Rheagal. I wanted them to be separated, with all hope feeling lost, and I wanted them to converge on King's Landing when the NK began to wreck the city, Cersei, and shit-eating ShowEuron.

But, the more I look into GRRM's quotes - I just don't that that's where he's going with this thing. The show NK isn't really even in the books. The show just made him as a personification of the WW threat. The problem, I think, is that while George chooses to eschew writing POV accounts of Hardhome and instead gives subtle hints of the horror there, the show chose to actually go there. At the time, this was praised as a wonderful deviation. However, it was done so ****ing well that the NK antagonist altered the show's center. The politics that made the show (and there are good moments of those politics in S6) immediately took a backseat to the WW - so much so that that WW threat became prioritized above all else to the viewer (for better or for worse). I’d also argue that this is where the show exploded from a super successful HBO show to the global phenomenon that it is now. Season 5 actually had been declining ratings wise from Season 4 - then Hardhome happened. The NK became embedded in the show’s lore, when he was never a true character in the books. On a personal note, this is how I’ve hooked two of my friends who gave up on the show after being “bored” with Season 1 - but they LOVED Hardhome with zero context to Jon’s development and multiple characters who were featured in it.

I've accepted last night's WW fate the more I read into GRRM. He just loves the idea of politics and ruling and how the elite class will always be a factor in our world, always, even in the face of extinction.

However, my opinion of this episode will likely forever hinge on the next three. If there is a Hodor level twist coming (possibly something to do with the foreshadowed burning of King's Landing we've seen in Bran and Dany's plots) and stick the landing (meaning a satisfying enough ending that doesn't betray the arcs of the main characters), I'll be happy with the episode.

But if I just don't care after this, if we just get a 4 hour Scouring of the Shire like epilogue to the series that honors GRRM's planned ending after last night, then D&D will have failed and needed to realize that the Game of Thrones show ultimately went a different direction than the ASOIAF. That's what the HIMYM showrunners couldn't accept. The characters in the show went a radically different direction in 9 seasons of development than when they filmed the original ending in S2 (when they thought it was a 3 season series). However, all of the GOT showrunners seem confident with the ending, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was so good for the characters that it's keeping me hopeful that they're going to stay true to them in the ending - especially since these characters are what make up the fabric of the series.

We'll see. Valar Morghulis and what not.
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both George RR Martin and D/D have said there is a conclusive ending. That doesn’t mean we get resolution on every character just who sits on the iron throne at the end. Or what comes after the throne.
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like others mentioned as an analogy, Breaking Bad ending was trashed by many but now viewed as brilliant.
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Unfortunately, I have the same bad feeling. They have to wrap up the story in 3 episodes...one of which will obviously be a battle for the Throne.

Too many developed characters to properly give them enough screen time to resolve each scenario in a natural way. Not having any major characters die yet...has me worried it'll be all Disney and roses.

They need a full 10 episode season to conclude this properly...

It's also a bit anti-climactic, after just having this epic battle with a super-natural villain that can control the dead...to have another war episode with Cerise Lanister. I mean she's a wicked woman and all...but she's no Knight King.

I think they screwed up by not having them take the capital first, paint a picture of potential peace for the 7 kingdoms...then having an epic good vs. evil ending against the dead...who threaten to take it all away and have a dragon.

The major threat is already dead....
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I’d like someone to put put a “regular” lighted episode out so we could see what was happening.
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It looked great on my 4K Samsung...but then I saw the "making of episode 3" on my computer and couldn't make out much detail.

I think you need a high contrast screen to view it...
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Theories:

Only Jon or Dany will be alive at the end. Jon for the more fairy tale ending or Dany for the darker ending with more war to come once winter is over.

Sandor dies after killing the Mountain.

Tyrion and Sansa remarry. The bring in the Vale and Riverlands and form the Kingdom of the North.

Arya and Gendry head off to Braavos particularly if Dany is the one on the throne.

Sam is appointed as lord of the reach. Could have strained relations with Dany or cordial relations with Jon depending on who survives.

Jamie dies doing something noble.

Brienne becomes commander of the Kingsguard.

Tormund is given a lordship in the North.
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LOL

FAX
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:-) I spent way too much money on my TV. State of the art.
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:-)
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I was hoping at the end of Episode 2 where we see the White Walker generals but not the Night King, maybe he was flying his ice dragon south to take out Cersei in a sneak attack. This would have been a way to clean up the story so it's not cramming two wars into a very limited number of episodes.
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Is it properly calibrated? You SHOULD be able to see those dark scenes on a quality 4K.

You could create a preset just for that episode...
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