Game of Thrones begins....

[Admiral Yi]

Super nerdy girl working at the gas station had a GoT ring tone.  We chatted for a bit.  Told her the show is better than the books.

[Berkut]

More generally, they seem to be doing the Drama Writing For Television 101 thing that goes like this:

1. Build tension. Tension important, must build it!
2. Build more tension! Oh lovely tension! However will this be resolved!
3. ZOMG SO MUCH TENSION! WELL DONE! Don't worry if the building made no sense, or required characters to act like morons! (Jon charging at Frey)
4. Resolve Tension! Oh wait...shit. We didn't really think about how to resolve this when we were building it up....crap. Uhhh.....someone throw together some deus ex bullshit! Arya gets magic healing! The Knights ride to the rescue at the last minute!

Rinse.
Repeat.

Story and plot is of secondary concern to the formula.

[HVC]

I liked the battle of the bastards. The aryns and their retinue are mounted knights, so the Calvary charge didn't bother me, and little finger waiting until the last second so that the northern armies are ruined matches his personally. I'll give you terminator assisting girl and unlikely survival of Arya, though.

[Habbaku]

I liked the battle of the bastards.

I liked it as well, from a cinematic, Hollywood standpoint.  It was a very well-done battle scene, very well-directed/shot/constructed, what have you.  But it's not why I watch Game of Thrones.  The same excitement could have been had without a deus ex machina from the Valehirrim riding to Jon's rescue because...what?  Jon is dumb now?  Despite seasons of us being shown that he is not actually that dumb?

The aryns and their retinue are mounted knights

The complaint is not that the knights did what knights do.  It was how they were required to save the day because one of the main characters acted in a way that was necessary for zomg drama instead of something that's consistent with their arc.

the Calvary charge didn't bother me

Quite the miracle there.

[grumbler]

I liked the battle of the bastards.

I liked it as well, from a cinematic, Hollywood standpoint.  It was a very well-done battle scene, very well-directed/shot/constructed, what have you.  But it's not why I watch Game of Thrones.  The same excitement could have been had without a deus ex machina from the Valehirrim riding to Jon's rescue because...what?  Jon is dumb now?  Despite seasons of us being shown that he is not actually that dumb?

I don't think Jon was so much dumb as he was so much human.  That was his brother he was trying to rescue.  It'd be hard for anyone to just stand there and watch their brother die.

The aryns and their retinue are mounted knights

The complaint is not that the knights did what knights do.  It was how they were required to save the day because one of the main characters acted in a way that was necessary for zomg drama instead of something that's consistent with their arc.

the Calvary charge didn't bother me

Quite the miracle there.

If you didn't think the Vale cavalry was going to show up, you were missing some pretty pointed foreshadowing.   That they waited until the Northern Army was getting slaughtered should surprise no one; Littlefinger wanted to be the only power left in the North, backing Sansa as the Lady of the North.  That wasn't deus ex machina at all.

Arya's miracle heal was.  Frankly, I found that whole story arc to be badly plotted and kinda pointless.  The story doesn't need Ninja Arya.  But that's a fault inherited from the books.  The show could certainly have handled her departure in a less melodramatic way.

Once they did that, though, her showing up to kill Walder is exactly what I expected.  That had so much foreshadowing it wasn't even foreshadowing any more.  She had a list, remember?  Walder Frey was near the top.

[The Brain]

Super nerdy girl working at the gas station had a GoT ring tone.  We chatted for a bit.  Told her the show is better than the books.

[Solmyr]

Trailer is out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giYeaKsXnsI

Pants, dairy factory, etc.

[Liep]

Trailer is out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giYeaKsXnsI

Pants, dairy factory, etc.

Yes

[viper37]

Arya magically showing up out of nowhere to kill Walder Frey and sons with zero lead-up?

it's not magic, it's called the passing of time.  Maybe 2-3 months had passed since the chase.

[Josquius]

Would be curious to see a edited version in the future which specifically notes the date of events. It being clear that some characters stories take place in the course of a few hours whilst others take weeks.

Ruins the drama and flow of course. But purely as a curiosity.

[grumbler]

Game of Thrones 1990s-style
https://youtu.be/2fPgIIB67bw

New trailer:
https://youtu.be/1Mlhnt0jMlg

[Habbaku]

Arya magically showing up out of nowhere to kill Walder Frey and sons with zero lead-up?

it's not magic, it's called the passing of time.  Maybe 2-3 months had passed since the chase.

It's not the passage of time I was quibbling with, but the knocking off of the Freys by Arya by just...hand-waving it and assuming Arya's that good.

[Berkut]

That doesn't bother me. They've been setting up Arya as "that good" for a long time. Granted, they kind of skipped over the part where they actually show her getting that good, but I think it is rather strongly implied.

[Razgovory]

I am rather pessimistic about the coming season.  I only hope that they don't continue the Hollywoodization of the story and actually know what they're doing with the remaining two seasons.

Yeah, they definitely should go full on Broadway for the ending.

[Tamas]

I thought this season will be the last one.