Game of Thrones - mostly

[Kath]

Yeah, but only the Mormont's & Theon dying in the gigantic battle was pretty un GoT too. They've lost a lot of their mojo and let too many characters wear impervious plot armor.

Agreed. My only real complaint about Ep 3. The remaining characters better have a pretty damn important role to play in the last half.

[StCapps]

Yeah, but only the Mormont's & Theon dying in the gigantic battle was pretty un GoT too. They've lost a lot of their mojo and let too many characters wear impervious plot armor.

Agreed. My only real complaint about Ep 3. The remaining characters better have a pretty damn important role to play in the last half.

Or if they don't, they better die in a much cooler way than they would have in that episode, if not, wtf?

[Hastur]

Good article from Slate for once. They mostly agree with me of course.

https://slate.com/culture/2019/04/battl ... ctics.html

Battle Analysis: The Battle of Winterfell
Recently an army of the living cobbled together from Dothraki cavalry, Unsullied emancipated infantry, a variety of Westerosi warriors, and a pair of dragons (hereafter known as “Team Alive”) fought against a diverse array of animated corpses (hereafter known as “Team Dead”). Neither army had fought anything like the Battle of Winterfell before. Despite some significant errors, Team Alive carried the day.

Most armchair analysis of the battle thus far, particularly on social media, has concentrated on the mistakes made by Team Alive, to the exclusion both of a careful account of Team Dead’s errors and of an appreciation for why Team Alive made the decisions it did. Here, using expertise developed through study and instruction at the United States Army War College, we examine with care how Team Alive overcame cultural and organizational impediments to develop and carry out the plan that defeated Team Dead.

[Kath]

Good article from Slate for once. They mostly agree with me of course.

https://slate.com/culture/2019/04/battl ... ctics.html

Good article. Thanks for posting, Hastur.

[DrYouth]

X-post from the show thread.

Let's try to look for some logic in the defense of Winterfell.

First of all the attackers weren't the usual sort. The Undead were always expected to assault the castle as soon as they arrived and to do so in a mindless way.

The defenders were too many for the castle and they were short on supplies. They needed to get fighting as soon as possible.

They brought everything to Winterfell so they just had to use what they had in any way conceivable.

The Dothraki horsemen were the typical impetuous cavalry types. The kind that always charges, often too soon. Many wargames have special rules forcing you to roll for morale if you try to hold them back. That didn't bother me. We have no idea how many they managed to kill.

The siege engines were probably brought in with all the other stuff the allies tried to save. They just used them in the only way they could think of.

I don't understand why they were so slow at manning the walls, almost panicking when the wights charged over the trench. They had lots of time before that.

The wights in the library reminded me of units in a computer game, on the edge of battle, that you are to busy to issue an order to and are just a bit too far from the enemy to act automatically.

LOL

Thanks Hastur...

That actually made me feel better about it...

Except no.... the cavalry did not impetuously charge.... they had a ceremonial sword lighting before they headed in a calm and orderly manner out toward the unseen foe...

I do like your theory about the AI failure of the peripheral units though... that made me lol.

Any analysis on the reality of the little girl's giant slaying sword thrust from the crushing fist of the giant?
He would have had to hold her very close for that to be even conceivable.
It was from there that the spell was fatally broken for me.
What was the giant zombie trying to do... give her a kiss?

[BjornP]

Any analysis on the reality of the little girl's giant slaying sword thrust from the crushing fist of the giant?
He would have had to hold her very close for that to be even conceivable.
It was from there that the spell was fatally broken for me.
What was the giant zombie trying to do... give her a kiss?

If NK was some uber-greenseer of the dead, he'd be able to see through the eyes of every one of the wights. He's apparantly able to distinguish between who's a noble and at what rank they are, and some random Joe Peasant. Why else pick the Umber kid as the centerpiece for some dismemberment art installation in the first episode?

So, when the wight-giant picks her up and crushes her, the NK's recognizing her.... and because he's a one-dimensional, boring-ass hell, Sauron-copy, he delights in tormenting the girl, probably while cackling manically on his evilly-grinning evil dragon. So he pulls her closer to the giant's eye (because apparantly wights are short-sighted...?) to get a better look at her death.

[DrYouth]

If NK was some uber-greenseer of the dead, he'd be able to see through the eyes of every one of the wights. He's apparantly able to distinguish between who's a noble and at what rank they are, and some random Joe Peasant. Why else pick the Umber kid as the centerpiece for some dismemberment art installation in the first episode?

So, when the wight-giant picks her up and crushes her, the NK's recognizing her.... and because he's a one-dimensional, boring-ass hell, Sauron-copy, he delights in tormenting the girl, probably while cackling manically on his evilly-grinning evil dragon. So he pulls her closer to the giant's eye (because apparantly wights are short-sighted...?) to get a better look at her death.

Between you and Hastur you might just redeem this thing...

We'll need to keep in touch if I'm going to get through the rest of this season.

[Kath]

With Night King gone, I wonder if we get to know the whys and whats of the three-eyed raven. Does Bran get to be human again? Maybe he'd like to become a tree.

If NK was some uber-greenseer of the dead, he'd be able to see through the eyes of every one of the wights. He's apparantly able to distinguish between who's a noble and at what rank they are, and some random Joe Peasant. Why else pick the Umber kid as the centerpiece for some dismemberment art installation in the first episode?

So, when the wight-giant picks her up and crushes her, the NK's recognizing her.... and because he's a one-dimensional, boring-ass hell, Sauron-copy, he delights in tormenting the girl, probably while cackling manically on his evilly-grinning evil dragon. So he pulls her closer to the giant's eye (because apparantly wights are short-sighted...?) to get a better look at her death.

Makes sense to me!

[DrYouth]

With Night King gone, I wonder if we get to know the whys and whats of the three-eyed raven. Does Bran get to be human again? Maybe he'd like to become a tree.

Bran represents the core self... connected to the greater SELF... the transpersonal aspect of the self... outside of time and space.
He is aware of the shadow side... and unaffected by it's powers.
He was the greatest threat to the NK of this reason.

So I suspect not much will change with him... and that he survives all the episodes...
But now that the NK is gone... I'm not sure what role he will play...
I figured he would be of more relevance to the plot than just NK bait... seems like a waste of his whole character arc.

[Kath]

I figured he would be of more relevance to the plot than just NK bait... seems like a waste of his whole character arc.

There has to be something more to it. If Bran's entire 3-eyed raven journey was just so he could lure him to the Godswood, that would be lame. Also, superfluous. Bran showed the mark on his arm to show how the NK always knows where Bran is. Why did he need the raven to go tell him? Lucy has some 'splaining to do.