Ya’ll. Jon rode a dragon and I couldn’t have given less of a crap. Not only did they basically spoil that moment in the trailers, but there was no build to it whatsoever, and even Dany acted like it was just a thing that was totally normal.
ONE WOULD THINK JON BEING ABLE TO RIDE A DRAGON WOULD SET OFF AN ALARM IN DANAREY’S HEAD. I just don’t get how she didn’t even question Jon’s ability here.
Instead, we’re treated to a scene of the two swooping in and out of canyons and forests, only for them to land and make out in front of a cave because Jon has a definite cave kink. Not to kink shame or anything.
Which is why it was pretty damn weird that Bran looked her in the eye and said “your dragon is now a White Walker and they’re using it as a weapon” and she just kinda…stood there? The camera didn’t even hold on her reaction long enough for her to blink. We have time for Tyrion to tell eunuch jokes, but we can’t get Dany’s reaction to hearing that her child is now a zombie?
Or get anyone’s reaction to the news that the Wall has fallen? We have time for Drogon to stare at Dany and Jon making out like a dog at the end of the bed, but we can’t have enough time for a little exposition where Bran explains his powers to Jon (who has met wargs before) and tells him some news about the Night King? Good LORD.
When the show does slow down, it can still work so well. The best example from this episode were Sam’s scenes: his interaction with Dany, his reaction to his family’s death at her hands, and then him telling Jon about his true lineage. That was some classic Game of Thrones right there. I would have liked it even more if they had lingered on Dany having to see the fallout of war and death on Sam, but even without that the scene was great.
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Of course there were also extended moments that DIDN’T work. For example, how many times are they going to have to explain to the viewer that Sansa is smart? They haven’t done a very good job of SHOWING us that Sansa is smart, but they keep insisting that it’s so.
She’s the ONLY person in all of Winterfell that thought about maybe feeding soldiers, apparently. She’s the “smartest person I’ve ever known” according to Arya. They just straight up don’t have the time to show us that Sansa is on top of things, so instead they just let her say obvious things. The most obvious is that Tyrion shouldn’t trust Cersei.
It’s not the first time that the rushed story, which again, DIDN’T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS, has done Sansa wrong.