8x05 General Discussion: Post-Show

I have extremely mixed feelings on Cersei’s death. One thing for sure though is that Lena and Cersei deserved SO much more this season

Whatever at least I got vindication from the Jaime stans crying about his “redumpshun” arc and normies crying that Cersei didn’t get a gruesome death scene 🤣

https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/bobb5u/spoilers_main_i_took_a_shot_at_vividly_describing/

Here’s my idea for how to make Daenerys’ descent into madness during the Burning of King’s Landing more satisfying while changing as little as possible of what was already written:

First, the obvious: we cut Rhaegal’s death in Episode 4. Instead, during the war room scene in that episode, Varys mentions that the seas are more dangerous than ever with Euron’s Iron Fleet patrolling them, meaning greater precautions must be taken if they are going to sail to Dragonstone. This leads Dany to use the dragons as scouts ahead of the Targaryen fleet. Euron’s fleet still attacks from behind the nearby island but Dany sees them before they take their first shot, signalling to Rhaegal who sees the javelin heading for him and attempts to dodge it. The javelin pierces Rhaegal’s already damaged wing from the Long Night, but it doesn’t mortally wound him. This demonstrates the potential destructive power of the ballistas and the dragons’ evasive maneuverability, making them believably significant threats to one another. Rhaegal flies back to Dragonstone immediately to avoid being shot again and Drogon flies higher into the sky out of reach of Euron’s fleet, which then redirects its ballistas toward the Targaryen fleet, destroying it and capturing Missandei basically as it happened in the episode.

Dany leaves a wounded Rhaegal at Dragonstone to recuperate, flying on Drogon with Tyrion and a small battalion of the Unsullied to King’s Landing in order to negotiate Missandei’s release and Cersei’s surrender. Tyrion is unsuccessful with Cersei, Missandei is executed, and Dany walks away with rage in her eyes, just like in the episode.

Episode 5 begins the same way with Dany isolated, paranoid, unloved, and filled with rage after being betrayed by her supposed-love, her own Hand, and several of her allies who are covertly trying to overthrow her. However, we should take a bit more time to truly reflect on the fragility and volatility of her current state of mind, maybe with a more explosive, unhinged argument with Tyrion. One of her children is already dead and the other injured. Her father figure and protector is dead, as well as her best friend and closest confidante since the beginning of her journey. She’s completely lost her orientation in the world, she has no one left to trust, no one who truly knows her and loves her for who she is, and the brutal tactics that had won her the respect and love of thousands in Essos now appear repugnant in the eyes of her supposed “allies." Their discouragement against following the instincts and using the tactics that brought her tremendous success in Essos is precisely what led her to this dangerous state of political and emotional solitude. She’s grown desperate as any plausible future with her sitting on the Iron Throne without the imminent threat of a coup grows increasingly unlikely, and drastic measures she once dismissed outright as drastic and heinous are suddenly being entertained as possible options.

Her assault on Euron’s fleet and the ballistas on the ramparts of King’s Landing goes essentially as it did in the episode, but only Drogon attacks them while Rhaegal stays far back as potential back-up should Drogon need support. When Drogon breathes fire on Euron’s ship, we see Euron dive into the water, narrowly escaping the full force of the blast as he swims away from the carnage, below the surface.

When Jamie is on the beach, instead of being interrupted by Euron’s “coincidental” (i.e. contrived) arrival, he ventures into the tunnel leading to the Red Keep alone. The shot remains steady on an empty beach for several moments of silence after Jamie leaves, until Euron swims ashore, coughing up water and panting heavily as he lies on his back watching the dragons fly overhead wreaking havoc. His hearing is dampened, the flesh on his face singed. Suddenly his eyes widen; he has an idea. He ventures into the same tunnel, never meeting Jamie, instead venturing out into the city of King’s Landing, frantically in search of something…

When it appears all of the ballistas along the ramparts have been successfully destroyed, Drogon lands triumphantly on the roof of a building just as he does in the episode. Rhaegal flies over and joins him, landing on the adjacent rooftop. Both dragons roar victoriously, prompting the Lannister army to drop their swords and surrender. The bells are rung and everyone stands in tense silence. Both Jon and Tyrion think the battle is won and over; there is no need to continue fighting. There is an eerie silence in the city aside from the chiming of the bells as a traumatized population of King’s Landing stares up in awe and terror at Drogon and Rhaegal.

We cut to Dany sitting atop Drogon, filled with the power that such a position brings, as well as the adrenaline that comes from the heat of battle. She’s on the edge of sanity as she stares at the Red Keep in the distance, wholly consumed with her hatred for this wretched city that has been the seat of power for those who destroyed her House and took everyone she loves and all she’s ever wanted away from her. Is their surrender enough? What is she going to do?…

Suddenly, a javelin comes shooting out of nowhere, piercing a stationary Rhaegal through the neck/head, causing blood to explode everywhere, just as it did in Episode 4. Maybe some of Rhaegal’s blood even splashes onto Drogon and stains Dany’s face and silver hair. The Blood of the Dragon. The camera pans to show that the javelin had been shot from a single remaining ballista that was hidden in a cart (like the one Bronn found in the Loot Train Attack) located on the rooftop of a tall building within the centre of a city. Behind the ballista stands a wide-eyed, smiling Euron Greyjoy, who roars back at the dragons, prompting the previously silent population of King’s Landing to erupt in raucous cheers as Rhaegal slumps dead to the ground before them.

We cut back to a close up of Dany, her eyes bloodshot, her breathing heavy, as the sounds of the cheering crowd are muffled around her. Her second child is suddenly dead in front of her eyes, and the people of King’s Landing are celebrating as if he were a monster out to kill them all. She had only destroyed military targets, avoiding civilians entirely, and yet they still look at her as if she were an invader rather than a saviour. They have seen her dragons are killable; a paranoid Daenerys fears it may lead them to think the "Usurper" they’ve been groomed by Cersei to hate is killable as well.

In this moment Daenerys is completely and utterly alone and unloved; she is the most isolated and vulnerable she has ever been in all the years since she walked out of the funeral pyre unburnt with three dragons. There is no love for her in Westeros and there never will be. She will never be accepted in these lands so long as she lives even though it is her birthplace, the place she was destined to rule. She knows it in her heart. These Westerosi scum who had, over the last 20 years, killed her father, overthrown her family, forced her into exile, infiltrated her ranks with spies, attempted to have her assassinated countless times, then took advantage of her and manipulated her to fight the White Walkers and lose her dragon and loved ones in the process, now reject her when she finally comes to liberate them from the tyrant Queen Cersei.

Fine… Let it be fear, then. They will get what they have deserved all this time: Fire and Blood. If there will be no Iron Throne for Daenerys Targaryen, the rightful Queen, there will be no Iron Throne at all. She will be the Queen of Ashes, and from those ashes a new world will arise…

With that, Daenerys burns Euron alive, before turning Drogon’s fire on the people of King’s Landing…. and so the Burning of King’s Landing begins….

IMO much much better than what we got, though I still liked the episode a lot.

I watched Lost religiously from 2005 to 2010 and I hated the final season, mostly because they threw all the science shit away and left all the answers to the mysteries to the mystical and the supernatural. That said, even in the final season, Lost never failed to make me cry like a baby, and honestly it was for the character moments that I watched that show, despite being obsessed over the mysteries as well. The ending pissed me off, but I still cried myself to sleep that night (hell I almost cry today by just remembering a few scenes), and I truly felt as if a very good friend had died. In a way it's similar to what's happened to GoT in this final season, with the writers rushing through the story and throwing logic out the window. However, Lost never failed its own characters and that's where they differ. Characters were consistent, made decisions that made sense and respected their personalities.

So it's hard for me to say. I understand the fans who were completely pissed off, just like I understand the ones who were happy with it all. It just varied depending on what people liked the most about the show, since many people preferred the mystery while others preferred the characters. I was a bit of both, and at the time I was more pissed that satisfied, but right now I think all my resentment has gone away and I'm left with ony nostalgia, because I still miss that damn show and those characters. No other show that I've seen has made characters as deep and as rich as Lost did, not even GoT made me feel for a death more than Lost did. Truly the most amazing viewing experience I've had to this day.

Huh? What did you expect her to do?

Have more fight. Be more fierce. Cersei was never this meek even when she was in a fucking jail cell

This season for Cersei felt in a way like S6 for Ramsay. He was mostly off-screen, but you could feel his presence. He was part of the big battle at the end of the season, but his main purpose was to die. His story was over after he killed Roose.