Rod and Karen are joined by Tatiana and Porshea of the Castle Black Podcast to recap Game of Thrones.
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Too bad the actor who played Henry in TWD didn’t star in GOT so I can watch his ass die again, this time by dragon fire. Long live Queen Danerys.
Hi y’all. Felix here. I really enjoyed this podcast episode. I thought I was being crazy all week being happy Dany did right by missandei. I feel Tatiana and Porshea on some of what they said tho. It didnt bother me much but I can see why folks had certain issues. Only gripes I’ve had with this season is I did really like when we spent episodes with characters talking and slowly moving things forward. I’ve enjoyed the broad story beats so I think if old boy finishes the next book I might actually check it out for that stuff. I just hope my boy grey worm somehow makes it but with how Judgy jon looked at him during the carnage I can see him being a hater and them fighting. So yeah, hahaha at Cersei, Jon can choke and social media will be unbearable after this finale so I’m logging off after as soon as I type this. Have a good one yall. Felix out.
Hey Guys
I had a whole thing planned out to talk about but I see there are 18 comments before me so I’ll keep it short. The writing was rushed and lazy, and the characters were’nt fully developed to what we have come to expect, but enough about Love and Hip Hop Atlanta. As far as Game of Thrones goes, this season has been perfect as far as I’m concerned. I fully expected Dany to fuck up Kings Landing. For all the complaints about last episode, the one thing that has been consistent about GoT over the past 8 seasons is that, to paraphrase the Hound “all people are killers”. The show has never held back on its depictions of war as brutal and unsavory. The world that G. R.R. Martin created was hard and unforgiving. I loved the books, so I guess I’m supposed to find the writing of the last two seasons lazy and rushed, but I don’t. There are limits to storytelling in a visual medium and the show creators have done as good a job as any creating this show.
As the last recap of the last season approaches, I want to take the opportunity to thank you both for making this show that I already enjoyed, exponentially more enjoyable. I heard the first recap back in 2012 or 13 and that was one of the reasons I stuck around for the rest of the podcast. It is by far the best recap of the show out there. One of the things that make your show recaps so good is that you only do it for shows you enjoy. The music cues, the jokes, the references to memes and other social media mainstays. Muwah! Magnifique. I know you enjoy the show as much as I do. Thank you for making this show about dragons and knights even more enjoyable. Thank you for giving us a dope ass podcast 5 days a week (7 if you’re premium so get on that if you haven’t done so already).
Amil
My biggest thoughts during this episode of GoT: “who gonna clean all this up†and “there will be a lot of construction jobs†*kanye shrug*
Great recap. I can’t wait for the last!
Did anybody else notice Grey Worm’s penis? Because I swear I saw a very clearly defined dick print against those leather pants. I thought he was supposed to be a eunuch? Not that I minded the view.
Anyway, loved the episode and can’t wait to see the finale and hear y’all recap with the fiya starter crew.
Loved this recap and thanks Rod and Karen for giving me another podcast to check out!!!!
Sir Roderick and Lady Karen of Carolina greetings from The Kingdom of The Netherlands.
Okay that’s enough of that. As always (even though this is the first feedback I’ve sent) the GoT recap was the highlight of my week and an irreplaceable part of my GoT experience. I’m going to TRY to keep this short, because I see all the paragraphs that went before me. But my light skinded ass do be talking (and writing), but only about the things that really interest me because introvert.
I’m not going to try and analyze your whole recap but there are a couple things I noticed that are kind of important in explaining the story to the “this shit was whack, why did the writers do that to Dany” crowd, and “why things didn’t things go the way I would have liked,†folks.
1) I agree with Rod that the writers had to make choices to wrap this show up in fewer episodes than they usually have. There was no set of choices they could have made that would satisfy millions of people at once. So that’s just the base you must start from.
2) GoT BEEN doing shit that the audience wasn’t expecting – specifically because we have been used to the “standard” story ark in other books/movies/shows. But the shake and bake, the “this isn’t the formula you were expecting,” is the reason the show took us by storm(borne?) When they killed Ned, that told us we could NEVER be comfortable, that this was something different. And if there is one thing they’ve stuck to in how they are telling the story – it’s that. GRRM started it and once B & B got past his lazy, non-deadline meeting ass, they stuck to that ethos.
3) When you tell an epic story of heroism there are two well-known elements that are actually necessary:
The first is the tragic flaw. This applies to all the main characters – especially the hero but double for the ones we don’t like. This Dany’s rash mass murder tendencies – “I HAVE FUCKING DRAGONS!! Why I gotta TALK to these Mother Fuckers??” “Because that would make you a murderous tyrant like yo’ daddy.” And she doesn’t have anyone she actually TRUSTS to tell her that anymore. And yes, that goes back to shortly after Khal Drogo’s death. From shutting the fire exits on those old Dothraki wives through the examples ROB gave. 🙂 Ned Stark’s naive idea that “honor” was a shield that would protect him from treachery. John’s stupidity. (yeah I said it.) GoT didn’t start this idea – it goes back as far as The Odyssey and the Iliad, probably further.
The second is nothing can be invincible: no hero, no weapon, no villain. Hence the Night King’s death. Hence dragons being killed by giant spears. Hence Superman and Kryptonite.
Without those elements the story is boring because there’s nothing at risk. So great epics always have at least one of those two elements if not both. It’s just the way great human stories work because that’s what humans ARE, psychologically flawed and physically vulnerable. The stories we love contain our own flaws, otherwise we just can’t relate – even if it makes us “angry.” Yeah – and this was me trying to keep it short. LOL
Your man in Amsterdam,
Doug Williams
D & D – not “B & B”
Hey ya’ll! I didn’t love all the choices made in the last episode either but I’ve enjoyed the season so far and still appreciate the show as a whole.
What I really wanted to say is, I listen to both you and Castle Black and ya’lls formats for GoT reviews/recaps is completely different as is your tones. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just different. But because of that I was anxious to see how this episode would play out. I watched live and I just wanna say as a fellow introvert, you held your own, Rod and special shout out to Karen for coming through with the good, solid ass points.
Everyone actually had valid points and everyone is entitled to their opinions, however, I do agree that some of the negative criticisms that the show has received recently is too harsh and the show is being taken way too personally. I just want everyone to kumbaya and enjoy it no matter the outcome. I know that ain’t happening though.
I hope that we all are able to look back on this show as a positive experience overall (since it’s supposed to be fun) and not feed negativity over these really trivial complaints. Hopefully HBO gave GoT’s finale more justice than they did True Blood’s because wtf was that?! Still a bomb ass show overall though.
My goodness everyone is so mad at this show that they are not appreciating the beauty of the camera work during the episode. When Varys was about to get his invite to the cookout as the overcooked meat, and Dany gave that silky dracarys, I almost jumped out my skin when Drogon manifested behind her like he was asking if it was time to eat. This was a beautiful episode with great writing, does anyone think that Jaime and Tyrion scene was bad or lazy writing? They almost caught a tear off of me from that. Now I must ask, was Qyburn the first man in history to be murdered by getting smushed? “Obey your Queen Ser Gregor”, The Mountain looked at him like, “YOU THOUGHT” gave him a whole big face into a wall and straight to dead Henchman hall of fame. I think Dany had a plan with torching the city, she know winter coming, and she dont want to feed all these ungrateful mouths that cheered for Ned Stark getting beheaded, and dont forget they tried to rape Sansa too. If you aint got no food they wasnt gonna make it through winter so she just made an executive decision to lower the population to a crisp and rebuild from the ground up, a true CEO. I dont want to grind the show to a halt so Ill just get my book reader well actually glasses on again and well actually, like I said last time I am so happy to have found you guys as reviewers for this show, mostly all of the others I have followed for years all have been pretty much hate watching and hate reviewing this show and you all keep it how I like it, I enjoy the show, some things I would have like to see didnt happen but I aint a writer so ill just take what I can get. I also have gotten on board with the shortened last two seasons, cause I aint want an episode of Dany in the tall grass with uncontrollable diarrhea (its in the books). Thanks again for a wonderful episode and I cant wait for the last of the show next week.
Rod I love your and Karens takes on GoT but I had to couldnt get through the pod. I respect your guests opinions but the nit picking about the plot , comparison to books , and the “bad writing” complaints..etc just takes the fun out of it IMO. I am enjoying the season and dont get the backlash..I might try to listen to this episode again idk *kanye shrug*.
I don’t understand the passionate debates about what the writers should have done, not sure why folks can’t suspend disbelief for a fantasy show but they have been stomping the fun out of the show for people that are actually enjoying this season. I’m not even sure why we are still talking about the books but whatevs.
Shout out to Lord Varys Perez, shady all the way to the end with the bars “I hope I deserve this, I hope I’m wrong”
Varys wasn’t power hungry or a coward like Little Finger, Melisandre told him that he was going to die in this strange land and he was resigned to his fate. He just wanted the best for the realm and a Jason Bourne escape would have been super weird for him in his fancy coat with his jewelry on…but I guess twitter would have loved it and would have suspended disbelief for that.
King’s Landing’s destruction was basically a natural disaster, Arya is an Assassin her skill set isn’t going to come in handy when the sky is falling. All that kill Cersei stuff was done after she took the Hound’s advice and decided to live. All she could do at that point was run and try to stay alive, the writers wanted us to see the horror of it all through her eyes.
The green eyes theory is a wash and the fans have got to let that go, Arya killed ALL of the Frey’s, I’m sure she’s killed someone with every eye color before. Melisandre put emphasis on only the blue eyes part in episode 3 to remind Arya that she was a bad bish and she could run up on the night king if she wanted to.
My favorite moment was Cersei tiptoeing past the Mountain and the Hound. That Lebron gif of him leaving the press conference with his purse would fit in right there.
As for Cersei’s death being underwhelming, I think they proved her fathers point. She wasn’t as smart as she thought she was. If Cersei was smart she would have abdicated the throne and gotten the hell out of King’s Landing a long time ago. Cersei was driven by ego and selfish, she was ready to kill herself during the Battle of Blackwater Bay, chile Cersei aint nobody special lol.
Bronn was right, Cersei had no chance against the Dragons and Dany winning with one dragon made sense, remember Bronn has only seen Drogon in action and Drogon brought King’s Landing down alone.
They’ve foreshadowed just about everything that happened this season but let everyone else tell it this is all random and nothing makes sense.
I know Robb Stark’s pregnant wife was killed brutally but she wasn’t a main character and the show was different back then. The show changed after the Sansa rape backlash and that didn’t even happen on screen. Four seasons ago they would have showed Varys burn, but I can’t see them letting a pregnant main character die violently in this current thinkpiece climate.
Your recaps have been a safe space for me from the internet furor, so this recap was kinda like Twitter gone live, but you guys did a great job putting a spin on your guests opinions. I can’t wait for the last episode and I can’t wait for this all to be over.
Entertaining episode. I feel like your guest tried to take over the show, but you held your own. I discovered you guys from the HBO /YouTube video and I’ve listened to every episode since, not just the GOT recaps. You guys are funny, yet informative. Keep the good content coming!
Yo Rod! Yo Karen!
I got criticisms about this Thrones episode based on execution, mostly.
I didn’t like how Arya suddenly abandoned 7 seasons of revenge training and plot building because Clegane said “You don’t want to be like me!” That’s all it took! It reminds me of when Jimmy from South Park stopped the Bloods and Crips from feuding at the Rec Center by saying “Come on.” She never cared about anything he had to say before.
I really wanted Cersei to get eaten, burned or murked by Arya. Maybe even go out by murder-suicide by Jaime’s hand. Him stabbing her then bleeding out holding her or something, lol. I don’t know why this show got me thinking this deep about murders. Should I be alarmed? It feels right for some reason.
That Clegane fight went hard though. I would probably like Dany going off like that if she had said so in the episode BEFORE it. Even if just muttering it to herself after Missandei died. “They’ll all burn.” Or something. Since they didn’t, it almost looked like she just took them bells as a sign of disrespect lol.
Anyway, I don’t wanna make y’all read a bunch of paragraphs, so I’ma chill. Stay up!
but Dany has been wanting to burn King’s Landing for a long time, that’s why after the meeting at Dragon Stone Olenna told her to stop listening to men and go be a dragon. They showed Drogon flying over King’s Landing seasons ago. Dany has had mini Mad Queen moments before as well.
What mini “mad†Queen moments? To me most of the actions she took up to this point have been completely rational for a Queen with dragons. I have NO problems with her burning Kings Landing to the ground, but to make her look like madness just overtook her wasn’t really earned. In my opinion. But it is what it is.
I really enjoyed this podcast episode. I didn’t read the books but I do watch the extras that come with the DVDs that explain the lore. But I watch for show for the show. Not to say shit like….well in the books dragons are indestructible. We are watching a damn TV show. Can’t we just take it easy? Geez!
I don’t think the show runners are as spectacularly good at adapting a book as they are freewriting from a rough outline. They still are not trizzy. I too watch CW shows… In the ghetto!!
That being said I don’t consider them horrible writers. They seem to put a lot into the show. And when they started I’m sure they didn’t think it would take GRRM five years to write the next book.
I enjoy the Fandom and critiques but the hate? It’s just too much. The petition to remake season 8? Come on. This had been a decent show since the start of season 6. They could have had more character development, sure. Doesn’t make the show horrible.
I’m not a writer so I don’t have the answers or talent they do. I enjoy the content I’ve been given and the many laughs God’s blessing that is this here podcast. I’m here for the excessive white woman ally enlightenment shared by Rod. I thought the guests were delightful. And Karen was Karen so wonderful as usual.
Keep it pimpin,
Mimi
Hey Rod & Karen. Thanks for inviting the Castle Black crew on your show. They now have a new subscriber! I enjoyed the episode overall, but it was painful to watch, like a good horror movie. The second time I watched the episode I turned down the volume and played “Rock the Bells†while Dany torched Kings Landing!
Varys resigned to the fact that he was going to die. Melisandre warned that he would die in this strange country. Also back in season 6 The red priestess Kinvara told him that if no harm comes to the dragon queen he has nothing to fear.
Some questions:
Now that Varys is dead, when he was a boy and the sorcerer castrated him and threw his parts in the flames, what did Varys hear in the flames? Kinvara apparently scared the shit out of Varys when she asked him if he wanted to know what the voice said. Game of Thrones hasn’t yet revealed what the voice said. Some people think that the voice told him when, where and how he would die. The ratchetness!
Why do think Dany decided to execute varys and not Jaime?
Do you think Tyrion is next on the BBQ grill? Tyrion has never given good advice. Dany should have kept Ellaria and the Queen of Thorns as her advisors. If Dany had listened to the women, I don’t think She would have amassed so many losses and gotten so desperate enough to sack Kings Landing.
Also why would Dany agree to the Tyrion’s bells plan and then disregard it when the plan is executed?
For some reason Joanne the scammer popped up in my mind when Dany decided to go apeshit after the bells started ringing…
“Hey Cersei, I just wanted to let you girls know that I’m a real messy bitch…a messy bitch who lives for drama!â€
That’s why Dany didn’t go for the red keep first. I think Dany wanted Cersei to see the carnage and destruction, because like Cersei, Olena, Ellaria, Sansa, Varys, Arya (am I missing anyone else?) Dany is petty. I wish the queen of thorns was still alive to see Dany’s masterpiece. She told Dany to be the dragon, and she did not disappoint.
I’ll miss the pettiness this show provided. It was delicious!!!
I wish we had seen more Missandbae in the episodes leading up to this one. I think more dialogue between Missandei and Dany would have helped in this season. Perhaps if Missandei was killed (or rhaegal)in the battle leading up to the bells being rung, more viewers might have understood Dany’s state of mind when she decided to torch the city. Although in real life we rarely know exactly the point where a mass murderer has crossed the point of no return.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Clegane bowl. I had to play “Momma said Knock You Out†for this scene. After Qyburn’s demise, Cersei must’ve said to herself “let me ease past these two…I don’t want none of these hands!†I didn’t think we needed the Dane bowl (Jaime and Euron). Greyworm went into bezerk mode. The Jaime-Cersei death scene seemed appropriate. Overall, I think props should be given to the special effects crews, the makeup crew, the set designers, the stunt people, the Director, and actors for their execution. They should be showered with Emmys and Golden Globes next year.
Thanks for the review! Buckle up for the next one guys!
-Rich
This was an awesome podcast episode!!! It was better than the GOTs episode. This episode didn’t deserve y’all! And I LOVE Black Girls Create and #WizardTeam!! It’s the only Harry Potter podcast I listen to. I’m so glad you had Tatiana and Porshea on! I’m going to check their podcast out. Back when book readers where spoiling the show for folks I was nervous about even telling folks I read the books. Because those people were giving book readers a bad name! Let folks enjoy things. My favorite thing was to watch people watch episodes where I knew what was going to happen so I could see their reaction. I loved seeing their faces during the Red Wedding and them freaking out like I freaked out when I read it. And I was excited when they finally got off book, at least at first because now it seems like they’re even off George RRM’s suggestions. Oh well, I’m still here for the end, if it sucks I know y’all will still make it enjoyable for me and that’s why I love yalls podcast! Making fucked up shit funny since day one ✊.
Dear Karen, Rod, and Ladies of Castle Black,
Karen made a great point about rejecting things that don’t go one’s way. Seems like so much of the Game of Thrones critique and backlash boils down to people not getting what they want in the show.
I think the creators got it right. In the end, the story’s finale will depend on the people involved not the supernatural forces. And maybe one the messages the creators want us to take away from GoT is that the biggest threat might actually be someone close to you figuratively and literally.
Yet another great show! Bummed next week is the last one!
This was soooo entertaining! I got caught up in all the back and forth between you and your excellent guests. Who are you bringing on for the final GoT episode? It’s gonna be difficult to top this.