Game of Thrones: 6.09 - Battle of the Bastards

[ctg]

Adding Dothraki ground troops to the mix, Dany has made up for her absence from Meereen. With the new Ironborn alliance and the contribution from slavers, she has also gained all or most of the ships she will need to carry the war to King's Landing.

If littlefinger would have a business open at Mareen, he would be making mad money since the battle everyone wants to have a shag or fifteen.

Sorry to be a value buster: the two threads are now but one.

I see the threat while I was making another one, but when I came into add stuff to it, I couldn't see it anywhere. Sorry.

Rickon had no chance of running away from the arrows of the whole army, so why didn't he just attack Ramsey, one to one.

I would have done serpentine as much as I can, but to be honest, I thought he was going order his archers to send in a volley or three to kill both. And anyway, I thought Sansa would do much better job at Winterfell than he would do for a long while. Besides the point, on all thrones would have been a young, inexperienced boy ordering people do to all sort of silly stuff.

 

[Mr Orange]

Adding Dothraki ground troops to the mix, Dany has made up for her absence from Meereen.

on that note, what were the sons of the harpy (and the people they were killing) doing outside the gates of mereen in the first place?

 

[WaylanderToo]

on that note, what were the sons of the harpy (and the people they were killing) doing outside the gates of mereen in the first place?

and how didn't they notice 40,000 Dothraki Bloodriders approaching the city?

 

[ctg]

 

[REBerg]

must admit that I thought that WunWun was a spectacularly slow runner...

Ah, but he covered a lot of ground with each stride.

 

[Judderman]

Definitely an exciting episode there. I wonder what they can come up with for the next one. There should be a shock, maybe it will be at Kings Landing.

Dany with her immunity to fire and command of the dragons appears ever more invincible. A dragon or two need to be killed off in the story to draw some doubt over her eventual victory. Perhaps they will in the end take some losses in the final battle v the White Walkers. Added to this we have the dumb Jon who is also becoming invincible. So it seems the heroes paths are being cleaned up but there is the chance that Sansa and Littlefinger usurp Jon. That would be awesome. Littlefinger was really the hero that episode, along with Wun Wun. I think GoT is no longer an intelligent story other than having to remember a lot of characters, but it is still very entertaining.

Rickon's death didn't seem like a big deal to me the viewer really as he has barely featured and said a word in 6 seasons.

The death of Ramsay by the Hounds was fantastic. I hadn't though of that so there was a great little surprise in there.

 

[Kylara]

I'm hoping for white walker dragons I thought it was good. Enjoyed the horse use (I've always wanted to be a stunt rider) and thought the battle was done well, a good mix of close and medium shots so that you don't end up feeling motion sick!

Dany and the dragons finally having a decent bit of time on screen and not just dragon as end view. I really do like the dynamic between Tyrion and Danys young friends, and thought Grey Worm's action at the end of their bit was fantastic in its calm brutality.

 

[Dave]

I'm hoping for white walker dragons

Ice Dragons battle Fire Dragons leaving behind the total destruction of Westeros and putting the end to the of reign of Man. That does sound like a fitting way to end the story.

 

[Ste-Pe]

Fantastic, loved the action in this, even Jon, on foot, calmly taking his belt off and drawing his sword in the face of the Bolton cavalry had me cheering. My head nearly exploded at the one- take combat in the middle of everything.
I love how Jon now appears wary and fed up all the time, like he's in constant pain - the resurrection has left its mark on him. I wonder if Jon, as a side-effect of being brought back, is immortal now? He didn't seem worn out by his fighting and running, and I don't think I've seen him eat either (even in meal scenes with Sansa not enjoying the food at the wall) - does he not need it now?

I'm glad the mereen stuff is about wrapped up, I agree with other comments, it does seem hastily done, but with only 10 episodes (and lots of other characters) I suppose the writers have had to cut a few corners (which I'm glad about - the dany/mereen stuff has been the dullest IMO; glad it's finished with)

Sansa is the key to the north, like the blackfish said, she's a lot like her mother now. But with her Stark heritage (seemingly for everyone the ONLY stark) AND her Bolton name (and possible heir in her belly) she's the one to unite both sides after the victory. Just hope she can play littlefinger at his own game

 

[Gnrevolution]

Finally, the episode where all the budget was spent, and worth every penny. Nice mix of tracking and wide pan shots to cover both the scope and horror of the battle of the bastards, although Jon needs to be put on a leash or something to stop him running off all the time! Actually enjoyed the Dany battle better just because of DRAGONS! and the dialogue between the various antagonists was great (particularly with Yara).

Saying that, this current season is feeling a lot more predictable than previous, is it because they are beyond the books, or will ASoIaF follow suit? I guess it's what the fans wanted to see, so D&D gave it to them. Still can't figure out why Sansa didn't tell Jon about LF, even if she did there' no reason they couldn't still have sprung a surprise, just in a less 'Let's kill all the wildlings first' kinda way (and still avoided a siege). And as mentioned, why didn't Ramsay have the entire army shoot at Jon (or just do it himself) when he had the chance? Oh, and I was rather hoping that Jon /Sansa would've introduced Ramsay to their 'dog' instead of his own hounds, but then Ghost probably would've turned his nose up at the prospect

 

[Mr Orange]

Saying that, this current season is feeling a lot more predictable than previous, is it because they are beyond the books, or will ASoIaF follow suit?

agreed. i mentioned this on another thread - there haven't really been any surprises this season. i thought for a second that jon was going to die, suffocated under the pile of bodies which would have thrown theories a fair bit, but no, he survived and triumphed just in the way everyone predicted - a last minute save by littlefinger.

i'm hoping the last episode will have something very unexpected in it...

 

[WaylanderToo]

turns out Sean Bean had a "blink and you'll miss it" role in this:

http://i.imgur.com/AQQN9X6.gif

 

[svalbard]

I watched the episode again last night and that battle scene stands up to anything filmed before. The scene with Jon standing alone facing the onrushing Bolton cavalry is exquisitely shot.

 

[Vaz]

Fantastic Battle scenes.

Jon's solo charge into the Bolton cavalry gave me Band of Brothers type goosebumps. Reminded me of this scene from "Crossroads".

 

[WaylanderToo]

Valerian steel?? Valerian rubber more like...

 

[The Imp]

I watched the episode again last night and that battle scene stands up to anything filmed before. The scene with Jon standing alone facing the onrushing Bolton cavalry is exquisitely shot.

And it was not CGI. it was a real shot done with a long lens and a brave Kit.

 

[Mr Orange]

Valerian steel?? Valerian rubber more like...

ha ha ha that's one bendy sword

 

[Judderman]

Kit dealt out a few hits too, accidentally.

Kit Harington threw real punches for violent GoT scene

 

[Khuratokh]

Spectacular!

HBO pulled out all the stops for this battle. The best part was that the right ******* died.

Ramsay came to a perfect end as a meal for the dogs he starved. The hounds probably regarded Ramsay as no more their master than Sansa did during her abusive captivity. Once they realized he was helpless, they wasted no time converting him into fresh Kibbles 'N Bits.

Sansa showed no emotion as she witnessed Ramsay's demise. I see that a measure of her character's hardening through her experience with the Bolton *******.

There was a nice subtlety to her performance. When the hounds start ripping chunks off Ramsey, at first she takes a small step back as if she were to start to recoil and avert her eyes, like the old her would have done. But instead she takes a step forward again, and notably doesn't take her eyes of the carnage. When she eventually does leave we she her smile as she walks of in the darkness.

Anyone else feel though, that the Bolton ******* got off lightly? Considering the thousands of lives he's destroyed? And the horific things he's done?
I know many were hoping he'd at least get flayed.
Oh well, that's what "fixit fics "are for. I know of a particular one where Bran wargs Ramsey and makes him flay himself.

 

[Judderman]

By the way the Flayed Man (Bolton) flag was rather similar to the Union Jack wasn't it!