I am incredibly grateful to Game of Thrones for this adventure I have found myself sucked into for some years now. I am grateful for all the emotions it brought me since day one, bitter and sweet alike. I am grateful for all the laughs, all the tears, all the jokes and gags, every single bit of it, I really am grateful and appreciative of it all. It's been just... wonderful.
That said, I am feeling robbed and betrayed right about now. This ending is arguably one of the worst series finales in the history of television and trust me I realize how bold of a statement that is. The terrible violations the characters have suffered this season, the lack of proper resolution to many of the plots and narratives developed over seasons worth of buildup, the seeking of shock value at the expense of quality writing... that and much much more solidified this as an absolute disappointment of a finale, as opposed to the marvel wrap it could've given this cultural phenomenon.
This episode does have its positives, as always the score, acting and cinematography are perfectly performed but I just do not think it's nearly enough to compensate for how lackluster the writing has been, as much as I wish they did. Oh well, sad as it may be, I'll just hold on to the good stuff and hope that GRRM's book, once finished, will tackle the ending in a more coherent, more respectful and more meaningful way. It's been real y'all...
P.S: I'll leave this here lest some people jump me again. This comment is a representation of my own personal opinion, I am entitled to one just as all of you are. If you enjoyed this season and felt this finale delivered what you were looking for then more power to you mate, but that doesn't nullify my opinion nor does it make yours any valid. If you want to discuss or challenge my views, I'd be more than happy to engage you on that basis but if all you have to offer are petty remarks then please keep them to yourself.
Not that bad of an episode to be honest. Enjoyed watching how the characters chose to spend what supposedly are their last moments on Earth.
The reveal finally happened so there's that, though Dany's tone when speaking of Jon's claim to the throne does put me off a little bit seeing as it was more aggressive than anything and implied future conflict, I guess it's understandable since from her point of view, Jon just dropped a bombshell on her out of nowhere that nobody knew about and only a couple of people who are conveniently closely related to Jon could validate so it must seem like it's a scheme they're hatching in an attempt to discredit her as a legitimate heir. I really hope that's not what's they're going for though, it would be incredibly insulting to both the audience and their efforts in building up the romance between the two only to wash it down the drain so easily...
On the bright side, Emilia Clarke really sold the scene, the post-delivery emotional facial expressions alternating between utter shock, confusion and a hint of anger were really something to behold and added to the gravity of the whole thing.
Overall, I'm quite pleased with S8E02 and really excited to finally see the awaited battle unfold in the next episode!
Somewhat decent episode, all things considered.
While I'm glad with the conclusion of the Michael arc (hopefully, I'm genuinely going to have an aneurysm if it turns out he's still alive and his arc is drawn out even further) finally took place, I am nowhere near being satisfied with the execution. It felt rushed and underwhelming considering the stakes at hand, something that remains an apparent constant with Supernatural's "big bad" fights since S5 finale.
This particular conclusion to this arc felt more like a cheap getaway card the writers gave themselves at the last second to justify not having to take a more... "severe" route with Dean, which annoys me because there are literally no more consequences on this show, nothing is at stake, what's the point of having the Ma'lak box twist if you're not even going to entertain the idea even for a couple of episodes?
Speaking of the Ma'lak box, can we file this one under continuity errors? Seeing as it just poked a massive hole in the show's lore as far as death and fate are concerned. Billie stood right in front of Dean and told him fate has chosen one single ending for him and Michael, and now Jack comes out of nowhere with a strength he shouldn't even have at his disposal and offs Michael? Seriously? Where's the consistency?
The development with Jack getting his grace back felt way too rushed and honestly came out of nowhere. And if that's not enough, his conversation with Castiel regarding appreciating the time one has had with someone almost felt like the writer's way of telling the audience to brace themselves for a goodbye, I'm guessing said development isn't going to end well for him.
Glad Legends is finally back. While the episode surely had some entertaining bits to it, I don't feel it's really up to the standard Legends has set for itself this season, a lot of plot related stuff could've been handled better as opposed to feeling rushed and not getting the proper focus and attention it deserved (if anything, an entire episode could've been dedicated to properly exploring those avenues), the same thing could be said for the dramatic side to this episode, which honestly felt poorly thought out and as though only injected into the episode to fulfill the expected runtime, hopefully that is not the case.
Character interactions have, for the most part, remained the same; though some frustration was experienced in the process due to certain decisions by the writers, which I'm certain were only made in order to justify what they did with the relationship bit. Disappointing to say the least, as far as that is concerned.
I'm intrigued however by the plot twist at the end, which, while having not expected it at all (due to the fact they were jerking the audience expectations in one direction while preparing an entirely different alternative), is somewhat of an interesting turn of events and I'm curious to see the direction they take with it in coming episodes.
Overall, it's an alright episode, but I'm hoping what comes next is up to the level of excellent quality we've come to expect of Legends.
What in the actual f*ck.
I'm a reasonable man, I realize I've been crapping on D&D even more than usual this season but I really do have to give them props for doing exactly what they set out to do. They hoped to subvert our expectations and they did just wonderfully in that regards.
We expected all of that buildup over the years to actually amount to something that at the very least passes for a presentable series finale but instead, we got an incoherent, steaming pile of shit. Expectations subverted!
We expected all of that character development to actually result in a beautiful pay-off that respects the journey of self-discovery each and every one of our beloved characters went through to get to where they are now but instead, we got a painful, disrespectful cycle of character regression. Expectations subverted!
We expected the final season of this show to keep us at the edge of our seats with thrilling writing that didn't subvert our expectations for the sake of subverting our expectations via low-quality shock value-seeking writing, but to introduce plot twists that make sense within the overall narrative of the story but instead, we got CW-level predictable, cringe material. Expectations subverted!
I get it. I really do. GRRM let them down by not getting the books ready in time and so they had to improvise away from his influence, but this? This? For a long while, Game of Thrones lived up to the slogan of its parent network, it wasn't just TV, it was something different, something unique and now to have to see it come to this... it's nothing short of disappointing.
On the bright side though, at least this episode didn't suck completely. The acting, score and cinematography were all on point, so I guess it's nice that I didn't walk out of it having appreciated absolutely nothing about it.
So why do I even bother anymore? I honestly could not tell you, though it's probably a mixture of masochism and a faint sliver of hope that they won't flush our collective investment into this series down the drain by the end of it, just one more episode dammit.
