Finale is Coming

With the final season of Game of Thrones nearly upon us, a rewatch was certainly in order. I decided to start it up several months back, figuring if I watched a season a month, I'd land perfectly at the premiere of the final episodes. And then I shot that plan in the face and binge watched those 67 episodes in about a month (winter in Wisconsin, amiright?).

As with any rewatch, there is clarity in that concise viewing of beloved television. With GoT, every episode I watch again, I learn more names, and connect more dots. Horse/dragon lady and cripple kid become Dany and Bran - nicknames, but nicer ones. Like we're old friends, because we've gone through so much together - which we HAVE.

After losing three days of my life, I came away with some very strong overarching feelings, thoughts, and favorites, in no particular order. Spoilers ahead. And... if these are spoilers for you, GO WATCH! You still have time!

• Every single time someone said goodbye to someone else, all I could think was "And they never saw each other again!" Or, in some cases, they don't see each other for several seasons. It's crazy. Just, assume every goodbye in Westeros will be your last. 
• Brienne and Tormund: the 'ship that launched a thousand memes. They aren't the couple Westeros needs, but they're the couple Westeros deserves. (Granted, things generally don't end well for everyone Brienne loyalty-clings to, so, we'll see.)
• WEAVE, Rickon. For Christ's sake, WEAVE!
• The evolution of Jaime Lannister's hair deserves some serious study. When he and Cersei are mackin' on each other with matching long / short hair, the world is in balance. A freaky, incestuous balance. 
• I will put up posters of Lyanna Mormont in my future daughter's bedroom. As she is the badass little role model all little girls should look up to.
• Rob should've never banged that foreign girl. It would've saved so much trouble. (Also, they're floor-of-the-tent-keep-your-boots-on bang is still awkward to me.)
• "And now his watch is ended...." BAHHH, TEARS! There are a lot of deaths to pick from in this show, but man, Maester Aemon's always hits me right in the gut. Blood of the dragon, man. A frickin' unsung hero on the wall. 
• Cersei during the Battle of Blackwater is still some of my absolute favorite bits of the entire series. Her drunken "hey, HEY, little dove!" harassment of Sansa during that entire sequence is perfection. 
• Every time that horn blows for a third time, I just think about how screwed everyone is. White Walkers don't mess around. 
• Remember that time Little Finger little-fingered Ned and was all "Ha, bro, told you not to trust me"? Yeah. That as a defining moment. The gold standard of "literally the nicer you are the more likely you are to get screwed over."
• Jon Snow really is a champion brooder. Nobody broods it better. (Insert Jon Snow montage with Carly Simon playing here - once someone on YouTube makes one lol)
• Joffrey and Ramsay are both just bastards. Literally and figuratively. Ramsay is worse, in terms of being just a bad guy, but he's also older so he's had more years of practice (and has been relatively unchecked so it just festered quicker). But, Cersei is really maybe worse than them both, when you think about sheer scale: her wildfire-happy ways really show she few shits she gives about human life. And now that she really has no family to soften her cold heart, she's just down that slippery monster slope. (And yes, I think the pregnancy is a fake-out.)
• The direwolves really don't get enough play. Damn dragons take up the whole CGI budget!
• Princess Shireen!!!!! #neverforgive #neverforget
• Prince Oberyn Martell, my little Dornish muffin,* why did you have to prioritize your revenge taunt over your beautiful face? Things would've played out so differently if you hadn't died and Tyrion had "won" that trial by combat. Papa Lannister would be alive. Tyrion wouldn't have teamed up with Jorah (who then wouldn't have gotten greyscale) and would never become Dany's adviser. I mean, so many things were in that ripple effect from that perfectly handsome man's skull getting smashed. 
• Margaery, even with her tits out the whole show, at least did have a plan that she was relentless about. Good for her. I appreciated her tactfulness throughout. 
• Special shout-out to those characters who you thought were going to be major players, but ended up dying off weirdly fast. Looking at you Ned. And you, Renly. And, Khal Drogo, I barely knew you! (And Rob/Cat, for that matter.) But also later intros like Karsi in Hardhome. I was looking forward to having another badass ladyboss to root for and then ten minutes later, wham, bam, thank you ma'am, she's a damn wight. The second you like any character, just reckon they're about to die. 
• Lady Olenna Tyrell is who I hope to grow up to be. The Betty White of Westeros. 
• Can we lock Tyrion and Cersei in a room with a shit ton of wine and weapons and see how it plays out? Can that be episode one of the new season? Please?
• Oh Tommen. Bless your sweet little heart.... That is all. 
• Arya always being just a little too late, it just breaks me. Too late to see her family before they die. Too late to be reunited by her aunt (before she dies). Just, set your clocks early Arya, because girl, you're always late.
• Robert Baratheon and Ned - oh, the shenanigans! Those two had such a precious, dodgy friendship. 
• Every time people first see the dragons, it's awesome. Excited for more of that.
• Baelish and Jorah are both equally creepy when it comes to the women they obsess over. Sometimes it almost seems endearing, until you realize it's absolutely not. (Though at least Jorah is a decent human - sometimes - decent in that he owns up to being not decent.) 
• Every time a Stark reunites, an angel gets its wings. (That angel is probably another Stark...ooooh too soon?) AND Bran's total indifference and awkwardness after he has become the three-eyed raven and is reuniting with everyone is honestly just kind of hilarious. Watching all that again, I definitely let out the kind of strangled ridiculous laugh Arya busts out in the Vale when she here's her aunt is dead. (But seriously, the PTSD that family has is unreal.)
• Westeros, it's west. Essos, it's east. I feel really dumb for never thinking that one through. Also, can White Walkers and the army of the dead swim?? Based on comments exchanged with Euron, nope. So, why doesn't everyone just go to Essos? Start the evacuation now and go resettle and just let the zombies have Westeros. 

Story lines and people I realized I give almost zero fucks about:

• Theon. Just... Theon. He's such a POS in the beginning that by the time he's being tortured, I genuinely could've cared less. The only good thing to come out of the Iron Islands in the entire series was Yara's "yas queen" moments with Dany. Well, and maybe that Imagine Dragons song about Euron... pretty sure that was written about Euron. (Pirate rock forever, man.) Okay, and I suppose the one scene where Theon and Sansa decide to just do a suicide-pact and jump off the walls of Winterfell - that's the one good Theon scene, and it's when you think he's finally ending your misery of watching him.
• I fast forwarded all the "Girl is No One" junk. A girl is frickin' Arya Stark and all the rest is just noise. 
• The flaming sword guy and most of the stuff with the Hound (when he's not with Arya) - of course they ended up being fairly important characters later but, meh. And honestly, I'd be fine if the Cleganebowl thing never goes down. 
• Sand Snakes. Everything with the Sand Snakes. 
• I'm all about the Sam and Jon buddy bromance, but after Sam leaves the wall to go study, with Gilly in tow, I do semi lose interest. 
• Meereen. We all know that "see how ruling is boring" was an important point to make, but, ugh. 
• The Sparrows thing. Totally legit that something like that could end up happening (religious zealots always creep up eventually), and the walk of shame and explosion of the Sept were iconic, but overall I was mostly annoyed by those pesky Sparrows.
• Missandei and Grey Worm. Yep, no interest. 

While the new and final season looms, I have no predictions or hopes. I'd maybe venture to guess everyone dies and the White Walkers just win. And I'd maybe like to see Bran warg into a dragon at some point before this wraps up. But really, who knows how the chips will fall? All I know is that I look forward to seeing it go down, and that this sweet summer child is saddened by the fact that winter is finally coming and with it, no more episodes. Though, I suppose, as they say, what is dead may never die - live long you bitching awesome episodes of expensive television. May we all enjoy you on repeat for years to come. 

Will miss our weekly Meat & Meade nights

* Coined by ComicBookGirl19 - she was SPOT ON with that label!