Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing 3 Body Problem; Bosch; Citadel; Criminal Minds; Dark Matter; Fauda; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; House of the Dragon; Luther; Outer Range; Outlander; Presumed Innocent; Reacher; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Surface; The: Ark, Diplomat, Last of Us, Lazarus Project, Orville, Way Home; True Detective; You +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Game of Thrones 8.4: Tough Night for Pleas

Lots of crucial developments in Game of Thrones 8.4, most of them designed to lock in the inevitable battle - the "last battle," as Daenerys says - between Daenerys's (and Jon's) forces and the power Cersei has at her command.

That power is much more than we thought it was before, with a smiling Euron Greyjoy in possession of a machine that fires spears into the sky and can kill dragons. As indeed it does, bringing down Rhaegal (who I wrongly thought was killed last week, but was only badly wounded). Daenerys is able to skillfully ride Drogon between arrows, which suggests that Rhaegal would have succumbed even if not recovering from last week's wounds (though, if Rhaegal had been healthy, Jon might have been atop, and able to steer Rhaegal to safety).

It was a bad night for the heroes, which only makes sense, narratively, given how they beat death itself last week. I thought for a moment that even Tyrion might succumb, as he stood there, bravely trying to reason with Cersei. Why didn't she kill him? Not because he is her brother. Possibly because she didn't want her emissary, who was down there, too, to die. But in many ways Cersei is the most difficult to understand and predict in this final game.

So is her brother Jamie. After sleeping with Brienne, who now seems to care for Jamie maybe even loves him, Jamie elects to go down south to join the battle. On behalf of whom? Daenerys and Jon? I can't quite see him doing that. But neither can I see him joining forces with his sister.

So the battle looms. The Starks up north now know that Jon has a better claim to the Iron Throne than does Daenerys. This despite Daenerys's plea to Jon not to tell anyone. And Tyrion and Varys now know, too, despite Jon's plea to his relatives not to tell anyone. In this episode, pleas, including Tyrion's to Cersei, didn't fare very well.

Cersei has understandable confidence in her ability to kill the remaining dragon and what's left of her adversary's armies. She flaunted that by killing Missandei. But there was a concern in Euron's eyes as he looked to the sky in the coming attractions - a concern that seemed born of seeing more than just one or only a dragon.

See also Game of Thrones 8.1: All Together Now ... Game of Thrones 8.2: Apologies and Memories ... Game of Thrones 8.3: Fighting Death

And see also Game of Thrones 7.1: Library Redux ... Game of Thrones 7.2: Vikings and Strategies ... Game of Thrones 7.3: Alliances ... Game of Thrones 7.4: Dragon vs. Byzantium ... Game of Thrones 7.5: Reason Breaking Out All Over ... Game of Thrones 7.6: Two to One ... Game of Thrones 7.7: End Wall