"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

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.



And see also Game of Thrones 6.1: Where Are the Dragons ... Game of Thrones 6.2: The Waking ... Game of Thrones 6.5: Origin of a Name ... Game of Thrones 6.6: The Exhortation ... Game of Thrones 6.7: Giveth and Taketh ... Game of Thrones 6.8: Strategic Advantage ... Game of Thrones 6.9: A Night for the Light ... Game of Thrones Season 6 Finale: That Library

And see also Game of Thrones 5.1: Unsetting the Table ... Game of Thrones 5.8: The Power of Frigid Death ... Game of Thrones 5.9: Dragon in Action; Sickening Scene with Stannis ... Game of Thrones Season 5 Finale: Punishment

And see also Games of Thrones Season 4 Premiere: Salient Points ... Game of Thrones 4.2: Whodunnit? ... Game of Thrones 4.3: Who Will Save Tyrion ...Game of Thrones 4.4: Glimpse of the Ultimate Battle ... Game of Thrones 4.6: Tyrion on Trial ... Game of Thrones 4.8: Beetles and Battle ...Game of Thrones 4.9: The Fight for Castle Black ... Games of Thrones Season 4 Finale: Woven Threads


And see also Game of Thrones Back in Play for Season 2 ... Game of Thrones 2.2: Cersei vs. Tyrion

And see also A Game of Thrones: My 1996 Review of the First Novel ... Game of Thrones Begins Greatly on HBO ... Game of Thrones 1.2: Prince, Wolf, Bastard, Dwarf ... Games of Thrones 1.3: Genuine Demons ... Game of Thrones 1.4: Broken Things  ... Game of Thrones 1.5: Ned Under Seige ... Game of Thrones 1.6: Molten Ever After ... Games of Thrones 1.7: Swiveling Pieces ... Game of Thrones 1.8: Star Wars of the Realms ... Game of Thrones 1.9: Is Ned Really Dead? ... Game of Thrones 1.10 Meets True Blood

And here's a Spanish article in Semana, the leading news magazine in Colombia, in which I'm quoted about explicit sex on television, including on Game of Thrones.

And see "'Game of Thrones': Why the Buzz is So Big" article in The Christian Science Monitor, 8 April 2014, with my quotes.

Also: CNN article, "How 'Game of Thrones' Is Like America," with quote from me



"I was here, in Carthage, three months from now ..."

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