^ Oh, and of course her

Spoiler

 

 

16 minutes ago, Enrico_sw said:

Great episode

 

My guess is that this is probably the most expensive episode they filmed for the whole show (even more than Winterfell).  

18 minutes ago, Enrico_sw said:

 

She is gorgeous (and 300 was an awesome movie, I liked both the King and the Queen's acting in this movie). I like her voice and the way she plays with her tone. She's very sexy overall, but she plays a crazy character, so it can't make her popular.

 

I don't know if she's the best actress though. I liked Michelle Fairley's acting (Catelyn Stark) a lot. It's too bad they didn't use the Lady Stoneheart plot in the series, that would've been interesting. Arya and Brienne are pretty good too.

 

I get the impression (from net GOT communities/youtube/social media, etc.) that Cersei is one of the most popular female characters due to Lena's skill in portraying the character.  It is probably Lena's most signature role.  She was also a crazy woman in the "Judge Dredd" reboot.  Natalie Domer was also very popular with girls.

 

Catelyn Stark was great, so was Margeary and Olenna! Brienne was great casting (how difficult is it to find a giantess who can act?)   And others.  Come to think of it, the Tyrells are the most likable of the families.

1 minute ago, Cult Icon said:

 

I get the impression (from net GOT communities/youtube/social media, etc.) that Cersei is one of the most popular female characters due to Lena's skill in portraying the character.  It is probably Lena's most signature role.  She was also a crazy woman in the "Judge Dredd" reboot.  Natalie Domer was also very popular with girls.

 

 

I think that...

Spoiler

... maybe the fact that she dies in tears while thinking of her child and being reassured by Jaime will make her more popular. The audience usually has more empathy for characters when they become weak (and when they die), except when they are 100% cruel and self-centered like Joffrey. Cersei has at least empathy for her children, so she's not completely self-centered.

 

1 minute ago, Cult Icon said:

Catelyn Stark was great, so was Margeary and Olenna! Brienne was great casting (how difficult is it to find a giantess who can act?)   And others.  Come to think of it, the Tyrells are the most likable of the families.

 

Yeah, they were great too. Diana Rigg was always a very good actress and she was very sexy as Emma Peel.

 

4 minutes ago, Cult Icon said:

 

My guess is that this is probably the most expensive episode they filmed for the whole show (even more than Winterfell).  

 

Yeah and I like the plot, even if there were a couple of "glitches" IMHO...

Spoiler

(like Varys, who's usually smarter than that...)

....though it worked overall.

When I saw Dany snap, my first thought wasn't game of thrones but real world massacres/war crimes that occur in every major war (including those that are committed by those without a particular track record of such behavior) and how they spontaneously happen.  Soldiers who never raped women or killed innocent men, women, children, and even small babies do so after a serious buildup of hatred, paranoia, vengence and fear (ideological factors could also make it worse) .  A major trigger is the deaths of numerous well liked combat leaders.  I think they got the psychology right for Dany:
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oradour-sur-Glane_massacre

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmedy_massacre

 

 

 

^ yes, the "crowd" (like soldiers or revolutionaries) can become crazy under such circonstance. Even sane and normal people can do terrible things.

There were a couple of  crazy massacres like this during the French revolution, which was (and people tend to forget it) very bloody.

 

It's the Psychology of Crowds.

 

 

1 hour ago, Cult Icon said:

+ come to think of it, Varys' arc has never made much sense.

 

Spoiler

Why?  I think he was a pretty good character, but the scenario ruined him a little in the end. He could've tried something smarter.

 

21 minutes ago, Enrico_sw said:

 

  Hide contents

Why?  I think he was a pretty good character, but the scenario ruined him a little in the end. He could've tried something smarter.

 

 

Varys' character is that of a dispassionate eunuch who has no personal desire expect to help the "best" ruler rise to the throne.  This ruler is presumably the best for "the people".  However, his actions aren't really congruent with that.  He supported Dany and then suddenly switched sides to support Jon Snow, who is written to be Ned Stark Jr, and makes numerous errors for his "goodness" (including getting killed).  jon snow is actually too moral/honorable to be a good ruler of Westeros which has been shown a bit in S8 so far.  Somehow I feel like Varys is a character that largely is designed to enrich the action of main characters without having a logical progression himself.

52 minutes ago, Enrico_sw said:

^ yes, the "crowd" (like soldiers or revolutionaries) can become crazy under such circonstance. Even sane and normal people can do terrible things.

There were a couple of  crazy massacres like this during the French revolution, which was (and people tend to forget it) very bloody.

 

The death of

Spoiler

Jorah and Melissandre

 played important role in her atrocity.   (Besides the Jon Snow lineage and troubles with Westeros leaders/and advises)  If she didn't do the atrocity, the writers wouldn't have to include the deaths of her best friends who had moderated her impulses.  On second thought, I wonder what the motive behind the atrocity was (largely to show the other politicos that she won't play nice and be pushed around anymore) or her snapping.

 

I don't think that Dany is a "Mad Queen" like some are starting to say.    It's more entitlement than say, active hatred for those that oppose her. My first thought was that she basically did what she always truly wanted to do:  kill anybody that stood in her way of the throne.   The rest of her politics, SJW behavior, and playing nice with others was just a "social personality" that she adopted in order to differentiate herself from the bad reputation of her family.   There was a media article I posted a few pages back that compared Dany's desire for the throne to Gollom and his obsession with the ring.

 

Here is a scene that demonstrates her extreme sense of entitlement:

 

 

What really threw me off was that I didn't see them completely destroying Dany's character (disappointing all her fans) and filming an atrocity or anything special for episode 5.  At most I thought they would just do an in-between sort of resolution (bittersweet).   The Winterfelll battle wasn't anything special as far as hollywood battles go.  An atrocity like this is something I've personally never seen on Tv.

1 hour ago, Enrico_sw said:

 

I think that...

  Reveal hidden contents

... maybe the fact that she dies in tears while thinking of her child and being reassured by Jaime will make her more popular. The audience usually has more empathy for characters when they become weak (and when they die), except when they are 100% cruel and self-centered like Joffrey. Cersei has at least empathy for her children, so she's not completely self-centered.

 

 

Yeah, they were great too. Diana Rigg was always a very good actress and she was very sexy as Emma Peel.

 

 

I don't really know what to make of Jaime/Cersei's scene to me.  They make it look tragic and poignant but to me it's ????? ehh?  For Jaime, an entire season of redemption unravels in two episodes?  I like how the end finally brought out Cersei's real self- vulnerable, afraid, confused, etc. which had always been hidden underneath the ruthless bi*ch persona.  However it doesn't really make up for all the evil things she did.... which soften the impact for me.

 

Spoiler

for a long time I though Jaime would be the one to kill Cersei

 

Spoiler, just for safety:

 

Spoiler

I really was not surprised by Dany's actions because I thought they had been hinting at it for many episodes with frequent mentions of her ancestors tendency towards similar acts, and her responses to those she felt went against her. Tyrion and Varys would try to advise her to make the rational decision and she would react in a more aggressive way. (I explained that poorly, but maybe that makes sense)

 

It's hard to say she wouldn't have done something similar anyway, but I'm sure you are right that Missandei's death pushed her over the edge and the grief and anger of that death made the events of the last episode more likely.

 

From a writing standpoint, I think they had to have her do something this terrible in order to get Jon to stop supporting her. If she had not done it, Jon would have stayed with her indefinitely. They needed him to give up on her.

 

(That was more than I wanted to type, maybe I was bored)

 

 

I think our main differences here is the "Mad Targe" thing- I never got the impression that it applied to Dany in the show.  The Mad King who was killed by young Jaime Lannister was definitely a lunatic who enjoyed killing people for fun but I don't recall her being a lunatic (just an extremely deluded person) throughout the show. 

 

Maybe she will behave like a lunatic in the final episode- which will be a grand reveal of sorts that she was a psychopath all along and faking everything for 8 seasons!  The showrunners just overturned Jaime's

Spoiler

redemption arc

and maybe she will get hers too!  

 

Yes, I agree with you that 

Spoiler

this is a necessary plot development to turn Jon against her.  It also erases all the goodwill and her westeros allies 

 

4 hours ago, Cult Icon said:

^Yes  

  Reveal hidden contents

Dany razing King's Landing, mass murdering civilians and soldiers AFTER they surrendered though....

 

 

+ come to think of it, Varys' arc has never made much sense.  

 

That's been foreshadowed for seasons, but her advisors talk her out of it. Now all her advisors are dead and she goes nuts.

Jon is going to kill Dany in the final episode and banish himself.

2 minutes ago, Stromboli1 said:

 

That's been foreshadowed for seasons, but her advisors talk her out of it. Now all her advisors are dead and she goes nuts.

 

where?  I don't remember this

When she's about to do crazy things and usually Jorah would make her rethink her decisions. Then the others too.

I mean things like King's landing in particular- not slavers or other enemies.

 

If Jon joins the Night's watch after killing Dany, he would be the 1,000 th  Lord Commander as Ed is 

Spoiler

now dead

 

10 minutes ago, Stromboli1 said:

Jon is going to kill Dany in the final episode and banish himself.

 

To the real north to see Tormund?  I like it.  

9 minutes ago, Cult Icon said:

I mean things like King's landing in particular- not slavers or other enemies.

 

There's hints of her being mad throughout the seasons, Jorah just talks her out of it.