There we go! Why emphasize the line, "My face will be the last thing you see....", if we're not gonna get some kind of crazy 'pay-off'?
Regarding @Deuce66 comments about Cersei. I agree about her being the biggest villain now. But (and i'm sure I'll be in the minority here) the smallest part of me sympathies with her. She's always been awful. But some terrible things have happened to her as well.
In the 'I'm-sure-it-WON'T-happen' dept.: I'd LOVE to see Arya take down The Mountain in FRONT of Cersei, just to see the look on her face!
Started the tall task of revisiting all previous GoT episodes yesterday in anticipation of the finale. Already missing the decency of Ned Stark as the story unfolds. Trying to think of a character who can come close. It is a different viewing experience to see the characters early on and knowing more about their later importance, and what is in store for them.
Jon Snow, of course. He absorbed the lessons Ned taught him and is deeply honorable--sometimes to a fault, just like Ned. Ned may not have been Jon's biological father, but he was his daddy. He instilled those values in his kids. All of the Stark children have an innate sense of right and wrong. This has been made very dark in Arya, due to the terrible things she has experienced, but they are very much a family built around justice.
Ned stands out above all others. There is an idealism which seems to permeate the first season where you feel as if you know good from evil. I guess the evolution is what makes the story so compelling.
Great point! While his children DO know right from wrong, each of them are oathbreakers or worse. They've all made decisions that Ned would NEVER have approved of! He truly was the moral compass of the clan, even Lady Stark messed up!
I don't know if I agree that the Stark kids all did things Ned wouldn't agree with. Ned killed people... that deserved to be killed. And he did it himself without an ounce of guilt. However... the first season painted Ned as a man of dignity and honor in a time and place where those traits were rare. And killing him off shook us and left us wondering who we could look to to be good and honorable. Jon Snow makes some bad decisions, rushing into things without thinking, but I don't know that he's done anything dishonorable. Same for Arya and Sansa. And there are plenty still on this show that you started off despising but now not only trust to do the right thing (Jaime Lannister and Sandor Clegane) but want on your side.
What have the kids done that Ned would disapprove of, Arya excepted? What makes Sansa or Bran an oath breaker or worse? And Jon? And whether he would approve of their actions or not, they have done what they need to do to survive. I think he'd be glad that 4 of his 6 kids are still alive. GRRM tried to showcase in the books that Ned's honor/black and white code was actually what got him killed. He trusted Littlefinger when he should not have done so. He could not survive "the game" in the South because he believed others were as honorable as he was--and they aren't. He wasn't perfect. His very honorable decision to pretend to be Jon's father may have saved the baby's life, but it caused real pain for Catelyn and for Jon. GRRM drew a line under this theme about honor in the books, and the show did not adapt it. In the books, Robb does not break his vow with House Frey because he falls in love with someone else (what they did on the show). He finds out his father has died and sleeps with a girl in his grief. He marries her to preserve her honor (he took her virginity). He is doing the "right" thing that his father taught him and we all know that it ends up getting lots of people killed. Robb dies for the same reason Ned did--honor over the realities of the world. The world of Westeros is a violent and politically complex place. The characters who prove to be survivors *must* have a bit of gray in them. It's a necessity for survival.
Ned benefits from having a short storyline comparatively. Yes, he’s an honorable man, but if his story had continued, would we have remained so or made questionable decisions to save his family and the kingdom of Westeros? We’ll never know.
Except his daddy his Rhaegar Targaryen. Which probably causes all sorts of daddy issues, since he's sleeping with his Aunt Dany.
Yep. And high-integrity Ned raised him. So Jon will probably do a 180 and take the low integrity route once he realizes his whole life has been a lie.
With all this pondering of 'personal issues'. you'd think they could 'pad out' the last season to a '10 episode'... I hope they can do it, and it's not all 'battles'!
I'm imagining an EPIC battle ala LOTR with walkers, giants, dragons, Ice Kings, and a cast of thousands! Oddly enough, this scenario saddens me for a number of reasons!
Word is one episode (perhaps the last) will feature the longest battle sequence ever filmed (cinema or television). It should be something.
Biggest problem is: “The Mountain” isn’t really Gregor Clegane anymore; at least not in a real sense. It’s his body, of course, but any real personality (or humanity - not that he ever had much) was stripped away by Qyburn. He’s essentially a Frankenstein monster at this point.