Christian-Crow

Okay so I am going to say this right now, I am not going to trash seasons 7 & 8. I read the first four books before watching the series but when I caught up with the series while reading Dance of the Dragons, I did give up on reading. I'll finish it some time during quarantine as I hope for The Winds of Winter to finish soon. The first five seasons are very good representations of the books and season six was a great way to continue. Seasons seven was good but definitely had an issue with plot and travel timing. Eight definitely had its flaws but was otherwise interchanging between great(8.1,8.2,&8.3) potentially worrying (8.4) and could've been better but acceptable (8.5 & 8.6). Maybe it was because I was a year late in viewing which led me to hear spoilers and took out some of the twists fans found appalling but I otherwise found the 'hated' ending acceptable. If you haven't seen the series and are going to, please, ignore the reviews and decide for yourself. To sum up the plot for Game of Thrones, it is pretty much about the Lords and Ladies of Westeros who hate or love the other and will switch their allegiances on a dime if they gained from it as they war for the most uncomfortable seat in the lands, the Iron Throne. Game of Thrones was loved for many reasons, such as lovely locales, outstanding effects & musical composition, great battles and fights, and intricate storytelling. I think the character work was best. Game of Thrones was able to give us characters we absolutely love for the rest of our lives (Arya, Jon, Samwell, Ned, Tyrion) or absolutely hate and make you swear yourself to sleep (Cersei, Joffrey, Ramsay) or characters you can never decide (Baelish, Varys). My favorite five episodes were as follows. 'Winter is Coming' (1.1) for its opening prologue, mystery, series set up, and surprise humor. 'The Watchers on the Wall' (4.9) for an hour of great action, visuals, and musical score. 'Hardhome' (5.8) for a spectacular latter half full of WTF moments, musical score, directing, and action against the white walkers (this one would be my favorite if its first half was memorable). 'The Winds of Winter' (6.10) for an incredible opening twenty minutes and all around solid next season set up. And 'Blackwater' (2.9) for being the first big battle seen in the series and living up to the book version. If you are looking for a big budget fantasy series and somehow have never heard of this than I strongly recommend this.

Having been a fan of the book for such a long time, after four episodes I am glad to report the series is what we needed. It is exactly what I hoped for in nearly every way. All of the scenes have some sort of beauty to them between the daemons, how they were positioned, or the sets themselves. Dafne Keen's performance was emotional and impressive and one of the best parts of the series. I was surprised how well she hit me in the first episode during her scenes with James McAvoy. The series expands on many aspects of the books, even some of which goes into the second book. I actually did not enjoy these at first but once they went through with it into the third episode, it helped me understand one part I hadn't understood after reading the books. I hope the second half of the season is this great.