We text/chat about the Game of Thrones finale and the Badass Ladies of S6. An all-text Downton Gabby podcast extra!
Brandi: AMAZING FINALE. Especially that incredible 25-minute opening sequence. Great payoff writing, and I tweeted massive praise for director Miguel Sapochnik, who also did the Battle of the Bastards and the White Walker battle last season.
Therese: All hail Queen Cersei! That’s one badass outfit she was wearing.
Shannon: Cersei in that Janet Jackson power jacket is my everything. I now need a coffee cup with her in that outfit to go with my Peggy Olson cup to inspire me to be a badass while drinking my coffee each morning.
Therese: It’s kind of sad, though. She’s Queen of the Andals, etc, but really she’s Queen of crazy ex-Maester Qyburn and the Undead Mountain. Did anyone else think she was pretty matter-of-fact about her last child killing himself? If we know anything about Cersei it’s that she’s fierce about her kids.
Brandi: I got the feeling that this was the thing that finally broke her in some way. It was almost sadder to me that she could barely react at all. (Also I was perversely pissed at Tommen for tarnishing Cersei’s shining moment, even while I was also pissed at her for killing Margaery. COMPLICATED.)
Shannon: The only thing Cersei has left is her lust for power. She put her children first, but they are all gone, so now she is free to be the super villain she was always destined to become. Besides the Night King, she is the main villain left.
Therese: I’ve also been obsessed with who set the candles into the wildfire, or poured wildfire around the candles. Like, they’d have to have super steady hands not to blow the thing up. Was it the little kids? Who would Cersei trust with that?
Shannon: To be fair, Cersei did solve the problem she started; however, she took out a bunch of innocent people as well. I won’t miss the High Sparrow or Kevan Lannister, but I am sad about Margaery and Loras. It’s crazy how so many royal families have lost their heirs or have been wiped out: Lannisters, Tyrells, Boltons, Martells, etc. – there is barely anyone for Dany to potentially marry or for anyone to carry on several family names. It’s getting pretty empty in the noble families…
Brandi: I also wondered who the hell Dany can marry, given that all the dudes in Dorne are dead, Jon Snow is pretty much confirmed as her nephew (though maybe that doesn’t matter), Jaime would never marry anyone… I was just glad she didn’t lean in and lay one on Tyrion, though, because that scene was scaring me for a moment. Love them as allies; don’t need to see them bone. Love stories don’t work out in GoT land, people.
Honestly she should get with Yara, though. That’s hot.
Therese: That scene with Yara was crazy hot. What is the Ask The Maester ranking for Yara to be Dany’s Queen? I’m thinking more a sidepiece when Yara’s in town?
Brandi: Yara ain’t interested in being anyone’s Queen but her own, anyway. Is “War ally with benefits” a relationship option on Westerosi Facebook?
Shannon: Based on how much homophobia exists in the world of GoT (hello, Ser Loras and his head carving), there is no way George RR is making his most important female character a lesbian lover. Even though Yara is the best choice, I think it will be a dude in the end. I personally am rooting for no husband at all and she can rule as a single lady and fuck whoever she wants.
Brandi: No one’s gonna make me forget Khal Drogo, anyway. Bye, Daario.
Therese: I like Dany’s new all-black look, and don’t even miss the turquoise stuff. Where did that come from, though? Do you think there’s any connection between Cersei and Dany’s costuming? Both black?
Brandi: Sansa too, right? Felt like classic visual linking of characters to me. Costuming has always been significant on this show. No more summer colors; Winter is Here and everyone knows women survive harsh conditions better than men do.
Shannon: Yup, well said, Brandi.
Therese: How does it work that it’s all ladies driving this story forward and Jon Snow still gets crowned King in the North?
Shannon: It was hard for me to be excited about King in the North, because we have a badass child queen PLUS badass Sansa (who just won the battle for them) sitting right there and we are crowning a man who just made terrible decisions in war to be king (WTF?!?!?!). However, every other storyline has a woman in power – so fine, George RR – you can have your dumb Jon Snow!
Therese: I’m in love with little Lady Mormont.
Brandi: I was okay with King in the North because I’m pretty down for Sansa’s future as more of a behind the scenes, morally ambiguous manipulator. How GORGEOUS was that scene at the tree??? She’s gonna let Littlefinger capture the country for her and then slit his sexy evil throat and take that Throne herself. Fuck needing Jon’s help.
Shannon: As I tweeted after the penultimate episode, Cersei’s legacy won’t be her children, but it will be her inadvertently training Sansa and Margaery. One episode later – it’s only Sansa. After she feeds Ramsay to the dogs, Sansa’s smirk is pure Cersei. She’s learned from Cersei to patiently watch her enemy to discover their weakness, then exploit that weakness for her gain. Her story is the long con and I can’t wait to see what power position she has in the end.
Brandi: Especially if Arya is also out there vanquishing Stark enemies to help clear the path.
Therese: Arya can do the thing with the face!
Shannon: LOVED Arya’s revenge! Eat it, Frey!
Brandi: Question: would the news about Winterfell be hitting The Twins yet? Does Arya know she should go back home, or will we have to keep waiting forever for more Stark reunion goodness?
Shannon: I think she is headed for Cersei next. You know Cersei is going to be heavily guarded, so there really is only person that can slip past the King’s Guard and Zombie Mountain – however, a Cersei/Dany battle would be way more satisfying.
Therese: The timing of the finale was all over the place. One minute Varys is hanging with the ladies in Dorne, next thing he’s sailing with Dany back to Westeros. I didn’t catch the Highgarden and Dorne sails in the amazing overhead shot. I guess they all sailed to Meereen to bond with Daenerys?
Shannon: This seemed like dumb editing to me.
Brandi: I saw a lot of people on Twitter commenting on this, and it didn’t bother me at all. I didn’t assume that every scene we were shown was happening in the exact same timeframe, and as soon as I saw Varys on the ships I just figured some time had passed somewhere. Just go with it, people! Bran is 47 years old! It’s fiction! Anything that gets characters together faster is fine by me, and that’s a GREAT bunch of characters to have together on those ships under those banners.
Therese: I can’t tell you how glad I am to see the back of Meereen–and everyone heading back to Westeros finally.
Shannon: While I was sad to lose Margaery, I’m excited to see Olenna’s revenge plan.
Brandi: Meanwhile, there were Sam & Gilly…
Therese: No one cares about Sam.
Shannon: I wouldn’t say no one cares about him – he’s going to find the answer – the key to vanquishing the White Walkers!
Therese: With his library card!
Brandi: It does sound more exciting the way Shannon says it.
Therese: In the end it will be the revenge of the nerd in the library, and the women who give no fucks! That would be sweet.
Shannon: I remember the first couple seasons of GoT and many feminist media critics were like, “This show is degrading to women – why do they have to have naked women in every shot?!” and I agree that the gratuitous nudity was lazy – but we always knew that the female characters were powerful and that the story would honor them eventually – this season was that payoff. So many women in power – so many different types of women in power. Very, very satisfying.
Brandi: And there were almost no tits & twats this season!
Shannon: One more random thought: Jon being crowned King in the North has irked me on a deep level – on both the After the Thrones show and The Watch podcast, they hailed Jon for “winning the season” and being the hero of the story. It doesn’t matter that we had over five women overthrow governments, siege cities, win battles, etc. – ONE MAN rises from the dead (because of a woman’s power) and then almost loses a battle (which is eventually won by a woman’s tactical decision) and then is crowned king (by a woman – well, a lady-child-badass-queen) and he is the hero?!?!?!?! It’s amazing how our narrative bias for a male hero runs deep.
Sorry, but Jon didn’t win the season for me. Sansa did – and Dany is the hero of the story.
Therese: Very well put, Shannon. It’s like when women come up with great idea after great idea and get ignored, and then when some dude says it, everyone hails him as brilliant. Also, I think we need to call him Jon Sand now that he’s a Targaryen bastard.
One last question: Do we think the writers have gotten some feminist religion now that they’re finally free of George RR’s narrative? Or did they just realize (as we all know) that the stories of the female characters are really interesting!
Shannon: Not sure, since it is three men writing this story – but I’m loving the new badass lady trend. To prepare for next season, I will be hot gluing rhinestones on a black jacket and practicing my death stare.
Brandi: But let’s just hope we don’t have to watch anyone waste any more wine. That was real pain.
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Stay tuned for our next Podcast on Teen Shows Adults Love, plus Dr. Thorne and Belgravia, coming this week!
