Did "The Gift" end on the wrong scene?

I think they got the order right. If you had Dany and Tyrion meet after Cersei's arrest, it looks like an immediate power vacuum where Dany could easily take the throne, but she's stuck in Meereen. At the end of the season, Dany would be in the Dothraki Sea, and casual viewers would riot.

Cersei's arrest was kind of cut off at it's feet by the foreshadowing. Tyrion's arrest was more wtf because you didn't see it coming. And this is all just not from a book reader's perspective:

1. The High Sparrow talked too much about bringing down the 1%.
2. Lancel was there with clear knowledge of Cersei's infidelity.
3. Littlefinger was giving Olenna a handsome young man.
4. Cersei talked to Tommen about "circumstances occurring that you can't anticipate."

Cersei should have earlier prodded Lancel how much he had confessed to the septons and septas for forgiveness, and he would reply with something like "Men cannot forgive. That is between each of us and the gods. Only they can grant us deliverance." Later, he gets sent away from King's Landing. Then Littlefinger comes back and tells Olenna he has information that can help her. Then Cersei has her scene with the High Septon and Lancel walks in. Everyone goes "oh F..."

It should have been something that makes you go "I should have seen this coming" not "you can smell the shit from five miles away."

Contrast that with Dany and Tyrion:

1. Dany never mentions Tyrion or the Lannisters. Ever.
2. Jorah and Tyrion are locked away in chains and Jorah is fighting in front of her incognito.

And then you have Dany and Jorah's reunion which is much more emotional and undercuts Tyrion/Dany, and you have no idea from the viewer's perspective if Dany even knows who Tyrion is.

The best ending of the season is still Jorah capturing Tyrion. It's done perfectly. Mance's scene was good for an opener. Barristan's fight was pretty good as well. Jorah getting grayscale was pretty solid. Hell, even 5.06, as much as people hated it, had an ending that was really well done from a story perspective.

The best ending for 5.07 would have been moving the scene from 5.06 with Arya giving the gift of Mercy and walking into the hall of many faces. It's a much better eerie moment than either of these. If Dany/Tyrion wasn't such a "curious" ending and Cersei's wasn't too predictable they would have both been better, though.

How is Tyrion meeting Dany out of the blue? The whole series lead to this moment. This season has them on a collision course. This episode:

1. Jorah and Tyrion were sitting on the same bench. 
   
2. Dany and Hizdhar were watching pit fighters 50 feet away. 
3. Jorah leaves to go fight while Tyrion desperately tries to break free. 
4. Big dude frees Tyrion. 

I think they should end with Tyrion and Dany - not only is that more important and thrilling than Cersei predictably overplaying her hand and ending up in jail for what?

- but it was just a better made scene which was something new for Unsullied AND for us

I think Cersei being captured was the perfect ending as well. The fact that it was so obvious that she was floundering is part of what makes it so delicious for me. I've never found unpredictability to be inherently valuable in storytelling. Dany going ham in Astapor was still fantastic despite the obvious outcome.

I think it ended on the right scene. Seeing Dany/Tyrion first gave everyone that "fuck yeah" moment, then being followed by another thing the GA loves, bad things happening to Cersei just made it even better.

It felt backwards to me in terms of content. I think they are both huge moments, but Tyrion and Dany meeting is slightly huger. But if you look at the acting, Lena nailed her last line better than Emilia landed her last look, so it worked for me.

Pretty much this. I didn't expect Dany and Tyrion to meet in the books when him and Penny were ushered into Daznak. Also just from a writing perspective like I mentioned earlier, they never established what Dany knew or thought of Tyrion. Thus, it would be a weak meeting if it occurred, especially if it happened with Jorah. And it did. And it was a weak meeting.

Next week should be great, though.


I mean, one of these is your own quote from the Unsullied thread:


It's pretty predictable.

Something like "Baelor" isn't very predictable because of pre-existing expectations of tropes.
The Red Wedding... wasn't really either, due to the same thing.
Lysa being pushed was kind of predictable once you got to that scene.
Joffrey's poisoning was a shock.
Oberyn's wasn't a shock... but then they made you believe he'd won... and then it was a shock.

Hardhome is pretty foreboding due to the dragonglass scene.
Daznak isn't predictable, so long as you haven't studied the trailers.
For the Watch is somewhat questionable due to the Olly shots, but I think they'll fly under the radar for most.
The Walk of Shame isn't really predictable, because the High Septon is associated with being in a brothel and was already mostly disrobed. It seemed like a spur of the moment thing.

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Cersei... getting Margaery arrested for lying, Loras for being gay, Lancel being there, the Sparrow's speech about taking down all the 1%, Littlefinger giving Olenna paypack info, Cersei saying stuff about unforeseen consequences...

You only have to pay attention to one or two of those scenes to see her arrest coming. It may be the most predictable season-long event in Game of Thrones.

Cersei's smirk slowly fading away was more satisfying than anything in the Dany/Tyrion scene, which I thought felt forced. Why was Dany there anyway? The Queen needs to be at such a small-fry venue? It looked like the equivalent of tryouts for American Gladiators, right down to Turbo freeing Tyrion.