There is perhaps no other scenario that makes me as repulsed as Tyrion being a Targaryen. That is the most fan-wanky possibility that exists.

Agreed. They even made a point of calling out his off-screen death.

And we know she's got a dash of that "Mad King" in her. Her little convo with Tyrion was revealing, as well, when she said something along the lines of "I didn't care about telling that guy who loves me to fuck off… I just want to rule."

I saw Cersei's "Shame, shame" comment as implying degradation in retaliation for her own. And, of course, we already know this is the Mountain's M.O. Plus, there seemed to be some sexual foreshadowing in her little monologue and touching.

Danny's claim is now undercut by Jon, is it not?

I mentioned this in the other thread, but the Septa being (presumably) raped to death brought to mind the line from The Gladiator: "Are you not entertained?"

I can't imagine any scenario, even with modern prosthetics and make-up, where just wearing a mask is going to acheive any sort of realism. At best, it's going to look like one of those Bill Clinton/Obama/Trump Halloween costume masks.

I've become uncomfortable with the fan wanking violence on this show, especially in this latest season, so I guess I kind of "liked" (if that's the word?) how that scene started with fan service and ended in a profoundly horrifying place.

Jamie wanted to kill the Sparrows and armed men, not every bystander in a one mile radius. You can't forget that Tommen was also made into a useless pawn by Cersei, as well. He died to serve her ends, which surely Jamie cannot approve of, no matter how good the sex is.

Edmure being thrown in a prison cell again underscores how fucking terrible that Riverrun bullshit was.

Very true. So, she's really not ruling over anything in actuality besides a pile of ash.

So, how does the face stealing thing work? I mean, it not just like wearing a mask, is it? I assume Arya gained a little magic ability while in Braavos.

You can apparently get half way around the world in about 3 days now. There's an Instellar-style worm hole in the narrow sea.

Littlefinger really has flamed out, hasn't he? Like, wasn't this guy supposed to be the real puppet master who was plotting 3 steps ahead of everyone?

Agreed. Who would be able to lift a single finger against Dany right now? Especially if she gets Dorne and the Tyrells on board.

This show has a strange relationship with cruel violence. Especially lately, it seems they've had a tough time walking the line between the type that is horrific and meant to make us feel uncomfortable, and plain old fan wanking.

The dialogue has been pretty poor most of the season (it has some sort of fan-ficky tone to it), but that moment was basically the writers reaching through the fourth wall and high-fiving the audience.

So, are the people devout followers of the faith, or…?

I really think this show's recurring weakness in these later seasons is its inability to create evenly-matched opponents and earned victories for either side.

I have a feeling that "Long may she reign" will be shorter than longer.