In terms of character motivation, I can't envision Littlefinger, Cersei, or Daenerys opting to not push for complete conquest if they're still alive. Additionally, the Northerners might reject serving under any one ruler. One would assume the collapse of the Wall and the presence of the White Walkers would be enough…

Well, if they're the definitive end game, then yeah. But if there is additional politicking/warfare to follow, then the Wall will have to fall relatively early in the remaining seasons

Which might make Benjen a sleeper agent. That would actually be a nice spin on things

I would think so as well, which is why I included episode 7 (since it's a shorter season). But I could also see the show/story going in the direction of resolving the war with the White Walkers before the end and leaving some time for yet another petty civil war in the ashes of the prior war

A fun game I like to play is figuring out the most anti-climactic ways for the series to end. Great examples include:
- Walder Frey becoming king because everybody else is dead
- Daenerys dying of scurvy on the boat ride over (although given how travel apparently works, she'll make the journey to Dorne in, like, 2 hours)

In fairness, Benjen pretty much clarified why they can't move past south of the Wall (magic woven into its architecture preventing the dead from marching south). So it could just be they still don't have a plan for moving their army of the dead south.

Part of me is thinking that Martin is just waiting to see how fans react to certain narrative choices in the show so he can make some quick revisions to the completed drafts he has sitting around

The most frequent flyer miles go to Varys though for making it to Dorne and back again to stand next to Daenerys in the end scene

Pretty sure that the follow-up scene to that one was Jon Snow declaring Lyanna Mormont to be Hand to the King of the North with immediate effect

I definitely can register that on a logical level. Still doesn't take away from how much it sucks, especially when some are being taken before their time (for example, Anton Yelchin, Prince)

Yeah, I was reading about that earlier. I won't say I had as much knowledge of Cunningham, but from everything I'm reading, it's still unfortunate

It's really upsetting how often R.I.P. keeps coming up in the Newswire lately

Can you really say any movie "stars" Joe Estevez?

How's that whole "shouting at clouds" thing going for you?

Thanks for inspiring a return to the T2 Opera
https://www.youtube.com/wat…

I hope they include the etc.

Ask, but you'll only get a thousand yard stare in your general direction that lasts for a solid two minutes, followed by him blankly saying "Alright" as he turns to walk away

When I first heard about the news, I was torn for that very reason. The EU does some truly vile stuff to nations in need, to say nothing of the working class and impoverished in the nations that aren't as much in need. But the fact that the majority of the Leave movement was rooted in a reactionary nativism getting…

Starring Kelli Berglund and Julie Andrews

Last I heard, it's getting released in the middle of July