#being written out in the finale or in 8x01

[chevelleneech]

Blocking every former and supposedly on the fence Buddie shipper who feels the need to tag Buddie on their posts where they claim to want Buddie to happen so badly or are in a dilemma about it going canon, because they’ve, “Seen the toxicity in the fandom and can’t take it anymore.”

Bullshit. They’re making up excuses to jump ship, when it’s really not necessary.

If you don’t want to ship Buddie, don’t ship them. It’s not against the law. It won’t get you excommunicated from the 911 fandom either, but it will make you look like a fool for acting like: 1) you didn’t know there were toxic fans in the fandom to begin with — as there are in all fandoms, or 2) there aren’t any toxic fans among the BuckTommy fandom.

You can’t claim to be tired of toxic Buddies for saying BT is bland or lack chemistry or LFJ is ugly or whatever else, when there are BT shippers saying the same exact things about Buddie and RG. Both sides have toxic fans, the only difference is that BT shippers currently have canon on their side, so those of you jumping ship are able to feel more validated in leaving.

Fans wanted Buck to be queer for nearly as long as the show has been out, and not once has anyone really shipped him with other people. Josh here and there, Connor occasionally, and that one prophet who wrote about him and Tommy. But majorly, it’s been Eddie. As such, toxic fans have been toxic when it came to any and every relationship either of them were in, so what makes Tommy any different? Did y’all really expect all the toxic fans to be happy with yet another love interest they weren’t looking forward to?

Not only that, but again, there are also toxic BT shippers, and fun fact! They didn’t pop up out of nowhere nor were they born out of defense of Buck and Tommy’s extremely new coupling.

I promise you, those same people were die hard Buddie shippers waiting with bated breath for Buck or Eddie to kiss each other or a man in general. They got it with Buck, so now they feel the need to belittle everything that came before in hopes that Tommy won’t be written out. They don’t care about character development or chemistry or Buck as an actual character either, proven by the many many posts across Tumblr, Twitter, and Tik Tok framing them as in love and smitten.

Claiming Eddie doesn’t mean anything to Buck. Claiming Tommy was a knight in shining armor. Claiming (and this is truly the fault of lazy writing and Tim and co trying to give themselves an out for under developing BT) Buck not talking about Tommy is a sign of happiness.

BT is sexual attraction first and foremost, and that’s all we know. Which is fine, I’ve said before, s8 will hopefully expand on them and their relationship if that’s the plan, but until then, there’s nothing there. Meaning there is nothing about the ship to defend the way some of their fans are doing, but somehow that’s more acceptable than Buddie fans defending Buddie? Sure.

Point is, if you’re jumping ship, go ahead. You don’t need to explain or more aptly worded, lie about why. Toxic fans exist on both sides. Most of you would just rather deal with the ones on the canon side of things, because it helps you feel better. Less embarrassed or anxious, maybe? I don’t know, because regardless of if Buddie ever goes canon, they’re not real, and there is no reason to feel anything if it turns out their shippers were wrong.

But I have to ask, what’s going to happen if BT does end? What will be the excuses for all the trash talking and belittlement of years worth of theories? What will y’all say to rectify putting one toxic group on a pedestal over the other? Because that’s what’s happening. BT shippers are being given full clearance to act like shit to people simply because their ship is canon, so what happens if that changes? What happens if Buddie does go canon? Where will all the high and mighty attitudes go?

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

Reading your post about Jon going South and how it meant never having a family made me annoyed at the show again because what you said makes sense, I thought that was how Kit acted it, and he never indicated that he truly wanted to be with Daenerys, even in 8x01 he wasn’t excited about the idea of them together forever. But according to all the official information Jon was in love with Daenerys until the every end. If he really thought she’d be a good queen or was that obsessed with her, why was he miserable about going South and having a life with her? I know your answer and I agree with a lot of what you’ve written but it isn’t confirmed which is so!!!

Hey, Nonnie! Awww I hear you, trust me. But for me personally, I'm not buying any of the official statements made. Because even their "inside the episodes" and all of that stuff prove that Jon wasn't fully in love with her. Never mind the show itself, like you pointed out. In that one 8x04 scene, just like you, I don't see a man bursting at the seams with love and happiness to be going to help his lady love fight her war. I see a man who is miserable and doesn't want to leave. Not to mention, he sends Ghost with Tormund to go North, where he would be happy as Tormund points out, and we all know Ghost is an extension of Jon, just like Drogon was for Dany. The final product doesn't match their PR and that's how everyone at this point knows they're full of crap, except for some Jonerys shippers I think.

It's crazy that the show really doubled down on the whole romance angle when their final product shows anything but lol. But I believe they did that because they were already getting to get a ton of lashback about Dany, her dark turn, and her death. Had they showed how underhanded Jon had been, guaranteed those who flipped their lids would have lost it even worse and of course the cries of misogyny would have been made (with them completely missing the point that Dany being allowed to choose to go dark is actually giving her free agency and that Cersei was actually the first Queen in Westeros, two very big power moves for two female characters that you usually don't see in that type of story, which is now being unintentionally reinforced by HotD's story) Plus, D&D saw how upset Emilia was with the death scene and changed things, so I'm thinking that's why Jon's character (and his "kind manipulations") got sacrificed in the end.

Honestly, I just wish they'd come out and tell the truth at this point, future profits be damned.

Hope you have a good rest of your night, Nonnie!!! <3

[esther-dot]

Jamie and Cersei's relationship was more romantic and convincing than Jon and Dany. It was not just bad writing, or bad chemistry. It was on purpose.

I agree. I have many, many gripes about D&D, but I don’t think they thought, “Hey! You know what’s sexy? Bran interrupting sex. Let’s include Bran in boatsex somehow!” Why do D&D hate Isaac? What did he do to deserve that??? 😭

In s8 D&D gave us romantic Gendrya in a few scenes and made it believable. We had flirting, sex, and a proposal, and the same showrunners couldn’t figure out how to convey human emotions between J/D aka “the point” of the series across two entire seasons? Please. They even included the impetus for Jaime to follow Brienne/have sex in s8 when they were cutting away from important things all the time, and yet, they neglected to do that for J/D. Inexplicable.

It would have been so easy to write J/D in a better way. Turn a heated argument into sex to communicate this is a passionate, against their better judgment affair. If they had presented it as lust/desperation to live because the world is ending, it would have made some sense. Instead of doing that, they made it progress in a way that would indicate we’re meant to see this as a “real” relationship, not just sex. The problem is, if you want that, you have to give the couple soft moments/bonding scenes. And yet, every J/D conversation revolved around power or the survival of humanity. Dany being upset she can’t have kids felt the closest to that, but it doesn’t work because she’s romanticizing dragons that we’ve just learned are a threat to people. All of their scenes had violence as an underlying theme, and if they had just not done that once, just given us one moment in which Jon is emotionally vulnerable, I’d believe they were trying to write a real romance. Give them a scene where Jon could have admitted that he did die (because he lied about that before) to show that he trusts her, and have Dany take his hand and tell him she was meant to die too, but she walked from the fire alive. That they live for a purpose. I mean, give them anything to show why they would be drawn to each other, why Jon might get sucked in. But nope, it all revolved around Jon giving Dany what she wanted (the North), hope for the future (a child), all because he thought everyone would die unless he got her to fight the Others with them. 

If D&D had written it with any plausibility (even with zero chemistry between the actors), I could believe their intention was for us to believe they were in mutual love, but the problem is, everything works against that understanding, except for their marketing. I still don’t even think they were writing a genuine romance in s8. They could have written a toxic relationship that was addicting to both of them, instead, Jon spends s8 resisting Dany instead of being drawn to her in spite of himself. It was the strangest thing! With Jon, it’s like they had two stories that weren’t compatible, and yet they told them both anyway. It might be a random thing to obsess over, but I was so annoyed when I read the finale script and saw how they emphasized that the FF respected/trusted Jon, as if to contrast that with the North’s view of him when he returned in 8x01. I hated that so much because the FF would have had the same issue that the Northerners did if he had knelt unnecessarily. They would have thought he was a traitor. And, as far as Tormund knows, Jon remained loyal to the North and did what Mance wouldn’t to save his people so of course he would still respect Jon. Of course the FF would still admire him. So, if that’s the idea, if he is still worthy of that, D&D should have let Jon admit to Sansa that he was afraid of what Dany was capable of. That he knelt for the North, and that Sansa needed to trust him to handle Dany the way she handled LF. Then, Sansa telling about his parentage could feel like a betrayal of his trust, because he hadn’t ignored her fears. But nope! They created all these parallels between Mance and Jon, Stannis and Dany, Sansa and Jon, LF and Dany, etc etc, and instead of dealing with the implications of what they wrote, they ignored it.

Anyway, you’re right about Jaime and Cersei! Their scenes/relationship was compelling the whole way through, and they had those quiet soft moments as well as those angry/lusty moments, so it isn’t like D&D don’t know how to deliver on a range of dynamics even within the same relationship. I’ve wondered if D&D were trying to make a contrast between Jaime/Cersei and J/D because Jaime leaves his sister (evil Queen) and gets sexually entangled with a good person (Brienne), and Jon leaves his sister and gets entangled with Dany (evil Queen). Jaime tries to rescue Cersei, Jon kills Dany. There is so much in s7-8 that is this close meaning something, all you have to do is nudge it a little. And for some reason, D&D didn’t. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 14: 8x01

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

October 3, 2021

8x01: We Need to Talk About Kevin

Written by: Jeremy Carver

Directed by: Robert Singer

Original air date: October 3, 2012

Plot Synopsis:

Dean returns from Purgatory, one year after the fight with the Leviathans. After reuniting with Sam, they find out that Kevin escaped Crowley with another Word of God that may hold the key to closing the gates of Hell forever.

Features:

Benny is finally here!, Purgatory flashbacks, Sam’s first blurry uninteresting love interest, Kevin my beloved, the demon tablet, home alone style demon traps.

My Thoughts:

Okay I’m going to start with the things I do like because overall, gang, I am not a fan of this episode. Okay good things: Dean looks hot in purgatory and super pretty fresh out of purgatory. The cold open with Dean framed as something monstrous (and then again in Purgatory when he’s hunting vampires and looking for Cas). Benny and the chemistry between him and Dean. Dean’s purgatory knife. Kevin Tran whom I would die for. The beginnings of the gay purgatory shit, which is my main memory of this entire season. Some (accidental?) foreshadowing of the Mark of Cain with the placement of Benny’s soul in Dean’s arm (my notes from this part just say “releasing the inner monster etc etc). Also I think the title card for this season is cool.

I was watching with @meg3point0 and she pointed out that they gave Dean worse PTSD from one year in Purgatory than he got from 40 years in Hell. She also thinks that Mark of Cain Dean should have tried to go back to Purgatory and that would have been dope.

It is so insane trying to watch the Amelia storyline because even if you ignore the fact that Sam’s flashbacks are (deliberately or not) framed to seem unreliable and it would have made infinitely more sense for her to be a monster or a hallucination or something, she’s also just like. A Bad Vet. Why on God’s green Earth would you force the man who almost killed this dog and does not have the capacity to care for it to take it. Take it to a fucking shelter. This isn’t how pet adoption is supposed to work, Amelia. I do find it incredibly funny that the writers were too lazy to write a well-rounded woman and just decided to steal from Teen Wolf instead and call that a meet-cute.

More proof that Supernatural doesn’t know how to write women in the scene with Channing and her roommate. I know Channing was possessed but there is no excuse for the roommate’s whole deal.

Sam is so out of character in this episode. He’s always been framed as the more empathetic brother who cares more about saving people than hunting things and he didn’t even try to pass off his old phones to another hunter or something? BS. But every season opener needs a betrayal for The Drama™, so it had to happen.

Also, the pacing in this episode is whack. Felt like a mid-season one instead of an opener.

Notable/Kickass Lines:

“He was our responsibility. And you couldn't answer the damn phone.”

“Where’s the angel?”

“People will always die, Dean. Or maybe another hunter took care of it. I don't know, but the point is, for the first time, I realized that it wasn't only up to me to stop it.”

“It was bloody. Messy. 31 flavors of bottom-dwelling nasties. Hell, most days felt like 360-degree combat. But there was something about being there. It felt pure.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 5

IMdB rating: 8.3

In Conclusion: Please join me in my Siren-Amelia Truthing zone.

<< Previous Day | Next Day >>

[flyingcatstiel]

You are completely right in saying a lot of people in this fandom speak and write meta that wasn't the writers' intention which leads to manipulating and giving false hope to other audience members specifically destiel shippers. I've been in this fandom for almost a decade now and I've seen history repeat itself too many times. During Carver era when we were all convinced destiel was being set up to become canon only to get disappointed and played. The same thing is happening once again except this time everyone involved in this show knows just what buttons to press to fool everyone and take zero accountability, claiming it was never the intention. This is why they've been allowed to play near the line for so long, lacing Dean and Cas' scenes with romantic subtext or mirror parallels to other couples just close enough to raise eyebrows of people who want to see them be canon but not enough to make it explicitly clear and for a chance to denounce it. It's a never ending circle of gaslighting and those who've been around long enough are familiar with it.

Exactly, I don’t have anything to add to this. I’ve been watching SPN with fandom since 8x01 and remember all about Carver’s 3 year plan. And I remember that desert of despair that was fandom after s10 finale. That’s when meta community broke up. A lot of meta writers left or stopped engaging, and those who stayed, played silly games of connect the destiel dots. And here we are now, meta community that doesn’t challenge the writers and accept everything they give to us. It’s like some good girl complex where we are not supposed to rock the boat and criticize the show, otherwise we are not getting our canon destiel. And instead what we get is some half cooked romance trope for deancas that are then finished and served by meta writers in the fandom. Just remember when Cas was kidnapped by Asmodeus in s13 and how that romance trope played out on the show. And so many other cases. Another thing I forgot to mention is deleted scenes that usually have either nice Cas character moments or very destiely content. Sometimes I wonder if those scenes are written and shot specifically to bait fandom and then be stashed on DVD extras. Nowadays when most fans stream SPN, they have no access to those scenes, so the show is not baiting, right? 

I really really really hope that one day some one will spill the beans and we will learn more about the behind the scenes shenanigans re destiel. About all the yanking and manipulations they pulled. Who knows, maybe somebody will spill the tea after the finale? A girl can hope. 

[nightqueendany]

Original Final Season 7 - Episode 4: Dragonglass

It’s Tuesday again...

ON DRAGONSTONE:

Jon/Dany visit the caves - now having been cleared out of the dragonglass, Jon wants to show Dany the COTF markings, their attraction for each other becomes more clear in this scene and Dany is more sure of Jon telling the truth about the Night King and Army of the Dead

Dany asks Missandei if any of the 19 languages she speaks use a symbol-system for their written language, Missandei replies yes, a few, so Dany then tasks her with copying down some of the symbols from the dragonglass cave, perhaps she can decipher some of the ruin symbols

Sometime while alone in the cave, Missandei and Grey Worm have sex, AKA Greyssandei cavesex

Team Stark/Targaryen discuss the dragonglass, that while the amount of it is much needed, they have no weapon smith skilled enough to work it

Dany agrees to have Yara and Theon ferry all they’ve mined to White Harbor/the North (This is Theon’s idea but Jon supports it - secretly, Theon is anxious to see Sansa again so this is his excuse)

- In exchange for sending the Greyjoys North with the dragonglass, Jon agrees to send the Northern forces (Northmen, Knights of the Vale, Riverlands) south to assist with the blockade of King’s Landing - no formal alliance has been made yet, but they want to show a united front against Cersei, the sooner they take out Cersei, the sooner everyone can face the threat of the White Walkers

Davos says he knows of a weapon smith who might be able to work the dragonglass, but he’ll need to go to King’s Landing, knows how to smuggle himself in

Tyrion opts to go with Davos to King’s Landing as representative of the Queen

As Yara and Theon are about to leave, Yara basically encourages Dany to “tap that” (Jon) while Davos and Tyrion are away in King’s Landing, Dany needs to secure the North formally, and seducing Jon into marriage is the most efficient way to do it but Dany isn’t so sure (as she’s secretly falling for him anyway)

Ellaria and Olenna depart Dragonstone as well, to prepare for the siege of King’s Landing

Melisandre begins to finally push her agenda on Dany, to convert many in Westeros to the religion of R’hllor, Dany is open to the idea of erecting a center where the Sept once stood that is open to those of all religions and inviting more red priests to Westeros to practice their faith

Varys is none too pleased with this and his irritation with Dany/Mel puts him into a gossipy mood

When Baelish inquires after the fact that Dany has no children from her previous relationships, Varys confirms she’s barren, and this is music to Baelish’s ears - even married, Jon and Dany would have to name a successor because Dany can’t birth one and the most prominent name on the list of potentials would be Sansa, who is already Jon’s heir for the Northern crown

Varys quickly guesses Baelish’s scheme but for once, isn’t opposed to his former friend’s plot to get Sansa on the throne (he’s more intrigued than anything), he fears Melisandre and her magic, that her influence over Dany and Jon will lead to much trouble later on

To push Varys finally over to his side permanently, Baelish points out Dany’s house words will always be “Fire and Blood” and that if it were between her and Baelish, she would be the real “Queen of the Ashes” - a tip off to Varys that Baelish knew of his/Olenna’s S3 conversation when Varys first said Baelish would “see the country burn to be King of the Ashes”

At Varys’ slightly troubled/embarrassed look, Baelish reminds Varys he had eyes and ears all over King’s Landing, and still does...

At Jon and Dany’s urging (they both hate him and don’t entirely trust him) Baelish reluctantly leaves Dragonstone also, he’s to meet the KOTV and other northern forces when they reach the capital, Varys accompanies him

IN WINTERFELL:

Bran and Arya have formed a deep bond in their short time together, Bran sharing with Arya all he knows of his powers and he mentions his powers aren’t exclusive to his being the 3ER - that some of them are because he is a Stark, and that Arya is a Stark as well - Arya scoffs at what Bran is implying but Bran just utters something mysterious and vague that Arya can’t argue with

At Jon’s news and Bran’s urging, Arya is to go to the Riverlands to deliver the message personally to Edmure about sending troops to King’s Landing

Arya is hesitant to leave Winterfell, but Bran tells her something that makes her want to go - the things she asked Bran to look into, she’ll find in King’s Landing/her journey to, and Bran knows just where she needs to look...

Sansa doesn’t want Arya to leave, all her family is leaving Winterfell again (like Season 1), she worries none of them will come back, they’re “the last of the Starks”, but Arya insists they will all be back, there’s just a few things she’s left behind, Brienne will train Sansa in Arya’s stead and Arya quips that Sansa will be better than her by the time she gets back

Northern forces leave Winterfell

Arya leaves Winterfell

IN KING’S LANDING:

Davos and Tyrion come across Gendry and Davos gives him a sample of the dragonglass, Gendry says the material is tricky, but he should be able to work with it

The trio prepare to leave King’s Landing but Davos senses a storm coming in, they’ll have to wait in the city a few days and lay low in Gendry’s shop - Davos/Tyrion send a raven to Dragonstone saying where they are and that they’ve succeeded in finding the weapon smith

Title is simply for the substance driving the plot this entire episode - the Dragonglass. It’s what takes Theon North (toward Sansa), what urges Davos to find Gendry, and what brings Jon and Dany closer together/what makes Dany more sure of Jon’s telling the truth about the AOTD.

Episode 4 Inside the Episode: Dragonglass

1) Baelish and Varys:

Inarguably, the second-worst subplot of the entirety of Season 7 was the Winterfell plot (the first being the Wight Hunt).  It was unnecessary and ridiculous. This is when the mischaracterization of the Starks began. Arya and Sansa would not be at odds with each other upon reuniting and we all know it, even with Baelish in the picture. Sansa tells Jon in 6x10, “only a fool would trust Littlefinger” and yet she does so throughout most of S7, being the fool she had already warned Jon against. Remember what I said in the preface post about things being easily “undone” or forgotten entirely? Seems Sansa forgot to be wary of Baelish in show canon.

Also, I most definitely think we were owed one more encounter between Varys and Baelish. By killing Baelish off when the show did, it significantly simplified both their potential plots for Season 7 (and 8) because neither had anyone to spar with, as they had in previous seasons. Baelish’s “sparring partners” became Sansa and Arya and Varys’ became Tyrion, both unsuccessfully.

Further proof that Baelish and Varys were supposed to “get the band back together” so to speak, is two of Varys’s lines/conversations with/about Baelish are echoed in each of the final two seasons. First, in 7x02 when Tyrion tells Dany she’s “not here to be Queen of the ashes”. As mentioned above, Varys told Olenna Tyrell that “[Littlefinger] would see this country burn if he could be King of the Ashes,” (3x04) - it’s the exact same phrase and Varys is present when Tyrion says this to Dany in 7x02.

Next, in 8x04, Varys and Tyrion talk about “the realm”. Varys reminds Tyrion he “serves the realm” and Tyrion asks “what is the realm.” Varys has a very similar conversation with Baelish in 3x06 (Baelish’s infamous “Chaos is a ladder” speech).

These two lines/conversations, I think, are absolutely not a coincidence and further point to a previous plot/script whose lines and scenes are hidden just beneath the ones we watched. Baelish’s presence is felt in these scenes with Varys, but he’s not actually there. Having Baelish around this time gives the audience fulfillment that canon did not.

And as we’ve never seen them on the same side before, it would make for interesting conflict to see them team up against Dany.  

Varys is uncomfortable with Melisandre and her magic and this needs to be paid off. As I stated last episode, it was set up and then never done anything with. It makes way more sense for Varys to part ways with Dany over this and have a payoff for it, than him turning on Dany for Jon when he doesn’t even know Jon.

Baelish pushing Varys into this is also the natural progression of things as Baelish will manipulate anyone in order to get what he wants: he and Sansa on the Iron Throne, ruling Westeros. Varys knew Sansa from when she was a little girl in King’s Landing and admits he admired her father. Varys supporting Sansa over say Jon, would make more sense.

2) Missandei attempting to translate the COTF cave markings:

I know it seems weird guys. But hear me out. It gives Missandei a PURPOSE this season, gives her a job, an important one, and it uses her skillsets in regards to the endgame of the series: defeating the Army of the Dead. These ruins were heavily emphasized in 7x04 and the symbols even made it all the way into 8x01 with the Night King’s lovely art installation piece of Ned Umber on the wall with a bunch of body parts. These symbols NEED to be figured out. And I’m all for my girl Missandei getting to flex a little.

Plus, Missandei went to the cave with Jon, Dany, and Davos in show canon. Why not, uhh, idk, have her take a look and give her opinion on what they could possibly mean?? You know, just stating the obvious here, don’t mind me!

3) Gendry

Doy, another no-brainer. Aside from fucking and getting rejected by Arya, Gendry’s S8 story was about fashioning dragonglass weapons, but he was pulled into the 7x06 “Suicide Squad” for idiotic reasons.

Having Davos seek him out to work the dragonglass solves two problems: a) It explains how and why Gendry becomes the head weapon maker with the dragonglass at Winterfell in show canon, and b) gives Davos a REAL reason to seek him out, rather than, oh yeah, I liked this kid, gonna go see if he’s alive and around anywhere. Cuz that was just dumb and nonsensical.

4) Lastly Arya leaving Winterfell after arriving so soon...?

I know this may seem strange as well. But in this context, Arya isn’t leaving Winterfell permanently. Which was just dumb after she fought so hard to get back home and fought so hard for her home. It also gives her her own journey, not just sitting around Winterfell waiting for Jon to get back with Daenerys and waiting for the dead to come. As to what Arya’s going to find in King’s Landing/on her journey there, you’ve probably already guessed. And as for Bran’s hints that Arya’s got similar powers to him...you’ve also probably already guessed what these might be. 

Aaaaand that’s it for Episode 4. As always, you guys can comment on these and tell me what you think, ask questions etc. It’s allowed. Don’t be shy. Especially since this is the episode that probably is the greatest divergence from canon yet, I’d love to hear your guys opinions.

Original Final Season 7: Preface Post

Season 7 Episode 1: Family, Duty, Honor

Season 7 Episode 2: Greywater Watch

Season 7 Episode 3: The Last of the Dragons 

Season 7 Episode 4: Dragonglass (Current Episode)

Season 7 Episode 5: The Storm

Season 7 Episode 6: Summerhall 

Season 7 Episode 7: A City Fit For A King

Season 7 Episode 8: Protectors of the Realm

Season 7 Episode 9: The Battle For The Dawn

Season 7 Episode 10: ?

[kcwcommentary]

VLD8x01 – “Launch Date”

8x01 – “Launch Date”

First episode of the last season. This is probably the most romance-centered episode this show has ever done. And, this is the only episode solely written by Lauren Montgomery. The episode is clearly intended to be funny, but I didn’t laugh at much.

There are a lot of issues that can be discussed about this episode, about its own contents, especially the Allura-Lance romance, and about the episode’s relationship to the rest of the series. There’s a lot in this episode that bothers me.

The episode begins with some kind of meta commentary from this show about the original Voltron. I can understand VLD doing something like this as an homage to the original, but I, having not watched much of the original, don’t know if this particular homage works or not. Pidge is watching a cartoon that is, in-story, a production that has been made in wake of humanity learning about the existence of and being saved by Voltron last season. The show Pidge is watching is a short clip from the original Voltron animation.

In a medical bay, faceless medical personnel (I thought their faceless visual design last season was creepy then too) are tending to the Altean found in the wreckage of the mecha from the end of last season. Allura is watching from outside the room, and Romelle steps up to her, saying, “You know, back on the Colony, Luca and I didn’t always get along.” So, Romelle knows who this Altean is. Romelle gives us an expositional assessment of what Luca’s supposed qualities were, “inner strength,” “a desire to be a part of something greater than herself.”

The show presented the culture of the Colony to be very much a cult, but the show hasn’t really followed up with that and examined Romelle from that perspective. She’s just now become another regular Altean without really having to do anything to change. Even if she was the least cultish of the Colony Alteans, she still would most likely have to wrestle with the effects of growing up in a cult. This show has never demonstrated itself to be capable of dealing with big, heavy topics like that, so I don’t know why I would expect them to do so.

Allura responds to Romelle, “If she was so desperate for something to believe in, it may have made her susceptible to being manipulated.” The show has never given us any conversation between Allura and Romelle for the two of them to discuss what the Colony was like. Does Allura even realize that the Colony was a cult? Romelle’s characterization of Luca almost has a propagandistic quality to it. That description very much can apply to someone who has always been a zealot, then and now.

Hunk and his parents (and Sal from Vrepit Sal’s in the background) are in what looks like a mess hall. It’s a short, overly saccharine moment. “Your father and I are just so proud of you, saving the universe and all,” his mother says. That line feels so unnatural.

Hunk sits down with Lance, who’s clearly mentally elsewhere. Hunk expositions that the following day is the titular launch date. Launch Date also serves as a pun referencing the date that Lance and Allura go on in this episode. It’s more thought than most of this show’s episode titles get, and I kind of like it. At first, I thought Hunk could tell Lance was upset and was trying to distract him. Hunk riffs on the difference between the characters in VLD and the characters in the in-story TV show that Pidge was watching. But then when Hunk talks about the TV show hinting a romance between Keith and Allura, Lance reacts with instant, angry jealousy. Is Hunk really that oblivious and unable (or unwilling) to recognize his supposed friend Lance’s emotional state?

Hunk eventually realizes that Lance is talking about something real, “Oh, that’s right, you said you were going to ask Allura on a date. You asked her, didn’t you? Oh, and she said, no. And here I am rubbing your face in it.” Lance says she didn’t say no because he never asked her. Is this supposed to be demonstrating character growth for Lance? The guy who literally flirted with Allura the first time he ever spoke to her is too unwilling to ask her out now? It feels out of character for him. He’s been super open and publicly demonstrative of his interest in Allura before now.

Shiro is leading a “final briefing” before the launch tomorrow. At the end of the meeting, Shiro says, “It’s our last night on Earth, and we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us. We may not be back home for years, so I’m ordering you to take some time for yourselves. Be with the ones you love. You’ve earned it.” Of course, what he says makes sense. What bothers me is that this show wrote him to say it, but we don’t get to see him doing it. The only person Shiro has that could count as a loved one is Keith with their previously depicted but now ignored friendship. And it’s not like Keith was busy with someone else this night because the show eventually reveals he’s just sitting alone on top of the Black Lion with Cosmo. Why in the world did Shiro and Keith not hang out together? It makes it feel like the EPs and writers of this show, because they revealed Shiro to be gay, became too afraid to have Shiro have any friendships, including ones that had already been established.

Lance goes to ask Allura out, and he’s uncharacteristically shy and dorky around her. If this had been how Lance behaved for most of the show, his interest in Allura throughout the show might not have been so obnoxious. But because he so specifically was overbearing in his flirtation and aggressive in his jealousy, the way he’s behaving now does not feel consistent with how he’s been written before. Lance is so casual that Allura says she has to get back to what she’s busy with, and Lance lets it be until Hunk literally kicks him into Allura. Lance then finally, with a tremendous amount of hesitancy, asks her out. He asks her to come have dinner with his family. Allura says she can’t, but Romelle pushes her to do it. The instant that Romelle starts to talk Allura into it, Lance seems to return to his regular overly aggressive self. What happened to him so fast?

Especially with this season added to the show, it really feels like the creative team never really could settle on how they wanted to depict Lance. They had the one-characteristic bullet-point that they’ve used to describe him in-show before and do so again here: “Loverboy.” They knew they wanted him to fit under that label, but they couldn’t elaborate on what that would mean for him specifically, so he’s written inconsistently throughout the show because of the creative team’s inability to unify behind any detailed description of who he is. It’s disappointing because Lance could have been such an amazing character. There were definitely times where he could have been used to examine some big issues, particularly if the show had ever had him grow out of his insecurities to a place of confidence. But aside from this episode and once with Keith in 3x06 “Tailing a Comet,” Lance hasn’t really made his insecurities public. And in having him get with Allura, the show kind of feels like it’s discarding his insecurities entirely. That sends a dangerous message: that it’s a woman’s responsibility to make a man feel secure in himself.

That’s one of the biggest issues with the show writing Lance and Allura ending up together. Throughout the show Lance has expressed interest in Allura, while she has repeatedly demonstrated no interest in him. There has been a little bit of movement on Allura’s part toward interest in Lance: 6x01 “Omega Shield” when Allura left her Lion to go to Lance’s and use her magic to heal him (though some viewers think so, I am not of the opinion that Lance died in that episode), and then in 7x10 “Heart of the Lion” when Allura initiates a brief conversation with Lance before going on a mission. There hasn’t been any movement on Lance’s part to consciously recognize his prior overbearing behavior to have been inappropriate and him changing the way he behaves toward Allura as a result. Because of this, the show effectively gave validity to the argument behind the Nice Guy trope. That all guys have to do to receive the attention of a girl they’re interested in is keep at her until eventually she realizes he is what she’s wanted all along. This show never criticizes Lance for this behavior, and instead rewards him for it. It’s a dangerous message for this show to send its younger male audience because it teaches them to not respect when a girl/woman tells them no. I’m not against the premise of an Allura-Lance relationship, but it really needed to address Lance’s overbearing flirtatiousness and jealousy (or better yet, not have written Lance to have been so jealous in the first place).

Pidge is working with Beezer in a hydroponics room. Allura and Romelle come in to ask for help preparing for Allura’s date with Lance. Romelle specifically asks about clothes. Pidge reacts, “A date? With Lance? Weird.” What’s weird is that line. Why would Pidge think it was weird? The show never actually explains Pidge’s reaction here. Allura asks Pidge to help her get a date outfit, and that’s when Pidge’s mother speaks to mock Pidge’s clothing. Pidge suggests the mall, but she says she can’t go because she’s grounded.

Colleen says, “She’s grounded because apparently my daughter thinks that running away from home and galivanting off into space without her mother’s permission is an acceptable activity for a 15-year-old.” The show thinks Colleen’s statement is funny. It’s not funny at all. One, who is Colleen to speak, considering that she should be in prison along with Sam for breaking the law in 7x07 “The Last Stand Part 1.” Two, how are we viewers supposed to think Colleen has any credibility when she says Pidge has been “galivanting off into space?” Does Colleen not remember Earth being invaded and occupied by aliens for three years? Does she not realize the danger her daughter has been in while trying to fight this war against the Galra? Does she not realize that without Pidge’s actions, Matt and Sam wouldn’t have ever come home? “Galivanting off into space,” why in the world did they think it was okay to write Colleen like this? I think this demonstrates a big part of what has been wrong with the writing for most of this show: This show has been more interested in writing particular moments without any concern with how those moments clash and conflict with previous writing. There is no way that a mother would react upon learning their child had been fighting a war by acting like that child was running around having fun the way Colleen does here.

Pidge rants and screams at her mom. There is a justification to Pidge’s reaction, but the scene plays her anger for humor. And then the scene, again, thinking it’s funny, has Colleen’s eyes and voice affected evilly as she says, “Not on your life, young lady.” Colleen scares Beezer in the process. It’s disturbing that the creative team for this show thought this was funny.

Allura asks Colleen to please let Pidge help her, and Colleen instantly switches, saying, “Alright, but only because I know how much Katie hates shopping for clothing.” Ugh.

The show could have had a really good moment, had they chosen to do so, in having Colleen and Pidge talk about Pidge’s experience and Colleen’s worry over her whole family being missing. There is emotionally significant content to what this family has gone through. But the show never had the skill to deal with any content like that. Instead, they have a weird, jarring “humor” scene like this instead. It just does not work.

Sam is told that Luca is conscious. And it’s a really short scene.

In addition to Pidge, Allura and Romelle have the female MFE pilots join them shopping too. I can’t help but feel that this episode is totally reinforcing stereotypical female behavior. The girls are going shopping for clothes for a date. This episode is a severe reinforcement of traditionalized gender norms, and it feels like the show wanted to write and depict the stereotype, like they thought actively including the stereotype was somehow interesting. It’s not. It’s actually kind of cliché.

Rizavi says that she “loves shopping.” This is the closest thing to being a characteristic that this show has given Rizavi so far. Leifsdottir replies, “It’s a primal urge from when collecting and gathering was a means of survival.” Well, that’s a hypothesis, but it is still gender reductive.

Pidge sees a video game some street vender has on display. Rizavi is also interested. The vender wants to barter, and Pidge and Rizavi are seemingly baffled by the idea. Did they not come prepared to shop? Is it specifically that this guy wants to barter? No one offers him money though, so it’s like they have no way to shop at all. Rizavi tries to guilt the guy into giving it to Pidge because of Pidge being a Paladin. I didn’t realize abusing a position of power like Rizavi is trying to do here, was a heroic way to behave. The vender only knows of the Paladins through the TV show. It was only a few months ago that Voltron helped liberate Earth, and the Paladins’ involvement was very publicly referenced, so his only thinking of the Paladins as a TV show is unrealistic. The vender offers her the game because his daughter loves the TV show and he’d like an autograph. Pidge then starts affecting her voice like the character in the TV show. It’s so weird. Rather than actually sign an autograph, Pidge draws her face. She then continues to use this method to acquire things throughout their shopping. She’s using people thinking of her as the actor on the show rather than as herself, so this is all fraud. Is the entire Holt family made up of criminals?

The show clearly thinks this is all funny. I’m not even slightly laughing. It’s just weird.

Meanwhile, Lance goes to talk to Coran. Lance tells Coran that he’s going on a date with Allura, and Coran is instantly aggressive, dismissing Lance for not being royalty nor Altean. Who knew Coran was both classist and racist. Lance says that he doesn’t think Allura thinks like that, and Coran responds, “It’s not just about Allura. Did you even acquire permission from her primary guardian?” Ugh! This episode really is putting a lot of effort into not just reinforcing traditionalized gender norms but into those norms being fundamentally patriarchal. The idea that a boy has to ask an older male who controls a young woman if he’s okay with the boy dating the girl is absolutely patriarchal. And this episode was written by Lauren Montgomery. The show can’t even hide behind saying it was some ignorant straight, white guy who wrote this. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that Lauren Montgomery has said that killing Allura was a feminist act of writing if this episode is what she wrote in her one, solo writing credit for the show.

The only thing that’s even slightly interesting to me about this scene is that Coran redressed his room to include a giant portrait of himself and Alfor above the mantle. During the time before season seven when I would let myself dream about the idea that this show might include a character who wasn’t straight, I actually thought they might could do so by having Coran having been attracted to Alfor but never acting on it. It would be a way for this show, like other shows have done, to claim inclusion without actually having to do any real inclusion by depicting any non-straight character interaction. It would have been cheap and the bare minimum of inclusion, but I’ve lived in a homophobic world so long that it’s about as much as I expect from straight writers who pretend they care about inclusion. But then Shiro was revealed as gay, as poorly as that whole element of the show was handled, and the show proved that there are other ways to claim inclusion without really actually depicting it.

But now this leaves me questioning. Is this portrait supposed to be some subtle way the show was trying to hint at Coran being gay? Or is it just supposed to be funny without an actual thought about what it actually means? It’s like the portrait is saying that Alfor and Coran were Allura’s fathers. As much as I would have loved for Allura to canonically have had two fathers, not just one biological father and one close friend of the family who serves as a surrogate father after the real one dies, this does emphasize how this show has totally neglected to include Allura’s mother in her life. We’re in the eighth season of this show, and it’s almost like she didn’t have a mother. I know there’s a bit of illusory dream sequence in a later episode, but Allura has never spoken about her mother, so it’s like they didn’t have much of a relationship. But if they didn’t have a relationship, I still would want that detailed. As for this portrait, it feels like the show is using queer identity here as a joke gimmick. If this portrait was revealed to have a bigger, more respectful meaning, I would like it more. I like the portrait but only because of what potential I can see in how it could have been used in the show. How it actually is used, though, seems to be nothing but as a joke.

Coran makes Lance argue his qualification to be allowed to date Allura. Reinforcing the patriarchy is so much fun. Sigh.

The girls meanwhile have gotten a lot of stuff in their shopping. The clothing options they try for Allura are supposed to be funny, but it just seems like a cliché trying-on-clothing scene to me. The shopkeeper seems to be the Unilu that Coran dealt with in both 2x07 “Space Mall” and 4x04 “The Voltron Show!” Pidge tries her autograph fraud, but the guy says no. Allura says she could give him a “royal decree of service from the crowned princess of Altea,” but then seems instantly dejected, like she doesn’t see herself as the Princess of Altea anymore. There is something meta interesting about how this show has let Allura’s status of being a princess no longer have any meaning.

The Unilu sees Pidge’s game and offers the outfit for the game. Pidge gives it up for the outfit, and Allura hugs her and thanks her. I love Allura’s reaction. I don’t understand why Pidge did it though. Yeah, yeah, friendship and all that, but the episode doesn’t do anything to show this plot as being Pidge and Allura bonding with each other. Maybe if it had just been the two of them shopping, it might read like that, but with the whole group it doesn’t. It’s clear that Pidge feels she’s giving up something, but the episode fails to explain why she’s willing to do it.

Sam asks Coran if Romelle could help speak to Luca. Coran says, “I’ll see if I can find her.” This is not Coran’s voice actor speaking. I don’t have the best ear to spot moments like this when a character’s voice does not match their normal voice actor, but I know that some within the fandom have suggested there are quite a few moments like this in season eight. This is definitely one such moment. This line is not Rhys Darby’s voice. (Anyone reading this, please feel free to point out other instances this season where the voice of a character doesn’t sound like their voice actor.)

Cut to a sunset scene. The music for this sunset scene is the same as the music from 7x01 “A Little Adventure” during the flashback with Keith and Shiro watching the sunset. This is another part of why it offends me that this show didn’t have Shiro and Keith hanging out together. Shiro had told everyone to spend time with people they cared about. Here Keith is by himself when he could have been hanging out with Shiro. They’re supposed to be super close, after all. And the show has the audacity to use the music of a scene that was part of the exploration of why and how Shiro and Keith were so close, and instead now have Keith alone and joined by Lance. Maybe the reuse of the music is just more evidence of how badly produced this season was that they didn’t bother getting new music, that they didn’t think through reusing old music, ignoring how repeating themes has an explicit effect on the interpretation of a scene? I mean, after watching this show enough, analyzing what I have, reading the analysis others have written, I can’t help but to question the competence of the executive producers and their creative team. Maybe they really were ignorant of the use of music in film and video series. Or maybe in reusing this music, they were making a statement about no longer caring about the relationship between Shiro and Keith. We know that the EPs always had a preference for Keith and only ever saw Shiro as a something to have Keith narratively step on in his ascendance to the position of main character of the show. Maybe to them, this music is only Keith’s music, and they don’t recognize the music as an expression of Shiro and Keith’s relationship. Maybe using the music again here, unassociated with Shiro, was a homophobic action on part of the EPs and their creative team in trying to distance Keith from Shiro now that they had written Shiro as gay. Or maybe they just didn’t put much thought into the implications of using this music in this scene. They haven’t demonstrated themselves to be all that willing (or capable) of thinking through the implications of their creative decisions, after all.

In short, I really, really do not like this scene.

Lance is wearing pots and pans all over his body. He says Coran is making him wear it for his date with Allura. It’s supposed to be funny, but it’s not. Keith reacts, “A date? With Allura? Well done, Lance.” I’m sorry, what? The show seems to consider a guy getting a girl to say yes to him is an achievement on the guy’s part. He’s done something well by finally getting her to say yes. “Well done.” Ugh. Allura is a person, not an achievement.

Keith tries to reassure Lance that if Allura’s dating him that it’s because she likes him. This development between Lance and Allura just does not feel natural to me. It could have, but the show was too lazy to do the work to deal with the baggage that comes with having spent so long writing Lance to be hyper flirtatious and instantaneously jealous.

Keith says, “That’s why we’ve got to end this war. And we’re going to do it with the Lance who’s the Paladin of the Red Lion, the Lance that’s always got my back, and the Lance who knows exactly who he is and what he’s got to offer.” There really hasn’t been anything to explain a change in Lance no longer having a problem with Keith. It’s like once 7x06 “The Journey Within” was done, the show decided to pretend that that plot solved whatever contention there was between Lance and Keith. Part of the problem is that the show never actually explained where that contention came from. They were supposedly rivals, but why? I think their being rivals was more bullet-point characterization. The creative team never bothered to develop an explanation for themselves, so there was never anything to include in the show to explain it. Their rivalry extended no further than just saying that they were rivals. Keith says that Lance now “knows exactly who he is and what he’s got to offer,” and this sounds like they intend this to reference Lance’s insecurities, but the show has not actually resolved those insecurities. It’s just more of this show having important character stuff all occur off-screen.

The scene clearly was meant to be interpreted as emotional and demonstrating friendship between Keith and Lance, but there are too many holes in the scene for it to actually feel like that to me.

Allura arrives at Lance’s family’s house. I actually really do like the clothes Lance is wearing for this date. Allura is reduced to her appearance by both Lance’s mother and Lance himself by how energetically they comment on her appearance as she walks through the door. Their reactions to Allura are just too forceful.

Lance has on-screen identified himself as being from Cuba. I found it odd that back in 7x05 “The Ruins,” Lance calls his grandmother “meemaw” instead of abuela or abuelita. Here, he calls his grandfather “Pop Pop,” which does not seem like what a Cuban boy would call his grandfather. Veronica also calls their grandfather “Pop Pop.” I don’t know Cuban culture well at all, but even still it seems off to me. It makes it feel like Lance has only ever been Cuban in name only.

During dinner, Lance’s family spends a lot of time mocking him. This could very much be an origin for most of Lance’s insecurities. He’s clearly upset as they laugh at him. We’re told by one of Lance’s relatives that the only reason Lance is being allowed to sit at “the adult table” during this meal is because Lance invited Allura. It really doesn’t feel like Lance’s family values him. This scene is supposed to be showing to us the big love Lance felt was missing all the times throughout earlier seasons he expressed sadness over being so far apart from his family. But this doesn’t feel like a loving family to me, and Lance is not reacting in any way right now like he’s okay with how they’re behaving. His arms are crossed, and he’s scowling. They’re clearly making him feel bad. And I get the impression that we’re to interpret this as how they normally treat him. So then, if his family picks on him so much, why would he miss them so badly earlier in the show. It does not feel consistently written whatsoever.

Veronica hints to Lance that she’s interested in Keith, and Lance very loudly and animatedly objects to the idea, and it’s really weird. Did the show not just immediately prior to dinner give us a scene in which we’re supposed to interpret the rift between Lance and Keith as resolved? Where is this spastic reversal coming from?

As an aside, Lance’s mother tells Allura, “Lance never brings girls home. You must really mean something to him.” Allura says, “That’s strange. He always gave off the impression of being rather popular with women.” His mother replies, “He gets that from his father. It’s all talk. But if you can get past that, you’ll find a good boy with a big heart.” Wow. So, Lance’s father is hyper flirtatious and aggressively jealous too? That is not a healthy mentality for this show to be normalizing like it is. And to have Lance’s mother excuse that behavior like it’s okay for a man to behave that way is appalling. The line, “if you can get past that, you’ll find a good boy with a big heart,” is the show saying that it’s a woman’s responsibility to make herself not have a problem with a guy who flirts with nearly every woman he sees and gets aggressively jealous over her. This is just so wrong. And that this was written by a female writer makes it even more disturbing.

Veronica leads a toast “to family,” and even Lance, despite having been picked on, is happy about the toast. Allura, however, is saddened by it, and Lance notices.

Meanwhile, Romelle talks to Luca. This is the one scene of Romelle’s in the entire series that I actually really like. This scene hints to me at what Romelle could have been to this show had she been written well. The scene first reestablishes that Romelle knows Luca personally as she starts the conversation. Romelle says, “I’m so glad to see you’re alright Luca. We can help. What happened to you, where’s the Colony?” Luca rejects Romelle, saying, “So you can betray them yet again? You abandoned us, Romelle. And for the Paladins of Voltron! The very ones who killed our savior, Lotor!” Romelle is shocked at Luca’s reaction. Luca continues, “You’ve sided with the Great Destroyers! She told us of their lies! She’s going to fix it all! She’ll reunite us with Lotor! With Altea! You don’t stand a chance against Honerva!”

And then Luca gasps, there’s a flash, an outlined shot of Honerva’s face, and Luca falls over dead. Seems like Honerva killed Luca from a distance with her space magic to keep her from talking anymore. There’s a shot of Honerva, like so much of this show, still weirdly standing in the middle of an empty room. So now, the episode has confirmed where Luca came from, that her attack on Earth at the end of last season had at least something to do with Honerva, thereby setting Honerva up as the final big villain of the show. I have never really found Honerva/Haggar interesting. But, I guess, at least the final main villain being Honerva does sort of stage the conflict as Honerva versus Allura, space witch versus space witch. Honerva as a foil for Allura is a good structure for the show. I don’t think the show does well exploring that foil parallel though because none of what Honerva does is related to any of Allura’s character motivations. The best villains in stories are ones who are directly connected to the protagonist’s goals. This show doesn’t give Allura any goals other than stop the Galra though. The protagonist-antagonist contention for this season, and really most of the show as a whole, is barely existent. The story would have been far stronger if the protagonists had had clear goals.

Lance and Allura go for a walk to a park. They look at leafless trees. Lance says, “This place used to be so beautiful,” and Allura responds, “It’s my fault the Galra did this to your home.” We’re not told where in the world they are nor what time of year it is. Given this bit of dialog, I think we’re supposed to interpret these trees as dead. But my first thought was that it was autumn, and the trees had lost their leaves. Lance tries to reassure Allura that it’s not her fault and that he’s glad to have met her. Allura touches the tree and does a hand-glowing thing. The tree glows, grows, and all the plants around the park gain leaves. So, again, we were supposed to interpret the trees of this park as having somehow died, right? And she just brought them back to life? Or did she just make them gain leaves in the middle or depth of autumn?

Allura says that while Team Voltron was out in the universe fighting the Galra, “I somehow felt like we were a family.” Of course, the show never really depicted them as being a loving family. Most of the characters always were angrily yelling at each other. “Each of us was alone, but we were alone together,” she says. Clearly, the writer thinks this is a poignant line, but, while it does have a certain truth to it, it’s not a flattering one. Being “alone, but […] alone together,” isn’t being a family. It isn’t being friends. It isn’t a close bond. It’s a statement that though they had to work together, they never actually were close to each other.

“But now, here on Earth, I see that everyone already has a family.” Well, Shiro doesn’t. Not that this show cared about addressing that because that would require the EPs and the writers to care about Shiro. It’s also really weird to have Allura talking like she doesn’t have a family, when the show very explicitly visually juxtaposed Allura being visited by Coran and Romelle in the hospital at the end of 7x13 “Lions’ Pride Part 2” with Hunk and his family, Pidge and her family, Lance and his family, and even Keith with Krolia and Kolivan. Why is this show suddenly having Allura discard Coran as part of her sense of family? This very episode had Coran acting as if he were Allura’s father. Having Allura act this way now is so out of place.

She continues that they have “a home to return to once the war is over. Everyone except me.” I can totally understand her being sad over Altea being gone. That is totally reasonable to bring up. It has an unfortunate dimension given what happens at the end of this season though. The season opens with Allura lamenting not having a family and a home to return to after the war is over, and then ends the show by having her give up her life, rebooting all existence, restoring Altea to existence, but she doesn’t get to benefit from her work. She doesn’t get to go home.

Allura’s story this entire season is hugely depressing, and I remember the first time I watched this season feeling that Allura herself was deeply depressed the whole time. That’s not a good message for the show to send either: If you’re depressed, then the only way out is dying.

“It’s silly,” she continues, “but I used to think that the team relied on me.” It once did, back in seasons one and two. But then the EPs wanted Keith as Black Paladin more than anything, and that put Allura in the Blue Lion, and ever since, her position of leadership has been eliminated. She just follows orders from Keith now. It makes me mourn for what Allura could have been if she been written with respect and a desire to show a strong female character in a position of leadership instead of reduced to a magical person of color who has to give up her life to magically fix everyone’s problems. In past commentaries, I have referred to Allura’s previous position of leadership on the Castle of Lions as being like she was an admiral overseeing the fleet. Imagine what it would be like if she was in command of the Atlas, not as Captain, but as an Admiral. Imagine how she could have been written such that Sanda was another foil to Allura, and with Sanda gone, Allura filling that void in fleet leadership.

Allura says that she gains strength from the Paladins. I mean, sure, that should be blatantly true by this point in a story with a found family theme, and it should be true for everyone about everyone in that found family. I don’t think that it is anywhere near fully realized though.

Lance tries to assure her, telling her that she’s not alone. “I don’t care that this is only our first date, Allura, I love you.” Really? This show went there, having Lance say “I love you” on the first date, and the creative team of this show didn’t think there was anything wrong with that? It’s at least notably immature of him to have done so. That the solution to a woman having complex emotions and thoughts about something is to just tell her “I love you” and everything is solved?

In response to Allura’s asking, “You truly feel that way,” Lance takes Allura’s hand and makes her touch his chest and says, “With all my heart.” It’s a little cliché, but it’s still way too soon. Against a glowing background, Lance and Allura, in silhouette, kiss. I wonder if this kiss was added late into the production because the animation is stiff and a little jerky and feels really different to most of the show’s animation.

So yeah, their first date and Lance has said “I love you” and they’ve kissed. On the first date. Now, I know this show doesn’t have the patience to build up a story over time, the show has taken so many narrative short-cuts, but this is just too damn fast. It just feels like there’s something missing to get to this point.

Beezer arrives for some reason. He takes a picture and gives it to them. Why is Beezer in the park? There definitely feels like there’s something missing.

Allura arrives at her room, and Coran and Romelle are waiting for her. Cut to the meeting room, where the three of them are talking to Shiro. Allura says, “If Honerva sent that beast, then our mission must change.” Shiro says, “No, we have a plan and we need to stick to it. If Honerva is behind this, then I’m sure we’ll find her along the way.” Allura follows up, “Or she’ll find us.” It is interesting that Allura’s instincts were very much right here. I wonder how much difficulty they could have spared the universe (and other realities) if they had altered their mission to actively looking for Honerva.

The time has come for the team to leave, Voltron and the Atlas. I like getting another shot of the scale of the Lions next to the Atlas for comparison. I do very much like the design of the Atlas ship. A huge crowd is there to see them off.

I’ve seen people point out this animation error before, and I want to point it out again because it’s odd. In the first shot behind the Paladins and crew on the stage, from center stage outward, the Paladins are standing Keith, Lance, Allura, Pidge, and Hunk. Then in the next shot, a reverse shot, from center stage outward, it’s Keith, Allura, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk. It’s odd that Lance and Allura are flipped from one shot to the next.

Sam starts a speech, and then Keith takes over. Allura then takes over from Keith. There’s a montage of Hunk hugging his family and Lance hugging his. One of Lance’s family hugs Allura such that he lifts her off the ground.

Then Shiro takes over from Allura. “Each of you have given something to this fight. Many have been lost, but not in vain because through their sacrifice, many more will live on.” The memorial wall of the dead of the Garrison is shown, and then a close up of Sanda’s placard. Why in the freaking world would they chose to juxtapose Shiro’s statement with Sanda’s picture instead of Adam’s? That’s really offensive and shows how little this creative team actually cared about Shiro and Adam and the inclusion of a queer relationship on the show.

The Atlas launches. I have to agree with others who’ve pointed it out, the way Shiro is standing in the shot of the camera looking over Team Voltron from behind on the bridge of the Atlas does not look like Shiro’s posture, it looks very much like how we’ve seen Allura stand many times before.

The music during the launch is nice.

So, that’s the first episode of the final season. It’s very much a different kind of story than most episodes of the show. There is a lot of focus on relationships of various kinds. The Allura-Lance romance is most prominent, and it’s really uncomfortable. It just amazes me that a story that so strongly reinforces traditional gender norms, patriarchal family structures, and rewards a male character with success through the nice guy trope was written by a female writer.

[phosphorescent-naidheachd]

GOT 8x01 liveblog below the cut:

--Love the new opening credits!

--Poor Missandei and Grey Worm look so uncomfortable rn

--Jon: “I had a choice: keep my crown or protect the North.” But that’s... not what we saw onscreen?? Not unless some variation of political!Jon is actually true. But knowing D&D, this may simply be their retconned explanation for the nonsensical writing last year. Well, that or Jon is trying to make his stupid decision look better in front of the lords.

--Sansa, I love you, but do you have to smirk when you raise your (very valid) concerns? It’s not helping anything and you have to know it.

--Yessss, mentions of the food shortage!! Now let’s see if they’ll actually do anything with it...

--Show!Dany, I’m still trying to like you, but you’re not exactly making it easy, what with the whole “whatever they like” reply to “What do dragons eat, anyway?”, and smirking when the dragons swooped in and scared the fuck out of everyone in the Winter Town. The Northerners haven’t given you the warmest of receptions and I understand your frustration over that fact, but that’s no reason to think their fear is funny.

--Ah, yes, the oh-so-subtle handholding in front of the entire hall. *sighs at Jon and Dany* [ETA: never mind, they aren’t actually holding hands... Dany is just resting one of her hands on Jon’s arm. Which isn’t all that much more subtle lol.]

--It’s 100% my shipper confirmation bias at work, but the way that they’ve blocked this scene really does make it feel like a Dany/Jon/Sansa love triangle to me. #sorrynotsorry That said, if TPTB choose to go a belligerent sexual tension route w/ Dany/Sansa I wouldn’t turn it down. ;-)

--They’re actually letting Arya show human emotion again? *tosses confetti in celebration*

--Bran and Jon reunion!! My Stark Feelings heart overfloweth.

--Sansa and Tyrion reunion! I like that they’re keeping that hint of tension between them over the way they parted.

--Tyrion: “Many underestimated you. Most of them are dead now.” Subtext: I have no intention of repeating their mistakes.

--Sansa: “I used to think you were the cleverest man alive.” Talk about a burn!

--OK, Bran is looking at Tyrion Significantly(TM) with music playing in the background almost ominously.

--Confirmation that Yara is alive!!! Also, she and Euron are a disturbing but kind of hilarious dynamic at the moment.

--The Arya and Jon reunion was A++. Sweet and heartfelt, but with a hint of underlying tension. And Arya’s comment that Sansa is the smartest person she knows just made my heart an even bigger pile of Stark Family mush.

--Oh, and the “Have you used it?” line re: Needle just hurts because it shows us and Arya how little Jon knows about what Arya has gone through and who she’s become. And Arya’s “once or twice” line just tore out my heart. She doesn’t want to tell Jon what she’s done, both because she’s afraid of how he’ll react and because that will finally make it real to her.

--I feel kind of terrible for Cersei. Yes, she’s made her own bed, but the fact that Euron Greyjoy is lying in it... *shudders* The fact that she’s still forced to resort to sleeping with a man she despises despite ostensibly being the most powerful woman in the realm is incredibly depressing.

--Ahhh, and now we have The Temptation of Bronn(TM)

--The rescue mission! Theon getting to shoot arrows!!

--Greyjoy sibling feelings!!!!

--And Theon is headed to Winterfell! ...He’s going to die there saving a Stark, isn’t he? *braces self for emotional pain*

-- ...you couldn’t have proposed this Jon/Dany marriage, oh, four or so episodes ago, Davos?? The mind still boggles that no one brought this very obvious diplomatic solution up on Dragonstone last season.

--Varys: “Nothing lasts.” 

Camera: *pans to Jon & Dany* 

Me: I n t e r e s t i n g

Also me: Is this foreshadowing, or a red herring to up the dramatic tension?

--Is that... something resembling a smile from Jon around Dany? And he actually looks like he might genuinely enjoy her presence and/or care about her? It’s a miracle! ...A miracle that we really could have used some of last season too, GOT!!

--“She doesn’t need to be my friend. But I am her queen. If she can’t respect me--” *nods* That’s more or less what I figured their initial dynamic would be like. And their attitudes make sense on both ends of the equation! (Note: I can’t decide whether that was a veiled threat from Dany or not; if so, though, she jumped to them pretty darn fast.) I’m curious to see where D&D go with this.

--Oh, only that many goats and sheep. *rolls eyes* I mean, I get it, the dragons are huge; they need a lot of fuel! But on the other hand, that’s an awful lot of food the people don’t get anymore... It’s a no-win situation.

--“They don’t like the North.” Huh, I wonder what it means that the literal breathing symbol of the Targs aren’t fans of being in the North. [/sarcasm]

--Look, I’m glad Dany feels comfortable enough around Jon to be playful, but... would it have been that difficult for her to give him one or two tips before he mounted this incredibly dangerous flying weapon of mass destruction??

--How are these waterfalls not completely frozen over?! It’s the North and it’s winter. I know, I know, I shouldn’t expect anything resembling realism from this show, but still...

--Ah, so Dany is the one who has the line about how they could “stay here a thousand years and no one would find us”, not Jon. But on the flip side, Jon has his eyes closed for the kiss, not open... at least, not until the dragons start to talk lol.

--Emilia Clarke has such a beautiful smile!

--Yeah, I’m still not feeling the J0n3rys ‘chemistry’. Oh well; you can’t win them all. At least they aren’t totally unbelievable as a couple this episode.

--Ugghhh, yet another joke about balls (or the lack thereof) in this episode.

--Arya and Gendry reunion? Arya and Sandor reunion? Yes!

--Wow, Arya/Gendry are so awkward together right now! Sweet, but awkward. And yeah, here come the shippy feelings again... I’m predictable that way lol.

--“As you wish, m’lady.” *squeals delightedly*

--“You don’t know any other rich girls.” The look on their faces!!

--Can I mention again how much I love that they’re letting Arya and Dany emote so far this episode? It makes a world of difference. Now all we need is for Bran to be allowed to show emotions...

--Ooohh, this must be the promised Jon/Sansa argument scene. 

--Good. I’m glad that there are already some consequences from the lords for Jon having bent the knee... the decision would feel incredibly cheap otherwise.

--And already we have more emotion from Jon in this one scene than in all of his scenes with Dany combined. I’m not saying Jon/Sansa is where the show is going, but it still works much better for me than Jon/Dany does. YMMV, of course, and that’s as it should be.

--”Do you have any faith in me at all?” “You know I do.” <3 <3 <3

--*sighs* Jon, it’s all very well and good to say that Dany will be a good queen, but you could, I don’t know, give Sansa some examples to help her understand why you think that instead of just expecting her to go entirely on your word?

--Ah, this must be the scene with Sam and Dany!

--Oh, poor Sam. I’m so glad they’re letting him be upset about it, though. His dad may have been an abusive dick, but his brother wasn’t... and besides, emotions aren’t always that clear-cut.

--“Now’s the time.” OK, but why now? Why now? Also, is it just me or did Bran’s voice sound different there?

--Jon and Sam reunion!!!

--Ouch, poor Jon. This revelation was always going to hit him hard.

--Jon (in a whisper, looking horrified): “That’s treason.” Uh, Jon, that doesn’t seem like the normal reaction of someone in love with another person? Just saying.

--“You gave up the crown to save your people. Would she do the same?” Samwell Tarly, asking the important questions! This question has always been one of--if not the--cruxes of Dany’s arc, IMO. That and her search for home/belonging.

--Ooo, is this the rumored scene with the WW symbols on the walls?

--Hmmm, this actually looks a bit like that clip from the trailers. Is Edd going to show up soon then?

--Hah! Called it.

--“Stay back, he’s got blue eyes!” “I’ve always had blue eyes!” LMAOOO

--Called it. I knew little Ned Umber was going to be the first named character death of the season. (For the record, I have him slated as the first named character death in my AU S8 fic outline, even though the chapter in question hasn’t been written yet.) Also, wow-- talk about a creepy way to display him!

--Still, that’s odd that he’s just dead rather than a wight-- oh, never mind he is a wight after all!

--Hmm, who are you, tall and mysteriously hooded man? (I mean, realistically everyone onscreen in the North should have their hoods up right now when they’re outside, but this is TV.) Could you possibly be... Jaime Lannister?

--Hah! Called it again.

--They’re going to cut to the credits now that Bran & Jaime have locked eyes, aren’t they? Yep, they just cut to the credits.

Additional Thoughts:

--I wonder where Brienne is... we haven’t seen her this episode IIRC. [ETA: Never mind, she is there in the background in several scenes, she just doesn’t say anything.]

--I wish D&D had given Dany more space to react to the news about undead!Viserion. This should be a big deal for her. Also, why is no one freaking out about the Wall coming down?

--Honestly, the pacing and tone of this episode could have used a little polishing IMO.

--I’m delighted that the show is letting characters speak positively about Sansa and her skills, but I wish the writing wasn’t so very heavy-handed about it.

--Ooo, interesting trailer, though still nothing terribly surprising. I’m curious to see what they do next episode... but not nearly as curious as I am to see what happens in 8x03 and beyond. ;-)

Overall, I enjoyed this episode! So many callbacks to earlier seasons. I may have deeper thoughts on a rewatch.

[scully-eats-sushi]

Iris’s Guide to Watching Seasons 8 and 9 of TXF

I see a lot of Philes saying that they never watched, or haven’t rewatched, entire swathes of seasons 8 and 9 because of Mulder’s absence or because the storyline veered completely off course. But with time and distance, you might feel comfortable revisiting this part of the show. There are actually some good episodes and even some hidden gems. Here are my recommendations. This is in response to a post by @spookydarlablack.

Season 8 (reviewing the mostly Mulder-less part of the season, because if Mulder and Scully are both in it, you’re probably going to watch it anyway)

Within/Without (8x01, 8x02) – Obviously DD is in these episodes, but he isn’t really Mulder. These episodes aren’t great, but you need to know who Doggett is and this is his introduction. He’s actually a really great character when you get to know him.

Patience (8x03) – It’s okay. You get to know Doggett a bit better and see that he’s a good guy.

Roadrunners (8x04) – Excellent creepy AF episode. TW: strong overtones of rape.

Invocation (8x05) – A pretty strong episode, actually. You get some background on a tragic part of Doggett’s story.

Redrum (8x06) – Underrated episode. Well acted and a unique concept. I enjoyed.

Via Negativa (8x07) – Generally considered to be one of the best of season 8. It’s creepy and fun and overall very good.

If you want to skip any, feel free to skip Surekill, Salvage, and Badlaa (although if you enjoy gross-outs, Badlaa might be your thing). These are meh at best.

The Gift (8x11) – The return of Mulder, albeit in flashbacks only. It might be worth a watch just for him, but the episode is meh overall.

Medusa (8x12) – Underrated episode. This is actually a suspense-filled action episode. I enjoy it quite a bit. The unstated fact of course is that Scully can’t tell Doggett that she’s pregnant.

Per Manum (8x13) – Unfortunately it’s not a strong episode in terms of writing or making sense, but it is important to the MSR storyline, so you’re going to rewatch it.

TINH/DeadAlive (8x14, 8x15) – They rip your heart out. So prepare for the biggest pain and angst of season 8, and the return of Mulder.

And the rest of Season 8, episodes 16-21, features Mulder completely of course. He’s a jerk in Three Words (8x16), but I give him a pass, due to his PTSD.

Season 9 (the completely Mulder-less season, other than The Truth Parts 1 and 2). General rule of thumb: if it is a Doggett-centric episode, and less so a Reyes-centric episode, it is probably better than you expect.

NIHT Parts 1 and 2 (9x01, 9x02) – Feel completely free to skip these, unless as a matter of principle you have to watch the mythology episodes (and the mythology is stupid at this point).

Daemonicus (9x03) – Peak Scully sexiness. Creepy plot. Enjoyable subtle MSR reference. I like this episode, tbh.

4-D (9x04) – Highly underrated episode. Well written and suspenseful. Rewatch it, for sure.

Lord of the Flies (9x05) – Weak episode but humorous, and there is the MSR reference. You might (or might not) enjoy this one.

Trust No 1 (9x06) – Weak episode, but important for the MSR storyline. The highlights are the gorgeous photomontage to open the episode (with the silly CC monologue overlaying it) and the finally canon reference to MSR. The weak points are the CC script in general (especially the email from Mulder to Scully) and the nonsensical Shadow Man.

John Doe (9x07) – Highly underrated and strongly recommended. I have said it multiple times, but this piece of drama is actually brilliant in almost every respect (the only weak point being the paranormal connection). This is a truly gorgeous piece of cinematography. Definite rewatch.

Hellbound (9x08) – Creepy and gross AF. Be warned. The main plot is connected to Monica Reyes’ story a little bit. Worth the watch if you like creepy and gross.

Provenance/Providence (9x09, 9x10) – Skip if you value your mental health. Suffice it to say, one group of crazies wants to kidnap William to make him their alien king-god or some-such nonsense. Another group of crazies wants to kill him to stop the first group. That’s all you need to know. This pair of episodes sucks balls.

Audrey Pauley (9x11) – Not great but not that bad actually. Centers on Monica Reyes. The special effects are not great.

Underneath (9x12) – Meh. This is forgettable. I remembered just enough to remember the basic plot. Just fine to skip.

Improbable (9x13) – LOVE LOVE. This is so funny and clever. And Burt Reynolds as G-d. How can you go wrong? Rewatch!

Scary Monsters (9x14) – Somewhat weak episode but still enjoyable, mostly for the MSR references. The kid is scary, but in the end not in the way you would first think.

Jump the Shark (9x15) – Sigh. This episode represents Chris Carter’s second or third biggest mistake EVER. The return of The Lone Gunmen should be enjoyable just to have them. You probably know what happens. Skip if you are sensitive and you value your mental health.

William (9x16) – FUCC. Seriously. F.U. forever and ever. Skip if you value your mental health.

Release (9x17) and Sunshine Days (9x18) – Both very underrated episodes, for very different reasons. They have very different tones. If you can suspend your disbelief on Scully and the previous William storyline, these are enjoyable watches.

The Truth 1 and 2 (9x19, 9x20) – Mulder is back. Too bad CC wrote it. It is an at times silly and weak script, but: CANON make-out kiss in front of Skinner and all the MSR, and of course you’re going to watch it.

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

Jonsa

Grab a drink and some snacks and make yourself comfy, because this is gonna be a long ride.

My opinions on Jon and Sansa as a pairing are very complex. In the time that I’ve shipped them I’ve gone through these different phases where at some points I’m hardcore for them and other times I’m not really that fussed about them. Currently, I’m somewhere in between. Before I get started, you can read what I’ve previously said about Jonsa here (just scroll to the bottom, they’re the last ship I talk about).

The thing that drew me to Jonsa as a ship is the chemistry. To me, when Kit and Sophie are on-screen together I don’t feel like I’m watching siblings (even when the dialogue and circumstances portray that), I feel like I’m watching lovers. The eye contact, the tension, the tenderness; it’s all there. Every single scene they share feels like it has an undercurrent of sexual and/or romantic tension. It was that tension that led me to stumble across the Jonsa fandom and I was immediately like, “hey, so, I’m not the only one!”. Because you know when you’re watching something and you sense that chemistry between two characters that you know probably shouldn’t be there and you think you’re going crazy? Well, that was like me with Jon and Sansa.

There are so many aspects of the ship I enjoy and their story is beautiful to me in lots of ways. The fact that they grew up estranged, then parted ways, endured awful tragedies and finally found each other and began to heal as a result of that is beautiful to me. Jon and Sansa both reserved themselves to the fact that they would never see or be with their family again, and the emotion in their reunion scene encapsulates that immense surprise and relief that they feel at having found each other. I love that Jon was amidst a deep dark depression following his resurrection and was ready to give up on everything until Sansa walked back into his life and gave him a purpose; a reason to fight. Her strength and determination that they needed to reclaim Winterfell impassioned him to join her and fight for their home, for what what rightfully belonged to them and their family. I love that despite the fact that they were each others least favourite sibling growing up they were able to have a second chance and forged an incredibly unique and special bond as unique as the bond they had with any of their other siblings.

Psychologically I find Jonsa fascinating, because I think the possibility of Jon and Sansa developing romantic feelings for each other speaks to the experiences and traumas they’ve had. They both endured so many horrors and regardless of the coldness between them when they were children, for them the Starks and Winterfell have been and always will be their safety and strength. So in each other they found that literal embodiment of home and family, of safety. For Sansa, Jon is the only man she can truly trust after being used and abused by a string of men. For Jon, Sansa is his purpose; someone he needs to protect and that’s important because Jon as a person is built to protect others, that’s what drives him at all times and without that he’s lost. There’s a reason there’s so much emphasis on Jon’s instinct and desire to keep Sansa safe (besides the fact that he loves her and wants to protect the future of House Stark), and it’s because her safety has become one of the two sole purposes of his life (the other being to end the Night King). It’s funny because whenever I see criticisms of Jonsa as a ship it’s mostly about how gross or wrong it is because they grew up as siblings and are blood related, but that connection, in my opinion, is specifically a part of why they make sense as a pairing. It’s complicated for me to explain, but I’m going to give it a try. But the way I see it is that they grew up distant enough that they didn’t develop a full brother-sister bond so there isn’t that whole “ew he/she is my brother/sister” vibe between them. However, the familiarity they have and connection to Winterfell and the Starks draws them to each other. They longed so much for home and for family that it makes sense that when they found each other their feelings for each other would become conflicted, particularly when there’s that lack of brother-sister bond from childhood.

However, despite how much I love Jonsa, I’ve realised that I like the possibilities and tropes associated with the ship more than the actual ship itself. I guess you could say that I’ve been conditioned by fanfiction and meta to perceive Jon and Sansa’s relationship in a certain way, but over time (especially recently) I’ve come to realise that in canon they’re not necessarily written that way. For example, on the show they’re written as being quite untrusting of each other and resistant to work together. Sansa calls upon the Knights of the Vale without telling Jon about her plans, Sansa constantly questions Jon’s decisions, Jon rarely listens to Sansa’s ideas and has to be told to listen to her because she might actually have valuable advice and insights, he barely writes to her when he’s away south in season 7, he bends the knee to Daenerys without consulting her first and even in the season 8 premiere, there’s still that kind of vibe between them where Sansa doubts Jon and he’s fighting for her to trust him completely. There is a lot of conflict between them and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because all the best ships have conflict, but I think that until recently I failed to see that this conflict existed between them and projected my own perception of them (shaped by fanfiction, fanvids, meta etc.) onto their canon relationship.

Following on from that, based on 8x01 I’ve also realised that I have some issues with the way Jon and Sansa are being written. Their scene in that episode and Sansa’s behaviour generally throughout the episode is an exact repetition of what’s been going on between them since season 6. They seem to be stuck in the same cycle - Sansa picks at Jon and questions his decisions, Jon gets frustrated that she doesn’t trust him and she then confirms that she does trust him, despite all of her words and actions being the contrary. At this point, it’s just bad story-telling because it’s been established repeatedly that Sansa does trust Jon and vice versa (Jon left Winterfell in her hands, the ultimate symbol of trust), so why are they still writing them this way? If Sansa has faith in Jon and she knows it and he knows it, why is she questioning his decision to bend the knee? At this point in their relationship, Jon and Sansa should be united. They definitely needed to have a conversation about why Jon bent the knee, with Jon apologising for doing so, but immediately after that all of this tension between them should be put to bed because it’s being unnecessarily dragged on when it no longer makes any sense. However, I’m trying not to be too judgemental about their scenes in this episode, since it’s only the first episode out of 6. There’s still plenty more to come from them and it could go in a much better direction from here onwards.

Generally, I hold a lot back when it comes to shipping Jon and Sansa, because I don’t want to get caught up in the Jonsa-Jonerys ship war (I’m still too exhausted from the Stelena-Delena ship war that took up 8+ years of my life lmao), but mostly because unlike most other Jonsa shippers, I don’t have much faith that they’ll actually be endgame. I’ve over-invested in so many ships in the past and I don’t want to do that again. I always try to be realistic with my ships, regardless of how much I love them, and in my opinion, the chances of Jon and Sansa being endgame are very slim. It’s clear that D&D are invested in Jon and Daenerys, and that that’s the main love story of their show. They condensed the development of their love story into one season so that they could make it a central plot for season 8, so the chances that they’re going to completely scrap that relationship or end it abruptly and go for a Jonsa endgame doesn’t seem feasible to me. The chances of Jon and Sansa marrying for a political alliance is more likely, but still not very, because that would require Jon not only surviving the war (which, I don’t think he will) but also fully embracing his parentage and proclaiming himself King of the Seven Kingdoms. Also, if you go to other sites and read fan theories or opinions, barely anyone thinks a Jon and Sansa endgame is feasible. So I suppose you could say I’m being cautious not to become over-invested in a Jonsa endgame only to be disappointed. The ending is going to be emotional enough without the added blow of being disappointed that my ship isn’t endgame.

Having said this, you don’t choose your ships, they choose you and whether I like it or not I am a Jonsa shipper. It’s my shipper heart that wants to believe they’ll be endgame and to trust in all of the signs I’ve seen that indicate they could be. I mean can it really be a coincidence that Jon and Sansa fulfil so many romantic tropes or that so many of their scenes share characteristics with romantic ships from the show? (x) (x) (x) (x). Sometimes I think that fans put more thought into analysing the show than the people that create it do (which I definitely think is true), but nonetheless great consideration is given to every single scene that makes the final cut of an episode. We know that GOT suffers from great time constraints since they have so many characters and plots to fit in and do justice, yet Jon and Sansa consistently get scenes. Familial relationships have been important throughout the show, but from my recollection no familial/sibling relationship has had the kind of emphasis Jon and Sansa have and certainly not scenes framed in the same way that theirs are (with the romantic undercurrents). And what’s the significance of showing us not one but two scenes where Jon physically threatens people because he’s so protective of Sansa? Why is it important to show us that? If Jon is really just Sansa’s big brother (cousin), isn’t it implicit that he’s going to be protective of her? We don’t need to be shown that unless it serves some other purpose. And why is so much of their relationship saturated with this ongoing tension? Starkbowl didn’t happen in season 7 (at least not between Jon and Sansa) and I doubt it’ll happen in season 8, since there isn’t enough time to fit it in, so the only real purpose that kind of tension serves is because there’s underlying sexual tension. There are so many what ifs about the ship, so many signs that indicate that we Jonsa’s aren’t just imagining their romantic chemistry, but I’ve been very wrong about this stuff in the past, so like I say, I’m proceeding with caution.

To sum up, because I could talk about this all day, my opinion on Jon and Sansa is that I love them individually and together. Their chemistry is fantastic, I love their relationship platonically and see a lot of potential with them romantically. I adore reading and watching Jonsa content and writing Jonsa fanfiction (they’re my favourite couple to write for out of all my ships). They are potentially the most interesting couple on GOT and could have such an incredible love story. If the show was to follow through and deliver what I believe should happen (political!Jon and Jonsa) I’d be ecstatic and have no hesitancy in proclaiming them my OTP. But, unfortunately, I have reservations so for now I’m keeping my guard up because my shipper heart has been burned too many times before. Instead, for the final season I’m trying to focus more on enjoying their relationship from a platonic POV and if they are endgame I’ll be over the moon, but if not I’ll love and appreciate the depth and emotion in their relationship no matter which direction it takes in canon.

Thanks for asking!

send me a ship and i’ll give my honest opinion…

[chevelleneech]

Regardless of what happens between Buck and Eddie in the finale, certain fans are definitely going to start pushing the idea that Buddie is one sided and then getting together before Eddie is 100% emotionally stable is toxic and rushed.

And I know I said certain fans, but it’s also some Buddie shippers too. I understand not wanting it to happen in 8x01 or 8x03, but I think a lot of you underestimate how much story there is to be told when characters aren’t perfect emotionally or mentally, yet still know they are in love. Characters who would let themselves go their ohh devastation after devastation, yet say nothing of it means protecting the people they love. Which Eddie is that type of person. For all of ten seconds, he believed his son to be dead, and that Buck was the “reason”, yet even in that moment of heartbreak he didn’t blame him.

Eddie is self-sacrificing to an extent, but he loves Buck. Platonically or romantically, I do not see that changing.

Would it be healthy for him to put Buck’s well-being above his own? No. Do I hope Eddie is written as on a road to recovery if Buddie is coming sooner than later? Yes, but do I think Eddie would be committed and happier with Buck as his partner, even if he hasn't yet found emotional contentment or figured out what being queer means for him? Again, yes.

I think Buck’s search for family and a partner who loves him and all his quirks would fit extremely well with Eddie’s seeming desire to find The One who understands his ups and downs. I also think Eddie being clinically diagnosed with depression would work very well for his character, but that’s not the point of this post.

I just think people are limiting Buddie to being each others happily ever after, rooting it in happiness and not in a realistic version of what that could be. No, I don’t think story wise they need to get together immediately if BT split up between now and the first handful of episodes in s8, but I also won’t be mad if they do. It would be very realistic for two best friends with consistent relationship issues to date each other, once they realize they have feelings for each other. Especially if they decide to try and date in secret. Which would also work for Buddie, but maybe that’s just me.

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

Jonsa vs Destiel - romantic coding without the complete follow through

This was actually a meta I started back in December. I know by now we all pretty much know that yes, Destiel is a thing, we know it was written with romantic intentions in the end and it was indeed romantically coded, that Dean loved Cas back (”acting choices” among many other examples), and all of it. But back in December, I was still trying to make sense of what we got in that finale, for Destiel, for Dean, for Sam, for Team Free Will 2.0, for common narrative sense -- all of it. So when I started comparing GoT to SPN for this post, this came out of it. Because I realized that I had seen this sort of situation of will they or won’t they come up before, only coming to the halfway point and then backing off. 

I should note that yes, the Jonsa pairing would be considered one of fictional incest since they are cousins (and were raised as siblings), and while I normally don’t go that route, it was the “rules” set up in-universe, based on medieval history (unfortunately in that regard) and the show made you feel as if you were going to get one (Jonerys - aunt/nephew) or the other (Jonsa - cousins) at one point. They very purposely set up the love triangle in season 8. So I apologize in advance if this makes anyone uncomfortable, from the SPN universe or GoT universe. I am not going the Wincest or Cersei/Jaime route or trying to equate the Destiel dynamics to a fictional incestous one or vice versa. It was just about the coding and how the stories were presented for these two relationships in the narrative.

Just a heads up, this is long and very wordy. My format will likely get messed up (thanks Tumblr, you just can’t let me have my sub bullet points, can you?) once it posts and I’m sure I forgot a lot of things and it might feel somewhat incomplete but I failed to make any progress on it in the last month so I just figured I’d throw it out into the void as is and get it out of my drafts.

Spoilers for SPN & GoT below the cut:

When I work on video projects, I tend to take notes while going through scenes so I know which ones to go back to later on, on what to align together, especially when trying to work on symmetry for reasons, and we all know by now how much of a ho I am for symmetry so alas, this was born:

So I’m back on my Jonsa and my Destiel bullshit, yes you read that right, Jonsa and Destiel. I’m currently working on something that involves these two and I literally went through so much footage these past few weeks, my brain is riddled with useless GoT and SPN facts now lol.

You may not care for Jonsa because you never saw the potential or it’s incest (it’s GoT, enough said) or you may not care for Destiel because you never saw the potential or it’s considered to be two dudebros that one of them started out being canonically written straight, or you just don’t care for either pairing. That’s fine, this post isn’t to prove that these two should have ended up being the endgame for each show. It isn’t to prove that you should have been shipping these two pairings all along and at least a kiss should have happened for each or any other way you want to slice it. And it certainly isn’t to compare incest to romantic love between two men (holy fuck, the implications of that alone…). Suffice it to say, this is NOT that. No, this post is merely to point out the similarities between the two pairings in both shows to prove that they were both coded romantically (for different reasons for each show), that’s it. Viewers who saw it were not crazy, not reading too much into things between both pairings. It was there the whole time. Do with this information what you will. 

Pairings that began in fanon:

JONSA

Pairing: Jon x Sansa

Show: Game of Thrones

Actors: Kit Harington & Sophie Turner

Seasons to Watch: 6-8

Imperative Episodes: 6x04, 6x05, 6x09 (Battle Of the Bastards), 6x10 (The Winds Of Winter), 7x01, 7x02, 7x03, 7x04, 7x05, 7x06, 7x07, 8x01, 8x02, 8x04 (The Last Of the Starks), 8x05 (The Bells), 8x06 (The Iron Throne)

Their Story: Jon & Sansa were half-siblings who were raised in House Stark; Jon is Ned’s son, bastard born (until it’s revealed later that he is actually the son of Lyanna Stark, Ned’s sister, and Rhaegar Targaryen), & is liked by all of the Starks except Catelyn & Sansa while growing up; Sansa is the eldest trueborn daughter of Ned & Catelyn, she takes her mother’s view of Jon while growing up; the two are separated as Sansa goes south, Jon goes North; they are reunited again in 6x04 when Sansa runs to Castle Black to escape Ramsay & ask Jon, who is Lord Commander (as far as she knows) for protection; the two then embark on taking back Winterfell, do, Jon is made King in the North while Sansa takes up the mantle of Lady of Winterfell; in the end, Sansa is made Queen In the North while Jon kills Dany to keep his family safe, Jon is exiled to the Night’s Watch for the murder

Symmetries:

Bird Symbolism: Sansa is referred to as Little Bird; Jon is referred to as Lord Crow

Bastard vs Trueborn: Jon starts off as a bastard in the story, but is revealed to be a trueborn son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen & to have a legitimate claim to the Iron Throne, he rejects this & his choice to kill Dany leads him back to the Night’s Watch; Sansa starts off as a trueborn daughter & “key to the North”, she ends up having to pretend to be Petyr’s bastard daughter Alayne Stone in order to stay safe, then she becomes Lady of Winterfell & eventually Queen In the North

Surnames: Snow is the bastard surname of the North; Stone is the bastard surname of the Vale

Of the North: At first neither of them wanted to stay in Winterfell, convinced they both don’t fit in there for different reasons; then neither one of them wanted to stay in King’s Landing; both of them  come to regret the desire to leave Winterfell after time; both of them eventually want to stay North/home

Ruling Capacities: both are just and fair rulers who consider the counsel they’re given, do not always rule with an iron fist, and do everything in their power to care for their people. With Jon, this is showcased in his role as Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, and then again as King In the North. With Sansa, this is showcased in her role as Lady of Winterfell, and as Jon’s regent when he goes to Dragonstone. Both also see the potential in each other’s ruling capabilities, and recognize them as good ones. “You’re good at this, you know. Ruling.” (7x01) - Sansa; “Ned Stark’s daughter will speak for them. She’s the best they could ask for.” (8x06) - Jon; they both pass the sentence and swing the sword as Ned taught his sons in the beginning of the series: Jon when executing Janos Slynt & then his murderers; Sansa when passing the sentence on Littlefinger and Arya executes him (being her sword, the framing shows Arya in front of where Sansa sits to reinforce this) 

Tropes/Themes Within the Ship:

Bickering

6x07 - argument about how much men they can get for their army

6x09 - argument in tent

7x01 - their dispute over Sansa questioning Jon’s decisions

8x01 - dispute in solar over Jon giving his crown away

Protection/Safety

6x05 - Sansa tells Brienne that Jon will keep her safe - she trusts him to

6x09 - Jon tells Sansa “I will never let him touch you again. I’ll protect you, I promise” - at this point, Sansa says “No one can protect anyone” and leaves, thinking they may definitely lose the next day (even though she knows Littlefinger’s reinforcements are on their way) and how she’s been promised to be protected before and it’s never panned out, frustrated that Jon is not listening to her when she knows Ramsay as well as she does - Jon ends up fulfilling this promise twice before the series ends: 1) allowing her to choose how she wanted to deal with Ramsay & 2) by killing Dany who definitely would have been a threat to her

7x02 - Jon threatens Littlefinger while choking him that if he lays a finger on Sansa he will kill him himself

7x02 - cut scene where Jon leaves Ghost behind to watch over Sansa

8x04 - Sansa tells Tyrion Jon’s secret, breaking her promise to him - this is very controversial since at face value, it looks as if Sansa will do whatever is necessary a la Littlefinger style to prevent Dany from being queen but those who understand Sansa’s character know she did it to protect Jon (it’s a lot harder to kill someone who publicly has the birthright of being king when you’re wanting the kingdom’s support and don’t want to be viewed as a tyrant who murdered their rival claimant in cold blood, pretty hard to get “love” that way and it’s just “more of the same”) which is confirmed in dialogue by Arya in 8x01 to Jon himself “She’s defending our family.” “I’m her family, too.” “Don’t you forget that”

8x06 - Jon ultimately protects Sansa (and the Starks/the North by extension) by choosing to end Dany’s tyranny

8x06 - Sansa shows up to the dragonpit meeting, war braids and all, ready to fight for Jon’s freedom/safety if need be, which she confirms to Grey Worm in dialogue, should he or the Unsullied hurt Jon in any way

Breathlessness

6x09 - both Jon and Sansa are breathless after their argument in the tent - something that is chosen to be shown

7x01 - Jon is breathless after Sansa asks if it would be so terrible if Jon were to listen to her - this is chosen to be shown

8x01 - Jon is more breathless than Sansa after their argument in her solar but again it’s chosen to be shown

Working Together

season 6 - both Jon and Sansa visit the Northern lords to ask for men for an army to take back Winterfell

6x10 - Jon and Sansa sit at the high table when addressing the Northern lords - Sansa sits to the left of Jon and she is the Lady of Winterfell - Jon is named King In the North shortly thereafter

7x01-7x02 - Jon and Sansa ready Winterfell and the North for the battle with the Night King’s army

7x03 - 8x01 - Sansa continues to ready Winterfell and the North in Jon’s absence & as his regent while Jon goes to Dragonstone to broker an alliance with Daenerys and get her armies & dragons north to fight the Night King’s army

8x01-8x02 - Jon and Sansa both continue final preparations since the Wall is now broken & the Night King is on his way; Sansa sits to the right of Jon as Lady of Winterfell at the high table when addressing the Northern lords and Dany’s people

8x04 - Sansa sits to Jon’s right at the high table during the feast as the Lady of Winterfell - her conversation with Tyrion when Dany & Co are leaving confirms Sansa will be left as regent once again (this time for the Warden Of the North) while Jon goes South with their Northern army to assist in capturing King’s Landing

8x06 - Sansa comes to King’s Landing to see Jon freed and to participate in talks of how things will continue politically in Westeros - she secures the freedom of the North and continues to hold Jon’s place for him as their king until it’s decided that his freedom cannot be secured and he will be banished to the Wall as punishment for killing Dany (to protect her & their family as well as the North/the world)

Battle Couple

6x05 - Jon and Sansa plan who to ask for support & men to fight Ramsay and retake Winterfell along with Brienne, Edd and Davos

6x09 - Jon leads their army to fight against Ramsay’s, Sansa brings reinforcements from the Vale through her request to Littlefinger

8x02 - Jon and Sansa are framed together (with Arya as well in some shots) while planning the battle (notice the contrast in 8x04, they are now on different sides and there is tension, Jon is standing next to Dany’s people while Arya stands with Sansa which leads to the tension-filled part of the scene where Arya plants herself in Jon’s way and tells him that they need a word)

Ruling/Power Couple

as they tour the North to ask for men & support, Jon and Sansa are both present when the Wildlings & the Northern lords are being asked signalling to all that they are united in this fight

6x09 - Sansa appears when Jon is beating Ramsay & then asks Jon where Ramsay is being held which we see her visit Ramsay later and it becomes obvious that the dogs have been purposely left near him with the door open so they can get through

6x10 - Sansa sits to Jon’s left after the battle at the high table while addressing the Northern lords; he also looks to Sansa to see her reaction when he is proclaimed King In the North 

7x01 - Sansa once again sits to Jon’s left and speaks her mind as Lady of Winterfell, including questioning Jon’s decision to keep the Karstarks and the Umbers in power, in their homes

7x01 - Jon and Sansa argue about her questioning him, the Maester approaches them both to give Jon a scroll that has arrived from Cersei - Jon reads the scroll and both discuss the Night King vs Cersei

7x02 - Jon asks Sansa’s opinion when he receives a scroll from Tyrion inviting him to Dragonstone

7x05 - Jon receives a scroll from Sansa letting him know that Arya and Bran have returned

7x05 - Sansa doesn’t denounce Jon like the Northern lords are openly doing - it angers Arya when Sansa doesn’t threaten the lords for being disloyal to Jon even though Sansa makes a valid point that they need them for the upcoming battle and they need to work together

7x07 - Jon sends Sansa a scroll to let her know that he’s bent the knee to Dany and they both will be arriving at Winterfell soon to fight the Night King’s army

8x01 - Sansa sits to Jon’s right at the high table while addressing the Northern lords, both make decisions for the North before the conversation turns to Jon’s demoted title

8x02 - Sansa & Jon both continue to prepare for the Night King; Sansa chooses for Jaime to stay which Jon echoes, outruling Dany who is forced to go along with this decision since the North is not a fan of hers at this point; Dany sees Sansa ordering for the gates to stay open as long as possible

8x03 - Jon fights the battle and Sansa is sent to the Crypt by Arya to stay safe though she ends up battling the resurrected dead along with Tyrion (why this scene was cut but Dany’s sword scene was kept in I will never understand, why could we not see both women doing what they needed to do? Men, I tell you, men writers writing for women, sigh)

8x04 - Sansa is the Lady of Winterfell the entire episode - at the pyre scene, at the feast, at the battle planning scene, and later when Jon and Dany leave Winterfell; Jon is Warden Of the North the entire episode - at the pyre scene, at the feast, at the battle planning scene, and when he says goodbye to Sam, Gilly, Tormund, and Ghost before leaving to go south

8x05 - Sansa rules as Lady of Winterfell (though she is not shown in this episode) while Jon does his duty as commander of the Northern army and assists Dany’s army in taking King’s Landing before the infamous massacre starts

8x06 - Sansa becomes commander of the Northern army in Jon’s absence (implied in the dragon pit scene) and she defends Jon’s decision to kill Dany, attempts to secure his freedom, and when she can’t, eventually secures the North’s independence; the goodbye scene between the Starks before Jon leaves for the Wall, it’s confirmed in dialogue that Sansa tried to get him his crown back but wasn’t able to, Jon supports her taking that crown instead with “Ned Stark’s daughter will speak for them. She’s the best they could ask for”

from season 7 to season 8 - on Jon’s clothing and on Sansa’s (including her crown from 8x06) - there are always two wolves present - it symbolizes the pack but also two wolves ruling the head of that pack (Robb also had this when he had Catelyn [another Stark] by his side as well as Talisa - outside of Dany’s presence, there is never a third party present in Jon and Sansa’s dynamic except Davos)

Family

6x04 - they are the first Starks to reunite on screen since the big separation since season 1 and the Red Wedding

8x06 - Jon chooses the Starks (specifically Sansa since Bran and Arya weren’t the ones that clashed with Dany) over Dany

Impact/Effect

Jon becomes King In the North by his own merits, but ultimately Sansa’s actions and support helped him get there

Sansa is able to go back home to Winterfell and never fear Ramsay again because of hers and Jon’s actions that led to their victory

Jon is heavily supported by Sansa, despite any questioning of his decisions that she does in 7x01, in dialogue, to his face and in his absence - this support continues into season 8 and up to the finale (even though she disagrees with his choice of queen and him giving up his crown)

Sansa is able to remain safe in Winterfell and secure the North’s independence thanks to hers and Jon’s actions - she is also then crowned Queen In the North

Can’t Be Without the Other/Feeling the Absence

6x04 - when Sansa asks where Jon will go, he says “Where will we go? If I don’t watch over you, Father’s ghost will come back and murder me” to which Sansa replies “Where will we go?” solidifying that they are now a unit

6x09 - Jon tells Melisandre not to bring him back should he fall during the Battle of the Bastards (a lot of people speculate this is Jon wanting to die if Sansa is not alive, after she inferred she would never go back to Ramsay alive in the tent scene - I agree & disagree here, I think it is in relation to Sansa but in the fact that if he dies and then comes back, should Sansa have killed herself like she implied, he wouldn’t have anyone left from his family, and he failed her, the purpose she gave him would be gone since Rickon would most likely be dead too, and their army failed so Winterfell is still in Ramsay’s hands so yes it is due to what Sansa said and Sansa herself but I don’t think it’s meant to be read romantically there in that moment, not really)

7x02 - Jon departs for Dragonstone (there is a cut scene where Jon actually left Ghost behind to look after Sansa & tells him so) & they have a similar goodbye to Jaime and Brienne in season 6 (who later become canon in 8x04) - we see Littlefinger realize something after Jon chokes him and threatens him not to touch Sansa, while watching Jon leave & then watching Sansa staring after Jon (in the background a wolf’s howl is heard)

7x03 - Jon realizes Sansa was right about him not going to Dragonstone alone after his initial meeting with Dany & quotes Sansa’s words to Tyrion - he realizes he should have listened to her

7x03 - Sansa tells Bran that she hopes Jon will come back soon

7x04 - Sansa tells Arya that Jon will be happy to see her and hopes he comes back soon

8x01 - Jon is clearly happy to see Sansa and vice versa until Dany is introduced & it’s revealed by Bran that the Night King has Viserion and the Wall has fallen

Gives Purpose

6x04 - Jon is about to leave the Wall, intent on getting away from the North - he has given up on his fight with the Night King after what happened to him and having to execute his own murderers, he is arguing with Edd about it who is trying to make Jon realize he can’t leave, that they still have a fight ahead of them - at this moment, Sansa arrives and they are reunited - Sansa wants to take back Winterfell but Jon is resistant at first, he’s “tired of fighting” to which Sansa says she’ll do it herself if she has to - when Ramsay’s scroll arrives announcing he has Rickon, Sansa gives him the push he needs to decide to try and amass an army to take Rickon and Winterfell back 

6x10 - Jon is proclaimed King In the North and he looks to Sansa who smiles up at him before looking back to the Northern lords

7x01 - Jon is annoyed when Sansa questions his decision in front of the Northern lords - during their argument, Sansa compliments him and tells him that he’s good at ruling - he is caught off guard and shyly disagrees before looking back to her to see if she means it

7x02 - Jon leaves Sansa in charge as his regent when he departs for Dragonstone - Sansa is hesitant and appears worried, looking over at Littlefinger, but at Jon’s reassuring nod, she accepts

7x03 - 8x01 - Sansa does everything to keep Jon’s men, including dealing with Littlefinger and playing the game until she chooses to keep her family safe from his machinations, and preparing for the Night King’s army & caring for the North

8x06 - Jon makes the decision to kill Dany when she confirms that others won’t have a choice when it comes to her new world - it is heavily implied that this is Sansa by Tyrion and Arya in dialogue, saying that Sansa will never accept Dany as queen & the 8x06 script states “Jon knows what that means for those he loves most” - Jon keeps his promise to Sansa from 6x09 while also doing what needs to be done to protect her, Arya, their family, and the world but ultimately it’s Sansa in his mind that is the final push to do this action

Last Look

7x02 - Jon looks back over his shoulder at Sansa and gives a wave, when she returns it he gives a little smile and leaves

7x02 - Sansa watches Jon until he is out of sight

8x06 - Jon gives a last look to each of his siblings before leaving for the Wall but his second last look is for Sansa alone

8x06 - Sansa watches as Jon departs alongside Arya and Bran

DESTIEL

Pairing: Dean x Castiel

Show: Supernatural

Actors: Jensen Ackles & Misha Collins

Seasons to watch: 8-15 (though some do believe this started earlier when Cas appeared & is prevalent in seasons 4-7 just as much & I would agree with season 6 for Cas’ POV)

Imperative Episodes (I’ll include seasons 4-7 in here, too, in case): 4x01, 4x10, 4x16, 5x03, 5x04, 5x22, 6x20, 6x21, 6x22, 7x01, 7x02, 7x17, 7x23, 8x01, 8x02, 8x07, 8x17, 8x22, 8x23, 9x01, 9x03, 9x06, 9x09, 9x10, 9x18, 9x21, 9x22, 9x23, 10x01, 10x03, 10x05, 10x09, 10x14, 10x16, 10x22, 11x03, 11x11, 11x18, 11x23, 12x01, 12x02, 12x03, 12x23, 13x01, 13x02, 13x03, 13x04, 13x05, 13x06, 13x21, 13x22, 13x23, 14x01, 14x03, 14x08, 14x10, 14x13, 14x18, 14x22, 15x01, 15x02, 15x03, 15x06, 15x07, 15x08, 15x09, 15x10, 15x11, 15x13, 15x15, 15x17, 15x18, 15x19 (I’m sure I’ve missed quite a few episodes here, I tried to list the ones I felt showcased their relationship coding [i.e. Dean’s confession in 10x16, Cas isn’t there but this affects their relationship later on in a way] and how it evolved over time & also laid the foundation that kept growing) 

Their Story: Dean is a hunter & older brother to Sam Winchester, after making a demon deal to save Sam, Dean is dragged to Hell when his year is up and is tortured/torturing others for a 40 year period until Castiel, an angel of the Lord, saves him and brings him back to life on Earth; they get to know one another as Heaven tries to work with Dean through Cas & other angels; they are able to avert the Apocalypse & Dean goes to live his life while Sam is stuck in Hell with Lucifer; Cas starts working with Crowley to defeat Raphael, lying to the Winchesters and angering/upsetting Dean who reveals that he thinks of Cas as family; ultimately, Cas chooses to continue with Crowley, breaks the wall in Sam’s mind that kept all of Lucifer’s torture of his soul in Hell at bay, and he eventually sucks up all of the souls in Purgatory and becomes God; the Leviathan take over, kill Cas, and Sam & Dean have to figure out how to stop them; Dean accidentally finds Cas again, who has no memory of who he is, and they go to save Sam; Cas takes on Sam’s torture & stays at the hospital ward with Meg to watch over him while Dean & Sam continue to try to defeat the Leviathan; Cas joins the fight and they win, but Dean & Cas are blasted into Purgatory; Dean is able to get out while Cas stays; after a while, Dean sees Cas in certain places & then Cas is there, not knowing how he got out of Purgatory; he begins hunting on and off with the Winchesters, is mind controlled by Naomi which he eventually breaks, and continues to be a part of Team Free Will, on and off (he even has a stint as a human during season 9), until he dies at the hands of Lucifer in season 12; The Empty sends Cas back and he, Dean, and Sam continue to fight & simultaneously try to raise Jack, a nephilim, who was entrusted to Cas by Jack’s mother, Kelly, before her death; eventually, Cas makes a deal with The Empty to save Jack which comes to fruition in order to save Dean but not before Cas confesses he loves Dean, to which Dean has no time to respond or to reciprocate/or not reciprocate; it’s intimated at the end that Cas has escaped the Empty with Jack’s help to assist in rebuilding Heaven which Dean is now in, having died by a rusty nail to the back by some random vampmime

Symmetries:

Fathers: both have absent fathers (John is around per se but he is not Father Of the Year, similar to Chuck when Chuck finally does show)

Soldiers: both have been fashioned to be soldiers by their fathers

Self-Worth: both have self-worth issues thanks to said fathers 

Failure: sub-theme under this topic - they both keep trying despite their many failures; they both take their failures very hard

Means To An End: both do whatever is necessary to get the job done - the means justify the ends (except when they don’t)

Faith: Cas is heavily related to the theme of faith for Dean - this has not only been confirmed in dialogue between Cas and Dean but also is implied in how Dean seems to lose faith when Cas is gone, but it’s restored when Cas is back; Dean is heavily related to Cas’ faith in humanity which has been confirmed in dialogue between Cas and Dean, also implied in Cas choosing to rebel/fall & his desire to help people/save the world afterwards, by contrast, Cas doesn’t lose his faith when Dean is not around but Dean is the reason he changed, which is confirmed in 15x18 in dialogue

Weaponry/Solider Symbolism: Dean is the sword of Michael & Cas is the shield of God

Free Will: this theme is applied to other characters as well & in the main story for the Winchesters but Dean & Castiel strongly want free will; Cas has broken from the narrative consistently “But not you, not the angel off the line with a crack in his chassis” (15x17), has rebelled against Heaven, made his own choices, and by the end of the series, he is no longer blindly obeying orders given by Heaven; Dean consistently wants free will and wants freedom from the choices that have been made already for him & everyone else (Season 5, trying to break from the Lucifer vs Michael narrative; Season 15 wanting freedom from Chuck) “I can’t live like that, man” (15x17)

Tropes/Themes Within the Ship:

Bickering

12x10 - perfect depiction of married couple bickering - Dean is upset with Cas for killing Billie in the previous episode and breaking the deal he and Sam had with her, Cas is upset with Dean for being upset when he saved them - later Dean reveals he’s just worried about the “cosmic consequences”

13x14 - Cas is awaiting Gog and Magog to appear which is taking a bit, which Dean questions - once they do appear, Cas keeps trying to get Dean focused (who thinks it’s hilarious that they’re wearing loincloths) and ready for battle

13x16 - Dean acts as Scooby near the end of the episode and Cas reminds him “you’re not a talking dog”

15x13 - Dean is annoyed that Cas had Jack kill him temporarily to go to The Empty to talk to Ruby - “you’re an idiot, by the way” & then the ensuing glare - “Am I still an idiot?” & the glare “Well, yeah” then the head tilt

15x15 - Dean suggests Cas should take Jack on a murder investigation in order to keep both of them busy, Cas looks to Sam hoping for a voice of reason but Sam agrees and Dean gives Cas a smug smile

Protection/Safety

4x01 - Cas confirms to Dean that he is the angel who “gripped you tight and raised you from perdition”, that he led an incursion of angels and rescued Dean from Hell at God’s command

4x16 - Dean saves Cas from Alistair

6x01 - Cas confirms in dialogue to Sam that he and Dean “do share a more profound bond”

6x20 - Cas confirms in dialogue that he still considers himself a guardian for the Winchesters

9x06 - Dean rushes in to save Cas from Ephraim

9x22 - Cas refuses to kill Dean and gives up his angel army

9x23 - “You draped yourself in the flag of Heaven but it was ultimately to save one human, right?”

12x10 - Dean is defensive on Cas’ behalf when he sees Ishim’s treatment of Cas, despite their own dispute

12x12 - Dean, Sam, and Mary fight to protect a dying Cas from Ramiel

12x23 - Cas moves past Sam and Dean to confront Lucifer, Dean attempts to move towards him, yelling out his name, but is pushed by Sam back through the rift

Dean and Cas consistently protect each other while in battle (i.e. Cas saving Dean from a demon in 6x20, Cas pushing Dean back in 7x23 when facing off with Dick Roman, Dean pushing Cas back in 15x18 when facing off with Billie)

“I’ll go with you”

“I’ll watch over you”

Cas consistently heals Dean throughout the series, even when Cas is upset with Dean as long as Dean allows it (15x08)

Breathlessness

14x03 - Cas is breathless seeing Dean again when they are reunited, Dean appears to be a tiny bit breathless once Cas is front and center but after he nods, he recovers quickly

15x07 - Dean and Cas are both breathless when seeing each other again - this is chosen to be shown

15x09 - Dean is slightly breathless when seeing Cas is safe near the rift

Working Together

4x22 - Cas helps Dean escape so he can go stop Sam from letting Lucifer free

5x22 - Cas gets Dean his five minutes to attempt to reach Sam by setting Michael on fire with holy fire

7x23 - Cas and Dean locate Dick Roman, take him on, and kill him which causes them to be blasted into Purgatory

8x07 - Cas and Dean go in to rescue Kevin together until Cas goes ahead at Dean’s annoyance

8x22 - Cas and Dean work together to get Cupid’s bow

9x06 - Cas and Dean hunt together but once they find out what they’re hunting, Dean sends Cas off to go on his date

9x10 - Dean and Cas take Crowley on a road trip to try to find Gadreel/Sam

Battle Couple

5x04 - most likely knowing he was going to die, Cas goes with Dean and their group to follow Dean’s plan

7x23 - Dean and Cas both fight Dick Roman

8x02 - Dean and Cas taken on Leviathan together when they are attacked near the portal

11x10 - Dean and Cas are magicked into the cage Lucifer and Sam are in by the former - they attempt to battle Lucifer to stall him in order for Rowena to complete her spell to put Lucifer back in the real cage

13x14 - Cas and Dean fight Gog and Magog together

15x18 - Dean and Cas fight Billie

Family

6x20 - Dean tells Cas he thinks of him as family which surprises Cas

6x21 - Cas confirms he also thinks of Dean as family

11x18 - Dean tells Sam that Cas is family

11x23 - Dean tells Cas that he is his and Sam’s brother and he is their best friend

from season 13 to 15, Cas and Dean co-parent Jack (along with Sam)

14x13 - in this episode where Dean tells John “I have a family”, Dean and Sam tell John about Cas and Jack

14x18 - Cas admits he made a mistake in not telling Dean and Sam about Jack’s soullessness “But we were a family, and I didn't want to lose that, so I thought I could... fix it on my own”

15x17 - Dean tells Sam that Cas is family and Jack is not Cas 

15x18 - Dean apologizes to Cas for getting them in the pickle where they both might die by Billie’s hand “Sam and Jack. We should be with them now”

Impact/Effect

Dean changes Cas, shows him what’s worth fighting for, he is the catalyst for Cas’ rebelling and falling (we see how Cas would have been without Dean’s influence in 14x13 in the altered timeline scene)

Cas helps Dean to see that he is a good person and does things for the right reasons by the end of the series, he is the catalyst for Dean’s self-acceptance and for Dean’s decision not to kill Chuck & Dean choosing to live his life in 15x20

Dean seems to lose faith/give up when Cas is gone (as shown in 13x01-13x05 & 15x09)

Cas is Colette in Dean’s MOC arc (Cain states this in dialogue to Dean himself in 10x14) and asks Dean to “stop” in 10x22 - Dean ends up beating Cas up but stops short at killing him, warning him to keep himself & Sam away from him - later on in 11x03 Dean refuses to let Cas heal him saying he “had it coming” and is clearly doing penance for him beating Cas up in 10x22

Can’t Be Without the Other/Feeling the Absence

in season 7, after Cas’ death in 7x02, his loss obviously is affecting Dean and then is compounded by Bobby’s death

in season 8, Dean is affected by Cas’ absence and his feeling of failure at getting Cas out of Purgatory, which we find out in 8x07 is how Dean needed to remember it, that Cas always planned to stay

in season 9, Dean struggles with what’s happening to Sam and what is happening with Ezekiel/Gadreel - he has to tell a vulnerable and human Cas to leave in 9x03 - he is desperate to reconnect with Cas in 9x06 but then leaves him to live his life in peace which only lasts until 9x09

9x23 - Cas’ reaction to the news of Dean’s death

10x01 - Cas’ “I miss him” when talking to Sam about Dean who is on a summer bromance roadtrip with Crowley as a demon

in season 11, it’s shown that Dean is affected by Cas’ absence since Lucifer has possessed Cas

12x12 - Dean’s lower lip wobble when Cas tells Dean that he’s dying - Dean’s helplessness as Cas gets worse after they destroy Ramiel

13x01-13x05 - Dean is heavily affected by Cas’ death and it impacts his interactions with Jack and Sam; his mood only turns around once Cas returns at the end of 13x05, which Sam notes in dialogue in 13x06

13x19 - Dean tells Cas “don’t get dead again” when Cas decides to go to Heaven to ask around and Dean says it in a tone that means business

13x23 - Cas is affected by Dean choosing to say yes to Alternate!Michael in order to save Sam and Jack, and then Altternate!Michael going back on their deal and possessing Dean fully, flying off

14x01-14x03 - Cas is attempting to help locate Dean and wants to go when they do locate him but can’t since Alternate!Michael would sense him, he tells Dean this in 14x03 when they reunite; Cas is affected by the conversation he has with Jack about Dean (before Dean comes back) about if Dean’s death was necessary to ensure the destruction of Alternate!Michael, then it was necessary and Dean would want it himself

14x12 - Cas is affected by Dean’s Ma’lak box plan & attempts to talk him out of it and see reason

14x18-15x03 - Mary’s accidental death at Jack’s hands (and Belphagor’s appearance from 15x01 to 15x03) causes a growing chasm/separation between the two - both feel the effects (i.e. Sam prevents Cas from going over to Dean during Mary’s hunter funeral, Dean tells Cas that if something happened to Mary then he was dead to him, the argument they have at the end of 15x03)

15x04-15x06 - Cas’ absence is affecting Dean and we also see how the separation is affecting Cas in 15x06

15x07-15x08 - Cas returns and while they are still not getting along, Dean’s temperament improves enough that he discusses Eileen with Sam and gives his approval/blessing; he and Cas while only speaking when needed, do work together to figure out a way to defeat Chuck

15x09 - in the future after they defeat Chuck, shown in a vision, Dean has given up after having to bury Cas in a Ma’lak box due to him taking the MOC to beat Chuck, which he confirms in dialogue to Sam

15x09 - this separation/fracture in Cas and Dean’s relationship is reconciled/healing with Dean and Cas’ trip to Purgatory and Dean’s prayer/confession

15x13 - Dean is lashing out and fearful when he finds out Cas is temporarily dead and demands Jack bring him back, when he returns Dean gives him crap and a glare which Cas ends up returning a bit after he reveals he got the location for the occultem from Ruby

15x17 - Dean has a fearful expression when Sam mentions that Eileen would die again if Billie becomes God and looks back at Cas who looks up at him

15x18 - Dean loses Cas and it’s shown that this devastates him in the ending scene, with him sobbing on the floor while ignoring Sam’s call

15x19 - Cas’ death affects Dean and we see him heavily drinking once again, going through the motions when he meets up with Sam and Jack in the beginning of the episode - he demands Chuck to bring Cas back - he rushes up the bunker steps when he thinks Cas is on the other side of the door

Last Look

6x20 - Dean looks back at Cas one last time before running out of the cabin to follow Sam and Bobby

7x01 - Cas looks back at Dean one last time before the souls are sucked back into Purgatory from his body

9x06 - Cas lowers his head to look at Dean in the car and holds a hand up in a wave which Dean returns before turning to go inside the Gas-n-Sip

12x09 - when Sam says “it’s time” to Dean once the car dies, Dean looks over to Cas who is not looking in his direction, Dean’s eyes stay trained on him until Cas does look at Dean, confused at what’s happening, and then Dean looks away, looking guilty for what’s about to happen

12x23 - after Lucifer kills Cas and Mary is knocked into Apocalypse World with Lucifer, Dean’s eyes stay on Cas’ body and he falls to his knees

13x01 - Dean lifts the sheet to look at Cas’ face one last time before prepping Cas’ body for the pyre

15x03 - Dean looks up one more time, his expression softening slightly, as Cas leaves the bunker after their argument

15x18 - Cas looks at Dean one last time and smiles before looking towards The Empty

15x18 - Dean watches as The Empty takes Cas

They then became canon but only one-sided:

JONSA

Script Confirmation: It is confirmed in the 8x06 script that Sansa loves Jon & Jon knows it

Implications in the story/visually: It is implicit in the 8x01 solar scene between Jon & Sansa, the 8x02 scene between Dany & Sansa, the 8x04 feast scene when Sansa sees Dany & Jon smiling at one another, & then Sansa’s conversation with Tyrion in 8x04 after seeing Dany flying off -- Sansa is in love with Jon

“Did you bend the knee to save the North or because you love her?” - 8x01 (Sansa to Jon)

“Yet, I can’t help but feel that we’re at odds with one another. Why is that? Your brother.” “He loves you, you know that.” “That bothers you.” - 8x02 (Dany to Sansa)

“Why her?” “You know she loves your brother.” “That doesn’t mean she’ll be a good queen.” “You seem determined to dislike her.” - 8x04 (Sansa to Tyrion)

“I don’t want Jon to go down there. The men of my family don’t do well in the Capital.” “No, but as your brother once told me, he’s not a Stark.” (see Sansa’s expression & then Tyrion’s expressions here) “Are you alright?” - 8x04 (Sansa to Tyrion)

Reason it became canon (through Sansa): Sansa’s feelings for Jon were used as a plot device, to justify her instant dislike of Dany (besides her viewing who Dany truly is) & to play into Dany’s paranoia when she finally “snapped” due to Sansa telling Tyrion the truth about Jon’s parentage which then resulted in Varys’ execution (it wasn’t the only factor in Dany’s decision to burn down King’s Landing, but it was one of the main ones & it also then resulted in Jon’s decision to kill Dany, again not the only factor there either but one of the main ones)

DESTIEL

Script Confirmation: It is confirmed by the actor (Misha Collins) & the 15x18 script that Cas loves Dean & the confession is written with romantic intent

Dialogue Confirmation: It is confirmed in the 15x18 confession scene dialogue that Cas loves Dean & Dean is now aware after Cas is taken by The Empty (though the confession is never referred to again for the rest of the series, by Dean himself or by any other characters)

Implications in the story/visually: It is implicit in various scenes from season 8 through season 15 that Cas is in love with Dean, before being confirmed in 15x18

“You have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who’s in love with you.” - 6x17 (Balthazar to Dean)

“She knew who I was. What I was. She loved me unconditionally. She forgave me. She only asked for one thing.” 9x11 (Cain to Dean and Crowley)

“To stop.” 9x11 (Crowley to Dean and Cain)

“He’s in love...with humanity.” - 9x22 (Metatron to Gadreel)

“Cas, you just gave up an entire army for one guy.” - 9x22 (Dean to Cas)

“Has it ever occurred to you? Have you never mused upon the fact that you are living my life in reverse.” “First, first you'd kill Crowley -- there'd be some strange mixed feelings on that one, but you'd have your reason, get it done, no remorse. And then you'd kill the angel Castiel, now that one, that I suspect would hurt something awful.“ - 10x14 (Cain to Dean)

“Dean, stop.” 10x22 (Cas to Dean)

“I’m going to cure you of your human weakness. The same way I cured my own.” - 12x12 (Ishim to Cas)

Reason it became canon (through Cas): story wise, Cas had to give himself permission to be happy in order to summon The Empty and he needed to do that in 15x18 to save Dean from Billie (Death); behind the scenes wise, Misha Collins and Robert Berens fought for this to happen (this has not been confirmed by either party but it has been heavily implied that this is part of the reason they decided to include the romantic “I love you” in this scene) which then confirmed the story they have been telling for Cas for years though Misha did say he was unsure as to which actual point he was supposed to be playing Cas as in love with Dean (there are many different speculations on different time frames, but the strongest ones point to season 8 and/or season 9)

Symmetries between both pairings (showing they were both coded romantically/similarly though being two different shows/genres/stories):

Characters Themselves:

JON

Self-worth: Jon has self-worth issues stemming from childhood/Catelyn/being a bastard

Example: 8x04 - “I hope it’s a girl” when Gilly & Sam say they want to name their baby after Jon

Desires: to be a Stark in name, a family, a lady wife, to be home in the North

Unrealized wants though they are explicitly stated/shown/question is posed (that maybe they don’t think they deserve):

Family

this is confirmed in the scene in 7x06 where Jon attempts to give Longclaw to Jorah, but Jorah tells him to keep it for his children, Jon thinks it over & the Stark theme plays in the background

Jon’s reaction to Gilly’s pregnancy news in 8x04

Stark Name

Jon refuses to be legitimized as Jon Stark and take Winterfell when Stannis offers it in season 5

Jon tells Sansa that he’s not a Stark in 6x10 to which she replies “You are to me”

Tyrion confirms in 8x04 that Jon has told him that he’s not a Stark which makes Sansa upset

Whatever it takes: Jon will do what it takes to protect his family

Example: 8x06 - he kills Dany to protect the Starks (namely Sansa and Arya since Tyrion reminds him that Sansa won’t bow down to Dany & Dany confirms that people who disagree with her world won’t have a choice)

Warrior vs Killer: Jon is a warrior who yearns for peace, he is not a killer

Example: 7x03 - Dany tells Jon: “We all enjoy what we’re good at.” Jon says: “I don’t.”

Exhaustion: Jon is tired as his story line progresses “I’m tired of fighting” (6x04)

Leadership: Jon does experience time in a ruling/leadership capacity, but he is more comfortable outside of it - however, he has also proven to have military strategic thinking in battle (as shown in 6x09 and 8x02)

Ending: open-ended, goes Beyond the Wall with the Wildlings after being banished back to the Wall for killing Dany - Kit was happy with Jon’s ending in 8x06

SANSA

Self-Worth: self-worth was not an issue for Sansa while growing up, she was loved and treated very well - however, as she is consistently abused and mistreated as the show continues past Ned’s execution, while she never forgets who she is, she thinks she will never experience love (or experience it in marriage) and that she is only the Key to the North (politically, she is) and that is all she is good for

Desires: to be home in the North (at Winterfell specifically), to have her family back & then staying around her when some of them do return, to be safe

Unrealized wants though they are explicitly stated/shown/question is posed (that maybe they don’t think they deserve):

We don’t know, it could be to have her family safely back in Winterfell, for Jon to remain King In the North, Jon himself, to remain safe in Winterfell herself, we just don’t know since this remains unanswered in the narrative - Littlefinger says to Sansa in 7x01: “Why aren’t you happy? What is it that you want that you do not have?” - we never get an explicit answer to this question though it is posed

Whatever it takes: Sansa will do what it takes to protect her family

Example: 7x07 - after a ruse she concocted to uncover Littlefinger’s plan and his attempt to meddle between Sansa and her siblings, she has him executed with witnesses present to hear the evidence she presents

Example: 8x04 - she tells Tyrion about Jon’s parentage in order to protect him from Dany once she discovers that Tyrion is afraid of Dany

Example: 8x06 - Sansa reminds Grey Worm that the Northern army is outside the city gates, ready to roll should he or the Unsullied hurt Jon in any way

Warrior vs Killer: While Sansa is not a warrior in the traditional sense, we only her wield a weapon once and in a survival situation, she does fight battles of her own. For survival, for protecting her family, and politically. She uses strategy and her words to fight them rather than weapons but that doesn’t make her any less of a warrior or negate her strength; while we all saw that little smile of hers while Ramsay is being eaten by his dogs in 6x09 (come on, admit it, you had that little smile, too, if anyone deserved that ending...), she does not enjoy killing, executions, or death in general, she is not a killer

Leadership/Strategy: Sansa shows great capability in strategic thinking in politics and then in a ruling/leadership capacity

Example: 7x03 - Sansa notices that smiths are not lining breastplates with leather like they are supposed to while discussing the amount of food needed with Royce while Littlefinger and the Maester follow

Example: 7x07 - Sansa is able to outmaneuver Littlefinger

Example: 8x01 - in the Great Hall, Sansa mentions her plans that she put into effect once she heard that the Wall had fallen - this is also before the infamous “What do dragons eat, anyway?” line (a lot of people like to focus on this line because this is where the drama starts but the line before it where she mentions she only accounted for the North people to last through winter is often forgotten or seen through the lens of her criticizing Dany or being petty when it actually is a valid point raised - how will they feed everyone? something that would have come up more than once if the timeline of the story was a more realistic one considering how vast the North actually is)

Example: 8x02 - while speaking with Royce in the library, Dany comes in and overhears Sansa telling him to keep the gates open as long as they can in case more people are fleeing to Winterfell

Ending: open-ended, she is crowned Queen In the North and resides at Winterfell - Sophie was happy with Sansa’s ending in 8x06

DEAN

Self-Worth: Dean has self-worth issues stemming from childhood & his conditioning by one selfish John Winchester, not to mention the spousification/parentification that took place

Example: 8x14 - “But I tell you what I do know -- it's that I'm gonna die with a gun in my hand. 'Cause that's what I have waiting for me -- that's all I have waiting for me.”

Example: 10x07 - “Now, the truth is... I'm past saving. I know how my story ends. It's at the edge of a blade, or the barrel of a gun.”

Desires: to retire from hunting, to be with his family (meaning TFW 2.0), to experience some peace and/or normalcy

Unrealized wants though they are explicitly stated/shown/question is posed (that maybe they don’t think they deserve):

We don’t know, it could be his ending, it could be a relationship, it could be his own bar, this still remains unanswered - Pam asks Dean in 14x10 “Why do you always want what you can’t have?” we never get an explicit answer to this question though it is posed or even what it is that he wants that he can’t have (textually it’s about Pam always having a boyfriend, but it becomes apparent later in the episode that Pam is not what he really wants and she was only a stand-in for him and his memories inside his head during Alternate!Michael’s possession of him)

Whatever it takes: Dean will do it what it takes to protect his family

Example: 13x23 - Dean consents to Alternate!Michael possessing him in order to save Sam and Jack from Lucifer

Warrior vs Killer: Dean is a warrior who yearns for peace/people to be safe, he is not a killer

Example: 8x04 - he and Sam both decide to give Kate a chance after they view her video even though this means there is a werewolf on the loose out there

Example: 9x12 - Dean eventually sees that Bess and her father are good people and gives Garth his begrudging approval, tells him to be happy 

Exhaustion: Dean is tired as his story line progresses “I’m tired, Sam.” 

Leadership: Dean does experience time as the lead hunter in the duo with him and Sam in the beginning of the series but is more comfortable not being in a leadership capacity, and is more than happy to let Sam take the reins when it comes to any type of leadership outside of their dynamic - however, he has proven to have strategic thinking when it comes to hunts and in-the-moment battles (as shown in 6x19)

Ending: open-ended (in Heaven), died on a milk run hunt, on a rebar after being pushed into it by a vampmime - no one knows how Jensen feels about Dean’s ending in 15x20 but it is generally surmised that he wasn’t happy with it based on how he said previously that the ending didn’t sit right with him until he spoke to the creator about it, then he said he was excited for fans to see it

CASTIEL

Self-Worth: after rebelling and becoming a semi-permanent fixture in the Winchesters’ lives, Cas questions his self-worth consistently, especially any time he makes mistakes such as his turn as Godstiel in the end of season 6 and beginning of season 7, which then led to the Leviathan getting free; he feels the only value he has is what he can contribute to the fight whether through his powers or through his self-sacrifice (like in season 11 when he lets Lucifer possess him to fight The Darkness)

Desires: to be with his family (meaning TFW 2.0), for a better world, to be with Dean in whatever capacity Dean will have him

Unrealized wants though they are explicitly stated/shown/question is posed (that maybe they don’t think they deserve):

Dean - Cas says to Dean in 15x18: “Because the one thing I want I know I can’t have” - textually, this is implied about Dean and Cas being in love with him since the love confession takes place right after this line but it is never truly explicitly answered

Whatever it takes: Castiel will do what it takes to protect those he loves/his family

Example: 12x09 - Cas kills Billie to protect the Winchesters from the deal Dean and Sam made

Example: 13x14 - stripping Donatello’s mind for the spell needed, Dean does not agree with this & it comes up again in 13x19 and 14x12 (where Dean still insists it wasn’t right & Cas agrees but says it was necessary)

Example: 14x08 - Cas makes a deal with The Empty to save Jack

Warrior vs Killer: Cas is a warrior who yearns to do the right thing, who ends up being compassionate and caring for people in the world, he is not a killer - “I vastly prefer them to angels.”

Leadership/Strategy: Cas is a skilled tactician that has commanded an angelic garrison in battles for Heaven, he has shown great capacity for strategic thinking and fighting battles with his and/or the Winchesters’ enemies

Ending: open-ended (in Heaven), after dying by being dragged to The Empty in 15x18, Bobby confirms in dialogue in 15x20 that Jack has retrieved Cas from The Empty in order to rebuild Heaven - Misha was happy with Cas’ ending in 15x18

Unconfirmed reciprocations:

JONSA

Jon: 8x06 script confirms that Jon knows Sansa loves him but he can’t forgive her for telling his secret which led to what happened with Dany

DESTIEL

Dean: 15x18 script states that Dean “can’t reciprocate” but doesn’t elaborate if this is due to Dean not being able to share those feelings or if he literally cannot respond due to the events happening at the same time as Cas’ confession

Allusions to maybe the other parties did return some semblance of those feelings:

JONSA

Jon: 

6x10 - the forehead kiss - Jon’s and then Sansa’s expressions

7x01 - the breathlessness Jon has when Sansa says “Would that be so terrible?” in response “By what? By listening to you?”

7x02 - Jon’s wave goodbye to Sansa before leaving Winterfell

8x01 - Jon’s expression when moving from Bran to hug Sansa

8x01 - Jon’s little smile when Sansa says “No, she’s much prettier” in response to him stating “She’s not her father”

8x01 - Jon’s unnecessary step forward after Sansa says “You know I do” in response to him asking “Do you have any faith in me at all?”

DESTIEL

Dean:

8x07 - Dean’s reaction to Cas getting cleaned up in the hotel room

8x07 - Cas reveals that Dean remembered leaving Cas behind in Purgatory differently than what actually happened - “You needed to remember it differently”

8x08 - Dean’s reaction to Cas’ confession on how he feels he might kill himself if he sees the devastation he caused in Heaven as Godstiel

8x17 - Dean was originally scripted to tell Cas “I love you” as Cas nearly beats him to death but it was changed to “We’re family. We need you. I need you”

8x22 - Dean asks Cas “For what?” when Cas apologizes, then tells Cas to take his apology and shove it, there is heavy tension in this scene until Sam clears his throat uncomfortably and interrupts with a subject change; Cas then goes shopping and gets things he thinks Dean would like including a skin mag and trying to get pie

9x03 - Dean’s reaction to Cas’ death and the touching

9x09 - Dean’s reaction and smile when Cas talks about April (a safe subject for Dean to react to after Cas’ being flirty before that)

9x11 - Cain talks about Colette, confirming that she only asked him one thing which Crowley says “to stop”, in this episode Dean takes the MOC

9x18 - Dean clearly tries to keep the MOC from Cas and keep it under wraps but Cas knows right away something isn’t right with Dean & finds out

10x14 - Cain tells Dean that he’s living Cain’s life in reverse and makes the connection that Cas is representative of Colette in Dean’s own life (this happens after Cain has met Cas as well)

10x16 - Dean confesses to a priest that he’s starting to think that maybe he might be closer to dying than he initially thought and there were “things, people, feelings” that he wants to experience differently than he has before, “maybe even for the first time”

10x22 - Cas asks Dean to “stop” while Dean is in the thrall of the MOC, cementing that Cas is indeed Colette in Dean’s MOC arc

11x03 - Dean’s face touching and holding of Cas once he’s released from Rowena’s spell

11x11 - Mildred mentions Dean’s “pining for somebody else” and reminds him to “follow your heart” - this is also the first episode after Lucifer has taken possession of Cas that we see Dean start to notice something isn’t right with Cas

11x18 - Dean attempts to contact Cas and get him to exercise Lucifer - Lucifer mocks him - Dean fails - Amara shows up and kidnaps Casifer but not before Dean yells for Cas, surprising both Amara and Lucifer

11x23 - Dean is relieved to have Cas back

12x01 - Dean introducing Cas to Mary as Castiel

12x09 - Dean glances over at Cas when Sam says “It’s time” and then looks away when Cas is looking at him confused

12x10 - Dean engaging in the bickering with Cas but then coming to his defense when he sees Ishim mistreating Cas

12x12 - Dean’s lower lip wobble when Cas tells him he’s dying; Dean holding onto Cas’ hand a little longer than necessary once Cas is healed & they help him to his feet

12x23 - Dean needing to be dragged away by Sam as Cas goes to confront Lucifer

12x23 - Dean’s reaction when Cas is killed by Lucifer

13x01 - Dean’s grief over losing Cas, his prepping Cas for burial alone, his reaction to Jack, his prayer to Chuck

13x02 - 13x04 - Dean’s entire reaction to Jack who he is convinced got Cas killed by lying to him and manipulating him, which he confirms to Sam in dialogue

13x05 - Dean is still grieving Cas, and then his reaction to getting the call from Cas that he’s alive, his reaction to seeing Cas

13x06 - Dean’s reaction to Cas being back, his mood turnaround from the previous 5 episodes which Sam remarks to him in dialogue and Dean chalks it up to Cas being back as a win

13x19 - Dean tells Cas if he wants to check in with Heaven then fine but “don’t get dead again” and says it in a tone that means business

14x03 - Dean’s reunion with Sam, Cas, and Jack - once Cas enters frame, Dean’s eyes barely leave him until Dean leaves to get cleaned up

14x12 - Dean’s reaction to Cas’ “So this is goodbye?”

15x03 - Dean’s reaction to Cas leaving

15x07 - Dean being relieved to see Cas while worried about Sam, and his response to Cas’ lack of one

15x08 - their entire dynamic in this episode and their reactions to one another - there is tension when it comes to the two of them but they’re still trying to get the job done regardless, even Rowena picks up on the tension and tells them to make it right

15x08 - Adam looking over at Cas after saying “Since when do we get what we deserve?” and then looking back to Dean

15x09 - Dean’s emotional prayer when he can’t find Cas - then Dean’s relief at seeing Cas near the rift, then his disappointed reaction when Cas tells him he doesn’t have to say what Dean said he wanted to say

15x13 - Dean’s reaction to Cas dying temporarily and his anger after it though it’s fleeting

15x15 - Dean teasing Cas with the mention of Amara and their having a thing and Sam’s expression

15x17 - When Sam mentions that Eileen will die again if Billie takes over as God, Dean looks back at Cas who looks up at him

15x18 - Dean mentions that Billie will kill Cas and then kill him, implying that he will have to watch Cas die again

15x18 - Dean loses Cas to The Empty & he is last seen sobbing on the floor, ignoring Sam’s call

15x19 - Dean demanding that Chuck bring Cas back if he and Sam give Chuck his ending

15x19 - Dean’s rush up the stairs once he receives a call from Cas

15x20 - Dean’s little smile when Bobby tells him “Cas helped” (similar to the smile in 13x06, just saying)

Other Characters Knowing (Even Before the Main Characters Do):

JONSA

Littlefinger

7x02 - his watching Sansa as she watches Jon leaves

7x07 - his mentioning that Dany is beautiful and that both Jon and Dany are unmarried and together they’d be “difficult to defeat”

Dany

8x02 - Dany straight up asks “And that bothers you?” when Sansa mentions that Jon loves Dany

Tyrion

Jon’s reaction to Tyrion mentioning his marriage to Sansa in 7x03 which then prompts Tyrion to say “it was unconsummated”

8x04 - Tyrion noticing Sansa is upset over something, asking “Are you alright?”

8x06 - Tyrion knowing that Jon’s “sisters” are his weak point and when mentioning them didn’t work, he then mentions Sansa specifically and bingo, he got through, Jon’s expression confirms it and sure enough, the throne room scene happens right after this one

Davos

there’s no way this guy didn’t pick up on anything the entire time he traveled with Jon and Sansa in season 6 and was Jon’s advisor in seasons 7 and 8 - his look back and forth between Jon and Sansa in 7x02 speaks loudly to me

Arya (while this isn’t made explicit, I’m willing to bet my girl saw it when she stepped into Jon’s narrative in season 7, after she confronts Sansa and works with her to bring down Littlefinger, my girl is wicked smart after all)

all through season 7, even though it initially becomes a contention point between the two, Arya does see Sansa mention that she hopes Jon will be back soon and that Sansa does defend Jon to the Northern lords, though not in the way Arya would have preferred her to handle it

8x01 - there’s a little smile Arya has when Jon puts his hand on her shoulder and asks where she was before and that he could have used her help with Sansa

Brienne

that knowing smile in 7x02 - this was also for Sansa being in left in charge but they intercut it with Sansa’s worried expression, Jon’s reassuring nod, and Davos’ look between the two

her little smile once Jon and Sansa are reunited and hugging in 8x01

Podrick

his little smile once Jon and Sansa are reunited and hugging in 8x01

DESTIEL

Sam

Sam knows

8x22 - Sam clearing his throat uncomfortably in the middle of Dean and Cas’ argument, changing the subject, then pleads with Dean on Cas’ behalf once he and Dean are alone

12x10 - Sam’s reaction to Cas’ “If I plan to do anything else stupid, I’ll let you know” and walk into the diner, turning to Dean who seems clueless as to him being the reason behind Cas’ snarkiness - then Sam knowing Dean would bust in

13x06 - Sam’s little smile, clearly not buying Dean’s explanation of Cas’ return being a win for his sudden turnaround in mood, and his “Fair enough” as he turns to close the closet

14x03 - Sam’s little smile after the exchange between Dean and Cas upon reuniting until Jack interrupts

15x15 - Sam’s little expression of “really?” when Dean mentions to Cas that he and Amara used to have a thing

Mary

12x01 - Mary’s head tilt as she sees Cas hug Dean enthusiastically when seeing him again

in season 12, Dean tells Mary exactly how long Dean and Sam have been gone

12x12 - Mary is present when Cas says his first “I love you” and then his eyes work their way towards Dean after Sam

Crowley

6x20 - Crowley teases Cas about sneaking off to see Dean with “the stench of that Impala is all over your coat”

10x14 - cut scene where Crowley teases Cas, calling him Dean’s “boyfriend”

Rowena

15x08 - Rowena plays therapist for a minute after sending Sam out of the room and tells Cas and Dean to work it out

Amara

11x18 - Amara is surprised when she hears Dean call Cas’ name

11x21 - Amara lifts her hand over Cas’ heart and is able to connect to Dean regardless of where he is

Lucifer

11x18 - Lucifer taunts Dean, mocking his “Cas!” and telling Dean that Cas prefers staying as he is

11x18 - Lucifer is just as surprised as Amara is when Dean calls Cas’ name

11x22 - Lucifer teases Dean by saying Cas’ wellbeing is his highest concern in the impending battle with Amara, seeing Dean not reacting, Lucifer gives up and tells them not to worry and that Cas is “on board”

15x19 - Lucifer prank calls Dean to get him to open the bunker door so he can be let in (something he has infamously done before to be invited in, appearing as a lost loved one)

Charlie

8x20 - Charlie teases Dean while she tries on clothes “What about Cas? He sounds dreamy”

10x18 - Charlie is very excited to meet Cas

Naomi

8x17 - when Naomi brainwashed Cas, she made him kill hundreds of Deans in Heaven to prepare him to truly kill Dean when the time came

8x17 - Naomi tells Cas “It’s us or them” - Cas chooses them (aka Dean who is in front of him in that moment that he is beating up on)

8x19 - Naomi visits with Dean when looking for Cas and the Angel tablet, she notes the angel-proofing is not sound and that she knows Dean is hoping Cas will return to him and says “I only wish he felt the same” which affects Dean

Balthazar

6x17 - Balthazar says to Dean “You must have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who’s in love with you” 

Metatron

9x22 - he tells Gadreel about Cas “his true weakness is revelead. He’s in love...with humanity”

9x23 - Metatron sees Cas’ reaction to being told Dean is dead, after he tells Cas “you draped yourself in the flag of Heaven but it was all really for one human, right?” and then goes on to name Dean Winchester

Ishim

12x10 - Ishim tells Cas that he will cure him of his “human weakness, the same way I cured my own” referencing his love aka obsession with Lily & goes to kill Dean

Benny

8x02 - Benny sees Cas’ jealousy after he says “and this is the crazy aunt I want to take on the road?” he then proceeds to tease Cas until Dean says “You two are killing me” - he also saves Cas from the Leviathan when they attack & it’s confirmed later that this is why Dean keeps his word and helps Benny get out of Purgatory

Eileen

if Sam knows, Eileen definitely knows

15x07 - though there is no explicit confirmation in dialogue or a scene, Eileen knows something is up with Dean after he turns down breakfast & asks Sam if he is okay, which prompts Sam to run after Dean to talk to him

Claire

10x20 - Claire tells Dean to watch out for Cas before she leaves (she doesn’t tell Sam this, only Dean)

The Empty

13x04 - after wracking Cas’ mind for answers as to why he’s awake in The Empty, the entity tells Cas “I know what you hate. I know who you love”

practically everyone from Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, some Alternate worlds, and everything in between (several examples)

Sibling/Other Family Relationships Shown As Contrast:

JONSA

Jon & Arya - this relationship was never romantically coded in the show and the difference is explicit - while Jon & Arya were close growing up, they were merely siblings. Jon & Sansa were not close growing up, the chasm between them being Catelyn’s refusal to accept Jon. Their bond only begins to truly blossom once they are reunited in 6x04 and continue to work together to reclaim Winterfell and then care for the North while preparing for the Night King’s army

Dynamic: Sibling/Family

DESTIEL 

Sam & Dean - while the brothers and their relationship is the main heart of the show (as are the characters individually), this is purely a close sibling/family relationship - the brothers do have romantic interests/relationships & friendships outside of their own once they start to grow and evolve out of their toxic co-dependency - the main theme for them is family and this is shown time and time again all throughout the series

Dynamic: Sibling/Family

Sam & Cas - this is a friendship that evolves into a brotherhood and family bond - the show makes sure to display the difference in Sam’s reactions to Cas, Cas’ actions, and Cas’ death to Dean’s repeatedly - Sam is meant to be the observer (along with the audience) as the relationship between Dean and Cas evolve (especially in later seasons), why else would they continue to show us Sam’s reactions or have Sam attempt to play the peacemaker role between Dean and Cas or have him be the third wheel? Sam’s friendship with Cas is the main one he has near the end of the series outside of his relationship with their found family and he co-parents Jack with Cas and Dean

Dynamic: Sibling/Family, Friendship

Other romantic/romantic-coded relationships/friendships shown as contrast:

JONSA

Jonerys - not only is the contrast between Sansa and Daenerys as rulers/queens shown in the last season but also how they fit into Jon’s life and as relationship material, essentially showcasing both sides of Jon himself in a way (Stark vs Targaryen - which as a plot device I absolutely hate, as if these two strong women didn’t have their own merits but that’s what happens when only men write for women and think it’s a fun time for all if misogyny and sterotypical jealousy and love triangulation are cool tools to use in the story, my God don’t even get me started), and this is also shown romantically - Jonerys became the main canon pairing of season 8 (after going canon in 7x07 with boatsex) - we all know how it ends (with Jon being forced to kill Dany to keep those he loves most [8x06 script] safe) but ultimately Jonerys also showed contrast to Jonsa who had been making very specific callbacks to the pairing of Ned and Catelyn visually as well as within the narrative

DESTIEL

Amara/Dean - this is a bond forced onto Dean once he is rid of the MOC and Amara is released - it’s one he feels but doesn’t want, as he confirms in dialogue later in season 11 - this bond was introduced this season to contrast the bond he has with Cas which Dean ends up choosing Cas in the end so to speak, his worry for Cas is able to break through his attraction/bond to Amara as showcased in 11x18

Crowley/Dean - the summer fling when Dean becomes Deanmon - it’s heavily implied that this is a brief summer bromance that burns out just as fast as it began once Dean is on the dark side - this relationship is also paralleled to the relationship between Cain and Abbadon in season 9 and 10 (where Cain makes that connection himself in dialogue to Dean in 10x14, the same episode where there was a cut scene of Cas intimating that Crowley has feelings for Dean)

Benny/Dean - the bromance of season 8 for Dean that formed in Purgatory while looking for Cas and the portal - once Dean finds Cas, his relationship with Benny doesn’t immediately dissolve, but Cas becomes the clear focus, until Dean and Benny leave Purgatory - their relationship continues until Dean is forced to ask Benny to go to Purgatory to rescue Sam and has to kill him himself once Benny accepts, where Benny decides to stay and tells Sam to tell Dean goodbye for him - this bromance was meant to parallel Dean’s bromance with Cas as well as Sam’s romantic relationship with Amelia

Other Similarities:

Both pairings have the dynamic of one half willing to speak bluntly/truthfully and/or confront/stand up to the other half & vice versa

JONSA

Sansa questions Jon’s decision in 7x01 & tells him later that he needs to be smarter than “Father, you have to be smarter than Robb”

In 8x01 Jon straight up tells Sansa that they need Dany as an ally for the upcoming battle with the Night King when she confronts him over bending the knee to Dany

DESTIEL

Cas doesn’t back down when Dean is angry with him in 8x07 and straight up tells him that had Cas died it would have been his problem and that not everything is Dean’s responsibility; Cas confronts Dean in 10x22 about the MOC starting to take control of Dean which ends with Dean nearly killing him but even then he doesn’t stop trying to get through to him before Dean stabs the book by his head

Dean tells Cas he needs to do the right thing in 4x22; Dean asks Cas to stop working with Crowley in 6x20 and tells Cas if he doesn’t, he’ll do what he has to in order to stop him

Both pairings, regardless of how upset they may be with one another, always have each other’s backs

JONSA

Jon tells Dany “she doesn’t know you” then tries to placate Dany with “if it makes you feel any better, she didn’t like me much either when we were growing up” when she tells him that Sansa doesn’t like her in 8x01

Sansa defends Jon to the Northern lords when they complain about Jon in 7x05; she continues to prepare for the Night King’s army (7x03-8x01) and does whatever she has to in order to keep the men for Jon’s army (including the KotV, even after choosing to execute Littlefinger in 7x07)

DESTIEL

Dean stands up for Cas in 12x10 when he sees Ishim mistreating Cas and asks why Cas allows Ishim to treat him like that (this is after Dean and Cas have been bickering and not getting along); Dean tells Ishim “Cas and I might not agree all the time but he knows who his real friends are”; Dean warns Cas about Chuck being back in 15x06 though they’re not really talking at that point & tells him to “check your damn messages” after he mentions Sam has been trying to call Cas

Cas protects Dean in 15x09 in Purgatory by allowing the Leviathan to take him back to Eve after they knock Dean out (this is after their discussion where Cas makes it clear that he already apologized to Dean but he refused to hear it and Dean didn’t stop him when he left); Cas heals Dean’s hand in 15x08 though they still aren’t getting along & Cas’ grace is failing

Parallels:

In Show/Overt:

JONSA

Ned/Catelyn

Ned choking Littlefinger in season 1 -> Jon choking Littlefinger in 7x02

Framing/second coming of Ned & Catelyn

Jon/Daenerys

hands shot in 6x05 -> hands shot in 7x06

Framing of both pairings

Jaime/Brienne

Jaime and Brienne’s wave goodbye in season 6 -> Jon and Sansa’s wave goodbye in 7x02

DESTIEL

Sam/Eileen

biggest parallel yet for this pairing - both were heavily paralleled in season 15

Sam loses Eileen in 15x18 -> Dean loses Cas in 15x18

Sam assures Eileen that they are real in 15x09 -> Cas assures Dean that they are real in 15x02

Framing of both pairings

15x07 becomes a somewhat Cas & Eileen centric-episode while Dean deals with Lee and Sam is out cold 

15x17 when Sam mentions losing Eileen Dean looks back at Cas

Dean/Amara

Dean has a bond with both Cas and Amara - these two bonds are heavily paralleled all throughout season 11 - Dean makes it clear in the end that the bond with Amara is not one he wants and it’s evident that he is more concerned about Cas than what happens to Amara

Amara has the MOC on her chest over her heart which has been transferred from Dean’s right arm -> though Cas’ handprint is no longer visible on Dean’s left shoulder, it’s still there and when Casifer grabs the wrong shoulder in 11x11

Dean/Crowley

Dean on the dark side (as a demon) has a summer fling with Crowley from 10x01-10x02 -> cut scene from 10x14, Cas and Crowley tease each other about being Dean’s “boyfriend”

Crowley reminisces while looking at a picture of him and Dean in cowboy hats in 10x02 -> Dean and Cas are in cowboy hats in 13x06 & in 15x15 Cas uses a picture of him in the same cowboy hat to summon a crossroads demon that he clearly didn’t take himself

Cain/Colette

Cain tells Dean and Crowley that Colette only asked one thing of him, “to stop” in 9x11 -> Cas asks Dean to “stop” in 10x22

Cas tells Dean he’ll watch over him as he sleeps in 8x08 -> Cain tells Colette that he knows she watches over him still in 9x11

Crowley makes a deal with Cas in 6x20 that then leads to a chasm in Dean and Cas’ relationship & Cas’ eventual death -> Abbadon possesses Colette in 9x11 which ends up making Cain kill Colette

Sam/Jessica

Sam is pushed out of the room by Dean when Jessica dies, screaming her name in 1x01 -> Dean is pushed out of Apocalypse World by Sam, yelling for Cas, right before Cas dies in front of him in 12x23

Lucifer appears as Jessica to Sam in a dream in 5x03 to get Sam to say yes -> Lucifer calls Dean as Cas in 15x19 to get Dean to open the door to the bunker so he can get in

John/Mary

John watches as Mary dies, screaming her name in 1x01 -> Dean is pushed out of Apocalypse World by Sam, yelling for Cas, right before Cas dies in front of him in 12x23

Dean reiterates the story of how John and Mary met to Mary in 12x01 to prove to her that he is their son, how Mary thought John was cute and loved that he knew the words to every Led Zeppelin song -> in 8x20, Charlie teases Dean and says “What about Cas? He sounds dreamy” & in 12x12, while complimenting Cas for Mandy’s sake he calls Cas his “devastatingly handsome friend” & in 12x19, after Dean’s annoyance at Cas being AWOL again, Cas attempts to return a cassette tape to Dean, labeled “Dean’s top 13 Zepp traxx”, which Dean gives back to him and tells him “it’s a gift, you keep those”

In Show/Not as Overt:

JONSA

Grey Worm/Missandei

This post about the paralleled dialogue (x)

This pairing also contrasts with the Jonerys romance as well

Jaime/Cersei

This is a bit more of a contrast situation but there are parallels in that Sansa supposedly might have become Cersei 2.0 that the show liked to tease, even in 8x04 when telling Jaime that Dany was most likely going to destroy Cersei and she wouldn’t be able to see her executed - Cersei is the first queen for Sansa to learn from (most of her main lessons from outside of Littlefinger) - Sansa is also in love with her “brother”, her “knight/protector” though Brienne becomes her knight & Arya takes up the role of her protector in Jon’s and Brienne’s absences - Jon becomes the Queenslayer compared to Jaime’s Kingslayer, Jaime has often been branded as a twisted mirror for Jon, two sides of the same coin

This amazingly written post goes into more detail on this (x)

Yara/Theon

both brother and sister that were separated for a time

both were protective of the other; Yara attempted to rescue Theon from Ramsay; Theon rescued Yara from Euron; Yara is protective of Theon when Ellaria is condescending towards him

Theon supported Yara as queen for their home; Jon was supportive of the idea of Sansa as Queen in the North

DESTIEL

Alternate!Charlie/Stevie

Alternate!Charlie is cleaning her guns at the table a la Dean style in 15x18 - she loses Stevie, before Sam loses Eileen and Dean loses Cas

Claire/Kaia

Claire who is often a mirror for Dean promises to protect Kaia who then says “I’ll go with you”

When Kaia is rescued in 15x12, she asks if Claire will be at Jody’s, after Jody confirms that what Kaia and Claire had was “first love” that struck quick

Jesse/Cesar

two hunter husbands who plan to retire to a horse ranch in New Mexico after Jesse gets his revenge & Cesar plans to help him get

this episode is where Dean asks “what’s it like settling down with a hunter?” and it’s proven later that Dean has been thinking about retiring & gives his approval/blessing to Sam to settle down with Eileen in 15x08 since she gets Sam, them & “the life”

Not in show:

JONSA

Aemon the Dragon Knight - this has more to do with the books but this post explains that supposed parallel way better than I ever could

What the Shows Would Like You To Publicly Believe While Realizing/Not Realizing The Coding They Gave To These Pairings/Relationships:

JONSA

The pairing was subtextual, only confirmed in the script (8x06) as one-sided and by the acting

That Jon was in love with Daenerys the entire time

That Sansa was at face value jealous of Daenerys’ relationship with Jon & that Jon had chosen her (and this is supposedly why she breaks her promise to Jon and tells his secret to Tyrion)

DESTIEL

The pairing was one-sided, confirmed by Cas’ love confession in 15x18 before his impending death, Dean never responds or even addresses it in the narrative textually, leaving any reaction as purely subtextual (i.e. 15x19 - Lucifer’s call to Dean & Dean’s subsequent rush upstairs to let Cas in, Dean’s demand to Chuck for Cas to be brought back, Dean’s falling asleep with a lot of empty bottles around him)

Dean can’t reciprocate Cas’ feelings, confirmed in the script (15x18)

Dean never talks to Sam about what happened in the dungeon or what Cas told him in 15x18

Dean (and Sam) won’t ask Jack to free Cas and/or bring him back 

Dean doesn’t care if Cas is freed from The Empty (in the beginning of 15x20) and instead decides to live his life in honor of Cas’ sacrifice & tells Sam to do the same when Sam mentions Cas and Jack not being there

Actors’ Viewpoints:

KIT

says “that’s weird” when the pairing is mentioned to him by fans

SOPHIE

Tells D&D that they better not make Jonsa a couple in the show when a fan mentions the fanon pairing at Comic Con after season 6

JENSEN

“Destiel doesn’t exist” “We certainly don’t play it that way. I think they’re more...kindred spirits” - eventually this changes and seems to be more embraced in discussion as the final season approaches: “What are you looking forward to tackling this season?” “Cas” & open to discussion of the handprint and confession scene in 15x18 in general

MISHA

When he was allowed to discuss it, he appeared to be supportive and open to the interpretations of said pairing

Acting Choices:

KIT

Master of Microexpressions himself - look at this man’s expressions in each scene with Sansa (i.e. the staring at Sansa’s lips in 6x10, the breathlessness in 7x01 when she asks if it would be so terrible if he listened to her, etc) vs each scene with Dany (Jon scrunching up his face in disbelief when Dany tells Tyrion in 8x02 that he needs to stay out of the battle, his annoyed expression in his bedroom in 8x04 that Dany can’t see before trying to placate her, etc) and tell me which woman this guy was truly in love with - go on, I’ll wait...

SOPHIE

Heart eyes in 8x04 while watching Jon, her heartbroken expression in 8x01 when Jon tells her they need Dany and he doesn’t deny anything when she says “No, she’s much prettier” being a callback to Littlefinger’s comments on Dany’s beauty to Sansa in 7x07, her being upset at Jon having told Tyrion that he is not a Stark in 8x04

JENSEN

Jacting Joices - look at this man’s expressions in each scene with Cas in season 8, in 9x03, 9x06, 9x09, 10x03, 11x03, 12x01 and the rest of the seasons as well as his grieving arc from 13x01-13x05, as well as the “domestic dispute” from 15x03 as well as Dean’s prayer aka confession in 15x09 and tell me that man wasn’t in love with Cas - go on, I’ll wait...

MISHA

Sad face when Dean tells Cas he needs him in 8x02, Cas’ expression when he can’t kill Dean & loses his army, his pained expression when Metatron tells him that Dean is dead in 9x23, Cas’ little smile when Dean speaks on the phone about the honor bar, his expressions every time Dean insults him or bickers with him in 12x10, Cas looking up at Dean almost timidly after saying “I love you. I love all of you” in 12x12, Cas’ face when The Empty says in 13x04 “I know who you love. There is nothing for you back there”, his face when Dean tells him in 14x18 “if something happened to her, you’re dead to me”, his expression when Dean cuts him off and walks away as he tries to tell Dean what’s going on after Dean asks him if he’s okay in 15x01, his last (almost hopeful) look back at Dean as he says “I think it’s time for me to move on” in 15x03, his annoyed expression when Dean asks to speak to him in 15x06, his breathlessness at seeing Dean again in 15x07, him and Dean connecting eyes for a minute in Hell and then him looking purposely away which Rowena catches -- I mean to be fair, Cas’ side was confirmed for this pairing so it all makes sense and leads up to it but again acting choices

Chemistry PR:

JONSA

Sophie and Kit hug at the 2019 Emmy’s (if you watch the video, you literally see them wait until the cameras are snapping the photo even though the show was over by this point)

Once Jon and Sansa reunite in season 6, the conversation quickly steers towards the two characters and their return to Winterfell and the supposed “power struggle” between them

Kit, Sophie, and Emilia are placed close together on stage at the screening of the season 8 premiere (for the love triangle)

DESTIEL

At cons and in interviews/for publicatons, and on red carpets (i.e. the premiere of the #300 episode for the show), PR is heavily done with Jensen and Misha

The C*W does a “dare to defy” promo for the network starring many of their actors - Misha is chosen to say “When we defy judgement” and then Jensen is chosen to say “love happens” (I’m sure the actors said most of the lines in the promo when shooting it and certain ones were chosen such as Jensen’s and Misha’s, certain one for Jared, etc. all part of the PR game)

Bottom line is these two pairings were romantically coded, regardless of how they played out. There were too many tropes/themes applied to both, too many acting choices, music swells, too much framing, too many parallels to other romantic-coded couples in both shows, etc. So no matter what each show tries to tell you, or what certain sections of fans try to tell you, it was always there for each pairing.

Edit 2/20/21: Added Yara/Theon to paralleled pairings in “In Show/Not as Overt” & Brienne and Podrick to “Other Characters Knowing”

[wolfwhiteflowers]

ok my turn to complain or something....lol

 twd filming spoilers~

on caryl and the show in s8. (s8 had premiered and wow, so many criticisms out there. the show is back!)

eta. taking a break from caryl fandom stuff. i still ship them.

so it seems like there will not be lot of caryl scenes in s8 or the majority of it. it’s gonna be like s4 or like s7. u get the point. s8 kinda reminds me of s4 premiere “pookie” scene and the rest of the season we barely saw her/caryl.

it’s hard being a caryl shipper..or harder for someone to only watch for a ship (not me, though). i guess what it is, is that caryl is a subtle ship and writers plan to keep doing that. They interact a few times in season. Angsty and great chemistry. We know they’re close.  i just idk why we wait again. why is it all reunion scenes. A lot of you guys are frustrated and, well, it what the writers had always done ...i think since s3 or s4. yeah, a long time. They’re a subtle ship, I guess. sigh. 

so in s8, i guess carol and daryl will do their own thing and deal with their issues/character arcs. like daryl’s and his guilt and rage ..or something. It’s kinda dumb, cos when can a person be ready to be in a relationship? no one is.they need each other kind of thing. 

idk what im saying. i just idk why the writers keep separating them and we wait for the fifth time. im fine, if the ship progresses ..and progresses to be canon. (give me easter eggs then. i might be ok to have them be already canon offscreen.) I just wanna say i’m bummed again , i have to wait for caryl interactions. I also have high expectation on wondering if they go canon in s8, because of the timejump. I’m hoping there’s major caryl scenes in( late) s8. it would be weird if twd writers praise caryl ship, when they’re not canon even after five years-timejump. just tell us, writers, what caryl’s relationship is exactly.

---some things to remember. twd show’s timeline is slow. it’s also slow paced..imo, it kinda makes it feel realistic-like and see characters’s emotions. So, probably wait till mid/finales to judge on story arc. Also s8 is like s6A, like it take place about a few days, plus war. it’s an ensemble show/ rick show.

  those who compare caryl and r!chonne ‘s ship’s buildup, it’s dumb cos they’re both written by same group of writers. plus i don’t think caryl will have more screentime or as much as r!chonne. 

---also, im more of an overall fan. i watch for the group surviving, then character arcs, then ship moments. i also don’t think twd is the worst show. i’ve seen worse. my list expectations of a story is met. i dont really see super dumb storylines, ooc moments, bad notp ships,..those kind of things...AT THE MOMENT. i know the show is not perfect, i always know that and so. :shrugs:  ..it’s that fun drama show. ok.

--- eta. Recently (10/27) I read some major spoilers for s8  and I now think ..it’s like not a good idea to showcase Caryl or them to be canon during this season. It might be like too insenstive? But then again it’s like the show can have multiple storylines to happen. the good/the bad/the ugly..like life. idk Maybe end of s8, they can show Caryl. Or, they could have had Caryl be canon on 8x01. idk ..depends on the writing and ratings...(some wanna theorize that caryl to be canon or bait us to watch, to get more ratings.) fandom things, but it’s up to me if i wanna watch it/ship it. ........I just IDK. It’s a bummer season for Carylers and fans.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Grave Numbers in Alone

Okay Everyone! The genius of @wdway has struck again. Her numbers prowess is totally making my summer. We're gonna talk about the dates on the grave in Alone. A LOT of us have written theories about what these might represent. I think most of the theories out there have some merit, but like most things TD, they haven't been confirmed in a big way yet.

One of the things we talked about, especially during S7, was that we might see Beth in an episode that aired in November or December. Honestly, at least for me, that was less because of these dates and more because of 1) The St. Nicholas/Pickle theme (we saw a ridiculous amount of pickles in S7) and 2) the November calendar behind the Beth walker in Them.

Obviously November and December didn't work out for us in S7. Once she didn't show up in the MSF, we kind of let it go because we were still convinced she'd show up in S7. If she shows up in S8, the November/December dates still COULD be a thing, but so far it hasn't panned out very well for us. ;D

All that said, check this out:

The dates we see on the grave stone are November 12, 1837 and December 10, 1874.

Guess what, Bethyl junkies? This year's MSF (8x08) will air on December 10th. 

And--wait for it!--8x04 will air on November 12th. 

These dates haven't fallen on Sundays since before S4 aired, y'all. And we know Gimple has up until S15 at least planned out. Even if he didn't have that far planned out in S4 (I think he did, but whatevs) I'm sure he had planned out far enough to know which episode Beth would return in and could figure out the air dates.

Also remember the St. Nicholas/Christmas theme. After writing my St. Nick/Pickles Theory, I really didn't think the Christmas theme meant a literal Christmas date. In the legend, St. Nicholas's gift was to resurrect three boys (yes THREE) who had been murdered. And Daryl never got anything from Santa Clause, right?

So Daryl's gift from St. Nick will be Beth's resurrection. That doesn't mean it has to happen at Christmas time. It's all about the symbolism people. The St. Nick/Resurrection story really isn't about the holiday at all. It's about the man who was the saint.

But now, looking at these dates…hmm. I doubt it will be Christmas thing for the characters in the show, but it may still be Christmas time for us, the audience.

And understand, I still think there's a good chance we'll see Beth earlier in the season than that. Maybe as early as 8x01. But of course there's simply no way to know for sure.

The other possibility is that we, the audience will see her early on. Other characters might as well. (Remember that Carl brings Maggie the music box in 5x10 and all the parallels in 8x01 with him, Rick, the gas station, etc.) but maybe Daryl just won't see her until later. Remember, this is HIM receiving something from St. Nick. That's what his "I Never" in Still was about. It wasn't about Rick or Carl or even Maggie.

I've also always said that I think he'll see her at a distance at first, but not be able to get to her right away for whatever reason (remember Red Poncho Guy). So maybe he'll see her in the Nov 12 episode, but the two of them won't actually reunite until the Dec 10 episode, which incidentally is the MSF.

Given that the calendar behind the Beth walker in Them was seen by Maggie and Carol, but not Daryl, I think they'll see her first, in the November episode. We've said Carol will probably play a role in her return, so I think it's significant that it's Maggie and Carol at this part (who were also the two taken by Paula's group of Saviors in 6x13; yeah, not a coincidence).

Daryl probably won't until one of the December episodes. Maybe he'll finally reunite with her in the MSF, just as he should have been able to in Coda, but really didn't.

Oh, one other thing? The Nov 12 th episode (8x04) will be exactly three seasons after Slabtown. Perhaps another Beth-heavy episode? And of course the MSF will be exactly three seasons after Coda. Just saying.

So this was my big ah-hah moment last week when @wdway sent me this. But I'll also give you a little more, just for your info. @wdway started messing around with the numbers (her God-given talent) and came up with the following.

I think you guys know this, but just so were all on the same page: this will use season and episode designations (like 1x01 = season 1, episode 1) but also series numbers. So, there are 6 episodes in the first season, 13 in the second season, which = 19. So the series number for 3x01 = 20. Hope that makes sense.

So Alone, where we see the "Beloved Father" grave with these dates is episode 48 for the series. As many people have pointed out in the past, 1874-1837 =37. If you go forward 37 episodes from Alone (to series episode 85) that's 7x02, The Well. If you go backwards 37 episodes from Alone, it's 2x05, Chupacabra. It may not be entirely clear why these episodes might be important, but consider some facts in the plots of these episodes.

The Well is where Carol is healing from her injuries at the Kingdom, after being shot. Remember she begged that Savior to kill her, and you know, MORGAN SAVED HER. Basically, she came REALLY close to dying, but didn't. This is also the episode where she met the man who will probably be her long-term love interest. (Carzekiel for the win!)

For 2x05, it's where Daryl is injured and alone, and has to fight his way back to TF. He sees his apparently dead brother, who later turns up alive, and is shot in the head by Andrea, yet survives. Basically, he came close to dying but survived. It was even a head shot in his case. Throw in an Andrea parallel and I don't think you could ask for much more.

So then @wdway decided to add the two years together. 1837+1874 = 3711. Well, there's another 37. Don't know if that's on purpose, but in case it is, she thought she'd play around with the 11 as well.

11 Episodes back from Alone is 4x02, Infected. (May be a coincidence, but this is series episode 37, so both the 37 and the 11 are present here.) The biggest thing that jumped out at her here was that this is where we see Daryl digging graves. We have to side-eye that because all of the Bethyl-in-a-graveyard stuff.

(Keep in mind that they used Daryl digging the graves both as a promo image beforehand, and to make a Daryl figurine from. This image of him in an empty grave is important. And the scene itself is very small and short.) I'd also submit that there were lots of other parallels in that episode (see my re-watches for details) but I'll admit by itself it's not a super-big Beth or TD episode. At least, not on the surface. But…give us a second to convince you.

Forward 11 episodes from Alone is…um…Coda. So we have Daryl digging a grave 11 episodes back from Alone. We didn't actually see them put anyone in that grave. So it really was an empty grave. Then, 11 episodes forward from Alone was Coda, after which Beth's body disappeared, and she got no burial. See what I mean?

So then, just for good measure, she went 37 episodes forward from Coda. We get 7x13, Bury Me Here. Not only is the episode number the same (Alone = 4x13 and Bury Me Here = 7x13) but there's a graveyard/burial theme going on here. 7x13 is where Benjamin dies, Morgan kills and buries Richard (the S7 promo pic of the empty grave came from this episode) and I also believe we see Carol digging graves for walkers in that episode.

So, I've said before that I think Beth could show up at the Kingdom first. I'll admit I've gone back and forth about it. We have more evidence of her there than at the other communities. And I don't mean that I necessarily think we'll see her there first, but rather that after she's revealed, she may go to that community before Alexandria or Hilltop. There IS evidence of her at all the communities, to be fair. So I could be wrong. But there's just MORE there to suggest Beth than at the others.

@wdway got excited about what she found with these numbers because she also believes Beth will show up at the Kingdom first. I think she's more firm in her belief of that that I have been. And I gotta say, she's convincing me more and more. Think of it this way:

37 episodes (the difference between the years on the gravestone in Alone) from Alone is The Well, 7x02. 37 episodes from Coda was Bury Me Here, 7x13. Both were Kingdom episodes and Carol-heavy. Daryl wasn't in either one.

Meanwhile, it's Carol and Maggie that see the November calendar in Them. Not Daryl. Kind thinking Carol and Maggie will reunite with Beth in the November 12th episode at the Kingdom, y'all.

(And how does Maggie fit in? I don't know. It would be total conjecture to try and guess. I mean, they could do anything. Maggie could randomly go to the Kingdom to see Carol or swap supplies or something, and be there with Carol when Beth shows up. Or could be nothing like that. Who knows?)

Some other numbers:

Again, 11 episodes back from Coda is Alone. 37 episodes back from Coda is 3x03. This is where Merle shows up, alive and well after being presumed dead for two seasons.

November = 11th month, December = 12th month. 11+12 = 23.  23 episodes back from Alone is 3x06, Hounded. That's where Glenn and Maggie are taken by Merle (kidnapped and separated from TF) and where Daryl finds Carol after assuming she was dead for several days. (Remember Carol's knife/Beth's knife). And Michonne leaves Woodbury (the lair of the villain). That's important only because she reunites with TF after that. I'll come back to this point, because while going through all this, something else big hit me.

If we go 23 episodes past Alone, we get Here's Not Here, 6x04. So many parallels in that episode I don't want to name them all. But Gimple wrote that episode entirely. There's a major grave theme going on there as well with Eastman's graveyard.

She also tried using the days in the dates. Dec 10, Nov 12. 10+12 = 22.

22 Episodes before Alone = 3x07. We actually see Carol reunite with TF in this episode (yeah!) and Michonne finds TF.

So here was my big epiphany about Michonne in S3. We could relate this to Beth just in that Michonne leaves the imprisonment of Woodbury and finds TF. It's not really a reunion as this is the first time she's met them, but still. She has to survive on her own in the woods (Merle is trying hard to kill her) and she eventually makes it to TF.

Well, Rick and Carl are the first ones to see Michonne when she shows up at the prison (*coughs Rick and Carl at a gas station in 8x01*). But even more than that, we see Rick and Michonne lock eyes across the chain link fence here. Even that early, there were hints at their romance. Granted it took them…wait for it…THREE FREAKING SEASONS to finally hook up. And how many seasons is this past Coda again?

We all totally picked up the Bethyl parallels in 6x10 when Michonne and Rick finally got together romantically. Especially the entwined fingers. So I don't think it's a stretch to parallels the two relationships in other ways, even stretching back to S3.

Anyway, back to 3x07. @wdway also makes a good point about Carol, after reuniting with TF, having to be told who is alive and who is dead. She didn't know Lori had died (though she had a pretty good idea about T-Dog). And she didn't know Judith had survived.

I can see Beth needing to have a very similar conversation. Not about Lori, of course. But about Glenn. And everyone else she once knew (Sasha, Ty, Noah). And she never learned that Judith got out of the prison, so she'll be surprised Judith is still there.

Another parallel? In this episode Maggie is assaulted (nearly) by the Gov. This has been said before, but we can parallel Maggie/Glenn's imprisonment to Beth/Daryl's in many ways. Maggie/Beth both had to deal with the threat of rape. Glenn/Daryl were both beaten badly at some point. Even the order of events is eerily similar.

If you go forward 22 episodes from Alone, we get 6x03, Thank You. Glenn death fakeout anyone?

Okay, I think I'm gonna stop there. @wdway had more intricate details, but the short of it is that no matter what path you use with these numbers, you can see Beth's arc in it. The consistent characters we're seeing in these episode numbers are Beth, Daryl, Carol and Morgan. 

And I know there will be people that don't buy into the intricate math stuff. That's cool. Totally you're prerogative. But keep in mind what I said first: these dates on the Alone headstone haven't fallen on a Sunday since before Gimple took the reins. And Gimple is a careful enough planner, that I don't think most of these patterns can be ignored.

Either way, I'm super excited for S8. Anyone else? ;D

(Special thanks to @wdway for sharing her genius with us!)

[ikkleosu]

were you disappointed by the caryl moments in 710? do you still think that they are endgame and will go canon early in season 8?

*wades into middle of inbox to pluck this anon out*

I’ve had a few questions about specifics of the episode and I might get to them, but I thought I’d tackle this and splurge all my episode feels into one post, save us all. :D

Was I disappointing? Yes, I always am because there is NEVER enough of anything - enough time, enough dialogue, enough scenes, enough touching. But was I disappointed at the outcome of what we got? No, not at all.

In many ways this episode really was not at ALL what I expected, but all in good ways. 

So many non-carylers had written off the caryl scenes as Daryl just “touching base” with Carol. He’s arrive, check she was okay, Carol would give him something to eat , they’d hug and he’d be on his way. People were imagining it as a very casual affair for Daryl - just making sure his buddy/mom is alive and well, and he’s happy with that and off he goes. I didn’t expect it to be like that, but I didn’t expect the tone of what we got.

I expected Carol to be guarded and Daryl open. Instead it was the other way round. Carol was utterly open and out there, and Daryl was keeping a check on his emotions to protect her.

I expected Daryl to try and help Carol, and he did but not in the way I imagined. I knew he’d lie to her, and knew it would be to protect her but I didn’t think it would be because he realised he HAD to. And I didn’t expect his lie to her to be the pivotal to the emotional theme of the episode.

I expected their scenes to have moment so humour and banter, but I didn’t expect it to come because Daryl was desperate to make her smile.

I didn’t expect Carol to reveal Daryl is the one person she cannot lose, and thus he is the reason she left.

I didn’t expect Carol to say “And there wouldn’t be anything let of me after that.”. 

I didn’t expect Daryl’s motivation to be so clearly protecting Carol from being lost to herself and to him forever.

I didn’t expect Daryl to be SO clearly devastated by her leaving in the first place.

I didn’t expect Daryl to be so in control in their final hug, and to see Carol so obviously in two minds about wanting to go with him.

Really, everything in this ep had a different tone to I imagined. There was less physical affection that I imagined but there was SO MUCH MORE in the way of showing how much Daryl loves Carol and is heart-broken that she left, and how much Carol simply can’t be anything other than 100% herself and open in front of him.

In those aspects the episode blew me away, it truly did. And Honestly, I have to give a lot of the credit of that to Norman and Melissa’s acting. We all know Melissa is a goddess who can do inhuman things with her face in conveying emotions, but Norman really matched her beat for beat this episode.

I know we’ve gone over the whole mother kid thing, but this episode did make me think of Consumed so much because I have never seen Daryl be more of a man than in this episode.

His defence of Carol, his inherent knowing of her, his ability to put away his needs and be what she needed at that time, the fact he didn’t badger he to change her mind, or guilt her - seriously, heart eyes all over form me.

Do is till think they are endgame? MORE THAN EVER BEFORE.

My god, I don’t think this ep could have made it clearer. She literally closes the door to Ezekiel and opens it to Daryl, emotionally and metaphorically. Daryl’s scenes with Richard and Morgan bookend the episode, giving us the biggest lesson - Daryl isn’t like Richard, he hasn’t lost everything, there’s still something he’s holding onto, and that is Carol.

Carol’s total openness, her real smile and laugh, the way she watched him eat, the sheer bliss to just BE with him, the fact his presence made her reconsider her choices in a way no one else has… 

This made it totally and completely obvious that Daryl and Carol are each other’s person - the most important thing in their life. Introducing any other love interests into that would be suicide. It simply doesn’t work to have someone in a relationship with a person, when ANOTHER person is their whole world, priority and the thing they care most about. 

And you know, even some ABC/Ders saw this. Before the episode they were sure this episode would show that the connection Caryl had was in the past - it would show they can’t help each other, show they don’t put each other first like they once did, would drive a wedge between them, would taper out their friendship - because dampening their connection is what’s needed if either is to have a relationship with someone else. And they are right.

Except… the episode did the opposite. It highlighted their connection. It showed Carol reacted to Daryl like she has no one else, let him in emotionally in a way she hasn’t with anyone else. And they showed Daryl was willing to do anything, including a HUGE lie, JUSt to protect her. That he’s willing to put the lives of everyone else, the future of the war at risk, JUST to allow Carol to stay out of the fight.

That is the opposite of what ABC/Ders wanted from this ep, no matter what they may say now. This episode didn’t do for them what they wanted. It didn’t end the Caryl connection, it reiterated it strongly, firmly and in a way that clearly is leading to more connection

I do believe we’ll go canon in 8a. I do still have a little hope for the finale, despite all (very trustworthy) spoiler sources saying it doesn’t happen. I’m willing to wait until the week the finale airs, so we get spoilers from the actual ep as it is airing before I rule it out completely.

But if there’s nothing in the finale, yes I believe it will happen in 8x01. They have set up things to be discussed between them. I knew that it had to happen for some time, because fo Daryl’s lie to Carol and knew that would have to be discussed by them. But Carol’s line about why she cannot fight, means it’s not 100% certain they talk again because Daryl will need to know HOW and WHY she can fight again without losing herself - what has changed? 

I suspect we the audience will know SOME of the answer to that in ep 13, but we may not get the full story and we may have to wait until Carol explains it to Daryl herself to know all the details.

And I can’t wait.

[nightqueendany]

Original Final Season 7 - Episode 6: Summerhall

Last Episode was a bit of a cliffhanger so here’s the fallout from The Storm:

*Wish I had a better image for the episode, but this is the only artwork for Summerhall I could find! Hmm, this needs remedying. 

It’s finally snowing in King’s Landing in this episode, appropriate for us to finally see snow in the south right after the Night King has broken through the Wall

IN WINTERFELL

Picking up directly where the last episode left off, Bran tells Sansa they need to get word to all the Northern Houses, everyone has to get to White Harbor, there will be ships waiting for them there (no explanation), no time to wait for Targaryen armies to come, they can’t hold the North that long

Bran also mysteriously tells Sansa they need to send a raven to Summerhall - Sansa mentions its an abandoned ruin, a raven could never get there, Bran says he can warg the bird, Sansa just needs to write that the Wall has fallen and the dead come south

AT SUMMERHALL

Team Jon/Dany arrive on dragon-back (this was Jorah’s suggested location) and make camp in the ruined halls (it’s abandoned, no one - enemies - would find them there)

Sitting around the fire, Jorah tells them all what he knows of Rhaegar and how Rhaegar used to love coming there, the tragedy at Summerhall when Rhaegar was born, etc.

In their explorations of the ruins, they come across one part of the castle that isn’t entirely destroyed - the library - and Jorah mentions Rhaegar used to be quite scholarly until, according to rumor, he read something in his scrolls that made him believe he had to be a warrior (like Barristan’s story to Dany in ASOS)

Missandei begins picking through the books, some disintegrate when she picks them up due to age/damage from the elements, but some do not, she takes a few that are not damaged

While plotting their next move (where should they go, The Reach? Dorne? King’s Landing?) they receive a random, hastily written raven’s scroll from Sansa and Bran - The Wall has fallen, the dead march south.

They send the raven/Bran to Davos and Tyrion at Gendry’s shop in King’s Landing telling them about the attack on Dragonstone and that they will meet them there in the capital

After the raven leaves, Jon, panicked, insists he and Dany fly to Winterfell to rescue his family/make sure they make it to safety and Dany reluctantly agrees

IN OLDTOWN

They receive word from Winterfell, the Wall has fallen, encourage maesters to spread the word to the rest of the Kingdoms so they can prepare for the fight, the maesters are old shits about it, debating the validity of the scroll, etc.

Sam, in frustration, finally leaves the Citadel with Gilly and Little Sam

BACK IN THE NORTH

Everyone is rushing to pack and leave, Sansa is incredibly emotional about leaving Winterfell when they’ve just fought to get it back, Bran finally tells her the ships that are waiting for them at White Harbor are Greyjoy ships and Theon is anxious to see her, Sansa is then less reluctant to leave

Team Stark/the North arrive at White Harbor just as Yara and Theon do, Bran and Sansa quickly explain the circumstances - the Wall has fallen, not enough time to get Dany’s armies North, North must flee south on the Greyjoy ships (we see Howland and Meera in this group somewhere among other prominent Northerners like Lyanna Mormont, Lord Umber, etc.)

Yara begins to plot course for Dragonstone but Bran explains Euron has taken it, most of his fleet is destroyed but he and his men still occupy the castle, Yara then wants to make course for the Iron Islands to take her home back and it’s “Somewhere the dead can’t go” but again, Bran advises against it, he tells them to set a course for King’s Landing - it’s where EVERYONE is headed and will meet up

Theon and Sansa reunite (obviously), Sansa is stressed about going to King’s Landing where Cersei is and where she was held captive for years, Theon comforts her and sparks fly, they end up falling into bed together - AKA Theonsa boatsex

IN KING’S LANDING

Cersei gets word from Euron about the attack on Dragonstone, pissed that it was a relative failure, she wanted all of them dead and nearly everyone, save a few nameless soldiers, survived, she then tasks Jaime with finding Tyrion and killing him, “Bring me our brother’s head” (much like Aerys wanting Jaime to bring him Tywin’s head) and this is Jaime’s last straw, he can’t support her anymore and so he leaves her

In getting ready to flee King’s Landing, Jaime runs into Tyrion, Davos, and Gendry, Jaime explains that Dragonstone has been taken so they can’t go there, instead, they regroup at Gendry’s shop to figure out what they should do next, receive Bran/Jon’s raven about heading to King’s Landing, it’s decided, they stay in the city

After Jaime leaves her, Cersei wakes up in a “bed of blood,” she's miscarried her baby

The Riverlands, Northerners, and Vale forces arrive outside King’s Landing and join up with the forces from Dorne and the Reach/the Dothraki and Unsullied, Baelish and Varys are there to greet them

Baelish and Varys impress upon the troops the importance of the alliance between Jon and Dany, they are there for one purpose and one purpose only - to defeat the Lannisters who have had a hand in harming every single one of them in the last several years, it’s finally time to take the Lannisters down

Baelish and Varys are next seen sneaking into the city in order to meet with...Qyburn

Arya, knowing how to sneak in and out of King’s Landing secretly, gets into the city as well and goes where Bran told her to go - she winds up standing just outside...Gendry’s shop

BACK IN THE NORTH 

In an unidentifiable location, Jon and Dany take a flying break at a waterfall and discuss what to do, from what Dany can tell on their flight, the North is deserted, Jon agrees and concludes the Northerners must have fled south or to White Harbor

Seeing Jon in a better mood, Dany quips they could “stay a thousand years” and no one would find them, not even this “Night King”

She mentions that, because they’ve been flying a very long distance and it’s getting dark, they need to make camp somewhere for the night, give themselves and the dragons a rest

Jon reveals Winterfell isn’t far, it’s likely deserted but they can stay for the night before heading back south to King’s Landing

IN WINTERFELL 

Jon “cloaks” Dany as she has no suitable clothing (it was all left on Dragonstone when they abandoned the castle to Euron), it’s visually symbolic but nothing official

When Dany asks why Jon went back into the castle (Dragonstone) when they were attempting to flee Euron’s forces, he finally explains to her about R+L=J and gives her Rhaegar’s harp

There’s a tense moment between them until Jon finally suggests they marry to join the realm (King of the North, Queen of the South) and their claims, Dany asks if it would be a political marriage or because of something more (as she has started to fall for him), Jon says it would be both, he and Dany end up sleeping together, AKA Jonerys castlesex

Jon and Dany wake up to it still being night and both remark that it feels late and should be morning, though it’s not, upon going outside they see in the distance the AOTD approaching Winterfell, the Night King did, in fact, find them

It should be relatively easy for them to escape with the AOTD in the distance but the Night King raises the dead from the Winterfell crypts and Jon and Dany have to fight their way out of the keep

In the confusion of trying to escape, Viserion is killed

After Jon and Dany have fled south on Drogon and Rhaegal, the Night King finally raises Viserion as his mount

Title is obviously for Team Jon/Dany making camp in the ruined castle of Summerhall for the night.

Episode 6 Inside the Episode: Summerhall

1) First off, I know you guys are going to wonder, why Summerhall?

I know it’s an odd initial choice. It’s never (I don’t think) been mentioned on the show. But, for the purposes of this episode, it’s a great way to a) get out some much needed exposition and b) connect Rhaegar to the PTWP prophecy. And yes, for book nerds, I know Rhaegar would have been younger when he began training as a warrior, too young to have begun visiting Summerhall by himself, and therefore the book or scroll that led him to think he needed to be a warrior wouldn’t have been found at Summerhall. But 1) allow this one time suspension of disbelief or 2) headcanon that Rhaegar left the book/scroll containing this information at Summerhall for Missandei to eventually find. Whichever works for you.

2) The North escaping on the Greyjoy ships?

This one is too obvious. We had all thought this might need to happen. In 8x01 Yara even tells Theon they’ll need “somewhere the dead can’t go,” but NOTHING was ever done with this line. It was pointless. So this scene actually pays off Yara’s useless line from canon and also solves the issue from it - why wouldn’t Dany just retreat to her own island of Dragonstone? (Because she can’t, because Euron took it over, because that fucking makes sense that he and Cersei would do that).

3) Jon/Dany wake up and it is still night?

Yes, because the “Long Night” is actually not just one fucking night. I can’t even believe they had the audacity to call that idiotic episode “The Long Night” when it was, actually, just ONE night. *Sighs* *Rubs head*

Anyway...that’s it for Episode 6! As always, you guys are free to leave comments. I’d love to see people’s opinions, questions, speculations, predictions. Whatever you guys want to discuss!

Original Final Season 7: Preface Post

Season 7 Episode 1: Family, Duty, Honor

Season 7 Episode 2: Greywater Watch

Season 7 Episode 3: The Last of the Dragons

Season 7 Episode 4: Dragonglass

Season 7 Episode 5: The Storm 

Season 7 Episode 6: Summerhall (Current Episode)

Season 7 Episode 7: A City Fit For A King

Season 7 Episode 8: Protectors of the Realm

Season 7 Episode 9: The Battle For The Dawn

Season 7 Episode 10: ?