Game of Thrones (from TeeVee)

So it’s come to this, the climactic penultimate episode of “Game of Thrones.” Jason and Brian both enjoyed the spectacle while having some pretty serious thoughts about the character decisions the show is suddenly making. Jason has a not-so-wild theory about how the show will end. Brian climbs on top of a mountain of rubble and declares it his conspiracy corner. Jason invokes President Truman. We try to explain scorpion geometry. There’s a “Princess Bride” reference. (We’ll be back a day late next week for the final episode! See you then.) Host Jason Snell and Brian Hamilton.

This week we join the surviving characters to pause to honor a colleague and friend who has fallen on the road to the final episode—and along the way we send some strong words out to the Internet’s own horde of zombie trolls. Then we turn to the episode at hand, as the dead are burned, questions of what makes a good leader are debated, feelings are revealed, Arya gets an offer (and Hot Pie gets an implied job offer), some characters say goodbye, and more shocking deaths are witnessed. Host Jason Snell with Brian Hamilton.

So it’s come to this—the action-packed, movie-length, extremely dark Battle of Winterfell. After two episodes of character moments and table setting, how did we react to this massive action spectacle? One of our hosts hated it, one of them loved it, and the other felt quite mixed. Isn’t it weird to know that one major phase of this story is over? Did the amount of character death feel appropriate? Why does Bran love his stories so much? At least someone remembered to stick them with the pointy end. Alphabet soup all around! Host Jason Snell with Monty Ashley and Brian Hamilton.

It’s the eve of battle! Which means that everyone in Winterfell is a little bit on edge as they spend their time checking in with each other to see who’s still holding grudges about everything that happened in the first seven seasons. Jaime Lannister gets a full trial, while Theon Greyjoy gets away with a quick hug. Brienne of Tarth gets what she’s always wanted (although she’s always denied it), and Arya gets what she wants even though she’s never seemed that interested before. And we’re not talking about that cool new weapon. There’s a lot of talk about how everybody’s probably about to die, but that’s not until next week. For now, enjoy the big fire and Podrick’s singing voice. Host Monty Ashley with Brian Hamilton and Kelly Guimont.