Game of Thrones: Redeemed

I refuse to knock off any points because I truly believe that what AlmightyCutie made here is the best possible version of the mess that was created in the last couple seasons. My only complaint is just episode 3 has a cut that was a bit too rough not to notice of a transition to Jon at the end of it. Just a suggestion to ease into it or maybe do a shot of Jon brooding outside Dragonstone with Bran warging into him? You got that down great in all the other edits you added the warging too, it was awesome! The last episode did have some rough chops at the end, but again I'm not knocking off any points because honestly you did the best with what the source material gave you. I am a little confused about Jon's situation at the end. LOVED the change you made to THE battle in episode 6, that was masterful editing. I was actually crying toward the end of episode six because I was so happy seeing what I'd wanted from that battle, thank you for that!! You gave a much better reason for the Suicide Squad to the north pole arc than the original gave and I loved that Bran had things to do throughout the whole season.

Here's what I'll say about this, this edit sets out what the title claims; it redeems the show. No, it doesn't excuse the original ending. But with this edit, I can finally rewatch Game of Thrones and have an ending that, while not leaving me completely satisfied with all the unresolved plots created throughout the series, does bring about an ending that doesn't tarnish what came before it and has once again brought back my love for Game of Thrones. I will actually binge this show again soon and use this as the replacement for the last couple of seasons. Thank you for making me love Game of Thrones again and for giving me a second chance to watch it for the first time again without being disappointed!

I am a critical reviewer. My score is measured. It will improve as I note this editor is quite clearly a dedicated and tasteful artist who has keen instincts and maintains their cut with care and attention to detail. As such any deficiencies noted, none of which are severe, I anticipate may one day be improved or corrected. If you're wondering whether to watch this or not, the only real question is if you're a fan of Game of Thrones. Then it's a no-brainer. This IS the resolution of the television series. Full stop. That's all there is to it. This is the definitive cut. 3 Dragon's Claws up!

The details:
-The concept is perfect. From a sentiment standpoint, if I was the editor's homie, this is obviously the person I'd want to watch it with since this is exactly the way I would have envisioned it should have ended, Get out of my head - no don't you can stay this is awesome!

-The cuts themselves are in my view best-possible given original source material. It's the right balance between caution and clever boldness. It strikes a good balance in seizing the material that is there and suiting it to coherent story-driving purpose (something that was left to twist in the wind, along with the audience, in the originally-broadcast last two seasons.)

-The integration is fine. Pacing becomes more challenging for obvious reasons in earlier eps of OG S8 / 2nd half of Redeemed. Too much filler and f***ery gummed up the last season. There is only so much you can do. What we get here is lean, clean, and fire-redeemed. I will offer that the final scenes concluding the edit in the form of an epilogue are a touch too long perhaps, a little overly sentimental. I love House Stark too, and Jon, obviously, deserve[s] THE better send-off he gets here. SO MUCH BETTER, so, much so, really... but it drags on a bit compared to the more intelligently aggressive cuts that preceded it. On the other hand, after such a long series with all its twists and turns, it does hit many of the right notes. It's an allowable indulgence for audience and editor alike. Could be a matter of seconds shorter perhaps.

- MY FAVORITE PART - I don't want to spoil it!!! I LOVE THE NEVERENDING STORY AND THE ACTUAL END OF THIS EDIT GIVES ME EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TIMES 1000!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA! THE BUTTON THAT PRESSED WAS JOY! JOY! THANK YOU FOR THAT!! WOW! And it was very sweet too, I just love your taste to rest the series on such a lovely, high note!

-Most crucial editing choice: No more Dani Hitler. OMFG what a waste of everyone's time and affections with the unnecessary, unwise, uninspired and unintelligent original conclusion. The amount of scorn and bile that can, has, and rightly must for all time be offered to the creative dead-letter that was the original conclusion cannot be understated. This, this is the world we as the audience, may open our hearts to freely and fondly as it does not toy with our affections so dismally. So barrenly. So bereft of Common Sense no less too!

-All the endless, pedantic, needlessly-glorified intrigue and backstabbing which set up the story so well in the first place earlier in the series is rightly and smartly dispensed with in this edit. Like, we get it. Baelish gon Baelish. Do we need to see him slain? Opinions will vary but Baelish was a clever cat. If things weren't going his way, and he was the first to detect this in any case we saw on-screen, it is supremely unlikely he'd stick around to face the consequences of a failed gamble. Or even seriously risk the possibility he could lose that roll. It's possible he miscalculates, but the death he got didn't fit the character he was in many's estimation. This edit corrects that with a delightful twist at the end. I raise a toast to Almightycutie! Varys is a survivor too. The idea he'd be stupid enough after so many decades to blatantly undermine his ultra-powerful new queen with a paltry scheme to instate Jon as king on the simple-minded principle of him being the most logical "rightful" heir, and knowing little of his character up to that point vs Daenerys who had proven herself a resolute, if temperamental ruler seems farcical. It was a betrayal of the intelligence and feelings of the viewers. That is corrected in this edit. We are not treated to the mouth-breathing, fist-chewing nonsense of the brightest characters in the series meeting ends like dinks where it was not sensible or responsible to the story to do so.

Note: Backing over characters and insulting the intelligence of viewers with perpetual, uncalled-for twists is routine in many series now. It is the death of good writing first, a slight to propriety in the human-relatability of characters second, and just in bad taste finally overall. Almightycutie exposes that in this series so well in their considered, careful, compassionate editing. I commend their instincts, they speak to the better ones in us all!

-The fetch-quest grinding North of the Wall is basically gone. What a waste of the audience's time!!! Fixed that shit fine, right here!!!

-The battles are well-done. Excellent pacing. The character interactions are sensible all-around. These characters make sense from what we know of them earlier in the series. Their arcs are more literary, the actions better-informed and more literate in an objective sense. Somebody knows how to story-tell. Sure, we can hand it to R.R. up front, but HBO really shit the bed with their improvizations later on. Not innovations, really crass, crude dreck. Almightycutie has the soul of an author. This shows in their edits.

-Arya is finally put in her place. Somehow, in the writer's room at HBO, she became the main character in the end! How obnoxious and actually ludicrous from any realistic standpoint. From a fantasy one, she fits a certain Dark Mary Sue mold very well. This however is at odds with the arcs of most every other character in the series and much other popular fiction. You might except I dunno some God Emperor or other from another franchise, but like, yeah, no. Sorry ladies, there are mortal and meaningful developmental and plot constraints that make A STORY, and while Mothers of Dragons may get certain passes as OP characters, attitudinal brats with murderous streaks and quick reflexes make EXTREMELY UNLIKELY saviors of the world. Fictional or otherwise. Good riddance.

It's time to take to task the deficits of this edit. The above was me being critical of the edit, and as you can see, it consists mostly of praise for the Editor's decisions. I thank Almightycutie for their fine work. There remains room for improvement however, so what follows will cover this:

-The post-Battle of Winterfell resolution video effects are in places rough. The inserts serve the story function but visually look raw, and Chef Ramsey would order them to be sent back if he was in charge of production for this product. In fairness to the editor, that's a visual effects job, not an editor's job. There are some talented effects artists out there, and this project could really use your input to round out the rough edges on some of the shots where it is needed to give proper, and kind (visually) closure to some of the storylines and characters. Reach out to Almightycutie. We need you, but it in no way detracts from the merit of the cuts and placement of these scenes.

-The chroma and lighting (what can you do?!!!) of the Battle of Winterfall is ABSYMAL!!!111 It was in the original HBO release and it is still bad now. The best-lit scene in the Battle of Winterfell, as other critics have noted even in mainstream publications at the time, was the brief shot of the dragons flying above the clouds. This is astonishingly poor production quality from a major studio. It is unthinkably bad. I have my doubts the editor here can do the near-impossible task of re-keying it all, brightening it all to be watchable without cranking up all the display settings to unreasonable levels to make it viewable in good detail. But if you can AC, please do give it your best effort. The green (when manually adjusted to be visible,) overly compression-artifact-riddled mess we get is little to no reflection on you, but it makes for a tougher and less satisfying viewing experience all the same. There again, there are experts in this area that may be able to take up the arduous task of manipulating the total exposure throughout that episode. I despair of HBO's recklessness in releasing that material in that shape in the first place. A note to Almightycutie: Regardless of fixing the color and luminance issues, I would strongly prefer that you offer an alternative, more lightly compressed version of this episode. I don't care if it is 20GBs in size. The pixelation present in some scenes is really bad. It's just a product of poor sample quality and technical limitations in rendering it I believe, but if you can do anything to help us to reduce the distortion overall, it would very much be appreciated.

-There were a few spots in mid-late Part 1 (I believe one where Tyrion speaks) and in Bran's voiceovers in Part 2 where the volume jumped noticeably compared to the rest of the episodes. Would be nice to have these levelled a little more cleanly.

Those are the only real criticisms I have, and as I noted, they are mostly baked-in or difficult to resolve things. I commend the work Almightycutie has done here. It's a service to what would be, perhaps ought to be millions were they to take the trouble to look for a better version of the beloved franchise we all enjoyed, and now may enjoy to conclusion with this edit! For those of us who have the joy of discovering this work, I can convey only gratitude for it. This is something special! Go watch it now and enjoy!

Really interesting and very well put together, however the writing from D&D left almightycutie with an almost impossible task.
I certanly enjoyed it more than the original, and would watch this version over the original again, i was put off at first with the voice over from Bran, but it did tie the story together better and you do get used to it (sort of).
Overall you do notice a cut or two here and there but its really well edited and the story flows a lot better, i would defintely recommend to anyone this verson.
Really well done almightycutie!

This was a fantastic edit with an amazing attention to storyline, dialogue, scenes, and overall arc. We enjoyed the pace of each episode. Though some were short, each one was impactful with a heart stopping ending every time. The edits were unnoticeable for the most part except for one or two where almightycutie focused more on the importance of dialogue and the characters shifted to a new location / new clothes. We do wish there were a few scenes / storylines kept in such as Littlefinger's ultimate demise. Another sore point was unfortunately the overdubbed dialogue. While very few and far between it did take us out of the world a bit each time and could've left a bit more to the imagination / implied etc.

Having just watched the series front to back and going into this fan edit, we were anticipating how each character arc would resolve and they did NOT disappoint. Every character arc felt complete, sensible, and the attention to visual changes here really made this edit shine.

With the footage that was available, almightycutie did such a fantastic job with the ending, cut out unnecessary scenes to the story, and really made the show feel much more cohesive and complete. You can tell a lot of work was put into this and can't stress enough how well the character arcs and visual cues were paid attention to here. Definitely gives this one a go if you haven't.

I’m not going to repeat all the comments below, it’s been years since AC released this Fanedit so there’s no point going over old ground. I will agree though, the audio was a little wonky in places, so much so I went for Stereo instead of Dolby Digital.

So, AC’s work is faultless – It must have been a real slog to cut everything up and try to stitch it together. AC just had the given content so the change of clothes here and there must have been painful to use, but what choice did AC have? There are some scenes that chop really quickly, if it were me I’d have slowed the footage down a touch just to get that extras 2-3secs. **SPOILER ALERT** Dani in flying off in E11, slowing that down could have helped.

One thing I’d have changed, breakfast at Winterfell after party night ! Great use of Stay A Thousand Years, but there was no atmosphere. Personally I’d have added some wind, crackling fire sounds, people crying etc. It was an emotional scene but very flat with just the audio track. But I’d imagine by the time AC got to E11, there was no real creative energy left.

My biggest gripe, AC went too hard on brightening up Battle for Winterfell. For years people have moaned about that episode – I don’t get why. On my setup at home I can see it all perfectly without bumping up the brightness or contrast – AC tried SO hard that some of the winterfell buildings turned green. The original episode had me hanging off the end of my seat, I remember it perfectly – I made food and a hot drink at the beginning and by the end, the drink was cold and the food untouched. I really don’t get the ho-ha about that episode, it was the best thing I’ve ever seen on TV and probably ever will. It was perfect television.

AC went to a lot of effort with this edit, not just the chopping up but some imagery they made and special effects. The slight changes in Ramin’s music was great too, it was impressively executed.

Finally, the best part of S09 ? It’s made me fall in love with GOT again – I’ve not done a rewatch for 2-3yrs now, I just couldn’t.. but now I can and I have to thank AC for that