#and then halfway though watching that season I realized “oh it's because Jon *doesn't* have a character arc this season!"

[cbrownjc]

After being a fan of shows that have very much ship-baited (Smallville and other CW shows come to mind) I just feel very relaxed to be dealing with a show -- and network! -- that aren't into doing that. And, IMO, it's quite an adult thing really.

Hell, I hated (loathe) Season 8 of GOT but one thing I will give HBO credit for is not ship-baiting when it came to the promotion of that season. After Season 7, I and other Jon/Dany fans kept waiting and waiting for interviews and other things with Kit and Emilia in the run-up to Season 8 that would talk about Jon and Dany's relationship going forward, and were confused (and angry) when we didn't get anything during the Season 8 promo tour.

However, by the end of Episode 4, I was thanking Kit, Emilia, and even HBO for not promoting that ship. And the choice they made why not to do so was very clear by the time the final episode of Season 8 finished airing.

As it was, many Jon/Dany fans were pissed off that the Japanese GOT Twitter account had been promoting the ship, and then . . . ugh, the hate-tweeting that started aimed at that account when it became clear . . .

So yeah, I think Jacob, Sam, and the rest of the cast, as well as Rolin Jones, have been very deliberately careful when talking about other ships outside of the ones that have been designated the main endgame ones -- that they have already said will be -- very much because they are not trying to ship-bait anyone about all of this. They don't want fans to think they are being promised something that is not going to happen or remain true long term.

But that very much does not mean that people and fans shouldn't ship what they want. Because yeah, promos and stuff is not what shipping is about anyway, agreed.

I wish Sam was a multishipper lol I wish he gave us more excitement for Lestmand for example lol but he is a Loustat truther😭

Also,have you seen the Lestat+Amel regarding ep5? That could be the twist Sam is talking about

I don't think I have (aside from the fact that I also speculate about that? Was there some new info?).

As per Sam... I think that both show and actors have been very clear re the "endgame pairings" (as Jacob called it).

There is no ship baiting, no promotion outside those couples... BUT, obviously, shipping is not about that :) Ship what you want.^^

Personally I find it refreshing to have promotion and cast so clear on these matters though.

Because relationship messes are all good and fine and fun, but ultimately the big stories won't be about that.