Part of being movie/TV fan means investing your time and money. You follow onscreen adventures for years, never missing out on a single episode or big screen opening. But eventually things must come to an end, and finales offer the chance for long-awaited payoffs and narrative conclusions.
That's exactly what's happening this week with Avengers: Endgame, which is the cumulation of the past 21 Marvel blockbusters and over a decade of filmmaking. It's a massively ambitious blockbuster, perhaps even more than Infinity War, and really pays off for the fans who have shelled out money to each installment of the behemoth franchise. I saw the movie last night, and I'm emotionally spent and can't really think about much else today.
But as soon as I exited the theater and began recapping just how satisfying and thrilling Endgame was, I had one thought: we have to do this all again in two days. Because shortly after Endgame is digested by the rabid fanbdom, we'll be glued to our TV screens for this Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones.
Episode 3 will contain the Battle of Winterfell, teased to be the biggest medieval battle sequence in film history. Most of the show's surviving characters have gathered in The North to battle the Night King and his army of the dead, and smart money says that we're going to lose plenty of fan favorites throughout the course of the next episode.
Game of Thrones has the potential to be more suspenseful and gut wrenching that Avengers: Endgame, which is really saying something. HBO's acclaimed series has always known just how to break the fandom's hearts, and is far more cruel that the MCU has ever been. So just when you may have pulled your emotions back together following an Endgame screening, GoT is here to emotionally devastate.
The stakes couldn't be higher for either the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Game of Thrones in its final season. Fans have spent a ton of time following both properties across eight season and 21 movies, and therefore have emotional connections to the characters. The possibility of major character deaths has never felt so inevitable, and both franchises have shown they weren't afraid to kill off fan favorites.
Related: 7 Game Of Thrones Theories About The Battle Of Winterfell That Could Come True
At the time of writing, its Friday morning and I'm still pretty exhausted from the experience of Endgame's wild three hour ride. Luckily I've got two days to recover before Game of Thrones, but there are plenty of fans who didn't run out to the opening night showings of the the latest Avengers movie. What's more, I've got a few friends who are seeing Endgame on Sunday, and then watching The Battle of Winterfell that night. I need a drink just thinking about that.
Now, I'm not complaining. This week is full of payoffs and top notch content to enjoy, but you've got to wonder exactly when the powers that be realized how Marvel and HBO's scheduled overlapped in such an epic way. But what's clear is that plenty of people are going to walking around Monday morning in dire need of coffee and possibly some therapy.
Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now, and Game of Thrones will premiere its third episode this Sunday on HBO. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
