This IS going to go the way you think
We've now had time to collect our thoughts after a dizzying weekend of making moves, misdirection and bolstering the troops for a defensive effort. As exciting as it was, we must now step back and assess the landscape.
If we learned anything from the events of last weekend, after months of speculation, theories and so much waiting it was this...
THE BATTLE OF WINTERFELL WAS NOTHING MORE THAN A RIP-OFF OF THE LAST JEDI!
But...guess what? That's okay. Two things can be similar to one another and still both be awesome. A story of good versus evil is inevitably going to hit a lot of the same beats
Obviously I have to hit the pause button here in case anyone reading this hasn't seen either of those two things. Go away, watch both and then come back in just over four hours and read the rest of this incredible article.
We'll wait...
Anyway...
So, what am I talking about? Aside from the annual JetsFix tradition of finding any excuse to talk about Star Wars on Star Wars Day on my politics website that sometimes touches on the New York Jets, I mean.
I'm not about to rant that Arya, like Rey before her, is a "Mary Sue" because that's a nonsense claim anyway since each character is well-rounded and has been painstakingly defined in the build-up to the latest chapter. I'm not inclined to be sensitive over the concept of a female character landing a decisive blow in a battle, either.
Nevertheless, both stories did require that hero to show up and rectify a seemingly hopeless situation. Rey by floating rocks and Arya via the self-alley-oop with her Valyrian steel dagger. Also, it's worth noting that Arya did kinda Valyrian-steal that move from Rey:
Another major similarity was that the apparent "Big Bad" was killed off swiftly, creating the revelation that the true enemy is actually going to be someone we've been much more focused on throughout the story.
Obviously Kylo Ren and Cersei will be the main antagonists as each story winds to a close, while the Night King is left in pieces just like Snoke, before we ever got to find out if our theories about either of them were true, or his full back-story.
The Night King also pulled off a very familiar move in the Battle of Winterfell. What if he had done this after emerging unscathed from the Dracarys of Drogon?
WHAT THEN?
Of course there were other parallels. Pre-battle staredowns, the white landscape and kicked-up dust and even a slow-motion chase scene (in a library).
The story even ended when an ageing character with mystical powers, having showed up looking much younger than they actually were earlier at a desperate moment, paid the ultimate sacrifice by dying because they were tired.
They even both left behind some bling!
But, who cares? They were both great and these moments held each chapter together. Like I said, if you want a classic good versus evil story to work, you're going to have to go over some old ground.
Maybe next May the fourth, I'll write about how Avengers: Endgame was a shameless rip-off of The Force Awakens. (Come on - when the guy does the thing with the thing and then how the movie ends with that other guy getting that other thing from the dude?)
Again, though, both were awesome. (Shut up, yes they were). The point being that if you distill something down to a molecular level, you're going to find similarities but that doesn't mean that doing something that's been done before can't lead to something fresh, effective and meaningful.
But how does all this affect our New York Jets, I hear you ask? They can't participate in a good versus evil story until they get good - and that's been a quest that feels as long as the endless night.
The Jets teasing a trade-down but then settling for the best defensive lineman in the draft is a familiar tale in and of itself. And it seemed to have worked the last time when Leonard Williams found himself in the pro bowl in his second season.
So Quinnen Williams will seek to follow in his namesake's footsteps, perhaps leading to longer-term individual success for them both and for the team collectively. Like I said; two things can be similar to one another and still both be awesome.
And, just like Game of Thrones and the Last Jedi - as well as the chapters yet to follow - we'll all be watching.
This article is dedicated to Peter Mayhew; a hero both in and out of his Chewbacca costume.