220 replies to this topic

[atia-]

I really liked it.  There were a few awkward scenes/storyline changes, like Shae on fast-forward and her terrible acting.  Besides that, I was very pleased.  LOVE Brienne the three question thing with Tyrion.  Oh, and the Tyrell/Renly/Margaery thing.  That's exactly how I pictured their relationship!  I definitely saw the Queen of Thorns in her then.  She hides it in front of Sansa when we see her in the books, but she is very cunning and smart.

[mrnegativity]

A solid 9, only because I need somewhere to go.

Art direction / set/costume design continues to be outstanding. Best examples this episode - Brienne's armour (her sigil, sapphire details), Margaery's dresses (hot), Tyrion's garb; everything shot in Pyke. Unreal.

Some pretty epic editing/directing - Pycelle morphing into Varys, holy shit. Great job conveying a very important plot point.

Developing Margaery's character earlier than in the books - good option.

Condensing Arya's wandering - good option.

Making us like Yoren more before killing him / giving Arya an inspiration for her prayers - good option (we're only going to sympathise more with Arya now that YET ANOTHER influential protector slash father figure has been cut down in front of her).


As others have pointed out, the only thing that pissed me off this episode was Shae; but I hated her in the books so figures. Showing Sansa to be a little bitch was an interesting one too, I'm ho-hum on that but she probably needs a little depth now in order to lend weight to her developments later.

[Davos55]

Excellent episode! I gave it a 9.  Theon was great in this episode, and I think him burning the note and  his scene with the Damphair were just brilliant. (Amazing music in the Damphair scene).  Tyrion was a boss as always, though I don't know where they are headed with LF and Catelyn.
  I really liked the scene in Winterfell with Bran, mostly because I love Maester Luwin, Summer, Hodor, and Bran! Yoren's death was very tragic, and came off better than it did in the book. I was very sad to see him go, but atleast he went down fighting! Arya was brilliant as always!

My only gripes were Yara (Asha) who I still do not like in the show, and Shae, who I didn't like in the books, and I hate in the show

Can't wait for next Sunday!

[gramblor]

such a great episode. I can see lots of nit-pickers being complainy and whining about brienne not being ugly enough. I thought she was great. Her height and her voice and emotion was awesome. Plus she was ugly......not really ugly, but "swedish ugly"

[Lord Belmore]

I thought it was pretty much perfect. I was gushing throughout the episode. My only gripes:

-I still think Asha/Yara was poorly cast, but I already penalized that in the last episode.
-Shae is annoying, but I liked her no more in the book. As such, it's a very small issue.

[SI Monster]

Just finished watching the encore. At first, because I was kind of busy, I gave the episode an 8. I felt the scene with Sansa and Shae somewhat rushed and the extended scene of Loras and Renly sprinkled a little bit of Margaery a bit unknerving. Again, I'm no gay-basher but I just feel that an unkept secret is not fun and can be distracting.

Upon second viewing, I changed my vote to a solid 9. I did that mostly becuase of the scenes of Pyke and the elaboration of the relationship between Theon and Baelon Greyjoy. It made me actually feel for Theon even though he's one of the few characters I'd like to kill off as fast as possible aside from Ramsay Snow. And props to Alfie Allen and Patrick Malahide for how they potrayed the pain and shame of their rather sticky relationship. It was something that wasn't really delve into in the books that I thought really needed it, IMHO.

Aside from what I previously mentioned (because I hate repeating myself) I give it a solid 9.

[The Bastard of Bolton]

No one else enjoyed Jons opening scene?
I thought it was a great display of Kit's improved acting and great interaction with Mormont.
The Bran setup was nice.
The Iron Islands stuff was brilliant.
The further inclusion of Dorne has me happy.
Tyrion was great.  All his KL was spot on.
Brienne was great, and huge!
Sansa and Cersei really had me convinced.
I like the Tyrells.
Arya and Yoren was great.

Timmet son of Timmet as Shagga son of Dolf?  Have they gone fully retarded?  Why not just keep Timmet as Timmet if the actor for Shagga is gone?
I don't much care for Shae's brilliance in other films when she is sucking in the show I'm currently watching.  She is much to ignorant to risk putting with Sansa, especially if Tyrion is trying to keep her concealed.
Her accent, attitude and delivery are aggravating.
I was a bit bugged that Cersei was almost brought to tears by Sansa's plight but I guess she sees herself as a young pawn.

Best show so far, 8/10

[rmholt]

Cant stop thinking how lucky we are to have this so well-rendered on the small screen.  OK with HD.  So many great SF/Fantasy literature slaughtered on film.  Oh, and great episode.

[Prince of Dragonstone]

The Bastard of Bolton, on 16 April 2012 - 02:00 AM, said:

I was a bit bugged that Cersei was almost brought to tears by Sansa's plight but I guess she sees herself as a young pawn.

Huh??? I must have missed that part....

[salt]

Theon's scene- burning the letter and being baptized by the priest of the Drowned God-


Wow.  That was downright cinematic.  Game of Thrones is the only show on TV I can think of that can pull off something like that.  They're really making use of the fact that so many people are watching on HDTVs these days, the quality was like something out of a Ridley Scott film.  Had anyone walked in the room at that scene, they would have thought for sure I was watching a movie and not a television show.

[Stannis is the Mannis]

8. Best of the season so far. A lot of good moments, and very few I had a problem with. The bedroom scene with Renly went on a little long, time that could have been better spent elsewhere. Also I found the continuation of the Craster cliffhanger to be very anti-climactic. There was no need to even have Craster catch Jon, they could have just left willingly. Seems like they mostly just wanted to force a cliffhanger onto the end of Ep. 2, but it really didn't lead anywhere significant. The scenes with Theon and the Greyjoys were great, and the scenes at Renly's camp as well. All in all a very solid episode.

However, one side comment about the season as a whole so far, the lack of characterization for the Dragonstone crew so far has been a little disappointing. Many characters cut out entirely, and very little back story on Davos and Stannis so far. These are relatively important characters and after 30% of the season I expected a little bit more to be invested in them. A few scenes this episode to develop character could have gone a long way.

[PatrickStormborn]

I gave it a 9, the same as last week. There were a couple of moments where I thought the writing was a bit off, but other than that I thought it was fantastic -- particularly the Arya scenes. If I'm being honest, though, I think the lack of Daenerys really affected this episode. At least we'll see some advancement in her story next week.

And I don't quite understand the hatred of Shae. She's a much more interesting character than she was in the books, and the actress is doing a fantastic job.

Corvinus, on 16 April 2012 - 12:52 AM, said:

I gave it an 8

-1 for the Renly-Loras thing
-1 for Yoren being the inspiration for Arya's prayer, and implying that Littlefinger will influence Catelyn's future actions.

-1 for a scene that advanced the plot? Oh dear.

[The Bastard of Bolton]

Prince of Dragonstone, on 16 April 2012 - 02:22 AM, said:

Huh??? I must have missed that part....

It looked like she was touched by Sansa in that scene between her, Myrcella and Tommen.  She is still being a bitch but it felt like at some moment she was feeling a bit human.  Might just be how I saw it.

[atia-]

The Bastard of Bolton, on 16 April 2012 - 03:39 AM, said:

It looked like she was touched by Sansa in that scene between her, Myrcella and Tommen.  She is still being a bitch but it felt like at some moment she was feeling a bit human.  Might just be how I saw it.

going to re-watch that right now!

[ace]

Gave it an 8. Easily the best so far this season. Not without its flaws of course but hopefully the improvement will continue.

[Arkash]

First time I give an episode a 10... but damn me, this one was amazing !

[atia-]

The Bastard of Bolton, on 16 April 2012 - 03:39 AM, said:

It looked like she was touched by Sansa in that scene between her, Myrcella and Tommen.  She is still being a bitch but it felt like at some moment she was feeling a bit human.  Might just be how I saw it.

I didn't see it....she looked a little evil to me.  "But she'll still do her duty.  Right, my little dove?"  :smirk:

[The Monkey]

Great episode 8/10. Loved everything in Renly's camp, at King's Landing and on Pyke (Alfie Allen's portrayal of Theon is really great).

Had a bit off a problem with Yoren and Arya, and though I understand the need to speed up the story, in this case it just felt rushed. Arya's escape from the holdfast is my favourite chapter in the whole series, and one of the few times where Martin's prose reaches the highest level. Pity they couldn't translate that brilliance to the screen. I also wonder what will happen to the scene were The Mountain's men are interrogating the townpeople, that is such a heartbreaking scene, and pretty important for Arya's character growth.

Brienne was brilliant and fucking massive, and I like the continued exploration of Bran's warging. That was one of the most intriguing parts of aCoK for me.

Edited by The Monkey, 16 April 2012 - 05:05 AM.

[JW.]

Good episode, huge step up from the last one for sure. Solid 8/10.

Brienne lived up to the hype, although she only had a few lines sadly. Alfie Allen is just so great as Theon, that amazing scene when he is yelling at his father.. awesome! First well done non-book added scene of the season so far. Tyrion and how he exposed the rat in the small council, well done aswell. Maisie as Arya continues to be amazing, she really is the most talented of the kid actors on this show, that whole last scene with Yoren and the aftermath was wonderfully done.

Also happy we didn't see any brothel scenes, ofcourse we did have nudity.. but for once HBO did it with some class... shocking!

Stuff i didn't like:

I hate Shae, i'm not sure if it's the actress or the lines she is given, but why the F would Tyrion risk his neck for the likes of her? In the books she comes of as sweet and caring for Tyrion, here? not so much. And yet again, the complete lack of subletly in the show.. but it seems we will have to get used to it.

Edited by JW., 16 April 2012 - 05:00 AM.

[ShadowRaven]

Without a single doubt the best episode up till now of season 2.