Haymaker

Even before the battle I was really enjoying the episode and was thinking the best of the season so far. Then Hardhome happened and raised the bar to one of the best of the series imo. So yeah a 10!

After some thought, going with an 8/10. The duel was fantastic and had me litterally at the edge of my seat. I think they pulled it off perfectly. Can't quite get that image of Oberyn's smushed head out of my mind. The Sansa stuff was handled well too. The only things lowering my score are the Grey Worm/Missandei scenes which just totally took me out of it, and the Tyrion Beetle speech. I ususally love any extra Tyrion stuff, but the story dragged on and had me looking at the time.

Well yes I was thinking of him playing instruments or something, not returning as a singer.

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Speaking of Marillion, wonder if the show will bring that character back to fullfill his roll from the books. Still can make a perfect patsy since he no longer has a toungue and can't speak to defend his innocence (but can't confess either which could be an issue). I predict they don't bother with the attempted rape scenes regardless, as it seems the story line is being rushed a little to fit it in by episode 7.

Weakest of the season... maybe, but its been an amazing season so not that weak relative to the entire series. Hence a solid 8 rating from me. The Good: - The Eyrie scenes. My wife, the non-book reader, had the reaction I hoped for upon hearing the Jon Arryn reveal! Although, I didn't think it wasn't going to be revealed until ep. 7. - Casters Keep: Was worried about them veering the Bran/Jon story line off the rails after last weeks ep. but its back on track. It did give us a nice visualization of Bran making that decision between reuniting with Jon or continuing the mission. Also, Hodor's possesion, although predictable, was still good to see happen. His disgust after being let go and seeing the blood on his hands was noteworthy too. - Liked the unexpected twist with the interaction between Margery and Cersei. The Bad: - No scenes I truly disliked. The rest filler but good filler with character development.

I would give it a 9.5/10 so rounded up to 10... Kinda suprised how varied the opinions are on this really good episode. Didn't think any scene was too cheesy or fell flat. Most were fantastic with exceptional dialog and acting imo. Littlefigner/Sansa scene and dialog very much like I remember from the book and done well. Pod/Tyrion, emotional ending and its always great to hear Tyrion try to put the pieces together; Tywin teaching Tomman while essentially taking him under his wing away from Cersei as quickly has he can; Jon Snow finally being a character I care about again, after the debacle of his story line the last two seasons (espcially s2). The other scenes not mentioned provided some good setup for future episodes. The only scene that was meh to me was the 1st Sam/Gilly one. Yes the Jaime and Cersei scene came off too rough unfortunately (espcially for non-book readers) but I think the intention was the same as the books (backed by a quote from the director of this episode here: goo.gl/qSq8LV). So not getting my panties in a bunch over it.

Give it a 7. Worst of the season... but this season is the best to date so it was still pretty darn good! Was definitly a setup epsidose so lacked the punch of the past three, but ups the anticipation for the remaining 4 epsiodes. Don't have any complaints on any of the scenes really. Maybe having Joffery straightup kill Ros was... a little odd to me. Interesting curveball having Tywin threat to put Loras on the kings guard, but still hoping he is somehow put on it eventually.

I loved this episode, best of the season for sure due to the opening 10 min, the riots, and the introduction of Ygritte! Gave it only a 9 because the second half didn't have me emotionally as high as the first half, but still great. (Probably would give it a 9.5 if it were an option) Also, I liked the Jaqen 2nd kill, because it's a good setup for explaining why she doesn't use her wishes on big players like Jofferey or Cersei (which is all I heard about last week with the tickler pick) because she kind of squanders the 1st one and has no choice on this 2nd one. Plus it highlights Jaqen's bad ass skills! With this perspective it didn't come off completely comical to me like its seem to have with other. I do agree with you although knowing this I still keep coming back to read their reactions. But to them and other book purists, you know the story from the book and that will never change regardless of what the TV show does, so just go with the flow and you'll enjoy the show's take more. Todd VanDerWerff's review over on AV Club is a good read for this episode. He discussing the novel-to-screen adaptation of this series and with this episode in particular very well.