rystine

9/10 One of the five best episodes so far in the series. Dracarys was awesome. The mutiny at Craster's was everything that it was in the book. I love that the Tyrells are clearly Lannister's with roses. The QoT continues to be awesome and Margaery's manipulation of both Joffrey and Sansa is great to watch. Theon's story and the bastard's "reveal" has renewed my belief in that storyline. And no complaints for Arya. Plenty to show that the Red God isn't just the "evil" of Mellisandre and there is more to that religion.

9/10, barely. Slightly better than last week. The only thing I didn't really like was the extended adventures of Pod. It was funny and all, but it just felt out of place, particularly Tyrion introducing all of the girls. I also am starting to wonder if Theon's story might stretch too thin, but I won't criticize it too harshly yet. I prefer show Locke to Vargo Hoat. Simplifying the whole background of Jaime's captors is simply more efficient storytelling and it loses none of the impact, IMO. Finally seeing Tywin interacting with the small council was great. Unlike everyone else who we've seen "in charge" of the small council throughout the show (Ned, Robert, Cersei, Tyrion), there is NO DOUBT that Tywin is running things now. Farewell Hot Pie, I wish we had more scenes with the BwB. I like pretty much everyone that's part of this storyline, especially the BwB themselves (Thoros and Anguy). Blackfish is appropriately awesome and Michelle Fairley may just be the best actress on the show.

I agree with this. When me and some of my friends were talking about the first two episodes, someone mentioned that the first episode felt like the first half of a two hour season premiere. Now after having seen the second episode of the season on sunday, and yesterday watching the two episodes back to back, I definitely agree.

8/10, I would say 8.5 if it were an option. I liked it somewhat better than the first episode of the season, and it's probably in my top six or seven of the series overall. Although, given that there's only been 22 episodes so far that's not saying much I suppose. The scenes north of the wall weren't really necessary, but weren't bad either. At least we're reintroduced to Rast, who I believe will . Margaery continues to get better, she's playing Joffrey like a fiddle and Natalie Dormer is knocking it out of the park. I wasnt sold on her last season, but she has changed my mind for sure. QoT was awesome, nuff said. Sansa was great in that scene as well. Arya, Gendry, Hot Pie, and the BwB were fun scenes as well. I liked that they kept Thoros as a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. It will give his descent into depression more impact (if they keep that in the story) if we see him as a joyful guy beforehand. I also loved how Gendry said what all the fans were thinking, "you could have chosen three people to kill and you chose those guys?" I didn't hate Catelyn's scene as much as I thought I might. Although Robb's stuff in general was nothing to write home about, neither great nor terrible. I quite liked Bran and the Reeds scenes. I liked how Jojen was pretty straightforward with explanations of their various magical abilities, rather than the cryptic ways it was explained in the books. And obviously that is a great setup for some potential backstory, now lets see if they can take advantage of that.

A little slow. I actually preferred that they stuck with various characters stories longer, and excluded others altogether, rather than giving us very small pieces of all the stories. Tyrion and Tywin was superbly done. And Barristan's reveal was simplified but very well done, Dany's story in general is off to a great start. Jon and Mance was also a highlight for me. 8/10