Lux in Tenebris

For action there is certainly enough -- The Barristan fight, Quentyn and the Dragons, they could show the Quentyn scene on the boat that's not in the books, Tyrion/Aegon on the boat with the grey people, duck vs aegon could be a good scene, they could mix in a pit fighting scene, brienne vs rorge/biter, the shield islands fight, siege of Dragonstone. Plenty of action and it will be condensed, not spread out like the current season and next season.

Great points, I agree with all of them. To quote someone in another thread: "Damn this show really flows without Dany"

But like...what if Jeyne escaped with the Blackfish and has Robb's kid inside her? I guess that could still work if it was Talisa...it just seems all wrong. It's an odd change that really doesn't make much sense.

I thought it was one of Jaime's coolest moments, being in his weakened state, expecting to run right through her, realizing "she's stronger than me" and going through the list of others in the realm who are also stronger, starting to respect her as a fighter. I know we're not going to get all that in the show, but a decently competitive fight would have been nice.

Right, in the books Brienne's objective to stay alive against the best fighter on the continent. Not casually block his blows and beat him up like she did in the show.

But with Jamie's skill at arms is legendary in the books, he is seen as the best fighter in Westeros. Even in his depleted condition he gave Brienne a real run for her money in the books, and that scene is key to where they begin to develop some respect for each other. Brieanne gets a glimpse on how skilled Jamie is and it awes her, and Jamie begins to realize that Brienne is legitimate not just a wench with a sword but a legitimate fighter with skills worth respecting. The show has done a pretty poor job depicting Jamie's skill at arms, and its essential to who his character is and who his character becomes.

I think you are missing the point of Arya just standing there when the Hound outs her for who she is instead of her making a run for it, which is something that Arya would do (and has done it the actually books). I also never said she would actually get away, but whatever. Far more ridiculous or unlikely things have happened in the books/show than a girl getting on a horse and riding away.

1) We already knew this 2) No it doesnt and it also isn't actually true. 3) What evidence of there is this? We know Sansa wouldn't call him her brother, he couldn't sit with the family at feasts, even his best friend Robb made it clear he wasn't a legitimate Stark. This is a totally false statement. 4) In the book she hates Jon for what he represents. In the show she tells him she wishes he was hurt instead of Bran and that she wished for him to die again as a young boy. It doesn't make her sympathetic at all. What does make her sympathetic in the books is how her love for Eddard and her family overshadows her opinion of who Jon is (a fine young man) because of what he represents and means to her and Eddard's relationship.

like the Shae Tyrion scene gets four minutes while Arya and the BTB scenes get 4 minutes total. I know what you are saying.

1) She was already on her way out of the place with no one blocking her and the door. 2) I would expect there would be horses outside, although I didn't see anyone on horseback, so maybe not. Either way, that's not really the point I was trying to make, just having her run away would have worked too. having her stand there looking scared makes no sense.

No, it is a deviation from her feelings on Jon in the books. She never wishes him dead, but certainly never stayed by his bedside when he had the pox, wishing for him to live for his own selfish reasons. Never once in her life did she had any desire to make him a legitimate Stark. The whole scene is just stupid and unnecessary, it doesn't add anything to Cat's character (in fact, it detracts) and is on the whole, entirely pointless. Answer this: What was the benefit of this scene? What did it add that we didn't already know?

The writing in this episode was particularly poor.

This is spot on. The fact is, they are totally wrong. Im hoping this season makes a turn for the better, because the last few episodes, and much of season 2 have already started a downward spiral.

Easy fix -- have arya run away and get on a horse and get tracked down -- ode to the book readers, a dramatic chase and Arya realizing what situation she is in. Arya would never just stand there after that reveal -- its obvious the writers just dont get the characters at all.

Gave it a 6.5 -- better than last week's but still needs improvement and its still frustrating how certain things are changed for absolutely no reason. + - Arya and BWB scenes, with the exception of Thyros of Myr baring steel against a 10 year old girl. What was that? Anguy was good, and the scene at the inn makes sense because there's no Harwin in that group. - Jamie and Brienne interactions are absolutely hilarious. Jamie had me in stitches with the "throne made of cocks and you'd never get him off" line. Really good back and forth. Didn't mind the whole getting betrayed by a random traveler, it shows that even the "white" characters need to go "black" in Westeros. - Queen of Thorns was really good, both funny and cunning. The scene and introduction did the book justice - Jojen and Meera was well handled. Obviously has to be different from the books for timing reasons, but I thought it worked in context. Weird how Rickon just ran off an summer followed him, though. - I like how they are keeping Bolton a presence, and thought the Karstark comments were right on -- and much needed. We haven't gotten any real blowback from the Frey's post wedding. - I thought the Night's Watch scenes and Orell/Mance/Jon was fine (-) - Cat's monologue. Why? Just why? I'll never understand why the producers of this show change so many things that don't need to be changed. It's like they want to take ownership for the series or something. - Talisa/Cat interactions: pointless and really poorly acted. I don't buy whatever Talisa is selling. - Jamie & Brienne fight: poorly choreographed filmed and adapted from the book. Jamie is the best swordsman in Westeros and in the show we have seen him essentially draw with Ned Stark and get his ass kicked by Brienne. Jamie gives Brienne a run for her money and leaves her in awe of how good he is. Even if they had included a line from Brienne before the fight "your hands are chained together and you have been imprisoned for ___ you are a shell of your former self" it would have made it clear just how good Jamie is. Now his hand getting cut off matters so much less. Poorly done. - Margery agreeing to kill something/someone while Joffrey watches. WTF is wrong with these writers? What goes through their heads? Why include this? We already know Joffrey is a deviant, but this is just way way to much. Left a sour taste in my mouth - The actress who plays Shae is terrible. Dinklage was either overacting to try and save, or doesn't do nearly a good enough job playing the "dwarf in love" role. I am often really bothered by the senseless changes from book to show. I understand things need to be changed for adaptation, but what I don't understand is including things that have no place in the book or drastically change who the character is. I am also noticing that the acting is not nearly as good as it has been in past seasons, the girl who plays Talisa, Shae and espicially Loras stand out to me as being particularly awful. i know Kit Harrington is pretty bad, but I guess im just used to it by now.