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How would you rate episode 201?


Ran
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How would you rate episode 101?  

589 members have voted

  1. 1. What's your rating from 1-10, with 10 being the highest/best

    • 1
      2
    • 2
      0
    • 3
      8
    • 4
      7
    • 5
      30
    • 6
      44
    • 7
      150
    • 8
      201
    • 9
      96
    • 10
      49


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My thoughts (and please note I haven't finished A Clash of Kings yet, so some of this might sound stupid):

  • Obligatory re-introduction of the cast was fast and forced, but got the job done. Joffrey still is pure evil at it's best, Sansa's a shell of herself, Robb has a new CG direwolf, Tyrion is going to be awesome as The Hand, Jon Snow's watching the most epic incest parade ever, and Stannis is hopefully going to get as little screentime as possible
  • I wasn't a fan at all of who they cast as Stannis nor Melisandre, and hearing them talk (and seeing how drab her costume is) only furthered my disappointment. It's only been one episode, obviously, but I expected better.
  • Very interested in seeing how much play they give Daenerys. She's of course a pillar of the story but (so far) her portion of Kings is relegated to future plans.
  • Seeing Cersei knocked down a few pegs is nice, and of course that's going to be a familiar trend, but it's bizarre all the same. She was a very headstrong and cunning antagonist who's all of a sudden finding herself among one of the many falling behind in the game.
  • Final 5 minutes was pretty intense. Did a good job of putting a button on it and gave us our first look at Arry.

Looking forward to ep 2, gave this one an 8 upon initial viewing.

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This was maybe my favorite episode thus far. I felt like almost all of the changes for the sake of narrative economy ended up making the show better, tighter, more exciting. The non-book scenes - Cersei and Littlefinger, Cersei and Joffrey, the City Watch and the bastards - were thrilling. The look on Lena's face when Joffrey pretty much tells her he'll have her killed if she defies him, it really makes you feel how high the stakes are. Sansa, Cersei and Tyrion all have to walk a very fine line when it comes to reigning him in without provoking his wrath.

Tyrion comes into Kings Landing with the swagger of a conqueror. It's going to be even more bitter and disappointing to see how he leaves.

I'd imagined Craester looking like King Theoden in Lord of the Rings, before Gandalf kills the spell Wormtongue had cast. Gray, frazzled, a droopy ear, crazy. But the set of his keep definitely grew on me as the scene went on.

Richard Madden was the stand out, his Robb is really, really strong. He really conveys the weight of all that he has to contend with. I find his character far more compelling on screen than I do in the books.

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lol mine is the only vote at <5.

What do you guys even see in this show?

I can't see how someone who doesn't like the show would be interested in keeping track of it and even bother to post a vote in this thread. This, I believe, is for people who generally like the show and admire the work HBO is doing, along with the ever so WONDERFUL CAST they've put together.

Did anyone else love Stannis? I kept trying to see if he'd grind his teeth and you'll notice it from time to time.. and he moved so awkwardly. It was perfect. I was just rereading the book and I remember reading the scene where he grabs the sword and I remember envisioning it exactly the same way he walked it on the shot. I just wish he had a deeper voice.

I did like the casting, and I did like the poor dressing too. It fits a man as stern and grim as Stannis. We still must see how this all develops! D.R.

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Loved it. Solid 9. I think it could've really benifited from a few extra minutes (then again, the show could probably benifit from having 10s of millions of more dollars and twelve episodes per season), but considering what they had, I thought was great. It was very fast, but I liked how they used the comit when switching between scenes -- tied it all together nicely.

I agree with one review I saw that critiqued the LF/Cersei scene. Pretty stupid move on his part (out of character for him), but I didn't mind -- too much -- the change with Cersei and the decision to kill the babies.

Only thing that really bothered me was there Arya's non presence. I hope her storyline is given the time it deserves this season.

Looking forward to Ep 2. (Side note, but I love the new map HBO has on their site!)

Edited by ManyFacedOne
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I give it an 8. I was impressed. I guess I went in with lower expectations and I kind of thought they'd drop the ball after a fairly solid first season. I was also pleasantly surprised with Greywind. Considering the budget, I'm infinitely happier with more CG direwolves than some fucking poorly trained husky puppy. Joffrey was great, I actually lied the Cersei/Littlefinger bit, and even Melissandre was better than I expected.

Stannis is too young and too soft, Melissandre feels a little less arrogant and succubus-like, Davos is a garbage interpretation so far (the guy's supposed to be a pirate,) BUT this show never held a candle to the books. This is MUCH better than what I was expecting, and I enjoyed it more than several episodes of the first season.

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Solid 8 rating.

1. How could they have extended Cressen's scene? Why make the audience emotionally invest in someone who was going to die in 5 minutes? There was only so much time to devote to that. I loved the ACoK prologue but there was no way to translate that whole chapter to television and keep all the book fans happy. I expected it to be cut short.

2. As I said in the other thread, the Cersei vs. Littlefinger scene was AMAZING in my opinion. It wasn't so much about Littlefinger as it was foreshadowing Cersei's personality, political style and how she perceives the world. She has this first taste of real power...no more Robert in her way, and what does she do??? Wield it like a blunt object. Totally how Cersei from the books would handle it. She's uses power like a sledge hammer, often to her own detriment. For those who think this was out of character for Littlefinger, it makes sense that his "hot button" would be Catelyn. His childhood trauma with her is at the very core of who he's become as a man. I found it very deft of Cersei to zero in on that. Great scene all around. Nice touch of having the Lannister guards act like mindless henchmen as well.

3. Too early to tell about the Dragonstone crew (Stannis, Melisandre and Davos) but I think overall those scenes were enjoyable and I did get really excited when I saw the camera pan over Castle Dragonstone.

4. The scene between Tyrion and Cersei was the best part of the episode, IMO. Dinklage is gunning for another Emmy. He just makes it look so damn easy.

5. The only disappointment for me was Craster's Keep. Like other said, it could have been a lot more foreboding and I think the casting of Craster is wrong but not bad enough to make the storyline fail. He's not THAT big of a character in the long run.

6. The bastard slaying scene was brutal, cruel and epic. Really sets the audience up to despise Janos Slynt. The whole scene had a very biblical "King Herrod infanticide decree" feel to it. I really just hope they they explain that it was Cersei, not Joffrey who gave the command.

7. Dany got such a short scene but, then again, she doesn't have much to do in ACoK till she gets to the House of the Undying.

8. You can obviously see that the production team has a lot more money to play around with this season. Watching the sweeping panorama views of the landscapes on my HD screen was great. The sweep from the Red Waste to Beyond the Wall was particularly good. Kings Landing is MUCH better also.

9. Lena Headey really stepped up her game this time around. She is really coming into the role of Cersei Lannister and playing her as the dangerous, power mad she-devil that she is.

10. Overall I very much enjoyed the episode and thought that it set things up nicely. I also like that there seems to be a darker feel to this season, if that makes sense. I felt that the book series got darker after AGoT as well so its nice that the show creators picked up on that. Much more ominous and creepy this season.

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They did a great job. You have to introduce so many stuff. Follow on, on so many questions. The babykilling was horrific. In the books you read that it has taken place, but here you see how cruel this world is. And I had to think of the 8000 unsullied. And it left you wondering what will happen with Arya.

I like it that they want to make the events from SoS even more dramatic by developing a strong Robb story line, instead of a strong Catelyn line.

I really liked the Joffrey-parts.

And generally, yes the Lord of light stof comes over a bit goofy instead of scarry. Melisandra looks to innocent, all feel they should have gone for someone nasty. Although I must say that the Melisandra character in the book has some soft sides as well. I mean she is not the evil queen. She is a misguided priestess, thats all... The series make her look who she is, just a priestess, like thoros and those other red people.

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5 or 6. I have NUMEROUS complaints. I have a serious case of fanboy rage right now.

In no particular order

1.Crasters keep...felt rushed, Jon was being a douche for no reason, Craster seemed wrong.

2.Robb's scene with Jaime- WTF? Jaime is now denying things for no reason, and saying Robb has no proof? And he's SCARED of the Direwolf? Absolutely out of character for Jaime.

3. Littlefinger and Cersei - Wow that felt forced.

4. Ros's echo of Littlefinger's season 1 lecture about not rushing it - Felt forced, was stupid.

5. Joffrey having guys fight to the death instead of joust - there was really no reason to not let Ser Dontos just get totally pwned by Ser Lothor Brune. But I see why they did this...horses and jousting would use more budget.

6. Maester Cressen already dying by the time Mel drinks, and drinking without prompt. Just bizzare. Why? Neither Mel of the Maester's actions are explicable for this moment.

7. Gendry and Arya wearing eyeliner. WTF?

8. Tyrion coming in all mud caked telling Joffrey he looked for him at the battle. What battle, the one Tyrion slept through on the Green Fork? WTF? Did the guy who wrote this episode even watch Season 1? Why would Tyrion still be dirty? Tyrion's intro made me feel like it wasn't his first time back. Was awkward.

9. Joff calling out Cersei on incest. WTFFFF

10. DANY'S WEIRD INTERACTION WITH RAKHARO!!!! WHHHATTTT IN SEVEN HELLS WAS THAT!! They better not get romantic!!

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I give it an 8. I was impressed. I guess I went in with lower expectations and I kind of thought they'd drop the ball after a fairly solid first season. I was also pleasantly surprised with Greywind. Considering the budget, I'm infinitely happier with more CG direwolves than some fucking poorly trained husky puppy. Joffrey was great, I actually lied the Cersei/Littlefinger bit, and even Melissandre was better than I expected.

Stannis is too young and too soft, Melissandre feels a little less arrogant and succubus-like, Davos is a garbage interpretation so far (the guy's supposed to be a pirate,) BUT this show never held a candle to the books. This is MUCH better than what I was expecting, and I enjoyed it more than several episodes of the first season.

Are you sure Davos is supposed to be a pirate? Last I checked he was supposed to be a knight who was a SMUGGLER like 18 years ago (He relieved the seige of Storm's End during Robert's Rebellion. I thought Davos was good.

The direwolf did look really good though, I agree with you there.

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Pretty solid, I especially liked all the Lannister parts. I agree with those who said that emphasis on Ros, at the expense of some truly wonderful opportunities with Craster's Keep, was unfortunate. There was no suspense or any real exploration of the creepiness surrounding Craster's Keep (not a fan of how they depicted Craster either - weird casting/costuming), they barely hinted at the mystery of Craster's sons, and we should have seen the deserted villages. I also think they should have stepped up Bran's greenseer storyline, a complaint I also had in season 1. But that's pretty much what Benioff and Weiss have been doing since season 1, emphasis on the sensationalist sex at the expense of scenes that could helped us get in the characters' heads even further, or scenes that bring out the creepy, fantastical, genuinely weird supernatural element of this series.

Sorry, I know I keep harping on this, and there wasn't even much sex in this episode. I'm not against nudity or sex on TV at all, but it has been pretty off-putting to see this rich story trashified for ratings at the expense of the storyline. I keep saying it, but 10 hours is not nearly enough time for us to get into the characters skins in the way the books do, and I want the TV show to create time for us to just explore the characters, not just squeeze in the exposition, complex plot, and fleeting character development and then devote 5 precious minutes out of a 55 minute time slot for a naked prostitute/orgy/whatever.

I have heard people dismiss GoT as trash because of the excessive nudity, and while that's obviously not a fair assessment, it does indicate how pointless those scenes are. I'm not one of the people who finds the sexposition even remotely necessary (sometimes not even in the books, for that matter). There are plenty of more effective ways to relay that information, and in fact I think this episode proved it. Everything was deftly explained to the viewers without relying on monologues, unnatural conversations, or moaning whores.

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I just mentioned in the other episode thread that I was very opposed to Dany and Rakharo but you know what? It would ultimately be a HELL of a lot better than Dany and Daario. How great would it be if the show just kept that douchebag out of the series all together? I am all for a Daario free show.

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Are you sure Davos is supposed to be a pirate? Last I checked he was supposed to be a knight who was a SMUGGLER like 18 years ago (He relieved the seige of Storm's End during Robert's Rebellion. I thought Davos was good.

The direwolf did look really good though, I agree with you there.

Eh, yeah, 'pirate' was a brainfart wording on my part. I meant dirty, land-awkward, and less properly speaking. 'Pirate' just inadvertantly popped off my fingers.

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I gave a 7... It was honest and fair, but not spectacular...

I always thought that ALL of the books started in a quite slow pace, so I didn't imagine the first episode would be thrilling!

Unlike most, I liked LFxCersei interaction. Loved her playing with the guards! It showed the Cersei from the books that was missing from the show last season.

Lightbringer was probably my biggest disapointment!

And I really thought the Cersei x Joffrey scene was weird... So he worries about his bastard brothers? Doesn't really make sense...

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I was actually really disappointed about this episode, so many changes that made no sense and things that had been added or removed

It seems out-of-character for Littlefinger to try to intimidate Cersei, he never does anything like that in the books, he´s just a background player

I didn´t see the point of having the Hound fight anyone

The scene with Roberts bastards made it seem like he had fathered half the children in Kings Landing

Dany flirting with her bloodrider didn´t make alot of sense

But my biggest problem was that they did not include the dialogue between Tyrion and Cersei when he arrives for the meeting of the small council. That is one of my favourites in the entire series and I really wanted to see what Peter Dinklage could do with it on screen.

"I never understood what Jaime saw in you apart from his own reflection" - too epic to leave out

I gave the episode a 3

I worry that as the books expand, the series is still limited to 10 episodes and thus it might feel forced and stunted

Edited by Thunderfist
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As far as the bastard killing... well done. I just hope they keep that on Cersei and don't push it off on Joffrey. It's not yet clear, but it seems like they may go that way.

They DID push it off on Joffrey, in their attempt to make Cersei a more likable character. Really didn't like that part, i mean - Cersei is the Queen of bitches in the books, why change that?

Anyway, gave the episode a 9. The show looks great, feels great.

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7 on first watch, 8 on second. (I think that's the ceiling for me). Solid, at times spectacular. I think much like the first season we're going to see some really great stuff and I think we're going to see it sooner than in the first season (where in my opinion it didn't really take off until Episode 5).

After all of the concern regarding the LF / Cersei scene I really liked it.

Worst scene, for me BY FAR, was the Bran scene meeting with the complaining bannermen. Dull, dull, dull. Was just a big waste of time.

Edited by Abaddon
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5. Joffrey having guys fight to the death instead of joust - there was really no reason to not let Ser Dontos just get totally pwned by Ser Lothor Brune. But I see why they did this...horses and jousting would use more budget.

People should realise that they can't do jousting unless they are willing to go with CGI (which would look terrible). PETA would have their balls.

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People should realise that they can't do jousting unless they are willing to go with CGI (which would look terrible). PETA would have their balls.

You must be forgetting last season, where they had two jousts.

I don't mind the change though, there's only so much payoff for having jousting everywhere and it is likely very expensive and complicated to shoot.

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