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[Book Spoilers] EP 209 Discussion


Ran
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Perhaps Renly's armor was not meant to be a plot point for the show, but just inserted subtly for book readers to enjoy...

Definitely, it's an easter egg, nothing more. It's not much of a plot point anyway but those little nods to the book fans are nice. There's no way that any non-book reader would think of Renly at that point.

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That was really really amazing. Especially:

- The wildfire explosion: wow.

-Sansa. The actress was great.And this line:

"I will pray for your safe return my Lord"

"Will you?"

"Just as I pray for the King's" and her conversation with Joffrey.Loved it!

-Cersei finally acting like Cersei! Lena Headley was amazing.

-Tywin's arrival, Loras removing his helm.

-The rains of Castamere: Very pleasantly surprised to hear it.

-I loved Stannis at the end.

Edited by Fantôme
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I think that was as Martin talked about writing fantasy and human actuality. Such as in the book The Wheelhouse being too big to fit into Winterfell's main gates, but in reality constructing it would be way too costly.

If the fire was a nasty as it was in the books technically the suffocating fumes would have made life in King's Landing improbable folks would have been indoors and the battle would have ceased, the heat, the air . . nothing would have happened at that point both sides would have to stand back. I thought tonight's battle episode was realistic, huge flames, but not over done, fire, blood, and sword. The three battle elements of Martin's wonderful song.

Can a sword really slice the top of a head clean off like Stannis' did ? I doubt so. I'm not expecting GoT to be a historically accurate depiction of the War of the Roses, thus don't really care much about the science behind the battles or logic behind the tactics.

The book made it sound like the river was literally on fire and I distinctly remember having a feeling of suffocation while reading that scene...Actually the characters in the show itself mention the river being on fire a few times but after the initial wildfire explosion (which, admittedly, was spectacular) we really really don't get a sense of anything being on fire except a couple guys on the shore.

That was my only complaint in an otherwise amazing episode.

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Pretty sure I read where the producers said they are splitting book 3 over two seasons. If anything it would be the cliffhanger for the end of the season.

They'll probably keep in tradition and have the most surprising and epic (not in a good way this time) part of the book in the 9th episode.

Edited by Warden of the North121
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They'll probably keep in tradition and have the most surprising and epic (not in a good way this time) part of the book in the 9th episode.

I think it would be better that way or non-readers may hope Robb or Cat survived or something.

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They showed Stannis kicking ass non stop, and he never got hurt

He was hit by a rock when climbing the ladder. You know, what makes those scenes so awesome is that he genuinely fought like a real knight, kicking and punching and using his body to knock guys down and away from him. He also gripped his sword by the blade with his off hand a couple of times, which is a less well-known but actually rather common style. There's clearly a very good action director behind this.

Can a sword really slice the top of a head clean off like Stannis' did?

Technically, yes, practically it would be difficult.

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This is the most thrilling and exciting episode so far! Some episodes in season 2 had better (or more memorable) dialogue scenes, but overall I think this episode ranks as the best so far this season.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, because the episode had been hyped up so much, and I wanted to keep my feet on the ground. But I knew that GRRM had written the episode, and I'd seen all of Neil Marshall's action films, so I felt pretty confident that I wouldn't be disappointed, and I wasn't.

I did miss Arya, but it's perfectly understandable that she doesn't appear in this episode, since all the action is centered around the Battle of the Blackwater (I realized early on that Arya wouldn't appear, because Maisie's name wasn't mentioned during the opening credits).

Good:

  • More Sansa scenes. I particularly liked the scene with Sansa and Sandor. Sansa looked pretty wearing her new dress (which looked much better than her old dress).
  • The wildfire explosion. The explosion exceeded my expectations by far, it was really well done. You could see the ships being ripped apart by the blast. There were some great shots there as well. The entire sequence (including the build-up) was well directed.
  • Lots of carnage. People being cut in half, skulls being sliced off, etc.
  • The battle scenes were well directed and even though they had to work with a limited budget and limited resources, they still managed to add a sense of scale to the shots. It's definitely one of the best (if not the best) battle I've seen in a TV show.
  • They focused not only on the battle, but on Sansa's and the queen's situation as well. It gave the viewer (particularly people who've never read the books) a better understanding of what would happen if they lost the battle.

Bad:

  • My only nitpick is that a couple of scenes seemed a bit hurried. For example, when Tyrion and his men attack the enemy at the city gates, the fight is over almost before it begins.

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We know where Jamie is, Sandor , Meryn Trant and Mandon Moore

why aren't the other three king's guard at the battle?

Two of them did not seem to be guarding the queen.

Hell I don't even know who they are.

Was Ian Beattie as Ser Meryn Trant really there in E9 usually he has such distinctive eyes one can make him out.

Edited by boojam
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I think it would be better that way or non-readers may hope Robb or Cat survived or something.

Yes. I'm really hoping they'll show Robb's head on Grey Wind's body, or Grey Wind's head on Robb's body. It's such a disturbing image, I don't see how they could not show it.

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We know where Jamie is, Sandor , Meryn Trant and Mandon Moore

why aren't the other three king's guard at the battle?

Two of them did not seem to be guarding the queen.

Hell I don't even know who they are.

Was Ian Beattie as Ser Meryn Trant really there in E9 usually he has such distinctive eyes one can make him out.

Jaime - Riverlands

Boros - Blackwater

Mandon - Blackwater

Sandor - Blackwater > Sansa > fleeing the city

Meryn - With the queen (I think you can spot a kingsguard by the doors every now and then,)

Balon (neverr actually named - With the queen

Arys (never actually named) - With Myrcella in Dorne, presumably

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This was definitely a step up from the prior episodes, either because it didn't include huge chunks of stuff that wasn't in the books, or else because GRRM was more involved in it.

Even so, it was a shame that the Sandor and Sansa scene was so curtailed.

Favorite lines of the episode

Varys - I am not entirely sure what you mean.

Tyrion - I am entirely sure you are entirely sure what I mean.

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