How would you rate episode 301?

[Conchobar]

Jaime,

Yes. Just shot it and will be editing it together and uploading at some point. But first need to upload our Thronecast appearance for their second episode next week, which we shot a bit earlier.

Cant wait!

[Cas Stark]

I know, I shouldnt be surprised anymore. I just wish that people would realise that it not being the same as the book, or being worse than the book, is not a valid criticism! If it makes sense in the context in the show, and is compelling and entertaining, that is what is important.

If the changes they make create confusion or change the ESSENSE of what is in the books then its a valid criticism. When things do not happen exactly like they happen in the books or what some random, marginal character does not apear in the show, then I would say that's not very valid.

Spending time on Ros, who was not even in the books while giving short shrift to other important characters and scenes is a valid criticism, no matter how engaging the actress who plays Ros may be.

[winwolf]

!! 9 !!

Not a 10 only because of the opening scene + Quborn in harrenhall wait what?

[gwenyth]

5 - and I think I'm being rather generous. I thought it pretty much a muddle. I try to view the show without comparing to the book, and am watching with someone who has not read the books and am watching his reactions.

Problems:

1. Sam and ravens - eh, wot? Sam was out gathering dung. And Ghost with the company?
   
2. Bronn with naked woman - ho hum.
   
3. Sansa and Shae game - what a waste of minutes, what plot arc did it advance, what did it tell us about the story?
   
4. Margaery and the orphans? Silly bathos. Why not have a scene with carts of food being delivered to grateful crowds while she is present? Would have accomplished the same point and harked back to the scene of the crowd mobbing the Lannisters because they were hungry.
   
5. Harrenhall - my companion watcher had no idea who the characters were other than Robb, Cat, what's her name Robb wife.
   

Well done:

1. Tyrion and Tywin: stands alone as a powerful scene and sets up for later developments
   
2. Giant
   
3. Dragons - brief glimpse that we had
   
4. Davos and Saan scene
   
5. Stannis looking/acting drained, listless, defeated
   
6. Dany assassignation attempt - well done with the child (when she opens that blue mouth it's a shiver) and the beautiful, deadly "creature"
   
7. Condensing getting "Ser Grandfather" to Dany
   

I was very happy not to have to endure Strong Belwas - I think he's a great bore.

[Diehard_si]

An 8.

Season 2 frustrated me. I'm trying hard to be more open minded in the adaption now. There are annoyances but tying to see through them. It's a near impossible job to get these books on screen and overall they are doing a damn good job.

No one is going to do any better, put it that way.

[Lady Shadow Cat]

I loved the scene with Marg, Cercei, Loras and Joff at the dinner table. When Marg and Loras were talking about Marg's volunteer work, Cercei was all smiling but looked like she wanted to puke lol.

I loved how the reaally kept to the scene with Daenerys in Astapor and the merchant making fun of her. Also, to me it makes sense that they left out Whitebeard as it would be a lot harder to pull this off to a viewing audience. Before he even introduced himself, non-reader friends I was watching with recognized him. So it would be dumb to try.

I was a bit dissapointed in the ending, I thought they were going to end it with a bit more bang. However, all in all, they did a good job of setting up some of the characters for S3. Can't wait to see what they do with Bran and Arya, and when we'll see the Martells.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Lady Shadow Cat

[Tywin's bastard]

If he pushed Jorah, the knight would have been after him with a sword. The way they did it made it looked like they were sudden buddies. If I were Jorah, I wouldn't have trusted ANYONE at that point! Hence my feeling about the timing being off (possibly rushed) for that scene. Compare for example, with the Tyrion/Tywin scene. Superb. 10 or more seconds (haven't rewatched yet) of nothing but Tywin scribbling on a parchment. All sublime character acting and tension building. That's where I thought the timing and editing was done well.

I disagree. Jorah grabs Barristan because he lays his hands on Dany (smacking the ball out of her hands) and is holding a dagger. A legit threat to her life. Barristan gets loose and kills the manticore, only to move directly away from Dany and after the warlock girl. In that situation it makes no sense for Jorah to attack Barristan. First of all he saw Barristan kill a threat to Dany and then go after the one that presented the threat to her, plus that Jorah actually did what a proper guard should do at that point; going over to Dany and making sure she's alright (when we see Jorah again he's holding Dany). Running after Barristan with a sword at that point would be completely moronic since if he still thought Barristan was a threat he would realize that there were more then one threat around, which means that you secure the one you protect rather than go all out to fight one of them.

I don't think your complaints make much sense.

As for being rushed, I don't think your comparison works very well since those are two completely different types of scenes. I think the action scene took quite a bit of time as well so I'd sooner complain about the slow mid part with the manticore rather than saying it was rushed.

[Abaddon]

I mean how do they explain Dany magically getting a ship to take her to a land that hadn't even been discussed in season 2 (Astapor).

It was very clearly stated in Ep10 of S2 that Dany got enough treasure from Xaro's house to "buy a small ship" as per Jorah. I am pretty sure Astapor was mentioned as a possible destination at some point, although that was admittedly easier to miss.

[Joyful Union]

It's a perfectly valid criticism. If something is changed from the books unnecessarily than it is perfectly valid to criticise D+D for that.

Now fortunately this episode wasn't so bad in that regard. There were invented scenes but only ones on par with what we got in S2, and the plot deviations were fixing previous mess ups. It seems that so far the season is on track to be somewhere between S1 and S2 in terms of faithfulness which I can tolerate.

Nope. Adherence to the source material may be interesting to compare, and you may think the books did it better, but this does not actually affect the quality of the show. The show is distinct from the books. If it made sense within the context of the show, then it isnt a mistake.

[Howdyphillip]

I gave this episode an 8 as well. Overall, a better opening than season 2, but as has been mentioned it did have some issues with pacing. I personally liked a lot of the changes that others here seem to have not liked as much.

I really liked the scene with Margaery. In the books, the fact that she is loved by the people was a note that I had been interested in, and I am glad to see how this is happening take place on screen. I personally like the actress playing the role as well. I thought Dormir did a convincing job of playing someone who is smart and adept enough to join in the machination of King's Landing politics, yet still truly concerned for the small folk.

I am probably one of the only people here who is a long term book reader and also likes Ros as a character as well. I enjoyed the scene between her and Shae. I like the fact that the writers have decided to expand both of these roles for the sake of character continuity

[a white raven]

7/10 It felt rushed, I know they can't put in every detail from the books but so much was just glazed over. I love the show, but it makes me sad when they dumb it down. The CGI for the dragons looks great, and I'm excited for this season!

[Jon Wat]

The changes from the books don't affect me, as I see GoT as a different entity. So, no problems at all with that.

- First thing, there were only a pair of boobies in the entire episode, so do not complain about gratuitous nudity and such.

- The Sam thing was good, didn't really understand where the Others go but I really felt the fear in his eyes. Gave me chills. I'm guessing the real battle will come later, so I'm not too worried about that.

- The intro was amazing, as always.

- The KL scenes were awesome, mainly the Tywin/Tyrion conversation. Bronn made me laugh for the first time, and I loved his acting. Sansa has grown up and Shae is, hum, different. For the best.

- Davos was great. I genuinely felt his despair, and his conversation with Saan was fluid and entertaining.

- Margaery is beautiful. Simply... beautiful. And she even looks younger than in the S2 finale, what's up with that?

- I won't even say anything about Daenerys because I'd repeat a lot of adjectives. Barristan's reveal felt real in my opinion, and I loved the inclusion of the manticore (I wasn't expecting it to appear).

- About the aesthetics: amazing CGI, amazing landscapes, amazing color palettes.

Everything I said was purely based on my emotions while watching the episode. Best season premiere so far, and a great indroduction.

The episode had some minor flaws, but overall they didn't even matter. My rating is 9.5/10.

I'm glad I manage to enjoy these episodes so much, and I love to be able to appreciate all the details. It must be horrible when you're constantly looking for changes and struggling with every little slightly nonsensical scene.

But then again, I'm easily impressed. And I love it :D

Edited April 2, 2013 by Jon Stargaryen

[Winterz]

7/10, slow episode but not exactly a bad one either.

[house of no sigil]

Only a 6 for me. I liked everything about the episode as it was, but it's the stuff not there that bothers me.

After showing the wights marching on the Fist at the end of season 2, it is maddening that they completely dismiss the entire ensuing battle. The "budget" reasoning falls a little bit short to me. Show a few NW getting killed and the rest fleeing. I still think that Jon and Mance and the Wildlings will see the aftermath when they march south, but people waited a year to see the wights and NW battle and it's ridiculous that they just skipped it.

No mention of the fate of Theon or the mysterious sack of Winterfell. I know that there are time constraints and all but there were also some drawn out scenes that could have been cut in favor of an explanation of Winterfell. Shae and Ros or Bronn and Ros come to mind.

Like everyone else, I was hoping for Strong Belwas.

I liked the Mance/Jon meeting in both book and show....but seriously, the book was better.

And finally, a little bit of Jaime/Brienne or Arya would have been good.

All that said. Lol, believe it or not I thought what they did do was really good. Hate that my first post is all complaining.

Edited April 3, 2013 by house of no sigil

[A Redeemed Hound]

If you are going to constantly compare the books to the show you will be disappointed every time. Why even bother? You can never do justice to an epic series like ASoIaF and put it into 10 episodes a season with a limited budget. Just enjoy the show already while we wait for the real treasure to be released (The Winds of Winter). When I want more of what is in the books, I re-read the books. For a show on television, GOT is amazingly great. Compared to the books, it's a steaming turd. No movie or show will ever be on par with the book that spawned it. It is just not possible. ASoIaF, LOTR, Hobbit, Harry Potter, Dracula, Narnia, etc., etc., etc. All far superior in book form. But I still love the movies and the shows.

[Mulled Wino]

Nope. Adherence to the source material may be interesting to compare, and you may think the books did it better, but this does not actually affect the quality of the show. The show is distinct from the books. If it made sense within the context of the show, then it isnt a mistake.

This is where most of my problems stem from. The HH scene made no sense. The Ghost thing and Jon's reasoning for turning his coat don't make sense. LF and Ros don't make sense within the context of the show.

[Eric Baratheon]

5 out of 10.

The bad:

don't end a season with such an awesome cliffhanger (the dead attack) and then show 4 seconds of a dark screen of "fighting"; battle at the fist should have been the season opener. bad bad bad.

mance ryder has been miscast. also bad.

tyrion's nose. still there.

The good: The whole Daenerys sequences were spot on, changes seemed to be for the better.

Judging from westeros' review of the first 4 episodes, I have lost hope for the first half of the season. So, considering a certain bear and a certain colored wedding, its my hope the latter half of season 3 will pick up some steam and be what it needs to be: AWESOME

[Cas Stark]

This is where most of my problems stem from. The HH scene made no sense. The Ghost thing and Jon's reasoning for turning his coat don't make sense. LF and Ros don't make sense within the context of the show.

I agree HH makes no sense, not even in the context of the show, since last season Arya never makes mention of Northmen who are held prisoner there.

I actually liked Jon's reason for joining the wildlings, but I thought the scene was a little bit too short and had some other concerns about it.

Unless they're going to replace Ros as the go between instead of Dontos then it makes no sense, in the show, for LF to pointlessly let one of his whores know of his personal interest in Sansa Stark, so it lacks logic from a purely show perspective as well.

[WinterWarrior]

I have already rated the episode in an early post (a 9) but had to mention that the continuation of the Ros character makes no sense to me as well, unless she has something to do with Sansa's escape since Dontos has not been seen again. And how does the Varys/Ros scene from Ep.10 of season 2 factor into things with Ros and LF?

Also, I forgot to mention that I missed seeing Dalla and Val in Mance Rayder's tent. I wonder when they will be introduced. Val at least has to come on the scene eventually, and the baby.

[The Fourth Head]

I gave it an 8- a great TV adaptation

I don't want a recital of the book- that's boring. I like the way the writers keep the readers on their toes, add some great lines, and make subtle nods to various things- even in Sansa's scene watching the ships come in and out of harbour- a great nod to GRRM, a nice way to remind us of Volantis and Dorne, a nice way to use the scenery, and a great device to portray her desire to escape. Florian the fool? Yawn. Bye Bye and thankyou.