[Book Spoilers] EP303 Discussion

[timstanton]

they didn't so much as drop the charector as i believe the actor who played the Greatjon left the show.

he must have read SoS and was like...nah bro, not on my watch...im out!

[PatrickStormborn]

i dont think they have had an official naming ceremony or anything, but didnt she say their names last season in the house of the undying, when she burns the warlock.

No, she didn't.

[ckal]

no, youre wrong! :P

Ooooo how dare you

[timstanton]

No, she didn't.

yep, youre right again. she just says dracarys.

[Mother of Mini Dragons]

I'm wondering how the non-book readers are handing the Tully introduction. This is the first we ever heard on the show that Robb is King of the Riverlands as well as the North, and that's a pretty big deal. It makes it kinda weird that we haven't heard of any Riverland soldiers in his army up to this point.

I wondered about that one too. But my hubby is a non-book reader and he asked a couple of questions and caught on really quick as to who they were and accepted it just fine. I think with the Tully's it's easier to understand who they are b/c of their closer connection to Catelyn as opposed to say the Boltons, which I think it going to confuse some of the non-book readers.

[KSims1868]

Yeah the first thing I did last night was explain to my friend who the Tullys were and how they were connected. He had no clue, and it helped that part of the show make more sense for him.

[TalalOfDorne]

The episode was good. Arya, Jaime/Brienne, Daenerys were good. The chair changing scene with the small council was funny to me. Though I didn't like them wasting time on Pod.

My only real issues were Edmure and Stannis. They made Edmure look like an idiot, even though it was Robbs mistake in the books, and dont get me started on the Blackfishs treatment of him. They are basically making Robb look like the clever, flawless character at the expense of characters like Catelyn and now Edmure.

Dont have much to say about Stannis, just that the scene was very uncomfortable to watch as it really shifts away from his real character.

[boojam]

i dont think they have had an official naming ceremony or anything, but didnt she say their names last season in the house of the undying, when she burns the warlock.

Not that I remember thought Dany would have done it by now , already occurred book-wise.

Maybe next episode.

(Also Dany's crown is still missing, I don't mean her mother's who her brother sold. Guess we have not had a cermony big enough for her to wear it. She is already being called Queeen, which de-facto she is.)

[Jaime's Wench]

I really loved this episode - best so far!

Loved Edmure and Blackfish - Blackfish being exactly how I imagined. Loved Dany. Loved Sam and Gilly and hated Craster. Loved Hot Pie. REALLY LOVED Tywin, Tyrion and Cersei in the same room together like WHOA! And most of all, I very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very much loved Jaime!

[Lyana]

Sooo, here we go in order of appearance:

The whole Riverrun situation - This episode had a really great start with the introduction of the House Tully. I admit it could have been overwhelming to the non-book readers sparing energy to remember one more noble house, but they just may get used to it. Edmure not being able to shoot the arrow straight to the target was a nice touch. Brynden was spot on. I remember vaguely in the books, that Edmure's impatient actions cost Robb e great victory over Tiwin, not over The Mountain. But I didn't get it in the books either, so I guess here it has been simplified to the TV viewers with the straightforward "Kill the Mountain". So I guess it was a fine and necessary change. I'm just hoping that the North isn't introduced further as weakened, so the impact of the RW would be bigger.

One funny council - Here comes one of the best scenes in the episode, full of subtle moments. The old council with the "new" old Hand, so we could see how they would react around the new boss. I liked it how after the initial hesitance, Littlefinger reacted fast and got the best place. Although I presume Varys was like "Ok, have the chair... We'll see who gets the really important things". Cerse's narcissistic nature was shown only in one simple action like the moving of the chair. I always wondered about Tiwin's attitude to his daughter. I always thought he was way too patient and tolerable of her incompetence. And as usual Tyrion is the one to express openly his opinion with sarcasm and witty comments. The chair dragging scene reminds me of one hilarious scene form Johnny English 2. It really had me laughing and it brought some freshness to the show.

The bear and the maiden fair - Another great song from the books was given life with very nice and suitable reference to Jaime and Brienne. Although in this case the maiden fair looks like a bear. The scenes with Jaime and Brienne remain one of the strongest yet and NCW is nailing the part. He was really irritating at the beginning of the series, but now is showing truly how his character evolves.

The Stark from Winterhell - This was another good one :) Bye, bye Hot Pie, you served your role well. And we get to see how sentimental Gendry is. I'm willing to see a bit more of Arya's story-line tho. I know that not much is happening with her in the book either, but dang is she cool.

Family reunion - Catelyn's little moment was actually quite moving. Not much to say here. It was alright tho.

The young wolf - That was an interesting scene. We get to hear about the legends how Robb turned into wolf at night. Which was actually quite interesting for me. I've always considered it as some kind of reference that Robb was a warg too. But away from that, it was just a cool scene for scared little boys.

Quite the artists - So we are back to the Wildling Camp. I read some complaining about Kit's acting and Jon's part. I'm completely fine with Kit. He did very well in season 1, but since then the show runners are giving his character not much of an action. I got the feeling that Jon Snow's part has been kept low profile for a reason. If that's not the case, that is just poorly written. Since he's my favorite in the books, I sincerely hope we get to see more consistent wildling plot and not just some random plot scenes. Nice touch with the WW art. Very David Fincher style I might say.

The changed situation at Craster's Keep - For the first time we get to see how miserable the NW actually is. Craster may act that nothing has changed, but we can see that the nice NW is not so nice anymore. The subtle looks and the nervous environment point to some coming menace, which does not necessarily comes from the outside. I just hope we still get to see Sam the Slayer.

Winter is coming - The "Winter is coming" and the "Bastard" references were really great references for the die hard fans of the series. I've read the books but am just as curious how Theon's story will continue form now on. But am pretty sure we've met Ramsey already.

Stannis ... ohhh the pity - Why (dramatic screaming towards the sky), why on earth destroying such a nice written character? I still have no clue whatsoever. Just ... speechless...

The Queen (or the Don?) - And the family has chosen the new Don. Dany is having some awesome parts this season. I'm not a fan of hers in the books, but here in season 3 I really find her charismatic and interesting. Her story-arc promises to be well handled, consistent and properly written. I liked it how Jorah and Ser Barristan were the two sides of the same coin. Dany really is ready to kick some slaveholders a*s. The Rhaegar mentioning almost got me jumping on my chair from joy. My boyfriend thinks I'm a total geek now.

The Meereenese Knot - Well, well, well ... look who got laid. Podrick is not so lame anymore. Although the prostitutes may have been paid to lie, I prefer to leave it the way it is and think of Pod as of some really cool guy from now on. It was a bit of unnecessary scene, but pretty fresh tho. Imho there must be such a refreshing and funny scene now and then. It's not always about the drama and the plots.

The one-handed knight - As soon as I saw the final scene coming, my stomach dropped. I felt really horrible about Jaime. The final scene was intense, although I'm not sure if it was as much of a shock for the non-book readers. But I somehow missed the motivation behind Locke's decision to cut Jaime's hand of. Was he irritated by Jaime's self-indulgent behavior? Was that a reason good enough to cut his hand of and not fear lord Tiwin's revenge? It has been a while since I've read the books so I can't recall the exact scene there either. Bur it was well handled and I definitely felt the tension. The rocky song at the and had a little dissonance with the cutting scene, which created a nice contrast.

Edited: spelling

Edited April 15, 2013 by Lyana

[Titan]

Wonder what's gonna piss Karstark off so bad that he kills the lannister hostages. Can't remember if he has kids in this show or not.

Seriously? The only thing that [show]Karstark talks about is getting revenge for his sons. How can you have missed that?

[House Martell]

My predictions for next weeks episode:

- Stannis makes Mel a mix-tape and sends her a Raven saying: "Do you like me: ___Yes ___No"

- Blackfish gives Edmure a wedgie.

- Pod starts wearing a thick gold chain, slicks his hair back, and wears WAY too much cologne.

- We learn that Brienne was field nurse before taking up sword fighting and closes off Jamies stump since I'm pretty sure Count Rugan/Locke doesn't have a maester in his camp (ala Qyburn)

even with those predictions I'm sure the show will be amazing (attempt to reduce my trolling footprint)

[Dove]

My predictions for next weeks episode:

- Stannis makes Mel a mix-tape and sends her a Raven saying: "Do you like me: ___Yes ___No"

Episode after that, Stannis and Jorah form the "Nice Guys Finish Last Club" and proceed to stand outside Dany and Melly's windows with boomboxes held up.

[Chirpy]

I like the way they're developing the Theon story since all of that was off-camera in the books.

Brienne/Jaime scenes were great. I miss Thaphhireth, but would not work in a show.

I thought the Small Council chair activity was funny, but I doubt Tywin would have so much patience!

Looks like Kartstark will kill the young Lannisters after all. :( But it's good that they're keeping that story on track.

I completely agree with all of this except I think that the Thaphhireth would have worked if done correctly. However, it might have been a little TOO much comedy in serious scenes.

I LOVED when my non-reader friends got this look on their faces from Jaime saving Brienne from rape and murder ... it was just starting to click in their brains as to why Jaime is such a great character .... and then BOOM his hand was chopped off. I loved how they did this episode!

[Kasrith]

Just got home, haven't read the full thread yet but have been thinking of these all day

- Oh you little Bastard

- Look at him, he's a walking feast. (Said to the Night's Watch aka crows => Look at him, he's A walking Feast For Crows!)

- Dany's translation of Valar Morghulis, nice to hear it from her dropping a hint to everyone who's paying attention that she understands the language. My buddy (non book reader) came to class today and was all like "man she totally knows what he's saying, she's going to mess him up real good.. does she really know?" Obviously didn't tell him, but we did talk about the VM translation and he's like "totally missed that, she so knows" - love non book reader viewers :P

Oh and that ending (I've mentioned it already as of last night I think) brilliant.

Edited April 15, 2013 by Kasrith

[ckal]

Sooo, here we go in order of appearance:

The whole Riverrun situation - This episode had a really great start with the introduction of the House Tully. I admit it could have been overwhelming to the non-book readers sparing energy to remember one more noble house, but they just may get used to it. Edmure not being able to shoot the arrow straight to the target was a nice touch. Brynden was spot on. I remember vaguely in the books, that Edmure's impatient actions cost Robb e great victory over Tiwin, not over The Mountain. But I didn't get it in the books either, so I guess here it has been simplified to the TV viewers with the straightforward "Kill the Mountain". So I guess it was a fine and necessary change. I'm just hoping that the North isn't introduced further as weakened, so the impact of the RW would be bigger.

One funny council - Here comes one of the best scenes in the episode, full of subtle moments. The old council with the "new" old Hand, so we could see how they would react around the new boss. I liked it how after the initial hesitance, Littlefinger reacted fast and got the best place. Although I presume Varys was like "Ok, have the chair... We'll see who gets the really important things". Cerse's narcissistic nature was shown only in one simple action like the moving of the chair. I always wondered about Tiwin's attitude to his daughter. I always thought he was way too patient and tolerable of her incompetence. And as usual Tyrion is the one to express openly his opinion with sarcasm and witty comments. The chair dragging scene reminds me of one hilarious scene form Johnny English 2. It really had me laughing and it brought some freshness to the show.

The bear and the maiden fair - Another great song from the books was given life with very nice and suitable reference to Jaime and Brienne. Although in this case the maiden fair looks like a bear. The scenes with Jaime and Brienne remain one of the strongest yet and NCW is nailing the part. He was really irritating at the beginning of the series, but now is showing truly how his character evolves.

The Stark from Winterhell - This was another good one :) Bye, bye Hot Pie, you served your role well. And we get to see how sentimental Gendry is. I'm willing to see a bit more of Arya's story-line tho. I know that not much is happening with her in the book either, but dang is she cool.

Family reunion - Catelyn's little moment was actually quite moving. Not much to say here. It was alright tho.

The young wolf - That was an interesting scene. We get to hear about the legends how Robb turned into wolf at night. Which was actually quite interesting for me. I've always considered it as some kind of reference that Robb was a warg too. But away from that, it was just a cool scene for scared little boys.

Quite the artists - So we are back to the Wildling Camp. I read some complaining about Kit's acting and Jon's part. I'm completely fine with Kit. He did very well in season 1, but since then the show runners are giving his character not much of an action. I got the feeling that Jon Snow's part has been kept low profile for a reason. If that's not the case, that is just poorly written. Since he's my favorite in the books, I sincerely hope we get to see more consistent wildling plot and not just some random plot scenes. Nice touch with the WW art. Very David Fincher style I might say.

The changed situation at Craster's Keep - For the first time we get to see how miserable the NW actually is. Craster may act that nothing has changed, but we can see that the nice NW is not so nice anymore. The subtle looks and the nervous environment point to some coming menace, which does not necessarily comes from the outside. I just hope we still get to see Sam the Slayer.

Winter is coming - The "Winter is coming" and the "Bastard" references were really great references for the die hard fans of the series. I've read the books but am just as curious how Theon's story will continue form now on. But am pretty sure we've met Ramsey already.

Stannis ... ohhh the pity - Why (dramatic screaming towards the sky), why on earth destroying such a nice written character? I still have no clue whatsoever. Just ... speechless...

The Queen (or the Don?) - And the family has chosen the new Don. Dany is having some awesome parts this season. I'm not a fan of hers in the books, but here in season 3 I really find her charismatic and interesting. Her story-arc promises to be well handled, consistent and properly written. I liked it how Jorah and Ser Barristan were the two sides of the same coin. Dany really is ready to kick some slaveholders a*s. The Rhaegar mentioning almost got me jumping on my chair from joy. My boyfriend thinks I'm a total geek now.

The Meereenese Knot - Well, well, well ... look who got laid. Podrick is not so lame anymore. Although the prostitutes may have been paid to lie, I prefer to leave it the way it is and think of Pod as of some really cool guy from now on. It was a bit of unnecessary scene, but pretty fresh tho. Imho there must be such a refreshing and funny scene now and then. It's not always about the drama and the plots.

The one-handed knight - As soon as I saw the final scene coming, my stomach dropped. I felt really horrible about Jaime. The final scene was intense, although I'm not sure if it was as much of a shock for the non-book readers. But I somehow missed the motivation behind Locke's decision to cut Jaime's hand of. Was he irritated by Jaime's self-indulgent behavior? Was that a reason good enough to cut his hand of and not fear lord Tiwin's revenge? It has been a while since I've read the books so I can't recall the exact scene there either. Bur it was well handled and I definitely felt the tension. The rocky song at the and had a little dissonance with the cutting scene, which created a nice contrast.

Edited: spelling

I thought that aside from a few things, this was a pretty great episode.

I really did not like the Pod/whores scene. Such a waste of time that could have been spent elsewhere with far more deserving characters and storylines. I'm not even sure Pod got laid though?

Riverrun and Council scenes were great. Cat was actually good in her scene with Blackfish. Blackfish was great as was the whole funeral scene. I really did not like how nothing was mentioned about Edmure's blunder impacting the Battle of the Blackwater so drastically, but the rest of it was great.

We should be in for a hell of a time at Craster's Keep next episode.

Dany's storyline has been good so far and will explode next episode. I think fans will really start to like her this season like maybe book readers started to like her in ASOS. I thought the whole talk about Rhaegar with Dany, Barristan, and Jorah was great too.

Ramsey is certainly playing an (extended) game with Theon. I'm inclined to believe they weren't even athe dreadfort initially, but Ramsey is leading Theon to the Dreadfort (judging by next week's preview). We really need to see some flaying and dismembering, as gruesome as that is.

The Jaime scene at the end was great. About Locke's motivation being flimsy- well, Vargo wasn't necessarily the smartest guy either. Vargo thought cutting off Jaime's hand meant to send the message to Tywin that he meant business. Real smart move there.

Edited April 15, 2013 by ckal

[PhoenixFlame]

It was not smart, but Locke was operating off two things. One, Jaime will always be a valuable prisoner, one-handed or not. It is not like a ransom would be refused or drastically lowered because of his maiming. Two, he reaaally hates Jaime, and got carried away. What he probably does not realize is that Roose does not like flashy displays of sadism.

Oh, related to that. As awful as it was to hear Brienne screaming, I love that you kept hearing the men shriek in pain. Even as overpowered as she was, she was still kicking ass. They would have worn her down if Jaime had not intervened, but I bet a few dudes went to bed with bruised junk.

I have no problem with the Stannis scene. He is at rock bottom and depressed. The only thing he has going for him is Melisandre. I think they are emphasizing what a low place he is in so his eventual Big Damn Heroes moment is more spectacular.

Edited April 15, 2013 by PhoenixFlame

[FattyPeon]

People hyperventilating over the Stannis scene need to calm down.

We never saw them alone in the book. He spends all of his time with her after Blackwater, usually alone with her. He's an utterly defeated man at the moment, desperate and depressed, but of course, she is the only one who gets to see him in that state, ever. He still maintains the rigid, stern, clenched-jaw exterior among others, and it feels quite natural to me that he would drop the facade in the moment that she is 'abandoning' him.

Seems to me that some of you guys are the ones who have Stannis figured wrong. He's not bereft of feelings, he's rather the opposite, too sensitive.

[Lyana]

My predictions for next weeks episode:

- Stannis makes Mel a mix-tape and sends her a Raven saying: "Do you like me: ___Yes ___No"

- Blackfish gives Edmure a wedgie.

- Pod starts wearing a thick gold chain, slicks his hair back, and wears WAY too much cologne.

- We learn that Brienne was field nurse before taking up sword fighting and closes off Jamies stump since I'm pretty sure Count Rugan/Locke doesn't have a maester in his camp (ala Qyburn)

even with those predictions I'm sure the show will be amazing (attempt to reduce my trolling footprint)

Lol! I'm down with that!

[Reposado]

The Jaime scene at the end was great. About Locke's motivation being flimsy- well, Vargo wasn't necessarily the smartest guy either. Vargo thought cutting off Jaime's hand meant to send the message to Tywin that he meant business. Real smart move there.

no they explained vargos motivation, and the spot he was in. having betrayed tywin already and finding himself on a foreign confident without any real allies. he wanted to diminish the value that jamie had for bolton.

it hasnt been established why locke would want to do that. and as lock has been presented, doesnt make too much sense