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[Book spoilers] Cheers without Jeers, Tears, or Fears


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I am very excited to see how they end Theon's arc this season and continue it next season. I believe seasons 3 and 4 will be a chance for the producers to be creative and show more of Theon that wasn't in the novels. I just hope they get a good Ramsay..I have high hopes with that though, the casting for the show has been excellent so far.

I will give the producers major props for Theon all year long..they have gotten his story translated on screen very well. I could watch all of his parts alone and be happy.

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I am very excited to see how they end Theon's arc this season and continue it next season. I believe seasons 3 and 4 will be a chance for the producers to be creative and show more of Theon that wasn't in the novels. I just hope they get a good Ramsay..I have high hopes with that though, the casting for the show has been excellent so far. I will give the producers major props for Theon all year long..they have gotten his story translated on screen very well. I could watch all of his parts alone and be happy.

I agree. Theon has by far the best storyline of the season, and most true to the books.

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I agree. Theon has by far the best storyline of the season, and most true to the books.

I agree, and this is despite the fact that there are a lot of invented scenes in Theon's arc. Which just goes to show that D+D actually can use invented material to improve on the source material which leaves the reader to fill in a lot of the gaps with Theon's betrayal.

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Yeah, same here; Theon's fall from grace has been my favourite storyline so far.

I still think they made one huge mistake leaving out Ramsay/Reek in a proper role, though. Ramsay's epic reveal at the end could've been some great television.

Oh, and Wex. Where are you Wex? :(

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The Tyrion/Cersei-scene was amazing. That arrogant bitch who thinks she defeated Tyrion, every smile of hers made me laugh harder and harder in my head. The relief of Tyrion after the Lannister necklace-sentence, so that he knows it's not Shae.

You just got owned, Cersei, and you don't even know it. Bitch. What goes around comes back around, one way or the other.

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Love the idea of this thread, thanks for starting it!

  • First , for me, is Stannis, Stannis, Stannis. I think he' s one of the best characters in the series, and this week he was both written and portrayed perfectly. I actually think Stephen Dillane has his him just right- "I like dogs, they're loyal" and the delivery of all those "...so, fine"s had me through the roof. Even the one second of him in the blackwater preview, laughing on the boat, felt spot on.
  • Speaking of that-the blackwater preview. All that needs to be said.
  • Loved that we got acknowledgement from Varys about what a good hand Tyrion is. To me, that storyline was the heart of ACOK.
  • Yara/Asha's speech to Theon-once again, the Theon storyline in the series improves on the books- I never felt as much empathy for the ironborn reading about them as I do watching them.
  • Lastly, and this has been said before, but the amazing casting, particularly of the child actors. Jack Gleason is Joffrey. My husband hasn't read the books, and only sporadically watches the show, and after sitting down to watch Joffreys few minutes of screen time this week, asked " When do we get to watch him die"? This means he's doing his job.

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I think they will get pretty involved with Theon and Ramsay. I think that's one of the reasons they've made him one of the main main characters this season. Not that he wasn't in the books, but.. hopefully you know what I mean, I think they (and Martin) have big plans for Theon.

I think having someone like Joffrey and Ramsay around is kind of a device. With so many 'grey' characters in the series whose questionable actions can be somewhat understood by seeing the world through their eyes (Tywin, etc), I think Martin likes to keep around at least one character who is just plain bad. Like Marlo on The Wire. It's "The Godfather" principle: If you want us to root for a "bad guy," give us a worse guy to loath while we do it.

Plus, how much did we actually see in the books? IIRC, we see a lot of the wounds and indicators of torture, it gets talked about a lot, but how many people do we actually witness getting flayed or worse? I'm really asking here. I read them very fast but I don't recall torture porn being a part of ASOIAF.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, so I'll try and bring it back around (sort of). Last season ended with all our characters setting out on a new journey: Robb to war, Arya setting out in the NW caravan, Jon riding beyong the Wall, Tyrion sent to King's Landing to be Hand, Dany birthing the dragons. I think this season will be the same: Jon going off with the wildlings, Arya meeting the brotherhood, Jaime and Brienne we've seen, Tyrion adjusting to Tywin's arrival, And, I hope, Dany setting sail to Astapor (with Arstan and Strong Belwas).

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Dany still has to go through the House of the Undying before she can set sail. I can see that being the cliffhanger for her then starting next season with her setting sail. I am anxious to see the House of the Undying. I know Blackwater is *the* thing this season but Dany's stuff could be pretty incredible too.

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This is a wonderful thread.

I remember back when Stephen Dillane was announced as Stannis...I had seen him act before, in a totally different role, but as I read through the books, I could hear his voice whenever I read Stannis' lines...he hadn't even appeared in the show yet and he had so completely become the voice of Stannis for me. He uses his fairly limited screen time so well that one facial expression of his can speak paragraphs. By far one of my favorite casting decisions this show has made.

Ya/sha and Theon was an unexpected treat. Particularly "Don't die so far from the sea." I did not expect that moment between them, and I really enjoyed seeing it.

One minor thing that really helped sell the scope of the series for me was the brief exchange between Tyrion and Varys talking about Dany possibly being alive with her dragons. Just being implicitly reminded that these two sets of characters (the King's Landing gang and Dany's people) are part of the same of show and yet have never interacted in any way drew my attention to just why this show's approach to storytelling is so unique.

EDIT: I also enjoy the way Liam Cunningham says "potatoes".

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This is a wonderful thread. ... I also enjoy the way Liam Cunningham says "potatoes".

As do I, and I’m not quite sure why. Perhaps it’s his native Irish accent — and shared cultural experience — of potatoes, leaking delightfully through.

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One thing I liked in the rewatch was when Tyrion and Varys started talking about Danerys and the dragons the camera switched seemingly deliberately to a long shot right behind a torch so that it kind of look like the fire was burning Tyrion. Hopefully this isn't some kind of negative foreshadowing.

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In the spirit of it being better to light a single candle than to rage against the darkness, this thread is for pointing out all the nifty cool things you liked about the episode. It’s not for complaining or cursing or crying. It’s not for nitpicking or gnashing of teeth. It’s not for whining, bitching, and moaning at HBO or its writers. This is a no-ranting thread. If that’s what you want, please look elsewhere; I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding plenty of other threads for that sort of negativity and vitriol.

This one is for praise, for appreciation, for excitement, for pleasure. It’s strictly about what you enjoyed, stuff that made you grin, smile, laugh, cheer, clap your house, or jump up and shout Huzzah!

I’ll start...

The chemistry between Jaime and Brienne is wonderful. You can really see their journey together will be marvelous. I love Jaime’s wit, and Brienne’s stubbornness.

The subtle little touch that Brienne not Jaime was the one with white horse was neat. It showed that she, not the erstwhile bearer of the white cloak, is the white knight in this relationship.

I loved Arya being able be a fly on the wall for Tywin’s deliberations. And while we’re there: Ser Kevan! Ser Kevan! Need I say more?

I want an all-Varys show. He so rocks. Watch that man’s face! And he managed to never answer Tyrion’s question about what Varys realy wants. Tyrion bonding with Varys was great. Just watch Varys’s facial expressions. Delightful. I really laughed when Varys trying to imagine the Mad Kinglet’s boasts. Precious.

I’m glad Bronn’s lack of goldcloak garb was finally explained.

Horses, horses, horses! And Tywin can even get on one without falling off. I love all the horses. Now we know where the horse budget went. Guess we won’t be getting Stonehenge this season.

The Lord of Bones was done a lot better than I was afraid he’d be.

Robb and Cat were really good. I like Robb growing up, and I love Michelle Fairley’s acting. She really does have the acting chops for the rôle.

Jaqen was good as always. Sure, maybe he seemed a bit less than omnipotent this time around, but he’s still awesome. Can’t wait for his on-screen shapechange in the last episode.

Robb and JeyneTalissa were good, a lot better than in the book. This really needed to happen; the book’s whole post-facto uxor ex machina thing just never worked for me, but this did. You can tell she’s hiding a lot in her expressions; quality acting work there. Finally some sex that isn’t quasi-rape! Haven’t seen two people actually enjoying each other since Loras and Renly, which was like the only other time it’s seemed genuine.

It was refreshing to see some humanity from Asha for her baby brother.

Dragonglass! Hurray! And the horn: wow just wow. We now know with certainty that the horn that Sam found with the obsidian weaponry has some important plot-related meaning beyond just this the episode. It’s therefore a clue for parts of the books yet to come.

The camera work was good; lots of nice backgrounds, integrated VFX, and natural lighting. Great location work here.

The music was just right, not intrusive. I think I miss Marillion. Can’t wait for Mance — and Abel. Does anybody have the various leitmotifs isolated yet?

Yay Pod, and with Ser Mandon, no less! Pod even laughed at Tyrion’s jest.

Stannis is awesome. Great chemistry here too. Liam really brings Davos to life. This is the Stannis who was meant to be, the one Martin called the nearest thing to a hero the series has. Shame about the cats, though.

Jaime has a cute American accent, sometimes. And Tyrion’s is improving, too.

It was lovely to see Cersei rising to her level of incompetence, and overreaching. Lena Headey has quite a range as an actress. You can see why she got the rôle.

Nice name-drop of Astapor. Good to see Dany being tender with her bear after she’d so berated him last episode. He deserved it, and he got it.

Thinking about Jaime’s three warriors who might be able to best him in combat was a fun thing to ponder.

The Mad Kinglet was totally hilarious. He’d best have a change of plastic underpants ready. Make that two. How nobody can laugh at him I have no idea; I certainly did.

I felt real sympathy for poor Ros: Don’t forget me, indeed; almost an in-joke there. The actress did well here. Just the right amount of her, too, and it served the plot.

And Luwin! I nearly cried tears of joy. I’ll take Luwin’s life in exchange for early appearances of the spaced-out swamp-twins any day.

Tyrion was so convincing with Shae, so tender. Sansa will be so lucky, even if she doesn’t realize it.

Bran there in the dark, secretly alert and aware of what’s really going on around him. This is a continuation of his very earliest characterization, where he liked to be above everything, unseen but intent on following them.

I wonder whether Hodor actually Hodors in his sleep? Prolly. Betcha he could Hodor to wake the dead, too, which considering where they are, might not be such a bad idea after all.

How could someone add to this list? Did you leave anything out from the episode?

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As do I, and I’m not quite sure why. Perhaps it’s his native Irish accent — and shared cultural experience — of potatoes, leaking delightfully through.

I hope and trust you are set up already for tonight? :grouphug:

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I really liked hearing Tywin compare Cersei to Arya. Makes a lot of sense now that I think about it, and was something I didn't notice in the books. Cersei really is kind of a cross-up between Arya and Sansa, when you think about it.

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