Stonelands

That is a good analysis. Like some people have said, I personally think the episode is quite good in isolation, it's just problematic in relation to the whole. Like he says in the video, there was foreshadowing for what happened, it just didn't constitute significant enough development to make this season not feel rushed.

Didn't Dany talk about wanting to burn one or two of the slaver cities to the ground in one season? That would kill a lot of ordinary people. Plus, I think what you're maybe missing is that she's not only recently come to the conclusion that she'll never be loved but she now sees someone with a better claim to the throne than her who does seem to be loved. If someone already has the potential for being mentally unhinged than I personally don't think it'd hard to see how that could prompt some pretty radical changes in behaviour. I said it to someone earlier but I'd like to clarify again that I don't think the pacing here is perfect, I just disagree that it's nearly as bad as some people are making it out to be.

Again, you're applying a logical objection to someone who at this point isn't all there. The bells ringing might seem satisfactory to you but not to her. I also think that much of the KL populace is still alive as well, I do seem to recall groups of them lying around with horrific burns and I think parts of the city will still be untouched.

Her conversation with Jon alone explains why she burned it because she felt she'd only ever be able to rule through fear and that was also forshadowed in episode 4 when she watched his interactions with the Northerners and was clearly disturbed by them. Of course that reasoning doesn't exactly make sense because it's the thought process of someone mentally unhinged.

That wasn't the whole horde that was present in episode 3.

I think you're overlooking the fact that she has had some serious knocks in the last few episodes that would speed up her transition a lot, losing Jorah, learning of Jon's identity and realizing that he's loved when she isn't, losing a second dragon and then losing Missandei. I don't think the transition is perfect but I think it's a lot better than a lot of people are giving it credit for.

On top of all the other foreshadowing that there has been in both this season and previous seasons that you apparently haven't picked up on, I think it's passable.

I think the scene between Dany and Jon gave a fairly obvious explanation with the "It's fear then" line. Dany doesn't believe she can ever be loved or that Jon will always be loved more and that provides her with plenty of motivation to trump that with fear. On another note, people are complaining about Drogon suddenly being able to avoid the Scorpion Ballistas even when there were many more of them but that isn't taking into account the fact that when he was hit by Bronn it was a result of Dany flying straight at him and when Rhaegal was hit it was a result of ambush. None of the dragons have ever been hit by them when they actively trying to avoid it.

I'm glad it was like that, probably a much more realistic representation of what being in a situation like that would be like.

Why did Ramsay shoot Wun-Wun and not Jon?

Exactly, the show is like the books in this regard in that we often can't gauge how much time has passed within different segments of the show. People tend to overlook that.

I gave it an 8. I'm really getting to the point where I can't stand the Mereen storyline. Especially sick of the way Daenerys just seems to cruise through everything with little to no difficulty. Plus, even if they'd heard that Rhaegal and Viserion were in chains, why didn't the slavers prepare a fleet that wasn't totally defenseless against dragons? If I was them, I sure as hell wouldn't want to take my chances that none of them would be released or turn up during the battle. I'm not sure I'd call it a plothole per se but it seems kind of stupid to me. The battle was awesome despite Jon losing his senses. I thought Sansa was great in this as well. I think Sophie Turner is starting to give me a thing for red heads.

I gave it a 7 since I liked or was okay with everything in it (though the Tarly segment was too long and felt a little awkward at first) except for that stupid Dany scene at the end. Getting so tired of these boring speeches about how amazing she is. Hopefully the God's flicked the coin the other way and she ends up being a mad Targ. That would be much more interesting...

Why didn't one of the Children throw one of their grenades at the Night's King?

Well actually yeah, I wouldn't mind if she did something with wit for a change (she kind of did that in Season 2 when she pretended to give Drogon to the slaver). You're probably right that this would be difficult to make happen but it doesn't change the fact that, for me at least, the outcome of these type of scenes with her are starting to wear a little thin for me.

Before I give a mark, please bear in mind that I was one of the unfortunate people to get caught by those spoiler articles whilst trying to find the episode online so it may have numbed some of the emotional impact of the last scene for me. Here is what I liked: -The origin of the WW's is interesting and makes sense for the show even if does feel a little thrown together. I hope we see more elaboration on this somehow. -Arya's parts were entertaining but the cock part was unnecessary and I feel like her storyline doesn't connect with the rest of the show very well. -I actually really liked the scene between Kinvara and Varys. Somehow it reminded me of when the show had clever dialogue and she acted it well. -The tension as Bran walked through the Wights (great scene that one). -The origins of Hodor's name, tragic as it was. Here is what I didn't like/hated: -The Kingsmoot was absolutely awful. I don't know what were thinking when they cast Euron but he's fucking terrible compared to the books and doesn't even look or talk like a leader you could take seriously. All the dick jokes were pathetic as well. -The dialogue in general still feels pretty dumbed down for the most part. A lot of Sansa and Brienne's lines were pretty awkward this episode. -Summer's death just felt too flippant to me, it didn't have the impact of Greywind's death or Shaggydog's head being thrown on the table. It just felt off to me anyway. -I realize they are on a much tighter budget than generic Hollywood actions films are generally made with but did the CGI in the last scene feel really off to anyone else? The Walkers looked kind of odd to me and the Wight's even more so. That Child of the Forest didn't look right when she was being stabbed to death either, I can't explain why. So I'm going to give it a 5/10. Maybe that spoiler tainted things unfairly but I also could have scored higher score if I didn't still feel like the dialogue has just fallen apart so much.

Let me start with what I liked: -Ramsay's letter was definitely my favourite thing of the whole episode. The Pink Letter was my favourite part of ADWD, I'd never seen something written with such menace and despite the differences in context I felt the show preserved that well. -I actually enjoyed the High Sparrow giving us the story of what lead him to become who he is. I thought it was one of the better pieces of dialogue in this episode. -The Lannister/Tyrell plot looks promising. -It might be my inner troll coming out but I actually quite like the way Ramsay manages to be utterly revolting in every episode. It's actually become quite comedic, sort of like Joffrey did after a while but even more sadistic and perverse. -People were complaining that it seemed like Jon hadn't lost anything of himself as you are supposed to when you come back from the dead. Well it seems to me that his reluctance to fight might be a sign that D & D have actually acknowledged that and incorporated it in this way. Now people are complaining about that, haha. -The tension between Melisandre, Davos and Brienne. What I didn't like: -I've come to the conclusion that I now absolutely hate any scene that involves Grey Worm and Missandei having dialogue. It is the epitome of cheesiness. -I really feel like the Lannister siblings have taken the hardest hit in terms of the cleverness of their dialogue from Season 5 onwards and this trend isn't showing any sign of letting up. This is especially sad to me because before then the three of them always had the best dialogue in the show in my opinion and to see it fall away is a real loss for the show. -Osha being killed whilst trying to kill Ramsay makes me worry that there isn't any plot on behalf of the Umber's to betray Ramsay (if there was then surely she'd wait for it to come to fruition rather than jump the gun). This is only a concern for me because it will mean that Shaggy Dog is definitely dead. -Dany's ending just didn't do it for me at all. How many times are they going to pull this card where she's confronted with a situation where the odds are totally stacked against her only for it to be resolved with her enemies all being burned alive out of the blue? It just wears thin when it's done too often. I feel like D & D are trying to make us love her and for me it's having the opposite effect. So I'm going to give this episode a 7/10 but only because I loved the show adaption of the Pink Letter.

Maybe the electoral process only applies when a dead NW commander is being replaced rather than a living one selecting a replacement?

I'll give it a three, only because of the scenes at the Wall and I still feel like I'm being generous. Dorne is just a total mess, I can't think of a single thing I like about that storyline and I'm not sure what is worse, Areo going down to a 9 year old or Doran proving himself to be totally pointless and useless compared to his book version. The Sandsnakes are just as awful as they ever were as well. I will say though that I don't get why people are saying that Jamie's character development has been ruined. His reaction seems pretty understandable given his daughter has just been poisoned. I will say though that his general dialogue seems to have suffered horrendously and it only gets worse the more D & D have lost the reference point of the books. His Riverrun storyline arc in the books was far superior really. Daenerys storyline is just doing nothing for me and I don't see any character development happening within her either. Arya's scenes are just too brief to have any impact at all as well. Although I liked The Wall scenes somewhat, I did think that Aliser Thorne's dialogue when he was talking to Davos wasn't too well written but not to the point of being episode breaking. Mel's scene at the end was probably my favourite thing because it was the perfect way to symbolize her personal crisis. Definitely the best bit of character development in the whole episode. All in all, the dialogue and storyline development have both taken massive hits and that is very sad.

To be fair, Joffrey is no longer among the living and Cersei is exactly having a fun time of it. If Stannis is to be viewed as a villain now then we'll either be rid of him or the Boltons soon enough depending on the outcome of the Winterfell battle.

Excellent post, thanks for taking the time to contribute it.

I kind of meant the actual experience of it. Perhaps I should have used the word "horrific" instead. I knew it could be on the cards although I didn't think it was set in stone by any means.

The key word in my paragraph was 'ending' though. The episode didn't end with that scene. Plus, Shireen didn't have the appearance of plot armor in the way Ned or Robb Stark did (though her death was quite shocking).

I actually kind of like how they deviated from this episode 9 having the traditional Red Wedding type ending. Stops that aspect of the show from being too formulaic.

I thought the camera tracking there/the way it moved upwards felt a little odd but not unforgivably so. Watching the Sons get roasted was so satisfying as well.