Dez

The thing that stuck out to me as really bad was how the Winterfell plot resolved. They apparently left the entire process of the sisters realizing they were being played or being nudged by Bran off screen. If they were playing LF the whole time you'd think there would have been something to go on in the previous scenes other than the viewership's common knowledge that the plotline would end with LF's demise. And if the sisters really were being duped at first and were pulled back by Bran's knowledge they could have explained that's how it happened. As far as I can tell they left the viewer to infer half the events that got us to LF's elimination.

9. A very good, high tension episode. Even if a lot was predictable there were some good true to book moments. Tyrion confronting Dany about the Mad King is something that has to happen and it worked well here especially because it factually lays more ground work for whatever Cersei is going to pull. The dragon sequence was very good (although having a truce while continuing to fire at the city seemed pretty unrealistic to me). I thought the Winterfell stuff was mostly good. I don't like how were still dragging out the Davos/Mel thing over Shireen but the rest was pretty good especially how Sansa was emphasized over littlefinger. I also like how they are really stoking some dark tensions in Sansa and how that is all going to play out now that Jon is going to be the odd man out in LF's master plan.

Gave it a 9. The only really awkward or weak points was Dany and Jorah's "For the Cure" scene and another unnecessary Arya beat down. The Bran stuff was very good. The Hodor answer fits so well I suppose it must be a book spoiler but no complaints because it was well done. Summer's death might be less spoilery because I'm sure they would prefer less cgi. The reveal about the Others combined with how Leaf dies fighting them and that now Bran has to sort it all out for himself was also very well done.

8. Book Roose would never have been caught so off guard and Jon's rez was a pretty straightforward affair that lacked in flair. Still, both events essentially fit the terms of how the show has foreshadowed those events. Tyrion's convo with the dragons was a bit lame. But they at least made the Walda and baby murder disturbing without going overboard (still would have left even more of it to implication though).

Just remembered there's that line of Stannis where he remarks about Gilly and Craster- her own father!

No one was legitimized, Edric was just acknowledged as Robert's bastard.

The whole episode was really a very Duggar affair between the pedo stuff and the religious stuff. But the thing is, Melisandres sacrifices apparently actually work which is a wrinkle in the usual narrative. I tend to think that all the religions in the series are just as much constructs as our own, yet there is this real magical presence. The poetic irony for Stannis would be for the sacrifice to not work, but apparently it does from the preview. And at the same time the books strongly imply that a whole bunch of Melisandre's stuff is total BS. Is it a coincidence? If it was it would need to be demonstrated at some point or it loses its significance.

I just had a humorous notion that this episode should have come with a trigger warning but then I realized that not many viewers have probably been murdered by their fathers, at least not quite in that fashion. But seriously, the warnings before the episode said "Adult Language, Adult Content" seriously the tamest spread I've ever seen on the show considering that it had pedophilia and graphic child murder as featured topics.

Having just seen it again, I can't believe they chose to put that Shireen scene next to the pit scene. Even if they wanted to contrast Dany and Stannis they failed because Drogon doesn't come because of Dany's revulsion for the blood being spilt but because her person was threatened. Were people really able to even break even with the pit scene after Shireen's burning? I think if I hadn't read the books I might not even have watched the rest of the episode and if I had I don't know if Drogon could have impressed me much.

To me it depends on the timing. This is bound to be a turning point in Stannis's story, and based on where we are in the books its not happening until well into the Winds of Winter, which means Stannis is being truncated significantly. I wouldn't expect Stannis to long outlive this development- it feels like a culmination and a catalyst for when the brittle iron breaks. Stannis's story seems to me to be a tragedy and this development would likely come very close to its conclusion. Still, the fact that this development has occurred seems to underscore that most theorizing can only be shortsighted. I can't see for the life of me how we get to this point and what comes after it. The southern storylines seem a bit more predictable to me.

They spent half of Arya's scenes having her oggled, groped or having Trant's preference for young girls highlighted. There is no way they would spend so much time on it if the point wasn't to give Arya an idea.

I recall last year when they first started foreshadowing Shireen's death Ran had said on his and Linda's review video or in the comments that he suspected that Stannis would be involved. I disagreed not because I didn't think it was in Stannis for that to happen, but because to the logistical issues that currently exist in the north. More confirmation that Roose and Ramsay probably aren't long for the books and that no Melisandre/Shireen Shenanigans will occur at the Wall, which would have been the more predictable scenario.

I've never really bought the idea that Stannis would be responsible for Shireen's fate, mainly for logistical reasons. The Wall is plenty dangerous at the end of ADWD and the road between where Stannis is and Castle Black is currently covered with several feet of snow that is impassible for his current southern movement. How they gonna meet? Plenty of book left but still. And even if it is consistent with what happens, the timing sucks because Stannis's snow march is one of the times when the reader feels most sympathy for him. As for the rest, I thought it was a substandard episode. I get what they are doing with Arya but I thought they could have trimmed the more disgusting aspects of "Mercy" as they did Tyrion's brothel visit. But instead we get two episodes of watching Meryn Trant Duggar it up. Dorne was weak as usual, more silly stuff and Ellaria's submission is not earned like Arianne's was. It's actually completely implausible and obviously insincere. Meereen was like last season's finale with Tyrion. They had it all set up and the just dropped it at the one yard line by completely changing motivations. And if we had to hear Shireen's screams, could we have at least gotten Dany losing it with Drogon?

Gave the episode a 5 as a first impression but I might change my mind on further reflection. I don't know how objective I can be about the Shireen thing- it was so disturbing that I don't think I can properly evaluate it yet. Plus since its beyond book it can't be evaluated as an adaptation. The rest of the episode I thought was generally substandard. The problem with the Arya stuff was again the sex stuff. I understand that there is a foundation for it, but I had hoped they would tone down the Mercy stuff as they did with Tyrion in his brothel visit and apparently we get the Pedo theme spread over two episodes. The Dorne stuff was weak as usual. With Meereen the problem is much the same as it was with last season's finale with the Tyrion stuff. They changed a whole lot about the motivations of the characters and so the Big Event that occurs seems to lack the power of its book counterpart. And like the stuff last year, they actually did lay the groundwork to do it right and then went a very different direction for the climax. A shame.

I tend to think the Night's King might not be a spoiler, just a device they might be using to give the Others a more focused antagonistic power for the show and to highlight their (probable) human origins.

Gave it a 9. I can't recall anything that wasn't solid and I really liked how they did the Hardhome sequence. They covered a lot of ground, including some subtle hints of Jon's importance to the story, just in time to wrap Jon's ADWD arc. The Night's King I expect may be a plot device they've used to give the Other's a more coherent menace and emphasize their human origins. But it works for the show I think.

Gave it an 8. I think it was overall solid. The only thing that really pops out as subpar was the almost-rape as a device to get Gilly to straddle Sam. I think Bronn's scene with the Sandsnakes was actually solid and I suppose it means he now owes them which could be interesting. I also think they followed up Sansa well. She's portrayed as traumatized but she's still got reserves of strength which I think is consistent with how she's been written and portrayed. Ramsay's a step or two ahead of her at the moment, but Brienne is clearly there as a wild card no one knows about, and someone who they made a point of having Sansa reject when she thought she was safest following Littlefinger's plans. Theon selling Sansa out also remains consistent with Reek- if he didn't cut Ramsay's throat when he heard Robb died, he's not going to light a candle for Sansa and get himself killed. My question is- do they have enough time left to get theon to the point where his retaking himself will be believable? Not sure, which is why I suspect he might die this season after a singular act of redemption to help Sansa escape.

This might be looked back as a jump the shark episode. Even show only viewers and critics are starting to notice. Haven't found a person who bought that contrived monstrosity of a fight scene in Dorne. As for the rape stuff, the show has an irredeemable reputation on sexual content now and they've earned it. I remember when the show first started there were some reviewers generalizing about how the series was just a show for male nerds based on books for male nerd readers. I think that criticism of the books has always been substantially wrong, but as it's gone it's become more valid as against the show. HBO is great with the freedom they allow their shows, but they would do better to reign people in. Don Draper had sex with like 20 women over the course of Mad Men and absurd as that is it never felt rediculous. It probably has something to do with that they didn't frame half of the sex scenes in that show in Littlefinger's brothel.

Ommmmm

I gave it a 7. The Dorne stuff was bad. The scenario was contrived and it wasn't even entertaining. I think the first third or so of the episode was the strongest with Arya's stuff and Tyrion and Jorah. The Kings Landing stuff wasn't bad. It's a different route than the books, but they're getting there. As for the Sansa stuff, they went there and while it was disturbing, it was meant to be. I'm more worried about how it will shake out in the future than how it has so far.

It was certainly a strange sequence. I get that they want to more overtly show the transition she goes through by the end of the book, but they seem to have used Barristan's death to push her very far ahead, and used the marriage proposal scene to show she's vacillating and walking herself back- but it didn't convincingly do that because of the coercive nature of her proposal. My impression is that the moment when Drogon returns won't be a moment of pent up emotion and climax, it will be more like "what took you so long, I've been feeding people to my dragons for four episodes now".

Gave it an 8. It was solid overall, though there were a few problematic scenes. The Bolton Family dinner was probably the weak point in the episode for me. I wasn't crazy about Dany feeding the dragons either. I understand that Barristan's death is something different so she could arguably react differently. And I get that they need to be a bit more overt in showing Dany's transition toward embracing her dragon side. But it seemed to go a bit too far, and I don't think walking it back with a bizarre "Let's get married after I just made you shit yourself" was effective in showing her ongoing conflict. My impression of it was, why is Drogon cruising over Valyria when it seems his bae is right where he wants her to be.

Gave it an 8. It was solid overall, though there were a few problematic scenes. The Bolton Family dinner was probably the weak point in the episode for me. I wasn't crazy about Dany feeding the dragons either. I understand that Barristan's death is something different so she could arguably react differently. And I get that they need to be a bit more overt in showing Dany's transition toward embracing her dragon side. But it seemed to go a bit too far, and I don't think walking it back with a bizarre "Let's get married after I just made you shit yourself" was effective in showing her ongoing conflict. My impression of it was, why is Drogon cruising over Valyria when it seems his bae is right where he wants her to be.

I think the point of Shireen's greyscale being brought up in both book and show is that it makes the superstitious wildlings a presence that won't lift a finger, and would actually actively support her death when Mel gets around to burning her.

It was pretty solid. I liked the Stannis scene. The Jon/ Mel scene was more obvious than the book but served its purpose well. Cersei giving the Faith Swords to get at Loras is so implausible that she looks like book Cersei after all. Sand Snakes are meh. Should have seen Barristan's death coming. He went farther than the books in his speech about Aerys- his purpose has been served.