Ser Osis

That's my theory. In fact, I think the two guys Stannis kills just before Brienne shows up are a couple of the deserters. There just seemed to be recognition there.... The truth is, we don't know what the situation with Balon or anyone in the Iron Islands is. For all we know, he may have fallen from the bridge and we'll be told that in the next season. We might even see a Kingsmoot and Vic's journey to Slaver's Bay. I don't think it was ever spelled out, but one has to imagine that Lancel knew about whatever Cersei put in Robert's wine. (Pycelle might have known as well) I'm not sure what she could have used to convince LL Cool Sparrow other than sex, so the inference is that they were going at it whilst King Robert was still hitting on anything with a skirt (other than his wife) and letting Littlefinger "count coppers".

Don't think so. He thought she looked familiar, but didn't know why. My guess is he'll figure it out in the end, much the way Polliver did.

I mentioned this earlier....I think that maybe Mel had a hand in those fires springing up all over the camp. Yes, Seal Team Bolton did most of the legwork, but I think that Red Mel saw the whole thing in her flames and gave the fires a bit of a R'Hollor nudge...

We don't know any of this. It seems to me that at this point you're bound and determined to complain about the show and if specific complaints are shown to be less egregious than you'd originally thought, general complaints will have to suffice.

We don't know how the entire story will play out. Maybe Stannis lives, maybe he dies. There is plenty of time to introduce the character of Edric Storm if at some point in the story we find Stannis in need of an heir.

Edric?

From the hint we get in the episode 10 preview, the answer to both of those questions is yes. As far as the siege question goes, I'd wait and see.

Ramsay burned siege engines and supplies. Stannis' men probably don't want to go that route. He shows up at WF because Mel's magic worked. We've all seen the icicles melting in the preview.

So they won't starve.... ...how do they keep from freezing?

As I said earlier, the mistake you're making is thinking of the timeline in terms of "one episode to the next". If the story arcs run roughly the same length of time, it took weeks of cold and hunger for Stannis to change his mind and even then, it was Ramsay's sabotage that clinched it.

You're not. The people who are complaining about the scene are somewhat correct when they say that Ramsay (inadvertently) helped them with their food problem, but it doesn't solve the problem of the cold and it seemed quite clear to me that the army couldn't stay where they were. They were going to have to march through the snow, either forward or back and most if not all would have been likely to freeze in the attempt. The show didn't do a great job of outlining how desperate the situation was, but that's the way it goes when you have less than 10 hrs for an entire season.

A couple of points: I see a lot of people saying that the show didn't do enough to convince us all of how desperate Satnnis' situation was and to an extent, I agree. However, when you only have 10 episodes for an entire season, how much time can you realistically spend trying to convey it? This was why we saw two scenes where Davos urged Stannis to return to Castle Black. It was either that or freeze/starve. Now they have plenty of horsemeat to eat, but it doesn't solve the problem of the cold and it doesn't replace the ordnance that was destroyed by Ramsay. Concerning Ramsay, I'm with the camp who believe that Red Mel knew what was coming and either let it happened, or even helped the situation along. Her intent all along was to barbecue Shireen and the Bolton mission played right into her hands. Back to Stannis' situation. We don't know exactly how the timelines between the different story arcs are supposed to go, but if we assume they run concurrently, (or something close to it) then the army was snowbound for about as long as it took Jon and Tormund to ride to Eastwatch, sail to Hardhome, get their asses kicked by the WW and sail/walk back to CB. Not something you'd expect to do on a long weekend...

dp

One thing I keep seeing speculated is that the burning of Shireen will somehow be used to "resurrect" Jon, but I don't see it. Thoros managed to bring Beric back six times, just by saying a prayer to the Lord of light over his body. It's insinuated that Beric ended up reviving Lady Stoneheart with "The kiss of life", giving up his own life in the process, but we're not really told how that's supposed to work. (Maybe it can only be done by someone who's been resurrected themselves?) In any event, from what we've been told so far, burning King's blood should not be necessary to bring Jon back if he dies during FTW.

Sylvio? Trant went to Braavos, not Hoboken... :P

Nope. I said the same thing after the second Unsullied got whacked... BTW, A couple of points: Stannis didn't burn Shireen just so he could take WF. Davos clearly told him that they didn't have enough food left to return to CB, once Ramsay and Seal Team Six pulled off their mission. The snow was too deep to go forward and they couldn't go back. They were basically facing a death sentence, which meant no rightful king on the IT, and a free pass for the WW to take over the south. Debate if you will whether book Stannis would have burned his daughter to escape a desperate situation, but it wasn't "just so he could take Winterfell". There were much bigger fish to fry. Also, it's getting a bit tiresome reading the scores of "I'm never watching again!" and "That's it! I'm done!" after every episode. (except apparently, Hardhome) If D & D's adaptation honestly angers you that much, just stop watching. Please.

I think she looks familiar to him, but he can't figure out why. When people see someone they recognize outside of where they would expect to, they are confused and not sure where they recognize the person from. Since Trant is across the narrow sea and looking at someone he didn't really know all that well, (for all we know, the time when he came to capture Arya from her "dancing lesson" may have been the only time he really saw her in KL) it makes sense that he would look at her and wonder why she looks familiar. As far as he knows, Arya Stark died with the rest of the Starks after Ned's arrest. He certainly would never expect to see her in Braavos.

Nope. That was my explanation for why they don't swim after them. I suppose they could walk along the bottom, but it seems to me that it would be slow going...

:laugh: I feel the same way about all the people who say "Why don't the wights swim after the Jon and the Wildlings?" Why the hell should they be able to swim? Are swimming lessons a common thing in a place where the water is colder than an Eskimo's areshole? Do people think that wights magically gain magic swimming powers upon resurrection? Common sense. It ain't that common.

I've said this before....I don't understand why people are expecting the wights to be able to swim. For the most part, they're former free folk and considering the water temperature where they live, I doubt that many of them can swim. The other possibility is that the NK's intent was more "building his army" than it was chasing the Night's Watch all the way back to the Wall. That battle will come later...

It was Last Hearth. When Bran sends them away, she tells Rickon that they're going to see the Umbers, who are "great warriors" (or something to that effect)

A lot of hints that the NK is a Stark. 13th LC in the Night's watch, it's said he was a great warrior in The Time of Heroes, right after the Wall was built. One of the stories that Old Nan used to tell, referred to him as a Stark...said his name was Brandon as well...

The wights are former Wildlings. I doubt that swimming lessons were a common thing for the children of the free folk. They could probably walk along the bottom, but it'd be slow going... It's a pipe dream, but maybe she could become a Coldhands stand-in...

Gave it an 8. My favorite episode this season. There were a few things that bothered me. I understand that the Jorah-Tyrion arc needed to be sped up, but the way Tyrion convinced Yezzan to buy him as well as Jorah seemed a tad ridiculous. Then of course, the two of them are taken to a "starter" fighting pit, where Dany and Hizdar just happen to be. Isn't slavery supposed to be outlawed? Can Dany truly not tell that all these guys are slaves? I thought the way the two of them "escaped" was a bit ridiculous as well. The gate was just left open? Some random guard just decides to let Tyrion in on the action as well? Clumsy, IMHO. I have less of a problem with the Castle Black situation than many here do. To me, it stands to reason that the brothers of the NW would eventually try and have their way with Gilly. I honestly believe that those complaining so vociferously about it are still not over Sansa. This is GoT. Unpleasant stuff happens. A lot. Which brings me to Dorne. Nudity just for the sake of ratings also happens on GoT. A lot. As a hetero male, I have no objection to Tyene's objectification. Who knows? Maybe with Jerome beside them they'll become interesting characters. We still have a few episodes to make it happen. Nice to see Unella show up as well, although knowing D & D, they'll likely change her name for some reason. BTW: Have people forgotton that Ghost has been his own wolf for a while now? Sure he lets himself be kenneled up once in a while and he'll kick some Thenn butt when asked. But Ghost has his own agenda and even Jon isn't sure what it is.

I'm fetching the comfy chair as we speak. :cool4: Not exactly. Olenna basically admitted as much to Margaery, after the Purple Wedding. You don't think that refusing to be rescued from the Dreadfort by his own sister showed how "messed up" Theon is? :huh: