Isabella Stark

That's really interesting that the chain boom was a real military strategy. I'm inclined to think we will have The Chain. In the episode where Theon arrives at Pike, you see a chain being raised across the harbor (in the background of a Theon scene). Foreshadowing I think.

I think the hostage exchange issue was always complicated for the Starks. On the one hand, it seems obvious to consider trading the girls for Jamie. (For that reason, I wasn't bothered that the offer came from Tyrion via Littlefinger as opposed to Cat. I just didn't think it was a uniquely brilliant idea.) On the other hand, for wartime, Jamie, a skilled knight and battle commander, is a much more immediate asset than Sansa and Arya. Sansa's value as a hostage only raises after all of her brothers die. Until then, her claim to Winterfell is 4th in line. I may have overstated book-Cat's decision to release Jamie as "stupid," but I still think it was an emotional decision that wasn't very well thought out. She had no guarantee that the Lannisters would release her daughters in exchange or that, given there's a civil war going on, that Jamie would reach Kings landing or the girls would reach Riverrun/ Winterfell. I don't think Cat's taking any more or less initiative in the show than in the book, on this particular point. In the book she was responding to the apparent death of her sons. Like I said before, I agree with you on your argument that other of Cat's politically astute advice and decisions have come from other characters. I just think that in this episode, she's seemed a lot shrewder.

I respect people's complaints and criticisms. I just think some people are getting ahead of themselves. In the books, GRRM sows plot points well before the payoff. In the tv show, it's been clear that they'd shortening the time between sowing of plot point and payoff. For example, It wouldn't work for Sansa to be discussing possible escape with Dontos already. She doesn't escape until the Purple Wedding, which won't happen until the end of Season 3 at the earliest. It would feel like really pointless television for her to spend over a season meeting Dontos in the Godswood and discussing possible escape. Yet, I've seen a lot of complaining that Sansa's not meeting Dontos in the Godswood, but barely any complaints of something we know has been cut- Dontos' efforts to assist Sansa when Joffrey has her beaten. It's not like the producers don't know where the story is going. They know what has to happen. They've read the later books and have some information about what's going to happen after book 5. So basically, it's way too soon to be complaining that Tyrion's chain has been cut eliminated (no pun intended). There's plenty of time for the next episode to include Tyrion making last minute preparations for the defense of KL, or even during the battle to instruct someone to raise the chain, etc. If we get to the end of the Battle of Blackwater with no chain, I'm totally on board with complaining that the chain has been eliminated. But for all we know, they'll (actually, GRRM, since he's writing that episode) have come up with some other ingenious method of defense.

I agree with you about the Robb sending her to Renly part, but disagree about the Jamie release. With regard to the Jamie release, I think tv-Cat is being smarter than book-Cat. I think releasing Jamie in response to a specific offer to trade him for the girls is smarter and more rational than sending him to Kings Landing on the assumption/ hope that the Lannisters will release her daughters. Book-Cat's decision was an emotional decision after the boys' apparent death, and I thought it was stupid. Here, TV-Cat is rationally assessing the situation in Robb's camp and coming to the probably correct conclusion that Jamie won't last the night and she'll lose her bargaining chip. Just because it's in response to Karstark's raging doesn't take her agency away.

Cersei's speech about "don't love anyone except your children; you can't help loving them," was strangely appropriate for the Mother's Day episode;)

My impression was that Roose is noticing that things are starting to fall apart for the Starks (ie., the discontent among the men about Robb's interest in "Talisa," the Karstarks, etc.)

Also, I really liked how they got a lot of Westerosi history into this episode. But I'm afraid non-readers probably found it boring :(

I like the "new" Quarth storyline. It's more interesting and I like the way Dany is being used in some other place's "game of thrones." (As I understand the scheme, Xaro stole the dragons for the warlocks in exchange for their assistance making him king. I'm unclear as to whether this is intended to pressure Dany into marrying him or something.) I really appreciate that they're creating a stronger motivation for Dany to go to the HOTU. I didn't really buy that in the books. I enjoyed the interactions between Jon and Ygritte and I think those actors have really good chemistry together. Should be great for next season. However, I am concerned about losing the Jon fighting Qhorin part. I really liked that. The episode description for Ep 10 says something like "Jon proves himself to Qhorin." Hopefully they're still getting to the same thing, just by a different route. I hate hate hate hate Theon. And I think the show is handling his storyline wonderfully. Really liked the Jamie scenes. I enjoy the Arya-Tywin scenes, but am not sure I totally believe them. I actually bought Tywin being more familiar with a servant, on the theory that she's so far below him, he can just relax and open up with her. Don't entirely buy Tywin being familiar with a highly intelligent, Northern noble-born girl. Surely he'd be more suspicious of her and want to know exactly who she is. I don't know; maybe he thought he had time to catch her in more slip-ups and figure out who she was that way. (I think the making her eat bit was intended to see if she ate like a lady with utensils, as she did, or with her hands like a peasant.)

Interestingly, My book-reader friends and I thought this episode was great, but our friend who hasn't read the books just thought it was just meh and not much happened. I'm concerned that Drogon is too puny and his fire breathing is too weak to do what he does in the House of the Undying. Rockroi at # 368: good argument on the Jon volunteers scene. I still thought he was a little too whiny about it. Oh well. So was Luke Skywalked in Star Wars:) It's not how I pictured North of the Wall, but Iceland looks amazing. I seem to be the only person who thought Dany's Quarth dress was really ugly. edited to fix a typo

I was wondering the same thing

I agree. It was perfectly clear that Stannis' and Renley's armies are near the coast. Davos took Melisandre someplace in a boat. From the reader perspective, he was transporting her to be closer to the target. From the non-reader perspective, the episode ended on a big cliffhanger. I'm sure they're wondering, "What's going to happen with that shadow thing?"

For all the fretting about butterfly affects and 'how are they going to go from Point A to Point B now that they've changed Point A?' I think everyone needs to remember that the producers and writers know just as well as we do where the story "needs" to go. Better in fact, because GRRM has shared his long term story outline with D&D. Regarding Arya being Tywin's cupbearer- it's a tribute to Maisie Williams' awesomeness that they decided to put her in scenes with Charles Dance. I'm looking forward to watching the two of them interact. Also, it'll also simplify things for the non-reader viewers so they don't have to get to know a whole bunch of new characters (ie, those people Arya is working for when Harrenhall is run by the Lannisters). And, this episode provided a better explanation for why Arya doesn't have Jag'hen kill Tywin- because Tywin came in a save Gendry from being tortured to death. I also think that being Tywin's cupbearer, Arya will see him more as a person, not just as her family's enemy. (I've never gotten the impression that tv-Tywin or book-Tywin is needlessles cruel and sadistic. He's very ambitious and pragmatic, and will take very extreme steps to further his goals, but he doesn't strike me as someone who's randomly cruel to the servants.) I never really bought it that Arya just "forgot" to have Jag'hen kill Tywin. I think this way, she'll know that she's "supposed" to have Tywin killed, but he saved her friend and if he's kind to her, she'll find it hard to kill him. So we'll probably get some interesting scenes where Arya is torn about what to do, vis a vis Tywin. Also, after Joff's prostitute-abusing scene, I'm glad we'll get to see Robb's love story. It'll be nice to see some characters have a loving sexual relationship.

I disagree. In the books, particularly ASOS, Tyrion frequently recognizes Sansa's strengths. It's subtle and easy to miss, but it's there.

This has been my theory. They can't really announce they've cast Ramsey, because then when "Reek" shows up, people will recognize him as Ramsey. And accouncing they've cast "Reek" signals that he's important somehow. This particular plot line really depends on a seemingly unimportant person turning out to be someone quite important. I think the audience needs to be fooled along with Theon. They could be saving the Ramsey reveal for season 3, and just handle Reek/ Ramsey like they did Jagen H'gar in the last episode of last season- an extra in disguise whose place can be taken over by whatever actor they hire next season. However, given the plot titles and summaries (Ep 7- "Theon goes hunting;" Ep 8 is titled "The Prince of Winterfall") it sounds like some very Reek centered stuff is happening this season. Anyway, I really hope they have Reek/ Ramsey around this season, because I found that whole storyline so engrossing. I don't think this storyline requires the audience to be surprised along with Dany. In fact, it might be more interesting if the audience recognizes "Arstan." The unsullied will be wondering what he's doing there.....

I really liked this ep. Arya As much as I love the books, all the wandering around the Riverlands gets boring. So I was really happy to see them condense that part. I also liked the bit where Arya says that dead Lommy was Gendry. That's the wily girl who would figure out how to make Jagen H'gar help her take Harrenhal. Renly and Loras I thought that scene was really hot. (I'm starting to get why many straight guys are so into lesbians.) Generally, I'm liking how they're developing Renly. In the book, he never made much impression on me. Also liking Margery. But really, when trying to seduce a gay man, there's no point in showing off your boobies. Agree that Loras appears to have bulked up since last season. omitted characters In the interview with D & D on this site, they explain that they are holding off on introducing a lot of ACOK characters until next season. (Such a large cast is expensive.) So there's still hope for the Reeds. And I really hope they keep the Queen of Thorns. She's one of my favorite characters. Sansa & Shae Didn't particularly enjoy that scene, but I think it's way too soon to say it was pointless. We don't know where they're taking this relationship. Ironborn No strong opinion about Yara, but she hasn't made much of an impression so far. Otherwise, I really liked all of those scenes. The actor playing Balon is great.

I really enjoyed this episode. I won't list everything I liked, because most of it has already been discussed. I liked the dialogue. There were a lot of memorable lines in this episode. I can't believe the Krakon fireplace hasn't received more discussion. I had about 10 people with me watching (both readers and non-readers), and everyone went "ooh wow" when we saw that. Congrats to the set designers. Lommy's green hands were another nice touch. I didn't notice Dragonstone being dragon shaped, so I'll have to go back and take another look. Re.: Asha 1) I can't believe there's this much discussion over the name change. It's not like it changes the plot or anything. I think the concern about confusion is justified. Apparently lots of non-readers couldn't tell Robb, Theon and Jon apart. Yes, the Asha/Osha issue is a different issue since they never appear in a scene together, but noobs have enough new info to absorb without having to deal with, "what's her name? Asha? Isn't Tonks playing someone called Asha?" etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the producers were emplying some non-reader to review the scripts to catch potential confusion for non-reader viewers, and that person got confused between Asha and Osha. I don't think it's the end of the world if hbo overcompensates to avoid confusion. 2) But yes, "Yara" sounds dumb and resembles Arya. Couldn't they have gone with "Marina" or something completely different? 3) The actress wasn't what I pictured, but I was picturing Lily Allen, and I'm glad they didn't go that route! She really looked like Balon Greyjoy. I liked that! I too am getting irritated, not by the sex or by Ros, but by how much time Littlefinger seems to spend at the brothel when he's surely got more important things to be dealing with, being Master of Coin and all. Edited to correct my grammer