Ran

You can delete your vote and vote again, if you re-evaluate an episode. :)

500 votes exactly, and it's at a 7.0 average, 7 median, 7.13 normalized average with the top and bottom 5% removed. I've noticed that in general that there's a certain threshold that suggests first day poll results will predict whether the episode will fall or rise in average depending on where it ends up. Any episode that's in the 7.5 area after the first day is liable to have disappointed enough people that the ones who have issues will outweigh the ones who don't as things wear on, and so you can see (as now) a half a point drop... and I suspect it will drop a little lower still before the season's done. And, by the way, this episode has been rated lower on the forum than any episode before it. Previous record holder was the the season 2 episode "The Night Lands", at 7.07 with 398 votes in. But note the effect I noted above: at 400 votes, _this_ episode was at 7.08. So had "The Night Lands" had as many respondents to the poll as this episode has now, I expect it would be at the 7.00 mark as well. Quite interesting, really.

435 votes in, 7.06 average, 7 median, 7.18 normalized average.

AL should indeed be changed to AC. AL has been superseded.

400 votes in, 7.08 average, 7 median, 7.18 normalized average.

Volverin, George's POV remark is solely about the immediacy of understanding what's going on in Jaime's head whereas you can only try to decipher it by what you see on the screen. There's at least two paragraphs where he focuses on Cersei's desire and hunger for Jaime.

343 voted, 7.15 average, 8 median (barely), 7.27 normalized average.

200 votes in, average score of 7.24, median score of 8, normalized average (top/bottom 5% removed) of 7.37.

I'm guessing Cersei. And yeah, safe to say it's going to be how they get Podrick together with Brienne, rather than having him follow her on his own.

107 votes, 7.50 average, 7 media, 7.63 normalized (top/bottom 5% removed).

Well, the possibility never comes up because it's highly unlikely. After all, no one bothers to question him about Tyrion, or to try and get him to testify against Tyrion. He's just a boy that most people think is a lackwit because he can barely talk.

Book Pod's never really in any danger. Seems to totally miss Cersei and Tywin's radar.

boojam, Eh? Juggernaut? She's stuck besieging the place for a good long stretch, almost gets killed, and discovers one of her most trusted advisors has been selling her out. She's not that much of a juggernaut in ASoS.

8. I looked back over my votes for the first three episodes over the previous seasons, and this one has had the best results from me (yes, even outdoing season 1 -- Lord Snow got a 7), so kudos to them for a solid start. Reviewed it in more detail here, where I think it's fair to say that it's actually a fairly elegantly written episode. I'm a sucker for stories with a strong thematic through-line, though.

Non-spoiler discussion of the show goes here, for those who've not read the books or those who have but are happy to not actually reference them at all in discussion, taking each episode as it comes. This topic should open automatically when the show begins airing.

Book spoiler discussion of the show goes here, for those who want to discuss the episode in relation to the books, and with reference to spoilers from them. This topic should open automatically around the start of airing.

545 votes in, average of 8.33, median of 9, normalized average of 8.48. By way of comparison: Episode 1, 626 votes, 8.16 average. 8 median, 8.28 normalized average.

626 votes, 8.16 average. 8 median, 8.28 normalized average.

I can't recall anywhere where Olenna Tyrell is obsessed with noble blood. Indeed, quite the opposite: She is a very unconventional woman. Littlefinger's an unconventional man. No big surprise that they would work together... and also against one another. Olenna tried to ferret Sansa away to her own ends, Littlefinger stopped it, she needed help murdering Joffrey, he provided it... and got away with Sansa to boot, which it seems likely she didn't anticipate. Because Littlefinger twisted things to his purposes, and not hers.

I think Martin's suggestion that he has yet to reveal all things is that: a) at the time of the interview, viewers don't know the involvement of any other third parties, i.e. Littlefinger, and B) the specific events leading to Tyrion being blamed and Sansa running away tie into (a), and are (in my estimation) things that Littlefinger worked with the Tyrells up to a point but made sure to manipulate things to get what he wanted (Tyrion blamed, Sansa escaped). I buy the idea that the Tyrells didn't mean to pin it on Tyrion and Sansa, but then I always though so from the time ASoS was published. Indeed, given what we see of the QoT, she has a vehement hatred of Oberyn Martell, so I think in all likelihood she did indeed mean to pin it on Oberyn -- and maybe Littlefinger assured her that he'd help lay evidence to point in that direction.ut These details would need the further books to come out, as so far on can only speculate, and so that fits Martin's remark. But the very specific claim that two unrelated parties of would-be poisoners decided to use the same poison, at the same event, at approximately the same time? It strains credulity.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. GRRM has used that one on occasion when people have presented super-elaborate theories that greatly complicate things that needs no complication.

Don't know if it's been noted here, but need to change all instances of Durrendon to Durrandon.

509 votes in, 8.34 average. Normalized with top/bottom 5% removed, 8.48.

469 votes in and the episode rates 8.32. Normalized with the top/bottom 5% removed, it's at 8.47.

367 votes in, it's averaging a 8.4. Normalized (top/bottom 5% removed) it's at 8.55.