legba11

Excellent, excellent. Tight storytelling, very little wasted space in this episode. I wonder how many purist heads exploded when they read Theon's letter? This was as good as last week's without the excessive HBOness dragging it down.

Well put, Lost, what I mean as the HBO! moments are the ones which are just pointless sex (or other "taboos") which HBO seems compelled to add to their shows now that cable networks are challenging their territory for serious high-quality drama.

There are tons of gratuitous HBO! moments. The books are graphic too, The Lannister twin reunion from SoS comes to mind... In both cases I find it unnecessary. It's more in your face on the show as you have people actually pretending to do it, as opposed to some chubby hippy just writing it.

They aren't likely going to worry about the second shadow baby, I imagine Renly will be killed in Storm's End. It's an easy way to cut an unimportant plot point and simplify things.

A couple of people have said it now, Ghost is out hunting frequently. I would imagine more so at night. It's likely he makes the save to begin 2.03, however.

9 for me, excellent episode. -1 for the excessive HBO moments.

There are way too many characters already in the books (for television) and Bronn has little to do this season other than Episode 9. This is a very sensible reduction.

The blue eyes and Others (White Walkers) talking made it pretty clear who was taking the baby. You hear them talking long before you see them.

At least it's not just me who cannot get on the forums most of time... Jon's story is still going to play out similar to how it does in CoK. Ygritte is coming, The Half-Hand is a "major" new character. We see them climbing and fighting together. Sadly, I think this will get played out as a cheap cliff-hanger, where the world gets reset (to normal) quickly next week. Something like Ghost find him (and the dragonglass) and they leave Craster's without him knowing Jon survived. It won't matter on the way back as Jon isn't with them anyway. Stannis and Mel had sex in the books. There is no doubt about that, That scene is likely how it happened. Stannis does NOT know she is hatching a demon fetus to kill Renly (and the steward of Storm's End). (There is no indication of this, he has no idea what happened to Renly). LF's speech served two parts, once again it shows the audience what type of guy he is underneath the fancy clothes. It also serves to be putting Ros in the right place to run his moneymaker when he leaves. He knows KL is about to become real dangerous and knows he needs to get out. LF is a survivor. Jofferey/Cersei in charge would make any person nervous about their survival. Stannis or Renly are going to attack the city soon and it's currently defended by some poorly trained cops and (at that time) led by a man who would not be hard for the invaders to buy off. There's a reason he decides to continue playing The Game from outside KL for nearly the rest of the books.

Forum wouldn't work for me last night, after that first post (booo), so first impressions: Much stronger that 2.01. They stuck with a few stories this time, I'm fine with no Jaime (who i think is the best part of the show), noticed him not in credits. the theme seemed 'The cost of love/sex" I thought the Tyrion/Cersei parts were ok, a bit disappointing as they figured to be the highpoint. Tyrion/Varys was great (though short) Balon and Jaqen are both as great as I had hoped. They are my Troy McClure's of the books (minor characters who I love). Both delivered a ton of awesome in a few lines. Yara letting Theon go a bit further was icky. This and wiping spooge off a whore's mouth were our HBO! moments. These annoy me. I am fine with sex in the story (several examples of it in this ep.), just throwing taboos on the screen is cheap. Seeing Melisandre seduce Stannis and Davos seduce Sallador was about 1000x times better than happening off screen. (OMG Sallador is black! He must be from District 11!) I approve of Jon's scene, though I wish he has actually tried to be sneaky. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! No reason to hid behind trees (until the end). I'm happy Crastor noticed, otherwise that was a bit silly. They need to keep the Walkers in the show, It's acceptable in books to just have your BBEG talked about and never do anything (as books are just that, things being told to the reader). On film, it's lacking. Dany scene was a waste in this episode, should have happened next week when that story goes further (I assume). At least have someone mention The Night Lands to make the connection. Arya! Gendry! Yoren! That scene rocked.

Wow, the people, who don't like changes, heads just exploded.

I look TV Shae way more than book Shae (who I find a boring waste of catch phrases). The smell of cum line seemed an "HBO!" moment. They seem compelled to show off their differences from the cable networks which are now producing the top quality dramas that used to be HBO's selling point. On the upside, Game of Thrones's lifespan may well be extended by these attacks on HBO's territory of serious, top quality dramas. No cable network could do Game if Thrones.

The Direwolves were big because two of them (including the runt) are actively involved in combat now. It would look kind of silly to have a 50 lb puppy being the thing tearing apart armored war horses. Martin plays very fast and loose with time frames and it seems the show will as well. I am ok with this as story telling supersedes reality. If you really want to see this, ask what the heck Arya and Team Night's Watch has been doing in all this time which passed. They've gotten like a day's journey away from King's Landing at this point.

8 Good, but stretched too thin. Should have just introduced the Iron Throne (Lannisters, Robb/Catelyn/ Team Stannis) storylines this week. Next week, they could have introduced Dany and Robb's stories.

This is the best line of this whole thread :thumbsup: Listen folks have the right (and should) bitch about things that bother them on the show. It's the reason Al Gore invented the intranetz. I love the show, it is surpassing my wildest dreams which I've had for 2? years since it was announced. Being a huge fanboy, there are little things that I dislike, I usually don't even bother to talk about them as they are small, but that doesn't mean others shouldn't. Just a different way of doing things, neither is more "right". Folks also have the right to shoot down those criticisms which they don't agree with for the exact same reasons. **Edit, added ** As for why Robb let get the scout, this was already discussed. It is quite clear if you remember what he does next in the books. He feints with Roose Bolton and a large chunk of his footmen at Tywin. This is setting that up, giving Tywin more reason to think this green, barbaric Northchild is going to charge right towards him for battle. Part of the greatness of this writing is it completely foreshadows Robb's tragic fall. He makes the great tactical manuver, but loses big time in the "Game". He has given a very dangerous man control of a large chunk of his army (and then doesn't entrust Edmure with the information he needs to complete the plan). Robb is a Stark (despite looking like a Tully). He does not know people very well. He just expects them to do what they say they will do.

I agree, I think it's more likely they hire quality but not well known actors. That is HBO's typical method. Sean Bean was probably the biggext name for their "flagship series". I think he noses out Steve Buscemi, and well above Anna Paquin. Gandolfini was barely known, Olyphant even less so (the killer from Scream 2). Rome and Carnival had no star power to speak of. Have I forgotten any of their "big" dramas? This is not a slight on the acting ability of these actors, most of them were brilliant choices and the reason these shows are so excellent.

We call him the Irish Gene Hackman, all he needs is a little chuckle when other characters are speaking.

Stannis is a much more significant character than Craster (who will be in two or three episodes) or Quorin Halfhand, who will be the secondary character in the episodes he gets. Stannis would be perfect for a big namer (again I don't expect an A lister, it's not HBO's method). He is VERY significant, he is the rightful king now, no one else could argue that point (I don't think the Targaryn's pass the throne to women). He is a heroic, yet tragicly flawed character, the type of role great actors win awards for. And he is not going to be on screen the most for season 2 (clearly this will be Tyrion), a larger role in season 3 (I'm not sure who will have the most screen time there). His role will be larger in the series than the books as the POV's are gone. Not being the main character makes the time demands MUCH less, which helps a busy actor. The actors who play the leads of the various books are fully committed time wise, they cannot work for those 3? months of filming. Movies and TV series frequently work around the schedule of bigger name actors.