Long time lurker here, and this discussion has finally pushed me to register and comment. It's just my opinion on the matter, no need to start heated discussions on it. I can understand that people are disappointed by missing the battles, but it didn't come as a surprise to me. As far as I know, the Blackwater is the only large scale battle that George Martin describes in full. Of course, this is because it is the only one where he has a proper POV to show what is going on, but the Whispering Wood and the Battle for the Green Fork are only described partially or as aftermath. For me, I didn't miss the battles at all. The fights are the least convincing part of the series for me so far, and the way they showed the Lannisters slaying the Starks in King's Landing looked so bad to me, that I'm glad they didn't give 3-4 minutes of precious time to mindless slaughter. It's not Braveheart. Though the whole River Run situation might be a bit unclear to non-readers, they seem to have chosen not to introduce the Tully's at all in this series (no Blackfish etc), so this just follows their logic. Robb won a battle against the Lannisters and caught the Kingslayer, that's what matters and that's what's depicted. About the Shae/Bronn/Tyrion slumber party, I don't understand how readers can dislike this scene. What I absolutely loved about this episode is that it started with darkness and only the sound of Ned's breathing and it also ended with just the sound of Ned's breathing. The whole execution scene was fantastic, I loved every detail of it. Can't wait until next Sunday.
