Sun

I'm not so sure how to rate this episode. I hated bits of it, didn't care for much of it and liked a small portion. It's worth noting that I usually watch and rate the show as an episode of TV drama, not in comparison to the books. I only call up the books when the show heads in ways that don't make sense narratively for their storyline, no necessarily in comparison to the books. Hated: - Meereen: Please let them stop giving Emilia Clarke dialogue scenes. The girl is cringe worthy, and has been since season two. Just have her walk around looking pretty, that's why they hired her anyway. She ruined the Jorah dismissal scene for me. What should have been shocking, moving and painful to watch ended up being just an exercise in very bad acting. I have to say though, The actress playing Missandei has potential. She communicates a wider range of emotion in silence than Emilia does with 3 pages of dialogue. - Sansa's costume change: Subtlety is a foreign word that holds no meaning to the writers of this show. Ambivalent: - The Eyrie: Sansa revealing herself to the Lords of the Eyrie seems like a very risky move to me. Not convinced Sansa would have made that choice and risked being sent back to King's Landing to die for Joff's murder, especially to lords who failed to support her brother's cause. - The opening scene of the whore's monologue Mole's Town: Looked far too staged; nothing natural about it at all. - Most of The Duel while Oberyn is speaking: All I could hear him say is "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." I laughed through it all until the very last moment when Oberyn died and then I issued a little yelp. But then again, that was also my reaction to the book-scene, so I can't really criticize the show for it. - The Wall: Meh. Liked: - Arya: Arya laughing was a very nice and credible touch. Classic PTSD reaction, imo. - Orson and Beetles: Dinklage and C-W and such beautiful actors, I love watching them in quiet intimate moments. Dinklage especially delivered that scene beautifully. It moved me, and made me think. Orson in this case representing the gods indiscriminately crushing people that cross their path simply because they can. A lovely, lovely scene, and a perfect set up for the duel. It actually gave me butterflies in my stomach when C-W said good luck. I was actually nervous for Tyrion. LOL I more than liked this scene, I loved it. - Theon/Bolton: Well done scenes where all involved, writers, actors, and director deliver. - Oberyn's death scene: I yelped, and the looks on everyone's faces as it happened were perfect. So, having written it all out, I think I'll give the episode a 6. Although I'm tempted to give it a 7 just for Orson's Beetles scene. Still not sure. Edit: Ended up giving it a generous 7, though I think on rewatch it will drop to a 6.

A 7. A good episode that failed to move me. Nothing to write home about.

A 8 for the King's Landing scenes! For Dinklage, Dinklage, Dinklage, and Coster-Waldau. For them and because of them this episode rises to one of the best of the season. There's an Emmy for Dinklage in this episode I suspect.

Season 2 is overrated by these scores, imho. I wouldn't score S2 anything over a 6 at best, and probably lower. It would be interesting to see if members scoring the show season by season, as opposed to ep by ep, would achieve numbers similar to the season averages we have here.

6 When did Cersie become an expert political maneuverer, manipulating judges left, right, and centre? How does Pod go his entire life in a horse and mule society and not know how to sit a horse? I'm not saying he has to be an expert rider, but sitting a horse is rudimentary. Why would Lysa accost LF with Jon Arryn the minute he walks through her door? I know she wants to pressure him into marriage because she's threatened by Sansa, but why the minute he walks in? It's so unnatural and awkward behaviour. Why were LF and Sansa walking to the gate? Are there no trail horses, mules or donkeys in the Vale? Why didn't Bran take the opportunity to warg Hodor and free them before the Locke moment? It's been established by the show, tonight no less, that the mutineers are mostly drunk 24/7 and that they felt safe enough not to have their camp, or Bran and co. guarded. Also, Why did the show kill Locke? What was the point of taking him to the Wall just to kill him so pointlessly?

A 7. A competent episode, well executed. Dany's segment is a bore, but that the norm rather than the exception for Dany. Her final shot on top of the pyramid with that Targaryan banner above her was ominous. It didn't feel like something to celebrate, it felt like the idea behind that shot was to put a sense of dread into the audience. The shot had an eerie "pre-war rise of the Nazi party" feel to me, which I thought was quite well done. Ofcourse it could all be my own projection. Jaime's scenes were good, his scenes with Brienne being particularly lovely. Not sure where they're going with Bran being at Craster's. I'll decide if I like the change after I see how it plays out with Bran and Jon. Locke, I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with him. The Night's King, and his retinue of 12... well that was new. :lol: Everything else was fine, nothing much deserving of comment.

It seems like I'm one of few people here who actually likes the Sam/Gilly scenes. It's true that there was really no need for her to go to Moles Town (apart from an opportunity to show whores and tits of a different stripe), but I liked the scenes nevertheless.

A very good episode. For the first time since season 1 Dany and her storyline doesn't bore me to tears. or make me cringe with second hand embarrassment. I like the homage to Indiana Jones they did with Daario's champion fight. This episode gets an 8 for that miraculous feat alone. What's going on with Aidan Gillen? In every other show I see him in, and there are plenty, he delivers decent performances. Come to GOT and he's a prime roasted ham of the first order. What is going on? Also, LF in now Irish apparently? The Jaime/Cersie scene was a let down on many levels, least of them that it came off as borderline rape. The scene leaves very little room for interpretation but I can live with it, however I can not live with the timid and reticent acting, and the way the scene was blocked and directed was mediocre at best. It drew all the power away from what should have been a very emotionally powerful and cognitively controversial scene. I'm editing this for the record: I initially said above that it was borderline rape, but after rewatching the scene several time, noticing little things like Cersie pushing Jaime's face away from her as she sobs and says don't, I have changed my mind. It's not borderline rape, it is rape. The reason I'm editing now is because frankly I'm getting sick of the show writers and director flip flopping on the issue. first saying rape then not, then rape, then not again. So I thought I should have it stated clearly what I think for the forum record, if there is such a thing.

Not if they keep to the seasonal timeline in the books.

Actually, I rewatched the scene, and it looked to me like simply the reflection of a WW in ice.

Bran's vision was a call to join the 3EC along with a an account of dangers, threats and calamities that have come to pass for Bran, and some that are yet to come. 1- A sword and Eddard Stark (self-explanatory) 2- A crow flies through the crypts. 2- Bran pushed out of the tower with Cersie's voice in the background (Bran never knew who pushed him). 3- The Others: the child from the pilot (past), the zombie horse from season 2 (past & future), a reflection of a WW in ice (future). 4- Snow in the throne room (future). 5- Dragons over Kings Landing in summer (past vision foretelling of a present & future threat). If this vision is relevant in anyway, I believe it is relevant in that it tells us that the 3EC sees the dragons as much of a threat as the Others.

Re. the dragon vision: I believe it is likely an image from the past telling Bran that the dragons have returned to the world. That they exist once again and are a threat. That is all. It is not a vision from the future, it is from the past foreboding a present and future threat.

It's a fist, extending from an arm dressed in black, smashing ice. You can even see the thumb. http://i.imgur.com/QiKxbqd.png

a 7 from me. The ep started very well with the Boltons and ended beautifully with the wedding. The middle bits of Bran and Stannis were a bit meh, especially the Bran sequence. I should add that I also thought that the pre-wedding KL scenes were rather weak. The dialogue was mundane, to say the least. Especially in the Olenna/Tywin, Jaime/Bronne, with special emphasis on the Jaime/Loras (that was truly awful). Actually come to think of it, a lot of the writing in the episode was weak. The 7 goes almost entirely to the Tyrion/Joffery interactions during the wedding and to the Bolton scenes. I gave the premier a deserving 8, it is the stronger episode of the two.

An 8. Loved it. A great season opener, the best since the pilot. The look on Aria's face in as she rode into the camera on that white horse with a smile on her face with swelling music in the background actually brought tears to my eyes. Tears of gratification that at least one Stark has won a small victory (and this from I'm a bookreader lol - I was completely sold on the moment). I have quibbles, hence the 8, but no real complaints, which in itself so refreshing for me when it comes to this show.

I've always found Dant's arc in Slaver's Bay extremely problematic in the books - It's one of the reasons I hate reading her. The depiction in the show was equally offensive. If the horrid masters are also cast as poc, as they are in the books, it will look even worse. Agreed. Personally, I loved the Varys/Shae scene. I thought it was very well done.

I loved it. A superb 9. Lost a point for a schlocky ending. Shame about not showing LS. I would have put money on Lady Stoneheart being the final scene, but the episode worked well without it. I have little doubt that Lady Stoneheart will rise next season, likely as early as the premier, or at the latest in ep 2.

Good ep. So painful. Gave it a 8. Lost a point for tired Dany scenes, and another for not allowing RW time to breath, time for the foreboding to build. That one scene between Roose and Catelyn was not enough. THey needed to allow the dread to build. Dany should have been left out of this ep. Edited to add: Daario is nearly as annoying in the show as he is in the books.

I gave it a 7, rounded up from 6.5. The ep couldn't retain my attention. It felt quite flat and somewhat disjointed in parts, in all but one scene failing to deliver its punches. In short it left very little impression on me and my group of unsullied, with the exception of the Sam the slayer. That scene was well done, despite the blatant directorial echoing of Hitchcock's The Birds, or perhaps because of it.

Just rewatched the episode, changing my rating from a 6 to a 5. Most of the conversational scenes that fill this episode are just so utterly banal. Without really anything to move the plot forward, the dialogue needed to carry the ep, and it failed miserably.

really don't think they can have him naming Jon as his heir and be believed. It just doesn't make sense now that he has a child coming. The only way they can do this now is to have Robb legitimize Jon, and name him guardian over his child and Winterfell until his child comes of age, and next in line if his kid should not reach maturity.

On the writing front, a very disappointing episode indeed. Even the 1-1 scenes, which are usually good, were not up to par this time. And Tyrion seems to have forgotten he has wit to fall back on when he's feeling vulnerable. Oh well... Ygritte doesn't know what swooning is, but knows the swooning at the sight of a spider cliche? NCW is the highlight as always. The Bear scene had all the makings of a great scene, but it was only good, mostly let down by the director's choice of camera angles, and the editing. It's such a shame. Talisa pregnant?! Interesting. Not sure I believe her. I'm sure i have more to say about this ep, but I can't be bothered to say it at the moment. The episode has left me deflated.

If it weren't for NCW's scenes, the Rains of Castamere on cello ending the episode, and some stellar acting from Iwan, Alfie, Richard Madden and Rose Leslie this episode would have rated a 5. As it is, it rated a 6. The writing was less than mediocre. Some of the worst 1-1 scenes of the season - a shocking let down, really - and possibly the worst Bran segment of all. The Bear scene was good but let down by the director's choice of camera angles, and the editing. Again, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's performance is the highlight, as he has consistently been this year. ETA: The actor who plays Qyburn get a special mention for some wonderful line delivery. I want to see more of him.

You're right that S2 was dismal, but I think people are taking in relation to S3 here.

They'll be moving up some of his ADWD chapters to S4. For example, fake Arya arriving in the north, will likely be S4, so will Theon's Deepwood Mott scene.