Dragon Queen

I read the books and I know it's dark as can be. Doesn't mean I don't want small victories every once in a while.

double post, sorry.

10/10. + Removal of Tysha and "Where do whores go" tedious and overused line + Removal of "Tywin Lannister did not in the end shit gold." Tywin is one of my favorite characters and I'm happy the show has portrayed Tywin without Tyrion's jealousy/hatred-filled glasses. + Removal of Lady Stoneheart. Resurrection of characters ruins books. When the author pulls this sort of stunt, it removes the emotional impact of character death. + Removal of the scene where Tyrion is a dick to Jaime after finding out more of the truth about Tysha. I loved that they ended the scene with their brotherly bond intact. I could use a happy moment between brothers, I'm sure others could as well. This show is in need of happy moments every now and again + I think the right emphasis was given about Stannis swooping in out of nowhere, intentions mysterious. He's not really a golden hero like Dany, his scenes shouldn't in my opinion play out the same way as her + Addition of the Children girl throwing fireballs + Ending Dany's plot with chaining the dragons. I love the ambiguity that GRRM uses about dragon use- they were cute and fun and controllable as baby dragons, as teens? older kids?, they act like….dragons, not trained pets. There is no good answer to solving the dragon problem. I firmly believe that without dragon books or dragon magic or outside help, dragons are virtually uncontrollable. (Yes Dany rode Drogon, but she's hardly barking commands while he fireballs the other army by this point) +Ygritte's funeral. I cried when she died in the books

I haven't seen it yet but I already know I'm adding points for the removal of Lady SH. She should never have been resurrected, when you resurrect dead people you lose the emotional impact of deaths. Just look at Wheel of Time when several of the Forsaken were resurrected.

I gave it a 10, best episode of the season. It was a great change of pace having the entire episode at one place, it felt nice to not switch between POV to POV. It seemed like a short movie to me. I think given all the events that happen, having Stannis show up last minute to save the day wouldn't have worked. I think they would have run out of time. His rescue of the Wall would have been reduced to, "And then Stannis showed up, they chanted his name and he won! Cool!" And then they wouldn't have had time to explain how the Night's Watch won. I loved the last scene between Ygritte and Jon. I teared up at it, like I did reading the book. Their last words to each other feel so poignant and sad. Honestly, episode 9 has been built up so much for crazy shit to go down, I bet the Unsullied still have scars from the Red Wedding (and many in shock from Oberyn's death last ep). I'm glad it was a nice long battle instead of crazy political intrigue and killing major characters (Season 1- Ned, Season 3 - Robb, Talisa, Catelyn). If someone major dies every season in episode 9, it might make the show too predictable. The Unsullied I know seem quite depressed about all the deaths and about Tyrion, and I think they could use a win right now.

I voted 7. Previous ratings 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7. I miss the snarkiness and witty lines in the beginning of the season. + Sansa was the highlight of the episode for me. Loved the hair color and her story full of lies, half truths, and truths. She's come a long way. Husband said, "Damn!" when he saw her new hair and outfit. Absolutely loved everything in the Eyrie scene. + Fight scene. I'm sure a lot of effort went into training Oberyn. + You're going to fight that? I'm going to kill that. - Theon and Ramsay. I hate everything about Roose and Ramsay. I wish the Others would spontaneously teleport to Moat Cailin, kill everyone associated with Roose/Ramsay, then teleport back to their plot line. I am sick to death of Ramsay's torture porn and sicko violence. - Jorah scene. Minus points for him coming off well and Dany coming off worse. I was actually hoping they would change the plot line so that she never exiles him. He gives her some of the best advice she's ever gotten from anyone. - Beetle scene. It was long and not that funny.

8. Previous ratings 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, 7. Awesome start to the season but it's been slower ever since. +Tyrion meeting with Bronn, Jaime, and Oberyn. Great dialogue and interaction. Those 4 have been in my opinion some of the most interesting characters to watch this season. +Mountain being so big. Can't believe he's 6'9''!! +Dany's outfit +I was very glad to see that they kept the snow castle scene. That chapter in the books was one of my favorites in the series, it was very moving. - Few show watchers had any idea who the Mountain was. - Dragonstone scene.

I think there are only 2 plausible explanations for this. One, the writers don't want her to be stuck in Essos for such a long time that viewers grow bored of her storyline and think she is never getting to Westeros. By moving up her storyline, it's very possible that next season could pass beyond her ADWD plot and get her to more interesting things. Showing Dany eating figs and asking for cushions doesn't make for good TV. The second explanation I would have is that perhaps her storyline has so many events that it needs to cover, so many things she needs to do, that it only makes sense for D&D to get through her plot line as quickly as possible. She has her whole rule Meereeen arc, meet Quentyn/Tyrion/Victarion and so on, Battle of Meereen, battle with Jhaqo- a long list of to-do's. Of course, it's entirely possible that both of these things are true. Her ADWD storyline is too slow paced and boring for viewers, and she has a lot of content coming up for the show to cover.

I rated it a 7. Although the trial was great start to finish, no complaints there, superb acting- the first half not so much. If the episode had only been the trial, would have been a 9 or 10. +Trial +Tywin, Tyrion, Jaime acting and scenes +Ending with the cliffhanger of "Who will be the champion on each side, did Tyrion really just declare a trial by combat?" I enjoyed that the show made it a point to bring back everyone who Tyrion has publicly humiliated in past seasons (Trant(?), Cersei, Pycelle). The first time you watch the show or read the books, it's very easy to sympathize with Tyrion and feel that all of his problems are because he's a quoted "ugly" dwarf. However, when re-reading the books, I couldn't help but notice all the times that Tyrion can't resist making a smart remark to people he should be allies with. It's not smart to antagonize the future King you will have no power over (Joffrey), and he should have known his time as Hand of the King was short-lived and depended on Tywin being off at war. Pycelle was loyal to the Lannisters (Tywin/Cersei), and I think Tyrion should have supported Pycelle more. Fighting against your own powerful family is not smart. I think he should have shown more loyalty to his family. There's no guarantees he would have won his father and sister over, but he made himself look incredibly guilty. He dug himself his own grave with all his quips, jokes, insults, threats, socially unacceptable behavior, and Cersei seized the chance to push him into it. - Asha/Yara's failed Theon rescue attempt. We see her plan this rescue attempt last season, she doesn't appear until episode 6, and then it fails? Lame. - Stannis. If there are 2 things that hold this character back, it's his unpopularity and the fact that he is brittle and will "break before he bends." I don't know why he sails all the way to Braavos to tell some financial guys that he needs money because he deserves to be king, and then expects them to hand him over some cash. Davos does prove his worth here again. - Endless Theon/Ramsay scenes. I don't see the point of Theon's story arc and the sexposition/torture-position? scenes. We get it, last season was pretty clear, he loses his manhood and is a completely broken human being. Can something besides more torture and sex torture happen with these characters?

7. The bad- Cersei's newfound ability to be nice to her enemies (Margaery especially). Where did she learn that sudden politeness? The Wall-having read the books, it removed the tension of those scenes. I'm sure the Unsullied would find those scenes more exciting because of the suspense. Arya water dancing. Painful to watch. I usually love Daenerys, but the acting was off. Her scene felt melodramatic, like we were watching a soap opera. The good- Lysa. All the Unsullied I know immediately recognized her, which was great considering the last time she appeared was season 1. Everything at the Vale was great and I liked everyone's acting. The Hound and all his dialogue. So far my ratings have been 9, 10, 9, 8, and now 7.