duncanthemedium

I would guess nothing. Matters of passion are separate from matters of politics in Dorne. We also don't know whether Elia objected to this annullment or thought there could be a Dornish menage-a-trois (which btw is what Targaryens are also known for). I really think that there are some characters that I see fighting the Night's King and there are others like Arya, Sansa, Theon, and maybe even Jaime whom I see not participating in that battle, but trying to nullify Cersei's advance in the South. Theon is one of those characters too. My guess is his efforts would somehow lead to a redirection of the Lannister resources (Golden Company, Iron Fleet,etc) in favor of the larger battle against the Night's King. Sorta like Riders of Rohan. But that would be right at the end. His main role will pertain to the Euron/Cersei threat.

I would still rate the episode (ep.4) where Dany and Drogon swoop in on the Lannister Army in the Reach (or whereever, Crownlands?) as the best one. Jaime has that brave knight brain fart and Bronn has his golden moment, Dickon Tarly feigns to be significant, Tyrion's herat breaks a little as Lannister soldiers are reduced to ashes and Jaime's fate hangs in the balance, and finally we see a glimpse of the Dany-Jon loving on the cave walls. This was the best episode of the season next to that one. (9/10). The season overall was 7/10

Umm...I dare say that the writers won't have such a complex payoff for that storyline. Odds are that all three characters, Sansa, Arya and Petyr are playing the 'game of thrones' in the proper. Sansa is trying to best Petyr while infantilizing the new Arya whom she doesn't know or understand at all. Her loyalties are still to Stark and Winterfell. Arya is too much the Nymeria lone-wolf type. She has learnt in Braavos to tell a lie...remember this was a part of her training. So she knows what Petyr is doing and is trying to play his conniving butt, without letting Sansa in on it, because, SHE doesnt get Sansa as well! Finally, Petyr's point of view as the expert player of the game of thrones is what the show runners reveal to us. But Petyr doesn't understand that this is not that old game anymore. Not only has Sansa learnt the lessons he painfully taught her in these preceding years and not only can she best him, the skill-set that Arya and Bran have are beyond his calculations and schemes. I think Lord Baelish will meet his end at the end of this season.

Really? Even Ned's head being chopped off? JK, I totally get it... I gave the episode an 8 (minus points for the HOTU and Jon/Qhorin storylines) I give the season a 8.8 which is an average of the ratings I've been giving the episodes throughout the season. Those are solid TV numbers imo. (three 8s, six 9s,one 10) Bring it on, season 3!!!

I think this is a universal verdict: Jon and Dany were not handled in the best possible way this season. Apart from that though everything else was absolutely brilliant. I am really excited about seeing more of Stannis/Mel and Brienne/Jaime. Arya and Bran were amazing as they were in the last season too. And Tyrion is his brilliant self as always. Can't wait for season 3. Until then, I'll let dreams of Margaery's neckline sustain me... :drool:

I wonder how anyone willfully gave this episodes the 6s and the 7s I spot up there... Hmmm... so a 10 would be the televisation of the Second Coming? Or would Jesus' visual effects and make up or whatever maybe even get that down to a 9?? :dunno:

A perfect ten 10. Bloody brilliant!!! GRRM should write the RW and the PW episodes next season too!!! OH MY GODDDDDDD....I have already seen the episode twice!

Gave it a 9. First off, to all the haters, remember this is not a book where your imagination and the author's words can give you limitless possibilities. I am so sorry that you do not like the way the show is turning out, but please be more articulate and discerning when assessing this TV SHOW (NOT A BOOK!!!) because it makes me feel guilty for absolutely LOVING the show, as if its some kind of a betrayal. I love the books, and I love the show and to me they are separate media with their own conventions and imperatives. This episode was absolutely amazing. Remember, even the books are not all about the action. Its also about the 'games' that characters play off each other. I was gonna call the Theon/Asha scene followed by the Tyrion/Bronn scene a 'one-two punch of excellence' but then we got Arya/Jaqen, Tyrion/Varys, Tyrion/Cersei, Davos/Stannis and finally Robb/Hotness, and I was completely blown away by the writing. The adaptation from the books, the emotional and character build up, spot on! Absolutely spot on! Great building of anticipation for next week (and the promo looks amazing!) I am hoping it would be the 10/10 that I am saving for it since the beginning of the season. It might be a general american audience thing, where people get bored with character development and lack of action (I know its not the case with people who love GOOD fantasy/sci-fi) but some of the comments here just dont figure for me. I loved all the one-on-one character interactions (save maybe the Shae scene). Next week, Blackwater Bay, welcome to the world!!!

oh and I agree... I want the old Gregor Clegane back!!!

9... Loved Ygritte, love to hate Theon, and its great what they're doing both with Jaime and Dany sorylines. Absolutely LOVED the scene between Tywin and Arya. They are setting up some things well. I mean Dany's storyline is so much more wonderful in this timeline...call me a heretic, but this Dany story is better than the original. I wonder where the Sansa-Shae alliance is going... they might be looking to explain what Shae did to Tyrion later.. The whole Karstark thing was well-handled. This explain's that incident with much economy as well as giving good ol' Nikolai some screen time. Roose Bolton is not creeping me out enough though... All in all...I wish every day was Sunday!!!

AWESOME episode... again, not giving it a 10 cuz that's reserved for Blackwater. Great acting from Bran, Theon, Tywin Thank you to D&D for adding something interesting to Dany's storyline. (Its funny how I worship ASOIAF yet absolutely despise Dany..and its affecting my judgement of the TV character too) Jack Gleeson's Joffrey takes the crown (lol) for me, though, for that little scene with Sansa at the beginning. I wish they postpone the PW for as long as possible so that we can enjoy his performances. I was kinda weirded out by the Osha scene...cuz well...never thought of her naked, lol. Great episode over all

Oh also...Maisie Williams will be the next Judi Dench or Helen Mirren or something, the way she controls her expressions....

Loved this episode. A solid 9. I WAS kind of thinking how short and un-Vikingy the iron-men appear to be. Anyway...the rest of the episode was great. I especially loved the different motivations, and connivances they've come up with in Qarth and Harrenhal to economise screen time and pace and still keep the story plausible. Xaro appears more 'life-like' and comprehesible than in the books, where the Qartheen customs make him appear more...remote and exotic, so to speak. Great work all round. This is the first time Dillane becomes Stannis for me. Cunningham was awesome. Gwen Christie, superb, even by book-loyalist nitpicker standards I should think. The Tyrio sequence...woweee...Can't wait til Blackwater!!!

No way are you comparing the sheer quality of writing, ACTING, sets, styling, directing etc. that appears on GoT with those sucky adaptations... cummon!!!

Thank you my friend. Very well put! On the whole, I am kind of tired with people judging the series in comparison with the book. Especially with the case of Ros. I mean give it a break already. Imagine going up to GRRM and saying 'yeah well that whole scene with Theon and the captain's daughter on the way to Pyke...yeah, kinda pointless'. I mean come on! The screen play is a re-interpretation and GRRM is in on the changes. We all know that. Learn to live with it. And judge it as it is and for what it is - a TV show. My only, and rather shallow criticism, is with the make-up and stylist department. Melissandre is supposed to be mesmerisingly, enchantingly beautiful, van Houten is a veritable goddess in real life, but she looks like a horse in the series. (I am sorry...but that is what it is). Same with Margaery and what I think might be Jeyne (Talisa in this episode)... though i do think that the robb-jeyne love story is more plausible if he sees her as a smart and daring ladyling rather than a 'oops I f**cked you so now I must marry you...oh wait I DO love you' kinda thing that was in the books. Kudos to Emilia Clarke for her acting, Peter Dinklage is a god as usual, and Maisie Williams' expressions were sublime. Liam Cunninham on the other hand wasn't as convincing in the shadow-baby scene as he could have been (kind made the scene look kinda fake, no terror on his face) and the new Mountain isn't as threatening as he was in the first season. Bring that actor back! His character on Spartacus was de-faced (literally), so he should be free now!

I absolutely agree, and couldn't have put it better myself. And this idea of plausibility also applies to LF's proposition to Cat rather than her just 'trusting' Tyrion because in the tv series we dont get POVs and so the thought process behind Cat's trust in Tyrion cannot be justified. On the whole, I am kind of tired with people judging the series in comparison with the book. Especially with the case of Ros. I mean give it a break already. Imagine going up to GRRM and saying 'yeah well that whole scene with Theon and the captain's daughter on the way to Pyke...yeah, kinda pointless'. I mean come on! The screen play is a re-interpretation and GRRM is in on the changes. We all know that. Learn to live with it. And judge it as it is and for what it is - a TV show. My only, and rather shallow criticism, is with the make-up and stylist department. Melissandre is supposed to be mesmerisingly, enchantingly beautiful, van Houten is a veritable goddess in real life, but she looks like a horse in the series. (I am sorry...but that is what it is). Same with Margaery... Kudos to Emilia Clarke for her acting, Peter Dinklage is a god as usual, and Maisie Williams' expressions were sublime. Liam Cunninham on the other hand wasn't as convincing in the shadow-baby scene as he could have been (kind made the scene look kinda fake, no terror on his face) and the new Mountain isn't as threatening as he was in the first season. Bring that actor back! His character on Spartacus was de-faced (literally), so he should be free now!

Very well put mate! American audiences will of course often prove to be less accepting of gay sex scenes. But I think in the way that it tells us about Marge's character (the only one of the three Loras, Renly, Marge who is pivotal to the book universe) and the 'other side' of her is brilliant. Moreover, I was initially against the casting of the actor that plays Renly. But this episode has proved me wrong. This season he comes into his own, as a younger, more flashy, more charismatic version of Mark Addy Baratheon. Kudos to D&D n co.!

Hmmm... I dont know about that. I mean she needn't do it all alone. And it makes more sense to have a Petyr-Dontos-Marge alliance (Dontos being such a sucker for pretty lil things) than including Olena in the mix. I think that is a totally expendable character and D&D'd see it that way too. I mean, the Reeds have been omitted. Damphair has been omitted...what's Olena compared to that?

Wait...did I miss something? Was there a Stormlands scene?!? Weren't Renly's scenes in the Reach?

I think she is the book version of Ros. Sexplication tool. Eitherway, she reveals a lot about Tyrion's character and his constant grappling with the Tysha incident in his past life and how almost everything he does is shaded by that. Its, in a way, his focal mission in life...to find out 'where whores go?'

Great episode!!! Loved it. Absolutely loved it. I gave it a 9 though, waiting for episode 8 (Blackwater) to wow my socks off. :drunk: I am absolutely at peace with all the changes they made to the narrative. We must make allowances for the screen time and financial limitations a TV show must have. With what they have, they have done splendidly well. In answer to those who didn't like the Loras/Renly/Marge scene. Well, I think with these many characters, its a matter of choice which ones you want to explore more fully in every episode. I think all this time with Loras and Renly will add up to the central role Marge has later on in KL, and all the machinations of the Tyrells. I believe we shan't have an Olena Redwyne, but that character will be folded into Marge. We definitely see a bit of her grandma's cunning and worldliness in the scene with Renly. Absolutely loved that!

Let me begin by saying that I rated the episode a solid 8. I will reserve the 10 for the Blackwater episode, which I think would be awesome to see. I want to address, what I view as a recurring problem for the book-loyalists. I have said this before, we must be able to see the TV show as its own thing. And as such, it has a slightly different discourse on Power. I think even from the pre-season that dealing with Power is the theme of the season. The books are such an expansive and limitless medium of discourse, that GRRM is able to comment on a plethora of ways of handling power. The TV series, needs (by the necessity of the medium) to converge on a discourse, a unity of opinion towards which actions happening on different continents and in different kingdoms can climax towards. I think there is also, with characters like Ros and the girl on the boat and the Arya storyline, a hint towards some kind of a class politics. Remember, these are not 'players' of the 'game of thrones' but pawns albeit with their own agency and limits of operation. In that sense, both the Stannis scene and the Ros/LF scene works beautifully. Look at how we hear and like different renditions of classic songs by new artists. They all bring in a bit of their own to the material even though the structure of the song, the lyrics, the music is essentially the same. This TV adaptation works in exactly the same way. And the symphony they play is a sweet one indeed...

Jacelyn Bywater you mean...

Gave it a 7 because well...I read the book again yesterday (all day it took me) and the episode so can't live up to my imagination... but that is true for all adaptations, and as far as they go, this one was pretty near excellent. Some thoughts: 1. Did anybody notice how much Dontos' sigil looks like the american flag? Not a knight, a fool...appropriate :cool4: though I dont know if its the same in the books too.. 2. Carice Van Houten is absolutely gorgeous in real life. And she looked great, mesmerising in the pre-season stills. Not so much in the episode though...lighting is a factor i think. Overall though, the scene with Pylos was just absolutely horrendous. And Stannis does not seem to be half as pig-headed and iron-fisted as I imagined him to be. 3. Loved the LF-Cersei scene. Loved rogue Gleeson. Would enjoy his death even as I mourn the actor's departure when Joff hits the bucket. 4. Maisie Williams and Alfie Allen should have had more airtime. Dany too. This is where I felt too much time was spent on the Ros scene as well as the slow scenes at Dragonstone... 5. Peter Dinklage is a god. nuf sed. And Shae a vile but gorgeous little goddess in turn... 6. Perfect casting for Janos Slynt. He did his job well. 7. Loved the new version of Grey Wind...can't wait to see Ghost! 8. The Bran actor is simply awesome in this episode. 9. If the khalasaar is not in Vaes Toloros (I know I misspelled that one), where will Rakharo n company return to? Also, why was Jhoqo's name changed but Rakharo and Aggo's not? (Woulda loved siting sweet Irri, and soon to be dead Jhiqui...in the process of dying..) 10. Lastly, I think this is going to be the tenor of the show from now on. There will be episodes like this, simply because of the expansion of geographic scale, where we only get bits of our favorite characters. Especially when we move south next week and Renly's folk come into the action, and when Dany reaches Qarth. We must, as fans, find a way to deal with it and know that even though not all of our facorite book scenes will make it to the screen, that many still do and that too so excellently is a blessing I wouldn't wanna forego. Onwards GoT!!!