King_Of_Winter

Got a 9 from me. I really liked the opening sequence, took me by surprise even though I knew that would eventually happen. I also thought Alfie Allen was excellent in it, you could really see Theon's torn feelings when he kills Rodrick. I'm looking forward to seeing him playing Reek. The riot scene was also done very well. I was really happy to see the Hound do what he does best (being a BAMF) and Jack Gleeson was suitably vile in the scene. I also liked Tyrion's "You owe him (Jaime) quite a bit you know" line to Joffrey, that was nice and sly :P . However, I did think that the High Septon (I think) having his arm torn off was a bit excessive. Dany was a bit meh, but her chapters are dull in the book, so I guess it's only natural. I do like Emilia Clarke's portrayal of her though. What surprised me most about this episode was the amount of changes from the books that I liked, contrary to most purists I'd wager. I liked that Theon killed Rodrick, gave it more significance than having Theon kill Mikken. Osha's added scenes were also enjoyable as well since I find her character in the show is much more interesting than in the books. I also liked the changes to Arya's story as well: Littlefingers inclusion added tension, Tywin comes across as more human and sympathetic (though I've always kind of liked Tywin in the books) and I thought the 2nd death was handled fairly well. Ygritte's extended scene with Jon was also quite good, giving their future scenes a little bit more depth. The inclusion of the attempted rape of Sansa was also quite dramatic and even though I've read the books and I knew that she would be fine, I was a bit worried for her. The theft of Dany's dragons was also a good inclusion and a good cliffhanger I thought. The only change I did not like was with Robb and Talisa (Jeyne). I'm just not buying their romance at all and find their scenes a bit difficult to watch. I would prefer that they did it like it was in the books, but if they had to change it I just wish that it was handled a bit better.