Prince of Dragonstone

Very happy with this episode. So many events happened! The Starks finally take back Winterfell...the Direwolf flies over the castle once again. This is a huge moment! It's been four long seasons since there was a Stark in Winterfell. Also, on a grander, historical note. House Stark has finally triumphed over their most ancient enemy, House Bolton. Roose thought he avenged his ancestors, the Red Kings of the Dreadfort, who had warred against the Starks for centuries, but all his plans came to nothing because he put his trust in his sadistic son. Roose's blindness towards the threat that Ramsay posed to him was his great weakness and it undid his House. Now they are basically the Reynes of the North.... Also really enjoyed seeing all three dragons unleashed at once upon the Slavers' Fleet. The Second Field of Fire. Loved seeing Tyrion as Hand of the Queen. He looks so natural ruling beside Dany. I absolutely love the Tyrion Lannister serves Daenerys Targaryen as Hand just as his father, Tywin Lannister served Aerys Targaryen, her father. When the Lion and the Dragon work together the realm is better for it. The best part of the episode is the further character development of Sansa. Her transition from a "little bird" to the She-Wolf of Winterfell is fantastic. At this point, I don't care how dark she gets, her story arc is one of the best in the series. Bring on Dark Sansa!

I don't understand why so many of you guys continue to clamor for Lady Stoneheart to be on this show. Jon Snow was just brought back from the dead. If Lady Stoneheart comes that will make two miraculous resurrections in one season. Don't you guys think that's a little much? A little too ham-fisted?

Yup, I really love that the Lord Glover brought up Robb's piss poor decisions. It totally makes sense in that moment. A lot of Northmen died for Robb's childish stupidity.

It is much more realistic that some, if not many, of the Northern Houses would be at least skeptical towards the remaining Starks, especially when their army, as paltry as it is, is manned with Wildlings. The North have been giving battle to the Wildlings since the Wall went up a thousand years ago. D&D went in a more reality-based direction with this and its really for the better. The remaining Starks should earn loyalty, not demand it simply by honor and blood-right. Those principles have been thrown out the window in the Seven Kingdoms as of late. Only might makes right in a wartorn country and they need more soldiers. After Sansa realizes that honor will not save the day she rightfully is deciding to make moves on her own. Ned and Jon's honorable ways did not work in the past and got them both dead. Through being exposed to the machinations of the royal court at King's Landing and the tutelage of Littlefinger, Sansa is learning how to tread the grayer paths of life. She doesn't want to die like the rest of her family members who did the honorable thing.

I don't think Asha is stupid enough to think that she could storm the Dreadfort with just 50 men. I think she planned to covertly infiltrate the fortress, probably through the same tunnels that Ramsay used to lead Theon out of, and then back into the castle. Also, I think most of the Bolton forces are with Roose, south of the Neck. I got the impression that Ramsay was just "holding down the fort" with his Bastard's Boys which couldn't be more than a few dozen soldiers. All of this is conjecture but I'm sure Bolton took the majority of his men with him during the war so the Dreadfort shouldn't be that impregnable.

I think that Jaime loved Cersei but Cersei only loved the fact that Jaime was her twin and looked as close to her as a man could. The narcissism and vanity that is ingrained within her is made crystal clear in A Feast for Crows. She used him ten ways from Sunday, even convincing him to give up his claim to Casterly Rock and take the white cloak to be at her beck and call.

Agreed. I also forgot to mention Littlefinger shoving Crazy Lysa out the Moon Door. So that totals SIX epic deaths in one season. A record breaker for any show I'm sure.

In my mind's eye I always pictured the slaves of Essos to be a pretty mixed bag. More in line with the Roman form of slavery where conquered/captured people of all the different corners of the world were bought and sold. The way it was framed last night it would seem like Essos was like 18th century America and that's just not right. They should have had all different people. White slaves from the Free Cities, Asiatic slaves from Yi-Ti, black slaves from the Summer Islands. They already established that there is such a thing as white slavery with Melisandre's past so why not reflect that in this scene?

All things considered, next season really is shaping up to be a blood bath. We might have had two major deaths this year but consider that Season Four will have 1) The death of Ygritte at the Battle of the Wall, 2) The epic poisoning of Joffrey during his wedding feast, 3) The dramatic showdown between Oberyn Martell and The Mountain that results in the death of the former and the half-death of the latter, 4) The strangling of Shae by Tyrion 5) Tyrion shooting a quiver through his lord father's bowels. That's five major deaths in one season. Definitely shaping up to be the most dramatic season yet. I'm already having GoT withdrawals and it hasn't even been 24 hrs since the finale....

LOL I totally read a "This girl done lost her mind..." look on Jorah's face

Yes...I totally felt that vibe too and I'm glad that the show is "going there" because I have always felt it was a strong undercurrent in their dynamic.

I mentioned this in one of my posts and I think people are definitely going to comment on this. I already see some people groaning about it on my Facebook newsfeed lol. I am an ardent defender of the show and I feel grateful that D&D have brought my favorite novels to the screen but that scene, if it's NOT a subtle critique of Dany's messiah complex, is the worst scene they've ever done. Laughably bad.

THIS!!! The more I think about that scene, the creepier it becomes! The way she was laughing at the end with her arms open wide seemed almost a little demented. I love Dany but maybe GRRM really did hint to D&D about what he has planned for her in the future. Very strong Messiah complex vibes. If I think of it in that sense, it's way less cheesy.

I expected UnCat to be this episode and I know there is a lot of hand-wringing here about it not being in the episode but you can't say that they aren't sticking to the chronology of ASoS with this. UnCat doesn't appear until the very end of the book.

As much as I love Dany (and apparently D&D have a major crush on her LOL), did anyone else find it a little uncomfortable to see a lily white girl literally be foisted up and cheered by a sea of brown people? The Great White Hope saving all the unfortunate brown slaves. Cheese-fest all the way. I loved all the Tyrion scenes. He was great opposite everyone...Sansa, Tywin and Cersei. I love the subtle look of shocked horror in Cersei's expression when she sees Jaime and Jaime slowly putting his head down in shame. Ramsay was terrifying as always. They really found the perfect actor for the role. This was the first time that I really felt truly sorry for Theon in these scenes. No one, absolutely no one, not even Joffrey deserves the Bastard of Bolton. *shudder*

GRRM originally wrote AFfC and DwD as one huge novel but the publishers made him split it into two books. So it's safe to assume that the show is going to blend the storylines for both and stretch it over seasons 5 and 6. They couldn't possibly have a Season 5 without Dany, Jon or Tyrion. I also think that the show will greatly (and mercifully) edit down much of Brienne's loooooong travelogue storyline from AFfC. The audience will definitely NOT tolerate some extended storyline of Brienne aimlessly wandering around the Riverlands looking for Sansa when they know Sansa is at The Eyrie with Littlefinger. That storyline was pointless in the book and will be doubly pointless on television.

Wow....just wow. I like that they surprised us book readers by throwing in the Talisa womb stabbing. Totally visceral and the entire scene had the brutal feel of a mass butchery, just as I imagined it while reading. Michelle Fairley acted her damn heart out tonight. The last silent moment of complete agony before her throat was cut was almost too much to look at. It felt so raw. Damn.....

I feel like if they started talking about Robb's will it would have tipped too many people off that a tragedy was about to happen.

Great episode that really helped to build and establish the characters. It's kind of naive to think that Loras wouldn't have had sex with anyone else after Renly's passing. What he says in public and what he does behind closed doors are two different things. Also, sleeping with another person doesn't diminish his love for Renly's memory. I honestly don't think this change was that big of a deal. I absolutely loved the final scene between the Lannisters. Their family dynamic is one of the best aspects of the series, both books and TV show. I just wonder how the show fans reacted to this. See, when I read this in the book this was actually the first time that I felt a twinge of pity for Cersei. I knew she was an evil shrew, but I don't like seeing any woman being bought and sold like so much chattel. But I think a lot of show fans will see this moment as Cersei getting a bit of a comeuppance for her cruel treatment of Tyrion.

What really gets me about the Cersei/Tywin scene was the crowd pleasing line of "You are not as smart as you think you are." We as book readers know that Cersei eventually delves into paranoid madness and makes rash, idiotic decisions because of this. But in THIS moment with Tywin she is absolutely correct that House Tyrell is plotting and angling for the throne in their own subtle way. Cersei is right to be wary of Margaery and Olenna because they end up being instrumental in assassinating her son. Joffrey's death then drives Cersei over the edge and she becomes a truly wicked character, but in THIS moment she still has her head in the game and she sees the Tyrells for what they are. It's Tywin who cannot see the forest for the trees in this matter. The Tyrells might be as devious as the Lannisters but they are just as ambitious and scheming. Just in a different way.

Can't wait for Joffrey vs Tywin scene. It was such a great little moment in the book. Iwan Rheon will do great as Ramsay. He's bringing just the right level of creepiness to the role. I love that we get to see the set-up of Theon becoming Reek.

Dany's dracarys moment was more magnificent than I could even imagine. I love the whole scope and scale of that scene. "Epic" doesn't do it justice. The Unsullied are ON POINT, btw.

The website has been down for most of the day. Too much traffic. I've only been able to log on just now.

The House of the Undying was a bit of a let down but I did enjoy the scene with Drogo and Rhaego. Very sad. I also enjoyed how they got the ominous feeling down right. Even the vision of the Red Keep in ruins was good. But lacking the other visions was disappointing. Some book scenes just cannot be translated onto the screen and this was one of them. It still got the point across though. I loved how they allowed Dany to be badass in the end and lock Xaro and Doreah in the vault. Yay Khaleesi!!! I'm glad they kept the little touch of Tywin's horse pooping in the throne room. Nice! I'm not a big crier...at all. But I must admit I got teary eyed when Tyrion started bawling. I really, truly do love this character and Peter Dinklage really is a revelation in the role. The end scene with the Others and their armies of the undead was FANTASTIC and made up for the disappointing HotU scene. Loved how the ended last scene with Fire and now they end this one with Ice. April 2013 cannot come soon enough!

Cersei was magnificent. Lena Headey is a goddess! It's hard to pull off terrifying and comical at the same time and she's perfected it! The actress playing Sansa has come so far from last season. I really enjoyed her performance tonight. She's rocking the role now.