Ser Desmond Wine's Bane

Yep. And in the past a lot of people gave one notable episode a 10 based solely on the fact there was a cat in it for about 1.5 seconds, or 'I can't believe someone scored it low so I am going to give it a 10 just to cancel their vote out.' It goes both ways.

Yep, and I did not attempt to use it as an authority, only that using an overall appeal rating answers a very different question. The question I asked them had nothing to do with overall reception as I demonstrated. Locke was a character change I am hugely in favour of. I always thought Hoat would be difficult to sell to a TV audience and with Noah Taylor the change worked exceptionally well. It is such a shame they were incapable of bringing the story to a very satisfactory conclusion. And I don't see how the Missandei/Grey Worm adds anything to advancing the story either. Or to put it another way, that pairing is a thought provoking examination of what life post slavery and mutilation can mean. It is a demonstration that they can actually do characterisation in an interesting way. Such a shame this effort wasn't similarly applied elsewhere. Yeah I don't actually have a problem with no LSH other than I feel it would have made a killer scene to be a season finale - so a lost opportunity. Similarly with 'Only Cat'... for me it was a line that showed that at that moment Baelish acted without self control - he let his personal passions be seen through a crack in the shroud. 'Only your sister' felt as if the shroud was firmly in place, but I didn't derate either episode on those fronts. However, Jaime and Cersei reconciling and the lack of Tysha-driven motivator for Tyrion were issues for me.

On the second part. I already said they hailed the episode. They did like. I liked it too. On the first part... well. OK then. I will summarily disregard your anecdote about different sites as well. Please show me where I have ever criticised the Sam/Gilly story? Even in this post I clearly say I have no problem with the Mole's Town sequences. I can only ever remember defending it on these boards. My criticism is that it wasn't done well enough and there are many who apparently don't care about it. My problem with Crasters is not with Jon, but with Bran. Although Jon not bothering to ask any of the survivors whether a cripple, a giant and two youths had been seen cannot be anything other than a head scratcher. Jon going to Crasters to clear out potential informers is actually a change I like. But they dropped the ball when they introduced the ulterior motive then took it no where and went back to the interminable 'there are 100,000 Wildings coming' scenes with never another mention of Bran. I voiced my concerns at the time that not enough was being done to create tension about this very real threat and to build the dramatic tension that would lead to this crucial battle in the overall story. Far better to have Jon involved in skirmishes (such as Crasters) and Bran+Co attempting to work their way past the scouts and hunters of the Wildlings. There would even have been plenty of opportunity for Bran+Co to be captured and use the whole Brandor sequence - but with the added benefit of building the tension for the Ep 9 content. Answered in part above. I agree completely on that. Splitting the ASoS in the way they did meant that some stories had to be stretched in order to have them coincide dramatically near the end of the season. I have no problems with changes when done well. In fact I don't want to see the show faithful to the books - Brienne's endless wanderings is something I can definitely do without. Not all the changes have been done well. I have no idea what the 'GRRM gripe' bit is about.

And yet the watchers I know who hailed the FX of the final episode, when I asked "But did you care?" replied with "Well, not really, no." The added scenes were, in large part, hamfisted failures - I didn't mind the Moles Town town material, and I don't mind the Thenn being cannibals - but it appears that widely few cared about Sam and Gilly this season and "Why do I have to watch this" was a common sentiment. The Crasters sequences asked far more questions than they answered and failed to generate any dramatic tension for the final episode. Do you have a citation for the claim the Wall had more than any other this season? Line counts I have seen would suggest KL had far more than the wall. The Wall was not well covered - in line with the last 3 seasons. I have heard this before, and I used to just accept it - but the numerous times this season that "Just have patience! They will do it later this season!" has been demonstrated to be false means that I will not just accept it out of hand any longer. A grumpy Drogon in Ep 1 and a human killing Drogon in Ep 10 do not support the claim they will be used as a device to explain the character arc Dany is going through. Edfit: In fact I treat it with the same disdain as the "OMG! Mel is going to burn Yara!!!" rubbish.

The entire Wall storyline and characters involved. The characters of the Dragons and how they directly relate to Dany's own personality and character. Amongst others.

Sure, it is a fine pairing. But when it comes at the cost of so much other character development there is a point. Show's loss.

In general perhaps. 'Always'? Nope.

No one has said otherwise No. I will rate it however I choose.

I wish I could thumbs up. I don't mind the Brienne/Hound meeting per se but I do have issues with how the fight started and deeper issues with what they have done with Brienne's character since they arrived at the inn. It is as troubling to me as the 'But we are not men' line. That moment was one of Dany being tender and having internal doubts about the path she was taking, but they cheapened it to mere 'OMG she so badass' TV fan service.

Yep. Dany already having a fleet makes me fear for the introduction of Vic.

Yep. Exactly. Why are people so offended that someone rated the episode lower than them that they go as far as upgrading their score to intentionally 'cancel out' someone else's vote?

You can add "anyone who cast a vote based entirely on how someone else voted rather than on what their personal opinion of the show was" to those you condemn for intellectual dishonesty.

You asked others to stop watching something if they didn't like like it. You then said you didn't like to see negative comments. Would my parody have been more clear if I had used the phrase 'Highly implore'? If you don't like comments that are the equivalent of Youtube comments, then don't make them yourself.

So stop reading them?

To me it was a tad too OTT and corny. Normal wights would have worked just fine as well and any extra CGI $ could have been spent on making direwolves useful this season.

It was the necklace Tyrion bought her a couple of seasons back. The justice was in 'the next whore I find in your bed, I will hang'.

Indeed. But the only reason I am watching this show is because I have previously read the books. I would not be watching if not for that grounding. If the show disconnects too far from the story it gets a similar disconnect from my support of it. Many of the changes are needed. Many I support. There are many more changes I would have liked to have seen where their changes have been pathetically weak. This is one change that is disappointing and for the first time ever I am not on tender-hooks waiting for the next episode.

Because Tyrion killing Shae and Tywin then escaping would be such a depressing sequence.... so they had to lighten it by having Tyrion and Jaime BFFs and screw the future character paths. OK.

Sure we all want things. It disappoints me that the show is pandering to such cheapening of the characters and story.

Oh my sweet summer child.

All that would have been elegantly covered if we had seen Nymeria pull the body from the water then watch on as Thoros and Beric do their thing. Bang. Reveal. Bang. Wolf dream. Bang. Internet explodes. (Caveat: I am not overly disappointed it didn't happen, I just feel it was a lost opportunity)

I don't think anyone has complained about Arya not going to the Vale - they are only pointing out how pointless and inconceivable the scene was where they make it to the Gate then are not allowed in.

If it was about the destination they could just have all the characters walk to the next destination and have no dialogue. Its not about the destination, its about the journey. If they want to change the journey (and in many case it is needed) then what they replace it with needs to make sense. They have fallen down on this regard in several areas.

Thank you for the advice. Out of courtesy you should know I won't be taking it. The only reason I am watching this show is because of the books. I would not be watching it had I not read them. It is impossible for me to watch without making a comparison, although I do make an honest attempt.

Indeed. The many occasions this season where people have voted 10 based purely on the last scene or on the presence of a cat while they 'ignore all the bad' moments supports your argument against the system.