J_Crews

I think they're just trying to really sell the "bad guy" vibe right now, so, when the face turn occurs, it'll mean more to the casual TV viewers who, having not read the books, will have missed-out on all the subtle nuance. I'm hoping they don't cut Edric Storm and Stannis fighting with himself (morality -vs- ambition) over whether or not to let Mel burn him. Seeing that struggle, with Davos essentially saving Stannis' soul and helping him to find the honorable path, could make for great TV and a lot of dramatic tension for season 3.

It looks great, dude

Those are beautiful, but you're right about them not being cheap. There was a nice 18-incher for only $150, though... not too bad. Thanks. I really like where Bronn wears it too.

Dude, I loved that scene

I'm with you. I wish my rinky-dink town had a custom knife maker. I would SO have one of those made. :)

I agree. I loved the theatrical *UNTIL* I saw the Director's Cut. Now it's crap, for sure.

LINK

LINK

Right. I was just adding my voice to yours, saying you were correct, basically.

It was Ser Mandon

I think Rockroi is my new hero!

I agree, and I find it telling that all of the complaints we see here (some, admittedly, justified and some just plain ludicrous) are very rarely echoed outside the book lover's little bubble. Reviews are stupendous, ratings are stupendous. Their goal is to make great television, and they have wholly succeeded! 10/10

Do *ANY* of your posts *NOT* mention your hatred for poor, complicated, much-maligned Stannis!? ;) j/k

Drug-addled lunatics, perhaps? Grumkins? Snarks? ;)

That was a big bag of AWESOMENESS!

That's a good point. Apologies to those whose particular preferences just weren't met by this episode, but someone saying it just wasn't their cup of tea is a far cry from some of the comments on this board, calling the writers hacks, etc.. Most of the things written by Shakespeare himself were exposition-heavy, so it isn't a lack of quality we're talking about here, but rather personal preference. And that isn't even mentioning the fact that this episode was SUPPOSED to be slow-paced. The tone is meant to echo the calm before the storm next week with "Blackwater." That was sort of the whole point.

This was one of the best episodes yet. I had some issues at first, but, the more I think about it, even the stuff that initially irked me makes sense. I hated losing Weasel Soup, but, in the context of the show universe, it wouldn't have made sense. There was no crop of northern military prisoners sitting in a tower basement with a bow wrapped around them, ready to be rescued and take the castle. Also, it would've needed to happen much earlier, meaning we ould've missed-out on most, if not all, of the Arya-Tywin scenes as well as the Robb-Roose Bolton interactions that were needed to help TV viewers understand some events yet to come. People are going crazy over no Jaqen face-change or giving Arya the coin, but episode summary/teasers make it a good bet we'll somehow see them interact again in the finale. Also, Robb-Talisais working for me, Jeyne Westerling be damned. Lots of people seem to have disliked his ep. because it was "boring" -- apologies, but that's a lack of attention span, not bad writing. One of the best films evers made was "The Lion In Winter" (either version!); and that's about a bunch of people who are all hanging-out in one castle together over the Christmas holidays, essentially walking from room-to-room, just plotting and scheming and arguing. Everything doesn't need to be blood, and tits, and explosions to be good TV.

We've known since episode summaries/teasers were released weeks ago that the HotU won't be until ep. 10. Dany only has 5 chapters (or near enough to make no matter) in the entire 2nd book, hence all of the show-invented material this season just to give her something to do. She's a fan-favorite and, if they'd stuck to the book, she only would've appeared in like 3 ep.'s all season. The HotU is in her next-to-last chapter, I believe (or maybe her 3rd?); what they've done, however, is stretched things out so that, not only does she appear much more frequently than the book material would've allowed, but also, to make the HotU the finale of her season 2 character arc. This was smart because, not only does it make for a great finale (hope, hope, hope they get it right!), but also showing her later chapters this season would've required bringing in add'l actors and a new expensive set (a ship on the open sea). With a limited budget already being admirably stretched, better those things are left for next season. Also, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if the scene aboard the ship is changed, even next season, to the same or similar dialogue, but with them already in Astapor (maybe having just arrived?). Doing the ship would be a beautiful vista, but it's an unnecessary expense, IMO.

I like the Ironborn culture (as fiction, that is -- if they were real, they be some shitty neighbors to have), but Balon and crew in charge are morons. They should've taken Robb's deal, but assuaged their pride by demanding Robb cede them Sea Dragon Point, the Stony Shore (say, everything from the coast to 10-15 miles inland), and a chunk of the Rills. In the interest of negotiation, I would've demanded Bear Island as well, all the while knowing they'd balk -- then I'd concede on it to show what a reasonable negotiator I was. :)

You may be right, but I'm not holding my breath, since they've been to Jeyne Westerling's home castle the Crag without her being found out. Honestly, I couldn't care less, though. Volantene noblewoman works for me. The point of the RW was never that Robb's young wife was a Westerling, but rather that he broke his word and married anyone who wasn't one of Walder Frey's girls.

I agree a kajillion percent

Two things re: Robb: First, I found this. And... I just re-watched ep. 8 and he and Talisa/Tulisa/whatever are definitely walking toward Robb's camp, as in having been to the Crag and are now returning. The rider coming from the camp approaches them from the front. EDIT: This was talked about earlier in the thread i.e. whether or not they'd already been to the Crag or were going there and were called back.

I agree with this.

You must remember it came directly on the heels of dialogue between her and Brienne explicitly stating that Jaime would likely be dead before morning. I just wish she had called-out Karstark on that in front of Robb.

I think it's really only important that Theon recognizes she's NOT Arya, as opposed to recognizing who she really is. So, as you said, it'll come off fine.