johnnysd

Lol.It was probably the most direct from the books episode in a while.

I think Dany's motivations come through almost exactly like they did in the books, actually. Burning Shireen is just awful I honestly thought that the one true hearted character in the show was the one that would sit on the Iron Throne, but guess not. In the books she will likely be sacrificed o save Jon, though the GRRM quote through BW seems to suggest otherwise. Everything from here on out is essentially a spoiler that will be dismissed as fan fiction.

Thought this was the weakest episode of any season so far. Liked Sam and Gilly and Rose Leslie's exit, other than that, meh......

I was thinking something similar. Seems she almost HAS to be his bastard and that would be a dramatic way of working that in. Not sure they would believe the jumping though. Maybe a struggle with Sansa?

Lady Stonehart is the one major deviation I would have hoped they would make and not have her in at all, She is amongst the very worst elements of the book. But I think she will be in.

Crap I meant Lady Stoneheart. Typo on my part

I hope they cut Lady Stokeworth. It is easily one of the worst elements of the series, and the show would be significantly better without it. But I know she has hinted at the character in the show so she will probably be there.

Wow, the scene would play exactly the same if she had 10 seconds of frustration in not getting a tower right. Exactly the same. And every bit of the heart of the scene is there. Not sure what you could possibly want, they cannot visualize every internal thought she has during that chapter, but the very essence of the scene is there. I actually thought it was one of the Top 5 scenes in the entire show that felt like the books and jumping right from the page. I thought it was shockingly faithful in plot and tone.

What in the hell was watered down about it? I've only read the books 3 times and it seemed almost exactly like the books minus Marillion.

They didn't run from the dogs. She gave up on Theon. Which shows how far Theon is gone and sets up the Kingsmoot. It was an important scene if a little clunky for non book readers.

The worse thing is that GRRM will likely resurrect Jon. I have always felt that the resurrections permanently diminished the series. When Ned died it was like BAM the main character can die and really be dead and no silly fantasy resurrection, then GRRM blew it and made it commonplace.

Actually I thought this episode got them right back in line to hit all the major plotpoints. It is less off the rails than last week

Umm there were swords pretty much lying around the room.

Agree wholeheartedly. I always thought that scene did not really work in the books, while the other guy thought it was jaw dropping good. I could argue it is better revealed in the show. Except three years on, not sure unsullied care or remember.

They are both excellent in their own right. Book is better in some ways, and the show has improved the story in others.

Two ways to take the scene. The literal way: No way could a Bravosi master take even the least skilled Kingsguard in plate with a broadsword Or the more subtle way: Syrio is a master swordsman, something the Hound knows nothing about, and no master swordsman of Bravvos could be killed by an inept Kingsguard regardless of him wearing plate and having a big sword If Arya's view of Syrio is correct, the scene is ironic because Syrio is alive.

Can't say I do. Book Cersei is an idiotic, one note psycho. I think they will still eventually bring the Cersei crazy but it will be more earned by that point.

Seems to me they showed instead she will never be a killer with a sword which sort of nicely shadows what she learns later. I thought it was a great episode, and really took a lot from the books to sort of course correct the additional Bran diversion.

It' even more boring in the books.

To buffer your point, REAL broadswords were NOT heavy. Replicas you put on your mantle are

It is rumored that Sean Bean makes an appearance, maybe when Bran touches a tree. With them mentioning Arthur Dayne, mentioning Lyanna from Oberyn, and the blue rose, I think maybe we get Tower of Joy this year,

Wow thats ridiculous. 3 years in and pretty much every major character is exactly where they are in the books and pretty much every major event of the books has happenned mostly intact, many with the exact dialogue from the books. The books are much more complex from a plotting and number of characters standpoint, but in my view it is ridiculously faithful to the books and has maintained much of their complexity. It is almost impossible to get a more faithful rendition. If someone has read the books just once through, they probably think it is EXACTLY like the books since every major event that you read in the books and would remember on first read through has happened. All this righteous indignation from hard core book readers about not having LS and having things play exactly like the books is just kind of sad. It is some of the best TV ever, yet so many seem to not be able to let themselves enjoy it

I think they are about as good as they can with Bran. It would be cool to start using Bran's dreams to fill in some of the exposition that will eventually be needed.

People seem to forget that unless they made them like "Twin Peaks" the HOTU visions would be incredibly spoiler-y. To the point of ruining some events in future seasons. People also forget I think the economy of a visual medium and how quicky they can introduce elements like John's parentage and make it exciting. In books, they have to hold our interest for a much much longer time, so things need to be implied and hinted at like GRRM does. Otherwise it would be pure exposition which always brings fantasy books to a screeching halt