Khal-a-bunga

Benjen Stark is Daario! Check out the thread discussing this here: https://i.imgur.com/uao80y0.gif

9.5/10 (A) Rounded up, simply because my mild disappointment stemmed more from what wasn't in the episode than what actually was, and that isn't necessarily a fair way to evaluate whether or not the episode succeeded. Was definitely expecting Lady Stoneheart, and - to a lesser extent - for Tyrion to hear the truth about Tysha. The former I'm sure will show up when the writers think it is more appropriate, and the latter doesn't bother me as much as it might others, because I don't find "Wherever whores go." to be particularly interesting. I think the only thing that is majorly affected by the omission of the truth about Tysha is the relationship between Jaime and Tyrion, and since I don't expect the two of them to meet again before the story ends, I'm actually glad that they got to part on more brotherly terms. EDIT: Also, isn't it pretty much confirmed that Jojen is already dead in ADwD?

And doing absolutely nothing of importance.

Isn't it clear enough simply from the way we've seen his character behave these past four seasons? Isn't it clear based on the fact that the vast majority of us mature from when we were children? Also, it's funny that Tyrion has a moment where he appears not to be a 'white knight', and people on the boards attack him for it. Because, you know, threatening to rape your nephew (even as a jest) or having someone murdered are so much more palatable than a young Tyrion deflecting criticism against himself by doing the same thing to another person with an unfortunate disability... Anyway, I thought it was a great episode. I don't run here and vote right after I've finished an episode, simply because I haven't given it any time to digest, and I find that I have to re-watch an episode (and consider it within the context of the season) in order to come to any conclusion regarding how I feel about it. Even someone who is as big a fan of the show as I am has a hard time completely separating what I see on-screen from what I've had in my head for such a long time. After said reflection, I have to say that this was possibly the darkest episode the show has done, or at least on par with Garden of Bones. Even Arya's laughter - something I had initially laughed about along with her - can be seen as a very dark moment, given her situation: Once again arriving at her destination, only to find that the family member she had been heading towards was dead. And between our first good look at a flayed man, and Oberyn's death, it was also one of the goriest. Looking forward to next week. @ Jaqen H'gcarl Having worked in an emergency room in a fairly large city, I've seen some pretty disturbing stuff (not that you have to work in a city hospital to see that kind of thing). If one was strong enough (as The Mountain is), it isn't at all unrealistic that they could crush someone's head in such a manner. It has more to do with the structure of the human skull than anything else, but applying pressure in the right way could definitely lead to results similar to what happened to Oberyn.

Ignore away, as you seemingly do with the actual substance and context of how things played out in the show in order to make illogical points

And how, exactly, would Osha have stopped Bran? She didn't stop him because it wasn't her place to do so. Your points here don't make any sense, and you seem to have ignored the main counter-points I provided in order to... What? Show that you don't understand how logical fallacies work, and/or don't know how to explain yourself clearly? Either refute the points made against your initial statements (which you haven't done), or concede that your complaints don't make any sense when taken in the context of what the show has presented. How does Bran not interacting with Jon put him in more danger? How would Jojen's powers convince Jon that Bran must take this journey when Bran's powers would not do the same? How did you come to the conclusion that Bran considers Jon too "moronic" to understand his need to travel north, when Bran's own understanding on his journey is so esoteric? The irony of calling someone's argument a straw man while you're in the process of doing exactly that is... Well, it isn't sad, but it is pretty stupid.

You're trying way too hard. There is no issue of the logic with either scenario. Bran has more than enough reason not to interact with Jon, and his not doing so doesn't put Jon's life in any more danger than it already was. Jon didn't come to Craster's Keep to rescue Bran, since he didn't even know - but had only posited - that Bran could come across the place. I think it's been made clear that Bran's journey is of utmost importance, and that he can't let anything stop him from reaching his destination (which Jon would undoubtedly try to do). Bran would only be making it harder for himself and for Jon (emotionally and physically, since Jon would have been able to force Bran to come with him in a way that Sam & Gilly could not), by contacting him and attempting to explain his esoteric reasoning behind his decision to travel north. Also, Osha quite clearly did not truly understand or agree with Bran's decision, hence why she and Rickon left the group. And to say that Hodor 'easily understands' the reason they're on this journey is kind of silly. I'm thinking his main goal is simply to stick by the person he's closest with, regardless of what he's doing and where he's going.

I'd rate it an 8.5/10 (B+), but went with an 8 for the poll. I felt like this episode had one of the strongest dramatic through-lines of the series (on a thematic level), in terms of the idea of protection and protecting the people you care about/are supposed to take care of.

I'd say this season has had more "action" than any season yet... The duel between Brienne & Jaime; the mutiny at Craster's Keep; Dany sacking Astapor; the duel between Beric & the Hound; Jon & the wildlings climbing the Wall; and the bear pit. There has been an action scene (so to speak) just about every episode.

I gave it an 8/10, but would have deducted a .5 from the total score if the option was there (7.5/10 or a B-). I watch each episode twice before deciding what to give it, and I definitely enjoyed this one much more upon a re-watch. That said, it felt like the least cohesive episode of the season. I don't take any issue with changes from the source material, so that's not a big deal for me on any front, but I do hope that Catelyn is given some more screen time prior to the Red Wedding. I don't even care if it happens in that episode, but I really love Michelle Fairley in the role and would like to see her given some more to do. I'm also glad that this is likely the last time this season we'll spend any significant amount of time with Theon & "Boy". I agree with the decision to keep Theon involved in the story line, and I've quite 'liked' how it has been handled so far, but I think the only thing left to gain from these scenes will be the reveal of the identity of the person torturing Theon. The bear pit was great, and the scene between Tywin and Joffrey was also great. All in all, definitely the weakest of the season to date, but the positives heavily outweighed the negatives. Just on a visual and aural front, this episode was fantastic, so I don't really get all of the 1/10 votes...

Gave it a B (8/10). Not as good as the previous four episodes (I was a big fan of Dark Wings, Dark Words), but about on par with the premiere. Given the fact that there was a lot of 'new' material in this episode, I figured the reaction here would be pretty tempered, but I'm a bit surprised at how negative some of the reactions are. The non-reader reactions (at least at The A.V. Club, Hitfix, and Television Without Pity) have been pretty positive, which speaks to how difficult the balancing act must be for the people involved in the production. I really enjoyed Jon & Ygritte climbing the Wall (all of those sequences), and unlike some of the posters here, I also really enjoyed the scene between Boy and Theon. Theon's line to Maester Luwin last season; "Do you know what's it like to be told how lucky you are to be someone's prisoner?" is really resonating with me right now. I also believe that Theon has an important part to play in this saga before the end (be it through redemption or a more Gollum-esque turn of events), and that it will eventually pay off to see how Theon was broken. I wish we were getting more from Bran & Co., but that's an issue the writers were always going to struggle to deal with. Other than that, I can't think of a scene that I actively disliked off the top of my head, even if there weren't any amazing turns in this episode. I watched the episode twice last night, and definitely thought it played better the second time around, so yeah... Good episode. Looking forward to the remaining four episodes of the season (all of which should be fantastic).