The Rune Maester

Ha! That's exactly what I thought. Robb welcomes his mother back and doesn't even take a glance at the big sodding giant that she's brought back with her. You'd think he'd at least make some subtle gesture, or that Catelyn might even make an effort to say "yo boy, this is my new close protection. Oh, and she's a woman who can remove the head from the shoulders of any man". In fact, you'd also think that half the camp would be stopping to take a glance. That's kind of the point of Brienne; she's something of a curiosity which is partly where her awkwardness comes from.

In fact, one of the things that I've noticed is that a lot of the subtlety has left this series. Last series, there were little asides hat added to the depth of the characters (the nods between Robert and Ned at Winterfell, the glance between Ned and Arya when Sansa was talking about Joffrey, Theon's reaction to the news that Robb would have to marry a Frey, etc). Those little touches are being removed or replaced with hit-you-in-the-face exposition or WTF!!! moments.

That's actually an excellent point. I totally forgot about Brienne, the distraction we get from Jeyne and Robb. But seriously, Renly died quickly and was quickly forgotten, and the huge blonde woman-knight is also forgotten. ha!

I like tv Ygritte soo much better than book Ygritte. I was cringing waiting for her to say "You know nothing, Jon Snow!" so that I could put my foot through my tv :/ On a side note, it was kind of silly for Jon to not kill her (assuming he's gonna let her go, right?) only to chase her down when she leaves. Huh? I hope he ends up killing Qhorin though.

The Kings Landing riot was as best as they could make it and I enjoyed it! I mean, not only were the horses probably too expensive to get, but that would have been very dangerous for everyone involved to include the horses. San/San was awesome! I somehow thought this would be the only San/San interaction in the book. I wish he didn't carry her like a sack of flour though. He should have carried her like the repenting non-knight he is!

Okay, to the last scene. I normally don't like new scenes being added to the story (I can deal with leaving stuff out, because I understand its hard to condense a 1000 page novel into a 50 minute 10 episode season) but this one works because Dany didn't really have much to do in CoK except wander around the Red Waste and go to the House of the Undying. And when reading the books I did wonder why no one tried to steal her dragons. I don't care that the storyline was made up, what I did mind was them killing off the rest of her tiny khalasar, and killing off Irri. I know, everyone's like, she's only a handmaiden, she doesn't serve a purpose, blah blah... but why is Doreah still alive? Dany had three handmaids, and the two brown ones who are supposed to be alive (Irri and Jhiqui, no one seems to know what happened to Jhiqui from season one) are dead. Yet Doreah lives when SHE is the one who's supposed to be dead. The "hot" one, whatever. Dont' try to tell me it isn't about this, because it totally is. Okay, whatever. As long as we get to see Dany's visions.

And where were Jorah and Doreah when this was happening??

Oh and I loved the Spice King schooling Dany. I love Dany, she's one of my favorite characters and I do hope SHE will be the one to claim the Iron Throne one day, but tv Dany is getting a little obnoxious. She will take what is hers with fire and blood, she is the Mother of Dragons, she walked into a burning pit, she's immune to fire, she did the impossible, okay we get it!!! She's acting wayyy too entitled, and if I hear that line one more time...

It is known.

Hehe, I don't know about the book Ygritte, but this one is beautiful by both wildling and common standards, and definitely knows how to, ahem, warm Jon up :D Maybe his dirty subconscious was at work while chasing her. An amazing cast choice for Ygritte. But I completely agree with you on the very last scene - where the hell is Doeah and where was Jorah?!! I don't mind the dragons being stolen, it definitely adds to the dynamic, but it seems quite suspicious, almost as if an inside person was involved? And Dany totally got pawned :(

Considering I still haven't read the books, I would give this episode a 9/10 because it was incredibly engaing and dynamic!

Yes, perhaps Tywin is a little bit too tolerant, and Arya holding the note in her hand is quite annoying, but overall great acting for Maisie! Theon's conquest was so dramatic and bloodied, it makes you shiver. Perhaps Bran acted more like a modern child rather than a Medieval one (good point from an earlier comment posted here), but it definitely made the scene much more emotional. Oh, and Theon's butchering... horrid...

Cercei gave the best ice-cold and bitter look she could, and Tyrion slapping Joff again was priceless! We need more king-slaps! The Hound coming to the rescue was such a reliever as the rape scene looked quite authentic, although you cannot deny he acted more like a Terminator than a knight.

Jon and Ygritte were so cute! I'm jealous of Ygritte for rubbing her butt to Jon, but then again she is an incredibly beautiful and temperamental wildling :3 However, Jon capturing Ygritte instead of letting her escape is a deviation from the story, as far as I know, and it would be interesting to see how it will progress.

And Dany, oh God.... From what I read in this topic, Dany is much more shrewd and smart in the books than she is in season 2. All this whining, empty threats, and the perfectly logical and convincing replies of the Spice King definitely undermined the character.... With her dragons stolen now, I'm quite curious to see how she will reclaim them. Hopefully the House of the Undying is coming soon :) But yeah, TV-Dany is too whiny, acting more like a teenage-girl at the moment, rather than a Khaleesi and a mother of dragons....

Overall, the episode was very exciting, much more dynamic in the first half, with small bits of romance flowing in the air, and puddles of blood soaking Winterfell and King's Landing. It is a bit sad to know that some important parts of the plot are being changed in the TV-series, hopefully HBO will be more faithful to the books for the last 4 episodes of the season. Despite a few awkward/unconvincing moments and some book deviations, it was a very exciting and entertaining episode !

9/10