drm7

11 out of 10. 10 for the episode and it's impact on me (a book reader who still found it very hard to watch). +1 for the earthquake that hit the internet 1 minute after the credits rolled.

I gave it a "high 6." I went with the flow of "hey this is a setup episode" until the WAY overdone Wall scenes. The special effects were very good, but the whole "catching Ygritte with my free arm while holding my entire bodyweight with an ice pick," started it all downhill. The climax on top of the Wall had promise, but was SO melodramatic! Ugh! I liked the exchange between Mel and Thoros and Mel and Arya. The High Valarian (sp?) was a nice touch - helps the non-book readers make a connection between Westeros and Essos. I imagined the showrunners thinking "we have to get Tywin and Olenna in a room together!" Diana Rigg makes everything look so easy. I saw mixed reviews of the Roose/Jaime/Brienne scene, but I liked it. A nice blend of physical comedy and psychological dueling. The two Frey stooges at Riverrun reminded me of Monty Python characters. Sam/Gilly was OK, but it introduced the dragonglass well. Jojen's "vision" was way overdone.

Loved: Tyrion/Tywin Dragons! Dany's little smirk at the unsullied owner's ignorance of her "language skills" Tormund Ok: Mance - had that cleverness about him, but didn't look as "hard" as I thought Davos - Felt a little rushed to get to Stannis/Mel, but his convo with Sal Saan was great Barristan - It would have been nice to hide his identity, but viewers would recognize the actor anyway, so Ok. ??? Putting all the Starks at Harrenhall seems forced and weird No Belwas??? Margaery at the orphanage a little over the top Shae/Roz - meh All in all - it was great! I'm so excited the new season has started!

I'm pretty psyched that SoS will be split, because it's such a big book and SO much happens. I think that "Feast" and "Dance" will be combined for the show, as the timelines overlap. It will be interesting to see how many "show seasons" they get out of Feast/Dance, given the (IMHO) large amount of downtime in Feast. (Lots of walking from place to place, etc.)

8 (More like a 7.6 than an 8.4) I didn't know what to think of the season finale. I know it couldn't be better than Blackwater, so I had to lower my expectations - it needed to clean up so many loose ends in the storyline. I liked: -The Winterfell scenes. Theon is so pitiful. I would have to have seen Ramsay, though. Luwin's performance was excellent. Very touching. -The throne room scene. The little farce that Joffrey and Margery put on was very well-done. I loved the look of disgust on Loras' face! -Jaquen/Arya. -Brienne/Jaime. Great chemistry between the two! Just OK: -Snow/Quorin. I would have rather seen Quorin order Snow to kill him. That would have made him look better than just some hotheaded idiot. I laughed when Ygritte kept hitting him with his sword. -Three blasts. A little hokey, but not much CGI budget, so, OK. Why didn't the white walkers kill Sam? Still a good set-up for the Fist of First Men battle. -HOU. I liked how they kept Dany running to different places. Interesting "rooms." A dragon-blasted Throne room? Dany meeting her "husband" at the Wall? (Foreshadowing? Ice/Fire? Dany/Jon???) The climax was meh. I would have liked to see the dragons burn it down. -Tyrion/Shae. Of course Shae ruins a scene that Tyrion gets off to a great start... Didn't like: -Why didn't anyone consult me before locking Doreah in the vault???? Not nice, not nice at all!! -Stan/Mel. Felt like a scene in a soap opera. Stannis acted out of character, IMHO. -Robb's wedding. More soap opera. Still, a good ending. Every episode can't be Blackwater.

I rated it a 9, but it was actually more like a 9.49999 than a 8.500001. (I thought that "Baelor" was the only 10.) Stunning, visceral episode. Easily the best of the season. Lena Headey was awesome. I knew that the episode was done "right" when my heart actually leapt seeing Loras and Tywin burst into the throne room. I was shocked at my reaction. Why am I cheering for Tywin Lannister? Damn you, Mr. Martin!! (Oh, and the green explosion was off-the-charts incredible!) Only very minor quibbles: 1) I know that Stannis is a psycho control freak, but personally climbing a ladder up the wall? (Stephen Dillane is incredible, though) 2) San/San would have been better had it stuck closer to the books. I don't think that it would have added shooting time and/or budget, so I'm puzzled that the producers and the...ahem...writer took some of the "juice" out of the scene.

I rate the episode a 6, but it was a "6" kind of episode, based on the point in the storyline. Lots of build-up, set-up, waiting, etc. Sort of the calm before the storm. (Of course, compared to most TV shows, it was 12 out of 10.)

I think Mr. Martin would throw himself off of a building if the Red Wedding is cut.

I read somewhere else on this site that Season 3 was going to be the 1st half of A STORM OF SWORDS. Gee, I wonder what the last episode will be? Some big event in the middle of the book...hmm... I could see combining A FEAST FOR CROWS and A DANCE WITH DRAGONS and taking three (or even four) seasons to cover the combined storyline.