DMC

Classic Vince move.

Can't. Had no idea how the card was gonna be stacked but started watching around 9 cuz I just wanted to watch the last two hours. Ended up watching 3, which back in long long ago was an entire show. I don't get why they think these 6 hour shows help them in any way. The crowd is always dead halfway through of what are supposed to be the biggest showcases of the year.

I didn't start watching til a little after the Woman's Rumble started. And yeah, it was not entertaining. Turned off the sound and paid attention to another screen. Styles/Bryan was very disappointing too. Never got into it, and a really random ending. Actually liked Balor/Lesner, was much better than than the previous match in 15 less minutes. The Rumble was fine. Very average, but fine. Think the right guy won, by everything I've read the past year Rollins has been the MVP of the main roster. Now hopefully he can beat Lesner. Someone has to, right?

Thanks. The day I trust Meltzer will be a.....New Day. Kinda sad this is how my interest is piqued this year. Always love Royal Rumble season - and I will probably seek illegal means to watch it on Sunday. Was in a writing binge last night (Tuesday night), and it's my ritual to leave the TV on. Left it on Smackdown and when I heard "No Chance" that's still nostalgic. The fact three of the four participants in the championship matches are Bryan, Styles, and Balor is pretty cool from an outsider's (no pun intended) perspective. Can you imagine if the put these three with Rollins for Mania? Say, instead of the dumb "Fatal Fourway," they have an ECW style elimination four (instead of three) way dance. The last two guys can pick which title they prefer. Obviously just a fantasy, but thought I'd share. That's a great lineup of still able top guys.

Is Balor actually being pushed or is this more of a random thing?

Would have liked to have seen Lesner/Bryan at Survivor Series. Always been a David v. Goliath dream match, so they screwed that up by turning Bryan heel. But, from what I've read Lesner actually showed up to make it a good match, so that's cool.

I can't embed anything from youtube. This started maybe about 30 hours ago. Wondering if this is my problem or something's up on your side?

So, the only thing the leaks didn't help with is we're definitely getting a Jon/Dany baby after that convo in the dragonpit. Oh joy for preggers Dany.

I thought the episode was pretty fun overall, for what it is at this point. In particular, Davos' scenes are great, and the whole process of putting together the Magnificent/Suicidal Seven was quite enjoyable. Arya confronting Sansa confounded my expectations on how they'd tease some tension before LF is killed. It'd be interesting if Arya consulted Bran in the remaining two episodes. Gilly finding Rhaegar's annulment is apt to piss off book purists for all the right reasons. Ridiculous on all counts. The Jaime-Tyrion conversation was meh.

Aye that's fair. But by the same token, this is the problem that is playing out (much more deliberately and realistically) in the books. Ramsay can't just sit in Winterfell with unsure allies. He must prove his strength - and eradicate any threats. Again, that's partly (although certainly not all) why Roose sends men out at the end ADWD.

To be fair, this was clearly set up by Ramsay killing Rickon - and Sansa warning Jon that Ramsay would do something to make him make a mistake....but yeah.

I really liked that episode til the lat 10 minutes. How cartoonish can they make it? That sea battle made Pirates of the Caribbean 3 look good. And how the hell does Euron seemingly have super-fired projectiles (that clearly aren't wildfire)? Totally ruined what should have been good deaths for the Sandsnakes/Asha (I refuse to call her Yara). But I guess this is what you get when you streamline shit.

I honestly don't get why everyone is so up in arms about this. Dragonstone is important for three reasons. Two, Cersei doesn't care about: obsidian and Targaryen ancestry. The third is indeed its strategic position in terms of its ability to serve as a base for a naval blockade to the Gullet, and King's Landing. If you have ships. If you don't have ships, Dragonstone is just one (albeit exquisite) fortress on a fairly small rock. There's no reason to care about it. Even in the books, Cersei only concerns herself with Dragonstone largely as a ploy to goad Loras into a rash attack - and doesn't do anything about it until she has the Redwyne fleet. Now, one could say that confronted with the same situation, Book Euron would have seized Dragonstone on his way to KL, but that really just seems like nitpicking. As long as there's a naval confrontation in the next couple episodes, I don't get all the complaining.

Of course, just saying it consolidates her as the Tyrell foil for both Cersei and the HS. Further, I'm not sure we'll be seeing any nuking this season.

Margaery's, presumably? She's definitely the star of KL at this point, and Dormer's been great.

On the magic travels: as a book reader I was inclined to think it was ridiculous - and they thoroughly jumped the shark with it this episode. But I really don't have much of a problem with it. You could make an argument this episode had its own sped up timeline: Jaime marching to Riverrun with an army; Jon crisscrossing from (presumably) the gift, to Bear Island, to Deepwood Motte, and back to the Gift; and Asha/Theon getting to Volantis. Of course, such an argument is a house of cards that will crumble the next time we see Daenerys and/or Tyrion wherein nothing has happened. Anywho, the point is most of the episode was written in the interest of advancing the story. Thus, they went fast. Like, Ricky Bobby fast. Considering the alternative is a bunch of travelogue BS or outright waiting to continue the various plots, I'm willing to suspend disbelief. My formative years as a WWF fan taught me how. If you're not willing to do so, that's fine. I refer you to the R&R thread.

I swear to gods you just ripped off show-Cersei telling Littlefinger "power is power." Too amusing, I had to share Anyway, thought it was noteworthy Martin confirmed on his live journal that Areo will return as a POV. Perhaps this was a safe assumption, but in terms of knowing what's going on with Dorne, its reassuring to know Doran can still act as the point-man for all the machinations of Obara/Balon, Tyene/Lady Nym, and Arianne. I also tend to agree with @LordToo-Fat-to-Sit-a-Horse in that if we actually do get two trials, one of them's gonna lose, and that one is much more likely to be Marg. While Cersei gaining power may be far fetched now, it does not take too many dominos to fall for there to be a power vacuum in KL. And with Varys apparently aiding her for the time being, I anticipate one more reign of terror for the golden queen.

Shhh....(Stop making sense)

Yeah Dorne is just WTF at this point. Reminds me of an old South Park episode where a bunch of criminals/corrupt cops systematically kill each other off because they can't trust one another until the last one kills himself. I'm betting on that last one to be the Sandsnake with the largest breasts. Or, a simpler and more accessible analogy is it's a really, really bad Tarantino movie. The rest of the show was meh. I'm fine with Brienne saving the day (and Pod!). It may be obvious but what's obvious isn't always bad. Burning the ships in Meereen was contrived but at least suggests long-term planning. Other than that there wasn't...much. Everything went as expected. The most positive thing I can say is I'm loving Davos combining forces with Delorous Edd and Team Jon, but that probably largely reflects the fact Cunningham is awesome and playing an awesome character. The Mel thing is a weak "shocker" ending, but since it plausibly allows me to believe she may be the daughter of BR and SS in the books, I'll take it.

Does this mean Jack Bauer will save him?

Lol, yeah, I guess that's as good an explanation as there is. IIRC, she had other rings on the same hand, but whatevs...

A meh finale to a meh season. Hopefully they do better next season. One thing I don't think has been mentioned and was one of my bigger 'WTF' moments of the ep: What was up with Dany dropping her ring as the Dothraki approached her? The way it was cut it seemed like that was supposed to be of some significance. Was it her ring of power? Are Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli supposed to find it so they can track her?

I think the question isn't if TV Night's King is a device, it's how much.

Yeah when Sam said Jon always comes back, I was like SPOILER ALERT. Great ep, Tyrion/Dany is OUR gift...