A Man Reads

6/10

They did it again. Another finale comes in flat.

To their credit, they covered everything that needed to be covered. From Stannis north of the Wall to Tywin's death. From Arya and Hound to Dany chaining the dragons. Bran meeting Bloodraven was covered quickly but decently. Their choice of scenes doesn't bother me. Despite the lack of Lady Stoneheart (I'll live).

There were some nice parts. Jon and Mance, the burnings at the Wall, and Qyburn and Cersei were well done. The fight scene between Brienne and Sandor was good; very graphic. Bran's scene was efficient if somewhat underwhelming. Jojen's death is the major shocker, though it makes sense. "Mercyed" by Meera while dying was quite moving actually. Varys returning to the ship to flee after hearing the bells at the Red Keep was a good addition.

But as television episode in this series it came in below standard. The dialogue was flat. Very flat. They had better lines from the book for Tywin's death. The discussion after Stannis's arrival was written fresh . . . but it still lagged.

Tywin's death was . . . I don't know. Unfulfilling? His trying to talk Tyrion out of it was quite different from the books. That didn't bother me. It's just such a monumental death and it was underwhelming.

Ending with Arya. I liked her taking ship to Braavos from the books. The scene was faithful to that. But I'm not sure how a regular audience feels the impact of that decision.

It wasn't a disaster. But it wasn't as good as it was billed to be.

Another episode where it feels like they were just going through the motions. The Mountain and the Viper was the best episode of the season.

Not if they stick to the part of the story where he's abused every recruit he's met.

Will they? Our dialogue last night only suggested Jon hates Allister. Thorne still had a pretty good night.

I'm mildly afraid that it'll be another "I need to ally with Walder Frey so I can seize Casterly Rock" moment on the show.

I wonder what they'll do with Ser Allister going forward. If Allister had died, Jon will be the only obvious choice for taking over as Lord Commander and there won't any dramatic tension in an election. They already had as much of a quiet moment together as they're going to have, so he couldn't be alive just to have a touching deathbed scene with Jon. Maybe Meliisandre burns him, but I don't think Jon could cooperate at all with Stannis if that happened, so it seems unlikely. So I guess he's alive to lose the election to Jon and be a continuous source of leadership friction.

I've been wondering about this too. If anything, Allister would seem to have the leg up in the coming election. Based on his leading the defense of Castle Black.

But . . . but . . . "Stannis!"? :shocked:

We had 20 minutes of dialogue. Followed by 20 minutes of fighting. Followed by 5-10 minutes of Tormund Husband of Bear in chains and Jon's "mission." I had hoped they would cover more ground tonight.

The fight scenes were very well done. Lots of great camera work and it was well coordinated. Aliser Thorne, Tormund, Ygritte, Jon, and Grenn had strong episodes. I suppose the CGI money went into giants? Ghost's scene was quite limited. The dialogue was noticeably lagging though.

It felt like they were half-way between a movie and TV show and forgot about the story.

7 for now. Maybe revised on rewatch.

Absolutely! I'm glad you feel the exact same way as me. I think that when Missandei says that she is glad that Grey Worm saw her was a really interesting line. It shows how much respect they have for each other. I can see a really strong relationship growing between them. I think this is a way of D&D showing a really strong felling of love towards with any sex involved. It shows love at the core. Almost like puppy love. Everyone know the feeling of having their first crush. There is no thought of anything but trying to understand them as a person and being around them.

Yes! "Having their first crush" is an excellent comparison. We're seeing adults struggle with their feelings, emotions, and relationships in a manner more commonly associated with teenagers today. Slavery and Grey Worm's castration are the reasons behind this arrested emotional development. I think it's great, but understand how it can throw viewers at first.

I actually really enjoy Grey Worms parts. Just imagine all the things that he is feeling. He was a slave soldier essentially his entire life. He was never able to love someone let alone even given the chance to love someone. He is free now thanks to the great Dany Stormborn and is starting to actually FEEL things emotionally. Then when he learns that these feelings are pointless because of his lack of manhood, it must be really depressing. I think the scenes between Grey Worm and Missandei show a type of feeling that most would really find difficult to understand. I feel that is why a lot of people don't like these scenes.

:agree:

I've come to enjoy the Grey Worm and Missandei scenes. Daenerys confronting slavery is a massive theme over the last few seasons and promises to remain so. And freedom from slavery is an immensely, overpoweringly personal experience. Look at what Grey Worm and Missandei have discussed in their scenes: their abductions; their initial enslavements; their memories before slavery; their gratitude to Daenerys. Both of them are struggling to being people once more after years of being property.

Most fans cannot easily relate to their struggle. It's also not something popular audiences are used to seeing. Many posters are calling it a "romance," and while that element is there it is only a part of the Grey Worm/Missandei dynamic. We recognize the brash hero (Oberyn), the witty misunderstood rogue (Tyrion), the crazy queen (Cersei), the wandering swordsmen (The Hound and Arya), and the noble soldier (Jon). How former slaves live their lives after being freed doesn't fit the normal fantasy mold. But I think it makes a nice complement to the steady stream of violence, sex, and brutality of the show.

Wow. I gave it a 10/10.

The trial by combat was very well handled. There were five minutes left before they reached it. But I needn't have worried. They didn't hold back either.

Sansa's changes should simplify her story. The return of the Boltons was well done as well. Very much a parallel of the "Kingsroad" episode back in season 1.

No idea about the whole beetles speech yet. But the good heavily outweighed the bad throughout the episode.

I thought it was a great episode. That means the season is nearly through, however.

9/10. We're building up to the end now.

Likes:

1. Tyrion and Bronn. What a fabulous sequence!
   
2. The Hound's confession. You confess before you . . .
   
3. Sansa and Robert Arryn.
   
4. Using Hot Pie. Wasn't big on how they used him, but still. Saves considerable time.
   
5. They left Dragonstone off the credits. And Melisandre said Shireen must come with them. We're going to be left hanging until they arrive.
   
6. The small details are what makes the show wonderful.
   
7. Transitioning from Daario's rearguard to Melisandre's Van (Houten) guard was a nice touch. Also, the Hound "getting . . . bitten!"
   
8. I like that Dany is in for a descent.
   
9. EDIT: And I loved how they mixed in Tyrion's three jail visitors.
   

Dislikes:

1. The first Hound/Arya ("two swords") scene could have been skipped. The gift of mercy part was nice, killing Rorge was nice -- but we've had both of these already. I wondered if the two Hound/Arya scenes were originally set for different episodes.
   
2. Ghost at the wall. I get that the wolves are CGI and inserted, but he's off standing on his own and it looks terrible.
   

They always seem to have an episode or two that lag midway through the season. This was one of them. I gave it a 7/10 mostly because of the scenes north of the wall (which has recently been carrying the show). I get that they have to set up major plot twists . . . but the result is a lagging, plodding episode.

8/10

The Purple Wedding -It seemed underwhelming. They had all the necessary shots of the right people touching the right goblets and necklaces, and all the necessary facial expressions to leave most people guessing as to who did it. But that made it sluggish. The sequence between Joffrey and Tyrion over the wine relied too heavily on the book.

Stannis - I am in the minority, but I think Stannis is very well depicted in the show. He's an awkward guy. A guy who has been unlucky and unhappy in life. A guy who goes along with many things that he wouldn't otherwise go along with were he not Robert's heir. That's who he is in the books too. He nevertheless soldiers on through his considerable deficiencies to do his duty and bring justice to Westeros. His facial expressions during the burning and dinner in this episode were classic Stannis. His firmness in prohibiting the use of the rod on Shireen is also classic Stannis. He would make a poor modern day president or prime minister, but he'd make a damn fine king.

Boltons - Loved it! Season 3 E10 began with the symbolic "Rise of Roose" walk up to the battlements of the Twins. I hope to see more of them. Ramsay's character is just phenomenal.