Weeping Sore

The Realms of Men need to get the alchemists working overtime on building wildfire reserves. You need to rig up towns, cities and holdfasts with wildfire so you have a last resort tactic to avoid swelling the ranks of the army of the dead. Burn yourself, save the realm!

9. Jonathan Pryce is killing it as the High Sparrow.

8. Admitedly, Dorne was laughable again. It felt like we were watching Xena. I somehow didn't mind. Sansa's...marriage scene may have been one of the most beautifully staged and tense scenes on the show. The following scene was horrible of course. Not as horrible as what happened to Jeyne Poole in the books, and dare I say...not as horrible as what happened to Ned, Robb, Catelyn and Talisa? I just hope Sansa doesn't have a Bolton baby...maybe this will be the opportunity for the show to introduce Moon Tea. I mean...was it necessary? I think if we are realistic about it, plot armor has been protecting the Stark girls from rape* for awhile now. Once the marrying Ramsay plot was inserted, this was going to happen, barring a timely seige by Stannis, or Brienne bursting into the bedchamber and castrating the bastard with Oathkeeper. Which, come to think of it is what I wish would have happened. *unwelcome consummation after an arranged marriage = rape in my book if consent was never given, so Sansa has previously dodged this fate with Joff and Tyrion. Arya, her skills with Needle notwithstanding, was extraordinarily lucky to avoid being raped as well, given where she's been since Ned's execution.

I feel like "The Smoking Sea" is something that is more evocative in words than in CGI. I just think trying to replicate continually bubbling volcanoes and steaming whirlpools and red smoking skies would have made it look fake, and our characters would have look displaced in a non-reality. (Kind of like how the Harryhausen-esque skeletons stuck out like a sore thumb). This was a good move, combining the Sorrows incident with the Valyria exposition. Understated, atmospheric, and the actors really sold it, along with the Drogon siting. Nice staging for the stonemen attack. ETA: Also they telegraphed the Sorrows/Valyria merger with Stannis's dialogue about Shereen in the previous episode. Show World is not Book World.

9/10 - Too much Myranda, but otherwise top-notch. Dragons were very convincing. Michael McElhatton is such a treasure as Roose Bolton. Stannis/The Wall/Hardhome plot set up nicely. A lot of exposition gotten through in a non-clunky way. The Valyria/Sorrows mash-up looked great, evocative, well-paced. Dany picks her bride. I've been enjoying this season unfold; I like the surprises (though some have been better than others).

Doesn't it seem like some of these arcs are being severely altered or eliminated, though?

7. Some serious highs and lows here. The Faith Militant bit seemed extremely rushed; would have worked much better as a slow boil. The plot mechanics showed too much here. (Did I see Cersei with a note from Littlefinger in front of her as she met with the High Sparrow? What could possibly benefit him by suggesting that she restore the Faith Militant? Remember he is thick with the Tyrells as they were co-conspirators in Joff's murder). Still, this played out much more convincingly in the book, with the High Sparrow manipulating Cersei into thinking restoring the Faith Militant was her idea. The Sand Snakes scene was one of the worst GoT scenes to date. All downhill after watching Ellaria ride across the sand on horseback. That said, I love the Jaime/Bronn adventure. When do they greenlight Better Call Bronn? Stannis/ Shireen. Calling it: Mel says they have to burn Shireen to guarantee victory at Winterfell, Stannis refuses, Stannis fails/ dies nobly. Anyway, nice scene. Nice send-off for Barristan; opens the door for Tyrion/Jorah to be appealing as Westerosi advisors. Still think they'll be enslaved on the way. Speaking of Tyrion/Jorah - Jorah's casual brutality was a genuine shock as Show Tyrion has usually seemed insulated. I like his theft of the boat, too.

So with Barristan gone and no foreshadowing of unrest from the other conquered cities, I doubt we'll see the Battle of Mereen on the show (though I suppose if Dany's still in Mereen in S6 it could happen, but more likely it's back to rounding up the Dothraki). Stannis looks like he's being set up for failure...though I doubt Brienne will be the one to do him in. Maybe Mel guarantees victory at Winterfell if he will burn Shireen, he doesn't go for it, then the snows set in...

Did it cross anybody's mind that the High Septon could just as well have been gay and have male representatives of the Seven on full display? The disgusted response of the Sparrows would then dovetail with realistic homophobia, and the scene would have been more noteworthy, rather than "There you go again, Game of Thrones". That said, I thought it was a pretty inventive way to throw in an over-the-top smut scene while reminding the audience of the seven Andal Gods. Golf clap.

I agree with you. Game of Thrones, like many in pay-cable, has a lot of gratuitous nudity. I could live without it, and Mad Men is an excellent example of a show that is sexy without showing anything. The criticism of the nudity on Game of Thrones had previously been that there wasn't gender/sex parity; that is, more gratuitous female nudity than male. It seems like they've taken pains to correct that somewhat, with Daario, Olyvar, and Loras. Still, if we're going to zoom in on the groomed crotch of a Seven cosplay whore, it seems like parity is still a long way off since male full frontal is much more rare, fleeting, and as someone complained above, flaccid. ETA: But I'm torn. Should the reaction to casual and pointless objectification of women really be a call for more objectification of men?

Don't forget it turned out the very straight-laced Tywin Lannister bedded at least one whore.

Speak for yourself, sir. Some of us find the artful elision and awkward blocking of sex scenes to avoid showing male junk and the flaccid-only-by-unwritten-rule on the rare occassions when it does appear to be...lacking in versimilitude? I think pay-cable viewers are not so fragile that they would faint at the occasional sight of a hard cock.

This is actually not true. A 2012 FCC ruling stated that there are no legal restrictions on what the pay cable channels can or can't show, skin-wise. The erect penis is just a taboo.

Yeah just a thought. Bronn's death wouldn't have much pathos, as much as the audience enjoys him.

Or maybe Jaime gets killed? What if he doesn't have that much more to do in the books, for example, if he doesn't survive his pending encounter with Lady Stoneheart?

The Water Gardens were a total whitewash of the books, though. Where are the naked children?

Lady Stoneheart is going to be at the Kingsmoot. Mark my words. Also keep your eyes peeled for a sexposition scene wherein Strong Belwas poops erotically on Coldhands and his elk.

8. Kevan Lannister representing, Tyrion/Varys dialogue had some snap this ep and didn't wear out its welcome like in 5.01, Mereen has managed to not be deadly boring against all odds (nice reminder of Aerys backstory w/ Dany's realization she actually does care about the rule of law). LOVE the Stannis/Jon Snow scene, the Wall plot is definitely not beating around the bush. As for the Brienne bit- I like the scene as a sort of call-back to S1, where Tyrion greets Catelyn Stark in the tavern. Littlefinger's dialogue disparaging Brienne is very on point, and the way Sansa says "You should leave" implies that she knows Brienne is in danger for recognizing Tyrion's fugitive bride. I like that we're not sure at this point whether Sansa would be safer with Baelish or Brienne, as we don't know what plot the former is about to plug her into (though I don't think his affection is totally counterfeit) Show Brienne again shows that she won't hesitate to hack the shit out of anyone getting in the way of her vow to protect the Stark girls, whether they like it or not.

Nice catch. With the number of people saying Valar Morghulis lately, you wouldn't think saying that + a normal Braavosi coin would get you free passage to Braavos. I don't know why it never occurred to me previously that the Iron Bank mints non-specie coins, that is, with little intrinsic value. So trust in the Iron Bank must be extremely high for anyone to be able to pass these coins. Braavos is probably nearly impossible to invade, so no one would expect the Bank to fail...but no one is well-defended against dragons...

Wow. Good call. Too bad we're not getting Belwas. :crying:

8.5 Love that it clocked in at 62 minutes- though the titular scene with Dany was dreck. Her story which had been great all season, took a nose-dive in episodes 9 & 10. Why not omit her from 9 altogether, then get the whole Yunkai deal out of the way earlier in 10? Seriously, you think this is who we care about at this point? Loved Sam, Aemon, Davos, Arya, Jon & Ygritte, The Lannisters in the Small Council. Seriously great until taking a dump for the final scene. Aargh!

Amen. When I first read the RW, I was just overwhelmingly happy that I wouldn't have to read another Catelyn POV chapter. Show Cat was much improved by judicious cutting and the astonishing Michelle Fairley.

I got that too. McElhatton can do so much with just the tiniest fluctuation of tone and expression. He will be #1 on the casting list if there is ever a Vladimir Putin biopic.

When Roose called her "my Queen," this season it really hit home how silly the marriage seemed.

I don't know if there's something wrong with me, but my first reaction to reading the RW chapter was pure relief that I would never have to read another Catelyn POV chapter. It's a testament to Fairley that she made me like Cat, and the show RW was much more emotional for me.