HouseHarrison

Imo, I would have: -Cut about 20 minutes of questionably relevant non-book material during the previous episode, and put the battle prep scenes for this episode in there -Added 15 minutes to the runtime for this episode To have an extra 35 minutes to devote to Mance/Stannis.

He's not, the preview's confirm he's arriving next week though (you see horses charging through the woods at wildlings) Personally I've become more critical of the show but have no issues with this ep. I loved it.

Emilia Clarke has become disinterested in the show since about season 3.

That final head smash was totally worth all the horrible filler stories this episode (Missandei x Grey Worm makes me want to vomit).

Yeah pretty dumb the Hound is going to be done in by a little bite. Vargo Hoat had the same thing, but you can't compare The Hound to The Goat.

He has the appearance down but doesn't seem very fearsome personality wise. Part of the problem is the dude who plays him IRL is supposedly a sweetheart.

Mace isn't as big of a joke in the books as they make him in the show. For better or worse, the show tends to take the most notable trait of a character and elevates it to define them. Mace is mocked, so everything with him is a joke. Loras and Oberyn bang dudes, so tons of gay stuff. Varys is a eunuch, so bring up his missing dick all the time. Littlefinger is a sinister mastermind, so every time he speaks he sounds like a Bond villain. And so on. But nonetheless even in the books Mace is barely-competent. He's a pampered product of nobility and is not on the level with the other major characters in the Game of Thrones. However he's competent enough to function administratively and his huge wealth/power nonetheless makes him formidable. But the likes of LF, Varys, Tywin, and so on could run circles around him. Fortunately for Mace, he has Olenna. And it needs to be said that Randyll is the one who handed Robert that defeat, not Mace.

Very pleased with the trial part of the episode, it was all spectacularly done. D&D can still make great shit when they drop the fillers.

-Too much filler -Too little Coldhands -Cersei being nice to everybody is bizarre

Night's King was a Stark btw, at least Old Nan always said he was. I think it's pretty strong chance that the Stark's are descendants of the WW's themselves, and Bran the Builder was an Other.

I'm really bummed that the book readers are getting spoiled now. The tide has turned and the show watchers are going to be ahead of the story pretty soon.

The hell was with that ending. Was that the Land of Always Winter? Did we see something that D&D were told by GRRM we don't know about yet? The show is finally surpassing the books in progress....

Had no problem with LF being creepy towards Sansa. She's his only weakness and his inner crazy channels through it

I assumed this "King Orys" was a King of one of the Seven Kingdoms pre-conquest. Maybe even a Lannister. The story certainly doesn't match any Targ King.

Best written and directed ep of the season, though the deviations with Jamie and the Thenns irked me.

What's wrong with Mace? Other depictions were dumb though I agree, though not really "ruined" beyond Shae.

Good episode, my general thoughts: *Reek and Moat Cailin stuff is coming way too early overall, and I think in general Reek appears far less ghastly/horrifying than I imagined him as. *I really hope they don't cut Penny. She's vital to saving Tyrion from insanity. Though they can easily write her in I imagine. *Really don't like the direction they went with Shae, I think they should have made her just another whore instead of an angry lover regarding her betrayal, it was much more soul-crushing for Tyrion. *The Purple Wedding was great and the horrifying affects of the strangler were shown brilliantly. *Passive-Aggressive Oberyn vs. Lannister fight was lulz *Stannis burning Florent over being an "infidel" rather than trying to make peace behind his back was stupid *Mace Tyrell is as big a doofus as I'd expect and Olenna snapping at him to go away was great. *Changing Jaime to dueling with Bronn over Illyn Payne?!?! Noooo. *BriennexJaime is obvious as hell in the books too. Though I don't think Brienne is necessarily so obviously in love this early. *Tommen looks way too old despite the new actor *Some of the visions Bran had were quite interesting, especially the scene of King's Landing ruined during winter which is the same vision Dany saw. I think GRRM shared that future plot with D&D.

The good: -Roose and Walder. Thought it was a splendid scene -Arya -Davos-Dragonstone scenes -Tywin beating down Joffrey -"The Blackfish Escaped" The Bad: -Ending. Not very relevant and something they should have done after Mereen -NO COLDHANDS -More Theon-Ramsay shennanigans. At least they've hit the Reek phase -Sansa-Tyrion getting along and being playful was a bit much and against the tone their marriage was in the book -Jealous Shae. C'mon girl give it a rest -Varys seemed too concerned/nice this episode -NO COLDHANDS The Neutral -Why the Ratcook now? I get it was meant to fade into the Walder scene, but It seems like something Manderly should spill 2-3 seasons from now -Jon-Ygritte scene -Cersei-Tyrion friendly scenes. Seems too out of character for either by this point given their mutual animosities in the book.

Roose goading Cat on to check under his shirt really made the ep for me. Was better then the book version of that scene imo. I was cautious about the casting choice for Roose at first, but the actor is really nailing the role these last few episodes.

If I was that actor I'd have a hard time with that scene. He has my sympathizes and envy

Reading this wiki I've come to the conclusion that Mormont's Raven is the star of the series. His article is certainly the most detailed!

Slow ep but still good. I liked the Jaime bro rescue moment just as much as in the books. GRRM couldn't resist some stereotypical fantasy cliches by having prince charming swoop in and save the noble maiden (in a dress) from distress. Hell he seems well aware of it, given the title of the episode. Shame they never included Vargo though. The way Locke looks is just how I envisioned the Goat in the books as well...

Keep in mind that Dany only basically has to capture 2 cities, and then she's done with book events until the events of ADWD. Thus if the writers want to keep her relevant, they really need to take their time. Anyway the changes to the show really aren't bothering me, though I think the Theon-Ramsay stuff, while amusing it is at the moment, is ultimately pointless. It was more powerful seeing what Theon had been reduced to in ADWD immediately then a slow process. I find the show great, and am interested as an avid book reader to see new material that has GRRM's blessing. Personally, I agree with the decision to substitute Edric with Gendry (who was always more well-established) and have Melisandre and Arya meet. I wish that scene was in the books.

Pleasure, he has no idea what's going on, In season 1, Littlefinger warns Ros that if she becomes a "bad investment" he'll give her over to a "new client" hinted to be some kind of deranged serial killer. I guess that client was Joffrey.

Are people really complaining about Ros being able to read/write? Geez. It's fantasy. Grounded in a degree of realism yet, but the top hooker of the mastermind of Westeros being able to read isn't that big a breach in realism. She's likely going to get Dontos'd (even though Dontos has appeared in the series), which would be a good end for her. Though we won't see that until next year. Now this I agree with. I think the episode should focus on 3 storylines tops per episode. I think it has to do with billing/contracts more then anything, as the series regulars need to appear in a certain amount of episodes.