Garlan Marius

Gets a mediocre 5 from me. Mainly because, as a season finale, it doesn't set up much direction for the next season. King's Landing and Arya storylines in particular are aimless right now. The saving grace of the episode was the Roose/ Walder scene, but Davos on Dragonstone was amazing. I think Stannis is the same Stannis of the book, both testing Melisandre and being beholden to the law. Highly believable adaptation.

I cried more than any of the times I read that chapter. And to think, I was going to bitch about Ygritte not shooting Jon or Sam knowing about the Black Door.

Their fault for whitewashing Tyrion.

Great episode other than a certain change to the wedding ceremony.

I'm certainly no book purist, but we finally got to a change that made me rage: Sansa kneeling at her wedding. I was livid.

It will almost certainly be done after this season. They can handle the Moat Cailin stuff next season, giving them only a few episodes, and the Prince of Winterfell stuff in season 5.

Tormund was finally given proper characterization, that's good. Talisa being pregnant... could have repercussions, since that is not confirmed in the book. Theon's penis also wasn't confirmed, so now I can shove that into people's faces. :worried: Nikolaj continues to impress, and Qyburn is as creepy as he needs to be. 10/10 most exciting episode of the season for a reader.

I'll give it a solid 8. Jaime's story in the bath was far and away the best scene. I think the Dondarrion resurrection could have been handled better, and Tormund's seriousness is irking me BIG TIME north of the Wall. The Tywin-and-children scene was good, as was Barristan v. Jorah. Nothing else stood out as remarkable, though.

I give this episode a 10, unabashedly. There's literally nothing I'm willing to complain about on this one.

Definitely better than the first episode, surprisingly good for an early-season set-up episode. This season is shaping up to be better than Season 2 by a longshot.