aFeastForDragons

Funny how on a regular TV show Barristan would be back up walking around without a scratch a few episodes later but hits is GOT :( I'm kind of glad they are rushing through the Meerenese Knot but not with these additions.

Stannis keeps a jester around who drives him mad only because it was the last gift his parents gave him, he is tortured by grief for killing his brother and he says he's only fighting for the Iron Throne so Shireen can have it. Beneath Stannis's stubbornness is a loving/caring man who the majority of readers fail to ever see. This scene is most certainly in character in my opinion and shocking that D & D are portraying Stannis so well this season. We may not have got the "king who cared" or "cart before the horse" but this does paint him a much better light for unsullied viewers. i wonder if this is what actually happened to Shireen. They are name dropping Dorne a lot to get the viewers used to it so it could just be made up. I'm so unhappy about Ser Badass. He may have killed 14 men but who is going to hold Mereen when Dany goes. Daario? He will set the city on fire.

Stannis and Sheeren Best scene ever!

Wait until next season. Imagine if they cut Victarion, Aegon, Quentyn, Manderly, Val, Mance's son, the brotherhood, Aurane Waters etc This is the point where D & D could really start pushing their own ideas and the way THEY want the story to unfold.

On the plus side we didn't get a silly crowd surfing scene again. Downside no Balon or LS again. Hell even a Kraken devouring a ship would have been an epic ending.

I was really dreading the thought of hearing Tywin's bowels emptying when he died. Thats one of the moments i'm glad they didn't include on TV.

8.5 as a book reader 10 as a show watcher's perspective Stannis the Mannis finally getting the portrayal he deserves made up for the crap they put him through this season before Bravoos. D & D have made an absolute mess dumbing down his character but the cavalry charge and scene with Mance brought a tear to me eye. Also great how they brought up Ned. Brienne and the Hound was awesome. Only nitpick was Arya staying around and the hound talking while Brienne and Pod are frantically running around looking or them. Qyburn turning into Frankenstein. I can't wait for next season. Tywin and Tyrion was awesome. I loved how they handled it even if they didn't include "Where whores go". The part with Shae was done really badly though. No dialogue or Shae trying to lie. The evil dead scene at the Greenseer's cave was hilarious. I really liked it though. We haven't had enough wights and fantasy stuff this season. Great scene with Dany. I'm getting really sick of the Mereenese Knot already but this scene was very entertaining. No Stoneheart which is utterly pathetic and brings the episode to a very in-climactic end.

Has anybody counted up how many Night's watch men died?

Brace yourselves. D & D hate Stannis threads are coming next week.

I watched the episode again and it wasn't half as bad the second time. No Stannis is still a complete cop out and completely takes away the glory of his moment(And Davos since it was his plan!). The Battle for Castle Black is amazing despite a few hiccups and terrible parts. The Battle for the Wall just had no tension or suspense. Slowly watching the giants attach ropes to the gates was a joke.

Emmm Dany, Sansa and Bran are well into Book 4 & 5.

Yep! They could even end up adding in some Ironborn and Bolton plots too. Its going to be packed and could end up getting very rushed with a lot of stuff overlooked.

The whole battle for the Wall felt empty. 1 mammoth and two giants just looked comical. Some CGI could have went far. Dany gets thousands of Unsullied and tons of catapults yet Mance gets a few climbers and some chains.

Manderly will eat them. He needs more Iron in his diet.

Maybe they will get another box to setup a pointless plot for next season where Yara sails to Winterfell.

Might get a Giant before and after scene too.

Nah Lady Stoneheart at the end of ASOS nearly broke my jaw when it hit the floor. As much as they didn't put Stannis in Ep9 if they cut LS then there will be hell to pay. I'm really really disappointed in how this episode turned out. I was expecting another Blackwater with lots of tension and hundreds of men clashing. It just completely fell short in so many areas I want to enjoy it but the more I think about it the less I like it.

Tyrion escaping, killing Shae and Tywin Lady Stoneheart reveal Arya leaving the hound to die and getting the boat to Bravos Drogo and the child bones, Dany locking up there Dragons Next episode is going to be way to packed. Stannis arriving Ep9 would have been much better, They better not end with Dany again.

They should have swapped episodes with 8. That would have been a much better 9.

I'm a musician so the part that really killed this episode for me was the ending music. Its so epic and is the perfect cavalry charge music. You can visualise the mood going from utter hopelessness to victorous as Stannis's forces ride in and route the wildling army. Pause to zoom in on Stannis's face. Credits and music again. Instead we got "I love you Sam" and a terrible cliffhanger with epic music behind it that didn't fit at all. I've been looking forward to this episode for two years and it completely fell short of my expectations.

5/10 Very very very disappointed with this episode. They dragged out the start way to long and it was really messy. All the one on one conversations didn't serve much purpose. It didn't feel like they were in a battle. Giving slow orders and taking there time to load crossbows and walk around. No Stannis which was a complete cop out. This wasn't half as good as Blackwater and ended on the most boring note possible. They could have easily cut out most of the start and had Stannis arrive in at the end which would have ended it on a high. They've completely stripped Stannis of his finest moment and pushed into next episode where he will be overshadowed by the final Tyrion scene. Even the ending music didn't come across as epic. You can spend 10-20 million on a 50 minute episode with crazy CGI but bad writing and pacing will bring it down.

Its funny to see the internet going crazy over how violent the outcome of the duel was but nobody seems to be saying anything about the excruciating and lengthy death the Iron Born soldier was subject to.

One of the best things about this episode is I don't have to read all the moronic theories anymore about how Bronn will replace Oberyn and how Oberyn will actually live.

It would have been good if it had a good outcome. Terrible terrible writing by D & D as usual.

That was very rough to watch.